~Chapter Thirteen: Mana Lines~

Eola hated Mana Studies, and she especially hated it the next morning.

It had been weeks since Eola had rejoined the class, and Madame Reyanna still hadn’t forgiven her for leaving it the first time. “Today, we will be transitioning to a new subject. At the behest of one of my favorite fellow professors, we’ll be moving on from growing your souls’ capacity and focusing on streamlining the soul’s primary purpose in spellcasting. Who knows what that is?”

No one said anything. Eola kept her head down, just in case that might help.

“Miss Lemiene?”

“Y’aer’s curse,” Eola mouthed silently. “The soul’s mostly used as a source of Mana—”

“Half correct. No points for being half correct, though. Not in my class.” Madame Reyanna cut her off, then started writing on the blackboard. “Mana is stored inside the soul, as Miss Lemiene so brilliantly stated. However, its main purpose within Ordered Magic is to store attuned Mana, then deploy it along Mana lines within the caster’s body and into a finished ideogram. What is a Mana line? Anyone?”

This time, Eola raised her hand. But instead of calling on her, the professor looked around, then pointed. “Miss Andresse?”

Catrine smiled smugly from across the room. “Mana lines are metaphysical connections between our souls and fingers, casting implements, and, ultimately, runes. They’re how Mana travels from soul to spell.”

“They’re only theoretical,” Eola said quietly, hand still raised.

“Well done, Miss Andrese. Miss Lemiene, wait your turn when called on.”

The blackboard filled in slowly as Madame Reyanna sketched a drawing of a person, labeling the critical body parts. “The soul, according to most reputable sources, rests just above a person’s stomach. It’s an organ just like any other, and—“

Eola had heard enough. She lowered her hand, tucked her head into her arms, and closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore the crimson-skinned professor. Her mom and dad had told her all about souls as a child. Then, after hers turned out to be attuned the wrong way, she’d done her own research on top of that. Madame Reyanna’s information wasn’t wrong, per se. It was just out of date.

Souls weren’t physical organs; they were metaphysical ones. No one had ever found an active Mana line in a body that wasn’t casting. Those lines only existed during casting, and even then, most mages only manifested them during their formative years. They were training wheels for a roller, and Eola’s parents had been convinced that they only made it harder to learn proper magic. Eola knew about them, obviously. They were just unnecessary, worthless, and a waste of time.

“All mages.” Madame Reyanna went on, “Have Mana lines. They’re essential to the casting process. Today, you and a partner will be identifying those Mana lines, then locating each other’s souls. Miss Andrese, Miss Lemiene, since you two were kind enough to contribute to my lecture, you will be my demonstration pair.”

Eola glared at Catrine. The noble girl smirked as she stood, robes swishing, and walked to the edge of the demonstration circle. Eola moved a little slower—she was sore from the fight against the feral book—and stood a healthy distance away.

Madame Reyanna nodded haughtily. “Miss Andrese will be the identifier. Miss Lemiene, please cast an ongoing spell of your choice on my command. Miss Andrese, you will cast the following rune. Unfortunately, Miss Lemiene won’t need to reciprocate—one demonstration should be enough, and she’s not to take part in any practical spell lessons, anyway.”

The professor continued as Eola turned red, and Catrine leaned over. “What happened to your face, toddler? Did you lose a fight with a cat?”

Eola narrowed her eyes. “No. I was in the library—“

“Those are paper cuts? You lost a fight with a book? That’s even more embarrassing!” Catrine grinned.

“Alright, enough, Miss Lemiene. Quit antagonizing your classmate and stand in the demonstration circle,” Madame Reyanna snapped.

Eola almost said something. It wouldn’t matter, though. Both Catrine and the professor had it out for her. This would only end one way.

She started casting the same anvil she’d been training her Mana with—Heavy Hold—and offered a tiny grin to Catrine. “Okay, I’m ready. Go ahead, Miss Andrese.”

“Lady, please, toddler. And I will.” Catrine’s wand whipped out of her robe with a flourish, and Catrine slowly drew a copy of Madame Reyanna’s sketch in the air. Eola watched her work, controlling her breathing as the Heavy Hold spell slowly drained away at her soul. It wasn’t hard. She barely had to work at it, even when Catrine botched the drawing and had to start over.

She finally finished the eye-shaped rune, added her attunement modifier, and poured Mana into it. The spell—Inner Vision—cast.

“Is that it?” Eola asked from inside the demonstration circle.

“Nothing’s happening, professor,” Catrine said quietly. “I can’t see anything.”

“That shouldn’t be possible.” The professor drew the same symbol, then stared at Eola, eyes narrowing. “What did you do, Miss Lemiene?” she hissed.

Eola shrugged. “I told you, Mana lines are theoretical. They don’t exist unless the caster needs them to. It’s sort of like souls. They’re metaphysical, just like Catrine—“

“Stop. Talking.” Madame Reyanna’s eyes had reached full glare. Her face was a mix of her own red and an angry purple. “Every child learns about Mana lines. They have to, to make Child’s Magic work for them.”

“My parents didn’t teach me that.”

“Miss Lemiene, leave my classroom right now!” the professor shouted, voice full of fury.

Eola turned and fled to her seat, gathering up her books and trying to keep a small smile off her face as she walked out the door. It didn’t matter if Eola stuck around for the rest of class; she hadn’t learned Mana lines as a child, and without an attunement, she couldn’t cast the spell to detect them in others.

If they even existed.

But she did have a new tool in her kit now. She’d copied the Inner Vision spell into her book before being called up, and once she figured out how to cast something like it, she’d be able to put it to use.

It was a messy spell, though; it’d be a while before she figured it out.

Eola Lemiene wasn’t very good at magic.

She was in the process of changing that, though—and the book cracked open on her desk was her next step. According to Colin, who was currently sitting on the edge of her desk with his back twisted awkwardly so he could read Theory of Magick: A Guide to Ordered Spellcraft over her shoulder, there was something missing in her understanding of Ordered Magic. That something was inside this book, or the next one.

And if Colin would let her focus, she’d be able to find it more quickly.

“What does Madame Reyanna have against you, anyway?” he asked from his perch on her desk.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Uh,” Eola said quietly. The correct answer was that Instructor Tarik had pulled strings and forced the gnome woman to let Eola back into her class, and Reyanna seemed like the kind of person who ruled her little corner of the school with absolute authority. But that answer wouldn’t cut it for Colin. It’d only keep him asking questions. She needed him to stop doing that. So, instead of trying to answer, she tried to ignore him.

That didn’t help, either. He just had so many questions, and so many of them were more interesting than Theory of Magick. Just his presence in the room was distracting.

“Why are you always in my room, Colin?” she asked after rereading the same passage four times. “Actually, why don’t we ever do study sessions in your room? I know why we don’t use the common area, but you’ve got more space than I do.”

“Because, uh…” Colin tugged at his robes, which weren’t quite aligned right on his shoulders. “Okay, my attunement’s order, right? I’m…uh…not a very orderly person outside of studying magic and swordplay.”

Eola stared down her nose at him. Her somewhat-healed cuts itched, and she forced herself not to scratch them.

“What?”

“Ah, it’s a pigsty in there. That makes sense.”

Colin’s cheeks pinked a little. “It’s not that bad!”