Chapter 5 Hidden Truths & Discoveries (Part 6/9)

It only lasted about a minute, in which both Adept Mcgonell and Victoria were caught up in the swirling blanket of ice. As my teacher dispersed the swirling vortex, it revealed her figure to be the exact same as when she entered, with not a single strand of hair different as far as I could tell. The same could not be said for the Adept. While he appeared to still be alive or at least upright, not a sound crept forth from his lips, nor a movement from his still body. I almost thought that Victoria might really have frozen him solid, with his white complexion, except that a small shudder coursed through his body as he drew in a ragged breath. But that was it. "Adept Mcgonell, I am truly sorry that things had to progress to this degree. I'll be taking my precious apprentice home with me and . . ." With a wave of her hand, the drawer that held the test papers for affinity assessments opened up and another sheet flew out. Along with the activated one on the counter, both papers flew into her hand. "I'll be taking his results as well as a spare assessment sheet." 5 gold coins then flew out of her clothes to land on the counter. "I believe that was the price for said assessment, last I recall." Taking in the image of the still quiet and unmoving Adept, she finished with saying. "I hope we don't experience such unpleasantries in the future. Good day." 'What in the world was up with my teacher?!? Who is she??' Such thoughts swirled around in my head as I was passively guided out of the mage's guild and into the still waiting coach. Moments after getting settled, Victoria called out to the coachman. "We must be on our way with haste!" With a crack of a whip and a whinny of horses, the stagecoach jerked into motion. A sad smile crossed Victoria's lips as she looked at me before speaking. "Andrew, I'm sure that you have questions regarding what just happened, but for now I need silence until we reach the shop. Please be patient." I simply nodded as my thoughts continued to storm about. Speaking of storms, as the coach led us rapidly away from the Mages Guild, a massive dark cloud of sorts began forming above the structure. Soon, several lightning strikes speared through the darkening cover, and then rays of brilliant light began to pierce through to join the terrifying display of nature's power. Something flashed in my vision, appearing like a comet that struck the growing phenomenon and then continued to skip across the sky, setting off ripples of pent-up energy. It gave off a unique chirping sound, reminiscent of a rock being skipped across a frozen lake. Circular waves of energy formed from its every descent as it ricocheted across the sky far into the distance. The storm clouds, lightning, and rays of light that had been forming above the mage's guild began to disperse and then appeared to chase after the comet, like a dog to a ball. As that happened, in the coach they continued to travel at high speeds, rushing back to the Apothecary shop and Victoria's home. Andrew watched from his seat as many of those they were passing on the streets pointed at the sky in awe and more than a little fear. Soon enough, they made it to the doors of her home and Victoria lighted off her seat, tossed a silver coin to a very grateful and sweating coachman, then practically dragged me in through the doors. Then, after we crossed the threshold from her store to her home, she let go of me with a quick order. "I'll get back to you shortly. Please just wait at the dining room table while I go take care of something." Then without anything further said, she dashed up the stairs to her warded potion room. ****************************************** Pulling out the buzzing communication crystal that had been going off since they rushed out of the mages guild, Victoria answered the call. The angry aged voice of Gertrude expelled out into her private and heavily warded work room. "Victoria, Damn you! What were you just doing?!? I had to expend one of my precious Seeker stones to distract that nosy Demi-God away from you!" Not truly appearing contrite, Victoria replied. "I'm sorry, I had to break a taboo to protect the anonymity of my apprentice's evaluation results. I will tell you more latter." "Wait!" Gertrude cried out even as Victoria ended the dialog on her communication crystal. She waited a few more moments, wondering if Hanna or Flourana would try to reach out. Silence continued to rein, and Gertrude didn't try to reach out again. It appeared that for now, things had settled down. *Sigh* Relief filled her, as she then prepared to comfort a very confused and possibly frightened apprentice. ********************************************************As I waited in silence, leaving my unfocused gaze upon the darkened wood of the dining table, I sat with uncertain thoughts in my head. With the grand magics and energies that had been utilized and performed in front of me, not to mention the heavenly demonstration of who knows what, I felt like I was in far over my head in the deepest of conspiracies. I was adrift in the ocean without any land in sight, with my thoughts appearing as phantom driftwood that continuously evaded my grasp. It wasn't long before Victoria re-emerged from her warded room. Her slow steps down the stairs filled me with anticipation and more than a little concern. 'What was she going to tell me?' I thought. Sitting herself in a chair close to mine, she spoke. "Andrew, we have some deep topics that we have to touch on, that I can't fully explain because of certain taboos." Taking my hand in hers, she continued. "So, bear with me as I try to explain." Taking a deep breath tinged with trepidation, she spoke. "Magic users and other powerful figures in the know of certain things, are bound by magic oaths to report certain discoveries, up the chain of command that you would do well to stay out of the awareness of." She paused as if measuring her words. "One such oath was triggered a little while ago inside the mage's guild when the results of your affinity test were revealed." My eyes narrowed in confusion, regarding how such an innocent seeming test, could have such long reaching consequences. As if hearing my thoughts, She continued. "There are certain things I dare not say. For things you do not know about, you cannot discuss, and thus endanger yourself with." Pulling out the activated affinity test, she placed it on the table between us. "Based on the results of the test, I strongly suspect that you have what's called a full affinity to Both mental arts." A shiver filled the air, and she paused as if she was treading on risky ground. A moment passed with bated breath and the shiver appeared to disperse before she continued. "Admittedly this test only contains up to the 3rd level of tiers. However, the rate at which your affinity ascended. . . That's simply unheard of in Any circle of knowledge. Not to mention, that based on your darker shading, that stops just short of the first of 3 demarcation lines, you are ripe for the training, or Taking as it would be." Confusion ran rampant through my mind. 'Okay, lets gather my thoughts. Mental arts appear to be important. I have high affinity in mental arts. People with high affinity in such are likely kept like caged animals and trained as such by powerful people. I did not like the idea of being a kept or trained animal.' Swallowing the build-up of saliva to wet my throat, I hesitantly inquired. "Can I just leave those undeveloped and focus on the other elements?" Seeing her patient gaze, I continued. "I mean, sure it is disappointing that I appear to only have affinity at the first level, but what else can I do? Not to mention that I hadn't even planned on using magic in the first place." *Sigh* Victoria nodded at my suggestion. "It is possible to focus on your other elemental affinities, however, looking more closely at the more darkly shaded part, which only extends a single fingernail thickness in size, shows that you have abysmally low chances of ever successfully assimilating those elements." I shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, could it?" *Snort* A bemused if disappointed expression filled her face. "Actually, it can and does hurt to try an unsuccessful assimilation." Victoria replied. "A failed assimilation results in burned out pathways that can never be enlivened again. I mean, there are stories of mythical potions or treatments that can revitalize the pathways, but there have been no recorded accounts of such happening for real." Victoria took a moment to look me deep in the eyes before swallowing and adding on. "Admittedly, based on your low affinity, and broad spectrum to choose from, it wouldn't be a real loss if you burned out one of your elements in an attempt at sparking it to life. Do you truly want to do such?" After the roller-coaster of emotions and experiences I just had, I honestly didn't care and was simply interested in getting it done and over with, so that I could go back to reading and learning. I simply replied with "Yes, I want to try it out." "Very well. I will use one of the basic light mage stones that I have plenty of throughout the house. If your assimilation is successful, you may become capable of someday casting a ball of light, at a similar brightness as the stone sets off right now. Watch carefully as I create the potion to ease the assimilation process." Victoria then went about gathering various pieces of equipment and a vial filled with unknown powders, describing parts of the process along the way. Holding up the vial filled with powder she explained. "This is powdered magicae venales fautor. It is a low-level magical plant cultivated almost exclusively for the creation of Mage stone assimilation. It sooths the mana pathways within you, rendering them more receptive to the onslaught of magic which comes with the consumption of the potion." Then pouring it into a larger beaker, she then added about 30 milliliters of clear liquid to it. "This is distilled water, as we do not want any foreign particulates to complicate the process." Next, she took the light mage stone and placed it into one of her clean mortars, then she ruthlessly crushed it, causing sparks of light to issue forth from the various pieces which she ground heavily into the finest of grains. "This part must be done quickly before the energies disperse. Always remember to save the elemental stone for last before placing the entire concoction under the flame to catalyze the powdered magicae venales fautor and the granules of the magic stone." Saying that, she had added in the now powdered light stone, stirred the mixture about, and placed it over an open flame. After a short while, the mixture in the beaker began to put off a dull white glow, at which she turned off the heat and allowed it to cool. As we waited, she continued to explain. "Once it has reached this part, you have a limited window of time, depending on the strength of the stone. A basic mage stone like this may last a day or two, while an inferior mage stone could last weeks. Although it'll likely be a long while before you need to know this, a Terrace mage stone assimilation potion can remain stable and usable for several months. The higher tiers than that, measure in the years for how long they can last while retaining their potency." Feeling that it had cooled enough, she then poured the contents into a smaller vial and set it on a tray to further cool. "Just as a side note. Ice and Darkness are the only two elements that you should not utilize this method with. Ice because it does not take well to the heat, and Darkness since it doesn't like being exposed to the light of the flame." Finally, she picked up the vial barehanded and corked it before handing it to me. "Are you certain that you want to consume this? I could easily sell this to someone else without any loss, if you are worrying about saying no."