Published at 16th of February 2024 2:21 pm

Chapter 40. Obstacles. Obstacles.

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The second month of the semester began, and the festivities continued. More guards roamed the city, and litter on the streets increased. When Nox and Lillin attended the first Intermediate Dungeon Combat class of the week, most of their peers were nursing hangovers. Edward and most of his entourage didn’t show up at all. Professor Wolfhammer had made the class return to regular classes the week before. He made them duel again. Many protested, claiming they were in no shape for it.

“Godfalls won’t care about your hangovers or other ailments,” the professor said. “Dungeon Lords and their cults will care even less.”

Between duels, Nox studied his peers. He mostly kept an eye on the melee fighters and individuals capable of acting as the vanguard. The class had several prospective Aether Warriors. Many used bodily reinforcements and paired them with self-regeneration spells. One student from the icy wastes north of the Imperium partially transformed into a bear and shrugged off most attacks aimed at them. Then there were individuals like Caitlin who Shaped armor out of living vegetation, stone, or spiraling gales. Their defenses had varying strengths and consistency.

Unfortunately, none of them approached Nox or revealed themselves as Kris’s candidate. He and Lillin didn’t hold back, showing most of their arsenal during the duels. Yet the mage or aspiring Aether Warrior didn’t reveal themselves.

Meanwhile, Annabelle’s martial abilities showed extraordinary improvement. She fluidly switched her weapon between its short, mid-length, and long forms, making her a threat at all distances. Nox couldn’t help but wonder whether her new sigil had something to do with her dramatic progress or the lack of negative presences in her life, set free a well of untapped potential. She probably also had the undivided attention of tutors who previously focused on Victor.

Annabelle danced around her opponents, twirling her weapon and moving with the grace of a desert blade dancer. Her sigil-granted speed and danger sense made her near impossible to pin down. When foes tried fleeing from her, she struck them with charged essence glass launched from her slingshot. Nox had supplied her with tools to Slow enemies, bathe them in Fae Fire or create short gravity pulses. He doubted she’d be more than a distraction against rift lords or boss-ranked beasts but lesser foes and humanoid enemies would struggle against her.

Even though Alexander wasn’t an official part of Intermediate Dungeon Combat, Professor Wolfhammer let him participate in the duels. The summoner moved almost as fast as his critters, ducking projectiles and dodging melee attackers. He carried a dagger but made little use of it. Instead, Alexander let his squirrels do all the work. They tripped opponents, leaped onto their backs with enough force to knock them down, and scratched at vulnerable areas. If enough of the larger variants got a hold of a limb, all the summons swarmed the mage and pinned them to the ground until they surrendered.

Much like Annabelle, Nox imagined Alexander would do brilliantly against smaller foes and other humans. He hoped things worked out for the young man, and Ratotaskr granted him access to lightning essence following his ascension to the next rank. If strong enough, it could make the squirrels into devastating weapons; even when weak shock effects had their uses. They shocked the nerves, leaving people numb or stunned. If the party didn’t already have Annabelle’s expertise, Nox would happily recruit Alexander once he got his license.

After lunch, Nox raced to Shaping. Dean Woodson had promised to finally demonstrate spellforms that combined all three Shaping techniques taught over the past two weeks. He waved at Caitlin when entering the classroom, but she averted her eyes, not acknowledging his presence. Nox shrugged and dove into the regular pre-class exercises. They didn’t have to wait long before class began.

“Who can name the three most common foci used by mages today?” Dean Woodson asked the class. It surprised Nox how spry she appeared despite her age. The stories claimed the dean was already middle-aged when she appeared over a century ago. Her wrinkled skin sagged from her skinny frame, but she still walked with the gait of a woman at her prime. When no one answered, the ancient druid’s eyes narrowed. “I expect everyone who took Beginner Mana Theory and Intent-Driven Casting to know this.”

“Creation, Shaping, and Manipulation,” someone in the class yelled without raising their hand.

“Correct. Most mages rely on their star for Creation. For those of you who didn’t take the foundational courses, it's how we mages make something out of nothing. Technically we’re creating the object, phenomenon, or energy out of mana, so it doesn’t come from nowhere, but I’m sure you understand the philosophy.

“Shaping’s function is in the name. It grants us the ability to change our conjuration’s shape. More advanced techniques enable changing state and pressure manipulation.” Dean Woodson created a sphere of golden light. She molded it into a cube. Then an arrow. “Finally, there’s Manipulation. It's the art of telekinetically controlling our conjurations.” The arrow shot across the classroom and shattered against the stone wall. “The three foci go hand in hand and function best when combined. To make the most out of Shaping and maximize the techniques we’ve learned so far, I’d advise you to make Manipulation your next planet’s focus.”

Another golden sphere materialized, hovering over Dean Woodson’s outstretched right hand. It morphed into a cube over a handful of seconds. When it reverted to its previous shape, the change was almost instantaneous.

“The first Shaping was completed with nothing but Micro Shaping, Multi-Shaping, Macro Shaping, and a mana cage. I did the same thing the second time, but I used Manipulation as well. The difference might feel minuscule, but that’s because I’ve been doing this for longer than most of your grandparents and great-grandparents have been alive. Once you get better, you’ll see the time delay for yourself. The bigger your target, the longer the Shaping will take. The mana cost will significantly increase too. The Multi-Shaping stage especially benefits from Manipulation, so don’t sleep on it until you’re ready for your next planet. Start practicing and planning as soon as you have a decent handle on Shaping.”

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“Is Manipulation a prerequisite for Intermediate Shaping?” another student asked.

“Yes,” Dean Woodson asked. “You’ll find Manipulation is significantly easier than Shaping. It’s a lot more intent-driven. So, we allow taking Beginner Manipulation and Intermediate Shaping simultaneously.”

The lecture carried on for the first quarter of the class. Dean Woodson demonstrated Shaping larger objects. She broke it into steps and went slowly, showing off the three processes individually. A piece of chalk attached to a piece of wood moved independently over the blackboard, drawing spellforms and outlining individual steps during each stage.

Afterward, the class practiced everything they had learned, combining it with whatever their star conjured. Nox used the opportunity to show his work so far to Dean Woodson. She approved everything he had done so far and provided the same advice as Kris. As the expert on Shaping, Dean Woodson was a lot more critical, but she also gave more concrete directions on improving the micro end of things.

Something clicked in Nox’s head, and he got a more concrete idea about managing the spellform’s adaptable elements. It would cut down significantly on the final spell’s cost, but he still needed to improve mana efficiency and control before deeming the project complete. Nox had already started studying mana storage, amplification, and management, but his understanding of them was nowhere near good enough to incorporate into the final script.

After class, he met Lillin for a quick dinner. They were rushing to the shops outside of campus to procure materials when a pair of men stepped in their path. Their clothes matched the many house and Imperium guards on the street. Thinking it was an honest mistake, Nox and Lillin attempted slipping around them. Then two more similarly dressed individuals flanked the pair. Another duo appeared behind them.

When Nox felt Lillin stiffen next to him, he grabbed her wrist. A marble-sized gravity orb had already blossomed in her palm. He felt its pull. She struggled against him for a moment but relaxed when Nox squeezed.

“We’d like a few minutes of your time,” a woman standing behind Nox said.

“Does Annabelle know you’re isolating us for a shakedown?”

“You know who we are?” It was a man in front of them that spoke.

Nox nodded at his collar. It was barely visible under his green and gold coat. “A human heart with an oak growing out of it. I didn’t know your house’s emblem before, but it's easy enough to connect the two.”

“Misstress Annabelle will be notified of this meeting after we’ve spoken,” the first house guard to speak said. “We have permission from your deans to conduct our investigation. Please come with us. This won’t take long.”

Nox sighed. “Does this permission involve detainment and forcing them to leave a public space with you? We have places to be. If you make an appointment—”

“As a close ally to the City of Ygg, we have greater freedom outside campus. If we meant you any harm, we’d just wait until you crossed the gate. Please, Mister Ratra, Miss Grey. Just give us a few minutes of your time.”

“Fine.” Nox sighed. The pair followed the Oakheart men away from the main street heading out of campus, down an alley, and into a little garden surrounded by accommodation used by aristocrats. Most people were at dinner. There would be no witnesses if the group planned to attack them. “How can we help you, nice people? Was the account we provided the university not enough?”

A door connected to the courtyard opened. A much older man, better dressed than the others, marched out. He sat on a bench and studied Nox and Lillin for a moment. “My daughter has told me a lot about you, Nox Ratra.”

“Lord Oakheart?” Nox asked.

The older man nodded. “The university’s record keepers are very clinical. They list a bunch of time-stamped facts and nothing more. It’s a terrible read. Would you please tell an old man how his only son and heir died?”

“Wouldn’t you like Annabelle around for this conversation?”

“She and her brother didn’t have the best of relationships. I fear her presence and interjection would derail the conversation. Besides, didn’t she mysteriously fall unconscious in the last minutes before his demise?” Lord Oakheart looked at Lillin. “The Wedge’s crew tells me you and my son were amorous. I’d like your account of the incident, too.”

“Very well. Do you want to hear about Victor’s final moments or the entire delve?”

“The latter, please.”

Nox and Lillin fulfilled the request. They took turns going through the timeline, discussing the party’s time together, and separated. Nox talked about Victor’s battle performance and drive to push on even when Annabelle warned them about the elite-ranked beasts. Meanwhile, Lillin spoke in graphic detail about their alone time.

Lord Oakheart got the same tale of his son’s demise as the university. Nox told them about how Victor continued fighting the beast through the acid rain even while the rest of the party took cover. Then he got overconfident and approached Mistress Maraka at melee range before facing the same fate as Roque.

The Oakhearts appeared unconvinced, but they didn’t push the matter. Instead, they moved on to new questions regarding the information regarding the rift’s warring beasts and the disappearances around the city. Nox, of course, knew very little about both and told them so. He only parroted the information about rift evolutions the diviner and her supervisor had shared. After some thought, he also mentioned how Kris was investigating the issue and ensured they knew about the mentor-apprentice relationship. Much to Nox’s disappointment, the Oakhearts told him nothing.

It was too late to shop when they were allowed to leave. The merchants dealing in materials had long closed their doors. The festival celebrating the solstice and Ygg’s end-of-summer flowers were in full swing. Lillin took it as an excuse to drink, flirt, and join in on the celebrations. Nox saw no choice but to join her. He didn’t have the same luck as his outing with Pudge, but he still had a good time.

An uncomfortable feeling tugged at the extremities of Nox’s mind throughout the evening. It wasn’t an arcane sense or anything similar. He had long grown used to the sensation and learned to identify it. Lord Gedge always kept a tail on Nox whenever he moved around the Golden Isles. They were usually stealthy, yet he could almost always tell when they were watching him.

Nox didn’t know how to explain it. Some scholars claimed humans had developed a sixth sense when they still wore loincloths and lived as nomads. It helped them survive predators in the wild. There was no evidence to back up the hypothesis.

Several summoner and archmage journals spoke of psychological, sensory, and occasionally physiological changes after making contracts with powerful entities or magical beasts. Nox often wondered whether his deal with Lillin had changed parts of him, too. Regular mimics had no eyes. They sensed their prey using mana sense and telepathy. There was a chance he had developed something similar. Thoughts of the arcane bond affecting his personality often haunted him.

Nox didn’t want to turn into a monster. However, after being responsible for close to forty deaths, he worried it was too late for such concerns.

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