CHAPTER 424: Magical Defence Training

The next week we had another magical defence class. While it was mandatory, there were about 70 third-year students, so we had been split into groups. While Helena was with me, Cassie, Skadi and Valeria were not. However, Rose, Hatsumi, Nyx, Yoru and Kyan accompanied me as well. As Irene entered the room a box filled with vials floated behind her.

"Hello students, today we are starting our first little exercise to combat control! Don't worry, this is a very diluted poison and it will just help you to get a feel for it! You can even drink this one and don't need an injection. That makes it act more slowly and gives you more time to counter it." Irene explained.

Florence raised her hand.

"Florence."

"What happens if we fail to counter the poison?"

"Excellent question! You will feel nauseous, try not to vomit over your desk. You will also have to clean any mess you create." Irene said.

"Isn't that unfair, Koyuki has maids. Maybe they should clean for everyone, if it becomes necessary." Simon said.

Technically I only had one maid but I guess some people assumed Rose would fill the same role as Hatsumi.

"Koyuki has undead, like any necromancer. She just happens to have a lot of tier three but a tier two could clean as well, you know. You would just have to give the right orders. Not to mention that water mages are decent at cleaning, or that a fire mage could burn the mess." Irene paused, then added: "Do not burn the classroom. I was just referring to the more general use of fire magic. In any case, the idea is for you to defend against the poison. If you don't fail there is nothing to clean up."

I had a feeling that it wouldn't be so easy. Irene wasn't known for going easy on her students.

"I wonder if Cassie is going to ask for the recipe so she can poison people she doesn't like." Helena mused.

"Well, she could pretend it's to help them train and she certainly has access to vampire venoms." I said.

"It feels wrong that a potion made from our venom makes you feel sick." Rose stated as Irene floated the bottles to each student.

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"How is that different from sparring?" I asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't know, since our bite is involved it just feels wrong."

"Interestingly I don't feel that strongly about it." Hatsumi said. "Perhaps it's because I was created differently? Or because a bite was involved in binding Rose?"

"Maybe it's because you have accepted Koyuki as your mistress from the beginning?" Helena suggested. "Rose didn't know Koyuki at first and entered her service because it allowed her to survive."

"Hm." Rose said. "I guess I used my bite to dominate Leo and it would be my main way to break from Koyuki."

"Perhaps you see biting her as an act of rebellion?" Hatsumi said.

Rose looked at me. "I guess."

"Enough chatter, it's time for you to start your training!" Irene said.

We hadn't been the only ones having a discussion and so far nobody had taken a sip from their vials. I looked at mine. The fluid looked a lot like water with some greenish swirls inside. I uncorked it and downed the thing, then I immediately prepared myself to flood my body with mana.

It was strange. I could the potion affecting me but it almost felt like my circulation water it down. There was some nausea building but I had time to actually defend myself and draw some mana. Then I wondered if I should convert the mana itself or just use neutral mana as defence? Irene hadn't told us and perhaps it depended on the type of attack you were suffering?

For now I just went with neutral mana which seemed to overwhelm the attack and the nausea went away. Honestly, our first tries with joint castings had been worse. Maybe all that experimenting had helped to prepare me?

"Ugh, that stuff sucks." Helena muttered. She looked a bit pale but she didn't vomit. None of the students did, however some looked like they were very close.

"Trust me, this is not as bad as being dominated by a vampire." Irene said encouragingly.

"At least the bad feeling doesn't linger too long." Helena said.

I nodded. Both of us vented any excess mana we had and then we observed our fellow students. It wasn't pretty. One of the students excused himself and rushed off towards a bathroom while most looked like they were dying, metaphorically. While the students suffered Nyx sniffed the empty vial, then rolled it towards Yoru with her paw. He rolled it back.

"They, they must have cheated…" Simon whimpered.

Irene studied us. "No, I watched them drink the whole thing. However, they do have larger cores so perhaps I need to make a more potent version for them next time."

My eyes widened. Oh no, I should have faked feeling more sick!

"Maybe she gets bitten regularly by vampires…" Florence muttered.

"Leo actually got bitten and he doesn't seem to do that well." Rose said, with a smile.

Leo looked like he wanted to reply but he might have felt too sick to do so. He hadn't vomited though.

"Why didn't they have to drink anything?" Simon complained while pointing at Rose and Hatsumi.

"While vampires can dominate other vampires this potion here wouldn't affect them. It causes nausea in living creatures. Besides, as long as they are bound nothing else can control them." Irene pointed out.

Hatsumi nodded. "No one can break the bond to our mistress and only dust will remain of those who try."

Despite being a nice person Hatsumi could sound scary when she wanted to.

After the class ended I was feeling fine again and so was Helena. Interestingly enough, the other students didn't recover that quickly. Maybe our circulation helped? Or had they failed to overcome all the poison and it still lingered inside their body? Even at dinner I saw quite a few students going for nothing but soup. Cassie and Skadi had the same class later that day and they had recovered as well. Of course, it might simply be down to our larger cores and the amount of training we did. Hopefully Irene wouldn't try too hard to come up with something that really affected us.