I'd Give Up The World For You

"Rather impressive," Professor Lucien remarked once the darkness had dissipated. "Have you ever formally studied magic?"

Ciara shook her head. "I wouldn't call it formal but my father has taught my siblings and I quite a bit about the art of darkness. I haven't had much time to practice while at the academy but I worked on it over the summer in preparation for this class."

"Splendid! That was some truly impressive darkness magic. I've had that exact move used on me in a mock duel before but it was by someone much older and more experienced." 

A small, embarrassed smile appeared on her face and she mumbled her thanks. They were all then ushered back into the classroom where the professor began talking about the basics of expanding your magical abilities. 

He gave everyone a demonstration of how to center your focus and make the magical energy flow through you. That was what he wanted everyone to practice doing for the next week. He went around watching everyone give it a try and corrected people who weren't doing it right to be sure they wouldn't practice the wrong thing. 

Once Professor Lucien was certain everyone had their positioning and breathing correct he moved on with the lesson talking about potential applications of the different types of magic. He primarily focused on the elements that were present but went over the others as well in less detail. 

"…water magic has the most applications as far as the mage community is aware but that's primarily because it's one of the most common types so there has been a lot of research about it. Ira, have you thought at all about what you want to use your magic for?" 

Ira nodded. "I plan to become a doctor and was hoping I could find a way to use it for healing."

He clapped his hands together in excitement. "Wonderful! There has been a little research done about that but I don't know much about it personally. You would need to talk to other water mages or find books or articles they've written. I'm sure there are some in the library here.

"Moving on, the opposite element of water is fire and its uses are much fewer. Fire mages are incredibly rare since they're restricted to the royal family of Katalya, which was wiped off the map several years ago. It may be a lost art but fire magic is primarily used for either warmth or destruction. It depends entirely on who is using it…"

From there the professor transitioned into the uses of stone and plant magic since those were also restricted to royal lines but Ira's mind was wandering. Katalya had been destroyed? When did that happen?!

He had been there when he was younger with his parents. He was only three or four at the time so he didn't remember much about it but it was strange to think that it was gone now. 

His father had been particularly keen on the history and culture of Katalya. Years later he continued to talk about how it was one of his favorite places. He had wanted to visit it again after they did what his mother planned to in Zel but they got sick and never got the chance. 

How long ago had it been destroyed? His father's wish may have been hopeless even if he had lived. That was unsettling. What could destroy an entire country? Especially one led by fire mages. 

One of their power's primary applications was destruction. Shouldn't magic like that be able to protect from most invaders? Unless said invaders happened to be either water or wind mages. Those types of magic tended to overpower fire unless the user was particularly strong. 

Ira frowned and tapped his quill against the table. He hadn't heard anything about Aveleen or Zel picking a fight with Katalya. Though both countries had been to war with Mirea since then. That was a strange coincidence.

At the end of class he hung around because the thought of what happened to Katalya continued bothering him. He wanted to ask Professor Lucien what else he might know about it. 

He seemed surprised that Ira was still there after everyone else left but smiled at him anyway. "Can I help you with something, Ira?"

"You said the country of Katalya has been wiped off the map. I wanted to know more about it if you could tell me. I've been there before and never heard about what happened to it. My parents were traveling scholars."

"Oh! I didn't realize that wasn't common knowledge," the professor mused before elaborating. "I travel a lot myself. It was about six years ago now that my travels brought me to the west and I discovered that the entire country had been turned to rubble. It wasn't a pretty sight. 

"Someone had managed to wipe all of the citizens of Katalya out. There were dried up husks of what seemed to be giant plants everywhere so I have my suspicions about what happened but I probably shouldn't voice them aloud considering where I am currently."

That was more than enough of a hint. Ira already knew the royal family of Mirea had plant magic. But how had they managed to take out a bunch of fire mages? 

"Sir, plant magic wouldn't be able to win against fire magic on its own unless it was incredibly strong," Ira pointed out. 

Professor Lucien cracked a small smile at his ability to figure it out. "Quite right. After hearing about the war in Aveleen and discovering that every water mage who fought in it was killed I developed a rather unpleasant theory." 

He hadn't realized so many water mages had been wiped out in the war! Not that he knew much about it in the first place. The Mireans won and Mr. Leo had become a captain since his died. That was about the extent of it. Miss Veronica hadn't wanted him to know the details. 

"All the water mages are dead?" Ira asked with a frown. 

"No. All the water mages who fought are dead. As a water mage yourself you should know that the bloodline has become extremely diluted. There are water mages scattered all over this continent. Even all of the ones in Aveleen weren't involved in the war. If they were smart they would have stayed well out of the way and avoided the fighting," the professor said. 

"I want to hear your theory."

"…it may not be suitable for young ears. Especially the young ears of an Aveleenian."

Ira's scowl grew more pronounced. "I'm not a baby! And I have no attachment to a country I have no memory of. I want to know."

Professor Lucien shrugged but his easy-going demeanor was nowhere to be found. "You hear things when you travel as much as I do. I strongly suspect that the Mireans used the Aveleenian water mages to attack Katalya more easily. Water nullifies fire unless it is exceptionally strong. My guess is that once the king of Mirea was done using them he got rid of them to hide the evidence." 

That was an unpleasant theory. But a highly plausible one given what Ira knew of magic. It didn't explain what had happened with Zel though. 

"What about the war with Zel?"

"An even more curious matter," the professor mused. "I heard rumors that a simple border skirmish escalated because the crown prince of Mirea went missing. The king wanted to exterminate all of the wind mages and seemed to have done it for a while because the areas by the border were completely desolate…until recently. 

"On my way here to teach I passed through Zel and it looked as if nothing had ever happened in those border towns. I asked someone if I had been misinformed and they laughed before shooing me away. 

"That wasn't a concrete answer but I believe there is more to that situation than there appeared to be. Something strange is going on in this part of the world and it all centers on Mirea." 

How bizarre! Ira wasn't sure what to make of that. 

He knew Mr. Leo had fought in that war too and had been promoted for it. That wouldn't have happened unless the Mireans had won. Something strange was definitely going on around here…

He wanted to ask more about it but Professor Lucien seemed to have run out of information. One of the Zelish students might know but it was unlikely they would share that with a curious outsider. What a bother! Sometimes curiosity truly was a curse. 

"Why so lost in thought, Ira?" he asked. 

"…I know of someone who fought in both of those wars, that's all. I was wondering if he knew what happened but it isn't as if I can ask him. I've never met him but he is married to the woman who took me in after my parents died."

"How would you have never met him then?"

"Because the whole time I lived with her they were engaged and communicated solely through letters. As soon as I started school here she moved to the capital to be with him. He's some bigshot in the royal army," Ira said with a shrug.

"I see…It's probably for the best that you keep this between us. Getting involved in foreign politics when we are nothing but visitors is never a good idea. If you don't have any other questions, I do have a prior engagement." 

Professor Lucien clapped him on the shoulder before returning to packing up his things and striding out of the room leaving Ira behind with many more questions than before.. He wanted to know what was going on but was this truly an issue best left alone? He had a burning desire to know everything but didn't want to get in trouble for it.