“And here we are! The Academy of the All-Aeon Athenaeum!” Efratel exclaimed cheerily. They both stepped off one of the many teleportation arrays and walked out of the path of all the people around them to observe the place for a moment. A notification dinged for them.

[You are standing on the grounds of the All-Aeon Athenaeum’s Academy, a Sub-Faction of a Supreme Institution.]

The Academy was an immensely tall structure made of towering spires, the main colours of its brick being predominantly dark purple, blue, and black. Its tallest spire rose above the clouds. It was covered on all sides by thousands of mana-circles and larger magic arrays that whirled and hummed, stirring up the mana as millions of spells were cast each second. In a semi-circle around the front of the Academy were around fifty large domed buildings with roofs depicting constellations of all kinds, the teleportation arrays of the Spatial Tower. Millions of people streamed to and from these buildings, most dressed in robes denoting their school, Order or Tower of magic. Strange levitating objects whirled around many of the people, magical devices of different kinds.

Marellen turned around and walked back to the teleportation array. “You know, I think I’ve changed my mind. Let’s just go back and-”

“Not happening,” Efratel said as he grabbed Marellen’s collar and dragged him back. “And your father has already sent a message about this to your mother. Are you willing to face her wrath when you return so quickly?”

Marellen shot his cousin a weary look. “Is there not some other way to avoid Archmage Merkenia? In fact, isn’t directly joining a sub-Faction of All-Aeon Athenaeum the most likely way to meet him again?”

“Which is why we decided to send you here so quickly, so no news about this reaches Alichanteu for some time,” Efratel retorted, yanking on his wrist, and dragging him towards the direction of the Academy.

Marellen pulled weakly against him, but unfortunately, his complete disregard for the STR stat meant it was useless. He gave up and despondently trudged after the blonde-haired man.

They walked through the crowds of people to enter the main reception hall of the Athenaeum, where new students went for the first time. He wasn’t a new student, having done his education there up until he was eighteen, but they needed to go there, as he was coming back as an academic. He shuddered as he remembered his teenage memories of the place. He was glad he was staying far, far away from that part of the Academy.

A young male mage dressed in dark purple robes of the Academy’s staff uniform came up to them. “Can I help you with something?”

He stayed silent as Efratel stepped forward with a polite smile. “I’m here to submit the sponsorship registration documents as his private manager.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Ah, yes! Please, follow me.”

They did so, walking behind the mage as he led them off to a side hallway of the main reception hall. He took them to a smaller room that had several people sitting behind desks, some of them talking to other people. They were brought to a desk, where the man behind it, dressed in long white robes, looked up.

“A recipient and his manager for the sponsorship program,” their guide explained, before bowing slightly and leaving them with the man.

The mage in the white robes, appearing in his mid-30s nodded and stood up to shake hands with them both. “Vicela Mesifeth,” he introduced. “A High-mage of the White Order. I’m currently in charge of the sponsorship program.”

Marellen and Efratel nodded after shaking hands with him. “My name is Efratel Vadel, and this is my cousin Marellen Vadel, who I am the manager of, and who will be sponsored to enter the Academy,” he explained.

“I see. You have the registration forms?” the man asked.

Efratel, using a dimensional item he owned, summoned the papers to his hands and passed them over. The High-mage briefly glanced at them, and after seeing the seal of the All-Aeon Athenaeum, he nodded and gestured for them to follow. “I’ll take you to the Academy’s Archive to register this.”

They followed him down a few corridors for a while, until they entered a massive hall filled with many bookcases, automatically being sorted through and distributed by mana-circles and magic arrays. Set into the centre of the hall was a giant bronze sphere, slowly rotating where it was in the floor, covered in ever-shifting runes, and projecting many different multi-coloured symbols and icons into the empty air above it. A handrail separated people from the sphere, and on four sides of the outer ring around the sphere, there were slanted tables covered in buttons and switches of all kinds. Many people were at the tables, controlling the sphere’s projections, reading, and accessing data.

Marellen had only seen the Junior Academy’s Archive artifact, which was larger than a house, but this one was five times the size. He knew the Archive artifact of All-Aeon Athenaeum’s origin plane was even larger and more powerful, linked to all the Sub-Factions’ Archive artifacts.

Vicela walked up the circular ring of stairs to the only empty table, raised slightly higher above the other tables. A small white circle appeared horizontally above his palm, and then a round brass device dropped into his hand. He held up Efratel’s and Marellen’s registration documents and pressed a button on the brass device, and it lit up with a cyan glow. It beamed a ray of light onto both documents and then dimmed, which was when the High-mage inserted the orb into an empty circular slot on the table. He passed the documents back to Efratel as the table lit up with a hum, and he began manipulating the controls.

The High-mage explained some of what he was doing to them. “If you were just a normal Academic, then we could just give you your Archive orb to connect you to the sub-Faction, and wouldn’t need to do this,” he said. “But as you’re being sponsored, your manager, who would normally not be able to stay on Athenaeum property, will also need to be linked to the Archive. As he is not a mage of All-Aeon Athenaeum, he will need a slightly different device.”

The projections continued to twist and arrange themselves to form different sentences, all using the original language structure of runes. After a few seconds, the table stopped glowing, and he removed the brass orb. Then he turned to them. “The Archive now has your information, and you have been registered as a private manager and academic mage of the Senior Academy. Follow me to collect your Archive items.”

They walked to another section of the immense hall, where several tall glass cases stood against a wall. He opened one of the cases and took out another bronze orb that looked like his own, as well as a large brass ring that appeared to be a bracelet. He raised his orb, which lit up again, beaming light onto both of the new objects. Both of the objects glowed in response, after which he handed the orb to Marellen and the bracelet to Efratel.

“Use your mana to mana-bind the objects,” the High-mage told them. He looked at Efratel. “As you are not a true member of the Athenaeum, you will only have temporary Sub-Faction access. But this will enable you to contact the recipient while on Athenaeum property, as well as access most of the functions of an Archive orb.”

Marellen inserted a thin stream of mana into the bronze orb on his palm and blinked as he felt it link with the object, a semi-permanent string constantly connected to the item. Then he raised his eyes when he heard the familiar sound of a System notification.

[The Supreme Institution of All-Aeon Athenaeum:]

[Welcome back to the Academy, Marellen Vadel.]

He instantly felt sour as soon as he saw that notification, but didn’t focus on it as Vicela started walking again once they had bound their items. They followed as he left the Archive hall, taking them back to the room they had found him in. He gestured to one of the staff, who walked up.

“Take this man to the 57th floor so he can receive information about his authority as a private manager and the sponsorship regulations.”

He nodded, and Efratel waved to Marellen as he left. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Now that’s done….” the High-mage said, turning to Marellen. “We need to go over what conditions your sponsor has asked for, and your previous information recorded in the Archive, to see what will need to happen for you.”

…

Sometime later, Marellen and Vicela entered what seemed to be the High-mage’s private office. With a gesture from the High-mage, he sat down on a plush armchair opposite the man’s desk, while the white-robed man walked behind the desk and opened a few draws, searching for something. A small glowing orb sat on his desk, spinning with a constant mechanical buzz as it sat within a crystal container. The walls of the room were lined with roof-high bookcases filled with heavy books, and several tables near the bookcases had other magical items sprawled across them.

The High-mage sat down when he had found what he was looking for, a small metal stand that he placed on his desk, and then sat his Archive orb on. He dragged a piece of paper before him and picked up a pen as the orb lit up, and projected lines of neat runic script into the air between them.

“Right. So, your name is Marellen Vadel?” he began, reading off the projection.

“Yes sir,” Marellen replied with a nod.

“Then I’ll just check with you to make sure all this data is correct,” the man said, jotting down words on the page before him. “You completed your education at the Junior Academy, studied at the Senior Academy for two years after that, and then graduated?”

Marellen nodded, and so the High-mage continued reading his information. “You’re quite young to receive a sponsorship then…” he murmured absentmindedly, making Marellen wince as he knew what was coming. Vicela paused and frowned slightly when he saw something else. “Graduated five years ago?”

Marellen suppressed a sigh. He knew he appeared young due to his innately high magical density, something that came about due to his father being a High-mage before his birth and was also responsible for his hair that refused all forms of alteration, but it was incredibly annoying to be mistaken as an eighteen-year-old, Every. Single. Time. That was without mentioning the teenage girls….

“I’m twenty-three,” he replied wearily.

The High-mage looked up and stared at him for a moment before he coughed. “Ahem. All is in order then. And… upper ranked magecraft graduate for that year? With those grades?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That was the year the 74th 5th generation Princess graduated,” Marellen explained.

“Ah, no wonder then,” the High-mage remarked. “Very few could beat a member of the royal family, and that would’ve pushed everyone’s ranking down. But you should’ve received several offers to become a personal student….”

Marellen grimaced as the High-mage’s eyes flew wide open, having found the offers in question in the information. “2 Archmages…. 4 Grand-mages… 7 High-mages….” He stared incredulously at Marellen. “You didn’t accept one of these?”

“…could we please move on?” Marellen replied weakly.

Vicela gazed at him for a second longer, before sighing. “I suppose it’s none of my business. Let’s have a look at the conditions set by your sponsor that should already be in the Archives…”

Marellen watched the projection change, showcasing new details. He was curious to know, as he didn’t know what conditions he had to meet. He blinked as the High-mage frowned. “There’s…. nothing. There’s only a request to know what people approach you, High-mage or higher, and the general request to send your basic progress information over to them. That last one is a common request for all sponsorships, but they’ve given you complete freedom over everything.”

Vicela looked up in confusion. “There’s not even a budget set. What kind of sponsor would ever do that?” Then the High-mage paused. “I should probably check who your sponsor is.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Marellen shifted awkwardly in his seat as the man searched for the information. Then silence fell on them as he found out who it was.

The High-mage slowly raised his eyes to look at Marellen. “You’re the recipient of the Aurelian Commission Head,” he stated blandly.

“Apparently, but I wouldn’t know why they picked me,” Marellen replied, hoping he wouldn’t ask questions.

Vicela continued to stare at him, before shaking his head. “Whatever then. Considering you’re being sponsored by an Empire noble rather than one of the vassal kingdoms’ nobles, that will authorize you to access higher-grade spells within the Archive, without the research contribution requirements they need.” He put down his pen and intertwined his fingers. “It seems all your information is accurate, so I’ll now explain what’s available to you as a sponsored academic, and what you need to do.”

Marellen nodded, so Vicela began. “I understand as a former student here, you don’t need me to repeat the information about the Academy’s facilities and normal operations itself, so I’ll skip that part. As a Grade 1 Academic, you have access to every department’s resources and don’t need the same special access permissions as them. You’ll have access to the same information level as most 5th-year students as well,” he said.

“As your sponsor hasn’t set any conditions for you,” he continued, “You will be able to select what department to enter, what research topic to pick, or even topics if you wish. This can be completed using the Sub-Faction access of your Archive orb. Now, while studying as a student requires you to gain the appropriate merit points to pass your selected area, academics have a different process to go through.”

The High-mage leaned forward slightly with a serious expression. “You need to gain contribution points. This is a type of Athenaeum currency that only academics or full members of the Orders and Towers have access to. With it, you can purchase spells, skills, spell tomes, magical materials, items, artifacts, and other resources. Even as a sponsored academic, there will be some things unavailable for your sponsor to purchase using crowns under any circumstances….” Then he hesitated. “…. Is what I’m supposed to say, but the Aurelian Commission Head is slightly different,” he said with a light cough.

“We tell that to nobility because the actual price of those resources is so astronomically high that it’s better we don’t reveal this, so they won’t try to purchase them and embarrass themselves, creating political issues. We’ve had too many problems with that in the past,” he explained with an awkward look on his face. “But I’ll allow your sponsor to purchase those without your contribution points if they so wish, considering the amount of money available to them.” He frowned. “They also haven’t set a condition for them to receive part of your contribution, so you will be able to use your contribution purely on yourself. This means you will have access to a lot of contribution, as we set the contribution gain rate to be higher for a recipient, expecting the opposite.”

…..Marellen was getting the feeling he really, really needed to have a talk with Efratel about this sponsor of his, because he had no idea what they wanted from him. The lack of expectations was making him more worried than he thought he’d feel if there were expectations placed on him.

The High-mage shook his head with a sigh after a moment. “I won’t change that. Considering you haven’t even been given a budget, it doesn’t matter whether you have access to more contribution points or not. Anyway,” he continued, gesturing to the bronze sphere he still held. “Contribution can also allow you to purchase more features for the Archive orb, and as an academic, you have private lodgings, so you can also have your lodgings customised to your wishes. All of this information and more will be sent to your Archive orb.”

He stood up and passed Marellen a sheet of paper. “Tomorrow at midday you need to turn up at the Magic Assessment Facility so the Academy can record your current level of ability. Use your Sub-Faction access through your Archive orb to find the location. Do you have any more questions before you leave?”

Oh, Marellen had many, but not something the High-mage in front of him could answer, unfortunately.

…

“Who in the realms is the Faction Head?!” he hissed, slamming his palms against the table.

His blonde-haired cousin just chuckled and reclined back in his armchair as he drank his tea. “I’m revealing nothing. Have a bit of patience, and you’ll find out.”

Marellen groaned and sat back down in his armchair. They were in a café that was part of the residential area of the Academy, and he had cast a sound barrier spell to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation. “Efratel, I’m not saying this because I’m curious. I’m worried.”

Efratel raised an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t be. They’re not that scary.”

“Then explain to me why I somehow seem to have no conditions whatsoever listed for my sponsorship,” Marellen replied wearily. He raised his Archive orb and activated it, setting it to levitate between them. Then it projected the ‘list’ of conditions in the form of a white-blue System screen.

Efratel leaned forward to read…. what was barely a few sentences. He leaned back and crossed his arms with a strange expression.

“Come to think of it, we didn’t discuss the finer details of what this sponsorship entails,” he remarked.

“….Isn’t that the most important thing to discuss?” Marellen asked incredulously.

“Well… I couldn’t meet with them very often due to the attention being placed on them last week. I barely got to see them the day after the event,” Efratel replied with a hand on his chin. “But they asked for me to keep contacting them, so it’s not like you’ll be kept at the Academy for the rest of time doing nothing. I told you yesterday about the expeditions, remember?”

Marellen frowned slightly. “I don’t have any experience with field research. And it would be dangerous for somebody with no experience to go to places like the Old Era planes, which have strange magical phenomena nobody understands.”

“That’s probably why they sent you here first, rather than straight into those outer planes,” Efratel explained. “And you’d likely be going with Roa if you did.”

“Have you contacted her yet?” Marellen asked.

Efratel shook his head. “Not yet. That’s what I’ll be doing this week. That, and probably contacting your sponsor to work out a few more details, considering we’re rather lacking in that department.” Then he smiled. “But first, let’s have a look at just what’s available to you now!”

He sighed and tapped on the System screen to access other features of his Sub-Faction access. “So… do I pick a department?”

“Hmm.” Efratel considered it. “I think we wait on that one. I need to check which departments support expeditions, after all, and I’d like to contact the Faction Head first.” He pointed to a function on the screen. “Why don’t we check the Archive orb?”

Still feeling very unsettled and not impressed by Efratel’s unwillingness to explain who the Faction Head was, he tapped on the button to take them to the screen that showed the options available for his Archive orb customisation.

“Elemental ratio scanning… golem automation…. alchemy recombiner…. semi-array engraving module?” Efratel said with an odd look on his face, reading out some of the options. “I’m not quite sure what a lot of this means. You might need to check this out in your own time.”

“I’m familiar with how the Archive orb operates, although I never received a professional model like this,” Marellen replied. “I got one to use during my time here at the Junior Academy, and then one at the Senior Academy as well.” He read the list of options again. “This orb is the complete version, however, and will be what I continue to use if I get transferred to the Aeonic plane.”

He looked at his cousin as he had a thought. “Has my sponsor said anything about that topic?”

“Transferal?” Efratel asked, slightly surprised. He considered it. “No, they haven’t. I don’t think they would be against it. You being a full member of the Athenaeum would probably be more beneficial for any potential expeditions.”

“…I’m still not sure what I think about that,” Marellen muttered.

“Well, at least try it once before you decide what you think. Also, wouldn’t you be safer now with that… new addition to your skillset?” Efratel said, raising an eyebrow.

“Again, if I could receive enough information from the skill to guess what events will occur, it wouldn’t be a Rare skill,” Marellen retorted. “It’s nowhere near powerful enough to calculate more than the results of a low-ranked spell.”

Efratel shrugged, then held his chin. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Have you tested out the spell it gave you yet?”

Marellen blinked and then shook his head. “Not yet, no. Maybe that’s something I should do… I wonder how it interacts with unbalanced mana reactions….” he murmured thoughtfully.

His cousin shook his head wryly. “Please consider these things later, when I’m not here in front of you. For now, let’s just discuss what we’re both going to do this week.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what Efratel and Marellen planned to do.

…

“Marellen Vadel…. yes, you’ve been registered for the testing. Please follow me,” the staff member said after reading the information projected by his orb.

Marellen followed the man through the hallways of the Magic Assessment Facility, rooms behind glass walls on either side. He could see mages testing their abilities and casting spells at obstacles and on the testing equipment, the whole spatially expanded level echoing with the sound of destructive magic. The staff member held up his orb to beam onto a sealed door, taking him to one of the more advanced rooms. The room didn’t hold many people, and he was told to wait for a bit.

Sometime afterwards, his name was called, and so he stepped through a pair of doors to enter a small circular room. Standing on a level slightly higher than him and behind a protective mana-shield were two people. One was sitting behind a control table of sorts, while the other was standing, wearing red robes and appearing in his mid-40s. The red-robed man stepped forward to talk to him through the barrier.

“High-mage Demar Edgelin of the Red Order. Before we begin, I would like to ask you for your name, Rank, level, mage advancement, and class details,” he explained. “You can choose to hide your class details if you wish, but if we detect abilities that come from any classes under Ancient already registered in the Archive, these details will be added to your records.”

Marellen nodded. “Marellen Vadel, at Rank 2, Level 212. I’m an advanced mage. My main classes are All-Element Mage, Runic Decipherer and Spellcraft Scholar. I also have an Element Alchemist side class.”

“So, two Rare main classes, and an Epic main class. All-Element Mage… hmm,” the High-mage mused. “Level 212 is a rather high level for someone registered to have been Level 70 five years ago, and also without a battle class, but I suppose that can be attributed to your non-combat Rare classes of Runic Decipherer and Spellcraft Scholar. Moving on then,” he said, with a gesture to the man at the control table.

The man nodded and pressed a button. The floor in front of Marellen opened up to reveal a large clear orb sitting on a stand. Demar gestured to it. “Place a hand on it to allow us to record your basic affinities.”

Marellen suppressed a sigh and did as asked. He inserted his mana into the large head-sized crystal, which quickly gained swirling hues of red, brown, blue, white, yellow, and black. The two people watching the orb waited for the colour distribution to change and show his dominant affinities. It didn’t.

“Naturally balanced affinities for all six essential elements? This isn’t on the setting that tests runic model enhanced affinity, is it?” the High-mage asked the man next to him. The man shook his head, making Demar raise his eyebrows.

“A Minor affinity for all six…. You could use any and every school’s runic model. You’re quite the talent,” the High-mage remarked.

Marellen smiled awkwardly. “It’s only an innate ability.”

“It is. And therefore, we will test your current magical proficiency now,” Demar replied with a nod. He turned to the man at the control table, who flipped a switch. Glowing magical targets lit up on the walls behind Marellen, so he turned to face them.

“The standard multi-casting fireball test first. When you’re ready,” the High-mage announced.

Raising his hand to gesture at the targets, Marellen rotated his runic model to access the right runes. Then he used his mana to project them into his field of influence. Thirty small mana-circles appeared, which he used to shoot the targets with orange balls of fire mana with a bang.

Demar nodded. “Above average multi-casting abilities. Very good.” He gestured to the man next to him. “Onto the next test. Please cast the spell with the most layers that you can cast so we can test your multi-layer spell-casting ability.”

Carefully arranging the required runes needed, Marellen built up his spell. The High-mage raised his eyebrows when he was done.

“6-layer advanced spell? That’s rather impressive,” he commented. “Then we’ll now do parallel elemental manipulation. Considering you have all six affinities, show us how many you can manipulate at the same time.”

Marellen released his mana into the surrounding air, the multi-coloured gaseous hues swirling and mixing. Then he slowly added effects to it and pushed the mana into six different orb-like structures. Spinning in a circle around him was an orb of water, a ball of fire, a cyclonic whirlwind, a hard rocky clump, a radiant spark, and a shadowy swirling circle. He maintained them for the High-mage to see.

“All six. You must have spent quite some time learning to multi-task like that,” Demar remarked. “Let’s move on. A couple more tests.”

They continued testing to document his abilities. Some were tests that tested his flow rate, others his elemental comprehension which would allow him to summon his elements, and there were a few that tested his rune arrangement speed and his field of influence size. The High-mage nodded one last time.

“One final test. Please attack the mana barrier of the wall over there with your most powerful spell. You can have as much preparation time as you need,” he stated.

Marellen considered it for a moment.

I’m sure the earth-fire fusion would do more pure damage, but if it’s power…

He turned to face the mana barrier opposite the High-mage. Raising his hand, he pointed at it as he released his elemental mana. The mana began to be attracted to a singular point set a few metres away from his face in mid-air.

Wind, 15%. Water, 16%. Now add fire, 5%. Earth, light, dark, another 6% each.

A multi-coloured orb began coalescing, filled with dense elemental runes, and quickly drawing in all the mana within the room, causing the orb to swell. He raised his other hand, and three rings of dense dark-blue runic lines wrapped around the swelling orb, restraining it in place.

Arcane mana seal, 3-layered tri-bind. Another 10% of fire, light and dark.

The High-mage behind him widened his eyes, but Marellen didn’t see it. Small flecks of mana began flaking away from the mana barrier as the outer edges of the room became a vacuum of mana, the energy all being attracted to the psychedelic swirling sphere the size of his head hovering in front of him, thin streams of dense elements adding to it. It strained against its seal but didn’t break.

He winced as several of the seal’s runes disintegrated, the pull of the mana becoming too strong, and the orb instantly swelled again. He tried to add another seal, but only one ring of runes attached themselves properly. A slight breeze ruffled his clothes and hair as the wind mana was drawn into the orb.

And slowly, 1% more earth…. 2% more earth….

Several more seal runes fractured, and a slight headache began to build as he struggled to control the conflicting energies within the orb. He cautiously added more earth mana, but the fire mana within the orb repeatedly flared up as he did so. When he got to 10% earth mana, the orb bulged and strained again with new intensity, the sealing runes barely holding it in place.

“Activate the next tier of mana barriers,” Demar ordered the man next to him.

Sensing the spell wasn’t going to achieve completion, Marellen quickly materialised several mana shields to hide behind. Then he frowned slightly as he received a strange sensation from his runic model.

My skill is telling me… to add more earth mana? Now?

He glanced at the orb, only a few seconds from bursting. Then he gritted his teeth and did so. The orb instantly shattered its seal and the air gained the vibrating sensation of chaotic mana as the sphere began distorting in shape. They cautiously shielded their eyes as they waited for it to burst….

…but it didn’t.

They stared at the elemental spell that had finally formed. Surrounded by six rings of elemental essence, the six-coloured orb sat peacefully in mid-air, twice the size of Marellen’s head. The runes within shifted and slowly cycled, switching to different elements with a regular pattern. The surrounding mana had completely stilled but there was tension present in the atmosphere.

“… It seems the earth mana stabilised it,” Marellen muttered quietly. Before the High-mage could say anything, he gestured with his hands, and the orb floated near the mana barrier. Then, Marellen activated the spell.

Boom!

With an exceedingly quick speed, the orb and its rings unravelled, unleashing the full force of its elemental blast into the room. The mana barrier, and even the newer ones that had been set up, trembled, and cracked like fracturing glass, while the floor vibrated with the force. A rainbow gaseous hue swept the room like a gust of wind, the multi-coloured mana swirling about the place and not losing its colour until a full thirty seconds had passed.

Marellen watched the result curiously. It was the first time that spell had ever formed successfully for him.

Even with the fire mana conflicting, adding the earth mana at the last second briefly stabilised it enough for the natural elemental balancing of the spell to correct it without my intervention. This supports my theory that elements have a fundamental optimal ratio they require to maintain constant manifestation and lines up with what my Origin Skill demonstrates when I test it using fusion elements. I have to wonder if this ‘optimal ratio’ is another fundamental behaviour relating to the Mana Resonance Principle, or if this ratio can be considered a new principle altogether….

“-adel.”

…another interesting detail was the mental suggestion I received from my new skill. I felt the desire to perform that action, when predicting the outcome of a spell of this magnitude should lie outside my hypothesised parameters for the skill. Perhaps this ‘optimal ratio’ is what the skill’s cause and effect analysis is built on, tracking changes from this origin point of perfect harmony. My spell is not an archetypal version of any natural elemental harmony, but it was capable of being self-contained through some unknown process after I added that earth mana. This also suggests the possibility that my sense of cause and effect will exponentially increase the further the environmental atmospheric mana is from natural harmony, an opposite conclusion to what my first results from the skill pointed to. As for how to test thi-

“Vadel!”

He blinked when he realised Demar Edgelin was calling him. He turned around to face the High-mage. “My apologies. I was lost in thought,” he said with a slight bow.

The red-robed man regarded him with mild bemusement for a moment and then shook his head. “Happens to the best of us I suppose. All right then, Attack power-” He paused, and reread the sentence the Archive orb he had attached to the control table was projecting. He slowly spoke with a strange expression, “Attack power: lower advanced mage, mana density: upper advanced mage, runic theorem…….” He turned back to Marellen with a slightly astonished look on his face. “Lower High-mage level.”

Marellen remained silent, uncaring. Hearing that may make some people happy, but not him. The only reason why his spell could be completed was due to pure chance, after all, and had no influence from his knowledge of runes. The fact he relied on his new skill to cast the spell was just a sign that his understanding of magic wasn’t high enough.

The High-mage sighed. “Overall magic level: peak-level advanced mage. At Level 212.” He shook his head. “Maybe I’m getting old. Anyway, that’s it for you. Advanced mage Marellen Vadel, you may go.”

With a nod, he did so and left the room with slightly quicker steps than he entered. Considering the newest event with his spell and skill, he was eager to test out new ideas and experiment.

After all, he had magic to do.