The room burst into chaos after the man’s words; some students were shouting at this man, while others started speaking among themselves about the merits of the man’s claims. Derek frowned and looked at the Acolyte who said all this. He was surprised that this was the first time he had been required to cast status magic to judge someone’s strength since he had arrived. The man’s class, tier, and holy affinity worked to stymie his Demon Sense ability.

The status revealed the man to be a mid tier four Paladin. His class seemed to be a variation of magic knight that favored basic attributes and holy and wrath magic. He also possessed a blessing from his goddess that improved these still further. Derek assumed that depending on his equipment he could cast low to mid tier seven holy and wrath magic.

The noise began to rise as some of the acolytes joined in on the shouting match with the students and more of the students started speaking excitedly with each other. Finally, Rebekah had listened enough, “Enough! Students be silent! Young man, you are a bit old to be one of my students. So, who are you and what are you doing here disrupting my class? Has the Order of the Ardent Dawn become so lax that its Paladins have free time to cause trouble outside of the chapterhouse? How do you expect this to reflext on your Order, Chapterhouse and Chapter Master?”

The man turned his nose up at her, “Savage, I am no student of yours, but as a graduate of this academy I have a right to sit in on any classes that I so choose. Only recently word reached the Church that a class on Holy Magic would be taught here and it would be a savage of the Thorne Clan teaching it.”

He glanced dismissively at some of the other acolytes beside him before continuing to speak to Derek and Rebekah, “While some members of the Church may be merely interested in what you are teaching here and naively believe you to be a benign pedagogue, my Chapter Master knows you and this boy for the abominations that you are and has sent me to guide our wayward youths back into the flock and invite any here to join us.”

He turned to the others in the room, “You students shouldn’t allow these savages to lead you astray from the light.”

Rebekah laughed lightly, though Derek could sense the undertone of malice in her voice, “Oh, your Chapter Master seems to have grown to be quite the dutiful man to concern himself not only with these acolytes from the Cathedral, but also with the well being of the other students. What motivation could have driven him to take such action? Was it selfless goodwill towards those that may be led astray by us horrible savages or was it a desire to combat the evils he spied in the world, those hateful savages that oppressed his rise to greatness? Or could it possibly be an act to draw attention and potential new students to his failure of a religious school that has never really performed to expectation?

“It couldn’t be that, could it? How shameful would it be if the Chapter Master was to send several agents into the Academy where many of his predecessors were taught to try to poach students without some form of hypocritical excuse? How shameful would it be to smear the names of the people that once fought side by side with your order to make a name for yourself and this failure of a school you represent? I would definitely hope it wasn’t that, as I would be terribly embarrassed to be seen doing something so shameful. For the honor of your Order, I truly hope your Chapter Master truly sent you for the former two reasons and not the last one.”

When she finished, the room was so quiet that only the man’s ragged breathing could be heard. The man’s face was turning beet red as he labored to bring his emotions under control. He looked around the room and saw few supporters. Even the contingent from the Cathedral didn’t seem ready to support him, though they looked to be feeling rather awkward in their seats. Only those few acolytes he had brought with him from the chapterhouse seemed ready to support him.

He opened his mouth to retort but a cold voice interrupted him, “Paladin, you claim that your church could teach holy magic, but the students here already have a teacher. How were you intending to prove that your church can teach us any better than the teacher we already have?”

Derek glanced over at Tristan in the far corner. He was surprised the young man was there as he hadn’t even noticed him to this point. His dorm mate shot him a cool glance before returning his attention to the Paladin who had just begun to respond.

“It is simple, I claim that my school provides better Holy Training than these savages can, so I suggest we have a contest between students. Students from my school versus students from theirs. Whoever demonstrates greater capacity will prove the effectiveness of the teachings.”

There was a chuckle from the crowd, “The fool just admitted he is here on behalf of his school, how can he be so thick skinned?”

Rebekah lightly tapped her staff on the ground in front of her; the knocking noise reverberated around the room, “Silence students, it isn’t wise to inform those that intend to deceive you that you have seen through their deception, but if this young man believes his fellow students can defeat my grandson in Holy Magic spellcasting, it would be interesting to see how he intends to prove it. Derek, if you will.”

Derek smiled at his grandmother before stepping into the demonstration circle in the middle of the room. Across from him, one of the three acolytes from the Paladin’s retinue haughtily took his place. Derek nodded cordially to him, “I am Derek Thorne, sixteen year old Demon Warrior of the Thorne Clan.”

The young man before him responded gruffly, “Gregory Robbins, twenty year old Acolyte of the Ardent Dawn.”

Rebekah then smiled at the Paladin, “If your goal is to prove superiority, then how about we use a standard battery of spells that any Holy Practitioner should know? I suggest ‘Healing Light’, followed by ‘Aegis’, then finishing with ‘Holy Bolt’.”

When she had the Paladin’s consent she turned to the young acolyte, “Acolyte Gregory, since your side are the visitors here go ahead and demonstrate your magic. Go all out, Derek has been casting these spells almost as long as he has been walking.”

The young Acolyte cast his spells to the best of his abilities, it seemed that he had the capacity to cast them at low level six but unfortunately the most complex formula he knew was level five, so he empowered his level five spells to achieve an effect somewhere between peak level five and lower level six. Derek nodded to him when he completed his casting. The young man was clearly superior to most of his age. In fact, he was certain that Elton and Ferus would barely be able to compete with him if at all.

Waiting for the effects of the last spell to dissipate, Derek took his stance before casting his spells at low level six, each clearly superior to his opponent’s but not entirely out of reach. The young man looked deflated as he walked away, but the Paladin clapped his back as he returned to the group, seeming slightly more sure of himself.

He sent another Acolyte forward, this one a female slightly older than the last one. She was able to cast her spells at low level six, if barely. Derek simply repeated casting the low sixth level variants he had used before until finally one of her spells miscast, singing her hands with light mana, at which point his success in repeating it once more scored him another victory. He even proved to have greater control than previously demonstrated by extending the range across the circle to heal her hands. This act caused quite a few murmurs from the crowd and a look of doubt temporarily crossed the faces of the Paladin’s party.

It had to be said that both of the previous people sent against him were the peak of tier one. Derek knew that the other Acolyte was low tier two and smiled at him as he arrived in the circle. This one was twenty five, nine years older than Derek and already old enough to have graduated from the Academy. He cast his spells at the middle of level six and Derek easily matched him until finally the other man had run out of mana. He was quite deflated as he walked away.

Rebekah smiled when he saw this and turned to the Paladin, “Is there no one else who would like to embarrass themselves by competing with someone younger than them?”

The Paladin’s face started to turn red yet again and Derek was starting to wonder if he had blood pressure problems. Finally, he stepped forward, “I am Rhys Wallace, 33, Paladin of the Ardent Dawn.”

Derek’s mouth dropped open and there were mutters from throughout the crowd. Just how shameless could this guy be? Rebekah once more hit her staff on the ground, this time with more insistence, “Are you kidding me? You are over twice his age and tier four. What kind of game are you playing?”

“Hmph, the boy has his status masked, so I can only assume that he is hiding something. So to prove it I must take a stand in the name of the Sun! Just so you people don’t claim I am bullying the boy, I will even give him a handicap by removing my Talisman.”

The man held aloft a talisman in the form of the holy symbol of the Sun Goddess that seemed common to all of the Acolytes Derk had seen. He made a great show of handing it to one of his students and strutting around on his side of the demonstration circle. Derek continued to gape at him for a while before returning to his senses. He saw the awkward glances from around the room and sighed. Shrugging his shoulders he removed the masking he had used on himself, revealing his early tier two stats. There were a few gasps from the crowd as a few people recognized how impressive his attributes were. Other reactions ranged from jealousy to admiration.

Derek sighed again and turned to this man who had just given up his advantage by handing over his talisman. Simple calculation could create an approximation of another person’s spellcasting ability as long as the user’s Status magic provided all the clues. Maybe the equipment wasn’t always fully factored in, but the castor should gain enough knowledge of the other’s spellcasting to be able to estimate his max spellcasting effectively. The math Derek was using showed an advantage for him, not the Paladin twice his age.

Finally, Derek signaled his readiness and the man cast his spells to the best of his abilities. Each spell was a solid high level six. Derek shook his head before responding by casting each spell perfectly at peak level six.

The man gaped at him for a moment before snarling and attacking with another level six spell, this time a mix of light and fire called “Flare”. Light and Fire was a mixture favored by the Church of the Sun that they called Sun Magic. It tended to burn brighter and hotter than regular fire, and often caused its victims to be blinded. This was a targetted area of effect attack that would easily overcome many equal level defensive spells.

Derek responded almost by reflex with the same spell he used against the Greater Demon, “Righteous Fury”. The spell was instinctual, snapping into place almost immediately. A shield of fire burned around him and absorbed the flare before reaching out to burn the area directly around him. Before he could react and throw up a shield of his own, the Paladin had already become a writhing mass of burnt flesh and his clothes were in smoldering ruins. When his shield came into place, his screams could be heard as his lungs finally gained access to the air he needed to vocalize his pain. The rest of the people in the room quickly recoiled backwards as the place had become as hot as the interior of a furnace.

Beyond the exaggerated effect on people not even involved in the confrontation, there was a much more serious downside to his instinctive response. Blood flowed into Derek’s mouth and he felt searing pain throughout his body. In his haste he had accidentally cast the spell at seventh level; overdrawing his spellcasting and causing a backlash. His sight began darkening around the edges as he resisted passing out.

A bright light strobed through the room as Rebekah’s enraged voice boomed out, “Enough!”

Derek’s spell unravelled before the insistent pulse of light. This spell was a type of spell known as a Dispel. They act directly on other spells, unraveling the runes and matrices holding them together and forcefully dispersing the mana contained within.

No longer maintaining a spell outside of his maximum spell level, Derek felt clarity start to return to him. After the last of the mana from his spell dispersed, his grandmother shifted the effect of her Dispel entirely on the Paladin. Once more capable of casting, Derek was able to take a knee and begin healing his injuries from the overcast.

A few moments later the room had been flooded with staff and faculty who had responded to the man’s screams and Rebekah’s enraged shout. Among them stood the old curmudgeon from Derek’s earlier class. Eomer looked him over, “It is good that you are well, boy, but could you please not burn the furniture in the future? Those were far older than you.”

Derek laughed dryly at the old man’s attempt at humor but appreciated the veiled concern. He watched as the old man approached the still smoldering Paladin. “Rhys, you were a student here once. What could make you lift your hand against another student after all this time? What am I to do with you? You know what the punishment for intentionally using a lethal attack against another student is right?”

The Paladin somehow managed to pale under his second and third degree burns and Derek was starting to worry about whether he was going to survive the questioning without any assistance much less whatever the punishment was. Finally, Rhys spoke up, madness and fear guiding his words, “You can’t do anything to me. I am a Paladin of the Order of the Ardent Dawn. If you harm me; they will destroy you. I will be considered a martyr for exposing the corruption in this Academy. You are sheltering two savages and abominations! I will be a martyr!”

A strange glint was in the old man’s eye, “Oh, I am afraid you won’t...”

It was then that a soft and sweet voice made itself heard, “Excuse me, teacher.”

The old curmudgeon turned to the speaker, it was a young and petite freshman girl in the white and gold of the Church. He smiled warmly at her, the perpetual scowl dissolving from his face, “Hello there child, what can I do for our young Priestess-in-waiting?”

“Instead of punishing him yourselves, do you mind handing him over to uncle so that the church can punish him. I am sure my mother will not want conflict between the Church and the Academy.”

Eomer listened politely before nodding his head, “You are your mother’s daughter, aren't you? Yes, we will do it that way. Send one of your people to the Cathedral to have your ‘uncle’ come collect this man. I will have this fool healed and placed in a holding cell until he arrives. For now, the rest of you should run along. This class is dismissed.”

Rhys Wallace-

Class

Paladin

Elemental Attribute

Elemental Affinity

Point Value

Spell Level

Tier

4

Order

Supreme

26r4 + 5

Low 7 (61)

Level

7

Water

Supreme

18r4

High 5 (48)

Light

Supreme

26r4 + 5

Low 7 (61)

Basic Attribute

Point Value

Wind

Supreme

17r1

High 5 (47)

Strength

27r2

Chaos

Excellent

15r2

Mid 4 (35)

Body

30

Fire

Supreme

26r3 + 5

Low 7 (61)

Agility

24r4

Dark

Excellent

15r2

Mid 4 (35)

Mind

25

Earth

Supreme

20r4

Low 6 (50)

Essentia Pool

Mid T3 Mage

Previous Classes-

Noble, Magic Warrior, Magic Warrior, Magic Warrior

Permanent Enhancements-

Magic Warrior, Tier One: +1 Strength, +1 Body, +1 Agility, +1 Mind

Magic Warrior, Tier Two: +1 Strength, +1 Body, +1 Agility, +1 Mind

Magic Warrior, Tier Three: +1 Strength, +2 Body, +1 Agility, +2 Mind

Paladin, Tier Four: +2 Strength, +2 Body, +2 Agility, +2 Mind

Rhino Horn: +2 to Strength, +4 to Body

Blessing of the Sun Goddess: +2 Agility, +5 Order, +5 Light, +5 Fire

Equipment-

Runic Armor: basic protection low t5, maximum defensive spell level 7

Runic Weapon: basic offensive low t5, maximum offensive spell level 7

Talisman of the Sun Goddess: +5 to Order, Light, and Fire Attributes