Throughout the week, Suho saw the mice in their cages growing. Their eyes were still closed, but they had fur now, and they’d gotten noticeably larger. It was no wonder Hwan needed someone to manage all the little tasks. He needed to monitor the data every second of every day that he had to spare, to make sure nothing important was missed.

After installing the magic devices, there hadn't been any more major work for Suho. But on Friday, that changed. Hwan was at his computer, clicking through pages of data, while Suho was wiping down the condensation that had fogged up one of the plant cages. Suddenly, he noticed that one of the data points had stopped sending information in. It had dropped off of the graph entirely.

This was expected. The magic power devices needed to be refilled every once in a while. There was a liquid solution they came with that would create the gaseous magic power that was used in the experiment. Hwan had stocked up on it.

“Suho, cage 26 ran out of juice,” he said. “Refill it.”

Suho closed the cage he was cleaning and glanced at #26. A red LED was indeed blinking on its device’s surface, indicating it was empty.

He went over to the cabinets and opened them. Inside were boxes of plastic ampoules. This was his first time doing a refill, but he’d been briefed on how to do it. He took a box down and fished an ampoule out. There was a clear liquid inside. Hwan had warned him not to come near him with that in his hands. He’d end up covered in hives if it spilled.

He returned to cage #26 and reached up to the magic device screwed into its face. On the top of it was a tiny hatch that opened a port-like hole. Suho broke the lid off of the plastic ampoule and stuck it in, upside down.

The liquid slowly drained. And as it did, the data on Hwan’s screen started back up again. Suho removed the ampoule and shut the hatch. He tossed the empty plastic tube into the bin.

“Make sure you keep an eye on all the devices’ fill levels,” Hwan said. “Don't let them run out.”

“Yes, sir.”

There were probably quite a few more that would need refills soon, considering one had already been used up. It was one of the devices set to the highest power, so Suho checked the last column of cages. They were all low.

“There’s not much left in these,” he said. “Should I refill them now?”

“Do it.”

Hwan monitored the data being received. He wasn't effected by the drug in liquid form unless he directly touched it, so he didn't need to worry about having any negative reactions as long as Suho stayed away. Suho finished refilling the devices and looked around. His eyes landed on the tissue box on the desk.

“Need this?” Hwan asked, pointing to it.

“Yes.”

“Did you spill some?”

“Just a bit.”

He’d gotten his fingers wet while removing the last ampoule. Hwan threw the box to him.

“Clean up. While you're at it, check to make sure there’s no leftover residue on the devices you refilled.”

“Yes, sir.”

Suho wiped his hands off. Hwan watched him. Part of him was envious of hunters. They took their immunity to magic power for granted. Suho could touch and interact with that drug like it was water. For the people with the worst allergies, it would probably burn their skin off.

“Do you not feel anything at all?” Hwan asked.

“Because of this?”

Suho held his fingers up. The professor nodded.

“No,” he answered. “I mean, it’s wet and cold. But that’s it.”

“You're one of the lucky ones.”

“Should it feel like something?”

Hwan scowled, mood dropping. Look at this kid who knew nothing about the real world. Suho instantly detected the shift in his expression, but it was too late to cover up his mistake.

“Yes, even the almighty awakened usually feel something,” Hwan said. “That’s magic power concentrate on your hands. It might not hurt, but it’s not water. Can’t you tell when you’re close to magic power?”

Suho searched his memories, but nothing came to mind.

“I don't know,” he replied. “I don't think so. I’ve never dealt with magic much.”

“Good grief, what are they teaching the hunter kids these days…”

Hwan remembered what Lucian had told him when he’d introduced Suho. He was ranked #6 in the hunter class. Was this just how people were at that rank? It felt like they lived in completely different worlds at times.

“Well you're going to need to learn how to deal with magic,” he said. “This entire study relies on magic power.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

Hwan leaned back in his chair, turning his attention to the work he’d been doing on his computer.

“Take out the trash,” he commanded. “I don't want those ampoules sitting in here for longer than they need to be.”

“Yes, sir.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Suho went to empty the garbage bin. Beside it on the floor was the box of the magic power devices. There were extras still inside.

“Professor Hwan?” he called.

“What?”

“Can I borrow one of these?”

He held up one of the spare devices.

“I’ll return it as soon as I can.”

Hwan’s brow furrowed as he considered it. They weren't cheap. But there were plenty left over that were just collecting dust.

“Go ahead,” he answered. “But when you bring it back, mark it as used.”

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

Suho tucked it under his arm and continued to tie off the trash bag.

If his classes didn't teach him how to detect magic power in the air, maybe there was a way to do it himself.

⊕

Suho was determined to figure it out on his own, but he wasn't really alone. He’d contacted Kitae for help, who had found out that Sunghyun had already reserved a training room, so they'd commandeered it from him and were sitting in the center of it, hunched over the magic power device.

Sunghyun wiped his sweat and put his sword away. He wasn't going to get anymore training done like this. He returned to where Kitae was inspecting the device and its instruction manual.

“This is pretty interesting,” he said. “So there are eight stages of magic power that it can release, including the zeroth. Have you tried all of them?”

Suho nodded.

“We’re using all of them in Professor Hwan’s project. I can't tell the difference between them at all, so I wanted to see if you could. He said the awakened should be able to, at least a little.”

“Of course I can,” Kitae replied. “Isn't that a given?”

He glanced at Suho, then Sunghyun, who both were giving him looks of confusion.

“…Or not. Maybe it’s a thing among mages.”

Sunghyun sat down with them.

“It makes sense that it would vary by person,” he said. “But do you count as a mage? I've never seen you use magic.”

“I’ve learned the basics,” Kitae replied. “I’m not at the stage to be called a mage, but I can definitely tell when there’s magic power around. Like when Yuna starts using Ice Realm, can't you feel it?”

“Maybe? All I really notice is that it gets cold.”

Kitae shook his head.

“It’s different than that. The feeling’s pretty distinct. Like static? It’s hard to describe.”

“Then I’m not sure,” Sunghyun said. “Should we try this out?”

He nodded towards the device in his hands. Kitae glanced at Suho.

“Can I turn it on?”

“Sure.”

He powered it on. The fan on it whirred to life.

“Is it doing anything right now?” Sunghyun asked.

“No, you have to calibrate it first,” Suho said. “Here.”

Kitae handed it over to him, and he hit the button. After a second, it beeped, signaling that it was done.

“Right now it’s just cycling room air,” he explained. “If you set it to zero. it will filter out the magic power and give you clean air. If you set it to any of the other levels, then it will expel magic power.”

“You said you couldn't feel the magic power at any of the levels?” Kitae asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s start with Sunghyun. Turn around.”

Sunghyun pointed at himself, confused.

“Turn around?”

“Let’s do this properly. No peeking. I want to test if you can sense this at all.”

“Alright.”

He turned his back to them. Suho toggled the magic power setting to level one as Kitae watched over his shoulder.

“Do you feel any difference?” Kitae asked.

Sunghyun shook his head.

“Did you change the output level?”

“We probably shouldn't say. Just tell us if you start feeling anything.”

“Copy that.”

Suho slowly cranked the power setting up. Two, three, four… even at five, Sunghyun didn't react. It wasn't until level six that he finally spoke up.

“Uh, I think I feel something,” he said. “It’s like… ticklish, kind of.”

Suho changed the power level to seven, the maximum.

“Oh, did you turn it up? It’s more obvious now. It is like static.”

“Yeah,” Kitae replied, “I’ve been feeling it starting from around level two. That’s really interesting.”

Sunghyun scooted back around and glanced at Suho.

“Still nothing?” he asked.

Suho shook his head. He was holding the device in his hand, and it was still running, but…

“Nothing at all.”

“Maybe your tolerance is higher,” Kitae suggested. “A more powerful device might be able to test it.”

Suho shut it off.

“Being able to sense magic power,” he said, “what do you use it for?”

“I guess it helps me keep track of what people around me are doing without having to see them,” Kitae replied.

“It might also be useful for detecting monsters,” Sunghyun suggested. “But I think the miasma smell would give them away first.”

Miasma—Suho was confident in detecting that in the air. It was the smell that came along with anything that came out of gates. Unlike magic power, it couldn't be used to activate skills or spells; it was just a naturally occurring gas that happened to be unique to gates. But other than that…

Suho felt like a cloud had gone over him. His mood had taken a nosedive.

“What’s wrong?” Kitae asked.

“I’m like a one-eyed dog,” he muttered.

“What? Why?”

“I’m hopeless at magic. I can't even sense it happening.”

It was sobering to realize that he’d been going through life, fighting off monsters back in his village while totally oblivious of his deficiencies. Just because his methods worked “fine”, he had stayed ignorant. How long would that have lasted him, until finally a gate showed up that his backwoods, brute force strategies wouldn't work on? He’d been half-blind this whole time and never knew it.

“There must be a way to train magic sensitivity,” Kitae said. “You're in the magic department every day now. One of the professors has to know something. At the least you can learn more about it.”

“…That’s true.”

Suho begrudgingly agreed.

“And don’t discount the melee faculty,” Sunghyun added. “I’m sure many of them felt the same way at some point. If you ask them, I bet they'd understand what you mean.”

“That’s not a bad idea either.”

His weird mood was starting to lift. Maybe there was still a way out of this ditch he’d unwittingly been traipsing down forever.

“I’ll try that. Thanks.”

Sunghyun and Kitae breathed a sigh of relief. Suho thought hard about who to approach. Professor Hwan was first in his mind. He knew a lot about magic power, since his project was about its effects, but he knew nothing about hunters or fighting. Headmaster Hyuna… she was out of the picture for a lot of reasons, least of all that she’d be way too busy with other matters. That left only one other magic faculty member that he had any association with.

Professor Lucian de Loren. Suho still remembered how strangely he’d acted when he’d been introduced to Professor Hwan. It made him hesitant all over again.

…Did it have to be him?