Chapter 78 - Invitation (Patreon)

The next day, waking up well after sunrise, the first thing Arien did was cure his hangover.

The exam stress, Gilly's story, the festive atmosphere of the Port, and youthful energy had made them drink a little too much. They had only returned late at night, after poor Mel had fallen asleep with her head resting on Pori's shoulder.

Splashing cold water onto his face from the washbasin, he muttered a quiet thank-you for having Life Magic.

Ever since Bud had failed to advance to the next year, Arien had been living alone, and it was far less enjoyable than he had expected. Sure, Bud could talk for hours and his frequent bouts of flatulence had required constant airing out of the room, but Arien missed having him around: the Academy gossip, the bowls of sweets sent by Bud’s family, and especially the nights when they lay in their beds talking about distant places they might visit someday.

Arien was the only one who knew Bud had deliberately failed his fifth-semester exams.

Magic had never meant as much to Bud as it did to the others. He could probably have survived another few semesters with enough help, but he saw little point in spending years and Skill slots on a future he did not want. By then, he had already made connections with dozens of students from important families and decided he would rather join his father’s business.

Arien had been sorry to lose his roommate, but he understood the decision.

They still exchanged letters regularly. Bud wrote about working as his father’s assistant, while Arien sent back Academy gossip and stories about the group.

The sweets continued arriving too.

Still, letters and sweets were poor substitutes for having someone else in the room.

At the beginning of his fourth year, Arien had been moved to a newer dormitory closer to the Palace. The rooms were larger, the furniture considerably better, and, most importantly, each came with a private bathroom and shower.

Arien had added a comfortable armchair, but he’d left most of the remaining space empty for practicing magic. Compared with the girls’ rooms, filled with flowers, paintings, and various comforts, his own looked almost unfinished.

After a shower and a quick breakfast in the dining hall, which held perhaps a third of its usual number of students. He headed to the Palace, where the exam results were due to be posted in the main hall that day.

Just as he had expected, the vast hall was packed to the brim with visibly excited and anxious students. Some were trying to push their way toward the walls where the results had been pinned up, while others were struggling to make their way back out after seeing their rankings. On top of that, groups had formed everywhere, discussing the results they had already learned, partially blocking the pathways.

"Arien, over here!" A familiar voice rose above the commotion.

Turning his head, he spotted Matt waving enthusiastically. His group, along with several other classmates, stood gathered in a circle near one of the walls. As he approached, he couldn't help smiling at the sight of their dark circles and exhausted expressions.

"Hey everyone. How are you feeling? Well rested?" he asked with a broad grin.

"Don't talk to us, you cheater," Gilly muttered, crouching with her hands pressed against her temples.

"Hey!" Arien protested indignantly. "You all know Lamaral still doesn't allow me to use Life Magic on someone's circulatory system. Otherwise I'd gladly help."

"You don't have to look so cheerful about it," Sebastian pointed out while wiping his forehead with a damp cloth.

"It's a beautiful day, the exams are over, and vacation is ahead of us! What's not to be happy about?"

"Whatever," Sebastian muttered, closing his eyes.

"What are we waiting for?" Arien asked, turning toward Pori, who seemed the least affected by the previous night's drinking. The only indication that she had both drunk wine and slept only a few hours was her slightly paler complexion. She had by far the highest alcohol tolerance among them.

"Rey went to copy down the results for the whole class," Pori replied with a faint smile.

“That sounds like her.”

A moment later, Arien spotted Reyna emerging from the crowd, parchment in hand. She didn't look particularly pleased. Gracefully weaving around other students while staring at a sheet of parchment, she barely reached them before being immediately surrounded from all sides as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of their position on the list.

"Hey, one at a time! Give her some space," Pori growled, standing beside Arien and looking disapprovingly at their friends.

"Maybe just read them out loud?" Arien suggested.

Truthfully, he wasn't especially concerned about his own ranking. He had finished seventh last semester and doubted he would fall out of the top ten. The only thing he really cared about was whether he had placed within the top thirty of the entire year and qualified for the expedition to the Reznan Forest. If he had, he would need to change his vacation plans.

"I'm seventh," Gilly announced in a slightly disappointed voice while studying the parchment. As far as he remembered, she'd been eighth last year, so he wasn't sure where the disappointment came from. "And what are these groups? Other classes? Why am I not with you?"

"Gilly, stop trying to steal my parchment," Reyna said, stepping forward and attempting to put some distance between herself and the crowd.

"Arien's right. I'll read the calss results before you all trample me. If anyone doesn’t want their ranking announced, just say so.”

Reyna looked around the group, giving everyone a moment to object.

Nobody did.

“Good.”

1. Reyna Voltorey.

2. Arien Terryson.

3. Porietta Miley.

4. Sebastian Vintey.

5. Meliana Rath.

6. Matt Stonewall.

7. Giley Sunderhall.

8. Madri Sunvalley.

9. Johan Serbin.

11. Leli Vathan.

13. Estepan Kindr.

16. Alvia Strant.

“Did I miss anyone?” Reyna asked, looking around.

Nobody answered. For a few seconds, everyone seemed occupied with their own results.

Arien was more than pleased with second place. He knew he had improved quickly, but he had not expected to pass almost everyone in the class this semester.

“Congratulations, Reyna, Arien, Sebastian,” Pori said.

“Reyna finishing first isn’t surprising, but Arien, man! The king has returned!” Matt exclaimed, slapping him on the back. “Maybe next semester you’ll finally beat Rey and prove that men can cast spells too!”

That was enough to restart the noise around the group. Several girls immediately turned on Matt berating him for being a brainless brute, while everyone else began comparing rankings or arguing over who had improved the most.

"Hey! Hey!" Gilly's voice cut through the noise, and the group gradually quieted. "Rey, what were those groups my name was listed under?"

"Oh, right," Reyna said. Throughout the entire discussion she had seemed unusually distracted, even by her standards.

“The expedition groups for the Reznan Forest have also been announced,” Reyna said. “Nine people from our class qualified, which is better than average, but they split us between five teams.” She checked the parchment. “Matt, Arien, and I are together. Pori, Sebastian, and Johan are in another group. Mel and Madri are in the third, and Gilly is in the fourth.”

"What?!" Gilly exclaimed. "Why am I by myself?!"

“You can ask Master Terynheim about that when you see her,” Matt said.

Gilly’s expression made him stop smiling.

The next several minutes passed in discussions about rankings and the strength of each expedition group. Those who had friends in other classes were particularly eager to contribute theories about how balanced the teams were. Eventually, people began drifting away, and farewells were exchanged.

Arien slowly made his way toward the wall displaying the overall results. The crowd had thinned enough for him to reach the parchment without much difficulty.

Ninety students had survived to the end of fourth year. Ten names near the bottom were written in red, marking those who would not return.

Arien focused on the top instead.

Efie Coldhart

Reyna Voltorey

Adam Uthelson

Senhal Silverleaf

Arien Terryson

Basil Livington

Porietta Miley

Sebastian Vintey

Rickard Godrey

Liam Bowney

Four members of their group had reached the top ten.

Arien had suspected that studying together and constantly competing with one another was helping, but the result was better than he had realized.

He remained by the wall for a while, studying the rest of the rankings while the hallway gradually emptied.

By the time he reached the lower half of the list, his thoughts had already returned to Reyna. She had asked him to stay behind after everyone else left, and he doubted it was simply to congratulate him.

What is she plotting this time?

He glanced at the wall one final time before turning back. It didn’t take long to spot Reyna’s red hair among the remaining students.

“So?” Arien asked as he approached.

His relationship with Reyna was... complicated. Some days he thought they were close friends; on others, he felt an enormous distance between them, perhaps even a trace of hostility.

Over the years, he and Reyna had spent countless hours arguing about magic, politics, the Academy, and almost anything else they happened to disagree about. Arien enjoyed those conversations and respected how much she knew, even when she managed to talk him around to her point of view.

That was also part of what made him cautious around her.

Reyna was very good at getting people to do what she wanted, often without making it obvious that she had pushed them at all.

"I wanted to ask what your plans are for the summer," she said innocently, studying him carefully.

"Nothing special. I'll probably rest and train. My sister is coming a week before the next school year starts, though, so I'll probably have to show her around the city. What about you?"

"Oh, Alia or Sari?" she asked without hesitation.

Arien raised an eyebrow. He could remember mentioning his sisters only a handful of times over the years.

“Sari. Alia still can’t leave the Order until she finishes her training.”

“I’d love to meet your older sister. I’m sure she has plenty of interesting stories from your childhood.”

Arien narrowed his eyes slightly. Reyna sounded far too sincere for his comfort. And he wasn't entirely sure he wanted that meeting to happen.

“So that’s why you called me back? To ask about my summer plans?”

“Partly. I also wanted to invite you to my family’s summer estate in about a week.”

“Ooooh, Rey. I wasn’t expecting such an honor. But you know, we’ve only just—”

“Arien, you pervert!” she snapped, punching him in the chest. “I’m inviting the whole team. We should train together before the Reznan Forest expedition.”

"Hmm, interesting idea, but I don't know if I'll find the time," he replied.

He would have been much happier if the expedition had taken place during the semester instead of over the holidays. Sacrificing even more free days for group training felt like too much.

“Do you even know what the prize is?”

“If I remember correctly, Master Terynheim said that taking part in the expedition was already a reward and an honor.”

Reyna sighed.

“The winning team is usually invited to visit one of Wyndor’s permanent Portals. Not for a raid, obviously, but you get to see one from the inside.”

Arien straightened. Teachers had refused to tell them much about Portals for years, always insisting the subject belonged to later courses. The chance to see one from the inside was something he often dreamed about.

“That changes things. But do we really have to meet as a whole team? We don't even know any group spells. Wouldn't it be better if everyone just trained on their own?"

"Sometimes I wonder whether you're more dense or more lazy. We won’t be practicing group spells,” Reyna said. “We need to know the people we’ll be working with before the expedition.”

She folded her arms.

“My family’s summer estate includes a large forest. One of our hunters can teach us how not to get lost and how to follow tracks.”

Of course, her family just has a whole forest.

"I don't know about you, but I have absolutely no experience with things like that, and I don't see how we're supposed to compete with the other groups if we get lost in the woods after five minutes."

Arien hesitated. His knowledge of forest survival was about as extensive as his knowledge of farming, which was to say, nonexistent.

"Alright, I didn't think of that," he admitted. “But are you sure there won’t be an inn or camp where we can sleep and wash?”

“Arien...”

“Ugh. Fine.” He sighed. “When are you proposing we meet, and how long is this going to take?”

"I'm delighted by your enthusiasm. I’ll send you the details within two days. I still need to coordinate with the people from the other classes.”

Nearby, several students were making their way toward the Academy gates with trunks and travel bags in hand.

“See you then.”

Reyna turned and disappeared into the remaining crowd. 

Arien watched her go. Somehow, he had gone from planning several quiet weeks of rest to agreeing to spend part of his vacation training at Reyna’s estate.

He suspected she had known that would happen before she ever called him aside.