13 - Gopher

Selena Gregor was bored.
There were about three minutes left till the end of Professor Llywyd’s class, and she was so bored that she was tempted to poke her eye out just to feel something. Core stabilization was no one’s favorite subject, but the faculty insisted on forcing it on students anyway, even though Selena knew her time could be better spent elsewhere.
Like perfecting her [Lightning Whip].
Or expanding the reach of her [Firebreath] spell.
Or challenging someone to a duel.
The problem with the last idea, however, was that there was no one left to challenge at this school.
As the only Master in Cohort 4, she so far outpaced the rest of her class that it was ridiculous.
She yawned loudly, spurring some giggles from a few of her classmates. Professor Llywyd cleared her throat.
“Selena,” she said warningly.
“Sorry, Professor,” Selena opened one eye, shooting her a charming smile. “It’s just that guided meditation triggers the same instincts as a nice, afternoon nap.”
The statement wasn’t that funny, but people laughed anyway, because she was Selena Gregor and she’d made a joke.
The only ones who didn’t laugh were Professor Llywyd herself and the dour-faced boy who sat on a mat at the back of the class, ignoring the interruption and continuing his meditation.
Selina knew his name now. Telip Mursili. The only Vacu-dominant mage in the entire academy.
Selena hadn’t noticed him at first, years ago, when they were a class of ninety. She hadn’t noticed him either when there were thirty left, nor when there were twenty. But now there were only eight people in their class, and she couldn’t help but notice the way he always kept to himself, never asking her favors or advice or anything.
Selena was used to being approached constantly. Everyone always wanted her help, though she was selective in who she awarded her attention to.
Even those without the courage to ask still admired her from afar.
And why wouldn’t they?
She had all the makings for high esteem: an inner strength despite her tragic backstory, the beauty and charm of her mother, and the power and authority of her father.
Plus, she had a stellar personality, or so they said. She was kind enough, playful enough, with just the right amount of authority to command respect and obedience.
She turned heads and naturally drew attention wherever she went, so much so that she was constantly surrounded by sycophants. It could be bothersome, but she didn’t hate it. She’d accepted that fate long ago, as a consequence of her undeniable greatness, which marked the beginning of the destiny she’d chosen for herself.
She was going to be the most powerful mage that ever lived, someone who rivaled those of myth.
As such, it was only natural for people to admire her.
The only people who didn’t admire her were enemies of her clan who actively hated her.
Telip was different.
He wasn’t an enemy, and he didn’t hate her.
He simply ignored her the way he ignored everyone else in their cohort.
Selena really did not like being treated like everyone else.
“I would think Selena,” Professor Llywyd interrupted her musings. “That you, of all people, would take this more seriously, considering how out of sync your cores are. It’s a shame that you came here with the most flawless cores I’ve ever seen, and now it’s so unbalanced it pains me to observe it.”
“Thank you,” Selena responded, triggering more laughter. But the thanks were genuine in a way. She was more than happy to have her cores out of balance.
Thanks to the monks who had raised her, she’d spent most of her childhood perfecting and stabilizing those very same cores.
However, the older she grew, the more Selena realized that she did not care about perfection and stability.
She cared about power. She cared about being the youngest Archmage there ever was. She wanted to be ferocious and unpredictable and admired like the Legendary Mages of old.
It was why she had chosen a Calor-Vacu lean, the most challenging lean there was to learn.
Calor and Vacu were a hazardous combination, with Vacu being difficult to hold and Calor having a natural tendency towards entropy.
It made it such that nearly every single high-level spell she cast was basically like toying with life or death.
It brought her an incredible rush, and so she’d focused on training those cores, ignoring the other useless ones.
However, Professor Llywyd and the monks were always complaining about how she’d wrecked her stellar core stability in chasing Calor dominance.
It didn’t matter. She still had impeccable control, better than any other mage in their year. Better than other masters. Probably better than some archmages, too.
In pushing for dominance of her chosen essences, she’d mastered difficult spells and become the youngest Master ever recorded. At level 270, she was on track to be the youngest recorded Archmage. Once she reached Level 500, she could challenge another Archmage for their post, and she would become a force unlike anything the world had ever seen.
But Professor Llywyd and the monks were too old-fashioned to see her vision, which was entirely their problem.
Thankfully, the class was soon over, and she chatted with a few of her classmates until she saw someone at the doorway waiting for her.
Anne Earthbinder.
“Anne,” Selena called as she approached, and she let her smile drop at the look on Anne’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I just received news that my brother’s on campus.”
“Oh? Why?”
“He’s delivering someone. A new admit.”
“Why’s he escorting them personally?”
“I don’t know yet. Maybe she’s his secret love child.” Her callous tone couldn’t hide her innate trepidation at the possibility and what it would mean for her already tenuous hold on the clan patriarchal seat.
Anne was constantly afraid that it would slip from her grasp, and while Selena could comprehend it, she couldn’t empathize, really.
After all, she was the only one left to become the Matriarch of the Gregors, after her entire family was slaughtered.
Selena pushed that thought away and considered Elric, musing on a possibility.
He was one of the younger Archmages, having only gained his seat six to seven years ago. He might be the easiest to overthrow. This would be a good chance to evaluate him.
“We should go find out what he’s doing here then,” Selena said.
Though Anne didn’t seem enthusiastic about this idea, she, obviously, obliged.

---

Ari was nervous even as the robust old man approached, his gait brisk and slightly jolting yet rhythmic at the same time.
He was smiling, but she couldn’t relax enough to appreciate his joviality. He was about to give her a test.
She’d never had an unexpected test before. She was unprepared. What if she failed?
She couldn’t fail.
Elric had given her a hint. Don’t overdo it.
Don’t overdo what?
She wanted to ask, but Dean Octavius reached them in no time. He pulled his long beard out from the waistband of his white cloudsilk robes and stroked it. The beard was braided, with colorful beads and ornaments that matched the pattern of woven gold and purple detailing the hem of his robes.
He started to bow, but Elric held up his hand.
“Oh, come now. No need to embarrass me, Dean Octavius.”
“There is a need. After all, you’re an Archmage now, and I’m merely a Master.”
“Your ‘mereness’ is of your own doing, because you refused to grow your levels, out of sheer stubbornness. If not, you would have been an Archmage ages ago.”
“Perhaps, but I prefer my life this way.” His silver gaze met Ari’s for a second before she looked away. “And you must be Arielle Blacksoil.”
“Y-yes,” Arielle stammered. “I’m Arielle Blacksoil.”
“It’s good to meet you. I was very impressed with your scores, although I would expect nothing less from a cousin of Elric.”
Arielle didn’t know what to say to that. She hadn’t planned for this much conversation, and she was too nervous about the test to think. So she said nothing.
Dean Octavius’ smile slipped. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. She’s just shy,” Elric said. “Please, let’s go in and discuss.”
“Of course. Let’s go to my office. [CARRY ON].” He targeted the spell to her box, and it lifted in the air, sweeping ahead of them towards their intended destination.
Ari blinked, then turned on Elric. “I could have done that the entire time?” Though the box wasn’t too heavy, it had still been inconvenient to carry by hand.
Elric simply winked, and they followed the professor through the main doors.
It opened up to a central hall that had circular patterns and five internal chambers arranged like a pentagon. Students in robes cut across, in twos and threes, talking to each other and glancing at Ari as they passed. A few of them smirked. One waved. Most did not have any reaction to her.

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Dean Octavius led them up spiral staircases that anchored a series of balconies all the way up to the top floor. The center of the room was open, and at the base, Ari could stare through the transparent ceiling at the essence currents flowing above them. She could almost feel the subtle hum of the leyline.
“It looks exactly like I remember,” Elric murmured.
“The years fly by, don’t they?” Dean Octavius remarked. “But even as decades pass, you remain my absolute favorite student, Elric.”
“You say that to all your students.”
“Yes, but I lied to them. I’m telling you the truth.”
Elric chuckled, and as they finally reached the top-floor balcony, he and Elric made easy conversation, while Ari prepared herself for the test.
They approached a tall, heavy oak door at the very end of the hallway, which automatically opened to reveal an office.
The room itself was organized, but everything felt a little cramped. The large desk was full of parchments and a compartment of quills; the walls behind the desk were crowded with paintings. The desk was bordered by shelves on either side, which were packed to the rim with books.
As Arielle moved forward, she uncovered a tall window just to her right….
That had a large bogworm perched on it.
The minute it spotted Arielle, it launched at her, roaring ferociously.
Fear instantly jumped into her heart.
Her initial instinct was to run as it coiled up into the air, opening its maw to swallow her whole.
She needed to get out of here. She didn’t ask herself what the bog worm was doing in the office, or if it was indeed attacking her.
She just knew it was going to kill her.
Rational thought collapsed, and instinct took over, the need to fight or flee.
But then she finally realized the orbs swirling around the bogworm, particularly around its feet, and saw that it had extended into a chain at her neck.
Magic had been used on her.
She could sense it now, the heavy buzzing of the essences arranged around her. They were mostly Luxa particles.
It buzzed louder as the fear pulsed in her mind, and one more hint showed her the truth.
The pattern around the bogworm was familiar.
It wasn’t attacking her.
In fact, it wasn’t real.
She turned to the dean, who was somehow behind her, though he’d been in front when they’d approached the door. “It’s not real, is it?”
Dean Octavius reared back. His eyebrow ruffled. “You can tell?”
“Not at first,” she admitted. “But now I do.” The pattern had reminded her of Gio’s when he’d cast that bird illusion.
Dean Octavius stared at Elric for a few seconds, then turned back to Ari. “I can’t believe you saw through it.”
“Was I not supposed to?”
“No other student has seen through it before. Typically, they either attack the illusion or are smart enough to run away. It’s a small test to see which type you were.”
“This was the test?” She was relieved it had been that easy. “Did I pass?”
“There is no pass or fail, simply observation.” Dean Octavius nudged Elric’s shoulder. “You must have warned her ahead of time, didn’t you?”
Elric didn’t answer. He had a tight look on his face when he considered Ari.
She wondered if she’d overdone it.
“You caught me,” Elric said weakly.
“Ah, you shouldn’t have Elric. I wanted to get her genuine reaction.” He stroked his beard. “Still, the illusion should have worked. It manipulated her fear impulses, and that should have overpowered logical thought. She should not have even remembered if you’d warned her ahead of time.”
“The test worked,” she assured Dean Octavius to prevent his distress. It was the truth. She had been overpoweringly afraid for a second, but the sight of the essences brought her back to herself.
“I can’t believe this,” Dean Octavius was still shaking his head. “No other person had seen through that spell before, not even when they knew about it ahead of time. She must be very Luxa-sensitive. Is there a bloodline trait I should be aware of?” He turned that question to Elric, who appeared to struggle with it.
“No,” he allowed. “Arielle is just…special.”
“I can tell.” Dean Octavius said. “Well, Ms. Blacksoil,” He walked around to take a seat at the head of the table. “Congratulations on being the first student to solve that problem in such an interesting way.”
“Thank you.” She stared back at the space where the bogworm had been. “So you attack every student with a bogworm?”
“No. It’s different each time, usually preying on their own fears.” He peered at her closely. “I don’t see much of a resemblance between you and your cousin, Elric, but that’s typical for your family. Has Anne met her yet?”
“No,” Elric answered.
“Well, I told her the two of you will be arriving today. Perhaps, she’ll stop by.”
“Perhaps.”
“[INVENTORY RELEASE].” A wave of the hand later, and one of the cabinets opened, sweeping forth a robe, a scroll, and another device that made Ari’s heart race. An EPUQ.
“Once you touch the EPUQ, Ari, it will start syncing with your system,” Dean Octavius said. “It will then inform you of your essence allowance. The paper next to that is your syllabus. Now, keep in mind that you are coming in at the middle of the year, so you will need to work hard to catch up and learn the beginner spells in the workbook. I know it can be difficult, but you have some time to achieve that, and your professors are there to help if you need it.”
Ari nodded. She was eager to go to her room and start learning the spells.
As she took the plucked items from the air, holding the robe, she remembered something else.
“Is there a river to wash my clothes?”
“A river? No, dear, we’re a bit more civilized than that. We have cleaning spells, and when you need to wash something difficult, you simply take it to the custodian’s quarters, and they’ll take care of it for you.”
“Oh.” Ari felt almost silly for asking the question. “Okay, thank you.”
A knock on the door interrupted, and Dean Octavius brightened. “That must be your new roommate.”
The door swept open, and two girls walked in, one of them tall and beautiful with flowing red hair. The other one had wavy brown hair and was shorter, although her perfect posture appeared to lengthen her diminutive size.
“Selena, Anne.” Dean Octavius said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Well, you mentioned her brother would be here,” the red-haired one said first. “She wanted to say hello.”
The other girl looked sullen and didn’t speak until the first one nudged her with her elbow.
“Hello,” she said finally, stiffly.
“Hi, Anne,” Elric greeted. “And hello to you, too, Master Gregor.”
“Please. Call me Selena,” Selena’s gaze rested on him for another second before it skipped over to Ari. Ari held her gaze for a second longer than usual, noting that Selena had dark blue eyes with a ring of red around the irises. Arielle had never seen anything like it before.
“Pretty,” she murmured before she caught herself.
Selena beamed. “Why, thank you.”
An overwhelming pulse of authority hit Ari so strongly that she coughed. Selena had more celestial blessing than Phineas, and as it blared, Ari thought about what Elric had said.
Tacky, insecure, untalented.
Selena’s smile had sharpened teeth. “Aw, she’s adorable. You’re the newcomer?”
“Why are you dressed like that?” Anne murmured, her lip curling with distaste.
“Be nice to your cousin,” Dean Octavius said. “And Selena, please control yourself.”
“Sorry, Dean. Still learning restraint.” Suddenly, the overwhelming authority clogging the air retreated.
“That’s better.”
“Where’s she from?” Selena asked Elric.
“Arielle grew up in Fenway Basin.”
“Ah. That’s the Southern swamps in Viridia, right?”
“Yes.”
“So that’s why she lacks manners,” Anne said, turning up her nose. “You know you’re supposed to bow in the presence of a Master, right?”
Oh, that’s right. Ari hurried to execute her bow, but Selena laughed.
“Oh gosh, no. That’s so uncomfortable, please, I can’t get used to that.” Another knock sounded on the door, and a smaller voice called out, “Dean Octavius?”
“Now that’s your roommate, Arielle,” he said. “Come in, Lyra.”
The door opened to reveal a girl who was about Ari’s height, with hazel eyes and honey-colored hair. The second she walked in, she bowed, to both Elric and Selena, only straightening after they simultaneously prompted her to.
She has good manners, Ari thought. I should learn from her.
“Lyra, this is Arielle Blacksoil,” Dean Octavius said. “She’ll be your new roommate.”
“Hello,” Lyra greeted.
“Hello,” Arielle greeted also.
“Arielle, you can follow Lyra to the room and start getting settled in. You won’t have any class today, so I suggest you spend the rest of it getting caught up on as much material as you can before tomorrow. Some of the professors might have more tests for you.”
“Okay.” She stared at Elric. “I suppose you’ll leave now.”
“Yes,” he said. “I have a lot of work to catch up on. But reach out to me anytime, okay?”
She nodded.
He reached down and patted her hair, and she felt a little wistful when she waved goodbye. It was almost like leaving her family for the second time, even though she’d just met Elric and he wasn’t really her family. Maybe the pretense was getting to her head.
As she left the room, she didn’t notice the other two girls in the office staring after her. In truth, she forgot all about them, focusing on following Lyra down the hallway.
“ I’m Lyra, by the way,” the girl said as they went down the stairs. She looked back at Ari with a friendly smile. “I know Dean Octavius mentioned it, but I wanted to say it again. Welcome to Erynwall. We’re going to be roommates.”
“Hello. I’m Arielle Blacksoil.”
“You’re a Mossborne.”
“Yes, but I was adopted.” Thankfully, Lyra didn’t see her look at the ceiling when she lied.
“Interesting. I suppose that’s why we were paired together. I’m a Greenfinger, you know?”
“You are?”
“Yes.” She lifted her hair so that Ari could see the flower patterns painted on the back of her neck disappearing in the collar of her robes. “Jevan’s line.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Neither of them said anything else as they cut across the courtyard. The silence was familiar and comfortable for Ari, but she thought maybe she should take this opportunity to get to know Lyra a little better.
After all, she was her roommate, which meant they would be spending time together. She was friend-sized. Nothing about her immediately put Ari off.
She was the perfect candidate to be Ari’s first potential friend.
“What are your hobbies?” Ari wondered aloud.
“Gardening,” Lyra said. “Kind of an obvious one, huh? Also potion-making. And occasionally pottery.”
Arielle made a note to write it later in her journal.
“I like gardening sometimes, too,” Ari said. It was her least odious chore, and it established a baseline of commonality between them which her sister often told her was important for friendship.
“That’s nice. Maybe we can garden together sometime.”
“Yes, we can.” Good. Successful establishment of baseline.
Now for the most important thing. Ari had taken Elric’s words to heart, so she needed to understand if this was someone who would respect her or feel threatened by her. He said that the stronger ones would respect her and the weaker would feel threatened by her.
How could she tell?
Perhaps she could subtly tease it out of her.
“Would you consider yourself stronger or weaker than the rest of the cohort?”
Lyra stopped walking, head twisting around to stare at Ari.
“What?”
“I asked, would you consider yourself stronger or weaker than the rest of the cohort.”
“Um…” She executed a slow shrug. “Well, I guess I would say I’m weaker? I mean, I’m not in the top half, definitely. I’m still struggling with beginner spells.” She sighed. “Who am I kidding? I’m definitely near the bottom.” She gave a short laugh as her cheeks turned pink.
Darn. This presented a problem. Ari had wanted Lyra as a friend, but she was too weak.
Unless…
“Would you like to get stronger?”
“Obviously. Everyone would like to be stronger.”
That was good. They could work with that.
“You should be my friend then. I plan to establish friendships with people who are strong, and if you want, I can make you strong so that can unashamedly extend your hand in brotherhood and we can form a coalition.”
When Lyra still stared blankly, Ari added, “You get to remain by my side and receive benefits.”
Lyra scrunched up her face. “I don’t understand. You mean, you want to make me…a gopher?”
Ari frowned. “What does gopher mean in this context?”
“It’s slang. You know, for people who follow you around all the time and laugh at your jokes even when they’re not funny and do whatever you want and never defy you.”
Hm. That all sounded nice.
She nodded. “Yes, I think that’s what I want.”
Lyra suddenly glared at her.
“No, thank you,” she said in a harsh tone. “I know I may not be the strongest person here, but I don’t need to be anyone’s gopher. So you can keep your help to yourself.” With that, she spun on her heel and walked away.
Ari sensed she had said something wrong, but tracing back the conversation, she couldn’t figure out what.
Lyra maintained a frosty silence as they stomped into one of the dorm buildings made of red brick.
She ignored Ari’s follow-up conversation, so Ari had to finally admit that her first attempt had been botched. She too was irritated with herself.
But she wouldn’t give up there.
Second attempt pending….
“Oohhh Greenfinger….” A voice called out that had Lyra’s entire body turning to stone. She froze in place, paling, her lips parting, a nervous breath escaping her.
Ari turned around and saw three boys emerge from the end of the hall.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “And look at that. You’ve brought a friend to join in on the fun.”