Answers
Emily said goodbye to Nolan with a mixture of emotions that were quite complicated for her to understand.
As she gathered several bags containing her new clothes, along with what she had worn before changing, she felt strange, as if the weight of the objects she carried was much more than just garments.
She had also been given food to take with her: a carefully wrapped package containing a delicious bread filled with spiced meat, accompanied by soft cheese and aromatic herbs, along with some fresh fruit and a small cake that looked fit for a noble.
It was much more than she had expected, and the generosity of Nolan and his staff overwhelmed her.
When she finally left the mansion, she felt an abrupt change as she left behind the warm comfort of Nolan's home.
The cold of the street hit her, reminding her how different her world was from his.
Despite the nervousness in her stomach, she quickened her pace, eager to get home as soon as possible.
This time, the guards didn't stop her as she left; they merely watched her with a slight nod, which only added to the tension she felt inside.
As she made her way through the streets, people's eyes turned toward her.
The shine of her new clothes and her slightly changed demeanor did not go unnoticed, and many who recognized her from the bakery watched her with curiosity.
Emily felt her nerves increasing with each step, fearing that rumors might start spreading about her drastically different appearance.
However, to her relief, she encountered no problems along the way, though her heart was racing by the time she finally reached her home.
Emily stopped in front of the worn wooden door and took a deep breath.
Her hand trembled slightly as she knocked several times.
The sound of footsteps on the other side approached, and Emily swallowed hard, fighting the nerves building up in her chest.
Finally, the door opened, revealing the figure of her grandmother.
At first, the elderly woman's expression showed annoyance, surely because Emily had taken longer than usual to return. But that expression quickly changed when she saw how her granddaughter was dressed.
"Emily!" her grandmother exclaimed with a big smile on her face, her tone full of affection. Without saying more, she hugged her tightly, making Emily uncomfortable.
"Come in, dear," her grandmother said as she guided her inside.
Emily, though still on edge from everything that had happened, obeyed without saying a word.
The house, small but cozy, offered her a sense of familiarity that allowed her to relax a little.
"Tell me everything you did today, please," her grandmother asked, her eyes shining with curiosity and pride.
She knew something important had happened, and she was eager to hear every detail.
Emily sat down, the bags beside her. She took several deep breaths, trying to organize her thoughts before speaking.
She knew her grandmother was expecting an answer, but it wasn't easy to explain everything that had happened in just a few hours.
◇◆◇
Nolan was in his study, looking out the window as the afternoon began to turn into evening.
The day had been productive, more so than he had expected, especially teaching Emily.
He was excited, thinking about what he could show her tomorrow. It was fascinating to see how quickly she learned, as if she had a natural talent for magic.
However, as his mind wandered through ideas and lessons, something dark and unsettling crossed his mind.
Suddenly, his enthusiasm faded when he remembered his own condition.
He couldn't use magic… or rather, he shouldn't.
Every time he tried, the risk of his mana core breaking was too high. He had pushed himself to the limit practicing regression, and since then, he now felt something strange inside, a fragility that kept him on edge.
"Can I really not use my magic because of this…?" Nolan asked himself, feeling that something didn't add up.
It was true that his core was at risk, but there was something deeply troubling him.
Every time he used regression magic, everything around him went back in time… except him.
His body didn't change.
If he suffered an injury before activating the magic, even though the attack would never have hit him now, the damage remained.
He learned this especially when he suffered a sword wound due to a mistake, and when he rewound, the injury was still there.
This was how the physical strain on his body was generated, and it made him think about the condition that plagued him now.
When he rewound time during his last practice, he felt a strange pain in his chest, a pain that disappeared when he rewound, but that returned the moment the same seconds passed again.
That didn't make sense… or had he taken his regression magic to a new level again?
What if that pain wasn't just an accident?
What if… the breaking of his core was the next step in the evolution of his magic?
The idea was as absurd as it was terrifying, but he had already learned that time magic didn't follow the same rules as the others.
It was a kind of magic that defied the fabric of reality itself.
There was something more he didn't fully understand, something that didn't fit with what he knew about magic.
That's why he decided to investigate. He had read a lot about mana cores during his time as a student, but he didn't remember exactly what happened if a core broke.
Nolan quickly got up from his chair, ignoring the words of the servants who greeted him as he walked briskly to his library.
They were already used to Nolan's sudden impulses, so they weren't too surprised to see him pass by, deep in thought.
When he reached the library, Nolan began frantically searching through the books.
He took out several old volumes that spoke about mana cores, but what he read was the same as what he already knew: if a person was born without a core, magic was extremely difficult to control.
However, there was little mention of a core breaking.
He kept searching until an unusually colored book caught his attention.
It was different from all the others, its cover had a modern design, as if it didn't belong in that section.
He pulled it from the shelf and began to read.
His eyes widened in amazement as he discovered that what he believed about mana cores was… quite outdated.
Nolan had always thought that people were either born with one or not, but the text revealed that cores weren't necessarily something one was born with.
On the contrary, they were often formed and perfected through advanced meditation and mana control techniques.
Some were born with the innate ability to create something like a core, but others developed it throughout their lives.
And even more surprising, there were other, much more advanced techniques for manipulating mana, such as creating mana rings around the heart or tattoos imbued with pure mana stones, which made it possible to use external mana.
Nolan was stunned.
Everything he had believed all his life about mana cores was just an outdated and limited version.
Laughing bitterly, he realized how much magical knowledge had changed while he had been obsessed with time magic.
Other people had pushed their research to the limit, just as he had done with his own magic.
Determined to learn more, he looked for more books in his library.
However, all the other volumes seemed outdated, full of information he already knew or vaguely remembered.
None contained the new perspective he had just discovered.
Frustrated, he left the library with the strange book in hand, his mind racing in a thousand directions.
"Someone, come here!" he shouted to the servants as he walked quickly through the halls.
One of the maids approached, a little nervous at seeing him so agitated.
"What happened, sir?" the young woman asked, clearly worried.
Nolan, still holding the book, showed her the cover.
"Where did you get this book? I need to know where it came from."
The maid thought for a few seconds.
"I think the librarian brought it, sir… but she's on vacation now."
Nolan clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Vacation?" Nolan repeated softly, clearly annoyed.
Just when he needed answers the most, the person who could provide them wasn't available.