Gathering mana while moving is a trick few mages ever truly perfect. While it can eventually match immobile meditation, getting there is a process measured in months, if not years. However, all the strongest mages could do it to some extent, and if I wanted to keep improving, I would too.

Of course, practicing it also helped calm my mind and quiet the racing thoughts.

Amelia clung to my arm and gestured to the various shops and businesses we passed. She asked questions, told stories and anecdotes about visiting several, and even stopped into one to purchase a scarf, which she wrapped around my neck with a smile.

While Amelia had dressed warmly, with thickly woven, likely magical clothes designed to be flattering and protective, I had stuck with my Academy uniform. It was the nicest set of clothes I owned, and a Traveler's Cloak cast around me warded off most of the chill anyway. Still, the woven scarf did take a little more of the wind's edge off.

After several hours of wandering, we found a small, quiet restaurant and ate lunch together. Our conversation wandered from topic to topic, mostly magic or martial combat. I suspected Amelia was trying to remain on subjects she felt I would find interesting, but finally, she broached the topic I hoped she would avoid.

"So...I didn't get to talk about it yesterday, but you dueled Duke Sion's son?" Amelia leaned over her half-empty plate, "The Duke Sion? That sounds fun."

I shrugged, "Not really. I lost."

"It sounded like you would've won if that other noble hadn't jumped in."

"Is that what you heard?" I shook my head, "I disagree. Flynn underestimated me. He let his guard down. He used no equipment to enhance his magic, and I am almost sure he held at least one trick in reserve."

"Eh, it sounds close enough. You do know what's going to happen now, right?"

"No?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. "And you're going to be an advisor? Vayne, nobles talk. It's most of what we do. And they're gonna be talking about you and your duel. Some might respect your boldness, but most will just see a cocky commoner that needs to be taken down a notch. A few of those will probably pick a fight and try to steal away some of your prestige, too."

I scoffed and shook my head again, "What glory or honor is there to win? I am a commoner and nothing else. Close or not, I still lost."

"You're a commoner who showed up in Aresford as a nobody and fought the son of one of the strongest living mages to a near-standstill a week later. You shouldn't have come close, but you did. All that other stuff? The excuses? Those aren't what the stories are going to say. Trust me, at least one idiot will come knocking on your door. Soon, too."

I wanted to argue, but something occurred to me. Flynn Sion was a dangerous threat I could not feasibly prepare for in just a week, but how many ordinary nobles could boast the same skill? Dueling other nobles might give me hands-on practice that I could not get with ordinary training. What would a dozen other rivals do if the threat of Flynn Sion had driven such growth?

It was a risk but one worth considering.

Amelia cleared her throat, and I returned my attention to her.

"You've got that scrunched-up serious look on your face again. What're you thinking?"

"I..." I decided against sharing my opinions and instead reached over to grab her hand, "I am glad we went out. Together, I mean. We should do it again."

"Oh," Amelia blinked, then blushed a little. "Yeah, that sounds great. It's not like you to be so forward."

I tried to ignore the heat running throughout my body and smiled, "I am trying something new."

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---

My spears and vambrace sat on my workbench, awaiting closer examination. I had left them there days earlier, mostly out of a lack of spare time, but now felt as good a chance as any to try and learn some lessons.

While both had fulfilled their purposes, they also had too many problems to remain workable. I wanted to expand on them and, in particular, apply my Mana Edge to my sword-staff, but those were far-off dreams rather than anything realistic. Slapping haphazard enchantments onto any old thing was an excellent way to end up dead.

I picked up one of the spears and turned it over, examining the cracked shaft, pitted tip, and partially melted, warped silver runes. My Aether had effectively destroyed the thing, rendering the enchantment unusable or so unstable that it made no difference.

As near as I could tell, there were two, possibly three, flaws.

First, the material could not properly conduct my mana. Everything from the air to the water to the human body had its own conductivity, and this spear might be too poor a choice. My Aether did not flow smoothly through it, and some of that force rebounded inward, breaking down the entire thing over time.

Second, the material was a decent enough conductor but was too fragile overall. Everything, even the finest weapons and enchantments, degraded over time. That might take months, years, or even decades, but it was inevitable.

Third, flaws in my work ruined the whole thing. My Aether did not smoothly transition from body into enchantment. Instead, it broke free of my control and rampaged, causing more damage than it might typically.

In all likelihood, all three played a role, and fixing each would strengthen the enchantment. So, I would do precisely that.

My vambrace had similar damages. The metal bands had been warped and, in one case, broken entirely. It appeared in worse shape, likely due to the hastier nature of that attempt, so I set it aside before retrieving my notebook.

The second iteration of both would need to be more efficient, better crafted, and made of better materials. Then again, the sword-staff had a larger blade with more space to use. Maybe I could not just refine but expand upon the enchantment.

The question was, how?

I wrote out preliminary concepts involving methods of altering the shape of the coating, including one that might allow me to launch bolts from my weapon's tip. However, these changes would require testing and, more importantly, be expensive.

The frustrating fact was that I needed gold, and there was only one surefire way I knew of to earn some in my circumstances.

Thankfully, Volaris was not a city at a loss for work, and after only an hour, I had a job. A bear was spotted in the forests near the capital several weeks prior. The story was it had killed at least one dumb teenager who had stayed out too far and too late, but that was unconfirmed. Either way, the Academy was paying a tidy sum to kill the beast and return with its body.

I found three hunters in the city proper willing to split the reward with me. Their job would be to track the beast, clean its carcass, and carry it back the miles to Volaris. Mine would be to bring down the animal when we found it.

It took us about four hours to track the bear with pale gray fur and a mana signature that reminded me of Amelia. It felt weak, had done little to hide its passage, and was smaller than I expected, though still larger than a human adult. In short, it was young and relatively harmless.

I half-turned and shook my head at the hunters, each of whom had started to prepare their bows, and returned my focus to the bear. It took me only a few seconds to gather enough mana for four bolts, which I directed down the wand in my hand.

The poor thing never had a chance. Four green bolts carved into its body, sending out sprays of red that splashed against half-melted snow. It roared and turned, sending out a wave of white mist, but I already had a second volley on the way when it spotted us.

In less than ten seconds, the beast's corpse lay on the snow in a puddle of red. The hunters rushed forward to do their jobs, and I watched them work with less guilt and disgust than I expected. The first time I did this, I had nearly vomited. Now, though I did not enjoy it, it felt...mundane.

Becoming numb to killing was a dangerous thing to do, but I found that I was already further along that path than I realized. And worse, I could not find a reason why I should stop. I would need to kill hundreds, even thousands, if I meant to stop an invasion. What did a few animals matter if they helped me get stronger?

All too soon, it was the last day before classes resumed. I wandered outside the Academy, seeking peace and quiet wherever it lay. The inside of the school had become a buzz of activity again as nobles gossiped, socialized, and, on rare occasions, found their way to training rooms.

I had not noticed how few took their education seriously and found it almost insulting. They had the chance to learn magic and would rather waste it chortling amongst one another.

So, instead of wasting time there, I walked the manicured forests outside the school and practiced my magic. Augmenting my body with mana had become easier, but I still lost the feel for it after just a few steps. The prospect of using it in a fight crept closer every day, though, and I did not plan to give up.

I had other ideas on how to improve my finances and my enchantments, though both would require a meeting with Simon. And I knew Leon and Sophia would want to speak soon, likely to ridicule me for my recklessness. I had no doubt their father and Girem had heard of my actions and strongly disapproved of them.

Strangest of all, I was looking forward to most of those meetings. I had not realized the weight that settled onto me over the last few weeks. Though training and studying felt easier than socializing, they grew monotonous and repetitive. Flynn Sion felt that rivals and challenges spurred growth, and to an extent, I agreed.

Mindlessly throwing myself into training and experimentation would stop driving my growth eventually. Maybe...maybe I could let myself relax at times, spend a night with my friends, and be a regular student.

I stopped several hundred feet north of the Academy and gazed up at the stars, feeling mana flow through my body again. The sheer concentration of Aether was enough to maintain my Traveler's Cloak and ward off the chill. So, I stood there for a long time, weighing my thoughts and finding no easy answers.

When I turned to go, I felt something. There was a weak, flickering mana signature on the edge of my awareness. I had felt something similar once before and spun, throwing out my senses and trying to catch it.

Whatever it was, it vanished even as I searched. I spun, trying to piece the twilight that had settled onto the cultivated woods, stretching my perception out and finding nothing. There felt like several small animals in the boughs of the nearby trees, but nothing noteworthy.

Slowly, I relaxed and straightened. I looked around once more, then dismissed my spell for a Traveler's Shield. The walk back to the Academy was tense and hurried, and once more, I felt like someone or something was watching me.