Chapter III.III (3.3) - Damages

Kizu reviewed his current standings one last time before spring break.

Combat- 411, Astronomy- 201, Divination- 92, History- 787, Politics- 791, Rejuvenation and Restoration- 799, Conjuring- 799, Brewing- 1, Numerology- 799, Music- 599 (piano), Enchanting- 177, Illusion- 81, Elemental- 300.

Added up, the number reached 5,837. The headmaster had promised a few months earlier to divulge information about his sister if he reached the total 1,000. Unfortunately, he was a far cry away from that goal.

Now committed to visiting Aoi over the break, he promised himself that he would actively listen and ask questions about politics. He needed some sort of leg up in that class if he wanted any chance of improving that ranking. Visiting Tross for the school excursion had improved the score a tiny bit. Capitalizing on that strategy was a necessity. And he reluctantly admitted to himself that he needed to pay better attention in Krimpit’s lectures next semester.

He put his academy scrying orb away in his pack on top of his clothes. Roba had allowed him to fetch his and Anata’s things from the ship.

Owl’s Respite wasn’t in the best condition. Two separate craters in the deck broke through the ceiling. One over the cargo hold, and the other above the crew’s quarters where Kizu packed his bag. Despite Roba and the headmaster’s requisition of the ship, the skeletons still sat at their usual table. Several of their bones were now either scorched black or missing altogether, but they continued playing their card game, as if nothing had happened. A brownish red smear on the floorboards led from the empty bookshelf up to his hammock. Blood. His blood. Getting that stain out of the wood would be tough. He might need to replace the wood altogether. Thankfully, the battle up on the deck hadn’t damaged any of his or Anata’s possessions. Just the structure of the ship.

Exiting the crew’s quarters, Kizu crossed the deck to the captain’s cabin. During their fight, Sojan and Inari had been blasting each other with high powered spells up in the air above Owl’s Respite. This had the unfortunate consequence of knocking down the already broken main sail’s mast. To reach the captain’s cabin, Kizu had to vault over where the mast lay, dangling somewhat precariously over the edge of the gunwales.

At first glance, Aoi’s laboratory looked untouched. He noticed the broken vat that once contained his new leg. He flexed his toes, feeling the claws pierce through his boot’s sole and grip into the woodwork. Looking down at the foot, Kizu sighed. Unless he gained better control of his new limb, he was going to be spending a fortune on cobblers.

Earlier in the day, Aoi had begged him to inspect the area for damages and to check for any missing equipment. So Kizu examined the other objects strewn around the make-shift laboratory. Several other smaller limbs and one giant leg floated in various vats and a small pile of enchanted tools lay in a basket besides her operating table. Like the crew quarters’ floor, it was also stained with his dried blood. He noticed dully that a scalpel on the table hadn’t been cleaned and there were bits of his new leg’s thigh which had been sliced off to even it out for him. No longer sustained by the liquid in the vat, it had shriveled up and reeked like rotting fish.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

But the largest necromantic object was along the captain’s cabin’s back wall. Inside a vat the height of him, a gnome’s body floated. It had been Aoi’s most recent experiment, cloning a clone. It wasn’t fully formed, but instead of looking juvenile, the twisted body looked halfway between a fetus and an adult’s body. Kizu knew a juvenile gnome, and Jak definitely did not look like that.

Obviously, he wouldn’t be able to carry that out with him. Instead, he went over and gathered up some of Aoi’s notes. Nothing had been taken from the room, but the princess hadn’t done a great job of organizing all the papers taken from the necromancer’s laboratory. She would have to make do with random pages of scattered notes that she had left pinned up on the walls. Most had been from the necromancer who previously owned the ship, but he recognized the handwriting of a couple sheets as belonging to Aoi.

With a small pile of notes tucked into his pack along with a couple of her enchanted tools, Kizu exited the captain’s cabin.

Standing on the deck, he looked down into the lake below. There was no sign of the monstrous jellyfish creature or Inari, Kateshi, or Sojan’s gnome body. He hoped to retrieve the enchanted dagger. The jellyfish shouldn’t have been able to kill Sojan, but then again, he really didn’t fully understand the dagger’s capabilities. He had half expected it to seize control of the magical creature after being consumed by it.

If Sojan was now in control of the monster, he showed no sign of it. Kizu decided it was a problem for later. At his current skill level, he didn’t dare risk descending into the depths of the lake. He would brainstorm some retrieval ideas over spring break. And maybe by then he would have a better idea of how Anata convinced the monster to devour the mages. She had refused to speak about glamours or her abilities since the incident. Well, she’d always refused to speak, but now she was obstinately avoiding the subject.

Hopefully the dagger would be fine for a month.

Best case scenario, he returned with a better air bubble spell and discovered Sojan undisturbed on the rocky lakebed. He grimaced. In his life, he rarely ever encountered best case scenarios. But that was a problem for the future.

The more he considered Aoi’s offer to house him and Anata over the break, the more it made sense to him. Especially after seeing the condition of Owl’s Respite. This break might even offer him opportunities to make some money to buy materials for repairs as well as give him a buffer to advance his spellcraft. Maybe he could take on some odd jobs in the city for extra coin. Something to consider.

Taroe had mentioned to him that all Elites needed to attend the festival as part of their duties unless they were away on other official business. So, Kizu would have him around to rely on while there as well. He didn’t know how much he trusted the Elite, but he already knew Anata’s secret and was a friend to the headmaster.

With his own parents not wanting to associate with Anata, his other options seemed to be either stay at the academy and hope the headmaster would let Anata stay in the dorms until he finished his repairs on the ship or ask another student like Ione to stay with them. He supposed they hypothetically could camp in the forest for a week or two, but with how active the monsters had been recently and not understanding Anata’s power, that was barely an option even worth considering. No. Going with Aoi seemed like the best step forward.

All things considered, the option really boiled down to whichever Anata was going to enjoy the most. No matter where he went, he planned to spend the entire month studying and practicing spells. With the academy’s library open for limited hours during the break, he probably could get just as much studying done at Aoi’s home. Her family undoubtably owned a personal library he could access.

The gamble was this favor Aoi mentioned needing from him. But with her family breathing down her neck about necromancy, Kizu doubted it could be anything too protracted and obvious. Plus, he did owe her for that impromptu surgery she’d performed on his leg.

His mind made up, the only question remaining was which book from the library to check out.