Jacob didn't wake up in time to have a shower. He silenced his alarm and lay there, not even considering getting up for Consumption Basics.
Blake flicked the light on. "C'mon bud. You can sleep tonight."
That didn't even begin to make sense given the situation, but Jacob got up anyway. Blake and he made their way to the Consumption Building. The whole way Jacob couldn't stop thinking about the night before. All that for nothing in the end. All that risk. He'd been crazy to go through with breaking that lock and the necromancy. The worst part was that it was as if he'd bashed his head against a brick wall. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what else he could do to figure out who the vampire was.
They went and sat in their usual spot. Funnily enough, even though the auditoriums for each Basics course were the same, they sat in different places. Being in such a mundane place as an auditorium with all these normal people chattering away about classes and homework and who had a crush on who made last night seem like a fever dream. The void, those crazy emotions, that needle voice in his head. Had any of it been real?
Tanaka entered the auditorium. He made eye contact with Jacob, then went and sat in the back corner.
It had been real all right.
Camilla and Grace came in and sat next to them. Jacob straightened, said good morning to Camilla, and tried to quash the guilty feelings he had. He read somewhere that girls could read emotions better than boys, so he glanced over at her nervously. She was pulling out her binder, oblivious to his betrayal.
He'd betrayed her to Tanaka and had gotten nothing out of it. And here things had been going so well between them. Christ, he was gonna have to tell her at some point.
"Attention! We will begin the lecture now." Professor Alhammadi tapped his pointer on the lectern as the class quieted. He was a tall Middle Eastern man with a light accent who couldn't be more than forty. He'd worn a grey three-piece suit to each class so far and had a curt, businesslike way of addressing the class.
Before Professor Alhammadi could continue, the door slammed open. Archie strode into the auditorium. He wore a long peacoat despite the fact it was a fairly warm summer day, and carried a business briefcase in one hand. He looked twenty-five.
"My deepest condolences for my tardiness," Archie said. "The market opened low last night."
"Yes, well, take a seat, Mr Vanderbilt. You haven't missed much." Prof Alhammadi said.
Archie spotted their group out of the crowd and ran up the steps in such a way that made Jacob remember he was only seventeen like the rest of them.
Despite having known him for a month, Jacob was still having a hard time deciphering whether Archie didn't give a shit about classes at all or was just so confident in his abilities that he felt he didn't need to care.
Professor Alhammadi cleared his throat. "You have all learned how to cast Production and Decomposition spells, but today you will be learning the most important type of magic. Consumption. Can anyone tell me why Consumption is the most important type of magic?" Professor Alhammadi waited expectantly for an answer, then pointed at Victor, who had raised his hand. "Yes, you there."
"Because Consumption allows one to cast the strength-resilience spell, without which it would be almost impossible to engage in any sort of combat," Victor said.
"A valid answer, but not the one I was looking for." Professor Alhammadi smiled. "Consumption magic is special because it is the only magic that affects you. The only magic where you have the power to change your body, and, more importantly, your mind. The Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci said that 'One who cannot establish dominion over themselves, will have no dominion over others.' As mages, just as in any other discipline, we must first master ourselves before we seek to change the world and those around us. Learning the craft of Consumption forces us to learn about ourselves. Your other profs have probably wooed you with the flashy powers of Production and Decomposition, but both of those disciplines start here." He tapped the side of his head with his pointer. "Consumption allows us not only to augment our physical abilities, but also our perception, our thought. Production and Decomposition have their specialties, yet every powerful mage I know is a skilled Consumer.
"Now to the lesson. The same strength-resilience spell that Mr Vincent informed us about. Engage your magic, envision a colour if it helps, spread your magical muscle through your body, envision yourself becoming resistant. In this, we can use one of several strategies. We can use our Production imagination, and imagine our skin becoming as resilient as steel or something more resilient than steel. Or we can use the focused belief from Decomposition, believing that we are steel. Or we can use the Consumption approach, willing our magic to increase our strength and resilience. I recommend this one. They are similar approaches, three sides to one coin if you will, but the devil is in the details. You may all want to quickly learn spells for the upcoming tournament, but I encourage you to breed good habits, practice consistent methodology. It will save you time and make you stronger in the long run."
They spent the rest of that class practicing the strength-resilience spell. Jacob did it mostly for fun right at the start, then spent most of the rest of the class helping Blake and Grace. Archie and Camilla sat next to each other, chatting in low voices, not bothering to practice. Jacob was happy to help the other two, but by the end, he was a little bored. This was probably how Camilla felt in every class.
"That concludes class today." Professor Alhammadi said. "The readings are posted online. Class dismissed."
People hustled out of class immediately. Archie and Camilla were still talking, so Grace, Blake, and Jacob waited around for them.
You're gonna have to tell her about Tanaka...
Instead, Jacob grabbed his bag and made his way purposefully down to where Professor Alhammadi was packing up his lecture materials. He'd done this once before with Professor Muesli, he could do it again here where it was way more important.
"Professor Alhammadi?" Jacob asked.
The man looked up, his bushy eyebrows raised. "Ah, the young white mage. Mr Caibo, what can I do for you?"
You know me? Jacob almost asked. "Um..." How to say this? "I have some background in Consumption magic, actually. A friend of mine, a Deputy, taught me some before I came to the Academy. I was wondering-"
"Ah, yes. James Yang was a former student of mine." Professor Alhammadi smiled sadly. "It grieved me to hear of his passing. A terrible business. I am sorry that it was your introduction to the world of magic."
Jacob blinked. "Wha- Wait. You know what I'm talking about?"
"The magical community is smaller than you might think." Professor Alhammadi said. "Though I myself make an extra point of staying current with incidents and developments, in North America at least. I read Sheriff Hueller's report on the incident involving you and Ms D'Angelo and the members of the Vancouver Sanctuary."
"Oh." Jacob hadn't realized that was a thing, let alone available for his professors to read.
"I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like going through that at your age, Mr Caibo. If you ever need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to come by my office. The faculty is here for you."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Jacob blushed at the offer. "Thanks."
"Correct me if I am wrong but I assume you were bored with the lesson today and are looking for some more challenging, extra work?"
"Well, I mean I didn't think it was boring, I-"
Professor Alhammadi laughed. "It is okay to tell me how you feel. I will not take offence. I believe we should be more truthful with one another."
"Okay. Yes, I am wondering if you have any more advanced work for me."
Professor Alhammadi twirled his pointer. "You were seeded well in the tournament, were you not?"
Jacob nodded.
"Yes, I thought so. Hmm. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but for now, focus your attention on improving the skills you already have. If you win your first match, come back to me and we can discuss more advanced work. Deal?"
Jacob nodded. "Alright. Deal." His match wasn't for another two weeks, but he wasn't about to argue. Maybe Alhammadi knew what was best? Jacob hadn't had that much practice with the resilience spell.
"Good luck."
"Thanks." Jacob turned to leave, still a little shocked Professor Alhammadi had known about Jimmy and the rogue mage. Archie, Camilla and Grace had left without him, which rankled Jacob more than he'd thought it would. But Blake stood by the doorway, clearly pretending to be on his phone. He looked up as Jacob came over.
"Jacob, could you help me train for my match next week? I don't have the balls to ask Grace or Camilla." Blake practically jittered with nerves.
Jacob laughed despite himself. "Yeah man, of course. When?"
"Aw man, you're the best. I have a slot booked for one of the training chambers literally in five minutes."
Jacob followed him to the Equilibrium Building, which housed a dozen sizeable 'training chambers' that students could book in hour-long slots to do anything from practice fireballs to meditating. Grunts and blasts and other sounds of training came from most of the rooms even though the thick doors were shut. Priority was given to those with upcoming tournament matches in the Play-In. He'd been meaning to book one himself but had gotten totally caught up with the vampire hunting. Christ, he needed to focus on school! If he lost his first match he'd look like an idiot. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to be something stupid like a white mage. Extra pressure he did not want.
Blake led him to an empty one on the third floor. The training chamber was roughly the size of a small classroom and reminded Jacob of the dungeon in the basement of Camilla's house. The walls, floor, and ceiling were worn stone covered in scratch and scorch marks.
"What do you think we should start with?" Blake asked.
The surprising conversation with Professor Alhammadi had Jacob thinking back to the days in the Vancouver Sanctuary, not so long ago and yet a world away.
Jimmy.
"Let's start with the strength-resilience spell."
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An hour later Jacob and Blake each sat down on the stone blocks that provided the only seating in the training room. They were both sweating and breathing heavily.
"It's tougher than I thought," Blake said. "Should have brought some water or something. I'm dying."
Jacob nodded, still composing himself. After Jacob had helped Blake get his casting fairly consistent, they'd spent the session forcing as much magic into their strength-resilience spells as they could, and then playing tag. Blake was taller, longer, covered more of the room naturally, but Jacob was able to put more magic into the spell so that he could move faster. Even with the extra speed, he moved better with it than Blake did. It was a one-sided contest, which was a weird feeling, because Jacob had never played sports or been great in gym class. Mostly he'd been unable to catch the other boys in tag games or would pass the ball or puck to the real athletes on his team whenever he got it.
"Thanks, bud, for helping me with this. I really appreciate it." Blake said.
Jacob shook his head. "No problem, I got some good practice in too."
"So, what do you think I should do next? Maybe a little fire or ward? I'm strongest in Production."
That was true, but Jacob remembered what Jimmy had told him about specialization. If even mages as skilled as Rangers stuck to their strengths, noobs like him and Blake should stick to maximizing things they already knew.
"Stick with the strength-resilience. Keep practicing it. It's better to have one strong spell you're good with, than be mid with a bunch."
Blake considered this. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
"Who are you fighting?"
"Some guy named Laszlo Trier. No idea what he looks like. Grace and Camilla haven't heard of him."
"Rank?"
"67th."
Jacob rubbed his chin. "Yeah, so like don't think of it as fighting a strong mage like Camilla or Tanaka. Someone seeded that low..." He realized what he'd been about to say.
"Isn't gonna be able to do much or be that strong. I know, cuz that's me too."
Jacob grimaced. "Sorry."
"Don't be. No point in deluding myself."
"True," Jacob said. He tried to change the subject. "But you've watched the tournament before. What are the low seed fights in the play-in usually like?"
Blake laughed. "Usually they end up looking like a schoolyard fight. Two people rolling around, trying to push each other out of bounds. Yeah, you're right. I don't need anything flashy. Getting consistent with this should give me a huge advantage."
Jacob nodded.
Blake wiped his face off with a towel. "How do you know all this stuff?"
"What? About fighting?"
"That too. But the magic. The casting. You're way better than I am with Consumption, but you only just found out about magic a week before coming to the Academy."
Jacob was suddenly nervous. He glanced over at Blake, who was still wiping his face off. Should he tell him about the rogue mage, about Jimmy and the Dream Tiger and everything that had happened? He'd managed to steer the conversations away from the subject whenever he thought they were coming close to it, but he'd known Blake a month now. He had never in his dreams thought that he would end up becoming such good friends with some random roommate here at the Academy. He'd thought it would be a pain in the ass living with someone else, and annoying putting up with them constantly. Maybe for those first few nights the shock of it had thrown him off, but now? Christ, he was gonna be sad when they parted at the end of the term.
Talking about it with Camilla had helped, but that was different. She already knew. Would this help? Maybe. But Blake deserved to know. If Jacob wanted to continue to be his friend he couldn't continue to be secretive.
"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone, alright?" Jacob said.
Blake looked hard at him. "Okay, yeah, I won't."
Jacob took a deep breath and started with that afternoon in VanDusen Botanical Garden.
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When Jacob was done silence filled the training room. He sat back and leaned his head against the rough stone wall and breathed out. It felt like a cord that had been tightening in him had unravelled. That had been the first time he'd told the whole thing from start to finish.
But what would Blake think?
"I don't even know what to say," Blake said. Surprise was etched across his bony features.
Jacob found it didn't even really matter how Blake reacted. It was good to get it off his chest. Good to just have told somebody. All at once he felt more comfortable around Blake, as if a wall separating them had come down. Why had he ever been afraid to talk about it?
"I can't imagine going through something like that," Blake said.
"It's over now," Jacob said.
Blake nodded. "So that's how you know Camilla, and know so much about magic. I'd never even thought about something like that happening. Whenever I think about being a Ranger it's always just dealing with crossovers. You don't think you might have to fight other mages. Or about how dangerous of a job it actually is." Blake fell silent.
Blake's phone started beeping.
"Ah, that's it. Time's up. We gotta get out so the next booking in here."
They packed up their backpacks in silence and left the training room. Two girls stood outside.
"All yours," Blake said.
"Thanks." They smiled.
Blake and Jacob made their way down to the first floor, and out into the sunny afternoon. Jacob took a deep breath of fresh air.
"Thanks for telling me," Blake said.
Jacob smiled. "Thanks for listening. Hope it didn't make being a Ranger seem too scary."
Blake shrugged. "Nah, it's good to hear from someone with actual experience. Can't delude myself, remember? Can't go around with some fantastical expectation in my brain. I'll never cut it that way."
Jacob had never thought about it that way. He wondered if he was doing that with wanting to be an ecologist. Sure he watched nature docs and stuff, but he'd never actually gone out and done any of it. Was it just a delusion? Was he doing the same with the idea of being a magical ecologist? Could he really study those crazy creatures?
"You got any plans for the afternoon?" Blake asked.
"Not really," Jacob said. He kind of wanted to see what Camilla was up to. "You gonna book another session in there?"
"There's a limit of one per day," Blake said. "But if you book one, we can go train again."
"How do I book it?"
"Here, I'll show you."
Blake took his phone and led him through the Academy's website to the training room booking page. He booked an empty slot at 5:00 pm.
"Thanks," Jacob said.
"Least I can do," Blake said. "What about you? Do you have anything you want to work on specifically before your match?"
Jacob probably hadn't given this as much thought as he should have, in part thanks to the escapade last night with Tanaka. "I don't know. I have time. My fight's not for two weeks. I have to wait for the Play-In to see who I'll be facing and what their abilities are."
Blake nodded. "Makes sense." Blake glanced at his phone. "Well, we got some time to kill before 5:00 pm. I'll race ya back to the dorm."
Jacob grinned. "You're on."