Chương 38: Chapter 35

"Mages claim that Ruby magic is the easiest to pick up," Amaurea continued, "and they're not entirely wrong. Unlike other aether, Ruby wants to be shaped and unleashed into the world. It hungers for it, even. Because of this, low-tier spells are quick to cast and quite powerful with little practice." With a flick of her wrist, the professor sent a gout of flame roaring down the practice range and set fire to three of the targets.

"But the real trick with Ruby magic is controlling it. That spell was simple and impressive, if all I wanted to do was torch everything twenty feet in front of me. In most combat situations, indiscriminate destruction is… frowned upon." That earned her a few chuckles.

"Containing Ruby's appetite for destruction is also important for another reason." She stopped her pacing and swept her gaze across the class, meeting each of their eyes.

"No aether costs you more than Ruby. It consumes more of your stamina than the other aethers and it stains your mind far more readily.

"The power it offers feels good, encouraging you to use it more and more, sometimes ceaselessly. Ruby mages that Awaken to their powers often die to them more than any other mages, burning out their spirits from the raw power they channel through them." Shaya remembered that all too well.

"But it is not something you can avoid forever. The best way to overcome your fear of it and learning to control it is," the professor smiled, "trial by fire." Bri and Shaya chuckled at the joke, though plenty of the other students groaned.

"For the mid-term, I'll expect you to be able to cast flamethrower, fireball, and flameblast—all with a fair degree of control. Today, we're going to start with flamethrower." Amaurea pointed a finger at the ground. A wave of Ruby washed over Shaya's magical senses and a moment later a concentrated beam of fire shot from the professor's finger. Over the next ten seconds, she seared a detailed diagram of the spell formulae into the earth before them.

The diagram was neater than most of the ones Shaya sketched with ink and quill: each line was of equal thickness, the ground burned to the same depth in every spot, and every section was connected precisely to the runes and glyphs it was intended to touch. None of her spell energy radiated from the beam to so much as displace the dirt around her diagram. Shaya stared at the diagram in awe, as did most of the other students.

"Who wants to show us their stuff first?" Amaurea said with a wide smile, hands on her hips.

"I will!" Galo shouted, walking forward.

"Enthusiasm—I like it! Your goal is simple: set fire to as many targets as you can without giving yourself aether burn."

"Makul!" Galo invoked, thrusting a hand forward.

"Burn down my foes!" The bull-helmed esper reared back with a silent roar and leaned forward. A stream of fire shot from Galo's hand and his esper's mouth, which he swept back and forth over half a dozen targets. He managed to maintain the stream for about ten seconds, sweat streaming down his face from the effort rather than the heat, and had to rein in his anger to cut off the spell. The six targets he hit smouldered from the flames eating away at them.

"Good work! Be sure to practice cutting off your spell instantly. You clearly had to shift your mental state over a second or two before you could end it," Amaurea lectured.

"Not only does that drain you more than necessary, it also leaves you vulnerable to counterattack since you can't adapt quickly." Galo grunted dismissively at the advice and smirked at Shaya as he walked back to the line. Trial by fire, eh? Shaya stepped forward before anyone else could volunteer, nursing her anger. Amaurea gave her a smile and a nod, conjuring new wooden dummies with a snap of her fingers.

"Phaedra!" Shaya invoked. Just do it, she willed herself, feeling her channels open to the Aetherium. Draw it in and shoot it out quickly, don't draw it out, don't worry about any repercussions. She drew in Ruby aether, feeling it fan her anger. Her heart fluttered with fear, remembering the innocent girl she hurt the first and only time she cast that type of magic. The aether flickered within her spirit, her fear dousing the burning energy. Gods damn it! Why can't I just be angry when I want to? When I need to be?

Seconds ticked by and some of the students chuckled behind her. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. More Ruby entered her spirit, drawn in by her frustration, but she felt something dark grow in her mind as her anger grew again. Something that wanted to direct the violent energy elsewhere. A strong hand gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay." Shaya was shocked to find Amaurea standing behind her, the woman's freakishly thin fingers exerting more strength than she thought possible from her.

"You have every right to be worried," she whispered, "but I'm here to make sure nothing goes wrong—that you can't hurt yourself… or others."

"It's not just that…" Shaya whispered back, wanting to tell the professor what was going through her mind but not daring to.

"I'm worried about what the influence will do to me."

"Don't underestimate your own willpower, Shaya," she replied, "and remember: there is nothing wrong with being angry. In fact, there are many things to be angry about in this world—and that's okay. Anger can mean that you care, you just need to direct it properly. Now try again." Amaurea stepped back, giving her space. Shaya expanded her thoughts, drawing on memories from more than just the past day. Her mom dying. The inquisitors taking Devi away and throwing Rel and her into the orphanage.

The adoptive families that tried to abuse them for their perceived strength. Or reform them for their perceived barbarity. What they had to do on the streets to survive. Before she realized it, Ruby flooded her spirit and her blood boiled with a dark rage.

"Phaedra! Scour my enemies from this world!" she shouted with urgency, shaping the spell formula within her circuits. Trying to manipulate and direct the wild aether proved difficult, the energy slithering from her grasp whenever she tried to pin it into the shape of her formula. Her vision grew red as the aether pooled within her, fuelling her rage. I'm not going to cast in time. Her mind flailed, trying to clamp down on the rage and anger. The aether forming her spell sputtered.

Keen ears quirked as they picked up Galo's scoff.

"Coward." Rage flared within her, her aether burning bright. She slammed all of it into the spell at once. WHOOSH! Fire roared from her hands. She tried to strafe the stream to catch even more targets, but the flames gutted out after a mere second. Shaya cursed at her failure. Then looked down range, to the three targets she hit with her short-lived spell. They weren't on fire. They were simply ash. Shaya breathed heavily as she stared at the drifting ash, reining in her anger.

Without the Ruby's influence—or an Ur's corruption—it proved manageable with all of her energy focused on the task. As she got her breathing under control and the red haze faded from her vision, her mind started to work over what she was observing. Did my blood rage just… enhance the strength of my spell? I need to write all this down! No, wait. Play it cool, Shaya. She turned and shot a cold look at Galo, who looked stunned. Their eyes met and anger replaced the moment of fear she saw in them.

The sight of him brought her blood back to a simmer, which she allowed for a few heartbeats—just long enough for Galo to break his gaze from her. That's when she noticed that Galo appeared closer than he had been. Shaya glanced down to see skid marks where her feet had dragged across the ground from the spell's kickback. Even low-tier fire spells have mass and force? Oh, I'm definitely making a note of that too. Amaurea grinned at her, the woman's strange tattoos making it look wolfish and almost sinister.

"Well then, I dare say someone is going to have work long and hard on their control." The professor whistled appreciatively at the destroyed targets.

"Impressive amounts of destruction, but it looks like you suffered some serious aether burn from the effort."

"I feel fi—" Shaya began, but as she quenched the rest of her rage, exhaustion slammed into her alongside a pounding headache that threatened to drive her to her knees. She wobbled but managed to remain standing.

"I see what you mean… It's definitely something I'll work on." Bri jittered with excitement as Shaya joined her back in the line of students.

"Pretty good, for a rookie. Let me show you how it's done!" The large woman strode forward, full of confidence, and invoked her esper: "Sorathis! Purge the unclean!" It took her longer than Galo to draw in the aether and shape the spell, but once she unleashed it the results were evident. A steady stream of fire shot from Bri's hand, far more controlled than what Galo—and definitely Shaya—had evoked.

Despite being a full Circle behind Galo, the tightly shaped spell allowed Bri to sustain the magic almost as long as he had and hit just as many targets.

"You're awesome," Shaya whispered as her friend re-joined her, "you have to give me pointers."

"Happy to," Bri grinned, "in exchange for your martial knowledge."

"Deal."

"You free after class?"

"I need to pick Quill up, wanna come?"

"Definitely!" +++++"I can't believe you provoked him further," Oraeus said, sitting across the dinner table. His obsidian fingers were steepled in front of him as he spoke, mimicking his esper's favoured position.

"Why can't you just leave well enough alone?"

"Are you telling me you or Samorn would have just turned the other cheek?" Shaya retorted.

"Yes," he said, spreading his arms.

"You lot might blindly lump us all together, but we don't wield nearly as much political power as Azreon."

"That's easy for you to say," Bri snapped, "you're not the one being harassed for no reason."

"Don't talk to me about harassment," Oraeus said, eyes narrowing as he looked at Bri.

"You may call me 'highborn' and think me something special, but I'm from a kingdom that lost the last succession war. You don't see me assaulting anyone when they call me a traitor or back stabber."

"Some reputations are well earned," she responded with a growl.

"Regardless," Shaya interjected, not wanting to create a rift when everyone at the table had to depend on each other to succeed—and to survive their deployments, "we need to figure out how to deal with this situation."

"There is no dealing with him, Shaya," Samorn said, sounding pained as she broke her silence. She hung her head, eyes on her half-eaten meal as she spoke.

"Azreon is… just too powerful."

"Fine," Shaya crossed her arms, "I'll keep my head down and just endure it. It's just going to make things worse though—that's how thugs work."

"Wark!" Quill agreed before snuggling in to comfort her.