“It’s okay.” Eliza blushed and looked away from him. “I mean, even if you had meant to do that, uh… geez, sorry, I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“I’ll go grab you a new robe.”
“I’ll wait here.”
“Right.”
“Okay.”
He slowly backed away from her, feeling as though anything else he said would only create even more embarrassment for Eliza.
***
The harassment of Kristoff and his friends only seemed to intensify after the incident with the ink. Lee, Toma, and Eliza had to give up eating lunch in the dining hall after it became clear that Kristoff and his friends wouldn’t let them sit down to eat without flinging small bits of food at them or accidentally tripping and spilling water onto their trays.
Primhaven’s magically controlled climate was nice enough that eating outside on the grass wasn’t much of a setback or compromise. For about a day, Lee felt like the situation had calmed down. He was wrong.
Toma arrived back at the dorm room after breakfast one morning with a black eye and a bloody nose. It looked as though he’d also been crying, but he didn’t let any emotion leak into his expression or voice as he explained what had happened.
“Kristoff,” he said. “Two of his friends put their arms around me and walked me into him so he could ‘accidentally’ throw his elbow into my face a couple of times.”
“That bastard,” said Lee. “I’m not letting this stand.”
“Just let it go, Lee,” said Toma. “It’s not worth getting upset over. Especially today.”
It was the day of their second Meta-Magic class, and Lead Instructor Mattis had informed them all that they’d be meeting outside the Spell Range and receiving an introduction to the mechanics of dueling. Toma and Eliza had immediately begun the process of convincing him that if there was ever a class the three of them should skip, it was this one, given how badly a potential duel with Kristoff or one of his friends might go for them.
“Toma, do you know what the best way to get a shark to stop trying to bite you is?” asked Lee.
“That whole ‘punch them in the nose’ thing has been discredited for years, Lee,” said Toma.
“I was going to say kick it in the balls, actually,” he said.
“I’m not sure if sharks even have—”
“Look, my point is, Kristoff has been fucking with us since we first got here,” said Lee. “We can either let it keep happening, or we can do something about it.”
“That sounds nice, but do you actually have a plan?”
“Yeah,” said Lee. “I’m going to challenge him to a duel.”
CHAPTER 24
Lee and Toma met up with Eliza in front of Shay Morrigan’s statue in the center of the campus. Lee couldn’t help but smile as he watched her reaction to his “cracked plan,” as Toma insisted on referring to it.
“Lee, I get that you’re upset,” said Eliza. “It’s what makes you such a good friend. But this is borderline suicidal. Please, think about what you’re doing. Why don’t we all just hang out in one of our dorms and tell the Lead Instructor that we weren’t feeling well?”
“Because that wouldn’t be nearly as fun as getting revenge,” said Lee. “Come here, both of you.”
He put an arm around each of their shoulders and started walking them toward the Spell Range.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Not really,” said Toma.
“Um…” said Eliza.
“Oh, come on!” he said. “Look, this might work, or it might not work. Either way, I’m going for it. I’m not going to stand around and take this childish abuse anymore. This isn’t high school.”
“Most high schools have fewer delinquents than Primhaven,” said Toma. “This is more like the place teenagers get sent to after they’ve been expelled or held back.”
“Kristoff is just here because he’s rich and home-schooled, though,” said Lee. “Not that it matters. My point is, I’m just asking for the two of you to place what little trust you have in me. Think of it like buying a lottery ticket.”
“Lee, you’re doing a horrible job of convincing us,” said Eliza.
“Please, Eliza?” He smiled his most charming smile at her and was surprised when it seemed to work.
“Okay,” she said. “What do you need me to do?”
“I just need you to watch and let the situation play out,” he said.
“Hey, I’m still against this,” said Toma. “Hello?”
“Even if it means seeing Kristoff eat dirt, possibly in a literal sense?” asked Lee.
Toma didn’t say anything, and Lee grinned as he continued to haul his friends in the direction of the Spell Range. Lead Instructor Mattis was already there, as were most of the other initiates. Kristoff flashed a taunting smile in the direction of Lee and Toma as they approached, whispering something to a few of his lackeys that brought about a round of laughter.
“Quiet,” said Mattis. “Today’s lesson is focused on proper usage of the Spell Range. The casting lanes are where you’ll be spending most of your time as initiates, but I would make a few things about dueling clear in order to dispel some of the mystery surrounding it. The dueling chambers are self-monitoring, through a combination of both magical and traditional means. The glyphs and wards inscribed within each chamber keep track of the emotional states of everyone inside. If a combatant experiences a state of pain or distress outside certain set limits, enchanted conjuration traps will automatically bind everyone within the chamber and alert an instructor.”
Mattis paused, her eyes flicking to one of the initiates who’d raised their hand.
“I thought there were no official rules when it came to dueling?” said the girl.
“There aren’t, which is precisely why this mechanism exists,” replied Mattis. “By entering the dueling chamber with another student or even a faculty member, you are giving your tacit agreement to allow them to cast at you as they please, up to but not including using spells that would kill or severely maim. To add to that, another set of conjuration traps are designed to bind anyone who channels enough essence into a spell to potentially do either of those.”
Surprisingly, Toma was the next initiate to raise his hand.
“That sounds good in theory,” he said. “But there will always be a few deranged jerks who will try to get around that sort of thing.”
He shot a glare in the direction of Kristoff and his gang. Kristoff rolled his eyes and grinned back at him.
“That’s where the traditional safeguards come into play,” said Mattis. “A number of security cameras are continuously monitoring the dueling chamber. I won’t tell you how many or where they are, for obvious reasons. If anyone breaks the spirit of a duel to the degree of severely injuring or causing significant duress to anyone else, we’ll simply use the footage to investigate.”
“Are we going to have a chance to duel today, Lead Instructor?” asked Kristoff.
Mattis let her gaze pass over the initiates for a moment before giving a slow nod.
“Yes,” she said. “Anyone who wants to engage in an introductory duel today will be given the option, though it’s not mandatory. Dueling is part of Primhaven’s tradition, and in a couple of months, the student ranking list for dueling will officially begin, as it does every year. The Order of Chaldea takes the dueling rankings into serious consideration when it comes to who they decide to draft as apprentices and who they give preference to as future field agents.”
A murmur spread throughout the initiates, along with a few excited shouts. Lee winced, suddenly realizing that he might have misjudged the situation. He could read the eagerness on Kristoff’s face, and it was enough to put a few cracks in the confidence he’d expressed to Eliza and Toma.
“The opportunity is merely to give you a chance to either experience or witness how a duel is structured,” said Mattis. “I would like to emphasize that today is not about winning or losing. Those of you who are interested in ent
ering the dueling chamber, please step forward. The rest of you will be allowed to watch or to experiment in the casting lanes for the class period.”
At first, everybody stayed where they were. Lee understood the impulse. Being the first to step forward meant potentially ending up in a duel against someone whose experience and casting ability might make them impossible to beat.
However, in his case, he knew exactly who would end up volunteering to step into the chamber across from him. Lee gave Eliza and Toma one last reassuring smile before moving apart from the other initiates. A few chuckles came from the crowd behind him, which given some of his recent struggles with casting, was to be expected.
“Initiate Amaranth,” said Mattis, sounding more surprised than anything. “Are you certain that you’re ready for a duel? Even if it’s just for practice, you’ll still be facing off against offensive magic.”
“He wouldn’t have stepped forward if he wasn’t ready, I’m sure,” said Kristoff, who had also found the nerve to set himself apart from the other initiates. “I would be more than happy to serve as his opponent for the first duel, Lead Instructor.”
Mattis said nothing, and a silence fell over the area that seemed to belong solely to her. A deep frown creased her face. Lee suspected that she was considering whether she could, in good conscience, allow a duel between the two of them to proceed, even with the safeguards she’d mentioned earlier. It was a fact that only further undercut his confidence, though he was careful to keep it from showing.
“Very well,” said Mattis. “The rest of you will watch from outside the chamber. Normally, the participants of a duel would self-officiate, but since this is a first for the two of you, I will accompany you inside.”
All of the dueling chambers were open, so Mattis led them into the one at ground level. It was a circular room with high ceilings, full of space and more space. There were no alcoves to duck into, no pillars to hide behind. The only variables of a duel fought within such a chamber would relate to the capabilities of the people inside.
“I’ll step back now,” said Mattis. “The two of you may start immediately, or discuss the specifics of your engagement, if you wish.”
There was an element of purposefulness to that aspect of the duel that Lee found that he quite liked, at least in theory. He wondered how many duels might have made it up to this point only to end up flaming out through an exchange of words beforehand.
“Would you like a handicap, Amaranth?” asked Kristoff. “Or perhaps to just forfeit now and get the inevitable over with?”
Lee smiled, not at Kristoff, but at the fact that Tess had finally shown up. She skipped as she phased through the dueling chamber’s outer wall, looking like a sweet young girl in the middle of a stroll through a field of flowers.
“I was going to ask you the same thing, Kristoff,” said Lee. “Given my reputation here at Primhaven, you’re going to have some explaining to do after you lose.”
Kristoff barked a laugh. “Reputation for what? Having a useless pink spell shield? I was trying to be magnanimous, but I suppose you wouldn’t have volunteered if you weren’t prepared to be beaten down.”
Kristoff lifted his arms up, falling into the elemental casting stance. Lee’s eyes were more fixated on the stance of Kristoff’s legs, which were still a little too wide for his idea to work. He’d need to do something about that.
“Let’s do it, then,” said Lee, falling into his own exaggerated elemental casting stance. “Whenever you’re—”
Kristoff’s first spell was the same one he’d used during the admittance test. A column of flame the thickness of a pool noodle shot out of his palm and directly at Lee’s chest. Lee hurled himself to the side, ducking and rolling. Kristoff laughed.
“That was nothing!” he shouted. “Try this out!”
He cast another spell that almost seemed like the same one. A column of flame burst forth from his hand, but instead of traveling straight it weaved and danced through the air, like an eel swimming through water. Lee staggered back, totally at a loss for which direction to dodge in.
Two thoughts entered his head. First, it would have really helped to be able to cast an actual spell shield that could, well, block spells. Second was that losing to Kristoff in such a public setting, without casting a spell, no less, would only serve to reinforce Mattis’s suspicions.
He managed to dodge, but only by hurling himself into an awkward slide across his chest. The dancing flame slammed into the floor a couple of inches away from his shoulder, leaving a black mark that rubbed away as Lee’s foot scraped across it while he pulled himself back up.
Kristoff was grinning and shaking his head. He’d dropped out of his casting stance, and Lee knew that was something he could take advantage of. He pulled his arms up with just the right amount of intent and saw Kristoff immediately react by stepping inward and crossing his forearms for a spell shield.
A slow smile spread across Lee’s face.
“Well, go ahead,” said Kristoff. “Try your best spell on me. Hit me with all you’ve got. I doubt it will be much of a test for my spell shield, but it will certainly be amusing.”
“I already cast it,” said Lee.
Tess rose from where she’d been crouching and held her hand over her mouth to stop her from giggling. Kristoff’s grin turned into a scowl.
“Is this supposed to be some kind of joke, Amaranth?” he shouted. “You’re pathetic, and I’m starting to get bored. You should—”
Lee dropped out of his casting stance and started sprinting forward. Kristoff was fast, shifting back into his elemental stance to cast an air spell that knocked Lee a few feet back, but he landed on his feet and quickly built his momentum back up.
Kristoff tried to take a step back, wavered, and then fell to the ground, only realizing what Lee’s “spell” had been a few seconds too late. Tess had been all too happy to help him out when he’d explained to her that he needed her to tie someone’s shoelaces together.
He dove at Kristoff as he was rising to one knee and attempting to dislodge the stubborn knot. Lee had been in more than a few fights before, and he’d been betting on the fact that even though Kristoff was slightly taller than him, he’d have the advantage when it came to instincts for physical violence.
Oh, how he’d been right. Kristoff’s strategy seemed to be to squeal and try to wiggle away. Lee punched him in the face, bouncing the back of Kristoff’s skull off the floor hard enough to make him almost wince in sympathy. Almost.
“Don’t worry, Kristoff,” said Lee. “I’m giving you a handicap, see? I’m only punching with my left arm. Now, let’s give out a black eye to match Toma’s, shall we?”
“You can’t hit me!” cried Kristoff. “This isn’t how mages fight!”
Lee wanted to laugh and tell him that he was absolutely right, but settled for sliding around to pull him into a headlock, instead. He didn’t put all of his strength into it, but that didn’t appear to diminish Kristoff’s sense of panic. A few seconds went by, and then a loud, whistling noise echoed through the room as matching sets of purple conjuration binding cuffs suddenly burst into existence on both of them.
Not only did the bindings restrict their arms and legs, but Lee suspected they also kept them from casting any further spells. He rolled away from Kristoff and slowly stood up, looking over at Mattis. She was smiling and gave him a small nod of approval.
“He cheated!” cried Kristoff. “He… He punched me!”
The derision Kristoff put into the word punch made the tingling in Lee’s knuckles feel even more satisfying. He chuckled, looking over at the windows where the other initiates were watching from outside. Toma and Eliza were both jumping up and down with excitement.
“Physical violence is rarely a deciding factor in duels, given how easily most mages can protect against it, but it is in no way against the rules,” said Mattis. “If this had been a ranked duel, Initiate Amaranth would have been the official winner. I must give credit where credi
t is due. That was an impressive performance, Lee.”
“Thank you, Instructor,” he said.
CHAPTER 25
Toma and Eliza almost bowled Lee over in their rush to congratulate him once he was back outside. Eliza pulled him into a tight, starry-eyed hug, while Toma began imitating some of the attacks he’d thrown once he’d gotten hold of Kristoff.
“That left hook!” cried Toma. “Bam, right in the jaw. You’re teaching me that, Lee, got it?”
“You did so well,” said Eliza. “I should have trusted that you had a plan. Lee… I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it alone.”
He looked past his friends, over toward where Tess was amusing herself by repeatedly flicking the tail of one of Mattis’s bonded squirrels to make it spin in circles. She looked up at Lee and gave a small, knowing smile, flashing dimples that felt like they were just for him.
“Feel free to use the casting lanes and the dueling chambers as you please,” said Mattis, as she addressed the class. “You’re dismissed for today.”
Lee shot one last look over at the other initiates as Toma and Eliza began leading him off toward the dorms. Kristoff was sitting with his back against the dueling chamber’s outer wall, rubbing blood from his lip with a handkerchief. His friends were still around him, but whatever questions they were asking only received angry, emotional outbursts as answers.
“I doubt Kristoff is going to stop giving us shit,” said Lee. “I might have just made things worse for us.”
“Don’t look at it that way,” said Toma. “If he keeps being such a bully, you can always just challenge him to another duel now.”
Lee nodded, though he had a suspicion that the only way he’d win was if he came up with another trick, something that didn’t just rely on the element of surprise.
“Anyway,” continued Toma, “this calls for a celebration! Who’s down to head into Gillum for the night? The mages and adepts have started their studies now, so the Frostfire Tavern won’t be as busy as it was earlier in the semester.”
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