"Stop him or slow him down," Kastra whispered to Alexa from across the field, utilizing sound magic as she dodged another pillar Reinal had launched out of the ground toward her.
"I would if I could!" Alexa screamed back.
She hadn't gotten adept with the magic yet.
Kastra flit around the pillar through the air and covered her body in a shimmering field, disappearing moments later from the battlefield.
She began darting towards where Reinal and Alexa were trading blows, dodging in between all the trees and roots being summoned ensnare her. The man shouldn't have a way of knowing where she was, yet if she were to stop moving forward at this point, they'd collapse on her, and it would be over.
One finally shot in from a blind spot at her side and nicked her arm, drawing blood and dropping the illusion she'd cast upon herself to go invisible. She ignored it the vine, continuing toward where she could feel Alexa and him still exchanging blows.
Alexa was struggling, that much was apparent from the bond. The man was holding back less than he usually did, and the fact that these plants stayed for so long after he stopped controlling them only made it that much harder to deal with. Most magic disappeared within a few seconds and you didn't have to worry about it again. Forms of magic involving plants, however, could stay for up to an hour and always posed a threat afterward.
Finally, Kastra burst out the other side of the maze the man had made and immediately had to create a shield as a plethora of small rocks glanced off of it and shot into the air around her. Taking a moment to asses the situation, she once again saw Alexa throwing up barrier of water after barrier of water to block out random attacks from a giant monster Reinal had created.
The man himself stood around a hundred feet away in between the trees with Damien right next to him. Damien once again launched a few pillars of stone and some fire magic towards Alexa as she put her all into drawing a large wave of water in between herself and another overhead strike from the plant monster.
Kastra quickly intercepted Damien's attack with a shimmering barrier of her own, Fae in nature, just as Alexa solidified the water into ice and the monsters large fist slammed down onto it, sending cracks all along its surface. Kastra's barrier intercepted each of Damien's strikes and absorbed the energy thrown into it, glowing a bright red in spots the fire struck and green where a pillar struck. The green spot moved quickly to intercept the second pillar and when it struck, it grew in size. It moved again to intercept the third pillar and disappeared outward in a burst of energy, sending the stone back toward Damien. Similar to that, the areas that had grown red from his flames shot a heated blast of flame at him as well.
Reinal scowled and created a barrier of his own for Damien before creating another maze spell that Kastra would have to work through once it was sent in her direction. His monsters large fist slammed down a second time on Alexa's barrier and shattered it completely, causing her to dive to the side and convert the broken barrier ice into a plethora of ice spikes and water lances. She shot them all into Reinal direction, capitalizing on the brief moment he was distracted.
Kastra moved to attack as well, shooting some silver flame of her own toward the man while reaching toward Damien's mind with her magic again.
Large roots burst from the ground with a shower of dirt covering their exit point, shrouding the Wereman and protecting him from their salvo. She watched on as the teacher took a gamble, choosing to ignore her attempt at meddling with the parasite this time and instead launching his own counterattack at the unprotected Alexa to end the fight while his defensive spells slowly went down.
Kastra grinned.
Her vision once again disappeared to a plethora of vines, amused at the blank look Reinal had from losing dominion over Damien's mind.
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Damien sat inside his own mind, unsure of what to do as a plethora of green vines held him strapped to an imaginary chair. He was watching his actions through his own eyes as if watching a movie on a large screen from underwater, unable to interact directly with his body and feeling too tired and sluggish to even try. Fighting against the vines felt impossible and each time he struggled they only got tighter. This was the plan though, or so he kept reminding himself, but even if it hadn't been, he'd have given up by now.
"Why even have a plan, its pointles- Oooo that looked painful," he remarked cheerfully, grinning wide as a large vine suddenly shot out of the creature fighting Alexa and slammed into her side.
Sure he should be cringing, but it was her own fault she had gotten struck. It was a good fight, but obviously the girls were at a disadvantage.
Moments afterward, Kastra emerged from another maze and began blocking off all of the random attacks his body was sending at Alexa.
"I wish Reinal would stop using my mana so unreservedly. I could use that for... well, I suppose it doesn't matter too much," he grumbled out.
He was just disappointed the Werewolf wasn't using him more creatively. Just earth and fire magic? It was laughable.
"At least try and do something that's my specialty..."
Then again, that's how this type of mind magic worked. The parasite that Reinal had implanted could only control his body as well as Reinal himself knew how.
That wasn't to say Damien could just start creating giant plant monsters though. His body and pathways understood and were comfortable with what he could do, not what Reinal could. If the man tried to make Damien create or control plants on the same level, it wouldn't even begin to form correctly before it would break apart.
Practice makes perfect, especially when it came to magic.
"Hmm, I think that's the sign for when I'm supposed to... I wish they wouldn't," he mumbled, leaning forward and watching as Alexa and Kastra both went on the offensive.
Instead of going on the defensive when Kastra tried to free Damien this time, Reinal went on the offensive. That's what they were waiting for.
Like coming out of the depths of a pool, Damien's mind and drive resurfaced into his body. Using his mental forward momentum, he took a step toward Reinal and funneled energy from his back, up along his arms, and finally down and out his hands into the man's direction. A point-blank discharge rapidly sped at the man's back as Damien smirked in anticipation.
Damien's grin quickly turned into a look of shock as he watched his lightning slam into a hastily crafted barrier of raw mana. The electricity licked along the outside of said barrier for a moment, and he thought it truly wouldn't be enough until finally, the mana gave way, and the lightning entered into the instructors back, dropping him to the ground as his body began convulsing.
Damien's shoulders relaxed, and he cut off his mana, stopping the flow of energy from keeping the man down.
"Yes! AH!" Alexa yelled out in a jubilant manner before screaming, vine monster collapsing down on top of her.
Moments later, she'd crawled her way through and jumped into the air, flapping her wings to launch herself over to where Damien stood over their Wereman instructor.
"It actually worked," she remarked as the dust slowly settled from her shoulders once landed.
"It did," Damien nodded. "Good job distracting him. It looked eas- not easy. It didn't look easy from where I was watching," he corrected, still trying to get hold of his thought process.
"You could se-"
"Dis... qualified," Reinal grunted out through clenched teeth, interrupting Alexa.
"Hah?!" a loud voice boomed out as a giant paw landed on Damien's left shoulder. "Bullshit! You let your guard down and got your ass kicked!" Layla laughed down, grinning wide. "To think you'd leave yourself unbuffed or at least defended. They actually took you down!"
"Shady... tactics. Could've... killed him," Reinal responded with obvious difficulty, still lying on his side and twitching.
"The little fairy would have released his mind the moment it seemed like you were going to harm him. She played you," Layla replied with a wide grin.
"So then... today was our victory?" Alexa asked cautiously.
"Not even close," Layla replied, gripping Damien's shoulder harder. "Getting him to drop his guard worked great, but won't work again or on anyone else in that situation. They'd just try to kill this idiot," she said while shaking him. "Stick to not letting your teammate get parasite infested. That said, we are done for the day. Next Tuesday will be Moonrose. After that, Minerva again."
Once she finished speaking, Layla reached down and grabbed Reinal by his ankles and lifted the man up over her shoulders where he flopped loosely against her back.
Damien cringed slightly when the man's head bounced off her ripped back, but the Werewolf didn't seem too distressed, so Damien let it be. Better that than to butt into a situation his opinion wasn't welcome.
"We'll be going on another excursion later this month. Don't forget to practice with your squad," Layla reminded as she walked out of their backyard toward the mansion.
"Good.... fight," Reinal pieced out as Layla carried his limp, twitching body away.
"Thanks," Damien responded as Adrenna turned from where she'd been watching and led the Kreel out.
Five months had passed and they were just over the halfway point in the school year. Every Tuesday and Thursday, they would receive additional combat instruction from different instructors in the latter half of the day. Whenever Layla or Reinal were up, though, the other would always come to watch.
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Not every teacher was an instructor of theirs. Only Layla, Mr. Reinal, Lemshire, Ms. Moonrose, Minerva, Ms. Treller, and Mr. Croft had ever come to instruct them. Of those, only Layla and Minerva were Combatants, so those days had a tendency to get bloody. All the other days were used as a means for Damien, Kastra, and Alexa to work on the manipulation aspects of their higher tier magic, being less a spar and more an exercise that allowed them to experiment with mana.
Except with Reinal. He always seemed more than eager to test their ability to handle combat between Mages. Up until today, they had lost miserably every single time.
Reinal was a manipulator of nature magic. He wielded it as if it were an extension of his own limbs and to a degree that seemed impossible. Of course, he held back during their spars, but they had still gotten nowhere near close enough to actually hitting him with an attack, let alone dropping him. Not even Damien opening up with lightning ever hit him since every instructor had been filled in on their capabilities.
Ms. Treller was a Human and a deaf-mute. She taught a botany class mainly using messaging magic and writing. Students were encouraged to use the class as a means of working on their own messaging magics since it was the sole way to communicate with the instructor. Whenever she came, though, Kastra was the groups translator. She was the best at messaging out of the three of them, though Damien had begun to pick it up himself.
Whenever Ms. Treller instructed them, it was always on ways to counter the different magics most effectively using what they knew. So far, hers had been the most irreplaceable lessons, teaching them not only how to counter with opposing magics, but how to counter with what they had on hand, whether it was a lack of water, extra weapons, a mana stone... just whatever could be practically utilized in the moment.
"When should we set up practice?" Alexa asked, interrupting Damien's thinking. "For the squad, not just us."
He glanced her way and gave it some thought. She'd asked Layla if Rias and her could swap squads a few months back and the Kreel had agreed, provided that the Elf was willing. Needless to say, Rias was more than willing to get away from Damien and Ranger both, so now their squad consisted of Damien, Ranger, Alexa, and Adrenna. Close to what it would be in the future, in fact. It was almost as good as the practices they held here, albeit without their full strength.
"Better than nothing," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders.
At least it allowed them to work on team bui-
"What?" Alexa interjected, interrupting his thoughts once again as Kastra flit over and landed on his head, feet dangling onto his forehead.
"You feeling ok hubby?" she asked, leaning forward in a manner that made it seem like she should fall off but staying put all the while and smiling at him. "Your doing the thing again."
"I'm fine," Damien chuckled out, watching as the Fae nodded and went back into a normal seated posture, face losing its smile in an instant when she thought she was out of sight and body posture drooping slightly.
Damien paused for a moment to consider before letting the action go, continuing his explanation.
"Just a little disorienting, going from in control to not in control then back in control of my body. And whenever is fine, Ranger is always willing to come over ever since she moved in with us," he continued, gesturing with a smile towards Adrenna who had just moved back outside of the house, "and he's the only one we need to practice."
"Not my fault I attracted an idiot," the Brinter replied with a shrug, black eyes seeming as indifferent as always.
"Oh come on, you could do worse than Ranger," Alexa said with a grin. "Not to mention you're never so expressive when he isn't around compared to when he is."
Damien laughed at Adrenna's eye roll, interlacing his fingers in Alexa's hand and moving for their home. The moment they began moving towards the home, Adrenna spun on her toes and led the way, intent on opening the door for them.
Damien sighed.
"You don't have to do that every time," he muttered.
Adrenna shrugged and continued for the sliding glass door.
"Ah, before you four go-"
Damien's heart lept in his chest as he and Alexa stopped on a dime. Immediately, he spun around to see Lemshire, who was standing some ten feet behind them and moving closer. The old man was smiling wide, no doubt enjoying the sight of Damien's jumpy attitude. Alexa, Kastra, and he assumed even Adrenna had reacted similarly, but the geezer was staring directly at Damien with his grin.
Damien glared and sighed once again.
"Boy, you sigh way too often for someone of your age. You should really work on that," the Dean said.
"If you weren't around, I'd probably sigh fifty percent less," Damien responded. "I didn't even know you were watching today."
"None of you did," the man replied with an even wider grin as he held his hands out to either side of himself.
Damien continued to stare at him, waiting for the punch line. He was overly excited for some reason, and it was no doubt not going to be good for somebody.
"You don't get it?" Lemshire asked with a chuckle, amused at his own joke.
Damien shook his head.
"Oh," Kastra finally muttered, causing Lemshire's grin to grow even wider, or perhaps Damien was seeing things.
It was a little farfetched to believe the man could smile any wider than he already was.
"I... that is disconcerting," Kastra finished.
"Isn't it though!" Lemshire yelped back excitedly. "I finally managed to get through your wards. Do you know how long it has been since I had to actually alter my magic to accommodate something? To learn something new? Haha!"
"That..." Damien started, trailing off.
Is not good were the words he never spoke. And it really wasn't. If he was able to get around Kastra's senses, nothing was safe anymore. They'd be reliant on the man's own word not to invade their privacy.
'The shadiest man I knew... relying on his word. Just the thought is more than a little disconcerting.'
"I'm sure it's fine," Alexa said nervously.
"Of course it is," Lemshire said with a waving motion of the back of his hand, face going neutral. "You aren't so interesting I'd actually spy on you."
"Bullshit," Damien called with a laugh.
"Bingo! What are you going to do about it," the Dean laughed out.
"Change the ward," Kastra responded with a shrug. "Congratulations on getting through that last one though. It takes most people over a year to do what you did."
The five of them stayed silent for a few more moments. Now it was Damien's turn to grin as Alexa sighed in relief and Lemshire's face changed to an incredulous look, unwilling to accept Kastra's claim.
"You're bluffing," the man finally said.
Kastra shrugged.
Lemshire stared at her for a few moments and stood up a bit straighter than he had been before.
"Well, now I'm just embarrassed for being so excited. How many different wards do you have?" he questioned.
"A few," Kastra said indifferently, looking away from him. "More than enough to keep you off of us until my sweethearts both graduate. And more difficult to piece through. You should learn a lot from them."
Damien laughed and Lemshire smiled, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Try again next time, old man," Damien said with a smile.
"Ah, come on, I knew it wouldn't matter somehow," the Dean said with a downcast look and smile. "Still, I wish I could have at least worried you a bit."
Damien shrugged as Alexa chuckled next to him and spoke up.
"You wouldn't have done anything anyway. Just the thought that she might have another ward and you'd lose our trust-"
"Yeah yeah, I get it," the old man said, holding his hands in front of his face. "Stop trying to make it sound so bad. Gods, you don't know how to banter. You just make me feel guilty... Shame on you N'moran," he declared while pointing a finger at Alexa.
"I do too know how to-," Alexa responded indignantly.
"You kind of don't hun," Damien interrupted. "You're not supposed to bring up what people have to gain from each other when building friendships; it lacks tact. Not to mention calling him out so straightforwardly... I almost felt bad for him," Damien said with mock empathy laced in his voice. "Anyway. I'm guessing you want something, given that you are still here?"
Lemshire nodded.
"Do you have a few minutes?"
"Do I?" he asked, turning his head to his right to look at Alexa.
"Yeah, you're free. Take him. I hope you get sick from the transfer," Alexa said with a pout.
"Well I hope he doesn't," Kastra stated back, leaning down from on top of his head again and kissing his forehead.
Damien grinned and pulled Alexa's hand up to his mouth, giving it a quick kiss as her pout melted into a smile.
Kastra flit back to Alexa's wings.
"Do you really hope that?"
"If you're sick, it's a good excuse to dote on you," she said with a soft smile.
"Gag," Lemshire said, audibly rolling his eyes and advancing toward Damien. "I'll make sure it doesn't make you sick just for that," he continued, resting a hand on Damien's shoulder.
"Wait, you said you couldn't-" Damien started before his words began failing him, vision going black as his body deconstructed itself.
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"Why should we help the tree huggers any more than we have? We already allow 'em to come into our borders. Let 'em handle the rest themselves," King Dagon declared in a dismissive manner from atop his throne.
"But if you offered them protection, they could very wel-"
"I'm not givin 'em more'n what I already have, Carien," the King interrupted. "They can stay in my land. We are too busy with the war t-"
Suddenly, a loud banging resounded throughout the throne room as its large stone doors were thrown aside. An aid, by the looks of it, was currently rushing to where Carien stood before the King.
Carien was there to once again implore the Dwarven King to make steps toward maintaining a peace rather than continuing the war. This time, he was here to ensure things went fine with the Elven transfer at the very minimum.
At least Dagon was willing to accept them into the northern lands though, so Carien couldn't complain outright. Protection would certainly be a boon near the border, but giving them land to reside on without a hassle was already a pretty big concession.
Just... protection would all but guarantee they felt indebted enough to assist with the war effort. The added assistance in the form of Elven Mages and elite Sylphen riders would be more than a small addition and worth a little give from the man, perhaps even balancing the scales enough that the Emperor stop his foolish crusade, but Dagon wasn't budging. He would sooner die than allow his own troops to defend another race when they were pressed so thin already. It made sense as far as loyalty was concerned, but it was truly a pity he couldn't understand the loss of a few for the gain of the many.
"Sir!" the aide called, kneeling by Carien's side while facing his King.
"Stand," Dagon responded in a regal tone. "Now, why are ya here interruptin the meetin, lad?" he continued, switching to an informal tone the moment the young man stood up.
"The Elves have declared hostilities. They have excommunicated Dwarves in the immediate area surroundin' their tree and are already purging any from it to the western coastline."
"What?" Carien asked, tone conveying extreme surprise as he turned to the aid.
"And you ask me to assist more of the damn treehuggers in gaining access to my country, Carien?!" the King shouted.
"What is their Casus belli?" Carien asked, ignoring Dagon's outburst.
The aid nervously glanced between the King and Carien before responding.
"Evidence of multiple Dwarven raids on immigratin' groups on the border. Someone is attacking their convoys as they are crossin' the Shrayun pass," the aid responded. "We haven't been able to confirm the validity of the statements yet."
"Clearly false," Dagon shouted, slamming his fist into his throne while getting increasingly more agitated. "We have no need to monitor that pass with the others under constant siege. It borders Eleram. Our men are nowhere near it!"
Carien turned back to the throne and interjected.
"If someone was looking to frame the Dwarves to incite a confli-"
"Ya look for the best in everyone, Carien!" Dagon countered loudly. "Always have! We give em sanctuary, and they bite us? Let them have their tiny morsel of land. Order all towns west and within fifty miles of that tree evacuated. Have em come together and carve a large town in the hills to the east of the damn tree," he ordered.
"Dagon, please. If this is a misunderstanding, going to war is exactly what they'd wan-"
"It isn't war, Carien. It is preparing. If any harm befell my people, it will be war. No harm has come to us right?" the King asked, receiving a nod from his aid in return.
"I-"
"Carien. They are the aggressors here. They come into my territory, on my good will, steal land knowing we can't fight back due to a prior war, and claim it justified because they guess we attacked 'em. If ma people and I wanted to, we could wipe their entire colony out. I care not fer yer peace preaching at the moment. Leave us to plan, we will speak again in an hour. You," he said, dismissing Carien with a wave and pointing at the aid, "make sure they know to build the town with militant capabilities. How many of those fools are in our territory of yet?"
Carien let out a sigh and nodded his head before turning around to walk out of the room.
"Ten thousand," the aid responded from back where the two Dwarves were speaking, their voices growing more distant by each of Carien's echoing steps.
The Celestial continued his walk past a few guards that were standing at attention, four on either side of the door, and left the throne room. He turned right and moved himself down a long corridor back to the guest quarters, a pair of dark eyes following down the hallway after him, their owner making no sounds or noticeable indications that he was there in the first place.