“So then, what happens if a human who’s actually a mage is mentored by a healer?”

“Those are the cases where things get out of control,” Iannis said gravely. “A healer would not be able to properly control the strength of a budding mage. Though these people try to be careful about who they take in, sometimes they make mistakes and accept an apprentice whose powers are beyond them.”

“I’m guessing this is why you don’t use a similar system in Canalo,” I said dryly.

“Indeed.” Iannis let out a small sigh. “However, Parabas suffers a surprisingly low number of troublesome cases, somewhat to the surprise of other states. We are watching what is happening here with interest, as you can imagine. This particular system has only been in place the last fifteen years or so, but I would not be surprised if the Chief Mage, Logar ar’Dronach, decided to implement it across all of Osero once it has been smoothed out a little bit more.”

“Huh.” I frowned at that. “What does Minister Graning think of this?”

“It is not up to him, as only the Convention can impose its rules on a state government. The Chief Mages are allowed to do as they wish so long as they operate within Federation guidelines and the Great Accord, and the Chief Mage of Osero is not openly breaking any laws.” Iannis rubbed his chin in thought. “Given the current upheavals that demonstrate the shortcomings of the status quo, the Convention may look at experimental government systems such as the one in Parabas with a more open mind. If Chief Mage ar’Dronach succeeds, many other states could follow his example. Or there might be a backlash against experimentation. It is too soon to tell.”

“Do you think it’s coincidence, then, that the Resistance chose Osero as their breeding ground for this secret weapon of theirs?” I asked. “I imagine that the idea of magic growing even stronger in the Federation would go against their plans.”

“Indeed. I do wonder how they plan to deal with humans who continue to be born with magic, if they were to ever succeed in eradicating us mages. They can hardly subject them to magic wipes, with no mages left to administer them.”

“I bet Thorgana would just have them killed at the first sign of any magical talent.” My upper lip curled at that. No, I didn’t approve of the current system, where humans had to choose between execution or a magic wipe, but it was still better than indiscriminately killing anyone who was born with magic.