“And yet there is no sign of any serious damage,” a frustrated voice insisted, rousing Yaric.

“He didn’t collapse for no reason,” Lloyd replied indignantly.

“He had a nosebleed; both are possible symptoms of stress or high blood pressure. But I assure you, there is nothing wrong with him.”

“Please say that again when Lina is around to hear,” Yaric croaked, cracking open his eyes to see Lloyd and an unknown wizard beside the bed he was in. “Ahem,” Yaric coughed, clearing his throat after hearing how terrible he sounded.

Besides a slight headache, Yaric felt fine, and lying in bed in an infirmary was embarrassingly over the top.

“You should rest,” the unknown wizard said. “I’ll turn on the runes for you, and you’ll feel much better when you wake up tomorrow.”

“Wait! Why? I feel fine now. Nothing more than a faint headache.”

Yaric’s stomach grumbled loudly.

“Okay, that too.”

Lloyd laughed, but the look of relief on his face made Yaric suspect that it wasn’t due to his joke.

“You do not need to attend classes today, boy,” the healer replied. “We haven’t determined the exact cause for your condition yet, so it’s best if you stay here overnight.”

“What did happen?” Lloyd asked.

“I don’t know. Everything was fine until I put my hands on the armrests, but then it felt like something was trying to crush me. It just got worse and worse, and I couldn’t move. I didn’t know that I was supposed to try and connect with it.”

“What are you talking about, boy? No one ‘connects’ with a Tech Duinn, it happens automatically.”

Even Lloyd looked curious, though not skeptical.

“It kept pressing down harder and harder. I couldn’t breathe, and then I started getting dizzy and couldn’t think properly, but it all went away as soon as I grabbed the connection.”

“Nonsense. Perhaps you’re more disoriented than I thought. I still don’t understand why your ears were bleeding, after all.”

“We have some ideas,” another voice said, making Yaric start. He turned to the other side of his bed, where Arch Wizard Phelps stood.

‘I swear he does that on purpose. And what does he mean, ‘we’?’

As if to answer both questions, another very old-looking wizard walked in at that moment. “Jaxxon, you should use the door, it’s what they’re for.”

“Doors are for those that need them,” Jaxxon replied. “You don’t see me using these beds, do you?”

“I seldom see you using your head,” the second Arch Wizard muttered, stopping at the foot of Yaric’s bed. The healer was standing with his head down, which made even Yaric feel awkward.

“No need for that, Cory and I were just looking to ask the boy some questions, that is all,” Jaxxon said.

“You know what happened with the Tech Duinn?” Lloyd asked inquisitively. Neither Arch Wizard had directly greeted Lloyd, and Lloyd hadn’t greeted them either, Yaric realized with a start.

“Guesses, only guesses, none of which are concerning. But they all align with one another, and we cannot think of any others. This is not to say that there are no others, but we will start with what we know.”

“What can you tell us about your experience, Novice?” Cory asked, ignoring everyone else.

“Ummm… with the connection, sir? It was when I sat down… everything hummed, and the noise…”

“Relax boy. This isn’t an interrogation. Start at the beginning and tell us anything you can remember. No matter how inconsequential it may seem.”

Yaric took a deep breath and began again. Not knowing if the Tech Duinn was meant to be so dark, Yaric started there, but the knowing nods and blank expressions indicated that it was normal. The same went for the noises and vibrations he felt. Everything seemed to be as expected until he got to the part when the Tech Duinn pressed down on him.

“Was it physical, boy? Did you get pushed deeper into the seat?” Cory asked, interrupting him.

“Ummm…” Yaric stammered, thinking back. ‘Was I actually pushed down?’ It was disconcerting to realize that he hadn’t been physically touched at all.

“No sir, sorry. It felt like it, but I was wrong. I don’t think it ever pressed physically.”

“Understandable. Continue.”

“Well, it kept pushing har… it kept feeling like it was pushing harder and harder. I tried to get back up, but I couldn’t. Even though it wasn’t touching me. It felt like I couldn’t breathe and like I was going to get sick, all at once. Every time I got dizzy it lasted longer. I didn’t know how to push back or how to stop it, and I couldn’t leave or call for help. So eventually, I tried to grab it.”

“Grab it?”

“The pressure, sir.”

“How exactly do you ‘grab’ hold of the pressure.”

Yaric had to pause for a moment to think, but it didn’t take long before he answered with a simple, “I don’t know sir.”

“Not some sort of spell, I take it?” Jaxxon asked.

“No sir.”

“A reflexive casting?” Jaxxon asked, turning to Cory.

“Perhaps, or some sort of instinct. Intent can be enough in some cases, especially with something as abstract as reaching out to take hold of something nonphysical.”

“Excuse me, sir?” Yaric interjected. “I didn’t reach out to grab anything. I didn’t have to. It was already pressing on me. I just touched it, but with, ummm… I can’t explain it. I couldn’t move, so I tried to hold it with my thoughts? Or something? I don’t know what I did.”

“We would be shocked if you did,” Jaxxon said gently. “Would it be accurate to say that you stopped resisting?”

Yaric stared at the wall for a few seconds, lost in thought. He made several attempts to answer, but he stopped himself every time he opened his mouth. Each answer seemed correct for only a moment, but eventually, he settled on an answer that most accurately fit the feeling he’d had.

“It was more like acknowledging the pressure. Like it was knocking on the door, louder and louder, until I knocked back.”

“Knocked back, or opened the door?”

“I don’t know sir.”

“Hmmm… this all fits your hypothesis, Cory. Perhaps you are not as mad as they say after all?”

“Hmph,” Cory grunted, just as Lloyd snorted.

Feeling left out, Yaric’s stomach growled again. The poor healer looked between the Arch Wizards and Lloyd in bewilderment.

“And perhaps you could help us with that?” Jaxxon asked, turning back to Yaric.

Yaric’s eyes flicked to the other Arch Wizard, looking panicked.

“With Cory’s hypothesis, not his reputation,” Jaxxon explained while valiantly trying to hide his smile. Lloyd made no attempt whatsoever.

“Help, sir?”

“Yes. There are many questions, but I think that there are no doubts as to your interesting mental defenses being involved in some way. We would like to get some practical experience with it, and hopefully run some tests.”

Yaric still looked panicked, but this time he looked at Lloyd.

“I believe that by ‘tests’, the Arch Wizard simply means trying to scan you and seeing if he can, or maybe trying one of the illusion devices that some people like so much. Not medical experiments or anything like that,” Lloyd explained.

“We would do no test without explaining everything in advance, and you would be free to decline anything at any time.”

“Not to mention the credits you could earn,” Lloyd added.

“Being a test subject earns credits?” Yaric quickly went from panic and fear to indignation.

“Hehe, no,” Lloyd laughed. “Helping with research earns credits. Except in this case, you would be helping Arch Wizards with research. I doubt you could comprehend what that could get you. You’d start bleeding from your ears again.”

This time it was Jaxxon who snorted.

“Can I think about it?” Yaric asked, receiving a raised eyebrow from Lloyd in reply. Thinking about it was fast becoming Yaric’s standard reply.

“How about I come and see you after the Summer Solstice Tournament?” Jaxxon asked kindly. “That should give you plenty of time, and you can decide then. You can always say no. We would greatly appreciate your help, but there are no obligations, and there are no penalties.”

Swallowing, Yaric nodded.

“Right!” Jaxxon exclaimed, clapping his hands loudly. “We must be off. Plenty still to do. And Cory here insists on wasting his time with doors. No wonder people call him mad.”

“Last time I help with one of his research projects, let me tell you,” Cory muttered on his way out the door. Yaric wasn’t surprised to see that Jaxxon was already gone.

“I can see you’re not going to be happy staying overnight, let’s get you something to eat,” Lloyd suggested once Cory had left the room.

“But I have classes,” Yaric objected.

“Is no one going to consider my opinion?” the healer asked, exasperated.

“I don’t need to, I know you would pick lunch over classes, good nutrition is important,” Lloyd answered reasonably.

“No, he shouldn’t do either, he should be, urgh…” The healer threw up his arms and stormed out of the room.

“Not the best bedside manner,” Lloyd whispered conspiratorially. “Now come on.”

Yaric got out of bed and was relieved to find that he was still in the same clothes. He couldn’t feel any blood on his face, so all he had to do was put on his shoes and he was ready to go.

“You’ll only be missing runes, I already checked. It starts in fifteen minutes, not enough time to eat. You can look at going to your next lesson after that.”

“Scouting with Mage Fletcher.”

“I’ve heard that there are several requests for others to join. Ivan told me that he was considering making it a regular class for your year with the number of people who want to join. And it would probably help if it wasn’t just you.”

“It isn’t just me. Who wants to join though,” Yaric asked, trying to ignore the healer's glare as they walked out into the weak sunlight.

“Oh? I was under the impression that you were his only student. How did others join if it isn’t a regular class?”

“I asked Mage Fletcher and he agreed.”

“Ivan said that he’d received nine requests, how many did you get in with you?”

“Just the one,” Yaric replied, feeling his face heat up.

“Ahhh…” Lloyd said, smirking infuriatingly.

They carried on talking about Yaric’s new classes while walking through the deserted campus, making their way to the same building Lloyd always ate in. As soon as they were settled and had their meal, Lloyd’s expression changed.

“Yaric… The last time we met here, I probably could have handled things better. I’m sorry, we should have…”

“It’s fine,” Yaric said firmly, cutting him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Yaric immediately felt guilty. He hadn’t intended to speak so forcefully, or to sound so angry.

“There was nothing wrong with how any of it was done,” Yaric added after exhaling loudly. “Just, can we talk about this sometime other than just after I was knocked out?”

Lloyd stared at him for a moment, looking deep in thought. It took him a moment, but he eventually replied with just one word.

“Fainted.”

“Huh?”

“You weren’t knocked out. Nothing touched you. You simply walked out the door and fainted.” Lloyd’s smirk grew with each word.

“I did not! My nose was bleeding and everything!”

“Yes, you got a nosebleed… and fainted. I had to carry you to the healers. Everyone thought it was an emergency.”

“I was knocked out! And how could I make anyone think it was an emergency when I was unconscious? Only you could have decided that!”

“Of course you were unconscious Yaric, you’d just fainted.”

They continued bickering good-naturedly all through lunch, and Yaric was relieved when he finally got to join his friends after waiting for a few minutes outside the classroom.

“There you are!” Lauren exclaimed when she spotted him outside. “We thought you were only going to be gone during lunch.”

“There was a complication,” Yaric replied.

Seeing their concerned looks, Yaric hurried to explain. He didn’t have much time either, as only Lauren would be joining him for the scouting class, and their routes split up after a few minutes of walking.

“Then when I woke up, I was in the infirmary with Lloyd and a healer, but I was feeling normal, just a slight headache.”

“Didn’t they want you to stay overnight?” Lauren asked.

“Kind of? Someone suggested it, but it wouldn’t help. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Li Na immediately started coughing loudly.

“Lina, that isn’t funny,” Lauren scolded.

“What? I had something in my throat.”

“Oh, and two Arch Wizards come in as well. One of them was Arch Wizard Phelps.”

“You probably should have started with that,” Sven suggested quietly.

“Wait. Let me get this straight. You got beat up by a house, and two Arch Wizards came to visit you?”

“I didn’t get beat up by a house! There was a complication with the Tech Duinn and it knocked me out! The building didn’t even touch me, I was lying on a chair. And they came to see if I would help them with research related to that.”

“No no, I get it,” Li Na protested, holding up her hands with a serious look on her face. “You had healers and everythin’. I was also in there once, remember? I’m just sayin’, I wound up there after I fought a bunch of guys twice my size. And I had one Arch Wizard visit me. You got stuck there after you got beat up by a soft, comfy chair. And two Arch Wizards came to see you. That chair must have been ruthless.”

Yaric had a repeat of his conversation with Lloyd all the way to the fountain, where they finally separated and started jogging to make it to their lesson on time.

They were halfway there when Yaric suddenly noticed the inconsistency.

“Hold up… is Lina talking like her parent again?”

Lauren had a giggling fit that forced her to slow down.

“She’s been trying so hard! Ever since they were here, she keeps slipping. She looks like a tomato every time she notices.”

Yaric’s grin grew wider and wider.

“Don’t!” Lauren said, slapping his shoulder while they jogged up the last hill. “She’s embarrassed enough as it is.”

“No she isn’t, but she will be.”

“Stop it. You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d heard her these last few days.”

“I’ve heard her every day.”

“I mean when we’re studying.”

“Lauren, I study with you.”

“Not always,” she replied guiltily, but hurried to add, “Please don’t ask. It’s not something I should talk about.”

Seeing how important it seemed to her, Yaric relented. And since she felt that she couldn’t talk about it, it was also obvious to him that it was Li Na who wouldn’t want anyone to talk about it.

“So something we’re learning about would keep me from teasing Li Na? She undead?”

No, not like that,” Lauren laughed, before turning to look at him while they jogged, appearing hesitant. “I’m not talking about the whole thing that happened, just a comment you made.”

Lauren sounded so concerned and apologetic that Yaric stopped smiling. “What do you mean?”

“The other evening, on the bench. You said something that implied that Lina is your sister.”

“Yes?” Yaric said questioningly, ignoring the obvious discussion that had resulted in the comment.

“Well, she’s brought it up since then. A few times. Quite a lot, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think you understand how much that meant to her. I don’t think I understand. I don’t know why, but it definitely meant a lot.”

Yaric didn’t know how to reply to that, so he jogged the last stretch in silence. They were coming up to Ivan when Lauren shoved his shoulder gently. “Just go easy on her. Please?”

“I can’t,” Yaric said seriously, though ruining it when the corners of his mouth started to rise. “A big brother isn’t allowed to go easy on his sister. It’s the law.”

Lauren laughed as they ran up to Mage Fletcher and greeted him, ready to start their lesson.

 

---

 

“We have our first appeal!” Sven said excitedly, waving a folded piece of paper.

“What is it?” Lauren asked.

They were sitting in the common room at the end of the day, waiting for Sven to arrive after his smithing lesson in another section of the campus.

“It isn’t very clear,” he replied, sitting down and opening the paper on the table. “Here. It’s in Lekton, in one of the upper-class parts of the city. I think these are mostly estates. It says here that they need help protecting and preserving a historical building. Apparently, the same family has owned the building since it was built over nine hundred years ago, and the third generation… third generation? Ah, it’s an elven family. The third generation since construction has to do some urgent repairs, but the structure is at risk without our help. It’s considered historical as well, so they’ve requested some help.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Li Na asked.

“No idea.” Sven read it again and shrugged. “We wouldn’t have been given the option to take it if we couldn’t do it though, so it must be something we can do.”

“Shouldn’t they be hiring an arcanist to help, instead of asking the Academy to do it for free?” Lauren queried.

“Same answer. The appeal wouldn’t have been accepted if they didn’t have a valid request. I don’t know much about historical buildings, but I know there are legal responsibilities if you have one. This family could be in a lot of trouble if something happens to it.”

“I’m game!” Li Na declared. “When do we go?”

“The request has six more days before it has to be fulfilled. I’m assuming people are coming in for the repair work at some point. But it does ask if the appeal can be done as soon as possible, so I was thinking we could go tomorrow?”

“Augh,” Yaric groaned, causing the other three to look over. “It’s nothing. I just already missed classes today, and now I’m going to miss more tomorrow.”

“Don’t be a baby, Lauren took notes for you.”

“We get special dispensation for these appeals,” Sven pointed out. “All study material and subject matter that is missed is summarized for us by the instructors. It won’t help for things like combat training, but we get allowances made for studying and catch-up lessons for everything else. And long term this will help us far more than going to a couple of classes with everyone else.”

“Is it close enough to get there after our magic class tomorrow morning?” Yaric eventually asked.

Even Li Na perked up at the question. They were all getting close to being able to project flames properly, and they would soon be able to attempt the spell fully at one of the ranges. All four could already summon a hovering flame over their hands.

“It is close enough,” Sven confirmed hesitantly. “But we don’t know what it will involve yet. I’m not certain that we will have enough time.”

“Then we’ll go again the next day,” Li Na stated.

“Okay. So tomorrow after our first lesson in class?”

Sven looked around at each one in turn, getting the nod he was looking for. “Perfect. Before then though, I’ve set up a new terrain. Who’s playing first?”

Li Na started bouncing in her seat with her hand up and quickly progressed to waving it around excitedly.

“Do you want to try and break the record again with your game?” Yaric asked Lauren, who nodded enthusiastically in response and rushed to fetch her case. Yaric followed, completely ignoring Sven.

Feeling abandoned, Sven looked around at the others around him, all of whom were also getting up and moving away, leaving him alone with his nemesis.

“I’m gonna kick your ass!”

--------------- -------------------- --------------------- -------------------- ---------------- --------------

Yaric’s spell form had progressed to the point where Emil agreed to allow Yaric to try the spell at the range during the next lesson. The sections important to safety were near flawless, so the only real danger would be Yaric burning something down. Lauren and Sven would be joining him, though Li Na was disappointed to be told that she would have to wait another day.

After class all four ran back to their dorm rooms to put their things away, then waited while Lauren marched Li Na back to her room to put her mace away as well. With everything ready, they made their way through the main gates to the Academy, off to complete their first appeal.

Sven had been correct with his assessment; their destination was one of the estates. Unlike those they’d seen in the countryside, this one was upriver, and it actually extended along the riverbank as well. Lekton was a very spread-out city, as most of it extended along the river, meaning that their destination took over an hour to get to even though they augmented themselves on the way.

Still, the jog was pleasant, and while it was still winter, the weather had warmed enough to chase the snow away and banish the worst of the chill. Even more than that, the consistent overcast weather had disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving the bright blue sky crystal clear.

Many of the birds that normally skimmed and paddled across the river had left when the weather turned cold, but the never-ending procession of boats continued to travel through the cold and uninviting waters, from small canoes to barges, to full-sized riverboats like the one Yaric had been on when he first arrived in Lekton.

Sven was mostly interested in the watercraft themselves, but they were all having fun with the different designs and cargo. Li Na especially enjoyed waving to passengers to see who would wave back. Eventually, though, they arrived at their destination, a sprawling riverside estate for the very rich.

They all knew exactly where they were meant to go. The large group of construction workers with their equipment made it obvious to everyone.

“You kids shouldn’t be here, this is private property,” one of the men shouted upon seeing their approach.

Sven stayed quiet as they drew closer, but he did wave the appeal in his hand. He explained the situation once they were face to face.

“We’re from the Academy. We have an appeal.”

The man took the appeal from Sven and looked it over with a frown. He didn’t say anything when he was finished, but he quickly looked them up and down dubiously and turned to call for someone else.

“Mr Lundstrom! The mages are here!”

“We’re not…” Yaric started saying, but trailed off when he saw that the man with the appeal still in his hand wasn’t listening. Instead, he met a stern-looking elf partway and handed over the appeal. Mr Lundstrom quickly made his way to the students.

“Greetings!” he said warmly. “I was hoping you would be prompt. This is excellent. Let me show you exactly what we need.”

Yaric’s face fell when he saw the job they had been assigned. It wasn’t particularly difficult, at least not for them, but it seemed like Lauren had made a good point. They should have hired someone to do the job instead of trying to get the Academy to do it for free.

“So, each of these blocks has already been prepared by the masons,” Isac Lundstrom explained. “The weather did something to our foundations which necessitate these repairs. Only, we need to get them into our basement, and no regular people could get these heavy stone blocks down there.”

Everyone had narrowed their eyes, but Isac finally led them to the real issue.

“And here is our widest door. The blocks can fit if you turn them sideways, but in that case, no more than four people could carry them at a time. I’m told that they all weigh slightly over a ton, which rules out any of the workers I hired. Without your help, I would have to find a section of wall that isn’t structural, and knock a hole in it, or get a winch and crane in here to go through the roof. Either option would lead to damaging the building and large fines.”

Isac was skirting the rules a little, but his request was above board. They were helping to protect a historical landmark, and only an arcanist would be able to get the stone blocks inside without damaging the building. But that didn’t necessarily mean that Isac couldn’t have hired a non-academy arcanist. If the building wasn’t a landmark, he wouldn’t have had a choice.

“Come on, let’s get this inside,” Sven suggested once Isac had left them to the job.

“Isn’t he taking advantage of us?” Yaric asked.

Sven paused to think through his answer. “Not really. It is convenient for him, and he is saving a lot of money, but he also doesn’t have much choice. If the foundations are going because of the weather, it most likely means that the stone is porous. Almost all stone is, but they haven’t treated it. So now the water inside has been expanding and contracting with the weather, and the recent cold snap was probably the last straw. With the weather changing again, there could be a real risk of serious damage.

“He needs to get this stone inside as quickly as possible, and it seems like the Academy agreed with him. Finding and hiring someone else to do it is probably going to take too long, especially since there aren’t many arcanists who can augment themselves but don’t have much better-paying jobs. It’s really just the students on campus.”

“Nobles always want a free lunch,” Li Na grumbled.

“He isn’t a noble, Lina,” Sven corrected. “I’m not saying that this isn’t to his advantage. It certainly is. He’s just lucky enough to be in a situation where the best option for him is also the best option for the building, and for following the law. He came out ahead this time without doing anything wrong or morally untoward.”

“Fine, defend your noble friends,” Li Na groused playfully.

The augmentation they knew was so basic that all it really did was amplify existing strength, so Yaric and Sven each took an opposite corner. Li Na joined Yaric, and Lauren stood next to Sven, as they were the closest in height respectively.

Many of the workers came to watch the four students picking up over a ton of stone at a time and carefully threading it through the doorway. Each trip took twenty minutes, as they had to navigate their way through doorways and down two sets of stairs. They also had to be careful to augment their skin as well, as the heavy stone was liable to rip their hands up if they didn’t. It was mid-afternoon when the final stone was placed in the basement.

“Lina, please let them know that we’re done. The equipment outside needs to be assembled in here so they can get the damaged stone out and these new stones in.”

Li Na ran up the stairs to deliver the message, while Sven had a better look at the cracked stone.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Sven informed them. “Look, they have heating for the building. That furnace pipes hot water up there and into the rest of the building. Forget the seasons, I bet the basement goes from hot to freezing almost daily. This could have been bad.”

Sven was inspecting the sections where the mortar had been removed when Lauren started getting impatient.

“Where is she?”

Lauren wasn’t willing to wait any longer and set off up the stairs herself, followed by Yaric and Sven. They could hear her voice from the foyer, and it didn’t take long to find her.

“…like that. It’s all about being consistent. And a good diet, you need to eat well. Keep doing that and you’ll also be able to toss rocks around and have arms like these.”

Li Na was talking to the assembled masons, standing with her side facing them and her sleeve rolled up. She was currently flexing her bicep. Li Na was toned, but at 5”4 and with a slender build, her arm was thinner than most of the masons’ wrists. Particularly since the masons spent most of their day working with hammers, chisels, and solid stone.

“You’ll probably never catch up to me, but I splinter shields every day. I’ve even blasted people with a giant ballista…”

“Lina! Leave them alone. Did you forget why you came up here?” Lauren admonished her.

“Relax, I already told them. I’m just showing them how to buff up, so we don’t have to come out here next time. You won’t believe how little exercise they get, or what they eat. If they could…”

Lauren grabbed Li Na’s arm and started dragging her away. Li Na never let up for a moment but continued to explain the training she thought they should do.

“Finished already?” Isac asked when they approached. He quickly went to confirm that the work was done as expected and was smiling widely when he came back.

“The crew are happy with the job you did. Here we go,” he said, handing the appeal back to Sven. “Signed and sealed.”

And he apparently meant that literally, because a large wax seal now held the appeal slip closed.

“Thank you for your help today, I wish you all the best.”

With that, Isac turned on his heel and strode away, apparently dismissing them.

“Are we actually going to earn credit for that?” Yaric asked disbelievingly. “If Hiawatha knew about this job, he would have had us carrying those stones for training.”

“He’d make us carry them back up again too,” Lauren laughed.

“I don’t care, as long as we eat on the way back,” Li Na complained.

“But I still need to get back for archery.”

“So? We have time.”

“If I miss archery because of you…” Yaric replied, leaving the joking threat hanging.

“I bet you a lunch that you won’t miss archery because of me.”

“Deal!”

“Yaric, you have to miss your archery lesson to win that bet,” Lauren pointed out.

“Yes, but now I either get back in time for archery, or Li Na has to buy me lunch. Either way I get something. I can’t lose.”

The run back was just as much fun as the run out, though Yaric did keep pushing them to go faster. And Li Na was right, there was time to eat. Unfortunately, not everything went to plan.

“See? Told you we needed to eat first.”

“Yes Lina,” Lauren answered with a long-suffering sigh. “The stuffed rolls were very nice.”

“Nice? Nice? They were incredible! The best decision we’ve made all month!”

“You mean the best decision you’ve made all month,” Yaric teased.

“Of course! All the best decisions are the ones I made.”

They were immediately distracted by broken shouts coming from the main street ahead.

“He’s got…! Stop him! The case…!”

It was immediately apparent that someone had stolen something, but most of the other pedestrians were already moving to the side. Sven had only just finished directing everyone to their places to block the street when a middle-aged man came tearing around the corner with what appeared to be a musical instrument in a case on his back.

Seeing four teenagers arrayed before him, he initially slowed his steps for a moment, but quickly sped back up again. The thief surprised them when he didn’t try and aim for the gaps in between the students. Apparently, he felt that Lauen would be easy to charge through, because he made straight for her.

Yaric was expecting to see the thief lower his shoulder to try and knock her over, try being the operative word, but he surprised them yet again.

Looking Lauren straight in the eye, the thief drew back his right arm, his hand clenched in a fist, and threw his punch just as he came into range, with all the momentum of his body moving at a full sprint behind it.

It was kind of pathetic really.

Augmenting herself, Lauren was able to move much faster than he could. She was so comfortable with her ability to block that she began by twisting away, turning her right shoulder toward him as if she were going to take the charge the way the thief had been expected to.

As his right hand shot forward, Lauren twisted to face him again, bringing her own right hand up and across her body to intercept his wrist. Lauren continued her twist as the fist came past her right shoulder, gripped firmly in her hand, and her left hand came up to grasp his elbow. She pushed down with both hands, then released the elbow and reversed directions while rotating her left palm up with her thumb tucked in.

The ridge of Lauren's left hand slammed into the thief’s throat, even as his momentum carried him past her. Unfortunately for him, she still had his wrist in her hand, and he had no chance of breaking free from her augmented grip.

She continued bringing his hand down as he barreled past, choking and in shock. Then he came to a violent and abrupt halt, his right hand held immobile while the rest of his body tried to keep going. There was a pop when his shoulder dislocated, and the man dropped to his knees. He was still choking, making his eyes water too much to see, but he could feel the iron-like grip that held his wrist.

Blinking the tears from his eyes, the thief reached inside his jacket with his left hand, and though still unable to draw breath, he chose to draw a large knife instead.

Yaric had had enough. He stepped between them and held out his hand, palm up. Half a second later, and just as the thief had his knife clear and angled for an attempt at stabbing them, a tall flame leaped from Yaric’s hand, illuminating them in its orange glow.

The knife clattered onto the cobblestones.

Heavy footsteps pounded behind them while the thief lowered his head, only now managing to take small, gasping breaths. Lauren hadn’t moved, and she still held him in a wrist lock.

“That’s mine! He stole it,” someone panted from behind.

The man who had been shouting for help leaned forward on his knees. Grey and balding, he could have been the thief’s father, yet he’d chased him all the way.

“My shop,” he panted. “Came in… took it…”

Sven quickly stepped forward and gently led the man to a nearby bench so could sit and catch his breath, while Li Na was sent to get the rightful owner something to drink, and Yaric jogged up to the main road to find one of the city guards.

Luckily, they had already been alerted and were already almost at the corner when Yaric got to the main road, so he was able to come back immediately with two guards in tow.

Li Na had already returned as well, but of course, she had to have brought back a bottle of wine.

Seeing Sven’s raised eyebrows, Li Na shrugged and handed the shop owner the already-opened bottle. “What? I thought he would want to celebrate.”

The man took a deep drink and turned to smile at Li Na. “Thank you, my dear, this is just what I needed.”

Li Na’s smirk said more than her words could have.

Unfortunately, the students were required to give their own statements, so they had to leave with the guards and their prisoner. The only consolation was that they could give their statement to the nearest patrol supervisor, and they didn’t have to go all the way to the barracks.

Well, that wasn’t the only consolation.

“Thank you, thank you. When no one helped me, I thought I was going to lose all that money. Thank you so much.”

The shop owner, Dorian, wouldn’t stop thanking them for their help. He seemed almost as devastated by the lack of reaction from passersby as he was to have almost lost an expensive product.

“If any of you play an instrument, or want to learn, don’t even think of going anywhere else. Come into my store and I promise that you won’t be disappointed.”

They finally managed to extricate themselves from the shop owner when the guards started getting impatient. Luckily for the shop owner, they were happy to send someone to his store to speak with him. As the students lived inside the Academy, they had to give their statements before they left.

“Okay, just sign here and you’re done. It looks like your school won’t have to bother with sending a healer either, so that’s it. This is your copy for whoever you report to. You can go.”

“Send a healer?” Lauren asked.

“According to every statement he struck first. You might have been catching a criminal, but he made it self-defense, so you aren’t responsible for damage caused by magical means.”

“Who said I used magic?” Lauren asked.

The supervisor made a show of looking Lauren up and down, then snorted.

Lauren eyed him dangerously while Sven put a hand on Yaric’s shoulder, but Lauren soon turned away and left, followed by her friends.

“Wellll…” Li Na said in the uncomfortable silence. “I mean, you kinda did use magic.”

“I didn’t need to though,” Lauren replied testily. “It was just easier.”

“Yeah. I know that. You know that. Even these two know that. Only the people in charge of security and solving crimes don’t know that.”

“The guards don’t solve crimes,” Yaric corrected her. “But they do catch criminals, and I’m sure it isn’t easy for them. They probably struggle to understand how you did it so easily when they can’t. Magic is the easy excuse.”

Lauren clearly didn’t buy his explanation, but she did smile at his attempt. Li Na’s reminiscing of all the Tournament bouts they’d had did the same, particularly since Lauren had never lost to Li Na, and somehow every injury Li Na had ever had was apparently by Lauren’s hand. Or foot. Or elbow. Or spear.

The clerk at the front desk smiled too.

She’d cracked open the seal on the appeal with interest, but seemed very surprised with the contents.

“Council Head Ivers asked me to keep a lookout for this appeal. I believe she will be very happy with the contents. Well done, you have her attention. And with your first-ever appeal, I see.”

“She sponsored me!”

“Did she now?” the clerk smiled. “You’ve had her attention for a while then. But she will still want the report she asked for, so I better get to it.”

“There’s this as well, ma’am,” Sven informed her, handing over the note from the guard supervisor.

The clerk read it twice, then looked up to stare at each of them in turn.

“You mean to tell me that the four of you went out to respond to your first-ever appeal, and not only did you come back with a glowing recommendation from a very influential family, but you successfully apprehended a thief on your way back? And without causing us any legal issues in the process?”

Yaric knew that much of it was chance, but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face at the look of disbelief on the clerk’s face. Especially after the way she had described the day’s events.

“There was a lot of luck in there as well ma’am,” Sven replied, “but the overall summary is accurate.”

“Well, get back to whatever you should be doing then,” she said, shooing the students away with her hand. “This report is going to take three times as long now, and I don’t want to keep the Council Head waiting. I’ll probably have to make copies for each of your sponsors too.”

They were still smiling when they walked out into the crisp evening air. Mage lights were starting to glow along the many paths as the sun started to set, but they were too busy talking to notice. No one had really done anything all that special, but they were each starting to realize how the day’s events would look on their record.

“I’m just happy we could help the shopkeeper,” Lauren said, swinging her arms while she walked. “He seemed so desperate to get his goods back, it must have been important to him.”

“And the thief was caught,” Sven pointed out. “That saved a lot of future victims as well.”

“And I got a free lunch! Like a noble. You can call me Lady Jakobson from now on.”

“What do you mean?” Sven asked. “We all paid for our own lunch.”

“Not this one. Yaric owes me lunch.”

“What? No I don’t!”

“Yes you do. A bet’s a bet,” Li Na replied happily, turning and skipping backward so she could face Yaric. “And I wasn’t the reason you missed archery!”

…

“FU..