Chapter 111 - Third (Patreon)

Magic Defense classes had become far more exhausting ever since he had advanced to the Seventh Division. It seemed as though every student wanted to test his defenses whenever they got the chance.

So when the Master ordered them to pair up and announced that they were moving on from practicing Half-Shields, Arien secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking disproportionately powerful spells head-on wasn't just tiring, it also drained his already perpetually inadequate mana reserves even faster.

He glanced around for a willing partner, but everyone already seemed to have paired off. Reyna was with Pori, Sebastian with Matt, Gilly with Mel, and even Leli had teamed up with a girl from another class.

Arien looked toward the remaining students, but those without partners seemed equally determined not to meet his eyes. It probably wasn't about his background, because even students of similar status didn't seem eager to pair with him.

Great.

Apparently, being the last person picked still felt exactly as unpleasant as he remembered. A minute later, it seemed everyone had found a partner.

"Everyone ready? See those posts? One pair per post." The Master's voice echoed across the field.

The class dispersed toward the wooden poles scattered around the training grounds, chatting about what they would be practicing next.

Arien was left alone. Actually not alone, with Efie. She stood nearby, watching the Master with an expression Arien couldn't read.

Wonderful.

He waved.

She ignored him.

Even better.

“Hey, want to pair up?”

Efie looked him over, glanced around the now-empty field, and sighed.

“Fine.” She made it sound like a favor.

As if you had any choice. "What do you think we'll be doing?" he asked.

"I don't think we need to talk to each other, do we?" she replied, walking ahead.

Charming.

The posts were scattered across the training grounds. As Arien approached one, he sensed a dome-shaped Barrier extending roughly thirty feet around it.

The Master began explaining.

"Today you'll practice defending against spells of varying intensity. One person will attack, attempting to cast the same spell at different power levels. The defender will use a Half-Shield, but must carefully adjust the amount of mana invested based on the accumulating power they sense from their opponent.

"This exercise will teach you both to conserve mana while attacking and defending, while also training your Mana Sense through observation. Start with weaker attacks.

"I trust everyone took a protective amulet from the basket? Good. You may begin. I'll be moving between groups to assist as needed."

Interesting.

Arien had been learning the same lesson repeatedly since fifth year began: even his enormous mana reserves weren't enough if he wasted mana on every spell. Efficiency mattered now almost as much as raw capacity.

"Who starts?" he asked.

Efie still looked completely indifferent. Almost bored. "You can. Otherwise you'll probably run out of mana later."

"If you say so.” He sighed.

Hopefully, the pairings weren't permanent. Maybe he'd be able to switch with someone later.

Shrugging, he launched a very weak Fire Arrow at her.

She absorbed it with a Half-Shield and gave him a critical look. 

The next arrow contained slightly more mana. The one after that was weaker again.

"Is that really all you've got?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The point of the exercise is adjusting spell power appropriately, not breaking your opponent's defenses," he replied. "It doesn't matter whether I vary the spell between one hundred and ninety percent and two hundred percent power, or between twenty and thirty percent. And we'll save mana this way.”

"So that's what it is.” Something in her tone suggested she wasn't talking about his reasoning.

For the next ten minutes, he silently fired spells at varying strengths. When the Master passed by, he merely nodded approvingly. Efie yawned as soon as he moved on.

When the Master finally ordered them to switch, Arien focused on the mana gathering around Efie and immediately grimaced.

Of course.

He raised a Half-Shield just before an Ice Spear slammed into it and tore away a noticeable chunk of his mana.

Arien glared at her.

Efie shrugged and began forming another.

The next Ice Spear seemed slightly weaker, so Arien reduced the mana feeding his Half-Shield.

He realized his mistake an instant before impact.

Damn it.

The spell hit considerably harder than the first and sent him backward as his protective dome activated.

Even while getting back up, Arien was already trying to work out how she'd fooled his Mana Sense so badly.

“Efie!" The Master shouted as he noticed the activated amulet.

"Master, it's not my fault!" she protested immediately. "I cast a stronger second spell, but for some reason, he lowered his defense! His Perception must be terrible."

“Efie." The Master approached them. "If you keep this up, nobody will want to train with you. We've talked about this already. And do you know how much one of those amulets costs? You're supposed to cast weaker spells. No arguments."

“Yes, Master,” Efie replied with such exaggerated obedience that Arien almost laughed.

For the rest of the lesson, she kept her spells somewhat weaker, though Arien still finished with almost no mana left.

When Cerick announced that they would continue the exercise for several weeks, Arien sighed.

As usual, he had been naive enough to think that a change might actually be for the better.

Halfway through yet another attempt to stretch the material of a pen using Transmutation, someone knocked on the door to Vizimir’s office.

The mage merely waved a hand without looking up from the book he was reading, and the doors swung open.

Two girls entered the office.

The blonde was short, with a faintly irritated look that seemed almost permanent. The brunette beside her was much taller, standing straight with her chin slightly raised and a composed, almost delicate air about her.

Both had run into the same problem.

The floor, as always, was buried beneath stacks of books, making navigation through Vizimir’s office anything but easy. It had taken Arien several sessions to discover the easiest route through the clutter, only for the mage to rearrange everything before the next lesson and force him to find his way all over again.

“Sit.”

It took both girls a moment to pick their way through the narrow gaps between the stacks without knocking anything over.

By the time they reached the desk and began looking for empty chairs, they finally noticed Arien.

Efie actually flinched.

Nice to see you too.

His distraction cost him. The Transmutation matrix began collapsing.

“Again,” Vizimir said. “And you two, sit here.”

With a flick of magic, Vizimir pulled two chairs away from the wall and placed them opposite Arien.

The girls sat. Both tried very hard to look relaxed.

“As I told both of you yesterday, you've finally assigned Aspectless Magic. You will now begin training under my supervision in an attempt to improve your abysmal control over magic.”

Apparently, Arien wasn’t the only student receiving Vizimir’s unique brand of encouragement.

“Yes, Master,” Celestine said. “Thank you for this opportunity, Master.”

“We'll see if you're still grateful after a few sessions,” the mage chuckled. “Good. Since we've settled that, we'll begin with—”

“What is it?” he asked, noticing Efie’s raised hand.

“What is he doing here, Master?” Efie asked, gesturing toward Arien.

She is truly fearless. Arien would never have dared ask Vizimir something like that.

The mage smiled. Arien knew that smile well enough by now to feel almost sorry for her.

“The boy studies here. He has been doing so for several weeks already. Who would have thought Hugo's own great-granddaughter would grasp the basics so late and end up only third in her year?”

“W-w-what?” Efie stammered. “Third, Master?”

“The girl managed it this morning. You managed it at noon.”

“But we only had classes at noon, Master.”

“Ah, I can hardly wait for my next conversation with Hugo.” Vizimir mimicked her voice. “‘But we only had classes at noon, Master.’ What has the world come to...” He waved dismissively. “No matter. That is why I am here: to prevent the level of magic in this country from reaching absolute rock bottom. Levitation.”

His tone wiped whatever protest Efie might have had from her face.

“Not you, boy. You have your own assignment.”

Arien had already started spinning his pen out of habit.

The next hour was more enjoyable than Arien cared to admit.

Vizimir criticized both girls with exactly the same enthusiasm he'd shown Arien during his first weeks, and seeing Efie on the receiving end was deeply satisfying after months of her getting on his nerves.

Neither girl gave up, though, even after Vizimir attacked everything from their spellwork to their families and intelligence. Arien had to respect that much.

By the end of the session, even Efie's composure had begun to crack, and Arien found himself wondering whether she'd remember any of this the next time they were paired in Magical Defense.

Perhaps she'd even lower the strength of her spells.

Probably not. 

After the girls left, Vizimir turned to Arien.

“I understand the hormonal distractions of adolescent boys. A proper mage, however, should be capable of concentrating in the presence of the opposite sex.”

Arien wisely said nothing.

“You spent too much of today's lesson enjoying that girl's misery. You will make up the lost progress by tomorrow.” Vizimir returned his attention to his book. “Otherwise, we will test your limits again.”

He really does notice everything.

The memory of watching Efie suffer suddenly seemed much less entertaining. Now Arien had an entire night of extra practice ahead of him, and he knew exactly what Vizimir would do if tomorrow's results disappointed him.

This time, Arien would be the one suffering. Probably twice as much.

I've got some bad news and some good news.

The bad news is that I've come down with the flu, and it's completely knocked me out. I've been feeling so awful that I haven't been able to write any new chapters for the past few days.

The good news is that it finally gave me some time to dig through my Forgotten Chapters folder and pick out two chapters I've now polished up a bit and will be posting over the weekend.

Both take place near the end of Book 1 and don't add much to the main story (which is one of the reasons I originally decided not to publish them), but I figured some of you might still enjoy reading them.

And hey, bonus chapters are bonus chapters ;)

Have a great weekend!

Saturday → Chapter 70.3 Mana Shield
Sunday → Chapter 70.6 Gifts
Monday → Chapter 112 Milestone Step
Tuesday → Chapter 113 The Enchanted Mug
Wednesday → Chapter 114 Eliminations
Thursday → Chapter 115 The Fellowship of Races
Friday → Chapter 116 The Art of Defense