A small fire crackled in the corner of the room. The battle axe had been sufficient to chop some firewood from the cabinet, and Elsie had used the red wand to ignite it. She noticed the smoke pooling at the ceiling and realized trying to light a fire in an enclosed space might not have been the best idea after all. The room was large enough that it should provide plenty of oxygen for a while, however.
Her hunger urged her on, as she used the dagger to slice some meat off of the largest shadow wolf. The muscle was gray underneath the pelt, but hopefully it would still be edible by the time she finished cooking it. She skewered it on the spear, then arranged the weapon pile in such a way that she was able to set the meat over the flames without lighting the spear on fire.
Next order of business: her blood stained armor. Elsie didn’t want a repeat of when she had sprayed herself in the face with water, but she also wanted to be wearing something less disgusting.
She unstrapped the leather armor and pulled it up over her head. Some of her blood smeared on her face as she lifted it up. Underneath the armor she discovered that she was wearing the same white outfit that she’d had on during the customization screen. It was made from a soft cotton material that she found comfortable.
Next came the boots and finally the leather chaps. There wasn’t much to clean there, but the cut on her leg from earlier had stained the chaps slightly. She placed the armor and chaps in the opposite corner of the room from where she had built the fire.
Retrieving the green wand from where she had left it, Elsie tried to focus on establishing her astral connection. It took a few minutes to find the connection, but once it was there she grabbed hold of it and brought it closer to her. She channeled astra into the wand. Water.
She sprayed a steady stream of water into the armor. The blood washed away, and she was soon left with a soggy pile of leather armor. Water was pooling all over the floor at this point. Elsie reduced the flow and tried to cup a little water in her hand, then wash the blood off her face and neck. She aimed the water at her bloodied leg.
There’s not even a scar, she thought as she washed the blood away. Whatever that wand did was pretty thorough healing. She disconnected the flow of astra to the wand. Finding no pockets on her cotton outfit, she once again stuck the wand in her shirt.
She gathered up her armor, shook it out, and then carried it to the fire. She warmed herself, and tried to dry off the armor as best she could without getting water on the roasting wolf meat. Eventually she figured out a way to lay out the armor on some of the weapons so that they were off the floor next to the drying heat.
A pig-like squeal echoed throughout the room. Elsie shrieked, jumped in the air, and spun around to face the hallway. Standing at the entrance was a short green-skinned creature holding a crude butcher's cleaver, staring at her. A wicked grin crept up its face.
“What are you looking at?!” Elsie shouted. She took out the green wand and pointed it towards the creature. Her adrenaline allowed her to make an instant astral connection. She took aim and unleashed a torrent of water right at its face. The creature was knocked flat on its back from the force. Elsie cut off the flow of water.
Reaching for the closest weapon she could find, she grabbed the round mace from the floor and ran towards what she assumed was a goblin. She wasted no time raising the heavy weapon above her and then smashing it down right in its forehead. She raised the weapon again to deliver another blow, but the remains below the mace were so awful that she knew it was already finished.
She dropped to her hands and knees and heaved at the sight before her. There was nothing but water in her stomach though, so not much came out. She sat back against the cold stone wall and rested for a moment. It wasn’t long before she heard footsteps and a strange language being spoken from down the hallway.
Elsie grabbed the mace and stood to the side of the entrance to the hallway. From this perspective the goblins wouldn’t be able to see her until they were right at the entrance to the room. She calmed her heart and prepared to attack. She placed her green wand back between her wand holders and held the mace with both hands for extra leverage.
As the two goblins drew closer, they squealed, making pig sounds when they saw their dead comrade. Their footsteps turned from walking to running, and Elsie’s knuckles grew white as she tightened her grip around the mace. She looked sadly towards her pile of armor and wished she had time to put it back on.
Why did I even bother washing it anyway? It’s not like there’s anyone around to see me and wonder why there’s so much blood staining the front of my outfit.
The moment she saw one of the green faces poke around the corner she swung with all her might. The goblin tried to move back, but it crashed into its companion behind it. The mace glanced off of the first goblin’s face, knocking it to the ground. The second goblin shrieked and jumped back.
Elsie arched her arms back and threw the mace towards the upright goblin, nailing it right in the chest. It collapsed to the ground. With animalistic fury she leaped on top of it, straddling its chest with her legs and began punching it into submission.
“Why” - punch
“can’t” - punch
“you” - punch
“just” - punch
“leave me” - punch punch
“alone?!” - punch, punch, punch
Elsie’s hands were cracked and covered with blood, a combination of her own and the goblin’s. She looked down at the very dead goblin and sighed. All she wanted was a moment of peace before she went on exploring this dungeon. A groan from the other goblin reminded her that she hadn’t actually finished him off yet. She stood up.
Time for something different, she thought. She went back into the starting room and found the dark red wand. Taking a moment to center herself and reconnect, she channeled astra into her wand and pointed it towards the goblin. Life Energy. Blood.
The goblin, who had been trying to get back up onto its feet, stopped where it was, frozen in place. Elsie waved the wand slightly, and the goblin rose into the air, hanging like a marionette from invisible strings. She took a step towards the creature and examined the effects of the spell.
Am I controlling its blood directly? What am I supposed to be doing with this spell? She continued stepping towards the goblin slowly, making sure to maintain her astral connection the entire time.
The goblin’s blood had stopped flowing. Its brain was no longer receiving oxygen, and its heart was no longer able to continue beating. The last thing it saw as the world faded to black was the most beautiful creature it had ever seen slowly walking toward it: her eyes burning with an intense curiosity as it watched the goblin go still.
---
[Quest: Class Selection Trial]
[Objective: Survive for as long as possible.]
[Secondary Objective: Slay as many monsters as possible.]
[Time Survived: 15 hours, 48 minutes, 33 seconds]
[Monsters Slain: 20]
[Class Ranks Available: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic]
[Note: Softcore Death Penalty is active in this area.]
Elsie Stormrider finished eating the last of the cooked wolf meat. She was properly suited up in her armor once more, and felt rested and ready to explore the dungeon. A pile of goblin corpses lay in the puddle of water in the corner where she had washed her clothes. They had not stopped coming until she had her total slain monsters count hit twenty. The last goblin in the group had been taller than the rest, though he hadn’t lasted long before she finished him off just like the rest of the group.
After Elsie had finished bashing in the skull of the final goblin, she had taken a break to use the water spell to clean off her sweat and blood once more. Her clothes and armor were mostly dry now. Her hands were still cut and bleeding from throwing so many barehanded punches, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to try using the red wand to see if she could heal herself at this point.
It should work, she thought. I'm just not sure exactly how.
If the previous two patterns were anything to go by, a new group of monsters, likely more difficult than wolves or goblins, would be arriving soon: first with one, then two, three, and finally four with one of them being more difficult than the others in the group. If Elsie was ever going to go see what else lay down that hallway, now was the time.
She stowed her two wands, then gazed with a slight pang of regret at the light scorch mark on the floor where she had broken the pink wand. It had been worth it to experience a full heal, even if the magical hangover afterwards had been tough to get through. Still, she wished she could have learned what powers she could bring out of that wand.
Finally she picked up the sword and shield, figuring it was time to try those out, then tucked the dagger into the waistband of her chaps for good measure.
Her first few steps into the hallway made her realize just much smoke had been filling that first room. It wouldn’t have been much longer before she would have burned out too much oxygen. It was time to go, ready or not.
Time for adventure!
The hallway was at a slight decline, heading down into the depths. It was dimly lit, though she could see no light source. The stones themselves perhaps were giving off a glow, though she couldn’t see any shadows being cast against the opposing walls. It was an uncanny feeling, but she didn’t mind it too much. At the first intersection she looked left and right, then chose right on a whim.
As soon as she rounded the corner an arrow flicked past her ear, nicking part of it off entirely. She gasped and held up her shield hand to feel the damage. This act happened to save her life, as another arrow soon slammed into the shield strapped to her wrist right where her face would have been.
Elsie ducked back into the first hallway. She quickly used her sword to dislodge the arrow so it wouldn’t affect the weight of the shield, then prepared to strike whatever came around the corner. She hadn’t even had time to see what had shot at her. She waited, and listened.
There were no sounds at first, until eventually a harsh clack-clack against the stone gave indication that something was coming. The first thing she saw was an arrow already nocked and drawn, and then the full body of a skeleton holding a bow rounded the corner. She swung the shield forward to disrupt the arrow before the skeleton could let it fly, then she stepped to the side to give her sword arm more room to swing at the undead. The skeleton’s head separated cleanly from its neck bones with one slash.
First comes one, then comes two. I should wait here for the next two skeletons to arrive.
Elsie’s reprieve was short lived, as the skeleton’s body began drawing back the bow string without having a head attached. It was aiming in a random direction, and fired the arrow before Elsie could react. The arrow clattered against the stone wall and fell to the floor. The skeleton reached for another arrow in the quiver tied to its hip bones.
Elsie leapt forward and slammed the shield into the skeleton once again. This time she pushed it against the wall, breaking bones as she pressed with all the force she could muster. She tried slashing with her sword again, but was rewarded with the jarring sensation of a metal sword hitting a solid wall.
Dropping the sword and pulling her left arm out of the shield’s straps, Elsie switched her grip to holding the shield in both hands. She brought it down on the bones of the skeleton over and over again, breaking everything she possibly could. The bone fragments continued to vibrate and clatter around on the floor, dancing in their best attempt to resume their assault. Elsie noticed the skull still intact a few feet away, staring at her.
She brought back her foot and kicked the skull like she was trying to make a football field goal. The skull chomped down on her boot and refused to be launched forward in the way Elsie had envisioned.
“Hey, you!” Elsie shouted at the skull as if it was a playful dog doing no more than pulling at her slipper. She hopped towards the wall and slammed her boot against the stone, shattering the skull in the process. Her leg was a little jarred from the hit, but overall not too bad. The clattering bone fragments on the ground stopped moving the moment the skull had been shattered.
I don’t think a sword is the right weapon to fight these things. Elsie ran back up the hallway to the now smoke-filled room. She searched around for a few seconds, and then found the spiked flail. I’m probably more likely to hurt myself with this than the skeletons, but it’s worth a try.
She was almost back to the intersection by the time two skeletons rounded the corner. She lifted the shield and charged the remaining ten yards. She bashed the first skeleton with her shield, letting her momentum carry her forward. During the split second that she passed the second skeleton, she also swung her flail towards its ribcage.
Just before impact, the second skeleton released its arrow from close range. It skewered directly through Elsie’s exposed bicep on her right arm. She screamed in pain, and collapsed along with both skeletons: her shield crushed the first enemy while the chained flail shattered the bones of the main core of the second.
Elsie gingerly got to her feet, then stomped on each of the skulls. All movement stopped as they shattered. She walked a few feet back up the hallway, and then collapsed with her back to the stone wall. Her shield and flail fell to the floor.
The pain in her arm was agonizing: the arrow had pierced all the way through her flesh and muscle, scraped against her arm bone, and then partially exited on the other side. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the thin arrow with her left hand and used her thumb to snap the head off. It fell to the ground, leaving only the arrow shaft free to be removed.
Time to try something dumb, she thought. Then she gritted her teeth and pulled the arrow out. It hurt worse coming out than it had going in. Blood began pouring down both sides of her arm. She suppressed another scream, and then grabbed the red wand from beneath her armor.
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This should work. Somehow. She established her astral connection. Life Energy. Life Force. Blood. Healing. Whatever this thing can do to seal up the wounds.
She could feel the astra flowing through her and into the wand, then from the wand back into her. She imagined what she wanted: for the wounds in her arm to close up, stopping the flow of blood. Her blood did stop flowing, but not in the way she had hoped. The pain went from bad to worse as the veins and arteries in her arm became clogged with the unmoving blood.
Is this what I put those goblins through? It feels horrible.
She willed with all her might for the skin on her arms to seal shut. She felt for a moment like it should be possible if she did things just right. After half a minute of agony she started to feel lightheaded and finally gave it up. Her blood began pumping normally again, though her arm was still throbbing from where she had messed things up with the blood spell. A gush of clotted blood pushed its way out of her wound and the flow came even faster.
Knowing she wouldn’t have long, she grabbed the dagger from her waistband and held it up to the red wand. She still had her astral connection in place, so she focused more astra into the wand. Fire.
A plume of flames spewed forth, lighting the dungeon walls around her. The dagger quickly heated up to red hot. Gritting her teeth, Elsie pressed the dagger’s flat edge against her arm in an attempt to cauterize the wound. The stench was horrible, and another scream escaped from Elsie’s lips. Seeing the closed wound, she then reheated the dagger and pressed it to the back side of her arm as well.
The next group of skeletons arrived, three of them this time. Elsie squawked in a most unladylike manner and threw the dagger at the closest skeleton. It flew forward at random, but through sheer luck entered the skeleton’s eye socket. The entire thing collapsed into a pile of bones at once.
So they really do have a weak spot on the inside of their skull.
The remaining two skeletons let loose their arrows. Elsie flinched to try to get away, but the arrows were aimed true, and she was only a few feet away from the undead archers. She sprawled onto her back in pain, with two arrows sprouting from her chest, having pierced straight through the armor at such close range.
“Auuugh!” Elsie cried once more. “I hate this place! I just want out!” The arrows had missed her heart, and she still had a little strength left to fight.
The skeletons were already nocking their next arrows. One was aiming for her chest again, and the other was aiming for her head. She grabbed her shield and tried to raise it before the arrows could be released. Whatever motion she had made ended up being ineffectual, as the arrows flew faster than her arms could lift the shield. Still, her scrambling around had caused one of the arrows to hit the green wand still tucked inside her armor.
The wand exploded as a wave of green energy shot into the surrounding area. Her body was thrown head first into a stone wall.
This time, she did not wake up.
---
[Quest: Class Selection Trial]
[Quest Complete!]
[Time Survived: 16 hours, 0 minutes, 3 seconds]
[Monsters Slain: 23]
Elsie found herself back at the infinite blue void. Or was she Aeric now? She couldn’t tell anymore, not having a body.
[Please choose your class.]
[Class selection availability: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary]
[Class selection filtered by combat styles used during quest: Firefin Magic, Treewarden Magic, Sylvan Magic, Dagger, Sword, Shield, Mace, Spear, Unarmed]
[Class selection further filtered by: compatibility with Twinborn / Nullifier]
[Note: Twinborn has already been assigned as your primary class. This selection is just to determine your subclass.]
I’m picking Elsie’s class so I guess I’m still Elsie for now.
Aeric had been presented with several dozen class options, most of them consisting of Common or Uncommon crafting classes. Elsie, on the other hand, only saw a few options. She noticed the time and felt a rush of gratitude that she had lasted 3 seconds past the threshold for reaching the Legendary rank. It had been a close call.
Note to self: do not store wands in a place where they can be used as a weapon against you.
[Common]
[No classes match the required filters.]
[Uncommon]
[No classes match the required filters.]
[Rare]
[ - Firefin Mage]
[ - Treewarden Mage]
[ - Sylvan Mage]
[Epic]
[ - Prismatic Mage]
[ - Master of All]
[Legendary]
[ - Astral Manipulator]
[ - Barbarian Warlord]
As before, Elsie read through all of the options. There were far fewer this time. She started with the Rare ranked classes.
[Firefin Mage]
Gain mastery of Firefin magic: energy, communication, and bonding force. All spells in these areas will come more naturally to you, will cost less astra, and will be more effective.
[Treewarden Mage]
Gain mastery of Treewarden magic: light, chemical elements, and invigoration. All spells in these areas will come more naturally to you, will cost less astra, and will be more effective.
[Sylvan Mage]
Gain mastery of Sylvan magic: health, cognition, and spacetime. All spells in these areas will come more naturally to you, will cost less astra, and will be more effective.
These must be the red, green, and pink wands. I was right that the pink wand provides health, but what about cognition and spacetime? And what do the names Firefin, Treewarden, or Sylvan mean anyway?
Elsie thought back to what happened after she had shattered the pink wand. Her drug-like stupor had definitely fit with the concepts of altering her cognition and awareness of space around her and the passing of time. She read the descriptions of the two Epic classes.
[Prismatic Mage]
Gain mastery of all areas covered by Firefin, Treewarden, and Sylvan magics. All spells in these areas will come more naturally to you, will cost less astra, and will be more effective.
[Master of All]
Gain proficiency with all melee weapons. Abilities with these weapons will come naturally to you. You will be able to learn more skills related to melee weapons than would otherwise be possible to learn. Spells involving your melee weapons will cost less astra.
Prismatic Mage sounded great. Elsie had loved using the wands and couldn’t imagine choosing a class that didn’t involve magic. The Master of All class name had stuck out to her the first time she read it. Looking at it now though, she wasn’t as impressed. It turned out “All” was quite limiting after all.
It’s basically just a weapon master. I’d still be limiting myself to just focusing on melee weapons instead of getting to branch out to using magic.
Knowing that she’d probably be picking a Legendary class anyway, she finally moved on to her final two selections.
[Astral Manipulator]
Gain a new sense: Trace. This allows you to innately identify and measure nearby astral connections, as well as tracing them back to their sources. This is not a skill, does not use astra itself, and will become as natural as any of your other senses. Use this sense to innately understand how to redirect the flow of astral connections into different channels. Allows the development of wandless spellcasting.
[Barbarian Warlord]
This is a compounding generational class: only one individual per generation is allowed to hold this class. Take on the power of all previous Barbarian Warlords. Their strength becomes your strength, their wisdom your wisdom, and their will your will. Fight with your bare hands, with no foe being able to withstand the force of your blows. Paradoxically, the less armor you wear, the less damage you will take. If you choose this class you will become the 9th Barbarian Warlord. If you do not choose this class, be aware that someone else in your generation may be presented with it instead.
These were… interesting. The Barbarian Warlord sounded amazing, if someone wanted to run around like Conan the Barbarian and rip monster’s heads off with ease. Elsie thought that she probably unlocked this class after the armorless hand to hand combat she’d had with the goblins. She would have rolled her eyes, if she’d had any at the moment. Hard pass.
Astral Manipulator though… that sounded promising. It was similar to Aeric’s Nullifier class in that she gained the same new sense and ability to change the flow of astra. Except instead of disrupting or severing the astral flow she would be redirecting it. Gaining the ability to cast any spell without using wands was also a huge bonus. She could see why this class would be Legendary instead of Epic.
There was no reason to choose any of the mage classes when she had access to Astral Manipulator, and she had no interest in Barbarian Warlord or Master of All. That left little need to deliberate. She chose Astral Manipulator and confirmed her choice.
[Congratulations! You are now a Twinborn with an Astral Manipulator subclass.]
[Status]
[Elsie Stormrider]
[Class: Astral Manipulator - Legendary]
[Hidden Class: Twinborn - Legendary]
[Trace - innate sense to identify and measure nearby astral connections]
[Astral Manipulation - channel astra into an identified astral connection to redirect it, causing a different effect than originally intended.]
[Unguided Hand - gain the ability over time to cast spells without requiring the use of wands; each spell requiring its own training to unlock]
[Weapon Masteries: Firefin Wands, Treewarden Wands, Sylvan Wands]
Aeric’s body appeared to one side, all dark and broody with his black clothing and cloak. To the other side, Elsie’s body appeared. It was in a pristine white outfit like during customization. As she watched a soft robe appeared over her body, a pale shimmering purple color. A white ribbon tied itself around her waist, which cinched the fabric tighter across her torso. The lower part of the robe flowed freely around her ankles. The robe included a sweetheart collar and long sleeves down to her wrists.
[Character customization and class selection is now complete.]
[The summoning ritual will now complete.]
[Note: The Twinborn class requires cognitive expansion. Prepare to undergo changes.]
[Welcome to the Royal Academy of Astraeus as the Twinborn: Aeric and Elsie Stormrider.]
Elsie felt a sensation she had never felt and could barely describe. Her mental state expanded, a similar feeling to the cognition changes that she experienced while under the effects of the Sylvan wand explosion. Finally after feeling her mental capacity balloon out, it fractured, while still remaining one singular whole.
Elsie and Aeric existed at the same time within the same mind. Elsie knew she wasn’t truly just herself: she was two people at once. Aeric similarly knew that he wasn’t the male Nullifier alone. He was equally the female Astral Manipulator as well. Elsie and Aeric were also Aeric and Elsie.
Their previously human mind attempted to accept this new Twinborn paradigm. Two thought processes began streaming at the same time in a way no true human brain could perform: one dedicated to the Aeric body, and the other dedicated to the Elsie body. Controlled by the same individual, who was both Aeric and Elsie at once. The same, and yet separate. Existing in two states of being while still being one.
Their singular mind could not handle the concept. It blacked out, entering a state of unfeeling void.
---
In the Grand Summoning Hall at the Royal Academy of Astraeus, the largest summoning portal seen in a generation finally reached its climactic state. It had been building up for nearly two weeks: far longer than usual. The portal’s progress had been a constant topic of conversation amongst the students as they waited for news of their newest classmate’s arrival.
Lucian Godfrey stood as the student representative on ritual watch when the portal’s seal finally broke.
“Sound the bells!” He called out down the hall to the academy attendant at the front desk. “The summoning is complete!” The attendant ran off to deliver the news. In less than a minute a special set of bells started chiming in the castle’s clock tower, their particular chimes indicating portal activity. Not long after that people started arriving to witness the summoning complete.
Astra itself manifested in the physical realm, pouring like mist out of the spherical aperture: a rare sight to see. The outside edge of the portal frame began rotating through all three dimensions in a geometrically impossible way. Many people in the gathered crowd looked away, gaining nausea headaches simply trying to watch.
Small lightning bolts began striking at random, then blinking out of existence before they struck anything or did any damage: the magical wards protecting this room had been prepared with abundance and great care.
A squad of astral Knights clanged their armor as they hurriedly marched forth to take their place at the forefront. They lined up, still a few dozen yards back from the portal. The color of the astral mist fluctuated between black and a pinkish-purplish hue. The ground rumbled with the force of a minor earthquake.
Lucian Godfrey walked up next to them. It would be his honor to be the first to welcome the new student to the academy.
At last, an explosive popping sound echoed through the chamber, followed immediately by a second pop. The physical manifestation of astra evaporated, and two individuals: a boy clad in all black, and a girl wearing a pale purple robe.
The crowd immediately started buzzing with gasps. “Two of them?!” “How are there two?!”
Lucian ignored the crowd and took a step forward and opened his arms in greeting. “Welcome! To the Royal Academy of--”
They both collapsed onto the floor and entered seizures at the same time, spasming their muscles uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth.
Lucian ran forward. “Get a Sylvan mage!” He called. A few students ran out of the room. He reached the two newest students and knelt down beside them. He removed his cloak from his shoulders and folded it up, placing it under the young woman’s red curls as she thrashed around. He looked behind him. “I need a pillow. Or another cloak. Fast!”
The captain of the Astral Knights, distinguished by the gold leafing around his helm, stepped forward. The knight pulled off his metal chestplate, then removed the padded gambeson beneath it.
“Here,” he grunted. Lucian accepted it, and put it under the young man’s head. It was a bit sweaty, but still softer than the hard floor.
“Thank you, Sir Alvin,” Lucian said. They continued to watch on silently while waiting for a healing mage to arrive.
The convulsions continued for nearly a minute before both of their bodies fell still at the exact same time, their eyes staring unblinking up at the ceiling. A Sylvan doctor flew into the room at that moment and darted straight through the air to the students. She had a hand over her mouth as she looked at the unconscious pair. The raucous chatter in the background turned mostly to sounds of relief as they saw Lady Marcelle arrive.
“It’s just like Lyric predicted,” Marcelle said softly behind her hand. Lucian tore his eyes from the two comatose summons and looked up at the Sylvan fairy. Her entire body was smaller than just Lucian’s upper body alone.
“Lyric? What did that troublemaker claim?” Lucian asked. The Sylvan doctor shooed Lucian and Alvin out of the way as she landed on the ground and began holding her hands on either side of the young woman’s head, then the young man’s. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Lucian.
“She claimed that two students would be summoned today: a boy and a girl,” the doctor said. “She also said they would both require immediate medical attention. We should have believed her.”
“Two new students from one summoning ritual? Who would believe something like that? You can’t be blamed for not being prepared for this,” Lucian said.
“Who says we didn’t prepare? We’ve got two beds already made up in the secondary medical ward just in case.” She turned to the knight captain. “Well don’t just stand there, Alvin! Help me carry them to the medical ward. The newly built one, mind you.”
“Yes, Lady Marcelle,” Alvin replied. He gestured to two of his knights who immediately clanked forward in their armor and picked up the unconscious students as gingerly as they could while wearing full plate mail.
“A double summoning,” Alvin said to Marcelle and Lucian. “I don’t think I’ve seen that in all my years here.”
“Nor have I,” Marcelle replied. “And I’ve been at this school for over sixty years, mind you.”
“And you said Lyric predicted this would happen?” Lucian asked.
“When the summoning portal first appeared two weeks ago, yes,” Marcelle replied.
Lucian’s eyes narrowed. Lyric was the last of his classmates he’d ever voluntarily seek out, but this situation was odd enough that he was willing to swallow his distaste and go find her. He stood up and watched as the knights carried the two students out of the castle’s summoning chamber.
“Sounds like Lyric might know more about this. I’d better go find her.”
Lucian stalked out of the chamber, a concerned expression on his face. He no longer needed to be present in the summoning chamber now that his duties as the ritual watcher were complete. It was time to go find out what Lyric knew about all of this.