This volume gave us a deeper dive into Richeh. Unlike Coco and Agott, Richeh isn’t as eager to learn in a traditional sense. She seeks to learn what she wants to learn. Which makes sense because you should only learn what you seek. At the same time, getting outside your comfort zone is a fundamental aspect in wanting to learn more.
Richeh is a tricky student for Qifrey because motivating her in her best interests is tough. He gets her to take the 2nd test like Agott, but given her initial reaction, that was a risky play. Curious what happened to her brother since that really is on her mind.
On the other spectrum, we are introduced to Euini, and his Kurkow couldn’t be more different from Qifrey. In fact, the master-student relationship almost feels like Stockholm syndrome, where Euini will forever try to win his master’s favor, but there’s doubt it will ever be enough. Still, for Euini, he is the opposite of Richeh where at this point everything is about him passing the 2nd test, which he has failed twice already. His anxiety is relatable because he prepares so much but continues to fail. Granted, Richeh is saying that you have to come up with your own solution considering how creative magic is. Somewhere in the middle of Euini’s and Richeh’s ways is the ideal way to approach magic.
The exam seems to be going fine until one of the Brimmed Caps shows up. Whoever this is, it is aligned with the Masked Man, who is interested in Coco. Very much they plan to test and use Coco. Forbidden magic is forbidden from the Pointed Caps. Once Alaira got taken out, the situation looked terrible. Euini has made strides with his confidence, but even there, there is only so much for him to be able to do. We can see why Forbidden Magic is forbidden by the Pointed Hats because Euini turns into a wolf. Is there hope for him?
Coco’s side is also attacked, and now they seem to be around the Ancients who turned into gold. Well, things are quite concerning given Qifrey’s angle, and given that he is hurt, this really looks like a rough spot.
