Vel pushed open the door to his quarters and immediately threw himself onto the bed. The mattress accepted his weight with a soft thump, and he lay there staring at the ceiling's ornate patterns.
Images from the match flickered through his mind. He exhaled.
Too early to sleep. Evening light still filled the window.
He turned his head.
Hileya stood near the doorway, hands folded in front of her. She'd been waiting quietly, as always—attentive but relaxed, not hovering.
"Hileya. Are you free tomorrow?"
Hileya smiled, the question itself amusing.
"Of course, young master. My work is for you."
"Right. Silly me." Sometimes he forgot what their arrangement actually meant.
Vel sat up, running a hand through his hair. "Let's go meet Nema tomorrow."
Hileya's expression brightened slightly, though she kept her composure. "I'll prepare everything we might need."
"Are you going to settle for the day, master?"
Vel paused, considering. His body was tired, but his mind still buzzed with too many thoughts to rest properly.
"Hm... actually, I'll go to Celia's wing."
Hileya tilted her head sideways, her silver braids shifting with the movement. She said nothing, but something in her eyes suggested curiosity.
"I need to see her roommate. Konomi."
"Shall I accompany you?"
"No need. Stay here and rest." Vel stood and stretched, feeling the stiffness in his back from sitting through so many matches. "You've been running around all day gathering information. You deserve a break too."
Hileya bowed her head slightly, accepting his words without argument.
Vel grabbed his jacket from the chair, then paused at his desk. He picked up a piece of parchment with spell diagrams and folded it carefully before heading for the door.
---
The dormitory wing buzzed with more activity than usual as Vel made his way through the corridors. Students had gathered in clusters, discussing the tournament matches. He passed a group huddled near a window, their animated voices debating Team Atherwind's strategy.
Before the tournament, he'd been invisible. Just another student walking through the halls. Now he could feel eyes following him as he passed. Conversations would pause, heads would turn, whispers would start.
It made him uncomfortable. Vel found himself checking—did he have something on his face? Were his clothes wrinkled? Was he walking strangely? The constant awareness of being watched made every step feel deliberate.
Vel climbed the stairs to the west wing where Celia's room was located. The hallway stretched before him, doors lining both sides. He found the familiar number and knocked, his notes clutched in one hand.
After a moment, the door opened and Konomi peered out, her blue hair loosely tied back.
"Oh, Vel," she said. "Celia's right here if you're looking for her."
"Actually, I've come to see you, Konomi," Vel replied.
"Excuse me?" Celia appeared beside Konomi, her voice carrying a slight tone of jealousy. "You came specifically to see my roommate?"
Vel held up his notes. "I need an alchemist's expertise for this. Remember what we talked about in the library?"
Celia's expression softened slightly. "Oh, what is it about?"
"May I come in?" Vel asked, looking between them. "It's somewhat complicated to explain in the hallway."
Konomi stepped aside, gesturing to a small table near the window covered with alchemical notes and small glass containers. The room was divided neatly down the middle—Celia's side sparse and orderly with her rapier mounted on the wall, Konomi's half covered with books, diagrams, and experimental apparatus.
"Sorry about the mess," Konomi said, clearing a space among her papers.
Celia perched on the edge of her bed, watching curiously as Vel sat down and spread out his notes.
"Remember what I said about the identification spell?" Vel asked.
Konomi nodded, leaning forward to examine the diagrams.
"Turns out the artifacts used in the entrance test operate on a similar principle."
"So you went to the Artifex building," Konomi said, adjusting her glasses. "What did you find there?"
"This." Vel pointed at a complex magic circle on his parchment. "It's supposed to read someone's or something's nature. But there's one problem."
He traced the interconnected rings with his finger. "The artifact uses layered casting. Aside from reading, the spell also needs to present the results. Which means it also has to filter out what it can't show."
"That's a lot of work," Konomi murmured, studying the diagram more closely.
"That's where I need your help. I've come up with another approach."
Celia watched from her bed, curiosity evident despite her initial jealousy.
"What if I create a spell that simply reads and stores what it finds in... I don't know, an object? No need to display it to anyone. Just put it there."
Konomi tilted her head. "But then how would you know what it reveals?"
Vel paused. He couldn't tell her the truth—that his interface could likely interpret whatever magical signature got stored in the crystal. He needed a believable answer.
"I'd cast another spell. For translating."
Konomi's eyes lit up with understanding. "Ah. Instead of layering one complicated spell, you break it down into multiple steps of casting. Smart."
"So... can you help?"
"Hm..." Konomi tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We're going to need something similar to the artifact. Some kind of crystal with magical qualities that can store what your spell reads. And it needs to be flexible enough for rewriting."
"Rewrite?" Vel asked.
"What, are you going to throw them away after each use?"
"Right." Vel raised both hands in mock surrender. "Leave it to the professional."
Konomi stood abruptly, moving to a small chest beneath her bed. After rummaging for a moment, she pulled out a velvet pouch.
She extracted a small crystal the size of an egg. It caught the light, refracting mesmerizing patterns across the room.
"Resonant quartz," she explained, holding it up for Vel to examine.
"What does it do?"
"It relays mana. Say you want to make a magical door that needs mana channeled from a point far from the actual door itself. People use this to relay mana from one location to another."
"Oh... like wiring, but magical."
Konomi smiled at the analogy. "Essentially, yes."
Vel took the crystal carefully, feeling its smooth surface against his fingertips. It seemed to hum with potential, a subtle vibration that resonated with his own mana.
"Let me try the extraction portion of the spell," he said, focusing his concentration on the sigil he'd designed.
He channeled a small amount of mana into the crystal while reciting the partial incantation he'd developed: "Visona Revelum Essenti."
The crystal began to glow with a soft blue light, absorbing the magical energy. For a moment, it seemed to be working—the light pulsed in rhythm with Vel's heartbeat. Then, without warning, a hairline fracture appeared across its surface.
"Wait, I think it's—"
The crack spread rapidly, branching out like lightning across the crystal's surface before it shattered with a soft pop. Fragments scattered across the table, the magical energy dissipating in tiny sparks.
"Well, that didn't work," Konomi said matter-of-factly. She swept the broken pieces into her palm and dumped them unceremoniously into a nearby trash bin.
Vel stared at her in shock. "That seemed... valuable."
Konomi shrugged, already turning back to her notes. "The experiment I wanted to use it for didn't work. It was collecting dust anyway."
She turned back to the chest, tapping her finger against the wooden edge while peering at the contents inside.
"The quartz alone is too fragile," she murmured. "If the mana flows too fast, it'll shatter like that one did."
Her hand hovered over various vials and pouches. "We need to reinforce it somehow. An alchemical coating, maybe. Or find the right material to support its structure."
Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Let's head to the laboratory. I have access after hours for my research project. We could work on this properly there."
"Celia, you coming?" Vel asked, turning around.
To his surprise, Celia was already fast asleep on her bed, still in her uniform. Her breathing was deep and even, one arm draped over her face.
Vel glanced back at Celia's sleeping form. Her face was relaxed, peaceful in a way he rarely saw when she was awake. Dark lashes rested against her cheeks, and a strand of hair had fallen across her forehead.
Her uniform skirt had ridden up considerably, revealing most of her legs.
Vel's face heated. He quickly averted his eyes, focusing intently on gathering his notes instead. Don't look. Just don't look.
Something tightened in his chest—a feeling both warm and distinctly uncomfortable.
"We should let her rest," he whispered, moving toward the door.
Konomi nodded, retrieving a small satchel from her desk. "I'll leave her a note so she doesn't worry."
At the lab, Konomi began pulling various bottles from her shelf, explaining each component as she measured them. Vel watched closely, adapting his extraction sigil design on a spare parchment while Konomi worked.
"This essence of moonsilver will improve the reception," she explained, carefully adding three drops to a bubbling solution. "And the powdered stone prevents the reading from degrading too quickly."
For the next hour, the room filled with the scent of alchemical reagents and the soft glow of experimental sigils. Vel tested small elements of his spell while Konomi mixed compounds, occasionally asking him to channel a tiny amount of mana into the crystal to test its receptivity.
When a particular combination caused the crystal to glow with a steady blue light, they both leaned forward eagerly.
"That's it!" Konomi whispered excitedly. "It's holding!"
"This might actually work," Konomi said as she carefully applied a final layer to the crystal. "The binding agents need about a day to set properly, but then it should be able to hold a magical signature for several hours before fading."
"Thank you, Konomi. This is brilliant," Vel said, carefully placing the crystal into a small leather pouch. The weight of it felt reassuring in his palm—a physical manifestation of progress.
"It's not the most elegant solution," he admitted, patting the pouch. "But it's the perfect solution, no pun intended."
Konomi smiled at the joke, her blue hair catching the laboratory's amber light as she began tidying up her workstation. "Come back in a few days. I might even come up with something better." She took the crystal from him and stored it in a small wooden box lined with velvet. "The binding agents need time to properly set."
Vel glanced at the time on his interface, surprised to see how late it had grown.
"You participating too, Konomi?" Vel asked, helping her cork a few bottles of reagents.
"Doesn't everyone?" She replied with a small shrug, carefully labeling the mixture they'd created. "It's practically mandatory if you want to maintain decent grades. I'm with two other alchemists from my specialized class."
She glanced up at him. "We're in objective matches, though. So you don't have to worry about facing me."
"What's your strategy?" Vel asked.
Konomi adjusted her glasses with a mysterious smile. "Let's just say we have a few volatile surprises prepared. It's better if we all keep our tactics to ourselves until the matches begin, don't you think?"
Vel nodded, understanding the sentiment. "Fair enough. I should head back before curfew."