As we approached the wilderness entrance, I made a conscious decision to use only Ventus magic.
'I can't use Ignis today, under any circumstances.'
It was my only choice. Taron had only seen me use Ventus magic, repeatedly, might I add. As far as I knew, Taron had never seen me use an Ignis spell.
'It's probably for the best. If Taron knew I could use two Aether affinities, god knows what would happen, and I don't want to draw any more attention than I already have. Students and professors included.
The idea of people finding out that I could genuinely wield two affinities as a first-year... pure dread.
Then another problem occurred to me.
'Although now thinking about... I'm in a bit of a pickle.'
Ryn had seen me use Ignis magic. Repeatedly.
However, he hasn't seen me use a lick of Ventus magic.
'So, Taron has seen me use Ventus, but not Ignis magic, whilst Ryn has seen me use Ignis, but not Ventus magic. Great.'
As I mentioned. I'm in a bit of a pickle.
They were the two people I spent the most time around.
Eventually, one of them would find out and say something.
Or worse, one of them would bring up my spellcasting, only to realise that the other was talking about a completely different affinity.
This could happen at any time. It would probably be casual, probably over breakfast, and probably while I was stealing Ryn's bread.
'Well, it's a road I'll cross once I get there.'
The Codex pulsed.
[ASSESSMENT: DISCLOSURE OF DUAL-AFFINITY CAPABILITY MAY PRODUCE A POSITIVE OUTCOME]
I blinked. 'Really? What makes you think so?'
[PRIMARY SOCIAL CONTACT: RYN FALEN]
[PROBABILITY OF NEGATIVE BEHAVIOURAL SHIFT FOLLOWING DISCLOSURE: LOW]
[PRIMARY SOCIAL CONTACT: TARON CAELVARIN]
[PROBABILITY OF NEGATIVE BEHAVIOURAL SHIFT FOLLOWING DISCLOSURE: LOW]
I frowned slightly.
'... You're profiling my friends now?'
[OBSERVATION-BASED PREDICTION]
The Codex's next lines appeared.
[ACADEMY RESPONSE TO MULTIPLE HIGH-PURITY AFFINITIES LIKELY BENEFICIAL]
[LIKELY OUTCOMES: INCREASED FACULTY INTEREST / SPECIALISED TRAINING / RESOURCE ACCESS / PROTECTIVE OVERSIGHT]
[SIMILAR PRECEDENT: CASSIAN BLAKE]
I knew the name well by now. Everyone did. Cassian Blake had become one of those Academy stories repeated often enough that half the details were probably exaggerated.
A student who had revealed three functional affinities.
'I wonder if I'll ever get to see— or even meet him.'
According to most of the second- and some third-years, professors had practically started fighting over who got to mentor him.
'So your argument is that I reveal myself in order to get professors to start treating me like some precious Academy asset?'
[SIMPLIFIED: YES]
'That sounds... absolutely terrible. Nope. Not doing it. It's a bad idea.'
[COUNTERPOINT: INCREASED SAFETY]
'Ok, Codex, how about this? Counter-counterpoint: increased attention equals a walking target on my back for all the nobles who will inevitably get jealous of my treatment.'
[... ACCURATE]
'Exactly.'
"— Arin!" Professor Anlor was hovering over me from behind, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Apparently, Taron had already stepped through the gate.
"Are you going to participate in this assignment, or are you philosophising about the meaning of the forest?
Taron called out to me from ahead. "HAHA, sorry, Professor, he does that sometimes!"
I sighed.
"I'm coming, one second."
I crossed the gate and was met by Taron's grin.
"Alright, Kael."
Taron pulled the map out from its case. "Let's do this."
I nodded.
"Let's."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifteen minutes later, Taron's enthusiasm had turned to suspicion as he stopped halfway up a steep incline and looked at the map.
Then at the hill.
Then at the map again.
"Hey, Kael."
As I climbed the last few steps toward him, I paused. "What?"
"Doesn't this route seem significantly worse than everybody else's? At least the ones before us?"
I took the map and looked for myself.
'Considering our starting path as we entered the forest was a relatively gentle descent, it certainly did deviate quite a bit.'
After our initial path, the route curved northeast over a shallow river stream, deep into dense woodland, and now, up a rocky incline.
According to the markings on the map, our next steps are to immediately go down another slope that's twice as steep.
While staring at the map, I couldn't help but agree with Taron. "Yes, it certainly does."
Taron looked back toward the distant starting area, now completely buried and hidden by the trees.
"You reckon Professor Anlor set us up?"
I sighed.
"Unfortunately, yes."
Taron considered that.
Then smiled.
"Ha. Nice."
I stared at him, slightly confused.
"Why is that nice?"
"Because now I'm motivated."
"You weren't before?"
"I was. I have more now."
"That isn't necessarily better."
Taron didn't seem to want to entertain the conversation this time, as he started walking again.
I followed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thirty minutes into the assignment, I had learned something important.
Taron and I were fundamentally incompatible as travel partners.
"Kael."
"Wait."
"You said that three minutes ago."
"There are tracks here."
"There are always tracks. We're in a forest."
"These are different."
I crouched beside a patch of disturbed soil.
Three shallow impressions.
A broken stem.
Something dark caught on a low branch.
I picked it up.
Fur.
Taron leaned against a nearby tree. "We have a map, you know."
"A partial map."
"A partial map with directions."
"Rough directions."
"We have legs; we should use them."
"That doesn't seem relevant."
"It feels very relevant, actually. Instead of inspecting ambiguous tracks, we could be deep in the forest, exploring."
I ignored him.
The Codex shared my sentiment.
[ENVIRONMENTAL TRACE DETECTED]
[ORGANIC MATERIAL]
[RECENT DISPLACEMENT ESTIMATE: 11–19 MINUTES]
'Hm. Seems like whatever was just here, left recently.'
I examined the torn-up vegetation. Several leaves had been eaten unevenly.
'Something must've stopped here, moved west, and then turned.'
While analysing the tracks with the Codex, one thought kept cycling through my mind.
'Is this cheating? It kind of feels like I'm cheating. Although is it really cheating if no one knows about it? Plus, this is all to improve the Codex.'
I paused.
'Yeah. This is for its improvement.'
[JUSTIFICATION NOT REQUIRED]
[SYSTEM EXISTENCE NOT KNOWN]
'I know, but rationalising it helps me emotionally. I think.'
Taron groaned.
"Dude, at this rate, all the Aethren are gonna die of old age before we find one."
I ignored him. Again.
The annoying part was that Taron's impatience wasn't entirely pointless. He could read the terrain far better than I could.
When we reached a split between two trails of flattened vegetation, I immediately began examining the ground.
Taron barely looked.
"Left."
"Why?"
"The right trail leads to wet ground."
I looked at the ground.
It was dry.
"No, it doesn't."
"It does. Have a good look into the forest."
Taron pointed to several tree trunks toward the right trail.
"You see those trees over there? They've got flared bases and shallow roots because the soil has been so waterlogged that oxygen is scarce deep in the roots, so they stay closer to the surface rather than grow straight down."
[...]
[ACCURATE]
Focusing on the trees Taron had pointed to, I saw a faint pattern of what I had thought were branches, several inches above the soil.
"If there were an Aethren nearby, they would've had to move uphill or through some awfully thick mud to follow that route. No chance they would waste their energy doing something like that, unless they were chasing something."
I was in utter disbelief.
Taron shrugged.
"My House's territory borders the upper portion of the Vandros border, so we have a lot of woodlands. I used to disappear into them whenever I had those annoying tutor sessions."
"Is that where you learned all this?"
"That and being chased by the guards who were ordered to drag me back by my father."
My understanding of Taron grew clearer.
"Wait, your family's territory borders Vandros? So, does that mean you grew up in the—"
"The West of Elyndra, yeah. We border the upper part of Vandros, whilst House Renora border the lower part, though they're considered more southwest than west."
"Interesting. So, you guys split borders, makes a bit more sense why Darius is so openly hostile to you."
"Among other reasons, yes."
"Other reasons?"
"Family stuff."
"... You don't talk about your family much; I think you're the only noble I've encountered who hasn't."
Taron dropped his gaze. "That's because there isn't much to say. Anyway, we should probably start walking again; otherwise, we might not collect all the tokens in time."
For the next twenty minutes, something about Taron had changed. He stopped complaining whenever I crouched down to inspect something I thought was suspicious or interesting, and I stopped automatically dismissing his instincts.
Taron could read and dissect everything about the forest. The slopes, the wind blowing through the leaves, and its direction. He could tell the difference between original and altered routes.
Meanwhile, I was looking for the small details: tracks, affected vegetation, scratches on the trees around us, and any residual Aether.
Together... we were unusually effective.
Eventually, we encountered an Aethren, but this one wasn't one of our targets.