"Even if they are just deep blue crystals, they are still very expensive. If you fail the following procedure, the gemstone will be destroyed and you will receive another one. There are only three crystals for each one of you. "Destroying them all will mark the end of the lesson, of the need of attend this subject as well as of any chance of becoming a Crystalsmith." "Since you have come so far, you will still get a passing grade, but no Master Crystalsmith will take an apprentice incapable of handling a blue crystal after three months of practice." Professor Farg explained. "What’s required from you it’s the same thing you have already done countless times, but with a major difference. When you’ll use the Crystalsmith spell Scope on the gemstone, you’ll notice there are no lines inside. You will only see a dot moving at a speed that will change from time to time. That’s because, unlike the mid tier crystals, high tier ones are able to replenish their mana quickly. This property gives them a unique mana flow that is called Mana Breath. A true Crystalsmith must be able to perceive the Breath clearly enough to follow its movements and cut the gemstone accordingly. Remember, the density of the mana blade must be kept constant. If you focus too much on the Breath, the blade will damage the crystal. If the crystal receives too much damage, it will explode. Like everything in life, the key is to find balance in what you do. Good luck to everyone." The Magic Crystal course was the reason why Lith’s mana sensibility had improved so much during the last months. Scope was a spell that relied entirely on the caster’s perception and he had always used it instead of Invigoration during the exercises. It was the first opportunity he had to train his mana sensibility without endangering anyone. Unlike healing magic, there was no life on the line, wasting a crystal scrap meant nothing to him. Also, it was much simpler than dimensional magic, since he didn’t have to feel and manipulate multiple flows at a time, but only a static one. Lith cast Scope, becoming able to see the dot Farg talked about. It moved with an irregular pattern and speed. Lith studied it for a while before understanding that the Breath had no fixed route. He was forced to rotate the crystal from time to time to follow its movements. ’Let’s see what Invigoration reveals.’ He thought. Lith discovered that even the size of the dot changed with time, but most importantly, he was now able to see the circulatory system of the breath. It was like a maze, the branches of which crossed over several times. It was still a chaotic mess that allowed the Breath to change direction most of the time, but Invigoration would still give him a great edge compared to the Scope spell. With Invigoration, Lith would know when the Breath could change direction and when it would be forced to move in a straight line instead. ’My mana sensibility still needs some work. I’ll use Scope on the first two crystals and save Invigoration for the last. I don’t aim to become a Crystalsmith, so I better use this opportunity to practice at the academy’s expense rather than mine.’ No matter how much pain or grief Lith was going through, he was still stingy beyond belief. After conjuring Scope once again, Lith began cutting the crystal. The more progress he made, the more the gemstone shrunk, increasing in power and quality. The problem was that the smaller it became, the more sudden the turns the Breath would take. It was like an Earth roguelike game. At each new level, the difficulty would go up and what he learned from the previous run was useless. It was all a matter of focus and precision, never letting the mana blade stray too much from the dot. Lith almost managed to refine the first crystal, but one error too many made it crumble and he had to start over. At the second attempt, his efforts were rewarded with success. He took a short break to relax, discovering that even Quylla had failed once. "I got too cocky and paid for it." She explained while shrugging. Lith used Scope on the third Crystal too. He had already passed the exercise, but he needed all the training he could get to sharpen his senses. By the end of the lesson, Lith’s group had successfully cut all of their crystals. Only Lith and Quylla had lost one. The second lesson of the day was the Healer specialization. The group performed the house calls under Professor Ironhelm’s escort. Professor Trasque was dead and Ironhelm had been assigned to replace him. Lukart had long fled the Griffon Kingdom thanks to the traitor’s help, so no one was making attempts on Yurial’s life anymore. Their rounds were peaceful, traveling from town to town and seeing many different cities bustling with the daily activities helped them to relax. It also gave Yurial an idea that he shared with the others during dinner back at the academy. "Why don’t you all come to my house after we graduate from the fourth year? In my Duchy, the weather is nice even during winter. We could travel together and I would show you the best places my lands have to offer. "If I go back home alone, I’ll be forced to spend all the winter break before the fifth year studying magic and so would you. I say we deserve a couple of weeks of vacation." The girls unanimously agreed. When Orion was home with them, he was a great father, but also a strict teacher. He left them little time for slacking off. When he was away for work, Jirni would turn everything into a competition. She wouldn’t force them to do anything, but she always seemed to know which buttons to push to make them dance in her hands. Compared to her, the academy was a relaxing environment. Lith was the only one still on the fence. Two weeks was a lot of time for him. He had yet to inform Selia of her loss and had no idea how to give her the bad news. In his experience, no matter what he said, it would break her heart. With the baby coming, she would need all the help she could get. Even if Lith had never agreed with Protector’s request, he was determined to fulfill his friend’s last wish. No matter what the others said to convince him, the best they could get was a hollow: "I’ll think about it." Later, after much thinking, he went to Phloria’s room. When she opened the door, her hair was arranged in a strange updo, held in place by hairpins and curlers Lith had never seen before. "Nice hair." He said, failing to suppress a chuckle. "What’s that stuff?" "Something you were never supposed to see. Having long hair is a hassle. Or did you think they are naturally that wavy?" She replied with an annoyed tone. "I never saw you using them at the mining town or when I was a guest in your home." "Well, duh! I had more important things to care about at the moment. In fact, I was always a mess." "So you say, I never noticed any mess." His words turned Phloria’s mood upside down, making her smile from ear to ear. "Well, come in. Sorry for the mess, I have just finished bathing. Your visit caught me by surprise." She let him inside her room, but aside from a bathrobe on the bed and more curlers on the nightstand, there was nothing out of place. "Yeah, sorry. We need to talk." Phloria froze in place. In her mind, those words still meant: "We have to break up." "Please, it’s better for you to sit down. Some of the things I have to say aren’t exactly good news." Phloria did as requested, followed by Lith that sat right next to her. ’This should be a good sign. If he was going to dump me, he would keep his distance. Or so my brother says at least.’ She thought. Lith took a deep breath to calm down and then told her about everything that was troubling him. He explained to her how Death Vision was torturing him, how nightmares still haunted him, and how his body was still recovering. "I didn’t tell you any of this before because I wanted to leave you some space. You deserved a break from the drama that is my life. If you want..." Lith was going to say that he would understand if she wanted to take a break from their relationship or find someone less complicated when he realized that, after he had spoken of his nightmares, she had stopped listening to him. She had stars in her eyes and a big smile on her face. "Let me get this straight." She said once she noticed he wasn’t talking anymore. "Death Vision stops when you are with me, like right now?" "Yes." Lith had noticed that if they were close enough, Death Vision’s effects disappeared. That was the reason he sat close to her. He lacked the willpower to dump her and hold Death Vision back at the same time. "Also, you have no bad dreams when I sleep beside you." "Correct again." Phloria closed in, her face was now centimeters from his own. "Doesn’t that mean that I’m special to you? As in really special?" "You are, but that’s not the point. You..." He tried to make her listen to reason, but she put her index finger on his mouth, stopping him. "Just answer one question. Do you like me? Even with this contraption on my head?" "That’s two questions, but yes to both." "That’s all that matters to me." She gave him a deep kiss, making all his fears and worries fade away like a dense fog in front of the rising sun. Her warmth and her gentle touch over his skin were all Lith could think about. "One more thing." He said as soon as she gave him a second to breathe. "I can’t take you out on a date during the weekend. I plan to go back to the mining town and visit Protector’s grave. I can’t keep being chained to the failures of my past. I need to face them and have my closure. That’s the only way I can move on." "Great idea. When do we leave?" Lith’s surprised expression made her giggle. "Did you really think I would let you go there alone? Then you are crazier than you think." She kissed him again, this time just a peck, before accompanying him to the door. "Sorry, but you can’t stay. Let me know when you decide about the trip. We could ask the others to come with us. They need some closure too, especially Yurial." After another goodnight kiss, Phloria closed the door behind her. Now that she was alone, she couldn’t stop to giggling and smiling like a little girl. ’I still can’t believe Lith told me I’m special to him, nor that I’m the only one that makes Death Vision stop.’ Lith returned to his room. When he opened the door, his mind was still arguing with his body about lost chances. He spent half the night using Accumulation, to further refine his mana core and improve his abilities. The other half he slept to help his body recover. Even alone, he managed to sleep peacefully. *** The rest of the week passed quickly. Aside from home calls during the morning, Lith only had the Magic Crystal and Forgemaster classes to attend. He had already completed the Necromancy and Dimensional magic courses. It left him with a lot of free time that he used to practice Forgemastering under Wanemyre’s supervision, rest, and use Accumulation. He was now also able to keep Death Vision in check with minimum effort unless something unexpected broke his concentration. The only side effect was that he always had a serious expression on his face, since he couldn’t allow himself to relax. The others would mock him to no end for this, saying that he had his glare back. Lith was so annoyed by their childish behavior that he ended up explaining to them about Death Vision and his plans for the weekend. Yurial followed his lead, sharing with the others his worries about the future and the relapse in his addiction, against which he was currently struggling. The mood in the room turned gloomy for the first time since they had returned to the academy, but Yurial and Lith both felt better for not having to hide their burden anymore. "Mind if I join you? My fiancée is coming to my house for a visit and I have no desire to waste my time with her." Yurial kept playing with a tranquilizer vial, taking the stopper on and off, fighting the temptation of taking a sip. "Helping a friend is a much better excuse than remaining at the academy to cram. Also, it may help me with my problems too. If I manage to beat Balkor’s shadow out of my head, tolerating Libea will be child’s play in comparison." Lith had never meant for the trip to be romantic, but before answering he looked at Phloria. Albeit their relationship was mostly platonic, he couldn’t ignore her feelings since they had planned the trip together. "Sure, you can come with us." Phloria nodded. "I have prepared two dimensional tents anyway. You can share Lith’s." "Tents?" Lith furrowed his brown. "What for? I’m not planning on spending the night there. It would be creepy and depressing." ’Yeah, especially now that you know you would have to spend it alone’ Solus mocked him. She was happy seeing the old cranky Lith back in action. "Me neither." Phloria shrugged. "The forest is a magical place though. With everything that has happened this year, we never managed to have the trip to the forest we had planned after the mock exam. I thought we may as well spend the whole weekend there. At our level, magical beasts are not a threat." "It sounds like a plan." Quylla nodded. "We all need some rest and relaxation." "Yeah, it will also be the first time we are all together outside the academy without something or someone trying to kill us." Friya said.