Eli

  My mouth had a cotton ball feeling when I came to. Opening my eyes, I looked around to find that I was in the interrogation room, again. This time though, I was on a cot and not being glared at by multiple people. The only other person in the room was Professor Olivia who was sitting on a chair by the closed door reading a book. It was the first time I had actually seen a book since coming to this world, which was odd now that I thought about it.

  Hearing my moving around, she looked up and closed her book. “Good, your up. Now tell me what you remember.” So, I did. Including everything from when we entered the forest to when I finally passed out. “You are saying that the world froze around you, and you were able to create a spell while in that state. A spell that you had never tried.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “I had cast the spell before. We tested the shield before lunch. In fact, Janet had come up with modifications while we had been eating. That’s why we were going back to the lake. We needed to test those changes.”

  A finger went up. “Minor modifications, like one or two components being changed or moved, would be considered nearly the same spell. You inverted the entire spell structure. Doing that to most spells would not work. Typically, they would fail or do something different from what you would expect.”

  “The only reason I did that is I needed the shield to surround him and keep the spell out of his reach.”

  Taking a second, she thought before speaking. “Think about it this way. What would happen if you inverted the rock-tossing spell I taught you?”

  I didn’t actually know. She seemed to be giving me time to think about it, so I took it. Creating the spell in my mind and looking at how it was formed. “It would pull the target toward the rock.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “It still moves rocks toward the target. The only difference is that the mana flows in the opposite direction. Pulling the rocks instead of pushing them. Setting the spell aside, the way you cast it isn’t unheard of. In fact, there have been many mages that have had similar experiences. Most of them became great front-line fighters. Trying to recreate that experience. All of them led short and bloody lives.”

  She was talking about berserkers and adrenalin junkies. While that had been an odd sensation and experience, I never really wanted to be in that situation again. “What is going to happen to the other student?”

  “He is a mage. His family has already recalled him back home for the rest of the vacation. They will punish him as they see fit.” I could read between the lines. They were going to punish him for being caught, not for the killing. “If I were you, I would learn to cast that spell faster or find a better way to defend yourself. Maybe even get a few tools made.”

  With that, she got up and left the room. Thinking through what she had said, I came up with a tentative plan. It relied on a number of things working out perfectly though. Quickly getting up, I jogged out of the building and to my room. The sun was down, and no one seemed to be awake. I would need to talk to Janet in the morning.

  Passing out on my bed, the night passed me by without a single dream. What finally woke me was the loud cries from outside my window. They woke me right up. Fearing the worst, I tripped on my blanket as I raced to the window. Looking out over the field that was just in sight, I caught people dueling and casting spells at targets.

  My sleep-addled mind had misinterpreted the cries of people charging and getting hit as cries of pain and battle. Relaxing, I stood there and watched them as I tried to calm my thrumming heart. Finally calmed down, I got ready to go out and find Janet.

  Shit, showered, and shaved, I walked out of my room and stopped just past the threshold. Standing there was Janet. Her hand raised as if to knock on my door. Before I could say anything, she hugged me tight. “Thank god you're fine.”

  Perplexed, I asked, “What do you mean? He didn’t hit me, unlike you. Wait, how are you doing?”

  “Professor Olivia said that she couldn’t detect any mana left in you, and no one could find a pulse. We all thought you were dead. The mages all looked happy at that, all except Professor Olivia. She carried you off and left me to the healers. You have been gone for a couple of days.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Now that I thought about it, I had nowhere near enough mana to cast the shield spell on my own, even with a full core. Just what had happened to me? Maybe the professor would tell me if I asked her. “Well, I am fine. Did you manage to test any of the shield spells you came up with?”

  Letting me go, she looked up. Tears glistened as she held them back. “I did. Though they each had issues. I have a new one I want to test that combines aspects of each.” Talking about spells seemed to pull her back from whatever edge she had been on.

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Reaching back, I pulled the door closed. It was harder than I expected because she refused to release her grip on me. Softly, I said, “You need to let go.”

  “Why?” her eyes reminded me of puppy dog eyes at that moment. A gleam shone deep in them, letting me know she was cooking something up. “Maybe I should stay like this. We would make a cute couple, wouldn’t we? So, what do you say?”

  “I am sure that we would. Unfortunately, I have a girlfriend.” I was nice but firm. Not wanting to hurt her feelings.

  “And where is she? I have not seen you close to anyone. You even keep the three of us at arm's distance. Don’t think we haven’t noticed.”

  She was right, I had been doing just that. Something about my situation caused me to need to do so. Thinking over everything I had learned so far from this academy, I realized just what it was. It was Alissa. Specifically, the beast part of her. If the mages were this bad with humans that could cast magic, how bad would they treat one like her? A human turned into one of their races enemy. How would they treat someone who was dating such a human? “Your right, I have been keeping you all at a distance. However, there are reasons I cannot explain, at least not right now.” Not ever.

  “It makes me sad to hear that we have not gained your trust yet. I hope that we can change your mind. Anyway, lets go test the shields.” Pulling away, she turned and walked down the hall. Her arm reaching up to wipe her eyes. I pretended I didn’t see it, nor that I heard her sniffling.

  People waved and called out to us as we passed through the field. No one joined us though. They kept practicing against their fellow classmates. Apparently our near brush with death had woken the group to the reality of our situation. Upon reaching the lake, I found it to be glassy smooth. The sun was clouded over enough that it didn’t cook the area, but there was enough sunlight to keep the air warm.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Setting her device on the table, she pulled up a single large spell diagram. One of the most complex I had seen. Thread wove here and there. Some of the components were placed inside of others. Off to the side was a second diagram. The two were connected with a single large, braided thread. In the middle of that braided thread was a single component.

  Pointing at the second diagram, she said, “This is the solar spell. I figured it would be good to have a spell that could do what we wanted without being tied to another spell. It can be cast on its own.” Moving her finger to point at the single component in the middle, she continued, “This is a connection point. You can connect any number of spells to this point or even connect your core. Though I would not recommend doing so. Not unless you are ready to have your core fill at super speed and burst.” Pointing at the last section, she said, “This is the shield spell. It is more complex than before, but it will function similarly to the solar spell.”

  “What do you mean similar? What will it do exactly.” I trusted her, but I wasn’t going to cast such a complex spell without more to go on.

  “I had to ask a professor for help with some concepts, but the spell will react to external stimulus.” She gestured at the large components that enclosed the spell. “This section will act like a pseudo-detection circuit. If magic approaches the shield, it will activate the shield in that area. You can also direct the spell to activate or deactivate specific sections at will. By pushing mana into this part.”

  “Can you even cast something like this?” I asked, impressed at the scope and forethought of the spell. The complexity worried me, though. “I sure as hell don’t think I can. Not without a ton of help.”

  “I would not be able to help you enough to cast this spell,” came Sàga’s voice from my pocket. “There are too many components and intent required.”

  “Yeah, about that.” Janet scratched her cheek. “I can’t even cast the solar spell on my own. I have the mana. I just don’t have the ability to hold everything in place at the same time. On top of that, the shield spell requires the caster to hold what they want the spell to do in their mind. I just cannot visualize it well enough.”

  “Why does it require the intent? Shouldn’t it work like every other spell?”

  “Every spell requires some level of intent. The question becomes how much intent a spell requires. Because the components are layered as they are, their interference is too great for a casual thought to suffice. Without full visualization and desire, the spell will just blast apart.”

  “And you think I will be able to cast it?”

  “Probably. Professor Olivia asked me a few questions this morning about the shield spells we have been working on. She was confused about how you managed to change it and cast it fast enough to deal with his spell. Something she thought was impossible. Or that’s what I got from what she was muttering.”

  Shaking my head, I delved into my center to get a few threads to give the spell a try. What I saw shocked me. My core had undergone quite a number of changes. Most notably, it was smaller than before. On top of that, the surface seemed to be faintly glowing. With each beat of my heart, the core brightened and seemed to minutely expand and contract.

  Pushing my shock to the side, I pulled a thread of mana out. It felt more solid. As if it was a piece of yarn in my hand. Curious, I reflexively cast the storage spell with no element component. It filled near instantly with only a small dip in the amount of mana stored in my core. Pulling the mana back out of the storage spell, I noticed the resulting thread was as thin as before.

  Confused, I compared the mana inside my core to the mana in the spell. The only difference I could find was its density. It was like looking at a liquid versus a gas. Cutting the spell off, I let all the mana flow back to my core. Taking some new threads out, I opened my eyes and looked over the first components of the spell and their placement.

  Unlike before, I was somehow able to form three components at the same time while holding the ones I had already made. Taking my time, I formed each part, only stopping when it came time to weave everything together and finish the component that was made up of the rest of the spell.

  After a deep breath I pulled up images of protection and shield. Without meaning to, my mind wandered over thoughts of protecting Alissa. Mentally shrugging, I focused on those thoughts as I wove the last thread into the shield spell. It snapped into place above the table. Janet looked on with awe and glee as I held the finished spell. I had never managed to cast and hold a fourth of the components I was holding now. On top of that, now that the spell was complete, I was able to hold the entire thing as one component.

  “Well, activate it,” she said, snapping me out of my shocked state.

  Without even trying, I knew I didn’t have enough mana to do that. Something was screaming inside me saying not even to try. Puzzled about the feeling, I shook my head as I said, “I don’t think I can.”

  “Then cast the solar spell.” Nodding, I mentally pushed the shield spell to the side and started to cast the solar spell. It was easy. Nearly forming itself out of my mana. Without even meaning to, I activated the spell as I finished forming it. A hexagonal panel formed high above us and filled the spells storage.

  Looking around, I tried to find the shield spell. A soft banging sound brought my attention back to Janet. Her forehead had smacked the table. “You forgot to tie the two spells together.”

  Sheepishly, I pulled a series of threads from the solar spell and wove together the umbilical that would connect the two. Finalizing the connection, as well as the storage in the middle, I watched as the number of solar panels increased to nearly cover the entire lake side. Mana flooded into the shield spell and activated it.

  After that, the solar panels vanished in clusters until only twenty small panels were directly overhead. Still, the shield spell did nothing. Nothing of the shield was visible. Confused, I asked, “Did the spell not work?”

  “No, it worked.” She got up and started to walk away. Getting up to follow her, she gestured for me to stay. As soon as she was fifteen feet away, she cast a simple fireball at me. Before I had a chance to react, a series of iridescent blue hexagonal and triangular plates popped into being in front of the fireball.

  The ball of fire seemed to pop out of existence as the plates vanished. Her grin was from ear to ear as she came back into sight. “I honestly didn’t know if the spell would work.” She admitted.

  “And you tossed a fireball at me to test it? Are you crazy?”

  She shrugged. “Hey, it did work. And now you have a shield that will do what you wanted. How much strain is it to hold?”

  “I don’t feel any strain at all.”

  “Try casting a spell out of it.” I held up my hand. A fireball suddenly appearing above it without my consciously casting the spell. She quickly held up her hands, saying “Cast it at the lake, not me. Remember, I don’t have a shield.”

  Laughing, I tossed the spell out to the middle of the lake. It passed through the shield like it was not there. “Nice, I will be able to attack while also defending.” The thought that I would only be able to act as a wall had crossed my mind. I didn’t realize how much it had bothered me until casting that spell.

  Sitting down on the bench, I looked out at the lake. At some point, she came over and joined me. When I noticed, I asked her, “Do you think you can create a simplified version that I can use for an enchantment?”

  Shaking her head, she said, “Not really. That is as simple as I can make the spell. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work though. Maybe ask the enchanting professor or one of his students.”

  “Do you know who in our group is in the enchanting class?” I asked, curious if she knew I was the only one.

  “I heard that we had a few people try to get into the class, but the professor rejected all but one. Do you know who it is?” That took me aback. I hadn’t realized that there have been other people trying to get into the class nor that he had rejected them. Who was the professor that he could just decide who could be in his class?

  In an effort to deflect the question without lying, I said “I will see about asking the professor then.”

  Standing up, she asked, “You want to get some lunch?”

  Looking up at the sun, I realized just how late it had gotten. Shaking my head, I said, “I think I am good.” Of course, my stomach chose that moment to let out a loud growl. Looking at me skeptically she just waited for me to agree. Sighing, I rose and we walked toward the cafeteria.