CHAPTER 419: Magic Defence

The third year introduced a new subject: Magical Defence. I wondered what it was about, since we had learned shields in our elemental classes.

"Any idea what this lesson is about?" I asked Helena.

She shrugged. "No. I suspect it's going to involve more complicated spells though, since it's a third-year subject. Maybe we will learn ways to modify our spells?"

We took our seats and soon a familiar teacher appeared: Irene.

"Hello students!" She said with a slightly evil grin. "This year you are all very lucky, you will get a better education than most!"

Was she praising herself? I looked at Helena who was similarly confused.

"You might be wondering what magical defence is about, so let me start with that." Irene said. "Shields are a great way to stop or deflect an attack. Without a magical shield you won't last long against another mage. However, there are less obvious attacks which you might have to counter. Thankfully, attacking someone's mind directly is rare but you can fool someone's senses. Illusions are a powerful tool used by Ilestria, and goblin assassins have inborn powers to hide themselves."

Those were exactly the problems I had to deal with in the past. I wondered if this class was a direct result of that? Had they changed the lesson to better prepare us for current threats?

Meanwhile Irene continued: "Another way to attack you, that you might be aware of, is poison. Sadly there is no direct way to counter that unless you have the right affinities. Blood mages can purge their own blood while water, earth and light have some healing but wind, fire and death offer no help. The best way to defeat normal poison is to carry an antidote. Now, what is similar to a poison, and often categorised as one, that every mage can fight?"

I blinked. There was such a thing? I heard murmuring as other students debated the question.

Rose raised her hand.

"Rose."

"My bite?"

"Yes! Of course, vampires are not the only creatures with such an ability." Iris said. "There are magical attacks, or poisons, which can be used to attack you from the inside. Venting will get rid of foreign mana but a spell is a bit harder to tackle. A vampire's bite is a mixture of an injection and blood magic. As a mage you can fight such an attack, if you are strong enough and know what you are doing. You can also fight other spells, like petrification."

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I almost chuckled, thinking about Archibald in his first lesson.

"Remember when I told you that you are lucky? This year you will be able to train against real vampire bites!" Irene said, with an evil smile.

Leo didn't look very happy.

"What?!?" Florence complained. "You can't expect us to let a vampire bite us! They could turn us!"

"I understand your concern and don't worry, a direct bite is not necessarily needed." Irene clarified. "Hatsumi and Rose have been willing to help by providing the toxin they produce. Horas has been studying it and we can inject a version of it with a needle. It won't be as potent as a real vampire bite but it will give you an idea how to fight a spell inside of you. Having access to vampires has certainly improved our teaching tools."

"What if they use this to control us?" Jack asked.

"They can't control you if you get injected by a needle and the whole point of this class is to make it harder for a vampire to dominate you." Irene answered. "It's not just vampires, a blood mage can stun you with a wound through a blood weapon and a frost viper would turn you into an icicle with a bite. Of course, this class can't make you immune against such things, I can only teach you to fight back. Power, concentration and the amount of poison in your body matter. So do your affinities. Trying to take control of the blood of a blood mage is rather foolish, as is trying to petrify an earth mage, unless you really have power to spare."

Irene waited a moment to see if there were more questions, then she continued: "This class has been changed quite a bit so we don't have a textbook to follow. I highly encourage you to take notes. So, let's get started! How do you defend yourself? The easiest way is just using your mana but that's also the weakest defence. By flooding your body with your own mana you will make it harder for the enemy to cast a spell and sometimes you can just overwhelm the attack with sheer power. Spellblades have a huge advantage since their body is already filled with their mana to enhance them. The better version to defend yourself is to use a spell. That means you have to cast a spell inside your body that attacks the enemies spell without hurting yourself. That requires precision and some complex runes, which will be hard to do when someone is trying to kill you. The third option would be outside help."

Simon raised his hand

"Simon."

"Do you mean killing the attacker? Wouldn't that also be the defence for you? Just kill them before they can complete their spell." Simon asked.

"Killing the attacker doesn't necessarily end the spell." Irene replied. "See, a vampire can control you, or a vampire can kill you. A necrotic bite would simply wither your body and turn you into an undead, killing the vampire won't change that. A frost viper bite will freeze you from the inside. Some effects need to be fought once you are poisoned, or infected, by an attacker. Outside help would be someone dealing with the poison, or the spell, inside of you. The best way for this would be a joint casting but that requires trust. You can, just like the attacker, use your own magic to invade the victim and then use a spell to destroy the attack. That's rather complicated, but possible, and once more depends on your affinities. Blood mages just have the easiest time doing anything inside a body."

It sounded like this would be an important class but I was rather intrigued by the idea of outside help. Hatsumi and Rose had blood magic and with our link they might be able to help me rather easily, if it was ever needed. Hatsumi had even looked into some healing, just to heal me if needed. Maybe she could learn how to truly purify my blood in case of an attack? There was also Kyan, who didn't have blood magic, but he had a bite attack. He had already protected me against lightning by petrifying my hand.

But there were also my friends. Could Hatsumi train herself to do the same for Helena? She would have to be careful when it came to necrotic mana but they did trust each other. We did have Cassie and her potions but a blood cleansing vampire would be a neat addition to our defences.