It was already late in the afternoon at the Tower of Conclave when Stella rushed back to her study with a tray of food floating behind her.
Going back a few hours, Stella had planned to keep Kyran company while he read and study magic. That way, if he encountered something he did not understand, she could explain it to him. However, she received a message from Malek through her private channel, telling her about some paperwork they had to deal with the Chamber of Commerce. Thus, she collected some introductory books on magic that Kyran could start with before excusing herself to attend to her duties as the Lord of the Tower.
Stella and Malek met at her office, located on the top floor of the south tower. This office was where she normally met with the council members to discuss business matters of the Conclave.
Before discussing the Chamber of Commerce business, Stella first asked Malek about the progress on the tasks she assigned to everyone a few days ago.
Malek reported that the Tower of Conclave’s defensive array was still under construction.
Because Kyran’s magic did not simply destroy a part of the array, Noir had to create a new blueprint.
It was not an issue with Stella because she would still ask Noir to construct a new one even if they could repair the old defensive array. Because she already planned to improve its formation.
As for the Mercenary Hall’s defensive array, the construction had already started, and their progress had reached 5% in just a few days. This number was actually a good one. After all, they had to create a new array from scratch.
After that, they finally moved with reviewing the materials they ordered from the Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce delivered some materials the other day, and Malek already confirmed they were in good condition. Then Stella double-checked the quantity of the materials they sent to the Mercenary Hall because the Tower of Conclave also needed almost the same materials, albeit at a higher quantity.
The Chamber of Commerce delivered the rest of the materials that afternoon, and Malek and Stella had to deal with another round of logistics and paperwork for hours.
Finally, after almost seven hours of working non-stop, she could leave the rest for Malek to handle.
When Stella realized the time, she panicked because it meant Kyran had been in her study for almost seven days without a proper meal. She had to ask the cook to prepare a meal as soon as possible, and now, she was rushing back to check on Kyran.
As soon as Stella closed the doors to her study, she did not bother to walk toward the mezzanine and directly levitated.
She sighed in relief after seeing Kyran still immerse in reading. After descending on the mezzanine, she noticed that he changed his clothes.
If other people saw Kyran, they probably would not notice the change because he was wearing the same black shirt and pants, but Stella noticed the shirt’s neckline was now V-shaped compared to the rounded one he wore before she left. As for the pants, there were fewer pockets on the side.
‘Good. At least he is still able to properly look after himself,’ Stella thought with a smile.
Then her eyes fell on the books piled at the side of the table, then at the pile of books still on the table.
‘Is it just me, or are there more books than the last time I saw them?’ she wondered and looked at Kyran, who seemed not to notice her arrival.
Stella frowned slightly. But seeing how immersed he was in reading, she just sighed. As she approached him, she saw the title of the book he was reading and immediately stopped.
The title of the book was A Breakthrough In Magic Through the Years.
Stella was positive that the book Kyran was reading right now was not one of the books she gave him. She made a quick scan of all the books near him and realized none of them were the ones she chose.
The number of books that Stella had chosen earlier- that makes it a few days ago inside her study – was not few. If an average person were to read all those books, it would take them months to understand them.
But Kyran…
‘He’s doing it again!’ Stella thought in exasperation.
She was starting to doubt if the information Malek had collected about Kyran for the past twelve years was even accurate.
How come it did not mention, he was such a bookworm!
With a sigh, Stella sat on the cushion across Kyran. She arranged the books on the table and moved them to the side to make room for the tray full of food she brought.
While she was doing this, she noticed Kyran’s left hand holding a clear orb. From the inside, small purple rings were circulating inside.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
Startled, Kyran gripped the orb on his hand too tight, and one purple ring expanded, splitting it in two.
“Ah.”
His brow twitched as he looked at Stella accusingly.
Stella, on the other hand, belatedly realized her fault and smiled uneasily, “S-Sorry. I’m just curious as to what you were doing…”
Then she stopped and frowned before looking at Kyran accusingly.
“No! That’s not it. You. What are you doing again? Are you reading or practicing magic? Focus on one and not multi-task! I can use my magic to give you enough time to do both without rushing, you know.”
Kyran raised an eyebrow at Stella’s outburst. He was not sure what she was on about again. Was it really wrong to do two things at the same time?
When he finished reading the books Stella brought a few days ago, Kyran wanted to train his magic. However, when he tried to summon his magic, the arrays in the study started to fluctuate. He realized that the more concentrated the magic he summoned, the more likely the whole array inside the study would malfunction.
It occurred to him that since he was inside Stella’s magic influence thus, his magic was an ‘outsider’ that could disrupt its flow.
Kyran was not disheartened at this discovery, though. On the contrary, he saw this restriction as an opportunity for him. He remembered he was able to use his magic when he burned his notes, so it meant, as long as he did not exceed the maximum capacity of magic that the array could allow, then he could still practice.
It was almost similar to the ‘controlling your magic’ lesson he had with Nolan.
Then he remembered when he and Nolan left the abandoned warehouse the day they ‘visited’ the Tower of Conclave. Nolan told him to keep the remaining magic orbs to practice.
Thus, Kyran took out a magic orb from his space storage and started to practice.
Since his assignment was to summon the purple rings on both orbs, and Kyran had no idea how to do it yet, he decided to try and do two different things at the same time first. Maybe he could get inspiration when he practiced this way.
And that was how he ended up summoning his magic on one hand while reading at the same time.
“Reading and summoning my magic is part of the training,” Kyran told her and took out another magic orb.
Today, he was able to control the fifteen small purple rings inside the orb for almost an hour without destroying it. Of course, to not waste the orb he had, he would cancel his magic immediately if he sensed he could not maintain it.
Stella’s expression turned thoughtful.
“Part of training?” She asked while waving her hand and moved the tray of food on the table. “What kind of training?”
“I’m trying to control my magic inside these orbs,” Kyran explained. “Nolan told me to practice this to improve my magic control.”
Stella looked at the orb on Kyran’s hand and asked, “These orbs are magic orbs?”
Kyran nodded, “Yeah.”
“Hm. I can see the logic. Although I haven’t heard of magic orbs being used this way. Since you have limited space on where to summon your magic, and that space also had a shape, you are not only learning how to control your magic but also learn the technique of how to mold it.”
“Mold,” Kyran repeated and remembered one of his conversations with Nolan about the difference between creation magic and molding your own magic. He also read an introductory and application of this technique from one of the books he read.
He looked at the orb and wondered if it was really molding. When Dante molded his earth magic, its shape was distinct and solid as far as he remembered. Compared to what he was doing now, he had to summon fifteen rings while keeping the most minimal space between them to ensure it would all fit inside the orb. Even the barrier he created before, which he now called the Void Scales, could not be mistaken for a molding technique because his magic had that form after integrating it into the Regis defensive technique. Same when he wrapped his magic around his fist to make gauntlets. The shape of his gauntlets was crude and a far cry from a real one.
Looking at his magic rings, he could now control how thin or small they would appear.
‘Now that I can control my magic to this extent, maybe I can really try molding it.’ Kyran thought.
An idea slowly formed in his head.