While Master Drye was addressing the class, Aurian thought she heard Leanne whisper a few words of prayer followed with a common mantra among priests. “Faith is a companion in the most trying of times.”
Wouldn't it be ironic if we survived a fight with a god and a confrontation with my Academy mage superiors only to die horribly in a class demo gone wrong? Aurian expressed her views on the situation with a few much more indelicate choice of verbiage in her local dialect of Exicozan. She hoped Leanne realized that none of what she said was directed at Leanne. The girl didn’t volunteer to be a participant at a spell demonstration at a magical academy.
“Was that meant to be an untranslatable and witty play on words using local idiomatic expressions?” Leanne asked in a whisper.
“Yes, absolutely. I wasn’t cursing at all.”
The professor who was addressing the class turned his neck and gave them an appraising look. “Is there a problem here before we can start?”
Before Aurian could reply, Leanne spoke up politely. “Esteemed professor, I know that my friend Aurian here knows the details of how to work this but since this is my first time and I am from a school with far less capable professors than here, I was wondering if you can give me a few hints and advice on where I should begin in conjuring a null field. Furthermore, I would love to know what safety precautions are enacted here. I understand the Unseen Academy has an excellent reputation with student safety, especially for classroom demonstrations.”
Way to go Leanne! Butter up the establishment to give us some chance of success here however slim. Master Drye scratched his mostly bald head in thought for a moment. Aurian supposed that there were a few wisps on either side of the temple but they were like twin white oases in a smooth desert of brown. “I suppose you’re right on safety. I would hate for this demonstration of spells to spell disaster for our Academy’s sterling reputation. The Board will cut off the rest of my hair if an exchange student would be hurt.”
“Was that a joke? Also, if you create a safety spell, would that affect us creating a null net?” Aurian was genuinely surprised at the driest professor she knew making what was presumably a joke.
“Young miss, my speech is concentrated truth of the highest order. I’d never be caught partaking in ‘jokes’ or any other such silliness. But I admit, you’re right, and I still haven’t answered your question.”
Aurian held her breathe in anticipation of his next words. There was no dramatic silence. That was just in her head. The professor continued. “To protect against all three spell types with just one spell or even a combination of protective spells would be very difficult. Hence, this is why we are testing your grasp of generating null fields to begin with. What I am about to do is create an autocasted null field that will only activate if it is within the sphere around each of you.”
Aurian looked around and saw no circle. “What sphere?”
Master Drye answered her question by chanting a few phrases repeatedly in a low whisper that Aurian could barely catch. A glowing translucent sphere formed around Leanne and Aurian. From the few fragments she caught, it didn’t sound like any Exicozan words she understood. This was extremely perplexing since the null field spell she had learned definitely required the incantations to be in the local language.
There are spells which use the Divine Tongue but I didn’t think mortals were able to use those and also a null net can’t possibly invoke the Divine when it’s supposed to nullify the Divine. What other language could it be? Maybe the language itself is not a requirement? Maybe that’s something I should ask Master Arbon. No, no no. Wait, I can’t do that. He’s a daemon according to Ada. It’s been hard enough trying to act normal in front of him earlier today. I don’t think I can keep that up for long. Why wouldn’t he tell me the truth on who he is? If he’s supposed to be my mentor and friend like he says he is, he should know that I would never judge him for not being human.
Aurian’s head was starting to hurt but she didn’t have time to ruminate any further on her confusion since the professor turned to Leanne and her giving a slight nod of his head. Nodding here would no longer be the start of their possible death sentence but it would still be embarrassing to train this hard, volunteer for a demonstration and utterly fail at it just because her usual partner decided to not go to class today. She was really going to have a talk with Mirella later. Lately, that girl seemed to oversleep even more than usual.
She realized that everyone was eagerly anticipating her to nod to acknowledge the start of the test. Her eyes swept the room one more time and confirmed that her usual partner Mirella was still not present. How many things can happen to a 16-year-old girl in just one day? I’ll pass this exam and then find Mirella. She better have a good reason on why she’s late on such an important day. The situation confronting Master Arbon can maybe wait another day or two. There’s too many moving parts right now. Let’s just breathe for a moment. Tackle what’s in front of me. It’s only ten minutes. Even if I just have to hold the null net myself, I should be able to do at least that much right?
Master Drye looked at her intently and from his frown she could tell that he was beginning to doubt her capability. If she doesn’t pass with flying colors today, not only could she possibly fail the class but it would prepare ample ammunition for more bullying. There was no more room for delay. She could feel her heart racing as she took a deep breath and nodded. Master Drye snapped his finger and said a word in the Divine tongue that Aurian didn’t recognize. He followed up with a quick warning. “You have two minutes to prepare before the artifacts are fully activated.”
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She raised her hands, focusing on the spell she had been practicing for weeks. She looked at Leanne and noted with little surprise that the priestess was doing absolutely doing. Strangely though, Leanne looked perfectly serene with even a small hint of a smile on her face. Even if they had a safety net with Master Drye’s spell, shouldn’t the priestess be at least a little concerned that they were about to be attacked by Divine magic?
Aurian couldn’t worry about Leanne though. She didn’t have much time. As she began to chant the incantation, she could feel the energy coursing through her body, filling her with an almost electric charge. The words of the spell were like a mantra in her mind, guiding her movements and helping her focus on the task at hand. She could feel the weight of the spell in her hands, like a tangible force that she could shape and mold to her will.
As she finished the incantation, she released the spell, letting the energy flow out of her and into the empty space in front of her. She confirmed from her sense of the ether flow that the thickest part of the net stood a foot in front of them. This should last at least a good solid eight minutes. For a moment, there was nothing but silence, and Aurian felt a moment of electrified anticipation. As if on cue, all of the Divine Artifacts hidden inside the pedestal activated. A blazing torrent of fire struck first, followed by a flash of lightning and then lastly by an ear-bursting explosion.
Aurian’s null net flickered and sparked, but it held strong, blocking out the Divine magic. She could hear the roar of the fire and the crackling of the lightning, but none of it touched her or Leanne. As soon as the spells touched the null net, they dissipated as if they never existed. The attack continued unabated for a while and she could feel the null net weakening. She gritted her teeth and hoped that it was enough.
Master Drye gave a satisfied nod and Aurian couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph and pride. All these weeks and months of endless practice were worth it. I have done it. Not only that. I have singlehandedly done it. Casted a spell which usually requires two people to do. She took a look at Leanne and noted the girl was staring straight ahead at the artifacts while quietly muttering something. With the explosive sounds happening every second, Aurian couldn’t grasp anything the priestess was saying. We’re just about done so what are you doing? Aurian gave her a confused look but Leanne didn’t respond.
Master Drye raised his arm and a wave of relief came over Aurian. This was going to be his indication that the test was over. He snapped his finger and simply said, “One more minute.”
To her shock, the Divine Artifacts did not stop firing its spells but instead accelerated in shooting out the lightning, fire and sound. Her null field held for only a moment before it flickered and the remaining ether holding it separated. Only a miracle could save me now.
She could feel her body tense up as the spells blasted through her null field. Aurian heard several classmates in the audience gasp. She stood up straighter and stared at the incoming spells with a determined grimace. I’m not going to be a coward and shy away from my failure. If I’m going to fail, I’ll at least show all of them that I’m not afraid. Master Drye’s autocasted spell should kick in and save our lives. But then something strange happened. The spells that were about to hit the protective sphere which Master Drye had casted never reached there. They had all vanished. The Divine Artifacts were suddenly silent as well.
Master Drye looked a little befuddled. Aurian glanced at Leanne and saw that the girl had stopped chanting. Did Leanne do something to those artifacts?
The class gasped and Aurian almost did as well. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. It was one thing to successfully nullify the Divine Artifacts, but it was an entirely different matter for them to suddenly stop firing their spells without any external intervention. She turned to Leanne, who was now staring at her with a calm yet intense gaze.
“Leanne, what did you do?” Aurian whispered, hoping to get some answers.
“I simply told them to turn off,” Leanne replied.
“Turn off? Divine Artifacts is not something you just tell to turn off. I mean even Master Drye only knows how to turn them on. They deactivate on a set time. To turn them off just like that would mean … ” Aurian did not get to finish her sentence for by this point, Master Drye had turned around and was walking towards them, a look of both confusion and awe on his face.
“I must say, Aurian, I'm impressed with your nullification skills,” Master Drye said with a nod. “But what just happened? The Divine Artifacts just stopped and it hasn’t been ten minutes yet.”
“Uh, I’m really not sure. Maybe their internal time is set to something less than ten minutes?”
Master Drye sighed. “That makes a good explanation. These priests don’t understand the exactitude required for magic. I specifically asked the priest to set them for exactly ten minutes so we can have a consistent baseline for tests. Maybe he rounded it to the nearest minute.”
“Does that mean I still pass?”
Master Drye nodded. “Yes, of course it does. To tell you the truth, even if you would have been hit, you would still have passed. It’s extremely impressive that you by yourself were able to create a null field with such lasting durability.”
He turned to Leanne, “From what I’ve just observed, maybe you’re not aware of the fundamentals in casting null magic?”
Leanne bowed gracefully. “Esteemed professor, I apologize for my lack of capability in helping my friend Aurian in this test. I am new to this subject and I could not remember all the proper incantations to help her.”
The professor gave a slight bow back. “And yet you were willing to risk your own safety in placing your faith in my capabilities to protect you two. Well done.”
He turned to the rest of the class. “May these two get a round of applause for an excellent and stunning classroom demonstration of the usage of null magic in nullifying Divine magic.”
Aurian felt a sense of relief wash over her as the class applauded. She noted with surprise that even her bully Maurice and his clique clapped. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in what she had just accomplished. It wasn't every day that someone was able to nullify Divine magic, let alone do it on their own. Yet, what Leanne was able to do was even more impressive. It has to be her. Why else was she staring so intensely at the Artifacts and doing her weird muttering? Was this one of the abilities she had as Ada’s primary priestess?
The answers to her questions would have to wait until they could have a private moment. As soon as Master Drye dismissed the class, they were ambushed by a throng of students. Her classmates mostly wanted to talk to her but a few were curious about the ‘exchange student’. Aurian was surprised by her sudden popularity but took a bit of time to explain some basic pointers in crafting a null field. She didn't think of herself as a good teacher but she liked the attention she received. She only had one more class today and that wasn't until the evening. There would be plenty of time to track down Mirella and talk with Leanne before then.