As he had during the Mage Solo competition, Alistair ended up throwing his Resonant Conductor match against a boy from Professor Vale’s coterie named Martin.

His performance, or lack thereof, got the attention of Professor Yuber, who sent Alistair a Spectral Text just as the boy took his seat in the stands.

Professor Yuber: Hello, Mr. Blackstar. My office, at the conclusion of today’s games.

Later that day, Alistair went to the professor’s office with Juno, who said he’d wait outside Beacon’s Row just in case.

“Just in case what?” Alistair asked as the other boy sat on a bench.

“Just in case you need back-up. I know I sound crazy, but these fuckers,” Juno motioned to the professors’ offices, “don’t know the wild shit we’re about to get into. Wait. What’s that look? We’re not going to you-know-where this weekend?”

“Next weekend. There’s been a change of plans.”

“What changed?”

Alistair switched to Spectral Text.

Alistair: Felix has called Kanda and me to one of his estates in Ruminara. There is some kind of assassin retreat happening.

Juno: Holy crap! Ruminara is far away. Like far-far. Yo. Another thought. Does this mean what I think it means?

Alistair: What do you think it means?

Juno: I figure they all hang out around tables playing that knife game, you know the one.

Alistair: Which knife game?

Juno: The one where you try to see how fast you can stab the table without stabbing your hand. Heh. I tried that once with a pencil and it sucked.

Alistair: I have no idea what they do at this thing, but our presence has been requested. There’s more to it, though. Kanda knows you all are part of this, and she has suggested that we do some leveling together, that there are some crazy summons out there.

Juno: He must have private property.

Alistair: On some reserve.

Juno: Dang, this is good for us. We can check the Questboard and see if there’s anything in the area too.

Alistair: You can do that?

Juno: The Questboard is a Mechanical summon with, shit, I don’t know, some telepathic-like powers. Ask Zola if you’re interested but let’s check the Questboard after this, then head to the Resonant Rooms and see if I can’t turn my ass into a basilisk.

Alistair: A basilisk you still haven’t named.

Juno: Piglet, Desolara, and Snake Eyes. What about that? It does have snake-ish eyes.

Professor Yuber: I have arrived at my office. Feel free to enter when you reach Beacon’s Row.

“I think he knows I’m here,” Alistair told Juno as he looked up at the building.

“Probably. Anyway. Just, I don’t know, smile and nod. And then we can continue on.”

Ghost: Smile and nod. See? You keep getting that advice. It’s like people understand what’s best for you and you should listen to them.

Alistair started to roll his eyes but stopped once he caught Juno looking at him.

“You good, bro?”

“I’m good,” Alistair said. “Be right back.”

It was strange stepping into Professor Lysander’s former office.

Gone were all his bizarre artifacts, from his desk cluttered with papers to the bookshelves of scrolls and audities. No weird monster skulls, and all that was left of the diagram of the human body scribbled with ancient text was the outline in the paint on the wall, indicating that it must have been hung there for years.

The only thing in the space now were two sofas facing each other, both coated in purple velvet and one with a yellow cotton throw blanket on it. This was where Yuber sat shoes off and cross-legged, the professor leafing through a leatherbound book when Alistair entered.

“Ah, yes. You’re here. Good. Please, sit.” He gestured to the sofa across from him. As if he were storing a book on a shelf, Professor Yuber slotted it into the air and the book vanished. “And don’t mind my lack of decor. The office still needs a fresh set of paint. I want it to have a sink as well. There’s a bathroom down the hallway, we don’t need a sink. And a mirror. A mirror is for the vain and demented. You are both. No, we are both. Please, Mr. Blackstar, sit.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Ghost: Remember what Juno told you. And try not to gawk at Yuber when he talks to himself. The sooner we’re out of here, the sooner we can get back to what needs to happen.

Alistair sat across from the professor, who placed his bare feet on the ground and leaned forward, elbows now resting on his knees. “Mr. Blackstar, why aren’t you winning?”

“Me?” Alistair touched his chest and instantly shot his hand down.

“You should be doing better than you have been doing, and I’d like to know why you aren’t. I want to know too. Are you afraid to show your classmates how powerful you are?”

“No, sir.”

Professor Yuber leaned back. “Are you afraid to Celestial Bind in tomorrow’s Duel Duet tournament?”

“No, sir.”

“Huh. Huh, huh, huh. Then what is it? I know you are stronger than most of the other students. Do you really think that? I can see his stats, remember? He is sitting at an 18 in Strength and a 16 in both Dexterity and Constitution. Only a few are close to him, and even they are far off. They are just numbers. Moving on, I know he has three summons that have all leveled, one of which, his owl bear, can switch to a larger class whenever you’d like. Most of the students have three summons. Right. Then there are his spells, new ones too, powerful Wandbound Spells and equally powerful skills, like Void Punch. So I will ask him again, why are you losing, Mr. Blackstar? Only losers lose.”

“Because of the scrutiny, sir.”

Ghost: What? You’re not supposed to admit that!

Alistair dug in deeper. “Because I’m an orphan, like Zola, and I already have enough attention with this stupid golden eye and the fact I can already bind. I don’t want attention. I want to just learn and get better.”

“Huh. Huh, huh, huh.” Professor Yuber steepled his hands beneath his chin. “Very well. That explanation makes sense. I’m aware that it does.”

Alistair waited a full minute before he asked. “So… I’m free to go?”

“You are, Mr. Blackstar. I accept your answer. I do not like it, but I accept it. I do not accept it, nor do I like it. And I hope that you will try harder in either tomorrow’s tournament, or the team battles that will take place two days from now. Do you have a team?”

“I do. Zola and Juno.”

“Ah, yes, Mr. Stonewind and Ms. Landvik. There will also be a random team battle. Are you hoping to participate in that? Probably not. Watch me be right. We’ve decided to let students sign up this year rather than enroll everyone.”

“No, sir.”

“Noted. See? I was right. Listen to me more.” Professor Yuber brought his feet back onto the sofa. “Good luck tomorrow, Mr. Blackstar, or bad luck. Ugh, don’t mind him.”

****

“Yuber will be Yuber,” was all Juno said after Alistair’s explanation. They reached the Resonant Room and checked into the only available space. The two aerwhisps awaiting them turned to each other once Juno called forth his summons and started pacing in front of them like a drill sergeant.

Oink?

“Give me a moment, Piglet,” he said as he seemingly read the description of his new card again. “It says that I need to feed it to the summon that I want to bind with.”

“Interesting.” Alistair, who stood closer to the portal-like exit, didn’t know exactly how this was going to play out. He wished Zola was there. If anyone would know what to do, it would be her, even if she was just as clueless about this process as the two of them. But she had joined some of the others for an excursion after the Resonant Conductor matches, Zola currently away from campus.

“You could always wait,” Desolara told Juno. The scorpion snapped her claws together.

Oink? Piglet turned to her.

“What?” she asked the swine summon. “Being patient is a good thing.”

Juno’s basilisk hissed. It moved forward toward him and raised itself up so it was eye level with the boy. “Snake Eyes?” Juno asked as its tongue flitted out of its mouth.

The basilisk shot its head forward and devoured the card.

“Hey—!” Juno gave Snake Eyes a confused look. “You were supposed to wait!” As these words left his lips, Juno started to tremble. He quickly fell before his basilisk, the boy staring up at it as if it had put him in a trance.

Ghost: Be ready to summon Lionel and get my sword!

Alistair didn’t respond. By this point, he was already rushing over to Juno to help him in any way he could. As soon as he reached his friend, Juno’s transformation took shape in a way that neither of them could have predicted.

It all started with Juno’s neck, which grew until it mirrored the length of a ladder. It didn’t stop there. Juno’s skin turned a bluish green as scales formed.

Alistair drew his wand, not certain of what he should do. He was seconds away from firing off messages to Kanda, Zola, Professor Yuber, and Finnian when Juno stopped him.

“Wait,” Juno said, his voice reptilian, his words hard to make out. “Don’t do anything, yet.”

“Are you sure?” Alistair asked as Juno pressed back to his feet, his long neck now on the ground, head facing his other two summons.

Oink! Piglet jumped up and ran to hide behind Desolara, who chittered nervously.

“Just give me a moment,” Juno hissed.