Zeke and David had returned home hours ago and the sun had long since traded places with the moon. At this time of night, almost nobody was awake anymore. Despite the late hour, a bright light could still be seen coming from the central room on the second floor. This was Zeke's study, where he had spent most of his time since coming to Tradespire.
Zeke was laying on the couch with his eyes wide open. Above his head, a metal plate was floating in midair, held in place by his [Telekinesis]. The Enchantment was slowly spinning in place according to his mental command. He had been doing this exact same thing for hours now, still trying to digest the implications of what he had accidentally discovered today.
After the plate finished another full rotation, the side with the etching was facing down again. With a thought, he brought the plate closer, his eyes tracing the intricate lines. Now that he had noticed it, he wondered how it could have taken him so long to realize. How could he not have recognized the carving? He had seen it so many times before.
Zeke sat up. Using the Projection device that was still on his head, he focused on the memory of a certain girl. A moment later, she appeared in front of him, frozen in time. The flawless replica made it seem like the girl was actually here. Her silver hair, her mischievous smile, her playful pouting, her adorable dimples, her — Zeke cut himself off before he got sucked in too deep. He could not afford to wallow in despair right now. In the first place, he hadn't conjured her up for sentimental reasons.
After one last glance at Viola's face, Zeke adjusted the projection. With lightning speed, the image zoomed in on the spot above her chest, effortlessly penetrating skin and bone. The scene that was displayed now was from within her body. And there it was, from right behind her sternum, her Magic core peaked out.
Zeke focused on the projected image. He had gotten plenty of practice adjusting his memories on the fly while working on the schematics. Therefore, it only took him a heartbeat's time to make the changes he wanted. As he worked, the view surrounding the core shifted. The image had been stripped of all of the flesh and viscera, leaving a pristine orb floating in the center of the room.
Over the next few moments, its size increased serval fold. Zeke only stopped when the sphere was roughly the size of his head. The silver orb was almost completely opaque but a bit of light still managed to penetrate the hard, crystalline surface of the sphere. Only the vaguest impression of the mysteries held within could be glimpsed. Then, with one smooth motion, the orb split open. Like a map, it unfolded — the three-dimensional shape was reduced to a plane.
With a gulp, Zeke bid the projection to turn. Slowly, the back side of the display, which corresponded with the inside of Viola's core, revealed itself. Zeke's eyes widened. With a mental effort, he had the Rune float up next to it. His eyes slid back and forth between the two surfaces. Minutes passed as he compared the two, not missing even the tiniest detail.
No matter where he looked, the two were identical. This confirmed his theory! Now that Zeke thought about it, this made perfect sense. How could it be any other way? The Ritual was even called the Engraving Ritual — it was right in the name! How could it be that nobody had figured this out?
Jubilant over this discovery, Zeke shot to his feet as he began to imagine all the possibilities this opened up. Couldn't he learn the Runes for any spell he wanted by observing people's cores? Jettero had mentioned that only a couple dozen Runes were known. He could easily double that number with the Runes he had scanned so far. If he actually made an effort to search out people with exotic engravings, there was no limit on how many —
Zeke's face fell. All the liveliness and joy seemed to be drained from him in an instant as he realized what had just happened. Bonelessly, he slumped back onto the couch. This was just another one, wasn't it? Another secret he had to keep! Another treasure he had to guard. Another discovery he couldn't use out of fear of being found out.
Zeke dropped the floating plate back on the table, before closing his eyes. He had lost all motivation to explore this discovery any further. Instead, his thoughts went back to the time when he had first told Maximilian that he wanted to be a researcher, instead of a fighter.
"The right of the strong, huh?" Zeke murmured into the silence. It was strange, he still remembered each and every word his mentor had said to him that day as if it had only just happened. At the same time, the entire scene appeared as hazy as a dream, making him unsure if the conversation had actually happened at all.
Zeke cradled his head as he lay there, motionless. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Maximilian was supposed to be here! He was supposed to be shielding him from the wind and rain. He was supposed to advise and guide him! He was supposed to be his mentor, his teacher, his protector, his support, he was… supposed to be here…
Time passed, and Zeke couldn't tell if it was just a few heartbeats, hours, or even days. He just let his thoughts drift. For the first time since he had left the empire, Zeke allowed himself to be weak. He had put up a front for too long, and he couldn't do it anymore. Silent tears ran down his face as he curled up on the spot, his perfect memory a curse as it reminded him of every detail on the old man's face.
From time to time, the cruel torturer that was his mind would mix in a reminder of the other friends Zeke might never see again. Viola's silver hair, Sophia's blue eyes, and Markus's brotherly smile all made an appearance in his stream of consciousness. For the longest time, Zeke was unable to even move. He had tried to outrun his grief, but the specter had finally caught up with him. For hours Zeke was adrift in a sea of misery.
The first rays of the morning sun finally managed to free Zeke from this condition. Groggily, he got up. His legs felt weak and he was barely able to stand. This wouldn't do. He needed proper sleep. On his way toward the door, Zeke used the back of his hand to rub the remaining moisture from his eyes. He couldn't let the guards see him in this state.
After a steadying breath, Zeke stepped out into the hallway. As expected, he found a guard posted on either side of the door. He didn't want to linger and merely nodded at them in greeting as he made his way to his bedroom.
By now, Zeke had been up for three days in a row. Of course, Mages didn't need as much sleep as regular people, but there were limits to this as well. Zeke was better off than most, because of his body affinity and his perfect control. Even so, he had reached his limit and desperately craved the sweet embrace of nothingness sleep promised. The moment his head hit the pillow he was out.
Unfortunately, his rest was not peaceful. One nightmare chased the next as Zeke tossed and turned. He was almost glad when he was eventually woken up by a commotion coming from outside his room. Through his sphere of perception, Zeke understood that David and Margret were debating if they should wake him. Apparently, something had happened.
Zeke's stomach dropped. On his way to the door, he thought about what might have gone wrong now. He just hoped that it wasn't something unrecoverable. He had gambled too much on the Gondola project. He couldn't afford for it to fail.
Zeke opened the door, his nerves taut. "What happened?"
The two of them were shocked at his sudden appearance. Their faces were extremely serious, but now that he was here, nobody wanted to explain what was wrong. "David? Margret? What's going on?"
The two exchanged a look. They stayed locked in a silent confrontation for a while. Eventually, Margret looked away first.
"We had an intruder…" she began hesitantly.
Zeke's heartbeat sped up. "Did somebody get hurt? Is my family alright?"
"Calm down, Zeke," she quickly reassured him. "Nobody got hurt. It's something else."
"I'm really not in the mood for games, Margret. Just tell me."
"It's about the Enchantments you bought," his former guard explained. "Somebody snuck into your study. I don't know how to say this, but… They are damaged beyond repair."
Zeke calmed down after hearing what had happened. Contrary to everyone's beliefs, the destruction of the Enchantments was no big loss to him. He had only ordered them made for two reasons. The first one had been so he could observe an artisan craft them and document the process. The second reason he had wanted the top-grade Enchantments was so that he could make an imprint of them, which he already had.
What was far more concerning was the fact that somebody had managed to enter his study. The room was guarded around the clock by trained combat Mages. If somebody could make their way into that room, they could make their way into any room. This meant that nothing and nobody in the estate was safe — not the work, and not the people.
"How could this have happened?" Zeke asked.
"We don't know, young lord," David explained. "We questioned the guards, but they said that nothing out of the usual had happened. They didn't see anything suspicious since you left."
Zeke mulled the entire situation over. The most likely perpetrator was the mysterious spy they had long since suspected to be among them. This was a concerning thought. The fact that they managed to infiltrate his office under the eyes of two Grand Mages meant that this person was most likely a strong Mage themselves.
"Did one of you notice anything suspicious?" Zeke asked.
"No, I was observing the Goldfinger company when the incident occurred," Margret said. Zeke nodded, he had known that she spent most of her time there. She took her new mission incredibly seriously and was determined to prove herself.
"Unfortunately, I also didn't see anything, young lord," David said. "I was reading in my room."
He had seen that the former butler's nose had been buried in a book during the night at the workshop as well. "I didn't take you for such a bookworm. Found a new hobby?"
"Not quite," David stated. "The Lord compiled a few texts for me, describing his own experiences with his advancement to Arch Mage."
"Maximilian did?" Zeke asked. He had not known of this, but it was something the old man would do. As expected, David nodded with a gentle smile.
Despite his terrible mood, this wasn't something Zeke was willing to pass up. "I would very much like a look at those notes some time, if that is fine with you?"
David agreed. "I'll pass them onto you, as soon as I'm done with them, young lord."
Zeke smiled gratefully. However, his face turned serious in the next moment. "I want to speak to the two guards. Where are they?"
"I thought you might," Margret said with a smile. "I ordered them to wait in the small conference room." She hesitated for a few moments, but eventually still decided to speak up," Do you still need me here?"
When she saw the confused look on his face, Margret explained further, "I left my post in a hurry when I heard something happened. But if I'm being honest, I really want to head back. I think we might be getting close to something, and I don't want the trail to get cold."
Zeke thought about it for a second but found no reason to keep her here any longer. "Sure, head back. There's not much you can do here right now anyway. But make sure to give me a report as soon as you find out anything substantial, okay?"
Margret saluted and left right away. She didn't even use the stairs but simply vaulted out of the open window. As a Wind Mage, she didn't have to worry about the height and it was only seconds later that Zeke saw her silhouette leave the property.
"What about you, David? I'm sure my mother is waiting for you in the office as well. Don't you have to go?"
"I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be walking around alone after what happened, young lord," David said.
Zeke just waved the concerns away. "I'm pretty sturdy and even a Grand Mage can't take me out in a short time. As long as I'm on the estate grounds, help will arrive in moments. And if it's an Arch Mage… there isn't much anyone of us can do."
David considered the argument for a second and eventually agreed. Although, he seemed pretty reluctant to do so.
They split up, and Zeke made his way to the small conference room on the ground floor. Now that the spy had revealed his intention to sabotage them, he needed to find them as soon as possible. This first attack had not been a major blow, but nobody could tell what they would try next.