Chapter Twenty-Nine

Polyplanarcalculaperiorda - a fancy word for she don’t math good. Or, in this case, when practically applying the math to physical materials, she magically penetrated several levels of reality until the outcome became what she wanted rather than what matched what should be the outcome. A problem of learning to bend reality before doing proper weights and measures.

The worst part of it was that it was offensive. Strict math was too much like Thibodeux in that with math, there was no flexibility, but this felt like an innate accusation of her fudging her numbers, when she liked to collect accurate data and information with repeatable and progressing results. Why did it matter that her results were too perfect?

It was worse when there was supposed to be an amount of randomness to the results. “There is a natural disorder to recreating natural material; you need to understand…” Maybe she could borrow some of Max’s chaos. “Tutors are available in the I.M. Mathematics lab. They use doctor Malcolm’s techniques…”

When she initially wanted not to excel too much, it was about being average, not bad at something. She couldn't even check out books on the topic until she'd had fifty hours of tutoring signed off. This was one of her bigger fears about starting a formal education.

There was no choosing violence, as they were all very kind with their attempts to help her and the couple of students who had similar issues. It was not the time to have the blood sickle in her lap, with its intent sleeping in.

In her room, she threw herself in bed, already done for the day, when [Recall] reminded her she had the hunter dorm game night.  “Bleed me dry.* Harmony moaned into her pillow.

Well, she wasn't doing this alone. Pulling at her primal bond, she summoned Prince Adric. At the speed he arrived, he might as well have teleported. Wait, Becca’s room was in the complex; that would reduce travel time? Not wanting that image stuck in her head, Harmony shook it off.

He had one question, “Will there be food?”

This was going to need more support than a hungry pet. Serving duty in Coodly Manor for game night had been the worst. “Get the group together, what's the team calling itself these days?”

Harmony could have used [Recall], but the rotating series of names used during practice was one activity she chose not to waste mental energy on. After she'd talked about fighting woozes in Naes Garden, Tasha decided to dub the group The Woozy Gang, which Alex half-drunkenly toasted , never mind the day before that they were the Bear Brigade, and before that, Tertiary Trouble.

“Come on, it was only this morning. The Tasha-maniacs; there was even a little song. Xera on the attacks, while our bear can just relax?” Adric prodded.

Shudderingly, it was coming back. She has been tempted to wipe her own memory. Simple repression had been good enough until now. “See if any of them want to join me for Hunter Dorm’s game night. Feel free to mention there might be a student using forbidden skills that Becca wants us to find, if possible.”

With a serious nod, he was off. Getting one or two familiar extra bodies for support would make it less overwhelming.

“Gweep?”

“You always count. But for some reason tonight I'm nervous. Maybe not for some reason, as I know I've been rudely ignoring my neighbors while avoiding Becca these last few weeks.”

“Gwurp.”

“Your faith is always reassuring. Just play nice with Marshmallow while we're there.”

“Fracklings stink.” Hyacinth squeaked and hopped off to hunt some non-existent pests. He'd scared them all away or eaten them the first week here. He needed his version of venting before joining her for the event.

Adric came back with both Xera and Tasha on each arm. “The boys had club meetings.”

Both girls wore simple dresses. Xera, her preferred silk,yellow, was tied with a black sash, and Tasha’s dress was cut closer to the local style, in green, which made her red hair stand out.

Harmony was already repeating outfits by wearing the black one that was a touch short with her current height. This dress would be more and more out of place as the temperature kept dropping. And unless you were buying chain mesh options in Ricort, fabric was expensive. Though maybe she should do that. It’s not like she had to worry about the weight.

“Adric mentioned a user of forbidden magic?” Xera asked

Harmony shrugged, “A pretense to ensure I’d show up when Becca asked me under the eyes of Instructor Flint. This will be my first dorm event. Pay attention to anything unusual, maybe my dorm Inquisitor will find it useful."

The dorms were long, two-story, rectangular buildings, metal, whose only color was the bushes around them that produced shadows Harmony took advantage of to travel through. The upper floors housed the boys and the lower floors the girls. It was a mix of single and double rooms, and each had one big meeting or communal room at the end. Conveniently, the meeting room was on the opposite end from where Harmony’s room was, which was why it was easy to avoid these events.

The plan was to arrive a little early to scope out the place and talk to Becca about her suspicions, but thirty students were already playing games unfamiliar to Harmony and sitting at tables. There was a place with food set out, and Adric abandoned all pretenses and made his way straight over that way before Becca managed to intercept the group, as the only one in her school uniform. Wise to avoid that awkwardness.

“Glad you could make it.”

“I meant to get here early, and I brought friends.” Harmony pointed out the obvious.

“Everyone is welcome. The start time is only when the opening circle happens for introductions; some show up earlier, and others prefer later. It is a little busier than normal since I let it be known you'll be here.”

Harmony didn't hide her frown. “And about that other problem?”

“That's why I wanted to get everyone here. You're perceptive. Flint believes in you. The dorm wards haven't sent off any alarms about specific castings. But there has been an overabundance of potential necromantic, demonic, or corruption energy passing through the filters.” Necromancer standing right here. An obvious source of everything. “Students like to experiment, so it is probably nothing.” She continued.

“We'll keep our eyes open,” Harmony answered.

The event started as expected. The shy ones, curious about the dorm’s tertiary, gave lingering looks, bold ones introduced themselves, or tried to recruit Harmony to a game. Adric stuffed his cheeks like a gnome storing food for the winter. Xera hovered around like Ambrosia’s pet birds did over her with an eye out for trouble. And Tasha charmed everyone with her exuberance.

The games were unfamiliar, almost all using colored metal figurines or pieces to trade resources for some kind of victory condition. “So I trade metal for glass and build an alchemical engine?” It all seemed more interesting than the games of striker, darts, or cards that were popular in Hazeldown.

Motivation to hunt down any mysterious forbidden arts user when you were the most likely source of the problem was lacking. At least three people had the lingering flavors of death on them, but one of them was from Luce, whom she recognized from the processing stations working under Mortuary Mell. Other problematic energies were in the room, but were they “forbidden”? She’d yet to complete the class and experience them. Two people used mental tricks to influence games. One reached his soul into a girl for some reason, unwillingly to the point where Harmony severed him with [Renew Spirit] and [Disintegrate]; he was the only one whose face and name she chose to keep to report later.  

Polyplanarcalculaperiorda was good at nudging games of chance every so slightly now that she’d learned to recognize its influence. It acted as a way to extend the control of reality she’d been propagating around her body. Probably one of the reasons the disorder developed. Yet another thing to talk to Von Trell about.

Harmony dropped the dice in her hand even though it wasn’t her turn to roll. The spike of risk to Xera was mild, but she wasn’t the only person in the room, and if Xera was at risk, then her dormmates were in actual danger.  It was also one of those rare times when the girl was not at her elbow. Physical, spiritual, hot. Too many people for true-sight.

It took effort not to swap into Night. Instead, she called on Adric, who was closer, with a special signal, part of his pet training at The Academy; he called it the emergency whistle and made her practice it a few times. Like a shrill note in her soul. He started moving fast as [High Kick] pushed her in the right direction.

Chronostasis watched the chaos unfold. Those with abilities that warned them either were running from danger or towards it. Becca’s frackling latched onto her back with its tentacles expanding into black wings, which lunged her forward. Tasha produced two metal balls from somewhere, but hadn’t moved. Similarly, a few hidden weapons appeared among the crowd.

Halfway to Xera, a pillar of energy, you could call the shade purple, but that wasn’t right, shot up with a blast of force, shoving students away.  Xera, in her armor, was blown back; it crackled and warped under the effect.

The energy solidified, twisting into a shape. Now the dorm’s wards went off, a warning buzz of evacuation that had been part of a drill during the first day, lines of energy meant to cage a threat clashing against a forming bipedal body only to break apart. The dorm handbook listed those as non-lethal temporary restraints designed to take down upper-tier-two threats; that’s not troubling. Maybe evacuation should be the plan?

Harmony aimed [Final Silence] and [Cold Touch] at the giant purple humanoid to slow it down, and Adric pulled the first too-close student out of the way.

Nothing happened.

It wasn’t the only case where nothing happened. Skills were raining into whatever it was and disappearing as quickly as the wards had.

A girl was screaming, the monster’s arm like a twisted tree trunk reaching down as she scooted back in fear. At least it wasn’t quick, but the girl wasn’t getting away fast enough.

With perception sped up there was still time to think. Quick attacks shifted to the arm, sinking in and disappearing. [Recall] flipped through past fights. Skills useless…. Maybe it was because the blood sickle had reappeared in her life, but she’d crafted it when it was the only kind of weapon able to hurt a creature immune to every skill thrown at it.

[Stride] would get a copy of the tool here, but being honest with herself, a stranger's minor injury wasn’t worth the embarrassment of showing up nude for something that only might work. The blood sickle only showed up then because it was part of her. That was how it had returned to her half a world away. 

 Harmony found that part of her that was never really missing. The violence. And the sickle was in her hand, granting that extra reach to cut through the arm-sized fingers reaching for the girl. They fell to the floor as it screamed in pain with a voice that caused every soul in the room to ripple.  It didn’t matter if it was the violent intent or the unusual nature of the instanced reality crafted into the tool, but they finally had a weapon that worked on this being.

That didn’t help Becca, who immediately reacted to the tool’s presence and had her flight tilt sideways until she was careening off to the side while her insides were pushed away.

Of all the defensive skills, Xera’s armor had the most resistance. It merely collapsed more slowly when brushed by that purplish being, but between that and Harmony’s weapon, they cleared the area as the students evacuated in five seconds just as campus security showed up.

A team of five marched in, covered in heavy armor that glowed in spiraling spellwork. “Fucking djinn. Whoever wrote that they give wishes should be cursed.” One grumbled. Each was into their third evolution.  

“Students. Clear the room.” One Barked.

The wards that hadn’t been damaged by the djinn and the skill the security person used forcefully shifted Harmony and the handful of remaining students outside. No acknowledgement for any of the hard work they had done.

The night was over, and she could go to bed. Becca was edging away. There wouldn’t be a conversation until the tool was stored in her room, far away. But there was still Xera and Tasha to thank. “Sorry for the overly eventful evening. I appreciated your presence.”

The young defender looked like she wanted to say a few things, and when Tasha left after some polite goodbyes, she followed Harmony to her room.  Curious about the questions, Harmony let the girl settle onto the bed next to her as she wore a serious look.

“Did you know Becca is part Elf?” Xera asked.

Was this something she should know? “What is an Elf?”