“Hey, that’s the magic kid, isn’t it?” A few Ebenshire locals said, pointing and waving as Kal led Arix and Ellie through town.

  “Yeah, the Jakari boy.”

  “Hey, Prodigy of Ebenshire!”

  “Make us proud!”

  “You’re going to be the next Archmage; I just know it.”

  “Looks like you’re getting even more famous, Kal,” Ellie said.

  “I thought teaching you two magic would take some of the heat off me, but now everyone just credits me for that as well,” Kal slumped.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Ellie hissed through gritted teeth.

  “It is what it is,” Kal sighed.

  “Look on the bright side, Kal. You’re definitely getting an academy spot when examinations come around,” Arix said.

  “He’s got a point, Kal. With graduation only a day away and Arix still unable to cast any spells, what are the chances he’s going to be ready when the academy exams come along? Heck, even I’m not ready. But at least I have a chance to catch up a little over the holidays.”

  “Sorry, guys,” Arix slumped.

  “Yeah,” Kal breathed the word. He wasn’t exactly sure when he had started thinking of the two kids as friends and not just annoyances, but he realized now that he wouldn’t be happy leaving them behind.

  “So, I guess you’re going to leave us here, huh, Kal.”

  “No, not if I can help it,” Kal said.

  School was about to end, and they would have two months of free time to study magic before the academy exams came around. If they failed, they would have to continue schooling for another couple of years in Ebenshire and then decide what to do.

  However, even though the academy entrance exams only happened every four years, they could still apply for the next examination period since they were only fourteen years of age and the exam cut-off was nineteen. But Kal had no intention of waiting around that long.

  It was going to be a struggle to get them to where they needed to be, but Kal was determined to make it happen.

  How on earth am I going to take Arix from a spellless, recently awoken caster with barely any mana to a mage that can cast first-circle spells in two months?

  As Ellie had said, it would be hard for her to catch up, but if she could manage to reach Stage 2, she would have all the foundations she needed to pass.

  “Kal, can we talk?” Arix said, his mood suddenly changing.

  “Yeah… why wouldn’t we be able to?”

  “It’s important. Something I’ve been meaning to ask about for a while. But not here. In private somewhere.”

  “Sure, we can head to the burrow after school if you like?”

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” Arix nodded.

  ***After School***

  “Okay, so what was it you wanted to talk about?” Kal said once they had made it into the main chamber of the burrow.

  “It’s all this magic talk… I mean.”

  “Just say it, Arix. I’m pretty sure we’re past keeping secrets from each other.”

  “It’s my core.”

  “Yeah—I know.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know why exactly, but I have some kind of connection to your core ever since the exorcism.”

  “You do?” Arix cocked his head.

  “Yes, I had been meaning to talk to you about it, actually. Something just always seems to get in the way.”

  “So, you know it’s Corrupted?”

  “Corrupted?” Wort said, overhearing them.

  “Yes, you know about Corrupted Cores, Wort?”

  “Err, yeah. The Corrupted are kinda like fiendlings. They serve all kinds of fiends across the endless planes.”

  “What, how is that possible?”

  “K-Kal, what does this mean?” Arix said, beginning to tremor. He had already been struggling to cope with Kal’s new fiendling underlings, and being told he was one of them was no doubt a difficult bullet to swallow.

  “Wort, please, tell us everything you know about The Corrupted.”

  “Not much to say, really. Spend too much time around demonic mana, and you will start to change. Mortals twist and deform into something else.”

  “If that’s true, why have I never read about it? Surely someone living somewhere like the Ruby Waste would have experienced this.”

  “Ha, not likely. I’m talking about a LOT of demonic mana. Like a lot lot. Like the kind that fills the Demonic Planes. Or the kind that floods into a mortal’s core when they are possessed.”

  “I’m sorry, Arix. This is my fault, like most things that have happened to you. I shouldn’t have been playing around with what I didn’t understand.”

  “What, no,” Arix shook his head. “You’ve done so much for me.”

  “There’s no record anywhere of a human with a Demonic Core. And now you’ve got a Corrupted Core, which apparently only happens in the Demonic Planes. It can’t be a coincidence.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Eh,” Wort burped. “If you ask me, you saved the kid.”

  “Yeah,” Arix nodded, agreeing with something one of the geckos said for the first time. “You saved me, Kal. I owe you.”

  “But what about…”

  “Hey, Bossman,” Bougie said, waddling over. “Demons aren’t so easily sent packing by non-demons. You need to lighten up.”

  “Yeah, what he said. I thought we had been through this, Kal?”

  “But I hadn’t used the sphere—”

  “Then I wouldn’t even have awoken my core, and you and Ellie would leave for the examinations without me,” Arix said, his eyes glazing over with a stubborn determination.

  “You’re still a long way away.”

  “Well then, help me. Want forgiveness? Help me pass the exam with you and Ellie.”

  Of course, I’m not going to leave you behind, Arix. Damn it. But how do I help him? There’s no way he’ll be ready on his own.

  Exhaling, Kal slumped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Can I try something, Arix?”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s just a hunch I have. There’s something between our cores, and what Wort said made me think.”

  Arix glanced over to the gecko, who just shrugged in reply.

  “Okay, I trust you, Kal.”

  Kal raised his hand and hovered his open palm over Arix’s chest. He immediately felt a thump of mana as if it were calling to him.

  “Close your eyes.”

  Arix did as requested.

  Delving into Arix’s core with his mind’s eye, Kal traveled straight to the heart of the core, its Inner Sanctum. The place where he found a pool within a cave when delving internally into his own. This was a place he shouldn’t be. A place that was impossible to visit without powerful ritual magic.

  He could already see Arix’s detailed core with a simple inspection, but something felt different when he descended into it.

  An aura permeated this place. It called to him in a similar way as the possession itself had.

  What is this? Why do I feel like we’re connected? I wonder if I…

  Kal focused on his own mana and funneled it into Arix’s core, causing the boy to grimace and stumble backward, almost falling from his feet.

  “Kal?” Arix whimpered.

  “Sorry, just testing something.”

  Arix gritted his teeth and nodded.

  Mana Core Bound? What the hell does that mean?

  Kal released, and Arix staggered backward, clutching at his chest and gasping for air.

  “What happened?” He panted.

  “I’m not exactly sure,” Kal glanced down at his own hands. “Bear with me. I want you to try something. Try casting a basic spell.”

  “You know I can’t, Kal.”

  “Just do it.”

  “Fine,” Arix said, closing his eyes and holding out his hand.

  Kal watched as the mana circulated, and his core was drained in less than a second, well before the semblances of a spell took form, but before Arix could give up, Kal raised his own hand and pointed it at the boy. Focusing his mana into a stream, he sent it toward him, and suddenly, Arix was reverberating with mana.

  Arix’s eyes shot open as the mana in his palm sped up and brightened into a flaming ball.

  “K-K-Kal!”

  “So, my theory was correct,” Kal said, eyeing the ball of fire.

  “W-what do I do with it?” Arix stammered.

  “Oh, just throw it at the wall or something.”

  Like an out-of-practice pitcher, Arix did as he was told, sending the ball flying into the muddy wall burrow, its flames splashing part as it collided.

  “How was that even possible?” Arix said as he watched the tiny motes of fire putter out across the wall.

  “I was able to send my mana to you.”

  “Yours?” Arix shook. “What do you mean, Kal?”

  “I’m still not entirely sure how it happened, but I managed to bind our mana cores while I was investigating yours.”

  “W-what does that mean?”

  “Well, from the looks of it, I can send my mana to you.”

  Arix glared wordlessly.

  “I can’t say much more. I need to research this myself. I don’t remember hearing of anything like this in my father’s books.”

  That being said, it also means that I can help him pass whatever magic exam he needs to.

  Kal’s mana was extraordinarily high for his age. High enough that even Arix barely figured out a leaky, inefficient foundation for casting a first-circle spell; he should have enough mana to fund it.

  This wasn’t

  Maybe this was fate. Kal had doubted Arix’s weak mana potential had what it took to become a mage from childhood, but now, Kal could help him.

  “Arix, things are starting to make sense. No one is getting left behind. You’re going to pass the exam and join us in an academy,” Kal said, grabbing and shaking Arix by the shoulders.

  “I get it, Kal.”

  “You’re still going to need to practice A LOT. Learning a first-circle spell in two months isn’t going to be easy. But at least I can help you out with the mana part now.”

  Channeling his mana into Arix was fine for now, but one important question remained: what would Arix do if Kal wasn’t around?

  Helping him pass the exams with this nifty trick was all fine and good, but what would be the point if he led Arix down the path of magery just to turn him into a fake mage unworthy of the name?

  Kal was reminded that Arix was still a boy. He was barely fourteen and not old enough to be making life-altering decisions in the world he came from. If he asked him, he was sure Arix would choose magery no matter what. But that didn’t make it the right decision. For all he knew, he could be ruining the boy.

  What do I do? I can’t just lead him down this path if I don’t know where it ends. Am I doing this for Arix or my own guilt? Is what I'm doing selfish?

  The thoughts plagued Kal. There was no easy answer. He certainly couldn’t just abandon his friend now. Without him, Kal was certain Arix would make nothing of himself as a mage, not with his Corrupted Core.

  These next two months had just become even more important. Kal would need to find an answer to this question. It was the only way he could morally drag Arix along on their journey.

  Another BloodlineTrait? And Strengthened Mana Bonds is one of the bonuses? Perhaps these are more common among demons than I thought.

  Kal eyed his stats. They had grown once more, and he was close to increasing his mana further. It felt as if the pieces were falling together now.

  Two months. We can do this. We can take the academy entrance exam together.

  The thought made Kal smile. This prodigy stuff was getting to him, and he realized he wasn’t one for the glitz and glamour of fame. However, it all seemed more tolerable if he could share that burden with his friends.