Early on Darkday, the last day of the week and the day Yuriko was to spar with Eddie Farran’ir, found her distracted over breakfast. She had been paying more attention to her connection with her Squires, and a burst of anxiety and anger had coursed through Gwendith’s thread. It had settled already, but she wondered if she should go look for them.

The connection had not been able to provide a direction or distance, since they were still in a Chaos Fount. Add to that, she wasn’t sure how to go about it since the two spells they shared, Message and Sending, would not go through the Fount’s barrier.

“Young mistress?” Ryoko asked, noticing Yuriko’s distress.

“Oh, it’s…” she relayed her problem and issues, and Ryoko tilted her head.

“Why not use a spell that could pierce through the interference? I’m sure the academy has something like that. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.”

Yuriko blinked, then laughed. “Ah, good idea!”

She could just check the library or ask an attendant. Or perhaps another professor if she couldn’t find one in the library. She hurried through breakfast, got dressed and flew over to the library. Her duel with the head of the department wasn’t until midday, so she had enough time.

The library was always open, especially to students who wanted to burn the midnight oil. She nodded to the librarian and headed towards the spellbook section. The collection was sorted by title and not by function, but thankfully, there was an index that she could look up. Unfortunately, the publicly available spells didn’t contain what she needed.

“You can trade spells with Professor Charles Varko, he’s in charge of communication studies,” the librarian said when Yuriko asked.

“Thank you.”

Yuriko headed to Niria Hall to check the faculty directory and headed towards Professor Varko’s office. She knocked on the door, and the expected response allowed her inside.

Professor Varko was a Durandir man. He was short and stocky, with his fiery red hair reaching only her bosom, though he was at least twice as wide as she was.

“Professor Davar,” Professor Varko said. “What a surprise. I would have thought you’d be preoccupied with your upcoming duel.”

Yuriko tilted her head. “Duel? Ah, with Professor Farran’ir? I don’t see a need for extensive preparations. It’s not as if we will be battling to the death.”

“I love the confidence, madam,” Professor Varko smirked, though it was hard to see underneath his beard, which almost reached his knees. He stood up and gestured to the armchair. “How may I help you?”

“Ah, I’m looking for a communication spell that can reach into Chaos Founts.”

“Ah. True Connection,” Varko nodded. “A powerful spell. Ten circles at least. More if you want it to pierce the barrier between realms. I do have the beginnings of the spell, but…”

Yuriko nodded. “What do you want in exchange?”

Varko rubbed his beard as he looked at her for a long moment. “I will trade it with you if you can help me simplify it down to five circles.”

Yuriko’s eyebrows rose. Halving the number of spell circles didn’t halve the nodes. If she remembered correctly, a ten-circle spell had three hundred and thirty nodes while a five-circle spell had… er…

“Yes, from three-thirty to seventy-five is not an easy task,” Varko said with a laugh. “That is my ultimate goal. Five-circle spells are much easier to enchant into tools, and with that, my dream of being able to talk to someone on the other side of the Great Continent would take a great leap forward, haha! Ah, but I do not expect miracles, and I do not expect you to do all of the work.”

“You have that much confidence in my untested skill?”

“Untested? Hardly. Your students sing of your simplified Echolocation spell. Granted it was a five- to three-circle simplification, but that is still impressive.” Varko coughed and picked up a mug of ale. He glanced at it, then at her, and asked, “Would you like some?”

“Hmmm, not this early, thank you,” Yuriko said politely. He nodded absently as he rummaged through his desk and pulled out a well-worn tome.

He opened it and leafed through the pages, then flipped it around. “True Connection Spell.”

“Thank you,” Yuriko said as she pulled out a notebook that served as her Grimoire out of her hip satchel. It wasn’t really one, since Grimoires were linked to a Magi’s Elemental Heart which allowed them to cast spells prepared within. Well, to activate the runescript components using the pages of the Grimoire anyway. She could simply write out the runescript components with her Anima, and the notebook was simply a cheat sheet for her.

She had not tried casting a ten-circle spell yet. There were none available in the library, though they could be exchanged for gold or merits at the registrar. Truthfully, there weren’t even eight-circle spells available and the seven-circle ones were limited in number. The one- to six-circle spells were freely available, but only to faculty. Students had to earn the write to inscribe the spells by passing tests, or simply advancing in grade.

There was a limit to free access to information, after all, but that was fine. It wasn’t as if Yuriko would give all her secrets to the academy for free, or even let them know of her deeper secrets in the first place. It was the one thing from Damien that had seeped deep into her mind, the need for secrecy. The man, aside from being promiscuous, also had a paranoid streak.

Over the past weeks, she had been enlightened on Bresia’s Arcana Weaving system. It had a striking parallel to some of Damien’s memories, surprisingly enough. It had been called Thaumaturgy then, and the technique harnessed the power of Elemental energies too, except the complexity of Thaumaturgy was nowhere near Arcana Weaving. And it had been a skill used by mortals who could not walk the Ancient’s Way.

It certainly did not allow mortals to create an Elemental Heart within themselves through the use of natural treasures. In some ways, it was similar to an Animus Core, except it could not contain, or even tolerate Chaos. Maybe it could be tweaked or modified to endure the Chaos Sea?

Elemental Hearts weren’t compatible with Animus Cores but otherwise shared the same function. It was even easier to touch upon Ennoias with Elemental Hearts, though only those that were close to its original nature. Someone with a Fire Elemental Heart would have a hard time touching any other Ennoia other than Fire and its derivatives. At least the Hearts that were taught here in Niria. She heard that in Briarwin, their Elemental Hearts were able to touch on multiple Elements, though the Nirians derided the shallowness of their enlightenment.

As she studied and compiled the spell from the Grimoire, Yuriko wondered if she could even cast the spell. While Niria in general thought her to be a True Magus or a Grand Magus, according to their hierarchy and matching it with the Ancient’s Way and the Imperial Path, she was actually only an Advanced Magus. But because of the sheer power and breadth of her Anima, she was much stronger than what she was comparable to. She wasn’t really sure what made her stronger than her peers, because even Gwendith and Heron did not quite match up to her when she was at their level. Radiant energy? They call it a Primordial energy, so it was probably that.

Anyway, she wasn’t sure she could cast a ten-circle spell on the first try, nor was she certain she could simplify it to the Durandir’s satisfaction. Well, if she could not, then she would endeavour to pay him with something else.

Once she finished copying, which took more than a few minutes, she said her thanks once again and left. Her duel with the Battle Magi Head was in an hour and she should head over to the arena.

__________

Eduardo Farran’ir pulled his battle robes tight across his body. On his belt was an arming sword etched with fifty runes. On his back was a quarterstaff etched with the Kinetic Blast spell in full runescript conversion, topped with a mixed Elemental Stone for power. His footwear was open-toed sandals and he wiggled his little piggies freely to limber them up. His long ears, being a Sha’ledras, were far more expressive than his kin.

Secretary Blanca Ferran was in the preparatory room with her long, Khuni ears stiff with tension. He was one Magi rank above her Advanced Magus strength, but his Elemental Heart was barely at the threshold. It had been so for decades now, and he was seeking enlightenment to progress his power. Spars and battles were what he revelled in, and because it was a time of peace, friendly duels were the only way he could indulge.

Truthfully, he should have sparred with the new professor before she could have entered the faculty, but since he had been away at the start of the trimester, he had not been privy to the goings-on of the admin. He had heard more than a few praises for the new Professor Davar, even caught a glimpse of her class. He still had to test himself against her though. He felt his heart beginning to race.

“Are you sure this is necessary, Professor Farran’ir?”

“Of course. Every Battle Magus must be forged in the flames of battle. To shy away from conflict is to grow dull.”

Secretary Ferron rolled her eyes. “Enough with your platitudes. Just don’t…”

“Hmm, don’t what?”

Farran pursed her lips. “Well, don’t take things so seriously.”

“Relax. From everything I’ve heard, Professor Davar is a warrior.” He looked at the clock and said, “The hour is nigh.”

“Hmm, well, good luck.” Secretary Ferron said before leaving to head to the stands.

Eddie shrugged and walked towards the arena. He activated his intrinsic spell, Levitate, and calibrated it so that it provided the exact lift to make him weightless and no more than that. Then, he pushed off the ground with a Telekinesis spell. There were six such spells in his Elemental Heart, pointing front, back, above, below, left, and right. Each one could propel him twenty-five paces in a blink of an eye. He chose this instead of inscribing a Flight spell because it gave him far more control and precision, something a Battle Magus must have. Where Flight would only give him one source of thrust, from his feet or his back, his method of flight gave him six. Coupled with his flexible body, he could perform feats of aerobatics that would make an Ih’bonara’s mind spin.

His Elemental Affinity was Wind, but he hardly used it except as a medium for his Force spells. He refused to be shackled to the narrow definitions of Elemental Wind, and he’s met with mixed success. He had touched upon an Elemental Truth, but because it was different from the usual Truths, there was no guidance. He would have to carve his own path. And that was what he was doing with even spar, every battle, every contest for life or death.

“She’d better not disappoint me,” he muttered as he emerged into the arena, and when he saw his opponent, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes in annoyance. He was clad in his battle robes and inner armour. Professor Davar…looked like she had just come from a stroll about town.

She was on the opposite side of the arena, and the stands were practically bursting with students, other teachers and staff, as well as visitors from the city. Yuriko Davar wore a light blue sundress with a hem just above her knees. It had a halter top which showed off her bare shoulders and arms. She had on a pair of tights that was just a bit darker than her skin tone, and her shoes were more appropriate for the ballroom than the arena. The sandy floor would have had her slipping and sliding on those soles…ah, she was not standing on the floor, but floating just above it. She didn’t even have her official robes on. At least those had protective enchantments.

The woman was a vision of poise and beauty. Was she really no stranger to the battlefield?

When the referee called the start of the battle, the sudden pressure of her presence immediately made it clear. All biases and initial impressions were thrown out of his mind. He grinned in anticipation.

This would be good.