Jon and Nevil exchanged glances, both confused.
“Lord Ullrich, I’d like to talk to student Jon in private. Could you please excuse us?”
“S-Sure,” Nevil answered, promptly leaving the classroom.
“Professor.” Jon maintained a respectful tone. What could she possibly want from him?
Professor Willow closed the classroom door before speaking. “Jon of Rochdale, correct? It would be my understanding that you’re also enrolled in the dark spell classes.”
“That’s correct. Is there something wrong?”
“Not at all. In fact, you may be able to help with a research project me and my brother are working on. My brother being Cedrick Breckon, your other spell teacher. Would you be willing to help us?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Jon lied. He’d rather not get involved with anything other than his training and studies. Sticking out, more than he naturally did, sounded like a great way to get into trouble. And for this same reason of not wanting trouble, he also couldn’t refuse a professor’s request. “But as the Professor must’ve noticed, I’m still just a Mage. I don’t see what kind of help I may be able to offer.”
“Excellent,” she said, practically beaming as she brought both palms together in front of her chest. Was that some sort of tic of hers? “And don’t worry about being a Mage. It will be a slight hindrance, yes, but our research has more to do with opposite elements than with cultivation.” She opened the door and walked into the hallway. “Now please, follow me.”
Jon nodded and did as told. Some students were still hanging around after class, and he received a fair share of sideways glances. More than the usual, at least. They descended the stairs towards the first underground level, walked down the corridor to their right, and stopped in front of the second door to the left. The plaque atop the door frame read “Potions Room.”
A pungent smell hit Jon’s nose as soon as they entered. Bundles of herbs hanged from strings at the ceiling while heavy cauldrons were placed on the floor. The counters were packed with glass beakers and flasks, some of them filled with colorful liquids.
On the other side of the room, sitting at a stool and facing away from the door, was a man in a black robe. Both elbows over a counter and head tilted down, he seemed to be reading something. “Good, you’re here,” Professor Cedrick said without turning around. “Just a minute while I finish this.”
First closing the door behind herself, Professor Willow walked closer to her brother. Jon followed behind. As they approached, he was better able to see what the dark spell teacher was doing.
Arranged over the counter were an open book, a parchment, and an uncorked bottle of ink. A small black tendril rose up from the counter and curved downwards, its tip dancing across the parchment to write down notes. Every once in a while it would dip itself inside the bottle of ink before continuing to work. It wrote with greater finesse than Jon was able to do with his hands, let alone a spell he could use only in very simplistic ways. Ensnaring and pulling was as far as his control allowed him to go.
When finally done, the tendril placed the cork back at the bottle and dissipated into nothing. Professor Cedrick turned around in his stool, tilting his head up to look at Jon. “Jon, isn’t it? Thank you for coming. I’ll start with a simple question. Are you aware of the professors’ duties here at the academy?’
“Besides teaching,” Professor Willow added. “That one is fairly obvious.”
“Yes, besides that.”
Jon was about to shake his head when he recalled Professor Willow’s words when asking him to come here. “Something to do with research?”
“Yes, that is one of them. All of us professors have additional duties such as coordinating the guards, archaeology, updating the syllabus, to name a few. Having the staff do nothing but teaching would be a waste of manpower, after all. As for me and my sister, we are tasked with research projects. Which is where you come in.”
“And we’re thankful to you for that.”
“Yes, certainly. Now back to the matter at hand. My sister and I are currently researching opposite elements and exactly why a person’s affinity to one particular element signals a lack of affinity to its opposite. And vice-versa.”
“Though obviously there are exceptions.”
“You being one of them. So before we begin, is there anything you would like to ask?”
Jon nodded, planning on getting the most information out of this. “How long will this research take?”
“There’s no way for us to know for certain. All we can say is that you will have to come here somewhat often, preferably around this same time.”
“And will it be dangerous?”
“Not at all. Why would you think that?”
“I heard there was some sort of explosion…”
“Oh, that...” Professor Cedrick’s face darkened. “We were working on a different project. As for the explosion, it was simply the result of someone’s inattention.” His sister lowered her head and shrugged her shoulders. “You won’t have to worry about anything of the sort. Even if we wanted to continue that project, my sister and I have been indefinitely suspended from the alchemy laboratories.”
Jon looked around at the room and all of its instruments. If they had been suspended then what were they doing in here.
Seemingly guessing the question in Jon’s mind, the professor snorted. “This isn’t a true alchemy laboratory, just a potions room meant for teaching the students. Nightshade is the most dangerous item to be found here, and even that will only cause you some disorientation. In easier terms, this room is the equivalent of sparring with training weapons.”
“We chose this room because it was already close by and we won’t be bothering anyone. If you are not feeling comfortable, we can have this meeting somewhere else.”
Jon took a moment to think before shaking his head. “No, that’s alright. But what will I have to do exactly?”
“Cast spells,” Professor Cedrick answered briefly.
“That’s all?”
“Yes. Cedrick and I will watch how the mana behaves in response to the spell. Not much, just two spells. I’m aware that you fatigued yourself during class, but please try to do it.”
Professor Willow’s words caught Jon's interest. “Watch the mana?”
“Yes. Whenever a spell is cast, it causes a disturbance in the mana flow around it. For now, our research has to do with measuring this reaction in accordance to different spells.”
“And is there any way for me to see it too?”
“Unfortunately, no. Only Archamages and Warlocks are capable of that.”
“None at all?”
“None,” she said matter-of-factly, a confident look on her face. It cracked a moment later as she stopped to think. “Technically, some Mages have reported being able to see it, but only when they were on the absolute brink of breaking through. Literally just minutes away.”
So that phenomenon really was exclusive to Jon. At least according to the professors’ knowledge. That, or the two were hiding something from him, which was always a possibility.
“Have we satisfied your curiosity or are there any more questions?” Cedrick asked, visibly annoyed by the number of questions.
Far from it, Jon wished to say. What are you expecting to discover? and Why can’t you do it yourselves given your opposite elements? were the next ones on the list. He held himself back, not wanting to bother the professors more than necessary. Other than that, he still had to rush to the feasting hall afterward to get dinner. “Thanks for indulging me, those were all the questions.”
“Excellent. Let’s start with a light-based spell. Any will do.”
Jon nodded. He extended a hand and, for the nth time that day, he chanted the words of power for the mage’s light. It didn’t take long for him to fall into that blue ocean once again. It wasn’t any different to previous times which, while being watched by two powerful Warlocks, he had to assume was a good thing.
Following the ripple of mana, he returned to the potions room, both professors’ faces being illuminated by his spell.
“Now let it dissipate and cast a dark element spell.”
Jon ignored the headache from all the spells he cast in such a short span of time. He went for the shadow tendril, the same spell Professor Cedrick had been using before. Same trance, same deep blue ocean, and same ripple of mana. If there was any difference between the two, Jon wasn’t able to notice it.
“They looked identical,” said Professor Cedrick, “both in length and intensity.”
“Agreed. The difference could be in their periods.”
“It’s possible. Then it could explain how opposite elements annul one another.”
Jon was completely lost in their conversation.
“We’ll only be sure once he becomes an Archmage,” she said before turning to look at Jon. “Thank you for helping us with this. There’s still a lot for us to try, but that will be all for now.”
Jon nodded. He dissipated his spell and turned to leave when Professor Cedrick cleared his throat for attention. Did he do something wrong? He turned to find the professor glancing at his sister, a frown on his face as he seemingly waited for something.
She looked confused for a moment. Then realization hit her. “That’s right.” She fished inside the pocket of her white robe and produced a single gold centarii. Pulling on Jon’s arm, she placed it on his hand. “Again, thank you for helping us. But now you should hurry to not miss dinner.”
