Ray wasn't personally offended, but his internal committee was in a state of strategic panic .
Scholar: "A critical miscalculation. We performed weakness so perfectly that our target has deemed us a waste of his time."
Conman: "A whole week?! He's not coming back! This is bad, bad, bad!"
Courtier: "He's right. This is a disaster. If Caleb Zipkin doesn't teach us, Headmaster Andrade will have no plausible narrative for our improvement at the Promotion Trials. She'll assume we've been lying all along . We need him to be our alibi."
Ray understood the problem perfectly. He had to force the laziest man in the academy to do his job, and he had to do it without revealing his own hand. He moved to his desk, making a calculated move .
He took a sheet of the academy's finest parchment, dipped a quill in fresh ink, and began to write. His handwriting was the careful, slightly-too-perfect script of a diligent, gifted child.
It was a formal, respectful, and slightly concerned message addressed directly to Headmaster Andrade. In it, he humbly informed her that his assigned tutor, Master Zipkin, had unfortunately failed to appear for any lessons for the past seven days. He respectfully inquired if a replacement tutor should be expected, so as not to fall behind in his critical foundational studies .
It was a perfect political maneuver. It proved to Andrade that he was the eager student she wanted him to be, while simultaneously forcing her to deal with her own lazy appointee. He sealed the letter, a cold, satisfied look in his eyes. The first move in his new, two-front war had been made.
With the ‘Caleb Problem’ temporarily shelved, Ray pivoted his full attention to the preparation for the Promotion Trials. Using his generous stipend from the Headmaster, he rented a private, warded training hall in a disused section of the College of Statecraft, far from prying eyes.
Sergeant Svane guarding outside the training. This became their new temporary headquarters.
He met Eliza and Cassian there the next day. As their official sponsor , Cassian had fully embraced his role as mentor, a 4th-Circle Mage tasked with whipping two prodigies into shape.
“No, Eliza, your somatic actions are a little sloppy,”
Cassian critiqued, his voice sharp. He was no longer the bumbling, excited academic. Here, in his element, he was a master.
“You’re 'requesting' the Mana, not 'commanding' it. Be precise. Again.”
Eliza, her face set in a mask of pure concentration, huffed in frustration but obeyed. She cast her Arcane Bolt again. This time, it was sharper, faster.
“Better,”
Cassian grunted.
“Now, Ray. Your turn.”
Ray stepped forward. This was a different kind of performance. He couldn't lie to Eliza's Lie Detection skill, but he couldn't show his true, primordial mana affinity. He had to perform the ‘curated truth’ of his fire affinity.
Weaver: "Ugh, orange? How dreadfully common. And you're holding back! That form is... adequate. I suppose. But it has no flair!"
Courtier: "The performance is perfect. 'Rapidly improving rookie.' It's exactly what they expect to see. It's believable."
Ray focused, drew on the ambient Mana, and cast a stable, effective, and perfectly orange Fire Bolt that slammed into a practice dummy.
Cassian watched, his eyes wide.
“Your improvement is... frankly, terrifying, Ray. Your control is already better than most 1st-Circle Novice Mage.”
Then he frowned.
“But your approach is all brute force! You’re just... shoving the fire out. There's no elegance, no finesse. Against a real proctor, that's a good way to get yourself countered and embarrassed.”
Ray had to stop himself from smiling. This was exactly what he wanted Cassian to think. He now had a perfect justification for his ‘remedial’ lessons with Master Zipkin.
Cassian sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“This isn't working. Individual drills are one thing. The 'Scenario' is about teamwork . We need to see how you two function under real pressure. How you handle a superior, high-circle opponent.”
He rolled his shoulders, a competitive, almost manic, grin spreading across his face.
“Alright,”
Cassian declared.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“A 2 vs 1 spar . You two... against me. Don't hold back.”
The spar began. Eliza, acting as the primary ‘offense,’ immediately tested Cassian’s defenses. She didn't launch a projectile. Instead, she raised her hand and made a sharp, clutching motion in the air.
"Gelu!"
She hissed.
Cassian just snorted. He felt a supernatural cold try to latch onto his arm, but as a 4th-Circle Mage, his innate magical resistance was formidable. He simply willed his internal energy to the surface, and the spider-web of white frost that had begun to form on his sleeve instantly cracked and flaked away.
"A Frostbite cantrip, Eliza?"
Cassian said, his voice dripping with bored superiority.
"Testing my will? Against me? You'll have to do better than that! My turn!”
Cassian moved, shifting his weight to his back foot, his hand glowing as he prepared a 1st-Circle Burning Hands spell. He brought his hands together, thumbs touching with fingers splayed, and began the sibilant chant:
"Incendia...!"
Ray saw it. The shift in weight. The planting of the back foot. He didn't just see a stance, he saw an opportunity. Ray, already using The Fulcrum Principle, sees a shimmering trajectory line, visible only to him, mapped the path from his hand to the exact spot Cassian's boot would land .
From a small pouch hidden in his sleeve, his fingers deftly retrieved a small, uncorked vial of alchemical grease, the ‘low-viscosity lubricant’ his Eccentric Scholar had suggested before. Using the Stoic Assassin’s ‘Marksmanship’ skill, with a sharp, practiced flick of his wrist, he sent the vial spinning across the floor.
The glass vial shattered silently on the stone exactly where Cassian was planting his foot for the stance for the. Cassian's boot hit the invisible, slick patch. His footing, which had been the anchor for his spell, instantly vanished. He didn't fall, but he skidded wildly, his arms flailing for balance. His entire body lurched, and his complex, half-formed spell fizzled into nothing .
This surprise interruption broke Cassian's concentration. Eliza, surprised but instinctively opportunistic, immediately capitalized.
"Ha! Got you!"
she yelled, but this time she changed her spell. She stabbed her index finger forward.
"Glacies!"
A thin, brilliant ray of blue-white light, a Ray of Frost lanced from her fingertip, aimed at the still-floundering Cassian. As Cassian, still off-balance, threw up a hasty hand in a ‘stop’ motion.
"Scutum!"
At the same time Cassian was setting up his defense with 1-Circle Shield spell, Ray cast his own cantrip. He shoved his palm forward.
"Ventus!"
A sharp, focused Gust of wind slammed into Cassian's arm, not hard enough to hurt, but just as he was forming the somatic components. The shove broke his concentration and his gesture. His Shield spell warped, wavered, and fizzled .
A second later, Eliza's Ray of Frost struck him square in the shoulder. A loud crack-hiss echoed in the hall as a thick crust of magical frost instantly encased his joint, causing his movement to slow even if he wanted to back away. It would be hobbling, pained limp as the magical cold deadened the limb. Cassian was now completely flustered .
He was being inundated with attacks while simultaneously slipping on an invisible patch of... something... and now his shoulder was frozen. He wasn't heavily hurt; he was being annoyed to death.
He was fighting two opponents: a standard, predictable duelist, and a gremlin who was making the battlefield itself betray him . His mind flashed back to the Genesis Crystal Chamber, to Ray's impossible, authoritative commands that had directed old masters. This was a terrifying new dimension to that same strategic mind .
As Cassian paused, a silent notification bloomed in Ray's mind.
[SKILLED APPLICATION DETECTED]
[EVENT: TACTICAL SUPPORT & DISRUPTION (2-v-1 SPAR)]
[PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: ADEPT]
[ANALYSIS: Host successfully applied his Innate Martial Art (The Fulcrum Principle) in a live-fire exercise. The synthesis of a prepared alchemical tool (grease) with a low-level Mana Weaving cantrip (Gust) to create a tactical opening for an ally demonstrates a high-level understanding of battlefield control and force multiplication. Standard Mastery Gain awarded.]
[MASTERY GAIN: Tactical Assessment +15% (CAPSTONE already reached, adding half of mastery gain to the next archetype skill 'Basic Weapon Proficiency'), Marksmanship +10%, Mana Weaving +5%]
Moments later the spar ended. Cassian stood in the center of the training hall, breathing heavily, more from frustration than exertion. Eliza, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear.
"That... was infuriating,"
Cassian said, finally lowering his arms. He then rounded on Ray, his expression a mask of pure, academic bafflement.
"But how did you do that perfectly? A Gust spell is wind based magic. The affinity you showed us in your suite was the Fire affinity. How are you casting cantrips from two different primary affinities? Let alone with the same perfect control?"
He started pacing, his mind clearly working.
"Even a mage with a rare sub-affinity does not have the same level of control with their main element. But you... you're casting Fire and Wind spells like they're both your main affinity elements. It shouldn't be possible."
Eliza, too, was now intensely curious. She stepped closer, her Lie Detection skill aimed squarely at Ray, her sharp eyes watching his every micro-expression.
Ray knew he was trapped. A simple lie would be detected by Eliza, shattering their fragile alliance. But the truth of his Primordial Affinity was his ultimate secret. He needed a new performance. A lie crafted from a deeper, more complex truth.
Courtier: "He's trapped us. A direct lie will be detected by Eliza. We must build a narrative from a foundation of truth."
Scholar: "The premise is sound! We are using theoretical principles, not natural affinity. It is the most logical explanation!"
Ray looked down, as if slightly embarrassed by the question.
"I... I'm not a caster like you, Cassian. My affinity isn't 'Fire.' My affinity is a... a mess. It's a 'fluke', just as the Headmaster believes."
He looked up, his golden-flecked eyes now holding the focused, analytical light of the Eccentric Scholar .
"I can't just will fire into existence. I have to build the spell. I'm not 'casting' `Gust'; I'm using the runic principles of 'propulsion' and 'compression' to manipulate the air, just like an engineer. It's not affinity; it's pure theory."
He held up his hands, as if to show they were just simple tools.
"That's why the spells I can do at the moment are cantrip level spells. As the higher the circle of the spell the more complicated its principles. But it's also why I can cast any of them. It's an academic approach, not a natural one."
Cassian and Eliza were stunned into silence.
Cassian, a 4th-Circle Mage , tried to process the sheer, mind-boggling arrogance of what Ray had just claimed. He wasn't casting magic; he was reverse-engineering it on the fly, applying the foundational, runic theory of creation to every spell, every time. It was an explanation that was both insanely arrogant and perfectly, terrifyingly logical.
Eliza's Lie Detection skill , meanwhile, was giving her a clean, ‘True’ signal. Ray wasn't lying. He genuinely believed his affinity was a mess, and he was using pure theory. The explanation fit his ‘genius scholar’ persona perfectly, explaining both his impossible versatility and his weakness.
The ‘Engineer's Narrative’ was a resounding success.
Thanks for reading!
Ray has successfully sold his "Engineer" narrative to his friends and his tutor, securing his alibi for the trials.
Next Time: Ray’s celebration is cut short when his internal committee connects the dots on a catastrophic oversight. If his healing magic unlocked Sergeant Svane's potential, what did it do to the Headmaster's Shadow Guards? Realizing he may have accidentally upgraded the very spies watching him, Ray needs immediate data. He needs to know if his Aether acts as a universal key... and he has only one person he trusts enough to test it on.
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89B93
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Dec 31st