Kanda sat before Alistair in the Resonant Room after Lionel’s demonstration, an excited look on her face. “And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for. This is your cut, Attribute Cards first.”

She handed him the wooden box of cards. Alistair opened it and immediately slid three CON, one DEX, and one STR card into his chest.

“I had to split the CON cards because it’s always helpful in casting. I also took a card that speeds up Wandbound Spells cast by hand. It’s even faster than before, which is pretty crazy. Finally, there was a mucous card that I’m still trying to wrap my head around. I assumed with Ziggy that you wouldn’t need something like that. Anyway, next.”

Kanda motioned for Alistair to check the rest of the cards.

[Capable of healing minor wounds and cuts, the effects of Touch of Grace are multiplied by a summoner's constitution.]

“A healing card?” Alistair asked.

“Not quite something they’d use at Seraph’s Rest, but definitely helpful in the field. I know someone who has that and they’ve been able to level it to the point that they can mend a shattered bone. Of course, there are some things one wouldn’t be able to heal from with that, like amputation, or, shit, I don’t know, a terrible sexually transmitted disease.”

Ghost: That’s one way to put it. What’s the next card? You’re taking too long to do this.

Alistair placed Touch of Grace in his chest.

Ghost: And in case you were already wondering, yes, we will test that card out later. The hard way.

Rather than deal with the assassin, Alistair focused on the next card.

[Lightning and fire rain down from the sky. The area affected by Lightning Firestorm will be directly in front of the summoner and lasts for ten seconds. One hour cooldown.]

“Nice!”

Kanda nodded. “I figured you want to test that one. Aerwhisp, merge and take the shape of a shadow drake.”

The aerwhisps rushed into action. They formed into a large dragon without wings, one with tendrils of shadow not unlike Lionel’s lifting off their back.

“Try it,” Kanda said.

Alistair, who was still seated, placed the card in his chest and drew his wand.

Crack!

Bolts of lightning coupled with flashes of fire struck the aerwhisps. The fire spread quickly, yet it died out at about the ten second mark.

Ghost: Love it. Wish we had this at Felix’s masquerade. We might have been able to take out some of the assassins that will inevitably be coming for us whenever they finally learn who we are.

Alistair: That’s not very reassuring.

Ghost: Our line of work never is. The only assurance an assassin has is the blade at their side.

Alistair: Ah, another quote for your future autobiography. What was it? A Madman’s Manifesto?

Ghost: I still don’t see you writing these down.

“What are you stalling for?” Kanda asked, an excited grin on her face. “One more card.”

Alistair checked the final card, one called Overture.

[Conjure a blast of sound certain to stun your opponents with Overture. The Summoner and anyone standing behind them is not affected by this Wandbound Spell. Cooldown is one day.]

Ghost: A stun spell? That’s exactly what we need. It’s a shit cooldown, but used correctly, it will be a hell of a tool. I’ve been hit by one of these, you know. It’s terrible. I barely managed to slit the battledeck mage’s throat in my stunned state.

Alistair: What!?

Ghost: It’s a long story, but basically, this mage was stealing from the Crown. Stealing a lot. The Unknown Souls were tasked with taking him out, and after a few failures, the assignment fell into my lap. I was pretty renowned, you know, even if my legacy was tarnished in the end. I usually only took high end targets, the ones that would prove nearly impossible to kill. But I can’t take all the credit. Senka actually helped me come up with this one.

Alistair: She did?

Ghost: It was her idea, the usage of mirrored armor. I don’t know how she came up with shit like that. I miss her cunning.

Alistair: I didn’t know such a thing existed.

Ghost: It’s an old Dracolich style of armor. It is absolutely bulky and terrible at actually protecting someone. But it can return certain types of attacks, which in this mage’s case, turned out to be a bright stunning ability similar to your Shimmer power. For Overture, we have an even better chance because aside from stuffing one’s ears, how are they going to block something like this? This is a great day to be an assassin.

Alistair: I’m not—

Ghost: I am you and you are me and we are one.

Alistair shook his head as he placed the card in his chest.

“What?” Kanda asked.

“I’m just shocked at how great these cards are. They will definitely be useful in the tournament this coming week.”

“That’s right, you’re about to compete against your classmates. How cute.”

Alistair raised an eyebrow at her. “Cute?”

“A young Fledgling competing, trying to climb the ranks so they can represent the new class at the Waldrus Fledgling Tournament—it’s cute. I remember those days. Seems like just yesterday.”

“Did you represent your class?”

“No,” she said, “and I’m glad I didn’t. Melissa and her girlfriend did, as well as Laertes’ shithead brother. Plus a few others. It creates extra pressure, you know, all that attention. I’m not saying throw your match or anything. You do you. But if you do too well, the academy’s administration will keep a closer eye on you.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Which we don’t want.”

“Not with what we plan to do. So as for your tournament, do whatever you think is right. But keep that in mind.”

“Understood.”

“And next week, we’ll plan an excursion to the Dracolich Empire.”

Ghost: Tell her I know a way. Er, that you know a way to sneak across the border. From your former master.

“My, um, former master,” Alistair said, hating to use that term for Ghost, “told me of a way in before his death.”

“Really? Where? The border is very hard to get through unless we want to brave certain regions that haven’t been cleared of their monsters.”

“Well, that is always an option. I did promise Juno and Zola—”

“You told them they could go with you?”

“Sort of?”

“That’s a terrible idea, Alistair. Juno is a Stonewind. If something happened to him, the entire Kingdom would be on alert. I don’t think you realize how important his family is. Juno might seem like a goofy loveable dumbass, but Juno and his sister come from probably the most powerful House at this academy.”

“I promised them.”

“So?” She shook her head, clearly not getting it.

“It’s a promise I can’t break. They’ll be coming. Which means if we needed to go through a monster-infested forest, this could be a good thing.”

“A good thing for who?”

“Us. Strength in numbers.”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not.”

“Alistair, we’re talking high level monsters and unknown creatures in any bit of forest that hasn’t been cleared by battledeck mages. What do you think is one of the main assignments of the Defin Monstera Academy? To catalog and deal with these things.

Ghost: Why in the hell are you arguing with her about this? I already have a solution.

“Then we use my master’s option,” Alistair said.

“And it is where, exactly?”

Ghost: At a retreat in the mountains. Not too far from Marrowstone. Don’t tell her this, just tell her you know where it is.

“I know where it is. That’s all that matters.”

“You’re seriously not going to tell me?”

“It’s a viable option, I promise. And Juno and Zola will be with us.”

“How much do they know?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on him. Even though she was sitting, Kanda seemed poised to strike.

“They… know. About the Dracolich stuff. That’s why they want to come. They don’t know fully about your plan to take over your uncle’s enterprises.”

“That’s one way to put it. More like ‘thwart his bullshit’ and save the kingdom.”

“They get that part. That’s what I’m saying. They don’t know some of the more, ahem, nefarious things we may or may not have gotten into. That’s what I’m saying here.”

“Ugh. You have really put me in a tough spot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“If something happens to Juno, we’re all fucked. Really, Alistair. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. So if he comes with us, we have to protect him at all costs. Do you see what you’ve done here? You’ve made our mission into something in which we also will be required to take care of a potential target?” She exhaled audibly and looked up, revealing her throat to Alistair for a full minute as she thought. “But maybe there are a few precautions we can take. Anyway. Get your sword. I’m annoyed, and we need to train.”

****

Alistair’s arms ached the next morning to the point that he used his new Touch of Grace power to make it feel better.

“She hits so hard,” he said once awake, bleary eyed and looking over at Ziggy who seemed to be sleeping.

Zzz… squish… zzz… squish…

Ghost took over and placed Alistair’s feet on the cold floor. “Even with your improved Strength, her strikes are still causing you pain. Interesting. I believe Humboldt said something about that, your stats not necessarily lining up with reality. Either way, let’s go.”

Alistair regained control of his body. “You’re the worst.”

“I’m the best. Admit that. Without my line of reasoning, we wouldn’t have our swords and the dracolich dagger stowed away in Lionel’s stomach right now. Without me, we’d be dead.”

“I’d be more than alive without you.”

“Think back to how things actually played out, how many times I, no, we, have helped each other.”

Squish?

“Morning, Ziggy,” Alistair said.

Squish!

The slime hopped from Alistair’s desk to the bed and rubbed against him.

“Hurry. I already let you sleep fifteen minutes late.”

Soon, Alistair jogged around campus hitting up the normal spots, including looping around the Wraithen Archives, heading through the Ephemera Gardens, taking the steps of the Genesis Hall, and doing two laps around the Verdant Hall.

From there it was weights, leg day, Ghost taking over from this point as and doing squats and other core strengthening workouts for the next forty minutes.

By the time Alistair got back to his dorm, he was drenched with sweat.

“Yo!” Juno said, who sat on their shared couch, his eyes shut. “I didn’t sleepwalk or do any weird shit last night, did I?”

“No. At least not that I remember. Why?”

“My head, it’s like someone hit it with a hammer. Check this shit, bro.” He turned to Alistair to reveal a bump on his forehead. “And right before the first day of the tournament. Great.”

“Actually…” Alistair went to his room and returned with his wand. “I got a minor healing spell. Let’s give it a shot.” He pointed his wand at Juno. “Do you trust me?”

“Hell yeah,” Juno said with a grin. “Let’s get this over with.” He closed his eyes again.

Touch of Grace produced a shimmer of resonant mana from the end of his wand that lightly lashed against Juno’s forehead.

“Whoa…” Juno took in a deep, satisfying breath through his nostrils. “I feel better already.”

“Good. I’m going to shower.”

“Then breakfast. Then breakfast, right?”

“Always.”

Alistair shut his door and was just removing his workout clothing when he received a message from the Provost.

Provost Weaver: Alistair Blackwell. The friend I mentioned from the Vesperspire Academy has arrived early. Please report to my office after breakfast and before the start of the tournament.

“Shit.”

“What?” Ghost asked.

“The Provost wants to meet me about my stupid golden eye.”

“Then meet her. And when you do, ask her why she’s the one that keeps checking out the Calista Halor book. We still need to look through that.”

“If you didn’t always have shit for me to do, I would have read some of it by now.”

“Excuses are the tools of the incompetent, Alistair. We will check it out later. Perhaps we should do so with Zola. She wanted to see the book anyway. One more thing. Check your status stone. I want to confirm all your new cards are in place.”

Alistair got the stone out of his drawer, right where Ghost’s hit list used to be. After a brief scan, it was clear that everything was in order.

“Your swords are safe. Happy?” he asked the assassin in his head.

Ghost: Happy enough.

“Good.” Alistair looked over the information on final time before moving on.

Name: Alistair Blackstar

Grade: Fledgling, Level Thirteen

STR: 18

DEX: 16

CON: 16

{Summons}

Sprite Class Ethereal Ripple Slime, Level Seven

Sprite Class Nightflutter Faeling, Level Eight

Sprite Class Strigursus Onikuma, Level Six

{Skills}

Thick Skin, Level Three

Gem Gaze, Level Three

Dragon Claw Swipe, Level One

Cryptic Endurance, Level Two

Void Punch, Level One

{Wandbound Spells}

Mistmeld, Level Three

Aerial Burst, Level Two

Shimmer, Level One

Eclipse Claw, Level Two

Dimensional Gate, Level One

Shadow Play, Level One

Flame Kissed, Level One

Touch of Grace, Level One

Lightning Storm, Level One

Overture, Level One

{Resonant Enchantments}

Card of Rumors, 2/3

Feather of the Phoenix, 1/1

Umi Hoshi Kraken, Level 49