Chapter 54 — Repercussions

“Ria, Ria!” Ellen whispered as Ria and Ranger settled into their seats for Elder Genwald’s class—in one of those whispers that wasn’t really a whisper and everyone could hear just fine. “Did you see this morning’s Daily Shadow?!”

Ria glanced over at Jax as she received the daily gossip paper from Ellen with some trepidation, but his wry expression wasn’t particularly helpful.

An Incident At The Grand Library!

There’s something strange going on with the foreign girl in the rumors lately, Ria of Shadewood—thought by some to be a witch. This past Goldday, she enlisted the aid of four members of Oburon’s Oath to erect a barrier to supposedly protect against netherplane influence and then proceeded to work an unknown magic. A witness reported seeing signs of spirit magic, but this couldn’t be confirmed. As far as we are aware, Ria doesn’t have a license to use spirit magic. Multiple witnesses report that during the casting, even through the barrier, they felt a terrifying and ancient presence descend, its aura pressing down upon all present and smelled of molten metal.

Another witness reports that even Ria’s friends, Iselyn Jayre and Keira Vorshan were worried that Ria had been possessed by this unknown entity. Ria contended that the strange aura was due to her unlocking her affinity.

We at the Daily Shadow find it unlikely that a student being sponsored by a regional governor would have Ria’s achievements without access to an affinity. Though if true, it might explain both the Vesali interest in her and her strong performance beside Zena Emberflow to claim victory in yesterday’s newcomer tournament.

More reports to come as we learn more about this unusual, fascinating, and possibly dangerous girl being sponsored by House Vorshan!

Ugh. She had expected an article, but for the interpretation of events to go in that direction... She didn’t even want to think about the coming lecture from Keira.

“When you were having problems controlling your magic in class the other day… was it related to what happened in the library?” Jax discreetly whispered when she seemed done reading.

Ria started to shake her head, but paused to consider. “No, that was something different. I was trying a soul-strengthening technique recommended by Soulkeeper Renard for the first time, and I fell asleep mid-way…”

Jax winced at the thought.

“Soulkeeper…?” Ellen’s brows bunched together with worry. “Ria, you’re not consorting with netherplane beings… are you?”

Ah-! Ria shook her head vehemently. “No way! The time in the library, I was discovering a glyph so I could properly use my natural affinity.”

“‘The time in the library…’” Jax repeated and raised an eyebrow. ”Just how many incidents have you caused?”

The way Jax asked made Ria want to deny there had been all that many, but as she went over the past week’s events, her denial died before it even reached her lips.

“Enough you have to count them, huh,” Jax chuckled out while shaking his head. “Are you going to survive the first term?”

Ranger wuffled a grumble indicating he was wondering the same thing, and before Ria could answer, Elder Genwald entered the classroom and passed his gaze over the class, his eyes stopping on her. “Oh? You’re on time today.”

“I am, Elder Genwald,” Ria answered, hoping he hadn’t scanned the gathered students specifically looking for her.

“Did any of you attend the Divinesday tournament?” At the mumbled assents and nods, the elder Sage continued, “Excellent use of the Create Water spell during your match, Ria.”

Ria blinked in surprise. That was what he was impressed with? “Ah…thank you, Elder.”

“Could you stand in front of the podium and demonstrate how you shaped the water for the class?” Elder Genwald asked.

Gah! Ria tried to hide both her cringe and grimace as her apprehension came true in the worst possible way. “I used a wand of Air Shield. Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course. Using a casting aid is common when casting and maintaining multiple spells at the same time, and Air Shield is a spell we haven’t practiced in class yet.” The master mage motioned for her to proceed. “Don’t worry about the water. I’ll set up a basic dispel to keep the floor from getting wet.”

Ria nodded as she nervously slipped past Ellen and Ranger to descend the tiered seating and stand before the class. As promised, a dispelling circle appeared beneath her once she was in position.

At first, Ria tried to avoid meeting the gazes of her fellow students, but she shrugged off that lack of confidence, and properly raised her face. The expressions ranged from bored and annoyed to sneeringly amused at her being made an example. But some seemed earnestly interested, excited and eager even.

Taking a deep breath, she made her Air Shield wand appear and began shaping the magic and explaining, “I formed the air shield first and shaped it to keep the water from touching me.”

She then carefully cast the basic water spell with enough output to create a curtain of water all the way around. Though nervous about being made to demonstrate the magic in front of her peers, thankfully, she didn’t mess up.

“Good work, Ria. Is there a reason you manually shaped the air shield rather than specifying a shape constraint?” Elder Genwald asked.

Surprised whispering sounded out between her classmates.

(“Manually?”)

(“She shaped it that accurately without a constraint?!”)

Ack! Did she just reveal she was a wild-talent?

Letting the spell dissipate, Ria shook her head. “I’ve always used it this way. Mostly to make cubes and rectangular solids for blocking attacks and tripping up my opponents. Ah-!”

If she was always using such regular shapes, there was no need to not use a constraint, and a constraint would’ve made the magic stronger and more efficient.

“No need to be embarrassed,” Elder Genwald told her with an amused chuckle. “Developing shaping skills is important for mages with large reserves. It’s what determines how powerful a spell can be constructed without losing control of the spell matrix. I’m sure that’s why your master never corrected your wand usage. During the match, I noticed your excellent use of the Sensing Sphere spell in both constrained and unconstrained versions. Go ahead and demonstrate those as well.”

The spell construct underneath her changed, and a glowing haze surrounded her and her enchanted items. Ria gulped. The spell the elder was using was like the magic the healer girl, Mina, had used to make her spell matrix visible in Shadwich’s spellcraft class. There would be no way to fake the casting or hide her method.

Ria formed the official version of Sensing Sphere and watched as the spell matrix glowed in front of her. She tapped her shoe against the floor and the sphere pulsed out to its defined distance, stopping short of her fellow students. Letting the magic dissipate, she tapped her foot again and this time directly gave the magic meaning as she pulsed out the earth energy.

(“No spell matrix!”)

(“Is that possible?!”)

(“So fast!”)

“Excellent, Ria. You can stop,” Elder Genwald said with a kindly smile. “As you all can see, while much less efficient and potentially dangerous, the unconstrained casting can be considerably quicker. That difference in casting time can often be the difference between life and death. Which is one of the reasons we stress speed and accuracy. Many of you may think that combat casting speeds and powerful castings are only for the elite, but that is not the case!”

A discontent rumbled through the class.

Elder Genwald’s eyes glinted with passion. “Many students assume that the basic spells taught in these introductory classes are useless in real combat. But that is far from true. It’s the simple spells that have been practiced enough to cast almost by instinct that will—with a bit of creativity—most reliably aid you in your time of need! Do not look down on them as ‘too simple’ or ‘stepping stones needed to learn more advanced magic’! Rather, you should always be improving your skills, your knowledge, and be thinking of more ways to use the spells you know best.”

“But she’s a sponsorship student!” A girl Ria didn’t recognize loudly complained. “Of course, she can do those things! She’s just taking this class because it’s required for her certification!”

The girl’s outburst surprised Ria. Was that how she was seen? The grumble of agreement that followed seemed to suggest that a significant portion of her class felt the same way.

“Talent alone is hardly enough to succeed at this Academy. All of you have talent or you wouldn’t be here,” Elder Genwald gently rebuked the girl. “The advice I am giving you is to never stop improving and practicing the basics. When I was a young mage, the basic spells were used as shaping exercises and we practiced them every day until our reserves ran out. It’s the way this Order used to teach elemental magic, and I suspect it is the approach that Ria’s master used.”

At the elder’s questioning glance, Ria nodded. “It was.”

The old mage smiled and the wrinkles around his eyes creased. “I’m glad to see the old ways haven’t completely died out in the face of modern efficiency.”

Elder Genwald turned his attention back to the class and, ignoring the muttering among the dissatisfied students, he enthusiastically continued, “So, we know that a curtain of water from the Create Water spell can protect against lightning. Can anyone think of other elements or dangers that it might protect against?”

“Fire, Master Genwald,” a boy offered.

“Yes, indeed. The expanding steam from the fire meeting the water will push back the fire and draw heat from the air. Anything else?”

“Spore clouds?” a girl wearing a Farenthil Hall stole offered.

“Excellent! More?”

“Flying Insects?” a different girl tried.

“Quite likely, assuming they are small enough to be affected. One more. Anyone?”

“Poison air?” a different boy tried.

“If done well enough, I think it’s possible,” Elder Genwald agreed. “Now what other spells from this class do you think could be put to creative use and how?”

There was an uncomfortable silence before one of the girls who had been eagerly watching Ria’s demonstration spoke up, “Gusting Winds, Master Genwald. It can be used to knock arrows off course.”

Elder Genwald nodded. “Yes, a great example and also one that Ria demonstrated in the final match. Others?”

“The Light spell. It can be used to blind or distract if cast near someone’s eyes,” Jax volunteered.

“Good!”

“Darken. It can be used to hide or to protect one’s eyes from bright light,” a boy sitting near Jax added and winked at him, causing Jax to laugh.

“Now you are getting it,” Elder Genwald encouraged. “But don’t forget that being able to creatively shape the magic resulting from the spell will also provide you with more uses as we saw with the Create Water and Air Shield spells. So, experiment and practice! Ah… but for safety make sure you use warded practice rooms and training halls!”

Ria’s classmates exchanged pained gimaces, dark chuckles, and heckling at the reminder of the consequences of failed spells.

“For those of you looking for more challenging control and shaping exercises, the library is filled with books on these topics, and the Library Guild can surely help you find one suited to the element you want to improve with. Now before we get started with today’s lecture, to give you all some inspiration, perhaps we can get our sponsorship student and tournament champion to demonstrate a shaping exercise that she regularly uses to improve her skills.”

Elder Genwald turned to Ria, speaking more quietly, “Since asking today’s students to cast spells using unconstrained energy will probably result in injuries, perhaps you can demonstrate a non-spell shaping technique?”

She nodded, and not wanting to disappoint the elder mage, Ria held out her hand, fingers spread, and performed the Serpentine Fire Exercise, progressing from ball of fire, to rotating ring, to a serpent-like length coiling and winding around her arm and fingers in a flowing stream of dense flames.

“The Serpentine Fire Exercise!” a boy in a red robe blurted out in surprise.

One stream of fire was not the extent of the technique, and Ria had long progressed to the next stage. Gasps sounded out as she split the single serpentine length into multiple 'serpents' flowing in a complex pattern. Three was her current limit. With each added stream of fire, Luventi made the pattern for the coresponding path more difficult. Of course, with her Luventi grimoire in restricted storage, learning the next pattern wasn’t happening anytime soon, so she could only hope three was good enough.

“Impressive control, Ria,” Elder Genwald praised, but his mouth quirked up wryly and a barked laugh slipped out. “A bit cruel of a choice considering the pains of failure.”

Ah-! Ria glanced in surprise at the old master of elemental magic. “Should I do a different one?”

“No, it’s fine. This soft generation could use some toughening up.” The elder mage turned his attention back to the class and decided, “I think that would be a good project for the fire-attuned students and those seeking to improve their fire attunement.”

Groans and mutters filled the room, and Ria mentally cringed at the engendered animosity directed her way but tried to maintain a placid expression like she’d seen Phaelys do when surrounded by commotion.

“Now, now,” Elder Genwald placated, making a ‘settle-down’ motion with his hands. “I’m not requiring it. But I will offer up an incentive. Those who can properly demonstrate sufficient skill in the technique by the end of the term, I will personally teach one of my signature fire spells. The ones whose improvement impresses me the most may even get an enchanted item from my collection.”

Ria’s eyes widened in surprise, and she wasn’t the only one stunned by the offer, if the “Whoa…” and other appreciative noises from her fellow students were any indication. Signature spells made use of customized and self-created glyphs. It was a rare opportunity normally only given to direct apprentices and proteges.

“Master Genwald, excuse me for interrupting,” a teen boy’s voice came from behind Ria.

Turning, Ria saw a dark-haired second-year boy in a Soulkeeper mantle standing by the classroom door, holding a folded note with overly fancy writing that looked suspiciously familiar. Remembering the mention of spirit magic in the Daily Shadow story, a chill gripped at her stomach.

“You have a note for me?” Elder Genwald asked the new arrival.

The boy handed over the note as expected. “I’ve been tasked with bringing Ria of Shadewood to see Soulkeeper Renard as soon as possible.”

(“Could the story in the Daily Shadow be true?!”)

(“Was she really doing spirit magic to bind netherplane fiends in the library?!)

(“Don’t witches do forbidden spirit magic to get their power?”)

(“Wasn’t there a strange burning metal smell in the Garden of Elements the other day…?”)

After looking over the note, Elder Genwald folded it closed and placed it into a sleeve pocket. “Must be important to receive a summons during class. Best not to keep Soulkeeper Renard waiting, Ria.”

A summons!

Cynicism began to bubble up out of the fear she was feeling, and Ria couldn’t help embracing it.

Of course, she would get summoned out of class! She had finally managed to arrive before Elder Genwald’s lecture started for once, thanks to Researcher Shadwich wanting to meet after classes instead of their usual morning meeting—so, of course, something else was guaranteed to go wrong!

Ria already knew that Hemse and Ellnys had taken an interest in her. Was it too far-fetched to suspect Xander had as well? Ria silently groaned in her head at the thought of her life now being directly subject to Xander’s Whims.

Doing her best to keep her face neutral, Ria nodded. “I’ll be going then.”

“Wuff?” Ranger half-heartedly asked from his spot in the tiered seating between Ellen and Jax. He had been really looking forward to learning about the Rockshot spell being taught in today’s class—the same one that the Earthen Doom team had used.

Ria glanced at the Soulkeeper second-year awaiting her to follow, and turned back to her aged instructor and relayed Ranger’s request, “Um, Elder Genwald, can my familiar stay to listen to the lecture?”

Elder Genwald blinked.

(“Her dog?!”)

(“She wants her dog to listen to the lecture?!”)

(“Maybe it’s possessed by a nether fiend?”)

(“Maybe it is a nether fiend!”)

Snorts and mocking comments mixed with worrisome speculation, but the gray-bearded master mage just tugged on his beard and amiably shrugged, giving his answer, “I don’t see why not—as long as he doesn’t interrupt or take time away from the other students. I had a student some years back who would send her bird to attend lectures in her place. It’s not without precedent.”

A shocked “Eh?! We can do that?!” came from several places around the room.

Doing her best to ignore her classmates’ outbursts, Ria thanked the elder from her Order, and looked back at Ranger. “Be good for Elder Genwald, okay Ranger?”

“Woof!” Ranger agreed.

Though worried about the punishment to come, she told the Soulkeeper boy she was ready and followed him as he impatiently led her away.