The Four Guardians

Since Tia had passed out from over exhausting herself, I took her and Eva to one of the medical bays inside the tower. Ifer said he had something else he wanted to do so he decided to leave us, I assume he probably just wants to sleep.

We were waiting around for almost an hour before Tia managed to come back to us.

"Wh-Where… Where am I?"

"In a hospital bed, you passed out and we carried you here…"

"Ah… I'm sorry I've caused trouble for you all… I always seem to cause trouble…"

Tia didn't seem like she was surprised to have passed out, perhaps she is aware of the issue?

"Do you know why you passed out?"

"I have a rough idea; Master Beck, the headmaster, told me it's because I don't have control over my mana…"

I see… well, he isn't exactly wrong, but there could be several reasons for this.

Eva told me on the way here that people in their Academy bully her because of this, it seems unreasonable to go that far but since she is in one of the best academies there is it's expected that she can use magic without worry. I'll see what I can do to help her…

"I'll try to explain as best as I can as to what is happening, for now, take these."

Whilst we were waiting for her to wake up I went up to my room and grabbed a brown sack full of Mana Bread. A little snack made from special plants that help mana production, shame no magic in this world can do anything about the taste.

"Eating those will help you regenerate your mana easier. Just try not to eat them if you are full on mana."

"Th-thanks…" Tia opened up the sack and took out a light blue piece of bread, sniffing it before eating it. "Yuck… it's so bitter…"

"Ok… so as for you mana problem...

Do you feel faint randomly or is it only when you try and use spells?"

"Just when I use spells… Why what would happen if it was all the time?"

"Typically the main problems with controlling your mana comes in two forms. The first one is Mana Leaking, if you were to feel faint randomly it could be that you were leaking mana without knowing. The second one is what you have, it appears that you cannot control and command your mana into your catalyst properly, causing you to pour too much mana into a spell then is needed, which makes run out quicker."

"I see…"

"So she needs to control her mana better? That's what everyone tells us, you aren't telling us something we don't know." Eva piped up.

"Alright calm down… Why is it that you wanted to be a mage, Tia?"

"Ah… I-it's stupid... "

Whatever reason she had I could tell she was upset about her current situation. I didn't want to force her to talk about it anymore if she didn't want to. I needed to focus on the main problem.

"So, have you got any advice on how she can fix her problem?"

"Well… you can attempt to learn how to control your mana better, maybe experiment with different catalysts and see what you find it easiest to flow a constant stream of mana into, that's why I use a book most of the time.

Or you could train your body to generate more mana then you'd ever need to use, as long as you constantly have mana you won't pass out." That last one is kind of a joke solution but it will probably work for some.

"Hehe, you make it sound easy… H-How can I train my body?" Tia asked.

"Well… it might not be possible, sometimes there are physical boundaries stopping someone from becoming a mage… your body might not be able to handle any more mana then you currently have…"

Tia and Eva were both lost, they had no idea what it was they could do. They were still students and they wanted to both graduate together, but with Tia like this, there is no chance she will.

"What about your other solution? The different catalyst?" Eva said.

"Yes… It could work… If you keep doing little spells throughout the day, hopefully, you'll just naturally improve and be controlling your mana better without knowing it. When you go back to the Academy check to see if they have other catalysts you can use, like books, a staff or orbs. This isn't something that other people can magically fix, you have to keep going at it every day until you can cast spells constantly without worry. You should have more faith in yourself, you have a lot of potential to do great things."

I left Eva and Tia along to discuss whatever they needed. Shortly after I left Eva runs out after me.

"Tempus, Wait!"

"Hmm? What's up?"

She seemed desperate, maybe she was worried about Tia still.

"I just wanted to say thank you… I didn't get to thank you earlier, for everything you've done… You helped save us from that Demon and you also helped Tia… You've done nothing but help us since we arrived, and all we've done is cause you trouble… So, Thank you!"

I wasn't sure what to make of it all, it's been a while since I felt this feeling…

"You should stop by sometime… Come and visit us at the Academy."

"Hmmm… I'll have to pass for now, but who knows… Perhaps we shall see each other again sooner than you expect. Oh and one last thing… Tia will be fine, but you need to support her, as long as she doubts herself she'll be stuck like that forever. Good luck to you both!"

I walked off back outside the tower, without looking back, hoping I looked cool. I couldn't just head straight upstairs as I'm not an idiot. I'll just do a few l.a.p.s and hope they leave before I finish.

# # #

I noticed that they didn't have much intention of leaving any time soon so I tried to hide myself using an illusion spell. I almost made it but sadly was deemed as suspicious by the person who guards the way up, he typically knows everyone who can and cannot go up but because I was committed to my disguise I had to get Thorit down who could tell it was me and let me up… surprisingly that's not the first time Thorit has had to bail me out of trouble.

"That brought back some good memories. There is a reason as to why you are my favourite Guardian, Master Tempus."

"Haha… Very funny. Anyway… I had an interesting day today, I met these two humans who go to the same Academy I went to… I wonder how it holds up."

"Do you plan to go and visit?"

"No… instead I want you to find out everything you can about the place, mainly a list of all students and teachers… It's been over 100 years since I was last there so I'm sure things would have changed. One thing that was mentioned caught my interest, if it turns out to be true I might have to go investigate."

"Here you go, Master. A list of everyone currently there."

Well, that was quick. Thorit and the spies really are good at this stalker stuff, they are always following me around and probably saw everything that happened. I wouldn't be surprised, he is a sneaky little imp and does a good job managing all the information gathered by Demon Realms spies.

I studied the list to see thoroughly, looking at every name multiple times.

"Hmmmmm... Ah, Here… Beck…"

"The Academies headmaster?"

"Yup… Tia mentioned him earlier, I was surprised to hear his name again. He was a teacher when I was there, he seems to have worked his way up."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Well, he is just a human… if he was a teacher when I was there he should definitely be dead by now, there is no legal form of keeping yourself alive for that long. Plus I don't really like him, he knew I was a demon and bullied me because of it."

"I see... You don't suppose he found The Fountain of Youth do you?"

"I mean it's possible, that's pretty much a rumour, even us Guardians don't know if it exists or not."

If he did find the Fountain of Youth, then there isn't a problem, but there are other ways of extending your life. Ones that aren't so pretty.

"Right… I've decided. Tomorrow I shall journey to the Academy!"

I guess I'll be seeing them sooner than expected.

"Shall I prepare the regular travel gear?"

"No need! I'm going to go on horseback by myself… It's been a while since I've gone back home so I want to enjoy it and see what's new."

Oh… I better pack my things...