Magi's Path

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Won’t this give away our capabilities to their clan for the tournament?” Yukiko asked.

  “The contract states that we will not divulge anything we learn here to anyone who has not participated in the matches,” Vemril replied. “The fine is quite steep. The clan would have me flayed if it is broken.”

  When none of them spoke up again, Gin nodded. “Very well. Back away so there’s room between you. I will give you a few moments to discuss strategy with your groups before we begin.”

  They backed away, and Gregory whispered to his wives, “We should hold back the very edge of what we’re training and use only what we’ve shown so far. I know what she said, but if they’re offered enough to offset the cost, they might talk.”

  “No. They always hold to the letter of their contracts,” Yukiko told him. “We should hold back today, but if it was Gin or Dia who set this up, I’m sure the contract will be solid.”

  “I think Yuki is right,” Jenn agreed.

  Gregory nodded. “Okay, so how are we going to tackle this?”

  “We don’t know what their magic is,” Jenn said, “besides Vemril’s. This first match will be the toughest because of that.”

  “They know what we were able to do in the tournaments,” Yukiko said. “They won’t be surprised by shadow leap or entanglement. Do we go all out here, or do we just use this match for recon?”

  “Recon, but try to win,” Gregory said. “Vemril will come for me, and I should be able to hold her off. The other three might try to tie you both up. If they do, Yuki, leap behind Vemril and take her down. That’ll leave you alone, Jenn, but if you go for speed, you can probably handle them until we can get back to you.”

  “Why do you think she’ll go for you and not us?” Jenn asked.

  “Because of the look in her eyes when she spoke of foresight,” Gregory said.

  “She’s focused on him right now,” Yukiko agreed.

  “Are you ready?” Gin asked both groups.

  Sharing a look, they nodded and turned back to face Gin and their opponents. “We are,” Yukiko said.

  “We are,” Vemril said.

  “Very well. Bow to the audience,” Gin commanded.

  All seven combatants moved in near unison to face the small crowd and bowed. Once they had, they faced Gin and bowed, then bowed to each other. Gin backed well up before he called on them to fight.

  Gregory was already using foresight when the fight began, and called out to the other two, “Back left is fire, back right is wind!” That was all he managed to get out before he had to bring the naginata around defensively, as Vemril was nearly on him.

  Yukiko dodged to the left and Jenn to the right, both of them just being missed by the fire and wind magics thrown by two of the opposing four. The fourth opponent merely stood still, watching the fight.

  The clack-clack of the wooden training weapons came fast as Gregory and Vemril clashed. She had greater strength and speed because of her magic and level of body path cultivating, but Gregory managed to keep up with her. He was entirely focused on Vemril, needing everything he had to deflect and push her attacks away, as a solid connection might snap his naginata.

  Yukiko called out to Jenn, “I need two seconds, Jenn!”

  “Okay!” Jenn called back, her legs becoming engulfed in blue flames. Her body blurred as she streaked toward the three not fighting Gregory.

  “Jenn, right!” Gregory screamed when his foresight told him what was about to happen.

  Jenn did as he commanded, more on reflex to his tone than anything else. As she pivoted away from her line of attack, she still caught the edge of the force wall that’d sprung up and was sent sprawling. She went into a roll to regain her footing, and both the fire and wind magi turned to focus on her. Yukiko took that second to let the shadows swallow her.

  Jenn figured she had at least one attack coming her way so, as she rolled, she planted a flame-covered hand and used it to spring her up into a twisting flight. She watched the fire and wind connect and become a small firestorm where she would’ve been.

  “Behind!” the force magi yelled to Vemril. Thinking Yukiko was going to come up behind her, he put up a shield there to block an attack. He grunted when a wooden blade hit him in the back of the neck.

  “Yes, behind,” Yukiko said as she let the shadows swallow her again.

  “Out,” Gin said calmly, watching his students.

  The magi Yukiko had attacked raised his hand and started for the far tunnel.

  Vemril, hearing the call, grimaced. “That was not what I expected.”

  Gregory didn’t reply as he looked for a way to beat Vemril. He was technically better with a weapon, but she was burning her aether fast to compensate. I guess I can just outlast her?

  Yukiko had gone from behind the force magi to all the way behind Gin. She was glad she had— all of the other magi lashed out behind them, and even Vemril gave a kick backward. That moment of uncertainty and distraction allowed Jenn to close in on the wind magi.

  That instant opened Yukiko’s and Jenn’s eyes. As the fire magi threw a ball of fire at the wind magi’s back, Jenn saw it coming and grabbed the wind magi, intent on using him as a shield. The wind magi smiled as he held her firm. The fireball split around him, engulfing Jenn.

  Jenn smiled back, as the fire had only lightly singed her. She snapped her head forward and plastered the wind magi’s nose to his cheek. The wind magi let go of her as his eyes watered and his knees wobbled. Jenn used that to slam the man over her hip and to the ground before tapping his head with the training blade.

  “Out!” Gin called.

  The fire magi was shocked that his spell had done nothing to Jenn. He had dampened it down to mid-apprentice level, but it should have at least covered her with light burns. His shock over Jenn being mostly unaffected was trumped a moment later when Yukiko tapped his neck.

  “Out,” Gin called with a hint of pride in his voice.

  Vemril’s eyes went wide as she heard her helpers called out in rapid succession. “Out!” she called.

  “Very well,” Gin agreed. “Match to Aether’s Guard.”

  Yukiko let go of the shadows holding Vemril and hurried over to where Jenn was.

  Vemril turned to her men, finding one of them down on his knees, holding his bleeding nose, and the other two not meeting her eyes. “What in Aether’s name happened?”

  Mindie was rushing out to heal those who’d been injured.

  “I’ll recount the fight, and we can pause to answer any questions as they come up,” Gin said, coming over to join them.

  “I got caught up thinking they would take you out first, because taking a leader can demoralize a unit,” the force magi said. “I won’t be blindsided like that again.”

  “She survived my flames...” the fire magi said, looking at Jenn. “How? I know they were weak, but you should at least have burns.”

  Jenn nodded and let him see the small blisters that she had here and there. “I am burned, just not as badly as it could have been. This training will be expensive if I have to use my enchanted items, though.”

  Gin nodded slowly. “Hmm... Yes, there is that. Are your four equipped?” he asked Vemril.

  “A ring and necklace each,” Vemril said. “That is what most of the apprentices might have, outside of the merchant clans and the Eternal Flame.”

  “I’ll have to ask Dia about your enchantments,” Gin told Jenn.

  The fire magi looked sour about her not quite clear answer. “Well, her survival let her smash him,” he motioned to the wind magi, who was getting back on his feet thanks to Mindie.

  “And distracted you long enough for me to get you,” Yukiko said.

  “That is what happened,” Gin nodded.

  “Hmm...” Vemril nodded slowly. “We didn’t take into account enchantments, and we weren’t expecting a fight that vigorous from fresh apprentices. This is my fault.” She looked toward Yukiko. “Enchantment is what let you hold me in place?”
/>   Yukiko tapped her ear. “Aether storage. I can’t do that too often.”

  “It was well done,” Vemril said. “We’ll be ready to go again in a few moments.”

  “Very well,” Gin said before he moved to the three students and handed them each a piece of jerky. “Replenish your aether. It’s going to be a long day.”

  Gregory blinked at the taste, and his lips ticked up. Koi jerky? Thanks, Brown.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  That first bout was the only time they won that day. Gin had the fire magi weaken their flames down to do mild burns only, as their rings normally only dimmed the fire. Two hits from a fire magi marked them as out, making things more challenging.

  The next four days had mixed results, depending on which magi they faced. Vemril pushed each of them in combat. She discovered that Jenn was a tough fight, as she had been focused on using her aether in small bursts instead of letting it burn freely. Yukiko couldn’t match her in raw combat, so she stayed away from Vemril unless she could get in an attack from behind.

  Five days of fighting had allowed them to get a better feeling for the overall battlefield. Their awareness of the arena began stretching beyond what was directly before them, helping each of them warn the others of impending attacks.

  Every fight took a toll on their aether— only the aether-infused jerky let them keep going, but even that had limits. Each day left them drained and unable to do more than wash and eat before collapsing into bed.

  Their novice friends had been jealous of their training, but used what had been their history class time to come and watch, after Dia approved them to do so. Every morning, besides Magi Squares and studying, they had a small rehash of the previous day’s fights so the novices could learn about what had worked and what hadn’t.

  On the sixth morning of their week off, they all felt excited. They didn’t have fights all day that day— instead, they had other plans. Dia had agreed to what they wanted and wished them well when they’d asked her the previous evening.

  ~*~*~

  “Good morning,” Daciana greeted them. As usual, she was the first of the novices to the table.

  “Good morning,” Gregory replied.

  “I had questions about yesterday,” Daciana said as she slipped into her seat beside Jenn. “Did you plan that attack with Yuki?”

  Gregory thought about what Daciana was talking about. “You mean where I rushed past her, and she slipped into my shadow?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not in the way it happened,” Yukiko said, picking up the conversation. “We’d talked about how the position of the sun casting shadows could make it possible for me to use them to move.”

  “You’re getting faster at it, aren’t you?” Nessa asked as she sat beside Yukiko.

  Yukiko gave her a pleased smile. “I am. You noticed?”

  “From the first day we watched to yesterday, it looked like it to me,” Nessa said. “Does it take more aether to do?”

  Yukiko nodded. “Yes. Speed and distance do cost me more aether.”

  “Which is why you started jumping less...” Victoria said slowly. “You’ve been using your aether sparingly.”

  “We’ve all been trying to,” Gregory said. “The first few days left us all but dead. Last night, we were still tired, but not exhausted like we had been. Even with the jerky we had, it wasn’t enough to fully recover between fights.”

  “But that was part of the training,” Jenn said. “I’m sure it was.”

  “It would be what Gin would do,” Yukiko agreed with her. “We’ll rarely be in perfect condition for a fight. This lets us get used to being suboptimal.”

  Daciana nodded. “That’s smart. I hadn’t thought of it.”

  “I’d been wondering about that, and I agree with you,” Gregory told his wives.

  “Yesterday was the last day?” Victoria asked.

  “Yes,” Yukiko smiled, “which brings us to today. You’re going to train at Gin’s?”

  Daciana nodded. “We’ve been looking forward to it.”

  “Today is going to be more different than you thought,” Yukiko chuckled. “Indara won’t be there today.”

  All three novices looked disappointed at her news.

  “Instead, the three of us will be,” Yukiko said after a pause.

  “Promise?” Daciana asked, her tail wagging fast.

  “That’s what we have planned for today,” Yukiko replied. “We have approval from Dia and Indara. We didn’t think you’d object to a day of training with us.”

  “Of course not,” Nessa said, a large smile on her face. The smile faded slightly. “Is… is it allowed?”

  “Dia said it was a gray area,” Yukiko replied. “As long as you don’t object and we aren’t promising anything about you absolutely being in the clan, it should be fine. Gregory had training from a magi of the Eternal Flame during a day off once.”

  “We would like to train with you,” Victoria said.

  “After we study, we’ll all go to Gin’s,” Gregory said, “but first, Magi Squares.”

  ~*~*~

  “Welcome to the Watashi residence,” Elsa greeted them, her smile growing larger when she saw who it was. “Welcome back. Please come in. We didn’t expect all six of you. I’ll let Baylyss know. Please excuse me.” Elsa shut the door behind them and then hurried off, not running, but clearly moving as fast as politely allowed.

  “She was excited,” Daciana laughed.

  “She didn’t expect us to be here,” Jenn said.

  They were just putting their slippers on when Baylyss met them. “Apprentices, Novices, it is good to see you. We didn’t expect you three,” Baylyss said, looking at Gregory and his wives. “I will make sure refreshments are in order. Are you going to use the courtyard first?”

  “Peaceful Fist first,” Gregory replied. “After that, if it’s okay, we’d like the children to have the majority of today off.”

  “I had planned for it, as Indara has started to teach them unarmed combat,” Baylyss said. “Is she not coming today?”

  “She isn’t, but we will take her place,” Yukiko said. “She had them working on falling? We can teach them that. We’ll need the second training room though, as the other one will be for us to spar in.”

  “I’ll have it ready for you by the time you finish your meditation,” Baylyss said. “It hasn’t been overly long, but they have been just as focused on doing their chores and practicing as they were when you were out of the city.”

  “Good. How is Elsa doing?”

  “She is doing very well. When she does find free time, she has taken to reading.” Baylyss’ lips turned up at the corners. “I believe she’s trying to emulate those she looks up to.”

  “As long as she doesn’t shirk her duties,” Yukiko smiled.

  “Oh no, she is quite certain that her tasks are done before she goes off,” Baylyss replied. “They should be gathered by now, so if you’ll all follow me, please?”

  “Baylyss, before we go,” Gregory said, “if it’s okay with you, the three of us would like to stay here tonight. We have tomorrow off and would like to spend the time with the children.”

  Baylyss’ smile grew and she bowed her head. “That would be lovely. I will make sure dinner is prepared with that in mind. I take it this information is not to be shared with them until later?”

  “Please, we want it to be a surprise,” Yukiko said.

  “Very well. I’ll show you to the changing rooms. Your gi are still hanging up and waiting for you.”

  “Thank you,” Yukiko smiled.

  Entering the inner courtyard, Gregory smiled, as the children were all present. The six of them had stopped to change into gi, and Gregory was happy to see the children were similarly attired.

  “We are ready for instruction, Sensei,” Elsa said formally, bowing to them. The rest of the children bowed along with her.

  “Very well,” Yukiko said. “Everyone, spread out and take up the first stance.”

/>   ~*~*~

  When their meditation came to an end, the children were all smiling.

  “We were told you’d started training,” Yukiko said. “Indara will not be here to train you today, but in her place, the three of us will. We’ll be taking turns with you, as we’ll be sparring with the novices. Once we’re done training you, you’ll be allowed to sit along the edge of the room and watch us spar, but only if you do your very best today.”