Grath waited patiently for either of the two mysterious girls to start. Grath observed them carefully as the silence stretched. This was perfectly fine with him since it would take him a few minutes to collect the maximum amount of energy for his Fire Orb from the ambient ether. Looking at the two strangers, he saw no sense of fear. the shorter one named Ada carried an expression of cautious curiosity, with her eyes focused on the levitating Fire Orb next to him. The taller one, Leanne, looked coolly at him with a slight frown on her face. Neither of the mysterious girls showed not a hint of fear. His heart skipped a beat. Their expressions betrayed their supposed identities as mages. They must be blessed disciples of the Divine sent to meddle with the mortal world once again for their own amusement. This thought filled him with anger but he managed to hide it.

Ada was the first to break the silence. “Is your floating fire thing supposed to be a perfect sphere?”

This was hardly the first question that Grath entertained the girl to ask. “What?”

“It looks more like an octahedron but of course I could be wrong. The lines are oscillating like plucked strings at a frequency of 20 Hertz.”

Grath simply stared. What on Urth was this girl talking about? His Fire Orb was a perfect sphere!

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh…I understand now. You can’t see it can you?”

Her companion Leanne nodded. “Clearly, this mage cannot see what is beyond the surface.”

Grath blinked in surprise. He had no idea what they were seemingly criticizing about his perfectly casted Fire Orb but whatever they were implying he did not like it one bit. “I do not see anything that is amiss with my Fire Orb spell.”

He added defensively. “I’m the only person at this Academy who’s able to cast this Tier 3 spell to this level of perfection.”

Emulating the confident postures of her companions, Aurian straightened her shoulders and stopped fidgeting. Grath suspected that her sudden resurgence of confidence might have come from seeing a dent of his own. Grath groaned inside as he anticipated the sharply barbed comments that was sure to come his way. The young mage did not disappoint. “Well, the standards of perfection at the Academy have always been pretty low and I can see that is especially true for Elemental Magic.”

“It is perfect enough to wipe that grin from your face if you don’t apologize immediately,” the man standing furthest to the right of Grath growled.

Grath stifled a groan. Try as he might, he could not remember this fellow’s name. He forgot whether the young mage’s name was Mader or Ader. Maybe something else? It’s so hard to keep track of all these fresh faces these days. He decided to go with Mader. One thing Grath was certain about Mader was that this was not someone he wanted to speak for him. The young mage was trying for a massive amount of styled facial hair to compensate for his juvenile looks that still had remnants of baby fat. The ridiculous moustache with the wide curved tips was the cherry on top. Was he trying to model himself after the late Magister?

Mader started to open his mouth and Grath cleared his throat. “Pipe down, Mader. I don’t think any of us want to get into a fight. I want to know a few things. First, Miss Ada, how you were able to acquire or create such a vessel?”

Ada corrected him. “It’s actually Miss Newth. I uh…purchased it from the head mage down where I am.”

Grath paused as he considered the likelihood of that. “Excuse me but I’m having a little trouble here believing this. Such an edifice would be near priceless. I cannot imagine anyone willing to sell it to you. And how was he able to create such a thing? Our Academy may be small but we’re well-informed and I’ve yet to hear of another Academy capable of such a feat. Dare I say I know --”

Aurian interrupted. “Well, just because you’re not buying it doesn’t mean it’s not true. I was a little surprised myself but I can tell you that Ada has plenty of the shiny stuff. Pun intended here. Also, what do you know about the Southern Continent?”

The outburst was annoying but also a bit amusing. If this is how the little girl wanted to play the game, he’ll go along with it. The charging of his Fire Orb was halfway to full. Just another two minutes and they would get a true taste of intruding on Academy property. He chuckled. “Plenty, actually. You may be surprised but my ancestors are originally from there.”

Now it was Ada’s turn to blink in surprise. “You’re from Australia?”

“Yes, in fact. I heard from my grandparents that it’s quite a beautiful place with lots of beaches and coral reefs. I’ve always wanted to visit but it’s too far from here.”

Aurian whispered something to the two girls. Ada looked pensive. The supposed owner of the Cloud nodded and then turned back to him. “Were they mages there? Why did they want to leave such an idyllic land?”

Grath stared off into the distance. He tried to look somber. “They were not mages but they were familiar with the local magister there. No doubt that’s the one who you’re referring to. The Rift War instigated their exodus. The war was equally terrible there as here. Even those who kept their lives lost everything else. They were one of the lucky ones who survived but there was nothing for them left there.”

Leanne observed. “Self-preservation can be the supreme motivator for change.”

Aurian looked at him curiously. “How come I never learned anything about this in the Academy archives?”

“You would have if you paid attention to the course History of Our Land which my colleague taught. I heard that you took that as a morning nap session every week.”

Aurian grumbled. “Well, his droning voice would have led anyone to slumber. I think half his class fell asleep.”

Ada chuckled. Aurian continued. “Besides, I already knew everything about our history! I was obliged by my grandfather to recite the entire Chronicles by the age of ten. That was possibly the worst torture any child could go through.”

Mader snapped. “Show some respect to the Masters of our Academy, Aurian!”

Grath grimaced. Not only was this mage a hothead but he was also obstinate. He was beginning to find this Mader figure more annoying than Aurian which was a rare feat. “Mader, please let me do the talking.”

The man stiffened. “Excuse my correction, Master Grath, but my name is not Mader.”

He turned to the man and offered an apologetic look. “What is it then?”

“It’s Kader.”

Grath heard a chuckle and saw that Aurian was openly laughing at him. “What exactly is so funny here?”

Aurian replied mockingly. “Oh, just that the mage who seems to know everyone including the magister across the Southern Ocean doesn’t even know the names of those at his own Academy.”

His retort died on his lips. He hated to admit it but Aurian was correct here. He typically involved himself with his research and barely paid attention to any student who he wasn’t directly supervising or who didn’t catch his eye. Aurian did catch his eye but not for a good reason.

The girl named Leanne addressed him. “Let us continue our conversation. We have explained to you the origins of our Cloud and where we are originally from. What else do you need to know?”

“Naturally, prove that you are actual mages of the Academy. Where are your Compasses?”

Aurian smirked. “Ah, finally an intelligent question.”

Kader hissed under his breath but otherwise kept his thoughts to himself. Grath ignored them and continued unabated. “If you can present your Compasses, I may believe you.”

Ada who was calm just a moment ago was suddenly flustered. “Uh, I didn’t take it. Did either of you bring it?”

Aurian shook her head. Leanne said. “Apologies, but I assumed you took them.”

Grath saw that Kader was about to speak again and quickly stepped in. “If you two cannot present your Compasses, then I’m afraid I will have to take you in chains. Only Academy mages are allowed to walk freely here unless you have received prior written consent from the Academy Board or the Magister.”

Aurian gawked indignantly. “But they are mages! If you let them go back up I’m sure they’ll be able to retrieve the Compasses and show them to you.”

Grath’s eyes darkened. “And let these two escape? Did you think I’ll fall for such an obvious ruse?”

Ada gestured to him. “What do we need to provide you to show that we are actually mages?”

“Either a Compass or a written letter as I just said. And you need to present them now.”

“What if we demonstrate a spell? Will that suffice?”

“No, there is a reason I specifically said Academy mages.”

“If you speak with Master Arbon, I am sure he can vouch for us that we have been invited.”

“Sorry, but I’m quite sure Master Arbon is asleep right now. For now, you have two choices. Show me the proof that you’re actually mages. Or wear these Cuffs of Binding and we’ll lead you to the nearest jail cell. Of course, we’ll also need to confiscate your property in the meantime.”

Aurian exploded. “That is an utter crock of fishbones! You didn’t treat the mages from Tesia this way when they had to find their Compasses!”

“That’s because their stories were actually believable. I wanted to say this earlier but I’ll say it now. Your entire story is utterly unconvincing. Two strangers appear here in the middle of the night traveling at ridiculous speeds on an enormous floating vessel made of some kind of magical Cloud. This is not something that I have seen any mage do. Furthermore, there’s no country named Australia.”

Ada muttered something. Leanne said. “If you did not believe what we told you, why did you lie to us as well and concoct a story about your origins?”

“Oh, just because I needed time to do this.”

With great confidence now that his Fire Orb was fully charged, Grath snapped his fingers. The Fire Orb glowed even brighter and more than a dozen long streams of fire suddenly jumped from it to the girls. There was a blur and suddenly the girls were no longer there.

He glanced around and saw that the one named Ada had grabbed the other two and leapt back at least twenty feet. He had sensed no usage of ether from her. Impressive. Only someone using Divine powers would be able to accomplish such a feat with barely any ether expenditure. His face darkened. This was a battle that he would not relish but he’ll do what’s needed to defend his home.

Grath gestured. “Aurian, I don’t know why you’re consorting with disciples of the Divine but no doubt you’ll be expelled from the Academy if you continue to associate with them. Not even Master Arbon would be able to save you then. You know I don’t particularly like you but as a student of the Academy, I’m giving you a chance to come over here and uphold the sanctity and integrity of the Academy as you’ve also sworn. Our freedoms are fragile, and it doesn’t take much for things to go backward. Do you really want us to become servants of the gods again?”

Aurian looked surpised. “You want me to betray my friends?”

Grath felt equally surprised. Aurian was a troublemaker but never did he think that she would entertain any other option here. “Friends? You’ve known them for at most a week by my guess. Are you truly willing to betray the Academy for friends you barely know?”

There was moment of hesitation. Slowly, Aurian nodded. “I can see why you don’t trust them and why you might think I’m in cahoots with some nefarious god. I’m not going to deny that they’re associated with the gods but Ada and Leanne are good people.”

Grath cut her off. “That’s all I needed to know. You’ve openly admitted that they are with the Divine and are using Divine powers. Come here now, you foolish girl! I am not going to ask you again.”

Aurian shook her head furiously. “I will not. And you are wrong.”

The girl was hopeless. He would not regret bringing a betrayer to justice, even if she was just a sixteen-year-old girl. He took a breath and looked at the four mages around him. There was no turning back now and it was not his fault. “Mages, fire at will. Do not hold back.”

A stream of spells flew through the air. Long tendrils from his Fire Orb snaked and followed the three girls as they darted around. The Lightning Ball from the pretty girl (who he really should know the name of soon) flew rapidly and created a crater where the three were standing a moment before. Kader’s Ice Rain rained several dozen sharp icicles around them. Lait used his Warding Staff and created an Air Shield around the three which ideally would trap them where they stood. The last man levitated a large boulder near him and launched it at them at a ridiculous speed.

Grath changed his mind about their capabilities. For fresh graduates, they’re not half bad.

However, the three girls were just too fast. Mostly, it was Ada who took the other two under her arms as if they were luggage and darted around in a blur which even his Fire Orb had trouble targeting. He did not expect this to be an easy battle but he knew that even if the girl named Ada was blessed by the Divine, she would tire before their spells were exhausted. There was a moment of reprieve as the four mages recharged their spells.

Ada took that moment to yell. “Stop!”

Grath grinned. “Are you willing to give up now?”

“No, I’m giving you five a chance to concede. I don’t want to be forced to hurt any of you.”

He scoffed. “Concede? The battle has barely started.”

Without another word, he nodded to the other four mages. Just as they were about to launch another volley, a thick fog suddenly appeared around them. He could not see anything around him. Even the girl standing barely a foot away was near invisible.

“Master Grath, what’s happening?”

“What is this fog?”

“I didn’t sense any ether usage. I don’t know where they are!”

“I can’t see anything!”

Cries of fear suddenly emanated from his junior colleagues. To so easily falter under pressure was not ideal. They still had a lot to learn. He said sternly. “Don’t worry. They’re just using this as a distraction. Do not move. I will find them.”

Taking the reins of his ostrich, he gave it a light kick. The ostrich darted forward and after half a minute there was still more fog.

He nearly jumped from his perch when he heard Ada’s voice from close to his right. “Do you give up now?”

Ignoring her remark, he kicked the ostrich on the left side and turned sharply to his right. He goaded it to accelerate and catch the girl before she moved again. The bird accelerated and then suddenly something hit him. Or rather, the ostrich hit a wall. He raised his hand but the impact was too sudden to prevent him from also hitting his head against the wall. The bird collapsed on the ground and he tumbled off. From a brief glance, he saw that the bird’s neck was broken. Thankfully, he was still alive but his head pounded. He felt blood streaming down his face.

“Do you concede now?”

He managed a groan. Then, he gathered his strength and shouted. “No! As a Master of the Academy I will never give up defending its grounds.”

He heard Aurian’s voice somewhere nearby. She taunted him. “Knowing when there’s no sense in a fight, Grath, is what separates the proud from the pathetic.”

He tried to utter another reply but his head was hurting too much. He felt that he was rapidly losing consciousness. He kept one eye open and saw that the fog has disappeared. His four mages in the distance were on the ground in a pile. They were tied together with a thick rope. All of them looked bruised and two were laid on the ground. He fervently hoped they were just unconscious and not dead. His eyes pounded again and he fell into darkness.