I needed to sort through that at some point, but I wasn’t quite ready to talk to him again yet.
And I definitely wasn’t ready to to potentially spend seventy-two hours with him during our next test. That was going to be challenging.
Aside from Jin, I was still worried about the possibility that people were watching my room. I checked the area first, but I didn’t see anyone overtly suspicious.
I cautiously made my way inside.
Nothing inside the dorm itself looked to have been tampered with, but I found multiple pieces of mail that had been slipped under the door.
Most of it was junk, simply because I hadn’t visited in a while.
There were three things of note.
First, I found the deployment assignments.
Deployment Date: Snow 8th, 413, 7:00AM
Platoon Designation: Serpent Epsilon
Platoon Assignment:
Cadence, Corin (Enchanter)
Cadence, Sera (Summoner)
Callahan, Marissa (Guardian)
Wayland, Patrick (Elementalist)
Dalen, Jin (Unlisted)
Winters, Katherine (Student Supervisor)
Students are expected to meet with their supervisor at the Beaufort Train Station at the date and time listed above. Tickets to the station nearest to your training area will be provided.
Details on your mission assignment will be given when you reach the training area.
It was Snow 3rd, so we had less than a week before our deployment. We were probably in the second or third group, depending on whether or not they deployed people in overlapping groups or not. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Next, I had a few report papers listing my grades for various classes. I found the most recent overall report.
Cadence, Corin (Enchanter)
First Year
Overall Class Ranking: 987/8112
Phoenix Division Rank: 188/1564
Current Point Totaclass="underline" 584
Class Scores:
Magic Theory – 55 (Rank C)
Understanding Attunements – 65 (Rank B)
Mana Manipulation – 110 (Rank S)
Physical Combat – 61 (Rank B)
Introductory Runes – 75 (Rank B+)
Elective: Art of Artifice – 30 (Rank D)
Elective: Dueling – 70 (Rank B)
General Tests: 118
My scores were pretty respectable. I still wasn’t quite in the top 100, but I was in a healthy spot in the class as a whole.
My mana manipulation score was amazing, though. That must have been what Professor Edlyn had been talking about when she’d given me that ominous line about hearing about my score soon. I’d been worried about nothing; she’d just been talking about rewarding me with an extremely high grade.
That was a relief.
My overall grades still weren’t going to be high enough to please Father, but I wouldn’t have to be completely ashamed, either.
There were two remaining hurdles.
The first was Spider Division.
If our division hadn’t reported anyone correctly, I’d lose two hundred and fifty points, or nearly half of my total. I didn’t think that would put me below the passing threshold by itself, but it would hurt.
And more worryingly, our scores for this year would serve as our starting point for next year. I needed to plan for that as well. Starting out in a weak position for the following year was unacceptable.
The second hurtle was this new exam.
From the way the chancellor had been talking, I suspected a poor performance would result in failing out of the school outright.
Even a mediocre performance might include a significant point loss. That was also unacceptable.
I needed successes both with Spider Division and the next test to ensure I had the best score possible going into the second year.
But first, I had one more piece of mail.
My Dear Corin,
As you have no doubt already heard, matters in Dalenos have been somewhat tumultuous of late.
I have been rendering what aid I can to their beleaguered government, and as such, I remain indisposed for the time being.
My hope is to visit you shortly after the conclusion of your school semester.
I will once again remind you to avoid any dealings with Keras Selyrian. While I have been informed that he has been cleared from his criminal charges, he is nevertheless an extraordinarily dangerous individual.
There are also some family matters I need to discuss with you, but that conversation will best be held in person and in private.
You will be in my thoughts.
Love,
Your Mother
The letter’s date indicated it was sent just a week ago, so fortunately, I hadn’t left it sitting in my apartment for long.
There was…quite a lot to think about from that.
Most of it I didn’t want to think about, but it was too important to ignore.
There had been an attack in Dalenos just after I’d gotten out of the spire. The grand cathedral — a major center of worship — had been destroyed.
Dalenos was a theocracy, largely ruled by Katashi directly. They had an emperor and an empress, but those were largely ceremonial figures, at least in my limited understanding. Katashi and his priesthood had the real power.
Mother had left for Dalenos before that explosion had happened.
Had that been a coincidence?
…Or was she involved?
I couldn’t discount anything at this point. Now that I knew my brother was involved with the kidnapping of Tenjin, it was theoretically possible that other members of my family could be involved in similar affairs.
Moreover, Mother had approved the expedition in which Vera and Echion had entered the Serpent Spire. That meant she at least knew something about the god beast attunements. I didn’t know how much she’d been told, but given the other facts, it was likely her knowledge was significant.
Mother was also suspiciously powerful. She’d been in the council room during that vision I’d seen in the memory crystal Jin had given me, and she’d put up a good fight against Keras. She clearly had two attunements, and at least one of them was probably Emerald-level. As far as I knew, that put her in about the top ten people in Valia in terms of raw power.