Chương 24: Plans

Elric lived at the top of the Stonehold city tower. It was an unusually extravagant living arrangement for a government official, but since he was one of the essential anchors of the city, it required him to live at one of the focal points, and this was the closest one to work. He could detect an essence shift from here, as it was a cross point of all the city's ley lines, and that could alert him to incoming danger. Not to mention, he very much enjoyed the meat pies around the corner.

Getting one before work had become a morning ritual, and he wasn't sure he would survive his days without it. All things considered, it was a nice space, which had belonged to the previous Anchor of Stonehold before his passing. The man had been a hundred-and-ten years old, a Master before he'd died by goring from a raging minotaur. The people of Stonehold's had been anxious since then, but they were happy to have an Archmage amongst them, so much so that Elric received free food and smiles everywhere he went.

It was a pleasant existence. The loft itself was as luxurious as it got here. It featured thick stone walls and heavy velvet curtains, with extra tapestries for insulation during the winter. Deepset arched windows overlooked the entire city below him, where a sunset cast an orange glow over the stone roofs and blended with the lit oil street lamps. Typically, it was a sight that brought him great relaxation. But not today. His nerves were frayed, and exhaustion crept at the back of his mind.

Not because he'd fought any of those monsters. Gio hadn't let even one get close. But containing that maniac was more exhausting than fighting a hundred demons. Perhaps even a thousand. And now that Gio knew Arielle's secret, it would get worse, as he would try to extract more favors from him. Gio was the worst possible person to have found out.

While he likely wouldn't report it–as he had a certain disdain for the bureaucratic and legal system, both celestial and mundane–he would use this as an opportunity to bully Elric. Gio liked to break the rules and let other people clean up his mess, and now that Elric couldn't defy him, Sentinel only knew what he would make him do. And the day wasn't even over yet. He still had a long report to write. First, he pulled open the windows to let in fresh air.

Most of the other Archmages lived in castles with numerous extensive staff, but Elric had always preferred solitude. He hadn't grown up like the others, who were all nobles. Thanks to his very common upbringing, he'd never gotten used to the feeling of being waited on hand and foot. He'd also grown to enjoy the mundanity of cleaning his own space, opening his own windows, and cooking his own food. Well, not cooking. Lately, he mostly had food delivered from the inn across the street.

The owner would probably be arriving any moment now with a bowl of freshly made bone soup and rolls of bread, and he was looking forward to it. After using his privy, he headed to his writing desk, where his ink and messaging scrolls were. He instantly saw that he'd gotten a new message from Arielle. Dear Elric, I hope this message finds you well.

I understand that you are a busy man, given the nature of your employment, but for that very reason, I'm worried that your lack of response within the agreed-upon response time means that you have been eaten by a dragon or devoured by a heavenly storm. It's very distressing to me not to hear from you during the time that I expected to.

Perhaps you simply got caught up in battling ancient liches, but if you simply do not want to continue our acquaintanceship, know that I will understand, regrettably, but I would need further confirmation. I would like you to respond to this message, letting me know if A) You would like to adjust the reply timeline to allow for your busy schedule, B) You would like to dissolve or scale back our friendship to an acquaintanceship, or C) You are dead. Obviously, you cannot reply to it if C is the case.

If you do not answer this message by my bedtime tomorrow, then I will assume that you have fallen to some great monstrosity. I will mourn you and summarily avenge your death at the earliest opportunity. Sincerely, Arielle Blacksoil. For some reason, the strangely formal letter made him snort. He sat at his desk, dug his toes in the furry rugs, and began his teasingly formal response. Dear Arielle, I am well, thank you. I have neither been consumed nor do I wish to scale back our communications.

I was simply busy for the last day or two and have only just had time to write. I enjoy hearing from you and can only warn you that my unexplained silence will likely happen again, as my day-to-day life can be quite unpredictable. You might not hear from me for weeks at a time. I implore you to wait at least a month before you plot to avenge my death. How has class been? We still need to discuss the builds, don't we? After the message was sent, she immediately scribbled her response. I'm glad you're alive.

And yes, we said we would talk about builds. Do you want to be anything in particular? I don't know. I haven't thought about it. Yes, it's a bit early. You still have time to consider it. What build are you? Luminary Architect and Arcane Balancer. I combined two different builds, which gives me the title 'Steady Dawn.' My attribute points are mostly allocated to healing, intellect, perception, and sensitivity. I see. If you're still unsure, assign points to healing for now.

You can't go wrong with that, and that's what most non-combat mages do anyway. What if I don't want to be a non-combat mage? Elric frowned at the message. Why would you say that? Because your build is support-oriented, not combat-optimized, you need someone who is more combat-optimized to help you. Help me? Elric considered that with bemusement. Since when did she start thinking about helping me? You don't have to help me. I'm fine. The last four archmages died before reaching three hundred years old.

I don't know how old you are right now, but I don't want you to die prematurely. I won't die. Yes, because I won't let you. That statement both surprised and touched him. Well. He'd never had such a staunch defender before. The fact that she was younger than him made it a little ludicrous, but then he considered that her raw power probably dwarfed his. You're a little young to choose your life path. Really, that decision only needs to be made once you're an adept...

which I realize is closer for you than most people, but still a way off. I don't want you to consider me when you're choosing. Select what will make you happiest because life is a long road to travel while shouldering the wrong choice. There was a beat of hesitation before she wrote back: You sound like my mother. That actually had Elric laughing out loud, easing some of the tension that had coiled in his muscles the entire day. I take that as a compliment, as I believe your mother to be a very wise woman.

On that note, Arielle, I'm very tired, so I must bid you goodnight. Okay. Goodnight, Elric. Thank you for writing back to me. You're welcome. As the wind brushed against the glass, a soothing chill, accompanied by cozy warmth, he rose from his desk. He felt a little better than he had when he'd first gotten home. Now, for a nice long soak in his bathing tub.

Ari could barely contain her excitement. Not only was Elric alive and unharmed, but he also wanted to continue their communications. Excellent. She said goodnight to him, too, and went back to her crafting book. Ironically, she was reading a passage about protective spells. Protective spells were often imbued rather than just spoken. Specifically, they were bound to objects that would then transform the object into a protective charm.

Arielle considered making such a charm for Elric, but there were two problems with that. First, she would need to buy a lot of material to craft the spell. It required runes as well as other reagents that would then be made into a potion. A spell was used to activate that potion, and that was moulded or poured into an item. Obviously, she did not have the coins to buy any of that, which was her first obstacle. The second was that such a complex spell would require a lab, and she didn't have that either.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She wondered if there was a way for her to earn coins as a student. Could she run errands? Do chores? Or occasionally switch out an increased essence allowance for silver coins? Or perhaps a copper coin for every manaling she swept? A separate thought occurred to her, distracting her from the first. She wondered if she could get rid of all the manalings on the island, while in her room.

Then, they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. It would be harder since she couldn't see them, but perhaps if she meditated enough, she would be able to use her inner senses to draw them close. It would be easier to do it from the ground floor. It would be easiest to do it in the guided meditation room, which was the closest point to the release gate that allowed the vacuum channels to travel to North Base. However, she couldn't do it during the guided meditation class.

Professor Llywyd, who could read auras, would know. Perhaps she could ask Professor Llywyd if she could have a private meditation session. If yes, then she would simply have to find time in her increasingly busy schedule to visit the meditation room and complete the task quickly before anyone else came along. She was, of course, not going to get rid of all the manalings. That would raise suspicion and tip off Rava's detector that something was amiss.

Instead, she would find out from Rava what the acceptable limit for manalings was, and she would get rid of anything that went above that limit. She wondered if Rava would lend her a mana detector so she would know for sure. Hmmm. A lot of moving parts to this plan. And she had not figured out how to earn money yet. With that thought in her head, she finished the passage about protective spells and switched back to reading more tales of the Abyssal Drift.

Sometime during the night, a ghostly wind ruffled through her room, and she looked up and around, sensing she was being watched. However, when she confirmed that no one was there, she shrugged and went back to her reading.

The next Spell Crafting class was nearly a repeat of the last one, where Lyra and Riorke struggled, and got scolded for it, and another student, Maura, excelled at the spells she was given. She wasn't quite as fast as Ari, but her speed was adequate, and Ari studied how long it took her to cast the spell, so that next time, she could replicate it and pass as a normal, talented student. Although it might already be too late for her, since people now knew what she could do.

At the end of the class, the professor called three people to perform [Bound Mute]. It was a Vacu-dominant spell, and all three students struggled to even make the spell form, as Vacu kept getting away from them and they kept trying to improperly bond it to the wrong elements or in the wrong orientation. This must be why there are more Vacu manalings than any other element. Ari cringed watching them break their essences, knowing that there would be manalings created later because of them.

When the last girl tried to align the shape wrongly, which Ari knew would probably lead to another bonding error and yet another broken essence, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop," she said finally, earning the attention of everyone, including Professor Valeria.

"Arielle?" the professor asked.

"Did you have something to say?" Now that she was put on the spot, she almost regretted speaking up, but she just couldn't watch them butcher the spell anymore.

"Yes," she said.

"Move your wand slightly to the left when you swing." Of course, Arielle could have fixed it for her, but then the girl might try to spell again on her own and break the essences. Better she learn it genuinely.

"What?"

"Just do it. Please." She added the last part with a practiced smile to put the other girl at ease. She wasn't sure if the smile worked, but the girl obeyed, and Arielle held her breath, staring at Vacu. It still wasn't moving. What was the problem?

"Can you hold your Vacu core firmer?" The girl gave her a puzzled look, like she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Let go, Essie," Valeria said, and the girl released the essences because they had reached the time limit. After a pause, Valeria said, "Try again." Essie waved her wand a little too far to the left, and Ari instantly saw the problem. With the speed of the rest of the essences, Vacu was left alone at the end of the drift, which made it want to pull away even more. It needed to be surrounded by more Luxa components.

"Slow down," Ari said.

"Just hold it there. Don't complete the movement."

"It's nearly six seconds," Valeria said.

"Drop the spell–""To the right," Arielle said.

"Just a little. Direct your wand to the right." The girl somehow did as she was told, and the spell finally snapped into place. Everyone gaped in amazement. Essie was so happy to have done the spell, she screamed her elation, but of course, Arielle didn't hear it. No one could. Professor Valeria told Arielle to wait after class. She thought she was in trouble for what she'd done, but the Professor was smiling.

"How were you able to tell the problem with the spell?" she asked. Arielle had already prepared a lie for this.

"Because I've done the spell before. I made the same mistake she did, so I knew how to correct it."

"I see. Very wise and magnanimous of you. Maybe you should tutor Riorke." Riorke and Lacey had chosen to wait for her at the doorway so they could walk to class together. They'd been pretending not to listen in on the conversation, but now that his name was mentioned, Riorke looked over.

"I can," Ari offered.

"No need," Roarke said.

"I'm not going to use spells anyway."

"Very unwise decision, Lord Ashbourne."

"Then I guess I'll just be unwise," he responded. Arielle didn't understand what was going on, nor why Riorke didn't want her to help him. But she accepted it, as How to Charm Kings told her to do. Offer counsel sparingly, and with due restraint. It is important that each person proceed at their own pace and arrive at their own conclusions, even when those conclusions are in error.

Yet, where it is possible, endeavor to discern the root of the matter, for in understanding the cause, one may better comprehend the whole. As they walked to their next class, Ari asked Riorke, "Why don't you want to use spells?"

"Because I'm not good at them," he told her.

"Historically, no one in my family has been. We're Ashbourne, a clan of powerful knights. The magic is in our armor, and in our physicality, and we learn to wield them with perfection instead of relying on spells."

"I see. So why does Professor Valeria want you to use spells?"

"Because she sees my path as a weakness." A heaviness hung over his features, but he shook it off and told her.

"You should be prepared, by the way. Fiodor will probably come looking for you soon."

"Who?"

"He's our classmate in Group A. The most skilled spell-caster we have in our Cohort. I'm sure he's heard about your talent, and he'll want to test it out himself."

"How?"

"By challenging you to a sanctioned duel." When her eyes widened, he said, "Don't be too alarmed. It's not as bad as it sounds. Mostly, the two of you will throw a variety of spells at each other until one of you gets tired or runs out of spells. Or gets knocked out of the circle. But he can't seriously injure you."

"Okay," Ari thought about it and said, "I look forward to it then."

"You do?"

"Yes." It was hard to practice combat spells by herself, and duelling class might not serve as enough practice if she kept knocking people out of the circle too early. It would be good to go against a talented mage for a change.

"Okay," Riorke said.

"I hope you haven't signed your death warrant."

"I thought you said we couldn't get hurt."

"I meant it figuratively."

"What are you talking about?" Lacey scoffed.

"Have you seen how fast Swanchild is? She's going to knock him out in the blink of an eye."

"Yes, but he has his bloodline trait going for him, not to mention he's been here longer, so he probably knows more spells than she does."

"I doubt it." She was practically done learning all the beginner spells in the spell book. Then she would move on to the intermediate.

"Also, Lacey, I've been meaning to talk to you about the nickname."

"You mean Swanchild?" His eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Yes." She didn't want to offend him, but she really didn't like it.

"Is it negotiable?"

"No, unfortunately, it's not." She gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Okay." When they were almost in class, Arielle had a thought.

"Can I challenge anyone to a duel?"

"You can. Why? Do you have anyone in mind?" She thought about Selena. She would be the best person to challenge, as only her skill approached Ari's. Not to mention, Ari wanted to see the lightning whip in action once more. Could she do that? Would it be considered disrespectful to challenge an upperclassman even if she really wanted to experience fighting the other girl? Her brother had always told her he got a rush from battling a superior warrior, and she'd never understood it till now.

While Ari felt her capacity was more than Selena's, the other girl had more knowledge than she did and might have more skill. It would be an honor to go up against her. However, she reserved that thought for now. She had far too busy a week to contemplate it.

The rest of the week floated by without any issued challenge. Arielle spent most of it reading, catching up on school work, and talking to her family. Professor Llywyd approved her use of the meditation room for private sessions. Ari planned to go there this weekend, but first she had a meeting with Professor Valeria after breakfast. Professor Valeria started the meeting by saying, "I realize that the last time we met, I made a fatal error." Arielle raised her eyebrow.

"You did?"

"Yes. I simply hoisted all my expectations on you without asking what you want." She laced her fingers together on the table and leaned forward.

"Tell me, Arielle, what are your goals so far? With your considerable prowess, what do you hope to become? A teacher? An adventurer? A warrior? Typically, we don't start asking these questions until the second year, but I want to get an idea of how best to help you." Ari thought about it. She'd never before, in her entire life, thought about what she wanted to do. She'd simply thought she might be a rogue fighter, like her mother, or a warrior like her father and brother, or an assassin like her sister.

She'd never thought about any career choice deeply enough, because she'd never thought she would have an option, really. If this question had been asked even just a week ago, it would have been an easy answer. She would have told them that she simply wanted a job where she could read all day and earn enough money to buy more books. She would have selected a teacher or researcher. But knowing what she knew now, feeling how she felt, only one thing came to mind.

"I want to be a protector for Elric."

"Your cousin?"

"Yes. His job can be dangerous, and his build is not combat-optimised. So I want one that is." Valeria considered it with pursed lips, then crossed her arms over her chest.

"In that case, have you considered changing your lean?"

"To what?"

"Well, Elric, as I remember, is a Massa-Luxa lean. I'm told as well that his cores are not as balanced as they could be, which pronounces his weaknesses. So in order to offset that, how about a Vacu-Calor lean?" Ari pursed her lips. She liked Vacu. Calor, she wasn't sure about.

"Obviously, you don't have to," Valeria continued, noting the doubt in Ari's face.

"For most mages, changing their core lean is an extremely difficult and ultimately pointless task, as the amount of targeted meditation and focused arcanery that you would need to develop a core to a higher comparative level than the previous lean would be a significant dissuading factor. However, your cores are in perfect harmony, so you can choose whatever lean you want, essentially, while keeping them as balanced as possible.

You could even have all the leans at once, although I don't recommend that, as it will likely be overwhelming for you. With Vacu-Calor, you get pure offensive and defensive capabilities, which help balance out your cousin's support build." She drummed her fingers on the table before adding, "You should note, though, that Vacu comes with certain complications. It's not an easy element to utilize, and there's also a rumor that Vacu users suffer unfortunate fates. Death, madness, the like."

She waved her hand like it was casual.

"It's likely superstition, but it's something to keep in mind anyway." Ari nodded.

"You can also construct an offensive-defensive build with your current lean. You have time, so think about it carefully," she said.

"And if you want more information about Vacu usage, I recommend Professor Woden. I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you and mentor you if needed."

"Okay, thank you."

"Of course."

"I do need help with one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I need to earn coins. A lot of them. How do I do that?" Valeria regarded her with a growing amusement.

"Well, I wouldn't know. I've only worked as a teacher my entire life. But you should talk to Rava. I know she did all sorts of odd jobs when she was a student."

"Okay, thank you."

"Of course." Ari left the office and was on the way to her meditation session. However, as she crossed the courtyard, a taller boy in richly-colored robes stepped in her way.

"Arielle Blacksoil." She blinked.

"Yes?"

"I'm Fiodor Antigones."

"Ah," she said.

"You're here for the sanctioned duel."

"Yes." He pushed up his glasses.

"I would like us to duel right now. Are you busy?"

"A little." But she didn't want to sacrifice any of her later time either.

"It's okay. We can have it now. I doubt it will take long anyway." Ari didn't register his flinch and facial flush as she walked past him. She also didn't notice him staring stonily after her.