Epsilon Twilight
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52. Healing Ward
🕑 Added 2022-10-04 12:19:15 +0000 UTCScorch had finally arrived to dictate the beginning of the holidays and probably was the hottest Scorch to ever be. No, really. It was asphyxiating. I had to forgo my beloved tunic for a silky open shirt and a corduroy.
I could technically use Marissa and Adrian as my portable fans, but it seemed rather rude to ask. Either way, they wouldn’t be present where I was going to go. Or rather, I didn’t want them to come with me.
Days had passed away in a blink. Between classes, my outings with our group, my swordsmanship sessions with Adrian, and my time with Marissa (whether it was in the library or sparring), left me with very little time. Now I missed those simpler times when I was a child I only needed to eat, sleep, and do manaflow practice.
The campus was littered with thousands of students from every course, taking advantage of the first day of vacation and sunbathing while chatting with friends. The training grounds were also bustling, but no one noticed me as I walked by.
While I kept a low profile, trying not to take the highlight, I had also a secret tool with me. That was the spell of Concealment. This was one of these spells that were present in a lot of elements. There was a Concealment version of Wind, Light, Shadow, Void, Space, Mind, and Soul. It was rather obvious which one I was using.
Why should a great person like me learn a spell to hide themselves? Two reasons, basically. Not wanting to be in the limelight was one, the heat had turned down (the metaphorical one, unfortunately) and now I didn’t get weird looks or expressions of terror; the other reason for my concealment was more… situational.
It was one of the eleven required spells to cast Mystic’s Dominion, though that didn’t mean I was going to learn the rest to cast it.
Yet.
My destination was no other than the healing ward of the Academy of Applied Magical Arts of Ferilyn. I was in no need of medical assistance, no need to worry. And I wasn’t going there to learn healing spells. I still had plenty of jobs to be done in the spiritual healing part to begin to learn a new whole field of magic.
No, my objective was that of an investigator. I was following a clue from the mysterious anthology of the library. Well, more like trying to search for a clue that didn’t exist, but something was something.
The healing ward was known for the myriad of mages centered on the healing attributes of their element. From aquamancers to mystics, there was a great variety. Technically a lot of the elemental affinities were suitable for some minor mending to the caster, I have heard that the Earth element has a handful of spells to regenerate the caster, but few elements were suitable for true healing directed to other people.
Most healers in the ward were of Water and Nature affinity. The latter was better known for its healing-centered capabilities than other types of spells. Then you had Light and Soul affinity here and there, and while useful, there were few ellari with such elements.
Finally, Shadow affinity did have an obscure (pun not intended) healing specialty. I just knew it existed because Shadow Mend was a somewhat popular spell in child stories and novels in general. Healing with shadows itself seemed to be a recurrent and engaging resource in ellari literature. It had a tinge of irony that storytellers liked to exploit.
I was currently in the waiting room as I read some of the information about the place. A pamphlet with basic information basically. The healing ward was an enormous greenhouse, not only it did attract Nature mana, not much unlike a natural Mana Reservoir, but it helped the academy doctors with homegrown medicinal plants and remedies.
The academy itself was a miniature replica of the city of Ferilyn, the campus littered with institutions that recreated the main features of the districts. The healing ward could be considered the Thal’mer district of the academy with its plentiful species of flora, and the library was definitely Shal’mar with its Open Archives.
According to the pamphlet, there was an artificial lake at the heart of the greenhouse to also help the aquamancers with their mana recovery besides working as the main water source for all the plants at the place. Something told me it wasn’t filled with commonplace water.
How weird it was to rely on natural elements to enhance your power. I knew the theory behind it, but myself, as an arcane and soul mage I was always in my element (pun intended). Ferilyn wasn’t the capital of magic for nothing, leylines covered the island. And as for my Soul affinity, well… living in a city meant being surrounded by souls.
The same was for the rest of the healers. Whether they be soul, light, or shadow mages, all those elements were omnipresent unlike the Nature and Water, which were severely lacking, especially both in places like arid deserts.
“You can consider myself utterly surprised.” A familiar and melodious voice told me as I left the pamphlet back on the waiting room table. “How did you find me?”
“Well, it wasn’t really that difficult, Alatea,” I said to my soul mentor. “You rarely talked about yourself, but you did mention you were at Thal’mer for studies rather than work. Then I made some loose connections. You were too brilliant to be at some unknown college, and this academy has a period of years to elaborate a graduation work thesis. And then I thought, ‘maybe she’s still at her alma mater’.” I snickered at my last commentary. Alma matter, good one.
“Certainly impressive.” Decourse did a dramatic single clap. “As you said, your assumptions were loose at best, but you did work around my little hints.” She literally didn’t lay down a single clue, she was pulling a third-grade villain monologue from a detective novel. “Though there’s one thing it’s unbeknownst to me. What’s an ‘alma mater’?”
Did I really make it again?
At least this time I did know what it meant instead of saying an unknown expression instinctively. Does that mean I was finally recovering from my past memories?
Progress is progress, I supposed.
“It’s nothing. Ignore it.” I should control my wording. “Just a slip of tongue.”
“All right.” While she was intrigued about the alien expression, she did not press further on the issue. “Why did you come here, Edrie? A friendly visit, or some ulterior motives? Maybe pleasure?”
I know I wasn’t a child anymore and those jokes weren’t really a problem. But my adolescent body blushed by itself. Imagine not even having control over your own body.
“While the latter is certainly interesting,” I played around her joke, “my reason is more inclined towards the ulterior motives kind.” My tone became more serious as I said so.
“I see.” Alatea’s expression shifted according to mine. “Here’s not a good place to talk, would you accompany me to my office?”
An office, how fancy. “Of course, milady.” I bowed to her.
As a norm for ellari architecture, the corridors on the healing ward were preposterous. Glass walls decorated with ivy and other plants as it gave a better look to the greenhouse. The highlight was the glowing flowers, akin to angler fish, that substituted lanterns in the corridors. They were composed of swirling petals of a myriad of colors that protected the stigma that worked as the fluorescent bulb that gave light to the corridor.
A beautiful sight that made you want to work at this place certainly.
“After you.” Alatea opened the door to her office and let me in first. “Do you want tea or something?”
“A tea would be fine, maybe one of your infusions.” Almost a decade had gone by without tasting one of her enchanting remedies.
Decourse put the water to boil in the kettle as she sat behind her desk. While there was plenty of animosity on her face, she didn’t hide the seriousness.
“Then you’re here because of the book I suppose.” My ex-mentor dropped a bomb on me.
“What book are you talking about?” Alatea’s question surprised me so much that I could only think she was talking about a totally unrelated matter.
“Don’t make a fool of yourself, it is obvious that you came here from the soul grimoire at the library.” Ex-nurse Decourse didn’t beat about the bush and went straight to the point.
“How, what, why, who?” I asked her still in a state of stupefaction.
“Let’s go one question at a time, Edrie. Shall we?” Alatea gave me a sweet smile and grabbed a nearby bowl. “But first, have a cookie.”
I gave her a weird look, not because I thought they were poisoned or something along those lines, but because of the lack of consciousness of the time, situation, and occasion. Anyways, I wouldn’t say no to a treat.
“About the how do I know it… I also studied in this academy and found the book like you probably did.” She explained. “I was surprised as you are at the time, a treasure trove of forgotten and forbidden spells, how could someone resist the temptation?”
“Does anyone else know about the book?” If she had also found the book, and she did not remove it from the library, then someone must have seen it.
“I don’t think so, no.” Alatea answered with semi-confidence.
“Why’s that?” I asked her as I gave myself another indulgence.
“It’s nothing more than statistics, Edrie.” My mentor said while also grabbing a biscuit for herself. “Do you know how many soul practitioners are around the academy?”
It sounded rhetorical, but I gave my guess either way. “Hundreds?”
“Tens.” Her expression was deadly serious. “And not everyone is as studious as we are. You know firsthand how desertic the library is.” And indeed, I did. There were more librarians and caretakers to keep up with the enormous and ancient infrastructures than guests on average. “And even then, who in their sane judgment would pick up the book that’s thicker than themselves?”
Was she critiquing me, or was this a self-conscient assessment? Whichever might be, I did agree with her words. Marissa sighed, pouted, and groaned before laying a hand in the heavy anthology.
“Let’s continue with your questions,” Alatea told after eating a biscuit. “Though I don’t understand what you meant by the ‘what’.”
I stopped eating for a second to ponder over the question. “Yeah, neither do I. I was just confused to hear such revelation.”
You could justify the question as “what is the book about” but I had a clear enough image after reading through its contents tens of times.
“So, you are capable of surprises, hmm. Interesting.” Decourse joked around.
“I’m capable of many things, as a matter of fact.” It was my turn to do so. “And some will leave you breathless.”
“Oh.” She exclaimed in feign bewilderment. “I would be interested in seeing such things, but I’m afraid there are still more questions to be resolved.”
“The why.” This one was the most important by far. Why a book like that was at the academy public library?
“How about a bit of tea before?” By this time the kettle was sizzling violently.
“Alright.” I told her.
Alatea got up from her desk and prepared one of her famous infusions. Considering we are currently at the healing ward’s greenhouse, I could understand where she got her abilities from, to begin with. I was impatiently waiting for what type of leaves she was going to use.
“Here you go.” Alatea put a teacup in front of me. “I used special leaves from a tree that only grows in the greenhouse.” I have it a sip. “It’s called Spectral Birch.”
I contained my mouth with unbelievable strength not trying to spit away the tea. “What?”
“So, that’s where the what was, you must be a clairvoyant to know what to ask even before time.” She giggled at my situation. “Don’t worry about it, the tree makes a special syrup that sweetens the leaves.” Alatea drank it to show there were no problems.
“Yeah, great to know.” Do birches even make syrup? This was a magical world, and a magical tree going by the name, so I gave it a chance. “Mmm…” Yep, good stuff.
“I can see that you like it.” Alatea said between sips.
“Everything you do is delicious.” I told it as a statement, but I just noticed it sounded like flirting. Alatea herself didn’t seem to worry about it, so I decided neither should I. Now that I noticed, her ears were more upright than I remembered. Mine were relaxed, but certainly longer. Something I had inherited from my mother. And yet, I found it quite enticing her tall-standing ears.
No, no. No. I lightly bit my underlip.
Edrie, relax. Call down and just enjoy the cup.
We found ourselves in silence as we finished the teacups. I had the feeling the next discussion was going to need a dry table and a clear mind. A frigid mind, more specifically.
“About why a book like that found itself in the library for years without being removed…”
I could feel my body automatically straightening my back upon hearing her words. This was the first clue I got in seasons. My heart raced faster than at every duel or sparring I had.
“Let’s start with the easy part, why the book is still there.” I relaxed myself a bit as the important segment was yet to come. “As I said before, not a lot of soul mages are across the academy, and the soul corridor of the library is rather forgotten by the keepers.”
I recalled minimal traces of dust at the Soul segment, while the Arcane section that was more than a tenfold bigger was in pristine conditions, with the occasional polish.
“As for why it was there in the first place, that I can’t say with precision.” Decourse explained.
“Before going to the last question, why did you leave it there?” The mysterious author interested me, but Alatea’s actions nudged my mind.
“Why haven’t you removed it then?” She asked rhetorically as we both knew the question. “Edrie, maybe the librarians don’t know of the book right now, but if it left the library, they sure would. And at the moment I thought it was better to leave it there for another soul practitioner than let the academy staff keep it. And now, after seeing you, I maintain firmly by that decision.”
“I understand what you did.” I had made the same decision as her. “And now, do you know who wrote such Soul masterpiece?”
Alatea squinted her eyes. “That I can’t tell you, for reasons I am not able to explain.”
What? Why? I pondered. Was she under a geass by the author of the book? I knew such things were possible after investigating the contents of the book, but a quick search across her soul showed me no results.
I couldn’t discard the possibility that the spell was discrete and insidious, we were talking about the author of the most dangerous book on the academy, in the end.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing important.” She said trying to calm me. With no success whatsoever. “But there’s a small detail I can tell.”
I nodded slightly to her, inviting her to reveal what she knew. Alatea closed her eyes and deployed her soul around the room, creating a barrier far superior to the one I had used to cover the surroundings when I revealed my secret to Marissa.
If I wasn’t certain that Alatea was a far superior psychimancer than me, such a raw display of power, of pure soul manipulation without the need for spells, showed me that I had a lot to practice before I got near her level.
She then opened her eyes, after confirming that her office had been sealed tightly. Then she dropped the bomb.
“The author isn’t an ellari.”
