“When it comes to combat magic, the most important thing is Wards. Without one, ya won’t last very long in a fight. They take the hits and blows so ya don’t have too.

“Ya can make one around yourself if ya know how to cast wards, but this is hardly a good idea. Ya need to constantly concentrate on it to make it work, and that concentration can be used for a lot of better things in the heat of combat. Instead, ya should get some armor or a charm with a ward enchanted on it. With that kind of ward, all ya need to do is supply it with a steady flow of aether and it’s good to go, same effect as if ya were to cast it yourself. Not much concentration is required when it’s on an item.

“But be warned, wards don’t make ya invincible. They can only take so much damage before they break, and when they break, ya lose any protection they could've given ya. You’ll likely be in a world of hurt when they break. And, if the ward around ya is from an item, when that ward breaks the item is going to break with it. So don’t grow too attached to an item with warding magic on it, ya might very well lose it when your ward fails.

“And don’t think ya can carry around a bunch of items with ward enchantments. Wards don’t play nice with each other. If ya have two or more warded items on ya, the magic will fight with each other, and your wards can break before you even get a chance to use them. So don’t be greedy, and only keep one ward on ya at any given time.”

—“Combat Magic 101” by Warren Delk

It was ten at night. On the roof of a tall building overlooking one of the Shroom Pact dorms, Alan and his friend were sitting by the edge.

The building they were on was a highrise building used by both Silverwing and Shroom Pact students to grow herbs and plants indoors. Being a Silverwing herself, Sere was able to get access to the building even though it was late. And, with no one around at this time, they could easily sneak on top of the roof like they were.

Jafar was looking over the edge with a pair of binoculars while both Alan and Sere were sitting off to the side. They were each taking turns watching out for Cid with the binoculars.

Alan: “You couldn’t get us more binocular, so that we could all be watching at the same time? More eyes on this mean were less likely to miss something.”

Jafar: “Sorry. The binoculars with night vision were actually harder to get a hold of than I thought. I had to beg another Ember Gear student, and could only get one pair,” he said while continuing to stare through the binoculars at the Shroom pact dorm.

Sere: “It’s getting close to the time. I hope we haven’t missed him.”

Jafar: “Don’t worry. He’s still in his room right now.”

Alan: “How can you tell?”

Jafar: “Besides that fact that we saw him enter the dorm earlier when we started our stake out and haven’t seen him come out yet, the lights are on in his window.”

Alan: “You can see the window into his room from here? Can you look and see what he’s doing?”

Jafar: “No. He has curtains up. I can only see a little bit of light coming through the gaps in the window that are not covered.”

Alan: “Hmm. I guess that's another way to tell if he’s still in or not. As long as his roommate is not going into Cid’s room.”

Sere: “He didn’t seem like the kind of person to go into CId room. Quite the opposite. He was staying away from Cid.”

Alan: “Yeah… you're probably right.”

After that exchange, it went quiet between them. There wasn't much to do for Alan and Sere, since there was only one pair of binoculars and it was too dark for either of them to see much from this distance. The silence was uncomfortable for Sere, so she tried to fill it with idle chit-chat.

Sere: “Sooooo, how's life?”

Alan: “Really? That’s the best you could do,” he said, recognizing Sere’s intention.

Sere: “Give me a break. This silence is killing me. I don’t want to just sit here doing nothing. So, talk to me.”

Alan: “What do you want to talk about then?”

Sere: “I don’t know. How the day's been going. Anything interesting happening?”

Alan: “Hmm. I guess I do have one bit of good news that slipped my mind. I went to the hospital to check up on Cris, and they said they discharged him.”

Sere: “Does that mean he’s recovered? If so, that’s great news! I know medicine and healing magic have come far, but for him to be released from the hospital so soon is a miracle.”

Alan: “Yeah, they didn’t tell me any details about his release from the hospital, as I'm technically not family, but I’m just glad to hear he’s OK.”

Sere: “Did you go to his place to check up on him yet?”

Alan shook his head.

Alan: “No. I didn’t have time. I was getting things ready for this stake out. And, another thing that I almost forgot. Here,” he said, handing to Jafar and Sere each a square metal plate with a bunch of runes carved on it that looked like it almost glowed.

Jafar looked away from the dorm to the metal object that Alan was handing him. He had a confused look on his face.

Jafar: “Um, what is that?” he said, while receiving the object.

Sere: “That’s a ward. Specifically, a medallion with a ward enchantment on it. It’s what combat mages use to protect themselves from attacks. It's actually quite a good one too,” she said with familiarity from the combat training her family made her do as a child.

Jafar: “So this is like the wards Cris and Alan used when they practice fighting, but better?”

Alan: “Yeah, kinda. I got three for each of us. Just in case there is a scuffle.”

Sere: “We weren't planning on fighting.”

Alan: “I know. This is just a precaution, in case Cid notices us and attacks.”

Jafar: “Ok, I can’t do much in a fight like you two, but thanks.”

Sere: “I wouldn’t worry about that. I think if we get caught, we should just flee rather than fight. The wards will still be useful for that, blocking any spells that get fling at us as we run.”

Alan: “That is surprising coming from you. Wanting to flee rather than fight.”

Sere: “Before you try to make one of your dumbass jokes about me being a violent woman, let me say, this isn't a game or practice. In an actual fight we could seriously get hurt, or even die. Let’s not even try.”

Jafar: “Sounds good to me, we don’t even know exactly who we’re dealing with yet. So, how does this thing work?” he said, holding up the ward he received from Alan.

Alan: “That model of ward I gave you is the easiest one to use. You don’t need to give it aether or anything. Just keep it somewhere on yourself, and it will automatically activate when needed.”

Jafar: “That’s convenient.”

Alan: “Yeah, but be careful. Those wards are not full proof. Very slow moving attacks can go through it and wards can break when they take enough damage. So, once you feel that the medallion breaks into pieces, it means you're not getting any more protection from it.”

Jafar: “Good to know.”

Jaffar then went back to look at the dorm and then gasped in surprise.

Jafar: “Ah! The light in Cid’s room just went out.”

Alan: “Does that mean he’s moving!?” he half yelled, excited about what he just heard.

Sere: “Calm down you two. It could also mean he just went to sleep. Let’s just wait and keep watching and see if he leaves the building.”

Everyone agreed and waited patiently for any movement. Sere and Alan did their best to watch out for Cid, but it was quite dark and there were not many street lights around the dorm. Only Jafar with his night vision binoculars could clearly see.

Ten minutes went by with everyone intensely watching for Cid. Jafar finally saw Cid exit through the front of the dormitory through the binoculars.

Jafar: “He just came out and is heading east.”

Sere: “Ok, we gotta move before we lose him. It will take us some time to get down from this building.”

Alan: “I have an idea. Make sure you two don’t scream,” he said while standing up.

Jafar and Sere looked up at Alan confused.

Alan wrapped his arm under both of his friends arms, and with an impressive feat of his physical strength, lifted them both off the ground at the same time.

Sere: “What are you doing?” she said, sounding worried.

Before his friend had any opportunity to ask him more questions, Alan took a step forward, off the side of the building they were on.

They all began to free fall.

Both Sere and Jafar screamed with tears forming in their eyes. Alan put his hands over both Sere and Jafars mouth to muffle them. He then mutters something and a gust of air pushes from below him, slowing him and his friends into a slow enough descent so as not to hurt themselves.

After another minute went by, Alan had safely landed on the ground. He then placed both his friends down. Jafar collapsed while Sere quickly stood up to reprise Alan.

Sere: “YOU JERK! Why didn't you warn us you were going to do that!” she said, shoving Alan.

Jafar: “I just saw my life pass before my eyes.” he said with a grim expression, ignoring the conversation between Alan and Sere.

Alan: “It was quicker, and I knew neither of you would agree to let me do that if I told you. Anyways, we don’t have time to argue now. We can’t lose him.”

Jafar picked himself up and everyone proceeded to follow Cid from a safe distance, where they knew he couldn't see them.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Alan and his friends continued to follow Cid for sometime until they arrived outside the university library. From some distance away, hidden, they watched through Jafar's binoculars as Cid briefly looked around before entering through the front door of the building.

Jafar: “He just went into the library.” he said, while looking through the binoculars.

Alan: “The library? Why is he going there?”

Sere: “No, that makes sense. Remember what his roommate and the others at the dorm said, he’s spending most of his time at the library.”

Jafar: “He also had a bunch of pictures of the library in his room. This place is important to him somehow.” he said while putting the binoculars down.

Alan: “But why now, what is so important at the library that he would come here at this time of night?”

Jafar: “Actually, there’s no one here at this time, so it might be the perfect place to meet up with someone. It’s where I eavesdropped on Professor Black and Pitter when they had their secret meeting.”

Alan: “Then he’s meeting someone, but who?”

Sere: “We're going to have to go in and find out.”

Alan and his friends approached the entrance of the building. They looked at the grand door with an intricate design and an aesthetic from another age. Staring at the door, they all realized a problem. They didn’t know how to get inside. The doors were automatic and would lock themselves, preventing anyone entering from the outside at certain times.

Alan: “How did he get inside? Does he have a key?”

Jafar: “No, these doors are enchanted and time locked. There is no key. Once the lock is engaged, only high ranking faculty can open them past curfew with a special type of magic.”

Alan: “Then how did he get inside,“ he said as he pulled on the handle of the door.

Alan expected resistance, but the door just opened for him as he pulled.

Alan: Huh? It’s unlocked?

Jafar: “How’s that possible? You can’t just unlock this. It’s magically sealed. There's a special enchantment on those doors to prevent people from breaking in once the time lock activates. If you try to break in, it will alert security. Did he disenchant the door or something?”

Sere walked over to the door Alan just opened and looked over it carefully. She then noticed something off about the latch of the door.

Sere: “Um, guys. There's gum in the latch.”

Jafar: “What do you mean there is gum in the latch?”

Sere: “It’s exactly what I said. Someone put gum in it, jamming it and preventing the bolt on the door from engaging.”

Alan: “Ohh, so if the bolt never engages, then the door never locks.”

Jafar: “And if the door doesn't lock, the enchantment never activates on the door. That’s… actually quite ingenious,” he said, sounding impressed.

Sere: “Yeah and no one ever thinks to look at the latch or try to get in at night, so I guess no one noticed.”

Alan: “Let’s head inside and see if he’s meeting someone.”