“You’ll not regret your choice, Lith.” Professor Marth patted his back, with a proud look on his face.

“Once you graduate, you’ll discover that A ranked mages, like you and me, are treasured almost as rank S, if not more.” He chuckled.

“What? Why?” Lith didn’t know if to consider it a good or bad news.

“Because as you have seen, geniuses like Manohar aren’t just brilliant. They are also wilful, fickle and unpredictable. We may not be as productive, but are much more level headed and easy to handle.”

***

After the accident in the training hall, Professor Rudd had lost much of his nastiness. He now replied when someone asked him explanations, and whenever he saw Quylla or Lith, he would sigh deeply shaking his head.

In the following weeks, Lith put his heart and soul in Forgemastering, relentlessly pestering Professor Wanemyre with questions. He was researching both the runes that kept the boxes locked and a construct that was able to feel like a human.