The rest of the day passed slowly for Nick. He stayed at the back of the group and

watched the halls. His sphere of influence lit up with pings. He thought that maybe

one of the teachers was a slave driver to have his class practicing spells on the first

day.

Maybe they were sorting the students into what they could and couldn’t do.

He doubted Madam Quince would be doing the same thing for his group. His limited

power didn’t give her much room to test out. And he was trying to keep the rest of his

ability secret from her.

Hopefully Crow wouldn’t say anything about him killing the goblins in the night. His

means had been a lot stronger than the thunder cracker. The teachers wouldn’t

overlook it if they could try to push him up the ladder.

He wondered why she wanted to turn him into her guardian. He doubted he would be

good at anything like that. He expected that he would get the both of them killed in

some dumb fashion.

And the others, especially Calvin, were giving him grief over that.

He decided he still had most of his day free. He should see what the top of the wall

looked like. His sphere of influence would help him map out a route toward home.

He left his quarters. Crow was on the other side of the Academy. He didn’t know

where the others were. He was just looking from the top of the wall. It wasn’t like he

was going to leave after he had promised the others to fight in the tournament.

Of course, there had been plenty of times where he had broken promises without a

thought.

He walked over to the wall, looking for steps to go up. He wondered if they were in

the towers he saw at random intervals. If he had a rope, this would be an easy

challenge. He approached the closest tower and discovered a set of steps going up to

the top.

He climbed to the top of the tower and stepped out on the wall. He didn’t see any

guards. Was everything handled by magic?

He walked down the wall, examining the town beyond. He spotted a couple of places

he could land at and get away through the buildings to the road. He checked his

compass against the direction of movement he would have follow.

The main direction was blocked by a huge gate he could make out in the distance. He

could buy some lightning, or flying skunk, to try to clear the guards out of the way.

He didn’t know how many he could put down in a fair fight, or even if he was

cheating.

He admitted that he was afraid of his teachers, even Granny. How long would he be

free to travel if he did get over the outer wall. Anyone with an air spell would be able

to find him in a second unless he got lucky and got a ghost cloak right off the bat.

He couldn’t depend on that kind of luck.

He could buy a cloak if he had enough spirit money. The main limiting factor was he

only had a day to go. He would have to get the equipment, or the skill, and head out

to the limit of his travel before his spells reset. Once he was out in the wild, he would

have to rely on the thunder cracker and anything he could loot.

He supposed if he rested a day, and then killed enough goblins in the halls, that would

allow him to amass enough money to get out of the city. Then he would have to loot

and hunt all the way home.

The main problem with that approach was some of the monsters would take a lot of

what he could throw without flinching. That meant no loot, or special skills, to make

the traveling easier.

And he doubted any stage driver would allow him to book passage without a lot of

questions.

He noted another market out by the gate. That would make things easier if he got

enough money.

He saw Granny Bitter coming across the yard. He moved down the wall. He had an

idea that she was looking for him, and he didn’t want to make it easier for her.

She activated some spell and landed on the wall with a flourish of her dark skirt. He

thought about jumping down and making her chase him through the streets. He edged

to the side of the wall facing the town.

“What are you doing up here?,” she asked.

“Just looking around,” said Nick. Dropping down to the ground was still doable, but

he had a feeling he could be struck out of the air before he landed.

“What if you fell off?,” asked Granny.

“I will be okay,” said Nick. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Really?,” asked Granny Quince.

“I saw something over by the gate,” said Nick. “I was thinking about taking a closer

look at it.”

“And what would that be?,” asked Madam Quince.

“It’s a market for my ability,” said Nick. “Do you want to see?”

“Really?,” said Madam Quince.

“Sure,” said Nick. “I will be glad to show you.”

“I think you want to wander around town,” said Madam Quince.

“I can already do that,” said Nick. “Come on. A walk will be good for your old

bones.”

“I don’t think so,” said Madam Quince.

“All right,” said Nick.

What would she do if he just jumped from the top of the wall? Could she stop him?

What was the effect of the wind blade?

Could she stop him before he hit the ground and disappeared among the smaller

buildings next to the wall?

Did he want to find out?

“Don’t even think about it, young man,” said Madam Quince.

“Think about what?,” said Nick.

“Think about jumping off the wall,” said Madam Quince. She raised a hand. The wind

drifted close as she called on her inner power and applied it to her sphere of

influence. “I can’t allow anything like that.”

“What you should say is I’ll take it out on your friends,” said Nick.

“Why would I do that?,” asked Madam Quince.

“To stop me from doing something like this,” said Nick. He laughed as he threw

himself off the wall.

She rushed to the edge, readying her spell to catch Nick. She looked down, targeting

him. He landed gently on a roof and ran to the edge. He waved at her as he dropped

down in the street.

Madam Quince frowned as she shook her head. She looked at the gate. Was that

where he was going?

The Dark Lords would love to catch Nick alone, especially since he didn’t have any

charges for his magic. She needed to get him back.

The rest of the Faculty were going to look down on her for this.

Look down on her more. They already looked down on her because she only

commanded one air spell.

She commanded her air spell to carry her down next to where Nick had landed. She

slid down the roof on the flat of her glowing blade. She hit the street, and she glided

along.

Nick used his sphere of influence to weave through the streets. He felt the ping of

magic behind him. He had no doubt that was Granny Bitter. What could he do to

throw her off his trail?

Maybe he could change his clothes somewhere, change how he looked. He wondered

if she could track him through her wind blade. Did he want to find out?

He wished he had the speed spell, or equipment. That would give him an edge against

whatever she could do to catch up to him.

He had the market pinged on his sphere of influence. He wondered if he could step

outside of reality, or if the market was just in his mind. He had not bothered to ask

Crow, but now it seemed more important.

One gave him a place to hide, while the other froze him in place until he was done.

He turned a corner to keep out of sight as Madam Quince glided behind him. He

crossed the street and went down an alley to the next street. He thought he was about

halfway to the gate.

He caught a ride on a passing cart going his way. Madam Quince, or the ping he

associated with her, glided down the next street over. He had to keep out of sight until

he reached the gate.

He wondered if she was trying. Maybe only possessing one spell put her at the same

disadvantage as him against equal types. She would have to make up for it in a fight

with sheer ruthlessness.

He doubted she was happy with this impromptu run through the city.

He smiled as he dropped off the cart, avoided a turn that would have brought him face

to face with his hound, and headed for the gate. He could see the market pinging as

he got closer.

He jogged the last few feet and put his hand over the activation sign that opened the

market up. He looked at the equipment he could buy. Unfortunately, everything was

too much. He needed for the spells to come down a few more thousand if he wanted

to buy something he could use.

Any kind of explosive would have been fine just to be scary at the school.

That would give Granny something to worry about.

He stepped out of the market and found a grumpy looking Madam Quince waiting on

him. He smiled, but she wasn’t having any of that.

“What was that?,” she asked. She flicked a knife through the stone.

“You’re a lot faster than I thought,” said Nick. “I thought I had left you behind at the

wall.”

“I thought you couldn’t use any other magic,” said Madam Quince.

“If I had charges, don’t you think I would have shot at you for the fun of it?,”asked

Nick.

Madam Quince squinted at him. He smiled back. He didn’t have to confirm or deny

anything.

“I think we need to talk with the headmaster,” said Madam Quince.

“Why?,” asked Nick.

“Because I think you need a better assessment,” said Madam Quince.

“I doubt that,” said Nick. “What if I don’t pass the new assessment?”

“Then you get locked away in the normal school and hope for the best,” said Madam

Quince. She gestured for her student to start walking.

“What if I don’t want to do that?,” asked Nick.

“Your magic is going to be sealed,” said Madam Quince. “It won’t matter what you

want after that.”

“I don’t think so,” said Nick. Then he shoved his teacher into the wall. It wasn’t

enough to get him any spirit money, but it was enough to distract her. “Goodbye,

Granny. I’m heading for home.”

He ran into an alley and headed for the gate. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but they were

going to have to work to take his magic from him.

He slid through the gate, as the guards checked wagons going into the city. He

popped to his feet and headed into the woods.

He didn’t have anything but his sphere of influence and his sword. If he could kill an

animal, or a monster, he could upgrade his weapons until he fell asleep traveling.

What he needed was a rope, or a reverse anchor, so he could get in the air and glide

toward his village as much as possible.

How long would it take for him to do something like that? He felt bad about pushing

an old woman down, but she should have known what frontier justice was.

He needed a defeated enemy and a market to use.

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