The Academy's library was quieter than usual on this particular afternoon, most students having fled to more recreational activities after the morning's challenging coursework. I sat at my usual table with Rachel.
To my left sat the traditional Fuller method materials—standard textbooks that any serious student of seven-circle magic would study. To my right, however, were two collections that represented the pinnacle of magical innovation: detailed manuscripts on the Astareus method that Rachel had carefully transcribed and brought from her family's private archives, and the complete theoretical framework of the Alaric method that Charlotte had provided when she challenged me to create something entirely new.
"The fundamental difference," Rachel explained, settling beside me with her characteristic grace as she opened one of the Astareus texts, "is in how we conceptualize the seventh circle itself."
