Darkest Before the ...

Unwinding, now that the Academy entrance exam was over. I needed something to calm down. They really pissed me off with that so called test of our team.

“I don't buy that excuse they gave us. I don't know what they were trying to pull on us back there. What do you all make of it?” I asked.

“What was that giant snake?” Kiera asked.

“That was a Basilisk. An S-ranked monster. Extremely poisonous. They're eyes can paralyze you if you look at them directly. Luckily, I'm mostly immune to such effects. A strong enough monster can wear down my defenses, over time. At least at my current level,” I said.

“That's pretty nasty. Do they have any weaknesses?” Kanae asked.

“They do, but the point is, Kiera isn't equipped to kill one at the moment. It's not that Kiera couldn't do it, with the proper training. You, Darby, and I are likely the only ones capable of defeating one, as of now. Aoi is an artist, and should never have to face something like that. Although, she has her own skills that could be used against such a beast,” I said.

“So maybe they were testing us to see what our stage of development was? Maybe they suspect we are some kind of invasion force, and they were hoping to trip us up to reveal we are hardened pros?” Kiera said.

“Yeah, that sounds plausible,” Kanae said.

“Your knee-jerk reaction may have told them something, as well. You could have beaten the Black Knight with that blink of yours,” Kanae said.

“Probably not. He was holding back, but he knew I was too. It was a stupid dance we did. Yes, I really didn't mean to display my blink ability. Of course, the fact they have magik tools that can break through the deceptions I helped you all pull off was a real shock. I have a lot to learn,” I said.

“So do we all. That written exam was really hard. The Goddess didn't prepare us at all for this,” Darby said.

“You finished it though, Kanae. Is that because Deirdre had enough time to prepare you enough for this kingdom?” Aoi asked.

“Probably. Deirdre has taught me a lot of useful knowledge in the month I've been here,” Kanae said.

“I'm really worried. They are hiding some of their cards. I can tell,” Kiera said.

“The Goddess really gave you some skills, Kiera. You're going to be truly formidable with some training. But we need to all stay alert. The Queen means to use us for some purpose. Maybe tomorrow's audience will give us some useful clues and information. Stay on your toes, and stay close. I have a few cards I can play if things go bad. Do you all trust me enough to let me protect you?” I asked.

“I trust you enough, to follow your lead,” Kiera said.

“I have complete faith in you,” Kanae said.

“We are in,” Darby said for him and Aoi.

“Good! Let's hope we don't need to do anything drastic,” I said.

In the morning the Queen had sent a carriage, and escort, for us under disguise, so as not to draw too much attention to us, but some curious onlookers were still drawn to us. We were escorted to a private drawing room in the Palace. The queen was already there waiting for us. After announcing us and the obligatory greeting Queen Matilde began,

“Deirdre the foundling, you have acquired some very interesting, powerful, and unusual companions in a very brief time. We will not inquire as to how you have come to gather these summoned individuals. Something, or someone, has chosen you to collect them. We have known for some time that there has been several summonings in your vicinity. Fear not, we know it was not you, however you have withheld this knowledge. As you should be well aware, it is a crime to perform a summoning, or to conceal a summoned.”

“Your majesty, there were no summonings in the vicinity of me or in this kingdom that I can confirm. Nor can I say that any of my companions were summoned. Neither could I say I even know what a summoning would look like. I certainly do not know how to perform a summoning. I'm quite certain I even lack the power to perform such a feat. I can lead any of your officers through the forest, town, dungeon, and environs of my home, and prove to you that there were no summonings performed there. You may find the remains of some teleportation circles. However, it is my understanding that the kingdom has protections to prevent the teleportation from other realms to your kingdom, my Queen,” I said.

“You speak eloquently, and with great care for an orphan. I wonder that you are not a politician with your equivocating speech,” Matilde said.

“Speech is a sword my Queen. If one speaks to the Queen she may raise them up. If one angers the Queen, she will surely cut them down,” I said bowing.

The Queen laughed, “Do you seek to be raised up, then?”

“I seek only a comfortable home, a full belly, and a peaceful, ordinary and reasonably long life, my Queen,” I said.

“You say this, and yet you have gathered these companions, who are clearly far above ordinary. To what ends do you seek with such powerful companions?”

“Adventuring is a dangerous profession. What sane adventurer would pass up forming a party with such as these? However, they are inexperienced, and might easily be deceived by less principled adventurers,” I said.

“Then you admit they are summoned individuals?”

“I can neither admit, not deny they are such. They are strong, and talented. Perhaps unusually strong and talented, but they lack in other areas. Who is to say they are not just naturally so? I cannot. Nor is it unusual for orphans in the slums to have no knowledge about the Realm and its history,” I said.

“You yourself are unusually strong and powerful, and well aware of the Realm, and its history. Kanae appears to have been taught some also,” Matilde said.

“I am draconic. As such I have race memory, for one thing. Secondly I actively sought to educate myself. I have shared some of my knowledge with my companions, but I have known Kanae for longer. Before meeting Kanae I didn't interact with others very much. As for my strength, my mother was a Red Dragon many times stronger than I, and my power is still growing, and will grow far more over the centuries, if I live. I ask only that this knowledge remains with you. I endanger myself revealing such knowledge,” I said.

“Your record does not say your mother was a dragon, and certainly not a Red Dragon,” Matilde said.

“No one has ever asked, or demanded such knowledge. I may be an orphan, but I am no fool to put a bounty on my own life so readily. Many would hunt me if they knew, and many have in my short life. Not that I will be able to hide it forever. My mother lost her live to such hunters, and my father to silence him,” I said.

“Your father and mother reportedly died in a carriage accident,” Matilde said.

“How many fully adult dragons have you heard of who could be killed by a carriage accident, my Queen?” I said.

“Yes, that is suspicious,” Matilde said.

“So what shall we do then, with these unusually strong companions of yours?” Matilde said.

“We are all loyal subjects of your Majesty. Goddess save the Queen!” I said, kneeling.

“Goddess save the Queen!” said the companions while kneeling.

“Rise. Very well, we shall test your loyalty. You have all passed the practical exam for entry to the Academy. Only two of you passed the written exam. The other three failed, but failed only the parts concerning knowledge any subject of the realm would pass, had they not grown up in the slums. I detect all your companions have been coached for the exam. They will receive a proper education in the basic knowledge of the Realm. You will all enter the Academy under the Knight's program, and take up residence at the Academy. You may not leave the Academy, or the city, without permission,” Matilde said.

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“As you wish, your Majesty. We do have one request,” I said.

“What is your request?” Matilde said.

“We are registered with the adventurer's guild. We would like to be able to explore the Dungeon here in the capital, and to take on quests at the Adventurer's guild,” I said.

“If your work at the Academy is at an acceptable level, you may explore the Dungeon. Quests for the Adventurers Guild is denied, at this time. We may revisit that issue later. We may have some similar work with the Knights' Order for your unit,” Matilde said.

“Thank you my Queen,” I said.

“You are dismissed, go enroll and get settled in. You will all have to work hard to catch up. Classes started two weeks ago,” Matilde said.

“Yes, your Majesty,” I said.

With that our audience was over, and as I suspected our scores didn't matter. It all was meant to confirm the four were summoned. It also confirmed the Queen had figured out, I was the central figure here. I was being tested. The kingdom had its eye on me now. We all registered into the Knights Program. We were assigned to a special dorm within the Knights Quarter. Darby on the first floor and us four ladies on the second. This was obviously some repurposed building specially set up for us.

The dorm lay out had a study lounge, a dining hall, a kitchen, divided bath, a kitchen, a meeting room and six bedrooms on the first floor. The second floor had a suite for the dorm mother, ten bedrooms, a bath, and a meeting room. After getting settled in we met up in study lounge on the first floor.

“Welcome to the Imperial Academy of Magik. I am Fionna Ní Setanna your resident dorm advisor. I will be here to guide and assist you during your stay at the Academy. I am staying in the suite on the left side of the stairs on the second floor. The door into the girls' dorm on the right is coded to allow the girls in. You will be punished if you try to get in Darby. No boys are allowed in the girls' dorm. I trust that none of you girls will attempt to bring boys into your rooms.”

“We have a fully equipped and stocked kitchen. You may eat here or in the main cafeteria, starting tomorrow. We have a chef on duty, during normal hours. Aoi, Darby, and Kiera have a remedial class in two hours. Deirdre and Kanae are free to explore the campus. Dinner tonight will be served here at the seventh evening hour, in four hours. Please do not be late. Classes begin in the morning at the eighth hour. I will assist you all in the morning in getting to your classes, for the first week. Would you all like a short tour of the Academy?” Fionna said.

“Yes, that would be nice,” I said.

“Yes,” Aoi, Darby, Kanae, and Kiera said.

“Well then follow me everyone,” Fionna said.

“Excuse me, but your family name Ní Setanna, are you related to Queen Matilde?” Kanae asked.

“Yes, Queen Matilde is my cousin,” Fionna said.

“Wouldn't that make you a duchess, or the daughter of a duchess?” I asked.

“Oh, don't worry about that. Titles aren't important in the Academy. It all goes by rank. I am however a past President of the Student Council, a teacher here, and Captain of the Royal Guard. So we'll see each other during military exercises, and you'll have a few classes under me. I'll be in charge of your training. You are going to become an elite special forces reserve squad for the Queen. Basically, we expect to use you only in special cases, like your Wyrm extermination. The existence of this squad is highly classified. So don't tell anyone you are part of the Queen's forces,” Fionna said.

“We are explaining your special quarters on the pretense that you came in late, and we had no time for preparation for housing. Remember you are all said to be orphans of foreign-born parents and unaware of the realm they are from. Aoi, please remove your glamoury. Elves do attend the Academy here, and you have the support of your companions. There will be no discrimination at the Academy. Feel free to use the glamoury when off campus.,” Fionna continued.

“Now, this is the main quad of the Academy. This large building to our left is the administrative building, and is the one you should be familiar with as your exam happened here. This building on the right is the School of Technology. This is where we learn about magikal artifacts, weapons, tools, potions, and the magikal sciences. You will probably become very familiar with this building, Kiera. The shimmering light around the building is a shield to contain the results of failed experiments, which occasionally happen,” Fionna said.

“Across the quad on the west, or left, is the School of Conjuring, where those who wish will obtain a familiar, and learn the arts of conjuring, familiar training, and the associated arts. On the east side there is the School of Alchemy with its protective barrier. It is the sister school of the School of Technology. The two schools are tightly integrated,” Fionna continued.

“The large building on the East side of the quad is the Military Academy, and beyond that are the training grounds. The back entrance of our dorm opens up on the training grounds. The large hexagonal building on the West side of the quad is the School of Elemental Magik. This school is divided into sections for each of six elements. In there you will learn about the elements you possess as well as the arts of spellcasting, spellwriting, spell creating, runic magik, divination magik, and magikal research. You will note that school is also surrounded by protection barrier, so do try to avoid trying to fly out of the school windows. You may walk in and out or fly out over the top, but the barrier goes up rather high,” Fionna said.

She then showed us where the dormitories and graduate schools were, and other support buildings, including the cafeteria. There were a number of student meeting rooms, and a large library on the north side of the School of Conjuring. There were a few private stores and cafés on the campus, and it was like its own small town with parks, lawns, gardens, and a few groves.

“Well, now, Kanae and Deirdre you may explore further, and you three come with me, and I'll show you where your class is,” Fionna concluded.

“Kanae, let's go explore the Dungeon before entering school, if we may Miss Fionna!” I said.

“A wonderful idea!” Kanae said.

“You two may explore the Dungeon, this one time. Later visits will require satisfactory progress at the Academy. We will send an escort with you.”

“No fair! We're going to be stuck learning boring history, and you're off to play with monsters!” Darby said.

“Who ever said life was fair?” Kanae said.

“After dinner we can all go check out the library. That should be fun also,” I said.

“Definitely!” Aoi said.

We couldn't accomplish much in the three hours we were allotted in the Dungeon, but at least got a feel for it and made some money. Not that we needed any at the moment, especially since we were given full grants to attend the Academy. We had dinner in the dorm, and the food was delicious. It was new experience having what amounted to our own private chef. I had risen quite a bit from my days in the slums. We spent a few hours exploring the library. Seeing all those books was really overwhelming. We checked out a few books on the history of the world and the realm. It was material that would be covered in the remedial class my companions would be taking.

“I think I'll attend that class as well,” Kanae said.

“Well it certainly can't hurt. I might as well come with you as well, as long as I don't have other work to do,” I said.

Morning came and our life at the Academy truly started. We were all quite excited about it.

Our first class was spellcasting. Fionna explained that the class would begin with classwork and the last half might be a practical exercise. Either in class or in a special lab. As we entered there were already a few students in class. They all turned at us and gave us confused looks, but then went back to their conversations. We sat down in the back of the lecture hall, and many of the students looked at us again.

We got confused looks from nearly all the students as they entered the class. Many were looking at us as they were talking, or whispering. It was a bit annoying, because I could hear everything being said. Then Professor Caitlin entered and everyone sat down. Since this was an Academy class, most all students would have had experience casting. After a lecture on improving casting efficiency we all went to an adjoining lab to practice.

“Miss Deirdre, please demonstrate your strongest most efficient fireball,” Professor Caitlin said.

“Professor, that would be extremely dangerous. Fire is my strongest affinity, and my strongest cast would likely destroy this building,” I said.

“Come, come now. That is very unlikely, we have a strong barrier up. When did your power awake, that you think you have such power?”

“I would rather not say when my power awoke. How about I show you a fireball that will destroy the target but not the barrier?” I said.

“Come now. I must insist. What is your power rank?” Professor Caitlin said.

“I cannot tell you my rank,” I said.

“Then do the best you can to show me what you can do, or I will have to give you a failing grade for this lesson,”

Frustrated, I evaluated the shield, and, threw out a fireball. It obliterated the target and the two adjacent targets and slammed into the protective barrier with enough force to make the entire lab shake.

“That is not what I asked for. You were told to cast a spell. That means verbally casting a spell. Do it again, and do it properly!” Professor Caitlin said.

Hitting my annoyance limit, I cast,

“Fireball!”

The fireball destroyed the new target and the new ones on either side. It slammed into the barrier, shaking the lab again. The barrier then cracked, shattered, and disintegrated into dust and the remnants of the fireball melted the outer layer of the hall. Then the lab alarm went off. The entire class was staring in shock, and some in fear.

“That was a shortened casting!” Professor Caitlin said in a perturbed voice.

“I really don't need to verbally cast. I can silently cast most spells. I only need to verbally cast created spells, multiple spells, and those which don't have a shortened form. Silent casting is the most efficient. It's shorter, faster to do, and prevents an opponent from knowing its cast until it manifests,” I said.

“Very well. I'll accept that. But it seems your strongest fireball was far less damaging than you claimed,” Professor Caitlin said.

“That was nowhere near my strongest,” I said.

Some school workers came in, repaired the wall and installed a new barrier spell. Then one worker, who looked like the leader said,

“The Queen has asked that you please refrain from destroying the shields in the future, Miss Deirdre.”

“I'll try, but the professor insisted,” I said.