The next day they resumed their practice. This time Cythrel, Pearl and Sora were also in the private tutoring session. The squirrel-kin was practicing what Astromelicus called 'Adept Wizardry', a series of Element-specific exercises developed to specialize minor spellcasters into their own Elements at the cost of proficiency with the broader subjects of magic. Like training a blacksmith that could only make horseshoes.
Dawn trying to empty her stupidly large mana pool stimulating her affinities and Aidan elbow-deep in ink designing the hundred-something spells he had to. Or at least he thought he had to. That morning was spent downgrading Lumina's masterpiece, the 'Healing Mist' spell to discard the area effect and the Light element, making a single-target spell that could heal and hydrate at the same time. He added an extra mana control sequence to fix the awful mana efficiency and consumption Lumina's spell had. It lost a lot on the regenerative side because of the lack of the Light element, but it was a better fit for a field healing spell. It would do nothing for her arms, however.
> [Mending Mist] - 4th circle spell.
>
> Element: Mist.
>
> Type: Eulogy.
>
> Classification: Healing. Sustained effect.
>
> Target: Touched creature.
>
> Creates a fine mist that can restore damage and promote the regeneration of small missing body parts. Restores hydration and part of the lost blood.
A perfect gift for a not-so-perfect bride. Aidan would start teaching this spell to Cythrel tomorrow. She could heal wounds but not her arms. That was not a wound. Kazuya did something that changed her template to that form. Just like people didn't have four arms, Cythrel didn't have half of her forearms and hands.
A few minutes before noon Lucien arrived with the precious ingots from Duke Glam. He was greeted and ushered into the laboratory by the Headmaster. The Prince looked just a little winded. Given that he was used to running in muddy battlefields wearing almost forty kilograms of metal armor, it was not a surprise.
"Alumni Lucien. Welcome in."
Lucien nodded, "Headmaster. As agreed, I've brought the trade goods Dawn negotiated for with Duke Glam."
He deposited a small wooden box on a table by the door. He was obviously bothered for being there and was already going out when Pearl called him.
"Prince Lucien, wait," She turned to address Astromelicus. "Headmaster, I need a few minutes to talk to Lucien, if that is acceptable."
"Yes, student Pearl. Off you go."
She walked out and the door closed behind her. The other pupils resumed their activities. About half an hour later, Pearl returned with a triumphant look in her face. She noticed the box in the same place Lucien left it and asked Dawn after she took her seat next to the fake Princess.
"You didn't check the box's contents."
"No need. At least in Lucien and Glam's integrity, I can trust. And even if they did some mistake, they are not going anywhere. Wanna charge a core?"
Pearl looked at the box of cores Dawn was mindlessly charging and at the perspiration on the girl's face. Dawn was pushing herself harder than anyone else. The Princess envied that determination. Maybe if she had half of that willpower, things would've gone very different with the otherworlders.
Shinji... The boy held a special place on Pearl's heart. Probably her first crush, in the naive Princess' fantasies. Kazuya's image was tarnished by the terror of the assassinations and the kidnapping...
Pearl felt a salty taste on her lips and realized she was crying. Dawn hugged her and kissed the Princess in the forehead. They were in no mood for resuming their activities.
----------------------------------------
Aidan raised a hand and asked, "Headmaster, should we stop for lunch?"
Astromelicus looked around and picked up two metal bands from a drawer, "Yes, we can take a break. However, I want student Dawn to put these bracelets here." The bracelets had a clasp in the middle where a large core was set. "Then keep charging these cores while you eat your lunch. I don't want your mana pool above a twentieth of its maximum in any situation. If you latch the clasp shut, the bracelet will draw mana on its own. If you can endure, I suggest you do that."
Dawn was already dizzy from all the exertion. But the lure of power, the distant promise of fostering all affinities spoke louder. She reasoned. That was their reward for struggling for two years to save Lumina. After all the pain and suffering, what were two more weeks of effort? She took the bracelets and slid her wrists inside them. After closing the bracelets, she triggered the clasps immediately. She was already drained from the morning of exercises and the bracelets took what was left. Dawn slumped, her arms limp at her sides.
"I think I'll skip lunch. You guys go without me, I'm going to lie down and meditate on the basement bedroom."
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
They escorted her to the small bedroom in the basement and left for lunch, leaving Skippy behind with Dawn as a guardian. Outside the laboratory building and after they adjusted to the glare of the sun, Sora grabbed Aidan's arm.
"How is she doing?" She asked about Dawn while nudging her body close to his in a very possessive way. "Are you okay?"
Aidan walked in silence while he felt Dawn's state through their shared soul. A bit ahead of them, Pearl and Cythrel were discussing jewelry styles and the Princess from the Kingdom of Jewels was teaching the elf the art of matching gemstones to hair color, facial features, and indumentary. Aidan finally found the words he wanted to reply with.
"Yes, Dawn is asleep. She won't feel the discomfort of getting her mana drained if she is unconscious. I predict long naps for her. For the time being, I guess it will be just me."
"Are you okay with that?" There was a hint of concern on her voice.
Justified concern, as those bracelets were a based off of a nastier cousin of the mana-sealing shackles, the mana-draining shackles. They were only used on extremely dangerous mages and were considered a type of torture device in every country. Each nation still had a few units as they were the only way to stop rampaging archmages and the like but the legends regarding the misuse of these devices by tyrants were widespread.
Aidan smiled at his life companion. "Yes, Sora. Dawn has a unique opportunity to develop her affinities beyond what we already had." He looked around with both his normal and mana sights to check for eavesdroppers before continuing in a lower voice, "It will strengthen us no small amount and will help with my recovery after I separate the Princess from me. Reduce the risks of some catastrophic failure reducing me to a vegetable."
He felt Sora's discomfort. She clenched his arm, sighed and her hand got a little colder. "That is the worst case scenario," He reassured her. "I feel broken, Sora. Incomplete. This Aidan is better than when I woke up in Elmhill but the difference is like having a fracture and then later getting a cast over the limb. The bone is still broken."
Sora felt derision when Aidan mentioned himself in the third person. She could read his face and body language most of the time and she knew in an instinctual level that he was not himself, but hearing him put it in words was painful. She felt helpless. "Aidan, I will do what I can —"
He cut her off with a kiss and a smile, "Everything will be fine. Come, let's hurry up before those two decide to spend the rest of our money on trinkets."
"Our money?" Sora chimed in disbelief.
"Don't get stuck in the little details. Come, let's eat."
----------------------------------------
In the afternoon Aidan worked on golem crafting. Sculpt clay dolls, carve the diagrams and cast the spells to animate it. Pearl was assigned to assist him in the carving to polish her spellcraft, while Sora and Cythrel received basic lessons on both wizardry and spellcraft.
"I missed it when you explained to me why are we making clay golems, Aidan," Pearl fished.
"I didn't, your Royal Highness," He replied with a toothy grin. Aidan used the title to annoy Pearl. "This is just a side project to master spellcraft."
Pearl looked at a couple of clay dolls moving clumsily on the desk. She picked one and erased the command circuit, basically killing the golem.
"They don't seem like the invincible menaces the books tell," Pearl commented at the now lifeless clay doll.
These golems here are designed to be easily disposed of," Explained Aidan. "The ones carved for war aren't. And the souls I'm using for these can barely hold the mana to animate the clay. I could put the command circuit inside the clay. And enchanted it with some protections."
"What kind of soul are you using to animate this clay?"
"Insects. I am using the bugs inside this laboratory. There are a lot of them hiding underneath the reagent cabinet."
Pearl shuddered at the thought. She finished drawing the diagrams with a thin pick and passed the inert clay doll to Aidan animate. He used the complex sequence of spells and after several minutes the newly-animated golem walked, or more precisely, stumbled around.
"Is that why they are this clumsy? The insect souls?"
"Yes. Golemcraft is considered a forbidden art because the best souls for golems are..."
"People?" Pearl was disturbed by the thought.
"Actually depending on the use, some monsters are better. After all, monsters can be much more violent than people. But yes, most crafters use people's souls. We don't need much to figure out that said souls are not inclined to spend eternity bound to a chunk of earthen materials."
"No, not really. And they devolve into a savage and vengeful nigh-indestructible force of destruction that can keep on destroying for centuries."
"Forever is more likely. And this is my second objective with golemcraft. Look."
Aidan created a cloud of Quintessence mana and directed the churning blob to cover one of the clay golems. The clay burned and the golem crumbled into a pile of grit.
"This spends too much mana. I can't wrap this into a spell without raising the Elemental complexity. My guess is that not even with all my mana pool I'd be able to affect a human-sized golem."
----------------------------------------
The next few days fell into a routine. Aidan had quarterstaff training with Jameson until lunch. He would take a shower after eating a quick lunch and went to the laboratory for more practice, complaining about his sore muscles. That afternoon he worked on spellcraft or golemcraft. One of the projects was the study of the diagrams he created after studying the Regalia Ring, but he was far from converting any diagram into a useable spell. That would still be faster than working on the new spell from scratch, but he would need a couple weeks of work. Dawn's job was to stay put and let the bracelets suck her mana.
The only time he left the academy was to visit the jeweller and pick up his commissioned items.
Aidan stopped working and looked at the book resting at the corner of his desk. Astromelicus took the sheaf of diagrams he drew that day to a bookbinder and now he was the proud author of "Musings on the Structure of Divine Tools, vol 1", the newest addition to the forbidden library of the Academy. He was expecting the Headmaster to bug him for textual explanations. So far the book was just a pretty illustration collection. He'd do it when he had time to spare.
Heh.
When he had time to spare. Please check back in a century.
"How's Dawn?" He was startled when Sora approached him. But thankfully she was well versed into startling him out of his work. She picked a moment where he'd not spill any ink.
"Sleeping. Want me to wake her up?" He could send a command through their shared soul to stimulate her body awake.
"Actually yes," Sora answered with a hopeful smile. "We are going to visit a new bakery that just opened and we promised to take both Princesses with us. Dawn needs to prep up and you know it takes time."
"The Princess dresses are in the dormitories. We'd have to go there and get one for her."
"She should have servants for that," Sora commented absentmindedly. Aidan's reply was rasp and to the point.
"She should not have that many secrets to hide from prying eyes. And you know better than me that gossip is the lifeblood of the servants of the aristocracy."
"Jerk!" Sora punched him. "Pearl is going there to change out of her uniform too. And no, I won't have Pearl fetch Dawn's dress."
"Fine, fine." Aidan woke up Dawn and found a dragon's haunches over her face. Skippy was licking the cores in her bracelets. From the amount of dragon drool on the bed, he was doing that for quite some time.
Aidan groaned. "I hope that the bakery is good."