Sufficiently Advanced Magic Page 17

  She held up a second finger. “Second, and one of the first hints of secret knowledge you’ll learn here. You need a second rune and a second core to make the item recharge itself. There are a few varieties of these that tell the item to draw power from different sources to recharge itself. The most common ones draw mana from the wielder.”

  Vellum lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Obviously, these are terrible, and you should never use them. They are, predictably, also the most common.” She looked back at us, expression sharp. “People are terrible, and also stupid.”

  She held up a third finger. “The third rune is the most important. It tells the item to stop gathering mana when it’s full. If you forget this rune, or make a mistake on it, your item will eventually explode.” There was a pause as she let this sink in. “As you might expect, since people are both terrible and stupid, many of my students make mistakes on this third rune.”

  Vellum took a breath, then let it out. “Typically, these mistakes only result in lost fingers, but there have been a few students who have been more seriously injured. This is unfortunate, because checking if a rune is working properly requires a trivial amount of effort. Simply bring the item to the Divinatory, and they can cast a basic spell to check the rune. Of my students, more than half fail to take this basic precaution, because people are terrible, stupid, and also lazy.”

  She folded her arms, leaning against the table. “I mention this lesson every year, and every year, I am disappointed. Nevertheless, in my weakness, I retain some hope that this class will be the one class to finally demonstrate a degree of basic competence. I look forward to being disappointed once again.”

  Straightening, she lifted her hands, pressing her palms together beneath her chin. “Now, let’s talk about the types of cores you’ll need...”

  I took extensive notes throughout her entire lesson. Oddly, I think her vitriolic sense of humor helped me to focus.

  Unfortunately, the cores she was talking about for making permanent items? They’d cost about ten times more coin than I had on hand, just to make a single basic magical item.

  We’d get some materials from the academy as a part of the class if I lasted that long. Not a lot, but enough to meet the basic requirements. Barely.

  I wasn’t satisfied with that.

  I wanted to get to making permanent items as quickly as possible, and that meant either finding a source of income or a direct source for cores.

  I was contemplating that, getting ready to sleep, when I heard a creaking sound come from my doorway.

  It took less than another second before the board that was nailed over the door split in half and my door flew wide open.

  A tall, hooded figure dressed in all black was standing in my doorway. A wickedly curved knife was in their right hand.

  My first thought was, “Why is there an assassin in my doorway?”

  Quickly followed by, “Ohreshassassinquicklyduelingcane.”

  I’d been warned to be prepared for threats, so I had my dueling cane within reach. I reached. I knocked it on the floor.

  Welp, life over.

  I’d like to say it’s been fun.

  The figure took a second to look around the room before advancing. That bought me a precious moment to reach down and grab the fallen cane, flip it around, and fire two shots into the intruder’s chest.

  No effect at all. The mana dispersed across the surface of the intruder’s tunic, shimmering as it spread. It wasn’t an effect I’d seen before, not a traditional barrier. A dueling tunic would have taken damage from the blast. This thing was more resilient.

  The intruder lunged.

  I rolled out of the bed, firing another blast — but not at the intruder.

  This one hit the ceiling, pounding a hole through layers of wood into the room above. It wouldn’t have enough force to hurt anyone up there... I hoped... but it was sure to get their attention.

  If anyone was up there.

  My “evasive roll” turned out to be more of a “wrap myself in a bedsheet and fall on the floor” roll. It still served the purpose of getting me out of the way of the daggers for a second, but ultimately I was in a worse position afterward. In the second that it took to disentangle myself from the sheet, the intruder was above me, bringing a dagger down toward my shoulder.

  The dagger glanced off a barrier, generated by the shield sigil pinned to my nightshirt.

  Yeah, I slept with that on.

  I punched the assassin in the face.

  The intruder recoiled from the blow, giving me enough time to kick at their legs, but my angle was bad and the impact was minimal.

  Another dagger strike came down, but this time I rolled right. The dagger splintered the floor, and I pushed myself to a crouch.

  A kick hit me in the face.

  The barrier soaked some of it, but I still fell backward, hitting my head against the nearest wall. That hurt, and my vision swam.

  I ducked the next kick, which smashed a chunk out of the wall above where my head had been. Blearily, I noted that ordinary kicks shouldn’t have that amount of force.

  I switched tactics, running my hand along the other rune on the hilt of my cane. A short blade popped out of the hilt, and when the next kick came in, I lashed at the offending leg. I missed, but the attacker retreated a step.

  I stood up.

  The intruder ducked, taking a lower stance, reversing their grip on the knife. It wasn’t a stance I was familiar with. To be fair, though, there weren’t any knife fighting stances I was familiar with. I’d never learned to knife fight.

  Apparently, they had.

  My odds were bad.

  I yelled for help.

  The intruder glanced toward the door, hissed, and then lunged forward, making a sweeping cut toward my face. I blocked it with my own blade, kicking afterward, but meeting only air.

  The intruder stepped back, reaching into a pouch.

  I flicked the other rune, feeling a sharp sensation of pain as mana surged through my hand, igniting the dueling cane’s blade.

  The intruder threw something from the pouch — a potion — right at me.

  I caught it with my off-hand and threw it back.

  I could see their eyes widen even with their cowl in place. I smirked.

  My smirk was short-lived.

  The intruder vanished from where they had been standing, appearing right in front of me.

  The potion hit the of my room near the door, but didn’t break like I’d expected.

  Then there was a knife at my throat.

  “Don’t move.”

  The voice wasn’t coming from the intruder.

  It was coming from Jin, standing in the doorway, with a revolver pointed at my assailant.

  The invader laughed. “Not bad. I expected the rune I drew outside to block any shouting for help, but I didn’t expect you to shoot the ceiling.” A woman’s voice, and oddly familiar.

  The knife pressed closer against my neck, then pulled away.

  The intruder dropped the weapon.

  Jin narrowed his eyes. “Slowly raise your hands. Do not speak again.”

  The intruder complied, at least at first.

  “Step away from the student.” Jin stepped closer as he spoke, continuing to keep the firearm leveled at the target.

  The intruder complied, stepping away until she had her back against the opposite wall.

  Jin put himself in between the invader and myself. I took the moment to grab my sword from the nearby table, drawing it from its sheath, and passed my dueling cane to my opposite hand.

  “We will wait here until assistance arrives. Do not move.” Jin kept the revolver leveled at her chest.

  “That won’t be necessary,” she replied. “Your demonstration was satisfactory. End illusion.”

  The cowl and hood vanished.

  We were looking at Professor Orden.

  I groaned.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” I stepped closer, brandishing my swor
d. “You were testing me?”

  She nodded and smiled. “I did warn you to prepare.”

  Jin didn’t take his eyes off her. “Corin, can you confirm that this was a test that Professor Orden warned you about in advance?”

  “In a sense.” If you stretched the concept of “sense”, anyway. “She told me to protect my room against potential threats. She did not tell me that she planned to test them personally. And, since our friend here is clearly a Shadow or some other kind of illusionist, she could be anyone. ‘End illusion’ could be a key phrase to cast an illusion.”

  “True,” the woman admitted. “How could I convince you that I am Professor Orden, then?”

  My mouth twisted. “You couldn’t, under these circumstances. At all. I could ask you what I discussed privately with Professor Orden, but if you’re an assassin who is after me, you could have gathered that information through other means. You could have been watching, or you could have captured or killed the real Orden and taken information from her.”

  “My, you’re a suspicious one. I like that. Perhaps a demonst—”

  Jin fired the revolver.

  The bullet hit right next to her head.

  “No demonstrations.” Jin gestured with the revolver, while I closed to threatening range with my sword. “Out. I will not miss again.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You students are getting dangerously close to offending me.”

  Jin tightened his jaw. “Good. You have already offended us.”

  “Cadence,” she hissed, “I will expect to see you in the morning for a discussion.”

  I waved with the flat of my sword, and she followed the gesture, backing out to the room. “I’ll plan to meet Professor Orden at her office. If you happen to be the one there, we’ll discuss how you can authenticate your identity.”

  “I will be there.” She snapped her fingers and vanished in a jet of smoke.

  “Huh.” I examined the smoke. “I thought that only theatrical villains did that.”

  Jin reached down, picking up the fallen potion vial. “Evidently, that woman is a theatrical villain.”

  I nodded sagely, then grew serious again. “Thanks for backing me up. I owe you one.”

  “No,” he countered, “you owe me two.” He pointed upward. “One is for the repair of my floor.”

  ***

  Jin and I headed toward Tortoise Female Building #14.

  We’d mutually decided that staying in our own rooms was too dangerous, in case real assassins were after me. Jin had suggested going to the academy guard, but I wasn’t confident that pointing them at Orden or asking them to watch our rooms were good ideas. I needed more information before I could bring more strangers into the situation.

  While I’d gotten dressed, Jin had gone back to his room for more ammunition. By the time he’d gotten back, I had my dueling cane and sword buckled on. I’d also grabbed a pillow.

  “First favor, Corin. Tell me why you are hunted by assassins.”

  I sighed. “I’m probably not. I think that was the real Orden, and she’s probably paranoid.”

  “Evasive answers don’t count as favors.”

  He was right, but... “Can I have a minute to think about how best to answer?”

  “Of course.”

  I took a minute to think, and another minute.

  Jin helped me out, but I don’t know if telling him anything is wise — that Voice was pretty explicit that I shouldn’t be spreading word about what happened in the tower.

  On the other hand, if that was the real Professor Orden, I absolutely can’t trust her if her idea of “testing my defenses” is a mock attack on my room.

  What is it with these professors and attacking students?

  Gah.

  “Okay, I’m going to tell you some bits and pieces, but you’re going to be in danger if you learn too much.”

  “I don’t mind a bit of danger.”

  I shook my head. “It wouldn’t be ‘a bit’. Probably. I don’t really know the scale of what I’m dealing with yet, and that’s part of why I can’t, in good conscience, fill you in on every detail.”

  Jin nodded. “Continue.”

  “I saw some things at the tower that I probably shouldn’t have seen. Things I remembered, and told Professor Orden about. She told me that what I knew could put me in danger, and to prepare.”

  “Explains the assault, even if it doesn’t justify it.”

  “Yeah. I suppose she wants me to take protecting myself seriously.”

  Jin gestured to me with his off hand. “You did as well as I’d expect anyone to.”

  I think I might have blushed at the compliment. I wasn’t used to getting those.

  “Uh, thanks, I guess. Anyway, I can’t say much else for now, but I’ll talk to Professor Orden in the morning and see if I can get permission to bring you in on things.”

  “Permission?” He raised an eyebrow. “Really, with her behavior, you would leave her to make that decision?”

  I sighed. “I was feeling pretty hot blooded back there, but in retrospect, I really don’t have the experience that she does to make decisions about this sort of thing. Frankly, we should probably be glad we’re not being thrown in prison for assaulting a teacher.”

  “She invaded your room. There would be no grounds for such a thing.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Professors have a lot of influence. If she claimed she was there for routine business and we attacked her, the courts would probably take her side. But that’s not her angle. If that was her, and it almost certainly was, her motivation was to test me and scare me. Both worked. Mission accomplished.”

  “What convinced you that it’s really her?”

  “Simplest answer, really. She’s the only one who has actually mentioned any threat toward me. I’ve seen no evidence of anyone knowing about my experiences in the tower aside from her. I haven’t told anyone else.”

  After I said that, I realized it wasn’t strictly true. The Voice had also mentioned potential danger. And anyone who had seen me in the tower — Keras, Vera, or even Katashi — could have sent assassins after me. I just didn’t think most of them had any motivation to.

  Orden had mentioned that Katashi might send agents to get rid of me. That was plausible, and it was a scenario worth considering and preparing for. But if they thought I was a big enough threat to warrant attention, I strongly suspected they would have found a more effective way to get rid of me than sending one person with a knife.

  This particular attack was much more likely to be the real Orden running a test, but that didn’t mean I was free from actual danger. If anything, it meant Orden thought the danger was severe enough that she wanted me to take it seriously.

  “Hm,” Jin replied helpfully.

  We arrived at the dorm shortly thereafter. Much like mine, the building was three stories, and the doors to the rooms were external, which meant that we didn’t have to bypass any dorm guards. Jin holstered his revolver on his hip.

  We walked up the stairs, and I knocked on Sera’s door.

  It took a minute before she opened it, wearing a nightgown. Her hair was disheveled.

  Jin’s eyes widened, then he glanced away. He looked a little embarrassed.

  Sera’s eyes did the opposite. She folded her arms. “When I asked the goddess to send me two men in the middle of the night, this was not what I what I meant.”

  I completed the eye-motion theatrics by rolling mine once more. “Can we come in?”

  She sighed, waving us in. “Fine. You must be positively desperate if you’re here.”

  I...I wasn’t that bad about visiting her without an agenda, was I?

  Yeah, I definitely was. I’d have to get better about that.

  We followed her inside the room, which was the same size as mine. She sat on her bed, staring at me. Jin was pointedly looking away from her.

  I closed the door behind us.

  “We need a place to stay for the night.”

  Sera tilte
d her head down. “You’re joking.”

  “Nope.”

  “Why?”

  “Assassins.”

  She leaned forward. “Assassins,” she echoed, deadpan.

  “You caught me.” I flicked my hand dismissively, looking upward with exaggerated irritation. “It was only one assassin.”

  “She was very skilled,” Jin added.

  “You two,” Sera said, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “can spoon on the floor.”

  I leaned against the back wall. “I was kind of hoping you could put Jin in a room with one of your friends.”

  Jin gave me a look that contained more horror than I knew he could express.

  “Problem?”

  Jin’s shivered and looked away. “I... It would not be appropriate for me to stay in this place.”

  If he had somewhere else to say, he hadn’t mentioned it.

  “Aww, don’t be shy.” I blame Sera for bringing out my urge to tease. Poor Jin was collateral damage in our normal dynamic. He deserved better, so I could at least reassure him. “I think the dorm rules are superseded by the destruction of our rooms.”

  Sera raised her eyebrows at that. “Wait, what?”

  “Long story. Anyway, can you find him a spot?”

  Sera sighed and stood. “Your friend — who, you know, you should introduce me to — can stay with my lovely and nubile friend Patrick, in the nearby boys dorms.”

  Jin breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  I chuckled. Most guys would have killed for a chance to have an excuse to be here.

  “This,” I gestured, “Is Jin. He’s... Actually, I still don’t know what attunement he has.”

  Jin pressed his mouth flat and looked as far to the side as his eyes would go. He obviously wasn’t planning to fill in the blanks. I gave a sigh of resignation, and his lips twitched. His gaze flicked back to me and he winked. It seemed his mood was improving.

  “And this,” I gestured, “is Sera.”

  Sera smiled with her usual charm. “Sera Cadence. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jin. Now, if you boys would step outside for a moment, I’ll get dressed and escort you to Patrick’s room.”