Lily dreamed.
It was her first day at the academy. She was nervous. Really, incredibly, unspeakably nervous, as a matter of fact, but she could hardly be blamed for it. The Royal Academy of Sorcerous Studies was a far cry from Nana Dalimore's little hut, where Lily had learned what magic she knew.
The academy's library was so massive, the public library that Lily had been studying in for most of her life could easily have fit inside of it five times over, with a far more impressive and comprehensive collection of books. The classrooms were large enough to house five families inside and displayed enough wealth to feed those families for more than a decade. Everything was so vast, so grand, so incredible, it felt overwhelming.
Her first day of classes had felt odd. Madam Goldentone, the primary teacher for her class, had seemed to narrow in on Lily specifically whenever it came to asking a difficult or challenging question. The instructor had seemed surprised, impressed, but also somehow slightly disappointed that Lily was able to answer them all correctly. The class came to an end with Madam Goldentone admitting that Lily was 'very well-read for a commoner', which the student decided to take as a compliment.
I'm here because the king drew my name out of a hat, Lily reminded herself. Of course, she was going to be tested more than other students. The others here came from wealthy families who could afford the best books and most knowledgeable tutors. Lily, who had been trained in magic by a retired village healer and who only had access to the books at Academy City's public library, could only hold a candle to that by being an excellent student and devoting herself to her studies as much as possible. She had to prove that she belonged here if she wanted to stay more than a single semester.
Well, challenge accepted.
Lily was interrupted from her thoughts when she was stopped by Crassus in the halls. She'd noticed him during class. It was hard not to since, despite being only sixteen, he was as fit and handsome as any prince in a storybook. The hopeless romantic in her couldn't help but be enamored by his appearance.
That feeling stopped the moment he punched her full-force in the face. No warning, no explanation, he simply grabbed her by the shoulder, turned her around, and punched her.
"Know your place, common filth," was all he said before walking off without a backward glance.
As Lily sat on the floor of the hall, healing her broken nose, she looked out through her tears to see if anyone had noticed. Despite it being a crowded hallway, no one was paying any attention to her. She even heard a few snickers from passing students. Even a nearby teacher seemed to be looking everywhere except for the student who had just been assaulted.
Fast forward to the next day, and Crassus did it again. The day after that, Lily had expected it and thrown up a barrier. In response, Crassus had blown the barrier apart with a flame bullet, then hit her twice and with greater force than before.
As time passed, his abuse evolved, going from simple violence to more emotional and psychological methods of bullying. Instead of simply beating her, he'd trip her, then 'accidentally' drop a heavy tome on her hand with enough force to break fingers. Other times, he and a few of his cronies would ambush her, then spend several minutes pushing her around before running off with her books, forcing her to spend the afternoon and evening searching for them.
For six months, his bullying escalated and evolved to the point where he didn't even need to touch her or say anything to make her want to break down and cry. Six months of physical, emotional, and psychological torture, with no one being willing or able to do anything about it.
Suddenly, it was the day of the tournament.
Lily stood, grinning wickedly, as Crassus launched a fire bullet at her barrier. The projectile was rendered null instantly, as was the next, and the next. Slowly, she advanced, and an army of Helping Hands manifested into fists. As her opponent expended the last of his vast mana pool against her, the beating began. Fists struck him in the face, gut, and groin, sending him to his knees.
Lily laughed at the expression he made after that first strike. More fists followed, beating him to the ground. When he tried to rise, hands pinned him to the floor, and the beating continued. Lily practically moaned in pleasure from the cathartic joy she felt in giving Crassus a much-deserved beating that was long overdue.
Under the sustained assault, bones broke with sickening sounds, and the young man's face was rendered unrecognizable, yet still, the beating continued. Now that she started, there was no way she could stop herself. Finally, after a far longer time than it should have taken, the referee called the match, declaring Lily the winner.
With an almost superhuman amount of self-control, she made herself stop, but only because being publicly declared his better would be far more satisfying than simply killing him.
With an evil grin, Lily, in Crassus' voice, said, "Know your place, noble filth." Then she spat on his broken body and walked away.
Crassus' only response was to whimper feebly in Lily's voice as he was carried off to be healed. However, a skilled healer like Lily knew that no amount of healing would ever allow Crassus to walk or feed himself again. Even chewing solid food would be beyond his capabilities barring anything short of a miracle.
Lily laughed at the thought of it. Of course, even if such healing occurred, Lily could just visit him and repeat his punishment. No force on the planet, no command from a king or emperor, nor even the strongest spells on the planet, could stand up to her. She was his god now, and he only lived because his suffering amused her far more than the satisfaction she'd feel from merely killing him.
Lily had won and put Crassus in his place. However, in defeating him, she had become him. No, she'd not only become him but had instead become something much, much worse than he could ever have been...
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Lily shot up from bed, stifling a scream as she did so. Breathing heavily, she looked down on her hands, then softly spoke, to make sure her voice was still her own. It was several minutes before she finally calmed down. As she sat there on her bed, in the dark, something crystallized within her. An iron core of resolve and determination formed as she came to realize something: Defeating Crassus would mean nothing if she stooped down to his level.
If she won because she could hurt him and he couldn't hurt her back, she'd be no better than the bully who'd spent six months making her life a living hell. If she was going to win, it couldn't be just because she was now better at violence than he was. She needed to be a better wizard than he was. No, more than that, she needed to be a better person than he was.
She reached for her dimensional storage bag and pulled out her 'gift' for Crassus. Lily had asked Rine if there was any method by which Crassus' conduits could be cleared since the lich had stated that they were clogged beyond the scope of normal cycling. He'd seemed surprised that she was asking, but had advised that there was a potion, a kind of 'cleanser' that could clear stagnant mana quickly and easily. It was reserved for only severe cases, but only because normal cycling could clear stagnant mana easily.
'Why use an ax to snap twigs when your own hands can do the job?' as Rine had put it.
*Lily?*
She nearly jumped when she heard Rine communicate with her. She'd gone to bed wearing the earrings, she realized. It was nearly midnight, so it was around the time Rhine said he'd be back. Maybe he just needed her to open the door? Closing her eyes and concentrating, she mentally replied, "Yes?"
*I was on my way back when I passed by the training grounds,* he stated. *I spotted Crassus there, trying and failing to use a spell. If you're wanting to give him your 'gift', you may want to go ahead and give it to him. At the rate he's clogging his remaining conduits, it won't be long before he loses his ability to use spells forever.*
Lily fought back the urge to just ask 'And?'. She was trying to be a better person than her bully, after all. Still, it was odd for Crassus to be training this late. "I assume that you're contacting me because there's more at risk than just him being unable to cast spells."
*Again, you dazzle me with your intellect and perception,* Rine said in a tone that was half-complimenting, half-joking.
*Yes, there's a major problem: He's trying to use a significantly higher level fire spell than normal. If he were sticking to relatively low-level spells like fire bullet and fireball, he'd just experience spell failure when he completely clogs his conduits. Unfortunately, with the spells he's attempting... well, you add the word 'catastrophic' to anything, it's automatically bad, but catastrophic spell failure for someone with an oversized mana core is catastrophic bordering on a full-scale calamity.*
Throwing on her spectacles and uniform with the practiced speed of a nerd who often didn't care how she looked or what others thought of her appearance, she was already out the door, dimensional storage bag at her belt before Rine had finished that statement. "How big a calamity are we talking?" Lily asked telepathically as she broke into a run.
*The training grounds are shielded to prevent out-of-control spells from escaping,* Rine stated, *but even a contained explosion will do a lot of damage. The shields will prevent the detonation from escaping, but the shockwaves will rock the academy to its very foundations, literally and not figuratively. The building will collapse in on itself, taking everyone inside with it.*
Lily skidded to a stop at the entrance to the training grounds, quickly opening the door and stepping in. The room itself was vast and divided into three sections. The first, closest to the door, was often referred to as the cooldown area. Tables and chairs were arranged throughout the area, as well as magically created spigots that would dispense cold water at a touch, fresh from the natural spring in a cavern deep beneath the school. Students would often sit here for some time, either resting between rounds of training or watching others at work. The second, known as the official training area, was where students would stand and fire spells into the third area.
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This final region, called the Fool's Grave, was the domain of training targets. The reason it was called that was, well, anyone foolish enough to run into this area when dozens of students were slinging spells around wasn't long for this world. Training dummies were only replaced when every student had been told to stop and was moved to the cooldown area, and any close-range spells were strictly forbidden here to prevent accidents.
Crassus stood in the training area, his back to her. As she watched, he went through a series of movements, ending with a roar that would have sounded more impressive if it had come from a throat that wasn't raw from continued use. Lily, the magic nerd that she was, recognized the spell he was trying despite his failure.
Dragon's Breath, a complex and powerful spell that released a gout of flame that was as destructive as it was powerful. It was an advanced spell, and the fact that despite his young age Crassus could flawlessly pull off the movements of the spell was impressive, even if it failed. Were his conduits not so utterly and completely clogged, he might have been a child prodigy when it came to magic.
Seeing that he was about to try again, Lily called out, "Crassus!"
The young noble turned and glared at her in a combination of surprise and anger. His eyes were red as if he'd been on the verge of crying, and exhaustion and sleep deprivation had turned his normally handsome features rather unpleasant. To his credit, he quickly regained his composure, glared, and croaked, "What do you want?" He winced at the sound of his voice, clearly not having realized how bad it had gotten.
Ignoring his appearance, Lily grabbed a pair of mugs from a nearby table, used the water dispenser to fill them with water, then walked over to the bully and handed one to him. "How about you cool off, and we'll talk? Pax?" she asked. 'Pax', meaning 'Peace', was a term often used by nobility when they wanted to have an honest, peaceful discussion about something. As part of noble courtesy, it would be rude to refuse even if a commoner asked for it.
Since Lily was now the heir to the title of Countess, refusing would be an insult to someone higher in the peerage than he was.
Still glaring, he took the glass and took a drink from it before finally nodding and saying, "Pax." As he did, Lily reflected on the irony of the situation: A week ago, her showing up like this would no doubt have resulted in a beating, or worse, especially since there were no witnesses here. However, between Lily's reversal of fortune combined with the king's presence, Crassus had to behave himself for fear of the consequences. He was, unfortunately for him, completely unaware that his actions up to this point had already damned him.
Lily took a seat, and Crassus, after a moment's hesitation, took a chair opposite her. After a brief, uncomfortable silence, Lily asked, "So... Dragon's Breath?"
The young noble made an expression like that of a cat having taken a bite into a lemon, before confirming, "Yes. I... was able to do it once when I was eight. However, I haven't been able to do it since, no matter how much effort I put into it." Despite himself, his tone and expression turned worried as he looked out towards the training grounds and admitted, "In fact, the more effort I put in, the harder it seems to be getting to do any magic." Surprised by his admission, he scowled.
Any other time, he'd likely have never admitted that. However, he was sleep-deprived, exhausted, frustrated, and probably more than a little scared of his failing ability to do magic, and that made his tongue a little looser than normal. Still, if he'd used Dragon's Breath once when he was that young, Crassus wasn't just a prodigy, but by modern standards a genius that might only appear once every ten generations...
Running a finger along the rim of her glass, Lily asked, "Tell me something, Crassus, just how serious are you about being a wizard? I mean, are you here just because you've got a big mana core, or is it something you'd want even if you had an average-sized core?"
He seemed to ruminate on that, or at least how he should answer that question, for several minutes. It was hard to say if he was asking himself whether he should answer the question, or if he was doing genuine self-examination to determine the answer. It was hard to say.
Then, he said, "Full disclosure? It's the only thing I've got." At Lily's surprised expression, he barked a croaking laugh and explained, "I've tried training with weapons, and even the most considerate instructors tell me that I'm hopeless beyond the crudest hack and slash combat. I tried my hand at military strategy, but I often lose at 'Treachery and Deceit' despite having played the game regularly since I was ten. That probably says a lot about how I'd do in the realm of court politics as well. The arts? Even I'll say I'm terrible at them. I could list other things, but I think you get my point. Without magic, all I've got is a handsome face. That might net me a wife higher in the peerage, but it'll mean that I'm nothing more than an ornament to someone else's success."
With a scowl, he glared down at the mug of water in his hands and admitted, "My younger brother is... gifted in a lot of ways. I've heard people whisper that the gods themselves played a joke on my family by making him the second in line to the title over me. If I didn't have magic, I suspect my father would have already written me off and declared him as the heir." He took a long drink from his mug.
Waiting until he finished and swallowed his drink, Lily said, "I thank you for being honest with me." Studying him for a moment, she made a decision, and stated, "I know why you haven't been able to use Dragon's Breath since you were eight, and why you can't use any spells. I'm willing to tell you the cause and offer a solution."
Crassus immediately responded with a mocking laugh, then asked, "Oh? And what is a..." he paused, remembering that this was 'Pax', not normal conversation, and corrected himself by saying, "...common-born girl going to know that the best experts in the country do not?"
Lily raised a hand and pointed a finger at one of the testing dummies. Never breaking eye contact with the young nobleman, she launched a fire bullet the size of her fist directly at the doll's head, cleanly decapitating it in one shot. "Any other questions?" she asked, fighting back the urge to grin at his dumbfounded expression as he stared at the smoking training dummy. While it had drained a significant portion of her mana, the look on his face was well worth overcharging the spell.
It took a few seconds for Crassus to get over his shock. While she waited, Lily took a long, slow drink from her cup, then gently set it down.
Crassus was terrible at hiding his thoughts, so Lily could easily follow his thought process just by his facial expressions. Initially, he wondered if it was a trick, but he quickly discounted that since they were both alone and he'd seen her use that spell with his own two eyes. Was she trying to use this to intimidate him into dropping out of the tournament? Unlikely, since she could easily get a great deal more out of him than that in exchange for what she was offering if she wanted. Was she offering it just so that, once he asked for it, she could deny it and laugh at him? Much more likely, if she was the type to do that, but what little he knew of her said otherwise.
After a few more seconds of consideration, he finally asked, "And what do you want in exchange for this... solution?"
Refilling her mug, Lily asked, "Well, Crassus, let me ask you this: What do you think you can offer me?" At his confused expression, she stated, "You've made my life a living hell for six months. You beat me and abused me when I had no means of fighting back. You tortured and tormented me, even though I was only here by the king's order and not any choice I made. You've broken my fingers on three separate occasions when I've done nothing to hurt you."
"You mocked me, belittled me, and threatened those closest to me, and made me so miserable I nearly killed myself, all because I was a commoner and you were nobility. I did nothing to wrong anyone, your or your family included, and yet you decided that I needed to be 'taught my place' with mockery, beatings, and broken bones. Tell me honestly, Crassus: What do you think you could offer me that could make up for what you did to me?"
Oratory was something Lily had learned from her father, the art of eloquent public speaking. Perhaps that was why she was able to say all of that in a calm, even tone. Despite the emotions welling within her, how much she'd have dearly loved to have screamed it in his face, she kept that calm, even tone, her voice not cracking even once. Doing so had been more difficult than anything she had done before in her life, but watching the hope die in Crassus' eyes had been ever so rewarding. Her words, delivered in such a neutral, even tone had far more impact than they might have had if she'd shouted, screamed, and yelled.
The young nobleman seemed to try to wrack his brains for a response, and Lily got to enjoy the show once more as he ran through option after option, all of them being insufficient to make up for what he'd done.
An apology? What words could he say that would make up for what he'd done? Money? She was already going to be getting enough money to buy the rank of Countess and still be incredibly wealthy afterward.
Power? She was going to outrank him in the peerage soon.
Offering to let her drop out of the tournament? She'd just unleashed a spell that exceeded anything he was currently capable of, so she had nothing to fear from him now.
Offer to drop out of the tournament himself? Why would she rob herself of the satisfaction of easily overwhelming and humiliating him in front of the entire school after the last six months?
Romance? Completely out of the question, as it was obvious she hated him with all her heart and soul.
End the bullying? It wasn't like he could get away with it anymore as things stand.
As he ran through increasingly desperate ideas, only to be rejected, his expression turned more and more despondent. Here was hope, and she didn't need to snatch it away from him since even someone like Crassus was forced to admit he didn't deserve it.
"Nothing," he finally admitted in a tone a step away from crying. "There's nothing I can offer you that would make up for that."
Smiling sweetly, Lily said, "How fortunate for you, then, that's exactly what I'm asking for in exchange."
"What?!" Crassus asked in confusion.
*WHAT?!* Rine asked/shouted in her mind, echoing the sentiment.
Pulling the cleanser vial from her dimensional storage bag, she said in an off-hand tone, "I wasn't aware that I'd developed a stutter." Placing the potion on the table, she said, "Now, drink this, and I'll explain everything you'll need to do to remedy your affliction."
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The cleanser was everything Rine had promised and within thirty minutes, Crassus could tell there was a difference in his body, even if he couldn't fully explain it. By the time Lily had finished explaining to Crassus everything about conduits and spellcasting that she'd learned from Rine, he was fully ready to try again.
He stood in the training area, went through the necessary motions, opened his mouth, and roared. A massive cone of flame erupted from his mouth, enveloping over a dozen training dummies at once.
As he stared in awe at his work, Lily applauded. Despite everything else, she had to admit that Crassus was skilled in magic, and with both the knowledge of Cycling and the removal of the stagnant mana in his system, he certainly had a bright future in the mystic arts. Even with Rine's training, Lily was still months away from being willing to even attempt a spell like that, nevermind being able to execute it so flawlessly.
For a few moments, Crassus stood with his back to her, watching the results after his handiwork. Finally, he turned around and asked, "Why? Why help me?"
*I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know as well,* Rine admitted
Brushing off her clothing, Lily stood up and said, "I don't want to be you, Crassus." At his stricken expression, she said, "Helping at my father's law office, I've met the scum of both the nobility and commonfolk. I've met murderers and thieves, whores and deviants, embezzlers and extortionists, and yet you're still among the worst people I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."
"But you know something? The only thing worse than you is the thought of being like you. If our positions were reversed, you'd have withheld this knowledge, or worse, you'd have used it to get anything and everything you wanted from me, no matter how humiliating or vile it might be. If you had me over the proverbial barrel, you wouldn't hesitate to make my life even more of a hell than you already have."
"That's why, despite my better judgment, I'm giving this to you without any price or demanding anything in return: If the price of getting even with you means being you, it isn't worth it. One of you is already one too many. I'd much rather be myself." With that, she turned and left without another word or a backward glance.
*Well done in defusing the situation. You know, you often impress me, my apprentice,* Rine admitted. *However, this is the first time you've honestly and truly surprised me with your maturity. If I had access to my hands, I'd applaud.*
Lily only made an annoyed noise as she returned to her room. She didn't do it because she was trying to stop Crassus from going critical, she only did it tonight because if she hadn't, she wouldn't be able to do it tomorrow. She didn't want to be thanked or congratulated for this. She did for a purely selfish reason, that she wanted to prove she was a better person than Crassus. She already regretted it, honestly. She doubted that anything good was ever going to come of it.