In Alchemy the next morning, Simon began pestering me almost immediately with a new series of questions. He launched into a series of questions about my time with the Esttons, seemingly forgetting I told him I was not close to the family.

"So if you lived with them, did you get to dine with the Estton's allies? I've heard they have dozens of vassals, that must have been amazing to witness. Did you get to learn how to duel with a sword or joust? They must have a hundred knights under their command that taught you everything they knew."

If nothing else, his tirades were a bit amusing to hear, though I was not particularly happy to answer all of his questions.

"Like I told you already, I spent most of my time away from the main family. I saw some other nobles from afar, but I never dined or met with them. And no, I learned how to ride a horse, but that's about it."

My boring answers seemed to deflate his enthusiasm a bit. However, when Professor Gladstone informed us we would be practicing a basic stamina potion, Simon became more energetic and focused.

It was almost unsettling how much Simon changed when he was in his element, and like last class, he worked through the steps with practiced ease. I did my best to copy his movements and felt a bit more confident as we went, though with comparable success to the last class.

By the end, we had five finished products, four a bright green color, and one a dark green-brown shade. Like last time, we only needed to turn in three and were allowed to keep the two extras, which Simon offered to split evenly.

Simon smiled at me, sympathetically as we left the class and walked to Enchanting.

"You'll get used to it eventually. Alchemy is a difficult subject, and not many people are naturally suited to it."

I snorted at his words, shaking my head. "I doubt I will ever really get good at alchemy. I have no idea how you can make potions that pure. I tried to follow your steps exactly, but mine just ended up wrong."

Simon nodded slowly, considering my words as he did. "Believe it or not, I was not always good at alchemy. I just had the benefit of years of practice with my family before I got here. I was handling a mortar and pestle before I could even read properly."

Shrugging, we fell silent as we entered Enchanting. Professor Hamilton started us again on tracing runes, the same as last class. I recalled Professor Merton's words the previous day and decided to ask Professor Hamilton for clarification.

The man jumped in surprise when I raised my hand, fidgeting on his feet before gesturing at me.

"Professor, I had a question about enchanting. In Spell-Casting, Professor Merton noted that Old Ferren inspired these runes, which is a bit confusing for me. I know casting spells works mostly by focus, but what about enchanting?" I asked quietly.

"I had intended to cover that a bit later in the semester, but I suppose I can give a bit of elaboration now. Enchanting also works through intention but a bit differently than casting a spell. A proper enchantment requires several elements, which are mana, a rune, and a vessel. The mana powers the rune, which directs it into an enchantment, while the vessel holds the rune."

I nodded slowly, beginning to understand a bit about the process.

"If that is the case, how do you create enchantments? You said intention, but I am still a bit unclear how that works."

Professor Hamilton nodded slowly at my question. "When you carve the runes, you focus on the enchantment you want to imbue into the item. The functions of these runes is to hold the mana and your "intent" so to speak. If I wanted to create a torch that would burst into flames on command, I would focus on that image and inscribe the rune for fire, while infusing the rune with mana. It is a complicated and exacting process that can take years, which few students can master."

I narrowed my eyes in focus, recalling similar questions I had with spell casting.

"So, why do we use the runes we use? If the intent is what matters, could you use any letters or symbols that you wanted?"

Professor Hamilton seemed to brighten as I asked questions, and I began to suspect he was most animated when talking about his passion.

"An interesting question, and you are correct. We now use a standardized language of runes to ensure that any enchantment is easy to understand for a mage, but in our earliest days, that was not the case. In that era, mages would use complex, esoteric languages to hide their secrets, making dangerous and unpredictable items that only the creator could safely handle."

"If that is the case, why bother with runes at all? Would it be possible to simply push mana into the object and force the enchantment to work somehow?"

Professor Hamilton paused for half a minute before replying. "That is a question well beyond the scope of this class. The simple answer is that we are not sure. In theory, it should be possible, but it would require several traits well beyond most mages. In particular, you would need inhuman willpower and an ungodly amount of mana to imbue an entire object with an enchantment properly. Runes act as a focal point which can carry your intent, saving an enchanter both energy and effort."

That made sense, though I still wondered if it would be possible to bypass runes in general. I decided to leave that particular question for later and returned my attention to the work Professor Hamilton assigned us.

After the class finished, Simon and I proceeded into Magic Beasts were, to my surprise, Leon joined us at the same desk. The lesson was a bit more interesting, focusing on the basic anatomy of most magic beasts.

Interestingly enough, it seemed most of these creatures also possessed cores and channels like humans, though with some significant differences. For one thing, they could not cycle mana through techniques or focus like a mage. They instead grew more potent through age, as their bodies naturally absorbed small amounts of ambient mana.

This trait provided a weak but constant stream of power, which slowly strengthened them over the years. In addition, most possessed the ability to process mana in food, even plants or mundane animals, which further helped them develop. Most impressive was that many magic beasts were incredibly long-lived, with the most powerful ones living for thousands of years.

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That raised questions about how their biology worked compared to humans. Why was it they lived longer as they grew stronger, while mages had their lives cut short? When I raised this question to Professor Kendell, he answered in a way I had not expected. He gave me a shrug.

"Centuries of research have never given us a concrete answer. Our best guess? Something about their bodies allows them to keep up with the power of mana in ways our physiologies cannot match. Some still study this phenomenon, but most prefer to direct our energies elsewhere. Most research into magic beasts tends to focus on replicating more easily understood abilities, or discovering methods to kill the most powerful and dangerous of the bunch."

So they had no real idea, and no mage cared to figure out the truth? It sounded difficult to believe, but I pushed it to the back of my mind for now.

Dueling was an exciting change from the first class. When I arrived, a half dozen older students were also present in the room. After the rest of my classmates arrived, the older apprentices began handing out wands to each of us. As I gripped the thin piece of wood in my hands, I felt a faint pulling sensation and realized that it was absorbing a small amount of mana from me.

"Alright, brats, listen up! Those are training wands. They are simple little things, built to handle the bulk of the effort in casting and very responsive to thoughts and intentions from a mage. Pay attention! I will only be explaining their functions once, and I do not repeat myself."

She held out her hand, an identical wand to the ones she had given out loosely gripped in her palm.

"They have two effects. One is a bolt of mana that you can launch out as an attack. It will sting a bit, but even a direct shot to an eye will not cause injury."

With a flick of her wrist, a bright white ball of mana flew across the room before hitting the wall and breaking into a dozens motes.

"The second is a small shield around a foot across which you can generate from the end."

This time, a circular plate of white mana popped into the air in front of the wand, which she moved around a bit before dissolving it.

"For the next several weeks, until you all are capable of casting spells that won't maim your fellow students, we will be practicing dueling with these devices. I want you all getting used to attacking and reacting with magic at least, and get your instincts honed a bit. Now then, get into pairs and wait at one of the rings. One of my assistants or I will come around to you and judge your duels."

I glanced around and saw another student look over at me before shrugging and walking over to one of the painted white rectangles. I followed him and stood a dozen feet away, experimenting with channeling my mana through the wand.

It was a fascinating sensation and felt almost too easy, as if the piece of wood was somehow doing the bulk of the effort in controlling my mana. Maybe through some sort of enchantment? Or could it be a property of the wood itself?

Before I could investigate further, Professor Barlow herself walked over and stood a few feet away.

"Well, what are you waiting for a written invitation? Begin!" She barked, glaring at the two of us.

The apprentice across from me flicked one hand out, a teal bolt of mana spinning towards my head, but flying wide. I still leaned away from the orb on reflex, stumbling as I did so and leaving me at an awkward angle and unable to move my wand quickly enough to launch my attack. As I attempted to regain my balance, my opponent projected a second bolt from his wand.

I was not lucky a second time, and the orb of mana clipped my shoulder, sending a stinging sensation into the muscle. It was annoying, but not debilitating, and I flicked my weapon up this time, aiming at the other student, who had let his guard down with a satisfied grin on his face and sending my mana slamming into his chest.

He grunted and fell backward on his ass, glaring at me before looking to Professor Barlow, who shrugged indifferently.

"You assumed a glancing strike would be enough to kill your opponent and let your guard down, a potentially fatal mistake."

I let the ghost of a smile onto my face, which Professor Barlow immediately noted.

"And you moved to dodge an attack that would have missed you regardless. That left you unable to counter at the best time, which left you open to injury. Keep practicing."

My smile faded, and I returned my attention to the other apprentice, and we began dueling again. We continued practicing for several minutes, each of us winning around half the exchanges, until Professor Barlow called for us to switch partners.

The next apprentice I faced was a girl who fought with a more defensive style, using the shield to block my attacks before immediately trying to counter with a mana bolt. Unfortunately for her, her speed and accuracy were poor, and she failed to hit me most times.

My third opponent was a bit more skillful than me, moving her wand and pretending to attack before sending a blast at me from an unexpected angle. I often lost to her, instead relying mainly upon my shield while I searched for openings.

The fourth duel got my heart racing as I faced off against Theo. As I could have predicted, he used an extremely aggressive style, sending multiple mana bolts at me while he recklessly attacked. Although I suspected I could take advantage of the holes in his defense, I decided to stick mainly to defense, in case Theo held grudges and came looking for "Marcus" for revenge.

The rest of the class passed similarly, and I thankfully avoided Amelia or Sophia, though I knew that was entirely due to luck. I faced off against most of the course, and next session, I would, without a doubt, duel one or both of them.

I finished off the day in Espionage, where Professor Morell spent the beginning of the class going over most of what he told me the previous day.

"Since none of you failed to escape, that tells me you are all worth teaching, at least for now. I'm not convinced you'll succeed in passing the rest of my tests, but for the immediate future, you are satisfactory," he said, scanning the room with a smile.

"All of you are mages, and that means you have one major weakness that even the smallest normal child lacks. Right now, you are all effectively bright torches on a moonless night, and any adept with half a brain could figure out you are mages. That is because you all involuntarily release mana like a leaky dam. For the next several classes, I'll be trying to teach you all how to detect mana at will."

I felt my heart begin to race as I realized the implications of this lesson. I forced myself to calm down, as I recalled that Master Julian had told me only a thorough examination would reveal the full depth of my talents. Not an ideal situation, but not a catastrophe. At least, not yet.

"The best way to learn the skill is to improve your sensitivity to mana, by blocking as many senses as possible. I'll be passing out blindfolds and earplugs, which you will wear during class. After that, try to enter the same mental focus you use to control your mana but instead turn your mind outside. It's a hard sensation to describe, and everyone tends to experience it a bit different."

We spent the rest of the class with our eyes closed while Professor Morell sent orbs of black mana floating around the room. Our instructions for today were to raise one hand whenever we thought that a ball had stopped over our heads.

I was unable to detect any mana during the lesson, though I noted that the rest of the class also seemed confused and uncertain. Professor Morell, for his part, seemed unbothered by our collective failure.

"Not to worry, we will pick up with this again next class! Oh, and I prepared sheets for each of you. They are just some things I want you to focus on trying to fix a bit in your free time!"

My sheet listed several books on ciphers to study, as well as a note to continue practicing lockpicking.

After leaving the class and heading down to meet Amelia, we began practicing again with staves. Our sparring sessions passed quickly, and after finishing up with her, I returned to my room before teleporting back to Cortos' sanctum.

I knew I would need to leave Ferris behind eventually, which meant I needed to become as self-sufficient as possible. Walking over to Cortos' bookshelf, I selected a tome off the shelf and sat at the desk before retrieving the stamina potion Simon and I mixed in Alchemy.

I uncorked the bottle and drank the entire mixture, feeling its effects wipe away my exhaustion at once before setting the bottle back down and preparing for a night of research. This chamber was vital, but I needed more than raw power to succeed in my plans.

I needed to make a small fortune. And it was time to try and figure out how to create one.