Warming Up

  “Hurry up. Second wave will arrive soon.”

  “W-what?” panted Callie, “I—we’re in—”

  Cutting off her sentence was a flying shard that barely grazed her cheek as she turned back to face the plethora of targets in front of her and Elias.

  “Tick, tock,” the professor chided disinterestedly from the sidelines near the middle of the field between the two groups, voice reaching all the students with little effort as he sat in a chair, book in hand and legs crossed.

  On the other side of the courtyard, Theo was itching to do something. He had seen this scenario before, while watching their seniors: one group would get the long-ranged targets, the other would get the close-combat ones, and then it’d be reversed for the final wave, ensuring that teams were balanced.

  Their class’s team composition, however…

  “Um, Callie, can you—” spoke Elias quickly as he felled the target he was working on and headed toward the next one.

  “I can’t,” the support-duelist interrupted before even listening to the request, voice trembling like she was on the verge of tears while she focused hard on trying to puncture her casting target in the right place so she could move on to the next.

  “Can someone help her? Are you going to do something?” Korinna spoke up from the other side of the field, hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

  “No. Wait for the second wave.” The words that left the professor’s mouth were resolute as he returned to his book, leaving the four students on the other side clueless.

  “What are we doing again?” Selene asked dumbly, staring in the same direction as the rest of her group.

  Theo sighed and scratched his head, wincing every time Callie got hit by one of the surprisingly lifelike targets’ spells. She was slowing down and didn’t even have the breath anymore to recite support spells. Meanwhile, the words to an easy healing spell were on the tip of his tongue, and the spell was in his pocket tome.

  Ouch. He winced again as another crystal shard pierced Callie’s black leggings, drawing blood.

  “Isn’t this getting out of hand? Shouldn’t we have gotten either Kor or Sel to help them?” he finally exhaled, hoping that he wouldn’t be called off for being insubordinate.

  “They need to learn how to work without one,” replied the professor.

  “Like we’re without a tactician,” added Faris disinterestedly, leaning on his cane with his head cocked.

  Moriya flipped a page.

  Right on cue, there was a loud rumbling noise at the center of the field, followed by a loud clattering sound as a group of stationary targets morphed into duelists heading straight toward them.

  “Er…who’s going first?” chuckled Kor nervously, watching Faris, who was closest to the charging enemies.

  For a moment, it seemed like the caster had been scared stiff, but then he turned back to face Theo. His expression was the same as ever in the face of imminent danger—detached, unfeeling. “Which ones you wanna take?”

  Theo observed the field. There was a set of four grouped up on the left, and then four to the right. One in the center. All about eleven seconds away. “Center-left.”

  Nodding, Faris turned back to the front, standing up straight as words left his mouth.

  He’s doing Ty’s rotation.

  Theo was the one to freeze. Staring at Faris materializing fire that dripped onto the field, turning everything within its radius into acid, the would-be tactician could only recall how many petty arguments had transpired between Faris and Ty regarding beginning his rotation with an environment-type spell. During every argument, though, Faris would eventually be the one to shut up, but little changed. And Ty, having such a soft spot for her caster, always let him do what he wanted.

  “Theo, what are you doing?” was the next thing he heard.

  Five seconds.

  The center target was a few strides away from Faris when Theo’s mind finally kicked in.

  Too close. Nothing that might risk hitting anyone else. Something to stop them, or shield Faris so he doesn’t get hit. That’d be disastrous. She’d be upset. A defensive spell…the one you can cast the quickest.

  Landsplitter. Augment: barrier.

  A large, sharp rock formation split out of the ground and through the center target just as they were about to swing their axe, soaring over Faris until the words stopped flowing and an iridescent hue flowed across the surface.

  Theo stepped to the side to assess the remaining four on his side, and Faris did the same for his with an annoyed click of the tongue.

  Area spell…or maybe a Slow. That would do far less damage than a concentrated skill, so I’d need time to follow up with other spells. Something simple, like a Shatter, or a high-level Break. Even a Puncture would work against these. Also makes sense to slow them down to regain some time. That would help the two on the other side, too.

  As he began reciting the words, he took the time to observe his classmates. Faris was doing his own thing, Selene and Korinna were still on standby, and Darius was even more on standby as he sat at the tactician’s table near the entrance. Callie and Elias were making progress in fighting the casters with their short-ranged weapons. There were three more. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to get Kor to help, especially if there was going to be another wave.

  When the Slow field deployed, the first thing that Theo did before beginning to cast simple Shatters was turn to the two behind him. “Am I allowed to ask one of the girls to go to the other group?”

  Fully prepared for Moriya to deny his request, or completely ignore him, Theo stopped reciting his first Shatter when the answer that rang over the courtyard was, “As long as no one heals, I don’t care.”

  The tactician, botanist, and chemist all locked eyes.

  “Sel, go over by Moriya and help Callie and Elias with their targets, ranged.” There’s no way he won’t protect you if any of the targets end up focusing on you, he didn’t add. “We need Kor here in case we need a melee for the second part.”

  And then—Shatter. Four times. Starting with the one furthest away, in case it accidentally leashes onto Selene.

  After the first one, Selene was already by the professor, using the lightweight bow she had once requested from Ty and Darius to help the other group. She had precise aim.

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  Second, and Faris was wrapping up his third.

  Third and fourth—everyone else was done, waiting for Theo to conclude his dangerous dance with the swinging targets.

  “Still not dead,” Faris noted, leaning smugly on the shield that Theo had made for him.

  Out of breath from trying to dodge the dummy, and more than slightly upset that his fourth spell couldn’t wipe out his final target because of his uneven casting, the physician finally conjured up a sword and rammed it through the wooden shell and straw filling.

  As the enemy fell, Theo turned his attention to the professor, who, as expected, turned another page.

  A rumbling sound emanated throughout the courtyard, and the fallen targets shook. Selene backed up and stepped closer to the professor, and Faris straightened his back, looking at the last one he had felled beside him with disgust as he stepped to the side.

  “They’re going…to combine,” exhaled Theo between breaths, pulling his sword out of the target before it could be taken away. Best not waste this.

  “Oh, Graces,” groaned Elias from across the arena as he and the rest of Class 2-A watched all the targets fly into the center of the courtyard to form a singular, giant amalgamation.

  “We—we should probably group back up—I-I think.” Turning to the professor, the so-called tactician for their group, Theo tried to feel something other than resentment. His head was pounding from having to run around, which was previously something he never needed to do—but things are different now, he reasoned with a wince, stepping forward and holding a hand up to his pounding head, I’ve got to be better if I want to fill her shoes. I’ve got to change.

  “Professor?” asked Selene with an air of innocence and curiosity, eying the stone-faced boy beside her.

  “Last wave. Do as you please.”

  “Okay, okay, let’s just regroup over here,” spoke Theo quickly a split second after the professor, sick of his indifference and inaction. The target in the center had finally stopped growing and was now undoubtedly preparing an attack.

  “Do we go around or—”

  “Around—the professor’s side,” exhaled Theo, watching both classmates jog over with a small Selene who trailed behind.

  “Am I allowed to heal again?” the tiny botanist asked Theo with a questioning expression once she arrived.

  Somewhat accepting his fate, concentrating on the target in the center through his spotty vision, Theo shrugged. “Probably. Maybe put up a healing field?”

  “Maybe?”

  “Yes, Selene. Maybe,” he groaned exasperatedly.

  The glow was becoming more distinct now. He had seen previous versions of this particular boss, but not once did the attack patterns match another one. The glowing shape generally meant that an area attack was going to occur, but there was no way to be sure. In fact, if the glowing attack were a self-buff instead of an attack, this would be the perfect moment to strike.

  But was that a risk he wanted to take?

  A ring sounded across the courtyard, and Theo stood up straighter. The brain fog began to lift, and he turned to Selene behind him.

  Kneeling on the grass, her hands were clasped in prayer, and her mouth was moving.

  He turned to the front. Callie, both hands on her spear in the ground, put her body weight on it as she looked up at the gargantuan dummy. Elias, arms folded, looked at Theo expectantly.

  How did Ty do this? It’s exhausting.

  “Callie, come over here.” The support turned around at Theo’s words, eyes wide. There were cuts on her face, and her eyes were bloodshot, but she looked alert. “You don’t need to be up front anymore. Go make a barrier for us with Kor.”

  “Oh, okay,” the chemist spoke up, pulling out a book from her cloak and flipping its pages. “Good thing I brought this.”

  Theo, who was about to turn back to issue the next orders, did a double take. “You—you’re reading it?” he gawked, watching Callie hurry over with her spear already put away on her back.

  Kor mocked his unbelievable expression and retorted cheekily while nodding to the giant in front of them, “And you have nothing more important to do than to point that out?”

  “Ugh.” Knowing she was right, Theo returned to the matter at hand, observing a smaller target begin to spawn from the base of the giant one. It began heading toward them as the glow persisted. “Elias—”

  “Going.” Interrupting him, the one remaining proper duelist in the group ran toward the normal-sized dummy.

  “I—no, not straight at it!” Theo yelled, tilting his head back in frustration. “Stay within Selene’s field!”

  “Okay, okay, boss,” answered Elias distractedly, stopping in his tracks and taking a few steps back.

  “So, what’s it going to be?” Faris inquired when Theo finally turned to him.

  Theo opened his mouth, but before any words could come out, there was a loud cracking noise.

  They both turned just in time to watch the glow from the target get expelled outwards, exposing a bright red, lava-looking amalgam where the wooden dolls used to be.

  Oh, Graces.

  “Faris, you have any dispels on you?”

  The caster tore his eyes away from the abomination and gave Theo a critical glare. “Of course I do.”

  “Okay, you work on the body.”

  Mind racing, he took a few shaky steps forward, watching as the glow steadily expanded. He had never seen this spell before, not even while training with Moriya.

  There was a healing field, a barrier which would surely complete before the glow reached them, but what else was he missing? This was way too advanced to be countered, but could he somehow dismantle the hit? There was no way it wouldn’t hurt.

  And then there was the issue with the core. It was already charging the glow again, except this time it was more of a reddish hue.

  Not wasting any more time, Theo sent some ice crystals into the giant yellow halo, followed by some earth shards, and then finally some shadow orbs.

  Ice—nothing. Earth—nothing. Shadow—a small, but unmistakable hole.

  I can work with that.

  He locked eyes with his support and chemist, who had just finished erecting a clear, prismatic bubble around the team. “Kor, go up and help Elias. Callie and Selene, you two resume your regular roles and assist the two at the front.”

  As they followed his instructions, Theo held out his right hand in front of him and concentrated.

  Shadow spells—veil—I need one that doesn’t hurt anyone else here—something that the barrier nullifies—if it causes a debuff, it’ll be nullified—poison can’t be augmented into a circular veil—void—that inflicts weakness—it’s a Grade III spell, meaning it can be augmented—going up to IV, that will take a lot—the casting for it will take a while, but short enough that it detonates before the glow does.

  From there, he began to recite the spell as fast as he dared, knowing that every slip of the tongue added to the possibility of the result not coming out properly at all. Not that he flubbed his spells often.

  Meanwhile, his classmates were doing well. Elias was steadily fighting off the steady stream of now-red targets coming out from the abomination with Kor, Callie was occupied with trying to dispel the smaller dummies like Faris was doing, Selene was using her bow again because no one was sustaining damage, and Faris…Faris was struggling. To his credit, however, the area was vast, and it took a lot of anima out of someone who was already handicapped to begin with.

  He reminded him of how he used to feel, learning magic for the first time with such a frail body.

  How did I deal with that before? What can I do for him?

  Like seeing an old friend, the word that his mind completed for him was so nostalgic, so unexpected, that it almost broke his train of thought. He winced, steadying his claw-like grip over the concentrated black ball in the center of his palm.

  The glow was about twenty seconds away from reaching them. He had a sizable range with this, and it went fast, but he hoped that he could catch the second halo as well—it looked like it was almost done charging, markedly faster than the previous one. Extending the spell was no issue, but he’d have to hope that none of his classmates strayed beyond the current area. He couldn’t issue orders while casting.

  Waiting, feeling himself sweat, Theo closed his hand over his spell when his fifteen seconds were up, counting down the seconds, reaching four until—finally—there was an ear-splitting, cracking noise.

  He released the spell forwards, watching a courtyard-sized, shadowy blanket consume the first glowing aura as well as the second one that had just deployed.

  Slightly dizzy from having spent almost all his remaining anima, Theo let his head drop for a second before raising it again. “How long can you keep up that dispel?” he asked Faris, the abomination’s lava-like glow still occupying three-fourths of its body.

  If we applied a buff that sped it up, and I could keep up the void veils, we could probably complete it that way.

  Then: Faris and I don’t have the anima to keep that up, and we don’t know if the rest are going to be that easy to destroy.

  Faris shot a wry look at him. What do you think? it seemed to say.

  Theo turned back to the target. “I’ll work on the part that’s exposed, then. Maybe that’ll make it easier.”

  He didn’t even have to think about what kind of spell to use on it. Anything at this point would have sufficed.

  “Theo, are you tired?”

  He blinked and turned his head to Selene.

  She held up her healing tome. “Need a pick-me-up?”

  He blinked again, and the word returned.

  “No.”

  To chase it all away, he began casting again, this time a much shorter and easier spell. When he launched it, it landed easily onto the exposed parts and ate away at them, disintegrating them. It was working.

  “Oh, so it is easier,” mumbled Faris from beside him.

  He began charging up the skill again, ignoring his dizziness. Ignoring his impaired vision. Ignoring the word that kept coming back to him. The deep black, rot-colored words that were in his pocket.

  After a painfully long time—though it was more like ten minutes—the class finally completed the third wave.

  Moriya closed his book and stood up, waving a dismissive hand. “Good warm-up. Since it’s the first practice, I’ll let you all go early. An analysis will be dropped off at the common room later with areas of improvement for next class. Relinquish.”

  Theo collapsed onto the ground.