"Can I do anything other than just locating people with it?" Damion asked.

"If you devote time to studying people you might be able to," Mage Teft replied. "You see, aura detection is not just sensing an individual's magic power, it is sensing the will they subconsciously imbue in the world around them."

"Their will? Like the will I use when manipulating mana?"

"Precisely. When you manipulate mana, your will is infused into the mana. With aura detection you are seeing the will of people imbued in the mana around them."

"Okay, so I'm able to sense their will, I don't get how that will help me doing other things with this ability."

"Tell me, what is will?" Mage Teft asked.

"It is my intentions, my desire to change mana into what I want."

"Your intentions. Your desires," Mage Teft emphasized.

For a moment Damion thought of what Mage Teft was saying. Sensing magic auras was in fact sensing a person's subconscious will pushed into the world, into the mana around them. It was sensing a person's will, their intentions, their desires.

"Will I be able to read people's minds with this?"

"The Mind affinity is exceedingly rare, which is perhaps good. But no, you won't be able to read people's minds. But, if you know them well, or can observe their aura closely, you can usually determine if they are telling the truth or not."

"This is why Headmaster Sorin has a lie detection artifact, because he can't sense a person's aura, he needs it to be able to do what other S Rank mages can do."

"Not just S Rank mages. You are only B Rank and can sense auras."

"Right. I guess I will have to train my aura detection to understand when people are lying to me," Damion said, getting lost in his thoughts for a moment before turning to Mage Teft. "You mentioned Mind affinity being rare as a good thing. Why is that?"

"Would you feel safe around people with the Mind affinity, able to peer into your head, even able to manipulate what you see and hear? Perhaps even able to make you harm yourself or someone you care about."

"A Mind mage can do that?" Damion shivered at the thought of being controlled by someone else.

"In the distant past, there was a Mind mage who reached A Rank. This mage was a true terror, able to manipulate everyone she came in contact with. It was not until several S Ranks banded together that she was killed."

"Several S Rank," Damion questioned. He could not help but feel they had overreacted, a single A Rank should not have been that much of a danger.

"Yes. The reason it took several S Ranks to kill her is because the Mind mage was using the people she dominated as fodder. She had grown so powerful that she enslaved an entire city and was using an entire city to wage a war against the world."

"That sounds intense. But this seems to be another chapter of things not taught at Silver Spire. Shouldn't there be a History of Magic class, that goes over all these sorts of things? Or maybe an overview of them in Magical Law and Ethics?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"The histories are recorded for anyone willing to search through the archives. Understand, this was several ages ago. Now, Mind mages are never trained."

"Wait, because of an incident from tens of thousands of years ago, no one with the Mind affinity is trained?"

"It was deemed too dangerous."

"What happens when one is discovered, when children are tested and found with the Mind affinity?"

"The Mind affinity might show up once or twice a generation, but when one is found, they are either not told they have an affinity at all, or are trained only as knights, never to learn a single spell."

"That… that is so unfair."

"Perhaps. Damion, I am mentioning this to you, so you are aware of certain dangers. I don't know how you were able to gain more than Ice, but you need to be aware, that certain affinities are dangerous."

"It isn't like I intend to go around shouting from the rooftops about my abilities."

"Nor would I think you foolish enough to do so, but I wanted to give a warning. Before you add more, make sure you avoid affinities that would set you against the powers of the world, should you be discovered."

Damion had already decided to wait until he mastered his existing affinities before he sought to add more. He was sure in the future he would try his luck at more random affinities, but for now, it seemed more trouble than it was worth.

"It isn't like I will be tested again," Damion said, trying to sound unworried. "As long as I don't try and show off, I should be perfectly fine."

"See that you don't. Speaking of testing, I have received your final standings in all your classes. You were top of your class in every field, except Alchemy, where you fell to fifth ranked."

"Can't win them all," Damion joked.

He was not surprised he was not the top student in Alchemy. He had quickly found that the careful preparation, measurements and processes of creating potions and salves was not something he was good at. Though, fifth, out of all the students taking the course this term, was far better than he had expected.

"You did quite well. Another 45 points were added to your previous total, still well short of the 500 needed for the tier 3 Repository. However, I understand you have already spent all the points you have earned this term, so it makes little difference."

"Just 45 points, well I suppose I can buy some more rations. There really is not anything else I can think of being worth buying from the commissary."

"Given the items you purchased already, I concur. I would suggest that after the graduation ceremony tomorrow you do not linger."

"I've already packed everything of mine and Elicia's. But I haven't decided on where I should go first."

"That is up to you," Mage Teft said, not offering any suggestions.

Without another word, Mage Teft turned and left Damion to continue pondering where he should start his journey. In the Magic System Inventory, he had the message from her, but he elected not to open it just yet. He was not sure what she considered so secret or so important that she could not just tell him but felt it would be best discovered outside of Silver Spire.

'System, status.'

[Magic System]

[System Level: 3]

[User: Damion Wells]

[Age: 19]

[Magic Talent: EX]

[Magic Affinity: Ice EX, Water E, Poison D, Spatial D, Fire A, Earth A, Shadow A, Holy C]

[Mana: 5,523/4,339] (5%) - 4,555

[Magic Power: 10,002] (5%) - 10,502

[Mana Recovery: 212 P/S] (5%) - 222

[Strength: 116]

[Dexterity: 120] (5%) - 126

[Vitality: 245]

[Intelligence: 146]

[Experience: 3,700/20,000]

[Store Credits: 399,524]

As Damion reviewed his status he was shocked to see his mana recovery rate had doubled with his breakthrough. He had only just achieved B Rank, but he was quickly coming to understand how different high Rankers were. He was not sure if every high Ranker received such a large boost to their mana recovery, but even if they only received a slight increase, it was still something that would give them a massive advantage over someone just below B Rank.

Damion watched as the excess mana he absorbed to assist with his breakthrough continued to bleed off and realized that, assuming he had no passive spells active, it would only take him about 20 seconds to completely recover his mana pool. He thought of the tier 5 spell he acquired from Arica, it took 2,000 mana to cast, while he was not worried about having insufficient mana before, but now he realized he might just be able to spam the spell.

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