Emissary of Nothingness - Chapter 97 - Not Sufficient

Quick Character Cheat Sheet

Matt StonewallBrown hair, tall, broad shoulders. Combat focused, stubborn, grounded, and loyal. His father is a general. Fire and Earth Aspects.

Meliana “Mel” RathHoney colored hair. Quiet, shy, and diligent. A close childhood friend of Pori. Water and Air Aspects.

Reyna VoltoreyLong red hair. Sharp, composed, and currently the top ranked student in the year. Comes from one of the Old Houses and is already deeply familiar with their politics. Fire and Air Aspects.

Porietta “Pori” MileyLong, fluffy chestnut hair, a round face, and hazel eyes. Gentle, well mannered, and socially perceptive. Sole heir to an aristocratic family and a close childhood friend of Mel. Earth and Air Aspects.

Effie ColdhartBlonde hair, short, green eyes. Currently the strongest student in the year. Talented, dangerous, and rather isolated, with no real circle of friends. Aspects: Ice, Lightning, Air.

Adam UthelsonLean, brown-haired, a commoner,also determined, charismatic, and openly hostile toward the nobility. Has his own group within the year. Aspects: Fire, Air, Earth.

When he stepped onto the Sands two hours later, where the lesson was scheduled to take place, there were far more students waiting than he had expected. Apparently, his new group consisted of some of the best students in their year. He recognized most of the faces from the Reznan Forest expedition, with only a handful of exceptions.

The Master had not yet arrived, and more than a few students were watching one another with open suspicion. The tension was strongest around Adam and the small group gathered near him, several of whom were exchanging hard looks with the nobles standing nearby.

Arien walked over to Reyna, who stood slightly apart from the crowd beside a black-haired boy he didn't recognize. The newcomer was tall and heavily built, with his shoulders squared and chin raised. There was something familiar about him, though Arien couldn't place where he had seen him before.

"Hey," he greeted. "If the Master doesn't show up soon, the duels might start without him."

Reyna smiled faintly. "Hi, Arien," she said, giving him a strange look. "Meet my cousin, Meytrand Voltorey. The Academy agreed to enroll him. Meytrand, this is Arien Terryson. He's fifth in the year."

"Terryson?" the boy said, giving him an appraising look. "I've never heard of that family."

"We prefer to maintain our anonymity," Arien replied, withdrawing the hand he had offered, which Reyna's cousin was pretending not to notice. Most nobles, even when they despised him for his origins, at least tried to hide it. "Though in our homeland," he continued, "the Terrysons are renowned for the legendary wrestling skills of their male descendants.”

Meytrand looked at him with mild confusion, clearly unsure what Arien was talking about. Reyna, meanwhile, seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

"Well then, see you later. I need to discuss certain extremely important military matters with Matt," he added, giving Meytrand a slight bow. Reyna shot him an apologetic look as he left. 

He walked over to Matt, who was standing by himself with dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept all night, which was entirely possible.

“Hey,” Arien said, stopping beside him. “Do you know what’s up with Reyna’s cousin?”

“Hey, Arien,” Matt replied tiredly. “You mean why the Academy let him join only in fifth year?”

“No, I know that part. Fifth year is the last chance for privately tutored students to enroll. I meant why he’s such an ass.”

Matt snorted. “Because he’s from an Old House?” he said with a shrug.

“Anyone else joined that I should know about?”

“Celestine Ravenshade and Thalia Montferrat. Both from Old Houses. They’re standing over there.”

He discreetly pointed toward two girls standing together.

One was tall, with long black hair reaching her waist and features that seemed almost otherworldly. The other could not have been more different. She was short and plump, with shoulder-length brown hair and thick black-framed glasses.

"And do they actually have interesting Skills ?" Arien asked, intrigued.

Were they more prodigies like Efie?

"Celestine and Thalia do. Meytrand is just an idiot." Pori's voice reached him.

"Hi, Pori. Hey, Mel."

"Hi, Arien. Matt," Pori replied. Mel, as usual, merely nodded silently. "Sorry for disappearing yesterday, but I felt awful."

"Like all of us," Arien said, waving it off. "So what amazing abilities do our new stars have?"

"Celestine can use Plant and Light magic, and apparently she recently awakened Wind as well. As for Thalia, she already achieved a Second Specialization in Mana Manipulation and possesses two Rare Aspects, Stone and Metal. Fortunately, she's more interested in artificing than combat magic."

"Not bad," Arien commented, genuinely impressed. "It'll be fun to watch such rare Aspects in action."

"I agree," Pori said. "Though most people are probably thinking of them as additional competition threatening their position."

Their conversation ended when Master Cerick Lamalson approached the group. Arien recognized him at once. His expression was as stern as Arien remembered, though by now Arien suspected that was simply how the man always looked.

"Greetings," he said. "My name is Cerick Lamalson, and for the next several semesters I will be responsible for teaching you the fundamentals of magical defense. Classes will always take place on the Sands, regardless of weather. Additionally, they will last two hours instead of ninety minutes. I observed some of you during the recent competition, and there is much work to be done. But I also see potential."

Arien silently thanked the gods that they hadn't been assigned another psychopath.

“Today we will begin with a modified Mana Shield designed specifically for duels. Does anyone know what I'm referring to?”

"Half-Shield?" Meytrand answered, obvious disdain in his voice. "And this is the famous Academy? We're learning an ordinary Half-Shield?"

"Exactly," the Master replied, smiling pleasantly at the boy. "I assume the young lord has already mastered this modest configuration? Perhaps the young lord would care to demonstrate?"

Meytrand stepped into the center of the group, chest proudly puffed out. He waved his hand, and a translucent shield appeared before him.

"Will that suffice?" he asked.

Cerick merely smiled and casually rotated his wrist. A small sphere of fire drifted from his palm and floated lazily toward Meytrand, tracing gentle curves through the air. Arien stared at the amount of power packed into the tiny spell. To his Mana Sense, it felt like a miniature sun.

Meytrand paled and poured more mana into his shield. When the spell touched the Half-Shield, a sharp crack echoed across the Sands. The shield shattered into countless fragments, and Meytrand tumbled backward, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Several students froze, but Arien had seen the Master's spell dim at the last instant, just before impact. 

What incredible control. Cerick earned even more of his respect.

As the dust settled, Meytrand staggered back to his feet, filthy and pale.

"Not sufficient," the Master commented. "The young lord will run five laps around the Sands. And if the young lord again forgets to use my title, or insults the Academy, I will personally ensure that this is both his first and last semester here. Understood?"

"Yes, Master," the boy replied in a wavering voice. 

Arien felt a powerful urge to start applauding.

"All right, move it. And the rest of you, please copy my spell matrix," the mage said, conjuring a mana pattern clearly visible to them.

For the next half hour they practiced casting the Half-Shield, but it was not a particularly complicated spell. As the Master himself had said, it was merely a modified configuration of the Magic Shield that every one of them already knew well.

"Good. I can see that everyone has more or less grasped how to cast a Half-Shield. Now then, does anyone know why it is more suitable for duels? Miss Miley?"

“It consumes less mana than a Magic Shield, Master. It only protects us from the front, but that also makes it stronger against attacks coming from that direction.”

“Exactly. During expeditions or raids, when we don't know where an enemy might attack from, don't know how many enemies there are, and when there may be concealed positions throughout the terrain, a Magic Shield is safer and generally preferred. However, in one-on-one combat, the Half-Shield fulfills its role more effectively.”

Cerick let his eyes move across the group before pointing toward a wooden box near the edge of the Sands.

“Good. Now take protective amulets from that box and form two even rows about thirty feet apart. Each person should also stand ten feet from the next person in the row.”

After a fair amount of confusion and several rounds of the Master repositioning them until they finally achieved his preferred formation, he instructed one row to raise Half-Shields while the other cast a single relatively weak offensive spell at each opponent before moving on to attack the next person.

He claimed this was better than practicing in pairs, since everyone attacked with different levels of strength, forcing their defenses to learn how to adapt appropriately.

Including Meytrand, who had returned after his five laps looking surprisingly fresh despite his bulk, there were twenty-four students on the training grounds.That meant each of them would cast twelve offensive spells and receive twelve attacks on their Half-Shields.

Arien still had perhaps two-thirds of his mana remaining after the morning classes and subsequent practice. The Master had told them to keep their attacks relatively weak, so he would probably be fine.

Arien started in the attacking row. When the Master gave the signal, he launched a Flaming Arrow at Matt, deliberately trying to reduce its power, which was not nearly as easy as it sounded. Matt absorbed it with his Half-Shield and nodded as the spell dissipated against it. 

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Three commands later, Arien reached the end of the line and had to return to the beginning. The next signal came almost immediately, and he sent another Flaming Arrow at Basil.

By the time he cast his twelfth Flaming Arrow, he was pleased by how little mana the exercise had cost him. When the Master switched their roles, Arien conjured a Half-Shield and immediately felt uneasy with his sides and back exposed. Still, after absorbing Matt's Flaming Arrow, he had to admit the spell was useful. He barely felt the mana drain, and the shield seemed much sturdier than a standard Magic Shield.

The next several attacks only reinforced that impression. He absorbed a Water Lance cast by Mel when a louder crack sounded nearby. His eyes followed the noise. Several rows away, Reyna was lying on the ground, surrounded by the now-familiar golden dome.

"Efie? What did I say about casting relatively weak spells?" the Master growled, glaring at the girl.

Efie stood there pretending to be surprised. "But Master, that was a relatively weak spell! It's not my fault Reyna's Half-Shield was set up so poorly."

The Master muttered something under his breath but took no further action. Reyna climbed to her feet, brushed the dust from her clothes, and glared at Efie. Arien had no doubt she was already planning revenge against Efie.

Arien was beginning to feel more confident with the Half-Shield when Adam's Fireball struck hard enough to make him flinch. That certainly wasn't one of the boy's ‘weaker attacks’.  Adam was still staring at him when the spell dissipated. Maybe Greg had been right about how Adam felt about him.

What a weirdo...

He had little time to dwell on it because Efie was next. She gave him a suspiciously friendly smile as she formed a long icicle in front of herself. It began to spin faster and faster until it resembled a white drill.

How much mana is she pouring into that spell?!

Arien reinforced his Half-Shield, bracing himself for the worst. Finally, long after most of the others had completed their incantations, Efie waved her hand and the Ice Lance shot toward him.

A deafening crack echoed across the Sands. He winced, as the impact tore a huge chunk of mana from him and shattered his Half-Shield into countless fragments, but at least the shield absorbed the spell, and unlike Reyna, he stayed on his feet.

"Efie!" the Master roared.

"Master, the boy is perfectly fine!" she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Efie, from now on, use the Wind Aspect." The Master's voice sounded utterly resigned.

"Of course, Master."

They managed to complete one more round of attacks and defenses before most of the students began running out of mana. Reyna received a scolding from the Master for using a dual-aspect spell against Efie, though Efie remained standing and even defended Reyna from Cerick's criticism, claiming she had barely felt the attack.

Adam's victory had not earned him many friends either. Several students were putting far more effort into attacking him than necessary, and halfway through the next round he had to leave his row after running out of mana. That only prompted some members of his group to start targeting the noble students in return.

As for Arien, he once again barely stayed on his feet after one of Efie's attacks. Her Wind spells were only slightly weaker than her Ice Magic. By the end of the lesson, Arien had burned through so much mana that several hours later, at the Infirmary, he ran out halfway through a healing treatment and had to apologize to Master Lamaral while she finished it for him.

Fifth year was not looking particularly promising.

Sorry for the delay, everyone! I thought I'd scheduled the chapter.

Oh, and I know a lot of characters have been introduced, but this is pretty much the main cast for this arc. New characters will only pop up occasionally from now on.