Akari woke up early the next morning, and she and Kalden headed straight for the Student Admissions Office on the north side of campus. They turned in their second-year insignias at the front desk, expecting a quick exchange.

  Instead, their appearance caused an uproar among the staff. It had been decades since anyone skipped a grade, and no one knew how to handle it. Several staff members had to consult the books in the back room. When that didn’t work, they had to contact the school’s President of Bureaucratic Bullshit and have him sort it out. And no, that wasn’t the guy’s real title, but it might as well have been.

  For Talek’s sake. Akari almost hopped over the desk and did this herself.

  Eventually, the workers got their act together, and she and Kalden left the office with their shiny new third-year insignias. These came with several perks, including unlimited access to the Artegium’s facilities, and the Hollows beneath Koreldon City. The Hollows weren’t exactly hard to get to, but this insignia let them pass through the official checkpoints without any trouble.

  They also got printed copies of their new schedules. The Combat Arts program only had two dozen third-years, and they’d crammed everyone into a single block. Two classes on Irinday and Narsday, and two more on Garsday and Hansday.

  Aside from those four classes, she and Kalden still had to take their usual second-year academics. They might technically be third-years in the Artegium, but that didn’t exempt them from the school’s graduation requirements.

  Kalden spent some time browsing the list of classes, but Akari left her own slots blank. They would all be fugitives after they rescued Relia, and fugitives didn’t need fancy degrees. Sure, the classes themselves might be useful, but you could learn the same stuff at a library for free. Not to mention faster.

  Speaking of libraries, they headed straight there once their paperwork was done. As always, the cylindrical building stood at the center of the Artegium, towering over the other buildings like a solitary mountain peak. Tiers of bookshelves spiraled along the edges of the main chamber, and morning sunlight shone through the stained glass windows, painting the floor in a rainbow of colors.

  Akari and Kalden followed the winding walkway to the top of the main chamber. Here, they stepped into a stairwell that brought them to the sixth level. She’d been up here during the qualifying rounds, but never in real life.

  Bookshelves lined every wall of the antechamber, and a trio of wooden tables filled the space between. A pair of double doors loomed opposite the stairwell, surrounded by pillars of twisting bronze. An old wooden sign hung over the door with the words “Restricted Section” in gold embossed letters.

  Akari crossed the room in ten quick strides, then she scanned her new third-year insignia on the pad beside the door. The light turned red, and it gave her a disapproving buzz.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding,” she muttered. She tried again but got the same result.

  “Maybe they still need to add us to the database,” Kalden said when his own insignia failed. “We just finished the paperwork ten minutes ago.”

  True enough. It would make more sense to keep all the third-years in a single database, but since when did the Artegium care about efficiency?

  They retraced their steps to the main floor and approached the front desk where the librarian sat behind her computer. She was a Shokenese woman in her mid-thirties with short black hair, black glasses, and a slender build. She actually looked a bit like Akari’s mother, except for her expression. Akari’s mom was always smiling, but this woman looked overworked and sleep-deprived.

  “Morning,” Kalden said as they approached. “We’re having some trouble upstairs. We’re both third-years, but—”

  The librarian cut him off with a tired groan, rubbing her temples. “You need a letter from a teacher.”

  Akari blinked. “What?”

  “A formal letter of recommendation,” the woman clarified. “Signed and dated sometime this semester.”

  “That’s not a thing,” Akari said. “All third-years can go in without a letter. That’s what the rules online say.”

  “They changed the rules yesterday morning. Everyone needs a letter now—even the third-years. Trust me, you’re not the first ones to complain.”

  Akari let out an explosive sigh. Raizen couldn’t break the current rules, but he could still invent new ways to screw them over.

  “Fine.” Kalden said. “Who do we talk to about getting this letter?”

  “Any Artegium instructor should do.”

  Kalden thanked the woman, then he and Akari left to find a teacher. Elend might be gone, but they still had friends here.

  ~~~

  “Master Nightfang!” Akari hollered as she jogged across the Artegium Ring. It was almost nine o’clock now, and crowds of students filled the cobblestone walkways, while others cut through the freshly mowed grass.

  “Oh, so it’s Master Nightfang now?” The middle-aged woman flashed her a knowing grin. “What’s next? Are you going to carry my bag for me?”

  Akari rolled her eyes as she fell into step beside the teacher. She wasn’t that bad, was she?

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The aforementioned bag floated behind her on a platform of pure mana. Aria sat beside the bag, dangling her small legs over the edge and watching the crowds of students. The eight-year-old girl looked like a miniature version of Nightfang, with her dark hair in a ponytail, and a dusting of freckles over her nose. She gave Akari a cheerful wave when she approached.

  Akari waved back, feeling about as natural as one of Arturo’s golems. She might be an Artisan now, but she still had no idea how to act around kids.

  “Let me guess,” Nightfang said. “You need a letter for the library?”

  “Yeah, that’d be great.” No sense in playing coy. Nightfang had probably gotten several requests already.

  The older woman let out a soft sound, somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle.“You do realize why they added this rule, don’t you?”

  “Not really.” Akari furrowed her brow. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “Wrong?” Nightfang echoed. “No. Nothing they can prove, at least. But you breezed through the Apprentice realm in less than a year. No one’s ever done that without . . .” Her eyes darted meaningfully toward her daughter. “Certain illegal substances.”

  “I know what soulshine is,” Aria said with a satisfied grin.

  “Of course you do,” Nightfang muttered.

  Akari forced herself to keep a straight face. “Innocent till proven guilty, right?”

  “It’s not like you’re getting expelled,” Nightfang retorted.

  “So?” Akari pressed. “Why do they care so much?” She knew why, of course. This was Ashur Moonfire sabotaging their efforts to save Relia. But Nightfang and the other teachers wouldn’t know about that. There must be an official story, right?

  They reached the doors of the Combat Arts Center, but Nightfang took a sharp right, stepping off the stone path into the grass. Aria laughed as the platform made a sharp turn. How did the girl even stay on there with no handles? Was her mom holding her in place with invisible strands of mana?

  “Look,” Nightfang said. “I’ll be honest with you. You’re a spacetime artist who hasn’t done a single time technique. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out what you want.”

  “Fine.” Akari spread out her hands. “You got me. I’m trying to learn about my aspect. What a crazy idea. Shouldn’t my teachers be helping me and not screwing me over?”

  Nightfang raised an eyebrow. “Are we really your teachers? How often do you let us teach you?”

  Akari hesitated. “Is this about Trask?” She’d already gotten that lecture from the rest of her team. Challenging him had been reckless in hindsight, but it seemed like a smart move at the time.

  “It’s not about him,” Nightfang said. “You and Kalden are both extremely talented—more so than any students I’ve ever had. No one expects you to fit the usual molds. At the same time, you can’t ignore your teachers then expect support whenever you need it.”

  Damnit. What could she say to that? Akari had gotten better this past year, forcing herself to accept ideas that weren’t her own. But Nightfang and her others wouldn’t know that. They just saw a seventeen-year-old who surged forward with no signs of stopping.

  “Same question,” Akari said. “Why does Raizen care so much?”

  The older woman raised an eyebrow. “This wasn’t Chancellor Raizen. He wasn’t even in the room when we discussed this new rule. Truewater and Seathorn called the vote, and it was almost unanimous.”

  Ouch. So much for having friends in the Artegium.

  Nightfang’s expression softened. “You’re up to something, Akari. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

  “So what happens if you write me a letter?” Akari asked. “Raizen won’t try to stop you?”

  “Tell you what.” Nightfang put her hands on her hips. “I’ll write your letter if you answer one question.”

  “Sure,” Akari said.

  Nightfang shot a look at her daughter, then she raised her palm toward the sky. Semi-transparent mana erupted in a small fountain, forming a pale blue dome around them. Aria pouted at them from the other side.

  “Why do you need those time manuals so badly?” she asked once they were alone.

  The whole truth wasn’t an option here. Elend and Nightfang were friends, but he hadn’t trusted her with their plan. And a pure-mana Construct might stop an eight-year-old from eavesdropping, but that hardly made it secure.

  “Do I need a reason?” Akari retorted. “Our city was just attacked. Everyone’s training harder than before.”

  The older woman clicked her tongue. “Dodging the question, I see. But I guess that’s my fault for sailing around the storm.” She rubbed at her temple and drew in a deep breath. “I’ll make this very simple for you. Are you planning to commit a crime in the near future? Or anything that would damage this school’s reputation?”

  Shit. A few months ago, Akari might have risked a lie. But her last advancement had given a better grasp of intention, and how it polluted a person’s mana. Nightfang might not be on Elend’s level, but she could still smell dishonesty from across a room.

  Then again, their plan to save Relia might technically be a crime, but Akari wasn’t doing anything wrong. If anything, this was the opposite, since Moonfire had taken Relia against her will. Maybe she could spin her words so that—

  Nightfang shook her head and tapped Akari’s arm with two fingers. “Wrong answer.” And with that, she broke her shield and headed inside the building.

  ~~~

  “This is bullshit,” Akari said as she collapsed on their bed. “We did all that work for nothing.” Arturo’s uncle had been her backup plan after Nightfang, but he was on sabbatical until the end of Hexember. That left exactly zero teachers on her side.

  “What’s done is done.” Kalden sat beside her and planted a kiss on her forehead. Some of the tension left her body, but it didn’t solve her problems. She needed those time manuals to advance to Master, and Koreldon University felt like a bigger waste of time every day.

  “We still have options,” he said after a short pause. “There are other schools out there. Not to mention private collections.”

  “That’s what Elend said, but no one’s gonna let us see technique manuals on short notice.” It didn’t help that most Espirians believed in the marks, and their supposed ability to keep away Storm’s Eye. The Darklights had made their opposition clear, and this had cost them several of their friends and connections.

  Kalden nodded in vague agreement. “Well . . . there might be another way to get the manuals from the library.”

  “Seriously?” Akari sat up and gave him a sidelong glance. Their soulbond wasn’t open in that moment, but she knew that look. “Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”

  His lip curled up in a wry grin. “As if you weren’t thinking the exact same thing.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong. Akari had been eyeing the library’s security system that morning, even before it denied them access to the restricted section.

  “Still,” she said. “Aren’t you gonna tell me I’m being reckless?”

  “I could, but then you’d remind me what’s at stake here. This isn’t about advancing faster. It’s about saving Relia. Figured we might as well save time and skip straight to the end. Besides, Nightfang gave you some good news today.”

  Akari shot him another look. “Good news?”

  “Yeah. We thought Raizen was sabotaging our efforts, but he doesn’t care about us. The others were just worried about the school’s reputation.”

  Akari gave a slow nod. Nightfang could have been lying, but that seemed unlikely. The Artegium was the continent’s top mana arts school, and people tended to blame them whenever things got heated in the realm of mana arts. The teachers might not know her long-term plans, but they could sense the trouble brewing. Worst of all, they were right. If she and Kalden succeeded in their goals, that would leave the Artegium with a shining black eye.

  With that in mind, the teachers’ actions made perfect sense. Why would they hand her the keys to even more power?

  “I’m not saying this will be easy,” Kalden said. “We’ll need the Darklights’ help, and Arturo’s. Maybe even the Cult of Solidor . . .” He trailed off with a shrug. “I don’t see a lot of other options, though. Your mom said you needed those manuals, and she’s the best time artist we know.”

  “Alright.” A slow grin spread across Akari’s face. “ I’m in. Let’s go rob the school library.”

  Web of Secrets Book 1 is now available for ebook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited:

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D7XSBKH2

  Book 2 (Web of Dreams) is also available for pre-order:

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DX13PV7V

  Support the story on Patreon and read ahead!

  https://www.patreon.com/davidmusk