What We Do to Survive

Thankfully, Cayla had nothing comparably annoying to report. The only irregularity was that her father had requested that she come visit him sometime in the coming weeks. I’d almost forgotten that she was a fellow Xethian native, and, unlike me, had family to come back to here. Her parents lived on one of the islands neighboring the capital where her father served as the overseer of a small military outpost.

I considered the request for a moment, then decided there was probably no harm in letting her go. I gave her a few simple standing orders to help her avoid revealing that anything had happened and she assured me she would ‘strive to further my interests during her trip’. I didn’t really need anything specific right now, I wasn’t going to send her hunting magical creatures after all, but she did remind me that I now had other people I could mostly trust to leave Avalon for me.

With that out of the way, I decided I could figure out what was going to do with Briella later and started their tutoring session in earnest. My first mistake was asking them to show me ‘what they could do’, which I was pretty sure they took as a challenge instead of the simple demonstration I was looking for. Thankfully, I had spent a lot of time practicing all purpose shielding, both with spells and using pure mana variants, and the stone of the meeting room was not particularly flammable either. I was however moderately concerned by the enthusiasm with which Briella tried to turn half the room into a blazing inferno.

After that initial… misunderstanding, things progressed well enough. Briella was a competent spellcaster, slightly more competent than I had expected but less so than I had hoped. She was almost hyper-specialized, something that was discouraged at Avalon, particularly for someone just in their second year. She was very good at fire magic, better than I was probably, even if she couldn’t cast any fourth circle spells yet. Her third-circle ‘fireball’ was as perfect as any I’d ever seen, and she could easily answer every question I posed about the Fire, Heat, and Pressure spellforms. I was rather glad we’d attacked the trio from ambush, I wasn’t sure how well I would have fared against a melee-focused elf supported by that sort of firepower.

Outside of that I already knew that she focused a lot on alchemy, specifically the sort that dealt with body-modification. Now that I’d heard her story, I could see why she’d chosen the field, but it was something that would be hard to access right now. I asked her a few questions that she answered easily enough and told her we would get back to it later.

Her other skills were… lackluster to say the least. Her mana control was barely up to the standards I would have expected from a competent first year and she had a very shallow pool of known spells outside of her fire magic. She also hadn’t bothered to learn any circulations outside of the memory based ones required by the Academy and one that made her more resistant to heat and burns. We would have to correct those obvious deficiencies as soon as possible. It was utterly shameful, even with her clearly lacking education and only a few weeks of practice, my Rea was already rapidly catching up to her. No Avalon student should be so lax with their fundamentals.

Cayla’s assessment was much simpler and less… explosive. She was… disappointing, a technically well-rounded but very unimpressive mage. It was a good thing I’d gotten to her when I did, I doubted that on her own she would have made it through to next year. Even with my help, I didn’t think she would last much longer than that. Hopefully she could prove me wrong, but I doubted it.

She could cast second-circle spells in several disciplines, but poorly. Her healing magic was mediocre, she could cast scrying spells but wasn’t good at interpreting their results, and her combat magic was almost as bad as those Lightcastle idiots that had been picking on my Lea. Similarly, her fundamentals were abysmal. She couldn’t even do all of the basic eight, even using the thick strands of mana that students were encouraged to start with. I had an uneasy feeling that prior experience was the only reason she’d made it through her first year. Well, that and the protection of her much more impressive friends.

Writing up a practice regime for her didn’t take long, but I didn’t have much hope. I sternly ordered her to practice the exercises I’d outlined for her daily, in addition to her current practice. She seemed enthusiastic to obey, but I wasn’t sure that would be enough. She just… didn’t have the instincts or the mindset to be a particularly good mage, and I didn’t know if that was something I could fix. Her touch was clumsy and her mana rebellious. One of the spells she demonstrated, a simple illusion, nearly collapsed during its casting, despite being something she had ‘mastered’ the year before.

I tried to end things on a high note, relying on some of the tips I’d read in ‘The Words That Bind’ and in Elpha’s grimoire that would hopefully play well with the specifics of their oaths. “That was terrible,” I said sternly, “but you have potential and I am a magnanimous master. With my tutelegous, perhaps someday you will be worthy to serve me directly.”

“Yes master!” exclaimed Cayla.

“We live to serve,” added Briella.

“Very good. Same time next week. I expect to see good progress.”

The two girls filed out of the room. Once I was certain they were gone, I slumped down into one of the chairs and put my head back, staring blankly at the ceiling. What a great way to spend a day. There was a reason I much preferred to get my reports from Miranda in written form, and as infrequently as possible as well. I didn’t have time for this nonsense! I had barely had any time to practice this weekend, nor in the weeks prior to it.

There was just… so much to do, so many things constantly begging for my attention. I had barely had time to focus at all on my circulation research, despite it being one of the avenues I saw the most potential in. Similarly, my skill with pure mana had barely progressed since the major improvements I’d made after the Myrddin’s class. There just weren’t enough hours in the day it seemed.

I sighed loudly and closed my eyes. At least it wasn’t anything particularly bad, just annoying. I was moving forward, just at a much slower pace than I would have preferred. I was grasping at too many things, and while I didn’t regret any of them, I would have to try and control myself better. Plans were all well and good, but real life often came with its own trials and time commitment.

I had hopefully finally dealt with most of the human commitments to my time. I still wanted to visit Lea, but that was never a chore. Time spent with my Lea was a gift I had never expected to receive again, and I was unwilling to squander it. Tomorrow, I decided. I would visit her tomorrow.

Without opening my eyes, I checked the time. Ugh. That had taken much longer than I would have preferred. Dinner and then some practice. I could deal with the last of this week’s homework in the morning.

The heavy stone door shut with a resounding boom and a web of light spread along the walls as ancient runes lit up with iridescent green mana. Maxis Warbringer set his half-empty cup down, glass clinking against polished granite. “Nice of you to finally join us Arnold,” he said quietly, but his voice carried in the silent room.

The last arrival turned to look at him, an annoyed scowl on his face. “Some of us actually have responsibilities we have to take care of,” he said sharply. “The idiot kept us for five hours today! I barely have time to do my actual job, much less everything else.”

Still scowling, he took his seat and dropped a thick pile of papers on the table before him. He exhaled sharply and brushed a strand of his long hair behind his ear. “I’m here now. Let's get this done.”

A soft, melodious laugh rang through the room, the sound bouncing oddly and hanging in the air for longer than it should. “Come on, Maxi, don’t be such a stick in the mud,” the woman purred. Setting a long-nailed hand on Arnold’s shoulder, she leaned in and whispered loudly, “Don’t let him get to you Ari. I know you’re doing your best.”

Arnold pushed her hand aside and pulled away, “I’ve told you not to do that,” he growled.

Before she could respond, the last member of their group spoke up. “Enough. Maxis, don’t antagonize him. Loraline, we have a deal with your queen. Shall I inform her that you are no longer willing to comply?”

Maxis sighed and picked up his glass, swirling the remaining red wine with no real desire to drink it. “Sorry, your holiness” he said shortly.

Loraline scowled, but sat back up in her seat and folded her hands on the table. The last echoes of her laughter, still ringing softly through the air, faded to nothing. “The agreement stands.”

“Good. Before we begin, does anyone have any concerns they would like to bring before the table?” The robed priest shifted in his seat, the deep shadows cast by his hood hiding everything except his gleaming eyes.

They sat in silence for a long moment, the leader meeting each of their eyes in turn. Eventually, Maxis set his glass back down and leaned forward. “Just one. Why in the blessed Lady’s name is Avalon here, and how did I not know about this sooner?” Though he started quietly, by the end of his question he was all but shouting. “I knew nothing of this until days before their arrival. My daughter had to learn of this from that thrice-damned fool of a headmaster instead of from her own father!”

He exhaled loudly, then sat back down and took a sip of his wine. “That is all,” he said with false calm.

Arnold and the priest exchanged glances and then Arnold sighed. “I think I can answer that unfortunately.”

“Well?”

“The king played things very close to his chest. He’s made some sort of deal with their administration, though I haven’t been able to find what it might be. None of my contacts, nor any of our suborned advisors knew anything about it until the last minute. I don’t even know how he contacted them, he went completely over all our heads to do this. The first I knew of it all was less than a week before they arrived, when orders started coming in to move guards and announce his ‘trade portal’ initiative.”

“It is… concerning,” spoke up the only woman at the table. “Their mages hunt my kind, regardless of deals sworn with local rulers. Four younglings have gone missing already, and the wards around our islands have been tested multiple times.”

Maxis growled again, “Why would that moron invite such… vipers into our midst? They can’t be trusted, he has to know that!”

Arnold simply shrugged. “Power, I’d guess. He’s given a few reasons at the council, but not the real one I don’t think. We’re getting two dozen free spots spread over the next seven years, which is more ‘generous’, though I don’t know if that's the right way to say it, than most nations get. He’s also hired several of their staff members to do something for him, though once again I couldn’t say what it is. I have no idea how we’re paying for it all though. Even the minister of finance knows nothing.”

“Irritating.”

“It really is.”

The robed priest spoke up then, “Do you think they’re after it as well?”

Arnold leaned back in his seat, tapping a finger on the table as he thought. “No, probably not,” he decided after a moment, “I don’t think even he is stupid enough to reveal its existance. Whether they know about it though… that's a different question entirely. There are few things Calamitous Ambrosius can not achieve when he puts his mind to it.”

“Then we can only hope we get to it first,” the priest said with a long-suffering sigh. “Her holiness tests even her most faithful servants.”

“For ten-thousand moons,” the other three chorused, the woman a half-word behind the other two.

“Well then, is that all?” asked the priest after another moment.

“I’m not happy, but I’m satisfied.”

“Very good. In that case, let us begin the meeting with a short prayer…”