My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror - Chapter 253 (Patreon)

There were a total of five students in the group. As Damien approached, he realized that Quinlan and Venus were amongst their number. The other three were all boys. One was so thin that it looked like a strong breeze would push him over. Another was wide, with heavy features and a flat nose. The final was completely average, with no real discernable features to distinguish him.

“Damien?” Quinlan asked as he approached, her eyebrows raising. “What are you doing here? Did they put you in the advanced class?”

“Hawk made an exception for me,” Damien replied, coming to a stop before them. “The normal one wasn’t going to teach me anything, and I don’t have the time to waste in something like that.”

“You’re the transfer student from Blackmist?” the wide-featured boy asked, watching him through half lidded eyes.

“How does everyone already know?” Damien asked. “It’s been like a day.”

“You haven’t really made yourself scarce,” Venus muttered.

“You know him too?” the thin boy asked, giving Damien a double take. “You really do get around.”

“I had some things I needed to take care of,” Damien said with a shrug. “I probably could have been a bit smoother about them, though.”

“You don’t say,” Venus said. “What are you even doing here?”

“Learning,” Damien replied.

That’s not technically a lie. I accomplished my main goal of finding Quinlan, so all that’s left is to learn. The only question is if I’ll be learning from one of Mountain Hall’s teachers or just studying myself.

“Well, this should be interesting at least,” Venus said. “I’ll introduce you to the others. The fat one is Blake, the thin one is Tim, and Eren is the guy trying to hide behind Blake.”

“I’m not hiding,” Eren said. His voice was so quiet that Damien had to strain to hear it. “I’m making sure I’ve got something in between me and the transfer student in case he tries to attack.”

“Should I be happy that you think I can stop him or mad that you’re using me as a human shield?” Blake asked with a frown. “And you’re shaming Mountain Hall’s name with your cowardice. Stand your ground and fight.”

“You can do that while I pepper you with arrows from out of range,” Eren replied, his face crinkling in displeasure. “Or have you forgotten how our last match went?”

Blake grunted. “I remember. You ran around like a little bird, peppering me with worthless attacks that did no damage until we ran out of time.”

“I still won,” Eren pointed out. “By points.”

“Points mean nothing on the battlefield,” Blake said, crossing his arms. “If it were a real fight, you would have accomplished nothing.”

The two descended into an argument while everyone else watched on in a mixture of amusement and annoyance. It went on for several minutes before a sharp cough made everyone other than Damien freeze.

“What’s going on here?” a woman asked, striding up to them. Her brown and yellow robe rippled around her feet. It was open chested, and she wore fitted armor made of some silver metal beneath it. Two short swords hung at the woman’s hips, faint traces of Ether curling off them.

Her face was youthful, and Damien’s estimate put her no more than a few years older than him. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a Year Four student, but the reactions of the other students told him that probably wasn’t the case.

“Sorry, professor,” Blake and Eren said at the same time.

“They got distracted,” Tim said, speaking for the first time. “But, in our defense, you were late as well.”

“I’m always late,” the professor said, letting out a huff. “That isn’t an excuse for slacking off. Get to it, morons.”

Blake and Eren both broke into a run, starting a lap around the arena. Damien had to stifle a laugh.

Is this Delph’s daughter or something?

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the professor asked, turning her cold gaze on Damien.

“Transfer student, and transfer student,” Damien replied, giving her a salute. “I’m here to learn.”

“What’s a transfer student doing in my class?”

“Ooh, she looks like she’s no-nonsense,” Henry said with a giggle. “Quick, say something snarky.”

“Professor Hawk transferred me in,” Damien replied. “I assumed he’d tell you.”

“Like I’d let that old codger anywhere near me while I’m off work,” the woman said with a snort. “Absolutely not. Why’d he transfer you? Couldn’t be bothered to teach?”

Venus opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap. Evidently, she knew better than to try and interrupt the professor.

“Because I beat up a bunch of students that attacked me,” Damien replied. “And I wouldn’t learn anything from the normal class. I’d rather spend my time doing something useful than taking care of the dregs of your school.”

The professor blinked. A flicker of approval passed over her face, but it was immediately replaced by anger. “Oh? Is that so? Cocky little Year Three, aren’t you?”

“Year Two,” Damien corrected, cracking his neck. He was pretty sure he knew what was coming. “I don’t suppose you’ve been listening to any rumors going around yesterday and this morning?”

“Rumors are for idiots,” the woman said, drawing the swords from her sides. The other students beat a hasty retreat to the edge of the arena as she stepped forward, pointing one at Damien. “Nobody joins my class unless I approve them. So go ahead, rookie. Prove you belong here.”

Yep. She’s mini-Delph. Henry, get ready to dance.

“What are the rules?” Damien asked. “And what do I get out of this? Hawk already transferred me into your class. Are you going to undo that?”

She snorted. “I’ll tell you my name and teach you. That’s reward enough. Rules are we go until submission. I won’t kill kids, and there are healers nearby. That good enough–”

Damein’s mage armor shot out, tendrils forming at its base and shooting at the professor. Damien Warp Stepped at the same time, driving his fist into the side of her face. It only connected for an instant before she blurred, reappearing a foot away.

“You said we’d started,” Damien said with a grin. “That means the match is on, Miss Professor.”

A grin stretched across her face. Then she vanished. Damien teleported instantly, throwing himself into the air. The professor appeared where he’d been standing, her swords passing through the space where his chest had been. She certainly wasn’t holding any punches.

Damien teleported once more, appearing directly above her and driving his feet down onto her shoulders. At the same time, he grabbed her shoes with Telekinesis and tried to yank them out from under her.

She reacted with incredible speed, knocking his influence free before he could even budge them an inch. The professor twisted her body, throwing Damien off balance and thrusting a blade for his chest.

He teleported again, then cast a Gravity Sphere on her position. There was a sharp crack, but she was already before him, swinging both of her blades. Damien enlarged the sand beneath her feet, catching the professor by surprise and shooting her into the air on a pillar.

Shit, she’s almost as fast as Stormsword.

Gathering the Ether in the air, Damien cast Storm around himself. Sand whipped up in a furious howl around him as minute tears in reality spiraled. The professor skidded to a stop outside the radius of the spell, studying it with a frown.

“A defensive spell? Dangerous, but it looks like it uses a lot of Ether. How long can you keep that up?” A hungry grin crossed her face. “Because I can wait here all day.”

“Longer than you think,” Damien replied. “But you’re wrong.”

He flicked his fingers. The spell leapt forward, several of the scars in reality catching the professor’s robes and shredding her sleeves before she flickered, positioning to safety several lengths away from him.

Damien didn’t relent and guided the spell after her. Splitting his concentration, he formed two Gravity Lances in his hands and lobbed them, trying to predict where she would show up. She managed to dodge both, then made a beeline for Damien.

Henry’s cloak tendrils shot out in all directions, grasping for the professor before she could even get close. Her swords flashed and several of them were cut away. In instants, she was before Damien, her sword flying at his side.

A tendril shot up, catching her in the chest and knocking her back. She blurred the instant she touched the ground. The force of the strike tossed her into the air for nearly a second. When she came down, she blurred and dashed at Damien once more.

Damien Warp Stepped into the air, a frown crossing his face.

Is she only moving quickly when she’s touching the ground? I suppose it’s easy enough to test. Make sure she doesn’t cut me. I’m going to need a second. Also, smack her again.

Damien teleported back to the ground without waiting for Henry to respond. He knew that his companion would do his part. The professor wasted no time and was upon him instantly. Henry’s tendrils exploded around Damien, forming a cocoon around him and smacking her back once more.

This time, Damien Warp Stepped after her. He appeared in the air beside the professor. She was already twisting to swing a sword at him, but his hand was already on her shoulder. With a puff of dark smoke, she vanished.

Damien teleported into the air far above the arena, where he’d sent the professor. She hadn’t had a chance to respond to the spell, and he doubted the same trick would work a second time.

To his surprise, when he arrived beside where she should have been falling, the professor was flying. Not through magic, but with two leathery red wings that had sprouted from her back. They beat with large, rhythmic thuds, keeping her afloat effortlessly.

They locked eyes for an instant. Then Damien teleported back to the ground.

Nope. Not fighting her in the air.

Henry snorted. “Doesn’t look like she wants to fight up there either. I’d move a little bit to the right.”

Damien wasted no time in following his companion’s orders. A few seconds later, there was a deep thud as the professor slammed back to the earth. There was no sight of her wings, and it didn’t look like the fall had hurt her in the slightest.

She raised a hand. “Right, that’s done. The exercise is over.”

“Did I pass?”

She snorted. “Who trained you? What school are you from?”

“Blackmist,” Damien replied. “And I’ve had several teachers. I liked some more than others. You haven’t said if I passed yet, though.”

“Yes, you passed. Put up a better fight than all the other rookies I’ve trained,” the professor said, pursing her lips. “My name is Kat. While we’re in class, you will refer to me as Professor. You may use my name outside of it.”

“That fast?” Blake exclaimed as he passed, still doing laps around the arena. “You still won’t let me use it!”

“Because you haven’t earned it,” Kat snapped. “Run faster.”

The boy cursed and accelerated. Kat shook her head. Venus, Tim, and Quinlan walked back over to join them.

“That was pretty impressive,” Quinlan said.

“The Professor didn’t use her magic much,” Tim said with a shrug. “She was holding back.”

“I don’t recall you doing very well in your first fight against her either,” Venus said. “Quinlan was the only one that managed to score a hit.”

“Semantics,” Tim said.

“Trust me, it really wouldn’t have mattered,” Quinlan said with a small frown. “They were both holding back. This was a training fight, not a battle to the death.”

“You can’t be implying the transfer student can do more than what we already saw,” Tim said, his eyes flicking to Damien. “He’s a Year Two. That was his Battle Manifestation along with, what, four spells?”

“He can do more,” Venus said flatly.

“You’re already acquainted?” Kat asked, raising an eyebrow. “How’d that happen? Hasn’t it only been a day since… wait, what was your name?”

“Damien.”

“Hasn’t it only been a day since Damien showed up?”

“Damien was one of the students that Blackmist sent to the Forsad expedition,” Quinlan said. “He’s one of the ones that fought the Corrupted monster that attacked at the end of it. He’s also the one that defeated it.”

“Temporarily,” Damien clarified. “I kicked it through a portal.”

Eren, who was jogging past them, tripped over his own feet and faceplanted in the sand. He staggered back up, staring at them in disbelief.

“Wait,” Kat said, her eyes narrowing. “That was you? Then you were also the student suspected of killing Drew and Bartholomew?”

“They got themselves killed,” Damien replied. “I had nothing to do with it.”

That isn’t even a lie. Second killed them, not me.

“Then… your main teacher, it was Delph?” Kat asked, her face unreadable.

“Yeah,” Damien replied. “He’s taught me a lot, but most of my spells were actually self-taught. I’ve also had some other teachers. Why’s it matter?”

“Class is adjourned,” Kat said. “You are coming with me.”

She flickered forward, grabbing Damien by the wrist. Before he could properly react, the Professor dragged him out of the arena. Saying they ran was an understatement – it was more like Kat was flying him in the air behind her like a flag.

Damien nearly Warp Stepped away, but he stopped himself at the last second. She hadn’t attacked yet, so perhaps she had something useful to say. It was also a little difficult to think with wind screaming past his head.

They skidded to a stop in a small garden and Kat plopped Damien down on his feet. She pointed at a bench. “Sit.”

Damien sat, bemused. “What’s going on?”

Kat’s stern expression vanished, turning expectant. “How has Delph been these days? I’ve been trying to track him down for years, but he always slips away before I can catch him. He was my teacher and mentor when I was in the frontlines!”

Eight Planes, I knew it.