On one hand, Michael wasn’t very happy to wake up in the hospital wing again. He seriously thought that he might start to develop a tolerance for Healing Potions. He could already differentiate the poor from the good quality ones by taste alone. Not to mention recognize Anti-Bruise, Stamina and Peace Potions by smell alone.

On the other hand, his almost-personal Healer, Hector, told him that if Michael visits his wing one more time, he’ll start to teach him healer Spells, as low in number as they are. So, you know, Michael had that going for him.

Of course, Erea waiting for him to wake up was just a bonus. One of the first thoughts he had after waking up was related to the nasty gash he had cut across her chest. Which was funny, because just as he had been worried about her, she had been worried about him.

But then, before she could hug him and tell him about what had transpired while he was sleeping, a new thing happened.

|Spell Received: Rot Slash|

Huh.

Not the same as mold, but… nice.

Of course, Erea didn’t think it nearly as nice, but she had to accept that it was a useful Spell as well. His |Fire Slash| Spell was good, but it tended to burn any wound it caused, closing it. While this one simply rotted the surrounding area. It could cause instant collapse, if the victim was already tired and Mana depleted. Even if not, it would still be a massive hindrance.

Erea showed Michael where he had hit her, with no regards to the general area of the former wound or Michael’s rising pulse. Then again, if her grin was any sign of what she was thinking, she was perfectly aware of what she was doing.

That being said, her wound was gone. Only a slight discoloration of the skin remained and that too would fade. The Spell he had received after what he had endured wasn’t all that powerful, which felt a little like a cheat, since Michael remembered… fear.

“I don’t know what the deal with the Dryad was.” Erea said. “Regitris never went into any details. But they hate elves and we hate them.”

“What… that’s it? And by the way, that would have been useful to know in that room.”

“I didn’t know either.” She said. “Not before, I mean.”

“Your entire people hate an entire other people and you didn’t know about it?” Michael skeptically asked.

“No.” she said, frowning, before muttering. “I didn’t have a… normal upbringing. Look, it doesn’t matter. Regitris said that the Dryad probably didn’t even register me as an elf before he showed up.”

“Really?” he said, looking at her ears.

“Knock it off, pretty boy. And no. Apparently, they don’t see like we do.”

“I remember… fragments. Of when she was inside me. She felt rage, yes. But also fear. Lots of it. And… sorrow.”

“Maybe you should talk with Regitris about it.”

“Yeah. Guess I should.”

The discussion moved on to greener pastures. They talked about the dryad some more, before moving on to talking about how Bob had mobilized basically the entire Martial faction available, catching Micah too just by chance. They had been by his bedside the day before, but they allowed Erea her turn the next day.

Which is how Michael found out it was Sunday, not Saturday.

That explains Hector being prissy.

The school was caught in a new furor, as always. Yet, this time, it wasn’t all about Michael’s latest exploit. Oh, yes, that had played a big part. As well as the fact that his latest ‘adventure’ brought together the heads of not only the three greatest factions, but also the head of the Bloodlinked. The freaks. Not thet anyone had the courage to tell them that to their faces.

Michael remembered him. The red robed man. He had walked side-by-side with Regitris, as equals. He didn’t look as powerful as Kelunad, but… huh. Something to keep an eye on. Erea had admitted that she would be more careful around the Bloodlinked now. She couldn’t take them all on, if she somehow slipped and insulted them, and she didn’t want to be rescued either.

The second part that contributed to the wave of gossip rolling around the academy was a fresh dispute. Between the Naturalists and Ascentionalists. Ravena and her faction had been, in a slip of the tongue, threatened by Regitris. Nor did they condone what they saw as the torture of a primordial natural being. Her death may have been preventable, even.

Micah had visited him, so Michael hoped it wasn’t all that bad, but Erea had informed him that the Naturalists were now traveling in groups down the corridors and looked ready for combat.

What could possibly get Regitris that mad?

Still, there were some good news to be had too. One was that Michael got to skip his tutoring sessions with both Sinestra and Melissa, Erea informed him while grinning. No more being strongarmed by them. Wasn’t he happy? Michael hurried to nod and smile as convincingly as he could. He had kind of intuited that he’d be skipping his tutoring with Melissa already. As for Sinestra? Well, it wasn’t his fault, and Erea looked happy.

The other good news was that their deal with the Bloodlinked went through. Their faction owed them a favor. Sure, Alex, Erea and Michael had to agree to said favor, but it was still a grand thing. And since the Halfling didn’t add any other terms to it, said favor could be passed on to others. The two Martials had already agreed to meet and talk about it, and were waiting on Michael.

Looks like I get to be in on multiple little groups.

Other than that, Michael received a hundred gold coins for saving Lavla, which brought his savings up to four hundred and fifty gold coins. Plus change. A good, upper year Spellbook was around a thousand gold coins. Maybe less than that with his reputation. If he managed that, he wouldn’t have to worry about his contribution to his other conspiracy. He could contribute that massive tome and just wait for his friends to put in their own magical books. That’d be one task eliminated from his list, which didn’t even take into account the new Spells he’d be learning.

Michael was silently wondering what school of magic he should be focusing on, when Erea grinned and spilled the last of the good news.

“By the way, remember how we negotiated to receive twenty percent of everything they recovered off of the corpses?”

“Everything magical, yes. I’m guessing we made a killing?”

“I like that expression.” She hummed. “Also, yes.”

“…well?”

“You want to know, don’t you?”

“I do.” He said, raising an eyebrow.

“Remember how I negotiated for them to also give us a favor?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I’ve been properly applauded for that.”

Is that what it is?

“No, no you weren’t.”

“Nope. Well?” the elf asked primly.

“It was a decent move. Nice.” He deadpanned.

“Don’t think I won’t hex your ass just because you’re in the hospital wing. Say ‘Erea is a very beautiful and intelligent elf’.”

“Erea is a very beautiful and moderately intelli- alright, alright!” he backtracked, seeing her hand begin to light up two inches away from his face. “Very beautiful and very intelligent elf. Happy?”

“You say the sweetest things. And yes.”

With that, she reached into a satchel and retrieved two items. Vambraces. They looked to be made of polished steel, one having a pale tint, while the other had a dark one. They were engraved too, but not with runes, just for decoration. The interior gave off a soft light, which made the artifact both clearly magical and eerily beautiful.

“Didn’t want to put mine on until I handed you yours. Alex has one just like mine.”

“What are these?”

“Vambraces of Holding. She grinned. Watch this.”

She put hers on and a sword appeared in her hand. Michael’s sword. Which the elf promptly gave back to him. Her hand then manifested a wand, a sword of her own and a hairbrush, each item replacing the last.

“Elves brush their hair?”

“Oh, shut up! Tell me what you think.” She grinned.

“I think I want to know how we got these. And what do they do, besides the obvious.”

“So, back in that room? Every single mound contained a dead Bloodlinked. And almost every one of them had something magical on their person. Enough that even a fifth of that, split three ways, was still valuable enough to get us three matching vambraces. Well, mine and Alex’s match perfectly, yours we had done to match the whole Ascentionalist look.”

“Right. Wow, ok. Guess we struck gold, didn’t we? And from what I see these can hold weapons inside? And small items?”

“Yup. Well, it can hold anything, but people mostly use them for weapons. It can hold about what a decent wardrobe can. Only, Alex said it’s expressed in volume, not… dimensions. I think. He basically said that you can fit a really large staff, even if it’s tall enough to touch the ceiling. And enough stuff to fill a wardrobe, yeah.”

“Huh. So, did you load mine with anything?”

“Nope. It’s keyed in to your magic. Only you can move things in and out.”

“Nice. So, it’s like a bag of holding?”

“Mm… no. Those are bigger.” She said, before smiling widely. “But, it’s got a few more tricks. For one, it will not get dirty or scratched easily.”

“…Yay.”

“Shut up, I wasn’t finished. It can also be used as a small shield, because of the same enchantment keeping it unharmed. It doesn’t project a shield, like Alex’s other vambrace does, but it can still be useful, if you have the proper reflexes.”

“Like you do.” Michael laughed.

“Like I do and anyone else should too. And the last thing? It has the same enchantment the bracelet you won from me has. One free incoming Spell blocked. No matter where on your body it hits.”

“Huh. That is good!”

“Right?” she grinned.

“In that case, I think you should have this back.” Michael said, taking off her bracelet.

“Wh- No. No… you won it. Really, I’m not even mad about it anymore. Much.”

“Maybe, but I won that fight by losing touch with reality. And because you were arrogant. And that won’t happen again, on either of our sides, right?”

“…probably?”

“Erea.”

“Fine. It won’t. Concerning you, anyway.”

“Good enough.”

She accepted the bracelet back, which honestly made Michael breathe a little easier. The elf had a habit of running towards danger. Which wasn’t a figure of speech. Her entire school of combat and magic had formed around the principle of arming and armoring herself in magic and rushing the enemy. Having two instead of a single blocked enemy Spell wasn’t much of an improvement, but at least it was one.

Besides. That bracelet now had emotional value. Michel wasn’t the most romantic man on either this world or the last, but even he could see that.

Erea seemed to see it too.

“Now that business is completed, I wanted to ask if you’re feeling better?”

“I think so, yeah. I’ll probably walk out of here later. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that I’ve been the harbinger of so many fine news and I don’t feel I’ve received enough proper gratitude from you.” She grinned.

“Right.” He grinned back. “Well, why don’t we remedy that?”

Oh, and he was going to remedy that. He was going to remedy it hard.

But Gnosis hated him, which is why that was the moment Sinestra walked in, Hector in tow.

“Professor Sinestra insisted on seeing you.” Hector said, sounding peeved.

“I’m happy to see you awake and in strength, Michael.” She said, watching Erea climb out of his bed.

“Leave.” The elf simply said.

Oh shit.

The tone in her voice. She was serious. Was she really going to attack Sinestra?

“I think not. Not without Michael, at least.” The gorgon said.

She sounded serious, one of the few times since Michael had ever known her.

“Leave.” Erea bit out, light flaring up in her hands.

Of, fuck me.

“Why don’t I do that?” Hector said and hightailed it out of there.

Michael was about to speak up, trying to intervene in another stupid situation created by Sinestra, when the gorgon herself spoke.

“Erea. I have no interest in your paramour. I never did. I act and speak as I’ve acted and spoken because his and your reactions amuse me. I am sorry if you haven’t managed to figure this out by now. But Michael and I have an arrangement, one that is not romantic or sexual in nature. And because of that arrangement, I have need of him. Now!”

That… That was actually a very mature reasoning coming from the gorgon. Coming from anyone, really, so especially from the gorgon.

Michael shared a look with Erea, in which she reassured him she had calmed down, and in which he reassured her they would carry this on later. That was how Michael found himself walking away from the medical wing, steadily trailing behind Sinestra. He tried to speak to her, but the Gorgon simply shook her head.

It was only after they had found an empty chamber, Sinestra had made sure there were no invisible occupants or tracking Spells on them, and only after she cast six privacy Spells and used an artifact, that she turned around to him.

She was smiling now, and she looked so very tired. Close to nodding off. But there were tears in the corners of her eyes. And when she spoke, it was with triumph.

“I have it. I finally have it.”

“Have… what? What happened?”

“Michael, I’ve unlocked the Class. The magical Class, the one that’ll allow me to practice the magic of my ancestors.”

“Oh. Wow.” Was all he could say.

“Yes.” She nodded, grinning. “Ready yourself. Your tutoring has just begun.”