Chapter 212: Chapter 212

They both started to gather Ether, but Mark’s expression flickered and he lowered his hands. Sylph blinked.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Mark nodded over her shoulder. They all turned and the air seemed to freeze as Derrod walked through the door, Quinlan and two other students in his wake. He glanced around, his eyes not even stopping on Damien, and gave them all a wide grin. Damien didn’t recognize the new students, but they wore the purple and black colors of Blackmist. His hands clenched at his sides, but he didn’t let the anger reach his face.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Derrod said, raising a hand and giving them an easygoing grin. “Given that the excursion to Forsad will be happening in a few days, I thought it was about time I introduced myself to all of you. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

Nolan rose and slipped out of the room, giving Damien a small nod before he left.

“We were just doing a little practice,” Yui said, standing up and starting down the stairs. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Stormsword. I’m surprised you’ve got enough time to take care of us on something so unimportant.”

“The Queen would never let you travel somewhere dangerous without the proper protection,” Derrod replied with a chuckle. “And we are sending some of the top students out of several schools. It would be a tragedy if anything serious befell any of you. I will do my best to ensure all of your safety.”

Damien noticed that Derrod didn’t actually promise anything. Delph’s words rang in his head and his annoyance only grew further. Sylph nudged him with her foot, but he just shook his head.

“Now that we’re all here, have you all been introduced?” Derrod asked. “We’ll be working closely on this trip, so it’s important that we all get to know each other. I’ll start, since I’m the one asking. My name is Derrod, but I’m known by my title as Stormsword.”

Admiring gazes shone on just about every student’s face. The only exceptions were Damien, Sylph, and Yui. Derrod chuckled again.

“I see some questions in your eyes. You’re welcome to ask me whatever you’d like after our introductions are complete. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer, but I’ll do my best. I’m already aquatinted with a few of you, but I see some new faces.”

“I’m Teddy,” the large boy. His voice was surprisingly elegant and Damien would never have matched it to his muscular body. “I’m a Year Four from Greenvalley, and I specialize in Vibration magic.”

“That’s a rare one,” Derrod said approvingly. “Lots of applications, but difficult to use effectively. Considering you’ve made Year Four, you must have a rather solid grasp on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we run into each other on the frontlines in a year.”

Teddy beamed at the praise. “I very much look forward to that, Sir Stormsword.”

“Just Stormsword, please,” Derrod said, waving his hand. “Sir makes me feel old.”

“I’m Mark,” Mark said, inclining his head. “I specialize in Earth magic, and I’m a Year Two at Blackmist.”

“I’ve heard you’ve got a bit more than just Earth,” Derrod said.

“I do,” Mark said, but he didn’t elaborate. Apparently, even his respect for Derrod’s strength wasn’t enough to get him to reveal all of his secrets.

“You probably all know this already, but I’m Yui,” the princess said, reaching the bottom of the stairs. “Please don’t worry about my status during this excursion. I’ll just be another student. I specialize in Fire and Ice magic, and I’m a Year Two.. My attendants will be coming with us, but they aren’t official members of the excursion.”

Gaves and Bella both nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Damien caught Elania making a face at them behind their backs before she wiped it clean.

“I’m Viv, and the other two are Elania and Eve,” Viv said from the floor above them. “We all specialize in Light magic, although we dabble in a few other fields. We’re all Year Twos.”

“I’m Quinlan,” the last girl said, her face unreadable. “I’m a Year Four and I focus in Lava magic.”

“That’s quite impressive,” Derrod said, giving her a nod. “Lava magic is very dangerous, both to you and your opponents. Not many mages have mastered it. If you can use it well, you could become one of the best mages in your generation.”

Quinlan tilted her head in appreciation. “I will do my best, but there are many talented mages just in this room. Claiming the title of the strongest mage will not be something done easily by anyone.”

The small hooded figure on the second floor shifted and hopped off the table. They barely stood tall enough to peer over the railing, and their face was still hidden behind the shadows of their cloak.

“I’m Reva. I’m a Year Three at Flamewheel and I specialize in Shadow magic.”

“An effective and powerful path,” Derrod said approvingly. “One well suited to assassins.”

“I plan to put it to great use in the service of the kingdom.”

“Then we will get along handsomely,” Derrod said.

One of the students behind Derrod, a tall boy with blonde hair and green eyes, raised his hand in greeting. “Heya all, pleased to meet you. I’m Cheese.”

They all stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He didn’t.

“What magic do you use?” Derrod prodded.

“Whoopsie. I just kind of punch things.” Cheese gave them an easygoing grin. “I can’t really cast magic intentionally. It works, though. I’m a Year Three, by the way.”

“Excuse him,” the girl beside him said. Her mouth and lower face was covered by a heavy black scarf. “Cheese is a bit of an idiot. I’m Aven. Year Four, and I use whatever magic I’m feeling like at the time.”

A few mutters passed through the students at that. Derrod raised a hand.

“I know Aven sounds like she’s skirting the question, but I’ve actually seen her in action and she’s telling the truth. Her companion has granted her access to nearly a dozen schools of magic, and she’s adept at using all of them. She’s the top ranked student in Blackmist’s Year Four, and Cheese is the strongest in their Year Three. That leads us to the last two students.”

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Sylph and Damien both introduced themselves.

“There’s one more thing I should mention,” Derrod said, his grin widening. “It hasn’t been a widely known fact, but considering the nature of this mission, I need to come clean. Damien here is my son.”

The gazes of everyone who didn’t already know that particular fact snapped to Damien.

“What an asshole. He just painted a target on us,” Henry growled. “At least nobody will try anything while he’s watching, though. They don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“Now, given our relationship, I’m sure a lot of you are thinking a few things that you’re too polite to say out loud. Blackmist sent a lot of Year Twos to this excursion, so how do we know that Damien really deserves his spot here? He could have just been chosen because of me.”

“He and Sylph both performed very well at the intermural tournament,” Viv said. “They’re stronger than many of the other people here.”

Derrod kept talking as if he hadn’t heard her.

“For that reason, I’d like to state this right now. I want to push Damien to his limits. As my son, I hold him to the highest standard possible. For that reason, if any of you would wish to test just how strong he is, I implore you to do so now. Let him prove that he deserves his place among the rest of us.”

Henry leapt into Damien’s Mage Armor, turning it black and raising it defensively around him as Teddy leapt off the railing, letting out a shrill whistle. A wave of force slammed into Damien, throwing him across the room. He teleported before he could hit the wall, appearing behind Teddy.

Henry lashed out with a tentacle, striking the larger boy in the back. Teddy spun, blocking the attack and whistling again. Invisible force drove into Damien’s stomach and Henry hardened his armor, reducing the effect of the attack so it only knocked the breath from his lungs instead of tossing him away.

Sylph darted at them, but a dark spike shot up from the ground and forced her to dodge back. Reva rose up from the ground before her, jagged blades made of shadow forming around her.

“Teddy is fighting Damien right now,” Reva said. “You’re not part of–”

Sylph’s arm flickered. A bone colored scythe sprouted from her arm, whipping forward and burrowing itself into Reva's chest. The hooded girl let out a choked gasp as Sylph leaned forward, pressing her onto the ground. Sylph put her foot on the other girl’s chest and ripped the blade free in a spray of blood.

Damien grabbed Teddy’s shoe with telekinesis, ripping it out from beneath him before the other boy could react. Teddy rolled, kicking his shoe off and coming back to his feet with a grin on his face.

“Didn’t realize you could do that. Haven’t fought someone with Space magic before,” Teddy said. He snapped his fingers and a tremor shot through Damien’s leg, followed by sudden pain. It vanished a moment later, much to Teddy’s apparent surprise.

“Nullified it,” Henry reported. “He’s using targeted vibrations to try and cause microfractures in your bones. A layer of mental energy around your entire body can counter that strategy entirely.”

“You already figured it out?” Teddy asked, surprised.

Damien’s response was to try and grab his other shoe with telekinesis. Unfortunately, Teddy was just as fast of a learner as Henry was. He batted Damien’s mental energy away with his own and dove at him.

Behind them, Sylph’s dash was interrupted as a dark blade nearly took her arm off. She spun as Reva rose from the ground, shadows knitting the wound on her chest back together.

“If I hadn’t reacted fast enough, that might have seriously hurt me,” Reva said. “What kind of psycho goes for a killing blow while training?”

“You’re a Year Four,” Quinlan said from the sidelines. “If a Year Two offed you with a single attack, that would be pretty pathetic.”

Teddy and Damien danced around each other, slinging spells and trading blows. It was apparent that Teddy wasn’t using his full strength, since after his targeted vibration spell failed, he didn’t try any magic other than what he’d previously used. Even still, his magic was strong enough that it took all of Damien’s concentration to keep up with it and avoid using Direct Casting or any of Henry’s other magic.

Sylph and Reva were caught in a similar fight, but Sylph had the upper hand. However, with every passing second, Reva regained ground. Her attacks only grew faster and more accurate while Sylph heavily limited her magic usage, avoiding depleting her low stores too quickly.

“You’re too distracted,” Teddy grunted, driving a palm into Damien’s chest. The strike sent a ripple of magic throughout his whole body, picking him up and launching him into the wall with a loud crash.

Damien dropped to the ground, his ears ringing. “So are you.”

A Gravity Sphere he’d locked in place near Teddy’s foot detonated. The large boy tried to dodge, but couldn’t get his whole leg out of the blast zone. With a series of loud cracks, several bones shattered.

Damien turned, grabbing Reva’s clothes with telekinesis and picking her up. Unprepared for the spell, she didn’t get a chance to negate Damien’s mental grip over her and he slammed her into the ceiling.

Reva broke Damien's hold over her with a shield of mental energy and dropped back to the ground, covered in dust. A dark gauntlet formed over Sylph’s hand and wind whipped around her. She shot forward, ducking under a shadowy blade and driving her fist into Reva stomach.

The smaller girl shot back like a rock launched from a catapult, slamming into the wall much like Damien had seconds before. Reva snarled, pushing away from it. The lights in the room started to dim.

“I’m getting in on this,” Mark said with a gleeful laugh. His skin took on a reddish tint and he slashed his hand through the air, sending a blade of red energy hurtling at Teddy. The large boy’s eyes widened, but Cheese appeared before him, batting Mark’s attack away with the back of his hand.

“Me too,” Cheese said gleefully, rubbing his hands together.

Mark and Cheese darted at each other. The remaining students glanced around, then seemed to share a collective shrug. Ether surged as everyone channeled magic and the room descended into chaos.

The fight lasted for nearly five minutes. By the time it was over, almost everyone was slumped on the ground or against the wall, breathing heavily and covered in wounds. The room was in shambles. Furniture on the second floor had turned to ammunition and were broken to pieces. Large scars covered the arena walls, and large sections of sand had turned to glass.

Damien sported a jagged cut along his forehead and several of his fingers were broken from one of Teddy’s attacks. The only students in the room that were untouched from the fight were Yui and Aven.

Mark and Cheese were leaning back to back, both covered in darkening bruises and panting heavily. They each sported an enormous, shit eating grin.

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