Beatrix had already arrived in the library & had begun making minor corrections to the history books filling arrangements when Magestra arrived.

"I hope you don't mind i started without you Mistress DeSpella" she said as a greeting.

"Not at all dear" the instructor assured her with a wave of her hand. "If anything i should apologize for being late"

"It's only a few minutes" The young woman stated with a shrug "anything interesting?"

"Well between us, it seems that Norwyn had an unfortunate mishap during his class in which a student got carried away & got paint everywhere" the Mind Magic instructor said with a small grin growing on her lips.

"What kind of fool wou..." The young Valedian paused mid-sentence "It was Micah wasn't it?" she asked in a flat, strained voice.

"Micah...Micah..." the older woman tapped a finger to her cheek in mock contemplation "Yes i do believe that was the boy's name" she finished, earning a small groan from her unofficial assistant. "Relax no one was hurt, they just got a new paint job" she couldn't keep from chuckling a bit at her own joke but stopped when she saw the girl beside her tense up a bit. "I'm sorry, i shouldn't be laughing at your friend it's just...well you've got to admit dear it's a rather humorous picture to imagine"

Beatrix did picture it for a moment & found she had to concede the point. "I hope Master Norwyn wasn't too upset" she said at last.

"Oh i'd say he took it as well as could be expected." Was the reply "I suspect your friend will have to endure a lecture, if he hasn't already, but that should be all of it"

"Well at least he's not in too much trouble" I still can't believe he managed to cause such a mess in such a basic class though.

"Indeed" her mentor said simply, switching two books around to place them in the proper order.

The two continue on like that for a bit, organizing & reorganizing books setting right decades of neglect. After a while they began to grow a bit winded & sat down at one of the studying tables. They sat together for a few moments before Magestra broke the silence.

"May i ask a rather personal question?" she began slowly. At Beatrix's slight nod she continued "I've heard of opposites attracting but i'm still surprised that such a studious young woman like yourself would associate with such a..." the teacher paused, clearly fishing for the right word "unconstrained student like Micah, so my question is, What's the appeal?"

Beatrix could feel her eyes widen in surprise. She knew she & Micah weren't similar in many ways but she never thought she'd be questioned on their friendship. If anything i expected someone to question him on why he associates with the quiet Valeian with her nose always in a book. She realized she'd been sitting in silence for longer than she'd thought when her mentor interrupted her thoughts.

"I didn't mean to offend you of course" The older woman said with a slightly worried expression. "You don't have to answer if you don't want too"

"You didn't offend me" she said perhaps a tad too quickly "I just wasn't expecting that particular question" she took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "You may have noticed i'm no the most sociable girl." she hated how small her voice sounded "Back in Greenvale, the other children never quite appreciated my constant talk of magic. They found my preference for reading over roughhousing in the dirt 'boring". They...they never listened to me, but Micah does. He loves magic as much as i do & when i offer him advice he actually takes it" she hadn't realized how excited she'd gotten. "It's nice to be able to help someone. It's nice to have someone who wants my help"

"And his sister?" Ms DeSpella prompted "I understand you're quite close with her as well"

"Esmeralda doesn't really need my help. But we do discuss our lessons every night. It's...different with her. Micah may love magic itself but he gets so bored with the actual lessons. He just wants to dive in headfirst & figure it out as he goes along. Esme though, she loves the learning process as much as i do! She's always willing to pour over an assignment with me. She never complains that the teachers aren't teaching us fast enough or wants them to skip the history lessons they give about their respective courses. It's like i've found someone who truly understands me" She hadn't expected to say something so...affectionate(?) & she could feel her cheeks warming under her veil but she didn't regret what she'd said.

"Well i'm glad" her mentor replied with a smile. "It can be difficult for those of us who actually enjoy being students to find our circle of friends. Perhaps you could bring them around some time. All the other teachers have mentioned their talent"

"Yes they truly are gifted" Beatrix didn't know why it stung a little to admit that. Or why that tightness in her chest was getting steadily worse.

From the look on her face however it seemed Master DeSpella did. "It can be hard to watch others pull ahead" the teacher said in a sympathetic voice "ironically it can be even harder when it's your friends pulling ahead. I became quite familiar with that feeling back in Darkspur"

"Darkspur has its own school?" Beatrix's curiosity peaked "I wasn't aware of that"

"Oh yes many on the western coast don't want to travel all the way to Mystacor to learn magic so the leadership of Darkspur established their own school to cater to them."

"What was it like?"

"Oh it was quite the different experience, A number of the teachers when i was a student were former Guild members who'd parted ways due to differences of opinion. So the lessons, particularly the advanced lessons went in very different directions" the unofficial librarian said with a look of reminiscing on her face. "And as i said i wasn't the best student. I became quite used to seeing my peers pass me by, some of whom seemingly doing so on a fraction of the work solely because their connection o Etheria's magic was stronger than mine"

"How did you handle that?" Beatrix asked in a quiet voice.

"Not very well at first" Magestra actually looked embarrassed "I spent a good long while convincing if i just pushed myself a little bit harder i could stand among my peers as an equal. But of course the frustration i was feeling affected my work so i ended up falling even further behind. Thankfully just as i was about to give up, someone explained to me what i was doing wrong. He showed me that i would never be able to work HARD enough to overcome my natural disadvantage so i had to work smarter if i wanted to keep pace."

"Work smarter how exactly?"

"There are ways to artificially boost your connection to the magic" her mentor began in an even voice. "They're not permanent but they allow you to cast at a higher level than you might otherwise"

"Is the Guild aware of these methods?" Beatrix asked skeptically Why have i never heard of such a thing?

"They are but they don't like to talk about them. They're put off by how "unnatural" they are so they don't allow them to be taught here. But i remember all my lessons." her mentor paused, looking like she was mulling over if she *really* wanted to say whatever was on her mind. Finally she continued "I...could teach them to you if you wish"

Beatrix wasn't sure she'd heard her mentor correctly. "You...you would teach me forbidden techniques?"

"Only if you want me to" Magestra said firmly "I just don't want to see you grow as frustrated as i did. I wasn't exaggerating when i said i nearly gave up on my studies & i wouldn't want you too make a drastic decision later"

"What would i have to do?"

"All i need is your word that this would be our secret" Master DeSpella replied "It was made abundantly clear that i would be released if i attempted to pass these methods along. Aside from that i require only your consent which you can retract at anytime"

Beatrix's head was swimming.

I could increase my connection to Etheria's magic? I could close the gap between Micah, Esmeralda & myself? I should learn things no other student in this school would be learning. But if we were caught Master DeSpella would lose her job & who knows what they would do with me? Perhaps send me home?

Finally she found her voice "Might i have some time to think it over?"

"Honestly dear that's probably for the best" the librarian responded with a reassuring smile. "What say we finish out task here & take up this conversation at a later date?"

So they did. They finished their corrections in relative silence then parted ways for the day. Beatrix went over the offer again & again over the next few days. Than after a particularly frustrating lesson with Master Norwyn she made up her mind. At the first opportunity she made straight for the library & for Mistress DeSpella. When she found her mentor she only needed to ask one question.

"When do we start?"