Mental mana couldn’t actually ignite anything, of course — we’d figured out that all we had to do was channel a little bit of mana of any type other than gray into the torch and it would light itself.
I lit the matching torch just before the beast lunged at Jin from behind.
“Look—”
Jin kicked backward, catching the beast in the face. Then he spun, ducked, and grabbed it by the neck.
The beast thrashed, spines flying toward his face, but Jin picked it up and slammed it against the ground, then laid his knee across its neck. While I closed with sword in hand, Jin drew a knife and jammed it into the creature’s chest, dragging it downward.
The monster stilled.
“That was…quick.” I blinked at him.
“Been practicing.” Jin gave me a sly grin, then flipped his knife back into a concealed sheath inside his coat. “And I don’t have to hide my strength from you anymore.”
That was true. I hadn’t been paying much attention, but he was burning with his full Sunstone aura. He’d always suppressed his true strength before our fight, but presumably the academy staff already knew about it, and…well, I obviously knew now, too.
I wish I’d learned under better circumstances.
“C’mon. Hard part is over. Let’s get the rest.” He pointed at the torches.
We each picked another one of the remaining pairs and lit them. I used transference mana. I wasn’t sure what type he was using…probably perception?
Either way, we got all the torches lit. The iron cage lifted away, and the fountain in the center was revealed, allowing us to approach and access the key in the water.
The “water” was acid, of course. I hadn’t forgotten that.
Previously, we’d frozen the water, either with Selys-Lyann or Sera’s skills. I was banned from using Selys-Lyann after nearly killing myself with it, so that was out. Sera probably could have frozen it, but we’d decided conserving her mana was a priority.
I had a much simpler solution. I handed Jin the torch, and brought out a small rod, similar to a dueling cane.
I pressed the rune on the cane. The key shook, then flew toward the end of the rod.
Magnetism was a form of metal magic, usually restricted to people with the Forgemaster attunement in Caelford.
There were, however, a few others who could use it.
Keras was one of them, but he couldn’t help me enchant items without risking breaking them.
Fortunately, I had found another option — Tavare, one of Derek’s summoned monsters. It took some convincing to get Derek to summon them to help me with an enchantment, but it was very worth it.
With the key stuck to the end of the rod, I stepped back, avoiding the cage as it fell back to the ground.
“Easy.” I remarked.
“Indeed.” Jin agreed.
The tip of the rod was sizzling. “Oh, ack. Acid on the key.”
I deactivated the magnet function, letting the key drop to the floor. Fortunately, the rod didn’t seem badly damaged.
“Okay, we’ll need to move the key without touching it.” I knelt down next to it.
“Should have kept your gauntlet for that.”
I shook my head. “Don’t need it. I’ve picked up a few new tricks.”
I pulled just a bit of transference mana into my hand, then released it, blasting the key forward.
“Hmpf. Not bad. Can you get it into the keyhole that way?”
I shook my head. “No, but I can get it close enough and pick it back up with the rod for just a second.”
The rod’s tip was burned, but not badly enough that I was overly concerned. We were probably dispersing any remaining acid on the key just by moving it around, too.
I pushed the key over to the door to what I was affectionately calling the “Tyrant Room”. I knew from past experience that it contained a long hall lined by magical vines, and a majestic carpeted floor leading down the center toward a throne.
On the throne was a crown.
Picking up that crown would summon an illusion of the Tyrant in Gold.
I rubbed my face, remembering where he’d punched me in the face. Thanks, Professor Orden. Your teaching methods are second to none.
I shook my head, raising the key to the door using the rod, and opened it.
We’d planned for this, too.
The door opened, revealing exactly the room we’d expected.
There was one problem —
The Tyrant was already there.
Nine feet tall and armored in golden mail, he carried a gilded two-handed sword, which had been lying hidden in the vines last time we’d visited the room.
I’d seen something else shimmering in the vines, too, which I’d presumed to be a hidden key. The plan had been to use the magnetic rod to pull the key out of the room and avoid the crown entirely.
This was, of course, no longer possible.
I backed away immediately.
“Ah, the young swordsman has returned. Do you intend to fight me without the benefit of your winged friend this time?”
I frowned. Professor Orden had been the one running the test last time, hadn’t she?
Who else knew about what I’d done last time?
…Was the Tyrant here a summoned monster, rather than an illusion? If that was the case, perhaps his knowledge would have persisted…
But it was more likely there was just more than one teacher observing and running each test. This was probably an illusion, just like the others.
I couldn’t let his taunts intimidate me.
“I’m afraid I won’t be challenging you today. Just here for the key, no need to scuff your armor.” I glanced around the room while I talked, hoping a bit of chatter would buy me time.
That glimmer I’d seen in the vines was gone.
I saw why a moment later, when the Tyrant raised his left hand. “Regrettably, the key is already in my possession.”
“Is it?” I pointed the magnetic rod at the key and turned it on.
The key flew out of his hand.
The Tyrant stared blankly at us for a moment. “That was rude.”
I nodded. “Yeah, we’re like that.” I tossed the rod, key and all, to Jin. “Try that on the box.”
He caught the rod and headed toward the back of the room, where we’d found a container we’d never been able to open.
The Tyrant took his sword in both hands and stepped forward. “That belonged to me.”
I drew my sword again, taking a traditional fencing stance. “You seem to think a lot of things belong to you.” I gestured with my sword at the crown he was now wearing above his mask. “At least you’ve got the crown. Isn’t that good enough?”
The Tyrant shook his head. “Of course not. Everything belongs to me. I’ll show you why.”
The Tyrant charged.
I slashed the air, sending a shockwave in his direction, but he cut the shockwave in half with a swing of his own. Then he was in swinging range, taking a huge sweep at my midsection.
I backed off.
Jin calmly said, “It doesn’t fit,” as if I wasn’t currently in the middle of battling against a seven-foot tall illusory deity.
“Okay, little help, then?” The Tyrant’s next swing connected with my blade, battering it to the side with incredible force. Then he released one hand to throw a punch at my face.
Not again.
I ducked, lashing out with a punch of my own, charged with transference mana. It only blasted him back a few inches, but that was just enough to make his next swing miss.
I took advantage of that, swiping my blade upward and connecting with his chin.
The blade deflected harmlessly off his steel mask, just as I’d feared.
Then he was swinging again, with enough force to cut me in half.
Move.