Chapter 66: Golden

News of the duel between Snake and Susanna spread like natural magic throughout campus. Many of the second and first-year students had watched the ranking reveal from the entrance hall, only to see the top student quickly change not long after. The resulting gossip and rumors plagued the school for days. Susanna’s life wasn’t in danger, but for someone of her status, a loss of reputation was sometimes considered even worse. 

Today, three days after the ball, was the first time Sen was able to get access to Professor Sikar, who’d been by Susanna’s side except to rest and teach his classes. Today, he worked in the forge. He turned without looking, knowing who it was that had come to see him. “Hello Sen,” he said, hammering away at the artifact he was working on. A white necklace with a golden aura. Sikar leaned in, scrutinizing the piece carefully. “I suppose you’re here about Susanna?” he asked.

Sen sighed. “I am. How’s she holding up?” He split his attention between the question and the artifact Sikar was working on. The mana felt imbalanced. He squinted, “Hold on a moment…that feels—”

Sikar was mid-hammer already. The necklace shattered. Sikar’s shoulders dropped, and he set the hammer down on a nearby table. “Uneven. No matter what I try, I can’t replicate it.”

“Replicate what?” Sen asked, his curiosity piqued. 

Sikar turned to him. “You asked how she was holding up. The truth is, not well. Her entire fighting style revolved around her artifact. This doesn’t happen. I don’t know how Snake managed to rip out her artifact without taking her heart with it. I don’t even know how she’s alive. But…I can’t afford to spend time on that with final exams coming up.”

Sen tilted his head. “What does this have to do with exams?” he asked.

“She doesn’t have time to learn new techniques. Not at a proficient level for her graduation duel. Losing a duel is one thing, being unable to compete at all is another. If she walks into the arena as she is now, she won’t just lose. She won’t graduate.”

“Can’t they delay it? Surely these are extenuating circumstances?” Sen demanded. This sounded insane. How could they possibly blame her for Snake and Sen’s actions? Snake had destroyed her artifact. Sen had healed her against her wishes. How could the school blame her for that? 

Sikar sighed and eyed the shattered necklace. “If it had happened during class, or even a quest, exceptions could be made. But…she accepted a duel. One she technically initiated. The school can’t make an exception in this case. Students who weren’t ready for graduation duels could simply feign injuries to buy themselves more time to train. I don’t agree with it, which is why I’m trying to fix it. But that’s the way things are.”

Sen set aside his distaste for the policy for now and focused on what Sikar said. He eyed the broken artifact. “So, you’re trying to replicate an artifact that can function similarly? I thought that risked the Tower family sending someone after you?” Sen asked.

Sikar’s face hardened. 

So this was risky. In other words, Sen shouldn’t get involved. “How can I help?” he asked.

[…seriously?]

Sikar shook his head. “At this stage, it would take the intervention of a god. This work is beyond even me. But I’ll keep at it.”

Sen found Sikar’s choice of words amusing. He’d offer his help, but to do so, he needed a better understanding of Susanna’s powers. “Do you know where she is? I’ve asked around on campus, but no one seems to know.”

“The dean gave her permission to stay off campus for a few days, all things considered. She got a room at the inn. Her family will probably send representatives to evaluate her condition soon. I hope to figure this out before they get here,” Sikar said. But he seemed unsure of himself. 

“If you can’t?” Sen asked, a sense of worry spreading over him.

“They may very well disown her, Sen.”

As Sen left the forge room, he saw Ano floating just past the balcony on his pillow. “Sen! Mori told me I’d find you here.” The blue-haired, muscular man leapt off his pillow and over the railing. At least he intended to. His pillow floated away from the railing at the same time that he jumped. 

Ano plummeted. 

Sen ran to the railing and peered over. 

Ano had fallen three straight stories and face-planted. His leg was bent up towards his side. 

[Of all the cool ways I thought he might die, that was not on the list.]

Sen shot a look at the pillow. The zipper on its side unzipped itself, and the pillow whistled casually. As if it had nothing to do with the incident. Sen scoffed. He leapt over the railing and padded his landing with Encapsulation. “Ano? Are you okay?” He quickly readied a restoration spell.

Ano groaned, but slowly forced himself up. He looked unharmed. Sen half-suspected he’d folded his leg like that on purpose. “Yeah. I’m fine. Had a nightmare last night, so he’s been kind of a butthead today. Luckily for me, I’m pretty tough. It takes at least a three-story fall to do any damage to me. I can tank two floors no problem.”

Sen blinked. “That was the third floor.”

Ano nodded. “That makes a little more sense. I was lying. I’m in a lot of pain.” He stretched an arm over his head for a few seconds before switching and stretching the other side. “Anyway, got some time to chat? I looked into that thing you asked me about.”

Sen nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s head toward the inn. There’s something I want to check on.”

Ano’s pillow followed them out of the academy but kept a safe distance, as if it expected Ano to retaliate for its earlier aggression. Ano paid it no mind. 

“So, I did some digging. Snake left the night after the ball. It’s not unusual for the top fourth-years across the continent. At this point in the school year, most of the more advanced students go off to train in isolation. Either with a mentor, or on their own. Alari’s father is sending an escort for her as well. He’ll be training her personally for her duel. Laurette’s taking me into the mountains soon. Since I’m the top student of Green Book, it’s likely someone’s going to challenge me to a grad duel.” 

Sen frowned. “I’m afraid I’m still not necessarily aware of what those are.”

Ano scanned the storefronts of shops idly as they walked. “Grad duels? Well, normally two fourth-year students fight each other under the supervision of an instructor from their school. It’s not the kind of thing where you have to win to graduate or anything. It’s more…showing what you can do. Like an exhibition of sorts. Most of the time. But for the top fourth-year students, things are a little different. Take me and Alari, for instance. Each of us is ranked number one at our school. Typically, high-ranking students challenge students from a different academy. It’s sort of like how the Academy War is a chance for us all to show off, except this is on an individual level. These duels get a lot of attention. You could dominate your academy for four years, get called out by someone from another school, and watch your reputation come crumbling down in a single battle. There’s a lot on the line,” Ano said.

Sen eyed him. That sounded intense. Suddenly Sen wished he were a fourth-year. A battle like that sounded fun, if he was being honest. An actual duel between other top students. “You said it’s likely someone will challenge you, aren’t you challenging anyone?” Sen asked.

Ano shrugged. “I don’t much care for the spotlight. I’m fine fighting someone from my school, graduating and figuring out where to go from there. But if someone challenges me, I can’t really refuse. Laurette would kill me if I tried. She’s mad enough that I’m not using my own challenge. Though I considered it.” A rare hint of anger revealed itself in his voice.

Sen arched a brow. “Who were you going to choose?”

Ano turned to look at him. “You really have to ask? I was gonna wring Snake out to dry. That is until I heard your little declaration of war. I don’t need to get my hands dirty if my bro’s got it covered,” Ano said with a wink. 

A crowd had formed ahead, outside the inn. Ano was already taller than most, and even he still stretched his neck to get a better look. Sikar had given Sen a hint of what might be going on, but he hadn’t expected to actually witness it. Looks like Sikar wouldn’t finish his project in time. Not before Susanna’s family arrived, at least. 

“Wonder what’s going on?” Ano asked. 

Sen hurried forward without a word. Ano’s heavy boots and the sound of a pillow cutting through the wind weren’t far behind. 

Sen stretched his focus over the two of them, and the pillow as well, and cast a quick spell. “Invisibility Maxim.” The two of them and Ano’s pillow disappeared into thin air. Sen reached the crowd and pushed through. A number of very confused people looked at innocent neighbors, wondering why they’d been suddenly shoved. Town guards were keeping people from entering, but thanks to his magic, Sen and Ano brushed right through. He headed upstairs immediately, ignoring the guests downstairs. It wasn’t long before he heard an argument. It was muffled, likely by some spell intended to create privacy, but he recognized enough of what was said to realize Susanna was one of the participants. 

Ano was somewhere behind him. “What’s going on?” he whispered, as if talking too loudly would break the spell. 

“Susanna’s family is visiting her,” Sen said. 

“Ah. She sounds upset, wanna beat them up?” Ano asked.

Without being able to see Ano’s face, Sen honestly wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.

“I’m not joking, by the way,” Ano clarified.

The door to Susanna’s room opened, and two people walked out. A man and a woman. Both of them had straight, long hair that fell down nearly to their calves. Their hair had the faint glow of golden creation magic, the same kind Susanna used. The woman had fair features, a small nose, and forest-green eyes. The man’s face was more angular, his eyes were ocean blue like Susanna’s. His ears were slightly pointed. Susanna followed them out of the room. “I’m so close to graduation,” she pleaded. 

The woman sighed, but said nothing. The man threw his arms up. “You’ve been given every advantage in this world, and yet you’re the only Tower that has ever seen her construct destroyed and lived to talk about it. Frankly, Susanna, it would have been better if you had died. Now what can you possibly contribute to the family?” 

The woman pushed him on the shoulder. “Aren!” 

He shrugged. “It’s true.” He turned back to Susanna. “Prove you’re worth the resources, however, and we’ll reevaluate afterwards.”

“How can I prove that without my artifact?” Susanna asked.

“That is the question every magician outside of our family must ask themselves. Maybe ask advice from one of your commoner friends.” The man, Aren, sneered. 

Susanna started to protest. But Aren held a hand up and a wall of golden light appeared in her doorway, separating her from them. The woman frowned. The two older members of the Tower family walked away. Aren suddenly tripped and smacked into the ground with his face. “What the—” 

The woman looked at him. “What happened?”

He looked around wildly. “I could’ve…I could’ve sworn I stepped on a pillow or something.” He shook his head. “No matter. Let’s get home already, this place reeks of commoner.” 

Ano stifled a laugh. 

They descended the stairs, but the doorway remained. Sen hurried over to it, still invisible, and placed a hand over it. He closed his eyes and focused on the magic. Golden Creation magic was not creation magic. He already knew that. It was something else entirely, but he hadn’t had the chance to study it like this. The magic was dense, unlike illusion magic, but it did have the malleability of illusion magic. It was versatile and melded to the will of its user, like an elemental spell, but it could persist long after death, similar to a summon. He didn’t have a full understanding of it, nor could he get one from such simple analysis.

He whispered a spell. “Analyze Magic Maxima,” he said. He allowed the information the spell filled his mind with to go directly to Tutor, and the flurry of thoughts disappeared. This should help him find a proper starting point. For now, that was all he could do short of asking Susanna herself. 

As the doorway finally disappeared, he could tell that wasn’t in the cards for now. She sat on her bed, crying into her hands. He cast a silencing spell and slowly closed her door for her. 

Instead of returning through the crowd, they leapt out of the second-story window. Ano landed with a smack, and his invisibility faded. Sen landed right next to him and dropped his as well. 

Ano smiled. “Ah, that’s much better. See, two stories isn’t so bad? So what now?”

Sen looked back toward the academy. “I’ve got to go get my rank reward.”

Ano’s eyes lit up. “The high-grade magic artifact! Oh, that’s exciting. Say, can you give me another dose of that invisibility spell? Maybe I can steal something, or a couple something’s. I’ll cut you in, don’t worry.”

Sen chuckled, then looked up and saw Ano’s face straight as ever. “What?” he asked, wondering why Sen was laughing. 

It wasn’t the worst idea…