Inside of the hut were two figures, a man and a woman. The man lay on the ground under a worn blanket and propped up with several thin pillows. As we walked closer, the woman jumped and turned to us in evident surprise.

"Thomas, what are you doing here? Who is this?" She asked, glancing at me with open suspicion.

"Keep quiet, Beth, and don't ask questions," Thomas said, placing a hand on her shoulder before glancing at me. Although the man was a criminal, his concern seemed genuine, though I wondered if it was a show to endear himself to others.

Kneeling down by Jacob's side, I ignored the horrific smell of him, and instead focused on examining his appearance. Jacob's skin was pale and haggard, and I noted that heavy bags were under his eyes. His body was skin and bones, without any muscle mass or body fat. Most alarming was the complete lack of a reaction to my presence.

His eyes stared forward, occasionally blinking but never focusing, and his mouth hung open. I waved a hand slowly in front of Jacob's face, but his face remained blank and unmoving.

"Is he always like this?" I asked, briefly glancing over to Beth.

"Mostly. Sometimes he will eat something or sleep, but usually, he just stares at that wall. And he never talks." Beth said, her voice shaking as she spoke.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and placed a hand onto his shoulder before pushing my mana senses into Jacob's body. My generalist approach to magic had left most of my skills lagging behind the other apprentices, but if there was one area I was confident in, it was sensing mana. I had focused heavily on developing this skill, recognizing both it's immense utility on its own and as a stepping stone to further abilities.

While it was difficult sensing other people's mana, I often would observe apprentice's mana during class to practice my skills and pass the time. Most of their signatures were complex, altered by their cultivation, personalities, and elemental aspects. Which only made the differences of Jacob's aura even more stark by comparison.

Just like the hooded man, Jacob's mana felt unnatural, simultaneously powerful but restrained. For most people, mana radiated off of them like body heat. While it was barely noticeable in most cases, it was always present and always similarly dispersed, with most of the power focused on the torso and lessening down the extremities.

By contrast, Jacob's mana was strangely concentrated, with a comparatively large mass of energy in his torso, but nearly non-existent in his legs or head. Even more bizarrely, mana seemed to bunch in spots in his chest, rather than radiating uniformly like I expected.

Pushing my senses deeper, I began scanning his core and channels, marveling at what I found.

Jacob's body was partially cleared of impurities, like a mage, but far less efficiently, with significant blockages still remaining. I doubted he could even gather enough mana to cast a spell if he could contact his core. But that was not the end of the strangeness.

The channels in his legs were shredded and deformed, as was the one leading to his head. They were twisted, warped, and in the case of his head, almost completely severed. And all were blocked not just by impurities, but by extensive scarring.

And his core was just as strangely altered. On the sides of the organ were marks, barely perceptible and imperfectly crafted but recognizable as runes. Scars had built up over the symbols, and with the stretching and warping to the organ's walls, I was only able to clearly make out the runes for "power" and "health."

I had theorized that the sensation I had felt was the result of some form of enchantment. My theory was that this effect was achieved by tattoos applied with special inks. After all, by tattooing runes and enchanting them, maybe it would be possible to imbue the body with permanent magical abilities.

The possibilities and applications of such a technique were nearly endless and would undoubtedly help me grow strong enough to stop an invasion. A mage could make skin as hard as steel, muscles stronger than stone, or grant themselves inhuman speed and dexterity. The possibilities were not just endless for myself, but for Ferris as well.

After all, I had an invasion to thwart, and if I could discover a technique to make warriors a dozen times more efficient, it would go a long way to ensuring Ferren might. An army of ten thousand enchanted soldiers would cost a fortune, but it would be nearly unstoppable.

Of course, the nobility would likely not enjoy an army of superhuman commoners who could upend the current power structure, but when faced with an invasion, it may not be a choice. But seeing these side effects, I knew I needed more information before considering such an option.

"Do you know what happened to him?" I asked, looking at Beth again and hoping she may have more information than Thomas.

She shook her head, looking down at the floor and sighing.

"He hasn't spoken a word since we found him a few weeks ago. Can...can you help him?"

I paused before standing and shaking my head at her.

"I have no reason to help him. You cannot give me gold or assistance of any kind, and I do not believe in charity."

It was harsh, and I felt some guilt shattering any hopes she may have, but it was necessary. I needed to appear callous and uncaring to maintain my appearance as a dangerous mage. Even if she did have something to offer me, I doubted I could help the man.

Minor to moderate damage to channels and cores could be repaired, but it was expensive and far outside of my means. And Jacob's injuries were catastrophic and likely extended much further than I could observe. It was a miracle he was still alive, and I knew without a doubt that he would never regain any semblance of consciousness.

Observing his body had given me an idea of what likely had happened to him. Enchantments worked through intent, and if your will and control were weak, there was a chance of the mana failing to bind properly and rebounding. In most cases, this would destroy the vessel and only cost the mage gold, time, and some mana.

But in Jacob's case, the vessel was his own body. When the mana rebounding, there was only one place it could go. If massive amounts of mana surged and bounced around the body, a cascade of injuries would follow. A skilled mage may have been able to channel the mana outward and mitigate some of the damage, but Jacob was just a commoner and lacked such skills.

And that led me back to something I had already assumed, but been afraid to fully consider. Someone had done this to Jacob, possibly as some sort of experiment to test the viability of the techniques. No mage would want to use themselves, and risk injury, so desperate commoners were ideal subjects.

The idea was nauseating, and I swallowed hard, glad I had not eaten dinner yet. Something was deeply unsettling about using magic to warp and change your body against your will. Logically, I knew that these sorts of experiments had likely been done thousands of times over Ferren history to drive forward our knowledge of alchemy and magic. But, the reality of it was difficult to accept.

Glancing at Thomas, I paused before saying, "I will contact you if I need your help again. Do not come looking for me, and do not mention what happened here tonight. If you do, I will find out, and you will come to regret your treachery."

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I turned and walked out of the hut, not waiting for a reply, making my way back to the Academy, and leaving the nightmarish scene behind me. Although I had not found some great secret to magic, I now knew of the potential risks involved in trying to warp the body.

Either way, whatever was going on with that man was unnatural and far beyond my ability to fix. I would be better off not getting involved again, and avoid the risk of being killed. The damage also meant Jacob would die soon, and there was nothing new to learn from him in his catatonic state.

The next night, after classes ended, I met the Esttons down in the entrance hall. I was surprised to see Sophia there, but Leon smiled when he saw me, waving one hand.

"Vayne! Nice to see you again. We should get going now before it gets too late."

As we walked, I probed both gently with my senses, curious how strong they had grown. Leon's energy felt unusually weak, but almost sharp, and focused somehow. It must be the effect of whatever cultivation method he used.

By contrast, Sophia's mana was much larger, and it seemed strangely heavy and dense compared to even my own. It took me just a second to realize that she must have progressed to mid-Vapor.

Every substage minutely increased the density of mana, and although I had no experience sensing the different stages of cultivation, it was the most likely explanation.

"You seem bigger than I remember. Growth spurt or exercise?" Leon said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I would suspect both, sir. I have tried to keep active and stave off the effects of sitting and studying for too long." I replied, smiling at him.

"And how has your magic training been going?"

I noticed Sophia glanced over at me, seemingly curious for my answer.

"Well enough, my lord. I have been focusing mostly on my control and understanding of magic, and spent some of my free time receiving additional alchemy practice. Of course, when we head east for our excursion, I will be reliant upon you for protection." I answered, gauging Sophia for a response.

Leon laughed before nodding in understanding.

"I don't blame you! I have been hard at work practicing myself, to make sure I am ready for any nasty beasts that we may encounter. Not to worry, though, we will keep you safe." Leon said, looking to her sister, who shrugged silently.

We soon returned to the shop Leon had dragged me to several months ago, the same day I was robbed and presented me to one of the shopkeepers.

"We need an outfit for my friend here, one for the Harvest Banquet in a few weeks. Do you have any suggestions?" Leon said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, my lord. If you follow me, I can get you started." The shopkeeper said, smiling politely.

The next hour would have worked well as torture, with the shopkeeper painstakingly measuring every part of my body and taking detailed notes. We eventually decided upon a simple, but elegant suit of blue with silver and gray trimming that I had to admit looked very nice on me.

Thankfully, Leon paid for the outfit, and I felt my mouth go dry when I saw him hand the shopkeeper hundreds of gold without any concern. Not for the first time, I wished that I had been born a noble rather than just a sponsored student. At least then I would have access to enough gold to solve some of my problems.

As we walked back to the Academy, Leon looked to me and said, "Vayne, before we retire for the night, I wanted to get your opinion on something. I have been practicing magic, but I wanted some feedback on how I could improve something. You too, of course, Sophia."

Sophia and I shared a glance before I nodded and replied, "Of course, my lord. Anything I can do to help."

Leon nodded, and we visited his room, where he retrieved a bow and a quiver of arrows before he led us both to a large, square room with a dozen targets at the far end. Although I rarely used them, I recognized the place as a practice area for mages to test out their spells. The walls and targets were reinforced, letting apprentices blast without worry of injuring others or damaging the Academy.

"It's taken me a month solid to get the hang of this, but both of you still stand back. I don't quite have it perfected." Leon said, glancing over and chuckling. Sophia and I walked back a few steps, giving Leon a dozen feet of space.

Looking at the target across the room, Leon pulled an arrow from his quiver and placed it onto the string. Drawing back, he focused his gaze, staring with incredible calm for several seconds.

I almost did not immediately notice the gathering mana at first, but realized I could feel energy slowly flowing down Leon's arms. Stretching out with my senses, I noted that his mana was gathering around the arrow, coating it in a way that reminded me of my Mana Shell.

Releasing the string, the arrow shot across the room much faster than any regular bow, before slamming into the target. Leon's shot had landed just to the left of the bullseye, but had buried itself several inches deep into the target. I was only casually familiar with archery, but I doubted a simple longbow would have that much power, particularly considering these targets were designed to withstand spells, not arrows.

"Impressive, my lord. If I am not mistaken, your shot seemed to fly faster and with more force than a normal arrow." I said, looking to Leon.

Smiling, Leon nodded and retrieved his arrow before handing it to me. As I turned it over into my hands, I noticed the slightest tug on my mana. It reminded me of the sensation I felt from crystals, though much weaker.

"The shaft is made of a wood called Century-Oak. It's effectively an oak tree which absorbed mana for long enough that it gained mild magical properties. The arrowhead is made of a magically infused steel, a trick we learned from the Tinkerers, although their own forging techniques make ours look primitive by comparison. Together, they can absorb and hold my mana, so I can imbue my arrows with wind magic properties. It's much less powerful than enchantments, but quicker and requires less preparation." Leon explained,

"I see, so you combined magic and archery to maximize damage. But forgive me, sir, I am still confused why you would use a bow and arrow, rather than pure magic?"

"Well...it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but my core is a bit...small. Much smaller than most nobles, even with my father providing resources and techniques to grow it faster. Blasting spells isn't an option, but I need a way to fight and keep myself alive. And since I've always been a great shot with a bow, two birds with one stone." Leon answered, holding up his bow with a grin.

I nodded, and glanced over to Sophia, who watched with crossed arms.

"Well, sir, I am afraid I do not know what else I can contribute to your style."

Leon nodded and said, "I am still worried about my stamina, even with this technique. I know you have been studying things such as enchanting, and was not sure if you would have any suggestions."

"In that case, there are several possible solutions that I can think of. My first thought is mana crystals, which are typically used to power enchantments. While not a particularly novel solution, it is a tried and true method to store mana for later use."

"Sounds expensive, but I think my father can be convinced to pay for the modifications to my bow. It may make it a bit difficult to handle, though, but maybe there are workarounds." Leon said, examining his weapon for several seconds before looking at Sophia.

"How about you, Sophia? You have been very quiet this entire time."

Sophia tilted her head and replied, "Wind mana is excellent for evasion and mobility, particularly spells for levitation and flight. Even with your small stores of mana, you should use a spell to maintain distance and let your bow remain effective."

"I felt that focusing my efforts on my Wind Arrow technique was the more effective option, but you do raise a good point. Thank you both, I appreciate the help." Leon said, nodding with a smile.

I should be thanking him since his technique gave me some ideas for my own potential style. Eventually, I would begin carrying a weapon to round out my skills. If coating an arrow in wind magic produced such powerful projectiles, what would happen to a spear tip covered in Aether?

Although I was a mage, I knew I could not afford any gaps in my skills or combat style. Most mages could focus on specific talents and let other areas falter, relying on allies to survive, but they would always be reliant on others.

I intensely disliked the need for allies just to survive, and more than that, I knew eventually I would have to journey outside of Ferris. My original self had failed, and if I wanted to surpass him, I needed to learn secrets that even Ferris did not contain. And that meant I needed to be able to handle any situation by myself.

I returned my focus to Leon, who stretched and gave a loud yawn before glancing at me.

"I think it's time we got some sleep, don't you think?"

I chuckled and nodded, noticing that Sophia had already turned and left the room. Not for the first time, I marveled at her ability to simply walk away from conversations without an apparent care in the world. She certainly seemed to lack any sense of embarrassment.

"Thank you again, my lord. I will have to find a way to repay you for purchasing me such an expensive outfit, particularly on such short notice."

Waving his hand, Leon smiled and replied, "Don't dwell on it, Vayne. I am sure you will repay that debt a dozen times over after we graduate."

Turning, Leon began walking towards the doorway before suddenly stopping and looking back to me.

"Oh, one more thing Vayne! It is typically expected for a student to acquire a guest for events like these. So, keep that in mind. Good luck!" he said, laughing and leaving the room.

Sighing, I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. As if my problems were not already numerous enough, now I needed to find a companion to some banquet that I had no interest in attending. Was it too late to be kidnapped by the King and avoid all these hassles?