Chapter 29.

While recovering from the latest fight, the three companions observed the new room. It was way smaller than the first one weeks before. Rose could tell that immediately. Also, instead of a fountain, the centre of the place sported a large square basin, with the river flowing from one side to the other and pouring its content inside said basin. More precisely, the water came out of one wall, traversed a straight sculpted trench until the basin, then came out of it to enter the opposite wall and disappear. Added to that, two small bridges allowed people to cross the river from the sides.

However, there was not anything else in this seventy meters square room. Walls made of rectangular stone in a lighter shade of grey compared to the caves, a blinding opening above the basin illuminating the majority of the room and two exits. Rose did not know exactly what she would give to be in a place with a different colour, like some red or green. It was depressing.

- Nick, you guard the exit ?, asked Enora, standing up.

She did not wait for an answer though, directly walking towards to great tub while undressing. And even though the man was used to her straightforward personality, it clearly did not make a slight embarrassment go away. Although it did not look like he was embarrassed because he almost saw a naked woman, but more because the situation was not intimate, very impersonal. Or so Rose guessed. It was the same for her.

- Say, Nick, would you lend me your book ?, asked the girl to help him a bit.

- Why not, I still have a lot to learn, but it's not all explained., he answered while looking at the corridor filled with dead monsters.

- The same for me, apart from the three uses I talked about earlier, nothing else is given by the author., sighed the blond. Looks like we'll have to experiment a bit.

Nick let out a light laugh, telling her that it would probably be better if Enora were present when they decided to lend the books to each other, in case she was interested too. Rose was fine with it and realised how difficult it was getting to keep being angry at the tall warrior. She still was, and Enora definitely deserved it in her mind, but … really ? The more she thought about it, the more she could understand : Enora was a rather pragmatic woman, ready to 'take advantage' of any situation, especially in an unsafe environment. "I understand that now, but it doesn't make it pleasant for me …".

She rose from her spot and walked near the water, crouching a meter away from Enora. The woman was leaning against the edge, cleaning herself as best she could with only her bare hands, as they ran out of soap weeks earlier. The water would have become quite dirty with blood and sweat if it did not flow. Sensing Rose close, the tall woman looked down, thinking, then stared in the other's eyes.

- You still mad ?

- Yes … a bit., answered Rose truthfully. It's normal right ? But I see why you did it, and it was not harmful to me. Just …you should have told me.

- Yeah, I should have., said Enora with a shameful look. Again, I'm sorry. Let's get along better now, to try and survive if anything.

They both nodded, then Rose joined her into the water, cleaning themselves and their clothes. They had a few other sets in their bags so that they could put these to dry. Although, in normal circumstances, they probably would have gotten rid of those hole-riddled and blood-stained rags. But one cannot be too demanding in their situation.

After fifteen minutes of scrubbing, they came back to Nick, who had, in the meantime, used the little coal he had found on the dead to light a fire. Coal had been their only source of fire since the beginning of the journey, oddly only finding it on the monsters or in their camps. He was in the process of looting the dead. One by one, he frisked the corpses, taking the purses and pieces of coal before dragging them to where they all came from, the cave on the other side of the corridor.

The women had just washed themselves, so they were reluctant to help, and Nick did not seem to mind. It did not take much longer for him to collect everything of value to them : fifteen purses and enough coal for a few days. They instinctively took possession of the precious metals from the beginning of the journey, knowing its worth at least in their previous life. Following that, the man also went to wash. Not many words were exchanged for the whole time, as tiredness finally fell upon them. When Nick came back, Rose offered :

- I'll take the first turn guys, rest.

They both tried to convince her otherwise, but she made an excellent case : apart from magical exhaustion, she was mostly fine while they had used their body on top of everything. She could easily watch over them while they slept for a few hours. They eventually admitted defeat in front of her stubbornness, and Nick even gave her his brown book to keep her busy during the watch.

…

In the middle of two snoring people, Rose read the new booklet. She skipped the parts that were common to hers and began training in basic energy. The difference was astonishing, as this new magic appeared way easier to cultivate. Of course, 'easier' does not mean easy. Yet, she managed to absorb a fair amount before deciding that a rest was in order. And, to her, 'rest' meant 'reading further into magic'.

' There are a few things that should be understood too, and those do not partake to magic itself, but more the world around it. The people. You might have noticed me mentioning a five hundred years old mage. How is that possible ? Well, that has to do with how the purified energies affect our bodies. But first, how are the mages divided ? What are the different titles that mages can have and what do they mean ? All of that is linked. The School Ranks first, or private ranks. It is quite useful to know a mage's capabilities inside a School, as it makes it easier for the higher-ups to decide what kind of work one will be able to accomplish. So, School Ranks exist to make it easier, but they do not represent the power of a mage in general, as they are only used inside specific Schools. Within a School, the Recruits represent the bottom. In fact, they are barely considered members as they have not reached the Absorption step yet. Still, masters will observe those, since affinities can be detected at that point. Next are the Initiates, which are not full members either. That's the rank where they can show their Cultivation speed, and you can understand how it is a major point for the Schools. They are also the ones having the highest number of Cultivation accidents. The Apprentices are a special kind of member. They lay in-between Initiates and the next ranks. They are Initiates that caught the eye of a powerful mage, and that will learn through private tutoring. Very talented mages can become Apprentices. Now, the first true mage, the Approved. The Approved represent in fact most of a School's 'usable' members, as they can begin to contribute and carry out missions. Mages usually begin to learn Mystic Arts at that point. Then, the Specialists, the dangerous members, generally have a good understanding of all the Mystic Arts of their School, only lacking in practice. The most powerful can be counsellors to the heads of the School, the Sages. With a perfect mastery over their School's Mystic Arts and trained in multiple other energies, the Sages are powers to be reckoned with. They are generally one if not several centuries old and lead their faction with other Sages. Those are the general private ranks, but a few others can appear depending on the School as, after all, they can do whatever they want within their organisation. The most important anyway are the titles. Titles are attributed to mages for their general mastery of magic, and only five of them exist. They are used throughout the world as the way to understand magic better and are also more straightforward. First, the Novice. Most mages are Novices, as it only means 'has begun to learn magic'. Next, Adept, who have a power equivalent to Initiates in two different Schools, or Approved in one. An Expert equal to an Approved in two Schools or Specialist in one. Then the Master, which is Specialist in two energies or Sage in one. And finally the Grand-Master, Specialist in four Schools or Sage in two. Now, we are of course talking equivalent here, since no School would accept at their top a mage already in control of another. You may also have noticed how difficult it is to become a Grand-Master compared to Master, relatively speaking. That is because Grand-Masters are expected to have made discoveries in the field of magic, and mastery over multiple energies is a must for that kind of endeavour. Now, before all that rank and title talk, we were tackling the age issue. How old can a mage be ? Considering the advances in healing magic, an average human can expect to live from eighty to a hundred years. To that have to be added the quantity of magic absorbed. Let's take an extreme case for example : the only living Grand-Master. From what is commonly known, he is the equivalent of a Sage in three energies. Becoming a Recruit and an Initiate add ten years each, then twenty for the Approved, skipping the Apprentice because of its special status. Next, the Specialist is forty years, and a hundred for the Sage. It means that becoming a Sage brings one hundred and eighty years to a mage's life expectancy. Two hundred and sixty years for a sage that is a lot. In the case of the Grand-Master, three masteries equivalent to a Sage mean more than six hundred years, and that is not taking into account the other energies of which he has knowledge but not complete mastery. The average expectation is around seven hundred years for that Grand-Master. Again, that is a lot. '