Azura debated on whether doing the event was worth it or not. He had learned a lot trying to come up with solutions for the events, but most of what he learned was very situational. Then again it was also a good test to see where he was at. Reluctantly he decided that it was probably a good idea to keep going to them. So he headed towards the courtyard where the events were typically announced. As expected students had been split up into their separate years already. So Elismera was on her own as far as their group went, but everyone else was together.
“Told you he’d decide to come.” Katy smugly announced to the others as he arrived.Half of him wanted to make a joke of just being there to deliver something, but he was a little worried about the delivery since he was already splitting his focus between more things than he’d normally like. At least he was starting to feel like he might get a grasp on lightning magic pretty soon.
“Well damn I thought for sure you’d use this time for rest or extra training.” He’d considered the latter, but not really the former. His body didn’t really need rest anymore, or well it did to recover mana, but not for much else. Besides between his core and his enhanced meditation, recovering mana was a fairly quick process for him. Even with his capacity as high as it had become. For him his fast mana recovery speed was extra important due to him constantly storing mana, and his copies which didn’t recover it naturally, so the core had been a godsend for their productivity.
“This is extra training.” He didn’t know how effective it would end up being, but so far he couldn’t say there was an event that he hadn’t learned anything from. Still he hoped that trend would continue, because his time was very limited now.
“Hello students, glad to see so many of you week after week. Dedication is one of the most important factors to how strong you will become, so I’m sure all of you putting in all this extra effort will be quite strong.” That was odd, Professor Roads didn’t usually pander to them like this. Just what was he buttering them up for? “Now in order to become strong, one must know strength. So the next 3 events will be having you battle a simulation of some of this school's strongest alumni at different points in their lives.”
He raised an eyebrow. Well that was certainly interesting. Well he was certainly glad he had decided to come if he was really given an opportunity to test his metal like this. “Now be warned, only the 1st of the 3 will even be possible for you to beat, and even for this one the odds are against you. As such we’ll be judging the winners of this competition a little differently.” He smiled, that certainly sounded sufficiently challenging. “Your opponent will be decided inside the subspace using a variety of criteria to determine the opponent best suited to help you grow.”
Oh? That was intriguing. He still hadn’t figured out how the school was making these projections, but if he had to guess the system they used for it has been around since long before the decline of enchantment magic.They could use it, but he doubted they understood it well enough to replicate it. Unfortunate, but not debilitating. He was confident he could figure it out, if he was given enough time with the enchantments. “Keep in mind that these projections are real, and it is entirely possible for you to be hurt or killed. As they are all alumni here, none of them were in a mental state to try and kill you when their consciousness was copied, and as they are mere copies and can’t grow it should remain that way. That being said, do try not to provoke them.”
Wow Professor Roads was really selling this one. He was genuinely excited, except for the fact he was almost certainly going to be up against a younger version of his father. Even that was realistically a good thing. Obviously his father would be leagues beyond where he was when he went to school here, but it would be good practice nonetheless. “Alright, I think that makes you lot sufficiently warned. Once taken to the subspace please wait patiently for your opponent to appear, depending on how difficult it is to pick an opponent for you they could appear within 1 minute, or 1 hour. Good luck students.”
Just like that he was once again pulled into a subspace. He was surprised to see the subspace looked exactly like a training room in the school. He supposed that made sense. Since they would be sparring against copies of previous students. He idly wondered whether his opponent would appear immediately or after the longest possible wait. He knew better than to expect anything in the middle. As such he was fairly disappointed when a minute had passed, and his opponent had failed to appear. He sighed and sat down, an hour to relax wouldn’t be that bad right?
***
Cynthia wasn’t too terribly surprised when after a few minutes her mother had appeared in front of her. She’d admit to being a little weirded out to see a version of her mother that was barely older than her. “So uh can I still call you mom, or would Lilian be better since this version of you hasn’t had me yet?” It was kind of funny how the younger version of her mother actually looked less like her than her mom currently did. Her mothers hair was wild, even if the color was the same it was much less taken care of. Though not to the point that it looked unhealthy. Other than the messy hair and lack of makeup her mother obviously just looked younger, a little shorter than her, and softer facial features than her mother had now.
“I’m a mother?” She had to admit, she wasn’t expecting a response. Not only that, but not even a verbal response. That was odd, sufficiently advanced mages can use a simpler version of telepathy than her unique magic, but her mom shouldn’t really have had experience with it at this point. Still the fact the simulation was real enough for her to telepathically connect to it was a marvel, and she couldn’t help but be impressed by how much like her mother this fake felt.
“Your real self is yeah, and a great one at that.” She would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified of fighting her mother. If the stories her father had told her were true than the biggest change her mother had since graduating was learning restraint. Her mother was probably stronger than her now even as a first year, but this looked to be at least a 2nd year.
“That explains why you don’t act like my mother, splitting image though, you look eerily like her. Thankfully you don’t act like her, or I’d be embarrassed to have raised you.” What? She had never met her grandmother, but her mom never really spoke poorly of her either. All she knew was that the woman died against a monster she was ill-equipped to handle. “Anyway, enough of all that. I’m just a copy for you to test your metal against right? Well don’t expect me to go easy on you just because you’re my daughter.” Her mother switched to speaking out loud at the drop of a hat.
She winced. She had admittedly hoped that her mom might take it a little easier on her, because she knew she had absolutely zero chance of winning this fight. And by the look of her stance she got the feeling her mom used to be a lot more aggressive in battle than she was now. “I’ll do my best.” She hoped her mother’s apparition didn’t leave the fight feeling disappointed to have a daughter like her.
***
Azura was not pleased. He felt that was fairly justified given it had been nearly 2 hours, and the system still seemed to be unable to pick an opponent for him. At this point he was pretty sure something must have gone wrong. There was just no way it would take this long to match him to his father. He just couldn’t think of anything else that would help him to the same degree. He already had experience fighting all kinds of opponents after all. He was about to just find his way out of here so his time wouldn’t be wasted any further when light finally began to coalesce in front of him.
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It didn’t take long for a humanoid shape to begin to form in front of him. However what greeted him at the end wasn’t the younger form of his father that he was expecting, but rather an old man he had never seen before. “I guess Roads didn’t say anything about the alumni still being students in the simulation, but I wasn’t expecting someone like you.” To be fair he was nearly certain it was going to be his father, and admittedly had mixed feelings about being wrong.
“I can’t imagine anyone was expecting me to make an appearance. You need not worry, I am not your opponent for this trial. I have merely appeared to try and get a read on you since my enchantments are failing to come up with an ideal opponent for you.” My enchantments? Unbelievable, he was really face to face with an enchanter from ancient times! Well a projection of one, but still. He never thought he’d get an opportunity like that. There were in theory a few mages still alive from the ancient times, but beings that lived that long tended to seclude themselves, and didn’t appear in society very often,
“I see, well if you’re not here to fight is it possible that I might ask you to teach me? Enchantments today aren’t as well regarded as they used to be, and as such much of the art was lost.” It was a bit of a loss to lose out on the chance to fight a younger version of his father, but as far as preparation goes learning new things about his main magical focus should more than compensate.
“Of course I’ve noticed that much. As the centuries past the students in my school have developed outlandish magic I’d have never thought possible, in exchange they have lost the ability to do things that the people in my time considered basic. It seems you are interweaving those 2 aspects quite splendidly.” My school? Was this the founder?! The man was even older than he’d thought. This school could trace its roots to the beginning of recorded history. Arguably earlier since it made appearances in the occasional legend from before proper record keeping.
“Thank you, your words honor me.” He didn’t really know the customs of that time, so he bowed as would when receiving a compliment from someone of higher status. A projection the elder may be, but the founder of the school that was renowned across the continent, and even the world itself deserved respect. The compliment was however not an answer to his question and he debated asking it again.
“As for teaching you… Well I’m sure you know as a mere projection what I’m capable of is quite little, at least in terms of any spells that affect natural magic directly. Which of course includes spirit magic, and general advice won’t do you much good at your current level.” He sighed he had known the man wouldn’t be able to use enchantment himself at the moment, but he had hoped the founder could have at least told him some long lost secret that he could use. “That being said, there is something I can tell you how to get something that may help you immensely.”
He perked up instantly, normally he’d be concerned that anything someone from this long ago wanted to show him would be long gone, but this was the founder of the Grand Forge academy, if anyone could hide something for this long a time it would be him. “Thank you, Anything you could provide would be an immense help.”
“Getting it will be no easy task I'm afraid, but one of your talents should be able to manage it.” His enthusiasm didn’t wane, but caution did make its way to the forefront. He would still try and get whatever the elder thought would help him, but given the grave tone the elder was speaking in the task was going to be dangerous, not simply difficult. “To start you will need to enter the original building.” What? He wasn’t aware the school had changed buildings. He knew it had been remodeled, but never moved as far as he knew. “No need to worry, it is not in a separate location; rather you could say it’s simply below this building. Well that’s not strictly correct either, but should be the best way to guide you forward.”
“Below? I wasn’t aware the academy had much in the way of underground levels. I’ve found a secret passage or 2 that leads to what would normally be a few feet below ground level, but I assumed that was just magic distorting the space.” Now he was really interested. Whatever reward was at the end would make a nice bonus, but the chance to explore parts of the school that haven’t been seen since who knows how long ago would be a benefit all its own.
“It doesn’t per se, hmm how to put this. The academy changes form to match with the times, but its previous incarnations aren’t lost, only stored away. So long as you know how traveling through the older iterations isn’t too difficult. Unfortunately what you’re looking for is in the very first iteration, so you’ll have quite a bit of traveling to do to get there. However, that teleportation trick you recently mastered should aid in that at least you don’t have to make the whole journey at once, and your unique magic means that you’ll still be able to keep up with classes and your own training.” He raised an eyebrow. Just how much did this projection know about him?
“I’ll make sure to leave a circle at each floor, I’d quite like to explore all the other iterations of the castle when I have the spare time.” He wasn’t sure when that would be, or even if it would happen while he was still a student, but he’d get to it. Of that much he was certain.
“It may be wise to do so for more reasons than you think. That being said, you should be able to handle it. Now once you get to my office there is a code you’ll need to remember to open the secret safe. You must pull the book called "The way of the spirits” from the bookshelf and read pages 1, 16, 12, and 132 aloud in that order.” Well that was certainly a more complicated passcode than he had expected, but given that he knew the trick now there would be no issues.
“Thank you, I’ll be sure to remember it.” As exciting as the thought of exploring the old iteration was though he still would have to deal with this event, and the founder had said that he had no intention of fighting. What exactly was he supposed to do then?”
“Now it would seem I’ve taken enough of your time, I have selected an opponent that has the potential to do you the most good, but beware the reason this opponent was not chosen for you quickly, was because he also has the potential to do you the most harm, and I don’t mean by way of injuries. Fighting him could increase your growth exponentially or reduce it to a snail's pace. I suggest you focus long and hard about what you’re really fighting for, and not what your spite tells you to fight for.” He sighed he supposed he would be fighting his father after all, but what was with the warning at the end?
The founder disappeared in wisps of light, and those lights quickly reformed into what was obviously a younger version of his father. He was a little surprised at how striking the resemblance was. Aside from their eyes they were almost identical. Seeing the man almost made him shift his hair back to white from his dragon side. That was of course a stupid reason to do that so he didn’t. “Oh, wow can’t say I was expecting the next in line of Silver to look so much like me. Little weird to see wolf ears on you instead of dragon horns, but I can tell you're pretty strong so it must have worked out fine.”
What? He was having trouble reconciling his memories of his father with the man before him. The projection was almost cheerful? He had only ever seen his father smile politely, but the younger version in front of him seemed to be genuinely happy to see who he correctly guessed was his son. “Uhhh thanks?” He was so flabbergasted by the completely out of character greeting of his father that his response had slipped out unintentionally.
“Oh relax, would you. I’m sure the fully grown me is harsh on you, but only because I want you to be better than me just like my father wanted me to be better than him. That’s part of what it means to be a Silver, each generation should surpass the last. Of course I shouldn’t have to tell you any of this, I’m sure you’ve heard it a thousand times.” Had he? His father always talked about representing the house of Silver and being a worthy heir, but never about surpassing him specifically.
“Harsh is one way to put it. If I’m being honest I have trouble believing you’re the man my father used to be.” At least he got the sense he was starting to understand the founder's warning though. It was taking everything he had not to let the rage coursing through him show. His bias against his father and his general distrust of people were leading to an unfortunate reading of the situation, and while he knew his feelings were unreasonable that didn’t make them go away. This was going to be a long match.