MARIN, MONDAY, FATHERUS 9TH

Marin, Aellaria, Syn, and Behngi didn’t hear back from anyone on Callo’s disappearance all of Sunday. Marin was surprised that Aellaria was stressing less about spending every moment of free time practicing. Marin guessed that Aellaria may have taken Callo’s disappearance hard. They both came from Frostholm.

The four students arrived at Niall’s class and saw a simple, albeit significant, change in the classroom. Initially, the classroom had sixteen desks for sixteen students, but now there are only thirteen. All the students sidled toward their desks and waited for Niall to announce the changes to their class.

“Good morning, students,” Niall said, his exuberant demeanor now calmed and measured. “I have some bad news, so please take your seats.”

The newer arrivals looked around, trying to identify the missing students. Flair was among them. “Hey, uhh, where’s Callo? Don’t tell me he couldn’t hack it.” Flair giggled.

Professor Niall took a chair and flipped it around, resting with his chest against the backrest as he straddled it. “Team, there is no easy way to say this, but we have lost two students over the weekend. Mason has decided to leave the program, and Callo went missing while camping at the falls. At this time, Callo is presumed dead.”

There were gasps of surprise from the class. Syn hid her face in her hands, and Marin’s heart dropped.

“Like… what? Don’t be ridiculous. Callo is fine.” Flair said, her voice dripping with condescension as something seemingly impossible confronted her.

“I found Callo’s student badge at the bottom of Son Lake. From the evidence available, we believe he had too much to drink and tried to dive from the cliffs overlooking the falls. Callo’s death is no one’s fault–”

Flair stood up, and the chair she was sitting in tipped over. “Fuckin stuff that! Callo isn’t an idiot. Only a fucking idiot would do that.” Flair looked around the room and pointed toward Syn and Marin. “They were there! How can you presume shit when the orc and the EAMP should’ve been with him?” Flair shouted.

“Flair… I am sorry. Anyone who knew Callo and was close to him can take the day off to grieve; please report to the infirmary now, Flair.” Niall said as Flair glared at the four students who sat behind her.

To her credit, Flair didn’t take the free time off from class and gym. Instead, she reached down, picked up her chair, and sat down.

Marin knew what grief looked like. Callo was more than a classmate to Flair, and a part of Marin was crushed even further. Callo’s death affected more students than just herself, Behngi, and Syn.

The rest of the class was more practice in basic elemental cantrips. The point of these first classes was to make casting with your element instinctual, as well as the learning of the runic language. Marin struggled to concentrate. Her mind wandered to the last time she saw Callo, just before she closed the flap of her tent. He had grinned, waved, and raised his mug in her direction. Marin tried to shake the memory away and focus on her practice.

Runic was the language of magic, and students were taught with accompanying hand signals to demonstrate each rune. This doesn’t mean that casting magic required free hands, but the physical movement of the hands helped to will the flow of mana. It was far easier than attempting the vocal casting of runes.

These lessons were still lessons everyone in the class knew and had practiced, except for Marin. With each new cantrip, she felt more and more overwhelmed. She felt pressure to stay and study. She wanted to catch up to her class, but her grief pressured her, too.

Last week, Marin decided to focus on one element of magic going forward: Cryomancy. With Callo’s disappearance, the frost she conjured left her conflicted. Each crisp spell reminded her of Callo’s white hair. It immortalized Callo in her mind, and the reminder still stung.

The sting came from the fact that Syn likely wouldn’t have decided to show off if it weren't for her. She caused every element: The cider, the carriage, the campsite, the view, and the falls. None of it would have been present, and Callo would still be alive. It was too much.

Halfway through the lesson, Marin left the classroom. She reported to Master Cryonolon in the infirmary, and he gave her leave to grieve for the day.

image [https://i.ibb.co/SRbjWWr/Niall8trans.png]

AELLARIA

With Marin gone, Aellaria had to spar on her own. She practiced her form when her imagination filled the gap and manifested Zenithor. Zenithor looked exactly how he did the day he died. His age-scarred face contorted in anger. Zenithor didn’t critique Aellaria’s form or technique. After all, there was only one difference between the old mage’s mind and Aellaria’s.

Zenithor was frustrated. He didn’t even play along and help her practice sparring. Zenithor even manifested the bruising around his neck in an attempt to throw Aellaria off, “How dare you externalize me, child.”

The vision followed Aellaria as she left the gym.

Aellaria thought in response, knowing verbalizing the conversation would make her look insane to other students in the halls. “I didn’t externalize you. You externalized yourself. Because you know you are wrong.”

Zenithor huffed. “I’m not wrong. I just don’t have proof I am right yet; there’s a difference.”

Aellaria didn’t respond to the hallucination. She didn’t need to tell the mage what he already knew.

Zenithor added, “Did you see how upset Flair was about Callo’s death? Maybe we will get lucky and have a two-for-one.” Zenithor joked darkly.

Aellaria glared at Zenithor as she stepped into the teleport circle for the teacher classrooms. ‘We weren’t supposed to kill him until we knew he was guilty!” She thought angrily.

Zenithor laughed as the teleport started and then resolved. Aellaria moved to a completely different space in Spire, but Zenithor stood in the exact same spot in her vision. “He was saturated with guilt, you naive mimic.”

‘How dare you call me a mimic. You were so blinded in rage that you only saw the guilt. There was so much more to that boy than his guilt.’ Aellaria stood at the edge of the hallway. She pretended to practice a spell as other students walked past. Internally, however, Aellaria fumed, and her heart drummed in her throat.

Aellaria looked into Zenithor’s eyes and saw the calculations being done. For the first time, their minds were not in sync. “Interesting,” he said.

Aellaria thought back, ‘We can’t be killing without proof. No more, Zenithor.’

The visage of Zenithor left, and at the same moment, Aellaria felt doors close in her mind. Being locked out of her own memory was jarring, and Aellaria put her weight against the wall and felt nausea.

A face entered Aellaria’s field of vision. The concerned face of the Spire Alchemy Teacher. His vest was the same over his robes, proudly proclaiming him to be Granite Guardian. “Cry is already in the infirmary; let's get you to him.” This Granite Guardian was almost a full foot shorter than her. Just the same, the Master sorcerer held Aellaria’s weight effortlessly.

Aellaria shook her head and stood upright. “I am fine, actually. I came to see you. I want to be an alchemist.”

***

A week's worth of Mist Primrose sat in Aellaria’s room. The flower would accelerate her development significantly. However, if she turned the beautiful little flowers into mana potions, they would last much longer and be more efficient.

The reason Aellaria didn’t purchase mana potions before the trip was a simple one. Aellaria didn’t want to travel heavy, and anything with a biological component acted funky in dimensional pockets. Any amount of time spent in a dimensional pocket could, in reality, be any other time. A potion could last for hundreds of years or just seconds. There was no way to tell how time would act, so the risk was best avoided.

Instead, Aellaria kept an absurd amount of gold and gems in her dimensional pocket. Precious metals and gemstones never tarnished in the dimensional spaces outside of conventional reality. The only other residents of the dimensional pocket were some magical knickknacks and the five stories locked away in Lilium’s treasures.

Aellaria’s goal for tonight was to use the apothecary’s storeroom to brew the many potions she would need to create and then sneak back up to her room. She knew that possession of the Mist Primrose would be suspect, as her story and her fellow students' stories did not mention Aellaria gathering Mist Primrose that night or that day.

Alchemy was not the cool kid's science, especially since Spire was renowned for producing world-class talented mages. In comparison, Alchemy was an almost mundane profession.

If Zenithor had known his new body would be mystically impotent, he would have packed a mortar and pestle, alembic, cauldron, and even enchanting supplies.

The Alchemy professor was a Geomancer named Granite Guardian. The concerned older man guided her into the classroom and offered her one of his student seats.

Aellaria didn’t care what his real name was. She just hoped that the man going by the name the common folk gave him in his glory days was too proud to see through her lies. When teaching or working officially, Granite Guardian had tough skin made of stone and stood almost eight feet tall. However, the Granite Guardian summoning water into a glass for her was a 5’3 stout bald man wearing loose brown fighting robes.

The class smelled of dozens of natural herbs and alchemical ingredients. Each inhale brought a new perfume from the magical ingredients lining the lecture area.

“Welcome to my second home. The smell never gets old for me. Aellaria, is it?” GG asked. He set the glass of water before her. “Are you ready to step foot into the world of alchemy?” He asked enthusiastically.

Aellaria nodded, but the nod carried the weight of a student in mourning. “I know that Alchemy can be used to help fix maladies without the use of healing magic. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help Marin. She is feeling particularly affected by Callo’s disappearance,” Aellaria performed.

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GG winced a little bit at the tonal shift. “Umm… yes, but we try not to encourage the use of alchemy for short-term mental stress,” GG said before realizing he was about to turn away a potential student to his beloved profession. “However, alchemy has amazing benefits that can improve your life.”

“Like your transformation?” Aellaria asked, knowing full well that Granite Guardian did not use alchemy to transform.

“Uhh… well… no…” GG said nervously. Aellaria could see the man struggling to prepare himself to convince her that alchemy was worthwhile mentally. “However, you can get past the healing potion limits Cryonolon puts if you make them yourself. I could even teach you how to make Liquid Lava right now.”

“Isn’t lava already a liquid?” Aellaria asked, feigning ignorance of the benefits of alchemy.

“Well, Liquid Lava is a combination of herbs and oils that, when mixed in an airtight vial, will create a liquid that heats up rapidly when exposed to oxygen in the air. It is pretty safe to make if you store the vial securely afterwards.” GG said, pulling out a tray of alchemical equipment. He also retrieved a couple of bottles and a fistful of a leafy herb.

Aellaria took one of the students' chairs and sat across from GG at his desk and workstation.

The teacher excitedly poured one part of one oil and then another part of a second oil. He weighed fifty grams of the herb before crushing it and wrapping the resulting dust in a dissolving paper. “Then you just drop the paper and the herb into the oils of the flask and pop the stopper on. Then shake.” GG then shook the vial, and the clear liquid turned a light sparkling orange color as the herb mixed in.

GG set the vial of Liquid Lava down in front of Aellaria, and Aellaria picked it up to inspect it more closely. There was no air in the vial. “It won't explode now?” She asked.

“No, the oil pushed out when the stopper is put on helps ensure there are no air bubbles; thus, there is no way to trigger the reaction. Until you open or break the vial, of course.” GG said.

“Can you show me?” Aellaria asked. She could tell that this was a given. Without the demonstration, there wouldn’t be a hook for her to realize how much she should love alchemy. Aellaria knew that in Granite Guardian’s mind, he was about to condemn her to a life of glass vials, alchemical proportions, and shortcuts to advancement. For the next part, however. Aellaria knew she had to feign disinterest.

GG used Geomancy to summon a pyramid-shaped sandstone rock on his class floor. He then set the vial of orange liquid at the tip and opened the stopper.

Immediately, the liquid started to react with the oxygen in the air, and it heated up significantly. The volume of the liquid didn’t increase, but after five seconds, the glass melted, and the liquid began running down the four sides of the pyramid. However, the fluid got thick and extremely hot, burning rivulets into the stone and pulling the stone into itself.

The Liquid Lava took some time to get going, but an unsuspecting victim could be disabled or surprised by the simple application of the concoction. Aellaria decided it might be a good idea for her to take advantage of concoctions such as Liquid Lava. Alchemy didn’t require her to have an expansive pool of mana, at least not yet.

“That is pretty impressive,” Aellaria said. “Alright, I’m sold. How much for an introductory book on alchemy and alchemy supplies?” Aellaria didn’t need the book but knew she had to ask for it anyway.

“Five silver, and five more silver for the oils and sawleaf.” Granite Guardian said.

That price shocked Aellaria. Alchemy must have been even less popular than it was when Zenithor was a student. GG offered Aellaria an almost 90% discount to get started.

Aellaria put a hand into her dimensional pouch and adroitly produced a single gold coin. “That sounds fair. Is there any other material I should have plenty of if I want to learn some of the recipes here?”

“Yes! Of course. More Barren and Tether oils. Plenty of resin. Heartwreath for the minor healing potions. It is a bit more advanced, but you'll want to try to make it eventually.” GG said as he went around the edge of the classroom, pulling the more common ingredients of alchemy and the Heartwreath into the box with the alchemy set and book. Aellaria watched as the teacher went above and beyond to select what she would need to practice the new craft. Granite Guardian was passionate about learning. Aellaria expected his room to be empty, but here the man was making time for someone who wasn’t even his student. Aellaria looked around the room; sure enough, the Geomancy Teacher still had sixteen desks for his students. He hadn’t lost a single one to Hell Week.

“How much for all of that?” Aellaria asked, gesturing at the growing pile within the box.

“It... well. How about a second gold, and we call it even.” GG said, giving Aellaria another 90% discount.

Aellaria, playing the role of the uninformed student, smiled and handed over the second gold piece. “Thank you so much for everything, Professor Guardian. Also, I know you were a part of the search party for Callo. Thank you for going out there and trying.”

“I will always give it my all for my students. I hope to see you in my class next year for the real alchemy course. Oh! And if things get out of hand with any of those concoctions, just put a bunch of rock on it. After all, I would only trust one of these kits with a fellow Geomancer.”

The short teacher waved kindly as Aellaria left the room with enough alchemy ingredients to craft a month's worth of mana potions.

***

Aellaria set the box of alchemy supplies on her desk. Marin was gone, so this would be the perfect time to start the mana potions. Aellaria began by crushing the shimmering blue flowers in a mortar. Aellaria was somewhat relieved once all the beautiful pieces of evidence were crushed into an unrecognizable paste.

The creation of Mana potions was a three-step process. First, crush the flowers. Then, mix the resulting paste with bone meal over high heat. Finally, stir the resulting blue dust into a water and Tarrow oil suspension in a flask. The resulting potion resembles a vinaigrette, with a shimmering blue liquid beneath the light Tarrow oil.

Aellaria had used her fire magic to mix the mist flower and bonemeal and could use a top-off. She took one of the twenty-one flasks she prepared, thoroughly shook it, and cautiously sipped. The mana exhaustion, a pressure that builds in the mind, slowly relieved as she drank a sip of the tasteless liquid.

Marin entered the room. She was wearing her workout wraps and was drenched in sweat.

“Good evening, roommate,” Aellaria said. She set the partially drunk bottle of potion on her desk.

“Hi, Aellaria. I just went to the gym for a workout.” Marin said while walking over and giving Aellaria a half-hug. “I forgot what it felt like to actually hit what I’m trying to punch.”

Aellaria smiled at her roommate and started to pack up the alchemy supplies.

The clinking of glass vials, bottles, and tools drew Marin’s attention. “What is that stuff? Are you going to become a potion monger?”

Aellaria continued organizing the alchemy supplies and responded. “I’m working on some supplementary potioncraft to help cover some of my weaknesses in combat and spellcasting. Are you feeling any better?”

Marin sat down at her desk across the room. “Honestly, I do. I was working out, and Dean Flamescale talked to me. He told me about his time at Spire and about the accidents he was involved in. He told me about war, too.”

Aellaria slid the box of supplies under her desk. Then looked a little confused, “All you needed was a pity party with your hero?” Aellaria accused, knowing that it couldn’t have been that easy. Marin was physically weak, but she wouldn’t have given up for the day had it been nothing serious.

“No. It was nice hearing that someone else had gone through similar things. The Dean reminded me of Phoenix’s teachings– Everyone’s life is like a bonfire. Some burn bright and hot. Some carry on for a century. Some are just a flash, but…when the fire is done, all that remains is ash.”

“More of Phoenix’s teachings from the Master Paladin himself?” Aellaria asked.

Marin smiled again. She was slightly embarrassed speaking freely about something that impacted her, but she felt she had to finish the thought. “Flamescale believes that grief is what happens when Phoenix takes those ashes and spreads them to the lives touched by the deceased. Grief can smother you, or it can inspire you. Make you burn brighter. It’s a lesson that things can be bad, things can be gone, but nothing ever stops.”

Aellaria took the potion she had sipped from and set it on her bedside table. She sat on her bed and started practicing Geomancy again. A ball of rock shifted around her body as Aellaria made the necessary hand signals to cast the cantrips controlling it.

“See! That's the spirit. I never thought I would be relieved to see you focused on your practice. It was super creepy last week, but I welcome it back.”

“One day, you will learn about advanced casting and Will Isometrics. Seeing your face when you realize how much time you wasted will be a gift.” Aellaria said, a teasing smile lighting up her face. She knew this was her way of clueing Marin in on one of her few advantages. So what if she helped Marin?

Marin looked at Aellaria, frowning. Marin then summoned a small orb of water, froze it, and practiced her casting as Aellaria did.

“Don’t go telling anyone else about this. It is one of my few advantages to get ahead of you talented bastards.” Aellaria warned. “If I start seeing Syn juggling balls of fire, I will stop holding back in our sparring sessions.”

Marin tried to talk but focused intensely on casting the spells to change the direction of the ball of ice. “Secret… safe… with me.”

Aellaria watched Marin practice. Her control was terrible. She would lose focus on the position of the ice when she cast the next cantrip. However, to Marin’s credit, she didn’t give up.

The two women practiced for the rest of the night. When Aellaria was spent, she would take sips of the mana potion and slow down her casting to compensate. By the end of the night, the vial was empty, and Marin had a notable increase in her control.