"...Adam, your application is approved. The laboratory address remains the same one as before, and five thousand units of energy stones will be allotted to your laboratory every month. As for the problem between the two of you, settle it yourselves." Mage Irene's voice was icy. Watching the youngsters' little drama was all very entertaining, but if an apprentice dared to start a fight in front of her, that was plainly not permitted.
No apprentice dared defy the will of a full-fledged Mage. However furious they were, they all left the Review Department with proper respect.
The apprentice named Frank followed the two of them out of the tower the whole way. The moment they set foot on academy ground, he stepped in front of James, seized his collar, lifted him up without the slightest effort, and said furiously, "James, why haven't you gotten out of the academy yet? An idiot like you—wouldn't it be nice to just quietly die of old age?"
It was a vicious thing to say. To a Mage, dying of old age was the most shameful and incompetent death of all: it meant their wisdom had reached its end, and their soul had rotted until it could no longer sustain existence.
James did not resist. He let Frank hoist him up, deep apology on his face. "Frank, I'm very sorry, but..."
Frank swung a heavy punch into James's face and sent him flying, then said, "But? But what? But because you still cling to the delusion of becoming a Mage, so you keep on lying to people?"
James hit the ground, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He still showed no intention of hitting back. He said, "No, Frank, listen to my explanation..."
"Shut up, James, you liar!"
Frank would not listen at all. He kept attacking James—but strangely, he used no magic at all, only swinging his fists and feet like an ordinary person.
Adam frowned from the sidelines. He did not know whether he ought to stop Frank. Damage from bare fists and feet could not inflict a fatal wound on an apprentice, but the scene before him was truly a little absurd.
Adam used psychokinesis to pull James away and raised a barrier in front of him, then said in a calm tone, "Mr. Frank, I think you should hear James out. What you're doing now means nothing except venting."
Frank paid Adam's words no heed and threw another punch at James, landing it squarely on the psychokinetic barrier. At a flicker of Adam's thought, ripples spread across the barrier, then dispersed at tremendous speed and gathered again, returning every ounce of the punch's kinetic force.
And that was only because Adam could see Frank had not imbued the attack with mana; otherwise it would not have been so simple.
Frank was blasted away.
That shook Frank back to his senses. He glared hatefully at James, then said to Adam, "Kid, you must be a rookie from this batch, right? James is a fraud. Every bit of research in his spiritual power laboratory is a joke. If you're not an idiot, leave him right now—otherwise he'll ruin your path as a Mage."
Adam's frown deepened. James's research direction might have been wrong, but it was nowhere near fraud. He said to Frank, "Sir, I think you've got the wrong idea..."
Unexpectedly, Frank did something no one would have predicted: he yanked off his shirt and revealed a startling upper body—half mechanical. The entire left half of his living flesh was tightly fused with the mechanical body, and had he not taken off his clothes, one would never have spotted anything out of place.
"Is this an alchemical body? Amazing!" Adam's eyes lit up. Replacing the body with mechanical work—what a fascinating technology!
Frank said in bitter grief and fury, "Back then, some companions and I believed this fraud's words. We poured all our time into his laboratory, never doubting the future he painted for us, full of hope that we could advance through spiritual power. But decades passed, and we got nothing! Then in last year's tower war, my companions all died. Spiritual power is worthless against magic and mana. Besides this fraud and coward, who scraped through, only I..." Frank slapped his mechanical body hard with his flesh-and-blood arm and said, "...ended up like this, barely clinging to life."
James squeezed his eyes shut in pain. "I'm sorry, Frank. I'm so sorry."
Adam asked curiously, "What is it like, having an alchemical body?"
Frank gave a wretched laugh. "What is it like? Pain. Unimaginable pain, day and night. And from then on I'm cut off from elemental magic—ever since I put on this body, I've never been able to win the elements' acknowledgment again."
James kept repeating the word sorry over and over beside them.
Frank seemed to have settled his feelings, and no longer had any intention of attacking. He gave James a look of disgust and said, "Shut up. I don't need your apology. It's worthless."
Adam was rather puzzled. From the level of magitech he had seen so far, if a modification of this degree could be achieved, there should have been no incompatibility reaction at all. He voiced his doubt, and Frank said, "Because it's cheap. I can't afford the price of a better alchemical body."
At that, Frank lost the mood to keep talking. He said to Adam, "As a 'senior,' I'm warning you to stay away from this fraud, or you'll definitely regret it. Your aptitude is probably terrible, but don't put your faith in these crooked side paths, or you'll never have a chance at the path of a Mage." Frank used two "or"s in a row to express his contempt for James. That said, he finished dressing and made to leave.
Adam was not about to let Frank walk off like that. He had a powerful interest in that body of his—and who knew, perhaps a half-mechanical creature like him would work wonders with psychokinesis?
"Sorry for dredging up bad memories, but Mr. Frank, you've really got the wrong idea..."
Frank, now dressed, still took Adam for a fool who wouldn't see reason. He sneered, "You'll regret it."
Adam was exasperated. How can this man have so little manners? Doesn't he know that hearing a person out is basic courtesy?
"The applicant and lead researcher for the spiritual power laboratory is me."
Frank's steps halted. He could not believe his ears. The lead researcher was a rookie?
"And a workable meditation method has already been developed."
Frank's instinct was not to believe it.
"This is the contract from the Academic Department." Adam played his final trump card.
Frank stared at the contract. At a glance he could tell it was genuine—no one in their right mind would forge something for a Mage, of course. Then he muttered to himself, "It really is true. What's become of this world? I've only been gone three months, and a rookie can actually..."
But he was only startled for a moment. Then he said coldly, "I see." With that he meant to leave. As he saw it, since the lead was not James, this matter had nothing to do with him. So what if the meditation method had succeeded? He could never become a Mage again. The elemental magic he loved had shut its door to him forever.
Adam blocked his way once more, and before Frank could lose his temper, said quickly, "The new meditation method produces a special effect called psychokinesis. I believe this ability can help you, and win you the elements' favor again." As he spoke, Adam gathered the air with psychokinesis, and a rapid volley of wind blades and wind bullets shot off into empty space.
Frank was dumbstruck. He looked at the ground shattered by that "magic," then back at Adam, several times over, and then a fierce hope kindled in his eyes. He said to Adam, "What you said—is it true?"
Adam spread his hands. "Isn't it obvious, sir?"
Frank trotted over, snatched the contract out of Adam's hands, and read the words on it with desperate intensity, his eyes flickering. On one side, reason told him it was impossible; on the other, feeling told him that perhaps there was hope after all.
"There's actually, actually such a thing—reaching the effects of magic purely through materialized spiritual power." He selectively ignored the words "low-level," his mind utterly taken over by the word "magic."
Adam struck while the iron was hot. "I'm inviting you to join my laboratory, Mr. Frank. Do you agree?"
Frank handed the contract back to Adam and said hesitantly, "I... I don't know. It's too hard to believe..."
Adam sighed to himself. Sure enough—without hard evidence, words alone aren't enough to convince anyone, are they?
The next second, Frank went on, "Adam, could you—no, would you please give me a little more time? I need to think it over."
A turn for the better. Adam clapped his hands and said, "Of course, Mr. Frank. You should know the original spiritual power laboratory—it belongs to me from now on. Once you've made up your mind, you can come find me anytime."
Having gotten Adam's assurance, Frank staggered away, dazed and hollow-eyed. Only then did James come over and say with a bitter smile, "I'm the one who did him wrong. His natural talent was actually quite good."
Adam looked at him and said, "James, now I finally understand why your people skills are so bad."
James was startled. He had not expected Adam to suddenly come out with that, but he found he could not refute it—true enough, among the senior apprentices still alive, he was the only one with no friends to speak of.
Adam went on, "But you're overthinking it. You didn't do him wrong. I'm sure you signed a contract back then. Since the contract was made, the outcome he faces today is one he chose for himself—and since he chose it himself, he has no right to blame anyone else. No path is smooth the whole way; every decision is a gamble, and winning or losing is only normal."
James stared blankly at Adam. "Are you comforting me? I didn't expect..."
Adam lifted off the ground. "No. I only want to tell you to decide carefully. Psychokinesis is a meditation method built to my standard—there's a very good chance it won't be compatible with you. The choice you make today could leave you with no descendants at all, and I don't want the day to come when you hate me the way Mr. Frank hates you."