Arcane Dropout

by Edmund Hughes

  A set of conjured purple handcuffs snapped around his wrists and yanked him rather unceremoniously into the air. He felt himself slowly being turned around, and glared at Harper as she came back into view.

  “Always mind the consequences, Eldon, both of your words and actions,” she said, smiling. “As your instructor, I can punish you however I want, without any real recourse on your part. As long as I keep it within reason.”

  “Apparently I need to explain this again,” he said. “I go by Lee now, and I’m not interested in being your apprentice.”

  Harper pushed herself off the desk, standing to her feet. She waved a hand, lowering the conjured bindings, along with Lee, until his feet were back on the ground, before finally releasing him. She approached him until they were just inches apart, close enough for Lee to smell her perfume and sense her body’s heat. Even though Harper was a little shorter than him, she still somehow seemed to be looking downward as she stared into his eyes.

  “You have far more to learn than I think you realize,” she said, in a whisper. “Eldon.”

  “And you think you’re capable of teaching me?” he asked.

  The tension bubbled as Harper held another long, purposeful silence. She opened the front of her robe, revealing the edge of her black bra and impressive cleavage for a moment while her hand fished around inside.

  She pulled out his kris dagger, still closed in its ornate oak scabbard, and handed it to him.

  “Tomorrow morning,” said Harper. “Be here by eight.”

  Lee felt dumbfounded as he left her office, unsure of what to make of her or the situation. Tess skipped as she walked alongside him, grinning as though she’d just witnessed something inspirational.

  “I think I like her!” said Tess.

  CHAPTER 31

  “Did I just hear you correctly?” shouted Toma. “Instructor Harper... took you as her apprentice?”

  It was a Friday afternoon, and after querying around campus, Lee had found Toma and Eliza in the mixed lounge, engaged in a heated game of pool. He’d taken his time considering how to explain his new circumstances, waiting until the game had ended and he’d taken Toma’s place in the next game before announcing the news.

  “Can you be a little quieter?” asked Lee. “I’m already struggling with what it’s going to mean moving forward. The last thing I want is the rest of the initiates and Instructors deciding that I need to be treated differently because of it.”

  Lee lowered himself over the table, eyeing a solid-colored ball as he positioned his cue. He’d only played a few times in his life before, but it was hard to be bad at the game when you had a ghost on your side. He struck the cue ball and watched as Tess surreptitiously shifted its path, rolling it into the ball it was intended to hit, and then rerouting that one into the pocket.

  “That’s ridiculous,” muttered Eliza.

  “I know, it must have something to do with the table’s covering,” he said.

  “I mean what you just told us,” said Eliza. “Harper Black has a reputation in the magical world. She’s not just some random mage, she’s one of the Arcane Strikers, the elite enforcers used by the Order of Chaldea to handle major threats.”

  “Maybe she sees something in me,” said Lee.

  Toma let out a loud snort, and Lee couldn’t resist smiling, too. It was an absurd situation, even when the truth was taken into account. He was no mage, and Tess’s help would only allow him to cast basic spells. He could only imagine what rumors would accompany the news as it began to spread.

  “She must have given you some kind of reason, right?” asked Eliza.

  She was frowning and scowled at the pool table as Lee took his next shot. It was too far off for Tess to help him, and he shrugged as he stood back up.

  “She said something about how I have far more to learn than I realize,” said Lee.

  “That’s cracked,” said Toma. “Almost sounds like a threat. God, I would love to be threatened by a woman like that.”

  He let out a low chuckle and flashed a perverted smile. Eliza let out an annoyed noise as she bent down to take her own shot.

  “It still doesn’t add up,” she said. “The relationship between a master mage and their apprentice is a serious, long-term thing.”

  “Really?” asked Lee. “I figured it was more like just getting private lessons from an instructor.”

  “Eliza is exaggerating a bit,” said Toma. Eliza shot a glare at him, and he gave a quick shrug. “Sorry, but it’s true. In some cases, that’s exactly what it’s like. Some mages go through apprentices as though they’re tutors, teaching them just enough to get them up to speed.”

  “Other mages take full advantage of everything their apprentices have to offer,” said Eliza. “Full advantage. There’s been more than one scandal about this sort of thing over the past few years. It’s not uncommon for mages to eventually marry their Apprentices, either, or for the pairing to end after a volatile break-up.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to be the case here,” said Lee.

  “You wish,” said Toma, with another low chuckle. “Instructor Harper! Won’t you give me another late-night private lesson?”

  “Shut up or this next pool ball is going through your teeth,” said Lee.

  Eliza had just finished her turn and was aggressively chalking the end of her pool cue. She looked annoyed, more so than she should have been over a simple game.

  “She’s going to ride you hard, Lee,” she said.

  “Oh, I bet he’s praying she does,” said Toma.

  “Shut up!” snapped Eliza. “That’s obviously not what I meant! Lee, she’ll be expecting you to represent her well as an apprentice. Especially when it comes to the level of your spellcraft.”

  “I’ll figure something out.” Lee took his next shot, which missed. Tess had moved to stand behind Eliza and Toma at the other end of the table.

  “Um…” Eliza hesitated, blushing as she leaned over to prepare her own shot. “You know, I could probably… I mean... maybe I could... give you some extra help again… if you wanted? Just in my spare time, like before!”

  She set her pool cue into place, looking at Lee instead of the ball’s intended target. Lee smiled and tried not to react as he saw Tess positioning herself behind her, reaching her ghostly fingers forward to pinch something through the outside of the back of Eliza’s robes.

  It happened just as Eliza took her shot, which made the spectacle even more spectacular. Her large, healthy breasts bounced forward, free from their brawndage… er, bondage. Eliza’s robe covered her chest completely, but she still hurried to clamp her arms tightly across her bouncing bosom, blushing furiously as she noticed the target of Lee’s gaze.

  “Eliza?” asked Toma. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine!” she said, quickly. “I’m fine. I have to use the restroom!”

  “Eliza, hold on,” said Lee. “Do you want to plan a time to…?”

  She was already down the stairs and heading out through the mixed lounge’s door before he could finish. Toma scratched his head and gave Lee a questioning look.

  “What was that about?” he asked. “Do you think she’s, you know? Suffering from a visit from her Aunt Flo?”

  “Are you really that oblivious?” asked Lee. “You know what, never mind.”

  Lee stayed in the mixed lounge after Toma left to go back to their dorm, sitting in an easy chair with his mystic stream extended and Tess on his lap. She was doing her best to make out with him, despite the fact that they were both in public and it would look bizarre for Lee to respond to her kisses.

  “I thought she’d find it funny,” said Tess. “It was just a harmless prank.”

  “Harmless, sure,” said Lee. “But I don’t think most girls would find it funny for their bra to suddenly fail them while they’re bent over a pool table.”

  “I wouldn’t mind,” said Tess.

  “You don’t wear a bra or panties,” said Lee.

  “Bloomers
, my dear Lee, they’re called—”

  Lee slid a hand under her skirt and Tess squealed, shifting position on his lap before he could do much more than give her a quick touch.

  CHAPTER 32

  The next day was a Saturday, which meant that there were no lessons for students. Lee was in the middle of discussing with Toma the details of a somewhat audacious plan to see if anyone in Gillum would let them borrow a snowmobile when he remembered that Harper had instructed him to report to her that morning.

  “I get the sense that ignoring her would only land me in serious trouble,” said Lee. “Sorry, Toma.”

  “Don’t be. A cozy private lesson on a Saturday morning with a blonde-haired bombshell of a woman? Ooh, please promise you’ll tell me if you and her end up—”

  “If you keep making jokes like that, someone will eventually overhear you, and it’ll get back to her,” said Lee.

  “Who says I’m joking?”

  Lee jogged across the campus to the Seruna Center after checking the time and realizing how close he was to being late. Tess hummed and skipped beside him, seeming much more excited for the day that lay ahead than he did.

  He arrived at Harper’s office just after eight. She was dressed in casual clothing, a baggy grey tunic-style t-shirt and tight black yoga pants, and her blonde braid was twisted up into a practical bun. She looked up as Lee came through the door and slowly shook her head.

  “I said be here by eight,” said Harper.

  “Oh, come on,” said Lee. “I’m not even five minutes late.”

  “Consequences, Eldon,” said Harper. “Run a lap around the wall as punishment.”

  Lee rolled his eyes. Harper stood up from her desk and gave him an icy stare, which was enough to remind him of how the last few moments of their previous meeting in her office had gone the day before.

  “Fine,” he said with a sigh.

  It wasn’t that long of a run, but he’d broken a sweat by the end and was panting when he finally made his way back into the Seruna Center. Harper was in the middle of locking her office and had a nylon bag over one shoulder.

  “I said run a lap around the wall,” said Harper.

  “I did?” said Lee. “Wait, you don’t actually mean…”

  “Outside the campus, not along the inner edge,” said Harper. “You might want to wear a jacket.”

  “You can’t be serious,” said Lee.

  “Meet me at the gym once you’re done,” said Harper. “Be quick about it.”

  She walked past him without breaking stride. Lee gritted his teeth and glared after her, trying to ignore how interesting the movements of her butt in her tight leggings were.

  “Those pants look so comfortable,” whispered Tess. “They almost look like they were just painted on, or something. Will you buy me a pair, Lee?”

  He sighed. “Sure, but only if you help me take revenge on Harper with one of your pranks.”

  “No thanks,” said Tess. “It would set a bad precedent if I did.”

  “You threw a snowball at her during my admissions test!”

  “Because I wanted to, not because she’d wronged you.”

  The weather outside Primhaven’s gate was every bit as frigid as Lee had expected, and windy to boot. Bits of snow and ice stung his face as swirling gusts scattered the recently fallen contents of the tundra’s top layer.

  The physical act of running was also made harder by the snow, and his boots crunched through the stiff upper crust, sometimes catching as he shifted into his next step. He considered giving up and trying to bluff Harper, but there was something about her demanding, arrogant attitude that chafed his ego. If he had to serve as her apprentice for the moment, he wasn’t going to shirk away from her punishments.

  By the end of the lap, he couldn’t feel his ears, or his lips, or much of anything from the neck up. His exposed skin began tingling as soon as he was back within the climate-controlled confines of Primhaven’s walls, and after dropping his jacket off at his dorm, he headed to meet up with Harper.

  Given her clothing and his previous encounter with her in the gym, Lee had assumed that she would be teaching him a lesson in yoga, or breathing, or maintaining a consistently calm state for casting. There weren’t many people in the main exercise room, and he didn’t see Harper as he scanned over the space.

  He found her in one of the smaller side chambers intended for martial arts, with padded walls and a floor covered by thin, interlocking sections of durable mats. Harper was throwing punches at a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling in the corner, and surprisingly, she already looked as sweaty as he was.

  “You’re here,” she said. “Good. It’s time to see what you’re capable of.”

  Lee frowned slightly and shook his head. “Are we going to be sparring, or something? I would think that you’d be more concerned about my spellcraft, given your reputation as a mage and, well, the entire focus of this college.”

  “I have a general sense of your current level of spellcraft.” Harper gave him a small, somewhat patronizing smile. “What I need to know, Eldon, is what you’re capable of when you’re fighting on your own terms.”

  She walked over to her bag and pulled out a blunt rubber training knife that was close to the same length as his kris dagger. Lee’s eyebrows shot up as she passed it to him and adopted a basic fighting stance.

  “Go ahead,” said Harper. “Attack me.”

  “You’re serious?” asked Lee. “I know how to use a knife, Instructor Harper. This thing could still hurt even though it’s made of rubber.”

  In fact, he’d learned how to use a knife from a teacher under somewhat analogous circumstances. The ghost of a veteran Navy SEAL had occupied the apartment next to the one Zoe had rented for him before she’d left for Primhaven. Lee had initially assumed the ghost to be dangerous, and on his first attempt to banish him, he’d had his form critiqued and, over the next few weeks, carefully corrected.

  “Attack me, Eldon,” said Harper. “Don’t hold back.”

  Lee tried not to smile as he tested the rubber knife’s balance and fell into a crouch. Maybe he wouldn’t need Tess’s help to take his revenge on her, after all.

  Harper was fast. Lee already knew that from seeing her in the dueling chamber earlier that week, but knowing it and experiencing it firsthand were two separate things. She spun out of the way of Lee’s first slash, shifting her weight onto her back leg.

  He swung again. Harper ducked, sliding inside his guard for an instant without retaliating with her own attack. Lee tried to grab her with his free hand, but she twisted her shoulder loose before he could tighten his grip.

  He shifted the rubber knife into a reverse grip, which lent a certain unpredictability to his movements without sacrificing much on defense, given that Harper was unarmed. She dodged a spinning attack, but Lee pivoted, reversing his strike. She was off balance, and he felt a burst of elation as he realized that he’d finally found his opening.

  A flash of teal light accompanied a sudden rush of force that sent Lee flying backwards and knocked the knife from his hand. He gained a new appreciation for the padded floor as he landed, groaning as he pulled himself up.

  “You used your magic,” he said. “Cheater.”

  “I never specified that I wouldn’t. There are few encounters you’ll face in the supernatural world that won’t present similar surprises.”

  “Is that something that’s really necessary for me to worry about?” he asked.

  Harper reached a hand down to help him to his feet. “Are you aware of the position I serve within the Order of Chaldea?”

  “You’re an Arcane Striker, right?” asked Lee. “Some type of magical soldier, or assassin.”

  “In a manner of speaking,” said Harper. “Part of the reason I’ve been assigned to Primhaven is to help keep the campus secure. There are more supernatural threats facing it than most of the students and even some of the other instructors realize.”

  Lee considered telling her abou
t the specter that had possessed Eliza but decided against it. Even if she believed him, it was unlikely that anyone other than Lee would be able to do anything practical to address the danger.

  “The real logic behind why Primhaven is located where it is relates to keeping the students here separate, apart from the rest of the world,” said Harper. “If you think of it in terms of what a careless mage-in-training might do with even a spell as simple as a stray fireball, it’s easy to see why.”

  “Hard to start a forest fire in the middle of a frozen wasteland,” said Lee.

  “There are other reasons as well, namely the fact that the arcanum crystals here were also a valuable magical resource. But Primhaven’s secluded location is a feature, not a flaw,” said Harper. “Unfortunately, it also makes it somewhat of a target. Supernatural entities thrive in extremes, and there are many substantial threats that would view the students here as compelling prizes.”

  Lee frowned a little, running one finger along the training knife’s fake edge.

  “So what you’re telling me, Instructor Harper, is that you fully expect that I’ll see combat eventually?”

  “Yes. Does that scare you?”

  He almost chuckled. “Scared isn’t the right word for it. I don’t mind fighting, Harper, but that’s not why I came to Primhaven. I’m here to find Zoe.”

  “Do you think Zoe just disappeared of her own accord?”

  It was a fair question, and he saw her point.

  “Let’s go again,” he said.

  CHAPTER 33

  Harper ran Lee through the same exercise twice more, using more of her magic repertoire each time. He appreciated the challenge of it from a certain standpoint, even though one of her air elemental spells sent him tumbling through the air at a speed that left him wondering how he hadn’t broken any bones.

  It was training that he quickly began to realize he needed. Harper’s comments about Zoe’s disappearance worried him, especially given how dream weaving had been used to erase her existence from the minds of others. If she’d been taken by someone or multiple someones with that kind of arcane capability, he’d be fighting against mages on Harper’s level.