Zeke and Leo were making their way along the meandering path through the estate's garden. They had just finished their early morning spar. Over the last couple of days, they had gotten back into the habit of competing. For Zeke, there was nothing that motivated him quite as much as to see how fast Leo was making progress.
Despite the limited resources at his disposal Leo was improving every day. The lack of any new spells had forced his brother to focus on mastering his current arsenal. [Earth Manipulation] and [Fire Manipulation] had become his bread-and-butter skills. Even though it was far more Mana efficient to learn proper spells, the flexibility those two offered synergized perfectly with Leo's fluid and instinctive battle style.
Zeke had to admit that when it came to mid-battle improvisation, Leo was far ahead of him. In fact, he was far ahead of anybody Zeke had ever seen. From what he could tell, the older, more powerful Mages had all 'settled' for a battle style they were comfortable with. And why wouldn't they? A consistent, proven style was in most cases far superior to anything that could be improvised. It took a certain kind of crazy to make up an entirely new strategy on the fly during each fight.
This was something Zeke admired about Leo. His brother was a born warrior, Zeke had no doubt about that. The flexibility his approach lent him was the main reason Leo could be so confident going into any fight. A typical Mage would have to avoid opponents if they took advantage of too many weaknesses. Like how Wind Mages had been a problem for Zeke before he had the proper tools to deal with them. However, for Leo, none of that had ever been a consideration. If he lost, he wouldn't blame it on anything other than his inability to find the correct path to victory.
Zeke glanced at the blonde boy trodding along next to him. Leo had a frown on his face and looked like he was being marched to his execution. It wasn't even because Zeke had come out on top in their spar today — just the opposite. Zeke had a theory that Leo enjoyed losing far more than winning. After every loss, he would train twice as hard for their next match. No, the reason Leo was making that face was that Zeke was forcing him to do the one thing he hated most. "It's not going to be that bad."
Leo harrumphed
"Don't be like that," Zeke said with a wry smile. "It's the only way to get stronger in the long term."
Leo harrumphed again. "I don't agree with that."
Zeke was at his wit's end. There seemed to be no convincing Leo of the importance of studying — at least not with any common argument. After a moment, he tried a different approach. "Do you know how houses are built?"
Leo seemed surprised by the sudden change of topic but still answered to the best of his ability. "You flatten the ground, stack bricks for the walls, and then use wooden beams and clay for the roof?"
"Essentially," Zeke agreed. "Even without any advanced knowledge, that is something you could learn on your own after a few tries, yes?"
"Of course," Leo stated, "I might not be a genius, but I could do that much."
Zeke nodded. "Then how about a palace?"
"What do you mean?"
"How do you think a palace is built?" Zeke specified.
Leo wanted to say something but hesitated. Eventually, he shook his head. "I don't know."
Zeke inwardly nodded. If his brother had claimed that it was like a regular house, just larger, he would have been disappointed. "I didn't expect you to," he reassured. "You need to have significant knowledge in architecture, design, and many other fields to construct a true palace."
"Ok, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"That's why we learn Magic theory. It influences how far you can go. If we stay with the analogy, it's the difference between being able to construct a palace and a hut," Zeke said with a twinkle in his eyes. "You might be able to find out how to become a decent Mage on your own, but that's not what you want, is it?"
"No," Leo said, his eyes burning with conviction.
"What do you want?"
"I want to be the strongest!"
Zeke nodded approvingly. "And how will you get there?"
Leo grimaced. "Magic theory?"
"Magic theory," Zeke agreed. "… Alongside hours of training and real combat," he added after seeing how depressed Leo was getting.
"I can agree to that."
"Great," Zeke said. "And don't worry too much, this is not going to be like the classes at Elementium."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked with a raised brow.
"You'll see," Zeke said with a mysterious smile.
The two of them walked on in silence. Their feet carried them away from the main building of the estate. They were walking toward the small forest, where a new facility now stood. Zeke had hired one of the best construction companies in Tradespire and even paid the express fee. With him delivering detailed plans, the building had been constructed in only a few days.
From the outside, the new building looked like an elegant retreat. The three-story house had light brown wooden walls and high ceilings. Truth be told, Zeke had taken inspiration from the Windtänzer estate in the capital. From the first time he had laid eyes on that building, he had admired the way it perfectly fit in with the surrounding forest. In turn, he used the wood of the surrounding trees for the outer walls. The matching color and texture allowed the building to not appear out of place.
Eventually, the two of them arrived at their destination. With a smile on his face, Zeke glanced at the plaque above the door. It read: 'Elevation through enlightenment'. They entered through the wide open door and stepped into the reception area.
The woman manning the entrance immediately bowed her head. "Young lord," she greeted. "The others have already gathered."
Zeke smiled at her and nodded. He led the way up the stairway with Leo right behind him. His brother curiously looked at everything. Unlike him, Leo had never been here before. Now that his interest was peaked, Zeke needed to strike.
"The ground floor is mainly for relaxation and group activities," Zeke explained.
"I like that."
"I thought you might. There's a reception, cafeteria, common room, and lounge. Aside from that, there is always at least one healer on standby in the medical station."
"Since when do we have that many healers?"
"Mom managed to hire a couple," Zeke said proudly. "Four of them are still only True Mages, but one is a Grand Mage. Aside from the worst of injuries, we should be fine on that front."
Leo nodded happily. "That means we can go all out in our spars from now on."
Zeke's eyes widened. Did that mean Leo had been holding back? "Indeed," he said aloud with an awkward cough. "That's only the ground floor though. On the first floor, we have all our classrooms. Right now, we only have one class, but I want to expand that in the future."
Leo nodded, visibly losing interest.
"And on the top floor," Zeke continued, "is the repository."
"The what?" Leo asked.
"The repository," Zeke repeated. "Aside from my workshop, it's the best-defended location in the entire estate. Magic-resistant walls, 24-hour guards, and detection enchantments are only a few of the measures in place to—" Zeke stopped his explanation when he saw Leo's eyes glaze over.
"Anyway, it's not that important," he added quickly. "What you should really take notice of is what is contained within."
"What's contained within?" His tone made it clear that he was only asking to indulge Zeke, and not out of genuine interest. A small smile spread across Zeke's face as he watched Leo intently. He didn't want to miss his brother's reaction when he learned of the true purpose of the top floor.
"Spells," he said simply.
Leo perked up. Zeke could swear that he had even seen his ears twitch.
"What do you mean by that?" Leo asked, his eyes fixated on Zeke.
His smile widened. He had not been let down by this reaction. "Just that. The spell repository is full of spells."
"What kind of spells?"
"For now it's mainly basic spells," Zeke explained. "But the collection is broad. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness, Metal, Lightning, Nature, Life, Mind, Time, and Space. For all those, we have a collection of spells that will be sufficient until the Grand Mage level."
"Where did you get them?" Leo asked with wide-open eyes.
"What do you think?" Zeke replied with a smug grin. "I wrote them all myself, of course."
"How? I understand the four elements. But how could you possibly know the rest?"
Zeke remained silent, the smug grin still securely plastered on his face. He could see that Leo was getting annoyed and decided that it was time to end the act. "…Money and deception."
"What the fuck does that mean?" Leo exclaimed. "Stop trying to be mysterious. It's annoying."
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you," Zeke said, gesturing with his hands for Leo to calm down. "Did you hear that I invited some tutors for Maya?"
"Yes," Leo responded. "I thought that was odd. You don't even know what affinity she is going to have."
"Of course it's odd," Zeke responded with a roll of his eyes. "That was the deception part after all. I invited them under the pretext of searching for 'potential' tutors. In order to show their qualifications, I demanded they display all their spells below the Grand Mage level."
"And they just did?" Leo asked.
"Why wouldn't they?" Zeke questioned. "First of all, I didn't ask them to teach me anything - and showing off a spell isn't a big deal, otherwise, combat couldn't ever happen. Second, and more importantly, I paid each and every one of them one hundred gold for their time. That's a fortune for less than an hour of work, wouldn't you say?"
Leo's eyes sparkled. "…And because you were so generous, they were desperate to show off?"
Zeke nodded approvingly. "Yes, but not only that, but I also let slip that I would be paying a thousand gold a month for the actual appointment. A position that will most likely never exist."
"Devious," Leo stated. However, the feral grin on his face made it clear that he approved.
"I'll try to expand the collection in the future," Zeke promised. "But even now, there are a couple of spells in there that you might find interesting."
Leo nodded energetically. Learning new spells was something that he was always interested in. However, his brows furrowed after a moment. "What about Blood Magic?"
"Not in there yet. We are going to meet with Tristan Bloodsword in a couple of days. I hope to get a better grasp on how proper Blood Mages operate from him. All my abilities are self-taught after all."
Leo nodded. But his brows rose as he fully comprehended Zeke's words. "We?"
"Of course, 'we'," Zeke said. "You are not some servant, but a proper member of the von Hohenheim family. If there is an official invitation, you are going as well."
"Urgh," Leo groaned.
"Don't worry," Zeke reassured him. "I don't think it's going to be a boring event."
Leo eyed him suspiciously. "Are you going to tell me what you know?"
"Nope," Zeke responded, "where would be the fun in that?"
"Fun for you, maybe," Leo grumbled.
The two of them arrived in front of the classroom at the end of the hallway on the first floor. It was labeled with the number 01-01. Zeke opened the door and motioned for Leo to enter. After stepping inside, he could see that the expected group had already arrived.
David, Margret and Kerim sat together. Aside from them, there were six more people present, all of them Grand Mages. Zeke motioned for Leo to take a seat as well, as he made his way to the podium. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he casually walked up to the spot designated for the lecturer. Standing in front of the class, Zeke scanned each and every one of the people in turn.
"Welcome," he said eventually, "to my first Magic theory lesson."