Supreme Magus

Chapter 4227: Final Preparations (Part 2)

"But how can the Hordes fuse their multiple mana cores?" Menadion asked. "Aren’t they supposed to reject each other as Nalrond’s did?"

"They most likely would." Solus scratched her head in confusion. "If one can’t have more than one core, then the obvious answer would be to develop more auxiliary cores, but that’s impossible as well."

"Indeed, I’ve never met someone with more or fewer auxiliary cores than anyone else in their own race." Lith replied. "The number of auxiliary cores one develops depends solely on their size, and it never exceeds what’s needed to spread the mana evenly.

"Moreover, how is anyone supposed to know where an extra auxiliary core will fuel your abilities instead of blowing you up? From my experience with the violet, I can assure you that there’s only so much mana a body can hold. Past that point, it goes boom."

"Still, I think we are on to something." Solus pondered. "Think about it, the undead’s blood core is more powerful than the bright violet core, yet they can’t reach the white. None of Malyshka’s children even did. What if it’s because the undead have no auxiliary cores?"

The group thought long and hard about the issue before they gave up, unaware that they had come one step away from the answer. Yet like many before them, more pressing matters required their attention.

On top of that, Lith, Kalla, and Quylla saw no point in pursuing the uncertainty of the white core when there were so many branches of magic that they could practice that would surely improve their strength.

***

Kalla, Nyka, and Nok returned to Lightkeep as soon as the Wight fully recovered from her wounds and had compiled all the data collected by the Infirmary about Loma.

"Thank you very much for everything, Scourge." Kalla said. "Feel free to bang your head on the white core issue. I’ll trust my research about Lichhood and move in that direction. See you in six months."

"Why? What happens in six months?" Lith asked.

"I’ll have to return the Eyes and Ears to the Fire Dragons, silly." She replied. "You can’t expect me to spend half a year without proper research tools. I’ll need to borrow your tower to continue my work."

"Mom!" Nyka growled.

"I mean, you can’t expect me to spend half a year alone. I treasure your company." The Wight would have sounded a bit more convincing if she weren’t reading those words out of a piece of paper with a flat voice.

After Kalla’s departure, Lith and Solus spent the time before the gala for Elysia’s birthday perfecting the manual about tier five Void Magic and experimenting with the Sage Staff’s newfound abilities.

At the start of spring, the six great academies would reopen, and Void Magic would be officially introduced as a secondary course for all the fourth-year students. Fifth-year students would be allowed to attend as well, but by graduation, their education would stop at tier three Void Magic.

To access the upper tiers, the fifth-year students would need to prolong their stay at their respective academies, or at least return there every day until they completed the rest of the course.

As a secondary discipline, just like it already happened for Necromancy and Dimensional Magic, a failing grade in Void Magic wouldn’t preclude graduation, but no student would be rated above B tier unless they managed to master it.

Most fifth-year students were excited at the idea of being part of the selected few of their generation who would be granted access to the opus of the first Magus the Kingdom had in centuries.

Not a single young mage had waived the opportunity to attend Void Magic classes, even though it meant they wouldn’t receive their report cards or be assigned a rank for at least another six months.

Moving back and forth from an academy was bothersome for those who didn’t belong to noble households with a private Gate, so the most common choice was to enlist as an Assistant Professor or work as a clerk.

Only top students could take on the responsibilities that the role of an Assistant Professor entailed.

Yet the fourth-year Code of Practice course gave all students an understanding of the bureaucratic intricacies that kept an academy running, and there was no such thing as too many arms to handle the endless stream of paperwork.

The Headmasters couldn’t stop gloating at the prospect of so many volunteers making their job much easier, and welcomed the innovation Void Magic brought with open arms.

The only sour note was that the extra and free help would last only one year.

At the same time, however, the Headmasters and Professors of the academies had no knowledge of tier four and five Void Magic as well. It meant they would have to go back to being students for at least one year on top of fulfilling their official duties.

"This is a nightmare." Marth flipped through the pages of Lith’s most recent version of the Void Magic textbook. "I have to be a Headmaster, a member of the Corps, a Spellbreaker, and a student to boot?"

"And you are telling this to me?" Vastor grunted. "I’m no Headmaster, but unlike you, I also teach Healing Magic to the fourth- and fifth-year students and oversee the entire Light Magic department.

"And don’t get me started about my personal research, taking care of my family, and... you know." Professor Zogar Vastor was the only Highmaster of his generation and was called to clean up messes that weren’t supposed to officially exist.

"Gods, how do you do all that stuff?" Marth sighed. "I mean, how will you do all that stuff and study Void Magic on top of that?"

"Cut the dead branches, Duke." Vastor replied. "I’ve already requested a sabbatical from both the Queen’s and Spellbreaker Corps. I love my country, and I’m willing to die for it, but not from exhaustion.

"I didn’t survive countless battles just to let an unworthy foe kill me because I’m too tired to keep my eyes open."

"Good idea." Marth took his amulet and submitted similar paperwork to decrease his workload. "What about Void Magic? How do you plan to tackle it?"

"By being smart, Duke." Vastor replied. "We are not students. We are not jittery about a stupid grade, nor do we care about one-upping each other. We can exchange notes, discuss our respective doubts, and annoy the hell out of Lith if necessary.

"We have his contact rune, and I’m not afraid to use it. He put us in this mudhole. It’s his duty to help us get out of it. With a bit of luck, with our experience, we’ll need less than six months to master tier four and five Void Magic."

"Let’s hope so." Marth could read and talk, unless he had to study an unknown sequence of runes or he encountered a magical theory he wasn’t already familiar with, despite his decades of magical practice.

Lith had written his book for students who had a limited understanding of the upper tiers of magic and only a few years of practical experience with it. Most of the text was redundant for someone of Marth’s level, going over details that he already knew like the back of his hand.