Chapter 4

Damien awoke the following morning in much less pain than he'd been expecting. Another rune had joined the circle on his chest, but there was no blood. The rune had already sealed over and become faint. Damien ran his fingers along it. The scar tingled at his touch.

He blinked and rolled over, pushing the blanket off himself before sitting upright.

When did I get a blanket?

"You doing okay?" Sylph asked from her bed.

"Surprisingly, yes," Damien said. "What happened after the fight with Jayce? It's all kind of blurry."

"You fainted once we got back to the room," Sylph replied. "In the middle of the night, you started bleeding everywhere again. I dragged you to the shower and held you underwater because you were losing so much blood. Somehow, you didn't wake up the entire time. After that, I just brought you back to your bed."

"You didn't have to do all that," Damien said, his cheeks flushing.

"Thank you, though."

"It's fine," Sylph said with a shrug. "You were going to get blood everywhere again."

"Fair enough," Damien said with a small laugh. He pulled his clothes on and slid out of bed carefully. He felt a little dizzy, but it didn't seem to be serious. Out of habit, he tapped his bracelet.

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 "Well, at least I got something out of that," Damien said with a weak laugh. "My bracelet is telling me I got a little stronger from getting the snot beat out of me."

Someone knocked on their door. Damien and Sylph glanced at it, but the stone swung open before they could move. Delph strode in, his features cold and his torn cloak rippling behind him.

"We're sorry for missing class today," Sylph said. "Damien only just woke up, but Sean said he would let you know why we couldn't make it."

"He informed me," Delph confirmed, eyeing Damien carefully. "I hear you put up something of a fight against that Year Two boy."

"I got my ass handed to me on a shimmering platter," Damien said.

"But I could have done worse."

"Indeed," Delph said, his dark eyes not moving away from Damien for an instant. "He didn't happen to drop by again recently, did he?"

"Who, Jayce?" Damien asked. "Why would he come by? I don't think he did, at least."

Delph and Damien both looked at Sylph, who shook her head.

"Nobody came by since we got back," Sylph confirmed. "And even if they had, we wouldn't have had much to say to them. Damien's been unconscious until just a few moments ago."

"I see," Delph said, turning to examine Sylph. He drummed his fingers on his thigh for a few moments. "Well, if you see the kid again, don't interact with him. Find a professor immediately."

"Do you think he'll try to take revenge on Damien?" Sylph asked.

"Something like that," Delph said. "Sean gave me a rundown of what happened. It looks like the kid went on the run after getting the snot beat out of him, and he might have delusions of revenge in his mind. I'd like to think he wouldn't be that stupid, but you never know."

"I'll keep an eye out," Damien promised.

"You do that," Delph said. "And while my class has been canceled, I don't know if Greg will be as lenient. His clone has been waiting for you for about an hour."

"Oh, shit," Damien cursed. Delph stepped out of the way, hiding a smirk as the boy dashed outside.

The long-bearded professor sat against the stone wall of the mountain, humming to himself. He glanced up at Damien and let out a long yawn as he slowly got to his feet.

"I'm sorry for being late," Damien said. "I was unconscious."

"Excuses, excuses," Greg said, but the old professor offered a slight smile. "Please demonstrate your homework. I will take you to class once I've confirmed you can cast it."

Damien nodded. He'd used the spell against Jayce, and it wasn't hard to form a rough blade out of the Ether in his hand. It was a far cry from perfect, but it still resembled a pointed implement. The professor let out a grunt and nodded.

"Acceptable. We'll be going, then."

He reached out and grabbed Damien's shoulder. Before Damien could respond, the man's body crumbled away, and gray light filled his vision.

The world shifted and warped. The next thing Damien knew, he was sitting in a wooden chair.

"So kind of you to join us," Greg said from his position near the board.

"We've been waiting for you to show up."

Damien's cheeks reddened as the other students all turned to look at him. He couldn't help but notice there were a few less students in class today than there had been the previous time.

"Really?"

"No," Greg said, smirking. "We've been going for about an hour and a half. However, I'm sure one of your classmates will fill you in. Now…" Greg launched right into the next lesson. It took Damien a while to figure out what was going on, but the occasional pointer from Henry helped bring him up to speed. Concentrating was a little harder than normal since Damien's stomach started making its grievances known about halfway through the class. He was strongly considering just running out of the room by the time the class had finished several hours later.

The professor dismissed the same way he had last time—by transforming into a gray portal. Damien was one of the first ones through it.

He practically sprinted to the mess hall and ordered a large meat pie.

He stuffed the entire thing down his gullet within a few minutes. Once he'd finished his food, Damien headed back to his room while recounting what Herald had told him during their dream.

"That seems reasonable enough. You probably should have waited until we were asleep, but it's too late now," Henry said. "But we still shouldn't take anything Herald says as fact. It has an agenda, so I'll keep an eye out to see if there's anything suspicious. I'll do some research. And, speaking of which, you need to return the books to the library."

Damien groaned and rubbed his forehead.

About two hours later, Damien returned to his room for the second time that day, this time carrying a new pile of books for Henry. He staggered past Sylph and set the books down in the second training room before returning to his bed and sitting down with a sigh.

"Long day?" Sylph guessed, opening her eyes and allowing the dark wisps of energy floating around her to fade.

"Yep," Damien said. "At least I didn't get homework for my magic theory class. I was worried the professor would give out homework every day we had class."

"That's what my professor does," Sylph said, frowning. "It's mostly just meditation, though. He wants us to cultivate as much as possible so our bodies are stronger. I know there's a link between your physical body and the amount of energy your core can hold, but I feel like it can't be that much."

"You were already always meditating," Damien pointed out. "So, doesn't that mean you just haven't changed anything?"

"Pretty much," Sylph said. "It's getting pretty boring, to be honest. I'm spending half the day sitting still and doing nothing. Luckily, Delph dropped by around an hour ago and said that he could meet us tomorrow morning to make up for the class we missed today."

"I'm not sure if I'd call that lucky," Damien said small laugh. "It'll be good for us, but I don't personally enjoy the feeling of my legs turning to mush beneath me."

"It's clearly doing a lot for you," Sylph pointed out. "You were doing pretty well against Jayce in the beginning. I don't think many other students in our class could have pulled that off."

"Not saying I don't want to do it," Damien said, absentmindedly scratching the runes on his chest. "I'm just whining. Anyway, if we're meeting Delph tomorrow, I'm going to get some practice in."

Sylph nodded, returning to her meditation as Damien headed into the training room. Henry nabbed Damien's shadow and slipped into the second room to read the new books while the boy worked.

Damien practiced late into the night, splitting his time between getting a better grasp of Devour, his gravity spheres, and the Ether knife. The runes on his chest occasionally throbbed, but the pain had started to fade.

By the time he was done and started to get ready for bed, Sylph was already asleep, sprawled across her mattress with her limbs pointing in every direction and her mouth slightly open.

Damien bit back a laugh. He started to pull back the sheet on his bed but paused halfway through. He looked back at Sylph, squinting slightly. There was no sheet on her bed. He looked back at the sheet on his own and carefully gathered it up.

He padded over to Sylph's side of the room, which was only about one step across the thin hall between their beds, and gently put the sheet back over her. Sylph muttered something under her breath and rolled over.

Damien grinned slightly and slipped back into his own bed, making a mental note to buy himself some sheets already and stop procrastinating. A few minutes later, he was asleep.

The next few weeks passed without further incident. Delph swung by to inquire about what had happened with Jayce, but the conversation was over quickly, and the professor left, seemingly satisfied. Damien bought a new set of sheets and promptly ruined them again when Herald carved yet another rune into his chest. After that, Damien bought an entire set.

His free time dwindled more and more as Delph and Greg worked him to the bone. Damien's reaction speed slowly improved to the point where Delph could only strike him through his mage armor once or twice every minute. After the incident with Jayce, Delph seemed to train him and Sylph harder than ever before. They met exclusively in the forest, bathing in the refreshing water whenever they grew too tired to continue.

Damien never saw Jayce again, although he didn't have the time to spare the bully much thought. Delph questioned him about the subject once more, causing Damien to start growing slightly suspicious, but he didn't have any time to truly address it with how much work his training was taking.

His mastery of Devour grew to the point where he could draw the rune and summon the spell in only a second, which Henry deemed barely acceptable. The eldritch creature had grown slightly distant, but Damien didn't have the bandwidth to wonder why. He visited the library several times to refresh Henry's stash of books, and that seemed to satisfy the companion.

Greg's classes grew progressively more difficult, and the students attending them dwindled. The man forced them to utilize magic in ways Damien had never thought possible.

The professor made them form Ether into shapes, solve puzzles that seemingly had no relation to magic whatsoever, and occasionally just delivered books for them to read that he would test them on the next class.

Throughout all that, Damien and Sylph spent at least an hour every day training in the forest. Damien was still a far cry from matching her physical abilities, but he wasn't ending their sessions wheezing for air.

As for Sylph, her magical control class seemed to be doing some work.

Henry reported that her core had grown by almost ten percent. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what Damien could do, but the improvement sparked her desire to train even harder. She often returned to the room long after Damien had gone to bed and only a few hours before morning.

The two of them occasionally had dinner with Mark and the Gray siblings, but all of the students were so busy that it didn't happen often.

In what small free time Damien had, he expanded their room. He added a section to the second training room and bought a small table so that he could read without sitting on the floor or his bed. He also made several new rooms beyond it, although he wasn't sure what they were for.

As the month drew to a close, Delph gathered all the students at the training arena. It was the first time that Damien had returned to the arena since the incident with Jayce. He and Sylph stood at the front of the small group of students, waiting for the professor to arrive.

A small gray mote blinked into the air in front of them. It spiraled outwards and Delph shimmered into view. The man's eyes had slight bags under them, and his armor sported several new scars.

"Congratulations on making it this far," Delph said, looking out dramatically over the students.

"Is this a special occasion?" Reena asked.

"No. I just thought it was impressive that some of you hadn't dropped out yet," Delph said, smirking. "I expect nothing less from my students.

Even you, butterball."

Delph nodded in the direction of the slightly overweight boy who had almost gotten kicked out of the class on the first day. The rude nickname didn't apply to the boy anymore, as he'd gone through a growth spurt and stood nearly a foot taller than Delph did. Damien wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but the boy also had more muscle than the professor.

The boy just rolled his eyes. A flicker of a grin crossed Delph's face, but it vanished as quickly as it had come.

"Today is the last class we'll have for one week," Delph said. "You've all gotten sufficient training to begin taking on quests. Of course, if you feel you still aren't prepared, you're welcome to train yourself this week.

However, keep in mind that you must complete five quests in order to move on to Year Two."

"What if we don't want to fight?" Loretta asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Then take quests that don't require combat," Delph replied. "They exist. Actually, if you're dead set on becoming a researcher, speak to me privately. It won't come into play yet, but it will be very important in the latter half of Year One and the rest of your career—Blackmist or elsewhere."

"Is there any reason not to just take five really easy quests and complete them this week?" Reena asked.

"That would work to meet the requirement," Delph admitted, "but you'd only be shortchanging yourself. The quests prepare you for the field, and if all you can do is weak and easy stuff, that's all you'll get. The real money is made in the higher rank quests, and you can only get to them if you work hard."

"What about the front lines?" Nolan asked.

Delph's face darkened. "That honor is reserved for the best of the best.

The monsters at the front lines are a far cry from anything you'll ever find within the kingdom. I wouldn't worry yourselves with anything like that for a good while. Make it to Year Four first."

There were a few moments of silence. Delph cleared his throat.

"Anyway, please keep in mind the restrictions for the quests. If you want to do one at the highest level permitted, you must work together with your teammate. You cannot take a quest higher level than what your teammate's lowest level is. If you elect to go alone, you have to reduce the difficulty of your quest by two rankings. Please see me after class if you plan to go alone so I can make arrangements for your teammate."

Delph paused to let everyone consider his words. Students chattered in low tones for a few minutes until the professor cleared his throat. "There are a few modifications this year for students capable of completing B-rank or higher quests. The Seventh King has put out a bounty on a group of monsters. There isn't much known about their abilities, but they pose a significant threat to the kingdom. We have need of scouts and students that can seek out the monsters. You will not be engaging them yourselves. If you're interested, please see me after class."

Delph's turned and looked straight at Damien. The boy's blood ran cold, and his skin prickled.

"Relax," Henry hissed. "Don't give away so much information through your expression. There's no guarantee they've discovered the other Void creatures."

Damien forced himself to relax. It took everything he had to keep his face plain and only slightly interested, as if Delph had told them that it might rain tomorrow.

The professor spoke for a few more minutes on proper questing preparation and the different types of quests they could take on.

Unsurprisingly, the more dangerous ones also happened to pay the best.

However, the piece of information that caught everyone's mind was that a quest could only be taken by a single group. That meant that whoever got there first had the best pick of the options.

When Delph had finished, he dismissed the class with a wave of his hand. Almost everyone dashed out of the arena at max speed. The only students who remained behind were Damien, Sylph, Mark, Loretta, and Cody—Loretta's partner.

The students looked at each other, nobody wanting to speak up first.

Delph rolled his eyes and pointed at Mark. "Right, then. If you can't decide who starts, I will. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to confirm that my…special circumstances will permit me to take quests of the level you assigned me, even though I'm going alone," Mark said.

"They do," Delph said. He examined Mark for a moment, then sighed.

"Just keep in mind that you aren't immortal. It would be a shame to lose someone of your talent, but it happens more often than we'd like. Use your head as much as your powers."

"I'll keep your advice in mind," Mark said. He nodded to everyone and turned on his heel, striding out of the arena at a brisk pace. Mark didn't seem particularly concerned that someone would take the quest he wanted before he got there.

"And what about the rest of you?" Delph asked. "Anyone going to pipe up, or do I have to pick you like a schoolteacher?"

"I'll go next," Loretta said. "It's about me and Cody. He's planning to become a combat mage, but I want to be a researcher. How should we go about our quests? You said that there were some for everyone, but I don't know how that would apply to us."

"A lot of the quests have a good amount of overlap between the two subjects," Delph replied. "Take a look at them first. If both of you had wanted to be researchers, that's one thing. However, a lot of the combat heavy quests would heavily benefit from the usage of some non-traditional abilities. And the same goes the other way around. After you look at the quests, come back and let me know if you can't find something you like."

Loretta and Cody exchanged a glance. They nodded and bid farewell to Delph before setting off after Mark and the other students, leaving Damien and Sylph alone with the professor.

Delph's stern expression softened slightly once they were alone. He uncrossed his arms and let out a sigh.

"I'm glad I didn't have to chase the two of you down. It would have been a bother."

"What do you mean by that?" Sylph asked. "Why would you need to chase us down?"

"Dean Whisp has specifically requested that you two assist in the special bounty quest," Delph said. "Keep in mind that this is not an order as you aren't in the military."

"What? Why? What's the benefit?" Sylph asked. "We can do A-rank quests right now. Why wouldn't we just do those? They're rewarding enough and don't carry the extra risk of hunting out dangerous creatures.

Why does Whisp need Year One students to help with something that dangerous?"

Delph's face darkened. He glanced into the sky, then shook his head.

"Frankly, I don't know. I've been ordered to convey this information to you.

Like you said, Year Ones have no place hunting dangerous creatures. You don't have the experience or talent."

"So why would Whisp invite us then?" Sylph asked, baffled.

The professor pressed his lips together. "It's not my place to say. If it were me, I'd refuse. Risking your lives like that is point—" Delph's body abruptly stiffened. A flash of anger crossed his rugged features. "Damn it, Whisp. Why are you like this?"

His eyes lit up with dull purple energy, and his posture shifted, becoming more relaxed. Delph rested a hand on his hip and smacked his lips.

"Because I can be," Dean Whisp's voice came out from Delph's lips.

Damien and Sylph took a step back.

"Relax, kiddos," Whisp said. "I've asked Delph to let us have a quick chat. I'd do it myself, but I'm not at the school right now. As your professor said, I'm not going to force you to take this quest. However, I can certainly make the rewards more enticing that any of the A-rank quests can offer."

Sylph blinked. "How enticing are we speaking?"

"One thousand five hundred contribution points, among any magical items or other rewards that we find along the way," Delph-Whisp said without an instant of hesitation. "That's more than two times what the hardest Year One quest offers, and that quest is SS-rank."

Sylph swallowed. She glanced at Damien, who still hadn't said anything. Damien forced himself to put on a pensive expression. "I still don't understand why you want us to help. We're Year Ones. The most we can do is act as bait. It sounds like these monsters are strong, so why does it matter that the reward is high if we just end up getting killed during the quest?"

"You can die during any quest," Whisp's voice said. "The two of you showed some serious ingenuity during the ranking battles, so it would be a shame to waste your talent on low-level quests. Look, I'm not going to argue with two munchkins to try and get them to join a quest. Just keep this in mind, Blackmist has no need for cowards."

Whisp trailed off. Delph's face twitched, and Whisp turned to look Damien in the eyes. "Adventurer or frontline soldier—we need people that follow orders, even when they don't have to. I've spoken with Delph about both of you. You've yet to back down from a challenge, Damien. It would be quite strange if you suddenly changed how you act. I might be concerned that something is affecting one of my students and look into it. And, trust me, given the circumstances of a certain missing student, you don't want that."

Delph looked over at Sylph, his brow contorting in anger. He let out a huff. "Delph is being temperamental. If you're taking the quest, talk to Auntie. She'll point you in the right direction. You've got one hour—the group will be leaving Blackmist very soon."

Delph's eyes flashed and returned to normal. The professor grimaced and curled his nose like he'd smelled something nasty. "Damn body snatcher. Regardless, the two of you have heard your options. Whisp has informed me that I'm not allowed to say anything else on the topic."

The professor made a shooing motion with his hands. Despite the situation, Damien nearly let out a small chuckle. He and Sylph obediently headed out of the arena.

"Get to your room," Henry ordered Damien as they walked. "I'll try to scout out what's going on, but we can't have you walking around in the daylight without a shadow."

On it. And what does she mean by missing student? Did something happen?

"Don't worry about it."

"What do you think about the quest?" Sylph asked, interrupting Damien's internal conversation. "I'm pretty sure we just got threatened."

"I'm not sure, but I think you're right. Though I've got no idea what she's threatening us with. I don't know anything about a missing student," Damien said hesitantly. "There has to be a reason she wants us to join. Us finding a loophole in the tournament hardly seems like a good explanation for why she'd personally contact us. Look, why don't we figure this out in our room? We've got an hour, but it might help to be away from prying eyes."

"Sure," Sylph said, cocking her head slightly at the request. She gave him a curious glance, but the girl didn't find what she was looking for in Damien's eyes. By the time they got back, Damien's back was drenched in nervous sweat.

Is it safe to talk?

"It should be. The woman isn't anywhere near here," Henry said. "That was a long-ranged spell, and it was already getting weak when it hit your professor. Just keep your voices down. Stay here. I'll be right back."

Wait! What was Whisp— Henry tore Damien's shadow away from him and shot off.

"So, what's got you so nervous?" Sylph asked, sitting on her bed.

"I don't get what she's playing at," Damien said, pursing his lips. "That was definitely a threat. Does it have something to do with Jayce? Delph was talking about him earlier."

"He was," Sylph said, eyeing Damien. "He's apparently gone missing. I don't think you had anything to do with it, though. Should we just refuse the quest?"

"I don't know if I can," Damien said, frowning. "It doesn't matter if I had anything to do with Jayce. Whisp is the one person I can't have looking into me. And…it's one thousand five hundred points, Sylph. That would put you just one thousand points away from the dagger."

Sylph shrugged. "We can get it later. If this quest is something dangerous for you, we just won't do it. We can still get points the normal way."

Damien's stomach unclenched a little. He gave her a slight smile.

"Thanks, Sylph. But, to be honest, I'm worried that refusing the quest will cause more problems than accepting it."

"Your situation is that serious?" Sylph asked, her eyebrows knitting together. "Well, this is a dilemma. You don't have to tell me this, but why do you think this quest is dangerous for you? I've got my own thoughts as to why you might be worried, but nothing that would explain why this quest would pose a threat."

Damien opened his mouth. Then he paused, considering Sylph's words.

If they already knew that he had a Void creature within him, Whisp or Delph would have probably killed him. Whisp might have been planning to investigate him on the quest, but that wouldn't make sense given her threat.

Damien's hands clenched.

"Damned if I do and damned if I don't," Damien said. "But, for reasons I think we both know, I can't have her investigating me. What about your own thoughts on it, though? Do you think it's worth it?"

"It's hard to say," Sylph replied. "The reward is certainly tempting, and Dean Whisp framed it in a way that makes it feel like the quest won't be that hard. I don't believe that for a second, but we can't get stronger without taking on serious risks. The faster I can get that dagger, the better it is for my growth. That being said, if you need to avoid Whisp's ire, you might not have a choice. But if you go with this, she's going to keep doing it. You'll need to find a way to get out of from under her thumb at some point."

Damien rubbed his chin and paced back and forth along the thin hallway between their beds for a few minutes. Then he sat down and sighed. Henry clearly knew something about what Whisp was talking about.

All he could do for now was wait until his companion returned.

Luckily, his companion returned after only around fifteen minutes.

Damien's shadow slid under the door and discretely returned to his feet as Henry rejoined him.

Well?

"They don't seem to suspect you," Henry said. "In fact, it doesn't look like they're hunting the Void creatures at all. Your professor was speaking to Whisp after you left. I didn't get all of it, but they were talking about the two of you as bait. Apparently, some monsters have been hunting students and either killing or kidnapping them. They need a way to lure them out."

And what about the threat Whisp made? She seems to know something, and I think you do too.

"Trust me, you don't want to know right now," Henry said. "I might be able to hide myself if Whisp goes digging around on a surface level, but I can't hide your thoughts. Wait until after the quest."

I'm not sure I like that idea, but fine. So, you think I should do it?

"Given the circumstances, I'm not sure you have a choice," Henry said.

"Not if you want to remain at Blackmist."

Wonderful. Assuming I do take the quest, what use do they even have for us? Why do they need me and Sylph to be bait?

"Maybe they think you're strong enough to hold the monsters off for a minute or two," Henry offered. "Delph said something about them not being able to predict where the monsters attack, so I get the feeling they're inviting capable students in the hopes of luring it out. Either that or Whisp wants you under her control. She's got a sword at your neck."

Well, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Do you think we should do it?

"It's up to you," Henry replied. "The choice is do it or leave the college.

On the plus side, I think the experience would be valuable. Your fighting style is still amateurish. The reward seems quite significant as well. We could get some significant boosts to your power with that amount of contribution points."

"None of the options seem ideal," Damien said, sighing. "No matter what we do, I'm getting unwanted attention. But I think Whisp is going to be more attentive to us if we refuse than if we accept. I don't think she's leaving me much of a choice."

"So…we're taking it, then?" Sylph asked.

"That's probably for the best," Damien said, feeling dread building in the pit of his stomach. Whisp had put him in a spot where he was in trouble no matter what choice he made.

"You'll be fine," Henry said. "If worse comes to worst, I'll reveal myself, and we run. We can't beat Whisp, but I can probably get us out of a sticky situation."

That's reassuring.

"Just try to learn as much as you can. Whatever these monsters are, I doubt they're anywhere near as dangerous as my brethren. In fact, this is the perfect time to eliminate one of them. If the quest brings you near the closest Void creature, we should consider seeking it out. I don't know if one will be in the area, but I'll check if we get the chance."

Am I really ready to fight an eldritch monster?

"Not in the slightest," Henry replied cheerfully. "But I am. They're either bound or sleeping, so it shouldn't be hard for me to take care of things if they go south. Just think of it as a fun detour."

I'm not sure I'd call killing someone who hasn't done anything wrong a detour. And speaking of which, we aren't killing them the moment we see them. What if they're just like us? Maybe they have no plans of destroying the world. I don't want to kill someone who's completely innocent.

"That's a fair point, actually," Henry said. Damien blinked as his companion actually considered his words. After a moment, the eldritch creature let out a grumble. "I don't even know if we'll get the chance to find my brethren. But, if we do, we can try to speak with them first. They'll expect me to be on their on their side anyway. For now, just focus on keeping extra suspicion off us."