flasks in a production line identical to the one in Solus' lab.
After a minute, with just a single spell, he filled the funnel to the brim, revealing several
ingredients that had been placed within it, that were now being slowly absorbed by the magic
liquid, before it got transferred into the flasks.
"See?" Reflaar said. "Ten speed enhancing potions for barely a minute of work. They would
cost one hundred points in the Prize Hall, or one hundred gold coins in a shop. Even deducting
the costs for vials and ingredients, the net income would be around eighty gold coins."
Then he proceeded to show how to create Fireball seeds before putting an end to the lesson.
Lith didn't know if to laugh or cry.
"This is all so complicated. Between my two others specializations and true magic, I already
have a headache. It will take me years to understand Alchemy, I just do not have time!"
"Maybe, and maybe not." Solus replied. "Even in my ring form, I have access to both labs, and
in my free time I have been experimenting with Alchemy during the last month.
When I am not in tower form, I have little mana, so I can only practice for a little before
needing to borrow yours. Anyway, if we manage to get our hands on formulas and
ingredients, I can prepare the simplest alchemic items on my own.
For the others, I will need your help. And once I learn things, I can teach them to you."
"Well, yeah, our mind link would speed up studying it, but I would still require practice and
comprehension for¡ Wait a minute! You had access to the labs? That means you practiced
the whole magic circle thingy. Right off the bat my a*s!"
"Ops." Solus mind shrugged. "You got me. Guilty as charged."
"And why all those students were so faded in your memories? It's like you never focused one
any of them. Even the floor was pictured in more detail. Your perspective never moved from
Reflaar¡"
Thanks to their mind link, despite she had not a physical body, he could feel anxiety and
embarrassment leaking from the surface of her mind.
"Solus, don't tell me that you have reached puberty too or something?"
"Absolutely not!" She yelled in a non-convincing tone, her voice gone up an octave.
"That would explain a lot. The constant pestering me about girls, the nagging about the lack of
romance¡"
"I don't nag!" She replied offended.
"Then I don't glare!" He scoffed.
Lith was about to mention the possibility of her having the hots for the teacher, but preferred
to back down. If he was right, prodding her further would escalate the joke, leading to an
argument.
He really hoped to be wrong, though. Solus having such feelings was one of the things Scarlett
had warned him from. Whatever was her nature, longing for intimacy but lacking any means
of even feeling human contact, was something too cruel to bear.
End of Volume 2
Chapter 93 There and Back Again
Lith spent his last free days studying Alchemy and Forgemastering.
Both the crafting disciplines were very hard to convert into true magic.
Alchemy was a weak subject for him.
He barely managed to understand the basics, leaving most of the work to Solus, while he
studied his clothes, amulet and magic storing rings, hoping to understand how to replicate
and enhance their pseudo cores with true Forgemastering.
Before leaving, Lith managed to pay a social visit to Protector, Reaper and Lifebringer. He
wanted to be updated about the situation in the Trawn woods, but more importantly he was
fishing for Alchemic ingredients.
During spring, animals would change their coats, and deer would shed their antlers. What for
him was a treasure for them was garbage, so they had no reason to deny his request.
By simply grooming them for a few minutes, he had enough to stuff several pillows.
After returning to the Academy, life once again resumed its routine, with only a couple of
changes. Lith obtained from Phloria and Friya training in sword arts, and in exchange Phloria
would take part in his silent magic private lessons.
Adjusting their schedule proved to be a bit hard, but thanks to Soluspedia, Lith didn't need to
study much. Worst case scenario he would not sleep and Invigorate himself to cram through
the night and leave the afternoons free.
That, coupled with Phloria attending to only one specialization course, allowed him to
practice often.
Months passed, and so the end of the first trimester came.
Many students were afraid of the finals, and started to compile a list of all the possible trials
that could be required for them to perform.
Lith couldn't care less. If it was a written exam, with Soluspedia it would be a walk in the park.
If the test was of practical nature, he was quite confident to be able to screw it up just enough
to be in the top 10, but avoiding the top spots.
The day of the finals, they were all assembled in the compulsory courses' class, the only one
that could accommodate all the fourth-year students, waiting for Professor Trasque to arrive.
Yet the one that entered the room was Headmaster Linjos.
"Good morning, my precious students. This time, I bring you only good news.
There will be no finals, because you have already taken all of them."
Most of those present went into panic, thinking that the mock exam had actually been a real
one. All those that reached this conclusion, cursed the Headmaster inwardly, for the
unfairness of crushing their grades after only a month of preparation.
"This is one of the changes that I have made to White Griffon system, that no one was aware
of. You have been judged daily for three months, based on your preparation and the effort
you put into the lessons.
I want you to know that rather than failure or success, special importance has been attached
to your progress. To how you learned about your weak points and worked on fixing them.
After such prolonged and careful evaluation, any further test would be useless, especially
written exams. They would only serve to see who is better at cheating, like often happened in
the previous years.
The only way to get good grades with my system, is through hard work and perseverance, not
by goofing off a whole term and hoping for a mad rush to be enough."
His tone became harsh during the last sentence, looking straight to some students that
cowered behind their desks.
"Also, there will be no ranking, not until the end of the year. It's another toxic relic of the past,
that only managed to sour relationships and turned friends into enemies. I will now give you
your report card, but it's for your eyes only."
In front of each student appeared a blank piece of paper.
"To read its content, just imprint it with your mana. To those who have passed all their
courses, you have my congratulations. For those who have failed one or more classes, you'll
have to retake them entirely in the second trimester.
If you have problems with your timetable, I suggest you to drop a specialization, if you are
taking more than one. Is better to achieve less than failing entirely."
Scared murmuring filled the air.
"To those that find such judgement unfair, feel free to bring the matter up to the Professors
or to me, if you prefer. We'll give you impromptu mak
e-up tests.
In case you succeed, the votes will be changed accordingly. There will be no punishment in
case of failure. Dismissed. Take the rest of the day to plan your future properly. You have only
until the end of today to ask for a second evaluation."
Linjos had yet to reach the door that everyone was picking his own report card, infusing it
with magic.
Lith's one was as following:
Theory of Combat Magic: A; Principles of Advanced Magic: A; Forgemastering: A; Healing: S-.
School points gained from daily evaluation: 3,365.
"F*ck! What did I do wrong to get that S?"
"Do you mean aside from sharing your spell, proposing brilliant ideas on daily basis and
removing the Clacker's venom from your body and weaponizing it in front of the whole staff?"
Solus sneered.
"Dammit, Linjos keeps screwing up my plans. I can't ruin my average score during the finals if
there are no finals. That man is diabolical."
"What is done is done." Solus mind-shrugged. "Let's see how the others fared." ¨C
Looking around the class, watching the student's faces was enough to get an idea of their
grades. Those who cried or cursed loudly had clearly failed at one or more classes.
Lith didn't have to go far, his four "friends" had taken the habit to sit next to him as soon they
had returned from the four days break.
"What's with the sour face?" Yurial asked looking worried.
"Did something go wrong?"
"Let's get out of here." Lith replied with a whisper.
"To not betray Linjos' expectations, is better to talk somewhere private." He pointed with his
thumb to the heart broken students.
Everyone nodded, then they got up and exited the room unnoticed. Yurial's place was the
closest one, so they headed there
After closing the door behind them, Lith activated his Hush spell. He was almost certain that
all the rooms were soundproof, considering the philandering style they were built for. But he
wasn't the type to take chances.
"Well? How did it go?" Phloria prompted him.
"Mine is: Theory of Combat Magic: B+; Principles of Advanced Magic: B; Mage Knight: A+.
School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,254."
Everyone gave her a short round of applause.
"Thanks, but I bet I have less points than you lot, since I got only a specialization."
"Yeah, we are almost the same." Quylla stood straight as an arrow.
"I got Theory of Combat Magic: B-; Principles of Advanced Magic: B+; Healing: A++. School
points gained from daily evaluation: 2,382. Sadly, I still suck at the combat part of magic."
Another short round of applauses, with a side of whistles.
"Sigh, seems I'm not in the running for the top spot as a healer anymore." Yurial said with an
apologetic voice.
"I got only Theory of Combat Magic: B; Principles of Advanced Magic: B; Warden: A; Healing:
School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,530. At least I can console myself with the
extra points."
He seemed really dejected. Taking out a specialization, the archmage's heir had scored two
plusses less than a starving commoner.
"Don't beat yourself up, man." Lith said patting Yurial on his back.
"Quylla and Phloria performed outstandingly, but you are no worse in any way. Managing to
score two As in both your specializations of choice is no easy feat."
Yurial humbly accepted the compliment, and so did the girls.
"Now my only hope is that I didn't just shoot me in the foot unknowingly insulting Friya." ¨C
Lith though, trying to play both sides of the fence.
Luckily, she didn't seem upset.
"Yeah, you have done good. Mine is Theory of Combat Magic: B; Principles of Advanced
Magic: B; Mage Knight: B+; Healing: A. School points gained from daily evaluation: 2,420."
"That's an excellent result for someone who's the first in her family to become a magician,
with no legacy or training to speak of, except a second-rate mentor." Lith said to lift her spirit,
while winking at Quylla.
It meant "I know that you and I got a worse start than her, but please follow my lead."
But instead of winking back, she blushed and looked away, leaving Lith in a daze.
"You have yet to answer my question, though." Yurial said with an inquisitive look.
Lith sighed, pondering if to tell them the truth or tune down his votes.
"After all, I am their combat magic teacher and the fastest learner in advance magic. I doubt
they will actually be surprised." ¨C
And they weren't. There was no awkward pause before they started clapping and
complementing him. Yurial even took out a laurel wreath from his dimensional amulet.
"I hereby crown you king of the hill."
"That was to be expected." Friya said. "Without you, I doubt I would have got a B in combat
magic. Maybe a C, if not fail it entirely."
"I would have failed for sure." Quylla wasn't dejected at all, while saying it. On the contrary
she was proud of her achievement.
"I never fought in my life, and never did much with magic beside healing."
"I would have surely achieved a solid C, maybe C+, but that's it." Phloria shrugged. "I learned a
lot in these two months. Who knew that first magic was so useful?"
"I'm the same as Quylla, but for different reasons." Yurial said.
"I was so eager to please my father that I only focused on tier three magic. I always
considered first magic a tool for servants. I knew nothing about it."
"If what you all said it's true, then you should go and report it to Trasque." Lith said returning
Seeing their confused expressions at his words, he proceeded to explain.
"You heard Linjos, he is trying to change the system. New things are bound to have flaws, and
need a proper feedback to be fixed. If you share with him your doubts and struggling with the
course, you'll help the system, and as a result all other students.
He won't be angry at you for being honest, more likely you'll gain extra points."
"How do we know this is not a ruse for you to get even more merits at our expenses?" Doubt
had reduced Quylla's eyes to slits. She didn't want to believe Lith making her look bad for his
own profit, but she had learned to look out for herself.
"Easy, don't mention my name." He shrugged. "One of you can take credit for the lessons, for
all I care. I'm not proposing this for points, but because I care for you and the academy.
Without Linjos, my life here would be much harder, and I think the same stand for most of us.
Another thing, try to remember what he said about accepting your limits and working to fix
them. I really think it would do you some good."
Lith left the room, letting them decide without him interfering.
After discussing it for a while, his words actually made a lot of sense.
"I really can't make head or tails about Lith." Yurial confessed.
"Sometimes he acts normal, but when it comes down to magic and responsibilities, it seems I
am talking to my father instead of a friend. Always worrying about my future, me eating
properly and learning my lessons."
"Agreed." Friya said. "At some point I started doubting he was only twelve, so I had a
background check made on him. He is really twelve, and it's supposed to be the youngest
child of his family. Then why do I get the impression he is¡"
She struggled finding the right word.
"Raising us?"
Later, they decided to follow Lith's advice, and report everything to Trasque.
He asked them a few questions about what they had found particularly hard and challenging,
and how they had overcome their respective bottlenecks.
"Seems a single Professor is really not enough." Trasque sighed. "Combat Magic has the
highest rate of failure among all courses. We need to fix this ASAP. Thank you for your
sincerity guys." He said snapping his fingers.
"I just raised your grade in my class by one notch. I'm really proud of your growth."
Meanwhile, Lith was in his room, taking a nap to catch up on his sleep.
A sudden knocking woke him up, prompting many curses. He was having one of his rare good
dreams.
Seeing his frown, the academy's clerk apologized for the inconvenience and delivered him the
new books.
The first one's title was: "Get out of my face. A comprehensive guide of all you need to know
about dimensional magic."
The author's name was Khavos Rudd.
Chapter 94 Dimensional Magic
The following morning, Lith and Phloria were taking a small walk before picking up the rest of
the team for breakfast.
Descending from a long line of Mage Knights, Phloria had more experience with swords, and
since she had to attend only one specialization course, she was his main teacher between the
two girls.
That allowed them to spend quite some time together, since both of them had free
afternoons to practice swordsmanship. Actually, Phloria sometimes needed to cram at night,
to catch up with her studies, but it was something she gladly did.
She would have not given up the weekend lessons about first magic for the world. Besides,
once she managed to get to know him better, she really enjoyed his company. The same went
for Lith, up to that point, she was his favourite.
Phloria was mature and level headed, speaking her mind so often that sometimes she came
out rude. She also had various interests and hobbies, making her able to talk about almost
every topic, not only about magic or Court life.
Lith enjoyed their talks, learning about the new world mentality and non-written society
rules. Having lived most of his new life in a small village, Lith could learn more from one of her