Loremaster - A Progression Fantasy Adventure, page 38
Putting the thought out of his mind, Rowan tossed the knife upwards once more, his mind returning to the problem of his boredom. As he watched the knife twirl towards its apex, he decided that, since he was already in bed, he might as well observe a time-honored street rat tradition for when there was nothing to do in the middle of the day.
“Wake me up when it’s time for dinner.”
A short nap later and a much-refreshed feeling Rowan found himself accompanied by Droon as they headed for the cafeteria, both eager to taste whatever it was the cooks had prepared for them tonight.
For the last three nights in a row, the kitchen workers had outdone themselves, providing meals even more delectable than usual for the students who had opted to remain at Faebrook. Given that lunch today had been amazing, Rowan was dying to know what was on the menu for dinner, a sentiment his stomach apparently agreed with as it let out a loud growl.
The cafeteria was decently full when they arrived, the tables packed with students from other houses who had remained at the academy. Although those of the Northern and Western houses lived close enough to make the trip home and back in the two and a half weeks of winter break, those who lived further away were not so lucky.
“It’s much quieter in here than it usually is,” Droon said happily, placing his plate on the table as he sat down.
“Mmmh,” Rowan offered noncommittally. While the tables for Draigwyn and Hafgufa were both nearly empty, the tables of the students from Turul were still half full, the empire not close enough for those who lived on its outer reaches to make it there and back during the break.
The tables for Lykia and Jangar were even more full, with practically no students from the Coalition of Beast Tribes or the Nuxiong Dynasty having chosen to go home. As a result, it was hard to really say that the noise level had dropped, given that nearly half the students at the academy were still present.
Nonetheless, dinner was a quiet affair, Droon’s awkwardness and Rowan’s reticence to speak making it difficult to keep a conversation going. Despite that, Droon never gave up, constantly broaching new topics, many of which went completely over Rowan’s head.
“I found out the other day that the Windian Empire used to have different bylaws based on the geographical area a race came from,” Droon said excitedly. “Even if two people were both humans and alike in all other regards, one could be held liable for crimes committed by his relatives, even in absentia, while the other would be totally innocent just because he was born in Valendia instead of Windia. Isn’t that crazy?”
Rowan blinked at him. The only crazy thing to him was how much Droon seemed to care about such strange trivia. Was this the reason he had been able to get in despite his purportedly terrible scores in the three other tests?
“Yup, that’s pretty crazy.”
This appeared to be the correct thing to say, as Droon smiled broadly, launching into an explanation of just what this had entailed for those unfortunate enough to live in the ancient Windian Empire.
Tuning out Droon, Rowan focused instead on his lunch: a large serving of assorted vegetables and meats mixed into a hearty stew that tasted delicious. All too soon, his spoon struck the bottom of the bowl, and he looked on sadly, lamenting the loss of the delectable stew. At least there was still the plate of mashed taters and leeks beside it. Just as he was about to dig in, a voice interrupted him.
“—what do you think?”
“What?”
Droon tilted his head. “I asked what you thought of what Professor Soreth taught us last week. Personally, I was surprised to learn that the state of mana in the air can be properly graphed with fractal dispersion. I knew that powerful mana radiated outwards from dungeons, but I didn’t realize it created distinguishable patterns that could allow us to deduce the level of the dungeon just through proper analysis even at large distances.”
Rowan shrugged. “It seems logical when you think about it. Mana disperses evenly through the air, which means that, so long as the dungeon acts as a perfect focal point, without interference, an even distribution is expected. The fractal bit is interesting, but the useful part is still the ability to measure a dungeon’s level from afar.”
“Exactly!” Droon exclaimed excitedly. “I did some thinking, and theoretically, if there were to exist someone with a large enough mana pool to operate the scanning equipment at its maximum range for a prolonged period of time, they could discover new dungeons just by walking through the wilderness alone!”
“Except that you don’t need someone with a large mana pool if you have enough mages with average-sized mana pools to take shifts using the scanner,” Rowan remarked dryly. “Which I’d imagine the empire and various kingdoms all have in spades.”
Droon’s face fell. “I didn’t think of that.”
“It’s still a good idea,” Rowan assured him. “Why do you want to discover new dungeons anyways?”
“The first finder fee,” Droon said forlornly. “It’s a law in the Empire as well as up here in the North. Whoever is the first to find and capture a dungeon has their choice of the treasures within, without the government stepping in to take a cut. There are usually some pretty amazing treasures in dungeons that haven’t been opened in centuries, so you can make a lot of gold if you’re the first to capture a dungeon.”
“Huh…”
“But you’re right. My plan was stupid,” Droon said, visibly deflated after Rowan had pointed out the flaw in his plan. “Just like all my plans: good on paper, bad in reality.”
Uhhh… Rowan looked at Droon. Clearly, the other boy had been more invested in this plan to find dungeons than Rowan had thought. Did Droon need money? The only reason Rowan could see that Droon would want to brave the uncharted wilderness of the north in an attempt to locate undiscovered dungeons would be to make tons of gold. Not an unreasonable desire for commoners such as themselves.
Unfortunately, it was not only the fact that a team of mages could replace the single mage with an enormous mana pool that Droon had suggested—a mage that Rowan felt sounded suspiciously like him—that was a problem. There was also the issue of the scanner.
From what Kanna had told him when he had asked during one of their study sessions, the scanners used to detect mana fluctuations in an area were by no means cheap. They were similar in essence to the orb that had been used for the Test of Potential; items that could absorb mana in the surrounding area and transform it through magical formulas and enchantments inscribed within.
In the scanner’s case, it absorbed the ambient mana and then changed color based on the potency of the mana it absorbed. The stronger the color, the greater the amount of surrounding mana in the area. Weak scanners could only scan an area of a few dozen feet across, but strong ones the likes that Droon was probably imagining had a detection radius that was several miles in width.
No magical items came cheap, and this was doubly true for scanners, the most powerful of which were apparently worth more than a small castle. Even if Droon’s plan had not had other holes in it, there was no way that he or Rowan would have been able to acquire such a valuable magical item. Not on their own at least.
While all that was well and good, what was not good was the fact that Droon looked like a child who had just dropped their candy, and Rowan still had a fair bit of dinner left on his plate that needed to be finished before he could make a break for it. Not wanting to spend the rest of the meal with Droon like this, Rowan fished for a topic that could be used to get his friend’s mind off the abrupt derailing of his plan.
“You got any plans for the break?” Rowan asked, changing the subject in an attempt to break the ice.
Droon nodded enthusiastically, the awkwardness from earlier forgotten in an instant. “I’ve been doing my best to get better at combat,” Droon said, “so that next tryouts, I can hopefully make the dungeoneering team. Captain Verking told me that my fundamentals need work, so I’ve been practicing with the dummies for an hour each morning, and another hour every evening. Even if I can’t make it as an actual member, if I can be good enough to become a sub, that’s good enough for me.”
“Good luck,” Rowan replied, and he meant it.
It had been a few weeks now, but the dungeoneering tryouts had come and gone, and true to his word, Rowan had stayed away. Dugan had tried out, though just as Rowan had predicted, and much to his friend’s chagrin, he had not been successful.
In truth, Dugan had done far better than anyone had expected of a first year trying out for the team. But it had not been enough. As the house representing the region the academy was located in, making the dungeoneering team as a member of House Hafgufa was apparently a bigger deal than most, to the point of being something nobles in the upper echelons of government still bragged about years later according to Dugan.
While Rowan was not sure if he quite believed his friend’s tall tale, the fact remained that the Hafgufa tryouts were well known to be the toughest in the school. Unfortunately, this meant that the competition level in Hafgufa’s tryouts was also the highest, and Dugan had been, in his own words, ‘utterly crushed’ by the powerful students in the upper years.
At least Dugan had seemed upbeat about it though, unlike Droon, who had wilted at the very mention of his own ill-fated attempt to join the Draigwyn Dungeoneering team. In a way, Rowan was actually glad that Droon had taken the initiative to bring it up, for he had been getting very sick of having to tiptoe around the topic whenever his fellow commoner was around.
“Thank you,” Droon said seriously. “Verking actually suggested I practice with you, as he knows you spend a lot of time training, but I told him I don’t want to bother anyone until I’m good enough to be considered an actual partner.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” Rowan said off-handedly. “Not every day of course,” he said, hurriedly amending his previous statement as Droon’s eyes practically sparkled with excitement. “But once or twice a week would be fine. If you want to, that is.”
“Really?” Droon’s eyes were wide with excitement. “That’d be great! I’ve been hitting the dummies non-stop, but it hasn’t seemed to help in Combat class, so I was wondering what I was doing wrong. An actual sparring partner would be an immense help. Are you sure it’s not a hassle?”
I have a feeling it might be, Rowan thought. But it’s too late to back out now. “It’s no problem. I could use the sparring practice.”
“Great! I usually use the gym around nine, after most of the older students are done with it. Did you want to have a spar tonight? Or would another day work better for you?” A quill and notepad had materialized in Droon’s hand, and he held the quill close to the page, ready to jot down whatever answer Rowan provided.
“Sure, tonight sounds fine,” Rowan told him. Not like I have anything better to do.
The rest of their dinner went by smoothly, Droon eagerly laying out all of his many combat-related faults and the methods in which he had been addressing them to Rowan. For his part, Rowan sat there silently and nodded along, just glad to no longer be forced to carry the conversation all on his own.
From how Droon was describing his talents at fighting, it sounded like he was an absolutely terrible fighter, which meant it was doubtful Rowan would get any real training out of tonight’s spar. But anything to get him out of the dorm room for a few hours.
“Ugh!”
Droon’s pained groan rang out as Rowan’s foot caught him in the midsection. Flipping his body, Rowan leapt high, his rear leg launching out to catch the still winded Droon in the back of the head. With another agonized cry, Droon sprawled forward, his body bouncing off the soft mats of the training room floor.
If this had been a spar in Combat class, Rowan would have flicked the tip of his training sword towards the back of Droon’s neck to indicate his victory. But this was a friendly spar between acquaintances, so rather than assert his dominance, Rowan instead moved forward to check on his fallen friend.
“You good?” Rowan asked, offering Droon his hand.
“Give me a sec.” Still on the ground, Droon exhaled slowly. Only once he was done did he push off the floor, taking Rowan’s offered hand and using it to haul himself back to his feet. “Nice move.”
“It’s something I’ve been practicing recently. Thought I’d try it out.”
“Well, I can confirm that it works.” Droon rubbed the back of his head. “I knew you’d been improving in sparring. But I didn’t know you’d gotten this good,” he said ruefully.
Rowan shook his head, a vision of Tana’s body flashing through his mind. “I’m still nowhere near good enough.”
“You’re way better than before though. A few months ago, you were just another training dummy for the nobles. But now you’ve gotten to the point where you’re giving them a good fight. At this rate, in a few more weeks, you’ll start handing them losses.”
“You’ve been paying attention to my performance in Combat class?”
“A little,” Droon admitted. “Davis was grousing about you a few weeks back, complaining that you were no longer a free win. As a fellow free win, I decided to observe you. I could see that you were faring better than before, but I thought we were still around the same level.” Droon’s voice trailed off here. “Not that I thought you were weak!” he assured Rowan hurriedly. “It’s just that the others were all so strong. Not that you’re not strong as well. But, you know. It’s… Umm—”
Amusing as it was to watch Droon dig himself deeper, Rowan decided to take pity on his fellow commoner. “I’ve been practicing,” he said simply. “A lot.”
“Well, it’s paying off,” Droon said, clearly relieved to have been given an out.
“Go again?”
“Sure.”
Taking up positions roughly eight feet apart, the two eyed each other warily. It was Droon who made the first move, charging forward with his shield held in front of him—the so-called ‘shield charge’, a favored move among vanguards.
Rather than take it head on, Rowan moved to the side, looking for an opportunity to strike Droon as he passed by. Droon, it seemed, had been anticipating this. For he launched himself sideways before Rowan could strike, delivering a vicious shoulder check with his full weight behind it.
Caught by surprise, Rowan did the only thing he could think of. He took the blow, jumping backwards at the moment of impact in order to reduce the damage. Legs already off the ground, Rowan felt himself speed up as he absorbed Droon’s momentum, his body flying several feet backwards. Tucking into a ball, Rowan performed a somersault, landing awkwardly on his feet where he was forced to take a few steps to stabilize himself.
In front of him, Droon’s shield loomed large. The moment he had finished his tackle, he had already begun moving. Rowan landing on his feet seemed to have taken him by surprise, but he did not alter his course.
Faced with a repeat of the scenario he had just encountered, only this time he was off balance, Rowan tried a new tactic. He leaned back, falling to the floor just as Droon’s charge was about to hit him, and used his legs to carry Droon up and over him. It was a move he had sometimes used on charging guards as a last resort, giving him enough time to flee. It was even more effective against the unarmored Droon.
Now it was Droon’s turn to go flying, only he had not managed to dampen his momentum. He flew hard and fast, landing face first against the mat and rolling for several feet before coming to a stop.
“Owwww…”
Rowan could not see what had become of Droon, but he could hear it, and he grinned despite himself. Droon had forced him into a corner, and he had handled it perfectly. A month ago, he would have been caught by the second charge, and it would have been him lying on the ground nursing his wounds. But that hadn’t happened. Instead, he had found a way out of the situation and turned the tables on his attacker. Droon was right. The training was paying off.
“Damn it,” Droon muttered as Rowan helped him up. “I really thought I had you there.”
“You almost did,” Rowan replied. “That was a nice strategy you pulled off.”
“Would’ve been nicer if you’d been the one sent flying,” Droon grumbled, but his eyes were smiling at the compliment.
“Go again?” Rowan asked.
Droon shook his head. “One more fall like that and you’ll break me. Tomorrow though?”
“It’s a date.”
Despite his best efforts to the contrary, the next day found Rowan once again lying in bed, a textbook in his hands as he did his best to memorize the contents within. His eyes growing unfocused, Rowan let out a groan. He had already read the words on the page in front of him twice, and yet he remembered exactly none of them. No, that was a lie. He remembered that the first word on the page was ‘The’.
With a sigh, Rowan allowed the textbook to fall from his hands. It was only just past noon, and yet he was already completely done with studying for the day. Even though he knew he needed to study, no matter how he tried, he could not get his brain to cooperate. It was like there was some mystical force within his brain, tossing out any boring information the moment it came in.
Rowan exhaled, covering his forehead with the arm that had been holding the textbook. Although he wanted to do something productive, apart from studying, there really wasn’t much else he could do.
He had already spent part of the morning training, and right now was when the other students from his house liked to use the gym. Since he did not want to run into Tianna or her minions, that meant he could either train outside, or not at all. Not wanting to become an ice sculpture on the training grounds, Rowan discarded that thought.
