Finley handed Eloise one of his wooden practice daggers. She balanced the blade along one of her long fingers and flipped it over to her other hand. With a nod of satisfaction, she walked to the fighting circle.

“Any advice?” Orrin joked with Finley before he moved into the ring. He needed to connect with him and was regretting not volunteering to fight against him. If he had pushed Finley out of the circle, maybe he’d gain his respect and they’d train together.

“Nope. I hate fighting Ellie.”

Orrin joined his opponent on the grass, hoping he’d heard wrong. Finley was the champion of the ring, undefeated last semester. Why would he not like fighting Eloise? If she had magic that countered wind, which is what Finley had used and the main reason Orrin had decided to play up his [Gust] spell as a fake wind mage, he might have made a grave error already. He tried to figure out what would be the worst magic to fight against with wind but simply didn’t have the knowledge base to tease out the answer. Trial by fire would be his teacher.

Eloise saluted Orrin with her dagger. He half-heartedly waved his ice sword. The fight began and Orrin knew he’d already lost.

Eloise disappeared.

This wasn’t [Camouflage]-disappear. Orrin spent long nights focusing on himself in the mirror while using that spell in an attempt to better understand what it did. Daniel complained it hurt his eyes to look at him while [Camouflage] was running. Sometimes people didn’t see him at all. He thought of his spell as an oil slick covering him from other’s vision. They could see him if they focused but he was blurry. Eloise wasn’t blurry, she was gone.

His own hiding spell was the thing that saved Orrin from an embarrassingly quick defeat. Because some enemies could see through the spell, especially if they noticed any weird movement nearby, Orrin trained himself to pick his steps carefully while being invisible. If he left a footprint in mud or snapped a twig, [Camouflage] lost most of its power.

Thankfully, the entire fighting circle was scarred with magic attacks, including a bunch of muddy puddles from Kyon’s attempts to slow Finley down. Orrin moved into the relaxed position of Formless without realizing it while he studied the ground.

“Did she leave?” Orrin didn’t turn to see who had asked the question. It was one of the men but he had his back to the group.

“No, Arlo. She’s a [Stalker]. Once she’s invisible, there is no way to see her until she strikes. She doesn’t hold back either.” Finley’s voice was filled with glee at not being on the receiving end of an unseen dagger strike.

Orrin snapped his head to the left. A partial dent in the mud moved. He pointed his fire sword and threw a quarter of his mana into [Gust].

[Gust] – push the wind toward your target. 1 MP cost minimum. Variable strength cost.

His attack didn’t hit her head-on but Orrin knew he’d hit her. A flattening of grass showed where she’d rolled away in a hurry.

“That’s what I’d do,” Cora’s voice drifted across the field. Orrin hadn’t realized how quiet it was on the pitch, especially without the clang of weapons clashing. “Send attacks out in a pattern. She can’t attack him if he keeps her pushed away. That was a huge spell though. He should have kept the attack smaller.”

“Interesting that we have so many wind users this year,” Finley spoke again.

Orrin blocked out the chatter and let his vision go wide. He focused on nothing specific, waiting for any movement to snatch his attention.

His [Ward] blocked the first three attacks from her dagger. Quick jabs at his kidneys that would have hurt like a bitch. The dull thud of pressure snapped on the fourth hit, Orrin already swinging behind him. He caught a glimpse of Eloise before she disappeared again.

His swings hit nothing but he continued to swipe in a crisscross pattern that he’d learned from Daniel’s weapon teacher. He turned at random intervals, keeping his back to the sandy out-of-bounds line.

“Impressive constitution to tank four hits. He’s going to be sore.” Another voice caught his attention. Orrin glanced back to see Hugo standing by Kyon and Finley.

He knew it was a mistake halfway through the turn. He whipped his head back around just as something hit him dead center. Orrin glanced at the tree growing out of his stomach.

“Shit.”

Something hard hit his back, ending with a slap against his head. He could only see the sky and couldn’t understand what had happened. I’m on my back?

His status screen was blinking and he checked his HP.

HP: 27/140

Damn. That hit like a truck.

Orrin reached a hand to where the pain was. It felt like something was sitting on his chest.

“Get out of the way. Eloise, you’ve won. Reverse the spell.”

Is that a tree growing out of my chest? Orrin touched the wood, tracing the roots that he realized were still growing. The pulsed and dug deeper into his skin.

“It never hits that hard. I don’t know why he could shrug off so many attacks but this is the one that takes him down. Bellamy, hold his shoulders down. I’m going to yank it out.” Eloise stood over him talking. Orrin’s fingers grabbed a root and pulled but the pain was exquisite.

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HP: 25/140

“Don’t touch it. I stopped the attack portion but I’m going to have to excise the roots from your skin. I’m so so sorry,” Eloise said, wringing her hands. A strand of her hair hung down between her eyes until she blew it out of the way. “This is going to hurt but Bellamy will keep healing you. Ready?”

She wasn’t asking Orrin because he wasn’t ready. He thought he might be concussed. Strong hands pinned his arms to the ground and Eloise took ahold of the small shoot growing out of his chest.

Orrin screamed and blissfully passed out. When he woke up, healing magic was already moving around inside him. What? He let [Mind Bastion] coat his mind in its protective coldness. At least that stupid skill has stopped auto-activating. He’d been working on that for months now.

He wrestled the mana away and used his [Heal Small Wounds] to close the gap in his chest. Orrin blinked his eyes and saw Bellamy, Eloise, and Finley standing over him.

“Are you awake?” Bellamy asked, holding one hand and taking his pulse.

“Casimir, I’m sorry.” Eloise wrung her hands and kept touching his chest as if making sure he was still alive. “I wasn’t doing any damage to you and was frustrated. I thought you’d take the hit like you had the others.”

Orrin checked his status. He was healed up but still had [Concussion] listed next to his name. He cast [Purify] on himself. He still felt woozy but the abnormal status disappeared.

“I’m feeling better. I guess I didn’t win, huh?”

The snort from Finley pulled Orrin’s mouth into a grin. Eloise’s attitude changed from terrified and repentant to irritated.

“Of course, you didn’t win. Are you another battle idiot like Fin? If so, I’ll make sure to target your face next time. That way we can grow something between your ears to fill the void that’s there right now,” Eloise spat. She picked up a bag on the table behind her and stormed out of the room.

Orrin looked around. Finley and Bellamy were trying not to laugh and an older woman with greying hair sat in the corner, ignoring them all. She had on the long robes with padded shoulders that Hospital [Healers] wore. The room was small but Orrin guessed they didn’t need much room for the Battle Class emergency room.

He tried to sit up but Bellamy put his hand back on Orrin’s shoulder. “You’ve likely got a concussion, so stay put. Alma was waiting for you to wake up before checking you over.”

“I might have to make the lad wait,” Alma said, turning in her chair. “I’m running low on mana and can’t take another potion. If you don’t feel well, Eloise can bring you to… where did that fool girl go?”

Orrin didn’t want to cause a scene. “She left after I confirmed I’m fine. No need for any more treatment. I appreciate you patching me up.”

Alma waved her hands in the air and went back to reading a scroll on her desk. It was filled with small cubbies of rolled paper but some herbs. Orrin shivered when he noticed the hacksaw hanging near the window.

He checked his shredded shirt. There were no scars left after the healing and besides the ache behind his eyes that told him he’d have a headache later, Orrin felt fine. He rubbed the back of his head and asked, “Can one of you help me back to class?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes. “He is a battle nut. Just like you, Fin. I’ll go tell the professor he’s alive. Are we still on for drinks tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you at eight,” Finley said as he clasped the man’s hand. “I’ll get him to his room. Go on.”

Bellamy shook his head and waved to Alma before leaving. Orrin immediately threw his legs off the small cot he was resting on and stood up. His bag was half-open on the table beside him and he scooped it up.

“Going somewhere?” Finley stood in front of the only door, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Back to my room, I guess. Maybe the library.” Orrin wanted to ask if he could go get drinks too but felt a weird vibe coming from Finley at the moment. “I have two classes tomorrow and I want to get a good star—”

“What happened in your fight?” Finley cut him off.

Orrin’s mind raced. He didn’t remember doing anything stupid. “Eloise turned invisible and then grew a fucking tree out of my chest. I think I hit my head when I fell backward and that’s all I remember. Wait. I’m supposed to get feedback on how I did. Will that just happen next class or is that why you’re still around?”

Finley’s face twitched. “You wake up after being nearly killed in your first fight in Battle Class and the first question you ask is did I win? The second thing you want to know is what you did right and how you can improve…”

Orrin waited. Finley was suspicious and anything he said was just going to be used against him. If one of the people I’m supposed to befriend tries to run me out of the school on the first day, Anabella is going to literally kill me.

Finley lost the battle and began to laugh, a grin splitting his face in two. “You’re crazy, Casimir. I like it. Walk with me, I’ll show you to the library.”

Orrin followed Finley, who told him to call him Fin in the future, through the school. Fin pointed out the good things Orrin had done in his fight against Eloise, namely keeping to the sides and watching for her movement. “She’s hard to spot. You either have to get her fast or hope she makes a mistake but she learns quickly.” He also pointed out things he should have done instead. “You used too much wind in one spot. Spread it out in small bursts until the grass doesn’t sway behind her, then knock her out. How did you take so many hits?”

Orrin pulled [Ward] up and spun the screen to Finley. “I can negate some damage with this but that tree spell knocked me back before I could reapply it. I think knocking my head also hurt me pretty bad. I had a concussion.”

Finley grabbed Orrin’s arm and began marching him back the way they’d come. “If you have a concussion, you need to have Alma take care of you. I’ve seen too many people never recover from head injuries. It would be a shame for you to die before we get to fight.”

Orrin twisted his arm out of Finley’s grip, using one of his forms. “I’ve got some healing spells and already took care of it. Honestly Fin, I’m fine. Eloise surprised me but she won’t next time.” A flash of inspiration hit Orrin. “We can fight anytime. How about tomorrow after classes?”

Finley rolled his eyes but his smile never left. “You are a battle junkie. We can’t fight each other outside of Battle Class unless we have a real duel. Galina makes a big deal that there are only two rules but there’s a bunch more. I like your drive though. What other classes are you taking, if you can tell?”

Orrin counted out his other classes. He knew Finley had one redacted class he was taking and had questioned Wren about it. Some classes were closed off and not supposed to be talked about unless you passed the right prerequisites. Talking about those classes to the wrong person could get you expelled if you were caught.

“Mana Signatures? You’re going to hate it. We all do. Professor Wren is amazing but it’s tough. I failed it last year. You must have impressed someone if you got into her class as a novice. I don’t think that’s happened in… I don’t know how long.”

Orrin had a sudden urge to use an English accent and sneer, “…in a century.” He resisted. Barely.

They finished walking and Finley pointed out a set of double doors. “Here’s the library. You can read as late as you want but I suggest getting some sleep. The first week is brutal. The teachers try to prune the weak and you’re already starting off on the wrong side with losing your chit in the first fight. Not that you had a real chance against Eloise, to be honest. I’ll see you in the next Battle Class.”

As Fin walked away, Orrin felt like shit. He liked the guy. He was rough around the edges but his heart was in the right place. He’d stuck around to make sure Orrin was ok and spoke to him like a human being instead of another target or obstacle. He sighed and turned to the Triple S library. Maybe he could find some answers here. He had a plan. Now it was time to see if it was possible.