Ravalar welcomed a tall elven woman from the seats behind him. She stood and walked toward him with the skilled movement of someone ready to break into action at a moment's notice. Her gaze took in everything around her, scanning and cataloging all possible dangers. Only the light blue tattoos wreathing her bare forearms told Pax she was a mage. Otherwise, she looked like a hard-bitten type of rogue warrior.
Pax shivered. She moved like a powerful predator stalking her prey. Even from a distance, Pax could sense a lethal ability simmering under the dark leather armor she wore. If she was his new teacher, then spell class would get interesting fast.
Ravalar turned back to the crowd with his usual smarmy smile, holding out one arm to the woman as she joined him. “This is Mage Aerin Warwick. She left her prestigious position on the Tower Ring to train and prepare our academy air mages for the coming conflicts. Please give her a warm welcome.”
A healthy amount of applause filled the stadium, and now Pax wasn’t the only one craning his head to get a better look at Mage Warwick. They rarely got a chance to see a tower mage, much less meet one in person. They hardly ever left the Ring and then only to visit their hometowns and families. Tower Ring mages and warriors took on the biggest and most powerful beasts before the rest of the empire even had a chance to shiver in fear. Excitement flickered inside Pax as he considered how much he could learn from a mage like her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have any of Graybrew’s prejudices and conniving social ambitions.
Mage Warwick maintained her stern expression, giving a curt nod as the clapping faded before returning to her seat. She still looked dangerous, even from the back. Pax couldn’t decide if he was excited or worried about his next spell class.
“I have a second piece of business to attend to.” Ravalar waited for everyone to quiet down before continuing. “As you know, we usually hold an auction at the last Purge camp for those who’ve fought the beasts to have the first chance at items they need for their own progression. This includes all the loot from the nightly attacks on the Purge walls as well as anything the expedition members would like to sell quickly. Once the expedition returns, the capital usually holds an official Purge auction with everything else. With the disruption to tradition and the short timeline to respond to the rebels’ attack, the first auction, for expedition members only, will be held this Sunday in the Salman Auction House. The army members leaving in the morning to Quarrybrook will be allowed to appoint an auction proxy. Finally, to encourage members to list their items there instead of the general auction in two weeks, the Salman Auction House has generously agreed to waive all fees for that auction. They want to do their part to support the troops.”
“I guess that means they’re not sending students with the army.” Amil’s expression was conflicted. “But we expected that.”
Pax gave him a grim nod before noticing that more students around him seemed to be responding to the mention of fees being waived than the army movements.
He leaned over to Rin and asked, “How big are their fees? And is the auction that big a deal?”
“I’ve heard more gold changes hands at the Salman Auction House than anywhere in the empire.” Rin kept her voice low, but Pax could hear the excitement thrumming in it. “And I’ve never heard of them waiving any fees, much less all of them”
“Once the auction is finalized, the merchants in charge of the Purge finances will calculate individual rewards from the general fund based on each person’s contributions.” Ravalar gave them all a fatherly look. “Now I know that kind of windfall is going to encourage some spree spending. But please remember, we are at war and use the bulk of your funds to grow stronger.”
Pax felt his inner greed cheering at the news of incoming wealth
“And concerning the Salman Auction House, I have a warning for all of you.” Ravalar held up a cautioning finger, his expression stern. “Be very grateful for this opportunity. I expect reports back of impeccable behavior if you ever want to see the inside of the auction house in the future. Usually, only powerful mages with significant gold to their names are allowed entry. You are extremely fortunate that the Salman Auction House wants to reward you and your fellow expedition members for your service during these perilous times.”
On the other side of Amil, Dahni had closed his eyes and started counting on his fingers, his lips moving soundlessly.
Amil grinned and shifted in his seat with excitement as he leaned toward Pax. “We need to figure out our shared crew coin and what we’re going to sell.”
“First, we need to figure out what we’re going to wear,” Rin said, eyes full of calculations and plans.
Pax shook his head wondering how many of their initial plans would be changed by this auction. It could be a chance to gain intelligence, make allies, or simply earn enough coin to kit everyone out with the next step in equipment and scrolls. What if some of the lightning loot came up for grabs?
Ravalar didn’t give them any time to ruminate. He cleared his throat and said, “Now, we need to address the unfortunate situation our empire finds itself in and how we, as an academy, plan to respond.”
Things quieted, and it felt as if the entire stadium took a bracing breath.
“As you all no doubt know, we have an evil rot within the empire that we must cut out. Instead of lending their strength to fighting the hordes that threaten to overwhelm us all, these rebels—” He spat the word. “—would bleed away our precious strength with their petty disputes. We had to recall the Purge early, leaving too many nests of beasts to grow even stronger and threaten our northern cities.”
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Angry murmurs grew in the crowd as he continued. Pax made sure to join in.
“But they won’t be a problem for long. Our leaders will send the troops recalled from the Purge to free Quarrybrook from the control of those despicable betrayers.”
It felt as if half the stadium was holding their breath to hear the news they’d all been waiting for. Would students be going along?
“As Quarrybrook is just a small city that our army can easily retake, only the official troops from the Purge expedition will be going.”
A groan of disappointment traveled through the crowd.
“But—” Ravalar held up his hand. “That doesn’t mean our academy students won’t be critical to putting down the upstart rebels for good. Our brave fighters will leave many important jobs unattended here in the capital while they’re away to take care of Quarrybrook. So, in the coming days, we’ll have army officials here requesting your aid. You are to take their assignments as priority over your regular Academy duties.”
Interest waned as the students heard Ravalar describe what was likely to be boring grunt work compared to joining the army heading into battle.
“These tasks will include taking shifts on the capital wall, enchanting weapons and armor, brewing potions, and even assisting those making the battle plans and collating strategic information.”
Pax wasn’t the only one giving his friends a look of surprise. Positions on the capital’s wall were a privilege only the best of the best earned. And the hint at working with those in charge was an even bigger draw. It was exactly the opportunity they needed to gain access to information that would help the rebels.
“You will be called to work at different levels of our army and government. You will consider your assignments an opportunity to both help and learn. Usually, we reserve valuable internships like this for our fourth-year students, but at the moment, the need is dire. I know I can count on you to step up and aid our empire.” He finished with a flare, and the crowd responded with matching excitement.
“Now, I have one final announcement.” Headmaster Ravalar held his hands up, a smile widening across his face. “We are the empire’s mage academy. As such, our mission is to train upcoming mages with the skills and strength they need to survive while they protect our empire. Until now, that has centered on the best way to drive back the beast hordes that plague our nation. The rebels’ actions have changed all that.”
Murmurs fell silent as many in the audience leaned forward with interest and anticipation. Pax wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what came next.
“Thus, in order to adapt our training to the current circumstances and train you to use your skill against enemy people instead of beasts, we will be adding war games to the class rotations.”
That got a reaction. Voices sprang up full of both questions and excitement.
Ravalar held up his hands, raising his voice over the sudden commotion. “More details will be forthcoming. To start, you need to organize into squads of ten members, which should include a mix of the fighting classes and don’t need to be members of your current teams. You may have fewer than ten members, but will not receive any accommodations for having a smaller squad. We will start by coordinating initial training with the conditioning class instructors from all academies. Also, we will combine some of your scholastic classes to allow time for your new responsibilities and training. This all starts tomorrow, giving us Sunday to work out any issues. We have notified your instructors to be flexible as we all settle into our new responsibilities.”
The mention of fewer scholastic classes got a cheerful response from many, including Amil. Pax wouldn’t complain either if he had fewer books to read and study.
“One final addition.” Ravalar held up his hands again, and the noise quieted down. “To add more incentive and pressure to motivate your training, we are planning to hold a war games tournament for everyone to show how much they’ve learned.”
The crowd went crazy at that announcement, excited voices bouncing around the walls of the stadium. Ravalar stepped back from the podium with a smile of satisfaction and took a few moments to just watch and enjoy it.
It took a while for everyone to calm down, but the atmosphere of the stadium had changed completely from where it had been at the start of the assembly. Ravalar finally stepped back and motioned for his clerk to take over again.
“After lunch today, the military and government officials will set up booths in the Tri-Academy Store courtyard. Please go and find an assignment that is a good fit for your skills and interests. Over the weekend, we will arbitrarily hand out assignments to anyone who doesn’t choose one today.” The clerk looked down at his notes. “There will also be a booth to register your official war game squads. You can test them out over the next two weeks before you need to finalize your rosters. We will organize anyone left without an official squad into random groups of ten.”
Pax heard conversations springing up everywhere, but at least they kept their voices low so everyone could hear the instructions.
“Finally, your adjusted class schedules will be available at the assignment board in the dining hall building. Please stop by today to familiarize yourself with the changes because classes start bright and early tomorrow.” He gave them all an abrupt nod before looking over his shoulder for approval from Headmaster Ravalar.
Ravalar motioned for the clerk to come to him. After a bit of inaudible whispering back and forth, the clerk returned to the podium. “Headmaster Ravalar wanted me to emphasize that time is short, and we need everyone’s full effort. The army to retake Quarrybrook will leave first thing Monday morning after the auction. All of you will have to step up to keep things running while they’re gone. You will also have to hone your skills fighting other people should you be called upon to fight in this war. To help motivate you and reward hard work, the council and our generous sponsors are gathering a set of extremely valuable prizes. We will share more details soon. Just know you now have even more reason to do your best and contribute.”
The excitement surged again, almost palpable, as the clerk looked to Ravalar for approval. When he got a nod, he turned back to the crowd. “There will be no classes today. Use the time to recover and prepare for tomorrow. Each of you will also need to prepare for the auction, register for an assignment with the government or military and pick up your new schedules. Direct questions or concerns to your individual mentors. Dismissed!”
There was a brief pause before the stadium erupted in sound and motion. There was so much to process. Students and even instructors turned to neighbors in animated discussions, while some just shook their heads in silence as they stood to leave.
Pax was one of the latter, his mind whirling with the implications of all the changes. He’d expected the start of the war to change things, but things were happening so fast. They'd just need to adapt even faster.