Beckoning Fates, page 11
Lucas laughed, then released his spell. “Inferno’s Cage!”
The spell was similar to the Ember Wisp technique Lucas and the ex-Professor Geist had used, but it was a lot bigger. The orbs scattered and floated in place around us, creating a dome made of fire.
Don’t tell me…
With a confident smirk, he snapped his finger and said, “Activate.”
The orbs glowed in response, then began spewing bullets of fire. If it had been a spell on the level of Ember Wisp, I would be able to close the gap while dodging the fireballs, but this was insane. Dozens of fire blasts were locked in on my position, firing from all directions at a constant rate. If I hadn’t trained my body and fighting techniques during my time as an adventurer, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge everything no matter how fast I was. I didn’t have a chance to take even a step closer to my target—I was forced to dodge and block every incoming missile of the unyielding bombardment.
Inferno’s Cage—whoever had come up with this spell deserved a sword up the ass to feel what a pain it was to deal with. On top of the constant fireballs and streams of flame that locked in on me, the heat inside the dome was wearing me down. Without my fire- or water-attribute mana, there was no direct way to counter the heat inside. Using fire-attribute mana to make my body more immune to fire, or even using water-attribute mana to directly cool my body, were both out of the question.
“Keep running around, monkey. Do you think it’s even possible for a peasant like you to actually have a chance against someone like me? I can’t wait to step on you and crush whatever speck of confidence you had just because you became a DC member and a professor. I thought this class would be a waste of time but now I know why I was brought here. It was to destroy you.” His pretty-boy face was wrenched in an ugly sneer.
‘Are you okay, Papa?’ Sylvie’s concerned voice echoed into my head. She could feel how frustrated I was.
Yeah, I’m fine, Sylv. Don’t worry about me. How’s everyone else doing? I sent back.
‘Mama is winning against Curtis, and Claire is winning against that serious-looking guy,’ she responded.
Okay, just tell me if something unusual happens. I turned my focus back to the fight. I was able to dodge the flame bullets and the occasional streams of fire, but I couldn’t get closer to Lucas. I tried releasing a wind blade and firing some spikes of earth at Lucas, but either the orbs making up the dome destroyed them or Lucas just blocked my spells with his own.
What was with this kid’s mana pool? Did he not have a limit to how long he could keep this spell up?
No, calm down, Arthur. You don’t want to be impatient. Think. How can I use wind? Wind… what is wind? It’s the movement of air, right? So what is air? Oxygen? Nitrogen? Can I control them as well? How?
I was growing frustrated by my lack of comprehension of my wind and earth elements. Now was as good a time as any to try and learn about them. It wasn’t enough to shoot wind bullets or wind blades, because Lucas had already prepared several levels of fire shields around himself.
I wasn’t thinking outside the box when I used wind. Even with mana rotation, I didn’t have the mana I would need to form a tornado big enough to swallow the fire shooting at me—and even if I did, I didn’t think I’d be able to last longer than Lucas. What was I missing?
“Keep squirming! I’m sure I’ll be forgiven if a few fireballs land on you even after your gear activates—everyone knows I can’t cancel the blasts from the orbs once they’ve been released.” He shrugged nonchalantly, the shields around him blocking any spells I fired at him.
Think, Arthur. Focus on fire. What does fire need to keep burning? …Oxygen.
Could I get rid of the oxygen around me so that the fire couldn’t reach me? Then what would happen to me? Would I be able to breathe?
PROFESSOR GLORY
Well now. Lucas is better than I’ve heard.
Inferno’s Cage was a pretty tough spell to master, yet he was able to cast it while running backward. He was barely thirteen and he could already use a domain spell? The world sure was changing. A half-elf like him using fire-attribute magic—even Princess Tessia—they were all monsters. I got shivers down my back imagining how strong they’d be by the time they graduated.
But Arthur Leywin… What the hell was he? Lucas Wykes had awakened a few years early thanks to his elf lineage, and I could sort of understand the level of control he had with his spells. Being of pure elven lineage—and from the royal family—guaranteed that Tessia Eralith’s skills were a few levels above anyone else near her age. But Arthur?
As soon as he flashed through the field to confront Lucas, I felt a cold sweat break out. The way both the wind and earth naturally gravitated toward him, danced around him—he wasn’t controlling the elements with his commands like a typical mage. No, he was in perfect harmony with the mana surrounding him, as if the elements were mere extensions of his limbs.
Lucas seemed to be taking Arthur seriously. Good thing, too, or he probably would’ve lost instantly. The Inferno’s Cage spell encompassed Arthur and Lucas both in a large dome of fire. I could tell Lucas was a bit worn out after using it, but this was a continuous spell; he could leave it activated until he ran out of mana, which I didn’t think would happen anytime soon. The dome, made up of tiny orbs of fire, was a death trap used by conjurers to gain the advantage against augmenters or agile mana beasts.
The tiny orbs could shoot out beams and bullets of fire anywhere inside the dome, leaving the augmenter occupied enough that the conjurer could cast more spells, uninterrupted.
I turned my focus to Curtis Glayder and Tessia Eralith. As expected, Curtis was having a hard time. I’d had the chance to observe the elf princess practicing with our director once, and I had to say, the way she battled was exquisite. She was a conjurer, but her staff was actually a sharp blade made of a unique wood that was lighter but harder than most metals. Casting buffs on herself and using spells in sync with her movements, she had danced between conjured vines with a speed faster than even some trained augmenters, using wind-attribute mana to aid each motion and action.
Due to her mixed style of conjuring spells and close combat, she had no notable weakness. When I compared it to my own way of fighting, I could only admire how graceful and beautiful her style was.
Claire Bladeheart, on the other hand, was gaining the advantage on our student vice president. Clive was a rare long-range augmenter, and he wielded a short bow capable of firing arrows at an almost unbelievably fast pace. He would have an advantage against most augmenters, but Claire was more than a match for him. Her style mimicked that of her uncle—that stick, Kaspian. With her dual elements, she created spears of wind and fire from her rapier. She had yet to reach her uncle’s level, but with constant training, I was confident she could surpass him.
I turned my attention back to the most intense battle, which was definitely the one between Arthur and Lucas. Most of the students were watching their fight as well, in awe of their abilities.
Looking more closely, I raised an eyebrow at what I saw. That’s strange. Arthur was being hit by the fireballs now. At this rate, even with protection from mana, his gear was going to activate. But he had dodged them so effortlessly just a minute ago—
I focused more mana into my eyes to get a better look. The dome of fire surrounding them blocked a lot of the view, but I could still more or less make out the fight. I tried to see what Arthur was doing—was he holding his breath?
“Torch, lower.” My bond descended, angling his massive wings to keep himself level.
As we slowly circled around the huge fire dome covering a third of the field, things started to become clearer. For every three or four fire blasts that scraped or hit Arthur, one would completely extinguish before it reached him.
“No…” A smile crept across my face as I observed him. Is he actually trying to learn how to manipulate air, right now? I covered my mouth as I smiled in wonder. That little monster… He has guts, I’ll give him that.
Air manipulation was a variation of wind magic, albeit a much harder one. Only the most keen and sensitive mages were capable of directly manipulating the individual components of a natural element, even while meditating in a perfectly calm and peaceful environment. After years of practice through meditation, a mage might begin experimenting in real life situations and incorporating the technique into spells.
The blue fire method was a perfect example of that. It took years of meditation to be able to stably summon blue flames, and even longer to do it fast enough to be of any use in actual battles. This little beast was skipping a few steps and trying to incorporate a completely new technique in the middle of a battle.
My hands trembled in excitement at the thought of being able to witness the development of a mage who could perhaps become the pinnacle of power in this school—maybe even this continent.
A roaring sound caught my attention, and I turned. It seemed Princess Tessia and Prince Glayder’s battle was reaching its climax.
Curtis Glayder’s uniform was full of small gashes and nicks. Curtis had done fairly well against Director Goodsky’s star pupil, I had to admit, although it was probably only because of his bond that he had been able to last this long.
“You’ve forced me to do this, Princess Eralith. Please be careful! Phase one—King’s Wrath!” Prince Glayder roared as his body glowed.
He was activating the acquire phase of his beast will. Curtis rarely chose to use his beast’s ability because he didn’t consider it his own power. I had to hand it to him—he had the right mentality. Some beast tamers chose to only use the unique powers granted by their beast will instead of honing their own. Thus, though still strong, they never really improved themselves in the long run. In order to maximize the effect of the beast will, the user needed to strengthen his own power.
As Curtis activated his beast will’s first phase, a noticeable transformation occurred in him. Each person displayed a different level of visible change, and Prince Glayder’s was significant. His spiky, deep red hair and eyebrows became longer and messier, and the straps that wrapped around his arms tightened as his muscles expanded. His canines extended, becoming visible as he roared.
I whistled. This sight never failed to impress me.
I shifted my gaze to Princess Tessia, who was standing on top of a carpet of vines. Her face looked unnaturally pale. Perhaps she’d taken damage and I hadn’t noticed.
I was at quite a distance from Tessia and Curtis’s battle since I was circling Lucas and Arthur’s, but when I infused my eyes with mana, I could make out beads of sweat rolling down the princess’s face.
“This is my most powerful attack,” Prince Glayder boomed, his voice vibrating with power. “If you can take this on, I’ll admit my defeat. Prepare yourself!”
“World Howl!” Mana gathered in front of Prince Glayder’s mouth as he invoked his breath attack. World lions had a powerful move which they used as a last resort against their most powerful enemies—a beam of condensed earth-attribute mana that could shred anything in its way if not blocked properly.
I looked at Tessia again, beginning to worry, and I could see her mumble an incantation. Then the unthinkable happened.
ARTHUR LEYWIN
Goddamn it!
I was frustrated as hell. I could only grimace and try harder as I struggled to manipulate the air molecules surrounding me. I’d had little success so far, but I felt like I was onto something here. Noticing this, Lucas clicked his tongue and started chanting spells again.
“Flame Guardians!” he shouted.
I allowed myself a small grin as I realized he was reaching his limit. Then again, so was I—or to be more precise, so was my combat equipment. I wasn’t sure when this thing would start screaming its alarm, so I had to finish this fast.
But as the flame soldiers gained on me, Sylvie’s worried voice shouted in my head, ‘Papa, something’s wrong with Mama. I’m going to help her!’
Damn it!
No! You can’t do anything while you’re in that form! I shouted back in my head.
I could sense Sylvie’s desperation, making me all the more anxious.
“Nooo!”
The shout came from above—it was Professor Glory. I took a quick glance up and saw that she was racing at full speed over to Tess and Curtis.
‘Papa! She’s not going to make it in time!’ Sylvie sent back, sounding even more worried than before.
Damn it!
My knees almost gave out and the colors of the world around me inverted as I activated the first phase of Sylvia’s beast will. This ability to shift myself outside of the world’s time and space had a limit; I couldn’t affect anything outside of myself unless I brought it in here with me.
I didn’t have time for that.
I dashed through a gap between the orbs of the dome created by Inferno’s Cage, passing the frozen professor on her mount.
Some distance ahead I saw Tess. She had already fainted and was falling from the conjured vine she was standing on, clutching her abdomen. The massive breath attack Glayder had released was almost upon her.
Sylvie was right—Professor Glory wouldn’t have made it in time. I could only grit my teeth in dread as I imagined my precious friend dying.
I sped up, my vision growing blurry. I was almost at the limit of my energy.
Fuck. Hold on, Arthur, you can do this.
I made my final dash toward Curtis and Tess, and as I jumped off a crumbling vine, I wrapped my body around Tess. Using what little mana I had left, I created a barrier around us.
This is going to hurt.
I released my first phase. As the world reverted back to its original colors, I felt a tremendous searing pain in my back. Before I could even scream, my vision faded, and the last thing I heard before passing out was the shrill sound of my gear activating.
56
Family Gathering
PROFESSOR GLORY
I’m too late! Damn it! What happened? Why did she collapse like that? Is something wrong with her mana core? Why now?
I could only watch in horror as the beam of Prince Curtis’s breath attack made its way toward Princess Tessia. With no defenses around her, would she live? If she did, would she be able to continue as a mage? Forget being a mage—she could be crippled for the rest of her life!
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I desperately raced toward them, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. What would the consequences be? I would be happy if it just ended with me getting fired—my real concern was that this might start a civil war. At such an important time on this continent, was I going to be responsible for the split between the three races?
Curtis’s World Howl engulfed the princess, and a scream of dread ripped free from my lungs. A look of shock crossed Prince Glayder’s face as he realized, after releasing his attack, that Tessia was already unconscious. There was no way, though—no way to stop the attack.
After what seemed like hours, the beam of energy slowly dissipated, and what I saw when it cleared was even more shocking than the worst possible scenario I had imagined.
In utter incredulity, I just stammered, “A-A-Arthur?”
How the hell did he get there? Just moments ago, he had been occupied with Lucas inside the Inferno’s Cage. Instant teleportation? Was that even possible?
No… no no… No. It wasn’t possible.
I jumped down from Torch as soon as I was close enough and rushed toward Arthur and Princess Tessia, outpacing the healers who were sprinting toward the fallen fighters. Arthur was in bad shape. Most of his clothes had disintegrated, leaving him with only patches of his uniform intact and a strange bandage around his left arm. He was bloody all over, and there were deep gashes in his side; I could see a rib bone. His body was wrapped around the princess and, from what I could tell, he’d used most of his mana to protect her. Thanks to that, she was almost unscathed.
The other students were rushing out of the viewing platform, making their way over. Fortunately, the princess was okay; Arthur, however, needed immediate attention. As soon as I got close enough to try and help them, though, Arthur’s little bond stopped me in my tracks with a menacing growl.
Normally, I’d have found the small white fox that rode on top of Arthur’s head cute, but the killing intent it was giving off at that moment was anything but. The amount of pure menace radiating from that little fox was no joke. It seemed to be protecting its master and Princess Tessia.
“It’s okay, little buddy, we’re only trying to help.” I tried to slowly ease my way closer, but its growl only got louder; the healers, who had finally arrived, hesitated behind me, clearly intimidated. Torch, who was normally unafraid even in the chaos of battle, held me back, his beak clutching the back of my shirt.
“Professor, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know she would faint.” Curtis ran to me, his face pale with fright.
“It’s all right, I know. I don’t know how, but Arthur managed to protect the princess. His bond won’t let us get close to them, though.” I clenched my fists in frustration. Arthur needed immediate attention. Why was his bond risking its master’s life by doing this? Couldn’t it sense we were trying to help?
Curtis also tried to get to Arthur and Tessia, but he failed as well. Every attempt at getting even a step closer to them resulted in the bond lashing out at us. “Someone get Director Goodsky!” I barked. Some of the students rushed to obey, but before they could leave, a loud screech filled the air.
From above, a green owl soared down and landed in front of Arthur’s bond.
They seemed to exchange a series of kyus and hoots.
“Are they… talking?” Prince Glayder stammered in confusion.
“I think so.” I scratched my head at this. Could mana beasts of different species communicate with each other?
We stood there helplessly, watching a white fox and a green owl ‘talk’ until, a few minutes later, Director Goodsky arrived, looking quite flustered.
