Train rides were tough on Amy, forced to keep up her filter through the entire journey unless she wanted to attract unwanted attention again. Fortunately, as the train approached Iyrtir, she'd finally be changing over to a new line and, although the cost would burn a hole in her purse, she could purchase a carriage ticket to get a private compartment just for herself.

The capital itself was both the same to how she had remembered it and completely unrecognisable. Iyrtir was a man-made hell of industrialisation and human ingenuity. Spires and towers all across the city rose up and pierced the sky and alongside them billowed smokestacks from countless factories deeper in the city depths. Unlike other cities, confined to only the surface, the city of Iyrtir was more akin to a sphere, one that jutted out from underground to show only its kindest features. Nestled at the top of an 'inactive' volcano, the city used its vantage as both an excellent form of defence and a source of geothermal power, using the magma below to power their industry. Of course, everyone had heard of times where the volcano was certain to erupt once more until countless Fire Mages of all Tiers came together to calm the earth once more.

As much as she would've loved to go sight-seeing, there was little doubt that she was going to be refused entry to the city proper. Even as a Mageling enlisted in government Schooling, Amy barely saw the light of day during her studies, stuck a layer below the surface. The top-side was only for nobles and higher Tier Mages; people like Journeyman Jones, not a poor 'Apprentice' Wachlund on holiday. Still, it didn't disappoint her all that much. She had seen plenty of the city in her day and honestly didn't feel like exploring the more familiar places again. All she'd find would be condescension and fake platitudes. Those School friends who had stayed in Iyrtir would only be the promising ones, those with the potential to rise to Journeyman and beyond, not her, stuck at Mageling when graduation rolled around.

I do wonder how many of those prodigies were genuine Apprentices? Amy thought as she waited for the next train. I imagine they would be put in contact with proper Masters and taught the true ways of Mages, not the rubbish the Empire teaches. They must've reached at least Apprentice Tier then, but have they become Journeymen? Felin had said my ascension was fast, him expecting a couple more months before my impromptu ritual. If I'm being generous, then they might be more than half a Tier ahead of me. I don't think they're Archmages, Hells no. Harrison Clarke was one of the Empire's youngest and he was in his thirties. Saying that then... Could they not be Journeymen? I know it gets exponentially harder through the Tiers, but lets say it took them a couple years through Mageling during Schooling, then about four or five or so for Apprentice, then they definitely could still be stuck a Tier below me. My god. Am I... more prodigious than they were?

That can't be right. I know I have a bit of a cheat with Felin teaching me, but it can't have made that much of a difference, right? I rushed through the Tiers, especially Apprentice, when I got a hang of things. Hells, if Rose and George are indicative of the average Mage from that School, then it's definitely not out of the cards. They're even getting apprenticed in their own ways too through their employers. So maybe it really was Felin that made a difference. What could he have done then that an ordinary master couldn't? If I had a Master Mage teaching me and, for the sake of the argument, they knew the Wizardly Elements, they could teach me the exact same as he did. And yet... If he's a part of the Empire... The Empire actively works to keep Mage Tier across the population low, and the Spell Tiers high.

Higher Spell Tiers is good, as it means the populace is more capable than the other Mages of the same Tier. Except... they keep Mage Tiers low to- what? Control them more easily? That's the only thing I can think of. Then what if, even in an apprenticeship or higher, they don't teach the tool that makes ascension through the Tiers easier. They don't teach Felin's maxims. He talks about it like it's common knowledge but he does that with a lot of things that would blow the minds of the Empire's nobles. What if this is another thing that's been Forgotten about? And if not Forgotten, then definitely suppressed by the nobility.

While she was lost in contemplation of the consequences of such a fact, her train came screaming down the tracks, unloading a large crowd of people all eager to enter the city again. As they finally cleared up, she quickly got up and ended up the first person to board the train, her ticket checked and stamped. Finally sitting down in a private area, one even magically Warded, Amy could rest.

The filter dissolved from her face, revealing its subtle Magick to the world, that passive Monstrous Visage. Hmm... I wonder if these Wards are good enough to hide Spellcasting. Because if so... I might as well practice my workings to pass the time.

As it turned out from her inspections, the Wards seemed to be Journeyman in effectiveness, more than enough to conceal her Apprentice Tier magic. So, while the rest of the train passengers watched out their windows as it rolled out of the city depths, Amy worked.

* * *

"I honestly didn't expect to see you for a little while," Felin said, perched on the windowsill of the compartment.

"Me neither, but it's a pleasant surprise I hope."

"Indeed. I believe... that this is the first time I'm seeing those new Spells of yours in person," He realised, staring at the Fae curling between her fingers. While Amy couldn't make her Decrees and Thefts large in such a small space, it wasn't like she couldn't practice the smaller applications of the workings. And, regardless of their size, she got the same quality of runes nonetheless.

"What do you think?" Amy asked, turning her attention to him for a moment.

"Decree is a Spell practically begging to be taken to the next Tier. That very well might be one of the causes for your dissonances. Due to the Tier-limitations of the workings, it can't properly regulate its effect on you, leading to those problems when you stack them. Theft of Distance is similar, but can very easily be kept at Apprentice. Raising it to Journeyman will help with the surpassing barriers of the mundane and magical varieties and yet I don't believe it's all that urgent. Other than that... It seems like very well-done Spellcasting."

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"Thank you," Amy smiled. "I'd love to raise Decree up but... Like you said, I don't think I should be casting new Spellwork or venturing into brand new Tiers at the moment. This is enough for now."

"How's your progress on them?"

"Decree's practically all the way there, I'm just doing the finishing touches on the completed Spellform, borrowing some runes. Theft of Distance is also pretty close and I reckon I can get it done by the end of the journey. There is... another Spell I'm working on in the background during breaks. Remember that Tier 3 Record you got me to use?"

"Yes?"

"Tier 2 is a bit... lacking nowadays. I can cast Mageling Spells pretty effortlessly now I'm a Journeyman so the difference between Tier 2 and 3 is a simple bit of concentration. I see no point then in purposefully limiting Record to a lower Tier than I need to. Record will always be a lightweight and quick Spell to cast, I doubt that's ever going to change, but my opinion on 'lightweight' will definitely change as I ascend. So I thought I might as well start now."

"I approve. It's still making entirely new Spellwork, and one that's majority Fae in nature, but it's also, as you said, weak. It shouldn't affect you much."

"Good," Amy sighed in relief, "As I'm pretty sure I've just cast the final version, one that's solidly Tier 3."

Manifesting in the air in front of her, a phantom leather book appeared, one that flipped through its own pages before her eyes and landed itself on some familiar pages of writings that she had rushed through before.

"According to the impression I get from the Spell, I can now store larger amounts of information and mediums; something like my notepad will be very easy, made even easier by my mental enhancements. Another benefit is that I can actually write in this phantom Record now without it disappearing when I dismiss it. The only difference between the phantom and physical writings is that I can't detach the phantom ones from the Record."

"Congratulations, my dear apprentice. I'm assuming you do plan on raising it to Tier 4 soon?"

"Yes, just not until I've gotten a lot more of my affinity troubles out of the way. Ideally, Record should settle around Tier 5, to keep it in line with how it was when I was an Apprentice. I have a few ideas on how to expand on it, like making me able to manifest the phantom writings, but nothing set in stone at the moment."

"Good," Felin nodded, a warm smile wrinkling his furry face.

Time ended up passing faster than Amy realised, hours flying by in the blink of an eye until there wasn't even half an hour left until her arrival. In the meantime, she was kept busy with her workings and, in the end, she was quite successful. Decree ended up being completed with a small demand of the world, that 'the compartment is cosy, and so it is warm', something that delighted Felin to no end. Theft of Distance was also finished, as Amy stole the distance between her and her handbag across the compartment, summoning it towards her. Unlike the working version, Amy had expanded the uses of the Theft in both directions, making it so the distance can be collapsed in either direction. The only limitation of the other usage was that it would run up against magical disruption and struggle heavily. At Tier 5, Felin was impossible to move towards her, and even when she summoned him in a lesser form like Tier 4, it didn't have much of an effect. Of course that was only when Felin actively resisted her Spells and he did point out that despite the Tier limitation he was still an Ascendant. Thus, they deduced that she'd be able to target Tier 5's with some difficulty and Tier 4's a lot easier than she experienced then.

With her work finally done, Amy spent the rest of her time purifying her enhancements. She managed to clear up a second region of her mind when the train arrived at its destination, a smaller town that couldn't be called rural but couldn't be called urban either. There, the next stage of her journey would begin, where she'd finally start the trip back to Pryston after so long.

* * *

"I honestly never expected this would happen," Amy groaned, sitting on the floor in a crappy inn room. "I thought it'd be easier than this, you know? Just hitch a caravan, I thought. I'd be so easy!"

"No point moaning about it now," Felin shook his head. "You've finally got one, have you not?"

"I mean how was I supposed to know there was this whole approval process? Or that the caravans only come every couple of weeks. I just... Damn. At least its over, as you said. Just... frustrating. I wish I could've registered as a Journeyman. The process would've been expedited and I would've been prioritised as a guard."

"You know that would never happen in the first place. You said it yourself."

"I know," She sighed. "They would've asked for proof, then I'd have to form an application to the association, wait for approval and inevitably get questioned about how I progressed so quickly and snatched up by some snooping Masters."

"At least you don't have to bother about guard duty, right?"

"I suppose... I mean, I still have to protect the caravan somewhat, but I'm not as vital as they are for it. Anyway, I doubt I would've been much use with my limited combat capabilities."

"I don't know about that, Amy. Any combat Spells that would be expected of you can be picked up from your FPG in no time at your Tier and the versatility your Illusions alone provide you would be valued highly. You might've not been on the front line, fending things off, but you'd be protecting the caravan just as much as they would be."

"I still have to meet with the other Mages anyway, at least so that everyone's aware of each other," Amy said as she sat up, having finished packing again. "It's in an hour, right? I might as well get there early. I'm bored out of my mind waiting around, so I might as well get on the move."

"How's your enhancements doing then? I know you were speeding through as much as you could as you'll be limited a bit on the road with so many Mages around."

"I'm just under half way there. With the corruption as lessened as it is, the second half will be a lot easier and faster now I don't have to worry about corruption from other sections creeping back into already purified parts."

"Good," Felin grinned proudly. "This is goodbye for a while then?"

"Actually... I was thinking about this, but I don't think they'd care about you all that much."

"Oh? How so?" Felin raised a bushy eyebrow at her.

"It's not like Mages are any stranger to summoning creatures, especially ones who serve a similar role as a Familiar would. Mages, and especially the ones I'd travel with here, wouldn't likely see you and think 'unknown Element'. They'd just shrug and pay you little mind. I imagine they would be more interested in using you for scouting purposes than anything else."

"If you say so, my dear apprentice."

"But... one thing. I don't know about back in your day, but here... summoned creatures don't really talk. So..."

Sighing heavily, Felin cast his head down, morose. Only after an uncomfortable amount of time did he meet her eyes again and this time, they held only pure annoyance.

"Meow?"

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