Chương 71: Chapter 8

Shaya blinked, caught off guard.

"Sure. An invoker can bond with an esper—rarely, even more than one—and can then invoke the esper to grant them access to the Aetherium, and therefore the aether required to work magic. Binders don't simply bond with an esper, they take that esper and, well, bind it to their souls." Shaya gestured at the tattoos covering Rea's body.

"There are three levels of binding, with thrice-bound espers only merging slightly with the binder's soul while once-bound espers are fully subsumed. While you can always remove levels of binding, you can never increase them—""That's good, you can stop there." Rea bobbed her head.

"Do you know what that means for me?"

"I don't understand."

"Think harder." The gears turned in Shaya's head, but her frustration and panic at Rea's rejection clouded her mind, rusting the gears and turning them into screeching nightmares that spiralled out of control. She took a deep breath to calm herself and work through the problem. If espers ceased to exist once bound to a person's soul, that meant…

"You're…" Shaya mumbled, "not controlling the demon in you, because there is no demon in you."

"Good," Rea nodded, "now give me a conclusion."

"The demon's anger is now your anger," Shaya said, nodding as it came to her, "and you're going to tell me to stop calling it 'the rage' and accept it as 'my rage,' because my progenitor's curse is as part of me as the demon is a part of you now." Rea smiled.

"See? I said you were bright."

"Thanks," Shaya said, frowning at the tall woman across the desk from her, "but that still doesn't help me. What can I do to convince you to help me with this?"

"For starters," Rea said, relenting just a little, "you can tell me the other reasons you want to explore this 'curse' right here and right now."

"Okay," Shaya said, heart leaping at the chink in Rea's armour. I'm going to hammer away at it until I get what I want! she assured herself, mind racing to generate every possible reason she could.

"I'm a trichromat, but you've seen first-hand that my ability to channel Ruby magic is unreliable: I either go all out with it or can't draw any to save my life." Rea nodded.

"Ruby aether responds to all forms of passion, not just anger. You could give that a try."

"What," Shaya said, cocking her head, "you want me to feel horny whenever I need to blow someone up?"

"N-no!" Rea said quickly.

"There are other forms of passion than anger or lust."

"Uh-huh."

"Next reason." Rea glowered.

"Losing control could mean getting myself suspended or even expelled," Shaya continued, "which I've come close to, as you no doubt have heard."

"Fair, next." Shaya thought about it and shook her head.

"I think that's it." Rea scoffed.

"I think you're ignoring the most important reason. My wife showed me the memory of your final battle—you clearly intended to induce the rage. Say it out loud." Shaya's heart hammered in her chest.

"Because… because it can make me stronger."

"Stronger than…?"

"My enemies, my rivals, stronger than…" Shaya swallowed, "than… Azreon, and all the other damn nobles here who look down on me because of my bloodline and heritage." Rea's smile conveyed an enormity of empathy—and understanding. Shaya sagged in the chair, feeling defeated. There's no way she'll train me just because I want to be stronger.

"Okay," Rea said, "I'll do it."

"What?!"

"What?" Rea said, taken aback by Shaya's outburst.

"I'm supposed to help every student that comes into my office whimpering?" she scoffed.

"Nonsense. But power and ambition? That is dangerous if left without guidance; believe me when I say I know better than most." Shaya thought she saw a shadow cross through the jagged tattoos that covered the left half of Rea's body.

"But I'm not as generous with my time as Auric," Rea carried on cheerily.

"I'm a busy woman, so I'll give you three lessons—but only if your grades improve or at least stay where they are. If I see your grades drop during the mid-terms, I'll cut you off faster than a festering limb."

"I understand," Shaya said, thankful even her professors seemed to have her best interests at heart—from their own, unique perspectives, anyway.

"Good, anything else?"

"Um," Shaya hesitated, "I haven't seen Apricot in class all week—is she alright?" Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Rea's features softened.

"She will be. What you asked of her was…more unreasonable than you know, but her spirit will recover in time."

"I'm so sorry," Shaya sighed, "I know I pushed all of us—" Rea raised a hand.

"I trust my daughter's judgement—better than my own, oftentimes. If she thought it was the best course of action, I believe it. Teleportation without a beacon is difficult, but portals without a beacon are beyond the scope of even many graduate mages." Shaya blinked.

"That's right," Rea smiled with pride, "you may be bright, but my daughter is a prodigy."

"Yeah," Shaya smiled.

"She's definitely amazing." She stood to go, eying Rea's stack of "literature."

"Well, I'll leave you to your busy work."

"Would you like to borrow one?" Rea asked, her smile growing mischievous.

"I saw you eying On the Lips of a Goddess earlier, I can definitely recommend it."

"No thanks!" Shaya blurted, backing away from the desk.

"It's quite alright!" Rea called after her.

"The illustrations are really quite informative for someone like—!" Shaya sprinted out of the office, face far redder than her usual demonic heritage would entail. +++++ Shaya took a deep breath, taking in the library's musty scents and feeling her stress melt away. Being in the presence of so much knowledge had a calming effect on her, especially when she was there to put that knowledge to use to grow stronger.

The week was flying by and she was starting to feel the pressure of the mid-terms coming up just next week. With her duel with Una this weekend and all of the shifts she needed to pick up at the forge, she felt her available time for study dwindling. Given that she was challenging the one course she felt most confident about—Combat Foundations—for credit, she felt even that one causing her no end of stress. Let alone the ones she was truly worried about: Intro to Pyromancy and Intro to Abjuration.

Rea and Auric had recommended some texts for her to review at the last minute, in preparation for those two exams, and Shaya desperately hoped they contained a hintor two to help her pass the tests. Becoming a Second Circle mage didn't come with any sudden boost in ability, leaving Shaya still worried about having sufficient power behind her spells to do well on her upcoming tests. All she needed was an actual space to study.

The library was packed with mid-terms approaching and Shaya sighed as she reached the top of the mezzanine and saw it was no different. Quill tugged on a pant leg to draw her attention, then sat up on his haunches to point with his remaining arm toward the back of the mezzanine, where the usual ring of empty tables was filled by students. Except for the table which had only one regal-looking occupant, whom Shaya had never seen anyone approach in the near two months she had been at the Academy.

First time for everything, I guess.

"Thanks, buddy." Shaya smiled down at Quill, scratching his head for good measure and feeling his pleasure through their bond.

"Let's go introduce ourselves." Adjusting her backpack, Shaya started walking, weaving through the tables full of stressed students. She was almost amused to witness the low growls and ire-filled glares the otherwise posh students threw at her as she moved past them. As she drew closer to the ostensibly free chair and the table's lone occupant, however, their reactions turned to quirked brows and even smirks.

Shaya swallowed nervously as she drew more looks, starting to wonder just who the hells she was approaching. The usual comfort she drew from being in the library crumbled as she felt dozens of eyes on her. She shook her head to clear it. She was almost there—no time to back out now.

"Excuse me," she whispered to the woman seated at the table, surrounded by stacks of books that formed a veritable fortress around her.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Piercing platinum eyes looked up from a book to bore into Shaya. After a moment of studying her, the woman's thin lips spread into a polite smile and she gestured with a wiry hand to the empty seat across from her.

"By all means," she said, her voice quiet, but otherwise as imperious and smooth as her gesture. Shaya felt the stunned silence from the tables around her, but ignored the shock of her peers to smile and mutter a quick thank you to her generous benefactor. As she sat down and unpacked her books, the willowy woman dragged some of her books towards herself to monopolize less of the table. Shaya glanced at the spines of some of the books and almost gulped.

Blood Magic: The True Power of Thaumaturgy Medicinal Alchemy: To Usurp the Power of Gods On The Nature of Spirits: Pre-Imperial Doctrine Dying Empire: The Need for Reformation The rest of the dozen books on the table followed the same pattern. Oh gods, Shaya thought, no one else wants to be seen sitting with someone so openly heretical. She glanced out the window to look down into the Grand Library of Arcadia's open courtyard, which still held a number of tables and chairs for students to use.

Given the late autumn chill coming in, the seats were mostly unoccupied. Except for a few severe-looking individuals that pointedly did not look toward the heretic across from Shaya, though she definitely caught one of them glance away from her. Great, there are definitely Inquisitors watching this person and they definitely just noted that I sat with her. Me, the child of a known heretic and traitor.

"Pardon me," the heretic whispered, leaning forward conspiratorially.

"Are you Shaya Heirosoth? The Titan Slayer?" Shaya groaned inwardly but smiled at the other woman outwardly.

"Yes, that's me, though Titan Slayer is… rather inaccurate. The creature was simply a reanimated skeleton of a minor Titan, only hill-sized really, so it didn't possess any of their innate magical abilities, regenerative properties, or true power."

"I didn't expect someone bearing that title would be so… humble." The heretic's smile warmed as it grew.

"It's not a title I asked for or think I deserve." Shaya snorted.

"But you seem to have me at a disadvantage, may I ask for your name?"

"Of course, how rude of me," she replied, taken aback by her own lack of etiquette.

"I am Princess Theame Astoria." Shaya blinked in shock for a moment before regaining her composure and responding.

"It's an honour, Your Royal Highness." Theame rolled her eyes, looking disappointed by Shaya's reaction.

"Please refer to me by my name, not my title." She snorted.

"It's not a title I asked for or think I deserve." Shaya leaned back and studied the princess for the first time since their interaction started. Theame was perhaps only a year or two older than her, but that was based more on her demeanour than her appearance. She didn't carry herself with the same stress or reserve as the graduate students she'd seen at the Academy, or the more highbrow attitude of older highborn nephilim she'd interacted with.

Her clothing was well-tailored, her jewellery sparkled with precious metals and gems, and her floral and fruity perfume was a bit strong for Shaya's heightened senses, serving to mask an undercurrent of well-oiled leather and metal that her nose picked up on. Though willowy, the princess was taller than the average human and seemed to possess greater strength than her thin limbs suggested, similar to how Azreon seemed to punch well above his own weight.

To Shaya's surprise, she also wore a Diamond amulet marking her as a mage of the Fifth Circle and either a gifted student or a graduate of the Academy. Of note as well was that her amulet held both Ambercyte and Sapphicyte, a rare combination. A comfortable blouse of deep purple contrasted against her pale skin and long, braided hair that seemed spun from rose gold.

While Azreon's Astorian eyes were molten in appearance, Theame's were cold and hard—though they watched Shaya with an amusement and curiosity she could never imagine on Azreon's face.