by Dixon, TJ
“You want to go to the stars?”
“Yes, because…”
“I don’t care why you want to go. It’s impossible, so give up.”
“Giving up is even more impossible.”
“Whatever. Just focus on our match for now. Go chase your stars afterwards.”
“How many matches do we need to win?”
“None. If we beat one of the opponents in the first match we are allowed to forfeit the match, or if we win outright we can withdraw from the tournament. If we can’t do that, they are allowed to do whatever they want to us, including torturing and killing us. If we were in the same class or a higher class we could withdraw at any time, so generally very few people below the top class enter. You get some elite students from B class, but they generally pair up with one of the A class students. It’s just too dangerous otherwise.”
“Why does anyone enter?”
“Fame or money. The prize is significant, and the winning pair are generally worshiped, or at least feared, by us normal students.”
“Is it too early for lunch?”
“Yes… They only just finished serving breakfast.”
“So let’s take our tour of the academy. I’d like to see where we are going to fight too if possible.”
“Okay, we’ll go there first. Follow me.” Rin leads me out of the classroom and along the marble corridor. We go deeper into the academy than I have been so far. There are lots of black iron doors, although most are far less charred than ours.
“Are these other classrooms?”
“Yes. The number and letter on the door indicates the class.”
“What number and letter?”
“There.” Rin says pointing at a scribble.
“How is that read?”
“You can’t read?”
“I can’t read that.”
“It’s just normal writing. It says 3C.”
“I guess I can’t read this world’s writing.”
“How are you planning on learning magical theory if you can’t read?”
“I already know some, hopefully enough to get me through what I need to.”
“The theory tests are written so you will need to read the questions, and write the answers.”
“Are you any good at theory?”
“Yes, it’s the main area I excel at. My parents are alchemists, which is what I want to be. In my parents days you didn’t have to enter the academy to study alchemy. Even men could study it. Now as a mage’s daughter I have to enter the academy, graduate, and serve in the army for at least three years. After that I can either leave the army and abandon magic, or serve for another two years, and then train as an alchemist.”
“Could you teach me how to read and write your language?”
“No chance. I have a hard enough time studying magic practical without spending my time training you.”
“What if I help you with practical, and you help me with theory and language?”
“You can already do unincanted magic, so much as I hate to admit it, you are good at practical. Are you really capable of teaching it to me though?”
“We won’t know unless we try.”
“It’s so shameful to learn from a male, but it’s too good an opportunity to pass up. I’ll only help you though if you’re actually able to help me. Of course if we die tomorrow the deals off. Enough standing around here, let’s move along.” Rin says and walks briskly. I hurry to keep up on my shorter legs.
“What do you normally do in your free time?”
“Practise, work and study.” Rin says as if anything else is not worth considering
“What about for fun?”
“There’s no time for fun.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?” I ask and walk into Rin who has stopped.
“Why would you ask that?” She asks me furiously pushing me away from her.
“I was just wondering.”
“Just wondering?! Do I look like a murderer to you!?”
“I wasn’t suggesting you killed anyone for fun. You don’t always have a choice. I was fortunate I had only fought monsters in the arena. Sometimes they make you kill your friends in your early battles. I wondered whether you had been forced to fight your classmates before, or been forced to kill other people. If you join the army you will eventually kill someone.”
“How old are you?”
“Twelve, I think.”
“You sound more like an old man than a child.”
“I may be twelve but I have faced death. I have faced the prospect that if I live long enough I will have to kill other people. Do you know what it’s like being led to a battle wondering not only whether you will live, but whether you will have to take a human life to entertain the crowd? How could I still be a child?”
Rin turns and walks away slowly without answering. I follow. After a minute she says quietly. “I would never have gone to the arena, and it’s not like I want to join the army. I hate men and boys, just like Contractia taught me to, but it’s not like I want them to die.”
“I wasn’t blaming you. But if you think I’m a child because of my age, you’re mistaken.”
“Through here is the academy arena. It’s smaller than the one you know, but it’s got the same circular shape. Magic is used to protect the crowd from stray spells.” Going through the archway we enter a grassy courtyard and in the centre is what must be the arena. It’s similar to the arena I am used to. Here though instead of seats starting high up in the air and coming down to just higher than a man’s height, it starts at ground level and finishes down below at the same level as the floor where we will fight. The centre is large enough for a proper battle even with a couple of large teams.
“Can we go down there?” I ask.
“Yes, since there’s currently no lesson or competition.” Rin says and we head down there. The ground feels the same as the ground in the arena I fought in.
“It feels the same but it will be a bit weird having people at the same level as us. I hope the magic shielding is strong enough.”
“It can hold against the best students in the school so that’s one thing you don’t need to worry about.”
“Let’s see the rest of the academy.”
“We can’t see the other classrooms of course, and the flight hall is in use at this time of day, but I’ll show you the rest of the school. I guess next would be the garden since we’re almost there.” Rin says and leads the way up from the arena and across the grassy court away from the entrance we used to get here. There is a small wooden door ahead, which seems out of place on the huge marble wall. It opens easily and reveals a deep hole beside a downward winding circular staircase made of the same white marble. There are no handholds and it is really slippery so following Rin I am very careful with my footing.
“The garden is underground?”
“Yes of course. Where else would you put a garden?”
“At ground level so it gets enough sun for plants to grow?”
“The plants we grow don’t need sun. They feed off of darkness, dampness and heat.”
“It does feel hotter.”
“When we reach the bottom it’s hotter than a desert at midday.”
“How deep is this?”
“It normally takes about twenty minutes to get to the bottom, and longer to get back up again. Unless you port of course, but that would be a waste of power.”
“Now you tell me.”
“It’s worth it though. It’s dark so you can’t see anything, but the smell is out of this world.”
We walk in silence for a while and soon every step seems to be hard work in this heat. I am sweating like never before. I can smell something sweet and exotic now and it is getting stronger with each step, just like the heat. Finally we reach the bottom and the smell is overwhelming, but in a good way. What strikes me most though is the beautiful scene glowing in front of me. The aura of the plants is a flowing mixture of soft silver and gentle blues, unlike anything
I have seen before.
“So beautiful.” I say unable to put it into words fitting the scene before me.
“Yes I love this smell.”
“The smell is nice too. Very nice in fact, but I meant the flowing auras.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The way the silver and blue flow into each other, and the shapes formed by the bigger plants.”
“You can see auras?”
“Can’t you?”
“Of course not! I don’t know about the higher classes but our class never learnt how to do that.”
“I didn’t realise you had to learn it. I thought everyone could.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Rin laughs.
“So what do you see?” I ask.
“It’s too dark to see properly, but it looks a bit scary. Like a monster that wants to eat you. Even so I could stay here all day for the smell, as long as I close my eyes.”
“It seems so gentle to me. Let’s rest here a while before we go back up. I think we could die of dehydration if we stay here too long though.”
We sit for a while on the hard floor. It seems it is stone here rather than marble. The smell is nice but unlike Rin I enjoy watching the scene in front of me too. After a while we port back to the top and explore the rest of the academy.
“It’s almost lunchtime. We should head to the main hall.” Rin says and I eagerly follow her there. We are the first ones there and Rin grabs a tray with a large pot, a spoon and a small empty bowl on it. She takes a second spoon and then pays a fierce looking woman a dark blackish coin. We then sit at a small table with just the two seats.
“I’m eating first. You get what’s left.” Rin says. I am a little disappointed as the food is making me hungrier, but I can’t complain, because she doesn’t have to give me anything. Other students are starting to fill up the hall and there is now quite a queue for the food. Lucky we got here early.
“What’s this maggot you’re eating with?” A tall girl asks looking down at Rin.
“Transfer student.” Rin says between mouthfuls without looking back.
“It’s rude to carry on eating while a senior is talking to you.”
“It’s rude to call me a maggot.” I respond annoyed.
“It can talk?” The tall student says looking at me in disgust.
“It seems so.” Rin says between mouthfuls again.
“I said stop eating and look at your senior!”
“I don’t know you and I’m busy so leave me to eat in peace.” Rin replies angrily. I sense the flames under the table and instinctually put up a wind barrier. The girl is knocked back and clearly shocked.
“You know unincanted magic?” She asks Rin in disbelief.
“That was the maggot.” Rin says and takes another bite.
“Attacking a fellow student in the main hall is unacceptable.” The tall girl says loudly and all eyes turn our way as the hall goes silent. “And don’t expect me to believe the maggot can use magic, or worse that he is a student here.”
“You must have tried to attack us. Otherwise he wouldn’t bother with you.”
“I would challenge you to a duel for such an insult, but the rules don’t allow it. I will however get you both punished for this.” She says and strides away before joining the queue.
“The queue was shorter when she first got here.” Rin says loudly with a laugh before continuing to eat. Slowly people turn away and the hall gets noisy again as people continue their conversations. Finally she says. “The other half of this broth is yours.” Except it isn’t half. More like a tenth. I don’t complain, though, because it is still more than I have eaten in a long time. There are even some small bits of meat mixed in with the vegetables. I quickly devour it savouring every last mouthful. “You look like you enjoyed that.”
“It was a feast compared to my last meal.” I tell her.
“Just wait until they hold the real feast. You’ll really like that.”
“When do they do that?”
“Twice a year. Once at midwinter and once at midsummer.”
“How long until midsummer?”
“You just missed that one. The next one is midwinter.”
“Pity.” I say with a sigh.
“So what do you want to do now?” Rin asks.
“How about I start training you since we have the classroom. We mustn’t use too much power though, because you will need it tomorrow.”
“Fine, but after we’ve let the meal go down. Let’s just rest outside for a bit first.” So we walk through the marble corridors until we reach the front gate. Outside the sun is bright and it is a bit too hot, but we find some shade under an ancient looking tree taller than the academy itself. It seems a popular way to spend this time of day as there are lots of students under this tree and the other two trees like it. Most are eating lunch but some are playing games like pass the fireball, or swimming in floating lumps of water they created in the air above us. There is a forest not far away but the grass here is soft and the ground over there looks rough like the ground where my tent is pitched.
“Don’t enter the forest.” Rin says looking gloomy for a moment. “Some students disappeared there not long ago. There were about ten or so of them all out for a picnic, and they were in one of the higher classes. Everyone thinks that there must be some really bad monster or criminal lurking in there.”
“Are we safe here?” I ask.
“If it attacks us here we have the teachers, and every student in the school nearby. It would have to be suicidal or really stupid. Either way it would be dead in moments.”
“What sort of job do you think I might get in the town?”
“Something simple. Perhaps a farm labourer or a waiter at the inn.”
“So not a magical job.” I say a little disappointed.
“You’re not qualified so other than monster hunting or escort duty you’re not allowed to.”
“Monster hunting sounds interesting. Unlike in the Arena I’d be paid, right?”
“It’s still dangerous though.”
“How well does it pay?”
“Depends on the bounty. Weak monsters have low bounties.”
“Enough to pay for a meal?”
“Yes, assuming you succeed it will pay for more than one meal. Probably even a low bounty would pay for at least a week’s.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do. Where do I find the bounty notices?”
“I’ll show you when we go into town, but don’t blame me if you get killed.”
“What’s your job?”
“I help my parents out. Getting materials and such.”
“What sort of materials?”
“Herbs, mushrooms, wood and that sort of thing.”
“Where do you get them?”
“That’s secret.”
A while passes in comfortable silence.
“Let’s see if you can train me.” Rin says and we head back to class. A high pitched whistle blows just as we get there. “Everyone will be heading back to lessons now. Except our class.”
“Let’s avoid power intense magic. What’s your element?”
“Theory.”
“That’s not an element. Let’s use mine then. Wind. Summon a small wind.”
Rin nods and chants for a while. A small wind is summoned, but a non-mage wouldn’t notice it.
Rin sighs and says dejectedly. “Failed.”
“It may be small but that’s what I asked for.”
“Nothing happened.” Rin says confused.
“It did, but let’s try to do it a different way. Close your eyes.”
“Try anything and you’re dead.” Rin says glaring at me but reluctantly closes her eyes.
“Focus on your breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Continue. The air you are breathing is the same air that you want to control. This makes it the easiest of the elements to control. You can apply magic inside you and expel it with the air.” I continue explaining for a while and Ri
n tries to control the wind like this. She lacks control but it works. A little too well, as I am blown across the classroom before cancelling Rin’s magic.
“I did it! Unincanted magic!” Rin shouts and laughs. She practises for a while and improves a little but we stop before spending too much power. Then we head back to her room.
Rin’s room is spacious and the beds look soft as a feather. Or more like as soft as the many feathers inside them. She lies on one bed so I sit on the other.
“Just tonight.” Rin reminds me, but one night is plenty more than I expected when I first arrived. I just hope that no teachers find out.
Chapter 3 (Peter)
The mini Arena is packed with most circles now full or almost full. It’s a different sort of crowd to what I am used to. The outer circles are filled with girls in plain blue uniforms like Rin’s. The inner circles are filled with girls in red sleeveless tops with a flame design, and short green skirts with a leafy pattern. We walk down the aisle past the outer circles and as we reach the inner circles we attract a lot of funny looks. Rin is shaking a little and her eyes seem glazed over.
“You’ve gone too far. Those are the seats for your year.” A bossy looking girl says raising her eyes and point back at the seats behind us. “And what a boy is doing, here I have no idea…”
“Competing.” I tell her helpfully.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” The girl says with a haughty laugh. I look to Rin but she is too nervous to talk, and has her head down.
“I am serious. I’m a transfer student and our teacher insisted we compete.”
“This is a girls only school.”
“I know.”
“So boys can’t be students here…”
“I know, but I am.”
“Are you a girl?” She asks clearly knowing the answer and prompting laughter from all around.
“No.”
“So you’re not a student.”
“I am. On the Queen’s orders. Anyway we’re on our way down there to compete, so goodbye.” I answer rudely and grab Rin’s wrist. I pull her along and rush down the steps. I find a place on the innermost row where we wait to compete. We don’t have to wait long.
“From 3H we have the brave but foolish pair! Peter the arrogant transfer student and Rin the clumsy! Come into the centre. From 3B we have a hopeful for promotion, Gabriel Ilford! Paired with her is 3A’s Shelley Direflame! No need to guess her element! Come forward please. Without further ado, please begin.” It is a young looking woman with a magically amplified voice but I am left slightly off guard by the sudden start.