After the conversation, Ralth and Charlotte became closer. Something changed between them that night fostering trust that grew with each passing day.
Every morning, they would sit cross-legged on the floor. Charlotte would spread out scrolls of parchment covered in strange symbols, and Ralth would listen carefully as she explained each one.
"See this curve here?" Charlotte would say, her finger tracing an elegant symbol. "It represents the flow of energy from the Sea of Souls. When you write it, imagine water flowing through your fingertips."
After that, Ralth practiced magus writing with Charlotte during the day and meditated at night. His fingers would often cramp from hours of carefully copying the symbols, but he never complained. Sometimes Charlotte would gently adjust his grip on the quill, her hands warm against his cold fingers.
"You're getting better," she would say with a smile that made her eyes crinkle at the corners. "Much better than I was when I started."
Although Ralth had memorized the magus text because of his distillation, he still needed practice to be able to apply it proficiently in practice. Knowing something in your mind and teaching your body to perform it were two very different things. His hands needed to learn what his mind already knew.
"That's it for today," Charlotte would announce as the evening bells rang through the airship. "Now it's meditation time."
Nights were different. While Charlotte retreated to her side of the room to study from a worn leather book, Ralth sat in silence with his eyes closed. In his mind, he pictured the vast Sea of Souls—an endless ocean of light and darkness swirling together. Each night, he felt himself getting closer to it.
Outside their room, the great airship hummed steadily as it cut through the clouds. Sometimes they would feel a gentle rocking when the winds grew strong, or hear the distant thunder of storms they passed above. The wooden walls of their cabin creaked and breathed with the vessel.
In this way, time came to the fifteenth day since Ralth entered the airship. The days had fallen into a comfortable pattern, but change was coming.
The airship would occasionally slow down during flight, and the magi on board would perform some inspections and maintenance on the airship during this time. The mighty engines that powered the vessel needed regular attention, and the magical seals that kept the cabin pressurized had to be renewed. When this happened, the constant humming that had become the background of their lives would fade to a whisper.
During this time, the magus apprentices could move freely. The usual rules that kept them confined to their quarters were temporarily lifted, allowing them to explore the vessel.
"Ralth! I connected to the Sea of Souls last night!"
Early in the morning, Charlotte patted Ralth's bed and shared her progress with surprise. Her face was flushed with excitement, and her eyes sparkled like never before. Her normally neat brown hair was tangled from a night of restless sleep, but she didn't seem to care.
Ralth rubbed sleep from his eyes and slowly sat up. Through the grogginess, he could see that something was different about Charlotte—a subtle glow that wasn't there before, as if light was coming from within her skin.
Charlotte's talent was not very good, her mental strength was only 12 points. It took her seven days to complete what Ralth did in just a short while. Seven long nights of frustration and determination, of nearly giving up but pushing forward anyway.
But it's still commendable. The joy on her face showed how much this moment meant to her.
According to the book, many preparatory apprentices had to meditate, burn incense and use potions to help them connect to the Sea of Souls for the first time. The incense was made from rare herbs that grew only in moonlight, and the potions contained ingredients that cost more than most people earned in a year. Without these aids, connecting to the Sea of Souls was like trying to hear a whisper from across a crowded room.
Charlotte's seven-day connection to the Sea of Souls was already considered average in the academy. For someone from a common background with no magical lineage, it was remarkable.
Apprentices like Ralth, who can connect with just one meditation, are rated excellent in the academy. Such talent was rare and usually noticed early by the magi scouts who traveled through towns and villages looking for potential.
There is another level above him, and that is the natural connection to the sea of soul, that is, the natural magus apprentice with an innate mental power of twenty points. Such people were born already half-connected to the magical realm, as if they had one foot in each world from birth.
However, such apprentices are extremely rare in the history of the academy, and usually only appear among the descendants of magi. The old families, whose blood had mingled with magic for generations, sometimes produced children with extraordinary gifts.
"Congratulations, congratulations. My good friend Charlotte, you have finally become a magus apprentice."
Ralth sat up from the bed yawning, rubbed his eyes and congratulated Charlotte. The morning light outlined her silhouette against the small window, creating a halo effect that seemed fitting for the moment.
"It looks like I'll have to rely on you to protect me in this exam," he added with a sleepy smile.
The exam was something neither of them spoke much about—a mysterious test that awaited all apprentices upon arrival at the academy. Rumors said some didn't survive it. Others said it was merely a formality. No one seemed to know the truth.
Hearing this, Charlotte was very proud. She stood straighter, her chin lifting slightly as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you in this exam," she declared, making a show of flexing her arm muscles, which were barely visible under her sleeve. "No one messes with my roommate!"
Boom boom boom.
There was a knock on the door. Charlotte's playful pose dropped instantly, replaced by wariness. She approached the door cautiously and opened it just enough to peek outside. She saw that the puppet who delivered breakfast had delivered the meal early for some reason.
The puppet was a strange creation—a wooden figure with jointed limbs and a blank face carved from pale wood. Its movements were stiff but precise, like a well-made clock. No one knew if there was a real person controlling it from elsewhere, or if it was purely magical.
"Room 225, breakfast for two," it announced in its hollow voice that echoed as if spoken through a long tube. "The airship is undergoing maintenance today, so the apprentices are free to move around."
The puppet's voice was still weird, but the news it brought made the smile on Charlotte's face suddenly disappear. The color drained from her cheeks, and her fingers tightened on the edge of the door.
"Free time?" Charlotte asked, her voice suddenly small.
The puppet did not answer, but mechanically pushed the dining cart to the next room, its wooden wheels squeaking against the floor. The hallway outside was dimly lit by glowing orbs set into the ceiling at regular intervals. Through the small opening, Ralth could see other doors beginning to open as people received the same news.
Charlotte closed the door and her face turned very ugly, as if she was about to cry. She leaned against the door and slid down until she was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest.
"It's over, it's over, it's over. I just connected to the Sea of Souls, and my Mana Reflux has not been established yet. This, this, this..."
Charlotte paced back and forth in the room anxiously, and Ralth was curious about her reaction. He had never seen her this upset before. Usually she was the confident one.
"Isn't it good to have some free time? You've been staying in your room for so many days, don't you want to go out for a walk?"
He has been on the airship for half a month, staying in a room all day, and feels like his joints are rusting. The small room, once cozy, now felt like a cage. The thought of stretching his legs and seeing more of the airship was appealing.
"You don't know," Charlotte said, shaking her head vigorously. "If they could move freely, those bastards would come out."
Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she glanced nervously at the door as if afraid someone might be listening. There was real fear in her eyes now.
Charlotte looked like she was about to cry, and she told Ralth incoherently what happened in the airship before he got on it. Her words tumbled out in a confused mess, but Ralth caught fragments about a group called the "Snake Gang" who preyed on and robbed the weaker apprentices, especially the women traveling alone.
"Last time they were free to move around, they caught a girl from room 118," she whispered. "No one helped her. No one could. She left the airship at the next stop and never came back."
"I see. So that's how it is."
Ralth stroked his chin, his expression somewhat subtle. A muscle in his jaw tightened, and something cold flickered in his eyes.
Do you look so weak when you get on the airship yourself? He wondered. Was this what the world was really like, it's true face—predators and prey, with nothing in between?
"Then you stay in the room and I'll go out for a walk. After I've finished eating of course."