Mages in Valentia don't need tomes despite being right next to Archanea, where they do. Clearly, needing tomes to cast spells is propaganda set up by big Khadein to gaslight and scam mages into spending money on tomes they don't need
One thing I really liked from three houses is the way magic and healing replenishes itself. When I played awakening after 3h, I knew it was a scam I had to buy magic and staves…..three houses had that going for it