Chapter 56 — An Ill-Advised Course of Action

Ranger was proud of himself. Ria had trusted him to attend the lecture in her place. With the class over, he was a little worried about her being on her own. He felt for the bond and she seemed fine—if a little stressed.

Following Ria’s classmates out of the tower had been easy enough, and now all he needed to do was follow the bond to meet up with her.

He trotted in her direction, careful not to get in the way or run over any of the robed students. Just as he was detouring around a building, he caught a familiar smell.

The source of that smell usually had tasty treats and might be going to the same place as Ria. Ranger sent a query about what class was next, and upon receiving the reply, he decided to follow his nose. It would be better if Ria could walk together with a friend.

“Woof!” he called out once he caught up to his rabbit friend, Yeris, and the rabbit’s human.

‘Tiela’ was the human’s name, if he remembered correctly.

“Oh, Ranger!” Tiela greeted. “We were just on our way to class. It’s in a different place again today. Did you want to join us?”

“Woof!”

“Is Ria coming too?”

Ranger shrugged and made an equivocal mumble. His human tended to get lost easily. Just to be safe, he sent Ria the unexpected information.

{What?! Stay with her, Ranger! I’ll come find you!}

Ria’s words and meanings spoke in his mind. It was the most sensible choice but he still worried about Ria finding her way on her own.

Ria was glad that Ranger had found Tiela because she was still stuck waiting in line to borrow the books she had found. Deciding which books to borrow had taken her just a bit too long, and she’d ended up in the between-classes rush. Without a doubt, she was going to be late for class.

At least if Ranger got there on time, he might be able to participate in the training activities even without her there… wherever ‘there’ was… How could she have missed that the class was meeting in a different location?!

A quick use of Ranger’s eyes showed that he was headed toward Farenthil Hall. She had probably just heard ‘Farenthil Hall’ and assumed they’d be meeting at the same familiar training location as before. Not that it mattered now.

The third-year at the head of the line finally finished and Ria moved one person closer to the counter along with everyone else in her line. Eleven more to go.

Not wanting to waste the time, she resumed reviewing the first book's selection of modern applied abjurations used for warding. Each spell had two versions as had been discussed in her first abjuration class: geometric propagation vs. cooperative casting for maintaining the spell’s anchors. Casting the spells by herself, she would need to use the geometric propagation version for most castings, but a mention in the introduction about the use of preprepared enchanted items to function as the anchors was what had prompted her to seek out a book on the needed enchantments and processes from the restricted section of the library.

Finding the enchanting book was also what had taken so long. She had to get approved for the restricted section, and a Library Guild member had to accompany her while she browsed due to the limited nature of her current licenses. Fortunately, the topic was relatively popular and there were several authors to pick between—but that also took time.

Overall, she was happy with the books and was glad Soulkeeper Renard had pushed her to accelerate her research into the topic. Both books nicely complemented the textbook for her abjuration class.

Her turn came quicker than expected as the line moved more quickly once the third-year borrowing restricted materials had finished. Unfortunately, for herself and the others waiting behind her, her own restricted material required the same process: verifying her license, special logging, recharging of the restricted materials tracking ribbon, and a refresher on the rules for borrowing restricted materials.

Borrowing a restricted book as a first-year during the first term did raise some eyebrows, and she heard some whispers of ‘The Witch of Vorshan’s Hills!’ as she was recognized by some of those nearby.

Whether because of the whispers or because she had been recognized earlier, several first- and second-year girls and a lone second-year boy were waiting for her, tournament guides in hand, as she climbed the stairs to the Hall of Statues. They apologized for keeping her from class but were all thrilled to recieve signed and personalized thanks and well-wishing from her, and Ria felt encouraged that some of her peers admired her and through well of her even with all the terrible rumors.

The encouraging feelings were short-lived, as the sight of the mostly deserted walkways greeting her upon exiting the Grand Library brought her mood back to the reality of being late for class.

Starting toward Farenthil Hall, she checked in with Ranger. The lecture had finished and the training activity was beginning. Ranger lined up with the rabbit and others, eager to have his turn at the obstacle course—an obstacle course designed for improving familiar empowering and movement skills. The collection of ramps, perches, ledges, platforms, and water- and mud-filled pits looked like great fun.

Apparently, Tiela had explained the situation as best she could determine from Ranger’s barked, mumbled, and pantomimed answers, and Caretaker Etrelle had allowed Ranger to participate.

When Ranger’s turn came, Ria gave him a larger empowerment than usual. The distance did make pushing the energy across the bond inefficient and more difficult, but he was so excited to show off that she didn’t want to disappoint him.

Ranger gleefully dashed along the ramps and bounded from foothold to foothold with the speed of an elven arrow. The spirit-type familiars still outperformed him, but he was now faster than almost all of the magic beast familiars. His rabbit friend did surprisingly well, as did the fox he seemed to have developed a rivalry with.

Ria was so caught up in Ranger’s antics that she was taken totally by surprise when vines suddenly grew out of the ground to snare her in place, rapidly restraining her legs and arms.

Extending her senses, Ria was dismayed to discover how careless she had been while walking alone. She was surrounded; cloaked figures were rushing out from where they had been hiding, somehow unnoticed. Twelve, she counted. The figures seemed the same as last time, wearing the same obscuring cloaks.

The location for the ambush was a walkway between two halls, giving her no easy way to escape.

Argh! To have to face this sort of trouble now?! Could they have picked a worse day?!

The vines began to squeeze and twist painfully, and with her emotions still on edge from earlier, Ria gave into the desire for fire, the desire to lash out. They’d never seen her fire, and she knew firsthand how terrible fighting a fire mage was.

Burn. She wrapped herself in her rage while reinforcing her cloak’s magic and increasing her energy density to protect herself from the maelstrom of flame that roiled around her. The damaged walkway and ground blackened and cracked as she sought out the vines’ roots and their source.

The charring mass still held her tight, but she could feel it weakening and a surge of shadow-magic blasted what remained into tinkling shards of charcoal and dust, raining with crystalline sounds as she let the fire dissipate to face off against the leader who had taken up a position directly in front of her.

“Is it a fight you want?” Ria challenged, applying a spherical constraint and using her wand of Air Shield to form a sturdy spherical barrier of air to protect against the despised Oberford’s wands they used last time.

In the back of her mind, Ria knew she needed to avoid fighting with these girls, especially with all the incidents she had been involved in lately, but they owed her for the clothes they destroyed last time—including her favorite boots—and she wanted to find a way to impose a price, a cost for wronging her.

“I’ll admit you are strong, Ria of Shadewood,” the girl began, voice distorted by the magic of the identity-hiding cloak. “But there are different kinds of strength.”

The way the girl’s voice sounded unmistakably pleased only heightened Ria’s worries, but though Ria could feel them readying spells, the group didn’t attack.

With an unconcerned nonchalance, the cloaked girl motioned to the burnt ground and destroyed walkway bricks around Ria. “You see, we’ve already won. With this, you’ll surely get another reprimand on your record.”

Ah-! The grounds! The vines weren’t just a trap to restrain her, but one to trick her into damaging the academy grounds! Instructor Lisabethe’s warning about pranks and bullying being ‘no excuse for injuring other students or damaging academy property’ played through Ria’s mind as dark laughter sounded from some of the other girls who had continued to draw closer, wands held ready.

“What are you going to do, foreign witch girl?” the leader girl taunted. “You are alone, and after your duel with Verdin and the incident at the library, you’re out of strikes! You can’t risk attacking us. With this we’ll be rid of an eyesore, and Phaelys won’t be allowed to escort you for your debut!”

The girl was wrong about her number of strikes, but that didn’t mean she was wrong about Ria’s situation with the administrators being precarious. If academy staff showed up now-

“Ready!” a different and suspiciously taller girl called out, and Ria berated herself for again falling for a delaying tactic as a dispelling circle like what Elder Genwald had used formed beneath her, projecting upward and causing her Air Shield spell to rapidly dissipate—and not just her Air Shield spell, but her sensing magic too! And energy seemed to be draining out of her and her enchanted items as if she were standing on voidstone!

“Hemse’s filthy knickers!” Ria cursed as she made up her mind and charged forward. She might possibly be able to escape the dispelling magic or at least tackle the leader girl and reveal her identity like Ranger did last time, but almost immediately Ria bounced backward, having crashed into a barrier of some kind.

More taunting and mocking laughter echoed around her.

Scrambling back to her feet, Ria bolstered her energy, and magic sight showed the cylindrical barrier was composed of shadow magic and was part of the spell dispelling and draining her. That wasn't all! The drained energy was reinforcing the barrier!

There was no way a first- or second-year could cast such a powerful and complex spell!

Ria’s eyes went to the taller girl and found the spell matrix, as expected, and grimaced upon confirming the other girls were serving as anchors for the abjuration, empowering it.

Escaping the abjuration wasn’t going to be easy, and she wouldn’t be able to hold off the energy drain much longer. She quickly stored her wand and divination-blocking ring so their enchantments wouldn’t be ruined and projected out her orichalcum aura hoping that would protect her cloak and robe.

As she drew upon the orichalcum energy and it filled her, her pride reared up. Her magic would not be made subservient to a mere shadow-element abjuration!

Her aura clashed with the dispelling circle, and the mocking and laughter ceased.

“How much longer?” the leader girl queried the abjurer.

“I don’t know,” the older girl gritted out. “She’s resisting the magic somehow.”

“What?!” the leader girl squawked. “How’s that even possible? She’s just a first-year!”

Smiling at having put them under pressure, Ria reached for the orichalcum energy in her bracer and pushed back the dispelling magic far enough to form the matrix needed to fully cast her domain spell.

The resulting clash of primal fire, inexorable weight, and indestructible hardness against the abjuration was still not enough to break the magic prison, but the older girl wobbled from the increased effort and dropped to a knee, breathing heavily.

“Are you really possessed by a netherbeing?” the leader girl gasped out.

“No. But I ask you, one last time, if this is a real fight you are seeking?”

Ria's voice sounded cold and scary even in her own ears, but it was a bluff.

Unfortunately, the abjuration held and kept her domain from forcing all of them to their knees. Ria had been hoping the spell would have collapsed, but instead they were now in a race to see who ran out of energy first—and considering the numbers, that wasn’t a contest she was likely to win.

If she had the orichalcum telekinesis spell completed, then piercing the barrier with pellets or needles of energy-laden orichalcum to attack the abjurer would probably be possible, but to come up with it in the single passing of the sands she had remaining? It wasn’t going to happen.

She desperately browsed the inventory of Jeni’s pouch looking for one last attempt to stave off her imminent defeat and stumbled upon a possible answer. Penetrating the barrier with orichalcum might not be currently possible, but she had something else that could.

Summoning her bow, she bent the staff around her lower body and strung it.

The leader girl laughed. “A bow? You’re desperate! Even if you have enchanted arrows, there’s no way they can get through the barrier!”

Others among the group seemed to regain their courage and joined in by calling her a fool and a frontier barbarian who didn’t know when to give up.

Ria summoned a rune-sealed box and opened it, removing one of the arrows contained inside.

“The heck? A box like that and the arrow’s not even enchanted?!-” But the girl’s voice cut off in sudden realization. “Voidstone! Are you crazy?! The academy insignias can’t protect against that!”

“I claim the right of grievance. By continuing your course of action, you are accepting the duel on my terms. War is not a game. People die,” Ria said, trying not to let her voice tremble as she doubled down on her bluff and drew the bow to aim at the abjurer who was now backing away, having regained her feet.

“You crazy witch! They’ll expel you for sure!”

“It’s an empty threat! We’ve got her. Keep the pressure up! There’s no way she has the guts to really do it! And even if she does, we still win!”

The comment from behind Ria was met with murmurs of agreement and nods by the other girls, though some seemed more nervous and less enthusiastic. All of the girls in view had taken some distance.

Where were the instructors and staff?!

She would only get one shot, and scant seconds remained to make her choice. Could she really go through with it if what the leader girl said about the insignias was true? This wasn’t like in the arena or the training hall. The abjurer girl might die.

Could she really justify that? They hadn’t actually tried to harm her yet, had they?

Another worry fed her doubts, what if the abjurer was Desi? The girl was about the same height, and the only thing she knew about Desi’s magic was that it was shadow attuned just like this girl.

Would Desi really let her come to harm?

Wouldn’t Desi try to talk her down?

She needed to decide.

She only needed to break the spell.

Ria took a deep breath and let it out, almost entering a meditative state as she observed the movement of the wind against the leaves and grass.

Noting the change in Ria’s intent, the abjurer girl turned to run for cover. Suddenly having a clear shot, Ria loosed the arrow to screams from some of the girls.