Arcane Dropout 5

by Edmund Hughes

  Which was fair. They had seen her decapitate their previous teacher with a saber. A saber that was still carried at her waist, hanging in an ornate wood scabbard from the belt of her robes.

  Her hair was flame red with two streaks of white that appeared to be hereditary, if not age-related. Otherwise, she looked rather young, certainly no older than forty, tall and lithe. Her face was thin and sharp with a distinctive birthmark on one cheek.

  The room was totally silent by the time she made it to the instructor’s desk. Lee shared some of the wariness of his classmates, but he wasn’t outright intimidated by her like they were. He knew at least one of her secrets, the fact she’d killed the Dealmaker’s girlfriend. He knew she’d once been Harper’s master. He knew enough to see her as more than a scary woman with a sword, most of the time.

  So, he raised his hand. He wasn’t interested in waiting around to get to the bottom of what had happened to Toma. His friend could be in danger, though it seemed rather unlikely. At the very least, he needed to kick the issue up the chain while he and Eliza began searching for clues where they could.

  Gen made a point of ignoring him. He kept his hand up, feeling his face burn a bit as some of his other classmates took note of both his persistence and her indifference. He knew the glimpse he’d gotten of Gen went both ways.

  She’d seen him first at the Independent Gathering in the company of the Dealmaker. She hadn’t questioned his story or Harper’s willingness to return him to Primhaven, at least not openly, but Lee had no doubt the incident had marked him in her eyes.

  “Lead Instructor Laughton,” said Lee, breaking the silence and regular class protocol.

  “I see your hand, Initiate Amaranth. Is it related to the reading I assigned?”

  “No, it’s—”

  “Then it can wait until after class.”

  She put such steel into her voice that Lee knew it would do no good to argue. He could blurt out his concerns for Toma if he wanted, but he might as well be talking to the wind. Eliza set her hand on Lee’s shoulder and frowned. He slowly lowered his hand, figuring he’d have to find time to sneak off to Head Wizard Odarin’s tower instead.

  “I hope you all have had a refreshing weekend,” said Gen. “The focus of today’s lesson will be on the creation of new spells, the development of a spell thesis, which is part of this class’s end-of-the-year requirement.”

  Gen slowly began to pace behind her desk. She didn’t gesticulate with her hands or scribble notes down on the whiteboard. She watched them, letting her eyes scan the room as though testing second by second to make sure she had maximum engagement.

  “A spell thesis is a repeatable act of casting involving one or more schools of magic applied in a novel or unique fashion. As addressed in the previously assigned reading, combining schools of magic oftentimes multiplies the casting complexity of a spell along with the arcane essence requirements. The focus of a spell thesis should always be on synergy, which we’ll get into. For example…”

  Gen lifted her arms up into the elemental casting stance, hands flat, elbows bent. Her fingers gave the slightest twitch as she cast an air spell, creating a small tornado confined to the area in front of her desk. The students in the front row hurried to hold down their papers before they could be swept away.

  “A simple air elemental spell, not useful for much at this size beyond causing a distraction, or possibly doing some cleaning.” Gen smiled. “However, if we add another spell to the mix, we can create a much more interesting effect.”

  She waved a hand over the tornado, releasing a ribbon of flame to twist through the swirling air. It was as mesmerizing as it was terrifying. Gen demonstrated her control of it by having the fire tornado slowly move along the front row of students who could undoubtedly feel the heat more intensely than Lee in the back of the room, and he was already sweating.

  “Let’s add a bit more, shall we?” Gen cast another spell, adding water to the mix. The tornado began to expand and contract with hot steam, a spinning mass of superheated air more dangerous and volatile than any of its previous incarnations.

  One of the initiates nearest to it let out a shout as it came a tad too close and fell out of her chair. Gen barked a laugh and lowered her hands, releasing the spell. A blast of humidity spread through the room in its wake. Lee unbuttoned the top of his robe, as did a few other initiates.

  “This spell only drew from elemental magic, a single school,” said Gen. “The possibilities are endless, only limited by your own creativity. With that said, many combinations are obvious and attract many minds, so the originality of your specific thesis will make up a quarter of your grade.”

  Several hands shot up with questions, including Lee’s, in hopes he might finally get his question about Toma in, or make an excuse to seek help elsewhere. Gen was not fond of questions and instead moved through the room passing out stacks of quizzes which the students spread out amongst their rows.

  “When you’re finished, bring your quiz up to my desk and study your notes.”

  Lee was not fond of her particular teaching style. He pulled out his pen, figuring he could at least fake a bathroom break to sneak off to ask his questions to Head Wizard Odarin once he’d finished. He chewed his lower lip as he considered the first question.

  How many C-level illusion spells can a mage with a true experience level of ten years’ practice cast from their arcane essence before needing to rest? How many B-level elemental spells? Describe the components of the equation needed to combine the essence exertion of a C-level illusion spell and a B-level elemental spell.

  It was meaningless to him, and he’d done the reading. He’d meant to review it again the previous night, but between the date with Eliza and helping Harper, he just hadn’t had the time.

  The fact of the matter was that Lee could memorize as many numbers and equations related to casting as he wanted, and it would make little difference. He couldn’t “feel” for Tess’s spirit essence in the same intuitive manner with which most mages could reach into their arcane essence.

  It was like being a toddler, new to math, and not having fingers to count on.

  The way most mages did their casting was like drawing from a massive battery that automatically recharged if given enough time. Lee’s casting through his pact with Tess was like generating energy from an incinerator running off the bras and panties of the supernaturally gifted.

  He smiled at the mental image, then remembered he was taking a quiz.

  He was one of the first people done, in no small part due to the number of questions he could only guess at. He sighed as he turned in the quiz and returned to his seat. Eliza furrowed her brow hopefully at him. He shook his head and gave a thumbs down.

  Gen was grading the papers as they were turned in, which meant the class only had to wait for a minute or two after the last initiate finished before she was ready to proceed with the lesson. She stood up and smiled, gesturing to the room.

  “The nature of developing a spell thesis lends itself better to independent study rather than a formal lecture. As such, when I call your name, you are dismissed to the library, or casting lanes, or wherever you think it best to begin your experimentation.”

  She listed off each student in no specific order. Eliza gave him a hopeful smile when her name was called. Lee sank deeper into his seat second by second, feeling his face burn as he anticipated the outcome. In the end, he was the only one left in the room with Gen. She raised an eyebrow at him in mock surprise.

  “You never called my name,” he said, feeling foolish.

  “I wondered if you would notice, given how little of what I see seems to penetrate your ears. You didn’t pass the quiz, and as such, you will remain here in the lecture hall until the end of the period.”

  “Look, I’ll admit, I didn’t study the reading as closely as I should have. That’s fair. I don’t mind taking the quiz again.”

  Gen laughed and shook her head. She walked forward through the aisles,
reaching her hands down to the side of her robe. Lee blinked in surprise as he watched her undo her belt, his mind sprinting off in a bizarre direction as he assumed his teacher to be disrobing.

  It was, in fact, her saber she was taking off. She set it down on his desk, along with a small polishing rag.

  “I want my blade to gleam,” she said. “The scabbard, as well. Polish them until the end of the period and then, if you’ve done a good enough job, I will let you go on your way.”

  “You want me to polish your fucking sword?”

  Gen shrugged. “Is that a problem for you?”

  “It’s an abuse of your authority, so yeah, I’d say so,” he snapped. “Besides, I have issues outside of your class. One of my friends has gone—”

  Gen’s arms moved through two casting stances faster than Lee could follow. He felt a sudden pressure against his mouth, followed by tightening across his ears, like a strap holding tape over his mouth.

  “Another of my own spell creations,” muttered Gen. “I quite like this one. An alteration barrier, curved to cover the mouth, combined with a conjuration binding around the back of the head. I haven’t found much use for it so far, at least outside of the bedroom.”

  She walked a circle around Lee, letting her finger run across his shoulders. He glared at his desk, too busy breathing through his nose to think of a way to properly express his fury.

  “Make sure you polish the pommel, as well,” said Gen.

  CHAPTER 6

  Unsurprisingly, Lee was not enthusiastic about the task Gen had left to him. He flung the polishing cloth off his desk as soon as she was out of the room, staring at the saber with more than a little contempt.

  It was the weapon Gen had used to kill Mattis. Mattis had been a complicated woman, neither good nor evil, in truth. She’d betrayed Lee, of course, but had she deserved to die for her sins? No, especially not without anything resembling a fair trial.

  Lee focused on his breathing, which was easy enough to do, given that he could only inhale through his nose. He tried to use his trusty dispel ability, which would normally counter or at least weaken most arcane workings he used it against.

  Gen’s spell held strong, the conjuration bindings only barely going slack before re-tightening their firm seal. It was in fact, tighter around this time than it had been the first. Lee gritted his teeth as the binding pressed painfully against the back of his head.

  “What in the world…” Tess appeared from behind him, eyes wide with surprise. “Please don’t tell me you did this to yourself?”

  He shrugged, figuring under a certain interpretation, he had. A smile crept across Tess’s face, which made him consider just how ridiculous he probably looked.

  “Well, at least I’m here now.” Tess puffed out her chest and gave him an exaggerated salute. “Just tell me what you need, Lee, and I’ll snap right to it like the obedient ghost I am.”

  He rolled his eyes at her.

  “Really?” she said. “You don’t need anything? Alright, if you say so. Oh! Why don’t you mime what you need, like that game the students sometimes play? Charades, I think it’s called?”

  Lee let out a passable growl followed by a sigh. He picked up the polishing rag and resigned himself to his fate. As conflicted as he was about touching a weapon used to commit an execution, probably many executions, he was a practical man at heart.

  “Seriously though, is there anything I can do for you?” asked Tess. “I would have followed you to class today, but I was busy with Harold.”

  “Helga,” Lee attempted to mumble. He gave a small shake of his head and began polishing the saber, starting with the scabbard which was fairly dull and had seen better days.

  His phone vibrated just as he was getting into his groove. It was a call from his sister, which he almost answered before remembering it would be utterly pointless. He shot her a quick follow-up text.

  LEE: I can’t talk right now.

  Tess let out a giggle as she read the message from over his shoulder. Zoe’s response was almost instantaneous.

  ZOE: Need your help, Eldon. Jack is still wounded. Injuries aren’t healing.

  LEE: From the fight at the Independent Gathering?

  The fight with Gen. One of the most intense duels Lee had ever seen. It was half of the reason why he was wary of her, the other half being her complete lack of hesitation when it came to taking lives in cold blood.

  ZOE: It’s related to the enchantment of Savoire Solaire, her sword. How close can you get to it?

  Lee blinked in surprise. He felt a flutter of power as he took hold of the saber’s hilt and drew it from the scabbard. As a mystic, he could see the aura of the weapon’s enchantment. It was a flickering white-and-red outline bright enough to make him narrow his eyes, and intense enough to nearly make him nauseous.

  He snapped a quick photo of it and sent it to Zoe.

  LEE: Does that answer your question?

  His phone immediately started vibrating as his sister tried to call him again. Lee rejected the call, scowling at the screen as he hastily tapped out another message.

  LEE: I meant I literally can’t talk right now. Long story.

  ZOE: Eldon, I don’t ask you for much, but I need this. We all do. Can you study the enchantment on that sword and figure out why the wounds inflicted by it won’t heal?

  He contemplated what she was asking for a few seconds. He couldn’t imagine Gen letting the secrets of such a powerful enchanted weapon become common knowledge, but she’d asked him to get close to the House of Shadows, to serve as her spy, in a sense.

  Lee was aware enough to recognize he’d become a double agent of sorts—if an unwilling one. If he explained the situation to Gen, perhaps there was a chance she would be willing to provide him with the information he needed. It might aid a faction the Order was currently hostile toward, but it would surely gain him goodwill and trust from the Dealmaker.

  LEE: I’ll see what I can do.

  ZOE: Thank you!

  She followed her last message up with a torrent of smiley faces and heart emojis. Lee smiled underneath the stupid alteration gag and got back to polishing Savoire Solaire.

  ***

  Gen returned a little over an hour later and was, thankfully, satisfied with his work. She said little to him after removing the gag binding spell. Lee considered mentioning his sister’s request but thought better of it after gauging the mood Gen seemed to be in.

  He thought about bringing it to Harper first, but that posed a different issue. The last encounter she’d had with Zoe had been extremely volatile. Though she expressed a deep trust in Lee, he worried she might take him acquiescing to his sister’s request the wrong way.

  The sword was still on his mind as he left the Seruna Center, so much so that he didn’t notice Harper approaching him from across the grass until she called out his name. He glanced upward and blinked in surprise.

  She wasn’t alone. An attractive blonde girl stood next to her, looking similar enough for Lee to guess she was family at a glance. Her hair was shorter than Harper’s, shoulder-length and streaked with pale-blue highlights matching the color of her eyes.

  She was younger, closer to his own age, and dressed in a fashion Harper would have never considered. The girl wore denim short shorts that showed off lean thighs and an awesome butt, along with a form-fitting white t-shirt emblazoned with the motto “Eyes Up Here” and an upward-pointing arrow. It had the opposite effect, of course, which led to Lee noticing she was slightly better endowed than Harper.

  “Ahem.” Harper cleared her throat. “Eldon. This is my cousin Willow. She’s a new transfer student to Primhaven.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Willow smiled, revealing lush lips and perfect teeth. “Harper has told me quite a bit about you.”

  For whatever reason, Lee felt his face flush at the intensity of her eyes and expression. “Uh… likewise.”

  Harper had never once mentioned having a cousin, and he felt a bit ridiculous for
lying.

  “I’m in the middle of attending to a few things for Genevieve at the moment,” said Harper. “Would you mind showing her around and keeping an eye on her? She needs to go to the administrative office in the Ewix Center to pick up her robes, at the very least.”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  Harper nodded slowly. She shot a severe glance at Willow. “Listen to what Eldon says and resist the urge to make trouble for him.”

  “I’m not a child,” said Willow, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

  She gave him another smile along with a hint of a lifted eyebrow. Lee looked over at Harper in time to see her let out an exasperated sigh.

  “That goes for you too, Eldon,” she said. “Keep yourself…” she gestured toward Willow with a subtle finger, “…out of trouble.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Harper left and the silence hung in the air between Lee and Willow for a telling instant. She was still smiling, with that dangerous edge of challenge to it. Lee had no idea what to say, and he didn’t like that or understand it, really.

  “Well, here we are,” he said, feeling lame.

  “Yep,” said Willow.

  Harper had asked him to show her around, and if he could accomplish that much, he’d at least be following orders.

  “I’m guessing you came in through the Arcane Way, which is in the First Tower, in the school’s north end.” Lee gestured toward the hulking spire. “The ones over there are known as the Five Towers, one for each main form of magic. Over there is the Seruna Center…”

  “Are you just going to point and lecture, or are you going to show me around?” Willow set her hands on her hips and leaned forward a bit.

  “Alright, come on then.”

  He started walking, gesturing for her to follow as he headed south toward the Spell Range. Willow kept pace, standing a tad closer to him than necessary. She kept letting her nearest arm sway outward as though presenting him the opportunity to loop his through it or grab his hand.