“Let’s start off today’s lesson with a guess,” Sage Parem said, “Today we will be discussing another barrier domain option after your rank up to eight. What the highest frequencies of the spectrum do? Does anyone have a guess? Don’t say if you already know.”

Hugo kept his hand down, he had done some reading ahead of time. He knew already, he had done some reading prior to the first class. He noticed that Elise didn’t venture a guess either. No surprise there.

“Super strong shields?”

“Yeah, strong shields.”

“Moveable barriers? Like after you create them, you can move them?”

“Barriers you can change after you create them?”

Sage Parem smiled, “Good guesses, but no one is close yet.”

“Permanent barriers?”

“Oh, I wish. No, sadly there are no permanent barriers for us. Even the longest lasting wards need reapplication every so often,” Sage Parem said, “I guess I will just tell you. The highest frequency on our domain dial creates black bolts.”

There were scattered exclamations at that.

“Oh, I see that some of you like to read two copper novels,” Sage Parem said with a laugh, “If so, you are right to be impressed. Black bolts are the exclusive power of barrier mages, and the most powerful attack we have at our disposal. Another name for it is black death.”

He walked closer to the class and hopped off the stage. With a serious voice he said, “Today’s lesson will not be fun. I don’t have any clever analogies. This range is dangerous. With one shot, you can kill almost anyone. Monsters, soulmarked, mundanes. Everyone dies to the insidious power of the black bolt.

“Similar to the way that wards will pass through mundane materials, black bolts will pass through walls and other obstacles. Including armor. Unlike wards though, black bolts will destroy anything made of mana or even capable of using mana. This means that a rank eight student could kill a rank thirty two rock ant with a well placed shot. It also means that he could kill his instructor in a fit of rage. This power cannot be taken lightly.

“There are limits to this power of course. Even high ranked mages need to use most of their mana pool to create a bolt. So this is a once a day shot or once an hour shot, depending on the time of year. Still, this power is great, and strictly controlled. Anyone that wishes to choose it will have to undergo a separate certification lesson before you pick it. You also need a recommendation from an experienced mage for me to allow you this power,” Sage Parem said.

“Let’s talk about what black bolts do exactly, and why it is so dangerous,” Sage Parem said, and started writing up on the blackboard.

Hugo knew all about this range, and had already decided against it. He would be picking wards when the choice came. He didn’t want to accidentally kill anyone.

Sage Parem talked about always knowing what was behind your target, discussing a missed shot that had gone through a small hill and killed a student. Even a glancing shot that only hit someone’s leg would still kill them days later. Healing magic from the life domain would only speed their death. He wanted nothing to do with such a scary power.

About a third of his classmates disagreed with him though, and crowded around the sage after class, asking about the certification class. Hugo just shook his head as he walked out of the azad stadium. It was no surprise to him that the majority that stayed were nobles. The group that walked up the stairs with him were mostly middle and lower class citizens. They knew the potential dangers that came with abusing your power. Many of the nobles waiting below wanted power, and didn’t care about the costs that came along with it.

He was glad to see that at least Elise didn’t plan on being a harbinger of death. On his walk across campus he started to wonder if he should change his mind. Part of the reason that nobles kept their political power and people in the narrows had none, was their magical power. They thought nothing of killing those that opposed them. Maybe they would start to think twice if more people in lower classes had the power to fight back.

He shook his head. He couldn’t save everyone. Reval wasn’t built in a day. True change takes time. He found himself wanting to help those around him more and more. But he couldn’t overreach. He needed to be alive to help those around him. His sense of self preservation was important. He got a second chance at life because of a fluke with a broken ritual. He didn’t even really understand what triggered his time traveling. He couldn’t count on that happening again.

It occurred to him that if he ever needed evidence that he was a time traveler, he had two things he could tell people. He could predict the future, and he could show them that he had two domains. That would probably help convince people. In conjunction, those facts were rather convincing. It might be enough to convince the city government that he wasn’t just some wacko and that they really should search for bombs attached to the shimmer vein.

Unfortunately, now that the monster surge was over and the city walls were saved, the only other big prediction he had was that there was going to be an earthquake in a little less than seven months.

There were a few other predictions he could give between now and then. The winner of the azad tournament. The tiger gang stealing all those mana cores. But the problem with all of those predictions is the human element. People would assume that he was in league with whoever he predicted to do a thing.

The earthquake though, that was something that he could tell people and they would believe. He knew the exact time, the first night of the seventh month. It was a natural event, something no one could influence to make happen.

He started making plans. He needed help to save the city, and he was probably going to have to prove he wasn't making this all up.

...

Hugo took another drink, he was starting to relax and feel a buzz now. The party tonight was on top of the library. He had gotten into a habit of going to every party. He was on his second drink, and didn’t plan on getting a third so he wouldn’t get a hangover. Besides, he needed to stay closer to buzzed than drunk for his plans today.

While he was looking around at the party, he saw someone he knew, Alice. He decided to approach her. She didn’t know him well yet, but he knew she had connections. It would be a good idea to develop a friendship with her. And he knew just how to approach her.

“Hello Alice. Nice to see you again. I am Hugo in case you forgot,” he said.

“Hello Hugo. I remember you, You are that guy with the crazy high dexterity,” She asked.

Hugo smiled and said, “That’s right. But I am more than just my stats. I am a very interesting person. I bet you are a very interesting person too.”

“Well, you are right, I am very interesting,” she nodded seriously, then burst out laughing.

“Hey, Alice, let me ask you a question,” he said.

“Shoot.”

He looked back to the stairway and said, “Do you trust stairs? Cus I don’t. I think they are always up to something. If you trust stairs, the only thing they are going to do is let you down.”

Alice giggled and covered her mouth.

Hugo smiled and said, “That’s my only funny joke. Well, I have some jokes about unemployed people, but none of them work.”

It took her a second, but then she was laughing at that one too.

“Well aren’t you a delight. I have to introduce you to my boyfriend. He needs to know that his bad taste is unique and most refined people have great senses of humor.”

Mattias walked up while they were talking. Hugo nodded as he came over and said, “Mattias, good to see you. We were just talking about you.” He covered his mouth so only Mattias could see but didn’t lower his volume. “I think she really likes you. You should go for it.”

Mattias just stood here confused, Alice was already his girlfriend. Hugo patted him on the shoulder and walked away. He couldn’t resist bewildering the man. Mattias hadn’t done anything to him in this life, but he was responsible for a lot of emotional pain in the last one. A little confusion seemed innocent in comparison.

Looking past his confused classmate, Hugo spied his purpose for coming to the party tonight. Mihai Lubanzi. Oskar knew all of the first years, and most of the students at the academy. When Hugo had asked for advice on who to approach, Oskar came up with just one name, Mihai.

“Uh, Hello. Are you Mihai?” Hugo said.

“Yeah?” Mihai said. He was a third year student with buzzed hair. He was short and buff, with scars across his forearms.

“Oh good. I’m Hugo. I was talking to Oskar about a problem I was having and he said that you could be the one to help me out.”

Mihai thought for a second and said, “I am not sure if I know an Oskar...”

“He’s my roommate. He’s about this tall, has curly brown hair. He is trying to grow a mustache, but only has fuzz so far.”

“Oh yes. I know him. He is very annoying,” Mihai said and looked past Hugo.

Hugo almost physically cringed. This was so awkward. He said, “Well, anyway. I was wondering if you could help me out. I am trying to get ahold of some people.”

Mihai said nothing, he just gestured for Hugo to continue. He swayed a bit, obviously a bit drunk.

Hugo had wanted to get to know him better first before he brought it up. Mihai didn't seem in the mood for small talk. Hugo just decided to go for it and said, “I want to contact some hedge mages.”

He had decided he needed some help if he was going to save the city. As he had seen from the riot during the earthquake, the hedge mages knew something was coming. They even knew that the shimmer veins were the danger. He had started with Oskar since he had done it last time around, but his roommate had referred him to Mihai.

Mihai pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed heavily. Eventually he said, “Why do you want to talk to hedge mages, and why do you think I can help?”

“Well, Oskar said if anyone at the school knew how to contact them, it would be you. He said you are an expert or something? And as to why I want to contact them, well. I want to work with them, I guess,” Hugo answered warily. Mihai was acting weird about this.

Mihai clenched his fists and said, “I knew I didn’t like that little shit. I don’t know hedge mages, I hate them. They killed my mom. It was a few years ago, she got sick with red fever. We could afford a life mage, a potion. We could easily afford it. But we were out on a hunt, and the closest city was days away. Our groomsman was a hedge mage, and he said he could save her. He worked his vile magic. Instead of getting better, she got worse. She died the next day. I hate those damn hedgies with every fiber of my being. The only good hedge mage is a dead one.” Mihai had gotten louder and louder as he spoke. Then he pointed at Hugo and shouted, “And if you want to work with them, maybe you should join them in hell!”