Supreme Magus

Chapter 4533: Manohar’s Legacy (Part 1)

"Thanks, Zogar." Ryssa plopped onto a white silk-padded sofa and covered her eyes with her hands. "You have no idea how much I needed this."

"A break? He looked around, noticing there was no trace of the house staff that was supposed to look after the Headmaster’s family. "Did some noble bother you again? Is there some problem with the Academy Duke isn’t telling me?"

"No to everything." She sighed. "I just need someone to talk to. Dhiral, be a dear and go play in the garden."

"But Mom, you don’t look fine." The young boy had the light green skin of his Dryad bloodline and the black hair streaked silver from his human side, making Vastor wonder how someone so young could harmonize his life forces so well.

"Also, you don’t like it when I play alone in the garden. You always get angry after, and I don’t want to make you mad." He looked down in shame.

Dhiral didn’t understand what could possibly be wrong with turning plants into living lab equipment, but he didn’t like how stressed his mother looked whenever she walked in on one of his new pieces.

The poor Ryssa, instead, realized how close her son’s experiments already bordered on Forbidden Magic, and was terrified that a member of the house staff might notice.

"Good gods, you’re right, baby. I’m sorry." The Dryad gave Dhiral a stiff smile, clenching her hands in frustration.

’Good gods, how could I be so stupid?’ She inwardly added, feeling on the verge of tears for the umpteenth time that week. ’I gave Dhiral permission to do something for which we both know I would have to scold him later.

’Either he’ll think I’ve tried to trick him into getting punished and believe that I’m cruel, or he’ll finally realize that I’m as dumb as I look and that I speak without thinking.’

"Your mother and I need a bit of privacy, Dhiral." It didn’t take a Master Healer to notice how tense and desperate Ryssa was, so Vastor chimed in. "What do you say if you read a bit while we talk ?"

He took a small pile of books with colorful hardcovers out of his pocket dimension and offered them to the young boy.

"Not children’s books!" Dhiral whined. "They are boring! I thought you were my cool uncle, Uncle Zogar."

Manohar the Second was a bit older than two, yet he already considered fairy tales and bedtime stories a waste of his time. He didn’t believe a word they said, since the people in those stories were cartoonishly good or evil, and the magic they used made no sense.

Dhiral could tell the ending of a fairy tale after two pages and hated how even the most desperate situation was resolved with convenient narrative devices. The young boy needed sheer willpower not to roll his eyes at the unwanted gift.

"I don’t know about the cool part, but I’m sure you’ll like these children’s books. They were the favorites of one of my dearest friends. Or at least so he said whenever he wanted to annoy me. He was the man whose name you carry."

That detail piqued Dhiral’s interest, and he took the first book of the pile. It was titled, "The Basics of Magic, by Lochra Silverwing and commented by Professor Zogar Vastor".

"I had it specially made for you, Dhiral. Look." The Master opened the book, revealing that each page had been split into three columns. The first on the left contained the original text as the First Magus had written it almost a thousand years ago.

The middle column contained Vastor’s thoughts and observations on Silverwing’s theories, along with a few hints to help his students understand the deeper meanings of the First Magus’ teachings.

The right column, instead, was empty.

"This is where you can write your own thoughts and observations, my boy." The Master pointed at the blank spaces. "Silverwing and I are old coots, and you’re smart. I expect you to notice things we have missed or even gotten wrong.

"When you do, you can jot them down here, making you the third author of this book." Dhiral’s small face lit up with joy and excitement. "Yet I suggest you only use my special Weak Ink until you get a bit older."

Vastor also took out a quill and an inkwell.

"Weak Ink is incredibly susceptible to darkness magic and can be erased at any moment without damaging the pages." He explained. "This way, if later on you realize you were mistaken about something like us, or reach a better theory, you can edit your annotations."

"Do I really need to, Uncle?" Dhiral sounded dubious.

"I may not be as smart as you, my boy, but I’ve much more experience." The Master replied. "Sometimes, you’ll think I’m wrong just because your understanding of the subject is shallow and realize your mistake only when it’s too late.

"Everyone makes mistakes, and if we are unable to recognize them, there will be no space to grow either as a person or a mage."

Dhiral pondered those words before nodding.

"Mom, can I read Uncle Vastor’s books?" He offered Ryssa the Basics of Magic to examine it.

The Dryad was in quite a pinch. On the one hand, she had forbidden Dhiral to read magic textbooks. He already learned too much and too quickly as a self-taught mage, and there was no telling the heights her son might reach with proper guidance.

On the other hand, Vastor was a friend and the person who spent more time with Dhiral at the White Griffin after his parents. Turning down his gift would have been rude and ungrateful.

"Don’t worry, Ryssa." Vastor said, reading her thoughts on her face. "None of these books explain magic past tier three. Dhiral could learn everything written in these tomes on his own, just with much more danger for himself and others.

"They are textbooks I recommend to magicos who aspire to enroll in our academy. They are meant to help the apprentice mages to master and respect their powers, something Dhiral needs.

"If you keep letting him treat magic like a toy, he’ll grow up without realizing the dangers it poses to others, just like Manohar did." Those words hit Ryssa like a slap. "Also, before answering Dhiral’s question, I want you to hear this."

The Master turned to Manohar the Second, placing the pile of books on the floor.

"Promise me this, young man. Promise me to read the Basics of Magic from top to bottom and not to move on to the next book until you’ve truly mastered its contents.

"If while reading another book you realize you have misunderstood or failed to comprehend something, I want you to start back from the Basics of Magic and fix your mistake."

"I promise." Dhiral nodded. "Mom?"

"Sure, thing, baby." Ryssa gently caressed her son’s black hair. "Go read in a corner, please."

She didn’t need to Hush Dhiral because he already did it on his own whenever he didn’t want to be disturbed. The Dryad watched her son rapidly flip through the pages as if they were filled with illustrations rather than thick lines of text.