“You must be Rubeus,” Elijah greeted as he approached the shop front. He offered his hand, and Royal Mage was quick to accept it. “Grace has said good things about you.”

The deep laughter that left the other old man was legendary. Everything about their appearance was, honestly. Never before had Elijah seen a Mage that fit the ancient stereotype so well. The purple robes certainly didn’t help, but the medium-length gray hair and the much longer gray beard were signifiers of a life not centered around physical labor of any kind for the past many years. A researcher, one who studied, though the rough palm likewise showed that it hadn’t been that way forever. A fighter’s past, just as Cleo had said.

“I hope she hasn’t said too many embarrassing things,” Rubeus commented, making the apprentice in question sputter and cause more chuckling at her expense. “It is awfully crowded out here. Would you mind if we take this conversation inside your shop?”

“Not at all,” Elijah said. And he meant it. Fewer eyes meant fewer questions he would have to answer from nosy neighbors visiting the next few days. It wasn’t every day that a Royal Mage ventured down here, after all. “Would you like some tea?”

“If it wouldn’t cause trouble,” Rubeus replied, to which Elijah assured him it wasn’t at all. He led them through the shop and into the kitchen where he placed them at the table. Then it was simply a matter of reboiling the already-hot water, bringing out three new packets of the recent batch, and giving each of them a cup. And, surprisingly, there was no form of magic used to detect poisons in the liquid before the Royal Mage took a sip. “Oh, this is heavenly. Where did you buy it?”

“I make it myself,” Elijah explained, nodding towards the flowers that sat by the window, the vine-like yellow heads and white petals instantly recognizable. “I prepare a larger batch of the flowers every summer for personal use. It wasn’t perfect at the start, but four decades of finetuning has allowed me to have a variant of the flower that gives a relatively nice balance of taste.”

“I’ll believe that,” the Royal Mage commented, the man sounding oh so happy. Elijah didn’t let his senses dull, though, and he felt it when the other’s magic surged. It felt like his very soul was inspected. “It is as you said, Grace. You, Elijah Caede, have awakened, and, to the surprise of nobody who knows you well, you’ve gained an affinity for plants. Biomancy, if you will.”

“That is what the world called it when it revealed my Status to me,” Elijah said in agreement. That seemed to interest the man, bushy eyebrows rising.

“Oh? Would you mind reading aloud what else the world told you?”

Elijah agreed to do as much, bringing up the Status in his vision and reading aloud everything but the Tier 2 spell. It wouldn’t be good if a recently awakened person was able to attain such a thing without the support of the academy.

Name: Elijah Caede

Affinity: Biomancy

Mana: 389

Spells:

[Accelerate Growth](Tier 1)

[Plant Bond](Tier 1)

[Animal Bond](Tier 2)

“Accelerate Growth and Plant Bond… I’ve heard of both being known innately by Biomancers, though the latter usually takes months to manifest properly. Very interesting,” Rubeus mused, the Mage sitting in silence as he continued to look him over again and again. Since Grace didn’t comment on the behavior, Elijah supposed it was the expected method of observing his magical talents. “Grace said that you felt the difference in your body while harvesting herbs in the dungeon. I take it that this is not the first time you’ve delved down there?”

“It’s been my routine for over thirty years,” he replied, considering how he was going to do this. The plan had already been put in place, but the wording was the final variable that decided whether or not he believed it. “When I was there two nights ago, however, the dungeon acted strangely.”

That caught the Royal Mage’s attention.

“Strangely in what way?”

“When I was almost ready to leave, I felt this… pulse of something fly through the cavern I was in,” Elijah explained. “Thinking back on it, that pulse might’ve been Mana, but I had no ability to sense that at the time. I just knew that as I reached the exit and walked home, I steadily began feeling more, and, after another hour, I was able to make a flower seed bloom in the palm of my hand.”

No instant question came after, the Royal Mage growing silent for a moment. Lost in thought, maybe trying to figure out anything that could explain the phenomenon. Elijah wasn’t sure, the other man being similar to a brick wall when he tried to figure him out.

“This is… a little concerning, though I know your story lines up with some strange fluctuations noted in the dungeon that same night you awakened,” Rubeus said, pausing again as he squinted his eyes at Elijah’s figure. “It was as if the mana density on the different layers were shifted up by one for a minute or so before returning to its normal state.”

“What?” Grace blurted out, her mentor’s words apparently too insane to stay quiet about. “Shouldn't there have been a craze at the academy about that?”

“There is, though only the highest-ranked members were privy to it until now,” Rubeus explained before looking back at Elijah. “It caused an uproar, but that is beside the point. If I were to wager a guess about this whole situation, Elijah, I would guess that your true awakening is not a recent one.”

Shit.

“I’d go even further to say that your awakening was around the normal time for a Mage, at the age of around six or seven years old,” the Royal Mage continued, while Elijah could only sit wide-eyed. What were his options here? What could he do?

“Sir, are you sure? I’ve visited Elijah since I was a kid, and he hasn’t shown anything in terms of magical ability until yesterday morning,” Grace questioned, moving over to a formal tone. Maybe as a way to keep herself under control. Elijah didn’t know, didn’t care right now.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Royal Mage was still just sitting there on the chair, enjoying another sip of the tea, Elijah would’ve taken action already. Instead, he calmed himself and trusted the process.

“Focus on the fact that I said ‘true awakening,’ my dear apprentice,” Rubeus pointed out. The Mage put down the cup on the table again before putting his hands together. “Elijah, if I’m being entirely truthful, the process of awakening isn’t as thoroughly studied as people are led to believe. It is not consistent in its effects, it has no consistent forewarnings, and the eventual product that comes out in the end has no real connection to the experience for the person. You can blame that it’s because of the different Affinities causing the different effects, but finding a common thread within a single facet of magic has still not been successful. And this… example of an anomaly isn’t one I’m too shocked by.”

Elijah nodded along at the words, earnestly feeling a calm settle through him as the scholar became more interested in the general concept than him specifically. The lie was still in place, though it had been modified by the other party to make it more authentic.

How nice of them.

“So? I have always been a Biomancer but with my abilities suppressed to a point where they barely existed at all?” Elijah surmised, which made Rubeus chuckle. Not a quick one either, as what evolved into chortles went on for nearly a dozen seconds.

“You could say as much, but I have a question to give my theory a little more ground,” Rubeus said. “When did you start working with plants, and, forgive me for the rudeness, but have you always been a… natural when working with our beautiful nature?”

“Oh, I was taken in by our village’s herbalist and put to work at the age of eight, when she discovered I had… made an entire fruit pasture without any tool other than my hands and an old watering can,” Elijah lied, though he made sure he was convincing as that slow realization reached his face. He could’ve made it look incredibly fake, but he doubted it would matter anyway, with how much the two before him were filled with sparkles and wonder. He wasn't sure they were even listening by the end. “I must admit, I’m surprised I never saw it before.”

“Don’t feel ashamed for what you couldn’t possibly have known,” the Royal Mage assured him. “Feel happy instead, for you have just given us another tip for how awakening works. If I were to guess why your abilities only truly shine through now, it would be because of the sudden shift in mana inside the dungeon that allowed it to take the final step into greatness. A random occurrence, but one that seems to have benefited you.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I’d say so myself,” Elijah replied, the old men laughing at their situation together. Only one of them was genuine, however. “So now that I’m a Mage of some minor variety, I do have to ask for a bit of advice.”

“Anything truly in-depth about Biomancy wouldn’t be something I could answer, as my focus is on the Arcane aspects of the world, but I would be happy to give you all the general tips and tricks that could help.”

And from that point on came the part that interested Elijah. With his lie secured, and the secret kept safe in the hands of the Royal Mage, it meant he could spend some time figuring out how exactly he could improve. While he was given the strict warning that somebody over 70 shouldn’t push themselves too much in the magical realm, as the veins that carried Mana aged just like every other part of his body, he was indeed given some tips on how to improve.

Strategies on breathing, on how to more efficiently guide the Mana to lower costs, and how to be more direct with his orders.

“And how would I go about growing my Core?” Elijah asked, which caused a new reaction from the Royal Mage. A grimace.

“Normally, I’d say the only way to do that would be to go to the Academy and have five years of theoretical practice before undergoing guided meditation to shift your Core into one of the highly optimized fractal patterns for your specific Affinity, but… we’d both know you’d rather avoid that,” Rubeus said, drumming his fingers on the table for a few seconds more before sighing. “Since I don’t take you as a man who wants to carefully maximize your potential through decades of work, and instead just have fun with this gift for the next few years that you have, there is another way to grow your Core. One not too dangerous, that you could likely do yourself when inside the top floors of the Dungeon.”

Oh? Elijah would be lying if he said he didn’t lean a little forward at that.

“The proper term would be akin to Natural Growth, though it’s only a half-truth,” the Royal Mage continued. “It’s a method of evolving your Core by allowing it to be modified by the ambient Mana around you, with the amount of change occurring scaling alongside the density of magical forces in the air, hence the reason why it’s usually done while inside a Dungeon. A quirk that was discovered through this, is that the so-called natural evolution rarely makes changes that would be detrimental to the user, allowing for safe growth without the risk of a painful death that usually comes with Core experimentation.”

“And the drawback?” Elijah questioned.

“All of it is a gamble,” Rubeus said bluntly. “The winds of the air dictate what changes occur to your Core. You can’t control it, you can’t make it stronger than it decides to be, and any change made is not easily reverted. This type of modification would probably kill you before the Core willingly returned to its older state, so if you don’t get the boost you were hoping for there’s little you can do about it.”

It was akin to buying a ticket to the lottery. There was a small chance of getting incredibly good modifications that would allow him great strides, or it would be the most mediocre boost in the world.

Mediocre, he says.

It was as if Elijah wouldn’t happily take that anyway, having been at the start of the progression ladder his entire life. What he wouldn’t have given to know of this trick many years ago, where even a small nudge would’ve made his existence so much easier to bear.

“I can have Grace deliver a book to you that explains all of the steps later, but I must ask one thing of you beforehand,” Rubeus said.

“With how much you’re helping me already, I don’t believe there’s much I would say no to,” Elijah replied, earning himself another chuckle.

“Ah, don’t think of it like that,” the Mage pleaded. “It’s just that, just like it is with the awakenings, the people are not meant to know about this in full detail. If a would-be Mage started to experiment with their Cores instead of going to the academy like intended, they would have a strong chance of crippling themselves and wasting potential that could benefit this land. I need students to flow through like always, or I might just lose my job.”

And if the people start learning that any Mage can improve by themselves, albeit at a limited scope, there will suddenly be a force outside of the Royalty’s jurisdiction.

A nightmare for those already in power.

“I will keep it to myself then,” Elijah lied, fully intending to share it with the two in the basement. If a burst of magical energy was able to fully awaken Sasha as it had done him, the two young adults would have their chances of survival radically increased. “Though… I don’t suppose that this ability would allow some more Spells to be learned alongside it?”

“Perhaps, but I’m afraid that it isn’t in the scope you’re likely imagining,” Rubeus said, putting his expectations low. “While Mages do learn a few innate Spells and tricks as we progress up the ladder of power, nearly everything we do is mastered through study and practice. I can tell you for certain that Grace here only learned to manipulate the winds to some extent after being guided by yours truly, even when she is a Wind Mage.”

Red cheeks bloomed at that, allowing for another round of laughs.

“It was worth a try, at least,” Elijah supposed. “My current Spells are enough to help me in the shop anyway.”

He rose to start wishing the two farewell, but a slap to the table made him pause.

“Oh, don’t say that!” Rubeus exclaimed, his voice containing more emotion than at any other point in their conversation. It was as if Elijah had claimed the sun to be blue and the sky to be lime-green. “Yes, you might not outright learn new spells, but that is no reason not to expand the ones that you do know.”

“... I can accelerate the growth of plants, and ask them to start flowering outside of season,” Elijah explained. “I’m not sure where I can truly progress in those aspects, outside of making it all faster with more Mana.”

“You don’t— This is why we have the Academy,” Rubeus muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. Grace was looking down at the table, redder in the face as embarrassment flooded the young woman. “Your idea of what a Spell can do stops you and so many others from experimenting. You can make a plant grow, yes, but have you checked if you can control how it grows? I know for a fact that the latest hundred varieties of grapes coming from a field some fifty kilometers from this city have been made through that very same spell you’re thinking is without nuance. A hundred, out of the several thousand varieties they have made through the years, all by the one hand of a bored Biomancer with a dedicated heart. And Plant Bond? It can be endless in its utility! Slightly more limited when only Tier 1, of course, but that Spell of yours can grant plants unnatural intelligence. You can make them follow orders, make them grow by themselves in a fashion you have predetermined, make them seek out others of their kind through a root system, and, by the gods, you can make them act as if they are another plant entirely. Back when I spent my years in the old country, I heard the story of a madman who built a castle through the usage of roses as labor and nothing else just to win a bet.”

Roses.

Elijah didn’t like how much using that plant in particular made so much sense in his head. While the original plant was rather fragile, his magical senses gave him enough hints to know that the heads and petals could be strengthened with the proper words and guidance. But to do that with his capabilities, to do it with only Tier 1 Spells… he would’ve never imagined it.

But have I truly tried to push it?

He hadn’t, in fear that his Core would reject his attempts and send through more backlash. Those first futile attempts to overextend in his youth, and the pain that it brought him for months at a time, had caused him to set a clear boundary in the sand for what he could allow himself to do, what he could allow himself to even attempt. But now that his senses had been honed? Now that he had a greater understanding of his magical limits, not in terms of utility but in terms of how taxing it would be? There was nothing stopping him.

Especially not with the Tier 2 Animal Bond he had neglected to mention. If the Tier 1 variant already proved itself mighty, what would a step up the ladder be able to provide?

“You see that there, Grace? That’s a man filled with wonder of what he could do,” Rubeus told his apprentice as Elijah was lost in thought for more seconds than he intended. He looked over at the young woman just staring at him, a smile on her face as she seemed ready to cry out of happiness. She was happy for him, happy to see him like this. Maybe because he’d seen her like it so many years ago when he’d regaled her with tales of what mighty Mages of Wind had been able to do. His stories of them flying over his head had powered her through so many hurdles in her study, and now it was time for him to try it out as well. “I’m assuming that you’ve already got several ideas you wish to try out?”

“I’ve got dozens,” Elijah confirmed, already thinking about the Sundrop Flower sitting inside his laboratory. He had already been able to make it speak and have a basic conversation. He thought it was an effect of the Animal Bond spell, the limit of what it could do, but what if there was more to it? “Do you need to know anything else? I could also offer you some of the prepared packets of the tea.”

“As I said nearly half an hour ago, I’ve already heard everything I needed to hear about your awakening. Since I’m also sure Grace would be more than happy to tell me all about your progress, there is little reason I have to give your neighbors more to talk about by visiting your shop again and again,” Rubeus replied, finishing the last bits left in his cup before rising from the table. “But… if you are truly offering, how much would you want for a few cups worth of tea leaves? I truly wasn’t lying when I said it was a good brew.”

Though he initially refused payment, Elijah was given nearly fifty silver for twenty cups worth of the dried chamomile leaves. Not a bad trade, but probably one that the Royal Mage found cheap compared to the stuff consumed at the academy. He’d heard about just how much gold a single slice of the luxurious cranberry cake could cost. Just the thought of it made him shudder.

“Thank you for this, Elijah,” Grace whispered as they neared the shop entrance again, Rubeus stepping out first while his apprentice said her goodbyes. “I know you didn’t want this to happen, and I hope you can forgive me for it.”

“I forgave you by the time you left this morning, Grace,” Elijah assured her. He hadn’t ever truly blamed her anyway, since her intentions had been earnest from the start. “And this talk has helped me, so there is little I can complain about anyway. Now, hurry out and save your mentor from the old ladies, if you want to keep him.”

One look outside the shop was all it took for Grace to curse the elderly and bid him farewell, running out and herding Rubeus away from the old women who wanted to know everything and anything that could be discussed over tea later. Even in their advanced age, the old hounds of gossip never wavered in their determination.

Luckily, Elijah had built up a firm reputation for not entertaining such nonsense. The old ladies barely gave him a pleading look, before huffing and leaving to go play their third set of cards for the day. They had nothing better to do, after all.

Except maybe doing something productive for once.