Standing out of frame just to the side and slightly behind the announcer, Zoe let a small frown cross her face. She had no doubts that the broadcast station would be using the delay to do just as he had said. However, the delay had been imposed by Anderson. Not for any editing purposes, but just in case something went wrong.
They weren’t broadcasting a snuff film, after all.
Both Anderson and Redford had given countless assurances both to the television station and to Zoe that any appearance of danger was just that, an appearance. A device to enhance the event.
Zoe had her doubts.
Eva on her own was potentially a danger to all the other contestants. Even if she wasn’t going to use her blood magic. Her claws made her incredibly dangerous in close quarters, the explosions she seemed to specialize in were a hazard at long range. However, neither was enough to really make her dangerous. Magically—thaumaturgically—Eva wasn’t that special. The older students would definitely have the advantage in that aspect.
The real danger came in Eva’s temperament. Zoe had seen time and time again just how ruthless Eva could be when she wanted to. The fight with the hunter and her descriptions of fighting Sawyer being the two most recent examples that came to mind.
Of course, Zoe didn’t believe that Eva would intentionally harm her opponents. Even if they were fighting. At least, she didn’t want to believe it.
The fact was that Eva had been… cagey in recent weeks. Since school started at the very least. Zoe had barely seen her for the most part. It seemed as if she was always disappearing. Always with Arachne, sometimes one or two of the demons would disappear as well. Juliana was even starting to disappear with her after school most days.
Of course, she had yet to see Arachne today. Considering the spider-demon hadn’t strayed far from Eva since her return, even going so far as to attend most classes with Eva, Zoe had a feeling that something was up. Arachne might already be snooping about within the designated boundaries of the Infinite Courtyard. Or perhaps she was attached to Eva, hidden beneath her clothes.
Whatever the case, Zoe hoped that Arachne wouldn’t be causing any problems with the night’s events.
Zoe hadn’t inquired about the students’ disappearances. The school hadn’t burned down yet, so they probably weren’t up to anything too terrible.
That and the fact that she had been busy with her own problems. While she would like to say that she had fully investigated and found a solution to the problem of Life and Void, she could not. Powers were not well researched. A great number of mages didn’t believe in them in the first place. Just looking into them was essentially inventing a whole new branch of magical science.
Unfortunately, even that research topic had been set on the back burner. A combination of lack of results and other responsibilities had taken over.
Namely, what she was doing at the moment.
“–our website. There, you can select which camera feeds you wish to view, all on your own. Of course, there will still be the delay. Can’t have some people knowing things before others. But unless you’re here in person, you won’t notice the delay in the slightest.”
He stepped backwards, moving a few steps over towards Zoe. As he moved, the guy behind the camera turned it to face the two of them.
“After a brief message from our sponsors, we’ll have an interview with the Magical theory professor here at Brakket Magical Academy. This has been Hank Hanson, don’t change that channel.”
Every time he said the word ‘magical’ was like the first time he had heard the word. It was amazing that he managed to refrain from winking at the camera.
He remained frozen with a smile on his face for a good ten seconds after talking before he finally dropped his arms to his sides. Taking in a deep breath, he let it out as a long sigh.
“Nervous?” Zoe asked with a quirk of her lips.
“You have no idea. Twice as many viewers as the moon landing and the number is still climbing, yet about ten thousand times more things that can go wrong. All the drones are still operational. We haven’t needed to dig into our backup supply. I’m amazed that the website hasn’t crashed yet.”
Zoe kept silent. Her thoughts had just been along the same lines. Though she was far less concerned about their infrastructure.
Of course, she should be. At least partially.
The cut from the advertising that Brakket Academy was getting was not insignificant. Almost to the point where this one event would justify the past and future ten years of free scholarships given to every student. Really, if Brakket Academy could strike such deals in the future, they could continue to give out scholarships for a long time to come.
Except for the impression she got from Anderson about the future of Brakket Academy. With the publicity from the event, their days of free scholarships were likely over. Especially if they won a good amount of the events, or possibly the entire contest. Hunting for new students wouldn’t be necessary if they started getting genuine applications.
“Advertisements will be ending in sixty seconds,” Hank said. “Let’s take our seats.”
Together, they moved to a wooden deck that had recently been constructed just inside the Infinite Courtyard. A large square of wood with no walls and no roof, lit by several standing columns of light. Magical lights, of course.
A good segment of the Infinite Courtyard had been lit up with larger versions of the lights just behind the deck, staving off the darkness of the soon to be setting sun while giving a lovely view of the forest. The television company had been somewhat upset that the first event would be occurring at night. At least until Anderson brought in an enchanter to touch up the camera lenses.
They now functioned about as well in the dark of night as they did during a sunny day.
Opposite the lit forest was a bank of cameras and monitors. At the moment, most of the monitors were blank. Two showed two different angles of Zoe and the set she stood on. The rest would be showing feed from the drones once they were out and in the air.
Currently, one had an advertisement of a soft drink playing. Not being a connoisseur of television, Zoe couldn’t be sure if the tagline ‘It’s just like magic!’ was normal or specifically designed for the event.
Hank took a seat on a large couch. More of a bench, really. While it had a back, it was so low that it might as well not be there at all.
At least the padding was decent.
Zoe took a seat on the angled bench opposite Hank, crossing her legs and resting her hands in her lap.
Between the two couches was a small table. A number of refreshments had been laid out along with two full pitchers of water, though Zoe—and presumably Hank—had been asked to avoid partaking of much of it before the event started as the cameras would be focused entirely on them.
“Ready?”
“I suppose. Just try not to ask too many questions that aren’t on the script,” Zoe said with a slight smile.
“No promises.” His chuckle cut off part way as he pressed his hand to his ear.
“And welcome back to Brakket Magical Academy. To those of you just joining us, I’m here with Zoe Baxter, a professor of magical theory here at the academy. She will be joining me in commentary once the event gets underway, lending her knowledge and expertise in the ways of magic to enhance your enjoyment of the event.”
“Thank you Hank.”
“Now, I’m sure that many people have questions. Especially questions regarding just what it is you do here.”
“Brakket Magical Academy is, as the name suggests, a school for magic. Specifically thaumaturgy.”
“And for our viewers, just what is thaumaturgy?”
“The manipulation of what are commonly referred to as the classical elements. Air, earth, fire, and water. There are a number of other options one might pursue with thaumaturgy. However, the events of tonight will most likely only involve elemental thaumaturgy.”