“Isn’t this place overcrowded?”

The ‘medical bay’ of the palace’s chapel, AKA the place that looked like an infirmary but with priestesses instead of nurses. A place where everyone in need of healing went and where most potions were stored.

Right now, the more spacious room, where the actual beds were, was a ‘no-enter zone’ since Mr. Hero and the army of healers from the cathedral were there. And so, everyone else was being treated in the medicine storage behind the lectern and the choir area instead.

There were many more people than I thought here, though. The whole of the hero’s party with only a certain princess missing, and then two priests.

“I heard they needed the whole room to be sure treating that guy would be less dangerous… Those two over there got knocked down by messing up.” Elen answered with a nod to the two growling priests with eerie dark spots on their skin. “These two will be good in a day, I heard, but the hero isn’t getting better. A dozen priests and priestesses are inside there and they’re still unsure of what's happening…”

“Hell… At least I hope they don’t take too long.” My head wandered to the off-chance that Mr. Hero would walk everything off tomorrow and avoid this mess. “Maybe popping him a bunch of potions and all the magic you can manage will get him up...”

“You cannot hurry this kind of process, milady. If it was something easy to solve, then it would be so already…”

“C’mon, what can be so messy that magic can’t fix? They’ll surely manage something…”

“I mean, maybe. They’re at it for some hours, and even sis got hooked on trying to help… But we’re still better considering he won’t be back anytime soon.”

“That… I know that.” I resigned to accepting the truth. “Better go back to what we came here… Mana potions first, and then I can start playing around.”

My plan was to leave the negotiation to Elen and only focus on the experimentation. I wasn’t very well known in this area, since I barely came here, so she should do better. Religion wasn't exactly my thing... Which could be a problem since I was possibly following a god’s advice right now.

But before I could move away and let the ranger princess do her magic, a tall guy in glasses rose up from his bed and stood in front of me. He was the only one of the hero’s party members who was awake right now, not that I noticed such before he got up.

Still, he was wearing a much simpler robe than what I usually saw him using, and covered in bandages.

Quite the handsome guy still.

Stern face paired with blue eyes and glasses, very tall, dark grey groomed hair, seemed to be fit enough, and an aura of nobility to top it off. Wouldn’t rate him top-class like the princesses or absolute supreme master class like me, but he was quite good.

Could stare at him for a while even if I wasn’t so confused.

“Excuse me, milady.” He called out while I only stared in confusion. “Sorry about that, but I heard you mentioning ‘your magic’ here. Is it about the 'silver magic' my father was researching?”

His father? Why would I… Wait. Is this guy…? Hell no! Now that’s unexpected… I mean, I knew he was related to that old archmage, but son and not grand-something?! That’s bullshit.

Ow! Right… Answering the guy right in front of me…

“Hmmm… I wouldn’t say I found something and the last time I saw Randoul was a month ago, I think.” I tried to explain but having to talk with someone I didn’t know without a plan got me off-balance. “I-I mean… I’ll try some things out now, so you could say I have a lead, at least… Maybe…”

“A lead it is? Could you say more, please?”

“Well, I had a dream and got a hint, so… Well… I need to try things out. It's only that I'm worried and will have to rush things out.” I kept trying to explain while already calling any of the two people who came with me to get some help. “I’m not so sure how much I can say about it… It’s a little too far off from anything I know about normal magic too.”

“So that’s how it is…” He answered in a somewhat disappointed tone but got more serious very fast. “Can I help with it? I’m unsure if you know this much, but I am a graduated mage and scholar. I could be very helpful to this theory of yours.”

“Hmmm…” I tried to answer, but couldn’t find the right words, so I instead turned to my nominal bodyguard again. I also tried getting Eve to say something with my expression only, but she turned away as if she didn’t want to get involved.

“Shouldn’t you be resting now, younger Vanrook? Hells, at least wait some hours and have these bandages removed before forcing your body.” Elen came up with some good excuse to deflect this guy away and then went on firing. “More so, are you sure you want to play around while wounded? Since you’re a mage already, you should know how messy this can get… You need a license to make magical experiments for a reason.”

“I understand this much, but leaving this chance won’t do for me. This ‘silver magic’ from Ms. Illia caused a good deal of problems for me already, so I would be grateful if you would let me, at least, take notes.” He held on to the idea of staying close by. “And as you said, Your Highness, this plan is very dangerous. Having someone who knows more about this kind of research would be safer.”

“That… Hells… I mean… Go get us some mana potions and wait a moment, will you?” My backup tripped on the argument and then shooed the stern-looking dude away so she could gather me and Eve to an impromptu strategy meeting. “So, doesn’t he have a point? My curiosity got me and all, but isn’t someone who knows how this works useful?”

“If it is as dangerous as Sir Vanrook said, it makes sense that we would like his help.” Eve also agreed with the reasonable point of the two nobles, something I was close to doing too since I didn’t expect to be in danger. And then, both stared at me as if waiting for my decision.

“Ugh, fine…” I conceded to the light pressure and then turned to the returning guy after he got some potions as asked. “We have decided to take on your offer, Mr. Glasses. Thanks for the help in advance.”

“Glasses…?” He stopped in confusion for a moment while I stole the blue bottles from his hands and turned to the exit. The princess still trying to hold her laughter and the expressionless maid followed me almost right away, and we were out of the chapel very soon.

We only walked until we were at the garden, though.

Staying close to the infirmary would be good if things went, so all I wanted was a kinda isolated place close by. Far away enough to not break anything important, you see? Going outside and taking a random spot in the garden was enough for this.

“Here should do…” I concluded while downing one of the mana potions almost right away and then sitting on the ground. “Now, to see what I can manage with these… Pay a lot of attention in case I forget something later on, okay?”

“Get ready for it, Eve,” Elen called out as she watched me set the four artifacts I had in hand on the floor and then stare at them. “Not that I have any idea of what’ll be happening here…”

“I’ll be ready to open a barrier if needed, but it would be good to know what to expect.”

“I’d love to know that myself. I’m going blind here, remember? The only big hints I have are my dream and the time I heard a spell in the throne room… And I couldn’t even use it at the time.”

“Are you talking about when you fainted due to mana exhaustion?” Glasses said as he watched me stare at the idle items. “If so, could you give me more details about that?”

“That? There’s not much to talk about that. I heard a voice telling me to summon things, but I ended up fainting when I tried it.” I explained the best I could even if there was very little to say. “That one is the reason why I got the idea that I could work with artifacts. I was close to the summoning one when it happened and I never heard it again. It’s either that or I have no idea what the dream voice was saying…”

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Dream voice?”

“Yes. I had a weird dream with a voice that told me I was already using my magic and all. Didn’t give me much to do, but it didn’t feel like a normal dream either… I remember it too clearly for one.”

“That’s nothing much,” Elen added this time in a tone that didn’t show any surprise for how faint the clue that got us here. “Hells, most people start using magic after dreaming about their element, so why wouldn’t you get it too? A measuring gem helps, of course, but sometimes you don’t even need them.”

“It’s unusual for a summoned hero to get such dreams, though.” The person with actual research experience mulled over it in a pensive tone. “There are reports of heroes who had visions and even a few oracles, but a conversation about magic with a god is unusual…“

“Is it this weird?”

“It would be like breaching into their dimension to have a chat from what I understand.”

“Maybe Illia was just tripping due to the knock in the head then.” Elen gave me the horrible possibility I wanted to ignore. “Either that or you could make a fortune telling artists exactly how the gods look.”

“That would be hard… But let’s go back to what matters for now. I want to get this going before I’m hit by everything else from these potions.”

The burning feeling from having way too much mana in my body was bothersome as usual but I could ignore it without a problem. What could mess my plans up would be how tired I got after using these things. If it wasn’t for my forced nap from earlier, I’m sure I wouldn’t even be able to manage this much right now, and I was still a little tired as is.

Again, not perfect but manageable.

“Can I give a suggestion beforehand?” Glasses stopped me again.

“Go on.”

“What if you tried the same thing from the time at the throne room? Focus on what you want to do and try to hear a voice, but instead of using it right away, cast slowly and pay attention to your mana.” He went on, now speaking in a way I would expect from some teacher or scientist. “If that spell was anything like the summoning circle, the problem was that you called for something too vague. It is very impressive that you can activate a summoning by yourself, but it is known that the fewer details you give, the more mana you'll use. If the matter isn't something complex like asking for 'what we need', then thinking of a specific item is much easier. Still too expensive to be viable, but much easier.”

“That’s true.” The princess commented. “We can even use it to soften shortages or famines if they’re bad enough. It’s expensive and less efficient than using mages to fix the problem directly, but sometimes you need resources right now.”

“Exactly. Even a perfect understanding and description wouldn't be enough to make it easy, but you managed part of the process already. Then, as long as you stay simple and small…”

“That’s… That’s kinda irrelevant right now, no?” I mused as everything they both said went through my head while my eyes were still on the four items I had on hand. “I mean, I can try it out later, maybe, but focusing on these four should be better right now.”

More than 'I could', if these tests worked out, then I'm sure that would be my ace in the hole. I even had some ideas of how using something 'simple and small' could help me...

But again, that was for later.

“Oh… Sorry. I got carried away there.”

“The idea is good, though. Trying what I did before, I mean…” I muttered again and then closed my eyes to focus. But right as I did so, something I hadn’t heard in a while filled my head.

The whisperings were back and there were no people around this time.

It was weaker than what was happening during the ball and the two times at the throne room, but they were still whispers. Whispers that also remembered me of the time I got a headache in the armory…

Now things are easy to guess, aren’t they? Mr. Glasses got it in one too… I wonder why I never considered it…

What are the rules, though? Think about the item and…? No. That’s wrong. Doing something should work more like a feeling… Hold the mirror first, and then think. Think of what it can do, think of what it has to do, and then… Oh! Yes, as I thought...

“- .-. .. -.-. -.- / -- .”

I opened my eyes after holding the hand mirror for a few seconds. All I had to do was wish for a shadow clone and the spell was there again.

Another mess of noises and words I couldn’t even tell if was a language, but something I could understand still. And not in the way I understood the other spells too, this one I simply knew how worked, although only the basics.

It seemed a little too vague in comparison to everything else I read about magic too… As if it wasn't complete or if it wasn't a real part of the system. Maybe it was only because no one ever researched it, though.

Hard to be sure and not as if it mattered right now too...

What mattered was that this guy was useful. A little too useful even. Would Mr. Hero get angry if I poached him while he was out? Well, I’m doing it anyway… It’s worth the psychological damage.

“You’re good at this, aren’t you, Mr. Glass…? No. Calixto is your name, right?” I corrected myself and then stared directly at the handsome guy for the first time ever. “And please, stop with the ‘Ms.’ before my name while you’re at it. Illia is good enough.”

“That’s…” He tried to say something but I could see in real-time how my ‘beauty pressure’, AKA earnest plea from a nice-looking girl, was affecting the guy. “I’ll try to comply, Ms… I mean, Illia.”

“Good, Cal. Now, to the magic…” I broke eye contact in a hurry and finally started to breathe again while trying to change subjects.

I’ll never understand how social people can manage this kind of thing naturally, so pushing further would probably get me out cold again. Elen was staring at me weirdly now too, so a little more and I would be mentally done…

“Ignoring whatever just happened, can I take you got something?” She asked, getting her expression back to one more neutral that showed her interest. “I can see you smiling already, so spill it out.”

Oops. Seems like I started to show a little too much…

I lightly slapped my cheek to get my expressions back in place and then went back to focusing on the hand mirror without saying anything. Showing was better than telling in this situation, and also, showing was funnier.

“Behold!” I focused my mana on the spell in my head and then jumped to my feet, taking a stance with my arms crossed and a smug smile. And at my back, a gold-plated and taller version of myself was going through the motions of laughing like the proper rich lady should.

Yes, I’m posing with a weird humanoid on my back, so anyone can guess what I’m trying to emulate here. The plan was for it to be a little more complex, but that was fine.

It was more important that this little display of useless fun gave me a few nuggets of information. Just getting everything that didn’t work off was enough to explain a lot.

Changing the size only worked a little bit, hence my clone only ended up a few centimeters taller;

The appearance seemed to be a little freer, but I couldn’t do every little thing I wanted. Maybe because I’d need a better image to make it work;

It still could only take a single order, which was why it was still laughing in silence back there. Sound was a no-go from what I could see too;

And lastly, and as the more important detail, I could keep it going longer if I kept supplying it, although the cost felt a little higher.

All in all, even if the effect was almost the same and still relied on the artifact itself, it was a huge upgrade and didn't use that much more mana. Two times the amount, at most, to turn the borderline useless artifact into a powerful illusion tool.

More than that, the fact no one noticed some of my signaling while the illusion was in focus gave me the basis for another theory I had at the moment. One related to some weird things I noticed, but that I was yet to get a good grasp on…

I would have time to parse every piece of information I got myself and all the others saw later, either way, so it was for later. Right now, the focus was on running the tests, so I could think of a plan later.

“So… Nice image, I guess?”

“You’re forgetting what this artifact should do, Your Highness…”

“It creates a figure from the user, right? Like that.” Elen kept on pointing toward my bewildered face and my huge breakthrough as if it wasn’t anything special in particular.

“Not exact…”

“Tell me if I’m mistaken, please, but that hand mirror is meant to create a simple clone of the user that pretends to do one simple task for something like ten seconds, am I right?” Cal asked after thinking for a moment without ever taking his eyes off my laughing clone, to which he got a positive nod in answer. “Have you managed to change an artifact’s effect then?! Is that really what I am seeing?”

“This one really gets it!” I answered in a sudden wave of high spirits. “Yes, that’s the thing. I was unsure of how it would go, but that’s exactly it, isn’t it?!”

“The effect was similar but different then…” Elen mused as she seemed to understand the situation better now. “I’ll need to see the original one later, but is it that useful?”

“Not by itself, I think, but it would be very powerful in the right situation. Hard to know before I’m sure if I can change any artifact or some of them, though…”

“It does sound as such, milady.” Eve also added from the side of her liege. “And is likely the only way to affect artifacts we know of.”

“It sounds quite impressive now that you say it like that… Hard to be sure but potentially powerful is a step ahead of what you had before. And with your 'skills' on top of that…” Elen nodded with a mix of interest and unsureness. Not that I could fault her, this one wasn’t something super useful still, but that was beyond the point. The point was what more I could get from it. Or more, the point was how shocked Cal was just by seeing this…

“Something like this is unheard of… If we could find a way to apply this silver magic, then…”

The effect was good enough from what I could see from him. Very eye-catching to use as an example and a good demonstration that was enough to get me actually happy for once. The guy in glasses seemed to be focused on his own head right now, though, so I had to ignore him for now.

He was yet to see what was the real focus of my experimentation. The one item that I always thought was the most perfect one to me… But that would be for after I had a better grasp of my skills. I had a feeling messing with that one wouldn't be so easy.

“This one was safe, but we still have others to try,” I called out while already heading to the next tool on the floor and ignoring the creeping headache menacing my well-being. “I’ll be starting the next one, everyone… Get ready to not have any sleep today.”