Chapter 1156: One Place Behind

By the time the Magicians’ Block rankings neared their end, Valeria had stopped paying close attention to the numbers.

The projection outside the residence had drawn enough students to crowd most of the covered walkway. House Olarion’s name still bought her a little space without anyone consciously deciding to give it, so she stood a step behind the nearest cluster with an unobstructed view of the board.

Several results had been worth noticing.

Thalor Draycott had taken first. Lucien Lysandra followed in second, a placement that had produced considerably more conversation than the first. Isolde Valoria stood fifth.

Then there had been—

8 — ELOWYN CAERLIN

Valeria’s attention lingered there.

Eighth suited her.

She had already learned more about Elowyn from fighting beside her than a ranking could provide. During the Combat Awareness examination, the mage had adjusted her frost around moving allies rather than forcing everyone else to accommodate the spell. Once the battlefield changed, her magic changed with it.

The Academy had apparently approved.

Beyond that, Valeria allowed the remaining magical placements to pass. The Lorian students nearby had already begun blaming unfamiliar Arcanian terminology for some of their results, while others debated the Rotunda with increasingly selective memories of how well they had performed.

She had heard enough of both subjects over the weekend.

Then the projection cleared.

Valeria straightened.

Pale lettering assembled across the top.

MARTIAL ARTS BLOCK

The walkway changed with it.

Students who had spent the last several minutes discussing mages turned toward the board properly. Several moved closer. Conversations shifted from magical theory and foreign notation toward names everyone had seen carrying swords through the Academy grounds.

A girl near the front asked who would take first.

"Drayke."

"Varen could."

"He lost to Lucavion."

"At a tournament before the Academy."

"That somehow makes him weaker now?"

The argument immediately attracted assistance from people who had not been invited into it.

Valeria ignored them.

This was the list she had been waiting for.

The lower ranks began moving across the projection first. Most names passed without holding her attention until one familiar entry appeared.

27 — ELAYNE CORS

The Special Admission student’s placement drew scattered comments from the crowd. Someone called twenty-seventh unimpressive and was promptly informed that there were rather more martial freshmen beneath her than above.

Valeria watched the name move upward.

Elayne’s style was unusual enough that conventional expectations probably served little purpose anyway.

The list climbed.

Several placements later—

19 — CAEDEN ROARK

Another commoner entrant.

That renewed the surrounding discussion, though a different question soon surfaced behind Valeria.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"The one from the banquet."

That was apparently sufficient identification.

"Oh. Lucavion."

Valeria’s gaze remained on the board.

The name had become remarkably efficient.

"He won’t be high," someone said. "His examinations were a mess."

"That was magical theory."

"He had no affinity."

"He also had remedial instruction."

Valeria shifted her weight onto her other foot.

Apparently people had discovered that collecting unrelated facts was an acceptable substitute for understanding them.

The board continued upward.

Eighteen passed.

Seventeen.

Then—

15 — JESSE BURNS

Valeria’s attention sharpened.

Jesse.

That placement did not surprise her.

She had seen enough during the banquet to recognize what sat beneath Jesse’s swordsmanship. The technique carried battlefield habits that formal practice rarely produced, and there had been nothing ornamental about the way she fought Lucavion.

Whatever history existed between those two, Jesse’s ability belonged to Jesse.

Fifteenth was high.

Deservedly so.

The board climbed into the next group.

Lucavion’s name still had not appeared.

That began changing the conversation around her.

Someone who had sounded confident earlier laughed. "See?"

Another voice answered, "We’re already past fifteen."

"Maybe he scored worse than everyone thought."

Valeria said nothing.

The ranks entered single digits.

8 — REILAN DORNE

She recognized Elowyn’s companion.

Then seventh passed.

Sixth.

The laughter behind her disappeared.

"I didn’t see him below."

"Neither did I."

"Was his name omitted?"

A new row formed.

Valeria saw the number first.

5 — LUCAVION

For one brief moment, the walkway went quiet.

Then everyone seemed to find their voice at once.

"Fifth?"

"How?"

"The commoner?"

"He ranked fifth with that oral score?"

Valeria looked at the name.

And felt her mouth curve.

There it was.

One line on a projection, and half the people around her had been forced to reconstruct an opinion they had spent the week building.

Lucavion would have enjoyed that.

The next row appeared.

4 — VALERIA OLARION

Several heads turned.

Valeria felt the attention settle on her, recognized her own name, and promptly looked back down one row.

Fourth.

Lucavion, fifth.

One place.

’You were right behind me.’

Satisfaction came first.

Then irritation followed closely enough that separating the two felt pointless.

One place was hardly a victory.

Worse, she could already imagine what Lucavion would do with it.

Fourth? Impressive, Valeria.

Then that faint smile.

For now.

Her fingers tightened against her sleeve.

They were going to spar.

The decision arrived with such ease that Valeria barely considered it a decision at all.

Behind her, someone was still trying to understand the result.

"How does someone with no measurable affinity place fifth?"

Another student answered, "By doing well in the martial examinations?"

"That well?"

Valeria glanced back.

The girl who had spoken earlier—the one who had confidently dismissed him—was staring at Lucavion’s name.

Valeria considered saying something.

There was no need.

The board had already done it.

She faced forward again.

The remaining highest placements appeared above them. Varen Drakov claimed second, which drew approval from several students familiar with the Silver Flame Sect.

Then the final row settled.

1 — ROWEN DRAYKE

That result carried less surprise.

Rowen’s name had been circulating among the likely first placements throughout the weekend, and his performance had justified it.

Valeria read the upper portion of the board once more.

Rowen.

Varen.

Then her own name at fourth.

And immediately beneath it—

Lucavion.

Fifth.

Her earlier satisfaction returned.

The irritation remained beside it.

Good.

That meant the ranking had given her something useful after all.

A reason to find him.

******

Across the male residences of the block 7-A, Lucavion’s fifth place had already become the most discussed line on the board.

He stood near one of the rear pillars while students compared the names above him. Rowen Drayke at first had surprised almost nobody. Varen Drakov in second had produced the expected arguments. Valeria Olarion’s fourth place drew approval.

Then came the commoner beneath her.

5 — LUCAVION

Lucavion looked over the faces that had turned toward him.

"What are you guys looking at? First time seeing a talented commoner?"

A young noble beside Gervase de Warenne stiffened. "Do not get cocky, you bastard."

Gervase raised a hand before the exchange could spread. "Come on now. There’s no need to fall to his level."

Lucavion pushed away from the pillar. "Rise up, you mean. Right? If we’re going to use the proper terminology."

Someone nearby failed to hide a laugh.

The noble flushed, while Gervase kept his attention on Lucavion.

Fifth place had made several opinions harder to defend. Lucavion’s public examination record had supplied plenty of material for anyone inclined to dismiss him: the null result in Crystal Hall, remedial weaknesses in formal magical theory, and no recognized martial lineage behind his name.

The final ranking had gathered those scattered results into one answer.

Gervase left his group.

Conversation thinned as he crossed the courtyard.

Caeden stood a few steps from Lucavion. As Gervase approached, his weight shifted and one shoulder turned, clearing his sword side.

Lucavion lifted one finger.

Caeden stopped there.

Gervase came close enough that neither man needed to raise his voice.

"You seem pleased with yourself."

Lucavion glanced toward the board. "I did place fifth."

"This is not going to end well for you if you continue behaving like this."

"I didn’t start it."

"We are far past the age where that argument should mean anything."

"Are we?"

"Yes."

"Unfortunate. I’m rather childish." Lucavion’s gaze stayed on him. "I tend to treat people the way they treat me."

Gervase brought his hands together.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

"Is that so?"

Lucavion waited.

Gervase lowered his hands. "You’ll regret what you did in the Rotunda."

That changed the attention around them.

The ranking had brought Gervase over. The Rotunda was why he had stayed.

Enough students knew the story. Lucavion had cut between Gervase and Elowyn Caerlin during the Second Measure, taken the dance himself, and left Gervase standing at the edge of the floor. Whatever else had happened between them remained buried beneath rumor.

"Regret?" Lucavion asked.

Gervase moved.

His first step swallowed the space between them. Several students nearest the path shifted back as he stopped directly in front of Lucavion.

Caeden’s foot moved.

Lucavion’s raised finger turned slightly toward him.

Stay.

Caeden did.

The displacement from Gervase’s approach stirred the edge of Lucavion’s uniform. Lucavion remained where he was, hands loose at his sides.

Gervase had chosen the distance.

Lucavion looked up at him.

"You are not qualified."

Gervase’s jaw set.

Lucavion continued in the same conversational tone.

"For me to ever regret my actions because of you."

The courtyard stayed quiet.

Behind Gervase, the projection continued as though nothing had happened. The next rank settled beneath Lucavion’s name.

Lucavion’s attention returned to the board.