Cal found that his classmates suddenly noticed his existence. The whispers and furtive glances carried their way into the classroom. It was impossible not to notice, even the teacher's usually cheerful smile appeared strained. Her eyes darted around, trying to puzzle together what the deal with today's class was. That made him feel a tad bit of guilt, despite the circumstances being beyond his control.

It would have been easier if he could punch the guy and call it a day. He didn't even look that strong, Cal was betting he could do it without raising too many eyebrows. It seemed Alice was unwilling to let him take a swing, although they hadn't spoken after the incident. She and Lily had left shortly after escorting him to class.

There was a decent chance he could learn more about the matter by eavesdropping on some of the conversations going on around him or seeing what the forums were up to. Maybe get a hint as to why all the subterfuge. He decided against both. He'd rather go to the source before having his opinion colored by people who probably didn't know what they were talking about. Not that his opinion should matter much. He was caught in the crossfire but none of this was his business.

Mask would have been so much better suited for this, in and out in a couple of weeks with all cultists neatly placed in body bags and no one the wiser to the calamity that almost came to pass. They did shit like that routinely. At least Cal knew why they didn't send them now. Mask was strong, there was no doubt about that. Take away their mind magic and you still have someone able to stand against the strongest of them. Stand against, not beat. That Spirit would have fried them. Hells, it would stand a good chance against most of them. That amount of raw power was tricky for anyone to deal with.

No wonder this place survived the Fall.

He managed to distract himself through the rest of the class while feigning attention. He avoided using his trance, it seemed too disrespectful for a teacher working so hard. After gathering his belongings, he waited for everyone else to file out before leaving. Outside of the classroom, Lily kicked off the wall she had been leaning against. She gestured with her head to follow. It was expected, she'd messaged him halfway through that she'd walk him to his next class to avoid any more trouble.

"How's the patient?" Cal asked once they had some distance between everyone else.

"Dorm isn't on fire." Lily shrugged. "It's not the first time Petro has been a little shit. Usually not as public or blatant but it's nothing new. It's just, that she's under a lot of stress so everything stacks up."

"I get it." Everyone had their breaking point and she might be nearing hers. "Some few weeks back and already needing another vacation. That's rough."

Cal certainly needed one. The Free Cities sounded better every day.

"Don't tell her that. She's liable to tear your head off."

"In the interest of peace in our time." Lily gave a short scoff in response. "I do have some good news for a change."

"Hah?" She walked closer, poking him. "Sorry, had to check to make sure it was you."

"Funny" He'd gotten used to this side of her and so didn't stop her antics. It wasn't like she was using any serious magic. "Anyways, It's regarding Marcus"

"Good news and Marcus? What did you kill him."

"Almost but that's not-"

She stopped, grabbed his collar, and pulled him down to her level.

"What do you mean almost?" she hissed in a way that implied his death depending on the answer.

He could have sworn he'd mentioned that before. Oh well.

Before he responded, he decided this position was uncomfortable. Their foreheads met earning a yelp from the girl.

"Ancestors!" She exclaimed, rubbing her forehead. "Who headbutts a lady?!?!"

"People who care about their personal space." Cal straightened his tie that had been ruffled from her grab. "And stop pretending to be hurt, you got your shell up."

"At the last second" She grumbled. "You could have given me a concussion with that stunt."

"And you could have given me a seizure with some of those electric pokes you like to do. You don't see me whining about it."

He started walking again, she waited for a moment before skipping to catch up.

"Oh, afraid I'll stop your heart are you?" She said with a teasing tilt to her voice, arms held together behind her back. "But enough stalling, explain." She ended in her serious tone again.

"We had a spar, the idiot didn't put his shell up and so I almost made him into a kebab."

"He had a shield badge, right?" She eyed him skeptically. "So there wasn't any actual danger?"

"No." Cal shook his head. He'd ask Ferguson to reconsider that rule if it didn't mean it more likely for him to have fight.

Lily had a gobsmacked expression.

"Where was the teach-" She stopped her sentence, her face shifted to one of understanding. "Yep, that tracks." She nodded to herself. "There's a reason I didn't accept the invitation for that class and it wasn't because of the others taking it. That guy is a disgrace. Did you know he was close to being a Hand once? He's not even a native of the Empire proper, he grew up in the Holy Enclave. Do you realize how big a deal that would have been? And then he throws it all away to be a lousy drunk."

It was nice to have someone share his sentiments about the man.

"I would have liked to have that option." Cal complained, griping about his forceful enrollment.

"I'm not the one almost killing other students."

The way she spoke sometimes made him wonder about that.

Cal studied her face, looking for any sort of tell.

"In case it's not abundantly clear. Stop trying to kill your classmates. Do I need to make you repeat it back to me?"

From her look, he could tell she was considering just that.

"We got a bit sidetracked there." Cal moved to course correct the conversation. "The good news I was trying to deliver was that Marcus agreed to some personal training with each other. Figure Alice would be happy about that."

"What? Her voice rose a few decibels before lowering again. "Why would you be training with that guy of all people? Why would she be happy about that?"

He glanced at her with confusion.

"Alice asked for me to get close to him, to sorta spy on him?" He thought they told each other everything.

By the look on her, that was evidently not the case.

"That is not the dumbest plan I've heard." She kicked a rock along the path, sending it flying. "It's on the podium though. Marcus isn't an idiot, he's not going to let anything slip. There's no way this ends any other way than poorly for you."

Her vote of confidence wasn't needed.

"What's this personal training about anyways? You didn't promise anything, did you? Your words carry weight now."

"Nothing like that, we're going to help one another out.

"I find it hard to believe that guy would accept help from anyone. Let alone you."

Cal rolled his eyes at the insult.

"He'll teach me how to use a spear and I'll teach him how to not get hit."

"I don't see why anyone would need help learning how to dodge, it's not a complicated process."

Spoken by someone who's never had hundreds of something actively trying to kill you.

"So you're picking up the spear. Is your main weapon lacking in some way or is it only an excuse?"

His main weapon was a fist, it lacked in style and nothing else.

"The spear is my main weapon, I didn't have one before coming here."

"You're telling me, you almost killed Marcus with a weapon you don't know how to use?" There was a look of disbelief on her. Asking if he thought her that gullible.

"He was overconfident." Cal didn't see the need to overly defend himself. She had an idea of his strength, it was the wrong idea but it was up there when compared to the rest of the student body.

"That's the truth." She said, dropping the matter. "When did you two agree to this training?"

"We don't have anything set up yet, he approached me today after class about it."

"Uh huh, and then hours later Petro comes along and challenges you to a duel. Doesn't that timing seem convenient to you?"

Put that way, it was more than a little coincidental.

"I guess? I don't see what Marcus gets out of Petro challenging me and getting his ass kicked. Or are you saying Petro is trying to drive a wedge after learning about our agreement? That wouldn't make sense because knowing about it would mean he's aware I'd mop the floor with him."

"I don't know." She said, her frustration bleeding out. "He might only know about AN agreement and not what it entails. I think it's a bad idea to be involved with either of those two. At the same time, it's not my call."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

She sighed and their conversation died until they neared the old building Magical Engineering 101 was housed in.

Her head swiveled as she took it in along with the scenery.

"This place is pretty isolated, you should be able to get back to the dorm by yourself if you're sneaky enough."

"It won't be a problem." He really didn't need to be walked to class like a child.

Lily turned, ready to leave. Cal called out to her.

"Oh, catch." He removed a pouch from his breast pocket, tossing it over. She caught it with a befuddled look. "I should have handed it over earlier but forgot."

She opened it, finding the small wafers he'd made in case of an emergency.

"This wasn't purchased." She examined the pouch itself. "Cafeteria worker or did you convince Benjamin to make you some?" She said eyeing his collar pin.

"I made them myself" Cal preempted her denial. " Why does everyone assume I can't bake?"

"It's not a common skill among our peers." She took one out, sampling it. "Have you been carrying these all day?"

"Yeah."

He had, they didn't need to be refrigerated or anything. He just had to be mindful and not crush them.

"You know." She looked at him strangely. "You're more reliable than you look."

"Th-" He stopped his thank you, thinking better of it. "Was that a compliment or insult?"

She laughed, strolling away.

The sound of her voice drifted over as he entered the building.

"I haven't decided yet."

—

There was an additional person present when Cal walked into the classroom.

"Hey Benny, long time no see."

The man was standing next to Mia who wasn't seated next to the teacher's desk today. Instead, she was seated at one of the desks set up for nonexistent students, signing some documents.

"We last met several hours ago." He said matter of factly.

Note to self, no sense of humor on this guy.

"Yes, that was a joke." Cal continued before the man could ask how it was one. "What brings you here? Club stuff I'm guessing." He pointed towards the forms.

Benjamin shifted slightly, blocking Cal's view.

"That's correct. President is finishing up, I won't intrude on your lesson."

Half turning, Benjamin started collecting the completed papers and placing them in a folder. Holding it to his side, Cal could see only a handful left needing signing.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Cal walked over to Wyatt's desk, where the man slept as usual. He produced a dull thunk as he knocked on the wood. "Either this guy wakes up and lectures for about ten minutes before collapsing again or he doesn't wake up at all."

"I see." Benny had moved again, blocking the sight of the table again. It was not a natural move and Cal fought hard to pretend he didn't notice. "That is unfortunate."

Mia handed the final documents to Benjamin who put them with their fellows.

"Okay?"

Benjamin was about to respond when she shook her head, pointing at Cal.

"Heard about that as well did you? I'm not sure what they're saying but I'd bet they're blowing it out of proportion."

"There was some idle chat that reached me." Benjamin responded with a dour tone. "It was not long ago that I was made to endure similar circumstances. Being unable to retaliate as I wished, it was difficult to control myself at times." He clasped a hand on Cal's shoulder, giving him a hard stare that Cal thought was meant to be reassuring. "Bide your time, take note of any and all offenses so when the time comes you may exact your retribution in full."

Cal broke the stare, looking at Mia who didn't seem to register Benny's words.

"Thanks?" Cal was somewhat starting to see why people found the man scary. "That's more work than I want to do though. I don't care enough to remember who said what."

"Writing it down helps. However, I see your point. Those weaklings may not be worth the effort." The bell tolled in the distance, drawing their attention. "I must be off then." Benjamin left without another word.

Cal settled into the seat next to Mia, unpacking the textbook and a notebook. He did his usual routine of self-study. Magical Engineering was not a simple concept or even a singular one. It was more an amalgamation of everything that went into how magic was used in the construction devices.

Humans, when you got down to it, were pretty bad at using magic. Too inconsistent, too limited, and too constrained. Ask the average fire mage to bring a teapot to boil a dozen times and they'll take a different amount of time for each attempt. Ask them to set hundreds to boil simultaneously and they'll complain it can't be done. Ask them to freeze the water instead of boiling? They'll curse you out.

That's where the beauty of magically powered machinery came in. Built for a specific purpose, they could complete the jobs without the assistance of a mage on time and without a fuss.

The field had always existed in some form or another but truly gained momentum after the Fall. Free from the yoke that was the Church and gods, the people who founded the Federation took to it with a fervency unparalleled to any other. A natural consequence, it was one of the few ways they had available to contend against the martial prowess of the Empire.

There was a slight hitch in it. Magically powered devices suffered from the same plague that affected humans, ambient magic. Of course, for different reasons. While the magic could cause the emotions and subsequent minds of mages to be put out of sorts, for magical devices it could cause anything from simple nonfunctionality to combustion.

The art of magical engineering was building them in a way that it did neither of those or at the very least, had them stop working on a predictable schedule. There were varying levels of success, the more complex something was the greater the challenge in getting it to work right.

The beacon he had carried was a near marvel of technology. Able to get out a signal in the Waste of all places? Albeit not in the center, was a magnificent feat. One, as far as he knew, the Empire was unable to replicate.

For now.

There was a good deal of similarities between this book and the ones Millie gave him. Hers were heavily annotated with crossed-out sections and near gibberish written in the margins but broadly they said the same things. Then again, hers were decades old. Despite her appearance, Millie was in her thirties and he knew she graduated early. It stood to reason she probably started early as well.

It was also just an intro book, if he had access to later editions there might be a bigger difference.

The phones were still a surprise to him as were the shield badges. He wondered what else they'd managed to figure out. He'd not seen any airships. Those were a recent development, not having seen use in the last war. As a result, they were largely unproven. Not that it made a difference with their phase-out.

Did the Empire even have anything to counter a swarm of helis? Would anything stop a missile barrage on their capital?

He could attest the Federation struggled with its anti-air capabilities. They'd essentially repurposed old artillery guns with proximity fuse shells and aimed them up. Hoping saturation would halt any attack.

It wasn't a great strategy.

They had to have something, ariel magical beast's incursions were not that uncommon. Perhaps that was even their solution? Tamed magical beast like he saw the other day. If so they were in for a rude awakening should conflict ever break out. They might be beaten out by durability or endurance, but helis were highly maneuverable and packed a punch. They could also be manufactured in less time than he'd wager it took to tame a beast. Was a rider easier to replace than a pilot? Cal wasn't sure about the specifics of either.

Cal bit the inside of his cheek. He was randomly speculating on a war that didn't have to happen. Bad script writing aside, the people here didn't come off as bloodthirsty maniacs. They didn't need to kill each other for some stupid land or glory.

Preventing such a thing was the job of diplomats. That didn't mean he couldn't help tilt the scales. He'd been told his mission would improve relations if successful. All he had to do was ensure it was. He needed to begin his investigation in earnest. He would leverage the Spirit but not solely rely on it.

He was going to do his job. A job that was going to be complicated if he was in the middle of some scandal. A scandal of a certain someone's making.

A simple conclusion was made. Petro was a threat to the mission.

He had to be dealt with.