Gus had been right. Ed had spent the rest of the Proving in his infirmary bed, his body recovering from the excruciating process of regrowing most of his skin. While he rested, word came down that Bradley had won by default, citing his armour as something that would have killed Ed had they not intervened. True, but he noticed there was nothing in the missive about the mortal injuries he’d inflicted on the blond boy. Ah well.
Now that the initial madness was over, they actually had to do academics. The large combined group of students, teachers and general staff left the arena and shuffled onto the Transmigration Circle ten by ten.
On the walk over, Songbird had the three boys go over their fights in detail. Gus had done surprisingly well, reaching about the same point as Ed, while Viper’s boasts had proven well-founded as he’d secured one of the ten coveted spots in the advanced course. It seems they’d all hidden things about their powers, a fact which they laughed about now.
Viper made several proclamations about his generosity and boundless magnanimity before agreeing to loop the group in with whatever he learned from the course. He and Songbird had trained under the same Knight while they were pages and had arrived at Scholomance together, so they’d already had this agreement in place should one of them get in. However, once Songbird heard about Ed and Gus’ severe lack of knowledge on demonologist theory, she’d insisted on bringing them in.
Ed’s training had been focused on conditioning and practical skills since he’d only had a year to prepare, while Gus had skipped that completely. He’d opened up to them a bit, revealing that he’d been homeless for a long time, living in a forest. Thus all his skills were related to pure survival in the frigid Icelandic wilderness. Both of their tenuous grasps on theory were based entirely upon informal conversations with their Knights and their demons, along with the bare minimum to ensure a successful Pact, as opposed to any sort of structured learning.
“That’s a crock o’ shit. You’re telling me you don’t even know basic Triune theory and I let you beat me?”
Ed laughed at Songbird’s disbelief.
“First of all, you didn’t let me do anything. I dominated you in that match. And yeah, I never really had the time to delve deeply into the lore, I was too busy trying to learn the stuff you guys are taught from birth in one year.”
“You won that by the skin of your teeth and you know it, you bastard. Regardless, you have to know all this background context if you’re gonna be an effective Knight. I can’t believe you’re so strong but so clueless. How have your demons not exploited you by now?”
How indeed.
Hey, I was dragged into this too. I am just as much of a victim.
Ed had to force himself not to roll his eyes. Songbird continued excitedly, tugging on Viper’s sleeve.
“It’s like we’ve found two rough diamonds. They’re basically bairns but already keeping up with the elites. A little polish and they’ll shine.”
A little polish, huh. I bet Andrealphus is telling her to hold onto me for as long as possible.
Of course you think its about you. Maybe she likes spending time with me.
Yes, I’m sure she’d be just as intrigued if she met you as an urchin.
Ed didn’t respond but imagined himself locking Abe’s mouth in one of those dental contraptions and throwing away the key. He didn’t know if the demon could see his mental images but he surely got the gist.
Meanwhile, as Songbird made her case, Viper rubbed his chin in contemplation.
“Shine bright enough to illuminate even those standing next to them, eh? I like it. What say you, Eduardo? Gus? Care to make our acquaintance more long-term?”
Gus opened his mouth, but Songbird jumped in quickly.
“Wait, wait, I know your demons are probably telling you not to trust us, but think about it like an investment. Vipe and I already worked out how we’d both learn the advanced material even if only one of us got in, so we make this official and you guys not only shore up your frankly critical lack of knowledge, you get the good shit that most of the others won’t get. Not to mention both of us come from Knight families. We have networks and connections you guys don’t. In return, we get to use you as a whetstone, sharpening our own skills, as well as ride your coattails when you inevitably rise to fame. It’s a win-win.”
It really was. With no reason to refuse, Ed and Gus acquiesced and the four became a legitimate friend group. They could see similar situations playing out all around them, with the mass of students slowly coalescing into smaller cliques. Especially in a place like this, it was best to keep your circle limited.
Once they had passed through the transmigration platform, appearing in the room adjacent to the assembly hall, they all shuffled out into the hall and separated from the larger group. Without the crush of bodies filling the space, Ed finally took in the distinct but familiar architecture for the first time.
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The entire compound was built in the gothic style, with vaulted ceilings, ornate pointed arches and expansive stained glass windows depicting mysterious scenes in vivid reds, blues and greens, likely the history of the school. It reminded him of the various cathedrals built in London, Westminster Abbey in particular.
The assembly hall he was in was wide and spacious, with the characteristic high ceiling and intricate pillars decorated with gargoyle heads. The afternoon sun spilled rich, warm light onto the floor, coloured by the stained panes. It was… beautiful.
Meh.
You really can’t let me have anything, can you.
The group was ushered out of the hall and through a series of corridors, where Viper split from the rest of them. The now trio of Squires were brought into an office where they were sat down in front of a harried looking woman who was fiddling with some papers.
“Ah, hi! I’m Elena, I’ll be inducting you today!”
The excitable woman beamed at them, seemingly elated by bureaucracy.
Elena took them through the process of getting set up. She conjured room keys for their established group, what the school called a Lance, and informed attendants to move all their luggage into their new sleeping quarters, a comfortable den with four separate bedrooms. Scholomance offered a two-year finishing course for Squires to become fledgling Knights in their own right, so for this first year they’d be given a general course load, then specialise in their second year. Of course, they’d also be getting some extra tutelage from their capable friend, but Elena didn’t have to know about that. The Games would happen soon after the start of their second year and even if they didn’t get into the most prestigious event, the single combat, there were others to compete in. And even then, all hope was not lost. They’d get another shot at qualifying at the end of their first year, to weed out the poor performers in the advanced group.
Ed made it his goal to compete during the Games, with Abe egging him on to take Bradley’s spot. Grantham had qualified, and won his year as well, though he refused to go into detail about it. It was only proper that Ed continue the legacy.
Gus and Songbird were less enthused. Even with their extra lessons, beating out one of the top ten students after they’d had a year’s worth of advantages was a hard ask. Still Songbird had iron in her eyes when she agreed to shoot for a spot on the board. Gus said made some noncommittal noises that Ed took as assent.
Looking between them, Ed felt the stirrings of emotion in his heart. It seems everywhere he went, he built a crew. Hopefully this time, it wouldn’t end so badly.
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Waking up in his somehow-less-comfortable-by-the-day bed, Ed just stared at the ceiling for a second before he could start his routine.
I need to steal my bed from Grantham’s house. Just pick it up and bring it with me wherever I go.
It’s not even theft if it’s yours.
Exactly! Wait, that’s it? No scathing remarks about my fragile back and neck muscles?
No, even Solomon carried his bed with him whenever he left Jerusalem. I’ve seen first-hand the difference in how effective you humans are depending on how you sleep. Just another one of your lamentable but unavoidable weaknesses. And yet the Lord saw fit to give you apes the power to command spirits.
Bitterness today? That’s a new one. Is this because of the lesson yesterday?
Having finally gotten around to learning the theory behind the magick, Ed and Gus had nightly sessions in their den with Songbird and Viper where they explained things that normally would have been taught to them as Pages.
Magick was classified in two categories, high magick and low magick.
Low magick involved the use of mundane Numen, an attribute some were born with but could be triggered in most people after exposure to heavenly or infernal Numen. With it, one could cast cantrips and weak hexes, commune with the dead, divine the weather, foretell the sex of an infant, create alchemical brews, other such small scale stuff like that. Because it was so weak, the Church didn’t much regulate it, allowing hedge witches and village apothecaries to ply their trade relatively unmolested. The third Church auxiliary branch, the Holy Order for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, was only created after an alchemical disaster had spread a malaise across Europe that the Church had no answer for. However, the Church alchemists were still not taken seriously by the other two orders because they didn’t use high magick.
High magick was the real deal. Low magick harnessed earthly forces, while high magick invoked power from entities beyond the physical. Theurgica and Goetia, angel summoning and demon summoning respectively, were heavily controlled by the Church because of their sheer destructive potential, to the point where rogue high magick users were kill or capture on sight, even if they were theurgists. Too many brutal wars had soaked the landscape, wars waged with spiritual aid, some with angels on both sides wreaking untold havoc before the Church came in and banned all high magick outside the clergy. High magick was something you were born with, it couldn’t be induced, save for exposure in utero to constant levels of heavenly or infernal Numen, as happened in most Knight or Inquisitor families.
Every human had a tiny, infinitesimally small bit of Divinity in them, the most miniscule piece of God Himself. This minute fragment of power is what produced Numen and gave humans the authority to bind and control those vastly more powerful than they. Usually the fragment is mundane, the same as everyone else’s. Rarely, that fragment of Divinity will gain a “flavour”, aligning it with either the heavens or the abyss, and granting authority over the spirits in the relevant domain.
To this day, no one knew why God had granted his weakest creations the power to control his strongest, but that wouldn’t stop Abe from complaining about it.
Tuning the grumpy demon out, Ed swung his legs out of bed and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Looking at the small cuckoo clock on his shelf, he saw he’d slept completely through his alarm. No matter, it was a Saturday. Might as well do something now that he was up.
Walking out of his room, he saw Viper doing his daily stretches and joined him. Ed had used to do exercise every morning but his enhanced Squire body no longer gained any benefit from the basic bodyweight exercises he’d do. Luckily, Scholomance had the best training yard.
Ed finished up and was ready to hit the sand, when Songbird and Gus walked out of her room, both dressed in Songbird’s idea (that is, a rich girl) of casual. Looking like they were about to attend a day at the races, Gus had seemingly only been able to keep his comically large hat. Everything else about the two had been spruced up and polished. They cleaned up well. But why? Ed inquired.
“What’s all this then? We attending an outdoor ball?”
Songbird sighed.
“I got so lost in making Gus over I forgot about you. Get over here.”
She grabbed his arm and marched him into her room.
“Wait, wait, you haven’t even told me what this is about!”
“I just found out there’s a small town in the valley below school. We’re going exploring.”