“Aaah man, I thought I had it.”

  Letting the faint glow of the delayed Torchlight fade, Orion scratched his head. It was getting late enough that he should probably start heading back to the embassy if he didn’t want his mother to tear through Valderun in search of him, but he would have liked to do so after accomplishing something.

  Going home empty-handed almost felt shameful after the quick successes he’d had before.

  “I guess I was too arrogant. [Delay] is a spell I’ve never seen in use, so I’m starting from scratch. The other metaspells I got a good look at with [Verification Principle].” He said, but even that explanation didn’t feel enough.

  No, there was a burning desire in his chest to keep going late into the night, to work at it until he finally cracked the code. It was something he had only rarely felt in this life, but that he was very familiar with from his past one.

  It was academic ambition. A greed that rivaled that of the greatest merchants, to be the one to solve something that would leave anyone else stumped.

  Well, it’s not exactly the same thing since it’s already known material, but I doubt many people could develop it with just knowledge of vaguely related spells.

  Unfortunately, his desire conflicted with reality, so Orion pinched his nose and exhaled. “Tomorrow. I will be able to dedicate most of the day to it, so I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  With that, he put his lab coat back on and turned on his heels, walking out of the training room with a heavy heart.

  “Oho, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that look,” a familiar voice called out, and Orion looked up to see Set walking down the stairs with another older man beside him.

  Almost automatically, Orion adjusted his glasses and examined the newcomer. Considering the way he was walking alongside an Archmage, he couldn’t be an ordinary person, not to mention the intimidating collection of scars and the intense look in his yellow eyes.

  [Vatat’akon - ???] [??? - A-rank]

  Another old monster, of course. He wears a medallion with an ivory tower on it, so I guess he's the Guildmaster of the Alluria Branch? I doubt they have many tier four executives hanging around.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” Orion replied, ignoring Set’s statement. He already had enough to brood about; he didn’t need to explain his failure on top of that.

  “I could say the same myself,” the old wizard chuckled, then elbowed Vatat’akon and gestured with his other hand. “Little Orion here is a promising mage from the Sanctum. I’ve watched him grow from the time he could barely read, and he’s becoming quite something.”

  Vatat’akon grunted, “I can see that. He doesn’t look like much, but his eyes tell a different story. I suppose that should be expected.”

  With his piece said, he turned and walked off without another word.

  “You’ll have to forgive him. Vatat’akon is a good friend of mine, as we spent several years traipsing through the countryside together, but he’s a bit of a grump, especially with those who have yet to prove themselves.” Set said apologetically, turning around and walking back up without missing a beat.

  Orion followed, though he had to wonder what those two were discussing that they would meet at dusk in the depths of the Guild.

  It’s probably more politics. Set has a new sparkle in his eyes these days, and he seems to be really enjoying playing the great game.

  It was becoming clear to Orion why the man had been exiled. If right after returning, he was already working so hard to expand his influence, what was he like at the height of his power? No wonder Mallon had taken the first chance to get rid of him.

  “I didn’t take offense. I know what I look like,” he sighed. To someone as rugged as Vatat’akon, he probably had to look like a ponce, but the last thing he said… “is it really so noticeable?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Set remained quiet for a moment. He clearly understood he wasn’t referring to his delicate features, but rather, who they made him resemble.

  Eventually, the old man nodded. “If you were anywhere else, no one would say anything, but here in Valderun, your father’s face is well known, especially with the sudden moves he’s been making lately. Seeing a teenager who looks just like him is a bit too much of a coincidence.”

  Orion clicked his tongue. Whenever Antares was mentioned, he thought about the offer he’d made to research under him. Even if I do end up in the Collegium, and that’s not a sure thing, despite what I told Set, I wouldn’t want to rely on him. And not just because of who he is. Working for someone who shows no shame in their mistakes and makes no effort to mend burnt bridges is just a recipe for disaster.

  Even if he would probably be treated like a prince, as he was the man’s son, Orion knew better than to trust such shallow privileges. University life was rife with nepotism, which only bred incompetence and arrogance.

  If he joined the Collegium, it would be because he believed it was the best way to advance his research. Not because he wanted an easy life.

  Set eyed him curiously but demonstrated his emotional intelligence once again by not asking intrusive questions. Instead, as they left the Guild and stepped into the cooling spring night, he signaled for a passing carriage to slow down. The coachman pulled on the reins, stopping his horses and letting them in. “To the Sanctum’s embassy,” Set told the man, handing over a silver coin that was probably worth several times the usual fare, even for a night run.

  “Is there a particular reason why you ended up in the Adventurer’s Guild?” Set asked once they were ensconced inside, with a thin film of mana covering the interior to maintain their privacy.

  For a moment, Orion wondered where this was heading. Set had revealed himself to be much more than the old man dedicated to reading every book in a library he couldn’t even access half of, and he instinctively started to look for political reasons behind every move, but he forcibly stopped himself after looking at his face.

  A tier four mage’s age couldn’t be judged by their appearance. Elder Yue could easily look to be in her thirties if only her physical body was considered. But Set… Set looked old. Older than he could remember him being, yet also younger, with more energy. The lines in his face were more pronounced, and a couple of spots had appeared on his neck and hands that hadn’t been there before, but his eyes told the story of a man who thought he wasn’t done yet.

  Still, at that moment, all Orion could see was a worried grandfather asking about his only grandson's well-being.

  Perhaps their relationship wasn’t close enough to be called that, but the old man was the person he had spent the most time with in either life besides his mother.

  There was affection and respect between them, and he knew that despite all the political games happening right now, Set wouldn’t ask if he didn’t want to know.

  “Some weird things have been happening lately,” he sighed and quickly summarized everything, from his mother’s reaction to meeting Bart to her being locked in Elder Yue’s study, and even Zinnia taking the chance to force him out of his lab.

  When he was done speaking, Orion realized he was blushing. Had he really been so worked up over such small issues?

  “But that’s not all, is it? You were never one to get this upset over other people’s foolishness. Disdainful, yes, but not annoyed. That would mean they had control over you.” Set replied with a knowing gaze. “Now, tell me. What is it that’s causing you so much trouble you had to hide in the private training rooms of the Adventurer’s Guild?”

  Orion bit his lip. Was Set offering to help him? Normally, he’d be annoyed at anyone giving him an answer like that, but he trusted the old man to know better.

  “I’ve been working on metamagic,” he finally revealed, and saw Set’s eyebrows shoot up.

  Confused by that reaction, he asked, “Why so surprised? I’m pretty sure it’s a basic skill every mage who passes through the Collegium knows.”

  Only when he said it out loud did he realize why that would be so shocking. “Oh man, is this another foundational ability? Elder Yue is gonna be so mad.”

  Set stared in silence for several more seconds before bursting into loud laughter, “Ha! That’s right, this is how it should be! Who cares about rules, about unwritten deals made by people who have long since forgotten what the struggle of being weak is like! Take what you can get with your own hands, and never let it go!”

  Feeling like he was missing something very important, Orion watched Set cackle some more before he finally slowed down into chuckles.

  “What is it about metamagic exactly that is stumping you, my boy?”

  Still confused, but after a long day and not wanting another heart-to-heart, Orion shrugged and showed him.

  “I have managed to cast and refine [Maximize Magic] and [Penetrate] on my own after watching that student duel the dragonkin in the Adventurer’s Arena, but now that I have moved on to [Slow], I can’t seem to repeat my success.” He said as he let the spells flash into existence and unravel one after another, until he reached the last one, and only managed to delay the appearance of a [Torchlight] by a few seconds, and even that was only possible through his sheer willpower.

  “As you can see, I seem to be missing something essential. I’m fairly sure I have the conceptual parts right, and the mana is flowing properly, but when I try to combine it with any other spell, it just doesn’t work.”

  Set hummed thoughtfully, though Orion could see that he was still hiding a twitching grin. He seems a mixture of impressed and incredibly amused. Sometimes I really wish I had a spell that could let me read people’s emotions or even thoughts, but that’d be crazy. Just the sheer amount of data needed to parse... Yeah, anyone trying something like that would have to be insane.

  “It does seem like a strange issue. Are you doing anything different with the spell’s stabilization matrix? Most students struggle to adapt to the different flows of Arcane mana and tend to focus only on a few metaspells.”

  Orion blinked owlishly. “Stabilization matrix? Are you talking about how I go about fitting the two spells on top of one another? I haven’t thought about it much; I just tend to form the two spells at the same time.”

  Set hesitated for another long moment before shaking his head with a sigh. “I have no idea how you could even cast a single metaspell without a proper stabilization matrix at your level. Your attunement shouldn’t be anywhere near the amount necessary for something that convoluted.”

  Then, noticing that Orion was silently trying to show how little that helped him, he raised a hand and a spell’s matrix began to form on it. On top of it, another circle was drawn, and then the larger upper one floated over to the smaller lower one, passing through it. “As you can see, without a stabilization matrix, the caster must manually keep the two magics connected. It’s no wonder you haven’t been able to cast [Slow] when it requires perfect harmony between the two spells.”

  By then, Orion’s eyes had gone cloudy as he studied the magic with [Verification Principle]. A moment later, he lifted his hand, but nothing happened.

  A long minute passed as he stared, waiting, until finally, [Torchlight] appeared at the designated time.

  SYSTEM NOTIFICATION

  +17.000 Exp

  +1 Attunement

  +1 Mind