"Anytime," Damien replied. "And I think we need a new plan."
Saliva whipped from the devourer beast's mouth as it leaned forward and let out a furious roar.
"I think you might be right," Sylph said. "I've got an idea, but I need you to distract it. Like, really distract it. It needs to forget I exist."
The monster examined them with its beady eyes. Its fists balled in the dirt, but it watched them warily. Sylph's attack had shown that they could injure it, and caution had trickled into its motions.
"You won't be able to get close if I do," Damien warned.
"I'll find a way."
Damien nodded, drawing Ether inside himself and sending it out into his hands and feet. "Right. Get ready."
He dashed toward the hulking creature. Its eyes widened for a moment at his newfound bravery, but with a barking laugh-growl, the devourer beast loped forward and swung an open hand at him.
Damien dove to the side, feeling the wind from the strike whistle past his body, and slammed his hands into the ground. The dirt expanded, forming a thick pillar that thrust upward into the creature's stomach.
The strike wasn't strong enough to send it flying, but all the air rushed out of the monster's lungs in a huff. Damien didn't give it a chance to respond, casting enlarge on the ground right beside the first pillar.
Another pillar shot out, slamming into the monster's face. It staggered back with a roar, uninjured but incredibly annoyed. Damien kicked the pillar he'd formed and another one shot out of it, striking the overgrown gorilla in the stomach a second time.
Two gravity spheres flickered to life in Damien's hands. He lobbed them at the monster, detonating them as soon as they grew close and yanking it off balance. He then enlarged a speck of dirt at an angle, sending a pole flying straight into the devourer beast's crotch.
Ether gathered at Damien's feet. It formed into two gravity drills that he sent hurtling toward the monster. They both struck it in the chest, churning into the thick hair but still failing to do any serious damage.
It shook its head and loped toward Damien, throwing dirt at him furiously. He Warp Stepped to the side, leaving a gravity sphere behind him. The spell pulled it off balance just long enough for Damien to send another pillar flying at its behind.
The spell did little more than knock it forward a few steps, but when the devourer beast swung back toward Damien, he could see the burning hatred in its eyes had doubled. All thoughts of the pendant inside the log cabin had vanished.
All that remained was the fury toward the small annoying pest peppering it with enlarged rock spears. Damien stuck his tongue out and formed four gravity spheres—two at his hands and two at his feet.
He threw them around the monster as it started to charge, pulling it off balance but failing to stop it completely. Damien Warp Stepped out of the way of a violent crushing strike that sent dirt flying everywhere.
Sylph took that moment to shoot out from where she'd been standing.
The monster was so focused on Damien that it barely even registered the dark blur as she dashed forward and thrust the shadow blade into its back.
In an impressive display of acrobatics, Sylph used the hilt of her sword like a bar to swing herself onto the monster's back. Another blade formed in her hands, and she drove it home into the devourer beast's neck.
The light in the monster's eyes blinked out. It took a step forward, then tipped and crashed face first to the ground. Damien slowly lowered his hands. He was breathing heavily, and now that the monster was dead, he was struck by how bad it smelled. It was like a mixture of hot sweat and unwashed armpits.
Sylph stepped off the fallen creature's back, allowing her shadowy blades to dissipate. She walked to stand beside Damien. "Is there anything else coming?"
"Nothing right now," Henry said before Damien could ask. "That was it, apparently."
"Nope. It was just the stinky monkey," Damien said, pinching his nose.
"I don't think Mel is going to be very happy with us. It smashed her house."
"You'd be right about that," Mel's voice said from behind Damien. He paled and turned around as Delph and Mel walked out from the tree line.
Their hair was rassled, and their clothes were covered in dirt. Delph had a cut running down the side of his arm, and Mel had one on her right leg. She did not look happy.
"How long have you been here?" Sylph asked.
"The last bit of the fight, from what it looks like," Delph replied with a shrug. "We didn't see the monkey smash Mel's roof. Unless that was one of you?"
"It was the monkey," Damien said quickly.
"Bummer," Delph said. "Good job with the devourer. It looks young, but it was a decent fight from both of you. devourer beasts aren't to be messed with."
"It would have been a lot easier if you'd let me finish it off," Mell said tersely. "There was no need to sit around watching your students and the monster ruin my house."
"If you hadn't kidnapped me and attacked me out of nowhere, your house would have been fine," Delph said. "Besides, it was a teaching moment. Real combat experience is very important."
"For someone who wants a favor from me, you aren't being very convincing."
"Damn," Delph said. He turned to Damien and Sylph. "Can either of you do puppy dog eyes?"
Mel let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't wait until someone puts you in your place. I'd do it myself if it wasn't such a goddamned bother, and I want you out of my hair yesterday."
"Fastest way to do that is by telling me what the amulet does," Delph said with a cheerful grin. It was the most terrifying thing Damien had ever seen the man do. His grizzled face didn't look right with a full smile on it.
"Stop smiling," Mel said. "It's creepy, and you're a psychopath. We both know you're faking it."
"Your words wound me," Delph said, letting the grin drop. "Are you identifying my amulet or not?"
Mel strode past him. She paused by the devourer beast's corpse, then snapped her hands. After a moment, a gnarled wooden staff shot out from within her house and flew into her hands. She tapped the butt of it against the dead monster.
A whirlpool of white energy expanded over it. Motes of light rose up from the monster, and it started to dissolve. Within moments, it was like it had never been there at all. Mel walked inside and emerged a few moments later holding the amulet.
She leaned against the staff and stared at the small piece of jewelry. Her eyes shimmered, the whites vanishing as they turned completely silver.
After a few moments, the strange color faded.
"It's a key," Mel said, tossing it to Delph. "And a homing device. It sends out a magical signal every few seconds. I don't know what the signal is, but it's probably some sort of 'come get me' request. And, before you ask, I don't know what the key is for. Probably something important considering the number of monsters that apparently want it."
"Huh," Delph said. "A key. Lots of fuss for something like that. I wonder what it leads to."
"I don't know," Mel replied. "And frankly, I don't care. I identified the stupid thing. That means our business is done, right?"
"I suppose it is," Delph agreed. "I don't suppose you want to help me figure out what the key is for?"
"Eat shit," Mel replied, storming inside her cabin and slamming the door shut behind her. The effect was considerably dampened by the fact that Damien could still see the top of her head through the hole in the front ceiling of the house.
"Worth a shot," Delph said, shrugging at his students. "Either way, we got what we came for. Good job."
"We barely did anything," Sylph said. "All we did was kill a juvenile devourer beast."
"You kept Mel from going ballistic and trying to kill me the moment she saw me," Delph said. "The monster was nice, too, I suppose. But she probably wouldn't have agreed to identify the amulet had you not been there."
"What did you even do to her?" Damien asked.
"I already told you that. I tried to kill her."
"Well, I got that much. Why?"
Delph shrugged. "It happens sometimes, you know?"
"No," Damien said, "I don't. I can't think of many people you could just accidentally try to kill that would survive you either."
"Oh, it wasn't an accident," Delph said.
Mel poked her head out the door. "Stop dillydallying and get lost! I don't want to have to see you lot any more than I have to."
"We're leaving," Delph replied with an irritable grunt. He put a hand on Damien and Sylph's shoulders, and his cloak rippled, reaching out and enveloping them. The world faded to gray, and they vanished.
They reappeared in front of their room. The sun had lowered considerably since they'd left, but it hadn't even been a whole day.
"That was…fast," Damien said slowly.
"What, not long enough for you?" Delph asked, grunting. "Dangerous doesn't mean slow."
"We'll take it," Sylph said. "Does this mean we're done with the required quests for this year?"
"You are," Delph said. "The dean will understand. I'll get you your contribution points and gold for your trouble as well. They'll be waiting with Auntie. You've got the rest of the week to prepare for finals, and I recommend you take it. You might be fine in my class, but I'm going to make sure you work for your pass."
"Thanks," Damien said slowly. "Last question, before you leave. Who was that woman?"
"Mel," Delph replied, crossing his arms. "My wife."
With that, he condensed into a small gray orb and vanished, leaving Damien and Sylph staring open-mouthed at where he'd been standing.
"He does have a flair for the dramatic," Sylph muttered, shaking her head.
"Do you even think she's really his wife?" Damien asked. "It wouldn't surprise me if he was just lying to mess with us."
"Does it matter either way? I don't think we'll be seeing her again anytime soon. If we do, you're welcome to ask yourself."
"I think I'll pass on that," Damien said, shuddering. "She liked us little enough already. Just what did Delph do to her? Other than trying to kill her, that is."
"You act as if that's not bad enough." Sylph laughed. "And it hardly affects us. Delph is right about one thing, we need to focus on training. I'm so close to figuring out my new spell that I should be able to get it before the week is out. I know you just got a new one, so learning another spell right before finals might not be on your list, but I'm sure you've got something you need to practice."
"A lot," Damien agreed, thinking back over the fight with the devourer beast. His magic hadn't been useless, but it had barely managed to scratch the monster's thick hide while Sylph's spells had gone straight through it.
They dispersed into the training rooms, but Damien sat against the wall and scratched his chin in thought.
Henry, why was my magic weaker than Sylph's?
"It wasn't," Henry said. "Not weaker, that is. Your magic is several times more powerful than hers."
Then why did her spells penetrate the monster's hide when mine didn't?
"You waste too much energy," Henry replied. "Your spells are strong, but you aren't using the entirety of their effect on a single point or edge like Sylph does. Think of it this way. Let's say her spell has ten magic points in it, and yours has one hundred. Almost all ten of Sylph's points are concentrated directly on the edge of her sword. You disperse yours throughout the entirety of your spells, meaning that they're stronger, but they're much more spread out."
So I have to get my spells more concentrated?
"No. You could probably improve your magical control, but there's no point to spend that much time over it. Sylph has more control than you ever will. She has near complete mastery of her magic, and that means she can get much more effect out of it. You'll never get the results she does, but it doesn't matter when you can cast an overwhelming number of spells. You can also overload or learn stronger ones to make up the gap and surpass her."
Right, I'm with you. By overload, do you mean put more Ether into a normal spell?
"Essentially. You don't want to do it unless you understand the spell well, but you can probably start looking into that for gravity sphere and enlarge or reduce. You've got a decent enough grasp of both spells, so you shouldn't lose control of the Ether and blow yourself up."
Noted. I suppose I know what I'll be practicing until finals come around, then.
And that was what he did. Damien focused his efforts on improving his mastery over the spells he already knew, pushing them to their limit. He pushed as much Ether as he could into gravity sphere, netting some slightly disastrous results in the process.
His efforts resulted in a new, several foot hole in one of the training room walls. In addition, while he spent most of his time simply trying to improve his strength, Henry did have him turn his attention to keeping his magical control at a passable level. His bracelet showed his improvements as well.
Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 9.9 Magical Control: 2.9 Magical Energy: 20.2 Physical Strength: .39 Endurance: 1.5 It wasn't much having incredible power if you couldn't even direct it.
His control was a far shot from Sylph's, but Damien was also pretty sure that there were very few people even slightly close to her.
With his superior Magical Strength and Energy, he was pretty sure he was quickly closing the distance between them, even without Henry's help.
Damien took a few breaks in his training to get dinner in the mess hall with everyone on the plateau. He spent a little more time helping Nolan with his runes as well, although the noble boy was starting to get somewhat passable at them and needed less and less assistance.
Sylph remained secretive with whatever her new spell was. However, judging by her smug mood several days before finals arrived, Damien got the feeling that she'd succeeded. The two of them stopped their practice three days before the tests arrived, opting to relax instead of overwork themselves.
Greg arrived early in the morning on the first day of finals week.
Damien was already waiting for the professor when he arrived.
"That's a first," Greg said, cocking an eyebrow. "I usually have to wake the students up. Are you that excited for the final? Or are you perhaps nervous?"
"Excited," Damien said, opting not to tell the man that Sylph had woken him up a few minutes ago. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "This is more of a formality than anything, isn't it?"
"If anyone else had said that, I would have thought they were bragging out of stress," Greg said, eyeing Damien. "Sometimes, I can't tell if I'm even teaching you anything. One moment you seem completely confused, and then the other you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's as if there are two people trapped inside your head."
Damien laughed awkwardly. Greg shook his head and put his hand on his shoulder. The two of them vanished in a spark of gray light. They reappeared in the classroom, amongst the other kids that had made it this far.
Just over half the class was still present, and almost all of them looked stressed. Damien sat down in one of the chairs as Greg walked down to the front of the room. The chalk in the bin beside him levitated itself into his hand.
"Before we begin, I'd like to congratulate all of you on making it this far," Greg said. "It takes a great deal of perseverance and talent to do well in magical theory. So, good job. Now, how many of you have taken a final at Blackmist before?"
Nobody raised their hand.
"Wonderful," Greg said. The chalk rose into the air behind him and started to draw a smiley face on the board. The professor continued on, either unaware or uninterested in what was happening behind him. "There are only two outcomes: pass or fail. Much like the first exam we took, there will be both a physical and a theory portion of this test. You must pass both in order to pass the class. Are there any questions?"
"How many students usually pass after getting this far?" Reena asked.
"Most," Greg admitted. "I'm not trying to mislead any of you. This is a difficult class, but if you've made it this far, you have at least enough talent for me to pass you. I'm not trying to ensure that you all become researchers.
I just want to make sure you can think fast enough on the field so you can protect both yourselves and your friends."
The chalk started to draw a caricature of Greg on the board beside the smiley face. A few students chuckled, and the tension in the room eased a little. The professor grabbed a towel, erasing the drawing with an irritated sigh. Damien caught the hint of a grin on the man's face.
"Is everyone ready?" Greg asked. "Please give this your all. Just because I believe you should all pass does not mean this will be easy. If you slack off or don't show sufficient skill, I will fail you. My priority is your safety not your happiness."
Everyone nodded. Greg turned back to face them, tossing the chalk into the bin and clapping his hands. A dozen copies of himself flashed into the room. They split off, walking over to the students.
Damien had already gotten used to the process and raised his hand as Greg approached. The professor took it, and they both vanished, teleporting for the second time in the last few minutes.
They reappeared in the same grass field that Damien remembered from the previous exams.
"And so we begin the final," Greg said. "Are you prepared?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Damien replied.
"Very good. We shall begin with the theoretical portion of the exam.
Question one: How would you fight an enemy that is resistant to magic?"
Damien cocked an eyebrow. That question sounded somewhat pointed.
"I guess it depends on how resistant the enemy is. If overwhelming force can break through its defenses, I'd go for that. It that isn't feasible, I know that mages with high control can fight monsters with high magical resistance pretty well. And, if I was alone, I'd probably try to use the terrain to my advantage by dropping a boulder on it or something."
Greg nodded. The next few questions were hard, much like Damien had expected. Thanks to Henry's tutelage, he was able to answer most of them on his own. For the ones that were beyond him, Henry whispered the answers into his ears. It was a bit cheap, but there was nothing wrong with using all of your resources. As soon as he was starting to get comfortable again, Greg paused and scratched his beard.
"Next question: How many people have you killed?"
Damien blinked. "What?"
"Is that your answer?"
"No," Damien said. "The answer is zero. How is that relevant to rational theory?"
"It isn't," Greg replied. "I was just curious. Tell me, Damien, how do you know all of this?"
"Well, I think most people would know if they killed someone."
"Not that," Greg said. "Your knowledge of magical theory. I'm almost entirely certain now. The questions I just asked you weren't at the level of a Year One student. They were Year Three at the lowest, and you answered them all without an ounce of hesitation. At first, I thought that you might be a very dedicated student, but I checked the library records. I've read every novel you've checked out, and none of them were magical theory."
Damien swallowed, pushing down the panic that threatened to build up inside his chest. All the professor had done was list off suspicions. There was no need to give him extra information. "I had a great tutor at home."
"I'm sure," Greg said, snorting. "You'll have to excuse my disrespect, but country bumpkins are not known for their talent in magic theory. No, I think your teacher is your companion. They can speak to you, can't they?"
Henry? Little help please.
"He doesn't know yet," Henry said. "He suspects, but I don't believe he's on the right track. Stick with your plan of claiming I'm from the Plane of Darkness."
Damien slowly nodded. "He does."
"Brilliant," Greg breathed. "And intelligent as well. Your companion has given themselves a gender, even though most monsters are sexless."
"What does this have to do with my exam?" Damien asked.
"Nothing, actually," Greg said. "I was simply curious. Tell me honestly, how many of your answers were from your own knowledge as opposed to your companion's?"
"Most of them," Damien replied. "He's taught me a lot."
"I can tell," Greg said. "I can't say I'm not disappointed that you didn't somehow magically pick all of this up from my class, but knowledge is knowledge. I can't very well fault you for that. Something tells me you don't want to share the identity of your companion, though."
Damien gave him a terse smile. The professor chuckled.
"Unsurprising. Such secrets are more common than you think, although I'm afraid you'll find that they won't last you much past Year Two. Either way, it's none of my business. You've completed the theoretical portion of the exam. Are you prepared for the physical?"
Damien's heart was still racing, but it looked as if Greg was willing to drop the subject. He swallowed and nodded.
"Good," Greg said. "This physical will be a bit more interactive than the previous one."
He gestured to his side. The air shimmered as a hulking black monster formed in the air beside him. It was considerably shorter than the one he'd fought with Sylph, but the monster's spiked back and jagged fangs were unmistakable. Damien bit back a choke as he realized it was a devourer beast.
"This is a devourer beast," Greg said, oblivious to the boy's surprise. "A juvenile one. It's considerably weaker than the real deal, but it'll serve for the purposes of this exam. This monster is resistant to magic. Please pretend that it has broken off from a monster horde and you are in its way. Defeat it as quickly as possible so that you can rejoin with your fellow mages and fend off the rest of the horde."
The monster let out a roar and pounded its hands on his chest, sending spittle flying everywhere. To most people, it probably would have been terrifying. However, after seeing the actual monster in action just a short while ago, Damien recovered from his surprise quickly.
He cast out his mental net, drawing Ether out from his core and into his hands. He grabbed multiple times the normal amount as he forced it all into a gravity drill, overloading the spell to the point where it crackled with faint purple light.
Damien thrust his hand forward. The spell flashed silently across the clearing and burrowed deep into the monster's open mouth, tearing clean through it. It detonated a moment later, the miniature gravity spheres within it collapsing and crushing the devourer beast's head like a watermelon.
Greg blinked as his creation shattered into shards of gray light and faded away. "Oh."
"Sorry," Damien said. "Was I supposed to wait until it attacked me?"
"No…that's okay," Greg muttered, sending a disappointed glance at where his construct had been standing. "I just didn't expect it to die so easily. Most people are at least a little scared when they first see a devourer beast."
"Do you always choose it for this exam?" Damien asked, a sneaking suspicion rising within him.
"No. It was a suggestion from another professor, actually," Greg said, his brow furrowing. "My other clones are reporting that the other students are reacting appropriately to it, though— Wait. Delph is your instructor, isn't he?"
Damien nodded.
"He made you fight a real devourer beast, didn't he?"
Damien nodded again.
"That annoying— Gah, never mind," Greg said, pouting like the worlds hairiest baby. "Congratulations, Damien. You pass the class. Tell Delph that he's an annoying little bugger. I should have known he wouldn't have tried to be helpful if he didn't have some stake in the game."
Before Damien could even respond, Greg shattered apart, transforming into a glowing gray portal.
"That was…almost anticlimactic, actually," Damien said. After one last glance around, he stepped through the portal.
It dropped him off in front of his room. He walked inside and sat down on his bed with a yawn. Sylph wasn't there. She was probably taking her own final in magical control. Damien went back over Greg's exam in his head, trying to make sure he hadn't given anything too important away.
"Wait," Damien said, his eyes widening. "Greg said he's read every book I checked out. Does that mean—" "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to," Henry said, chuckling. "Let sleeping monsters lie. Greg doesn't seem to be interested in working against you, so you might as well be happy that you passed the class and leave it at that."
Damien nodded, mentally scrubbing his thoughts free of what Greg might have been implying. He laid back on his bed, propping his pillow against the wall and making himself comfortable.
A little under an hour later, Sylph pulled the door open and walked inside. She sat across from Damien.
"I take it you passed?" Sylph asked.
"I did," Damien said. "And learned some unwanted things about my professor in the process. How did your exam go?"
"It was honestly a little easy," Sylph said. "But that wasn't a big surprise. There wasn't much that he could teach me. My instructor from when I was still living in the forest taught me so much that I'm not sure if there's anything else in the form of theory to learn about magical control."
"Well, just be happy that you got the class over with, I suppose," Damien said. "And, unless Delph decides to show up and have us do the final for his class today, we're pretty much set until tomorrow."
"I think I'd rather he did it today," Sylph said with a shrug. "I don't like having to wait for things. I didn't really expend very much energy doing the control final."
"Nor did I with mine," Damien admitted. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see if Delph shows up, then."