Applied Mage Combat didn’t meet in a classroom. Instead it met outside, on one of the sprawling lawns of campus that was in between the massive fountain that stood in front of the administrative building and the spidershade forest.
As Yushun and I approached, I picked out a few of the people I knew.
First was Wesley, who had somehow managed to get to the field before we could. He must have scarfed down lunch, or maybe skipped it. I had to resist a groan. Was this guy going to be in every one of my classes? He wasn’t antagonistic towards me, but his smug attitude just rubbed me the wrong way.
Salem and Jackson were in the field too, thankfully providing a backdrop of normalcy and friendship to contrast Wesley.
There were five other people who I didn’t recognize, but judging from the fact that all of them had green on their seal somewhere, I was guessing they were second year. Two of them had staves, and all of the rest had wands tucked into their belts
The final person, I did recognize. Professor Alydia was standing a little bit away from the rest of the group, watching as Yushin and I approached. When we did, she gave us a nod.
Two more students joined us, only one of whom didn’t have the green of being a fourth circle caster on their uniforms, and when they arrived, the professor clapped to get our attention. I got my first look at her seal. Emblazoned on her teacher’s stole was a solid gray seal of the school.
She was an eighth circle caster. If she could push herself to ninth, then she might well become the eighteenth Erudite, or at the very least, be able to replace the headmaster when he died.
“Welcome everyone. I am professor Alydia, dean of divination, and assistant headmaster,” she said. “It’s good to see that more of you are taking an interest in this course. How many of you have taken or are taking a course in abjuration, obliteration, weapon magic, battle magic, or an elemental course?”
All of the second years raised their hands, as did Wesley, Jackson, and Yushin, leaving Salem and myself as the only ones who weren’t taking one of those. I glanced at Yushin in surprise. Under her breath she whispered to me.
“Weapon magic, illusion magic, and this course were my electives.”
Ah, that made a bit more sense. I nodded, then turned my attention back to the professor.
“Very good,” the professor said, her eyes scanning the group. “Those are fine courses that I recommend, but the Erudite and myself both agree that they are of limited use. Do you know what the most common mistake made by those who graduate, having taken three years of one of those courses, but never having taken this course is?”
“Arrogance,” Salem said. “They think they have the power to win a fight, but they don't know what a fight’s like, so they just die.”
“Exactly correct, Salem,” professer Alydia said with a smile. “I won’t pretend that you or Emrys are going to have an advantage, not taking those courses. In fact, without combat skills, this course will become far harder. Those courses teach you skills.”
She flipped her hand up, and a wand was in it. The air thundered with bolts of blue light as arcane missiles streaked towards each of us, freezing and dissolving back into the ether in the instant before they hit. None of us, not even the older students, managed to get a shield spell off in time, or had arcane armor activated to take the hits.
“But this course will teach you how to actually apply combat skills, thus the name. Some of you are no doubt wondering why a divination teacher is teaching this course.”
She laughed, her ears twitching with amusement.
“No shame. Put your hand up.”
I put my hand up, as did everyone but Salem, Wesley, and Yushin. I wondered if Wesley was just covering himself, or if he really wasn’t surprised.
“I may be specialized in divination, but I am still a combat mage. I’ve done tours against the demon wastes four times,” professor Alydia said. “And if you think divination magic can’t be used in combat, then you’re sorely mistaken. Never assume someone isn’t a combatant, just because of their affinity or magical specialization. I’d rather face four combat ready obliteration mages than a single combat ready illusionist.”
“Is it true this course kills people?”
The voice came from one of the second years, a thin wisp of a girl who’s scent gave her away as half elf, half angelus.
“It has killed in the past. It will happen again.”
This time, it wasn’t professor Alydia who spoke. The calm tenor had become familiar, and as we turned, I wasn’t surprised to see the Erudite. Standing this close, I could smell him. He smelled…
Ordinary.
No bloodline, no scent of faerie-touched psychic powers, no hint of divine light, nor of demonic taint.
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Just the plain, slightly sweaty stench that all humans had, tinged with the smell of a ripe tomato.
“Erudite,” professor Alyida said, straightening up. “I didn’t expect you so soon.”
He nodded to her, then surveyed each of us. There was no power in his gaze, just a sort of blankness that I usually associated with a tavern worker at the end of a long shift.
“I won’t be here long,” he said. “A city in Middlehold just had a gibbering madmind from a plane of chaos slip into reality and I need to banish or kill it.”
He summoned his staff. This close, I could feel the power, even without ethersight. Ozone stung my tongue, and my teeth started buzzing. The Erudite… leaned on it like a walking stick.
“But Claire asked a question. Does this course kill people? Yes. In my thirty plus years as Erudite, two have died. It’s rare. Alydia, Emir, or myself stands vigil to pull you out of danger. But it can happen. More common is injuries to send you to the hospital ward. We have good healers, but they can’t stop the mind from remembering pain.”
He let out a weary sigh, and suddenly seemed twenty years older.
“But you need it. Aberrants. Demons. Things that slip in from Etherius. Foreign nations. Even good old fashioned monsters. I may not be that old, compared to the Divine King of Shen-Long, Matriarch of Dreki, or the other ancients of the world, but I’ve walked thousands of planes, and studied things mortals were not meant to know. I’ve met demons and gods and many things in between. Believe me when I say that you will need this experience. Take heart. Do not give up.”
At that, he raises his staff and said four words of power. The world shook, and the Erudite was gone.
“We’re not entirely cruel, nor are we stupid,” professor Alydia said. “If you want to learn a lot of battle spells, then take the battle magic course, or any of the others I mentioned. But we will teach you a few, very basic spells.”
A wicked grin came over her face, and the delicate elven features gained a dark and terrible beauty to them.
“Well, I say we. I mean you. There’s no syllabus for this course. Preparation is an excellent tool, but it can very easily become a crutch to lean on. But I’ll tell you this much… In our next class you’re going to be delving into the library for arcane armor, arcane missile, and shield. Then, later in the year you’ll delve for a few others.”
I waited for her to go on, but she didn’t.
“That is all?” Yushin asked in disbelief. “That doesn’t make you a combat mage.”
“Oh really?” Alydia asked. I could sense the jaws of a trap closing around Yushin, and nudged her to not take the bait.
“No. Mages may not be as common in Shen-Long as here, but even peasants know of spells like fireball, flamethrower, aegis, or haste.”
“Then if I were to, say, restrict my ether pool to an average first circle mage, toss aside my staff and wand, and only use arcane armor, missile, and shield, you could defeat me?”
Yushin finally noticed this was a trap, pausing and considering. Then, she simply agreed.
“I could. I know you think I can’t. But I can.”
Professor Alydia smiled like a cat who’d caught some prey, and took a breath.
“Begin on your mark,” she said.
“Begin,” Yushin snapped, her hands flaring out to direct etheric currents. Words of power tumbled from her lips, and it was a dazzling display of speed.
But Alydia was faster. Long before Yushin was able to complete her spell, Alydia had flown through the words of power, flicked out the gestures, and unleashed a single arcane missile. It impacted Yushin in the throat with the force of a punch, and Alydia whipped a throwing knife from her pocket and bounded across the distance, pointing it at Yushin’s throat.
The message was clear, and Yushin held up her hands in surrender.
“I could have just thrown the knife at the begining, and killed her before she could even start,” professor Alydia said. “I could have sharpened the missile into a point – that level of flexibility is rare in non-affinity casting, but Magyk allows it with this spell. I could have overloaded the spell with more ether and crushed your throat. I could have done any number of things, and killed you with nothing but a single arcane missile.”
Yushin took a step forward and bowed to professor Alydia.
“I could argue over the semantics of duels not being the same as war. But that is only sugar to coat the bitter pill of defeat. You won.”
She bowed a second time, then stepped back. Professor Alydia nodded respectfully, then turned to the second year students.
“Do any of you think you could defeat me as a mere first circle mage who only knows three spells? You can use all of your tools, equipment, and power.”
Somehow, even with Yushin’s demonstration, two older students raised their hand.
The first one tried to summon some sort of dark void that sucked everything into it. The pressure and power was immense, and his wand somehow reduced the entire incantation down to three words.
It took professor Alydia a little bit longer to win. She scrambled away from the void, and her first bolt was sucked in. I almost thought she’d lost then, but then there was a crack. I glanced to see the second year’s arcane armor cracked, a near-invisible arcane bolt sharpened to drive into the back of his neck.
“The black hole has immense gravity, but limited by ether,” professor Alydia explained. “I simply curved my bolt in an upward circle, adding the gravity to my power.”
The next student tried to step back, but professor Alydia shook her head.
“Here’s another lesson. It’s easier to pick a fight than stop one.”
The student sighed and nodded, then raised her wand. Instantly, with no chant or motions, arcane missiles began pouring from the wand. The professor frantically flicked her hands, and it was a near thing, but a shield took the brunt of the missiles, then vanished. The professor never stopped casting, but neither did the second year woman. The second year swished her wand a few times, then a lightning bolt exploded from the tip. In the same instant, a throwing knife flew through the air. The lightning shifted it’s course slightly to strike the metal.
It was clear the second year could force it back on track, but by the time she did so, the professor hand landed three knives into her arcane armor, and broken it with an arcane missile.
“Well done,” professor Alydia said, redoing her top knot. “You almost had me.”
She turned to address the group.
“I hope this serves to hammer in my point. Even someone with little to no magic of any sort can kill a powerful mage, if that mage doesn’t know what she’s doing. It’s impossible to know every trick that might be used against you, but learning to adapt to the changes, to ride the flow of battle is an important skill. I know some of you are here on the Erudite’s orders. And what he said earlier is true. We stop death, but not injury, and there is always risk. If any of you, even those who have it as a requirement, want to drop this class, we’re required to allow you to do so without penalty, by order of the board and the high king.”
She held up a finger, as if telling us to wait.
“But I hope you won’t. Class dismissed.”
I expected her to teleport away, like the Erudite had, but instead she just turned and walked away, long hair swishing.