Chapter Five

I'm on my way to Professor Xander's office to practice my magic again or to drain my magic so I don't have random outbursts.

I entered his office and saw that no one was inside as I had expected. That is the reason why he had given a key to his office. He told me last night that he still has a class by the 14th hour and that he would be free to join me after the 15th hour. I just finished my last afternoon class, calligraphy. Let's not talk about my calligraphy, there is a reason why I chose a computer major. 

I proceed to the underground room, and begin my attempt in creating fire again. First, I need to balance the right amount of mana to produce fire. Mana is the magic energy inside our body so using less mana produces less fire or even no fire at all and large amounts of mana produces a large fire or large explosions. The amount of mana used is proportional to the product it produces according to fundamentals of magic. 

Creating something out of nothing consumes more mana than simply manipulating something that is already existing. I started pouring mana while imagining a fire burning on top of my palm. It took a while before the fire started. It still is an improvement compared to yesterday. At least it didn't take hours for it to appear. 

I tried to slowly make the fire bigger when someone opened the door. The action surprised me and I created a mini explosion. The only reason it's mini is because of the seals in this place that prevents the mana usage to a certain point. I looked at the time and realized that it's still almost half past the 14th hour. 

They use an hourglass with square wooden boxes that have a number to tell time here that are magically connected to the castle's hourglass so that all clocks are synched. 

I turned to the door to see who entered the place and I saw the healer the other day.

"Good afternoon, Lady Audrey. I'm sorry to startle you with my entrance. I hope you still remember me. I'm Jan, the healer from the other day." He introduced.

I didn't notice the other day when I met him since I was busy trying to understand what was happening but Healer Jan looks young to be a healer. Unless of course, it is not necessary for them to have 8 years or more education to get a medical license here. 

Healer Jan has long blonde hair that is kept in a ponytail, blue eyes and wears eye glasses but I prefer Professor Xander's short light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He gives a very easy to approach aura compared to Professor Xander. Professor Xander gives a more don't approach me unless you need something important aura. He is also a little bit shorter than Professor Xander but both are lean. Actually most people I saw here are lean. 

 Why am I comparing him to Professor Xander anyway?

"Good afternoon, healer Jan." I greeted.

"You must be wondering why I'm here. Xander asked me to look after you while he still has his class. He explained to me that you were practicing your magic and I hope you don't mind but he also told me about how you can use your magic only recently." He explained.

Xander? Are they close?

"There's nothing I can do about it now though I hope you'll be a professional and be mindful of the doctor-patient confidentiality." I said.

"Doctor? Patient? I'm sorry but I didn't understand. Could you please repeat that?" He asked.

"I'm sorry. What I meant was you are going to keep whatever you know about my situation to yourself. I would like that information to be kept between the three of us. Also about that magic that protected me, please keep it a secret." I said.

"You have a lot of secrets." He chuckled.

"I think there would be people who would be after me, if that information leaked out." I said.

"That is true. You already have someone coming for your life now, you don't want to add more." He agreed.

"What do you mean by that?" I was surprised by his statement.

"Your wounds last time, it won't be that serious if you just accidentally fall. Also, there are no other wounds, what I mean is wounds you would have received if you had tried to stop the fall. So either you didn't try or you couldn't. The wound is too severe meaning other than the normal free fall there is an additional force which results in greater impact thus higher severity of injury compared to normal fall. Or you know I could have been wrong and you really just accidentally fell down." He explained and I was amazed at how he came up with that.

"I hope you didn't share that with anyone else." I said.

"I didn't after all I have no concrete evidence. It was all assumptions on my part, especially if you are claiming it's an accident. Ah, but Xander came up with the same conclusion as mine." He said and I was even more surprised.

Of course, he would have figured it out. He was the one who found my body. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I was pushed off the stairs.

"Professor Xander hasn't told anyone about what happened, right?" I asked.

"He reported the incident of course. They didn't ask too many questions but if you want to file a complaint then his report would help you in your claim. I can also give you a copy of the medical report I've written, if you need it." He said sincerely.

"No, I would like you to keep that one for now. Though, I might need it in the future." I replied.

"Alright. Can I run some tests on you? This is related to Xander's theory of why for some reason your magic is being depleted or something." He said.

"Sure. What was that theory again?" I asked while hoping he would fall for it and tell me.

"He didn't share it with you yet." He said and gave me a smile that looks like it says I know what you did there.

He asked me to sit down at the gazebo first and started chanting stuff. I thought he's gonna take blood or something but all he did was chant.

I didn't think it would take a long time, my butt is starting to feel numb, let's add comfortable chairs in things that need upgrading. Professor Xander also arrived and just stood outside the gazebo watching us while waiting for Healer Jan to finish. 

After what feels like 2 hours, nope, it was really two hours, the chanting ended. Healer Jan looked so serious, it feels like he's going to tell me I only have a few days to live. He looked at Professor Xander and signaled to him, they needed to talk privately.

"Excuse me, but if that is about me, I would like you to discuss that here in front of me. Professor Xander is not my guardian and I have a right to know. Also I sat here for 2 hours. I want to know the result." I demanded.

They both looked at each other and then sat themselves down. Professor Xander started preparing tea. We wait for him to finish, I'm starting to feel fidgety. I might make mini explosions and mini whirlwinds soon. I tried to create fire again to distract myself.

When the professor was done handing out teas, the atmosphere became more solemn.

"I found traces of that thing you asked of me. I still don't know the exact one but I'll look into it." Healer Jan said and Professor Xander nodded.

"Someone sealed your magic." Professor Xander informed me.

"What?" I blurted.

 "I don't know who but someone did. I don't know why they did that either." Professor Xander said.

I looked at both of them to make sure if they are serious and they look very serious. 

"Do you know when the seal was in effect?" I asked.

"Nope, not yet. I needed further research for that." Healer Jan said.

"Do I need to sit for another 2 hours for that?" I asked, dreading his answer.

He just laughed and told me he has enough information as of the moment and will only ask me when the need arises. I told both of them that I want this to be handled in secrecy and they both agreed. Healer Jan bid us goodbye then and Professor Xander and I resumed our magic practice.