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Rising from the Abyss
Rising from the Abyss - Chapter 18

Rising from the Abyss - Chapter 18

Yaric’s stomach was in knots as he made his way down into the arena. No one gave him a second look, but he felt like the pressure was intense. This was his first fight, he was far behind any possible opponent, Lloyd and Hiawatha would be watching, and now he had attracted the attention of an Arch Wizard!

It didn’t help when Oscar tapped his shoulder and called him to follow. Everyone placed their armor to the side of the fields, and started making their way to the referees. In just 2 minutes Yaric found himself standing in front of Oscar, about to fight in his first Tournament.

The fight went as well as he expected. Which was strangely comforting. Oscar was in control of the fight from the beginning, dictating the pace and tempo, but Yaric quickly fell into a rhythm. The stress and fears he’d experienced before his first fight melted away as the comforting familiarity of combat settled over him. He still lost, hard. It was just that it felt no different to any other fight. So what if everyone was watching? He was one of more than 120 students fighting within a small space.

Oscar was gracious in his victory, helping Yaric up after his side kick took Yaric out of bounds and onto his back. They shook hands and made for the side of the field while waiting for the rest of the fights to finish. It didn’t take long.

Li Na flashed him a vicious grin when she came off, but Lauren was lost somewhere in the crowd. Sven was standing by himself, waiting patiently. His calm expression almost seemed meditative, which Yaric supposed it probably was. He was calm and composed despite the heat. The sun was rising higher by now, and Yaric felt the sweat running down his back. His arms were coated in dust from his fall and he was already thirsty.

The next fight also looked like it would be less fun.

Yusaf Smith stood opposite Yaric for the 2nd round, smiling maliciously. As one of Chris’s henchmen, he was probably going to try and make this hurt. And try he did.

Yusaf stepped forward and threw two quick snap punches, but then switched tactics completely. From that moment on, every strike was an open-handed slap as he tried to smack Yaric around. Yaric was able to block the much slower and wider swings, settling into a new rhythm himself. Then came the moment that shocked them both.

Yusaf swung wide from near his hip, his slap rising quickly toward Yaric’s jaw, which Yaric blocked while allowing the strike to continue upward, then he followed up with his left hand swinging around at shoulder height, lifting slightly at the last moment to head for Yaric’s face. Yaric raised his forearm to block the second swing - and suddenly found himself standing in front of Yusaf, both fists raised close to his head, elbows tucked in. While Yusaf was standing with one arm still extended against the outside of Yaric’s forearm, and the other raised high.

There was no thought. There was no emotion. There wasn’t even any realization until the moment had passed.

Yaric’s left fist connected with Yusaf’s face, followed almost immediately by his right impacting Yusaf’s jaw. Yusaf’s head was rocked back. He staggered back a step in surprise.

Shock showed on both their faces, causing Yaric to pause for a moment. Quickly realizing his mistake, Yaric stepped in to strike Yusaf’s throat. The technique was a favorite of Lauren’s and Yaric tried to copy it. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Yusaf had recovered from his surprise, and he managed to drop his chin, taking the fingertip strike on the hard bone. Yaric winced in pain and hesitated a second time.

He never got to hesitate for a third. Yusaf went on the offensive, treating the fight like a real battle, his rage obvious to everyone around. His attack was blistering, forcing Yaric on the defensive and pushing him back. The back to back surprises had left Yaric disorientated, and he soon found himself retreating out of his small field and out of bounds, ending the fight in Yusaf’s favor.

Yusaf was pissed. Yaric had hit him twice, and now the fight was over despite not getting the chance to land any punches in retaliation. At one point, it almost looked like Yusaf would carry on his attack regardless, but he quickly decided against it.

Yaric was ecstatic. He had fought back and landed his own punches! And of all people, it was one of the four who had gone after him from day one!

He made his way to the side of the arena. Looking up, he saw Lauren dragging Li Na through the throng of students, a big smile on her face.

“We saw the end of your fight! It was great!” she shouted across the crowd.

They both managed to get close, and Lauren gave him a hug.

“See? It’s not so bad!”

“Yes, I guess that was fun. Even if he beat me.”

“Yeah, but he forced you out of bounds without meaning to,” Li Na laughed, “he looks so mad!”

“Just have fun, there’s no reason to stress so much. Look what you can do!” Lauren said, hitting his shoulder. “And in the future don’t freeze like that! You might have even won!”

“I know,” he answered sheepishly. “I just wasn’t expecting to actually hit anyone. I’ll be more focused for the next fight.”

“Well…” Lauren hesitated. She seemed very unsure of herself when she continued, “Don’t lift your expectations too high. If you don’t get a chance to land any punches in the next fight, it’s fine! You’re still catching up. Just being able to last so long shows how far you’ve come!”

“What she means is, you’re going to get your ass kicked again. Like your first fight.”

“Lina!”

“What? It’s true. And that is what you meant, so don’t look at me!”

“I never said that at all!”

“I know! That’s why I’m saying it for you!” Li Na turned back to Yaric. “Look, your last fight was good. Lauren is right, you’ve come a long way. But don’t forget that he was trying to mess with you. He didn’t take you seriously and wasn’t fighting properly. You did do well! But you can’t ignore how he pushed you around once he started fighting seriously. Your next fight will probably be the same. Just keep trying!”

Li Na was surprisingly positive about the whole thing, despite her negative comments. But Yaric didn’t care, he’d fought back! It felt good!

They were interrupted with the start of the third round, with the students being called back onto the fields. Both Li Na and Lauren smiled encouragingly before darting off to find new opponents. Yaric was still full of adrenaline and brimming with excitement. “I can do this!” He was bouncing on his feet, eager for his next fight, when he turned to see who he would get to face next.

It was Sven.

'Crap!'

The fight was short and brutal, lasting only 2 moves. And the first was a feint.

With his third loss, Yaric left the field and stood to the side with everyone’s armor, the first to be knocked out. Others soon joined him. He knew he was only the first out because he had faced Sven in his last fight, the others had also been knocked out in the same round, but it still stung.

Yaric missed both Li Na and Lauren’s third fight, but he saw both of them in their fourth and fifth fights, and they skipped the sixth where the last few fights were carried out to bring their total to 16. Everyone armored up afterward, and they each selected their preferred weapons.

Lauren won her quarter final fight easily. She was in control of the fight right from the beginning, and her opponent was only able to delay the inevitable in the vain hope that Lauren would make a mistake. Li Na had a much tougher fight. She had a cut over her eye and a split lip by the time her fight finished, but Yaric wasn’t sure he could even recognize her opponent. He was a mess.

'I’ve never seen Lina with a mace before! When the hell did she get that?'

The semi finals were next, and Lauren strolled through her fight again. This time though, Yaric’s fate was repeated as Li Na ended up facing Sven. She really didn’t do too badly, but the outcome was clear right from the start. Li Na soon joined Yaric at the sidelines, having received a quick healing spell before making her way over.

The semi finals went unresolved. Sven faced Lauren, which led to a brutal fight. There were a lot of close calls, but Sven finally managed to take Lauren’s leg out from under her when she overextended with her shield and got in too close. The other semifinal fight had already finished, knocking one of the two fighters out, but as Lauren had now lost only one fight, both Sven and Lauren were still in the Tournament. With only one other fighter for the both of them to fight next.

The decision came through quickly. As the loser of her fight, Lauren would fight in another semifinal, with Sven getting a bye. The fight was good, but not on the same level as Lauren’s fight with Sven. Though he was still standing strong at the end of the fight, Lauren managed to force him out of bounds after just 10 seconds. Yaric was nevertheless impressed, his defense had been great, almost good enough to hold Lauren to a standstill.

Arch Wizard Jaxxon Phelps was suddenly back at the center of the arena. The entire arena went quiet.

Yaric still felt slightly shaken from his faux pas earlier, so he tried to lessen the tension he still felt. He leaned closer to Li Na's ear and whispered, “Who’s that spry young guy in the middle of the arena. He looks like he could wrestle a dragon.”

Li Na turned to smirk at him at the same time that Yaric looked back up. The Arch Wizard was smiling his way, head turned and eyes locked in front of the entire Academy, making no effort at all to be subtle. Li Na was still looking at Yaric as his blood ran cold, and she missed the entire interaction.

“Next up, we have our final matchup for the fourth years. This fight is a repeat of our last Tournament, featuring Prospect Sven McDavids versus Prospect Lauren Silver. Prospect Lauren has lost one fight, Prospect Sven has lost none. The match will continue for as many rounds as it takes for one of our fighters to receive their third defeat! I wish you both good luck!”

Lauren and Sven made their way onto the field, now an even larger area with multiple preliminary round fields joined together. They were both armed with a sword and shield. Taking up their positions, they lifted their shields and raised their swords, and a moment later a gong reverberated from all around.

Their first round was the longest fight they had had all day. The sun beat down as the sound of shields intercepting swords and grunts of effort rang out through the silent arena. There was no wind at all, and a heavy heat pressed down on the arena. Sven and Lauren seemed to be oblivious to anything but their match, both fighting to get an advantage over the other.

The match finally ended when Lauren punched at Sven with her shield, trying to make an opening for a follow up with her sword. Sven never backed down, and with his shield securely strapped to his arm, he managed to hook it around the edge of Lauren’s and pull the edge toward himself and out. Lauren was unable to keep her shield straight with only the central hand grip. Her shield twisted around and left her open to Sven’s sword thrust.

Lauren had been prepared for her own thrust, so she was caught out when she found herself suddenly open to Sven’s sword. Still, she reacted remarkably quickly, her sword flashing out to parry Sven’s. Unfortunately, it was only a feint.

Sven’s shield arm punched out instead, catching Lauren with her shield useless and her sword out place. The rim of Sven’s shield impacted just below her sternum and left her winded on the ground.

“Match!”

Sven helped Lauren up, and both reset their positions.

The gong rang out again.

Lauren advanced on Sven quickly. She held her shield close, and her sword behind it, her shield arm leading with her upper body twisted away from Sven. As they were about to come close enough to engage, Lauren whipped her shield out to the side, as if fending off an attack, while simultaneously stepping forward with her rear leg.

Sven had no idea what she was doing, but he reacted nonetheless, angling his left arm out to better block an attack from Lauren’s sword, while slightly dropping it to be in position for a low attack.

Lauren’s right arm flicked up from her waist as her shield moved to the side. She wasn’t holding her sword.

Instead, a 5in long steel spike darted up at Sven’s exposed throat. The projectile stopped dead an inch from his skin when a mage shield popped into existence.

“Match!”

Sven looked shaken. That had looked like a real attack, and would have been lethal in a real fight. Lauren just smiled, and took her sword out from behind her shield. Her shield hand had been holding both her shield and sword, leaving her right hand free to conceal a second weapon.

Lauren had just defeated Sven even more quickly than Sven had defeated Yaric. And with a lethal strike no less.

They reset again, Lauren’s sword plainly visible in her hand this time. The fight went much like the first, both combatants in a stalemate as they searched for openings.

Sven chose to create his own. He stepped forward as he brought his sword down in a vicious overhead chop. Lauren raised her shield to block directly, pushing it forward slightly to force a larger angle. Sven stepped back and changed his target to the shield itself. The change happened mid swing, and with Lauren’s shield already on the way to meet the sword, her view of Sven's hands were blocked and she didn’t see the sword pull back.

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It struck her shield hard. Sven had his weight behind the strike, and he stepped forward again to add even more weight behind the blade that still pressed down. Lauren wasn’t able to hold her shield up with the weight bearing down on it. Her eyes grew wide as her shield quickly dropped. Sven smiled slightly, twisted his blade to lie flat on the rim of the shield, and stepped forward in a thrust sliding his blade across the top of Lauren's shield. He easily adjusted the trajectory as Lauren tried to twist sideways, and an instant later, his sword tip was right at Lauren’s exposed throat.

“Match!”

The Arch Wizard was back in the middle of the arena again. “Well done fourth years! And especially to Prospect Sven McDavids, our winner, and Prospect Lauren Silver, runner up in her class for this year's Summer Solstice Tournament!”

He proceeded to call out the other 6 fighters who had made the top 8, including Li Na, and she left Yaric to join the others with the referees. When she returned, she had both Lauren and Sven in tow.

“Well done!” Yaric called out to them.

Sven smiled back. “Sorry about earlier, I was trying to end my fights quickly.”

“No problem, I prefer it that way. And Lauren got some revenge for me,” he smirked.

Yaric had already collected his unused armor, so the four made their way back to their seats. Everyone was relieved when ice cold drinks were handed out. The event was over for them, and the whole class immediately started talking excitedly about who had beat who and what they would do the next time. The tension had completely disappeared. Yaric was just relieved it was over. And even more so that there didn’t seem to be any bad blood between anyone over the results.

Well, almost everyone. Yusaf kept making rude signs at Yaric whenever he caught his eye, and Chris and the others seemed to be holding the fight against him too. Even though he had lost.

The rest of the Tournament flew by despite the heat. There were no special match ups in this tournament, which ended by midafternoon.

“And thus ends this year’s Summer Solstice Tournament! All of you should have learned much today! Now you may go and meditate on how you will come back even stronger for the Winter Solstice. Dismissed!” The Arch Wizard was suddenly gone.

“Let’s go get rid of our armor. We have the rest of the day off!” Li Na said excitedly.

The entire Academy was filing out of the arena, so they joined in the crowd and allowed themselves to be swept along. Yaric spotted someone familiar at the top of the hill, deep in conversation with Chris.

“Hey, that’s the High Wizard I told you about, Eli Collingwood. And he’s talking to Chris! It looks like you were right Sven, he is sponsored by the same person I was telling you about.”

They made their way to the top of the hill, and moved closer to Chris. None of Chris’s friends were anywhere in sight. He was still deep in conversation, but he paused when he noticed Yaric walking closer and shot him a dark look. Eli looked up to see what the problem was, and he too scowled when he spotted Yaric.

“What’s that about?” whispered Li Na. “I’d be impressed if you pissed off a High Wizard that much, but he looks like he could eat you. Eat all of us!” she added.

“I don’t know,” Yaric responded, suddenly nervous. He was also worried about his test coming to light, and how his friends might react. “Listen, do you guys have a second? There’s something I need to tell you about. It has nothing to do with Chris, but I think you should know.”

Lauren looked concerned as she nodded, while Li Na and Sven just looked at him with curiosity in their eyes.

“Come on, let’s go down this way. Away from the crowds.”

Yaric led them into a park, and to the same park bench he’d sat on with Lauren and Li Na just a few months earlier.

“Ok. I’m actually not sure where to begin.” He looked down at his feet. Yaric knew he had to tell them, but going through with it was much harder than he’d expected.

“Take your time,” Lauren offered with a smile. “We’re not in a rush.”

“So, you know Lloyd found me when he was on a trip. Not all of you know that he found a Mage there too. He was a murderer. And a Mind Mage. I don’t know much about how it works, but some people on the Lekton Council were worried he might have done something to me. I think it was mostly the High Wizard that sponsored Chris. Eli Collingwood. He said he was worried I could be dangerous.”

“And you think Chris might try to accuse you of something?”

“No, Chris has nothing to do with it.” Yaric took a deep breath. “Eli demanded that they use something called a Mind Bridge to test me.”

Sven sucked in a breath, looking slightly alarmed. “They used the Mind Bridge on you?”

Yaric nodded.

“That shouldn’t have been allowed! It’s only for use on criminals or spies!” he spat out angrily.

“The Council Head authorized it,” Yaric replied dejectedly.

“Wait! What’s a Mind Bridge? What are you two talking about?” Lauren asked in frustration. Li Na looked confused as well.

“It’s a device used to burrow into people’s minds. My family have caught spies before, and even then they only had it used twice. It’s extremely invasive! Usually a spy has to actually be convicted before one can be used!”

Lauren and Li Na didn’t look uncomfortable over the news. They looked angry.

“Well High Wizard Collingwood arranged for it. He ran the tests himself.”

“But at least you were cleared then!” Lauren asserted.

Yaric shook his head. “It didn’t work. They couldn’t break through. Lloyd said the High Wizard Collingwood failed and received some kind of backlash.”

Sven sat up straight. “Are you serious? That should be impossible! I’ve never heard of anyone resisting a Mind Bridge. Not even High Wizards! No offence, but how could you possibly keep out a High Wizard who sits on the Council?”

Yaric just shrugged. “No idea. Lloyd said he tried to test me too, before we left my village. He also couldn’t get in. No one on the Council seemed to know what was happening. And I’ve never even seen them since.”

“So what happened? They found a different way?” Li Na asked.

Yaric shook his head again. “No. They decided that I can’t be held back when there is no evidence anything is wrong. And some of them thought they owed me for things they had failed to do in the past. That’s a long story!” he quickly added. “But if people find out, they might start talking. I was interrogated by the Council after all. And they couldn’t prove that I was innocent.”

“They couldn’t prove you were guilty either!” Li Na responded angrily.

“It sounds stupid too. The Council couldn’t examine you even with a Mind Bridge. What could they think a Mind Mage would have been able to do?” said Sven. “The failure of the test itself is proof enough.”

Yaric was grateful. No one seemed to be upset about the questions surrounding his past. Or rather, they were, but they were upset on his behalf.

“Anyway, I thought you guys should know. It will come out at some point. And you three might have problems by association.”

“Don’t be stupid!” Lauren replied, punching his shoulder lightly.

“Yeah! Don’t be stupid!” grinned Li Na, leaning over Lauren to punch Yaric as well, but with much more force.

They spoke about it for a few more minutes, but everyone wanted to get out of their clothes and get cleaned up. It was still very hot, and they were all filthy.

The rest of the day was very relaxed. All of the students were excited about the tournament they had just competed in, but everyone was hot and tired, so they lounged about and traded stories. Some boasts became challenges, which in turn became class wide bets. Everyone managed to enjoy themselves. Yaric and his friends were having a lot of fun, and they quickly forgot their earlier conversation.

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Training progressed rapidly. Yaric had effectively caught up with his shield work, and both his spear and short swords were more or less on par as well. He knew all of the same techniques and forms as the rest of the class. He still had a lot of practice to put in before he was as good as everyone else, but he was getting much closer. Even his classes had moved forward significantly, now including all of his other subjects. Mage Rayne was pleasantly surprised to discover that Yaric's education had given him a good foundation in the sciences, despite being from a small town near the border. Yaric had needed to explain his schooling history, and his tutor quickly worked out that Tarah, who organized the education for all children in Clery, had a very high education herself. There would be very little reason for someone to move so far out and immediately step into such responsible roles unless they were brought in for their qualifications. Yaric's scientific understanding was further evidence, even if he was still far behind what the Academy required.

Of course, his class had continued progressing as well. Yaric knew he would have to start learning how to use a long sword some time soon. His biggest shock had been when they all started archery together. He knew he wasn’t very good, but he was so much better than some of his classmates. Several other students were excellent with a bow, none of them being students who had stood out as especially skilled in a weapon before.

The other major change was the unit training. They had progressed much further in the last couple of months. Moving on from a simple wall of spears, shields had been added. Then they had started adding maneuvers; moving forward, backward, and even learning to wheel around to face their flanks.

More recently, they had started learning to maneuver in formation while wielding swords and shields, and were currently practicing maneuvers such as forming a wedge, envelopment, and replacing ‘wounded’ combatants in the formation while getting the wounded safely to the rear.

Yaric still had to go through the private one on one training during lunch as well. He hadn’t managed to win any Challenges yet, but he was getting better. He fought Lauren twice more, and avoided Li Na repeatedly. Yusaf had managed to ambush him once, but he had been late - not because Yaric challenged someone else first, but because he had already been successfully ambushed earlier that same day. Hiawatha was clear that his one on one training would continue until Yaric was able to hold his own against his fellow classmates. This combined with the heat to make each day feel much longer and much more intense than when he had first joined with the class.

And the pressure was soon turned up a notch.

“All right, everyone gather around!” Hiawatha called one evening, just before the class would normally have been let go for the day. “Good! Now, some of you may already know, but near the end of the year, fourth year classes go on excursions.”

The whole class erupted at the news.

“Quiet! Listen closely! This will not be a holiday! You will be force marching to your destination. Along the way, you will be camping outside. You will carry all of your own equipment and supplies. Other instructors will join, and we will be teaching you survival skills; how to fortify your camps, how to build a shelter, and many other things that will be vital to you in the future! There will be a lot to learn and very little time to learn it in!” Hiawatha paused to ensure everyone was paying attention.

“Also, your destination will not be random. We will be locating a population of some pest species, such as goblins or other infestations, and you will be the ones to clear them. You will all go into a real combat situation, and you will complete your assignment! You will do it safely, and you will do so effectively! Am I understood?”

“YES INSTRUCTOR!”

“Good! This is what you are currently training for. If you cannot work together effectively by then, tough! Some of you will get hurt. Some of you may even die! If you learn to work together properly, good! You will all pull through as much better fighters. From tomorrow we will be increasing the duration of your unit training.”

The entire class let out loud groans.

“Silence! You will practice more, you will train harder! Is that clear?”

“YES INSTRUCTOR!"

“Dismissed!”

They all turned around, but most students hung back, excitedly discussing the news. There was a lot they didn’t know, so everyone tried to fill in the blanks. Yaric groaned when he noticed Chris elbowing his way toward him.

“Just so you know, I will be watching you!” he declared loudly, jabbing his finger in Yaric’s face. “You might be able to get private lessons for free, but I know the truth! Traitor!”

The whole class had stopped to listen, and Yaric heard them start murmuring amongst themselves when Chris called him a traitor.

“Oh, and who am I supposed to have betrayed? Is Yusaf feeling hurt that I hit back?”

“Don’t talk back to me!” Chris shoved Yaric hard, causing him to stumble back and a few other students to get between them. “None of you would be helping him if you knew what I knew! Is there no one here who knows who trained Yaric before he came to the Academy? Doesn’t anyone know who his teacher was?”

“Don’t be stupid, everyone knows I had no training before I came here.”

Chris just ignored him. “Didn’t he tell you about his interrogation? About how the Council deemed fit to try to read his mind with a device only used on the worst criminals?” Chris leered at Yaric. “Didn’t he tell you about the protections they found? Protections so strong that even the most powerful High Wizard in Lekton couldn’t get through!”

There was a lot of muttering now, and everyone was looking to see how Yaric would respond.

But Yaric was flustered. So much of what happened was misrepresented, but a lot of it was truth that was being presented misleadingly. He opened his mouth to reply, but never got the chance.

“Christopher Reynolds!” Hiawatha boomed out. Yaric immediately noted that he used no title.

“I warn you to think carefully on each word that comes out of your mouth! I have heard what you have said so far, and you will be facing disciplinary action as it is!”

Hiawatha looked around at everyone in the class. “This is private information, but for the second time I find myself forced to reveal facts that should not be discussed. There was a misunderstanding when your classmate Prospect Yaric was admitted to the Academy. He had been attacked by a vicious criminal, one who happened to be a Mage…”

“A Mind Mage!” Chris interrupted triumphantly. He quickly backed up at the look he earned from Hiawatha.

“Yes, a Mind Mage. Unfortunately, when one of our Council members heard the news, he erroneously believed that Prospect Yaric may have been influenced by this Mind Mage. He foolishly thought that this Mind Mage went around twisting young children into dangerous weapons that could threaten this Academy. Prospect Yaric was cleared of all suspicion.”

“He was not!” Chris shouted. “High Wizard Collingwood was not able to run any tests, Yaric has abnormally powerful shields on his mind!”

“SILENCE! Yaric was cleared by Council Head Sandy Ivers herself! Now I will not hear any more of this! Unfounded accusations of this nature are not acceptable.”

“If he was cleared, why did High Wizard Collingwood charge me with watching Yaric? Huh? Why do I need to give reports to a member of the Council if he isn’t dangerous? How did he get that shield on his mind if he isn’t a danger to us all?”

It was Hiawatha who looked truly dangerous. No one had ever seen him so angry. The whole class felt the need to step back, even Yaric.

“Are you questioning the judgement of Council Head Sandy Ivers?” Hiawatha asked, his voice quiet but cold as ice.

Chris seemed unsure of himself for a moment, but quickly came to a decision and visibly gathered up his courage. His voice still didn’t seem as confident as before though, “Then you question the judgement of High Wizard Eli Collingwood?”

That broke the camel's back. Hiawatha was trembling with fury, but he said nothing. He simply marched toward Chris, even as Chris tried to backpedal desperately. Hiawatha grabbed hold of his training uniform and lifted Chris into the air, immediately marching off toward the campus buildings, with Chris dangling from his outstretched arm. Hiawatha never turned back, nor did he address anyone as he strode away.

The rest of the class was very uneasy. Most were staring at Yaric. Some seemed hostile.

Sven walked forward then. “I for one already knew what Chris just announced.” That caused a stir amongst the students. “What Chris didn’t say, is that the shielding he mentioned is far too powerful for any Mind Mage to have placed. I don’t know how many of you know what a Mind Bridge is, but that is the device they tried to use to test Yaric. It failed.”

The shocked outbursts from the students let Yaric know that there were a few who knew exactly what the Mind Bridge did.

“This alone was enough to convince the entire Council, every single member save one, that Yaric could NOT have been affected by a Mind Mage. It simply isn’t possible. And that is without all of the other evidence as well.”

“What other evidence?” Someone called out.

“Honestly? It has nothing to do with you. Or any of us.” There were quite a few students who weren’t happy with that.

“Yaric was unfairly accused. He was accused of being the victim of a manipulation that never happened. The entire Council was satisfied. As Battle Mage Trokhym indicated, Council Head Sandy Ivers was satisfied. Do you doubt her? Do you think Chris knows better? I’m more disappointed in each of you who believed him. Every one of you know Chris has it out for Yaric. You all saw how he spoke back to Battle Mage Trokhym. And some of you think that he is the voice of reason? Over the Council Head of Lekton Academy?”

There was more grumbling, but when Sven turned to Yaric, making it clear that he wasn’t going to say any more, the class started to break up and head back to the dorm building.

“I’m sorry Yaric. I don’t know what Chris was thinking.”

“Yeah!” Li Na said as she joined them. “I’ll have to make a plan to shut his mouth for him.”

“Thanks guys, but please just leave it. You heard him, there are Council members who are having me watched. This isn’t over like I thought it was.”

“There is one Council member having you watched,” Lloyd’s voice came from behind them, making them all jump. “A Council member who is going to be disciplined over his actions. I'm afraid that politics often brings out the worst in us.”

Lloyd seemed to be sympathetic as he looked over Yaric, but also tired. And even a little sad.

“I'm sorry things have come to this. It's embarrassing when the most senior amongst us behave like children. I guess some people never stop plotting or playing games. And sometimes pawns are too blinded by their own petty desires to play their part correctly." Lloyd sighed deeply. "I need a moment with Yaric."

The others nodded. Lauren squeezed Yaric's shoulder in support, and all three walked away in silence, glancing back frequently as they did.

"Come with me, Yaric. There are a few things about that Council member and his sponsored student that I feel you need to know.”