‘Is it true failed or expelled students have to work as servants to pay off their school fees?’ What Kirinya had said was bothering her and she watched as Havir nodded slowly.
‘Only if the families can’t afford it,’ he confirmed, the voice surprisingly soft for such a large physical frame.
‘What about the students that pass?’ Havir looked at her questioningly.
‘You mean like us?’ Seiya nodded. ‘We’ll be sent out on assignments, the payment from those will go towards paying off the fees.’
‘And how long will that take?’ Seiya asked warily. She was already a fully trained summoner, she had no doubt she could pass the level five exam but she’d been at Rhianwater for under three months; Youally had mentioned one to two years, skipping the first and fifth level couldn’t have saved that much time.
Havir shrugged, ‘depends on the assignments, and your ability. The stronger summoners get the higher paid jobs.’
‘Roughly,’ Seiya insisted, ‘are we talking weeks, months, years?’
‘Nearer years,’ Havir spoke after taking time to consider, ‘but you’ll probably take far less,’ he added quickly. Seiya assumed her expression betrayed her annoyance, just one more example of how Youally had deceived her.
‘They never mentioned fees,’ she said angrily, ‘I didn’t even want to come here, what right have they to demand money now?’
‘They won’t let you leave without paying,’ Amaran had caught up to them without her noticing, ‘focus on training in the level six lessons and complete all the jobs you’re given and you’ll be free in no time.’
‘How much are we talking?’ Seiya asked the pair of them, looking from one to another, ‘and how much is a typical job?’
Amaran named a figure that took her breath away, it was twice what the ranch made in a year. ‘Approximately,’ he hedged when he saw her expression, ‘they may make allowances for the fact you were here a shorter time.’
‘What are they claiming to feed us?’ Seiya exclaimed. The amount was so ludicrous it was beyond belief; yet they still said she could clear it in a year.
‘Be thankful you’ll be able to pay it off as a summoner,’ Amaran reminded her sharply, ‘those who have to work as servants never make enough.’
Seiya stared at him to see if he was joking but his expression was serious. So Rhianwater could turn it’s weaker students into life-long staff? Trapped on the island it was more like enslavement. She wondered how many of the youngsters eager to train knew the price of failure.
‘So how much are the jobs then?’ And more importantly, who would pay such huge sums?
‘We won’t know,’ Havir answered, ‘the school takes care of all that and tells us when we’ve paid off the debt.’
‘How very convenient,’ Seiya observed dryly, ‘and I suppose you can look at your accounting record anytime you want?’ Havir looked at her in confusion, ‘you know,’ Seiya expanded, ‘to see how much is left to pay off?’
‘I think it has more to do with when they want the student to become a fully fledged Master,’ to Seiya Amaran’s cynical tone implied he felt the same way she did. ‘Surely you’re not suggesting the school would be deceitful?’ he added in mock horror.
‘Of course not,’ Seiya replied, trying to match the lightness in his voice but unable to remove the sour undertone. Surprising though, that the school’s golden boy would openly agree with her. There was no time to question anyone further though, Paudry was already waiting for them at the training ground.
‘I owe you,’ Seiya said to Amaran as Paudry asked the class to pair up, ‘still interested?’ She watched his expression as his brain scrambled to work out what she meant.
‘The wild rank eleven fight?’ he ventured cautiously, trying to tell from her reaction if he had guessed correctly.
‘Exactly,’ she could sense Havir was listening in but the others were all too busy talking. ‘Yesterday didn’t particularly demonstrate I have the power to bind and control a high ranking wild demon.’
‘Applying the bindings retrospectively on a rank thirteen was pretty impressive,’ Amaran murmured. Seiya smiled as she acknowledged his grudging praise.
‘But it was all pretty chaotic and back to front,’ she filled in for him. It wasn’t hard for her to read how he felt; his attitude wasn’t the icy contempt of yesterday but he was still uncertain of her true power and ability, unsure if she was relying on the demons through choice or necessity.
‘Are you sure it won’t happen again?’ Amaran asked dubiously.
‘The power running?’ Seiya shook her head as Amaran nodded. ‘I think that had more to do with my emotional state than anything else,’ she admitted frankly, ‘I was intimidated by your demands and scared I wouldn’t be strong enough.’ Amaran looked surprised by the confession and Seiya shrugged in embarrassment. ‘Guess I overcompensated with the gateway and then it all went downhill from there.’
‘Have you summoned since?’ Amaran’s tone was still wary.
Seiya grimaced, ‘don’t worry, Demar had me summoning for hours, I had no desire to go power running again.’
‘It might be a good warm-up,’ Amaran allowed, his eyes on Paudry as the Master walked over to observe Tooks and Jamen practising. ‘So long as no-one else notices.’
‘And so long as you let her work up through the ranks,’ Havir interjected softly but firmly. Seiya had forgotten he was even there, his calm and neutral presence fading into the background.
‘What?’ Amaran queried, ‘summoning and dismissing a rank nine and ten wild before the rank eleven?’ He shook his head at Havir’s confirmation, ‘there won’t be time.’
‘I can summon pretty quickly,’ Seiya assured him, smiling gratefully at Havir. The idea was a brilliant one; it would make it easier for her, decreasing the likelihood of making mistakes and being surprised by the demon’s strength.
‘Alright,’ Amaran allowed, his gaze resting on Havir disapprovingly ‘but you’d better be fast. I’ll call first like before.’
Havir stayed to watch as they walked to opposing stone slabs; Felix was pre-occupied listening in on Paudry instructing Tooks and Jamen so he didn’t really have anyone to partner with. Despite her confidence Seiya was still glad to have another summoner on the scene; there was a quiet strength about Havir that made her think in terms of raw summoning his power probably matched her and Amaran’s.
‘Here goes,’ Seiya shouted out, the wind whipping her words away.
Keeping to her promise the first summoning was fast. She ran through the rank nine incantation effortlessly, the power demands for the matching gateway no problem at all. The wild demon appeared in the centre and she tested her control by making it perform a few fighting manoeuvres. Even without looking into its eyes Seiya knew it would be throwing all its might into fighting her so it was a pleasant surprise when she could barely feel it through the bindings. Satisfied, she dismissed the demon, summoning the next rank ten almost in the same breath.
‘It doesn’t have to be that fast!’ Havir yelled at her from the sidelines, ‘there’s no need for two gateways!’ Seiya was amazed he had been able to sense the overlap. The dismissal for the first had only been around at the same time as the rank ten summoning for a couple of seconds at most; the power in one dissipating as the other came to life. The rank ten was stronger than the rank nine, she could feel the demon struggling against the bindings but it was more of an awareness rather than an actual feeling that would interfere. Thinking back to the level four exam and the pressure her head had been under holding the rank eight it was astounding to think how much her power had grown. Her experiences during the exam ordeal and yesterday’s outpouring had certainly made her stronger. This time Seiya used the will binding to make the demon perform her chosen steps, relaxing the physical gradually until she was certain she still had complete control. A couple of seconds and the demon was gone again, she wished she could see Amaran’s expression, she really saved a lot of time by using a fully
formed gateway rather than weaving it on every occasion.
‘Rank eleven,’ Seiya called to Havir who gave a thumbs-up as the dismissal gateway vanished. Looking across the training ground she could see Paudry was still engrossed in teaching the other two. She spoke the incantation slower than usual and waited to form the gateway until she had specified the rank, she was not going to muck this up again. The power demanded by the summoning was easily within her scope, the incantation putting a drawing sensation on her mind until the gateway’s requirements were met.
‘Ready?’ she yelled to Amaran when her demon stood poised in the circle centre. The gap between eleven and ten was significant, though this demon was nowhere near the one she’d had to control yesterday. The wild’s power continually slamming into the bindings was an irritating distraction but there was no danger of the bindings failing. Seiya could tell this was going to give her abilities a good workout though as Amaran sent his demon lunging forwards. The movement was slightly stiff, an instant give away that he was using direct physical bindings. In response she relaxed her own, clamping her will around the demon and commanding it to defend and fight.
The two clashed in the middle, bone blades slamming against each other. It amazed Seiya that the wild demons continued to fight the summoner so hard, even when battling for their own survival they would still expend most of their energy trying to get free. Amaran’s demon moved as if to slice at her demon’s right side, her own wild responding by swinging its blades round to defend, reacting to the compulsion she forced upon it. Suddenly Amaran’s demon reversed the slash, spinning round to attack on the left instead. The technique was clumsy, Seiya could tell the demon was off balance, all of its momentum committed to the initial swipe. It gave her wild just enough time to leap clear, the blow leaving only a shallow scratch rather than the deep cut Amaran had been aiming for. She couldn’t blame her demon for not foreseeing the move, even though she imposed her will on it the demon could only react to the best of its knowledge and abilities. She imagined feinting was not a technique the violent wilds used when fighting.
So Amaran was trying to use the fact she avoided direct physical control against her? Seiya smiled slightly as the demons came together once more, he would have a tough time, in a straight up melee she had a distinct advantage as her demon moved far more freely. As the battle progressed she could feel her mind loosening and stretching out to envelop the demon even more, firmly quashing any attempts to fight her. With all its energy directed towards the opponent Seiya’s wild was quickly overpowering its opponent.
This time she sensed the feint even before Amaran’s demon leaned to the side. Instantly her power flooded through the bindings, wrapping round the demons limbs she wrenched it back from its counter manoeuvre and threw it forward to meet the blow she knew would be coming. Already committed Amaran couldn’t stop his demon’s attack, the intended slash at a previously open spot was easily blocked by Seiya’s wild. She dropped the physical bindings as swiftly as they had been imposed; the demon responding to her unyielding demand to fight by following up the block with a vicious slice aimed behind the opponents legs. Seiya felt a surge of triumph as she saw her demon had timed it perfectly, Amaran’s was unable to escape, all of its momentum tipping it forward.
The moment the black blood sprayed out Seiya’s sense of victory vanished. The white aura blazed around the demon before she even knew what she was doing, the huge creature hurtling away from Amaran’s summoning. There was no subtleness or careful mimicry of the demons normal movements, she simply dragged it across the training area, clawed feet raking deep furrows in the ground.
To her relief Amaran’s demon was still standing, the thin trickle of blood proof that she had intervened in time. Had she allowed her demon to carry through the cut would have been far deeper, possibly even crippling. Allowed? Seiya accused herself bitterly, the demon was doing as I commanded! The thought sickened her, she never would have believed it was so easy to get caught up in the moment.
‘Time up!’ Havir called out from the sidelines, looking towards him Seiya found her cheeks reddening. Paudry and the others students had been watching as well, what would they make of her actions? Dismissing her demon she avoided the question by walking towards Amaran instead.
‘You are certainly quick with your bindings,’ Amaran spoke lightly but Seiya was pleased to se he was looking at her with a newfound respect. ‘Must be tiring though, using short intense pulses instead of just holding them.’
‘I don’t find it a problem,’ Seiya confessed, ‘was your demon badly hurt?’
Amaran raised an eyebrow at the concern in her voice. ‘No,’ he replied, looking at her as if she had just asked him if the demon could juggle, ‘you pulled yours away before it could finish.’
Seiya sighed in relief and Amaran regarded her even more strangely. ‘Why did you intervene?’ he asked curiously, ‘I could understand with one of the normal demons who help you but that wild would gladly kill you.’
‘Just punishment for dragging them here and forcing them to fight,’ Seiya replied more sharply than she intended, reluctantly she began walking towards the waiting Master Paudry.
‘I don’t think it’s funny,’ she added crossly as Amaran looked at her in amusement. ‘Are you satisfied now?’ she said challengingly, trying to wipe the smile off his face.
‘I guess it’ll have to do,’ Amaran kept a straight face as Seiya glared at him in annoyance. She didn’t get a chance to respond as they neared Paudry and the rest of the class. The Master was staring at her and she dropped her gaze to the ground. Glancing back up she saw the irritation in his expression warring with something else, he looked at her assessingly for a long while.
‘It’s good to see you’re better today,’ his eyes left Seiya momentarily and wandered over to Amaran, ‘but if you could avoid doing high ranking wild summoning without advising me first it would be appreciated.’ Seiya didn’t miss the sarcasm in his tone and she ducked down to hide the guilty smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. For a moment she thought he was going to say more but eventually he gave in with a shrug.
‘At least you’ll have someone to match with now,’ he addressed Amaran and even gave Seiya a small encouraging smile. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen another student hold their own against him.’ Seiya waited for the inevitable comment on her strange actions but nothing was forthcoming.
‘Right, on with the lesson then,’ Paudry clapped his hands loudly and started making shooing motions to send the students to the summoning squares. ‘We can’t stand around all day.’
‘Seiya!’ Felix managed to grab her arm before she slumped face first into her breakfast.
‘Huh?’ Seiya tried to focus through bleary eyes and nearly dislocated her jaw with a huge yawn. How could it be morning again?
‘You’re shattered,’ Tooks observed unnecessarily from across the table, ‘are you getting any sleep?’
‘Ny-gah-’ Seiya’s attempt at a reply was consumed by another yawn. She pushed her breakfast back and laid her head on folded arms.
‘Come on,’ Felix poked her hard and she gave a muffled complaint, ‘you’ve still got to eat, even with your picnic.’ Head hidden in her arms Seiya flapped a hand in his general direction, finding only empty air as Felix easily avoided her pathetic attempts.
‘At least you’re getting food now,’ Tooks added positively as Havir hauled her upright again. She glared at him across the table.
‘Starving for a week would be better than having one more lesson with Demar,’ Seiya rubbed a hand across the back of her neck and stretched up in time with her next yawn. ‘He makes me do the same thing for hours and hours.’ It had quickly become obvious that she was never going to please the obsessive Master, whether this was a natural part of his personality or instructions from the Council she wasn’t sure, most likely a combination of the two.
‘What was it this time?’ Tooks asked round a mouthful of bread.
‘Fireballs,
’ Seiya said after swallowing, throwing a disgusted look at Tooks for his lack of manners. ‘All last night but every single time it was wrong.’ She thumped the table in frustration, ‘how can a fireball be the wrong colour?’ she demanded crossly. ‘He spent a whole hour complaining they were too white.’ The others wisely kept quiet, she suspected it was more in the hope she wouldn’t start on a tirade rather than an indication they disagreed.
‘Your porridge will get cold,’ Havir offered helpfully as everyone avoided her gaze, she was almost certain Amaran was trying to hide a smile.
‘I’ll burn him in a bloody blue fire,’ Seiya muttered under her breath, glowering at the innocent bowl of oats, ‘then we’ll see if he cares about the damn colour!’
Chapter Eighteen
Five days into the level six lessons and Seiya was already dreading summoning the demons. Tired from the additional level five work and lack of sleep her attention wandered easily and she struggled to focus. The others would probably found the resulting problem deeply amusing if they had known; the demons kept having a go at her. It had begun with gentle chiding but now they were getting increasingly impatient and outright insulting to the point where she had threatened to bind the last demon to silence. Unfortunately, that had only made the summonee in question huffy and uncooperative; even going so far as to deliberately throw its power against her at key moments to make her techniques fail. She hadn’t had such problems since Hitan in the level two exam and his determined attempts to make life difficult.
‘Seiya,’ Tooks shook her back into some semblance of wakefulness as Paudry called her name, ‘you’ll be paired up with Felix.’ She nodded in relief and walked towards the small boy, Felix was definitely weaker than the others in Amaran’s group, he had even confided in her that the only reason he had made it this far was the amount of help Amaran had given him. Seiya suspected Paudry could tell how tired she was; the first couple of days she’d been paired with Amaran but recently she was paired with Felix increasingly often. From what she could tell the main purpose of the level six lessons was training their summoning power, the more it was used the stronger it would get, so it was important to match them relatively equally ability wise. After all Amaran would get no benefit from fighting against Felix, or her current self for that matter, the power gap was too great.
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