Chapter 62: Weaving Magic

Elara:

Excitement filled me the moment Professor Vivienne Stroll announced that today’s weaving class would focus on mental fortresses.

I had actually been looking forward to the lesson because, unlike some of the other subjects at Moonveil, weaving magic fascinated me. The idea that magic could interact directly with the mind was both terrifying and incredibly useful, especially considering how often I had already found myself dealing with people who seemed to enjoy messing up with my head.

So I knew that if I could learn how to protect my thoughts, memories, and emotions from someone else’s magic, that alone would be worth every minute of the class.

Unfortunately, Professor Stroll chose that exact moment to announce that several third-year students with weaving knowledge would be joining us for today’s practical lesson.

My excitement died instantly. I didn’t even need to look toward the door to know who would be among them. Reign Valemont had apparently developed a supernatural talent for appearing wherever I least wanted him.

The classroom door opened barely a minute later, and a group of third-year students walked inside. My eyes stayed stubbornly on the notebook in front of me, but I could practically feel Reign’s presence approaching from somewhere behind me.

My shoulders tensed when his footsteps slowed beside my desk. There was already another boy sitting in the seat beside me, someone I vaguely recognized from one of my other classes, and for one hopeful second I thought perhaps Reign would simply continue walking. Then silence fell over the surrounding desks.

I glanced sideways and saw the reason. Reign was staring at the boy. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. His expression alone carried enough silent authority that the poor boy immediately gathered his things and stood up. He didn’t even bother protesting before slipping into another empty seat several rows away.

Reign sat down in his newly acquired seat as though it had belonged to him from the beginning, stretching his long legs beneath the desk and settling comfortably beside me.

I stared at him in disbelief. The entire class had witnessed what had just happened. Professor Stroll had witnessed it too. Yet nobody said a single word. Apparently, Reign Valemont could simply steal someone’s seat in the middle of class and everyone collectively decided it was better to pretend they hadn’t seen anything.

"You can stop staring," Reign murmured without looking at me. "I’m aware I’m good-looking."

I almost choked on air. I glared at him even though he wasn’t looking at me. "Do you ever get tired of listening to yourself?"

His lips twitched. "Not particularly."

The urge to grab him by the collar and throw him through the enormous window beside us was almost overwhelming. Unfortunately, my fantasy had one small problem - I wasn’t strong enough to throw a six-foot-three werewolf through a window, and even if I were, I suspected the consequences would involve several professors, angry Regents, and possibly my expulsion.

So I swallowed my irritation and turned back toward the front. If Reign wanted to sit there, fine. I would simply ignore him. That had become my preferred survival strategy around him and his friends, not like it ever worked.

All I had to do was ignore the handsome face, ignore the arrogant mouth, ignore the fact that his presence somehow made every nerve in my body more alert than it should have been, and absolutely ignore the strange warmth that occasionally appeared whenever he touched me. Especially that. I didn’t understand it, and I had no intention of giving it enough attention to become another problem.

Once everyone had settled down, Professor Stroll moved toward the center of the classroom and began explaining the lesson.

"A mental fortress is not considered the strongest weaving technique," she said, her voice carrying clearly through the room, "but it is arguably the most important defensive technique a weaver can learn."

My attention immediately returned to her.

Weaving magic was one of the three major magical efficiencies I had already learned about, alongside beast taming and manipulation. Weaving involved manipulating the mind and its functions, and there were several branches beneath it.

Dreamweaving allowed a user to enter or manipulate dreams. Memory weaving could alter, hide, extract, distort, or create memories. Illusion could create false sights, sounds, sensations, and even entire environments within someone’s perception. Emotion weaving could influence feelings such as fear, anger, affection, or calmness. Even mind reading fell under weaving because it involved interacting directly with the brain and thoughts.

The more I learned about it, the more unsettling it became. Someone skilled enough could potentially make a person question their own memories or believe something that had never happened.

"Your mind is not an open door," Professor Stroll continued. "It is a fortress. The stronger your fortress, the harder it becomes for another weaver to breach it."

She explained that a mental fortress didn’t mean simply refusing to think about something. It required discipline, concentration, and an understanding of one’s own mind. A trained weaver could search for emotional weaknesses, exploit memories, create false sensations, or use distractions to weaken a person’s mental defenses. The fortress existed to prevent those intrusions from taking hold.

Listening to her, I couldn’t help thinking about Alaric. His illusion magic had already fooled me twice, and Kairo had taught me that illusions could become incredibly dangerous when the caster understood how to manipulate perception.

If I could learn how to protect myself against people like him, I wouldn’t have to wait for anyone to save me every time someone decided to play a game at my expense.

Then Professor Stroll delivered the part that made my stomach drop. "For today’s practical exercise," she announced, "I want everyone to work with their deskmates."

My eyes slowly shifted toward the man sitting beside me. Reign was already looking at me, and the faint curve of his lips told me everything I needed to know.

"One student will attempt to influence the other’s mind using a controlled weaving technique. The other student will construct a mental fortress and resist the intrusion. Then you will switch roles." Professor Stroll paused before adding, "Students who demonstrate exceptional control will receive five credit scores."

I stared straight ahead.

Of course.

Of all the possible people I could have been paired with, I had somehow ended up sitting beside the one person who had spent weeks making it his personal mission to get under my skin.

Reign had already admitted that he enjoyed provoking me. He had already tried to convince me that I couldn’t survive in this world alone. He had already made it clear that he wanted to break down my defenses - not necessarily physically, but mentally and emotionally.

And now Professor Stroll had unknowingly placed me directly beside him and handed him permission to enter my mind.