It was two days of ceaseless practice later when Damien managed to cast Storm for the first time. The spell was about a tenth of the size of the one Henry had made and sputtered out after just a few seconds, but it didn’t stop Damien from pumping his hand in the air.

Every attempt after that one slowly nudged him closer to Henry’s demonstration, expanding the range it covered and the duration it lasted by small but significant increments. He managed to cut himself deeply several more times in the process, but he’d taken to practicing right beside the lake, so he avoided any lasting injury.

Damien drew on the Ether, ignoring the headache setting in after what must have been the hundredth spell in the last few hours. He distributed it throughout his body, shaping and releasing the magic before it could leave him.

Clods of dirt ripped out of the ground, already ravaged by all his practice, and whipped through the air around him as miniature scars of purple light split the air around him. Damien kept stock still as the spell expanded around him, forming a rough sphere.

He continued drawing Ether into him while casting the spell, sustaining it as long as possible. A slow grin started to stretch across his face after the one minute mark passed. Exhaustion had already set its grips into him, but he forced it back.

Damien moved his hand through the air slowly. The destruction warped around it like he were pushing through water. A few small cuts appeared on the back of his wrist and palm, but none of them were serious.

The spell fizzled out and Damien stuck his arm into the lake. He then dunked his head in as well to fight off some of the headache. Once it had faded, he wrung his hair out and headed back to his room, a smug grin etched into his face.

It faded when he realized the door was open. Delph leaned against the wall, studying his fingernails. Sylph sat across from him, and Henry had taken up his spherical form to float beside her.

“Did I miss out on a meeting or something?” Damien asked.

“I’m just coming by to check in on your training,” Delph replied. “And to share some news. I only just arrived, so you haven’t missed anything. Congratulations on the spell.”

“Oh, thanks,” Damien said. “Wait, how did you know?”

Delph chuckled. “I’m here to let you know this year’s Ranking Battles have been postponed, and in all likelihood, canceled. Yui has probably filled you in already, but the Ruins of Forsad take priority and we’ll be heading there shortly. Blackmist is putting that at a higher level of importance.”

“Do we have to fight for our spots to get in or something?” Damien asked.

“That would be ridiculous. You’re the strongest Second Years by a significant margin, although I suppose Mark might be able to give you a good fight. It’s a moot point, since three students from every grade are going to the ruins. Well, every grade but first. There weren’t supposed to be any year twos going either, but I had them make an exception.”

“For free?” Damien asked suspiciously.

“Well, Whisp is a little indebted to you, even if the artifact got stolen,” Delph replied. “And you’re the strongest Second Years we’ve had in a very long time. You can easily hold your own, so I’m not too worried.”

“Is it just us from the Second Years?” Sylph asked.

“And Mark,” Delph said. “Anyway, that’s not the only thing I’m here to talk about. The other schools that managed to buy spots in the expedition are sending their students over. We’re going to be introducing everyone shortly, and there’s sure to be some dick measuring.”

“You’re telling us not to stir up trouble?” Damien raised an eyebrow.

“On the contrary. Slap it on the table,” Delph said. He paused. “Figuratively. You’ve already got Goldsilk and Kingsfront in your corner, but there are some pretty decent year three and four students from the other schools. There should be some interesting stuff in Forsad, so the last thing you want to be dealing with while you’re there is people thinking they can steal from you.”

“Wait, stealing? I thought we were supposed to be working together,” Damien said with a frown.

Delph waggled a hand. “You’re all taking the same way there and back, but the city is large and there won’t be a ton of supervision. There should be a fair number of artifacts in the area, even with the amount the place has been searched. When great wealth and power comes into play, morals go out the window. I’d expect at least a few freeloaders to try and lift your work off you.”

“Are they likely to try to kill us?” Sylph asked.

“If they’re dumb enough, sure. But to be honest, I’d more expect them to just try to rough you up and take anything you’ve found. With how the frontlines are going and the Corruption intensifying its assault, everyone knows that we don’t have mages to spare.”

“Okay, so we’re just trying to be intimidating so that they don’t all try to take our stuff because we’re only Year Twos,” Damien said.

“Pretty much,” Delph agreed. “It’ll be easier if you make a strong first impression, and I’m sure there’ll be a fair amount of sparring going on before we leave. The last representatives from the other schools should arrive at least a week before we set off, so there’ll be a fair amount of time to get to know everyone.”

“Sounds good,” Damien said. “And when exactly do we leave?”

“About three weeks,” Delph replied. “As of now, the only groups that have arrived are Goldsilk, Kingsfront, and Mountain Hall.”

Damien and Sylph both grimaced.

“Mountain Hall?” Damien asked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Both Drew and Bartholomew were working with Second.”

“It’s a school, Damien,” Delph said. “They aren’t all working under Second. How many third or fourth years do you even speak to or know from Blackmist?”

“Two,” Damien admitted, thinking of Sean and Don, Sean’s large friend. “And I’ve only really spoken to one of them.”

“There you go,” Delph said. His expression darkened for a moment. “That being said, I did look into the representative Mountain Hall sent. She’s a fourth year, and specializes in Magma magic. She’s got some strength for a kid, but everything I found indicates that she has absolutely no interest in anything other than fighting and getting stronger. She reminds me of Mark.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Damien decided, sitting down on his bed. “It would probably be a good idea to get ready before we met too many of the other students, though.”

“Smart,” Delph said. “I’ll let you get to that.”

“Some supplies would probably be appropriate,” Damien continued. “If only my teacher hadn’t shamelessly robbed me and left me destitute.”

“I unfortunately spent my entire gold supply on pastries, thinking that I would have our prize from Whisp to make up for it,” Sylph added. “I sure hope Professor Delph didn’t put any money on us looking impressive in any sparring matches. We’re going to be on a diet of the free lunches from the dining hall.”

“Oh shut it already,” Delph grumbled, drawing a gray line in the air with his finger. He reached into it, pulling a small portal open, and pulled out two large bags that he tossed onto the bed beside Damien. “It was to motivate your training. And renovate my house.”

“Doesn’t Whisp pay you enough to do that?” Damien asked, peering inside one of the bags. It was completely stuffed full of gold. There must have been at least one thousand, and more if Damien had to guess.

“My job takes most of the money I earn,” Delph replied with a shrug. “Teachers don’t get paid nearly as much as we deserve for dealing with you goblins. I need some extra sources of income every once and a while.”

“And that just happens to be us?” Sylph asked.

“Glad you understand,” Delph replied. “I’ve canceled my class tomorrow. Dredd won’t be bothering you either. Go probe the students from the other school and see just how much you can figure out about them. Maybe have a sparring match with Mark or something. I know he’s been waiting for that.”

Delph waggled his fingers in farewell and his cloak whipped around him, swallowing the professor up. Damien rolled his eyes and handed one of the bags of gold to Sylph. “I’m pretty sure they’ve got about the same amount of coin.”

“Thanks,” Sylph said, glancing around and then stuffing it under her bed, right next to the rest of her coin stash. Damien took a fistful of the gold out to put into his travel pack, then followed Sylph’s example with the rest of it.

“How did your training end up going?” Damien asked.

“Not bad,” Sylph said. “I think.”

“It’s going at a decent pace,” Henry said. “I’ve repaired most of the problems, so we’re just working on Sylph’s usage of her powers. Now that she’s got proper access to them, there’s some new magic that’s actually novel to me that she should be able to develop. It’s like a mix between the Corruption and what we’d consider ‘normal’ magic. It should be… fascinating, once we get it working.”

There was a note of primal hunger, born from his incessant desire to learn new magic, within Henry’s voice. It was just enough to remind both of them that the companion was still far from human.

The sun was already setting outside, so both of them headed to bed. Neither had the energy to get any more practice in today.

After waking the following morning, the two of them headed out to follow Delph’s suggestion and find Mark. The boy still didn’t have anything covering his room, so it was impossible not to peek inside as they approached.

Mark sat on his bed, inspecting one of his swords. He glanced up as Damien and Sylph stopped outside the entrance of his cave.

“Has it already been a week?” Mark asked.

“No,” Damien replied. “More like five or so days. But we were thinking of checking out the people that showed up for the expedition from the other schools and then doing some sparring to see how we match up.”

“Now that’s an idea I can get behind,” Mark said, hopping to his feet and grabbing a belt. He slung it around his waist and slid the sword into a sheath at its side. “We can spar with some of the older students once we finish. If they’re anywhere near as disappointing as the rest of the people we met at the tournament, it’ll be a joke.”

“They weren’t all that bad,” Damien defended as they started down the mountain. “And you did tie with Bartholomew.”

“A few of them were okay,” Mark said after a moment. “But I want a challenge. Bartholomew was okay, but you went and killed him.”

“How many people is Elania going to tell about that?” Damien asked, groaning.

“Just me and the others from Goldsilk,” Mark replied with a shrug. “It’s not like it matters. Fighting wasn’t completely prohibited, just discouraged. Nobody knows exactly what happened, so they can’t prove it wasn’t self-defense.”

“It was self-defense,” Sylph said. “And we didn’t technically kill Bartholomew. He kind of did it to himself.”

That wasn’t entirely true, considering Second had been the one to land the killing blow, but Bartholomew had thrown his lot in with the Corruption, so Damien didn’t find any fault in her words.

Mark took the lead when they reached the base of the mountain, setting off through the campus toward the north side.

“Wait, do you know where the other students are already?” Damien asked. “I thought we’d have to go find someone to ask for directions.”

“Yeah,” Mark replied. “Elania showed me where they were all staying, and I saw some other people wearing colors that looked like they were from other schools. It’s not much farther now.”

Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance. They didn’t say anything else and just let Mark take them to where their friends – and possible future competitors – were staying.