The rest of Rialu's Shaper class went by quickly, Jackson doing the best he could to follow along with everyone else. He still wasn't sure what being a "Hybrid" entailed exactly, but the prospect of not just being a mage, but a mage who could use multiple types of magic, made his week. There were no more classes scheduled for that day—something about a staff training event—so students had the latter half of the day to themselves. Whilst he initially wanted to go back home and thank his dad again for what he had done that morning, Miss Aster caught him in the hallways and brought him aside.

"Jackson, good to see you again so soon. How was Rialu's class? Talk to anyone new?"

"I feel like I've talked more to you than most of the students here, to be honest."

"What can I say? I'm just such a charming teacher. Anyway, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I wanna go home. Thank my dad again for this morning."

"So thoughtful, really a great idea. However, I suggest you take a different course of action."

"What? Why?"

"Well, you are learning magic now, both in practice and in theory, but that's only two-thirds of what you should know about magic to be a proper mage."

"Your point being?"

"History. The history of magic isn't something we teach yet; we save that for later years. But if you want to really understand magic, you should study its history."

"Well, that makes sense, I guess. But do I really need to do it now?"

"That depends. I thought you wanted to be a mage. If you want to stay as an average mage, then it's really not urgent. If you want to become a mage that matters, then start as soon as you can."

Jackson paused for a moment, taking in Miss Aster's words. All his life he'd wanted magic. All his life he'd longed for the abilities he now possessed, so why was he hesitating? Why wasn't he jumping at the chance to study magic on his own? He'd never bothered before—after all, he wasn't a mage before—but now things were different.

"Where do I start?"

"Attaboy," Miss Aster began whilst flashing her pearly white teeth. "Knew you'd come around. I recommend starting at the beginning—or at least as close to the beginning as we've recorded. Work your way up from there. Library's up the stairs, second door on your right."

"Can't you—" Jackson started before cutting himself off. "Never mind. It was a stupid question."

"Oh? No such thing, question away!"

"Well, can't you, you know, just... teleport me there? With your space, portal thingies?"

"Yes, I suppose I could."

"So..."

"I'm not going to do that, Jackson."

"Yeah, yeah. Makes sense."

"I'm not the type to frivolously use such powerful magic like that."

"Didn't you use it this morning just to teleport me to your office to see my dad?"

"Yes, I suppose I did."

"Isn't that, I don't know, slightly frivolous?"

"Oh, sweet child, not at all. It added a bit of pizzazz to the whole ordeal. A touch of flair, if you will. That's not frivolous now, is it?"

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"I think that might be the definition of frivolous."

"Nonsense," Miss Aster replied whilst opening a rift to her office behind her, stepping through it casually. "Now get a move on."

As the rift closed up behind her, Jackson stared, confused, blinking a few times before shaking himself back to his senses. He followed the instructions Miss Aster gave him and arrived at the academy's expansive library. Bookshelves lined the walls just as he'd expected, but they didn't stop there, lining the ceiling as well, the books somehow not falling down to the floor. Staircases connected different sections of the library, but they too seemed muddled, with some flights being upside down or twisted at a diagonal, seemingly impossible to traverse. A large stained-glass window stationed in the middle of the northern wall let in a wide array of multicoloured light whilst depicting the image of a king clad in white robes, a three-pronged crown resting on his head perfectly straight. The floor consisted of uniform and polished oak planks that seemed so miraculously clean and well-attended to that Jackson could almost see his reflection glistening on their surface. Next to the entrance was a large reception area made of glass and gold, behind which sat three receptionists. All of them were attentively scouring over scrolls, books, and records, most likely cataloguing or organising in some way, shape or form. Jackson approached the closest receptionist and asked for a book about the history of magic, with the receptionist handing over a small coin that radiated a faint glow before telling him to follow the direction it glowed brightest.

Confused, as he often was these days, Jackson began walking up one of the normal staircases in a direction that caused the coin to shine brighter and brighter. After a few minutes, he eventually ended up at a section all about magic's history, organised in chronological form. He took the first book from the shelf and slung it under his arm. The shining coin had held most of his attention, so Jackson hadn't realised that on his little quest, he had wound up on the ceiling of the library. It was a weird sight, seeing the library completely flipped, but he quickly shook it off before finding a place to sit down and crack open the book.

'Exnos' Histories Vol. 1' was splashed across the deep blue front cover of the book that seemed in surprisingly good condition for its apparent age. Jackson began reading, hours going by as he poured over the first few chapters of the long, long text. It wasn't as insightful as he hoped it would be, with the book only giving a vague description of magic's early recorded history. Apparently, nobody knew where magic came from—it just showed up one day in a tiny handful of people. It was originally seen as the work of devils and demons, and that mages had either been possessed or were in direct collaboration with those evil forces. Nobody is yet to prove the existence of those things, mind you, but the superstition remained. Eventually, a king came into power, whose name was lost to time. That king prohibited any use of magic that wasn't approved directly by him, fearing that something terrible would happen if it was left unchecked. The king didn't start like that, however—at least not according to the book's author, Exnos. According to him, the king originally loved magic, even performing magic himself, but that changed after he went missing for a few months. When he returned, that's when he changed.

Jackson was tearing through the pages, only realising how late it had gotten after he didn't have enough natural light to read clearly anymore. Slightly panicked that he was going home so late without having told Ulric, he stuffed the book in his bag and ran out of the library, speed-walking all the way to the academy's main gate. He was about to start walking home before he stopped himself, letting out a little giggle as he willed magic around his body, encasing him and lifting him into the air. He took a minute to orient himself in the air before gliding through the sky towards his home. It wasn't that fast, barely quicker than his running speed, but the feeling of the wind through his hair and between his splayed fingers made it feel a lot more exhilarating. That was a trend he'd noticed with magic—it just enhanced everything it touched. He eventually reached his house, entering in through his open bedroom window and slipping downstairs to see Ulric sitting down at the table halfway through eating. Jackson thanked him once again for that morning, but Ulric waved it away, serving him a plate before Jackson even had the chance to do it himself. The two sat and talked for a while about each other's day, Jackson sharing his newfound status as a potential Hybrid and Ulric talking about work, which was going about as normal as usual. They finished up dinner, tidied up, and both headed to bed. Jackson barely managed to wash himself and slide into bed, completely exhausted from the day he'd had—both emotionally and physically. But that book lingered in his head. There was just something about it that had grabbed hold of his attention. That wasn't too unexpected, though. Magic was the most fascinating thing in the world to him, so no wonder learning about its history would have him interested. As he closed his eyes and began to sleep, a familiar sensation crept over his unconscious mind—a continuing dream that had evaded him the night before. He could smell flowers, maybe a hint of dry grass. There were birds chirping, trees billowing in the wind as the sun warmed his pale skin.

"Hello," a familiar voice came from behind him. "Can we start?"