Chapter 28:

Orrin bounced his foot as Professor Hugh dismissed the class. He learned more in the last hour about the use of his air magic than… well ever.

Surviving Spell Attacks started off as a theoretical class but this entire last session was practical application. The wildly intelligent orc teacher took each student through both offensive and defensive exercises. He organized the entire thing as a game, engaging the class with questions, advice, and pointers for better use of their magic.

Professor Hugh also gave the students waiting a job, namely asking questions. When a student using primally fire magic took a turn, half the class quieted. Fire magic was one of the most predominant classes of magic. They asked questions that gave Orrin insight into the use of his own [Fire Sword], something he realized he was underutilizing quite a lot.

Based on that first student using fire after Orrin’s arrival, he came up with a new way to use the skill. He’d need to test it but Orrin was confident that he could temporarily make the sword grow a few inches to a foot longer. It wouldn’t be useful enough to keep running non-stop but if it worked, Orrin theorized he could bypass even Daniel for a strike or two during swordplay.

The problem was the limited magic types in the class. Since half the students used fire magic, the majority of Professor Hugh’s advice related to their magic. The orc would occasionally whisper something to a student using a different magic type. Only thirty-two students were left in the class. By Orrin’s count about seventeen used fire magic. Three students used water and four others used air magic but the remaining students had nobody to ask questions on their behalf. Those students also appeared too shy to ask questions of their own.

Orrin was the same, waiting for the last of the students to leave before approaching the orc. “Professor? Do you have a minute?”

“Class ended. I have hours. Grab that.” A massive hand waved at the stool holding the candle. Orrin grabbed it and ran to keep up as Hugh carried his own chair to the corner of the room.

“I wanted to ask about different magic types not discussed in class. Specifically, about light, ice, and poison magic. How would the matrixes be different when—”

“Next class,” Professor Hugh turned and cut Orrin off using his strongly accented voice. “We will discuss each student’s magic type and what is weakest or strongest against it. You have wind magic, yes?”

Orrin hesitated for only a breath, having already committed to revealing a bit more to Professor Hugh. It was a calculated risk. From what he’d been able to learn, the orc was a new teacher and not a political animal. He was the safest bet that Orrin had to find a way out of his collar.

“I use wind magic, yes,” Orrin stated but sped up his next words as Hugh started to walk away. “But I also use a wide variety of other magics, including the ones I just mentioned.”

Hugh paused and peered over his shoulder. “Your class allows multiple types like this? Poison and light are…” he trailed off, trying to find the right word. “Incompatible.”

Orrin nodded. “My class lets me use almost any type of magic. The rest of our class doesn’t cover my full repertoire, so I thought I’d ask you after class instead of wasting time for everyone.”

Hugh finally faced Orrin fully. Orrin craned his neck to meet his eyes. The orc was close to eight feet tall.

“Prove your words.”

Orrin summoned an [Ice Sword] and [Fire Sword], something he’d already shown off in Battle Class. He dropped them and moved back to the corner where Hugh pushed all the class supplies. Orrin found what he’d been looking for and grabbed the empty bucket. He placed the bucket at Hugh’s feet and used [Water Reservoir] to fill it.

“I can’t really use my poison magic in here,” Orrin lied, not trusting the teacher with the knowledge he’d been collared. “I can use [Lightstrike] if you want.”

Hugh frowned for a minute and then held his fingers close. A spark jumped and grew into a circular shape, becoming a full buckler within a few seconds. “Attack.”

Orrin complied, sending the weak attack at the teacher. Hugh caught it with ease against his lightning shield.

“You are interesting. Ask your questions.”

Orrin smiled. Finally, some progress.

The next day, Orrin was the source of all gossip. While fights between students still broke out despite the rule against it, nobody had gone so far as to break into another student’s room. The dead possum was mentioned in only whispers.

Stolen story; please report.

Professor Graem came by during dinner the night before to tell Orrin his room was cleared out. When Orrin complained that he should get a new room, Graem shut him down, dressing down the haughty Casimir in front of most of the school.

“If you can’t be bothered to shut your own door, it’s your own fault some animal got loose in your room. The school will not cover the cost of replacing your items or relocating you.”

Orrin held his breath, letting his face get red as the man walked away, pounding his staff on the ground with every other step.

He wouldn’t know if anyone bought the act for a while but it was out of his hands now.

Orrin’s classes for the day were Defensive Earth Magic and Mana Signatures. He spent the first class dodging rocks again with Maeve. Every attempt to talk with her ended with a new bruise, even with an [Earth Ward] running. He was beginning to see why Professor Cade was Maeve’s last choice for advisor. The man was inept and taught them next to nothing that wasn’t in the class book.

Orrin was looking forward to learning more in Mana Signatures but a scrap of paper was tapped to Professor Wren’s classroom door.

Noor, a student from the class, muttered something and walked off as Orrin approached. Keiran, the shorter man who sat next to Orrin stood near the door with a clipboard in his hand.

The paper read: Class Cancelled Today.

“Casimir, right?” Keiran asked with a sad tilt in his voice. “Professor Wren asked me to wait here until everyone has shown up to read the sign.”

Orrin frowned. “What if someone tells their friends and they never show up?”

Keiran raised his eyes from the clipboard. “I’ll be waiting until the end of the period then.”

“Do you know where she is?” Orrin asked, feeling bad for the man. He was repeating Mana Signatures and Wren seemed to have it out for him for some reason. “Is she sick?”

Keiran shrugged. “She said she’d be gone for a few days but would be back before our next class. My guess is she got called to the front line. I heard a [Hero] showed up along the border where the elves were attacking. It must be an elf-lover because the [Hero] fought off like half the main conscripted forces before Lord Sanerris arrived. Professor Wren is an expert in trap magic… what with her metal and wood abilities. My guess is she’s called to the front to set a trap for this [Hero] of the elves.”

Orrin squeezed his fingers tightly into a fist. Daniel was fighting and he couldn’t do a thing. “I thought [Heroes] were supposed to be the good guys? Why would he fight for the elves?” Orrin’s voice dripped with disdain, trying to sell his false story as a loyal Odranan.

Keiran waved to another student as they came by to read the note, marking another tick off his sheet. He waited until they were relatively alone to answer. “My guess is the elves got to him. Not all [Heroes] are good. If you see June, can you send her my way? She’s the only one who didn’t show up.”

Orrin promised to keep an eye out but he couldn’t remember who June was. He hadn’t been paying attention to the other students, even in his smallest class. He walked back to his dorm to drop off his school supplies. As Orrin climbed the final stairs and walked down the hallway, Ellis rounded the corner.

“Ellis,” Orrin said, nodding his head at the young man. He hadn’t ruled him out of vandalizing his room but he was at the bottom of a list of suspects in his mind. “No class?”

Ellis, for his part, didn’t balk at seeing Orrin. The kicked-puppy look in his eyes could have been an act but he smiled slightly at Orrin acknowledging him. “Cancelled. A lot of classes were today. I think more people were drafted for emergency services.”

Orrin gave a tight-lipped smile and kept walking.

“Casimir?” the boy’s small voice broke at the end of the name. “I’m sorry that happened to you. If you find out who did it, let me know. I’ll help.”

Orrin crooked his head to the side. “Help what?”

Ellis shrugged. “Get revenge. I don’t have many friends here but you were kind to me. I get why you don’t trust me but the professors are on it. They’ll figure out who broke into your room. When they do, I’ll take care of them for you. Then you’ll see it wasn’t me.”

Orrin studied the way Ellis stood, shoulders slumped and head down. He remembered a time when nobody believed in him. When he was acting out in school because his dad had disappeared out of nowhere and his mom had fallen into a depressed spiral. Daniel found Orrin with his hand on the fire alarm, ready to pull it.

“What are you doing, O?” Daniel had asked. Orrin couldn’t remember why they both were in the empty hallway between classes. He just remembered Daniel’s words.

“Nobody cares, Daniel. My dad is gone. My mom won’t talk to me. Nobody cares. It’ll be funny, you’ll see.” Orrin knew it wouldn’t be funny. He knew it would cause more pain for his mom but some small part of him thought if he got in real trouble, maybe his dad would come back and everything would be normal again.

“I care. Orrin, you’re not alone. You’ve still got me.”

Orrin saw Ellis and remembered Daniel, holding his hand out to his friend about to go down the wrong path.

“I’ve got to throw my stuff in my room really quick,” Orrin finally spoke. “Where are you off to?”

Ellis lit up but tried to keep it cool after a second, settling into an attempted nonchalant smile that was slightly too wide. “I’m going to see if I can get a spot for the dungeon run tomorrow. I thought it might be worth it if I can gain a level or two.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mistlight’s dungeon? Usually, you have to pay a lot of gold to enter and even then, the waitlist is months out but it’s blocked off just for our use on our free day. You know, tomorrow?”

Orrin sputtered. “Let me get this straight. There is a dungeon that only the students get to use once a week?”

“Only during the semester and only for the first ten floors, unless you get special permission from Professor Graem. How did you not know about this? It’s half the reason some students come here.”

Orrin ignored Ellis’s question. “Can we make our own parties and go?”

Ellis shook his head. “No, parties are limited to five groups a week. Each group has to be approved by the professor in charge. Are you interested in going?”

Orrin considered his choices. He’d need to go to Graem and make sure he could even get into a party with the collar on but if he could level even once, there were some spells he’d been looking at last night.

“Let me go talk with Professor Graem. I might want to take on more than ten floors.”