Their passage through the portal courtyard went uncontested. If any of the guards cared about who they are, they didn’t let on. Everyone kept a wide berth around the two students as they strode into the swirling portals and vanished, returning to Blackmist.

As Damien emerged from the portal, his senses alerted him to Whisp’s presence an instant before he opened his eyes.

“That,” Whisp said, drumming her fingers on her thigh, “was not what I meant when I said to deal with the assassins.”

“Oops,” Damien said flatly.

Whisp sighed. “Just what I need. Snark. Well, I don’t think I can tell you good job without getting reprimanded by the Queen. I don’t reckon she wants us encouraging patricide.”

“Is it already common knowledge?” Sylph asked.

“Amongst anyone of importance, yes. Nobody knows exactly what happened, but the fact of the matter is that Nolan is now the head of House Gray after killing his father, aided by the two of you. I mean, seriously. Are you capable of going anywhere without killing someone?”

“You know, I’ve started to ask myself that same question,” Damien said. “Luckily, we didn’t actually kill anyone this time. I think.”

“You don’t sound too torn up about that,” Whisp observed.

“I’m finding it harder to care. I don’t understand why we’re fighting against each other when the Corruption is getting stronger with every day. It’s a waste of time and effort that we can’t afford to spare.”

Whisp grunted. “Can’t say I disagree. You know, I’ve seen that look on mages that came back from the Frontlines. Never on a student, though – much less two of them.”

“Always glad to be unique,” Damien deadpanned. “I should tell you that I don’t think Nolan will be returning soon. His new duties as the head of House Gray are going to be taking up his time.”

Whisp’s eyes narrowed. “I had gathered as much. Disappointing. He was a good student.”

“You know, I can never tell if you care or not,” Sylph said. “Sometimes, it feels like you hate this job. At other times, you almost resemble a good dean.”

Whisp let out a sharp bark of laughter. “I take it back. I might actually prefer it when you little shits are upfront with what you think. It’s so much more refreshing than when you’re dancing around what you actually think. And, to answer your implied question, it depends on if I’m drunk or not.”

“That’s not reassuring in the slightest. Is there something you want from us? Because, if not, I think I’d like to be left alone,” Damien said.

“Help yourself,” Whisp said, stepping to the side and gesturing for them to pass. “I think you’ve done enough. I’ll send someone to swing by and fill you in on your classes this semester. The ranking battles from last year got postponed, so they’ll be happening early this year instead.”

Damien paused as they passed Whisp. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Seriously? I don’t mean to act cocky, but is there even a point for Sylph and I to participate in those? There aren’t any students in our year that can match us. Planes, is there even anyone in Year Three or Four? Aven graduated. I guess there’s Cheese, but he’s… special.”

“Don’t undersell Mark,” Whisp said. “He’s got more strength than you give him credit for. And Aven has decided to stick around as a Teacher’s Assistant. She’ll be participating in the tournament, as will you.”

“Why should we bother?” Damien asked.

“Because it brings attention,” Whisp said, her features darkening. “I’m not an idiot, Damien. I know that you and Sylph are far stronger than you have any right to be. I will not be investigating the reason why, because I suspect I won’t like the answer. But, do you know why the kingdom is still pattering around playing politics instead of gearing for war? It’s because the threat of the Corruption isn’t taken seriously yet. The Frontlines are still more of a pressing concern.”

“You mean to change that?” Sylph asked, catching onto the tone of Whisp’s voice.

Whisp grunted. “No. I follow the Queen’s orders, and she believes the threat is currently properly addressed. We already have a large number of mages hunting the Corruption whenever it shows up, and none of the monsters it has taken over have put up resistance significant enough to warrant a bigger response. Most of our strongest fighters are still on the Frontlines, keeping the hordes from breaking into the kingdom.”

“But–”

“Delph, on the other hand, believes this is a bigger problem than what we’re treating it as,” Whisp continued, raising a finger in the air. “And he’s going to arrange for a demonstration to show just how serious this threat is. When better to do that than a tournament, when thousands of people are gathered to watch?”

It was Damien’s turn to let out a round of laughter. “Seriously? You’re going to make us crush a bunch of students just so we can fight the Corruption at the end of the ranking battles?”

“No. We both know there’s no point for you or Sylph to participate in the normal tournament. You’ll be the closing act. Delph seems confident that he can set something up that’ll get people aware, and you seem to be part of that.”

“Lovely. I don’t suppose he’s going to tell us more than that?” Damien asked.

Whisp snorted. “You don’t know him very well at all if you think he’s going to share information with us. I can’t control the bastard any more than you can. Maybe even less, actually. He’s still carrying around an artifact that should be locked away.”

“Couldn’t imagine what that one is,” Sylph said exchanging a glance at Damien.

“Forget it,” Whisp said wearily. “I don’t care anymore. I just want to survive through the year. Happenstance is meant to return soon, and then I can do the job I actually signed up for rather than playing dean. Try not to destroy Blackmist before then, okay?”

“No promises,” Damien said, and he half-meant it. “Good luck with setting the tournament up. We’ll speak with Delph ourselves. I’m not going to just blindly do what he wants, but the idea of bringing more attention to the Corruption seems like a good one.”

Whisp pulled a flask from her side, taking a long drink from it before raising her other hand in farewell and launching into the air. She wobbled slightly, swerving past a tower, and shot off toward campus.

“She’s got a problem,” Sylph said as she and Damien set off. Damien nodded in mute agreement.

Once they had put some distance between themselves and where Whisp had been, Damien stopped. He stepped into a nearby alley, ducking into the shadows where nobody could see them.

“I’m going to get Loretta back,” he said. “Keep an eye out so nobody sees me fiddling with the portal. I doubt anyone will recognize it, but it’s better safe than sorry.”

“You realize Whisp can almost certainly detect Void magic if she’s anywhere near you, right?” Henry asked in Damien’s mind. “Like, that’s the whole reason I wasn’t using my abilities for the first two years we were here.”

She has to already suspect it. I just don’t think she cares. I already used it once, so I might as well get Loretta out so she isn’t sitting around there any longer than she needs to be.

Damien channeled the Void, carving the jagged runes through the air with his finger. Energy bucked against his will as it was forced into the spell and a black portal churned open before him.

A cold wind rushed out of it as Moon’s hideaway appeared on the other end. Loretta sat against one of the walls, her knees pulled up against her chest and her hands wrapped around them. Her eyes lit up at the sight of them and she leapt to her feet.

“It’s safe? Already?” Loretta asked, rushing through the portal to stand beside them in the alley. It snapped shut behind her with a hiss.

“All potential assassins are dead and no more will be coming after you,” Damien confirmed. He paused for a moment, searching for the right words. “Uh… Nolan might not be coming back to Blackmist, though.”

“What? Why?” Loretta exclaimed. Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. he’s not injured, is he?”

“He’s safe,” Sylph said. “But he had to take some drastic actions to deal with his father, who put the hit on your head.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Loretta asked with a frown, still shivering slightly from the cold.

“Nolan killed him,” Damien said, giving up on finding a better way to say it. “He took over House Gray, and probably isn’t going to have time to attend college in the near future. He’s going to be too focused on keeping their house safe.”

“It isn’t entirely your fault,” Sylph added. “I think he did it because he realized that his father was going to lead their house to its grave. He’d lost it.”

Loretta bit her lower lip, her eyes darting between them to see if they were joking. When it became clear that they weren’t, she swallowed. “I – oh.”

“He wanted to me to say that he still felt the same way about you, but he didn’t want to force you into a decision one way or another and understands whatever you end up wanting to do,” Damien said.

Loretta’s eyes narrowed. “What? He thinks that getting assassins sent after me is going to change my mind? Or that I see him differently now because he’s the head of House Gray?”

Damien raised his hands defensively. “Don’t ask me, I don’t know. But, for what it’s worth, he does care. It’s pretty obvious.”

Loretta scrunched her nose in anger. “Yeah, I know he does. Doesn’t mean he gets to have someone else talk to me in his place.”

“The portal to the Gray Estate is still active,” Sylph offered up. “You could just go confront him yourself if you want. He’s probably busy, but I think he’ll make time.”

“I think I will,” Loretta said, clenching her hands. She paused, then glanced at Damien, a flicker of worry passing over her features. “Damien, where did you send me? It was… wrong.”

“Did something happen?”

“No, but I couldn’t access my Ether. I couldn’t do anything. I felt… useless, I guess. And time clearly flows different there as well.”

“Better you not ask,” Damien said after a moment. “Honestly, it would be easiest for both of us if you forget all about it. I was a little angry when I sent you there the first time.”

Loretta nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that. Thank you both, I owe you my life. I won’t forget that. But, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Nolan.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Sylph said as they headed out of the alley. “Don’t be too harsh on Nolan, though.”

Loretta gave them a weak smile. “I won’t be. Really, I just want to talk with him. That’s it.”

She hurried off toward the portal courtyard. Damien and Sylph watched her go, then turned and headed off themselves. They arrived at their room a short while later. Damien reached to push the door open, then paused. He groaned and rubbed his forehead.

“Could you tell me that I’m hallucinating?”

“I could. It wouldn’t make Delph not be inside our room,” Sylph grumbled, opening the door for him. Sure enough, Delph leaned against the back wall, chewing on a long reed with an annoyed expression.

“Seriously, you two need to stop with those senses. It’s completely ruining my fun,” Delph said, pushing himself off the wall as Damien and Sylph walked in.

“You could try not ambushing us for once,” Damien suggested. The professor had several bruises on his cheek and arms, which made him do a double take. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually seen Delph injured. “Wait, what happened to you?”

“You did,” Delph drawled. “Somebody didn’t see fit to tell me that a certain apprentice of mine was in town.”

Damien’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap! I completely forgot about that.”

“How do you forget that a woman like Kat is showing up?” Delph demanded. “If you forgot that, then you’ve got a serious memory problem that needs to be addressed before it causes you problems in a fight.”

“Not that,” Damien said, rolling his eyes. “I was hoping we’d be there when she found out where you were hiding. It probably would have been hilarious. Did she really do all that?”

Delph glowered at him. “She’s been hounding after me for a fight for the past week. Unfortunately, I don’t have the energy to properly deal with her. There are too many Corrupted monsters to kill which, if I recall correctly, was kind of your job to deal with.”

“What happened to letting the professors take care of them so we could focus on our studies?” Sylph challenged.

“Bah. Don’t use my words against me,” Delph grumbled. He reached under his cloak and rustled around in it, pulling out two slips of paper. “It’s not often that someone pulls a fast one over me. I’ll get you for that.”

“Maybe you could just look at this as us getting you back for that godawful inn you made us stay at in Kingsfront,” Damien suggested.

“No chance.”

Delph flicked the papers at them. Damien and Sylph snatched them out of the air, but neither of them took their eyes off Delph to read them. He cracked a grin.

“Good to see some of what I’ve taught you stuck around.”

“More like it’s imprinted in my mind like a curse,” Damien said. “You’ve got good timing, though. Whisp said something about you planning a demonstration with us and the Corruption?”

“Ah,” Delph said, wrinkling his nose. “I lied to her. You recall how I transformed into that wendigo while you were training, right?”

“It’s been a bit, but yes,” Damien said, nodding.

“Well, I know what one of the Corruption Seeds looks like. Fought one for a bit. Thing was terrifyingly strong, but I’ve got a good handle on some of its abilities. Havel and I will mimic it and give the people a bit of a show.”

“How’s that even going to work?” Sylph asked. “Most of them will just see me and Damien as students, no matter how strong we are.”

“Oh, I count on it,” Delph said with a maniacal grin. “That’s why I’ll be putting my own little spin on things. Don’t you worry – nobody is going to leave thinking the Corruption isn’t a problem that has to be dealt with.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. “I don’t like the sound of the way you said that. What are you planning?”

“It won’t work if it’s not a surprise,” Delph replied. “Don’t worry, neither of you will be at any real risk unless you really suck when fighting me. I’ll be taking this pretty seriously, after all.”

“That’s not reassuring in the slightest,” Sylph said. “Can’t you just tell us exactly what you’re planning?”

“Hmm,” Delph said, rubbing his chin. “I suppose that would be the responsible thing to do, wouldn’t it?”

Damien and Sylph both nodded.

Delph’s body bent inward on itself, vanishing into a tiny point of gray before vanishing. Damien and Sylph both threw the area where he’d been a moment before a rude gesture.

“I hate him,” Damien muttered, flopping down on his bed.

“Tell me about it,” Sylph said, doing the same and leaning against his chest. “Maybe if you make fun of him enough, he’ll come back to defend himself. He’s petty.”

“Not a bad idea,” Damien said, flipping the note over in his hand. “Let’s give that a shot. Delph is an insufferable idiot.”

“I’m pretty sure a literal monster would care more about its charges than he does,” Sylph added.

They kept at it for a few minutes. It didn’t work, but it felt great.