I told you just a little earlier, didn't I? It was a miracle.

Samium of Ur-Ysar. Ran and I had been looking for him, or at least an Egomancer of equivalent expertise, for years. Even before having received that letter from Autonoe - an old friend of my grandfather I'd sought out years ago, in the summer before I moved to Mekhi following my preliminary arcane studies in Oreskios - we'd suspected that he might have been with the Order on account of rumors of his declining health, but had no idea how to approach them about the issue without revealing too much of our motives. I had personal connections to their organization, but that wasn't enough. There wasn't a chance they'd let an outsider into their sanctuary, let alone without an explanation, and let alone to speak with a VIP patient.

So you can imagine my face when not only did I hear about the academy having arranged the visit, but that letter came confirming those exact suspicions. It felt like the first piece of good luck I'd experienced in a dog's age.

In a way, it was almost an anti-climax. All I had to do was sit back until we got there, then find some pretext to ask about him once I'd had a chance to look around and assess the situation. Chances were, if we were already in the building and had a plausible explanation for why we knew he was too, they'd at least be willing to pass a request for a meeting on. Hell, maybe he'd still be ambulatory enough to just speak to directly.

Maybe it was a misassumption, but... I was confident that if Samium heard my name, he'd be willing.

But of course, there was the possibility that he was already dead. If that came to pass, I wasn't sure I could bare it. To come so close, only for the chance to slip between my fingers. But even worse than that was the possibility we wouldn't be able to help. That from his position of knowledge, he'd deny that 'help' was even possible, killing even the concept of my goal.

The fear of that outcome clung to me even more closely than the fear of success. It had been the first thing I'd thought of when I'd dragged myself out of bed to make it on time for the stupid press conference. And as I left Professor Nindar's office, it occupied my thoughts all the more.

Yet on the other side of that fear was hope. A hope that burned as brightly as the sun, fueling the determination in my heart like coal in a furnace.

The possibility of salvation.

Yes. This would go well.

It had to go well. There was no alternative.