Chapter 78 — The Advantages of an Unpopular Mage Order

By the time Zena had arrived at the Garden of Elements to escort her to her class on familiar empowering, Ria had decided that she was going to skip the class. She would send Ranger by himself. It was supposed to be mostly a lecture day, but he still wouldn’t want to miss it. Between Ranger’s observations and getting the notes from Iselyn, she should be fine to review the day’s lesson later.

“You picked a convenient week to sit out the Divinesday Tournament after last week’s victory,” Zena was saying with a smirk as Ria turned her attention back to her arena enthusiast friend. “This week’s newcomer event is an individual combat competition. Still, I would’ve thought you’d be excited to smash some of the boys into the ground again—even more so one on one.”

Ria grimaced a smile. “It’s not that I wouldn’t. And I could certainly use the coin.”

“Ha!” Zena barked a laugh. “Assuming you’d win again, huh?”

Her face colored, but with the gains from forming her seed, Ria couldn’t see it any other way.

“Keira’s going to be there,” Zena reported with amusement. “As soft as she seems, the girl has spirit.”

“Eh? Really?” Ria glanced Zena’s direction in surprise. Keira’s magic wasn’t particularly suited to individual duels. Was it because of what Presius had said at Lady Asara’s practice event?

“Maybe she’s trying to prove something to herself—overcome her limits,” Zena offered, and Ria agreed that it was likely, again reminded how hard everyone at the academy was striving to improve.

“Um, Zena, you’ve already had your debut, right?” Ria asked, guessing.

Zena’s mouth pulled upward at the sudden subject change. “I have. Last year. You worried about yours?”

“To say I’m not…” There was no way she wouldn’t be, was there?

A sympathetic chuckle greeted her response. “So, how can I help?”

“The talent competition…” Ria started and trailed off, thinking about what she wanted to ask. She had brought it up during the prior night’s dinner, but she didn’t feel confident about any of Aeri and Arthur’s suggestions.

As far as their own intentions, Aeri admitted to working on a singing performance with Arthur playing a musical instrument as accompaniment, and both were quick to suggest that Ria should show her painting talent—even do an enchanted painting. Jarrel also thought that was a good idea, but Ria knew he was just saying that because of the painting she had given him.

Her concerns were validated when Keira also wasn’t sure that even an enchanted painting would be enough when she was being backed by both Houses Novidus and Vesali, suggesting that the subject matter would need to be special in some way.

Ria had turned the question around and asked her golden-haired friend what she was planning to do. Unfortunately, Keira also hadn’t come up with an idea for her own performance that she was satisfied with yet.

“... Arthur and Aeri—a girl from Vorshan’s Hills we're debuting with—thought I should do an enchanted painting, but…”

“You paint?” Zena asked in surprise before making an ‘ah’ expression. “The pretty correspondence paper your workshop sells at the Enchanters Guild.”

“Keira, Iselyn, and our maids helped,” Ria hedged. “Arthur helped with the enchantment on some of them.”

“I think demonstrating your painting is a great idea,” Zena encouraged, her eyes crinkling at the edges. “As long as you use an interesting technique or pick an interesting subject, it’ll work great. Part of the talent competition is showing something unexpected about yourself. What could be more unexpected than a commoner war hero and arena champion with a passion and talent for the finer arts?”

“Really?” The casual conviction of her friend’s assertion was reassuring, but Ria still doubted her situation was that simple.

Gaze unfocussing into the distance and her steps light, Zena cheerfully nodded confirmation. “As the youngest of my siblings, I had a lot of freedom and was known to be willful and wild, dragging my guards wherever and causing trouble. So, when my turn to debut came, I wanted to do something that would really shock everyone who came to see. My parents were so worried about what I might do that my mom constantly reminded me the impression I gave could determine my future happiness.”

At her friend’s nostalgic and evil grin, Ria’s eyes widened in morbid anticipation of the unfolding tale.

“And soooo… instead of my usual black and red attire, I secretly had an angelic lacy dress made and at the event put on a ‘perfect daughter’ act, even singing an inspiring hymn about the splendor of Anasari’s light as my contribution to the talent competition. The looks of shock on everyone’s faces had me chuckling for weeks. Mom even received a bunch of inquiries from interested families the very next day!” Zena proudly laughed. “I told my parents they hadn’t seen nothin’ yet! And if given two years at the Grand Academy, I would make myself worth a king’s ransom!”

Ria boggled as her friend stopped walking and struck a confident grinning pose. At that moment, she wanted to be like Zena so much! Her friend was so mature, like an older girl!

“‘course, I told Mom not to demand too steep a price. It’d be a pain if my new family was made poor! Then I’d have to work extra hard to secure a good future for myself and my own children, you know?” Zena admitted with a conspiratorial wink. “But I want to be expensive—as expensive as I can be. We only get to see how much we’re worth once, after all.”

Ria enthusiastically nodded. It made complete sense.

As a commoner, such things were often valued in fine fabrics, cows and goats, or crop seed, but what value would a magic bloodline hold? She couldn’t wrap her head around it. What was her own royal bloodline worth? She had to admit she was curious, and a bit excited at the idea, at the unimaginable price she could demand if she also impressed the nobles. Being an orphan, Ria was rather unclear on who the wealth would go to, though. Would it all be hers? Her choice?

Thoughts of complications aside, Zena’s brash confidence and ambition was contagious and buoyed Ria’s spirit. Maybe her painting really would be good enough after all? To be safe, having Iori or Rienne watch her practice might be best. At least, from what she’d seen of the decorations, the hall and gardens should make a beautiful setting.

After giving her thanks to Zena when they arrived at Parthanex Tower and waving the stylish raven-haired girl to her next class, Ria hurried to the student lounge, fervently hoping that there would still be an isolation chamber available to reserve. She had no desire to waste the time gained from skipping class searching the other Orders for one she could use.

Worst case, one of the testing chambers at the Grand Library might work. Picking up a few books on improving one’s foundations through mediation probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, either.

“Oh, hello,” one of an unfamiliar pair of second year students wearing her Order’s mantle greeted as Ria entered the lounge. “Haven’t seen you around before. New first year?”

“Yes,” Ria perfunctorily answered and tried to put on a pleasant smile. “I’m Ria. Nice to meet you.”

A quick glance around confirmed that they were the only students in the lounge, which was a relief.

“Ah,” the boy of the pair voiced with realization. “You’re the first-year we’ve been hearing so much about lately.”

Ria grimaced. Was that a good thing or bad? “I guess?”

The boy chuckled at her reaction. “I’m Roge. This is Jenna.”

Jenna’s name being so close to Jeni’s gave Ria an odd feeling, but she pushed the thought out of mind.

“Are you adjusting to the Order and your classes okay?” Jenna asked, sounding sincere in her willingness to help.

Ria couldn’t help grimacing again. “Well, besides the reprimands…”

Roge winced.

“Our Grand Games team has taken me under their wing, and some of the elders have been helping me out. So, I should be okay,” Ria reassured them. While it would be great to make more friends—especially members of her Order—she was already kicking herself that her half-joking answer was likely to prolong the conversation and cost her more precious time.

“The Games team… you must be really excited!” Jenna encouraged. “I never had the courage to try the arena or any of the combat classes, and I’ve always admired the girls who do. Roge and I are more… academic focused, so…”

“Yeah. We’re both generalists looking to go into teaching or research after we graduate. Maybe even get an invitation to Researcher Shadwich’s class if we’re lucky,” the boy agreed. “The rumors are that you already won a Divinesday championship. Is that really true?”

“It is,” Ria admitted. “But I couldn’t have done it without help from Iselyn and my other teammates.” She pretended to have not heard the bit about Shadwich—having a feeling that mentioning any details about taking his class or him helping with her familiar and bloodline would really get the two pressing her for information.

“Iselyn… she’s the beautiful first year with the nature spirit?” Roge asked with surprise. “The one that moved into the tower dorms?”

Jenna rolled her eyes at the boy for some reason.

“Yes, that’s her,” Ria confirmed. “Zena Emberflow and Keira Vorshan were also on the team. Keira’s grandfather is sponsoring me.”

Both looked impressed, but for different reasons.

“Wow… to fight alongside an Emberflow…” Roge breathed out.

“To be so strong as a first-year, it’s because you’re from the frontier, right? Is it really true that you have to fight monsters every day on the frontiers?” Jenna breathlessly asked, eyes eager for the answer.

“It’s not that bad,” Ria denied with a laugh, surprised at the thought and wondering what kind of place the second-year girl was imagining the frontier was. “There’s an Adventurers Guild that posts missions and guardsmen that patrol, so it’s safe enough most of the time.”

The deep melodic sound of a bell marking the hour saved Ria from further conversation as Roge and Jenna didn’t want to be late for class and reluctantly excused themselves.

After escaping the encounter, Ria dashed up the mezzanine stairs to where the reservation board was and breathed out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the isolation chamber she already reserved for lunch still had the current timeslot available. The timeslot falling during a time most students were in class surely helped, but it might also have resulted from her Order being an Order in decline.

Or maybe she should look at it differently: less competition for the resources the Order did have was a major advantage of being in a less popular Order.

Whichever it was, Ria added her name to the empty slot and rushed out the sixth-floor exit to summon the nearby elevator. Wanting to get the most out of the extended session, she thought over what to work on and how to pace herself.

While the methods she discovered during the early morning session were successful, a nagging feeling whispered that vaguely remembered sections of her beginner grimoire contained ideas to improve the process.

A short delay might be worth it if that feeling proved true. Should she bother Shadwich about her restricted materials… or maybe briefly peruse the tower’s library for a book with more modern theory?

As the elevator platform arrived and Ria stepped into the shaft, she hesitated before selecting a floor.

“Towerkeeper, Towerkeeper,” Ria tried instead. Elder Alenna had mentioned meditation advice. Maybe the elder would have insights not found in books?

Master Enchanter Temiere’s voice rose and fell as the man discussed the magic conductivity of various types of metals and how better conductivity created difficulties for enchantment permanence. The subject was interesting and as important to Ria’s apology projects as the morning’s stone-shaping practice, but somehow the cadence and tone still managed to cause her mind to wander back to the meditation session she’d just finished.

Towekeeper Alenna couldn’t approve access to the restricted books in Ria’s vault, but the elder had kindly provided Ria with both advice and relevant books on meditation from the tower’s library. Both of which proved helpful. More time was needed to finish properly reading through the books, but the time spent on the recommended chapters already illustrated how far theory and practice had advanced since her Luventi grimoire had been written.

With the resulting further improvements to her foundations, Ria was again glad she had worked up the courage to bother the towerkeeper, glad she had overcome her unreasonable preference for solving problems on her own. For all that students sacrificed by joining a small Order like hers, Ria had to admit that lesser competition for facilities and resources wasn’t the only benefit. The personal attention she was able to get from the Order’s elders was a huge benefit, one she had undervalued and hadn’t been taking full advantage of.

Between the relationships she had built with Researcher Shadwich and Elemental Master Genwald and the relationship she was now building with Towerkeeper Alenna, there was a wealth of knowledge to be mined, knowledge that could help her progress further and faster if only she put in more effort to ask for it.

Reminded of the importance of valuing knowledge imparted by her elders and instructors, Ria again tried to refocus her attention on Master Temiere’s lecture, but the wizened old enchanter’s voice wasn’t the only thing keeping her from paying attention. With the arrival of Iori’s letter notifying that an expert on astral magic would be awaiting them after classes, her thoughts were anywhere but on enchanting.

What would she do if a spirit-binding or some other terrible thing were revealed? What would that mean about her parents? Her childhood memories?

According to the books Elder Alenna had found for her, the astral body would reliably show her progress developing her magic capabilities. Though Ria dreaded what might be found, seeing her progress and potential laid out clearly was also a matter of some excitement.

Of course, that unstable mix of dread and excitement was filling her with nervous energy and making her a bit jittery. She had to cycle the energy and perform Lu Xi’s technique a few times already to keep it from overflowing. At least, with her foundations more stable, there wasn’t any danger to anyone around her anymore.

Still, the pressure she was leaking into the surroundings had already resulted in a few eyebrow raises, worried shuffling, and judging glances in her direction from nearby students.

“Ria of Shadewood.”

Ah-! She’d lost focus again, and this time bad enough for Master Temiere to notice.

“...yes?”

The gray-haired mage looked up from his notes. “Is there some disagreement with my lecture that is bothering you?”

Gah, crap.

“Ah, no,” Ria vigorously shook her head and hurried to deny, feeling her face flush as every eye in the classroom turned her way. “The esteemed instructor’s lecture is fascinating and informative as usual. The fault is my own, and I apologize for disrupting class.”

The man observed her silently for a while before speaking again. “If you have physical demands to see to, there’s no need to force yourself on my behalf. Rather, please see to it.”

Snickers, snorts, and chuckles broke out among the other students. Even Arthur wasn’t immune, and he met Ria’s glare with a shrug of innocence.

Ears red with embarrassment, Ria thanked the instructor and took the opportunity to leave the classroom, signaling Ranger to follow. She considered leaving Ranger behind, but with her thoughts preoccupied, she doubted much use would come of it. Getting the notes from Arthur would have to suffice again.

“Woof?”

“Ah no, it’s not that. I’ve just got things on my mind,” Ria assured her familiar as they made their way out of the guild hall.

There was still some time before the meeting, but it probably didn’t hurt to head to the Tower of Dreams early. The expert wasn’t named in the letter from Iori, just that he’d be waiting in the Room of Revelations on the Floor of Discovery and Wonders. She had a suspicion that finding the right room might take some effort. Besides, with her interest in the lost Moon Elf garden she was eager to have an excuse to explore the tower anyway.

When Ria and Ranger arrived at the walkway between Serenity Hall and Shining Sun Hall, it was a relief to see that the repairs had been completed and the shade tree righted as if the crater had never existed. If the repairs had only taken a day or two, maybe the final tally for her fine wouldn’t be too excessive.

Ria ran a hand along a bench she had undoubtedly paid for and let her gaze raise to the sky so she could feel the afternoon sun on her face. The area around the tree was a nice reading spot that she should make use of some time.

Past the shade tree, the beautifully elven-styled and mysterious Tower of Dreams could be seen rising into the sky from out of the more Crysellian-styled Hall of Serenity that circled its base. It was an interesting study in contrasts.

“Woof,” Ranger commented from where he was sniffing the repaired greens and walkway.

“I would imagine so,” Ria told him. The earth and nature energy that Ranger was smelling would undoubtedly take a while to settle back to how it was prior, considering the size of the magical working. Seeing the perfect restoration, she couldn’t help wondering if damage to the campus might not be particularly rare.

She gave the tower one last procrastinating look before taking a deep breath and heading for the tall arch that would let her pass through Serenity Hall to the tower’s garden courtyard.