Chapter 199: Approaching Black Week

(One Week Later, Spell Training Class)

Another week passed before Riven finally managed to complete the fourth movement of [Lightning Step].

However, by then, his progress was no longer the center of attention, as with the first Black Week rapidly approaching, pressure from the leadership of all four Houses had begun mounting upon their First Years.

Daily progress reports were now expected from students assigned specialized spells for Black Week, as House leadership wanted every planned role adequately prepared before the chaotic week arrived and regular classes were suspended.

With House Points potentially changing hands through captured positions, defeated opponents and completed objectives, even individually weaker students could prove extremely valuable if they performed their assigned roles properly.

Mary was among those expected to report her progress to Cedric each day, although considering how quickly she was improving, the House Lord had found little reason to complain.

The spell assigned to her was [Aether Pulse], a detection technique intended primarily for identifying enemies attempting to approach or infiltrate a House position during the night, when darkness made slipping past ordinary sentries considerably easier.

Sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, Mary circulated Aether through her body before releasing faint pulses into her surroundings, allowing her senses to register the movements of people within the affected area without needing to see them directly.

"Six," Mary muttered without opening her eyes. "Two training with swords behind me, three on the right with spears and one on the left with a bow."

The instructor overseeing her training glanced across the practice field, carefully checking each group Mary had identified before giving an approving nod.

"Correct."

A satisfied smile spread across Mary’s face as she finally opened her eyes, pleased that she had once again identified every student currently within her detection range.

Once completely mastered, [Aether Pulse] was supposed to provide reliable detection for approximately one hundred meters in every direction, allowing Mary to remain safely within a defended House position while monitoring the surrounding area for enemies attempting to slip through its defenses under the cover of darkness.

For now though, she could reliably manage around thirty meters.

Beyond that distance, the disturbances became increasingly difficult to separate, although her current range was already enough to make sneaking past her considerably more difficult than bypassing an ordinary sentry.

Stacy’s progress, meanwhile, was equally as impressive.

Crouching near one end of a stone training lane, she pressed her palm against the ground before sending Frost Aether through her arm and into the surface beneath her.

Almost immediately, ice exploded outward.

A thick layer of frost raced several meters ahead before spreading unevenly towards either side, with one section becoming completely covered while another remained almost untouched.

"Too much again," the assistant instructor warned.

"I know."

Stacy gritted her teeth and forced more Frost Aether forward, attempting to guide the ice towards the exposed section rather than allowing it to continue spreading wherever it pleased.

The result was hardly graceful.

Ice crawled across the missing portion before suddenly surging farther than Stacy intended, climbing partially over the edge of the training lane and freezing the bottom of a nearby wooden post.

"Stacy."

"I said I know."

Several nearby Aureate students laughed as Stacy withdrew her hand and stared irritably at the frozen mess she had created.

Her control remained poor, but nobody watching could complain about the amount of Frost she produced.

Even her failed attempt had covered a considerable section of the training lane in thick ice, while the stone beneath it had become so thoroughly frozen that patches of white frost continued spreading beyond the area she had originally intended to affect.

"Again," the instructor ordered. "Less Aether. Control the direction before worrying about distance."

Stacy moved several meters sideways before placing her palm against an untouched section of stone.

This time she released considerably less Frost Aether.

The ice spread slower and remained narrower, extending forward in a reasonably straight path before Stacy’s control slipped near the end and caused the final portion to widen abruptly.

"Better."

The assistant said, as Stacy immediately looked towards one of the students waiting nearby.

"Run across it."

She demanded, as the boy hesitated for only a breath before sprinting forward.

His first foot landed cleanly, although the second immediately slipped beneath him, sending his body sideways before he crashed shoulder-first against the frozen ground and continued sliding several meters.

"Okay, that works."

Stacy said, while her Aureate friends cheered in approval.

"Way to go Stacy!"

"Yoo, that was cold!"

"Donny you look like a fool sliding like that over your arse!"

They joked, as the instructor shook his head, although even he could hardly argue with the result.

[Frozen Ground] had been assigned to Stacy because of its usefulness when defending important pathways, entrances and narrow approaches, where properly placed ice could slow entire groups or force attackers towards more favorable routes.

Stacy was still struggling to shape that ice exactly where she wanted it, yet whenever she succeeded in directing her Frost correctly, the resulting terrain was already difficult enough to cross that attempting to charge across it at full speed bordered on impossible.

Her current problem was not power though.

But rather control, which she lacked because of low experience in handling large quantities of Frost Aether.

—---

Circuit had also made considerable progress over the past couple of weeks, although unlike most students preparing for Black Week, his assigned spell placed him firmly within a support role since House Argent’s leadership considered him too physically lacking for direct conflict.

Instead, they assigned him the Tier One healing spell [Radiant Seal], which could stop bleeding from minor and moderately deep wounds, reducing the House’s dependence upon bandages and other first-aid resources for injuries the Academy deemed too insignificant for treatment at the medical bay.

Within the past two weeks, Circuit had already gained minor mastery over the spell, as although his casting remained slower than the technique demanded, he could now successfully seal most ordinary cuts within fifteen to twenty seconds.

By gathering Light Aether around an open wound, Circuit could gradually constrict the damaged blood vessels until the bleeding stopped completely, allowing the injury to be bandaged later without any immediate danger of continued blood loss.

It was a simple tier one spell with little glory attached to it, although with Black Week expected to produce hundreds of minor injuries across every House, Circuit knew that he too would play a useful role.