Eli

  Finally, we walked back to the designated meeting point. All of the mages were standing in their lines off to the side. None of them looked to have bought anything. Scattered in groups, our class stood with various items in their hands. Ranging from weapons to trinkets.

  “Hey, Eli.” Janet said as we stood off to the side. “Do you still have your shield up?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Sheesh,” Robert said, “Just how much mana do you have now to be able to hold a spell like that up for so long?”

  Joanne wacked him on the back of the head. “Do you not remember that Janet and he were testing ways to provide mana to it without draining themselves. What I want to know is how he has the capacity to keep such a complex spell going without only concentrating on it.”

  Shrugging, all I said was “I finished Professor Olivia’s assignment early.”

  Before she could be interrupted again, Janet said, “I doubt anyone else here has a spell that actively blocks magic. Do you think that could be what caused the teleportation spell to affect you while leaving everyone else alone?”

  “It could be, though I doubt it.” I said as I thought through what the spell actually did. Honestly, she would be the only one who knew all the various parts and how they worked. “Do you think I should try teleporting without it?”

  “Yeah, with the professors here, no student would dare attack.” Agreeing with her, I shut down the spell. I felt something slither from it and into my core.

  Just as I reached inside to try and pinpoint what it had been, Professor Olivia started to speak. “It is getting late. A number of groups have yet to return. While Professor Hill and I go looking for them, Professor Sebastian and Professor Bennett will teleport the rest of you back to the academy.”

  I hadn’t even noticed when the two professors had shown up. Apparently neither had the rest of the group as they all started to talk. Professor Sebastian’s voice cut through the chatter. “Everyone into the circle.” We all rushed in.

  As soon as the last person crossed the threshold, the professor chanted the spell. Magic rushed up to form the dome like before. Once it fully covered the group, a loud popping noise was accompanied by a twisting sensation. Not having enough time, I dropped to my hands and knees as I tossed my stomach.

  All around me, I heard people screaming. Spells of various types flew at us from all around. Each didn’t seem to do much damage. To me, they looked like they were just distractions as the majority of the larger spells hit the professor.

  Professor Bennett was down on his knees. A spell shield held in front of him as it took fire. I could see the surface cracking under the bombardment. “Stop!” came Professor Sebastian’s voice.

  All of the spells stopped flying. People around me cried as they clutched at various wounds. Professor Bennett was breathing hard as he said, “Why are you doing this? What is worth betraying your oath to the academy?”

  “The academy is rotting. At first, it was little things but now that they allow abominations to walk its hallowed grounds. The entire thing needs to be burned down and rebuilt.”

  “Do you really think anyone will just let you do that and not put you to trial? None of the other professors will allow it.”

  “Hah, who said anything about any other professors being alive? All the investigators will know is that a rogue group infiltrated the academy via the teleportation circle and killed all the professors and a number of students. They will believe me as I had been warning about the security vulnerability that the circle poses after all. Now, any last words?”

  “Professor Olivia and the Headmaster will stop you.”

  “They will try. Goodbye.” Professor Sebastian rapidly cast spell after spell. Peppering Professor Bennett’s shield. The shield shattered and the spells went through his body.

  Janet’s voice broke me out of the stupefied trance I had fallen into. “Where is your shield?”

  “It’s down.”

  Her voice was frantic as she said, “We need it.”

  I shook my head. “It will take too long to cast.”

  “We don’t have a choice. If you don’t cast that spell, we will all die.”

  Joanne and Robert cut in, “We will buy you as much time as we can.”

  A spell came within an inch of my face. It dug into the stone near me, shooting splinters of stone at me. The stinging pain was the last push I needed to move. Forcing everything out of my mind I pulled Sàga out and placed her on the ground. Without prompting, she projected the shielding and solar spell combo.

  Taking my time, I formed as many threads of mana as I could. Constructing component after component, section after section all while ignoring all the screams and cries around me. Five long minutes felt like an eternity, but the spell was finally done. Pushing all of the rest of my mana into the solar section caused my vision to narrow. It instantly activated and grew to cover the sky above us.

  Even though it was dark, it poured mana into the shielding section, activating it. A blue opalescent shield made of hexagons and triangles formed around the group. Spells hit the shield on both sides and vanished. “ROBERT!” cried Joanne. Forcing myself to my feet, I stumbled in the direction her voice had come from.

  Along the way, I saw that everyone was wounded. Some with burns while others had holes through various limbs. Having seen how the professor had been killed, I knew they had been taking their time. Playing with us just as a cat would before going in for the kill.

  Joanne was holding someone in her arms. The body looked bloody. The entire left side seemed torn apart like it had been hit by an explosion from point blank range. Someone rushed past me and toward the person.

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  “Anne, can you heal him?” Joanne cried.

  Green and white light enveloped her and rained down on the torn-up body for a couple of seconds before she slumped back. “He is too far gone. I don’t have the mana or skill to deal with it.

  “What if you had more mana?” I asked.

  “I could try to force the body to heal, but honestly there is little I could do. Only a saint or Angel could heal such a wound.”

  “Could you try to call an Angel?”

  “Hah,” she laughed in disbelief. “Me, call an Angel. I doubt the entire class, no, the academy, has enough mana to call an Angel.”

  “Could you give it a try?” I said as I prepared to do something stupid.

  “Sure, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t work.” The entire class heard what she was saying and backed up as far as they could. She just sat cross legged and started to chant. Her mana threads glimmering a visible gold color as she twisted together a spell.

  Quickly, I moved behind her. My hand lifted up the hem of her shirt. Just enough to put my hand directly behind where her core should be. Her body tensed as I did so. Taking a deep breath, I twisted multiple threads out from my core, down my arm and out my hand. There was a bit of resistance as I tried to pass through her skin.

  Forcing them through, her voice wavered a bit but continued her chant. Finally, I created a storage spell just next to her core. Mana poured from my core and into it. She must have noticed the spell as it started to drain faster than I could fill it. Her chanting and spell weaving sped up.

  Unfortunately, my core was nearly dry from force casting the solar spell. Pulling a thread of mana from the connecting storage component, I connected my core directly to the solar spell. Mana gushed down the connection, into my core and back out. Flowing from the solar spell, to me, to the storage spell, into her core and out to her spell.

  The mana flowed through me so fast that everything started to burn. I watched as cracks started to form and spill mana from my core. The threads poured mana like a sieve, and still the solar spell poured mana into me. At some point, I lost all sense of my body as my mind pulled in on itself.

  Janet

  Eli was dying and all I could do was watch. His skin started to radiate mana within seconds of touching Anne. His skin slowly dried, cracked and bled as the mana continued to pour off him. Anne finished her spell and a giant circle formed in the air above us. A door of golden light formed in the air and a majestic being glided out.

  My eyes closed as soon as I tried to lay eyes on it. The light radiating off of it was strong enough to hurt my eyes even with them closed. “Why have you called me?” Came a mixture of voices.

  “My friend is badly hurt. I cannot save him. Please heal him.” Anne called out.

  “Why should I do this?”

  “Are Angels not creatures of good? What good would come from letting him die?”

  “We are not. We are merely the foot soldiers of our lord against his enemy.”

  “What do you want in return for healing him?”

  “I wish for you to find a demon within a year. Summon me at that time.”

  “Agree to heal him first, then we have a deal.”

  While I didn’t see the light. I felt its effects as the Angel cast some spell or did something. The very air filled with life energy. Aches on my body were soothed as cuts itched. Opening my eyes carefully, I looked over at Robert.

  He was a ghastly grey color at this point but, as I watched, his flesh squirmed as his body healed. Within seconds, his color returned to normal. He no longer looked like he had been hit by a sizable fireball.

  “Remember your deal.” Said the Angel as it disappeared through the doorway.

  Everywhere I looked, people were healed. The only people I saw unhealed were those that were dead. Yet still the smell of burning flesh increased. My eyes scanned over everyone, trying to locate where the smell was coming from.

  A cry of pain yanked my eyes to Eli who was curled up on the ground. His flesh dry and blood starting to pool beneath him. I wasn’t the only one to rush to him, but I was the first to reach him.

  My shoulder hit Anne’s as I reached him. The shoulder check broke her out of her stupor. Seeing Eli, she froze. “Why didn’t the Angel heal him?” was all she kept saying as she watched. She probably thought that he was injured but would be able to be healed. I could see the cracks widening though. He was still being hurt by whatever this was.

  A sudden series of explosions around us broke Anne out of her daze. She chanted as her body glowed a soft golden color. The color traveled from her hands and onto his arm where she touched him. As it grew, his wounds started to heal. The cracked skin fused as moisture returned while blood stopped pouring out.

  As soon as the glow reached his chest, he started to cough blood. “It's fine,” Anne insisted, “His body is just removing the blood so he can breathe.”

  The glow continued to grow until it finally covered his body. As it did so, he started to shake as his mouth opened in a silent scream. “What are you doing to him?” I yelled at her.

  “The spell should be healing him.” She yelled back.

  “Well, it seems to be hurting him more.”

  “Where are you getting the mana for the spell?” Came Joanne’s calm voice.

  “From…” Anne seemed to realize something because she stopped casting. I watched her as she looked inward at her core. “Damn. I am getting the mana from him. No wonder he is in such a state.” Slumping back, Anne looked like she was at a loss.

  Not happy that she was seemingly giving up, I yelled at her. “What are you doing? Help him.”

  “I can’t,” her voice was soft. I could see the tears as they started to fall from her eyes. “The idiot is channeling too much mana. It is literally burning him up from the inside.”

  I pushed a thread of my mana into him to see what was going on and realized just what he had done. The solar spell was tied directly to his core. There was no valve or other control spell in place to protect him. He had just let the mana flow freely. His core was visibly cracked in multiple places, the mana pouring out in thick rivers. Everywhere it touched, his body burned.

  Reaching forward, I wrapped my thread around the tattered, cracked thread connecting him to the spell. Before I could even do anything, the thread shattered. Mana poured out of both broken ends. Burning him even faster. Pain laced through my legs, but I pushed past it.

  Quickly forming two storage spells, I carefully connected both broken ends. The mana flow instantly filled the spells and nearly caused them to explode. Thankfully, they held out. Pulling back, I looked down to see he was no longer getting worse.

  “Try healing him now,” I told Anne. She looked confused but didn’t argue. His body started to heal but then he started to convulse. Sliding him off me, other people helped hold him still. The convulsing didn’t stop until Anne finished healing him. His skin was a little better, but no where near healed.

  It was then that I realized everything outside the shield had been quiet for some time. Finally taking a second to look around I found Professor Olivia and Professor Hill standing outside. They were watching us, unable to break through the shield to help. Each of us just stayed there, waiting for the shield to drop. A couple of hours later, Eli woke up just long enough to do something to the shield.

  Professor Olivia just shook her head as she watched him pass out again. When I tried to stand, I collapsed to the ground. My legs felt numb. Looking at my legs, I noticed I was bleeding through thin but deep holes.

  “Looks like some pure mana burned you.” Professor Hill said as she examined the wounds. “Now where would you have come into contact with such a dangerous substance?” before I could ask her what she meant; she looked over Eli. “But you got off lucky compared to him. His body has been ravaged by pure mana as well as the healing your friend did.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, he is apparently allergic to light and dark mana. Something about either seems to disagree with his body.”

  “That would explain the issues with the teleportation circles. When was the last case of someone being allergic to a mana type? Let alone two.” Professor Olivia asked.

  “Three hundred years, maybe? The kid was killed by his parents when they found out. No one was able to do any research on the topic because of it. Imagine what could have been learned if someone had been allowed to do so.”

  I was disgusted upon hearing that someone had killed their kid just because they were allergic to something. One of the professors cast a spell that lifted Eli off the ground to hover next to them as they started down the path. I let the nurse check me out before heading back. On my way, people were frantically running around yelling at each other.