Elora Theas, it would seem, was assigned to observe the project on behalf of the Valian government. That made her role in the situation much clearer, although I still didn’t know how she’d ended up working with Tristan and attacking Vera’s group.
There was still a great deal more to this picture I wasn’t seeing, but for the moment, at least I had a paper trail to confirm some of Jin’s claims.
That still didn’t mean I agreed with his approach, but it did mean that I could understand it a little bit better.
Mother…How could you allow this?
I bid Researcher a good night and headed back to Derek’s manor.
I wanted to research more, but for the moment, I needed to sleep. I had a test coming up, and I needed to be ready.
Wyddsday. The day before the second part of the dueling class final exams. I was almost out of time.
It was also the only day I didn’t have any classes, so I could use it in any way I wanted.
I asked my friends if they’d figured out anything, but they hadn’t. No one had been looking into it; they’d been too focused on practicing.
That left it to me.
I started by looking for Teft himself to ask about the test. I didn’t want to talk to him about it, but it was low risk with a high potential for reward.
For better or worse, I couldn’t find him, at his office or otherwise. I asked Derek and Keras, but they didn’t know where Teft was, either.
So, I asked Researcher to scry on the tournament area.
“That’s an unusual request, Arbiter. Can I ask why?” She peered at me with a strange degree of intensity. She never seemed to blink unless she was using it to display a reaction, like surprise or confusion. Subtle things like that reminded me that as human as she looked, she wasn’t quite the same.
“I’m having a test there tomorrow and I’d like to get information about what I’m up against.”
There was no point in lying to a creature of knowledge. Not only did I suspect she’d be able to tell just by looking at me, it felt rude.
“Oh! Why don’t you just go over there and ask?”
“I’m not sure I’m strictly allowed to know the contents of the test in advance.”
She folded her arms. “Then I’m not sure I’m allowed to help you.”
I frowned. I hadn’t expected resistance from her. “It’s for a dueling class. Knowing your battlefield in advance is a critical part of duel preparation. I did look for the teacher to ask directly, but I couldn’t find him.”
All true, even if I hadn’t looked very hard. And I could have just asked Researcher to locate Teft.
Fortunately, she caved immediately. Nodding vigorously, she proclaimed, “Yes, gathering information is critical to being a successful duelist! Well done!”
“Thanks. Uh, so, you’ll help?”
“Sure! Where is it?”
“The vaban arena.”
Researcher waved her hands, and a flickering image appeared between us. As I stepped closer, I could see that it was an overhead view of the vaban arena. She pointed at the image. “What do you need to see?”
Wow. That was…quick. I’d never seen someone work a scrying spell so effortlessly, but it did make a degree of sense that an elemental could work spells like that easily. I pointed at the spot where we’d had our previous contest.
The map shifted, showing a closer view of that spot. I could see several people inside, working on the arena floor…were those other students?
I watched for a bit, seeing some students lifting up tiles, others putting them down…and still more drawing on new runes.
Wait, is that Professor Vellum down there with them?
Oh, those must be second-year Enchanting students. They must be working to change the arena right before the test.
And on the weekend. Yeah, that sounds like one of Vellum’s classes.
That explained a great deal. I’d suspected they had students working on the tiles, but I’d guessed it would be a massive number of first-year students. Using a single class of second-year Enchanters was more efficient. It wouldn’t take long for a full class of Citrines to enchant all the tiles — or even change the existing enchantments on them.
“Did you see what you needed to see? I can maintain this a little longer, but it’s kind of exhausting.”
I shook my head. “No, I’ve seen what I need to see, thank you.”
Researcher breathed a sigh of relief and released the image. “Great. Was it helpful?”
“Definitely. I know exactly what I need to do.”
Professor Vellum’s eyes narrowed as I approached. “You’re not in this class, boy.”
I nodded amiably. “You’re right, but you know me, always looking to improve myself. I thought I’d volunteer to help out with the enchanting here, you know, get myself some experience…”
Vellum tilted her head to the side. “You’re in Teft’s class tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
Vellum cackled. “Now you’re thinking like an Enchanter. Just don’t be too obvious about it.”
I pointed at myself. “Me? Obvious? I’ll be the soul of discretion.”
“We both know that you won’t. But either this will be a glorious disaster, or you’ll manage to wipe the perpetual smirk off your professor’s face. I’ll be pleased to contribute to either.”
And just like that, I participated in Vellum’s second-year enchanting exercise, as a “volunteer”.
When the matches came the next day, I was more than ready.
“Corin, why are you grinning like that?” Patrick asked while we waited for class to begin.
“You’ll see.”
As expected, Teft led us to the vaban arena for our second round of tests.
“Assemble the teams you used last time.”
Marissa offered me a friendly nudge. I grinned in spite of the awfulness of being touched without warning. Being on Marissa’s team would make this a lot easier, especially now that she’d had another week to recover and train.
We started doing some warm-up stretches together. She had a smile on her face as she looked at me. “Glad it’s us again, at least. Didn’t want to be paired up with some stranger.”
“Agreed. We’ve practiced this. We can win.”
I didn’t know exactly what the rules of the match were going to be. It would take something truly unfair for me to still have to worry, though.
“Today, your teams are going to be matched against your former teammates. You have five minutes to prepare before matches begin.”
Of course, this was Teft’s class.
Obviously it was going to be unfair.
Marissa and I paused mid-stretch, and there was a brief interlude for expletives.
Teft kept talking. “The rules are the same as last time; you will lose when your shield sigil is depleted, and no outside weapons are allowed. There have been minor alterations to the arena setup, but you should find the match otherwise similar to before.”
We both shifted back to standing positions, sizing each other up. I broke the awkward silence first. “I should tell you in advance that I prepared some things just in case I ended up against someone I couldn’t beat in a fair fight.”
Marissa raised an eyebrow. “And?”
I waved at her. “And obviously, you’re someone I can’t beat in a fair fight.”