Supreme Magus

Chapter 3570: Different Futures (Part 1)

Now, instead, the customers could take a walk while waiting for their food, hang around the lake, or even take a swim if they wanted.

That night, however, most of the patrons had turned their Hush arrays off to discuss the hot topic of the week with their neighbors.

Ghirslak the Wyvern kept leading his bloodline by example and had taken charge of the Awakened Academy project. He had not only given substantial financial contributions out of his own pocket but had also volunteered to be one of its teachers.

On top of that, while waiting for the snail-paced Awakened bureaucracy to do its job, he had opened a temporary academy for Wyverns only. He had invited the former clan exiles first and then all the youths who struggled to find an Awakened mentor.

Ghirslak had persuaded a few Wyvern Elders to help him and now he had one professor for each discipline just like in one of the great academies.

The patriarch taught the young Wyverns how to master their Origin Flames, while the clan elders held lessons about Highmaster Magic, Spirit Magic, Light Mastery, and advanced Dimensional Magic.

Awakened had no Warden specialization and taught their disciples how to use arrays for both offence and defence in the battlefield rather than just to build things or protect their homes.

Faluel had furrowed more than one brow when she heard about Ghirslak’s initiative but after meeting his students, she had happily agreed to provide the temporary academy with her special Spirit Magic wands.

The artifacts allowed non-Awakened to practice Spirit Magic. This way, the professors could test the students’ wits, talent, and wisdom, without establishing the one hundred years master-apprentice relationship that Awakening someone implied.

At the same time, the students could get a taste of Spirit Magic and be approached by their potential future mentors without either side making any commitment.

The Awakened Council had initially frowned at Ghirslak’s academy but after discussing it, they found no fault in his project. It gave the Council the opportunity to observe a test run of their future academy while the Wyverns took all the risks and covered all expenses.

For many relatively young Wyverns it was a dream come true, but for those like Dryna it was even better.

She had been kicked out of her house at a young age and spent her early years struggling to survive. Dryna had always been an outcast, with no friends among her people and only basic knowledge of her traditions.

Haug had given her a second family and taught her a lot, but he was no Wyvern. He couldn’t help her master Origin Flames or teach her the upper tiers of Light Mastery. On top of that, she was required to work as a waitress.

Her time was split between her Awakened apprenticeship under Haug, serving tables, and spending time with her girlfriend. Haug had already agreed to send her to Ghirslak’s academy and relieve her from her work until the end of her studies.

Once she graduated from the academy, her future would be in her hands.

Haug had no intention of forcing Dryna to stay for the full one hundred years of her apprenticeship. After Ghirslak had pardoned her and the rest of the exiles, Dryna didn’t need his protection anymore.

"Can you believe it, sweetie?" Dryna said. "I can finally learn how to shapeshift properly."

She pointed at the tail, small horns, and wings that she couldn’t get rid of when she assumed her human form, no matter how hard she tried.

"I’ll get to make friends with my kin and spend time away from that cheapskate of Haug! Even better, once I complete my studies, we can move wherever we want. We don’t have to hide anymore. We are free, Ze. Free!"

"What you describe is a wonderful future." Zelima saw Dryna’s eyes sparkling with joy and it pained her to smother that light, but she couldn’t lie about something so important. "But it’s your future and there’s no place for me in it."

"What do you mean?" Dryna was taken aback and looked at Zelima in confusion.

"Dri, you’re going away from Haug, sure, but also from me." Zelima caressed the only scale Dryna could never remove from her face. "I’m not a Wyvern. I’m not even an Awakened. I’m just a human girl and you are talking about going away for years."

"You can Awaken." Dryna felt her blood run cold. "I can Awaken you and Haug can teach you. I promise I’ll come back to you whenever I can and we’ll have the whole winter for us. We can make this work, Ze."

"I don’t want to Awaken." Zelima shook her head. "I’m not a mage and I never wanted to become one. I just wanted to be with you. I’m happy being a cook and preparing dishes for our clients because that’s something I love to do. Your journey continues with

"The practice of magic would be a chore to me if not torture. Awakening would mean becoming your property, and if I don’t use the breathing technique, I get old. If I don’t train and break through, I die. Awakening isn’t for everyone."

"I don’t want to lose you, Ze." Dryna said. "Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it."

"I’m not saying we are breaking up, silly." Zelima wrapped Dryna in an embrace. "I’m happy to see you spreading your wings like you always dreamed and I would never hold you back.

"It’s just that I’ve always known I’d lose you someday and it hurts knowing we have less time than I thought."

"What do you mean, lose me?" Dryna swallowed hard.

"From the beginning you were an Awakened Emperor Beast and I a human girl." Zelima shrugged. "I’ll live one hundred years at best and by then I’ll be a wrinkly old woman. You’ll live three thousand years and soon I’ll look like your mother rather than girlfriend.

"I’m going to be a chapter of your life whereas you are my whole book."

"Then Awaken, dammit!" Dryna’s eyes welled with tears, her earlier joy felt like a cruel joke now. "Don’t give up on me like that. Fight, woman!"

"I’m not giving up on you, Dri." Zelima wiped Dryna’s tears away. "I just like my life as it is. Even if I Awakened and endured the years of practice it requires, I would still live less than a thousand years."

Dryna failed to find a compelling argument or a solution. She just stared at her feet while silently crying.

’It’s better this way.’ Zelima thought. ’I’ve seen the face Dri made when she told me about Ghirslak confirming she has a unique dormant Dragon bloodline. She tried to play it off but I know she wants to pass it down.

’Dry wants to have children, something I can’t give her. I’m in the way of more of her dreams than she likes to admit, and Awakening would only drag things longer. I have no passion for magic and at least this way I won’t have to live long enough to see her with someone else.’

***

A few tables away, at the same time.

"Will you please pipe it down, you two? Hush spells are a thing, you know?"