“If these steps will keep us alive then I am all ears,” Khalik said.

The other members of Alex’s cabal moved closer.

“Alright, so here’s the steps,” the General said. “The first one is what we’re doing right now. We'll be dealing with a lot of monsters, and probably ones we've never seen before. In order to fight back successfully, we’ll need to be able to react quickly: since spells are your main way of attacking an enemy and defending yourselves, the faster you can spellcast, the better. So, we’ll be focusing on speed first.”

“That makes sense,” Isolde said. “I am sure we will be able to adapt…so what are your other ideas?”

Alex held up two fingers. “But casting quickly isn't exactly helpful if it causes you to run out of mana fast. So, we're going to be working on mana manipulation: I'll be teaching you a simple mana regeneration technique. It’ll let you get a hell of a lot more out of your mana pools by boosting them.”

Thundar shuddered. “Ugh, really? I'm no good at mana manipulation.”

“Then it's my job to teach you,” Alex said. “I'd probably be dead three or four times over if I wasn't able to regenerate my mana. As I said: casting a bunch of spells really fast won’t help anyone if they also drain their mana pool fast. If you run out of mana during an intense battle…it could mean the end for you.”

“”It's rare that we ever run out of mana,” Thundar said. “But I see your point. If we’re in a protracted battle…”

“Exactly,” Alex said. “Which brings me to our next step.” He took sheets of notes from his satchel. “I made these notes about mana circuits for you. They’re really detailed. They’re about common patterns, and ways to exploit them so you can learn spells faster. You could use them to modify spells since they’re so in depth. And you will. I want you knowing your spells inside out by the time we're done. Learning spells faster means you can also learn as many as you need to. Will you be able to learn them as fast as I can? Truth is, you won’t, but you’ll be a lot faster than you are now and that’ll give you an edge.”

“Three steps,” Khalik said. “And it’s already clear you are having us leave our comfort zones, which makes me both excited, while also dreading the fourth and fifth steps.”

“Four and five are going to be easier,” Alex said, producing two spell-guides. “I want you to focus on learning these two spells. Planar Doorway and True Seeing.”

Cedric raised his hand.

“Yes, Cedric?” Alex asked.

“Ah, teacher, what tier is True Seein’? I can cast up to fourth-tier.”

“I can cast to fifth,” Drestra added.

“Khalik and I are at fourth,” Thundar added.

“Sixth for me,” Isolde said. “So I would be able to learn it, but what about the others?”

“I’m going to push all of you to break through to sixth-tier,” Alex said. “And Isolde, I'd like you to be at seventh by the time we're through.”

Her eyebrows rose. “That…that hardly sounds possible.”

“I never knew you to back away from a challenge, Isolde, and this will be just another challenge,” Alex said. “At sixth-tier, you’ll all have the power and adaptability to survive. To conquer. Now, back to Planar Doorway and True Seeing. I picked those two spells because they have major benefits for us.”

Alex looked from one cabal member to the next. “This might sound a bit insensitive, but it isn’t meant to be, or to be a judgement…you're not as tough as the Heroes so you won't be able to take the kind of punishment they can. The best way to work around that, is to make sure that you have a way to escape at all times. Planar Doorway is a quick easy teleportation spell that'll get you out of the way of trouble. If you can't manage to learn to cast most spells without using their full incantations, then—at least—you have to be able to cast that one nonverbally. I want to make sure that you spellcasters can get out of the way of an attack with a twitch of a lip and a hand gesture.”

“That…sounds like something we can all agree on,” Thundar grinned. “We should work hard on getting that spell. What about True Seeing?”

“That’s another spell that’s going to be vital for you to learn,” Alex said. “We know the Ravener can make at least one monster that can turn invisible: the petrifier. But, we don't know if it can make others, and it won’t matter how well prepared we are, if we have no idea if a monster is right beside us if we can’t see it. The petrifier’s attack on Greymoor was a surprise that cost a lot of lives, and if True Seeing can help prevent that from happening again, you should learn it.”

“I remember that attack as if it happened yesterday,” Isolde said.

“As do I,” Khalik agreed.

“True,” Thundar echoed.

Alex raised his hand, counting off each finger. “So that's the plan. Learn how to cast without words for speed, learn mana regeneration for endurance in battle, learn the details of magic circuits to expand your toolboxes, learn Planar Doorway to escape, and learn True Seeing so you won’t be surprised by invisible attackers. And to do all this, you need to break through spellcasting tiers. Everyone got that?”

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“If those steps will help us to defeat our enemy, then of course,” Isolde said.

Thundar and Khalik nodded in agreement.

“I have a question, Alex,” Drestra said. “What about Hart and Merzhin? Your plan doesn’t include them?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Alex said. “I’m going to come up with some specific things for them.”

“Aye, sounds good,” Cedric said. “Just t’warn ya, learnin’ details about spell arrays ain’t gonna be easy fer me. I ain’t one fer details.”

“I'm sure you can learn it,” Alex said. “We’ll work together and expand your individual strengths. I’m still working on the plan, so just bear with me.”

“Aye,” Cedric said. “I trust ya.”

“But now!” Alex clapped his hands. “Break time’s over. Let’s move on: it’s time to start learning Planar Doorway, so everybody, lineup!”

Alex conjured Wizard’s Hands with a snap of his finger, and had them retrieve several sheets of paper from his bag.

They floated over to his attentive group and handed them out.

“I looked through the spell-guide for Planar Doorway. Just so you know, it's a bit of a complicated spell, so I broke down every part of its spell array to the easiest, and simplest steps I could,” Alex said. “If you study everything on your sheets, not only will you learn Planar Doorway faster, but you'll also see to what extent a magic circuit can be broken down. What that’ll do is make learning the details of other spells simpler and faster for you, at the same time, you’ll be having an easier time casting Planar Doorway nonverbally. First, I want you to read through the notes. I'll explain anything that's not clear, if you have questions.”

“Ah…” Cedric scratched his head, staring at the pages. “This looks…I can’t hardly understand a word o’ this.”

“That's okay, Cedric.” The General went to the Chosen. “I'll break it down step-by-step. By the time we’re finished, it’ll be as easy for you as breathing.”

“Aye? I’ll take yer word fer it,” the Chosen said, sounding a little sceptical.

“Anyone else have any questions?” Alex asked.

The others shook their heads.

“Then let's begin,” he said.

In the distant forest, sounds rumbling like thunder cracked again.

Explosions tore through trees.

‘We're finished…with the dungeon, father,’ Claygon thought through their link. ‘We’ll be bringing the…core essence back soon.’

‘Good,’ Alex thought. ‘Toraka’ll be happy about that. I took the golems I made in Kelda’s sanctum to her, and she told me that we can definitely use more materials. Sales keep growing. I’m gonna have to talk to her…both her and Councillor Kartika, for that matter. There's a lot for us to discuss and plan for if the source for dungeon cores is eliminated.’

He looked up at the sky.

‘But first, I have to speak to Professor Mangal. It's time I got her permission to challenge the Exams for Credit.’

‘Good luck…father…We’ll see you soon…’

----------------------------------------

“Come in,” Professor Mangal’s soft voice called through the door.

The young archwizard opened it, stepping into the summoning professor’s office.

It was just as he remembered. Statuettes, paintings, and pieces of art depicting pretty horrifying looking, otherworldly, creatures were on almost every flat surface in the room. From under a sheet of glass sitting atop a wooden desk, demonic faces etched into the wood leered up at her. The desk’s legs were of bleached cherry wood carved in the images of stately engeli and various elementals. A tall window was crafted of coloured glass, its colour-stained light fell on an unnerving oil painting below it.

It showed a scene depicting a ridiculous amount of violence: demons and other monsters were tearing each other apart in a fiery wasteland that resembled flesh and blackened clots of blood. Bodies lay everywhere.

Slaughter in the Flesh Fields of Avernus is what the painting was called.

Seeing the framed massacre hanging from the wall reminded Alex of the Ravener. ‘I hope we end up ripping that thing apart just like this,’ he thought.

The young summoning professor was bent over her desk, her quill scrawling across a sheet of parchment.

“Welcome, Alex. You are welcome here, and you are also right on time,” she said, eyes still on her paperwork.

“I am welcome here?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

“Of course you are,” she assured him. “I would guess that you are nervous about this meeting. After all, we did have an arrangement to work together, and then you were forced to disappear. Judging from what I know of you, I suspect you have some guilt over this.”

Alex winced, remembering how guilty he felt about having to abandon his arrangement with the summoning professor. Guilt had haunted him during his time in the Irtyshenan wilderness.

“Yeah, you guessed right,” he admitted, easing into one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I'm sorry about what happened. At the time, I felt leaving was the only choice I could make to keep my family safe from…the things I was facing…I had to stay away from Generasi.”

Professor Mangal finished her note and looked up at him.

She seemed to be looking through him.

“Sometimes, to protect those we care about, and to come closer to our goals, we must make sacrifices. If we are very lucky, they are temporary. If we are not so lucky, they are permanent. You've returned to the university, and I think that is what is most important.” She smiled. “Welcome home, Alex. You are not the first student who had to delay studies due to family matters, matters of state, or matters of safety. I doubt you will be the last.”

“Thanks for being so understanding,” Alex said, sighing with relief. “You're making this conversation a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

“It is my job to be reasonable, and to take care of my students. I was disappointed I could not guide you on your journey to higher-tier summoning spells, as Professor Jules tells me that you have progressed to ninth-tier summoning spells? Is this true?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, proudly. “It is.”

“If that is in fact true, then our arrangement will no longer work, since you are now more powerful than I am,” she laughed.

“Well, you have a lot more experience than I do, so there’s still a lot you can teach me.”

“A lot that we can teach each other. Tell me, Alex, are you still interested in working with me after you graduate?”

“Absolutely,” Alex said.

“Good.” She locked her fingers together. “Then I would like to suggest a little change to our arrangement. We would not only be studying together as student and teacher, but as colleagues.”

“That sounds interesting,” Alex said. “Tell me more.”

She held up her hand. “First, I would love it if you would demonstrate a ninth-tier summoning spell for me.”

The young wizard grinned. “I'd be glad to. But…could you summon Then-Arus for me? I think he might enjoy my demonstration.”