Chapter 2

When Damien got back to his room, Sylph had already returned. She glanced up at him from her seated position on her bed and gave him a polite nod.

"Class go well?" Damien asked, stepping inside and letting the stone door swing shut behind him.

"Well enough," Sylph said, giving him a half-shrug. "I'm not sure how much I'll actually be able to learn, but if it even increases my mental energy in the slightest, it'll be worth it."

"Don't worry," Damien said as he sat down on his own bed and shrugged his coat off, "we'll get you that dagger thing."

Sylph swallowed and nodded, glancing away from him. Damien pulled out the paper he'd been drawing on during lunch and squinted at it. The half-finished rune circle stared back at him.

So, what could it be? The rune circle.

"This might be a better conversation for tonight. Actually, I'll need some more time to think over it. Give me a day. We can talk tomorrow night," Henry suggested. "It's not urgent anyway."

I— Damn, I suppose you're right. Tomorrow, then.

Damien sighed and put the paper back into his pack. He closed it and pushed the bag under his bed. Sylph raised an eyebrow, but he just shrugged and shook his head. He hopped to his feet and wandered over to the training room. The next several hours of the day were spent training Devour.

By the time Damien was done for the day, the spell had taken several steps forward in appearance. The disk was smooth, and it followed his commands like a new appendage. He was able to cast it almost every attempt, and Henry was satisfied with how he drew the rune to summon it.

He tapped his wristband, curious to see what improvements he'd gained from the mixture of training and using the magical plants.

Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 4.8 Magical Control: .55 Magical Energy: 9.6 Physical Strength: .32 Endurance: .74 It wasn't anything insane, but there were still discernable improvements. He wasn't sure how much could be attributed to the plant, but all that mattered was he was getting stronger.

There were still a few good hours left in the day, but Damien was too tired to practice the spell any further. Instead, he summoned two balls of destructive energy in his palms and started carving through the back wall of the room, expanding it farther into the mountain.

At one point, he summoned an orb at the tip of his foot. He tried it with the other foot as well, and then with his elbows, and finally his nose.

"You look stupid," Henry said as Damien held his face against the wall, carving a line through it with the ball of energy spinning between his eyes.

He stepped back and brushed the dust off his face, letting out his pent up breath.

It will be useful to be able to cast spells from any point on my body.

"You're not wrong," Henry said, "but that doesn't make you look any less dumb."

Damien rolled his eyes. He'd managed to expand the second training room by almost half of its original size. It was now several times larger than the room with their beds.

"I suppose I should start on a new room," Damien said, brushing his hands off and examining his handiwork. "Ah…do you think you could…" Damien could tell Henry was rolling his eyes as the eldritch creature reached forward, taking the reins of his body. Henry piloted Damien out of the room and summoned a pool of darkness along the floor.

The dust fell into it and vanished as the pool snapped shut, and Henry released Damien's body.

"That spell is a modified version of the Devour spell, you know," Henry said. "You can work on learning it after you get a better grasp of the basic spell. Then I won't have to be your maid."

It's not like you've got anything better to do.

Henry huffed as Damien let out a small chuckle. He left the training rooms to take a quick shower and brush his teeth. Sylph still hadn't budged from her spot on her bed by the time he got back into their main room. He hopped into bed, not particularly tired but eager to speak with his companion. He still had no blankets, but he once again couldn't be bothered to get new ones.

"How'd the training go?" Sylph asked, opening her eyes. Her hands were clenched at her sides, but they relaxed when she realized Damien was looking at them.

"Pretty well," Damien said. "I'm trying to learn a new spell. I also expanded the second training room by a good bit."

"The one with all of the books in it?"

"Yeah. I should probably return those to the library soon."

"Even Love Making for the Uninitiated and Lustful?" Sylph asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've heard that one's a good read."

Damien groaned and buried his face in his hands. "My companion wanted it."

"I'm sure he did," Sylph said, laughing. Henry joined her, and Damien mentally sent him a rude gesture.

"You might want to hide those books better," Sylph suggested. "There's some things I don't need to know."

"You're the one who went shuffling through his book pile," Damien said, crossing his arms.

"I did not," Sylph said. "You left it in the bathroom."

"I most certainly did n—" Damien froze as he heard Henry's laughter double in intensity.

I'm going to strangle you. You're a millennia old Void creature. Don't you have better things to do with your time?

"Not really," Henry said. "I'm stuck here, watching you fiddle with basic magic. You're growing quickly, but it's hardly riveting. Your little gift to me has been ruining my patience. It's quite the pain."

Hmph. Good.

Damien laid down and rolled over, burying his face in the mattress.

Sylph smirked and returned her attention to meditating. A few minutes later, Damien drifted off to sleep.

The following morning, Delph left a slip instructing Damien and Sylph to meet him in the arena. As usual, the professor worked the two of them hard. They trained through the morning hours and well into the day.

Delph made sure that both their bodies and their minds were completely exhausted and out of energy by the time he was done. Damien ran out of stamina well before Sylph did, but he gained ground on her when his mental energy lasted almost ten times as long as hers did.

Damien didn't use his new Devour spell since it wasn't quite ready, but Delph seemed pleased enough with his current progress. He dismissed the two of them an hour before lunch and vanished from the forest in his typical method.

"I wonder if that's ever going to become easy," Damien said as they walked back toward their room. He groaned as his sore muscles protested every step he took.

"Probably not," Sylph said with a grimace. She was in better shape than Damien, but her eyes were thin, and her lips were pressed together from what Damien suspected to be a raging headache.

"It does look like you're getting more magical energy, though," Damien said, trying to sound upbeat and failing miserably.

"I suppose so," Sylph replied. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Don't tell Delph that, though. He'll sit outside our door and force us to practice every waking moment."

"You already do that," Damien pointed out. "You're meditating constantly."

"Meditating doesn't make me feel like I put my head in a drum and let someone bang on it for a few hours," Sylph snapped.

Damien couldn't argue with that. They lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip. His stomach rumbled, but the only thing he wanted to do was take a shower in the healing water. Food could come after his body didn't feel like it was falling apart at the seams.

Reena was outside her curtain when the two of them got back. She raised an eyebrow at the exhausted students as they trudged past her.

"Have a fun morning?" Reena asked.

"Not particularly," Damien said, his words little more than a grunt. "I can't feel my legs."

Mark peeked his head out from his own cave. "Were you training?"

Damien ground to a halt in front of the cave, torn between being socially acceptable and speaking to the other students or ignoring them and running into his room. Sylph had no such qualms. She smirked at Damien over her shoulder and pulled the door open, making a beeline for the shower. He repressed a groan.

"Yeah. I'm pretty fried," Damien said. "I think my bruises are starting to form bruises."

Mark smirked. "Then you should get better at not getting hit."

"Working on it," Damien said wearily. He glanced at his door, but there was no point rushing inside now. Sylph was in the shower, so all he could do was wait until she finished. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Same as you," Mark replied. "Training and studying for my class. It's a lot more work than I would have expected."

"What did you get?" Reena asked. "Damien and I are in magical theory together."

"Eh," Mark replied with a shrug. "Basically, just magical control.

Nothing very interesting, but it's a pain."

"Nolan got rune drawing, didn't he?" Damien asked, cocking his head.

"How's he doing with that?"

Nolan groaned loudly from within his room. "My hand doesn't draw what my brain tells it to draw!"

"He's not doing too great," Reena said, acting as if she hadn't heard him. "I guess all of us are struggling with our classes. Judging by how you look, it doesn't seem like you've had much luck figuring out how to make a knife out of Ether either."

"Huh?" Damien asked. He blinked as he realized she was talking about the assignment the professor had given them. "Oh, I wasn't practicing that.

I was doing my normal training. I'll work on that after I take a shower and get lunch."

"You haven't even started yet?" Reena asked, her eyes widening.

"Well, I put some work in last night," Damien lied. "I'll figure it out soon enough."

Reena grunted. It was clear she didn't believe him. "Well, let me know if you figure it out. It's causing me a lot of trouble, and someone as smart as you should have it all worked out real fast."

"I'll keep that in mind," Damien said, desperately wishing that Sylph would finish her shower already. His limbs felt like they were a few steps away from sloughing off his body and turning into soup at his feet.

Mercifully, Damien heard the water shut off within his room a short while later. He ducked out of the conversation as politely as he could and staggered into the room. Sylph stepped out of the bathroom while wringing water out of her hair.

"All yours," Sylph said. "You enjoy your conversation?"

Damien scrunched his nose at his roommate and offered no response as he waddled past her and into the shower. He threw off his clothes and hopped into the shower. A relieved sigh escaped his lips as the soothing water poured over him, causing the pain to evaporate. His headache had already started to fade by the time he got into the shower, but it was almost gone by the time he got out.

He dried himself off and stepped outside.

"Lunch?" Damien suggested. "I need to practice for my class, but I'd rather do that on a full stomach and give my head a little more time to heal."

"Works for me," Sylph replied, pulling her hair into a bun. "Just be prepared for the Grays and Mark to invite themselves."

"They're welcome to come so long as they don't try to invite me to any more restaurants."

Sylph raised an eyebrow but said nothing as the two of them stepped back outside, where Nolan had joined Reena and Mark in their conversation. The boy's face was slightly singed, and the tips of his hair were burnt. Ink stains covered his hands and expensive clothes.

"Not having much success with runes?" Damien guessed, holding back a laugh.

Nolan let out a weary sigh. "Not in the slightest. How can you do this?

One tiny mistake and the whole circle goes up in flames."

"It's all practice," Damien said. "You'll figure it out soon enough. Just keep drawing the same runes over and over until they're second nature."

"Thank you for the advice, even if I don't appreciate it right now," Nolan said, rubbing his forehead. He glanced from Damien to Sylph. "Are you two getting lunch?"

"We are," Sylph said.

"Mind if I tag along?" Nolan asked. "I need a break from ink and paper."

"I won't stop you," Sylph said, shrugging.

"I'll come as well," Reena said. They glanced at Mark, but the boy shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've already eaten," Mark said. "I'm going to get to doing some practice. Enjoy yourselves."

"Have fun," Damien said as he and the others headed down the mountain, leaving Mark in his room.

They reached the mess hall and ordered their food a short while later.

The four of them sat down at an empty table. Sylph positioned herself beside Damien, while Nolan and Reena sat down on the other side.

"How's class going for the two of you?" Nolan asked, "It's fine," Damien replied. "The professor seems interesting. He's got some very strange magic I can't entirely place."

"It's interesting enough for me as well," Sylph said, not offering any further information.

Reena sent Damien a strange glance, but Nolan just shrugged. Their runes blinked to life as their food arrived, and the four of them lapsed into silence as they ate. Nolan looked conflicted the entire time, while Reena continued to watch Damien out of the corner of her eye.

"What are your plans for after dinner?" Reena asked them.

"Training," Damien said. "I've got to work on the assignment for magic theory, and I've got another spell that I'm practicing as well."

"Oh?" Nolan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your gravity magic was intimidating already. You're already working on a new spell?"

Damien shrugged awkwardly.

"Need someone to spar?" Reena asked. "I've been working on my magic, too, and it would be interesting to see how I match up against one of the semifinalists."

"Reena," Nolan admonished, frowning. She shrugged, ignoring him.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Damien said. He did need to get some practice in against someone other than Delph, and fighting Sylph wasn't going to get him much experience. She'd beat him handily regardless of if they used magic or didn't.

"Great!" Reena said, polishing off a biscuit and sending a smug grin at Nolan. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"I'll come along as well," Sylph said. "It's been a bit since I've fought someone other than Delph with my magic. You interested, Nolan?"

"If you want, then sure," Nolan said, shrugging. "I doubt I'll be able to help you much, but I can gain a lot from fighting against you."

They finished off the last of their food and stood up, leaving the dining hall and heading toward the arena. They arrived a short while later but were surprised to find it wasn't as empty as they'd expected.

Several dozen students were already sparring throughout the arena. It was hard to tell what year they were from, but Damien doubted they were first years as they were all using quite a few spells.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones with the idea to come here," Sylph said. "There's enough room for us, though. No reason to leave if we're all comfortable fighting here."

"Don't see why not," Damien said. "Like you said, there's room. We'll just stay on this end to make sure our fights don't accidentally interfere with theirs."

Sylph and Nolan walked a short distance away, leaving Reena and Damien near the entrance. Damien rolled his neck and stretched his arms out. At the same time, he cast out his net of mental energy and drew in Ether to refill his reserves.

"Need to prepare at all?" Damien asked.

"No. I'm ready when you are."

"What do we go until? We can't go all out," Damien pointed out. "First blood while avoiding attacks that could cause serious injury?"

"That's a little boring," Reena said.

"Well, what do you want? There aren't any healers here right now."

"Fine," Reena said with a sigh. "Ready?"

Damien took a step back, putting a little more distance between them.

He gave her a nod. At the same time, he channeled the Ether through both his arms, forming two gravity spheres. He tossed them both, one directly in front of him, and the other off to the side.

Neither was close enough to hit Reena, but they forced her to keep her distance as they detonated, yanking sand free from the ground. Wind curled around the girl's long hair, whipping around her and turning into a small whirlwind centered at her feet.

She thrust her hands forward. A powerful gale of wind slammed into Damien, picking him up and tossing him backward. He rolled in the air and landed on his feet. His eyes widened, and he dove to the side as a white blade of air flashed past him.

"What happened to non-dangerous spells?" Damien demanded.

"It wasn't that dangerous," Reena replied, tossing another blade at Damien. He ducked out of the way, and it hit the wall behind him, dissipating harmlessly. "They'll only cut you a little. I'm not putting enough magic into them to do any more damage than that."

Damien grunted. He wasn't confident he could emulate that with a gravity sphere. Even a small amount of force could be enough to break bones if it hit Reena wrong.

"Should have thought this out a bit more," Henry said, amused. "Just wear her out. You can't win this without injuring the girl, so use Devour and wait until she runs out of energy."

I'd figured that out myself, thank you very much.

Damien's finger lit up with dark energy, and he traced a rune in the air.

Reena didn't wait to see what it was and threw another blade of wind toward him.

He slammed his hand against the rune, and it lit up as Damien forced Ether through his palm and into it. A circle of darkness blossomed in front of him, and the wind vanished inside it, disappearing without a trace.