Eli

  The next couple of weeks went by quickly. I would wake up and exercise to near collapse under Professor Bennett. Then quickly eat breakfast before learning more basic spells from Professor Olivia. So far, they were just utility spells. Stuff like condensing water or basic healing. Oh, and healing sucks. Each element does it differently, and she wanted everyone to practice healing with every element we could use, which included cutting ourselves, so we had something to heal.

  Then we all piled into our history class, where we learned about this world and the wars fought over the Earth. Though Professor Perez seemed to avoid any discussions on other species. Going so far as to ignore questions about them.

  For my weapon practice, well, attack magic and hand-to-hand fighting, Professor Olivia had moved us to another field. After teaching us two more attack spells, she started to divide the class time. Half of it was spent on spell practice, while the other half was hand-to-hand sparring. Her reason was that we may not always have access to mana and needed to be able to defend ourselves no matter what.

  And then there was Enchanting. Professor Aaron was not one to hover over his students. In fact, each class was nearly as hands-off as the first day. He did show me a few of his enchantments as he finished them. That was when I learned about the testing area. It was a platform off in the middle of a lake on academy grounds. On the beach was a spell-reinforced stone structure. From this structure, we watched as one of his enchantments failed so spectacularly that it made a tiny mushroom cloud.

  Under Sàga’s constant nagging, I constantly increased my mana capacity while practicing different spell constructs. Unfortunately, I was only ever able to hold ten different spell components at a time. My mind just hurt too much to do anything more.

  “Professor Olivia,” I asked as she was walking around, watching us practice some of our attack spells, “Is there any way to increase the number of constructs I can create? I have a hard time holding ten at the same time.”

  “Are you holding each spell component as a separate item in your head?” At my nod, she stopped to think. Speaking up, she asked the whole class, “How many of you hold each spell component in your head?”

  Everyone raised their hand minus one. Professor Olivia looked at her, and she sputtered, “I use an image to hold the entire spell in place.”

  “Good,” the professor said, “At least one of you has realized how to get around their limits. You need to find a way to hold entire spells or arrays in place with limited brain power. There are many ways to do so; imagery is a common method. That does not mean that it is the best method. Find the method that works best for you. In fact, that will be your homework over the two-week break. I expect you to have a method by the next class.”

  We had all heard about this break. It was due to multiple high-up Mage families that were throwing parties and festivals. Most of the professors and students would be gone during this time. All except us. We were still not allowed to leave the academy.

  Gathering my stuff, I went toward the enchanting lab. Tapped to the door was a note from the professor. ‘Come up with an enchantment of your own design while on vacation.’ Honestly, I didn’t believe the professor wasn’t still here. He was probably still in the room tinkering with a large enchantment. Instead of bothering him, I walked off to the lake. It would serve as a good quiet place to do some spell work. Maybe something there would be able to give me an idea toward my homework.

  While the cover or the trees did little to help with the heat in the air, it allowed me to enjoy it without burning. No matter who I asked, I had yet to find any sort of sunscreen. The tree lined dirt path opened up to reveal the lake and its small beach.

  Sitting at a bench, I pulled Sàga out. The first upgrade I had her look into was one to project spell components into the air with a holographic projection. Similar to how Professor Aaron’s did. It wasn’t as big as his, nor could she simulate the spells effects or if it was even viable. Basically, she was more of a three dimensional whiteboard for me to draw out ideas before trying the spells myself.

  Sitting there, I thought through the spells I had. Trying to figure out what I could do and what I could not. There were two things that kept popping into my head. I had no defensive spells and no way to gather mana minus what my core naturally gathered. Professor Olivia had demonstrated both, but she refused to teach them to us.

  Her shield took hits and directed them into where the sphere met the ground. I wanted something similar, but how to do it. At this point, I had quite a number of basic spell components. Sàga was even able to just recall them so I could add them into the workspace without drawing them every time.

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  Starting with a rain shield spell, I modified it a bit to create a more solid surface that could hold up to something hitting it. Giving the spell a test cast, the shield failed nearly instantly. Nearly soaked, I asked “Sàga, what just happened?” The entire thing had been too fast for me to see.

  “A breeze caused a ripple to travel over the surface. The spell then tried to compensate and smooth the surface again, only the breeze kept causing said ripple. Eventually the spell collapsed under the strain. Using water as your shield may not be viable. It is too easily bypassed.”

  “Could you tell what elements Professor Olivia used in her shield?”

  “As far as I could tell, it was a mix of all of them. While you do not have any light or dark affinity, you should be able to replicate what she did with the other four.” She made it sound so easy. Like she had seen the spell construct.

  Playing a hunch, I asked her, “Wait, do you know what spell she was using?”

  The spell I had drawn out disappeared while another spell took its place. “This is the general shield spell. It uses quite a bit of mana to support though.”

  “How did you get this?”

  “Her cast time may be instant when compared to all your classmates, but I can still see it.”

  “So, if I ever have to fight someone with magic, can you watch and predict what spells they will cast?”

  “If I have seen it before, sure. Otherwise, I will only be able to tell that a spell is coming and some of its components. Should I do so?”

  “Yes, please.” Having any sort of warning could help around here. Focusing, I looked at the spell. It held two component sections. Around the outside were all six of the mana input elements. However, the threads of mana did not combine like I had expected. They stayed separated and ran through different sections. Some of the sections held only one element, while others held all six, layered on top of each other. Each section also held come components I had never seen before.

  “Damn, that is complex. Highlight all the darkness and light element sections for me.” The top and bottom inputs changed from a light blue to red. From each, a wave of red flowed down the threads, highlighting all the sections that were connected to either element. “Ok, erase those sections for me.”

  As soon as the sections were gone, I moved the leftover sections around to balance each element and shorten all the thread distances. That took a bit of tweaking to get right and to keep each element as one continuous thread.

  Taking my time, I copied the new spell construct piece by piece. Crafting the spell as far from me as I could manage. Straining, I held the spell. After a deep breath, I pushed mana into each input. Mana flooded out of my core, nearly depleting me in an instant. A shimmering sphere surrounded the construct. Then it exploded.

  My back slammed into the edge of the table. I would be lucky if the only damage was a massive bruise. Ears ringing and sprawled out on the bench, I just groaned in pain. I must have passed out because, the next thing I knew someone was shaking me.

  Opening my eyes, I looked up, I made out the face of Professor Sebastian in the last rays of the sun. He was the other enchanting teacher, though he refused to do so for any of us freaks, as he called us. Finally, I was able to make out what he was saying, the ringing in my ears finally calming down. “You doing? Do you know how dangerous it is to do any magic without supervision, especially for you abominations? The amount of damage you could do, mages you could hurt, if you are not properly monitored.”

  See what I mean, asshole. He didn’t care that I was hurt. Just that I could have hurt other mages and damaged the place. It’s not like I had not seen Randle and his crew blowing up trees for fun last week. Not that I could say anything to anyone. “I am sorry, professor. Forgive me for not getting someone to supervise me. I think I will go to my room and lie down for a while.”

  Lucky for me, I didn’t have to go to any nurse or such. If I wasn’t conscious, then one of the professors would have brought me to them. Been there, done that. Most of them were just as bad as this professor. Only they used your treatment to get their thoughts across. “I will follow you to be sure you get there and don’t blow up something else.”

  Grimacing, I rotated away from the table. The professor jumped back. Probably thinking that I was about to throw up on him. While I would have loved to, I was hoping to use gravity to help me stand up without hurting myself anymore. Back twinging as it stretched and twisted, I gritted my teeth.

  My left foot lay flat on the ground while the other hung in the air. Taking a quick breath and holding it, I shoved my body up. All of my weight transferred from the table and onto the leg. Unable to balance myself, my body continued toward the ground. Quickly, I moved my other foot in that direction and let it take the force.

  The professor scoffed at me, having probably expected me to fall on my face. Staying in place, I waited for some of the pain to go from its hammer-forced throbbing to a more dull throb. “If you are in so much pain, I can just bring you to the nurse.”

  “No, I am good.” My words rushed out. Pushing past the pain, I stood up and took a stumbling step down the path. The darkness of the path had never bothered me. I could cast a light spell after all. But I hurt too much to even cast such a simple spell. As the shadows deepened, the amount of hidden roots and holes increased. Finally, one caught me, sending me sprawling to the ground.

  I could hear the professor laugh as he walked toward me. A pure white light spell flooding the area as he got close. His laugh abruptly stopped as he reached where I had tripped. Rolling to my side, I saw why. Lying there was one of my classmates, Billy. His mouth open as if to scream. A large, charred hole through his chest. I threw up.