Selvara took the open window of Professor Kaelthorne's study as an invitation and glided inside. The room was cluttered with glass cases, mounted monster heads, and a wide variety of weapons. Behind a sturdy desk, Kaelthorne worked with mechanical efficiency. Signing papers and shifting them from one stack to another, seemingly without reading a single line. Selvara paused. The professor really wasn't reading any of it. Did she check the paperwork in advance? And why not sign it then?
The professor looked up as Selvara entered and gestured for her to perch on a chair. She finished the last few papers in a flurry, carelessly slid them into a drawer, and rubbed her hands together with anticipation. Placing one palm on a circular runic plate set in copper on the wall, she channeled mana into it. The enchantment flared to life by closing the window, locking the door with an audible click, and igniting softly glowing runes across the walls, floor, and ceiling.
"The room is now shielded against observation. You may return to your true form and speak freely."
Selvara shimmered, shifting into her dungeon fairy form with a stretch and a sigh. "Thanks. It's hard to find somewhere safe to change. Even to sleep. I revert the moment I lose consciousness."
Kaelthorne's expression sharpened with interest. "Is that so? Where have you been sleeping, then?"
"Under the bed of the dryad Ulmenglanz. I tried bunking beneath Weylan first, but the moment I changed, it set off some kind of alarm. I had to shift back before Fiona found me. As a raven, I got to enjoy watching her search the whole room in vain."
The professor laughed. "You triggered the 'female in male bed' ward. Taking your true form anywhere in the male dorm would've set something off, but that one demands immediate intervention from the dorm supervisor."
Selvara shrugged. "Yeah, figured it was something like that. That's why I tried Ulmenglanz's room next. She's bunking with the three priestesses, but none of them are likely to look under her bed in the middle of the night. For priestesses of the goddess of home and hearth, they're not exactly into cleaning."
Kaelthorne's amusement faded as she returned to business. "Let's get started. Write down every spell you've learned so far."
She pointed to a black writing slate beside a few fairy-sized pieces of chalk. As Selvara began scribbling, the contents were instantly mirrored on a large blackboard mounted on the wall.
Level 1: Stationary Zone of Silence (Apprentice IX) Unstable Invisibility (Apprentice IX) Hand of the Adept (Apprentice IX) Telekinetic Shockwave (Apprentice IX) Stationary Zone of Darkness (Apprentice IX)
Level 2: Self-Transformation (Apprentice IX) Shock Grip (Apprentice IX)
Level 3: Frost Breath (Journeyman II) Skill Feat (Journeyman): Cutting Cold (Frost Breath now includes fine ice blades, causing additional slashing damage.)
Kaelthorne let out a low whistle. "All your spells are sitting just below the next tier, but only one has broken through. You've clearly hit a plateau. I suspect your status as a familiar might be limiting further growth. We'll have to work around that."
She tapped the blackboard. "Your fastest path forward is mastering advanced variants of the spells you already know: stable invisibility, mobile zones of silence and darkness. Shockwave scales with strength, which makes it near-useless for you. Any particular spells you're hoping to learn?"
Selvara settled cross-legged atop an inkpot. "Maybe something defensive. A shield spell, perhaps?"
"Protective Dome. Level 3. Very mana-intensive. I'll have to check if that spell also scales to your size. Most of our students fall within standard human dimensions, so that's rarely an issue. Lightning Strike might also suit you. It has a pure mana-to-damage ratio, no size scaling. Or... there's Colossification. Level 3. It turns a human into a giant of more than double his size. It has a huge mana cost. But a version that brings you to standard human size would be far more manageable, since there's much less mass to conjure."
"That sounds fascinating. How long would it last?" Her wings flattered once in excitement.
"The full-size variant holds for a few minutes at best. It needs to create and uphold four times the mass of a human and supply the strength to move it. But a fairy-to-human scale transformation? That could last half an hour, maybe more, even as the proportional change is much higher."
Selvara looked thoroughly tempted, but after a moment's hesitation, she shook her head. "Maybe later. I'll start with the Protective Dome."
Kaelthorne nodded thoughtful. "Good choice. And… wait… I do remember a level 2 variant that was invented as a base for an enchantment to protect small objects…" She went to her shelf and took out several grimoires to scan their table of contents until she found what she'd been looking for. "Here it is! The Minor Force Bubble. Level 2, moveable, anchored to the caster. I will teach it to you first, then the level 3 version which protects a much larger area around you. If something hits you while inside the bubble, you could be moved together with the bubble, since it is anchored on you. But the most of the attack's force is absorbed into the spell. You'll be thrown back a step or two if hit by something big."
Selvara chuckled. "Dungeon fairies are used to move with strikes."
Kaelthorne nodded, her fingers already flipping through a leather-bound spellbook with reinforced corners and burn marks along the edges. "Minor Force Bubble it is. A solid choice. Though it will push your reserves hard. Let's see how your channeling holds up under pressure."
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She flipped to a marked page and turned the book so Selvara could see. The diagram showed a layered sphere of overlapping sigils, with channels spiraling inward like a magical honeycomb.
"You won't be able to form this with raw willpower alone. Start by memorizing the shape. The structure is everything. Layered glyphwork, anchored with six converging sigils and a stabilizing rune at the core."
Selvara fluttered closer, peering at the diagram. "That… looks like a blacksmith puzzle."
Kaelthorne grinned. "Exactly. All the parts need to interlock in the right order in exactly the right way or they come apart. The dome repels external force. Now, try tracing the outer shell with mana, then attempt to lock the convergence points. Slowly."
Selvara held out her tiny hand, a thread of mana trailing from her fingers as she began to sketch the dome in midair. The lines shimmered weakly, flickering with instability.
"No. Again. You're forcing it with brute force. Don't use a hammer, use a weaving needle." Kaelthorne stood and came around the desk. Her hands hovered beside Selvara's projection, guiding the shape with minute corrections.
"Breathe. Slow your pulse. Imagine the parts in your mind. Now start interlocking them like in the diagram here."
Selvara exhaled, narrowing her eyes. The lines began to firm up, steady and sharp. The outer shell pulsed with a pale glow. She anchored the final convergence sigil with a quick flick… and the whole construct blinked into stability for just a second before dissolving into sparks.
The professor leaned back, impressed. "Not bad. Most students can't even stabilize the base form on their first try."
Selvara wiped her brow, her wings drooping slightly. "That burned through nearly a fifth of my mana…"
Kaelthorne returned to her chair, nodding approvingly. "That's expected. But the spell's structure held. I'll give you one of the mana potions from my personal stash when you run dry. Now we refine. Once you can cast the dome in under ten seconds, we'll test it against real impact."
Selvara tilted her head. "What kind of impact?"
Kaelthorne's smile turned a shade wicked. "Let's just say I have a few enchanted flails I've been meaning to dust off."
Selvara groaned, but there was a glint of determination in her eyes. "Should I get a helmet?"
Kaelthorne laughed. "Wouldn't help you if the dome doesn't hold."
Thirty minutes later, the chalkboard was covered in overlapping domes and spell diagrams, and Selvara's breathing had grown shallow from repeated castings. Her latest dome shimmered in the middle of the study, wobbling slightly but holding together.
Kaelthorne clapped once. "Good. It's ugly, it's inefficient, but it holds. Now let's see if it holds up to impact."
Selvara eyed the professor warily as she crossed the room and opened a tall, rune-etched weapons locker. Inside were a variety of magical implements, but Kaelthorne selected a particularly vicious-looking flail. The head was shaped like a spiked fruit.
"Blunt force enchantment. I'll start with a light swing," she said, giving the weapon a few lazy practice spins. "Brace yourself."
Selvara floated back to the center of her shimmering dome, taking a defensive posture mid-air.
The first strike cracked against the shield with a resounding thoom, sending vibrations through the walls. The dome held, though it flickered.
"Good. That's a glancing hit. Now for a proper one." She made a strange movement with the mace and it started glowing faintly blue as the enchantment activated.
"Wait, what…"
THOOM.
The flail smashed against the dome with greater force. The barrier held, but only by moving with the strike. Unfortunately, Selvara hadn't considered that particular problem.
The spell absorbed the blow, redirected the kinetic energy and flung Selvara, still stable in the middle of the force bubble, across the room like a pebble from a slingshot.
"Wh…"
She ricocheted off a wall, hit the ceiling beam with a whack, and finally sailed straight through the magically re-opened window, which Kaelthorne, sensing what was about to happen, had thoughtfully triggered in the last split second.
A faint oof echoed from outside.
Kaelthorne sighed and set the flail down. "Note to self: Don't use a caster anchored shield with a caster with basically no mass. And maybe add a fairy-catcher net under the windowsill."
Moments later, Selvara popped her head up, hair singed, a leaf stuck to her face, and her expression utterly betrayed.
"I survived, if that was the goal," she deadpanned.
"Success!" Kaelthorne called brightly. "Now come back in. We'll work on version two. The one that doesn't turn you into a ricochet projectile. It costs more mana, but absorbs more of the impacting force."
Selvara grumbled something under her breath but flew back inside, rubbing her shoulder.
"This had better get me extra credit," she muttered as she took her place once more.
Kaelthorne chuckled, already sketching the improved sigil structure on the chalkboard. "Oh, you'll be credited. Possibly even cited in next year's training manual… under 'Common Shield Failures and Hilarious Results.'"
* * *
Weylan returned to his dorm room. His fingers playing with the new potions in the potion pouches of his belt. He hoped Malvorik would get access to the ingredients of Light Drinker potion. That could become one of his new favorite tricks. He hoped he would find a variant that let him still see, while blinding everyone else.
Erik entered the room, looked around and nodded. "Well, are you up for your next lesson in Knights and Monks?"
Weylan could imagine several things he'd prefer to do, but he needed to learn. And he was thankful for Erik teaching him. He put on the most enthusiastic smile he could summon and nodded.
They cleared the small round table between their beds and Erik brought out a compact practice board. The surface was carved with the classic hex grid, and the playing pieces emerged from a small wooden case Erik had kept in his drawer. Simple hand-carved miniatures of knights, monks, mages, towers, and banners.
"Alright," Erik said, placing pieces with practiced ease, "we'll do a ten-turn intro round. I'll play Knights. You take Monks. Basic formations only, no relics, no traps."
"Got it," Weylan said, eyeing the monk pieces with suspicion. They looked peaceful and serene, but Erik had already explained they were notorious for rapid counter-plays and indirect aggression.
They started slowly. Erik explained the power of holding the tower node, while Weylan quickly learned how easily knights could force their way through defensive formations if he didn't guard his flanks.
"You're defending too aggressively," Erik said after turn five.
"I'm used to being hunted," Weylan replied. "This feels… familiar."
Erik paused. "That's kind of grim."
"Tell me about it."
They played on. By turn eight, Weylan was leaning into his monk mobility, pulling off a quick flank sweep that forced Erik's central tower into a vulnerable position.
"You're learning fast."
"I start to see the similarities to real life battle. There are just so many rules and abilities to keep track of."
Erik chuckled. "That's true. You'll learn them, eventually."
Weylan nodded slowly. "Eventually."
Outside the window, a small raven tilted its head and gave a faint, approving caw before flying off into the moonlight.
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