"There is a fine line between consideration and hesitation, the former is wisdom, the latter is fear."

- Izaro, Path of Exile

Her blue-green eyes flashed mischievously as Vivienne dashed between the shelves. Valens shook his head and ventured outside. The healing magic had closed the tear in Alea’s lip and lessened the bruising. The small girl held Cecily, her spider, in her arms and was breathing heavily. The battle had been short but vicious and none of them- save perhaps for Vivienne- had escaped unscathed.

Alyssa kneeled beside Mireille and stroked her head. “Better?”

Mireille sighed and answered, “very much so! Why did there need to be so many and even though I managed the lightning manifestation perfectly!”

“I saw it and was very impressed.” The white-haired girl consoled her friend. “I think I will have a look. Are you going to be okay?”

“Most assuredly. I only need a bit of sleep.” Mireille yawned.

Alyssa looked at Asandria who gestured and floated towards the back of the room. Careful to not step into anything after the mess the ‘Leonhards’ had made she made slow but steady progress and finally arrived at a showcase broken open by a fallen shelf. Within the shattered glass, she spied an elongated crystal. ‘Pick that up. You don’t have to be careful- The crystal is inert without the necessary spells.’

“What is it?” Alyssa inspected the crystal that looked more like a somewhat jagged-looking teardrop made of pale grey crystal. It would seem utterly mundane save for the slow movement of the cloudy matter contained in the oblong. As she concentrated she saw a bit of movement and filaments made of slightly darker matter could be seen caressing the inside of the crystal. Alyssa nearly let go as she saw that the tendrils seemed to reach for her only stopped by the crystal.

“That does not look like it would be healthy?”

‘It will help you stay healthy.’ Grim amusement colored Asandrias tone.

Alyssa pocketed the crystal and made her way back not a moment too soon.

“What in Gesserachs name has happened here!” A lanky man of indeterminate middle-age with a mop of brown, unruly hair clothed in academy robes looked at the scene in horror especially as he saw the blood still dyeing the student's clothes.

Two guardsmen in the livery of the academy crowded into the room behind him and voices indicated others in the antechamber.

Vivienne looked at the rest and sighed. If you wanted something done well, do it yourself. She had been rummaging through some jewelry and a ring and some bracelets vanished into her pockets before she turned and pointed at Leonhard. “This fool here forced a librarian to open the archive. We saw the unconscious one up above and then noticed signs of forced entry from the door to the stairwell, following that we arrived here just in time to stop the culprit.”

She put one foot on an overturned shelf while subtly posing. A bottle filled with a dark blue liquid rolled out and clinked against a fallen mechanism. Small lightning bolts flashed through the liquid before subsiding again. The robed man winced. “Please be careful! Even though much here is pretty near worthless most of it is dangerous. Get down from the shelf and come over here. We will sort it out.”

Mireille, Alyssa, and Alea gathered around Vivienne who had become sort of a spokeswoman for them while Leonhard was apprehended by two guardsmen. The librarian was finally returned to consciousness after an older mage helped her with a combination of detoxifying and mind magic spells.

“So, you concur that Poroskar here drugged you and then forced you to open the archive with the badge from your colleague Leonora?” The brown-haired man who had introduced himself as Alexander asked the still bedraggled looking woman. Now seen in better light and not lying half-dead on the floor she was a pretty twenty-year-old with a ripped and torn robe that barely covered her adequately. She had soft brown eyes and longer honey-blond hair. Her name was Ilisa.

Ilisa nodded. “Yes. And when we got here I think he tried to knock me unconscious? He hurt me, and I could do nothing but stand there and endure it. It was the worst.”

Alexander looked disgusted. “Throw him in the cells. No need to be gentle.”

Two guards that were already waiting near the still dazed-looking boy grabbed his arms and then proceeded to drag him from the room.

“Now to you, my dear students.” Alexander looked at the rest of them. “What possessed you to run after a criminal like him without alerting anyone and leaving Leonora lying on the ground in the library? If something had happened to you no one would have known and the poor senior librarian would probably not have been found until morning.”

“Sorry! We did not know what had happened and wanted to help if there was a chance and were perhaps a bit hasty.” Vivienne put on her best contrite smile.

Alyssa looked at her and began to imitate her which resulted in a glower from Alexander who continued. “Okay. I see where this is going. Being curious and adventurous is not a bad thing but please do it in moderation. I hope you see that what you have done is hardly praiseworthy if not for the result. So learn from that. I will not reprimand you but neither will I praise you. When the magister has been informed about today's happenings there might be further consequences until then please get back to your dorm. Is anyone still hurt?”

The girls shook their heads.

Getting back to the dorms while being escorted by another guard they saw the senior librarian sitting in the library above and nursing her head with a wet towel. She looked at them critically and shook her head before wincing at the movement.

It had begun to snow again and Cyrus jumped on Alyssa’s shoulder the moment they exited the library. Cooing softly he butted her cheek with his head prompting a grin from the girl who seemed lost in thought.

Mireille hooked her arm through Alyssa’s and whispered. “Everything okay with you?”

Alyssa answered just as softly. “Asandria has some plans and I am a bit concerned. Later.”

Mireille nodded and hummed to herself as they made their way through the snowy courtyard. Before they got to the dorms the siblings bade them farewell and walked towards their own accommodations.

Back in their room, after the guard had left them to their own devices, they gathered around the table.

Alea looked at them. “What happened in there?”

“I think the best person to ask is Vivienne. But she was right on the mark with the attempted theft. Why he would want such a dangerous artifact is anyone's question but it could have been pretty powerful if he had learned to properly use it and if it was not cursed.” Alyssa answered.

Mireille shrugged. “Good riddance. He will be punished severely maybe even expelled for such a stunt. And if he was really responsible for that Otto fiasco I think he had it coming. And then there is this peddling Bluestone business. In Saintscrossing we had Angels Lyre a flower that when dried and ingested made one feel pretty grand. But afterward, you crashed hard. But this Bluestone seems to be even worse? So good riddance to that too. We should be on the lookout for people who suffer from withdrawal. I don’t fancy them going to a supplier in the city. That never ends well.” She looked somber as she advised that.

“Bad memories?” Alyssa asked concernedly.

“Mh. Let’s leave it at that.” Mireille sighed.

Cyrus was busy tearing into a strip of jerky that Mireille had liberated from the kitchen.

Mireille looked up and focused on Alyssa. “What was that about Asandria?”

“I had hoped you wouldn’t ask.” Alyssa grinned. “She has led me to a bit of crystal that would be helpful with my magic.” She fished the crystal out of her pocket and put it on the table. In the light of the glow lamps, it seemed to absorb the light and after a moment the filaments began caressing the crystal from the inside following the movement of her fingers as she brushed them along the outside.

“Ew! That looks gross. What the hell is that?” Mireille looked faintly disgusted.

Alea put the spider on the table. “I think I read about that. But if I remember right the book I saw it in mentioned that it was a malicious thing that when awoken would devour a person's magic and life.”

Asandria put her arms around Alyssa's neck from behind and whispered in her ear. ‘It will do that, but in return, it will grant your body pathways that could be used to channel pure void. As reckless as you have been it will hardly cost a thing.’

Alyssa shuddered and hugged herself protectively. “No, I will think about it. But I have to know more!”

“Asandria?” Mireille looked around searchingly.

“Yes. Alea is sort of right. It seems to be both a boon and a curse.”

“As most everything was in that vault.” Alea shrugged. “I will support you but please don’t do anything rash.”

“Let’s sleep on it.” Mireille yawned.

And they went to bed. Ice flowers bloomed on the window while Alea shuddered at the cold and looked at Alyssa and Mireille enviously. The magical heater in the fireplace blew warm air into the room that soon chilled. ‘I will have to see about something portable that I can put under the blankets. Or arrange for a bigger bed.’ Alea wrapped herself in both spare blankets and looked disgruntled.

And so they went to sleep.

The next day after classes in the afternoon.

Asandria drifted through a heap of dirty grey snow that had been pushed to the side of the road. ‘Humans. There is nothing more pristine and beautiful than freshly fallen snow, why not leave it as is and learn to walk on it without damaging it. There are lots of spells that even an imbecile could learn.’

“I think your standards might be more than most people would manage.” Alyssa grinned at the petulant tone of her spectral companion. “So what exactly is the deal with this crystal?”

‘I once saw the effort that a certain clan put into making that crystal. At the time it was regarded as a waste of resources and effort. But with the turning of the years now it becomes an important factor as it was always intended to be. The old empire was proficient with most magics but void and necromancy had a certain...stigma. Similar to today and perhaps even a bit worse. A nearly endless life does not give rise to the same hunger for continuation that would make necromancy more palatable and the same reason applies to shortening or even ending your life by overuse of void.’

Asandria trailed her hand over some frozen bushes. ‘It is a semi-sentient construct of void and metal that was forged to integrate with an elf. It would build paths throughout your flesh, forge a vessel to contain the void, and amplify and control it. But it would take its pound of flesh.’

“Let me think about it.” Alyssa looked ill at ease. A passing student looked at her strangely while she gave an embarrassed smile.

Days passed and it was Friday.

Josef Turm the academics teacher cleared his throat looking at the students before him. “So today concludes the testing week. The specialized afternoon classes have their own curriculum determined by your teacher and therefore are outside my purview. The academics section of the Academy of the Arts was always meant to supplement your more magical pursuits but as this season has shown there are a lot of you lacking in that regard. So we will have a formal test for that today and depending on the overall results there will be remedial lessons on Saturday possibly in conjunction with the other remedial classes. I hope you will spare us the effort.” His eyes seemed to linger on Mireille as he said that. The red-head ducked behind her book. “So without further ado, we will distribute the paper. Please remove everything but the bare necessities from your desks.”

Alyssa smiled encouragingly at Alea and Mireille before getting ready for the test. Alea did not look worried while Mireille was tearing at her hair.

And then it was over. The attendants gathered the paper and brought it back to the front desk where it was sorted alphabetically.

“That concludes today's testing. I wish all of you a nice weekend!”