The confrontation slash conversation with Candice proved to be a sort of turning-point for me.

Up till then I'd only done magic in the safety of my room, with my more-or-less helpless roommate. After that I started getting a bit more adventurous with it. Knowing that Candice didn't have the Detect Magic ability led me to suspect that it was something special. Maybe it was from my sprite background. At any rate, I sincerely doubted any of my fellow first-year classmates had it, and I was already confident I was well beyond most of them in terms of spells and magical talent.

So I spent most of the next week experimenting, although I did it very subtly.

I started using Thought Skim almost as much as I used Info. Against level-one girls it only cost me two mana per use, and gave me a thirty-second peek into whatever was on their mind. And most of that was boring stuff. In class, nine times out of ten they were actually focusing on the lessons.

It was much more fun in the dining hall, then at least I could sometimes pick up juicy gossip. Or find out what they thought of the food, which was less interesting. It was like a gatcha, 2 mana points per roll and depending when and where I used it I had about a fifty-fifty chance of getting something good.

After only three days of that I'd used it enough to bump it up to grade four.

'Thought Skim (4): Active spell (cost: 2 mana/level). You can attempt to skim the surface-thoughts of another sentient being. If successful you will read what they are thinking at the moment you cast the spell. Casting range: 4m. Duration: 20sec/level.'

That gave me increased range and let the spell run longer, which finally clued me in that I ought to start upgrading my other spells too. That meant using them more, which left me needing to balance indiscriminate spell use against not getting caught and not making enemies.

Fortunately Evie was more than happy to let me practice on her, so I took advantage of that. Thanks to my high mana score, I could get a fair bit done every evening. And in only two nights I managed to upgrade both Mind Read and Arrousal as well.

'Mind Read (2): Active spell (cost: 3 mana/level). You can attempt a deep probe of the thoughts and memories of another sentient being. If successful you have access to surface and buried thoughts, recent and distant memories. Casting range: 1m. Duration: 2min/level.'

'Arrousal (3): Active spell (cost: 4 mana/level). You can attempt to induce a state of strong sexual arrousal in your target. If successful they will be distracted and unable to focus or concentrate on anything other than sex until the spell has ended. Casting range: 2m. Duration: 20mins/level.'

Those were both a big deal, it meant I could Mind Read without having to touch someone. I just had to be near them for a while. And Arrousal... Well that was just for fun. Except it was also the first spell I used in anger in public.

It was first thing in the morning, I just left my room and I ran into Candi at the stairs at the end of the hall. We were both on our way over to the dining hall to have breakfast together. Just as we started down the steps I felt someone nudge my foot from behind and it tripped me up.

Next thing I knew I was going headfirst down the stairs. My notebook and textbook went flying, but instead of doing a lip-stand on the stairs my right hand caught the edge of a step before my face hit it, and I sort of cartwheeled over. A moment later I landed on both feet at the bottom of the stairs, completely unharmed.

My heart was pounding though and it took me a moment to even understand what just happened. Candi was standing still on the stairs, she stared at me with a look of disbelief. And two steps behind where I'd been, Alice and a blonde first-year were both staring at me wide-eyed.

Seeing the other two girls, everything suddenly clicked. One of them tripped me on the stairs. They thought I'd end up in a heap, or maybe even injured. I probably would have too, except for my fifteen dexterity points. Once again I was very glad to have that. If I'd actually fallen down the stairs my low constitution would have made things that much worse.

Candi caught my gaze as I stared at the other two first-year girls, and she turned to look at them too. She no doubt realized one of them tripped me, seeing them so close to where I'd been before I fell.

In that moment I lost my temper and I let them both have it. I burned through twelve mana points, eight for Alice and four for her friend. But the spell worked, and the results were more than worth it. The two of them went bright red as they turned around and hurried back up the stairs towards the third floor. They were both walking funny like their thighs were pressed together.

I didn't see either of them again till our first class, the pair of them missed breakfast completely. They both looked tired and dishevelled, and very embarrassed. I took a chance and thought-skimmed them both as the class began.

The blonde's name was Hannah, she had no idea what happened or what came over her. She only knew she'd never been so horny in her life, and she realized Alice felt the same. They ended up in Hannah's room, where they gave each other a hand. Then some tongue. Basically they wound up in a sixty-nine on Hannah's bed, and she was still feeling a lot of strange giddy things after that experience.

Alice on the other hand knew she'd been enspelled, she just didn't know if it came from me or Candice. She was embarrassed, but she was also angry. Even though she started it by tripping me on the stairs, she decided both me and Candi were now her enemies

By the time our afternoon classes were over I'd actually upgraded Thought Skim again from using it on Alice through the day. I wanted to keep tabs on what she was up to, what she was planning. And I foolishly ran my mana points down in the process.

'Thought Skim (5): Active spell (cost: 2 mana/level). You can attempt to skim the surface-thoughts of another sentient being. If successful you will read what they are thinking at the moment you cast the spell. Casting range: 5m. Duration: 30sec/level.'

I was down to my last sixteen mana points, and apart from upgrading Thought Skim all I really accomplished was the knowledge that Alice planned revenge against both me and Candi since she assumed the two of us worked together to enspell her and whats-her-name, the blonde. The only good news was Alice wasn't going to get her friends involved, she wanted the vengeance all for herself.

If I had enough mana left I'd have been monitoring her constantly so I'd know when she was about to strike, but I had to wait. I needed enough mana to dispell any attacks she made and to fight back. But first I needed a chance to warn Candi I'd gotten the two of us into a fight.

After class, the moment we were out of the building I leaned in and whispered "Heads up we're about to be attacked."

She gave me a worried glance then her eyes seemed to glaze over and she crumpled to the ground in a heap. Too late it already started! Alice went for Candi first, thinking she was the bigger threat.

My red indicator went bright and I was already dispelling before I even knew what it was. I didn't waste points on scrutinize, I needed to save what I had. My dispell worked and I managed to catch the notifications before they faded. I saw enough to know it was a pretty lame strike.

'Magic detected: You are being enspelled! Spell recognized: Sleep (1)'
'Dispell successful!'

I spun around and glared at Alice, while she looked shocked. Like she thought her grade one Sleep spell was unstoppable or something. It took me a split-second to run the numbers in my head and pick the best weapon in my little arsenal.

It cost me ten points to cast Control at her, and if it worked she'd be mine for the next half hour. And it left me with enough points to Dispell a couple more times if necessary. So I let her have it, and my spell was a success! Probably thanks to my big half-sprite magic bonus.

"Stand still, stay quiet, and no more magic," I hissed to Alice. Her eyes widened but she didn't say a word, she just stood there watching me with a look of growing fear in her eyes. Then I used my Dispell to break the Sleep spell on Candi.

Candice groaned as she stirred then sat up. "Wha? What happened?"

I tried to help pull her to her feet but nearly wound up ontop of her instead. Oops, almost forgot I was a seventy pound weakling. I ended up crouched next to her and whispered, "Alice hit you with a sleep spell. I'll fill you in later, right now I need to deal with her."

My friend gave me a strange look as she slowly got to her feet. Most of the other students were ignoring us, but some second- and third-year girls were quietly observing from a distance. Crap. The older girls had to know what was going on, they were probably using magical sight to watch.

I said quietly to Alice, "Go to the dorms, act natural, and wait for us in the third-floor washroom."

She turned and walked away, doing her best to 'act natural'. Which made me think the school should add some acting classes. Actually we needed a whole arts curriculum here, this place was way too focused on academia.

I helped brush the dust and dirt off Candi's uniform while she glanced around. She obviously noticed the attention we were receiving, but knew better than to ask.

Finally we picked up our dropped books, or I picked mine up while Candi fumbled with hers a couple times before getting a grip on them. I figured she was still shaking off the effects of the sleep spell. Then the two of us made our way to the dorms as well. We stayed quiet as we headed up the stairs, and finally joined my new nemesis in the washroom.

The third-floor washrooms were nothing like we had on the second-floor. We got private shower stalls, here the showers were just a bunch of spigots along one wall, like totally open and communal. At least the toilets were in separate stalls.

Alice was standing by the sinks with a scared, angry look on her face. I could tell she had a hundred questions and probably a thousand swears she wanted to say, but she was quiet thanks to my earlier instructions.

I figured we had less than twenty-five minutes left on the spell now, and my mana was low enough I could maybe dispell one more attack. So I had to think fast about how to handle the situation. Then I'd probably have to field a hundred questions from Candi because no doubt she'd want to know what the hell was going on.

First things first though. "Alice you know what happened this morning. Trying to enspell me was bad enough, but lashing out against Candice pissed me off. She's innocent. I was just irritated before, now I'm angry. Strip naked."

The brunette's eyes widened in fear but she obeyed without question. In under a minute her sandals skirt and blouse were in a neat little pile on the floor next to her, and both Candi and me got a very good look at her.

Alice was tall and slim, her body was sort of athletic, her legs and hips looked strong, her waist narrowed slightly and her boobs were on the small side. She was attractive, but nothing special.

"Now you're going to return to your room like that," I instructed her, "And you're going to get into your bed, and you're going to spend the next twenty minutes rubbing yourself while you think about how much you want to have your face buried between my legs. If you ever cross me or Candice again I'll make that fantasy a reality. Go."

Her face was beet red by the time I was done, and Alice crouched and picked up her clothes then ran out of the washroom, leaving me and Candi all alone.

'New level achieved: Level 3!'

That was a pleasant surprise, but I couldn't deal with it yet since my best friend was about to get all up in my face. I just took one quick peek and was happy to note my available mana had jumped from two back up to sixteen points, which would be handy if Alice tried to attack again later tonight.

Candi stared wide-eyed at me and demanded, "Abby what the actual fuck?!"

I sighed, "It's a long story Candice. I'm sorry you got dragged into it."

She was determined to hear it so she grabbed my hand and pulled me back to her room. Her roomie was already in there but Candi gave the girl a look and stated, "Find somewhere else to be, I need privacy."

The girl didn't make a sound, she grabbed her notebook and textbook and was gone in under ten seconds.

Then Candi and I sat at the table again, and I filled her in on the afternoon's ordeal. By the time I was done she was staring dumbfounded at me.

"So you enspelled Alice and her blonde friend because Alice tripped you on the stairs. Then you used the same Thought Skim spell I tried on you last week, because you knew Alice was going to try something. And when she did, you dispelled her attack on you, then you dispelled her attack on me too, and finally you... What even was that spell? And what did you do to her in the first place when she tripped you? And how the fuck have you learned all these spells Abby? You haven't even been here two full weeks yet!"

I blushed and admitted, "Evelynn's been helping me. Like, I guess we're kind of secret friends now? Since she can relax and unwind with me around, she drops her mean-girl act and stuff. So she's been sharing some of her spells with me."

"There's stuff I can't do yet," I added. "She's level four, I'm just two, but she helped me learn the easier spells."

She asked, "And the spells you used? This morning, then just now?"

I blushed, "This morning was Arrousal. Does what it sounds like, it makes you so horny you can't do anything else till you take care of that itch. And just now was Control. Sort of a basic temporary mind control spell. She'll be fine in another fifteen minutes, no permanent lasting effects."

Candi just stared at me, like she had no idea how to respond or react.

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