Chapter 21

The five of them finished their dinner without much more conversation of note, then headed back to their rooms to sleep and prepare for their class the following day.

When Damien and Sylph entered their cave, a note had been placed on the floor between their beds. Sylph picked it up.

"It's from Professor Delph," she announced. "We're meant to go to class at the arena right as the sun is at the top of the sky tomorrow."

She handed it to Damien, who scanned through it. The curt handwriting said exactly what Sylph had read aloud, so he shrugged and stuffed the note into his bag.

The two of them took turns showering, which was made much less awkward by the addition of the curtain the Grays had given them. As Damien slipped into bed, he sent Henry one final instruction.

Since you've already gone out today, please, make sure I wake up two hours before the sun rises tomorrow.

Henry did just that. The following morning, an explosion echoed through Damien's head. He jerked upright with a gasp, his heart thundering.

"Good morning," Henry said cheerfully. "As requested, master. I have awoken you two hours before sunrise."

Oh, get shafted. You could have told me no if it was such a bother. Did you actually blow something up?

"You seemed quite insistent," Henry said, chuckling.

"And, no, master. I did not blow anything up. It was all in your mind."

Please, stop calling me that. I'm sorry for ordering you around, okay?

"You are much too easy," Henry decided, letting out a sigh. "It's almost boring. I'm sure even your secretive roommate would be better verbal sport than you are."

And when have you ever cared about verbal sport? I was under the impression your main goal was to destroy the world.

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying the Mortal Plane before we destroy it," Henry replied. "Besides, who's to say I didn't change my mind? Maybe I like it here."

Can Eldritch creatures even change their minds?

They continued bickering as Damien slipped out of bed.

Sylph still appeared to be asleep, but he had his suspicions.

He'd woken up rather loudly, and he doubted the well-trained girl would have slept through it.

Either way, Damien had no plans to confront her. If she really was faking it, then all she was doing was respecting his privacy. He slipped out of the cave and headed toward the arena at a brisk pace.

Do you think Delph will be there?

"Well, he did tell you not to show up today since you'll have the normal class," Henry said. "And you're pretty much doing the exact opposite of what he said. So…yes.

Absolutely."

Damien reached the portal and stepped through it. He pursed his lips, and his brow furrowed as he weathered the effects of the teleportation, but they weren't too bad. He wet his lips and walked to the edge of the stands, hopping over the barrier, and floating to the sand beneath it.

His gaze went straight to the entrance of the arena. It was empty. Damien couldn't keep the frown from his face, and he let out a sigh.

"What are you doing here?" Delph asked, causing Damien to nearly jump in surprise. He spun as Henry laughed within him.

"I didn't realize the arena was off limits in the morning," Damien said, his heart racing. "I could ask you the same."

"Cut the shit, boy," Delph said. "I told you that I wouldn't be training you today. We have a normal class in several hours."

"Yet, here you are," Damien replied. "Would you have come here if you weren't going to train me?"

"Did you consider I might be trying to train another student?"

"Oh," Damien said, frowning as his confidence wavered.

"I didn't, actually. Are you?"

"No," Delph said. "I had a feeling you'd show up. But have you even recovered enough to train further?"

Damien's limbs were still quite sore, and the bruises covering his body stung. Despite that, the pain wasn't as bad as he'd expected. It was uncomfortable and a constant presence, but it wasn't unbearable.

"Yes," Damien said.

Delph watched him for a few moments. Then he stepped aside and gave Damien an encouraging gesture. "Then you didn't try hard enough yesterday. Start running."

Damien did just that. He set off at a steady pace, regulating his breathing as best as he could. He moved fast enough to avoid criticism from the grizzled professor, but not so fast he would exhaust all his energy within a lap or two.

As he ran circles around the arena, Delph watched him with cold eyes. It was impossible to tell what the man was thinking or if he approved of Damien's efforts.

Whenever Damien slowed, a single glare from Delph forced him to speed up again or suffer the consequences.

He ran for nearly an hour before finally raising a hand.

Damien doubled over, putting his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. His limbs had once again turned to jelly. He didn't even dare sit down. If he did, there was a good chance he wouldn't have the strength to get back up again.

"Acceptable," Delph said. "I did not expect to see any significant change in your physical abilities within a single day. However, there had best be some improvements with your magic, savant. Basic level magic shouldn't take you much time to learn, so I expect quick progression there."

In response, Damien wearily raised his arm. He drew the Ether from the lines next to him, then formed a Gravity Sphere in his hand. He tossed it several feet away from them. The orb hit the sand, bulging outward before collapsing in on itself with a pop. Sand flew to where it had landed, buffeting Damien and Delph as it passed them.

The magic faded and dumped the sand it had collected in a small pile on the ground. Luckily, most of the arena's sand was packed tightly and hadn't been moved by the magic.

Damien noted the air had not been sucked out of his lungs this time, nor had he had any difficulty breathing.

Evidently, the magic would only cause that effect within a smaller room.

"That wasn't in the book I gave you," Delph said, knocking the pile of sand over with his foot and spreading it back over the arena. "Nor was it the Space magic spell I taught you."

"I saw some other basic spells in the library when I was looking through the books," Damien said. "This one looked more interesting, and I wanted to focus on Space magic before learning light magic."

"I see," Delph said. His tone made it difficult to read him, and his expression was flat. "Gravity Sphere is indeed a lower-level spell. Normally, I would be irate you ignored my instructions. However, in this particular circumstance, it appears you have garnered a basic understanding of a spell, regardless of which one it is. I'll give you a pass. This time."

"Thank you," Damien said.

"Something tells me that you're going to ignore my future suggestions for spells as well," Delph said, stroking his beard.

"It's possible," Damien admitted.

"Then I'll let you keep at it," Delph said. "I'm not going to interfere with things you're good at. It's much more effective to focus on what you're bad at, which is quite a bit."

Damien just nodded. Delph knelt, keeping his eyes on him as he raised a hand over the sand and formed it into a stick. The professor picked it up and quirked an eyebrow at Damien.

Neither of them said anything. Delph swung the stick horizontally at Damien's left arm. Damien hardened the mage armor in time to negate the strike, but he didn't get a chance to celebrate his small victory. Delph continued with his momentum, bringing the stick around and rapping Damien on his other arm.

"Do not gloat in victory," Delph instructed, jabbing Damien's stomach with the tip of the stick. He didn't harden the mage armor in time and doubled over, groaning in pain.

Delph smacked him in the back with the stick. Then he did it again. The third time, Damien hardened the armor and deflected the strike.

"Do not falter in defeat," Delph said, jabbing Damien in the chest as he stood up. This time, the mage amor hardened fast enough to block the attack. "Your enemy will not stop fighting you because you are injured."

They continued the pattern. Delph would strike Damien several times, instructing him in between swings.

Whenever it seemed like Damien started to get a handle on things, Delph increased the speed of his attacks to keep him on his toes.

After an hour, Damien's old bruises had bruises. Delph finally took pity on him and tossed the stick back into the sand. Damien let out a heavy sigh and lowered his guard just in time to get kicked in the chest.

He tumbled across the ground, then rolled clumsily to his feet and popped up, hardening his armor and crossing his hands before him in time to catch another kick.

"The battle isn't over until your opponent is dead," Delph said. Then he paused. "Or until I verbally tell you it is. Good job on the last catch, though."

Damien gave him a small nod. The only part of his body that didn't hurt was his head, and that was because Delph had avoided it. He watched the professor with wary eyes, making no moves to lower his guard.

After a few moments, Delph smirked. "Good. This exercise is now over. You may lower your guard."

Damien allowed his arms to drop, but he didn't allow himself to relax. If Delph noticed it, he didn't say anything.

"How are you feeling on Ether usage? Can you do more?" Delph asked.

"Yes."

"Good. You're lucky to have a large capacity for Ether," Delph said, resuming his infuriating habit of walking in a circle around Damien, forcing him to slowly turn to keep his eye on the professor. "Now, there's no reason for me to have you stand around and cast spells. You can do that on your own time. Your body is too worn out to do anything physical today, so we're done for now."

The sun broke over the edge of the arena, casting it in a dull orange light. With a start, Damien realized they'd been training for the better portion of the morning. He inclined his head respectfully toward Delph, but not so far that he couldn't see the man.

"Thank you."

"It's my job," Delph said. "And you seem different today.

Not sure what you've changed but keep it up. I'll reveal more in the actual class today, but ranking fights are coming up next week. I expect you to do decent."

With that, Delph's cloak wrapped around him. He shrank into a small point and vanished, leaving Damien alone on the sand.

"How does he do that?" Damien wondered aloud.

"Space magic," Henry said. "It's a fancy version of a teleportation."

"Can I learn it?"

"Eventually. For you, it wouldn't be very easy. You need more practice with low-level spells, and it's a high-level one."

"Okay. Do you know what spell I should work on next?

Or do I keep at the Gravity Sphere until I master it?"

"Mastering a spell will take much too long," Henry said.

"You only need a good understanding of it. Mastery can come later. Your professor mentioned something about fighting, so I'll think about some other spells."

Damien nodded. He headed out of the arena, his legs wobbling as he walked. Students were already milling about the campus, but it wasn't particularly crowded.

He stopped by the mess hall and got the free meal, eating it as quickly as possible before making his way back to the cave.

He was still trying to get the taste of the awful food out of his mouth when he got back. The Grays' curtain was closed, and Mark didn't appear to be in his room. When Damien stepped into his own room, he heard faint noises coming from within it.

The main area was empty when he arrived, as was the bathroom. Using the wall for support, Damien made his way down the tunnel and peered into the training room.

Sylph stood at its center, tiny strands of dark energy twirling around her.

The girl's eyes were closed in concentration, and her lips were pressed thin. Damien stepped back silently, doing his best not to bother her as he left the room.

"Why are we leaving?" Henry asked. "That's our training room."

She looked busy. There's no reason to bother her.

Besides, I'm getting fed up with eating vomit. If I'm saving my money, I'd like to find a place selling those herbs you talked about. There are a few hours until Delph's class, so I might as well do it now.

"Sure," Henry griped. "Just waddle over there like a duck."

I will. Thank you.

Before he left, Damien activated his wristband.

Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 3.8 Magical Control: .5 Magical Energy: 8.6 Physical Strength: .25 Endurance: .8 Almost all his stats had increased again. Damien was most pleased about Physical Strength and Magical Strength, which had both grown for the first time. After a few more minutes of admiring himself, he dismissed the screen.

True to his word, Damien headed back down the mountain and into town. He did his best to walk like a normal person, but the glances other students sent him before turning away made it clear he'd failed.

Damien ignored them. He half-walked half-hobbled through the college streets. It had been a bit since the dean had given them the tour, but he was pretty sure the general store was in the area he was headed toward.