He grinned at me. “Nice. Now what?”
Marissa was maneuvering carefully on my side, her left hand glowing with a visible aura.
On our opposite side, Roland and the other remaining student were standing still, weapons poised and ready.
Charging Marissa would be suicide — Guardians are made for close combat. Rushing Roland would let her shoot at us from behind, and I don’t think we’d close that distance before she could hit us. We could make a fighting retreat to Roland’s side, but as soon as it’s obvious we’re angling for them they’d probably attack…
How can we overwhelm them from here?
“Patrick, do you think you’re recovered enough for another shot?”
His expression was pained, but he nodded. “I think so. If I have to.”
I whispered something in his ear.
He extended his cane toward Marissa and raised his thumb above the rune. If this went badly, Marissa was the least likely opponent to be seriously hurt.
I grabbed onto his cane with my left hand. “Now.”
We pushed the rune at the same time.
I felt the mana surging through me and, for the first time, I felt that connection extend all the way through to someone else. Patrick.
We were each giving it enough mana to power the blast individually. I gave it more, pushing my mana through, just like I had with my dueling cane.
I felt the mana that was already charging the cane, grabbed that, and pulled it into rune.
The sphere we produced was tremendous, probably three feet in diameter. It whirred through the air, directly at Marissa.
Marissa slammed her cane into the incoming orb, but her weapon bounced right off it. The ball impacted with her shield, leaving glowing cracks as it continued to push, until she slammed a fist through the center of the orb and dispersed it into tiny fragments.
“What are you about, Corin?” She lowered her hand, shaking it out a few times, then sent us an outraged glare. “You tryin’ to kill me?”
I winced. Maybe that attack had been overkill. I hadn’t meant to upset her. “Uh. Um… No. Sorry—”
She replied with a pair of blasts: one for Patrick; one for me. Both landed on target.
Lord Teft clapped as we walked out of the ring. “Excellent, excellent. I haven’t seen a show like that in… days, maybe?” He shook his head. “Anyway, good ingenuity there. Roland, twelve points for asking for a second cane and lasting until the end.”
That second cane was a great idea. Wish I’d thought of that.
Teft turned toward another student and continued. “Ten points to Jonathan for lasting to the end as well. Marissa, ten points for you as well, for your overall performance. And Corin…”
Marissa stomped over to Teft. “Yer gonna reward him for whatever that was?”
Teft chuckled. “I said the only weapons you could use were canes. I didn’t say how you had to use them. Overcharging a cane would be illegal in a number of events, true, and it probably should have been a rule here. But it wasn’t. So, five points to Corin for cheating and getting away with it.”
She folded her arms. “And yer not worried ‘bout what would have happened if he broke my shield?”
“In a worst case? You’d be feeling very numb right now. These are practice war canes, Miss Callahan. The spells they emit are safer than normal dueling canes, and even those are barely a threat. If you have concerns about the safety of my class, however, you are always welcome to leave.”
“No,” she replied through clenched teeth. “I’m not leavin’.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve somethin’ different in mind.”
After spending a few minutes nursing my numbed limbs, I left the class.
I hadn’t meant to get on Marissa’s bad side. In fact, she was one of the few students that truly interested me. On my way out, I realized that just apologizing and explaining what I was thinking would probably help, if I had the courage to do it.
So I walked right back to class and did it immediately.
I caught Marissa as she was tossing her cane in the box.
“Hey, uh… Marissa.”
She spun, her jaw tightening as she saw me. “What is it, Corin?”
I raised my hands defensively. “I came back here to apologize.”
She tilted her head to the side. “What? You making a joke?”
I waved my upraised arms back and forth in denial. “Uh, not joking. I’m not good at this, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to cheat back there, or to do something that looked like it might actually hurt you. Honestly, I didn’t know exactly how dangerous it was, so I really shouldn’t have done that even if it did turn out well, but—”
“Stop.” She frowned. “Okay. Yer apologizing. And yer right, that was stupid. But… Well, you’re actually apologizing? That’s… well, it’s new.”
I raised an eyebrow. “New?”
Marissa brushed her hands across her uniform, looking down. “Yer a noble, aren’t ya? You know I’m not, right?”
I nodded. “I mean, I’d guessed that, but I don’t see how it’s a big deal.”
“Do you know how frequently nobles apologize for doing somethin’ mean to someone who ain’t one of them?
“I, uh, hadn’t really thought about it. But from your reaction, I’m going to gather the answer is ‘not very frequently’?”
She laughed. It was a short laugh, one that rang of bitterness. “Might be understating that a bit.” She looked up at me, letting her eyes meet mine. I didn’t look away. “Why’d ye do it? Why go after me like that?”
I blinked. “It was nothing personal, if that’s what you were thinking. You were clearly too strong defensively for normal attacks to work. The other two were too far away for us to reach.”
Marissa frowned. “But I saw ye looking at me, even before the match started.”
“Sure, I was looking for the toughest opponents, figuring out how to crack your defenses or work around you.”
“Toughest… opponents?”
I tapped my forehead. “See this? I have the great honor and prestige of having one of the worst attunements for dueling. The only chance I have to succeed here is through strategy, at least until I can throw together some items. And a big part of that strategy is learning how to deal with the strongest fighters we have. At the moment, that’s you, Roland, and maybe that Jeremiah guy who only shows up to about a third of our classes.”
She chuckled. “Not sure I agree that he should make the list. Not sure I agree that I should make the list — but, I, uh, guess I’m flattered?”
I nodded. “Anyway, I really am sorry that I offended you, and if there’s something I can do to make up for it, let me know.”
Marissa raised a hand to her mouth, looking stymied. I wasn’t sure why I was affecting her so much. Clearly I had miscalculated somehow, but the response wasn’t entirely bad, at least.
“I, uh, I… I’ll think about it. I think I should go? I should go.” Marissa half-nodded, half-bowed, and then disappeared into the distance.
When I arrived back at my room, there was a letter waiting for me. It had a runic seal, one designed to break only when touched by the intended recipient. Opening the letter before the seal was deactivated would incinerate the document. The offender’s hands weren’t likely to come out unsinged either.
I hadn’t seen one in years; they were expensive. Now that I was an Enchanter, I’d have to learn how to make them at some point.