“Jenn can’t join us for that,” Gregory said. “She has to go to classes. She isn’t exempt from them.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see what Gin says.”
“Yes,” Gregory nodded in agreement.
Falling silent, they entered the classroom. Magus Han was already seated and watched them with a thoughtful expression.
“Novices, I see you made your choice,” Marcia said.
“Yes, Magus,” Yukiko bowed her head to the teacher.
“Do you think it’s the right one?”
“We won’t know until later,” Yukiko replied. “They are supportive of us, though.”
“They’ll struggle to get you appropriate teachers,” Marcia said. “They had only a half dozen members left before you joined them. I don’t believe any of them are shadow magi.”
“I don’t know, Magus. The building and the staff they’ve provided were most generous.”
Marcia frowned. “They arranged for a clan hall?”
“Yes, Magus.”
“Hmm, interesting. It’s nice to see that you’re still attending my class.”
“We’d like to stay, Magus,” Gregory said. “We’ve been learning a lot from you.”
“That’s gratifying,” Marcia said.
“The fringer has a clan?” Petak asked incredulously. “What bottom-feeding clan took you in?”
Gregory and Yukiko ignored him as they got out paper and ink, getting ready for class.
“The clan must be a weak new one if you’re so embarrassed to not name them,” Petak snickered.
“Novice,” Marcia said, “I do trust you’ll stop before class begins?”
“I won’t interrupt your class, Magus,” Petak said quickly, remembering her restraining him with wind and dropping him days earlier.
“Good. Take your seat. The other novices are showing up.” Looking back to Yukiko and Gregory, Marcia gave them an appraising look. “If your clan fails you, know that the Han clan is willing to take you in.”
“Thank you, Magus,” the two said, bowing to her.
~*~*~
Economics class went by swiftly, as did their second study session in the archive.
“The postings for adepts are everywhere and cover so many different types of jobs. Tax collectors, border guards, teachers, assistants to a city magi... I find myself worried we won’t be posted to the same place,” Gregory said.
“Have you looked specifically at instances of two adepts being posted together?” Yukiko asked as they walked toward aether class.
“I’ll ask Rafiq,” Gregory sighed.
“I have some new stretches for us to do from the Peaceful Fist scroll,” Yukiko told him.
“Makes sense. It’s a mix of meditation and fighting.”
A commotion coming from the class ahead of them caught their attention. Quickening their pace, they took a side path, wanting to see and hear what was going on without being obvious about it.
They were in time to see two people carrying a charred body away. Gregory winced when he saw what was happening. Yukiko gripped his arm tightly, inhaling sharply.
“It was an accident,” Nick said as he left the training area. “They happen, Adept.”
“You will not be allowed back into this class,” Dunn said, his voice almost bordering on emotion. “That is twice this week that an Eternal Flame member has had an accident, and this time, it resulted in a death.”
Jason snorted as he walked past Dunn. “Grandmaster Shun will have something to say about that.”
“My word is final for this class,” Dunn replied, falling back into his flat monotone.
Yukiko pulled the shadows around the two of them as the argument happened, hoping that they would be missed. Dunn’s eyes flickered in their direction, but failed to see them. The other two never looked.
“My grandfather will likely be speaking with the council,” Nick smirked. “I’m sure I’ll be reinstated to the class. Until then, I’ll take my leave.”
“All of the Eternal Flame are removed from this period until a formal apology is made to me and the clan who lost their novice is appropriately compensated,” Dunn said. “The rest of you, go with him.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “If you want to bring conflict between the clans, you are well on your way, Dunn.” With that, Nick turned sharply on his heel and walked away.
Jason, Michelle, and the others hurried after him. Dunn watched them go with an emotionless gaze before turning back to the class. “Class is almost over. Collect your things. You may go early.”
The novices filed out of the area in small groups until they were all gone. When the last one walked away, Yukiko let go of the shadows.
“That doesn’t bode well...” Gregory murmured. “If they’re already looking to eliminate people before the next tournament, I don’t like our chances.”
“They already tried to get you once,” Yukiko said. “Next time, they’ll try harder.”
“Glad I don’t have any Eternal Flame in my weapons class,” Gregory said. “You need to be extra careful, though.”
“I will be, and I’ll have Jenn with me,” Yukiko reassured him.
Gregory nodded and stepped away from the tree they’d been standing near. “They’re all gone. We can go take our seats.”
Entering the class area, they found Dunn meditating in the sun. His legs were in the lotus position, and he had both hands resting palm up on his knees. They did their best to be quiet as they took their seats and got paper and ink ready.
“Today is training again,” Dunn said. “Only Gregory will be making notes.”
“Sir, I wanted to ask about dual affinities for magic,” Gregory said.
Dunn got to his feet. “Very rare... maybe one every decade. Normally, one magic is far stronger than the other, or both are weak.”
“I believe the leader of my clan has dual affinity,” Gregory said.
“He does,” Dunn nodded. “Wind and foretelling. Though the foretelling is far weaker for him, it’s been proven that he can see glimpses of the future. I’m surprised you joined Aether’s Guard.”
“The reason will be coming out shortly, sir,” Gregory said.
Dunn nodded slowly. “That would explain why no one knew what the ryuite meant. I can’t think of another magi who has foretelling as a magic.”
“You know a lot about aether, sir,” Yukiko said.
“By knowing oneself, we can get closer to our aether. It’s the reason I’m on the spirit path.”
“In some of my reading, there’s a cavern described for the spirit path,” Gregory said, wondering how Dunn saw it.
“Yes, the cavern of flame,” Dunn nodded, a smile touching his lips. “When I meditate on the flames, I can feel the aether trying to talk to me. I hope one day to be able to converse with it.”
Before either of them could ask Dunn another question, one of their classmates showed up and Dunn’s smile vanished. Giving them a small nod, he walked back to stand in the sun.
Aether introduction mostly went like it had the rest of the week: with Yukiko working on her magic, and Gregory talking to people and making notes. He got a slightly more friendly reception from the crafters than he had been getting.
Something different came near the end of class. Petak spun and threw fire at Gregory, but he hadn’t known that Dunn had been going to check on Gregory. The fire washed over Dunn, who immediately dropped to the ground and rolled, smothering the flames.
Petak’s face was white when he realized who he’d hit. The others near him backed away, not wanting to be involved. “Uh… sir… I… uh…!” Petak stammered, trying to come up with some excuse.
Dunn got to his feet, his skin red and slightly blistered. Looking at Petak, his voice was clipped and precise, “Novice, you will report to the council. The charge is attacking an instructor. Do you understand?”
“But, sir, I was aimi—!” Petak began before snapping his mouth shut.
“Add attempted assault
of a fellow novice to the charges,” Dunn said. “Go. Now. If you delay, I will add more.”
Petak looked back at the other Eternal Flame clan members in the class, who backed away from him. “Dammit,” he hissed as he ran.
“Class is over early,” Dunn said, clapping his hands. “Gather your things and go.”
“Sir,” Gregory asked, “do you need help getting to the infirmary?”
Dunn glanced at Gregory and shook his head. “No, I can make it on my own.”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory said.
Class emptied out rapidly, and Yukiko came over to get her bag. Gregory and Yukiko exchanged a knowing glance, understanding that the risk of attending classes was going up rapidly. Bags in place, they left the class behind and made their way for the arenas.
“They really are trying to thin out the others,” Yukiko said.
“I’m thinking we should pull out of our classes,” Gregory said.
“That would leave Jenn alone in physical conditioning.”
Gregory grimaced. “Dammit... We need to talk to Gin, as it is, and see if he’s already set a schedule for us.”
“Agreed. We should be extra careful today...”
“Yes. We need to let Jenn know about the attacks, too.”
~*~*~
The pair hurried to the arena of the day and saw Jenn already waiting for them. “Snacks first, right?” Jenn asked.
“Yes, but we need to tell you about some things,” Yukiko said as they took seats next to her. “The Eternal Flame is being aggressive.” Taking out her snack, she relayed what they had seen.
“We’ll have to be especially cautious during weapons training,” Jenn said when Yukiko finished. “At least we don’t have an adept of the Eternal Flame as an instructor.”
Gregory shuddered. “That’s a good point. You have enough of them to deal with, already.”
“We’ll be talking with Gin and seeing how he plans to train us after classes today,” Yukiko said. “Then, we’ll do our meditation at the clan hall before bathing and dinner.”
“Yes, best to stay in the clan hall as much as possible,” Jenn agreed. “Sadly, I can’t skip classes, too… You won’t leave me alone in this class, will you?”
Gregory popped the last bite of jerky into his mouth as he thought back for a moment. “Yuki, remember the first day of classes? The instructors told us that failing their class would restrict our postings, but neither Dunn nor Erichson said that. We should check and see if there’s a penalty for leaving those.”
“You’re right,” Yukiko agreed.
“Wait, I can miss those classes, too?” Jenn asked.
“No idea. We need to check,” Gregory replied.
“Archive on the way home?” Yukiko asked.
“That was my plan.”
Chapter Eighteen
Things were fine until Nick and the others in the Eternal Flame showed up for class. As the pack crossed the arena floor to get to the group of students, Nick saw Gregory and angled toward them.
“Pet-tit, joined the worst clan in the empire, did you?”
“No,” Gregory said as he rose to his feet. “We joined one of the oldest clans in the empire, not the one that tarnishes its own name by its actions, like the Eternal Flame.”
Nick’s lips twisted into a sneer. “Just wait… you’ll learn not to mock your betters.”
“My betters?” Gregory asked in surprise. “Did I lose my standing as top novice?”
Nick’s eyelid twitched, but Jason grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Magus is coming,” Jason said. “You’ll never repeat that, Pet-tit. Shun will be the one at the top next time.”
“No, he won’t,” Yukiko said. “But if Greg isn’t there, then either Jenn or I will be.”
“Silence, bird!” Michelle snapped. “Animals should be quiet until spoken to!”
“As should whores,” Jenn said calmly, coming to stand next to her friends. “Did you break that betrothal before or after you let Jason console you?”
Michelle’s face went white and she had almost made it to Jenn before Paul was suddenly between them. He stared Michelle down. “There will be no unsanctioned fighting in my presence. Understood?”
Michelle looked away from him. “Understood, Magus.”
“We apologize to you, Magus,” Gregory said, bowing formally to him. “We let them provoke us into exchanging taunts. We failed to account that ours would wound them so much.”
Paul’s lips twitched before quickly stilling back into a thin line. “If your two groups have a problem, you’ll get to settle it next year, during the apprentice tournaments. If things need to be solved before then, a duel can be arranged.”
“We’d accept it,” Nick sneered.
“Has your clan not lost enough face today, Novice Shun?” Paul asked pointedly. “One dead because of your ineptitude with fire, and an instructor burned by Novice Petak.”
Nick’s face flushed a deep red. “Ineptitude? I am the grandson of Grandmaster Shun. I am a prodigy with fire magic! I was able to cast an apprentice-level fire spell during the first novice tournament not once, but multiple times!”
“The fire that killed Novice Williams? You did it intentionally?” Paul’s question was pointed.
Jason spoke up quickly, overriding anything Nick might say, “Of course not. To even suggest that is to besmirch the name of the Eternal Flame.”
“Hmm, I hardly think a question besmirches the clan name. I had to ask, considering how much bragging Novice Shun just did. It was either ineptitude that killed a novice, or a deliberate attack.”
“We’re not going to stand for this!” Nick spat. “Eternal Flame, we go back to the clan, where we can be trained by an unbiased instructor.”
Paul watched the group leave with a flat stare. “Wasteful.”
“Sir, does this mean we can train with our clans during this class instead?” another novice asked.
Paul turned back to the class. “This is one of the classes that doesn’t restrict your postings if you miss it. It just makes it more likely you’ll die when you reach adept and beyond. Most of your clans won’t provide you the comprehensive combat training we will. The choice is yours, but I would consider it very carefully if you want a long life.”
“Yes, sir,” the novice said in a small voice.
“Now that they’re gone, fall in!”
The class shifted into the correct positions for stretching. Paul nodded before starting them on the routine they’d come to know. The class seemed a bit more relaxed when it was time to do laps around the arena.
“Now, we’ll move on to sparring. Instead of your usual partners, we’ll be pairing you off. This is the only way you’ll grow, by fighting different opponents. Adepts, pair them.”
Gregory was matched up against a novice he didn’t know that well. Yukiko ended up squaring off with one of the enchanters, and Jenn against an alchemist. Before his spar began, Gregory looked over the class and nodded, seeing the pattern.
Each of the worst fighters is against one of the better ones… Is that to help them learn through pain? Gregory tabled the idle thoughts as he bowed to his opponent.
“I’m going to get my ass kicked...” his opponent muttered.
“As I did when sparring with Yukiko for the first six months,” Gregory said. “I’ll do my best to win, but that just gives you more chances to learn.”
“Easy for you to say,” the novice grunted.
“Novice Pettit lost every match he sparred in for the first few months,” Klim said as she came toward them. “I paired you off so you could learn, but it takes dedication. Now, do you want to survive past the academy?”
“Yes, Adept,” the novice said.
“Good. Now, fight!” Klim commanded.
Gregory didn’t hold back. Yukiko had shown him the best way to teach was to hold nothing back. His opponent hit the ground repeatedly, but always pulled himself back up and reset for the next round. Gregory explained what he’d done e
ach time as they reset, seeing the focus on the other man’s face.
“Break,” Paul called out. “Weapons training begins now, so head out. Pettit, Bean, Warlin, a moment, please?”
All three of them went to him as the rest of the class went to the arenas.
“All three of you joined Aether’s Guard... I assume that Armsmaster Gin will be your instructor?”
Aether's Guard Page 14
