Chapter 112: The girl with the Dragon

“What is he even up to?” Magister Sterek grumbled.

 

“The Glastian? Sir?”

 

Sterek turned to his assistant and contemplated slapping her across the room, but that would be stupid and unproductive. He was neither. She was just one of those dumb puppies who thought he could do no wrong because he had hired her, and thus was a good person. He had hired her because she was talented and cheap, having probably fallen on the wrong side of some noble. Not worth the trouble of recruiting. She didn’t know how to leverage her skills.

 

“Yes, Nara. The Glastian.”

 

“I’m sure the Academy will know what to do with his accusations. Sir.”

 

She stared at him with her wide peasant face and toad eyes, begging for validation. Gods, she was so naive. Maybe even a security risk.

 

“That is not the problem. Renegades like him who have lost everything will resort to underhanded tactics. He has nothing to lose. But instead of doing anything, he’s staying in that stupid manor of his all day long.”

 

“You… have him under surveillance, sir?”

 

Shit. he should not have said that. Got to maintain plausible deniability.

 

“Gossips,” he lied. “Washerwomen eager to earn a few irons to report to me. Not that they’re saying much. He must be up to something. Has to be.”

 

“Perhaps prison broke him. I mean, I would not know but was he not severely punished?”

 

“You don’t understand. He was called the Red Mist on the walls, because that was what his spells left behind. He never rested and he never left those… subhumans he eventually betrayed his homeland for. You have to admit he was committed and skilled if the rumors are to be believed. A man like that is mad but he has to be respected. Besides, Nara, heed my words.”

 

‘You silly cornudon’ went unspoken.

 

“Never plan your success on someone else failing.”

 

“Maybe it’s the girl?”

 

“What girl? Oh. Her? I do not think so.”

 

“She could be doing his bidding.”

 

Sterek considered the words in silence. It was true what they said. Wisdom could come from the simplest minds.

 

“She’s one of the worst of them. No otherworldly magic, no ground-breaking knowledge, no local network. Poor choice. Hm, but perhaps she is a messenger for an agent. Good idea, Nara. I will see if I can get eyes on her.”

***

 

Viv’s first two weeks at the Academy ended in the blink of an eye, with mixed results. Her enhanced stats meant she could read and memorize material at an incredible rate… but so could everybody else. The workload of books to read and questions to ponder was astronomical and way beyond even the craziest earth prep schools. She had to remember the history of the continent, major families and cultural differences for the ethics and etiquette class. The military class required her to read battle reports and conflicting witness testimonies, learn variations on standard doctrines and general names and personalities. She found herself calculating the range of an artillery detachment on a flank of an old war just to see if they could have sniped a famous arcane fencer. They could not. She had drawn the curve to show he had been too far. It was insane.

 

It was also incredibly useful.

 

Most of Solfis’ knowledge was theoretical. Now she was learning how people fought for real in modern wars. It reinforced her opinion that she had been right to overwhelm the red mage guarding Prince Lancer immediately or she would have been in trouble. Her understanding of what local people were capable of and how they thought increased dramatically, at least for nobles and in the context of war. A skill she had never used also proved its utility.

 

Many of the questions asked covered a variety of subjects from ethics to sociology to logistics. So long as a problem was multi-faceted, she found herself enjoying tying the pieces together to form a harmonious whole. The skill truly was a godsend, because there was one major time sink in her list, and that was enchantment.

 

For all she’d been capable of writing spells and setting alarms, it had been parlor tricks compared to the real deal. Real enchantment, the stuff that could influence palaces for years, required a careful balance of glyphs and geometry to last for more than a week. It stood at the crossroads of art and science, and though her approach tended to be more intuitive, there was no getting away from the questions of glyph balance and sustainable casting.

 

The way she understood it, enchantments only persisted if the ‘sentence’, or the structure of glyphs, was coherent and stable. The number of rules that governed rune distribution and balance would disgust a trained engineer. Even for her, stable enchantment felt like a harmonious song to her senses and she was not sure how to form one herself. The worst problem was that everyone else knew at least the basics, and she had to catch up on years of studies in a relatively short time.

 

Even Rakan had solid basics and he had received minimal training in this. The Faceless preferred their minions specialized so they could not operate independently. Viv had much to do. Fortunately, there were plenty of books to be found, including primers that she obtained from a copy office. She also had plenty of time during that period, but that was perhaps not for the best.

 

It appeared her reputation preceded her and she had taken a firm step from being hot stuff to being positively radioactive. The students politely ignored her in and out of class. It was never disrespectful, but it was hard to miss. Noble students had started the trend and those who followed had been quick to imitate them. During the first two weeks, powerful families would scout young and unbound talent in a flurry of social events. Viv had not been invited. In fact, only Ereska and Rakan kept her company inside of the school.

 

“I’m sorry, regicide is considered bad manners. Especially by kings,” the smooth Helockian had told her.

 

“He wasn’t even king yet…” Viv grumbled.

 

But she understood. As for Rakan, he was one among only a handful of Hallurians in the school and suffered from it. The two pariahs spent a lot of time together. It helped that they were both rather talented.

 

In fact, Viv had come to an unexpected conclusion.

 

For all her ‘born for magic’ and outlander nature, for all her achievements and her fast growth… Rakan was more gifted than she was. He learned at an incredible rate and with great enthusiasm, wielding four different colors with the mastery of a painter. To see him at work, to see him progress was a humbling experience. It also reminded Viv of what she could do if she put her mind to it, and her efforts redoubled.

 

On the eve of the second weekend, she was almost frustrated when a message from Solfis was slipped under the door. It took her a moment to take a step back and realize she had more important things to do than perform well at the Academy.

 

Stopping Sterek.

 

Also, staying alive but stopping Sterek would be a good start.

 

Viv escaped at dusk while Ereska prepared for the inauguration ball of the social season. She made her way to the Five Fishes tavern, face hidden under a cloak and eyes open. People were running home after their days of work while patrols of armed citizens walked the streets, equipped with torches and cudgel. The air felt wet and stifling even after nightfall, and sweat plastered the shirts of the men to their muscular bodies. No one stopped Viv, though a few looked. She was dressed too richly under the light hood. They knew that in Helock, connections mattered even more than might.

 

The inn was wide awake with muttering angry customers when she came in. Men and women gathered in tight circles around their tables, clenching half-finished tankards. A lull in the conversation silenced the room when she came in. The conversations returned when the innkeeper hushered her in.

 

She climbed down a set of stairs to find Solfis in deep discussion with Lim the Fell-Handed. As before, the dark-skinned woman wore innocuous office worker robes, a little loose. She studied Viv with hooded eyes.

 

“Do we have everything?”

 

//I have acquired the plan of the workshop, Your Grace.

//Verified by the head worker.

 

“I verified it personally,” Lim said with a ghastly smile.

 

//The outer wards were verified by one of my new talents.

 

“Alright. Let me see.”

 

Viv studied the workshop. The entrance led to the vestibule where she had waited during her brief visit. This in turn led to the main lab, a massive central room hosting the main teleportation glyph encased in a protective layer of silverite-inlaid ward stones. Work stations lined the walls along with storage space. A corridor encircled this room and led to a warehouse and staff room at the back. Since the lab itself extended on two floors, the rest of the second level’s space hosted personal offices for Sterek and another staff member. There was no basement.

 

All this information concerned the workshop ‘as designed’. Sterek could have made changes and they would not know. What they did know was that Sterek had spent almost half of the budget on that silverite shield and the rest on safety. Breaking in would be difficult. Breaking in without being found out? Almost impossible. Thankfully, she had access to some of the best talents of Param.

 

“I could really use your help there,” Viv said.

 

//You Grace.

//You could not possibly think I would let you go alone.

 

“Just making sure. Where is Sidjin?”

 

//He will arrive shortly.

//He requested surface access and I granted it.

 

“How is his body double?”

 

//Bored and well paid.

 

It did not take long for Viv’s prince charming to walk up the stairs two at a time. He gave her the warmest smile and grasped for her hand with careful yet passionate movements. Viv was happy to see him slowly get used to just touching her casually. He had come a long way in a very small amount of time, trauma-wise. It had only been a month.

 

“So, are we humiliating the research thief? To want to kill me is a thing, dear, it happens all the time. To steal my research is deplorable, but to force me to sit in a cramped quarter while I have regained full mobility? Now that is a crime I shall not forgive.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

 

“And you will have your revenge, my love,” Viv declared in a husky voice and just enough theatrics to remain tasteful.

 

//Please do not include mating rituals in our planning session.

 

“Spoilsport. Alright, let’s get started. Sidjin, how much room do you need for a stable portal?”

 

“First thing first. What do you plan to achieve?”

 

“Oh yes, I should have led with that. Sterek’s financial sponsors will visit the lab on the morning of the day after tomorrow, and we are going to ‘drop in’ to have a chat with them.”

 

“I doubt Sterek will appreciate the intrusion,” Sidjin mused.

 

“Hence why we will not ask him his opinion.”

 

“You want to teleport in.”

 

“Yes, which has the added advantage of proving you already have the mature technology.”

 

Sidjin considered the situation for a little while.

 

“Why not just go to them and talk to them?”

 

“We can always do that if we fail but then you are a second team asking to be on a project and the first one is backed by the Academy. With a little bit of presentation, we can catch Sterek in a ‘gotcha’ moment and ruin his standing. This will be much more effective than a protracted legal battle where the sponsors wonder if they are being conned. We need to ruin Sterek’s reputation first and foremost.”

 

“Yes, but Viviane love, the cost if you are caught…”

 

//We will not be caught.

//There are no guards on site.

//There is a patrol of night watchers that walks the road where the workshop is situated.

//They seem fairly capable.

//They do not seem capable enough if we are careful.

 

“We will be. I am also concerned about alarms around the building.”

 

//I will detect them.

 

The conspirators kept studying the map, making plans and contingencies. Viv decided that they had to go to the workshop and check things themselves to be sure not to be surprised.

 

“We have two nights. We will break in on the second one but we’ll do the preliminary work on the first and, ah, case the joint,” Viv said, using old imperial slang with relish.

 

//I see you have already read the sixth book of the ‘Gladiators of Harrak’ series of homoerotic fiction.

 

The room grew silent.

 

“… no?” Viv lied.

 

//Curious.

//As it is the only surviving piece of literature where the expression is used.

 

“Let us return to the planning. Right. We scout on the first night and act on the second unless we spot an opportunity.”

 

“The workshop is on the highland, on the other side of the Academy compared to the river. There are only industries and pastures there. People might notice, so you will move after nightfall,” Lim said. “I will have my people babysit you. Remember that the more you do and the more risk there is that you might be found out.”

 

“No heroics,” Viv confirmed.

 

“You two are amateurs. Listen to us and only talk when you cannot be heard,” Lim advised.

 

“We’ll be quiet.”

***

 

The team waited until night fell to leave, but not before Viv was dressed in a black and gray garb painted in irregular patterns. She and Sidjin were given enchanted pairs of boots that were not exactly their size but came with an interesting advantage. They exuded black mana as well, though the work was a little rudimentary.

 

“Trackless boots. The watchers can see recent footprints with their unique skills. They have an enhanced sense of smell by the way, so make sure not to get too close.”

 

//They also have danger sense, Your Grace.

//Do not attack or use inspection on them.

 

“We’ll avoid them. So long as a patrol is around, we will hunker down.”

 

“That would be wise,” Lim said.