Chapter 47

  I couldn’t sleep at all during the night. That was not unexpected. I found myself thinking about the night before the first day of college, my mind busy with all the experiences I’d endured through high school. I remembered thinking it would be the same. With different faces, of course, but vile bastards had a knack for sniffing out easy prey in every place.

  The school had compulsory attendance, so I had to be there, in person, for every class if I wanted to make something out of myself. I was taller and had patches of hair around my face, but no matter how hard I steeled myself, I couldn’t hold my back straight during the first lesson.

  What was strange was… nothing happened. I didn’t get slapped around or cussed at. Everybody ignored me. I could still remember the relief I felt when I locked myself in the restroom. My heart thundered in my chest, and my palms were sweaty and my back drenched, but nothing had happened. I could finally breathe, I’d thought.

  How na?ve I’d been.

  I pulled Beatrice close to my chest, feeling the weight of the blanket around my shoulders. I could hear my own blood in my ears, carrying a promise of another attack that would send my heart reeling. I shook myself off and sucked in a deep breath. I pinched my cold palms and felt Beatrice’s sharp edge. I couldn’t let the same thing happen in this life. No, I wouldn’t let it happen.

  The sun shone a bright gold by the time I managed to pull myself up from the bed. Radek was still asleep, but I didn’t buy it. Heart Mages were almost always awake, Belfray had told me once, as they kept their Heartforce in a bubble around them, which meant that he knew I was on my feet.

  That he ignored me was a good sign. This day belonged to me, after all. I had a mind to stare off into the distance and enjoy the forest sight below, but instead, I changed my clothes and checked my ring of holding.

  I went through every box to ensure I had everything with me. Spare clothes. Enough socks. A mountain of snacks. Stacks of magical leather and boxes of quality ink. A dozen pens for the rune work. My first Master Gerard’s tutorial book. Radek’s little notebook that he gave me for the Trial of the Wild.

  That done, I focused on my Internal Core and managed a circulation, feeling the strength pumping across my muscles. The Undying was like a slumbering beast before I poked it, but now that it was awake, I could barely contain the sheer vitality it supplied to my body.

  I was, by all means, ready to take on the world. That was until I heard a knock on the door, and Mother walked in.

  “Grand Marshal, morning,” Radek rose lazily to his feet, granting my Mother a half-assed salute before wiping his mouth off. “I thought sleep would evade me, but it’s been a blessing of a night, I have to say. I’m full of energy!”

  “The ride is here. It’s waiting,” Mother said, then glanced at me. She looked… I don’t know, ragged? Somewhat tired and almost beaten? Not that she had any bruises on her face, but there was an air about her that made me feel sorry for her.

  “Rough night, I imagine.” Radek pinched his cheeks and, with a snap of his fingers, changed into a new set of robes. “Anything we should know?”

  “The deal’s done. Everything went as expected,” Mother said with a curt nod. “I will take Leo to the Academy. You can stay here.”

  “You can’t possibly—” Radek started, but he cut himself short for a reason. His face changed, and it was with an obedient nod that he continued, “I will be waiting for you, then, my lady.”

  “Good,” Mother said, and gestured at me. “Come on, Leo. That thing’s not going to wait for us if we’re late.”

  “That thing?” I scowled. “What thing?”

  “You’ll see,” Mother said. “The Creator’s Academy has quite the collection of rides in its circle.”

  I turned toward Radek, hoping that he would give me a clue, but was met with a wide smile and nothing else. Beaten, I hunched my shoulders and followed after Mother, my back feeling painfully bare with the lack of a cape. Instead, I looked like your average adventurer clad in leathery gear, perhaps on the younger side, except for the boots, the pants, and the shirt, which were all good for everyday use. At least I had Beatrice with me, and that provided some comfort.

  Down the stairs, we hardly spoke a word with Mother until I stepped out into the morning air, finding myself in the middle of a crowd. First-year students like me were lined across the paved ground, all accompanied by their relatives, and beyond them stood… something.

  “No way,” I muttered shakily as I gazed up at what appeared to be a humongous ship with its sails flapping in the wind. “What the hell?”

  Instead of forcing our way through the crowd, this time Mother gently ushered me toward the line, my mouth hanging stupidly wide as I took in the sheer size of the giant ship. It basically floated there, with no crew in sight. A ladder had been flung from its stern, easily wide enough to let ten people climb up side by side.

  “How does that work, exactly?” I muttered to myself as I let Mother drag me onward.

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  “Dozens of wind charms, all fueled by at least a Diamond Mana Core,” a voice answered from behind. “It’s a legendary feat of magical technology, since that Mana Core is basically dormant, likely taken from a strong beast with pristine precision. I’d say it’s a Gustwake Core, since those creatures are known for their effortless sky-sailing, but I can’t be sure before actually seeing the Core in person.”

  “You—” I paused mid-step, looking over my shoulder to see a lean young man smiling up at me with eager curiosity. I immediately pulled myself together and tried to remember the scenarios I’d imagined for weeks in case I had to speak with a student face to face. I failed. “So that’s the case!” My voice nearly cracked as I scratched the back of my head. “It’s really flying, isn’t it?”

  “Well, that’s what Sky Ships do, usually,” the young man said without a hint of change in his expression. That wasn’t very bad. He looked like a good guy, at least. “They’re also quite adept at oceans, especially the ones with strong currents that can overhaul a normal ship with ease. See the bow? That’s entirely made out of light soralwood to give the whole body the elasticity of an eel. It can bend over ninety degrees without breaking.”

  “That…” I swallowed. “Sounds dangerous.”

  “It doesn’t bend until it’s hit by a force that carries more than ten tons of weight,” the guy said. “This whole crowd is not enough to make it twist, I’d say, but it’s hard to be sure when you have a group of Lionguards in the mix. Did you know a moderately sized Lionguard can weigh as much as two tons depending on their rank? A Herald Lionguard can, and will, bend this thing, so I doubt they will let those beastkin inside the ship. I wouldn’t mind it myself, since I’m dearly curious to see the so-called intricacies of a Sky Ship in action, but that can prove to be a problem for other people in—”

  “Hold on,” I said, holding up a hand. “I—I don’t understand what you’re saying. You say this ship’s going to break?”

  “No, but it could bend rather steeply, and that can be a problem,” the young man said with a confused frown. He then folded his liquid cape, which lacked any color, and stepped over a particularly large rock so as not to stumble. Behind him followed a man and a woman, looking fairly middle-aged, with gentle creases around their faces. They both smiled almost apologetically when they saw the two of us were talking.

  “You seem to know a lot of… stuff,” I managed to say after what felt like hours, having stopped by Mother since the line came to a crawl. “That’s impressive.”

  “I’m not particularly fond of this Sky Ship, or any ship, to be honest, but you looked awfully ignorant, and I just couldn’t help it. What else do you want to know? Seeing that the line barely moves on, I can give you a few more hints if you want.”

  A soft slap ruffled the guy’s dark hair as his mother— I assumed she was his mother, since they looked so alike—glared down at him helplessly. “Keralth, be nice! This isn’t Arraol. I told you to be careful with your attitude here.”

  “Oh?” The guy looked up at his mother in utter confusion, then turned and bowed slightly toward me. “It seems I’ve said something wrong. Apologies. It is a habit of mine that sometimes I can’t stand ignorant people. I was told I couldn’t do that here. I will try to be more careful in the future.”

  “It’s alright,” I said, waving him off and smiling at his mother, who stared intently into my eyes. “It’s nothing. We’re all new here. There’s bound to be a few complications.”

  “It sure is overwhelming, this crowd,” Keralth said with a soft sigh. “I’ve never been in a crowd before. It’s not that I can’t stand people, it’s just… too noisy. I prefer to practice my magic in a silent study, a well-lit one. It better be, since I’m scared of the dark. My parents are Adept Researchers in the field of the Path of Glory, so that helps. What about you? You look like a Knight. Are you strong? What kind of Manual are you practicing? Is it the common Glorious Path Manual?”

  My head was bubbling so fiercely with the slightly high-pitched voice of the young man that I was about to bail. My social anxiety screamed at me to run, but there was nowhere to run to. We were trapped here, in the middle of the line, with my back against this guy and his family.

  He didn’t look like a bad person, though, I had to give him that. He just seemed curious about just about anything, which made him one of the worst people I would ever want to speak to.

  “It’s the Undying,” I said in the end. I just couldn’t endure the look he kept giving me.

  “The Undying?” Keralth cocked his head. “Never heard of it.”

  “It’s a fairly unknown manual—” I started, but before I could finish my sentence, Keralth’s mother jerked him back by the shoulder, and his father stepped around him to stand in front of me.

  “Young man,” the man said after fixing his glasses with one shaky finger. He then placed his hand on my shoulder, looking overly excited as he asked, “Did you just say The Undying? It can’t possibly be the lost Manual of the—”

  “Take that hand off, or you’re going to leave this place without a single one.”

  There was a pause when I heard Mother’s voice. That tended to happen whenever she spoke. There was a change in the air, and the hand on my shoulder suddenly lifted off on its own, the fingers peeling away from my shirt, each one looking weightless as a feather, before Keralth’s poor father was sent stumbling back by an invisible whiff of air.

  I was left staring dumbly at the unfortunate man’s pained expression, with Keralth’s mother completely frozen at the side.

  “Mum!” I yelled for some reason, turning and glaring into her face. “You told me I can share my Manual. It’s not a secret, is it?”

  “I will tear you apart,” Mother said, hardly in the mood to hear me. “I will make you regret the day—”

  “Mum!”

  “What?”

  “He’s just curious!” I said helplessly. “Keralth told me his parents are Adept Researchers in the field of the Path of Glory. I’m sure that’s why his father was curious when he heard I practice The Undying. He wasn’t trying to harm me.”

  “Doesn’t matter. He can’t just put a hand on my son’s shoulder without his consent,” Mother said, glaring daggers into the man’s face. “You’re lucky that I made a promise. I won’t harm you here, but I will eradicate your whole bloodline if you ever dare to let a strand of your hair touch my son. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes!” the poor man screamed. “I did. I’m sorry! I’m terribly sorry!”

  And that was it. In the end, I managed to drag my Mother away with all the strength I had in my arms, which felt like trying to move a mountain. If she hadn’t budged, there was nothing I could’ve done. Thankfully, her protective streak ended soon enough. I didn’t forget to send my apologies to Keralth with a shamed look as well, after which I got a thumbs up from him for some reason.

  Strange guy, really, but then, I was in no position to say anything after we left his parents basically weeping in the crowd. Maybe the students were not the ones I should be scared of. Maybe there was no need for me to be afraid of a potential bullying case when I’d been raised by a complete nutjob, in a house of monsters.

  That oddly instilled a fresh wave of confidence in me. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.