The morning after their drunken outing, Sciona wakes with a hangover but also with the unfamiliar happiness of realizing she has made a friend in Thomil. Determined to overcome the disadvantage of having only one helper, she starts work before dawn. When Thomil arrives, Sciona gives him an official assistant’s coat, explains that she checked university rules so she can legally employ him, and begins treating him less like janitorial staff and more like a real laboratory partner.

Sciona starts teaching Thomil the basics of mapping magic. She explains how mapping spells display energy and dead zones in the Otherrealm, how coordinates are chosen, and why some regions are restricted. When Thomil questions the Reserve and Forbidden Coordinates, Sciona recounts the case of the executed highmage Sabernyn, who used forbidden energy for murderous dark magic. Thomil’s skeptical questions force Sciona to articulate beliefs she normally takes for granted, even as she insists some divine rules are not open to debate.

Their lesson is interrupted by Archmage Bringham’s visit. Thomil immediately steps back to avoid the appearance of equality with Sciona, but Bringham quickly sees that Sciona has been mistreated by the other mages. He tells Sciona their hostility comes from feeling threatened by her talent and potential, especially Renthorn the Third, and urges her not to let them obstruct her career. When Bringham offers to secure her a different assistant, Sciona refuses, partly out of pride and partly because she does not want to lose Thomil.

During the visit, Thomil silently helps Sciona maintain the appearance that everything is under control, serving Bringham tea and producing a schoolbook for Bringham to sign for a neighborhood girl. Bringham praises Sciona’s future and leaves her reassured. Afterward, Sciona anxiously insists she did not gain her position through favoritism, and Thomil surprises her by saying he knows that because he has seen how much more seriously she takes her work than the other mages on the floor.

Later, their conversation turns briefly to Bringham’s textile empire, and Thomil reveals that a woman he once courted worked in one of Bringham’s factories, hinting at a life and losses outside the laboratory that Sciona has barely considered. Sciona returns to teaching him through the rest of the day, and Thomil tells her she is better at teaching than she claims. Sciona realizes that Thomil truly listens to her in a way men usually do not, deepening their bond. But when Thomil remarks that Kwen must adapt to Tiranish demands or die, Sciona dismisses the comment as Kwen melodrama, and the moment closes with fresh tension between them.