I awoke the following day to pounding on my door, roused from sleep for the first time in several days. I barely got any these days, and what little I got was often filled with dreams. Or nightmares, more often.

These were the latter, filled with swords and shattered limbs. A part of me had hoped to see Amelia, but luck was not on my side this time. Apparently, though my conscious mind rarely dwelt on it, my unconscious mind felt differently.

Standing, I sighed and rubbed my eyes, feeling the cold sweat that clung to my body. After a second, I grabbed the ring sitting on my nightstand before slipping it onto a finger. A pulse of mana rose, and I pushed it inside, watching as runes lit a dull green.

Instantly, a strange pressure settled onto my body, running from my feet up towards my head. I made the mistake of looking up and saw a cloud of brown-black grime that floated in the air. As I watched, it vanished, likely broken down by my magic.

With that done, I changed into a fresh uniform before making my way to the door. When it opened, I found Master Julian looking as chipper as ever, though I noted the bags under his eyes and the slight disarray of his hair.

"Morning, Vayne. You look...well, you're awake, I suppose, and that's the important part."

I ignored the implication and smiled, replying, "Thank you, sir. Apologies for the late start."

"It's barely past sunrise," he remarks, raising an eyebrow. When I did not respond, he continued, "Well, boring conversations aside, follow me, please.

Together, we made our way downstairs to a room a few doors down from his office. The only things in the room were a table, a chair, and a small pile of books, laid in a neat column.

"Can I assume this is my job for the near future?" I asked, walking forward and picking up the first book. Touring Ferris: Northern Territories was written on the front in faded black letters. Less exciting than I hoped, but at least it was straightforward.

"Yep! You're to read these, commit them to memory, and come back to me when done. Understood?" Julian responded with the same annoyingly upbeat tone to his voice. How the man was this eager so early in the day was beyond me.

"This will take some time," I remarked, picking up another book and trying to estimate exactly how long. I was a fast reader, but even so, this would take around a week. Two if I wanted to do it thoroughly and remember most of the details.

"I'm aware, but as you seem to keep forgetting, I'm an impatient man," Julian replied, digging into the pouch by his side and tossing me something. I caught it from mid-air with my left hand, realizing it was a small glass bottle with three teal-shaded pills inside.

"Those will improve memory and focus, letting you work faster and better. You're welcome," he continued with a wink, and I held back an eye roll, nodding and uncorking the bottle before slipping one onto my tongue.

The pill dissolved like snow, and within seconds, any lingering fog over my mind vanished. Usually, even with potions helping me cope, I retained some haze over my thoughts. Alchemy could only go so far, and the body still needed rest. But this was another level entirely.

"Founders above." I muttered, examining the remaining pills before glancing to Julian, "I think I need the name of your alchemist."

He chuckled, shaking his head, and responded, "You couldn't afford a steady supply of these. But, if you do a good job over the next month, maybe I'll show you a few things that are even better than pills. Now, get to it. I want to know how far you got by the day's end!"

Without another word, Master Julian turned and walked out, leaving me to my task.

I would never in a thousand years have thought I could grow to hate reading, but here I stood, wondering if I could escape; Or here I sat, I suppose.

Hard work was one thing, but this was the worst combination of boring and monotonous. Rote memorization was pitifully ineffective without real-world application, but that was my task, and I would do it.

Some of it was relatively interesting. I knew Julian was researching flying magics, and one book dealt entirely with the subject. Methods to control air current, manipulate force to increase velocity, and so on. Nearly every element had at least one way to fly, and there were dozens in total. None for Aether, but I already knew from my future counterpart's spells that it was possible.

But although some seemed connected to Julian's work, others not so much. What did I need to know about northern cities and their history? That was unimportant to magic, so why did Julian want me to learn it?

Even with Julian's gift improving my focus, ten hours of sitting and reading would wear down anyone's resolve. So, I stood and stretched, feeling cramped muscles relax. After a few seconds, I again pushed mana into Amelia's ring. With my mind improved, I wanted to take a closer look at the effect.

I raised an arm to my nose and inhaled. There was no hint of body odor, soap, or anything else for that matter, and that could prove helpful for my next hunting trip. Less of a scent meant less chance of an animal smelling me coming. And considering my herbal treatments had stopped working, regular baths were now time sinks and nothing else.

With another glance at the pile of books, I debated internally for a moment before deciding to take a break. Julian gave me three days to finish the task, and I was ahead of schedule. A half-hour to collect my thoughts was not the end of the world, and I did precious little enough of that as is.

Rather than wander the empty hallways, I decided to take a loop around the Academy outside. Usually, I hated winter but wrapped up in both a literal cloak and the spell Traveler's Cloak, the stroll should be pleasantly warm.

Snow tended to start falling early on the eastern plains and would not abate for three straight months. It turned the world into a flat, featureless white expanse, almost like the Astral Plane. There were few trees, and those that did grow tended to be short things that lost their leaves during autumn.

But there, in the capital, towering trees grew dozens of feet high and stayed green year-round. Snow hung from the branches, catching the setting sun and glittering like gemstones. I could hear the sound of wind whistling through the trunks and knew that my ears and nose would burn from the frosty air if not for my magical shielding. For a brief moment, I was tempted to lower it just to complete the image.

As I walked, I weighed my options, considering my next move. At the end of every year, the Academy held school-wide competitions among the students. The best performing of each year gained prizes, often rare magical items or resources. Though part of me wanted to avoid too much attention, the metaphorical cat was already out of the bag.

Still, though staying here and learning magic had been the prudent move at the start, how long until it became detrimental? I knew from A Study on Aether that there were many natural resources outside of Volaris to help my growth. And already, I had begun seeing the limits of our knowledge and where it would fall short, particularly with my element. There were simply things that Ferris did not know, and I would need to discover on my own.

Most importantly, this was what my counterpart had done. That Vayne had stayed here and trained for at least a few years, judging by the multiple bars on his uniform. He had played the part of the diligent student, and he had fallen short. Did the path forward mean taking a chance and leaving this place behind sooner rather than later?

Or maybe that was a colossal mistake, and I would find myself outside of Ferris without enough knowledge to progress by myself.

No matter what I did, it still felt like I was doing something wrong. All paths seemed to lead into the unknown, and it was impossible to say which was the best to take.

A surge of heat ran through my chest, and I growled, impulsively throwing a hand out as mana gathered from my core. The bolt flew, sinking into the finger-deep snow and sending up a spray of white flecks. As they blew back in the wind, disintegrating against my invisible shell, I sighed and shook my head.

Petulant displays of anger would solve nothing. But that did not answer the burning question at the heart of the matter. Why had my future self told me so little about the future? Sure, he seemed pressed for time, but what he did give me was of barely any use.

The Seer he warned me of was nowhere to be seen and posed no threat at this point. I had to trust at least some people despite his claims. Hell, the only substantial assistance he gave me, the drop of mana in my core, was the looming threat on the horizon. Either he was an idiot...or I was missing something crucial.

Even with my sharpened mind and months of thinking, I could not think of anything useful. I could remember all of the Archmagus' spells clear as day. A sword spell, shields, levitation, teleportation, and possibly physical enhancements considering his reflexes. And time travel, of course, but none of that would help me figure out anything.

My best bet seemed to be to rush for Haze and go from there. After that, I could work on improving my fighting style and adding more elements to it. For now, the safest path seemed to be-

There was a crunch of snow, and from the corner of my eye, I saw something dart behind trees, further into the forest ringing the back of the Academy. It was fast, small, and dark, standing out against the white snow. Immediately, I grabbed hold of mana and began weaving it into a spell, ready to fight for my life if needed.

For a moment, I caught a hint of a mana signature, just above the background energy and barely noticeable. If I was not looking for it, I would have missed it entirely. A few tense seconds passed, and it vanished, moving further into the forest away from me.

I slowly relaxed, straightening and letting the green bolt gathered in one hand fade away. Whatever it was, it was gone, and it had taken any peace I gained during my walk away with it.

After a final scan with my eyes and mana senses, I turned and walked back into the school. The sooner I got back to work, the sooner Julian might give me a more exciting job.

"I had expected this to take three or four days, but this? Someone's trying to make an impression." Julian remarked, examining the one-third finished pile on the table.

I nodded and smiled, replying, "Not to sound arrogant, but this is my specialty. I-"

"Yes, yes. Spent oh so many hours inside reading and avoiding the sun. Anyways, you should be done within what two or three more days?"

"I-yes, sir," I responded, again looking at the table. He had given me four pills total. If I pushed myself and finished tomorrow, maybe Julian would let me keep the other two.

"Good. That'll give us plenty of time to finish up preparations."

"Preparations, sir?" I asked, turning to face him. "Preparations for what?"

"For the trip, of course. I'm not sure what you expected, but you're not going to be sitting around and reading for the next month." Julian responded, his smile growing as he leaned closer, "How do you feel about blizzards and barren roads?"