*Excellent work with your training, apprentice,* Rine congratulated, floating by her bed. *You've completed your training with time to spare. Well, the training that you needed to complete before the tournament, I mean. Still and all, well done.*

Lily listened to Rine while laying on her bed. She wasn't tired so much as she was... drained might be the best word. Using magic wasn't necessarily physically taxing, but maintaining the kind of focus she needed to keep up with the lich's pace was mentally exhausting. However, she'd be the first to admit that his training was effective.

With only a few short hours of training, Lily had progressed by what she felt was leaps and bounds. She could now maintain multiple barriers of numerous elements, each with unique shapes and sizes, while at the same time controlling multiple iterations of the spell that Rine had dubbed 'Helping Hands'. The hands were turning out to be a lot more impressive than she'd thought, especially when she had a dozen of them working in tandem. The fact that these could also be infused with elemental magic had numerous practical applications as well.

He'd also taught her about how to combine the various elements to create new elements, such as using fire and air to create lightning, or water and wind to create ice. Earth, air, fire, water, light, and darkness, each magical element could be combined with others in many ways to create incredible effects. He'd warned her against combining contradicting elements since that could have devastatingly explosive consequences. Rine had also helped her to collate the knowledge she had, helping her how the two spells might 'synergize' further.

Synergize was a word that Rine had explained meant, basically, supported one another. Single spells, he'd explained, could be powerful, but a wizard's true power was in combining various spells in such a way that even the weakest spell one knew could be devastatingly powerful.

He'd also explained how, at least in his time, spells were largely 'modular', so that spells could be easily modified to create numerous effects. In this way, a wizard needed only to learn the framework of a new spell, and then change variables within the spell to create new effects. Over the summer break, he planned on teaching Lily about that, but at a more leisurely pace. Their current breakneck pace in training had been solely for the purposes of the tournament.

Lily put her hands over her eyes and muttered, "I'm just glad we're not going to be having another 'cram' session like that again, any time soon." Her brain felt overfull, processing everything she'd learned.

*Well, I did tell you that the curriculum for winning the tournament was going to be far more intense than simply defeating Crassus,* Rine reminded her.

*However, I think you've earned a reward. You've completed the lesson plan ahead of schedule, even with all of the distractions and diversions we've had over the last three days. We'll do a few quick, simple, and fun lessons as a palette cleanser for what you've been through. Of course, they'll have practical applications as well, but I think you'll enjoy this.*

"Well, fun does sound fun right now," Lily said, stretching, "and we've got a couple of hours left before I need to get ready to see the king." That had surprised Lily a bit, seeing a letter bearing the royal seal stuck to her door.

The king was apparently intent on having a ceremony this evening where Lily and Madeline would present their respective gifts. Those members of the peerage who had arrived today, along with many students, would be in attendance. "But, if I'm going to be telling the court wizard about Cycling, I need to compile some notes."

*Already done,* Rine announced. *Check your desk.*

Surprised, Lily got up and walked over to her desk. On it sat two small notebooks. She opened one up and saw within notes written in a passable imitation of her own handwriting.

It included several rough copies of the mural that Rine and Lily had put in the 'hidden chamber' that the pair had added to the labyrinth yesterday, as well as both a copy of the Elderscript inscription and a sentence by sentence translation. It also analyzed various components of the mural, such as individual figures and objects, to gleam a deeper meaning from them. After dozens of pages of translation and analysis, it lists a conclusion that indicated that the method detailed in the mural involved pushing mana into an object and then extracting it, repeated over and over again, to clear channels within the body that mana flowed through, dubbed 'Conduits'.

It further theorized two sets of conduits, one for pulling mana in and another for releasing it, and that somehow, over time, these conduits became clogged, and this training method was devised to clear them. The second notebook detailed, again in a passable imitation of Lily's own writing, a fictional account of her experimentation with the method, indicating several weeks where she worked to figure out how to apply the method properly, before making a breakthrough.

All in all, it looked perfectly genuine and it all detailed a reasonable timeframe in which a promising but not yet trained student would have deciphered the mural, then applied the knowledge it contained. None of it contradicted with her class schedule or anything she'd been seen to be doing outside of her room. In short, it was all a perfect cover.

*It would hardly work for you to hand this information over to the court wizard with the ink still wet,* Rine explained. *I took care of it for you last night while you slept. I don't require slumber, so it gave me something to do. We already had a busy day lined up, so I thought I'd spare you this headache.*

Gently placing the notebooks back down as if they were made of gold, which they might as well have been, Lily asked, "You said you could only use basic magic, right? How did you do this?"

*I also recall mentioning,* Rine answered, *that my definition of basic and yours are radically different. You had several blank notebooks, plus ink, so I didn't have to pull that out of thin air.*

A pair of 'Helping Hands' appeared in front of the lich's skull, and he added, *The hardest part was imitating your handwriting with any degree of similarity. I'm many things, but not a forger. Still, I was able to manage. After that, I just needed to dry the ink at an accelerated pace, which is a simple matter of applying heat to it. For all intents and purposes, this will pass through any mundane form of scrutiny, and even most magical forms will turn up nothing. I also created copies of these books, including a pair for what you had planned after the tournament.*

That brought a small smile to her face. Provided she won the tournament, she would definitely need those. The victory was one thing, but sending a message, in this case, felt far more important.

Returning to her bed and taking a seat, Lily said, "Well, I'm definitely grateful. I didn't look forward to getting all of that scribbled down before the royal audience. So, what fun did you have in mind?"

Rine replied, *Well, I thought a few 'basic' charms would be fun to play with. Since you've proven capable of putting that chameleon charm on your dimensional storage bag, I figured we'd start with an additional charm or two so you wouldn't need to worry, even if someone else gets their hands on it. Then, a couple of additional charms on a few of the other items you have stored inside.*

At Lily's confused expression, the lich chuckled and said, *Don't worry. The fun will start once you've gotten those applied. It won't take long.*

----------------------------

Rine was right about that. In five minutes, Lily had added a pair of charms to the dimensional storage bag. The first, a 'Security' charm, insured that unless Lily herself was reaching inside, the bag's contents would not come out. Rine added that this could be used on any magic item, ensuring that only she could use it. The second, a 'Recall' charm, also gave Lily the ability to summon the bag to her hand from up to a couple of miles away.

Lily played with the bag a couple of times, tossing it in the air, then recalling it to her hand just to see it warp back to her palm. After all the difficult learning she'd just done, something this simple was much more pleasant.

*Splendid work, apprentice,* Rine complimented her. *Next, I'd like for you to remove the following items from your dimensional storage bag.*

She did so, although she was surprised that he'd name these specific items. They were items that not only could be classified as national treasure grade but potentially even rarer and more valuable.

The Staff of the Power: A staff with a mythril rod topped with a crystal that emitted a calm, gentle blue light, encased in a globe of crystal. Rine had explained that in his time staves themselves weren't a weapon, but rather a combination of a badge of office and a source of energy that a wizard could draw power from. The crystal on this staff was in fact an incredibly energy-dense mana crystal. When asked what grade mana crystal it was, the lich had bluntly stated that it couldn't be classified, since the ranking system used by modern wizards didn't go up that high.

The mythril component was meant so that Lily could draw power without touching the crystal directly, since touching such a potent concentration of raw magic would likely burn out her conduits in seconds. The globe was meant to keep her or anyone else from accidentally touching it and burning themselves out.

The Wand of the Dominance: A slender length of onyx with a design of mythril covering it that depicted a serpentine dragon wrapped around its length. While a staff could give a wizard a phenomenal amount of power to draw from, a wand gave a wizard immense control over the magic they utilized. When asked how it worked, Rine had given her a lengthy lecture that she'd ultimately had to file under 'Way too complicated for me to understand right now'.

Rine considered it to be something of a crutch, and the true mark of her approaching the level of an archmage would be when she could work such complex magic without having to rely on this tool. In the meantime, it would allow her to get a feel for what was possible, once her training had advanced sufficiently.

The Robe of the Archmagus: A combination of several garments, including a blue high-collared robe, a fancy yet fashionable broad-brimmed wizard's hat, as well as a pair of gloves and boots. The robes were made from a wool/cashmere blend that felt surprisingly soft to the touch, with mystical symbols drawn all over it. The hat was stiffer, but its surface felt equally soft, with numerous additional runes on it.

When she'd tried the items on in the dungeon control chamber, the robes and hat had covered her body completely, leaving only a small window for her eyes, allowing her to see. At Rine's suggestion, she'd tried tapping her nose, only to find that a barrier covered the area. The high collar of the robe met the hat at the back of her head, effectively making it so that even the back of her head was fully protected. With the gloves and boots on, every inch of skin was covered.

With a small knife, she'd tried cutting or piercing the material, only to find that it was effectively impervious despite the comfortable feel of the material. The robe was essentially 'mage armor', and the hat itself was made to protect the top of her head. The combination made for what Rine had called a 'Tank Mage', allowing a wizard to use magic freely without concern for any offensive spells coming their way.

Wizards wearing robes like these had won wars in the ancient past, according to Rine, but in his opinion was another crutch, since a skilled wizard could create equally potent defenses. Until then, however, it was a useful thing for his apprentice to have. When Lily had expressed concern over needing to have it resized, the lich had announced that it would resize itself to fit the wearer, once everything was put on, and would continue to do so for the entirety of her life.

The Spectacles of True Sight: A pair of glasses with ornate frames that, as the name implied, allowed the wearer to see through illusions. Simple, but definitely useful to have, and if she had to wear glasses anyway, why not wear magically enhanced ones?

The Amulet of Equipment: Rine hadn't gone into detail about this item, just that she'd want to have it if she was going to be using these items.

After placing the items on the bed, Rine had instructed, *Now, take the amulet, place it on each item, and say the word 'Install'.*

Confused, she did so, touching each item to the amulet. When she was done, Rine told her to place everything but the amulet into the dimensional storage bag. Then, he had her add the Security and Recall charm to the amulet. Once that was done, the lich told her to put the amulet on, then look in the mirror. After she did so, the skull instructed her to imagine herself wearing and/or holding all of the items she'd just put away, then say the word 'Equip'.

Curious to see what would happen, Lily pictured the image in her head, then said, "Equip."

There was a flash of white light. When her sight returned, Lily gasped in surprise as she found herself wearing the robes and spectacles, the wand in her right hand, and the staff in the left.

*What do you think, apprentice?* Rine asked, a hint of humor in his tone.

"I look like a real wizard," Lily whispered under her breath. The robes had resized themselves to fit her frame, even after losing the weight. Where before, they seemed a bit bulky, they now accentuated her figure, making it look as if she'd lost more weight than before. In this getup, she looked wise, powerful, and... well, she was too young and not yet curvy enough to be called 'sexy', but she certainly looked cute. In a few years, this look would definitely turn heads, but for now, she somehow managed to combine looking mysterious, mystical, and adorable. She struck a few poses to admire the look from every angle.

*You're still a good distance away from that,* Rine reminded her, amusement coloring his tone, *but I don't mind saying you pull the look off well. With the Recall charm, you can call the amulet to you, even when it is inside of the dimensional storage bag, and with the Security charm, it will only work for you. Now, as to the reason why I've gone ahead and set you up with this gear...*

Rine paused, then in a much more serious tone, looked her in the eye and informed her, *The kingdom you live in is not a safe place, by any stretch of the imagination. You're more aware than most commoners, but not even the king is fully aware of everything that's going on despite his own spymaster's impressive network of spies and informants. A potential revolution isn't the only threat this kingdom faces. It sits on the knife-edge between order and chaos, and more than a few outside forces would be willing to push it over the edge, just to soften up the realm for future conquest or personal profit.*

*The tournament may not only be an opportunity for you to strut your proverbial stuff, but also an opportunity for outside forces to strike due to the presence of the king and numerous members of the peerage. I believe the king knows that and is taking what he believes to be reasonable precautions. However, as I am no longer outside of reality, my ability to observe events is limited to what I can perceive with my own two... well, I'd say eyes, but you know what I mean.*

*The point is, I will feel safer if you have those things on hand, in case it turns out things degenerate to a situation beyond my calculations. If it seems like things are getting dangerous, equip that gear and do what needs doing. We'll deal with any consequences later. Your safety comes first over anything, even the need for secrecy. Understand?*

Lily carefully put the staff and wand down, then nodded, saying, "I understand. These aren't toys, and you wouldn't have given them to me if you didn't think I'd need them."

Rine nodded as best he could, being only a skull, then said, *Good. Now, while you're having your audience with the king, I won't be present.*

At Lily's look of surprise, the lich informed her, *We can't afford the risk that someone might detect my presence, especially with the king's court mage being there. We don't want to abandon secrecy without need, after all. I gave you that gear so that, if trouble comes and I'm not around, you can be protected and have the power to deal with the situation at hand, even if I'm not there. Now that you have immediate access to it, I don't have to stay glued to you at all hours. To that end, while you're taking care of things here, I have my own tasks to perform.*

"And what will that be?" Lily asked, now intensely curious.

*It's better that you're kept unaware, at least for now,* Rine stated, flatly, for the first time refusing to freely share information. Lily gave the skull an unhappy look. The lich shook his head, then said, *I don't say that out of spite, or because I don't think you can handle the information, but I'd rather keep you out of the loop, at least for now, to spare you from any unnecessary worry.*

*Moreover, there's always the risk that if you seem to be aware of events beyond what you should be aware of, it will cause people to ask questions, ones we can't have asked right now. I'm hoping that I'm just being paranoid and everything will sort itself out without any input from us. However, I've watched this world for thousands of years, and I am as sick and tired as a lich can get from being stuck on the sidelines. I may not have my full power, but I am fully capable of doing more than just hovering around.*

*Most importantly, as per our contract and my role as your teacher and mentor, I have a duty to ensure that you have as safe an environment as possible for your future study and growth.*