Chapter 14

Damien arrived at the mess hall a short while later. He quickly brushed his hair, which had gotten sweaty and unruly while he'd been working, back with his hands before entering the building.

There were only three students in front of him in line this time. The mess hall looked quite empty. The majority of the tables were unoccupied aside from a few stray people eating their food silently.

Are you sure my magic will get stronger with those herbs?

"Yes. It will make you grow more powerful at a significant rate. Again, you're going to need to cultivate more before you can use the herbs." Henry said. "But even if some of them have died off, I'm sure a few are still around."

Damien swallowed and gave a miniscule nod. The line moved forward until he stood before the large woman who took the orders. She raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to speak.

"The free meal, please," Damien said, fighting to keep the grimace off his face. "And yes, I'm sure."

"If you insist," the woman said, shrugging.

Damien swallowed and headed over to one of the tables, choosing a seat far away from everyone. He sat and pressed the small rune circle with his thumb. He drummed his fingers on the table as he waited.

"How brave," Henry said dryly. "Eating the free meal."

You aren't the one who has to taste it. Those herbs better be worth the money, Henry.

Henry's only response was a self-righteous scoff. A few minutes later, the blue glow of the runes changed to a dull green.

Damien tapped it. A plate full of what appeared to be murky green chunks appeared on before him. He sniffed it and gagged. It smelled like old armpits and rotten milk.

"Is this even food?" Damien asked, prodding it with a fork. The 'food' wiggled slightly in response.

"The faster you eat it, the quicker it'll be done," Henry said, not sounding very sure of his own words.

Damien grimaced. He pinched his nose shut and used his fork to separate off a small part of the slimy substance on his plate. He stuffed it into his mouth, chewing once before swallowing as quickly as he could.

The nicest thing he could say was that the food didn't taste quite as bad as it smelled. That being said, it was a close call. It was as if they'd intentionally made it taste horrible. Damien shuddered and pursed his lips together to keep himself from throwing up.

"That was…rancid," Henry said, disgust dripping from his words. "Just your memories of it make me shudder."

If those herbs don't help me, I am going to be very angry.

Damien drew a steadying breath and picked up another forkful, a larger one, this time. He shoved it into his mouth and swallowed without even chewing. The food slipped down without a problem, leaving an aftertaste he wouldn't have wished on his worst enemy.

Damien set his features and picked up the plate. He tipped it back, scraping the rancid meal into his mouth as fast as his hands would let him and holding his mouth closed to keep from throwing up.

He waited for a few moments after finishing, just to make sure the food wasn't going to try to come back up.

Then he shuddered and wiped his tongue off with a napkin.

"That was the most revolting thing I've ever eaten," Damien muttered to himself. "Why does that exist?"

His stomach rumbled, this time in annoyance rather than hunger. Damien couldn't blame it for the complaints.

The food wasn't palatable for rats, much less humans.

Damien rose to his feet. When it became clear the slop he'd eaten had no plans of escaping his stomach, he left the mess hall without looking back. The gazes of several students followed him out the door.

"I suspect your fellow mortals don't tend to get that dish," Henry observed.

I can't imagine why. I wonder if Sylph actually ate that garbage.

Damien gagged again. A passing student gave him a strange look. Damien just shrugged in response.

Do you think I can practice more magic now?

"No. You need to rest," Henry said. "You've already begun cultivating the Ether. All that work you did on the room today was repetitive, so your body needs time to absorb the residual Ether left behind. It should be mostly absorbed by tomorrow morning. By then, you'll be marginally stronger and can work faster than you did today."

Fine.

Damien sighed. As much as he wanted to head back and resume using magic, Henry had yet to mislead him about his studies. He headed back to the mountain, already mentally preparing himself for bed.

"Stop," Henry ordered abruptly. Damien froze in place, his foot hovering over the floor as if there was a trap directly in front of him.

What?

"Your instructor is in the alleyway to our right," Henry said. "He's allowing magical energy to seep out. I believe this might be a test to see if you were lying about having magic or not."

So, I just gave it away by stopping, didn't I?

"Yep," Henry said. "It's better this way. If he thinks we're special, he might teach us that strange magic he used on your roommate."

Did you really just throw me under the carriage to learn a new spell?

"Oh, absolutely," Henry said cheerfully. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same, boy."

Damien couldn't respond to that. He just let out a sigh and turned toward the alleyway. It was a thin path between two small buildings with potted golden flowers on either side of it.

Delph stepped out from within the shadows, his robes billowing out behind him. The toothpick in his mouth twitched as the man came to a stop before Damien.

"And whose gaze were you following this time?" Delph asked, raising a gray eyebrow. "Not Sylph, I presume."

"No, Professor. She isn't here," Damien said, desperately trying to figure out how he could explain himself.

"Yes, she is," Henry said, several seconds too late.

"Yes, she is," Delph said. He stepped to the side, revealing Sylph. She held a half-finished skewer of dumplings in one hand.

"Oh," Damien said.

"Oh, indeed," Delph said, stroking his beard. "You noticed my presence, yet you claim not to know any magic?"

"I didn't the first time," Damien said, scratching the back of his head and shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

"Are you implying you learned enough magic to sense my location since yesterday?" Delph asked.

"Yes, Professor."

"He was looking at cultivation methods earlier today," Sylph offered.

"I see," Delph said. "A quick study, are you? You wouldn't be the first, but you might be the cheekiest. Why wait until after you meet your professor to learn magic?"

"I didn't have access to the books before," Damien said quickly.

Delph grunted.

"I'm not so convinced you didn't already know magic and just wanted to avoid fighting me," he said. "However, there's nothing wrong with hiding your abilities. I won't punish you for it. However, if you want to learn anything, you're going to have to work as hard as you can. You won't become a powerful mage by hiding on the sidelines."

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor," Damien said, inclining his head respectfully.

"See that you do," Delph said, chewing on his toothpick.

A small smirk tugged at the right corner of his mouth. "You and Sylph will report to me at the arena tomorrow, one hour before sunrise. We will be conducting a training session."

"Wait, me too?" Damien asked. "I thought I didn't pass your test for the special training."

"You didn't," Delph said. "But you've either tricked me or managed to learn a significant amount of magic in just a few hours. Either you've got potential, or I'm going to get a lot of enjoyment out of watching you suffer. One hour before sunrise, kid."

Delph's cloak wrapped around him like a cocoon. It twisted into a ball and shrunk until it vanished, leaving no trace of the professor behind.

Damien and Sylph exchanged an awkward glance. Then the girl raised the stick of dumplings to her mouth and took a bite out of one.

"I didn't know you already knew magic," Sylph said.

"It's a new development," Damien replied, running his hands through his hair with a sigh. "How did Professor Delph find you?"

"He was waiting for me at the mess hall," Sylph said.

"He bought me lunch as an apology for knocking me out, and he promised to give me personal training. Training he's now invited you to join."

"Uh, sorry," Damien said. "I wasn't trying to get caught up in it."

"I know. I'm sure he's got some reasoning for it," Sylph replied, starting down the path back toward their room.

Damien followed.

"Did he say what he'd be teaching you?" Damien asked.

"No, but I expect its combat training for the field," Sylph said. She tilted her head to the side. "Speaking of which, how did you spot Delph? Were you hiding your magic when we first met?"

"No," Damien said. "I really did just learn it."

"Or your companion is powerful enough to do it for you," Sylph observed.

Henry surged to the forefront of Damien's mind. The boy's shadow rippled as Henry examined Sylph, energy subtly forming into a spell. Then it faded, and the companion slipped back.

"She shouldn't know any specifics," Henry said. "I can't read her mind, but her companion is not powerful enough to identify me."

Sylph's gaze flicked to Damien's shadow before returning to his face.

"Interesting," Sylph said.

I think she just played you. Also, what was that magic?

Don't even think about attacking someone. That absolutely goes against our contract.

Henry's response was an angry growl. Damien didn't have time to continue the conversation with his companion, so he just gave Sylph a noncommittal shrug.

"He helped," Damien admitted. "But there weren't any rules against that."

"Fair enough," Sylph said.

They completed the rest of their walk in silence, arriving at the mountain and heading up the path without any more idle chitchat. When they arrived at the plateau, Damien couldn't help himself from glancing into the other students' rooms as they passed.

He wasn't very surprised to see that Nolan and Reena had set up a curtain at the front door to block prying eyes.

However, Mark hadn't made any attempts to hide his own dwelling space.

It was difficult to see much of the room as it was already getting dark outside. However, Damien was still able to make out several carpets that looked to be made out of animal hides on the floor. Mark didn't appear to be in the cave.

As for their own room, all the runes Damien had drawn inside the cave as he was carving out the training area were still powered, and their effects were much more visible at night. Faint light emanated out from the entrance of their cave.

"Why is our room so bright?" Sylph asked.

"I might have been doing some renovations," Damien said. "I can't turn the runes off, but we can just rub them away before we go to sleep."

"Renovations?" Sylph asked, frowning. They arrived at the room's entrance and stepped inside. Sylph drew in a sharp breath. "Is that a hole in the wall?"

"Well, yeah. I was making a training room," Damien said. "They did say we could modify the room."

"How did you carve so much stone away in so little time?" Sylph asked, squinting at him before walking over to the tunnel he'd created.

"Magic," Damien replied lamely.

"You had enough energy to do this much?" Sylph asked with what was either awe or anger. "After just learning it this morning? How is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure how you want me to respond to that," Damien said, shrugging. "I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

"No, you didn't. I'm just very curious as to what your companion is," Sylph said. She shook her head and peered inside the hallway. Then she cursed. She turned back to Damien and crossed her arms. "Do you care to explain what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean," Damien said, starting to get annoyed with the constant questioning. "I told you, I'm just making a training room."

"Then why is there a party going on inside it?"

"What now?"

Damien squeezed past Sylph and peered inside his room. Mark, Reena, and Nolan were sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by a faint blue bubble. The group didn't appear to have noticed them.

Damien yanked his head back around the corner.

"I have no idea! What in the seven planes are they doing in our room?" Damien exclaimed. His baffled expression was more than enough to show Sylph he was telling the truth.

"Eight planes," Henry idly corrected. Damien ignored him.

"If you didn't invite them in, we should go and find out. I don't appreciate people coming into our room like they own it," Sylph said, her voice cold. She took another bite from the stick of dumplings, which still wasn't quite finished, and headed down the hallway.

Damien was more than happy to let her take the lead, if only because Henry seemed a little overeager to cast magic without Damien's permission.

Mark was the first to notice them heading down the hallway. He glanced up from something in his hands and flushed a light red. The blue dome covering them faded and vanished.

"Hey! Put that back up. What if someone hears us?"

Nolan said in a hushed tone.

Mark just pointed over Nolan's shoulder. Nolan turned and promptly did his best rendition of a ripe tomato.

"What are you doing in our room?" Sylph asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, ah, we were trying to find the two of you. Then we saw the glow, and there was the tunnel," Reena started.

She fumbled for words for a few moments, then sighed.

"Light. It was really dark in our rooms, and yours had a lot of light."

"Why were you looking for us?" Damien asked, his brow furrowed.

"We were getting dinner," Mark said. "And we wanted to see if you wanted to join."

"Did Beth suggest you do that?" Sylph asked, her eyebrow quirking up. The embarrassment that crossed the other three students faces confirmed her guess.

"She might have suggested it," Mark said. "It was a good idea, though."

"That's fine, but I'm still not understanding what was so urgent you needed to hide inside our room to use our lights for," Sylph said, frowning.

Mark held up a knife and a gritty stone.

"I was polishing my knife, but I couldn't see what I was doing," he said. "I didn't touch any of your stuff. I'm not used to living near other people, but you probably should have a door if you don't want anyone coming in here.

Reena and Nolan said it wouldn't be a big deal."

"Don't blame us for it! You were in here first," Nolan snapped. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm, ah, well…we didn't intend to be here long. None of our rooms have lighting, and we couldn't read our cultivation manuals to practice. Delph didn't look very forgiving, so we all wanted to get a head start on our work. Your room was larger, and it had lights, so we didn't think it would be an issue."

"Not breaking into someone's room for a long period of time doesn't mean you didn't break in," Damien pointed out.

"Why did you two get a bigger room than everyone else?" Reena asked. Mark and Nolan shot her a glance that reminded the girl that they weren't in the best positioning to be questioning Sylph and Damien.

"None of your business," Sylph replied promptly.

Nolan rose to his feet, closing a fancy red leather book and tucking it under his arms. He brushed some of the dirt from his pants with a pained expression and sighed, adjusting his shirt.

"This has gone very poorly. I apologize for all of our behavior. We should not have intruded on your home. In truth, I originally came here to apologize. Beth's suggestion for dinner was a good way for me to speak with you, but that has clearly failed miserably due to our actions."

"Apologize?" Damien asked, taken aback.

"Yes. Reena and I did not believe you when you claimed your companion was from the Plane of Darkness. After you proved us wrong, our pride was too large to renege on our words. However, as the heir to the Gray family, it is my duty to remain on good terms with powerful mages."

Damien glanced at Sylph, but she just shrugged.

"You're apologizing because my companion is strong when you thought it wasn't?" Damien clarified.

"Correct."

"And if my companion had been weak, you wouldn't have apologized?"

"Also correct," Nolan said unapologetically. "My duty is to ensure the survival of my house. A strong companion means you will have potential. You would not have been worth the time had your companion not been what you claimed it to be."

"Well, at least you're honest," Damien sighed, rubbing his forehead. "That might be the strangest apology I've ever gotten, but I don't see any reason to be enemies.

We're going to be stuck together for at least a year. You're still a dick, though. Consider not voicing your opinion of others before you know how strong they are in the future."

"Wise advice," Nolan said, inclining his head.

"Advice that father gave you," Reena whispered snarkily to him.

"I didn't see you correcting me," Nolan replied.

"You can argue about this later," Sylph said, interrupting them. "I'd like to know if there's a reason you're all still in our room. If there isn't, well, you know where the door is."

"You don't have a door. And the runes that give light were drawn with chalk," Mark said, standing. "That means one of you two drew them. Can you draw them in my room as well? I'd be willing to trade for it."

"As would we," Reena added. "We've got a spare curtain you could use for the front of your cave."

"And I have an extra rug," Mark said. "It is made from a dire bear. Very soft."

"I suppose I could do it," Damien said. "They can't turn off, though. They only go away when the chalk is rubbed out."

"That's fine," Mark said. "If you put it on the floor, I can cover it with something."

"I can do it tomorrow, then," Damien offered. "So long as you three don't invade our room without permission again."

"We won't, unless I decide to," Mark promised, somewhat unconvincingly. Nolan and Reena nodded their agreement. They awkwardly shuffled past Sylph and headed back to their rooms. Damien and Sylph returned to the main room and sat on their beds.