Damien and Sylph sprinted down an alley, a massive creature that resembled a mutated crocodile scrambling after them. It had a single, jagged horn and amusingly tiny wings that had no possible way to lift it.
They shot down a hallway, and it skidded to the side, slamming into a shop and letting out a snarl as its claws scrabbled to gain purchase on the ground.
"What is this thing?" Sylph yelled.
"Crocodile," Damien replied, spinning to throw a gravity lance at the monster. It cracked several of the huge crocodile's scales but did little more than make the creature even angrier. "Panther strategy!"
Sylph nodded, flickering and vanishing as Damien spun on his heel and brought two more gravity spheres to bear. The crocodile roared and lunged toward him, its large jaws snapping at the boy.
Damien tossed both of the spheres forward. One of them sailed harmlessly past its head while the other went straight into its maw. He jumped back as the spells detonated, and the crocodile snarled in pain, blood leaking out of its mouth.
He found himself wishing that he'd managed to master Henry's teleportation spell before Delph had forced them to go through core evolution, but there was no such luck. The crocodile's sharp eyes focused on him, and it snapped forward again, forcing him to scramble out of the way.
A gravity sphere formed at Damien's feet, and he kicked it forward. The crocodile flinched back, all too aware of the painful little balls of magic. He used the time to form two more gravity drills and thrust them at the monster.
The spells struck the creature on the head, shattering more powerful scales and eliciting a cry of pain. Damien's mental energy strained, but it was still far from empty.
As he brought two more gravity spheres to his hands, Sylph blurred into existence above the crocodile's head, two burning black and green blades in her hands. She drove them downward into the monster's eyes, twisting the magical weapons as it roared in pain and started to thrash around.
"Get off!" Damien yelled.
Sylph's eyes widened, but she threw herself to the side. A moment later, the crocodile slammed its body against a thick stone shop wall, sending down a rain of dust and tile. It roared, its head moving around erratically as it tried to locate them.
The two of them exchanged a glance, then nodded. Two gravity spheres formed in Damien's hands and Sylph's blades appeared once more. They darted forward together. Sylph jumped onto a wall, vaulting off it to throw herself into the air as Damien lobbed the two gravity spheres below her.
They landed right beside the crocodile's head and detonated, yanking it downwards and slamming its chin against the ground. Sylph landed on top of it, thrusting her blades into the creature's ruined eyes once again.
Magical energy flared around her, and the blades doubled in length. The crocodile's screams went silent, and it slumped, dead. She let the blades vanish and hopped down from the monster.
"Nice job," Sylph said.
"You, too. How do you think the professors are doing? They've let a good number of monsters past them."
Sylph gave a one shouldered shrug. "No clue. Something tells me that they won't go down easily, though. There must be a lot of monsters for them to still be busy."
"Or some really strong ones," Damien said, frowning. "Do you think we should help?"
"How?" Sylph asked. "We're Year Ones, Damien. Besides, if you put yourself in a really dangerous situation, we both know what'll happen, and neither of us want that."
Damien sighed and nodded. "You're right. Let's go look for the next one, then."
"Slow down for a second," Delph's voice said. Damien and Sylph both turned as Delph materialized behind them. His tattered clothing had a little blood on it, but the man didn't look too much worse for the wear.
"Hello, Professor Delph," Sylph said. "Did you enjoy your dinner?"
"Quite," Delph replied. "It was a little gamey, though. I assume the two of you have actually sought out some enemies and haven't just been hiding around?"
Damien and Sylph both looked so affronted at the man's words that he chuckled. "Never mind. I don't think I could ever imagine the two of you skipping out on a fight. Regardless, there isn't much left to do in the campus grounds. Most of the monsters that made it here are already dead."
A flash of light rose up into the sky from somewhere around the library.
Delph cocked his head to the side. "All of them, actually."
"So it's over?" Damien asked.
"Not quite," Delph replied. "It's close, though. I thought the two of you might like to see what a real fight looks like. Some of the professors are going all out, and it's not often that you get to see something like that."
Damien and Sylph exchanged a surprised glance before both nodding simultaneously. Delph smirked. "Thought as much. Come along."
He reached out, grabbing each of them by the back of their shirt. His cloak rippled outwards, expanding to cover them all before condensing into a small dot, vanishing.
Damien blinked. He was standing on a hill overlooking what appeared to be soup that had once been monsters. He gagged as the smell of offal, sweat, and all sorts of things that he didn't want to think about rose and forced its way into his nose.
Flashes of magic danced across the sky, and the ground rumbled with energy as the professors pressed through the lines of monsters, carving through them.
Sylph's lip curled in distaste. "I hate the smell of a battlefield."
"Not used to it?" Delph asked, raising an eyebrow as he walked to stand beside them.
"You never get used to it," Sylph replied. "Do we know why the monsters attacked the school in the first place?"
"Not yet," Delph replied. "But it wasn't particularly organized. This is far from what the normal monster incursions look like. They were considerably weaker and less organized than what we expect."
He pulled out a small medallion and turned it over in his hand. Then he smirked and put it back, shrugging. "It doesn't matter. Blackmist took a little damage, but the mages at the frontline are about to catch a lot of flak from the queen. Things like this aren't supposed to happen. If the monsters had headed for a city instead of the college, who knows how much damage they might have done."
Damien squinted at the professors. He could just barely make out Auntie as she swung her massive sword, carving apart a huge orc in her path. The woman was positively terrifying, even from this distance.
"When I said a lot of monsters were dumb, I didn't mean this dumb," Sylph said, frowning and crossing her arms over her chest. "They wouldn't travel this far just to attack for no reason. There has to be something they wanted, although I don't know why they didn't bring anything strong along with them."
"Perhaps we'll learn once the battle is over," Delph said. "But, more importantly, the two of you got a good training session in. Some real life scenarios are vital to improvement, and it would have been a waste to wait until the next quest week."
The sky crackled with purple energy. They all glanced up as a large shadow passed over the hill. A thick bank of clouds blocked out exactly what the shadow belonged to, but occasional flashes of brilliant lightning lit it up.
Whatever the shadow belonged to, it was big. Easily the size of the library, with massive wings and what appeared to be multiple long necks.
"Would you look at that," Delph said, not particularly bothered by the monster's arrival. "That's a big one."
"What is that?" Sylph whispered in awe.
"I think it's a great hydra," Damien replied in a similar tone. "That's incredible. And also terrifying. Those are incredibly dangerous."
"I couldn't tell," Sylph said dryly. "Delph, shouldn't you go do something about it?"
"Meh." Delph shrugged. "Whisp is up there. She can deal with it."
No sooner that Delph had spoken, a small form punched through the clouds and sailed through the air. Damien squinted at it. "It's Whisp!"
"And boy does she know how to fly," Delph said. They tracked her as she shot downwards and crashed into the ground several hills away. Damien and Sylph gaped as Delph chuckled.
"She just died!" Damien exclaimed. "Why are you laughing?"
"Died? She'll be fine," Delph said, scoffing. "What, do you really think a fall like that is going to kill a trained professor? Look, she'll fly up in a few moments."
They watched the spot where Whisp had fallen. Nothing happened.
"Huh," Delph said. "That sucks."
Henry cackled within Damien's mind. "Agreed."
Damien mentally shooed him back. Without Whisp's magic, it was impossible to tell where the massive creature was in the cloudy sky above them.
"Shouldn't you do something, Professor?" Damien asked. "The other professors are busy, and if that thing ends up at the school, it'll get demolished!"
"Oh, I doubt it's going for the school," Delph replied, watching the sky.
"And, to be honest, I don't think I can fight that thing. I don't have any way to fly around, and even if it was on land, I know my limits. If Whisp couldn't handle it, neither can I."
"So what do we do?" Sylph asked.
"Dodge, probably," Delph said, squinting upward. "It's heading straight for us."
A massive roar shook the earth, forcing Damien and Sylph to clap their hands over their ears as four massive draconic heads emerged from the clouds. Each of them looked straight at their group.
Delph grabbed his students, and he vanished, reappearing several hills to the side as a pillar of fire shot out from one of the monster's heads, searing the hill and burning a hole straight through it.
"Ouch," Delph said. "I liked that hill."
"You don't seem very concerned," Sylph said. She brought a magical blade to her hand but dismissed it a moment later. Damien didn't blame her.
The thought of trying to stab the huge monster with what was equivalent to a toothpick was laughable.
"Oh, I'm not. The cavalry is on the way. He just likes dramatic entrances."
"He?" Damien asked.
Henry abruptly shrunk inwards, drawing every mote of his presence back without even giving Damien a warning. Delph, unaware of the void creature's reaction, nodded up at the sky.
"There he is now. Waiting for the perfect moment to arrive. Moron."
The fighting suddenly stopped. For an instant, the world seemed to hold its breath as the air grew electrically charged. Something significant changed in the atmosphere. Damien gasped as a stream of Ether rushed out of his body and rose into the sky.
It wasn't just him. Thousands of lines of Ether rose up from the battlefield and into a single spot in the sky. Then the clouds vanished. It wasn't that they'd been blown away, they just ceased to exist.
A tall man floated in the sky across from the huge hydra. He held a large warhammer in a single hand, but it was impossible to make out any detail beyond that. The silence was broken as the hydra's heads let out four synchronized roars and simultaneously blasted the man with fire.
Damien winced, but the flame never reached its target. It vanished a short distance in front of him, transforming into streamers of Ether and simply flooding into the man. Then, almost lazily, he raised a hand. A thin beam shot out, shooting past the hydra and disappearing into the sunset.
A violent explosion shook the world. The sky lit up with brilliant red energy, and Damien was momentarily blinded. When his vision returned, his ears were still ringing from the force of the blast.
Of the hydra, nothing remained but smoldering flakes of burnt scales fluttering down. Damien's mouth dropped open.
"What was that? How is so much power even possible?"
"That," Delph said, pulling out a small candy and popping it into his mouth, "was the dean. The real one, mind you."
As soon as the hydra fell, the remainder of the monsters quailed. They tried to fall back, but the professors were merciless. They hounded after them, tearing any stragglers apart. Within minutes, it was over.
The dean floated down from the sky, heading straight for Delph and the students. Now that he was closer, Damien could make out the man's features. He wore a wide shouldered coat with metal studs, and his dark hair was spikier than Damien had ever seen.
He gave them a cocky smile as he touched down. He leaned on his spiked warhammer and raised an eyebrow. "Slacking off again, Delph?"
"I knew you were coming," Delph replied. "There was no reason for me to bother trying to fight that thing when you'll do it for me. Besides, shouldn't you be worried about Whisp?"
"Whisp is fine," the dean said, rolling his eyes. "She's just pouting that she got slapped out of the sky. Who are the munchkins?"
He turned his eyes on Damien, who was startled to realize they were bright red. Delph yawned.
"My students," Delph said. "They just went through core evolution and got stuck on campus during the attack, so I had them help out by wiping up a few of the ones that got to campus."
"Typical," the dean said. "Well, how are you two enjoying Blackmist so far?"
Damien blinked. The man's small talk seemed so out of place amongst the battlefield surrounding them, but he didn't seem to be one that would take silence for an answer.
"It's been interesting," Damien answered honestly.
"We've learned a lot," Sylph added.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Learning is important and all that stuff," the dean said. "Delph, do you know if the monsters got to the mess hall?"
"I don't believe they did."
"Good. I'm hungry," the dean said, rocketing up into the sky and vanishing into the clouds. They all watched him go. Once Damien was certain the man had vanished, he snuck a glance at Sylph. She looked just as confused as he felt.
"What's up with him?" Sylph asked. "He looks like a moron."
"Tell me about it," Delph snorted. "Don't tell anyone, but his red eyes are actually fake. They're little pieces of colored film. His eyes are actually brown."
"What's the point of that?"
"Don't ask me," Delph said with a shrug. "He's strong, and that's all that matters. That's generally how life works. He isn't around the campus much since he's almost always looking for something to fight or some new magical artifact."
The three of them watched as the professors finished off the remainder of the monsters and slowly started to make their way toward the hill, gathering around them. Dredd spotted Damien and Sylph. His gaze flicked up to Delph, a frown creasing his face.
"You got the students involved," Dredd stated.
"Just in a bit of cleanup," Delph replied, waving his hand. "Look, they're fine."
"And if they hadn't been? They're Year Ones, Delph. Not Year Fours."
"Let's not dwell on hypotheticals," Delph replied. "Everything turned out fine. Was anyone injured?"
"No," Dredd replied. "It was one of the most pathetic monster hordes I've seen. There was no organization to them, just random monsters that look like they were thrown together and ran here at a moment's notice."
"Interesting," Delph said, pulling out the pendant and turning it over in his hand. "Just what is this thing? If they wanted it so urgently, something tells me they'll send another wave after it."
Dredd snatched it from the other professor and squinted at it. "No idea.
You stole this from the dean's office, didn't you?"
"Reappropriated," Delph corrected. "Better me than the monsters."
Dredd grunted and threw the pendant back to the other professor.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Give it back to him, then give me a report of everything that happened today, including the children."
"Since when did you become the boss?" Delph asked.
Dredd glowered at him. "Delph."
"You'll get your report," Delph said, rolling his eyes. "And if you weren't such a hardass, maybe people would actually do things before you asked them to."
"Funny, everyone seems to do things that I need aside from you," Dredd replied. "I know you're playing at something, Delph. This isn't the frontlines. You can't toy around like you did there. There are innocent lives at stake."
"I would never do something like that. My work is not just 'toying' around," Delph said, making air quotes. "And no life is innocent."
Dredd pressed his lips together, but he didn't get a chance to respond.
The crowd of professors parted slightly as a very bedraggled Whisp made her way past them. Her hair was poofy and stuck out in every direction. She was covered in soot and dirt, and one of her eyebrows was half singed off.
"Looks like you had fun," Delph said, putting the pendant into his pocket.
"Can it, Delph. I need a drink," Whisp said with an irritable sigh. Her gaze flicked to Damien and Sylph. "Why are you two here?"
They both wordlessly pointed at Delph, who didn't even have the good grace to look abashed. Whisp rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Whatever. I really don't care. How bad is the damage to the school?"
"A few buildings. Nothing important," Delph said.
"Which buildings?"
"A restaurant that nobody liked and a few other stores. None of them had anything too valuable, so repairs should be fast," Delph said.
Whip's singed eyebrows grew closer together. "What restaurant?"
"The crappy noodle one."
"I liked that restaurant!" Whisp complained.
"Then nobody of relevance liked it, acting dean," Delph said, smirking.
Whisp rubbed her face with her hand, only succeeding in smearing the dirt around more. "You are insufferable. Go take your wards and bring them home so they can do something other than gawk at me. Then go put in the orders to get things rebuilt."
"Why me?" Delph asked. "I didn't blow up the buildings."
"You let monsters into the school to let your students fight them," Whisp said. "Or am I wrong? You can't tell me that they breached the walls of the school without damaging them."
Delph cleared his throat. "I'll get the orders handled as soon as possible.
Show's over, kids. Let's go."
Damien bit back a laugh as Delph put a hand on his and Sylph's shoulders. The professors watched them with a mixture of amusement and worry as Delph's cloak expanded outwards, enveloping all of them. It shrank down, spinning into a small gray dot before vanishing.
The two students reappeared in front of their room. Delph was nowhere to be seen. With a yawn, Sylph pushed the door open and walked inside, holding it open for Damien.
"Well, that was eventful," Damien said dryly.
"It's just like Delph to intentionally bring a bunch of monsters into the school to train us," Sylph said, shaking her head. "At least we know he didn't abandon us."
"He could have just grabbed a bunch of monsters and tossed them in before doing whatever he wanted to," Damien pointed out. "He's insane. I wouldn't count on anything. But, more importantly, what was up with the monsters attacking in the first place? Delph was right. They must have really wanted that locket. I wonder what it was."
"Somehow, I don't think we're going to figure it out in the library," Damien said. "Henry? What do you think?"
His companion stirred within him. "I was staying very far in the depths of your psyche, so I didn't get much of a look at anything. That dean of yours has some impressive levels of power for a mortal. You're lucky he didn't seem to care about you in the slightest. Even with the rune circle, he might have been able to sense me."
Noted. I'll do my best to stay away from him in the future.
"Nothing useful?" Sylph guessed from Damien's expression."
"Unfortunately not." Damien sighed. "I suppose it's none of our business for now. But how was your magic working? Everything functional?"
"I'm about where I was before the stone mantis," Sylph said. "Just without the limit to my growth. And, out of curiosity, I checked the seal that Hen—you put on me. It's still there, so the evolution didn't get rid of it."
"I'm sorry," Damien said, frowning. "I guess it's just linked to your core."
"It's fine," Sylph said, giving him a small smile. "I think I can deal with it, especially considering the thing you've got on your chest."
Damien grimaced. He pulled up his shirt and looked down at the twin circles on his body. The writhing tentacles emerging from them reached almost up to his arms.
"Were they always this long?" Damien asked worriedly.
"I don't think so," Sylph said, squinting at it. "Maybe they absorbed some of the power during the core evolution?"
"Wonderful."
"Do you feel any different?"
"Not really," Damien said. "Just tired. And a little hungry, but not enough to actually get anything to eat. Did you get any good gains from Delph's training?"
He tapped his bracelet and words scrawled themselves in the air before his eyes.
Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 9.5 Magical Control: 1.3 Magical Energy: 20.1 Physical Strength: .37 Endurance: 1.5 "Some, but nothing too crazy," Sylph replied. "And, unless you want to run down to the general store and beg the clerk for food, I think there's only one problem we can solve right now."
Damien nodded. The mere thought of the bed had reminded his body of how tired it was from after the core evolution, and he could practically feel nonessential functions shutting off. He flopped down into his bed, not even bothering to remove his clothes.
He caught Sylph doing the same out of the corner of his eye, but his tired mind barely even registered it before the embrace of sleep swallowed him. Mercifully, Henry and Herald both decided to spare Damien a nighttime visit, so the night passed peacefully and without interruption.
The next morning, faint rays of sun peeked in from around the cracks in the door. Damien groaned, rolling over and shoving his face into the pillow.
Core evolution or not, every single part of his body ached, and he couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and drag himself to the shower so it could heal.
The shower turned on. He curled his nose and rolled over again. Sylph wandered out a few minutes later and nudged him. "Stop being lazy."
"No," Damien grumbled. "We fought off a monster horde yesterday."
"We fought like three monsters," Sylph said. "The professors did everything else."
"Semantics," Damien muttered, but he rolled out of bed. Sylph cocked an eyebrow as he dragged himself past her and into the shower. A short while later, he reemerged feeling mostly reinvigorated.
The remains of the panther hadn't survived their core evolution, so the two of them headed down to the mess hall to get breakfast. Luckily, the large woman staffing them was still present. Once they'd eaten, they made their way back to their rooms. Most of the campus was still deserted, but there were a few more people walking around than the previous day.
"How long do you think it's going to take until all the other students get back?" Damien asked, sitting on his bed. "Even if they have the guys in the red robes go out and collect everyone again, it'll probably still take a while."
"I doubt all of them went home," Sylph replied. "They probably just got sent to a nearby city that was considered safe. I'm sure everyone will be back by the end of today."
"That's probably a good point," Damien said. "I suppose there's not much to do than practice, then."
"That's how it generally is," Sylph said, a grin tugging at the edge of her lips. "At least we can say we got to do something during the siege. I'm sure at least somebody will be jealous."
Damien chuckled as they both headed into their respective training rooms. Once Sylph was out of sight, Henry slipped out and rose from the shadow beside Damien.
"Ready to practice Warp Step again?" Henry asked. "Your core evolution shouldn't have affected your progress with it much, but it hardly matters. You were almost there already, so you should have it figured out in a day or two."
I hope so. The spell is interesting, but I have to admit that the spells that make things explode are a little more…cool.
"And this is coming from the boy who didn't want to be a combat mage just a short time ago," Henry said, scoffing. "And don't worry, we can focus on some more destructive spells after you figure out Warp Step.
Damien nodded. He drew on the Ether and got back to work, eager to finally get a handle on the spell.
As it turned out, it didn't even take him the rest of the day to push through the last stretch. Just an hour or two after lunch, Damien was able to cast Warp Step correctly at least six out of ten times. It was far from mastery, but he was happy with it.
"Does that ever get old?" Sylph asked from her bed as Damien blinked across the room, nearly running face first into the wall.
"Not in the slightest," Damien replied, cackling. He vanished again, this time tripping over his bed and falling straight into it with a grunt. Sylph laughed. The motes of dark energy floating around her faded as she lost concentration.
"Ha ha," Damien said, rolling his eyes and brushing imaginary dirt off himself. "I don't see you practicing your new spell. It's not fair that you're the only one that gets to laugh. I'm sure yours isn't going all that much better."
"It isn't," Sylph admitted. "It's the first time I've learned a new spell in a very long time. The last one was my camouflage, and I was taught that when I was eleven."
Damein blinked. "Damn. That—" "Sucks," Sylph finished. "But it doesn't matter now. I've got a chance to progress again, and I am making progress. It's just slow."
"Anything worth showing?" Damien asked.
Sylph pursed her lips. She raised a hand, concentrating on it for a few moments. One of her fingertips shimmered, the end growing sharp and lengthening. Before Damien could get a good look, it snapped back to its normal appearance.
"Damn," Sylph muttered. "I still don't have a lock on it. It's harder than it looks."
"I can imagine," Damien said. "But what's the point of making your fingers sharp? You can already make shadow swords or . Isn't that just the same thing?"
Sylph smirked. "It'll have more applications than that, but I don't want to talk about them now in case I can't get the magic to work right. I'll show you what it can do once I figure out how to control it."
"Fair enough," Damien agreed, Warp Stepping across the room again.
Syph groaned.
"Your endless amounts of Ether are so annoying," she complained. "It's like you never run out."
Damien blinked over to stand beside her bed. He stubbed his toe hard against the post, and he cursed, hopping around on one foot and holding the injured foot. After a few moments, he cleared his throat and regained as much of his dignity as he could. "Coming from the person who placed rank one in the ranking battles."
"And I plan to do so again next year," Sylph said with a smug grin.
"Then again, with the rate you're improving at, I might have to shoot for second."
"We'll both probably have to put in our all," Damien said. "If Mark figures out how to control his companion—or just lets the damn thing loose —we'd both probably have a lot of difficulty standing against it."
Sylph nodded thoughtfully. "Although that's all assuming the school doesn't get ransacked by monsters looking for Delph's pendant."
"Yes," Damien agreed. "I suppose that's true."
After a few more minutes of small talk, they both got back to work.
Damien continued practicing Warp Step while Sylph returned to meditating and attempting to grasp the reins of her own spell.
The rest of the day passed quickly and the following one was upon them before they knew it. As Sylph had predicted, the campus had come back to life overnight. When the two of them walked outside, Mark sat beside Nolan, who was hunched over a stack of paper and drawing a rune circle.
Damien peered over the boy's shoulder and grimaced. A moment later, the paper in Nolan's hand burst into flame. It shriveled up and turned to ash within moments, blowing away in the wind.
"Was that supposed to be a heat rune?" Mark asked.
"No," Nolan said, sighing. "It was meant to be a barrier."
"It wasn't a very good barrier."
"I'm aware," Nolan said, brushing his hands off and craning his neck to glance up at Damien and Sylph. "I didn't see you two at the evacuation.
Delph wouldn't let us into your room. What happened?"
"Well, that's a bit of a long story," Damien said. He didn't see any reason to hide it from Nolan, so he explained the events of the past few days.