Chapter XXXVI (36)- Jump

The next two weeks fell into a routine. The academy had kindly gifted him with an enchanted crutch that could be folded down to fit in his palm, so that he could at least walk under his own power. But even with the crutch, every step caused his destroyed leg to throb in agony, no matter how much of his weight he took off it. At first, he could only barely manage to limp across his dorm with the help of the crutch. Thankfully, it did get marginally better day by day.

And sure enough, just like he had been told, his popularity at the academy shot skyward. Students he didn’t recognize began to greet him by name in the hall and offer congratulations on the fight. Of course, his brother, Finn, was the exception that proved the rule. He refused to even acknowledge Kizu’s existence these days. But still, undeserved or not, it was validating to be seen by the others at the academy.

He would have traded every shred of their admiration for a working leg in a heartbeat.

“How’s your progression this week?” Roba asked, drumming her fingernails on her desk.

“Slow,” Kizu admitted. “I can do everything we study in Elemental F. Freezing and boiling a cup of water is easy. I can mold earth if it's just a handful, but beyond that it’s difficult.”

“Your astronomy scores are improving,” Roba noted, shuffling a few papers.

“I finished memorizing the constellations a few days ago. But I don’t really feel like that’s progress. It’s just knowing something by a different name.”

“Hm. And Combat F? How is Arclight treating you?”

“Like I’m made of glass,” Kizu complained. “She still makes me sit out during running sessions, not even letting me walk. I asked her if I could at least exercise something other than my leg and she told me that pushing myself further could worsen the damage.”

“You seem to be walking better today. You barely even leaned on your crutch.”

Kizu felt his leg. Under his uniform pant leg, a piece of cloth was tightly wound around his damaged leg. It wasn’t a normal bandage.

“I enchanted something to help,” he said. “It strengthens the bone and muscles while it's on.”

Roba raised an eyebrow. “Fancy bit of work.”

“Professor Kateshi guided me through it, and handled the more complex parts,” he admitted. “I knew I needed something, and this was what she came up with. Then she touched it up after I finished.” What he had actually asked for was an enchantment to remove the pain altogether. But Kateshi refused, insisting that pain was vital to recovering. He decided not to tell Roba that bit.

“Arclight blames herself,” Roba said, examining the leg brace. “She tried putting a stop to it once she saw how the students manipulated the other contestants into withdrawing their participation. But those contests are run by a branch of the Hon government, not directly by the academy. She’s an authorized facilitator by their authority. Because she was one of the main professors who originally pushed to get those boys back in the contests, she was put in a difficult position. She still thinks she should have done things differently to avoid this outcome. For the next couple weeks, she’s shut down the contests and she’s now actively attempting to set up a new system for next semester, outside the Hon government’s authority. But I suspect we’ll see the normal tests returning before the semester’s end.”

“And what do you think about all of this?”

Roba’s face hardened. “I should not speak poorly of those in positions of authority above me. This is not my area of administration.” She paused. “But I believe they are in for a reckoning. Arclight is not someone you want to make an enemy of. And the headmaster now has a detailed report as well. Inari Kusatta is untouchable as a prince of the empire, but someone in the Hon government is going to take a fall for this.”

“A prince? He introduced himself as a warlord.”

“Because it’s the more powerful of his titles. There are thirty-two people ahead of him in line of succession. But there are only four warlords. It’s extremely uncommon for one to attend a sparring contest. Kateshi called in a favor asking him to attend in her place. Unfortunately, he did not seem very inclined to actually help heal any of the injured students.”

Kizu debated telling Roba about Inari suffocating him in the fight. But he had no proof. No one else would be able to witness the attack with it being inside his body. It would be his word against a prince. And stirring up more trouble around the man seemed like a bad idea. Better to distance himself from opposing the Hon government as much as possible. Especially someone like that man who was accomplished enough in hexes to catch even Arclight off-guard. But he promised himself that he wouldn’t ever forget the sadistic man.

“Arclight’s arm isn’t her natural one, right?” Kizu asked, changing the subject. “Are there things that could fix my leg like her arm?”

“No,” Roba said. “Professor Arclight’s arm is a prosthetic, but it’s also one of a kind, found deep within the World Dungeon. There are a few mages out there skilled enough to create small replacement body parts, such as eyes, but fully functioning limbs remain artifacts of the far flung past. And even if you did find access to a similarly enchanted prosthetic, it would still require the complete amputation of your leg. While it grants Arclight power in one regard, it also severely limits her blood reserves. But that’s not to say there aren’t more options for you. The world is massive and its secrets barely scratched.”

Kizu nodded, considering the problem. It made sense. Still, there was a seed of hope. Even misshapen, he still one hundred percent would rather keep his leg attached to his body. He would find something though. This current leg brace was only the start.

Roba eyed him. “Very well, I’ve decided you’re ready.”

Kizu perked up. “To jump?” Finally.

Roba looked wary of his enthusiasm. He tried to dial it back and likely failed.

“Yes,” she said, watching him. “But before we start, I want you to know there are a few different ways in which jumping can be accomplished. I’ve been teaching you the safest and most reliable way. I’m hesitant to even mention the existence of other methods. But I have reports that you vigorously study in the library, and I would rather not have you stumble onto contradictory information without a mentor around to set you straight. For all intents and purposes, consider me your only source of information for this spell.”

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

Kizu quickly promised. He wanted to ask about the other methods, but the look on her face brooked no arguments.

“First, list the limitations of a jump.”

Kizu held back a sigh. “Distance is the most obvious limitation. The further the jump, the more difficult the spell. If you lack focus while doing a long-distance jump, you could end up kilometers away from your intended location.”

“Or?” Roba prompted, not yet satisfied.

“Or, you could end up buried in the side of a mountain.”

“Good. Next limitation.”

“What happens during a jump is a displacement of what’s here and what’s there. Usually, the mage simply switches places with the air in the intended spot.”

“And if someone is already in that location?”

Kizu winced. “It would usually result in extreme disfigurement. If not death.”

“Good.”

“And of course, there’s the blood cost,” Kizu added. “The further the location and the less familiar it is to the spellcaster, the higher the cost of blood involved. But most cities have a beacon which will route the mage to it, lightening the toll on oneself. Which makes it safer as well.”

Roba jumped across the room, her hands laced behind her back. She studied a school of fish as they swam by. “I suppose we’ll have to take this elsewhere,” she muttered. “I hardly want you destroying one of my beautiful walls and drowning us.”

Kizu had actually thought the walls were projections showing them a scene from somewhere else entirely. He hadn’t expected the room to actually have spatial magic incorporated into it. The fact they might really be at the bottom of the sea sent a shiver down his spine. But before he could ask her about it, she jumped behind him and set a hand on his shoulder.

The vertigo caused him to stumble and fall to his knees. It took him a moment for his vision to clear and the pain in his leg to fade to a manageable level. They were in an empty field. It was flat, with green grass that only grew to ankle height. He saw a forest in the distance. As far as he could tell, there weren’t any animals roaming in the field. Just him and Roba.

“Now jump,” Roba instructed him.

Kizu focused on a spot a stone’s throw away. He remembered to aim a bit higher, so as not to end up buried. Then he closed his eyes and channeled like Roba had taught him.

His eyes snapped open as he felt the rush of air. He only had time to flail his arms out wildly before careening face-first into the dirt.

Roba tsk’d behind him. “You lost focus of yourself. Your body was all turned around as a result. And you left behind half of your clothing as well.”

Kizu grunted, his neck extremely sore from the fall. Sure enough, both of his boots as well as his leg brace were back beside Roba. He was grateful that his uniform had at least stuck with him during the jump.

Then a realization hit him. He had done it. He’d executed his first jump. Sure, it hadn’t been flawless, but he had done it.

“Wipe the smirk off your face and pick up your things,” Roba commanded.

Kizu did as she told him and limped back across the field to gather his things. He couldn’t help thinking that this might be the solution for his leg problem. Who needed to walk when you could jump wherever you needed to go?

“Aren’t you worried I might mess up and jump into you?” Kizu asked.

The old woman snorted. “No matter what you do, you’ll never manage to harm a hair on my head. You think I’d risk my life for a kid to learn a fancy new spell? Any decent mage has dozens of innate protections up at all times. You couldn’t jump into me even if I was in a coma.”

“You mean like an antimagic shield?” Kizu asked, his leg brace back on.

“Hardly. That’s a broad spectrum counter for the majority of spells. This is a focused resistance for a specific set of spells. It takes years of channeling spells to firmly maintain a resistance. If you were to try to jump into the space I am in, the spell would be rejected, and you would slide right off me. It would be the same result if you tried to jump into the academy. There are wards in place to reject you and redirect you outside the academy grounds, or to the academy’s beacon if they’re feeling charitable.

“Anyway, enough chit-chat. Jump.”

Kizu focused on roughly the same area he’d jumped to earlier. This time he not only envisioned his location, but also himself, clothes and brace included. When he opened his eyes he fell a few feet to the ground. He still collapsed to all fours, but this time he managed to stay upright at the very least. And this time, he was only missing a single boot.

As much as he wanted to keep training long into the night, Roba pulled him away after only half a dozen jumps. She told him any more than that would be reckless and idiotic. But the taste of success was addictive, and he was loath to give it up after the weeks he’d spent hobbling around on his ruined leg. Kizu closed his eyes for one last jump.

Roba’s gnarled hand clamped down on his shoulder, and then he felt her dragging him away. A piece of him panicked at the sensation. He instinctively attempted to shrug off her hand.

“Do that again and you’ll never receive another lesson,” Roba growled.

When she let go of him, he collapsed on her office floor, panting.

She didn’t speak to him again while he lay there crumpled on the floor, instead sitting back down at her desk and turning her attention to a stack of documents.

He eventually gathered up enough energy to stand and stumble out of the office.

Using the wall as a support, he limped down the hallway. His leg ached worse than it had in over a week. When he finally found a bench to sit on, he almost passed out in relief. But he clung stubbornly to consciousness, biting down on his tongue to keep himself from drifting off.

Once again, his blood had limited him on how much he could reasonably accomplish. He knew that once he spent more time practicing, the blood cost would reduce for each spell, but still. He yearned for a quicker solution. As it was, he could barely manage a few jumps without collapsing. And he couldn’t even exercise to improve his heart’s circulation. He was both physically and magically crippled.

But he supposed if a shortcut existed, everyone would try to take it. He just needed to power through and get stronger. Slowly and steadily.