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Book Seven Chapter Twenty Six

  “That felt like getting hired for a job,” Melina remarks as we make our way toward Ezio. “She was in full control of that situation, start to finish. Who recruited whom, hm?”

  “Reminds me of me,” I say with a self-conscious chuckle. “Clearly, she’s put a lot of thought into this moment. Let’s hope Ezio doesn’t mind me snagging one of his students like this, even if she asked us to take her. Not that he can do much about it at this point.”

  “How does it feel when someone else makes trouble by blustering on ahead without regard to what others think?” Melina asks pointedly.

  “It’s more fun on the other side of the equation,” I admit. “She’s going to be a handful.”

  Melina smirks. “Up for the challenge?”

  “If I can put up with you and your sister all these years, I think I can handle it. Besides, it’s Trevour she’ll need to listen to on the delve. I’m just there for moral support.”

  Melina laughs, shaking her head. We step up onto the low stage at the front of the classroom, waving at Ezio. My former teacher holds up a hand as we approach, finishing his lecture and assigning research to the students before he turns his gaze toward us.

  “Melina! Come to enroll at last? I have an opening for a research assistant, you know. Since you stole the last one.”

  “Just passing through. But speaking of Rakesh, he’s putting your principles of study into practice in Gilead. Shaking up the entire Menders organization, last I heard. You’d be proud to see how far he’s come,” Melina replies.

  “I’m always proud of Rakesh,” Ezio says fondly. “He’s like the son I never had. Sort of like Nuri, but smart enough not to get himself in trouble all the time .”

  “Hello, master Ezio,” I say, nodding in respect to the [Scholar Nonparallel]. “I’ve brought back a thick sheaf of notes for you on runic arrays and their interaction with Skills. Maybe I can be your research assistant while we’re in town.”

  Ezio pats my shoulder. “Not a chance, Nuri. You’re too mercurial. All big ideas and no attention to detail! I’ll take those notes, though. Rakesh filled me in on the potential you’ve uncovered. Well done, and smart of you to bring real scholars on board the project.”

  Here he breaks off, winking at Melina.

  I grin at his frank dismissal and scathing commentary about my study habits. “Nice to know that not everyone thinks I’m some gift to humanity these days. Missed you, too.”

  “Oh, I’m proud of how far you’ve come, and I look forward to helping you guide your advancement properly. Your assault on the Second Threshold will be much more organized and less haphazard with me on your side again.”

  I blink owlishly. “How did you know I’m making a push for the Second?”

  Ezio shakes his head sadly. “Nuri, Nuri, Nuri. You wound me! It’s the only logical choice in your position. You’ve always been obsessed with growing stronger, seeing the world, and making grand discoveries. With the stakes higher than ever, you have no choice but to push.”

  “True enough,” I admit. “You’ve always been able to read me like a dense textbook.”

  “Hardly with that much excitement,” Ezio mutters.

  Leaning closer, I wrap my Domain around us and try a trick Nicanor mentioned: blocking off energy of different wavelengths, not just mana, should enable me to prevent sound and even light from escaping my immediate area of control.

  Based on the muffled silence that descends, and the blur of the students around us, I’ve succeeded in some measure. The enthusiastic curiosity in Ezio’s gaze as he pokes at the warped barrier of energy around us and immediately starts probing it with his own mana makes me smile. I’ve missed his company.

  “There. Now we can speak freely. Have you caught up with Casella and Mbukhe? They stayed behind in Gilead for a while to help with cleanup efforts, but I’m sure they found a way to send you a message about developments.”

  “Fascinating,” Ezio murmurs. His eyes glimmer with mana and he pushes through the heavy influence of my Domain, dispelling the hazy, light-inhibiting effect that prevents people from seeing inside. He’s barely paying me any attention, not even responding to my dangerous line of questioning.

  I wait patiently. Best to let the man work. He’s cooking up new theories on the nature of magic itself, I’ll wager. Far be it from me to interrupt him. I’m no longer the impatient, petulant young man that I once was.

  “Yes, of course. They keep me apprised of the situation. I’ll help you with that old goat.”

  “Tem or Tapirs?” I tease.

  “Both,” Ezio says, rapping me on the arm with his knuckles. “Have no fear. You’re in good hands. Now kindly shut up and let study this phenomenon. You’ve grown immensely.”

  Next thing I know, a new, prismatic barrier snaps into place blocking out the class around us. Mirroring my previous light-based barrier, it’s more refined, more effective.

  “Nicely done, Master Ezio.”

  He nods absently. “Thank you, thank you. You’re a helpful test subject already.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t insist on a new reading for your mana control test data,” I joke, snickering at the missed opportunity.

  His eyes light up. “Splendid idea!”

  Strangely enough, I don’t fear the pain. It’s just a burning sensation inside my channels. After everything I’ve been through, this will be nothing but an academic exercise. Uncomfortable, but well worth the price of admission.

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  “Fine by me. Just be prepared to redo the numbers again soon. I don’t intend to remain at the peak of Silver for long.”

  Ezio cocks his head, regarding me with newfound respect. “You really have come a long way, Nuri. Don’t mind my teasing earlier. I’d welcome you on staff any day.”

  I draw up to my full height, a grin splitting my face. “Thank you, Master Ezio. That means a lot to me.”

  He returns my grin, but it twists into something sinister, and he rubs his palms together. “After all, who wouldn’t want easy access to such a durable and mana-rich test subject?”

  Melina laughs, and I let out a theatrical groan. “Always a great wit. I should have known!”

  “Are you serious about retaking the mana control test? We could conduct one now,” Ezio suggests. There’s an almost primal hunger for knowledge radiating off the man as he brings up the test again.

  “Fine,” I concede with a shrug.

  Ezio lets out a low whistle. “My poor boy, you must have been traumatized on your many journeys to to so cavalierly agree to a mana control test. You’re making me feel guilty!”

  I squint at him. “Liar.”

  “Oh, all right! Almost guilty.”

  “We have very different definitions of the word ‘almost,’” I snort, but my mood is already improving. Ezio’s endless enthusiasm for learning really is infectious.

  “I’ll catch up with you two later, after Nuri is done puking from the test,” Melina says with a faint smirk. There’s a vague sense of sympathy resonating from her in my Domain, at least, which offsets the teasing.

  “Don’t forget!” Ezio cheerfully announces, punctuating his words with an outstretched pointer finger, which he waves in Melina’s face. “We still need to talk about you filling in as my research assistant while you’re in town. However long that may be.”

  “Aha!” he exclaims when Melina and I exchange glances. “I knew it! Already planning on your next escapade. Well, I shall wring what value I can out of you while you’re here.”

  “Looking forward to it, Master Ezio,” Melina replies, a spark of excitement in her eyes. She inclines her head at our old teacher, bids us farewell, and skedaddles before she gets roped into taking a test of her own.

  I square up my shoulders, eager to show Ezio how far I’ve come. “Let’s do this!”

  He pats my shoulder. “You said the same thing the first time. I’m glad to see you’re such a resilient young man.”

  “Learned from the best,” I say with a grin, pausing a beat before dropping the rest of my joke. “Rakesh, I mean.”

  “Cheeky little devil,” Ezio mutters, but he doesn’t even try to hide his smile. He’s beaming every time he looks at me, and it’s heartwarming to know that he’s overjoyed to have me back.

  The pleasant banter occupies us the entire way to his office. I stop short when we reach the familiar doorway, and my next words die on my tongue. I’m shaking, suddenly, and it has nothing to do with the test I’m about to take. What’s wrong with me?

  Afraid, I realize. I’m terrified that I’ll find more proof that the world around me has changed. Irrevocably, perhaps.

  Stepping inside brings with it a wash of memory, along with profound relief. Nostalgia hits me like a runaway caravan wagon, and I finally let out the breath I was holding.

  The paintings are the same, the carpet has the same wear patterns from Ezio’s constant pacing, and the desk in the same position. The only difference I can see is that he added a few bookshelves at one point, though they’re already overburdened by books and piles of papers. Expansion of scope, not a fundamental change. I can live with that.

  Redecoration isn’t high on his priority list, only functionality, which explains why the room isn’t as grand as Ozana’s offices. Far cozier, though. Lived in.

  “Blessedly familiar,” I murmur to myself.

  The look Ezio shoots me tells me that he missed exactly nothing of my inner turmoil. He always was far sharper than his jovial absent-mindedness let on. There’s a reason he’s earned such a lofty Class, standing unparalleled among scholars of the age.

  Ezio eases himself into his old chair with a sigh, and gestures for me to take a seat opposite him. “Nuri, I hate to sound harsh, but that’s life. Endless change. There are times when it weighs on you more than others, but it’s inescapable. I feel for you. I do. But I can’t do an abyssal thing about it.”

  He shifts in his seat, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk. “The real question is what you’re going to do about it.”

  “The only thing I can do,” I reply softly. “Put one foot in front of another until I’m out the other side.”

  A curt nod, and he digs through his desk drawers until he finds the mana control test. “You’ve grown a lot these last few years, and I don’t simply mean in your understanding of magic. Proud of you, Nuri. Don’t take the teasing to heart. Now. Are you ready?”

  “More than you know,” I reply with a smirk. I’ve been looking forward to this test ever since I evolved my Class and incorporated [Mage] into my glass-making identity.

  The pinprick to sample a drop of my blood takes more effort than Ezio expects. His eyebrows lift up his forehead after the third poke to my palm finally draws blood. “If I didn’t know for sure that you hadn’t advanced grades yet, Nuri, I’d suspect you’re past the Second Threshold. That was the hardest jab I’ve ever delivered with this apparatus.”

  I beam at him beatifically.

  “All right, you know the drill by now. Let’s see how far you’ve come.”

  Hands on the cold metal orbs of the mana gauge, I begin. Drawing in the unaspected mana feels trivial after contending with Rifts, and I blink in surprise when I realize it doesn’t even burn anymore. Before I realize it, I’ve harvested all of the energy in the left half of the gauge, draining the orb entirely.

  I hold the energy in my core without naturalizing it, grin broadly at Ezio, and fill up the right orb in the space of a few heartbeats. With an exaggerated yawn, I toss the gauge back to him. “Must be defective. Order a new one with all the gold we’re making.”

  “Showoff,” Ezio accuses as he fumbles the catch and drops the gauge on the desk. A huge grin splits his face. “Always something with you, eh? Let’s run the numbers!”

  His own mana spirals out of his core, racing up his chest, through his shoulders, and down his arms almost quicker than I can follow. His speed has improved drastically in the last few years. Only my upgraded Domain allows me to track what’s happening. Ezio’s mana manipulation is among the finest I’ve seen. Apparently, I’m not the only one picking up new tricks lately.

  The mana interfaces with the gauge, settling into grooves in the apparatus that map to numbers. Ezio dutifully jots them down.

  He glances at the numbers, looks back up at me, and scowls. “Did you cheat?”

  “Nope!” I say cheerfully.

  “Unfair. Your score shouldn’t be possible for someone in Silver, even at the peak of the grade,” Ezio mutters, spinning the paper around and sliding it over to me.

  Capacity: 99

  Retention: 95

  Speed: 94

  Resistance: 4

  Fidelity: 97

  Control: 98

  Consistency: NA

  “Bet I could max out the scores if I did cheat,” I drawl, enjoying the way Ezio’s eyes nearly bug out of his head at my bragging. “But I’d probably have to naturalize the mana and then shift its resonance back, supplementing the slight leak with some of my own mana.”

  “You can really do that?" Ezio asks me, his voice quiet and intense. He shoves back his chair and stands abruptly, pacing in a familiar way that puts a smile on my face.

  When I nod, he claps his hands in glee. “Nuri! Do you know what this means? You might be able to learn how to stabilize wild Rifts.”

  I make a sour face. “Yeah, tried that on the way home. Didn’t go so well.”

  He flutters his fingers at me and snorts indelicately. “You just don’t know what you’re doing. You’re a brute, at the end of the day, even if you’re absurdly talented. All the strength in the world and not a lick of knowledge. Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place.”

  I bow my head. “I look forward to your wisdom, master Ezio. I couldn’t ask for a better teacher.”

  Ezio beams at me. “I take it all back. You’re the smartest brute I know!”

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