Arcane Dropout

by Edmund Hughes

  She spun as another mage cast a spell in her direction, sending a conjured purple spear hurtling toward her. Harper slid to a stop, her ponytail lagging an instant behind the rest of her body. A second purple spear flew toward her, from a different direction. She slammed her forearms together in an x-shape over her chest. Green-blue spheres of light swirled around her, and the purple spear broke into shards of fading magical essence as though it had been made of glass or ice.

  She was against two opponents at once. Lee blinked, feeling so surprised by this fact that he had to shift his viewing angle against the window to confirm it. A tall, broad-shouldered man wearing the red robes of an anointed mage stood on the far side of the dueling chamber, while a shorter man in similar clothing with a slight swagger to his posture stood at the other.

  More spells came, this time a barrage of green-blue discs that hurtled through the air like machine-gun bullets. Harper jumped up, casting a spell that brought a massive gust of wind underneath her as she did. She flew a good fifteen feet in the air before using more aeromancy to shift her direction again, flinging herself at the wall, which she kicked off from with both feet.

  When she landed, her arms were already moving. She slammed one palm forward, and a fireball as wide across as a door burst forth, emitting a furious, crackling growl as it soared across the chamber.

  The shorter of the two mages managed to get his shield up in time, but he was still knocked off his feet, the energy of his defensive spell dissolving as he fell. Harper’s other opponent attempted his own fireball against her. Harper almost lazily countered, catching the projectile in a cocoon of water that converted both fireballs into a streak of wavering steam.

  She used another spell to speed herself forward, sliding the last few feet in a new casting stance. The other mage fell to one knee and held his hands up in a gesture that could only be interpreted as a yield, or perhaps even a plea for mercy.

  “That’s Harper Black,” said Mattis. “She’s an Adjunct Instructor here at Primhaven, though she doesn’t teach many classes. She’s probably the most powerful spellcaster of her generation, and you should all feel honored to have her here, even if it’s only temporary.”

  “Honored,” said Lee, rolling his eyes. “Right.”

  What an honor it had been to have her steal his kris dagger and fling accusations at him in the same way she’d flung spells at her dueling opponents. A few of the other initiates had raised their hands, and Mattis waved a dismissive arm through the air.

  “Don’t bother asking, she doesn’t take apprentices,” said Mattis.

  “Isn’t that a little uncommon for someone so talented?” asked Eliza. “I thought the Order of Chaldea encouraged the most powerful mages to cycle through apprentices for the sake of sharing their knowledge?”

  “She’s still rather young, but yes, it is a little uncommon,” said Mattis. “But her reasons for that are none of your business. Come, let’s continue with the orientation.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Lead Instructor Mattis proceeded to point out the few other buildings on campus that she hadn’t yet explained to the initiates. The Five Towers were to the northeast, and it was there where most of the serious academic research among qualified mages took place. As such, they were off limits to initiates without explicit permission.

  She led them past the First Tower and the surreal Zephaphine Islands floating around its upper levels, merely offering that both were used to the discretion of the Head Wizard, without much further elaboration. Mattis slowed to a stop as they approached the area where the escapades of Lee’s late night had taken him.

  “And here is the Seruna Center, where you’ll be spending most of your time as initiates,” she said. “Various lecture halls and classrooms are located here, along with the enchanting and alchemy labs, the library, and the infirmary.”

  “Do we have access to the entire Seruna Center?” asked Lee. “Are there some areas that we might need permission for or anything?”

  He’d tried sneaking into the archives. Now it was time to try getting in there the old-fashioned way: through the system.

  “Outside of the archives, most areas within the Seruna Center are fine for you to access during normal college hours,” said Mattis. “On that note, you’ll earn the privilege of requesting books and records housed within the archives in a few months’ time, and once you ascend to the level of Disciple, you’ll have free access to them.”

  Lee tried to keep his disappointment from showing on his face. He had serious doubts about whether he’d make it a few months into the academic semester given how quickly he’d be exposed once his complete lack of aptitude for spellcasting became apparent. He needed another way to get into the archives, or he needed to come up with another potential lead.

  Mattis led them into the Seruna Center, weaving down a couple of spotless hallways with white marble floors before bringing them into a rather normal-looking classroom. She took up a position behind the desk at the front, leaving them to find their own seats.

  Lee spotted Kristoff moving to secure the front few rows for himself and his friends, and he instinctively shifted toward the back of the room. He and Toma had a row to themselves due to the ample number of seats.

  “As the Lead Instructor, my role within the academic spectrum is to teach what’s known as Meta-Magic,” said Mattis. “This encompasses not just the basics and history of each of the five core arcane schools, but also how to effectively combine spells across schools, and eventually the mechanics of dueling.”

  Her last few words drew the complete attention of the room. Mattis flashed a small, dangerous smile.

  “It will be some time before we reach that point beyond the introductory mechanics, however,” she said. “For today, we will be focused on correcting some of the mistakes that may have become habits within your spellcraft due to potential... unfortunate circumstances, in your prior education. If everyone would please take out a notebook and a pencil…”

  Lee winced. He glanced around, only then noticing how everyone but him had brought the obvious materials that any high school or college student would bring with them to a class. He searched the nearby counters, hoping to spot a secret stash of school supplies and finding nothing.

  “Lee Amaranth,” called Mattis. “I don’t see anything on your desk.”

  Her tone of voice brought him back to some of his worst memories from high school. Lee heard Kristoff whispering something to his friends, and the whole front row broke out into half-stifled laughter.

  “Here,” whispered Toma. He passed a pencil and a few sheets of paper over to him. Mattis seemed to relent when she saw that the problem had been solved and turned back to the whiteboard to begin her instruction.

  Two things immediately became apparent to Lee that he knew he should have seen coming. The first was that a lot of the terminology Mattis used was less than self-explanatory. It was more suited for students who may have struggled or failed out of classes in the past but still had basic knowledge to work from.

  The second was that it was incredibly hard to remain engaged in a lesson on a topic that was completely useless to him. Lee knew that he was never going to cast a spell, and as such, he would never find any use in knowing how the magical resonance of an elemental spell was different from an alteration spell.

  His eyes began to grow heavy, and try as he might, it didn’t seem like there was anything he could do to stop it. It wasn’t until he felt someone desperately shaking his shoulder that he managed to pull himself back awake.

  “She’s calling on volunteers,” hissed Toma. “If you keep being such an obvious slacker, this won’t end well.”

  Lee yawned, but he knew that Toma was right. The last thing he needed, on top of being a pretender inside a mage’s college, was to develop a reputation as a lazy student.

  “Elemental magic is what most people think of when they hear the term offensive magic,” said Mattis. “It consists of fire, air, earth, and water spells,
and it involves channeling energies that interact with each of these forces from the Other Realms. As such, you’ll be at an advantage when the climate matches your spell type. If there are already flames around, for example, your fire spells can draw from them to become more powerful. The same with moisture and ice for water, geological activity for earth, and the wind for air.”

  One of the initiates had apparently been called up to the front of the room to demonstrate the relevant casting stance for elemental magic. She stood with her arms up and bent at the elbow, one slightly in front of the other, like a fighter out of a classic kung-fu movie.

  “As I said before, a casting stance is nothing more than a trigger for your will,” said Mattis. “Spells can also be cast through verbal invocations or without any outward trigger at all, though the difficulty in the latter would be extreme. Primhaven teaches the usage of casting stances because of their learning curve. They’re easy to master in the beginning and incredibly flexible later on, when mages begin experimenting with new spell types that sometimes involve multiple schools of magic.”

  Mattis sent the student back to their seat and called on another, who she had demonstrate the casting stance for alteration, which involved holding both arms crossed over the chest.

  “Alteration is the classical defensive magic,” said Mattis. “Shield spells, along with various buffs affecting strength and speed, are the most notable usages, though basic energy blast attacks can also be created for offensive potential.”

  The next student demonstrated the casting stance for illusion magic, which looked a little funny to Lee. The girl held both hands up to either side of her face, as though she was trying to use them to block out unpleasant or distracting sights to her right and left.

  “Only the basics of illusion magic, such as illumination spells and minor veils, are taught and allowed here at Primhaven,” said Mattis. “This is a matter I cannot stress enough. Advanced illusion magic—including full veils for disguise, dream weaving, and other mind-affecting spells—require a specific license through the Order of Chaldea.”

  Mattis’s tone left little room for discussion or questions. She picked a new student who came up to the front of the room and asked him to demonstrate the casting stance for nature magic. He struggled with it, and Mattis came up behind him, adjusting his posture until his arms were outstretched wide, as though reaching out to hug someone.

  “Nature magic, though one of the five core schools, is not generally taught here at Primhaven due to the difficulty of the location,” said Mattis. “I am the resident druid here, and nature magic involves forming bonds and exercising control over plants, animals, and trees. My magic has already touched most of the life within the campus grounds, creating what’s known as a grove for my abilities, which for various reasons would make the teaching of nature magic inconvenient.”

  Lee felt oddly relieved at the fact that there was at least one school of magic that he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to cast from. That sense of relief vanished as Lead Instructor Mattis pointed to him and gestured for him to come forward to demonstrate the next casting stance.

  “Initiate Amaranth, since you put on such a showcase with your telekinesis during the admissions exam, I think you’d be perfectly suited to demonstrating this,” said Mattis. “Show the class the standard conjuration casting stance.”

  He scratched his head as he stood awkwardly at the front of the room. He had no idea what it was, not even what would have amounted to an educated guess. He found himself searching the faces of his classmates, and he caught Eliza’s eye where she sat in the second row.

  Her auburn hair was pulled back with a dark green hair band, which emphasized the pale prettiness of her face. She furrowed her brow at him and brought her hand to her throat to let out a small cough. As she brought her arms back down, she froze for a split second with one hand clasping the wrist of her other arm, then winked at him.

  “It’s this,” said Lee, mimicking the motion.

  Mattis nodded, and he breathed an audible sigh of relief.

  “Conjuration magic involves channeling a variety of different forces from the Other Realms,” she said. “It can be applied to various niche purposes such as telekinesis, creating magical bindings, conjuring weapons, and even summoning demons temporarily.”

  She dismissed Lee, and he went back to his seat, sharing a quick, knowing smile with Eliza on his way by her desk.

  CHAPTER 13

  Mattis opened the scope of her lesson as the class continued, giving the students a chance to ask any relevant questions they might have. Most were related to the finer details of spellcraft and the limits of each of the schools of magic, which didn’t overly concern Lee. Toma’s question, however, caught him off guard.

  “Aren’t there more than just the standard five schools of magic?” asked Toma. “I mean, I uh, heard rumors of... blood magic, from my father. Necromancy, too.”

  “That is a very good question, Initiate Fujino,” said Mattis. “No, the five core schools of magic practiced here at Primhaven do not span the full range of supernatural abilities. Blood magic, for example, is practiced by the Aquinian Vampires, or blood mages, and is similar to a dark mixture of conjuration and illusion.

  “The difference comes in the form of essence used to draw upon one’s abilities. Arcane essence is what we mages draw upon, from what all of the five schools derive their power. Blood magic draws from blood essence, and something such as a succubus’s seduction aura draws from lust essence.”

  Lee raised an eyebrow at her choice of last example, but he had a different, more relevant question to ask. He raised his hand and tried not to let his curiosity reveal too much.

  “What about mysticism?” he asked. “Does that draw from a specific form of essence?”

  “Mysticism is simply a general term used by some cultures to refer to certain aspects of nature magic,” said Mattis. “Mystics and exorcists have never been proven to exist in the rather fanciful fashion in which they’ve been portrayed by the non-magical media.”

  She continued on with the lesson, and nobody seemed to take much notice of Lee’s interest. Well, almost nobody.

  “Did you hear that, Lee?” whispered an ethereal and feminine voice. “You don’t exist!”

  He slid back in his chair, grinned as he caught sight of Tess’s ghostly blue figure standing slightly behind and to the left of his desk. He brought his hand up to his mouth, covering it so he could whisper a reply.

  “If I don’t exist, then how can you?” he said. “More importantly, which of us gets to have the existential crisis first?”

  “I suppose we should circle up and draw sticks for it,” said Tess.

  “Was that something people actually did in your time period?”

  “They still do it! I mean, don’t they?”

  Lee let out a low chuckle as he watched Tess begin moving around the room, providing entertainment for them both. She stood next to Mattis as the lesson continued, copying the Lead Instructor’s gesticulations and doing a surprisingly good imitation of the serious professor.

  She looked as eye-catching and cute as she had the night before, and Lee was half tempted to pull her into his mystic stream if only for the sake of seeing her in full detail. He restrained himself, knowing that it would only turn her into more of a distraction for him than she already was.

  Tess leaned forward over the instructor’s desk in time with Mattis, pretending to scribble something down in a non-existent lesson planner. Lee couldn’t resist letting his eyes hover on the cusp of her ethereal cleavage. He felt himself getting a little excited as he considered the fun that might happen once class got out. She did say that she wanted him to take her on some dates in exchange for the help she’d provided. He looked forward to making sure they ended the same way the previous night had.

  The thought brought to mind the archives and the library, which also made him think of Zoe and his entire purpose at Primhaven. He felt guilty for not st
aying more focused on investigating his sister’s disappearance. It was something he couldn’t procrastinate, as every day he spent at the college only increased his risk of being discovered, and potentially undergoing the Cropping along with expulsion.

  Tess had shifted to moving through the room, blowing the occasional paper off a desk, untying shoelaces, or in the case of Kristoff, untying and tangling them together. Mattis finished with her lesson and dismissed the class, and instead of leaving immediately or observing the end results of some of Tess’s pranks, he hurried up to his instructor and got her attention.

  “Lead Instructor Mattis,” he said. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  He tried not to wince as he realized how much his phrasing made him sound like some sort of detective or investigator. He was supposed to be a student, and he needed to be surreptitious in his approach.

  “About today’s lesson, or tomorrow’s?” asked Mattis.

  “About Primhaven’s history,” said Lee. “I’m curious... how long have you been an instructor here?”

  Mattis furrowed her brow. “Me? I’ve only been at Primhaven for three years, the last two as the Lead Instructor. I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell you much more about the college’s history than what you’d read in one of the informational pamphlets in the Seruna Center’s front lobby.”

  “You’ve only been here three years?” said Lee. “Do you know who the longest-serving instructor is, then?”

  “Primhaven seems as though it’s had a remarkably high turnover rate for its faculty in recent times,” said Mattis. “I believe the Head Wizard has been in his position for longer than me, but by no more than about a year.”

  The question was on the tip of Lee’s tongue, and the need for an answer got the better of him. “Did something happen before that? It seems a little odd that the college would change its faculty that much in such a short amount of time.”