Chapter Seventy-One: The Practice Arena

“Usually, I wake up, practice, talk with my friends, practice, and repeat. Ever since the battle, my mind has been focusing on getting better, doing everything I can to be prepared for whatever the Cult has planned next.

“But now, I realize I need to understand more. Whoever this Infinite is, I’m definitely not ready for them. This is getting complicated, and I bet it would be even more if I knew who they were, especially because High Mage Aegon seems to know them. I asked him again a few days ago, and he made an excuse! High Mage Aegon, an excuse!

“I checked the library and there’s just no mention of any Infinite unless it’s the search for infinite life, which has too many books on the topic, considering it doesn’t work.

“What else is happening in my life? Well, I’ve been talking with Jay a lot, and it’s been a lot of fun. I love her, but not in that way, and she’s only staying for a little, so I must talk with her as much as I can. When I talk to her, I remember Astil sometimes, and I can’t stomach it, it still makes me sad.

“For some reason, Jade and Xavier have seemed to develop a strange mock rivalry, and all they seem to do is try to one-up each other by teasing. I don’t get it, but, then again, when have I ever?

“I understand you, though,” I finish, staring at Geoffree, who squeaks then goes back to eating his cheese. “You’re right. I should be getting practice.”

I’ve been seeing this mouse the past week, and it’s been my friend since: I feed it, and it talks to me. Or, I guess, I pretend it talks to me. In the long run, it’s the same thing.

And once again, it’s right. I do need to get back to practice. But today, I’ve got a date. With Xavier, Jade, and Th’ul. There’s always something new to find at Zenyth, and we intend to do just that. It starts in one hour, but I should have time to go over what I know.

I start with a nice breathing exercise, relaxing and stretching my core. I move on the basics and fundamentals, like the Flame Finger or the Levitation. I’m beginning to learn more than I can remember, but that’s always good. I identify cores and anti-cores around me—Geofree’s core seems like it’s winking at me for some reason—and then I move on to any miscellaneous magic I know like the Core shield. By the time an hour has gone, I feel ready.

Three days ago, Zenyth had a test, and I aced it. In fact, High Mage Jeuel was shocked by what I learned, but, then again, she hadn’t seen me at the battle.

— — —

Jade is already waiting at the entrance of Zenyth for me, Xavier, and Th’ul when we get there.

“Anything new?” I hug her, my mind once again warming when I see her.

“Not much,” She shrugs. “The hearing went well, of course. Captain Kanad went there and so today we moved to the Vanguard Grounds, which are very nice. Yue is nice to me, and the others are great, too. Now, we’re all getting ready for the coming battle, but I don’t think it’s possible. Oh, and Alyx is hiding something.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m honestly not sure, I mean, I don’t really know her that well, but Yue tells me, and I agree, that she’s occupied by something, or someone. We’re not sure what, but Aster seems to be having the same issue.”

“Hmmm,” Th’ul says. “I think I know what’s going on.”

“That’s what we think, too,” Jade agrees. “But we can’t prove anything.”

“Well, shall we go inside, then?” I ask, and my friends follow me in.

“I would be careful,” Th’ul tells us as we walk in. “I passed the cafeteria on the way here, and it seems another row is starting.”

“Dammit,” I curse. “What started it this time?”

“The normal,” Th’ul shrugs. “One person got mad at another, threw a spell, the other got mad, blah blah, eventually, there’s a full on start, a little immature if you ask me.”

“It’s a little fun,” Xavier admits. “As long as you don’t get hurt.”

“No one ever dies,” I say. “But it could happen.”

“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” Jade asks, staring at me with a very confused and curious face, that I can’t help but smile at.

“You’ll see.”

We enter the cafeteria, and she does, indeed, see. Just like the first time I saw it—and met Th’ul in the process—the cafeteria is a wreck. The mages could fix it in a minute, but it isn’t worth it as the fight rages on. I’ve realized that these fights are more about dominance than actual death. Raakhshas was a little bit of an exception. Most of the mages-in-training will only try to beat the other mage of opposing belief. Rarely does anyone get hurt, and if a mage dies, the one who killed him is jailed.

Still, these fights are dangerous, and I can see many of my friends and acquaintances fighting there. S’sammi—who still laughs every time she sees Xavier—, Poire, Res’thom, and Qun are all involved in their fights, but today, I’m not here to have fun.

“This is the perfect time to explore Zenyth,” I whisper to a wide-eyed Jade, walking with my friends away from the cafeteria. “That way, we’re completely alone.”

She nods, her eyes still on the scene.

“I want to join in,” Xavier says in jealousy.

“It’s not your time yet,” Jade grins at him, finally breaking her stupor.

“It’s about to be yours if you don’t shut up,” Xavier warns.

“What are you going to do, levitate me?” Jade grins. “Seeing as that’s all you can do, maybe you should get stronger before you threaten a guard.”

“What, are you going to call the Vanguard on me?”

“Do you care?”

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“Do you?”

They burst into laughter, and Jade smiles.

“Cheer up, Zade,” She says.

Shaking my head, I respond. “Honestly, I feel you’ve matured backwards at this point, Jade.”

“I’m just making sure he’s entertained,” She whispers, just loud enough for Xavier to hear, pointing at him as she would at a toddler.

“Hey! You insulted me? He’s the one who insulted you!”

Jade shrugs. “It’s okay, Vi. Maybe next time, I’ll go easy on you. That is the only way you could ever win.”

“Vi? VI?” Xavier shrieks. “What the hell kind of nickname is that? You could’ve called me Xavi or Vier or something, but you chose the worst of it.”

“I kind of like it.”

“Who said that?” Xavier whips his head around, searching for the culprit. His eyes find an innocent-looking Th’ul. “Et tu?”

“No, not et me,” Th’ul responds. “Actually, et him!” Xavier looks to where Th’ul is pointing, finding…nobody, This time, even I join in the laughter as Xavier gets red in the face.

“This is bullying,” He mutters.

“You should’ve met Demien then,” Jade says. “You’ll live, Vi.”

“Don’t ever say that again!”

“I think I hear someone!” The strange voice comes from a hallway to our right.

“Who is it?” I whisper to Th’ul, who shrugs.

“Stragglers, I guess,” He says. “Should we avoid a confrontation?”

“Hell, no,” Xavier says, standing up and unsheathing the dagger he has practiced with since the battle ended. “We’ve got this. FOR EVA OR LEAH OR WHATEVER THE HELL HER NAME IS, BUT YOU KNOW WHO I’M TALKING ABOUT, IT’S THE GODDESS I DON’T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT!” He rushed into the hallway with a scream.

“What?” Jade looks at us in astonishment.

“He’s strange,” I provide as an explanation. “But we should probably join him before he gets his ass kicked.”

“Skai’s stupid influence,” I hear Th’ul mutter under his breath as we rush to Xavier’s aid. To his credit, he is keeping the fifteen mages-in-training at bay.

Then again, they are fifteen people, I don’t know if all of us can take all of them.

Never know until you try.

And thus, I find myself locked in mental combat with another man. His shield is strong, but I can tell it only reacts to direct magic. And so, I throw a Fireball at the mage-in-training while levitating and shooting my sword at him, something I’ve been practicing a lot. Deftly, the man dodges both attacks, and once I call the sword back to me with levitation, I have to dodge as the ground begins to rise above me. None of the other people around seem to be affected, which means he’s affecting my mind. So I focus on my shield, expanding it so that…

The stone pummels into me, and I tumble to the ground. The man advances on me, flames already growing on his hand. Stumbling back, I understand that his magic is stronger than mine, and he is clearly more experienced. I could use my special magic, but that would feel like cheating.

Can’t go through life without cutting a few corners.

When the man reaches me, I stand up and grab his arm. The mage-in-training snaps his head to my arm, wondering what I’m doing.

Then he’s flung back as the lightning strikes him. Thankfully, the lightning I used this time isn’t enough to kill him, but it’s still really strong, and the man crashes to the ground, unconscious. Looking around, I see all my friends are on the defensive, especially Jade, who is basically fighting fire with dust. Still, we’re all holding our own.

Another mage-in-training advances on me, and, this time, I take out Nightwielder. Before she can attack me, I've flung it, propelling it with my magic. Somehow, relying on magic for her speed, the woman is able to dodge it and the dagger flies past her, striking a wall almost fifty feet away.

The explosion knocks us all to the ground.

I can’t see, my mind is foggy, and my ears are ringing. Praise be to Eva as the dagger landed so far away as to not kill me, but I need to check on the others. Slowly, my eyes clear, but not my vision, as all I can see is smoke from the explosion. Nothing seems to be on fire for now.

Through the ringing, my ears make out a faint sound, like someone screaming from across a canyon.

“Zade?” The voice asks, and I can see her silhouette. Jay has already stood up and she’s walking towards me and helping me up.

“Jay?” I whimper. “I didn’t mean to. I…”

“It’s okay,” She responds. “I think we’re all alive.”

She’s right. As the fog clears, I can see Xavier standing up groggily, along with some of the mages-in-training. Concentrating on the dagger, I levitate it back to me, and, when it’s in my hand, I carefully return it to its right place. This weapon is just as much a blessing as it is a curse.

Somehow, I still love it.

Dragging a prone form that I take to be Th’ul, Xavier waves at us to follow him.

“They’re going to be pissed when they all wake up,” He yells. “We need to go.”

Sure enough, some of them seem to be glaring at us and getting ready to attack us. That is our cue to leave. And so, the three of us lift our mage friend, we walk—as quickly as we can (we do have an unconscious friend to carry, after all—past the hallway, and quickly lose sight of them, although we can hear their angry screams now.

“I know where we are,” I tell Xavier as we run.

“Obviously, I do, too,” Xavier returns. “This is my house, remember? Did the explosion take you out that much?”

“No, I mean, I know where we can hide!”

“Like cowards?”

“No.” I pause. “A little, yes, but it’s our only option, at least until Th’ul wakes up.”

“Good point. What are you thinking?”

With a smile, I turn to the wall and point at it. “Behold, our hiding spot.”

“Zavier was right,” Jade groans. “He has gone crazy.”

“Just watch this.” Xavier says, realizing what I’m doing. I touch the wall in a specific spot and wait. Immediately, the wall comes open revealing a small unlit chamber.

“No way,” Jade breathes. “And what’s in the thing?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I respond. “We just have to wait for them to pass then we can leave.”

“That’s so cool. What is this place?”

“Zenyth really is insane.”

We drag Th’ul into the hole in the wall with all of us, and then the wall closes, but somehow we can still see through it. Just a quirk of Zenyth.

Before long, the cultist mages-in-training who were fighting us pass through the hallway angrily, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

We’re safe.

I turn around, expecting to find my friends.

“Okay, we can leave…” I trail off as I see only Th’ul, who seems to be waking up. “Guys? Where are you?”

“You need to see this!” I hear Xavier’s voice coming from my left. “You won't believe what I found. Zenyth really is always changing.”

“Where are you?”

“You have to crawl through the small hole in the bottom.”

Unconvinced, I scan the floor, expecting to find absolutely nothing, then my jaw drops as I do see, in fact, a small hole, able to fit a man but not much else.

I need to see what’s in there. So, not bothering to bring Th’ul, I jump in.