Bloom's doubts

Nick stepped through the ruined doorway and met Joylin's eyes. Judging by her annoyed face, the girl wasn't pleased with what she found, and Nick himself doubted that wards was all right. The fact that it didn't react to intruders was worrying.

"Verdict?" He bent down and picked up the door from the floor, there was not a scratch on the dark wood. The carpet was ruined, however – Catherine will be pleased to know that.

Joylin's eyebrow twitched. "Someone managed to hide the mana of all the creatures around your house. And they did it remotely," she gritted her teeth.

Nick paused, but put the door it its place and fixed the hinges – it can be enchanted later – he perfectly understood why Joylin was so annoyed. If the problem was in the defense of his house, it would be forgivable – a mistake that can be corrected by writing a couple of new runes and using a ten-or-so of gems. But the problem wasn't the wards, the problem was that in addition to the fairy with the power of the stars, they had someone who could slip through the defenses without being noticed.

Nick's house was far from the most heavily protected place on the planet. One slowly stops worrying about safety when the people who can kill you can be counted on the fingers of a one-armed man. Not counting the allies, of course. But this did not mean that his house was a passage yard.

Sensors, cameras, shields, attacking spells, none of these activated when trolls and ghouls approached. Nick lied when he said that his wards don't react to normal people, that would be a stupid oversight, and that every sorcerer knew this was a sign to prepare for battle.

Luckily, their enemies turned out to be weak idiots with strong unknown benefactress behind them, so the attack was crushed by overwhelming force.

"Good to know. Might have to switch to manual control in the future," he muttered.

Patrick returned – no one could say exactly when exactly the sorcerer sometimes disappeared – and looked around with displeasure. "Copper."

Nick frowned slightly. "I was sure it was citrus."

Patrick clicked his tongue. "Whoever hid the trolls didn't use illusions. You should know that."

Nick rolled his eyes and looked outside. The guy with spiky hair annoyed, like a kid who was told to go take a nap. Igor is probably now explaining to them that no, they cannot take the troll from the planet because the incident happened here and therefore the troll is going to China.

That's just sounds wrong…

After several minutes of negotiations, it was decided that the Price family and Stella would spend the night at Nick's house - he could easily add and remove rooms in the house with the help of magic. And while the guests were getting ready for bed, the six sorcerers were left completely alone in the kitchen.

"Marie?" Joylin asked as she sank into her chair.

"We have a lot of problems. An unexplored magical community using impossible principles of magic; fairies connected with the elements of celestial bodies and fire; witches who serve as the embodiment of evil in the entire of Magix. I'm not even sure I want to make contact with this unknown world, but we have already begun work in this direction– thanks Igor."

Igor just nodded smugly.

"We don't know much about the fairies before the patient, only that their body does not have a source of mana, and as such, nor a connection with other dimensions." Marie stopped, letting everyone around her understand her next words. "They are a personification of their element, not simple users."

Nick's brain shorted out.

"Wait, so you're saying that this little girl is not a cable, but a fucking generator?" Patrick asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Stella said that neither fairies nor witches have an organ that is responsible for the production of magic – only wings in the case of fairies, but they don't count. If we have a mana heart that works together with a normal heart, then they have nothing. And I want to know why they can do what they do, preferably yesterday." Marie said and began issuing orders for further action.

Nick was handed a folder of paper and he nodded blankly, already lost in his thoughts. He knew that he would have to make contact with the new world, if only because he was the only sorcerer out of ten who formally studied politics, and didn't decide to go with the flow. There were many more reasons why he should go, but Nick was sure that he would read them in the folder a little later, now he was thinking about something else.

The sorcerer put his hand on his chest and took a deep breath, feeling his own heartbeats. His human heart beat in tandem with the mana heart on the left side of his chest, while on the right was a completely different heart. The heart of late Master Magnus. The sorcerer who gave his magic to Nick.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Bloom sat in a brand-new room that appeared in Nick's house and read one of his many books. He said that he would install magical protection on their house, because now, as part of a secret world, they could be in danger – especially after it became known that Bloom was also a fairy. Mike and Vanessa said that they would need to talk to her in the morning because and she couldn't stop thinking what it could be about.

Now that he didn't have to hide from the Prices, Nick removed the illusion from most of the volumes, allowing Bloom to at least read about the hidden communities on Earth. Bloom's first book was [The Study of the Origins of Wizards.] by [Magnus Gray.]

[... No one can say exactly when the first magic users appeared on earth. Some say that they have existed since the beginning of time, taking records of prehistoric shamans and druids as proof. Other people claim that wizards have only existed for about three or four thousand years, saying that the modern way of using magic would not be possible for uneducated people. There are many speculations about the beginning of the wizards, but not a single living person can give an exact date. But what about other beings? Vampires, Liches, Ghosts, and the Ten Immortal Spirits are considered to be the oldest beings on this planet, so can they give us an answer?]

Bloom made a note in her head to learn more about the "Ten Immortal Spirits" later. She heard about all the races mentioned by the author, but nothing about the latter.

[The short answer would be yes, but they won't. The long answer is much more complicated and not suitable for our study. You can read about the morality and decisions of the Spirits in "Ten Spirits – the progenitors of magic."]

A knock on the door interrupted Bloom from reading. "Come in!"

The door opened and Stella entered the room together with Nick, the latter frowned, thinking about something of his own, but quickly wiped the frown from his face.

"Heya, Bloom, we haven't had a chance to talk face to face before. Are you busy right now?" Stella asked and when Bloom nodded, she sat down at the foot of her bed.

Nick pulled a chair out of nowhere and sat on it, opposite the bed. "I came to ask you a couple of things. But first, do you have any questions?"

Bloom nodded. "I understood a couple of things here and there, but what should I do now? Stella said that I am a fairy, but I didn't know this until today! And immediately after that I find out that there are wizards, witches and hundreds of other magical creatures in the world! Even on our planet!" She took a deep breath and hugged her knees. "I just don't know what to do." Bloom muttered.

Stella put her arm around her shoulders, giving her quiet support.

"Well..." Nick began. "We have a couple of ideas." He nodded to Stella.

The blonde immediately smiled, filled with energy. "You've already heard of Alfea, the school for all the fairies. Tomorrow I'm leaving to start my first year – well, rather repeat, but it still counts – and I can take you with me! I'm sure Headmistress Faragonda will accept you without question."

Bloom nodded, but looked at Nick. She knew he had something to say too.

He just stared up at the ceiling, still not quite there, but he started talking anyway. "My suggestion is a little different. At first, I wanted to suggest that you learn magic here on Earth. We have enough teachers and users of magic who are willing to teach you everything they can, but now I don't think they can teach you everything you need." Nick rubbed his forehead, trying to ward off the migraine. "As I understand it, fairies have a lot more– not exactly power, but potential, perhaps. Regular wizards can't help you reach the peak."

Bloom and Stella frowned; something caught their interest. "Regular wizards?"

Nick nodded. "Of course, the world is much bigger than you know. But we can't force someone immortal to teach you, can we?" He chuckled as if what he said was an inside joke. (it was) "So if you decide to go with Stella to find out how to use your gift, then I'll go with you."

Both girls blinked in shock and Nick didn't know who was more shocked, Bloom or Stella.

"You? I'm sorry if I seem rude, but why?" Stella asked.

"I'll be honest, for political reasons and because it's unfamiliar magic to us." Nick answered. "They have decided to send me as a negotiator to make contact with the larger magical community. Learning new magic will most likely fall on Marie's shoulders when I can digitize the library. If I can."

The girls just sat there with their mouths open.

"But– but why? Why you?" Bloom asked again.

Nick thought about his next words, but in the end, he just decided to wing it. "I'm older than I look."

"You look nineteen! Twenty at max!" Stella exclaimed.

"Try a hundred," he said with a straight face.

Bloom just turned off, losing all the power to be shocked anymore. "Of course, my neighbor is a hundred years old. What is my life anyway?"

"You are the same age as Faragonda." Stella muttered weakly.

He ignored their murmurs. "So, if you choose to study at Alfea, I will teach you the kind of magic you could learn on Earth. The best of both worlds." Nick's voice was even, showing no emotion.

"You don't sound so happy." Bloom noticed.

"Just a little annoyed, that's all. I've restored this wreck a month ago and I'm already being sent on a long mission to another magical dimension." Nick took a deep breath. "This house was the start of my independent life after hundred of years of learning from the best magic experts on Earth. It's certainly not the worst thing that could happen in the world, but it's still not the most pleasant."

He's had enough problems on Earth. Rouge Wizards who want to tear the world apart, magical creatures vying for power, cultists trying to summon whoever they try to summon, and the recent "Demon Hunters" dudes. Nick wasn't ready to leave his work unfinished.

"I guess I'll have to divide my attention between jobs. I'll ask Joylin what she uses to stay this happy." He scratched his neck. "Cocaine, most likely."

Bloom, Stella and Nick talked until late at night, but in the end, Bloom had the last word. She said she would give her answer in the morning, when the surprise of the day had passed from her mind.

But Nick already knew her answer. Not many could turn away the chance to learn magic. And the girl who, even as a teenager, believed in fairies? Well, if she doesn't say yes, no one will.