After going to eat, Melch and Leif met with Edwin and Elissa. A little while later, Eric and Matt caught up with the others, all huddled into a small gathering while eating at the academy's dining hall. The hall filled with students buzzing with talk over lessons for the day, rumors or plain teasing. Bread baked fresh from the oven mixed with roasted meats created a great feeling in that room.

Leif was being the loudest among them. "So, Melch." he said,shoving another piece of bread into his mouth "still contemplating that super scientific, not at all proven test from today's class?"

Melch looked at him, unamused by jokes. "I was just thinking about it" he said calmly.

Leif grinned. "Oh? Considering that it was a complete scam? Even the professor admitted that it wasn't correct."

Edwin laughed. "Well, it did give us some idea of other affinities, but yeah… it felt more like an experiment than an actual assessment."

Elissa sipped her tea. "Still, Professor Idor Giflyn is well respected and a senior professor. If he's working on something, it might mean something later."

Eric relaxed back in his chair, his arms crossed across his chest. "Or perhaps it's simply an excuse to play games with students and collect data for kicks."

Matt laughed. "I wouldn't put that past some of these professors."

Melch listened but his head remained elsewhere. He was not really that fussed about the affinity test. His worry had more to do with something else - the unusual phrasing of the research note he had taken out from the library. The writing style really puzzled him since it was not that of a writer from the Ancient Forsic.

After they finished their meal, Melch and Leif headed back to the dormitory. As they entered, both were surprised to see letters waiting for them.

Leif picked up his letter and groaned. "Oh, great. It's from Galen."

Melch raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Leif held up the letter dramatically. "Now, He's scolding me again for not writing back. I swear, that old man has way too much time on his hands."

Melch smirked before opening his letter. Unlike Leif, his was a letter from his mother, Liliana Vasti. As he cracked it open, he found that it wasn't anything drastic just a check in. She asked about how he was feeling in this new place, whether he had become healthier as her father, Thomas Nicolescu had told and if he needed anything.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Melch felt a strange sensation while reading it. His mother had always been kind, even though she was not particularly expressive.

Leif pulled out another letter that one looked sloppy as if scribbled by a child. He unfolded it and burst out laughing. "It's from little Naeth, Look at this she drew a flower for me."

Melch looked at his own extra letter and could see a naive drawing of a butterfly. That was from Naeth too.

Leif prodded him. "Looks like she feels the same about you."

Melch shook his head, smiled a little bit. "She's just a kid."

Leif stretched. "Well, I guess I should write her something back before Galen dispatches someone after me."

Melch nodded. "Same to you."

They both sat down and started writing their replies. Leif's was much shorter a letter, half of it was doodles rather than words. On the other hand, Melch took his time. He let his mother know he was doing fine, that his condition was more stable now, and that there wasn't anything urgent he needed. He also wrote a short note to Naeth, thanking her for the butterfly drawing and draw a butterfly for her back.

They went over to the designated place at the academy to send their letters. As they exited, Leif was stretching again. "Alright, that's done. Now, what next?"

Melch looked at him. "Dinner."

"Ah, of course. The most important part of the day."

When they were done eating, Melch decided he wanted to ask questions about the test that the Professor Idor Giflyn had set and so he went to a senior student there in the dinner hall.

The student shrugged. "It's not a bad test, but it's far from perfect. Most professors and students don't take it too seriously."

"So it's only a rough estimate?"

"Pretty much. From what I heard, It's still in development and while it's useful, don't treat it as absolute truth. The affinities aren't always correct in the test."

Melch thanked him and returned to his dormitory.

Finally, it was the time to read the research note seriously. He sat on his bed and opened the worn pages. He had hardly started reading when he felt something: that the wordings were not just difficult to read but appeared intentional. It wasn't just the research part but the note almost resembled a puzzle.

Melch sighed. "This is going to take a while."

Leif peeked over from the bed. "Still at it, eh? Man, you love making life hard for yourself."

Melch kept silent, instead focusing on the words. The note mentioned strange energy sources, which didn't correlate with standard magic. Some lines were crossed out and some more parts looked deliberately erased.

Leif yawned. "Okay, fine. I'll let you continue your detective work. I'm going to my bed like a king."

Melch ignored him and took out a new notebook. He started writing the research note by hand, copying it line by line. It was painful laborious work but he knew it had to be done. By the time he had copied just a fifth of it, he felt his fingers aching from all the writing.

Exhaustion prevailed and he put down the book. He glanced at the scrawled words and had the impression they were shouting out to him, whispering some elusive word in his ear.

He breathed in flopping back on his bed. "Tomorrow" he muttered. "I will complete at least half the research note tomorrow."

And with that, sleep carried him far away.