The Magic Staff Shop, first floor.
It was late at night, but the magic lamps kept the shop brightly lit.
Fivik was sprawled across the large oak table, one hand rapidly working through calculations with a quill on a sheet of parchment while the other twirled a lock of hair beside her ear.
Several sheets of parchment lay spread out before her, covered in intricate diagrams and rune arrays that glimmered faintly in the light of the magic lamps.
At the center of one diagram was a simple sketch of a person standing before something that looked like a wall or some kind of barrier.
Countless tiny dotted lines extended from the figure, passing through the wall and connecting to another figure on the other side.
Beside the diagram were Fivik's somewhat messy notes: "Material Plane stability test..."
"Non-transmutation, spatial displacement..."
"Feasibility of using earth element as a medium..."
Creak. Hearing the basement door open, she paid it no mind, keeping her eyes on the Magic Radiance at her fingertips as it simulated a spell model.
"I can only reduce the magic consumption this much. Any lower, and it might get stuck inside the wall..."
Apparently, she hadn't heard He Xi leave the Magic Staff Shop. Only then did she tilt her head, puzzled, and look over.
Her apprentice hadn't hurried home as usual. Instead, he'd dragged over a stool and sat beside the basement's wooden door.
Fivik blinked, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes.
"What's with that kid? It's so late, and he still hasn't gone home to spend time with that little elf?"
She took another look. He Xi was propping up his chin with both hands, brows furrowed, lost in thought.
"That look..."
"Did they have a fight?"
*If it were something serious he needed my