hree beams of light came at us in the blink of an eye, but in a last-ditch effort to save us, Quinn smacked both of us away. His arm now bigger and bulkier, he hit us out of the way of the blasts. He managed to block the other blast from the front his two massive arms seemingly hardening on contact. We cowered behind him, powerless to do anything. He glared at me out of the corner of his eyes.
"Leave the one in black to me, focus on the other two," he suggested. I nodded, "Thanks, and yeah, he's all yours."
Quinn's eyes pierced through Kaiser as he said, "Perhaps a lesson in respect is in order, young one." He ran over to Kaiser faster than anyone could cast any spells to stop him. Then he transformed into a giant snake, wrapping himself around Kaiser, who writhed in agony. Kaiser yelled, "Ah, unhand me, you monster!" He flailed his arms around in a desperate attempt to break free, to no avail. Quinn's impressive display bought us some time as Kaisers stunned allies look at Quinn in shock as he tightened his hold on Kaiser.
I took my first shot at the student named Arthur and yelled, "Casmodine!" My gauntlet fired a fireball towards Arthur, which he effortlessly sliced in two with his blade. But Lulith capitalized on this, already rushing towards Arthur. Arthur, momentarily caught off guard by the fireball, was struck in the head by an axe kick to the skull. At least he would have been, but a barrier blocked the attack, and Altaria called out, "Arthur is out!" I guessed we were being graded on whoever landed the first real blow on the opponent.
In that moment, Gwen reacted to Lulith and yelled out, "Astral Aurora!" Lulith was struck from behind, and in their path, Quinn and Kaiser were both caught in the crossfire from the massive beam of light and dark. The beam would have hit three people at once, but before it reached its first target, a barrier was placed between Lulith and Gwen.
Altaria announced, "Kaiser, Quinn, Lulith, out!" The only two remaining were Gwen and me. I quickly attempted to cast another fireball, yelling out "Casmodine." The fireball shot out of my gauntlet. Gwen yelled out, "Daybreak Mirror!" A mirror was cast in front of Gwen. The fireball stopped right before it reached the mirror, and then it was sent right back. I watched in horror as the giant fireball was reversed right back at my face. I tried to dodge out of the way, but it was too late. Suddenly, a barrier appeared in front of my face.
Altaria announced, "Lucius is out! Team Everglint Arts wins!" Dammit, I had been too careless. I had no idea she had such a powerful spell up her sleeve, and I also didn't realize that light magic could be used for such offensive tactics.
Altaria smiled as she clapped her hands, approaching me. "Honestly, that was much closer than I thought it would be. Congratulations, you exceeded expectations." I frowned, "You and I both know I lost pretty pathetically; I barely contributed at all."
Each group gathered in front of Altaria, and she began giving us a review. "For starters, let me tell you what I thought of your performances. My students did well for the most part, as usual." She paused and looked at her students. "You did lack in communication, even if your opening move was splendid. Kaiser, you left yourself wide open. What did I tell you about underestimating your opponents?" Kaiser defended, "Principal Altaria, I had no idea that they had some kind of monster with them!" Altaria waved her hand, "Now, Kaiser, I always tell you never to be caught with your pants down and always expect the unexpected."
Kaiser pouted a bit, and she then turned to Arthur. "You did great, but try not to get distracted in combat. You won't always be facing just one enemy at a time." Arthur nodded understandingly. Finally, she turned to Gwen. "Excellent as always, Gwen. You really carried the team, and I am so happy that you used that new spell I showed you in practical combat." Gwen practically glowed as she exclaimed, "Yes! Thank you! I just did it on instinct, and I am so happy it worked." Altaria nodded, "In combat, a lot of the time, the way people fight is based on instinct. Those who can think fast in combat based on feeling alone will excel."
She then turned toward us, "Now, as promised, I will help you, and I can see where your team is at now." She turned to Quinn. "I am not sure I know exactly what you are, boy, or what magic you use, but you really carried your team. You think fast on your feet, young man, and saved them from losing right away. I am very impressed, and you also wasted no time subduing Kaiser. I have nothing to say to you. I think you already know how to improve your strength." Quinn looked slightly bashful as he looked at the ground he only nodded in response. She turned to me; my heart was beating quickly, and I wondered if this was what it was like to be a student here. Altaria explained, "Listen, Lucius, what I am about to say is for your own good. I won't mince words; you held back your team out there. Not only were you a liability in terms of defense, but in terms of offense, you were lacking options."
My heart sank; I hated to hear it, but I knew what she was saying was what I needed to hear. Altaria continued, "Listen, any mage worth their salt can do what you can do. I will be frank; you aren't special. Any fire mage can cast fireballs like you do. Even in terms of variety, they have you beat. Mages can cast fire, water, earth, air, darkness, light, death, electric, quantum, celestial, life, and plasma magic. They can use each of these types to a much higher degree than any rune mage; these are the facts." I sighed; I kind of figured my magic was pretty basic compared to any seasoned mage. This kind of basic magic would look like child's play to even regular mages.
Altaria smiled, "With that being said, a true rune mage, as I have seen firsthand, can be very powerful. The thing that sets them apart is their ability to seamlessly mix any rune together into a more powerful spell. Rune mages should never be caught with their pants down; they should have spells for any situation at the ready. They need to be quick to swap their runes at a moment's notice. One thing you have is time, Lucius; you need to prepare powerful combinations of runes in advance. I would suggest you also use meditation as a way to draw energy from the environment. People with low magic often do this as a means to cast spells easier. When you charge your runes, I suggest you do this."
I frowned, "Thanks. I think I needed to hear that even if it's hard to accept how weak I am." She affirmed, "Right. Glad I could help. One more thing: you had to have Quinn protect you because you can't protect yourself. I do have a solution for that problem, but it will have to wait until after we take on my little job." She then turned to Lulith, who was sulking, "Finally, you, girl, have a similar issue to Lucius. Firstly, you have no defense. I would suggest armor, but adding that weight would be a detriment to the way you fight. Honestly, girl, you might want to stick to supporting others in combat. Physical brawling to be frank might not be the best type of combat for you. I don't know what kind of drugs you are taking as enhancement, but honestly, I will tell it how it is; your future as a physical fighter looks grim. Not just because you lack magic, but because the way you fight is dangerous, you leave yourself too open for attacks."
Lulith narrowed her eyes at the woman, she growls, "You don't know a thing about me. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I've been in tough situations before, and I'll handle whatever comes my way." Altaria sighed, "Then you will die braver than most." Lulith got a bit depressed; it seemed like that was something she wasn't ready to hear. I tried to comfort her, "Lulith, from now onwards, we will be stuck together. I want you to know I will figure something out." Lulith furrowed her brows, "Damn human, I don't need your comfort," she started sulking.
Altaria smiled at us, "Alright, with that taken care of, let's move on to my little request, shall we?" I nodded, "Yeah, you have me curious now. What is the best mage in Everglint having issues dealing with?"
Altaria gave a wry smile, "I am multi-talented, this is true, but there are some things that even I am unable to fix. Listen, Lucius, since you just got back from your expedition, the king should be getting notified of your return. He will send someone to fetch you; he may even think you are responsible for the other parties disappearance. At the very least he will want to hear news of his son. I have been hearing rumors that the king is not acting himself lately, so when you meet with him, try to gain insight into what is wrong. The king won't meet with anyone, not even me, so that is why I must ask that you do this for me. This is something that will require a delicate touch, so to speak."
I asked, "What if he decides that I am responsible and tries to throw me into prison? Or worse, he tries to execute me?" Altaria gave a reassuring smile, "You have my word, Lucius. I have eyes and ears all around this city. Should the king try to do anything to you, I will know about it, and I will personally take action. I may have just met you, but I wouldn't want a promising young man to die yet." I decided, "Alright, as we agreed, I will gladly help you. You gave me what you promised, consider our deal good as done. I stake my name as Evergold on that." Altaria nodded, "Well, aren't you so reliable, my heavens. Alright, child, now go quickly back to the inn; I would prefer the guards didn't see us talking too long. That might raise suspicions."
We shook on the deal we made, and then I headed back to the inn. On the way over, Lulith was quiet, seemingly mulling over something. Quinn patted me on my shoulder, "I think she just needs some time to come to terms with what Altaria said." I nodded, "Yeah, that would be for the best. Hey, by the way, thanks for saving us there. We would have lost right away if not for you." Quinn gave a small smile, "You don't need to thank me; we are allies now, right? Like I told you, I want to travel this world to see what has become of it. I am not so egotistical that I think I don't need allies. I think in the future, we will be an even stronger team." I nodded, "Absolutely. I guess I don't need to thank you anymore since we are friends now." Quinn seemed to mull over the words on his tongue, "Friends, huh?" In order to not disappoint him, I would really need to follow Altaria's advice to improve.
We arrived at the inn and headed to our room. A man was standing in the doorway to our room. He had black hair neatly combed, silver armor on, and bright purple eyes. He seemed to be talking to Era inside the room, and I could hear her saying, "They went out earlier; they should be back soon." I called out, "Uh? This is my room; what is going on?" The man looked at my group approaching him. He exclaimed, "Lucius Evergold, King Whiteford would like to have a word with you in his quarters. Please follow me I will lead you there." I braced myself for the potential confrontation with such a powerful leader of such a massive city.