Chapter 9

Wind howled past Damien's face. He blinked, then squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the wave of sickness. It was harder to keep a hold of his lunch this time, but Damien managed to avoid redecorating the floor.

He sighed and opened his eyes again. They stood at the top row of the seating section of an enormous colosseum.

The seats wrapped around the entire structure, and it looked like there was enough space for thousands of people to sit.

After several dozen rows, the seats stopped to make space for the huge arena at the center of the colosseum.

They were easily three stories above the ground, which was some sort of light orange sand.

"This is the colosseum," Beth said. "I know, it's not the most creative name. The ground floor has a good amount of training devices and tools you're all welcome to use. Just keep in mind the school uses this arena for any official fighting matches or tournaments, so you can't use it during one."

They were so high up that the arena didn't look particularly large, but Damien got the feeling a hundred students could have been practicing on the sandy ground without a chance of interfering with each other.

"Is there a reason you're showing us this?" Nolan asked.

"Of course, there is," Beth said. "You're going to be meeting your professor. We've assigned everyone to classes. Just wait around for a few minutes. Everyone else should start trickling in soon. In fact, let's head down to the ground floor. Your professor doesn't like to be kept waiting."

They followed Beth through the rows of seats until they reached the railing at the edge of the walls overlooking the arena.

"Just jump. There are runes to slow your fall," Beth advised them before leaping over the side.

Mark didn't hesitate for a moment. He jumped as everyone else rushed to the edge to watch them fall.

Instead of plummeting downward, the two students floated to the ground.

"I feel like there's a parable to be made of this," Damien grumbled as he leapt over the edge to join them.

The air seemed to reach up and cushion him gently the moment he let go of the railing. He descended at a leisurely pace before touching down lightly on the dense sand. It shifted slightly under his feet as Sylph, Nolan, and Reena landed beside him.

Even though the stands surrounding them were completely empty, Damien felt a shiver of anticipation run down his spine. He didn't need a crowd of people to suddenly feel very, very small. He couldn't even imagine how stressful it would be to have to do anything with the entire colosseum watching.

"Aren't there too many students to use this arena?"

Sylph asked.

"There are. That's why we have several dozen training facilities," Beth replied. "This is the most basic one. It's mostly used for tournaments and ranked fights. Most students like to train in other locations. You'll find them soon enough."

The portal at the top of the arena flickered. A group of seven shimmered into existence. One of them doubled over.

They headed down through the seats and hopped the wall as well, floating gently to the ground.

Six of the group had matching leather clothing, while the seventh wore stained leather armor. It wasn't hard to tell which of them was the guide buddy.

"Hello, Terrence," Beth greeted. "On time as always."

"I don't see any professors here," Terrence replied. He had a pinched face with a scar that ran across his nose.

"That means I'm on time."

"You keep telling yourself that," Beth said. "Is a third group coming?"

"No," Terrence said. "It's just our two flocks of lost little lambs. The professor specifically requested to only have two groups. He didn't want to deal with more."

"Wait, you can't mean they've got…" she started, her face paling.

"No. It's not Dredd," Terrence said, laughing at her shocked expression. "He doesn't waste his time on first years. It's a new professor. I was given the orders through writing."

"And he's making demands? Who is he?"

"No clue. I haven't met him, and I don't plan to," Terrence replied, smirking. He turned to his group and wiggled his fingers in farewell. "Have fun, kids! Do what the professor tells you to. Today is just an introduction, so it shouldn't be too rough."

With that, he reached for his wristband. It was made of a black material studded with small red stones. He pressed something on it and vanished with a pop.

"Dramatic asshole," Beth muttered. "But he's right. The professor should be here any minute. Enjoy yourselves, and make sure you don't get injured too badly."

Beth tapped her own wristband, vanishing the same way Terrence had. The two groups exchanged a few glances, but nobody made any moves to mingle.

"Their wristbands must have some form of portal on them," Damien said, trying to break the awkward silence.

"I wonder if ours does that."

"Ours don't," Reena said, rolling her eyes. "The older students have the improved wristbands we can buy with credits."

"How do you know?" Mark asked.

"They had them in our mansion," Nolan replied, not bothering to hide the pride in his voice. "All the servants got one loaned to them. They let you teleport to a single place, and only in one direction."

Sylph's eyes swept over the arena as the others spoke.

After a few moments, she turned slightly to face away from the group.

"Boy," Henry said abruptly, nearly causing Damien to jump. "Follow your roommate's gaze."

She looked near the middle of the seating across from them, where someone sat in the stands. After a few moments, the figure shifted and rose to their feet.

Whoever it was had tattered gray robes over what looked to be a mixture of heavy and light armor. As the they grew closer to the edge of the arena, it became apparent it was a man. He had ragged gray hair and the beginnings of a salt and pepper beard. What appeared to be a long toothpick protruded from his mouth.

The man stepped over the side of the arena and floated to the floor. As more students noticed him, the conversations died out. His confident strides brought him to the students within seconds.

"Good day. I'm your professor for this year. I despise titles, so refer to me as Delph," the man said, shifting the toothpick around in his mouth like something was stuck between his teeth.

A chorus of greetings rose from the students. Delph didn't look particularly impressed or excited to be there.

"I've been told by the other professors that young inquisitive minds like to ask questions. Unfortunately, I don't like answering them. Therefore, I have decided to preemptively tell you a little about myself, which will hopefully silence the problems before they arise."

Delph paused, waiting to make sure everyone heard him before he continued.

"As your buddies have likely told you, I am a new professor. I've been serving as a mage for hire for the past twenty years. My companion is from the Plane of Fury. I will not be saying what it is."

Each word was curt and enunciated. Delph spoke in such a way that everything he said felt like it was hammered into your head.

A chubby boy from the other group slowly raised his hand. Delph's eye twitched slightly.

"What?"

"I was wondering what we're going to be learning this year?" the boy asked with a nervous stutter.

"It depends if you stay in my class or not," Delph replied. "I will primarily be teaching fighting. There will be other topics as well, but combat magic is my specialty."

"If we stay in your class?" Nolan asked, frowning. "What does that mean? Can we choose our professor?"

"No. But I can choose my students," Delph replied, baring his teeth in what might have been a grin. "And I have no interest in teaching anyone who can't meet my standards. Don't fret, I don't expect you to have any abilities yet. Only the privileged among you will have had a companion for more than a few hours at this point. I just expect you to learn."

That eased the tension in some of the students' faces, but Damien didn't find himself particularly reassured.

"Now, then," Delph said, cracking his neck, "this meeting was only meant as an introduction. I'm supposed to give you all two days to explore the campus before we start our training. Frankly, I think we can squeeze a little early training in, but it's not mandatory. If you're not interested, you may leave."

Damien didn't move. Nolan and Reena exchanged a glance. In the end, the entire group who'd ridden rode in the wagon with Damien remained on the field. Of the other students, the chubby boy and a girl bid the professor goodbye and headed for the exit at the far end of the arena.

Delph waited until they were gone before he started speaking again.

"Good. For those of you who chose to remain, congratulations. You can stay in my class. The two who just left are no longer part of our group."

Damien's eyes widened as Henry burst into laughter within his head.

"What a hardass," Henry said mirthfully. "He's on a power trip."

Have I mentioned how incredibly strange it is that you speak like a teenager? I think I have.

"Your fault, not mine," Henry replied, giving the mental equivalent of a shrug. "Trust me, you'll prefer me over the true It Who Heralds the End of All Light. Now, stop talking to yourself and listen to your insane teacher."

Delph remained silent, allowing the shocked muttering to fade away under his withering glare.

"Does anyone have a problem with that?" he asked, practically daring someone to speak up.

There was a long silence. Delph nodded and started opening his mouth to say something else. Then a short girl with long black hair in the other group of students stepped forward. Her skin was dark, but her face had turned pale from fear. She wrung her hands together as the professor pierced her with a glare.

"Do you have something to say?" Delph asked.

"Yes, Professor," she said meekly. "I don't think it's fair to remove them just for not doing an optional training with you. We all just got to the school, and everyone is excited to explore the campus. You gave no reason to believe this training session would be that important."

"I see," Delph said, his words icy. He slowly turned, looking every single student in the eye. "Does anyone else share your opinion?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. The girl sent a pleading look toward her group. They shifted from foot to foot, avoiding her gaze.

"Don't even think about it," Henry said. "We need to be on his good side, and that means being a good little sheep.

Don't you move one step forw—" Damien stepped forward. Delph's gaze snapped to him.

Damien's heart skipped a terrified beat as his breath caught in his chest. He dimly heard Reena and Nolan snicker off to his side.

"You agree with your classmate?" Delph asked. "Or did you happen to need to use the bathroom at an inopportune time?"

"I agree with her," Damien said. There were always other professors, and he didn't particularly care who taught him. Magic was magic, and the library would have most of what he needed. Besides, Henry said he could teach Damien magic.

"You idiot," Henry said.

Then, to Damien's surprise, Sylph moved to stand beside him. Delph raised an eyebrow.

"Bold. Anyone else?"

Nobody else stepped forward.

"Very good," Delph said, breaking into a predatory smile. "That's more than I expected. You three, what are your names?"

"Damien Vale."

"Sylph. No last name."

"Loretta Herder."

"Damien, Sylph, and Loretta," Delph said, rolling their names over his tongue. "Very well. Your request is granted.

Your classmates will not be removed on this day."

Damien's mouth dropped open. Judging by the expressions of the other students, they were just as shocked as he was.

"W-what?" Loretta asked, her eyes wide.

"Your friends will remain under my tutelage, for now.

Before I explain my reasoning, I would like to know the honest reason why you all stepped forward."

"Uh…it wasn't fair to remove them like that. If it happened to them, it could happen to me," Loretta said, frowning.

Delph turned to Damien.

"I just didn't like the idea of removing people like that. If you didn't give us any rules to play by, you can't blame us for not following them," Damien said.

I stepped forward because you were testing us," Sylph said flatly. "I don't have any particular care if they had remained in the class or not."

Delph just nodded.

"Honesty is good. I appreciate honesty. All three of you were correct. This was a test, although your friends weren't in on it by any means. It would not have been fair to remove people on a whim. However, I can tell you this. If you fail to attend my training, you will not be prepared to pass my tests. So, while your friends will be allowed to attend class, be aware that skipping any of my extra sessions will almost certainly result in your eventual removal from my tutelage."

There was a long silence after that. Loretta licked her lips and swallowed to wet her drying throat.

"Professor, what were you testing us over?"

"Good question. I was interested to see which of you would be stupid enough to put your neck on the line for no reason. It had no purpose other than to satisfy my curiosity.

Although, I'm not sure if it was entirely successful, given that one student knew it was a test before I started it," Delph said, turning his cold gaze on Sylph.

Sylph kept eye contact with him, not breaking away until Delph let out a small chuckle.

"We'll have an interesting year, I think," Delph said.

"Now, some of you may be unsurprised to hear this was not the first test I did today."

The students exchanged uncertain glances again.

Everyone remained silent until Delph spoke up again.

"Before I arrived in the arena, I waited in the stands for approximately five minutes. There were four students who spotted me. I would like to continue to speak with those four. As for everyone else, you are dismissed. Do not worry.

This is not a test. I will be in contact. Enjoy the next two days."

"Hah!" Henry crowed. "And that's why we listen to me."

You just told me not to step forward.

Henry didn't respond to that.

The students glanced around, trying to figure out who Delph referred to. Slowly and suspiciously, kids headed toward the arena exit. Several of them left while looking over their shoulder in case the strange professor suddenly changed his mind.

Nolan and Reena glared at Damien as they left and it became apparent he had no inclination of joining them.

Damien paid them no mind. The only ones remaining after the exodus were Damien, Sylph, Mark, and a tall bald boy from the other group.

"So," Delph said. "You four managed to spot me. How many of you have experience with your magic?"

Everyone other than Damien raised their hand. Delph started to nod but paused when he realized Damien hadn't just been slower than everyone else.

"You haven't used magic at all?" Delph asked, actually sounding somewhat impressed.

"Just runes," Damien said. Delph's expression showed he wasn't particularly impressed with that explanation.

"Very well. For those of you that have used magic, I assume you felt my presence disturbing the Ether around me?"

All three of them nodded.

"Good. I allowed some of my energy to leak out. You'll learn to control that soon enough. However, I'm curious about you, my scarf wearing student," Delph said, stepping toward Damien. "How did you spot me?"

"I followed Sylph's gaze," Damien replied, doing his best not to flinch at the professor's cold stare.

Delph blinked. Then he burst into laughter. It was short-lived, and he quickly recomposed himself, returning to his normal, bored disposition. The professor shook his head.

"Ah. That would do it, wouldn't it? I suppose there's something to be said for being observant, even if you have no magic. However, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to include you in this next assignment."

"That's fine," Damien said, trying and failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Now, for the rest of you," Delph said. "I've been told some students already have a few years of experience with their magic. That some students think they know better than their professor. Therefore, I'll be extending an offer to you all. In exactly ten seconds, I am going to attack all of you. If you can draw a single drop of blood, I'll buy you lunch for the rest of the semester. However, if you all lose, you do exactly as I say until the end of this year."

The air around Delph warped and turned hazy. It seemed to crumple, almost as if the man had his own gravitational pull breaking the reality around him. Damien backed away, suddenly happy he hadn't been included in the exercise.

"Watch closely," Henry instructed. "You can learn a lot about how to fight from watching those better than you."

"I'm not an idiot," Damien muttered, forgetting to think the words and saying them out loud by accident.