and the Question of Mana(13) 13: The Secret Journey…
and the Question of Mana(13) Only a few minutes had passed before a black royal carriage stopped in front of the school’s gate.
Its sides were adorned with the emblem of the Council of the Thirteen Mages, and faint magical engravings, discernible only to the experienced, were carved upon its doors.
The driver opened the door in silence, and Elandor stepped forward with quiet strides, signaling for Aiden to accompany him.
The youth boarded the carriage, still unable to believe what was unfolding.
The carriage moved smoothly, and the moment it cleared the school walls, it accelerated with staggering speed, as if the wind itself were propelling it forward.
What was strange…
Was that not a single student in the school turned to look at it, nor did it seem that anyone noticed Elandor’s departure or Aiden’s disappearance.
Everything was happening in absolute tranquility…
As if the journey itself did not wish to be seen.
Aiden sat beside the carriage window, watching the buildings fade away behind him piece by piece, while questions crowded his mind.
Finally…
He gathered his courage and turned to Elandor.
“My Lord…” The mage raised his gaze toward him with a smile.
“Go ahead.” Aiden hesitated for a moment, then spoke with genuine curiosity: “How were you able to feel my mana…
and even know the extent of its purity…
though you never touched me?” Silence fell inside the carriage.
Elandor kept staring at him for a few moments, as if contemplating the appropriate way to answer.
Then, a faint smile formed on his lips.
“Who said that I felt your mana directly?” Aiden became bewildered.
“Then…
what did you feel?” Elandor looked out the carriage window, then spoke in a calm voice: “Every magic leaves behind a trace…” And he paused.
As if he deliberately chose not to finish his sentence.
He returned his gaze to Aiden and added: “But perceiving those traces is not something any ordinary mage can achieve.
It requires long years of study and experience…
and an eye accustomed to reading what others fail to see.” Aiden listened intently, yet his perplexity deepened rather than diminished.
Noticing this, Elandor laughed softly.
“Do not rush, Aiden.” He then looked at him with a gaze filled with confidence.
“A day will come…
when you will understand everything that happened today.” Silence ensued once more.
But this time…
It was not a silence filled with mystery.
Rather, it was the beginning of a new path, one where Aiden would discover that the world of magic is far vaster than he had ever imagined.
And outside…
The spires of the Palace of the Thirteen Mages were looming on the horizon, towering high above the clouds, as if welcoming the new arrival into their midst.