by Andrew Rowe
Sera smiled with her usual charm. “Sera Cadence. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jin. Now, if you boys would step outside for a moment, I’ll get dressed and escort you to Patrick’s room.”
Chapter IX — Hard Day
I woke on Sera’s floor with a terrible neck ache.
We’d dropped Jin off with Patrick, who had been kind enough to lend out his own floor, much as we’d suspected. We didn’t fill Patrick in on any details aside from Jin’s room being “in need of repairs”.
Maybe I’d tell him eventually.
Sera was reading in bed when I pushed myself off the floor. “Finally. Now do I get some real answers?” She stared down at me.
I rubbed my neck. “I wish I had them. Suffice to say that I was attacked last night, and Jin helped me out.”
“Attacked?” She pushed her covers away. “You actually meant that comment about assassins? What happened?”
“Eh, I probably shouldn’t get into it until I have a better idea of what was really happening. Simple answer is that I think one of the teachers was testing me. Or maybe hazing me. Probably both.”
“You could file a complaint about that.”
I shook my head. “Not worth it. Thanks for giving me a place to rest.” I stood up. “You’re the only one I trusted.”
She eyed me dubiously. “You really mean that?”
I put my arm down slowly, and raised my head to look her in the eye. “Yeah. I do.”
There was a beat of silence before I turned away. “And I will fill you in on more of this when I can. I promise. Until then, though, I want you to be extra careful. I don’t think there’s any actual danger, but last night got me nervous.” So much so that I’d had trouble getting to sleep.
“Buy a chain for your door,” I urged. “Today. I’ll help you install it if you need me to. We need to start warding our rooms, too. I’ll learn the necessary runes.”
She ran a hand through her hair. “You think we’re really in danger?”
All I could do was shrug. “I don’t know, but if last night proved anything to me, it’s that it’s better to be as prepared as we can be.”
“If there’s a threat to you, or to both us, I’d really like to know why.”
“Let me do some info-gathering on that, and I’ll plan to meet you again tonight after classes. Say, at eighteen or so. Dining hall.”
“I have a class until nineteen.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded.
“Fine. Dinner at twenty. My stomach will pay penance for the sin of my intrusion last night.”
“I’ll see you there.”
***
I headed straight for Professor Orden’s office. If I didn’t check in with Jin by mid-day, he would inform the academy guard.
Fortunately, she was present, and without a line this time.
I was hesitant when I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.
“Professor—”
“Wait. I’ll ward the room first.” She stood, tracing figures on the wall with a finger - the same few I’d seen her draw before. Or, at least, I was pretty sure they were.
When she finished, she sat back down in her chair. “Now, before you talk, let’s be quite clear. I’m Professor Orden. The same Professor Orden that you met in this room previously, and the same one that was at your room last night.”
I nodded. “And how can you prove that?”
“Last time you were here, we spoke about the Voice of the Tower. I have told no one else of this. I suspect you have been equally tight lipped. Thus, unless you think someone was spying on this chamber — quite unlikely, but you’re welcome to check the runes — I am, at very least, the same Orden you talked to previously.”
She took a breath. “You could assert that I was never the real Professor Orden, but that line of thinking doesn’t get you anywhere. If I’m good enough to pretend to be Professor Orden to the entirety of the campus staff, I’m effectively Orden as far as you’re concerned, no?”
“It would be a problem if you’re not the same Lyras Orden the Voice directed me to—”
“The Voice called me Lyras? Curious. Continue.”
“—but you’re right, I have no way of doing anything about that right now. Maybe I’ll look into your records or consult a Diviner eventually. I should also mention, before things get too heated, that my compatriots will be going to the academy guard about you if I don’t tell them not to by a designated time.”
Jin was the only one I’d actually warned, but in fairness, Sera probably would go to the guard if I missed dinner. Maybe I should have told her more specifics, though.
“How assertive of you. Unnecessary, but good. Your friends, if they reported the incident, would find the guards quite amused. I reported my raid on your room to them in advance, of course. Your dorm chief was also informed in advance. Had you checked with either of them, you could have confirmed that. Of course, I hadn’t anticipated a firearm being discharged — how novel! — and the guards already did investigate the scene.” She gave me a pointed look. “You would have also known that, and met with them, if you had stayed rather than retreating to Miss Shard’s room.”
I tensed at that.
“Yes, of course I know where you went. You should endeavor to be less predictable next time. Fortunately, I am not actually your enemy, and you performed better than anticipated in the test. As such, I will allow you to be a part of the investigation if I require your help.”
I tilted my head to the side quizzically. “Investigation?”
“I,” she tapped her fingers on the table, “am looking into an incident that happened at the tower. I may require your help, but I will be looking into some other matters first.”
An incident? I hope she’s not talking about my little prison break.
I scratched my chin. “All right, but you’re going to repair my door. And my ceiling.”
She let out a light trill of a laugh. “Ahh... No. Ward your room, Corin. You’re an Enchanter. No excuses, I gave you days.”
I had literally zero training as an Enchanter until yesterday.
I didn’t offer the retort that was on my mind, though. It would just make me look weaker. “Fine. But if you want me to make serious wards, I need resources.”
“Hmpf. For the moment, I need you to learn more than I need you to earn, so I’ll consider it. Nothing today, but perhaps I’ll arrange for you to receive a delivery at some point. In the meantime, we need to continue our conversation elsewhere. This place is, as I’ve mentioned, not perfectly secure. I had planned to take you somewhere to speak last night, but you were quite insistent on me leaving.”
I nodded, turning toward the door. “Where are we going?”
“No need for walking. Take my hand.”
I didn’t like where this was going, but I was tired of waiting for answers. I had my sword, my cane, and my shield sigil — I was as prepared as I was going to be if she turned this into a fight.
I walked toward the table and reached out. She gracefully took my hand.
“Spirit of wind and air, I command you!
By the pact sealed between us, I invoke your power.
Rise around us and within us;
Carry us upon your ethereal wings to the place of greatest safety.
Veiled Teleport!”
My vision went black. My stomach revolted.
When I could see again, we were in a cube-shaped room with what looked like transparent walls.
As I bent toward the floor to retch, I realized that even the ground was transparent.
All around the room was blackness.
A single floating torch flame illuminated the area.
“What... is this place?” I raised a hand to shield my eyes from the brightness of the flame.
“A safe locale. We can speak freely here.”
A transparent chair appeared directly behind her, and she sat down in it, looking nonchalant.
A magical construct? I
s she a Shaper, then?
That last spell seemed like a Summoner spell, though. She referred to a pact; maybe this is part of the bound creature’s power.
She also used illusions of some kind last night.
So, at least two attunements. Maybe three or more.
I’m way out of my striking range here. Again.
I straightened, rubbing my temples to try — unsuccessfully — to clear some of the nausea.
“Ugh. All right. Let’s talk.”
“Good.” Professor Orden steepled her fingers. “First, I should be clear that I do not intend to do you any harm while you’re here. That doesn’t mean you should lower your guard, of course.”
“Right.” My eyes searched from side to side again, but I couldn’t see any signs of traps. Or much of anything else. The walls didn’t seem to have any runes on them. “I take it that ambush was some sort of test to see if I was following your instructions?”
She nodded. “And your general ability to protect yourself, as well as your creativity under pressure. I anticipated most of your tactics, but not firing into the ceiling. That was... inspired.”
Yeah. Inspired. That was a nice way to put it.
In reality, I was lucky I hadn’t accidentally hit Jin when I’d fired the shot. Still, I put on a confident smirk. “Unconventional, but it worked. Still, stabbing me with a knife was a bit extreme for a test, wasn’t it?”
“What, this?” She rolled her right wrist. The curved knife appeared. I tensed, but she laughed, making a gesture again. “You were quite nearly undone by this...” the dagger vanished, replaced by another object of similar size, “Carrot.”
I coughed. “Seriously? A carrot?”
“I can make illusions, darling. It was necessary to make you feel threatened to elicit a reaction. I wasn’t about to put you in any actual danger.”
I frowned at that. “But I could have hurt you.”
Professor Orden chuckled. “How adorable,” she mused afterward, shaking her head. “Did you notice what happened when you fired your cane at me?”
I nodded. “Some type of protective spell.”
“Good, you were paying at least some degree of attention. There’s a common misconception that Enchanters can’t be effective combatants. The people who perpetuate that misconception are rarely aware of what an Emerald-level enchantment can do.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. “Emerald-level?”
“Ah, you haven’t been briefed on attunement levels yet? I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose it is only your first week.” She pointed a finger at my forehead. “At the moment, you’re what we’d call a Quartz Mage, or just Quartz for short. It’s the lowest level of attuned, and virtually all students begin there. One of the goals of the university is to increase your mana to the extent that you reach the next level, Carnelian Mage, by the time you graduate.”
I nodded. “Is that the reason why some marks of the same attunement look different than others?”
“Precisely. When you reach the next attunement level, your mark will visually change. Before you ask, it isn’t painful. Some people experience a brief feeling of disorientation, and people looking at you will see you glow the color corresponding to the new attunement level, but that’s it. The transitions into higher levels are more impressive, but they’re rare enough events that you’re unlikely to ever see one, let alone experience it.”
That made sense. “How many levels are there?”
“Above Carnelian, you have Sunstone, then Citrine. That’s the highest you’re ever going to see under normal circumstances. Even then, Citrine Mages are extremely rare. Above them, you have Emerald Mages, perhaps a handful of which exist in the world. Finally, Sapphire Mages. A hypothetical title. Some speculate that one or two might have existed in history.”
“Those names seem sort of... arbitrary.” I tried not to sound petulant.
Orden raised a shoulder in a half-shrug. “There’s a form of logic to it. They represent the color of the aura of mages of that attunement, and those colors follow the same order as colors appear on a rainbow. Thus, a Carnelian Mage has a red aura and so on.” She paused for a moment. “Sunstones aren’t always orange, so that one’s a little easier to confuse, but the rest tend to be easy to remember by color.”
I scratched my chin, trying to process all that. “Right. And you’re an Emerald Enchanter?”
She huffed a small laugh. “Goddess, no. I’m only Carnelian-level as an Enchanter, and barely C-ranked within it... meaning toward the middle of my progression to the next attunement. I had this made as a favor by an old friend, who is a Citrine Enchanter. It’s possible to learn a few spells that are above your attunement level — in his case, he knows at least two Emerald-level spells.”
Orden took a breath. “A person’s attunement level represents their overall capabilities. Casting something above your level is possible, but potentially dangerous. Miss Shard, for example, is still Quartz, but she cast a Carnelian-level spell during your little conflict with Teft.”
She’s been watching us closely. “So, I take it an Emerald-level protection spell can block, what, dozens of hits from a cane instead of a couple?”
“One could devise an enchantment to do that at a much lower level. I could make such a thing myself. No, my vest absorbs mana from low-level offensive spells — yes, a dueling cane’s attacks are spells — and redirects that mana into recharging my other magical items. If you had managed to penetrate that defense with a powerful enough attack — which you don’t have, of course — one of my other defensive items would have stopped it.”
Holy Goddess. That’s... not even remotely fair. “If items that powerful exist, why don’t we see people using them all the time?”
“Keeping items like my tunic rare keeps the people who have them — that is, the people who already are in power — secure. Beyond that, they’re hard to make. It took my friend weeks to finish this single enchantment, and the materials were hundreds of times more expensive than what it takes to make a little shield sigil like yours. At least two of the components were from spire guardians.”
Ouch. Looks like I won’t be getting one of those any time soon. “Still, what about weaker ones? Shouldn’t everyone in the military have something like a, I don’t know, permanent version of my sigil?”
“A common argument. Some units do carry sigils like yours, but it’s more expensive than it sounds. A few large companies carry the patents on the most efficient permanent shield enchantments, and thus manufacturing them in mass requires going through those companies.”
I blinked. “You’re joking. You can patent combinations of runes?”
“I’m quite serious, I assure you,” she retorted flatly. “No one can stop you from making an enchanted item for yourself, of course, or even making a few for friends. But the minute you start to sell them on the open market? Be prepared for solicitors to take you to court.”
Ugh. “That sounds pretty abysmal. But if I found something unique, I could patent it myself?”
“Certainly, but the three main ‘rune manufacturers’ have a few hundred years advantage on you. Occasionally, someone still finds an unusual rune on a magical item high up in one of the towers, but most possible runes were found long ago through a combination of divination and brute forcing combinations.”
“Lovely. All right, so I couldn’t have harmed you. You’ve proven my preparations were inadequate. How could I have done better, when you’re clearly vastly more powerful, better informed, and have more resources at your disposal?”
“Ah. An excellent question. Sometimes, victory is not about being able to defeat your opponent; it’s about making it too inefficient for your opponent to even try to win. You had the right idea when you fired into the roof, and also when you yelled... although the latter was muffled by the rune I wrote outside your door before I came inside. A standard practice for any Enchanter planning stealth work. Sufficient to cover ordinary noises, but not quite enough to cover the g
unshot. That would have gotten me into some trouble if I had been a true assassin.”
I nodded at that. “So, signal for help.”
“That’s one part, but a sufficiently prepared safe place — like your room — should have deterred me before I even entered. I won’t be breaking in again any time soon, but I will come by and check on your door at some point in the next few weeks. I expect defensive wards. Be creative with the ones you choose.”
“All right... but why do you think this is necessary? I have some idea about why my information might be dangerous, but I haven’t told you enough of it yet to warrant the kind of security you’re giving me.”
“On the contrary, young Cadence. As I mentioned before, the Voice wouldn’t have contacted you if you weren’t already involved in a conflict of great significance. Moreover, recent events related to the tower have given me an idea of why you were sent to me. I have a responsibility to make sure you are adequately prepared before I tackle that danger myself, and nothing inspires a student into action like the threat of death.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic, even if I didn’t like her method. I ground my jaw, continuing to listen.
“Did the Voice give you any indication of the larger situation we’re dealing with?”
I shook my head. “No, but I did see some things in the tower that certainly seemed noteworthy.”
“Interesting. Are you aware that no one has exited the tower since the day that you completed your test?”
My eyes widened at that. “No, I, uh, hadn’t heard.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself. We’ve kept that little tidbit quite tightly under control, and it’s why I took your claim about the Voice so seriously when you brought it to my attention. At the point you told me, we had just deployed a second team into the tower to investigate. To date, neither of those teams has returned. Both had Sunstone Mages, and they are normally capable of handling the first several floors of the tower.”
I didn’t quite know what to say to that. I offered, “Um.”
“At this point, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t follow up with you immediately or teleport you straight here once you mentioned the Voice.”