Chapter 53:

“Where are we going exactly?” Kithina asked.

“Loh didn’t say, but judging from our direction, I think I have a pretty good idea,” Callum answered.

“Which is?”

“You’ll see,” Callum smiled.

Stryg trailed behind the two, occasionally glancing at the academy buildings around them. He squinted at the harsh light reflecting off the shiny metal bits that decorated the architecture.

Spring had finally begun in full swing, which meant slightly warmer weather, bouts of rain, and long days of sunshine. Except it had yet to rain and the sunshine was full throttle. Stryg had grown up in a dense forest where the canopy had shaded him from large amounts of direct sunlight. Now he felt exposed, the light felt like daggers stabbing into his eyes.

“That’s not an answer Cal,” Kithina complained.

“Well if I’m right, then I haven’t seen the place yet. Though I hear it’s beautiful,” Callum said.

“That’s still not an answer.”

Loh had taken the class away from their usual training courtyard and was leading them somewhere else on campus. After a few minutes they arrived in front of tall stone walls and a large metal gate.

“I was right,” Callum whispered to Kithina.

“Listen up you lot,” Loh said. “Today we will be visiting one of the academy's more unique landmarks. This is just one example of what magic is capable of. Follow me.”

Loh unlocked the gate and pushed the doors wide open. The open gate revealed an enormous grassy hill beyond. What stood out most of all was the large grove in the center.

“Woods?” Stryg whispered in awe. He hadn’t realized how much he missed trees until he saw them.

“It really is beautiful,” Kithina smiled. “I haven’t seen trees since I was a little girl.”

“I told you,” Callum nudged her.

“This is an exclusive grove made by the chromatic green professors and students of the academy. It took them years to make and green magi still have to maintain the health of the trees, but I think we can all agree that it was worth it. Now follow me, the class has just begun,” Loh said.

The students whispered amongst themselves as Loh led them to the tree line. They were all excited to see actual trees. Hollow Shade didn’t have any trees, except for the few kept by the Great Houses. The closest trees were in nearby towns, which was still a several days trip. Most people rarely ventured beyond Hollow Shade’s safe walls, the students were no exception.

Stryg’s happiness at seeing the grove was dimmed when he saw Miss Byrel. She was standing near the tree line, holding a small box. A large wooden case, Stryg recognized as their practice weapons from Tauri’s class, sat next to her.

“Professor Loh, I have brought the items you requested,” Byrel bowed to Loh.

“Great, just sit tight, while I explain the rules to my students,” Loh said.

“Excuse me, professor Loh, but I have a lot of other work to do still. Could I just leave the box here?” Byrel asked.

“Your job entails assisting professors in whatever equipment work they need done, yes?” Loh asked.

“Yes, professor Loh. But-”

“Then shut up and stand still,” she snapped.

“Deserved,” Stryg mouthed silently at Byrel.

The drow secretary frowned.

Loh turned to the rest of her class, “The academic year is soon coming to an end and before your final exam I wanted to give the lot of you a special exercise. And before you ask, yes you will be allowed to enter the grove.”

“First of all, you will all be split into groups of three, based on your Magic Fundamental groups. I have already spoken with professor Rime so don’t try to weasel your way into another group. The whole point of Rime’s exercise is to promote teamwork, which is something you lot could learn more of. Move, quickly. We don’t have all day.”

The students shuffled into teams of three, forming seven teams in total.

“I’m not sure what today’s exercise will be, but with you two on my team I think we don’t have anything to worry about,” Kithina smiled.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Callum said.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Stryg muttered.

He noticed how Clypeus and Kegrog were in a group, along with that human Nora. Having a vampire and an orc together would most likely prove a challenge. He wasn’t too worried about the human Nora.

“Today’s exercise will be a warm up for your final exam,” Loh explained. “Each team will be entering the grove at different points of the tree line. You are allowed to engage each other in combat once past the treeline. The mock final will last 20 minutes. The goal is for your team to last until the very end. If all your members have fallen then it will count as your team’s loss. Each team starts with 10 points. Your team will gain 1 point for each opponent you defeat. The team left standing with the most points will gain 1st place and will be allowed to skip the actual final exam.”

Loh’s final words caught everyone’s attention. They could skip Loh’s exam just like that? She was the harshest teacher they had. Of course they didn’t want to take her exam. Except for Stryg, he honestly didn’t mind taking his master’s exam. She expected him to prove himself and he was more than willing to.

“Now, for the fine details,” Loh began. “Each of you will be given an enchanted necklace. The enchantment is simple and to the point. If you remove an enemy’s necklace from its clasp it will glow a bright red. Hold on to their necklace until the end of the mock final to show that you defeated them.”

“Attacking someone who has already lost their necklace is forbidden and will count as an immediate loss to your entire team. The same applies to those who have lost their necklace and then try to fight others. Removing your own necklace or those of your teammate does not count as a point towards your team, in fact you will lose a point and be disqualified. Suffice to say killing your opponent is forbidden and will result in an immediate expulsion. The secretary will give you your necklaces now,” Loh motioned Byrel forward.

Miss Byrel opened the small box she carried and began handing out each necklace. She bowed when she got to Callum and Clypeus, scions of Great Houses. When she reached Stryg she ‘accidentally’ dropped his necklace, but Stryg’s hand shot out and caught in mid-fall.

“Watch it,” Stryg glared at her.

“Hmph,” Byrel ignored him.

Loh pointed to the weapons crate, “Students will be allowed to use magic within the grove, except for the flame spell form. I’ll personally kill any idiot that tries to start a fire in those trees. Each student whose spell forms aren’t suited for combat in the grove or in general will be allowed to grab a weapon from the box.”

“I don’t see any water around, so I guess that means me,” Nora frowned.

“Don’t worry, just remember what I taught you,” Clypeus patted her on the back.

“I think you expect too much from me,” Nora said.

“No, I believe in you. Don’t worry we’ve got this, besides I have a plan,” Clypeus cracked a smile.

“Oh and one last thing,” Loh put a finger to her chin, “Every team will be deducted a point for each student left standing at the end of the mock final, including their own teammates. If your points reach zero your team automatically loses.”

“So, you can’t just hide from everyone else during the exam,” Callum muttered.

“What do you mean?” Kithina asked.

Callum frowned, “Previously, I thought the best strategy would be to simply hide from your opponents and try to catch a straggler here and there. But there are 21 students in class. Meaning if there is any more than 9 left by the end of the exam, any team without extra points will drop to negative and fail. It means that people have to actively search for enemy teams, if not we all run the risk of failing.”

“Forget first place then, we just need to play safe and make sure not to fail,” Kithina said. She was on a scholarship, she couldn’t afford to fail any of her classes.

Callum nodded, “Precisely, though we’d normally still have to fight. But, I think there may be a way to avoid fighting most of the battles. We also only have 20 minutes to cover a large dense area. It’ll be cutting it close.” He took out a small pendant from his pocket.

“What’s that?” Kithina asked.

“It’s an enchanted trinket that helps me keep time. I’ll set it to 20 minutes and start it when the exam begins.”

Figures, the rich kids had fancy enchanted equipment. Commoners really were at a disadvantage, Kithina sighed.

“How have your yellow magic classes been going?” Callum asked.

“Besides being thrown off a building? They’ve been going alright, but I can only cast a few spells before running out of mana,” Kithina said.

“It’ll have to do. What about you Stryg? You’re a manifold mage right? A chromatic black and grey, yes? That means you're our ace. We’re counting on you,” Callum said.

“Right,” Stryg said under his breath.

He wasn’t planning on failing the exam, but he wasn’t interested in whatever passive plan Callum had either. It was shameful to get help from anyone besides your tribemates. He had failed that when Karen helped him. He wouldn’t fail again. After all, he wasn’t nearly as limited. So long as it wasn’t killing, he could use whatever means he wanted. Plus, he had his own claws for weapons. Most importantly, among the trees he had home advantage.

“Alright, then. I’m going to grab a mock sword, be right back,” Callum said.

He walked up to where Loh was handing out the weapons.

“I’d like a long sword, preferably with white eel hide grip if you have any left,” Callum said.

“No,” Loh said plainly.

“What? But, I’m a chromatic red. I specialize in potions and I’ve just barely begun to learn how to use the wards spell form.”

“I said no,” Loh crossed her arms.

Callum sighed and walked away.

Once the students had grabbed their weapons Loh raised a horn, “I’ll sound this horn to announce the beginning of the match. I’ll sound it one more time to declare the end of the match. Now, everyone, follow me.”

Loh led the students around the grove, dropping each team off at different points around the tree line. Clypeus’ team was dropped off first and Callum’s was dropped off fourth, meaning they were furthest from each other. Callum guessed Loh didn’t want the two strongest groups to meet each other early on.

After they were dropped off, he began explaining his plan to his team, but Stryg wasn’t listening.

Stryg couldn’t rely on these two. They weren’t tribemates and they were still only novices; Stryg doubted their magic would affect the tide of the battle very much. Not to mention neither of his teammates had proved very effective in professor Tauri’s mock fights. He doubted it’d be any different here.

“Stryg did you catch that?” Callum asked.

“Stryg?” Kithina asked.

“Hm?” Stryg looked at them.

“Are you serious right now? Callum just spent the last few minutes explaining the plan and you can’t even bother listening? This isn’t a game, we can’t afford to fail here!” Kithina chastised him.

The horn’s blare resounded in the distance. Before Kithina could say anything else Stryg ran into the grove at full speed.

“Hey, where are you going!? Dammit, Stryg!” Kithina yelled.

She ran after him, but Callum held her back. “Don’t bother Kithina, we both know how fast he is. Neither of us will be able to catch him.”

“So, what, we’re just supposed to fail now because of that stubborn idiot?”

“Maybe,” Callum sighed.

“That’s it? We’re just supposed to give up?” Kithina frowned.

Callum glanced deep into the forest, his mind elsewhere. He checked the time and gripped his necklace. “Maybe not.”

~~~

Stryg swiveled between the trees with ease. He had almost forgotten what it was like to feel the grass underneath him. The grove’s canopy diffused the sunlight, easing the strain on his eyes. He could finally focus without any distractions. It was time for a rematch.

“I’m coming for you Clypeus,” he muttered.

He remembered the direction where Clypeus’ team had been dropped off. Stryg made a beeline towards their team.

After a few minutes he heard the sound of a twig snapping. He slowed his steps and hid behind a tree. He focused on his hearing and sense of smell. Beyond the smell of fresh pine and nearby shrubbery, he caught a whiff of sweat, a human’s, by the scent. He could hear his prey moving towards his right. Stryg shuffled between the trees, drawing closer.

Stryg shifted closer until he was standing a few feet behind the ignorant man. Stryg dashed at his quarry without a second thought. The man turned his head in time to meet Stryg’s fist. The satisfying sound of bone meeting cartilage sang through Stryg’s ears. The stunned human fell right over. Stryg was on top of him in an instant. He began pummelling his face with abandon, yet he stopped himself after only five or six hits. The human’s face was unrecognizable, his teeth shattered, cheeks cut open. His face was a bloody mess, the swelling already apparent.

Stryg slapped the human’s face repeatedly, “Oi, you alive?”

A weak groan left the bloodied mouth.

Stryg sighed in relief. Had he killed the student he would have been expelled. That was something he couldn’t afford. He ripped the human’s necklace off it’s clasp with ease. The pendant’s magestone began to glow a soft red.

“Perfect,” he smiled.

One point already and it couldn’t have been easier. He stood up and kept running, his time was limited. He needed to find Clypeus fast. It was time for a rematch.