1.51 To Find Answers

Castra flew above the village, long after the [Mages] and her adversary had made their escape. She had even failed to figure out how they were controlling the Titan Spawns—the knowledge could have helped them weaponise these creatures against the demons. They might have won this day, but it was far from over. 

She would find answers one way or another. Then there was the matter of a mission from the Firstmage to find more answers. Questions after questions with no answers. Was that all to her life? Questions without answers?

"No, I will find answers."

That was why she had become a [Mage], to find answers. To learn the origins of the demons and their god. To eradicate them from Helonar—her homeland.

She hovered there, thinking over the events of the day. 

Her [Flight] did not require any skill points, so she was not worried about wasting her skill points. Any [Mage] who had advanced their class to the [Great Mage] lost their [Flight] skill and gained something different, something new—an attribute to fly. It was like an extra limb. You simply had it and could use it as long as you were able to. Oh, you still got tired from using it like any person would after doing a good day's work.

The village was a roar with battle below, a storm of steel and sorcery against the Titan Spawns. Castra watched them fight, hovering above the battlefield. A single, well-placed spell could have turned the tide of battle in favour of the villagers. Yet, she held back.

Castra wanted her apprentices to gain some experience. Still, she kept the villagers from dying with subtle spells no one would notice. It would not do to let them die because she wanted to train her students. She was not a monster.

She had trained Isha and Nairobi long enough to know their weaknesses and strengths, so she was not surprised by how they were doing. But two magic users from the village gave her a shock that made her laugh with delight. She laughed so hard that for a brief, terrifying moment, lost control over her [Flight] and began to plummet towards the battlefield.

Her mirth vanished, regaining her control, and she continued watching the battle.

Liam, the brown-skinned youth with curly hair that reached up to his shoulder had a pathetic reserve of Mana. Yet, what he lacked in quantity, he made up for in his incredible control over it. His Mana control was better than Isha's. He was clearly trained by someone who knew what they were doing.

Many people had the misconception that the Mana reserve was what made a [Mage] powerful. There was some truth to that belief. However, it was how well a [Mage] could control their Mana, the speed and dexterity at which they could synergize their spell—that was what really mattered. 

Castra was confident she could help him mitigate his lack of Mana reserves, as long as he followed her guidance. He was a perfect material for Black Coral Academy—envied and frowned upon at the same time. Life at the Academy would be hard for him, but he had the potential bloom into an exceptional [Mage]. 

And then Michael, the boy with odd patches of white in his hair and two different eye colours, had a vast reserve of Mana. Not as much as Isha's reserve, but as much as Nairobi's. The boy, however, was a brute with his Mana, with barely any control over it. Though, considering how he was using it, she understood the why of it. He was a self-taught [High Practitioner]. A talent she could certainly work with. She could even help him refine his Mana control as well.

She wanted both of those boys as her students. They could be her way out of her debts with the Black Coral Academy. She had to convince them to become her apprentice. They were a great find, and she could not afford to lose them.

"Magic users with good potential are popping up one after another like mushrooms," Castra muttered under her breath. "It's as if the universe itself wants me to be free of my debts."

Impossible as it seemed, Castra blinked in surprise when the boy white in his hair, summoned a Nexus Shard into his axe.

"Now that's a surprise and a half. How did he get a hold of something like that?"

Only those who had advanced their class beyond level 30 could manifest their Nexus into a Nexus shard. And the only way to gain more such Shards was to kill the individuals who had manifested it as well. 

Or of course, by killing a Nexus shadow–remnants of individuals who had advanced their class beyond level thirty and were killed by beings who could not receive Nexus Shards themselves. Beings like Titan Spawns or the Titans themselves.

 A fine find indeed.

The battle did not last for long. The Titan Spawns scattering away from the village as she knew they would. 

She still did not approach the village and continued watching them, already thinking about how she would train those two boys. 

Castra frowned when she saw the curly-haired boy trying to heal the other boy with Nexus Shard. "What is he thinking? His Magicore is already strained beyond its limit. Anymore, and he will damage it permanently."

Castra acted immediately, she couldn't allow it. She had to stop it. She could not lose her prize. They were her ticket to freedom.