Chapter 23

They walked over to the quest board. Each slip of paper had a different quest on it, their difficulties ranging from F to S. The papers had a quick description of the quest requirements, the number of contribution points for completing it successfully, and who had requested it.

Most of the quests looked to be asking for mages to defeat local monsters plaguing farms or small towns.

Damien scanned through them, but he didn't take any of them off the board. Nothing said how long he'd have to complete the quest, and he didn't want to accidentally get someone's farm destroyed because he'd taken the quest, stopping someone who would have completed it faster from doing it. Once Damien was satisfied, the two of them headed out of the Treasure Pavilion.

"Well, we're not meant to meet Delph until a few hours from now, so we've got some time to waste," Damien said.

"Were you planning on examining any other buildings on campus?"

"None in particular," Sylph said. "I don't have the credits or gold to spend yet, and I'm not eager to add more things to the list of stuff I can't afford."

"We might as well head over to the arena early, then," Damien suggested. "Maybe Delph will get there early."

"That's fine with me," Sylph said, nodding.

They set off through the campus toward the portal that would take them to the arena. A short while later, after reaching the portal and being transported to the stands, the two of them hopped the railing and floated to the sandy arena.

A small group of people were already there, watching Delph as he sparred with Mark. The boy had covered his vitals with large plates of condensed sand that acted like armor.

Delph glanced in Damien and Sylph's direction as they arrived. He rolled his eyes, tilting his head just far enough to the side to avoid Mark's punch, and flicked the boy in his chest. His armor shattered, and Mark tumbled backward, landing in a heap with a groan.

"The armor was a good addition," Delph said, giving him an approving nod. He walked up to Mark, extending his hand. Damien winced as Mark reached out to take it.

Delph raised the boy back to his feet, then socked him in the stomach. Mark shifted his body, narrowly avoiding the punch and hopping back to disengage from Delph.

"The fight isn't over until your opponent is incapacitated or I say it is," Delph said, parroting his words from earlier that morning. "Good reaction time, though. You can relax.

The fight is done."

Mark nodded, lowering his arms and brushing the remaining sand from his clothes. He walked back over and joined the group, which included the Grays and the other six students in the class.

"As you can see," Delph said, nodding in Mark's direction, "he has a companion that has given him access to earth magic. His companion comes from the Immortal Plane, which tends to have powerful elementals. Can anyone tell me what this means?"

The students glanced at each other, nobody wanting to draw Delph's attention upon themselves. The professor massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed. Finally, the bald boy stepped forward.

"His companion is an earth elemental?" he guessed.

"You only know that because Mark mentioned it earlier today," Delph said. "In fact, that was a trick question. It tells us little to nothing. The Planes all have more magical creatures than I can count. Those creatures tend to share one attribute, but that doesn't mean they don't have any others."

Delph pointed at Reena.

"Your companion is from the Plane of Stars. I won't reveal what it is, but that means it has at least a little talent for Space magic," Delph said. "Now, is your companion's main type of magic Space?"

"No," Reena said, shaking her head. "It's wind."

"And there you go. All the creatures in one plane share an attribute, but that doesn't make it their main one," Delph instructed. "If you want to figure out your opponent's weaknesses and strengths, you need to know their actual companion, not where it's from. This is, of course, quite impractical. If you can plan for a fight, you should.

However, you can't always be prepared, so you need to learn to think on your feet."

The students nodded, although it was hard to tell if they were agreeing because they understood or if they were trying to avoid drawing Delph's ire. He didn't seem to care either way.

"Now, I'm aware not all of you have access to the Ether yet. I will be working to help you all see it today after an announcement. For those of you who can already access your magic, you may practice on your own however you deem fitting."

Damien and Sylph walked over to join the crowd, drawing several glances from the other students. Damien reddened. It felt as if he'd shown up late, even though they were several hours early.

"I was planning on waiting a bit longer for the announcement, but I suppose I might as well say it now," Delph said. "There are two important things I need to go over. First, you will all be required to do five quests throughout the course of the year if you want to move on."

He paused, making eye contact with each student to make sure they understood him before continuing.

"You will be expected to work within your groups to do this. I have already assigned some of you, and the rest will get their assignments after you learn how to use the Ether.

If you have a problem with your partner, you may find me after class."

They nodded.

"Good. Next, you all have two weeks before the Combat Rankings," Delph said. "These battles will determine how you stand against other students in the first year, and you will be allocated an allowance and magical items depending on how well you do. I recommend you place highly."

The students broke out in murmurs.

"What if we aren't that good at fighting?" the chubby boy who had nearly been kicked out of class a few days ago asked.

"Then I suggest you get better," Delph said, smirking.

"However, if you feel your talents are better suited to non-combat aspects, do not fret. There are other ways to get a stipend and rewards from the school that do not involve combat. You can speak to Auntie in the Treasure Pavilion if you'd like more information."

Damien and the others nodded.

"I should add that the higher your combat ranking is, the more dangerous quests you'll be allowed to go on, and the more credits you'll be able to earn from them," Delph said. "So, I recommend you train hard over these next few weeks."

Delph snapped his fingers and pointed at four students, none of which Damien knew the names of.

"Come along. I am going to demonstrate how to access the Ether. For the rest of you, practice how you see fit until I finish up. I'll be coming around to give everyone pointers, so make sure you aren't slacking."

Four of the students followed, leaving the others behind.

Nolan spotted Damien's embarrassed flush and offered him a grin.

"He had all of us show up at different times," Nolan said.

"The professor sparred everyone who had magic when we showed up. Mark showed up just a few minutes ago. Why didn't he fight you?"

"He met me this morning," Damien said, grimacing and pulling back one of his sleeves, revealing the rows of bruises covering him. Loretta, the girl who had first stepped up when Delph had threatened to kick the other students out of the class, drew in a sharp breath.

"What did he do to you?" Loretta asked in horror.

"Training," Damien replied, rolling the sleeve back down. "I asked for it, so don't worry. I doubt he'll do that to you."

She looked relieved, but only by a little.

"Do you have any idea what we're meant to practice?"

Reena asked, brushing some of the hair out of her face with a distasteful frown. "He didn't even teach us anything yet."

"No clue," Damien replied. "But I gather he's already told you guys your teams, right?"

"He has," Loretta said, gesturing at the bald boy beside her. "Cody and I are working together."

"And I'm with Reena," Nolan said.

"I'm on my own," Mark said.

"Why?" Loretta asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought all students were supposed to work in groups."

"I'm a special case," Mark replied, not elaborating further. An awkward silence passed over the group. Damien cleared his throat.

"We better get to work before Delph rips us a new one," he suggested. "Maybe we can practice sparring with our group mates? To get better understanding of their abilities."

The others blinked. Then they nodded, thoughtful expressions crossing their faces.

"That would work. I'm always beating Nolan," Reena said, smirking at her brother.

"Only in your dreams, Reena," Nolan replied. The two of them sneered at each other and walked toward an empty area in the arena.

Loretta and Cody headed off as well, leaving Mark with Damien and Sylph.

"You can join us, if you want," Damien offered. "Unless you aren't allowed to do that."

"Thank you," Mark said, tilting his head. "I should be fine if it's just a practice round. There's a professor nearby anyway."

Sylph wiped the imperceptible frown off her face and gave Damien a small nod. "That's fine with me. It'll be good to get some more practice against other people."

Damien nodded, trying to mute the throbbing pain in his arms and legs as they walked to an empty area.

"Sylph and I can go first," Mark offered.

"Knock yourselves out," Damien said, flopping onto the ground a short distance away from them with a badly concealed sigh of relief.

Sylph gave Mark a small nod. They faced each other, both lowering into fighting stances. Mark jammed his sword into the sand behind him and curled his hands.

"How do we decide who wins?" Mark asked.

"Three strikes that draw blood?" Sylph offered.

"Works for me."

"Do we need a referee?" Mark asked, rolling his shoulders and popping his neck.

"Nah," Damien piped up from the sidelines as he made himself comfortable. "It's friendly training, not a match.

Make sure you pull your punches. Something tells me Delph would laugh at us for a few minutes before he got a healer if something goes wrong."

"We'll see if that's needed," Mark said. "I prefer real fights."

"As do I," Sylph said. She gestured to the sand below them. "You can make armor, right? I would use it."

Sylph shimmered and slipped into the shadows, fading out of view. At the same time, the sand wrapped around Mark's legs and climbed up his body, forming into plates of armor. This time, it covered his entire body, only leaving his eyes open.

Damien watched in rapt attention as several moments passed silently. Mark's head turned on a swivel as he tried to spot where Sylph would come from.

He suddenly spun, raising his arms before him. A dark furrow carved through the air, slamming into his armor with a thud. Sand sprayed from the strike, pattering against Sylph's camouflaged form and revealing her for an instant.

Mark threw a punch at the camouflaged Sylph. The sand fell to the ground, and his hand passed through the air harmlessly. Another strike carved across Mark's back, but it failed to break his armor.

"Are you teleporting?" Mark asked, impressed. "I thought that was supposed to be quite hard."

Sylph's response was a blade of darkness that scored across his arm. This time, it bit a bit deeper. Damien saw a flash of Mark's ragged clothing beneath the sand before it shifted, covering the thin cut in his flesh.

"That's one," Mark said, sighing. He thrust his hand upward. Sand launched into the sky around him, revealing Sylph several feet away from him.

He thrust his hand out. The sand condensed into little balls and shot toward Sylph. Her outline vanished once more, and the balls passed through the air harmlessly.

Another slash tore through Mark's armor, revealing a flicker of his back. He spun, but Sylph had already vanished.

"Your magic is quite annoying," Mark muttered. He raised his hand once more, filling the air around him with a whirling sandstorm. Damien grimaced as some of it battered against his face.

He scooted back several feet. Sylph's outline flickered through the storm, appearing and disappearing. Whenever Mark spotted her, a barrage of sand would shoot in the girl's direction. Unfortunately for him, the girl was significantly faster than his reaction time.

A final line slashed across his stomach. The sand fell to the ground, and Mark let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, that was disappointing," the boy sighed, allowing his armor to flow off him. Sylph appeared as well. She gave him a tight smile, but she breathed heavily while Mark barely looked ruffled.

"Why didn't you use your sword?" Damien asked, nodding at the blade sticking out of the sand.

"Can't use that against other students," Mark replied. "I don't want to accidentally stab someone. There aren't any healers here right now, and I'd get blood all over my clothes if I did."

"That's understandable," Damien said. "And I guess you can't really pull your punches with a sword either."

Mark gave him a wry grin and sat. "You get to fight Sylph next, then."

"Do you think I could go against you instead?" Damien asked, spotting the well concealed flicker of worry that passed over Sylph's face.

"Sure, if Sylph doesn't mind," Mark said, shrugging.

"Go for it," Sylph said, giving Damien a small nod of appreciation that proved Damien's thoughts correct. She was likely running low on Ether from all the not-exactly-teleporting she'd done inside Mark's sandstorm.

Damien rose to his feet, biting back a groan. He made his way over to stand before Mark, then stretched his legs out once he arrived.

The sand rose around Mark, forming the light plate armor he'd worn while fighting Delph. The openings on it made the armor easier to penetrate, but Damien suspected it also gave him a lot more mobility.

"You can take the first move, then," Mark offered. "It would be too boring if I went first."

Damien drew on the Ether within himself. It leapt to his call, two motes spiraling together and launching down his arm. A Gravity Sphere formed in his hand, and Damien lobbed it at Mark. He started making another one before the first had even hit the ground.

Mark dodged to the side, but it wasn't even necessary.

The sphere hit the ground a foot to his side. He raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh.

"You might want to work on your aim a lit—" The sphere imploded, yanking the unsuspecting boy off his feet. He was so close to the center of the blast that he was thrown to the ground, his eyes going wide. Damien lobbed the second sphere behind his fallen opponent.

It went off right as Mark pushed himself back up, pulling him backward and sending him tumbling to the ground once again. He barked out a rough word Damien suspected was a curse as he hit the sand.

Damien started forming another Gravity Sphere, but Mark rolled to his feet and dashed at him. He abandoned the spell, allowing the Ether to return to its resting position as Mark drove his fist into Damien's stomach.

He hardened the mage armor. Mark's fist hit the armor with a dull thud. He hopped back in surprise. The armor around his hand had cracked.

"What is that?" Mark asked, his eyes wide. "It didn't look hard at all!"

"Mage armor," Damien replied, taking advantage of the respite to start creating another Gravity Sphere. "I can harden it with Ether."

"I want that," Mark decided.

Damien chucked the sphere at him but, this time, the boy was ready. He dove to the side, dropping into a roll and hopping back to his feet. When the spell went off, it only tugged him slightly to the side instead of knocking him over.

Mark dashed over to Damien, then put his hand above Damien's head before he could move.

"Your armor doesn't protect your head," Mark said.

"Killing blow, right?"

"Yeah," Damien agreed, sighing as he lowered his hands. "Not much more I can do right now. I need to learn some more magic and figure out some better way to defend myself. The destructive energy spell would probably work, but I don't think I could use that safely in a sparring match.

You're just way faster than I am."

"I'm enhancing my body," Mark said, giving Damien a half-smile. "Earth magic makes it tougher, and I've cultivated for long enough that my muscles are reinforced with Ether. Maybe you'll get good enough to fight me later."

"I see," Damien said. Mark's words somehow didn't insult him in the slightest, and Damien didn't think Mark even intended to insult him in the first place. "I guess I need to get back on cultivating. Sylph, I'd ask if you want to spar, but I don't think there's anything I can do against you right now. It would probably just be a waste of your time."

"Good guess," Sylph said. "If all you can do is that gravity spell, then you're right. You'd lose almost immediately."

"So, what now?" Mark asked, pulling his sword free from the ground and running his hand down the flat of the blade.

"You two can spar again if you want," Damien offered. "I don't think either of you are going to get much from sparring me right now, although you've helped me get an idea of how I need to improve."

Mark glanced at Sylph, who shrugged.

"Do you have any spells other than the ones you used against me?" Mark asked Sylph.

Her brow furrowed a little, but she nodded.

"One," Sylph said, "but it's not much different that the ones you saw. It's just another blade made from dark magic."

"Hmm," Mark said. "I'd like to spar you again, but not today. I want to see if I can beat you when I'm using my sword."

"That's fine with me," Sylph replied. "It's been hard to continue training on my own. It'll help to have someone to spar against."

"So, what do you all think you could improve?" Delph asked from right behind Damien.

Damien flinched and let out a curse. The professor had come out of nowhere. Judging by the shocked expressions on Sylph and Mark's faces, they hadn't seen him arrive either.

"I'm not used to fighting people faster than me," Mark said, recovering from his surprise. "I need a way to either keep up with them or take away their advantage."

"You've got several talents, Mark," Delph said, cocking an eyebrow in a way that made it painfully obvious he was hinting at something. "You need to focus on what you're best at not avoid it."

"I don't think that would be safe," Mark said. "I'm here to learn how to use my other abilities."

"No, you're here to learn," Delph corrected. "And, luckily, I'm not asking you to think. I'm telling you to do. It doesn't have to be today, but I expect to see your talents on display during the ranking battles."

Mark pressed his lips thin but nodded reluctantly. Delph turned his gaze on Damien, who fought not to quail under the man's intense eyes.

"I need to learn more magic," Damien said, not having to think much. "I don't have any versatility, and I'm a sitting target on top of that."

"And you also need to learn the magic you currently use better," Delph said. "Your technique is fine, but you'll need to work on your magical control. Your Ether usage is incredibly inefficient. If you improved it, your Gravity Spheres would actually do some damage."

Delph turned to Sylph. He cocked his head, then shrugged.

"You already know what you need to improve. Mark, you can find me when you decide you're ready to train seriously," Delph said. He glanced from Sylph to Damien.

"As for the two of you, there's not much else we can do today. You're both burnt out, one way or another. Go home, get a little rest, and then get back to training. The next class is day after tomorrow. I'll send a note with the location."

Delph didn't wait for them to respond. His cloak enveloped him, and he vanished, reappearing on the other side of the arena beside Reena and Nolan, who both leapt a foot into the air.

Mark pursed his lips and let out a disgruntled sigh.

"He's an ass," Mark said.

"You said it, not me," Damien said, just in case Delph was somehow listening to them. "But he's right. We've got a lot of practice to do if we want to do well on those ranking battles. I'd like to get my hands on any magical stuff they're willing to give me."

"As would I," Sylph said, her gaze hardening.

The two of them bid farewell to Mark, who watched them with a pensive frown as they left. The walk back to the room was silent, and Damien's legs made themselves known with every step he took.