Soul of the Warrior

"I don't know how you talked me into this," Tom lamented.

"It's because I'm so Charismatic," Reivyn shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah," Tom replied. "That doesn't change the fact that this is absolutely crazy."

"Ready?" A teacher shouted. Reivyn and Tom both nodded, and the Teacher, after a moment to verify, raised his arm and then brought it down sharply. "Begin!"

Unassisted Bolt Spells flew all over the dueling stage as the entire 30-student Elite Class began a free-for-all magical melee. Reivyn began the combat by creating a mana shield by hand and infusing it with the Eternal Element, using his tessen as the focus for the spell.

His paranoia was right, as over half of the spells came flying to him, but his conjecture on the properties of the Eternal Element was also correct, and all of the Spells were blocked by his shield. He noticed that there was only a small spike in the Mana usage of the shield, much smaller compared to when he used only pure mana.

The actual cost of keeping up the shield with Eternal Mana is higher, so it's a wash on the Mana cost, Reivyn noted. It's more powerful than a pure Mana shield, though. There was zero chance of any of the Spells overcoming the shield, so it's already a better method. As I raise my Affinity Level and Skill Levels, though, the Mana cost will come down.

Reivyn dismissed the shield and pulled his left hand out from behind his back, where he had been threading the weaves for a simple bolt spell. He tossed the spell out towards the other side as everyone else was scrambling to form new weaves to deal with each other.

Tom was to his immediate right. All of the students had agreed to not forming any kind of alliance at the beginning of the match, but Reivyn, Tom, and the other two roommates subconsciously focused their attentions on the students across from them. The 30 students were formed in a circle, as there wasn't enough room otherwise, and some of them attacked those closest to themselves.

Before the match had begun, everyone had been given the two artifacts to create the shields to protect everyone from harm, and the audience stands were full of the other Novice students and even some from the Apprentice and Journeyman classes.

"If their goal is to entertain themselves with drama, why not put on a big show right at the beginning, instead?" Reivyn had brought up the idea to his roommates.

"It's not just the sparring matches that people will get to see," Trick said. "People also like drama, so it's likely that the instances will still occur."

"Yeah, but this should sate their desire to watch some magical fun, as well as showcase the Elite Class's prowess," Reivyn argued. "Sure, they'll eventually stir up trouble between people, but this will give us a lot of breathing room before that happens."

"I suppose that's true," Vane said. "And if people can show abilities above everyone else all at the same time, it will get your point across about deserving to be in that spot."

"Plus if we're all in the arena at the same time, it doesn't have to be anything serious," Reivyn continued. "We can say it's just for fun, and we don't even have to go all out until there's a clear winner. If we all get up there and go wild, but we don't fight 'til the last man, that leaves a lot of leeways for people to save face as well as give others something to talk about. Most people don't have enough mana for a sustained battle like this without using Class Skills, anyway. It's a win-win situation."

"Ok, let's run it by the rest of the class and see what they have to say," Tom said.

It went without saying that they all eventually agreed.

Reivyn's Fire Bolt Spell went sailing through the empty air, all alone as everyone else was still working on building their next weave. It flew through the air and smashed against one of the other students, a shield popping up to protect him from the effects of the magic. He looked momentarily surprised as he lost concentration on his weave. He shook his head as he reformed his weaves with a renewed effort to try and keep up with the others.

It seems weird, but I can tell that the Ambidexterity Skill definitely played a role in assisting with making the weave with my off-hand, Reivyn thought. I don't know if it's a mental thing, a System thing, or what the cause is, but it seems manipulating mana with your hands and not a focus is somehow affected by how well you can manipulate material things with that hand.

I thought it was purely a mental thing.

Reivyn dismissed the thoughts from his mind as he focused on the battle going on. Different Elemental Spells were formed and launched by the students, and it became apparent very quickly who was slightly more skilled and who needed more work as the Spells weren't formed at a uniform speed. There wasn't much of a difference between the Elite students, but if one paid attention enough, it was there to be noticed.

Reivyn continued to form Spells with his tessen as a focus as well as concealing weaves made with his off-hand behind his back. He noticed that most of the other students used some form of focus, too, be it a fan, as in the case of his friends, or a staff, rod, or wand in the case of most of the other students. Hardly anyone else was just using their hands to manipulate their mana.

Reivyn surveyed the field and noticed that everyone mainly stayed put in their position as they concentrated on forming their weaves. He also noticed another peculiarity as the melee continued: There were three girls that received considerably fewer attacks than any of the other students.

Reivyn decided to change that, and he strode out into the middle of the field as he gathered his two mana weaves. Many of the other students were still focused on building their own weaves or on an opponent they had selected for themselves, so most didn't immediately notice Reivyn's movements. I'm pretty confident I'm the only person in the dueling ring that has the Battlefield Awareness Skill. I wonder if competing in more matches like this will help others get that Skill? Something to think about and discuss with the others at a later time.

He walked toward the center, but then veered in the direction of one of the girls that were getting fewer Spells launched her way. Either people are subconsciously avoiding attacking these girls, or there's an ulterior motive behind their actions. Can't have that. This is a free-for-all, and nobody should feel completely safe, Reivyn chuckled with a small smile forming on his face.

He threw his left hand forward and released the Spell he had formed. It was a Light Flash Spell he had extrapolated the weaves for from his Class Skills using Lattice to help deduce it, and an orb of mana shot towards the girl. One of the male students standing nearby had noticed the situation with Reivyn, and he dashed in front of the Spell.

"I'll protect you!" The boy valiantly declared. Well, that answers that question, Reivyn snorted.

The Light Flash Spell detonated in front of the boy's face, blinding him. He yelled out in surprise and covered his face. Reivyn then held his fan out, closed it, and channeled a Plasma Beam through it, directly at the stunned boy. The boy's shield lit up as it protected him, and it quickly dimmed under the onslaught of the Beam Spell.

Reivyn released the built-up mana he had prepared for the Spell, and the boy's shield was precariously close to winking out.

"What are you doing?" The girl spoke up to the boy who had jumped in front of her. "I don't need your protection," she shook her head as she released her own weave upon the boy's back.

The Spell appeared to be a simple Bolt Spell using the Wind Element, but Reivyn noticed that it had a severe rotation inside of it, like a tiny tornado. It slammed into the boy's back, and his outer shield collapsed. The Wind Bolt had enough power left, though, to shatter his internal shield, and he was eliminated from the match.

"Go down," the girl said dispassionately.

Reivyn's Danger Sense kicked in, and he launched himself backward as several Bolt Spells flew past where he had just been standing from several different directions. Reivyn looked up and saw several other students grinning at him. Reivyn began weaving his mana again and started moving about the ring. His actions had apparently inspired others, and many of the students began moving away from their original positions.

The melee descended into even more chaos as not just Spells flew about the field, but people ran around in a confusing manner as well. Reivyn continued his dual Spell casting, one after another, as he witnessed the scene.

Reivyn noticed that the other two girls that had been avoided by most of the other students had ended up in a personal duel of sorts. I guess if the others aren't going to give them the fight they want, they can just fight each other, Reivyn chuckled. The girl that Reivyn had attacked was now fully involved in the melee as the other students saw her attitude toward her "protector."

Most of the students began slowing down their manic launching of Spells as their Mana pools diminished, but Reivyn continued on unabated. He heard the laughter of his friends and other students, and several others were eventually eliminated as their shields failed.

It's about time to end this, Reivyn thought as he witnessed the other students begin to gasp for breath. Sweat trickled down their foreheads and dripped down as the consumption of Mana caught up to them. Reivyn glanced at his Mana before summoning his Spells once more.

826/2,240

I've been spending about double the Mana as everyone else, but even then, I imagine my Mana pool is considerably higher than anyone else's. Reivyn nodded to himself as he formed a "Flame Blade" from his closed tessen. He formed the Spell to create a shield out of pure Mana with his off-hand, but he kept it in reserve until it was needed.

Reivyn dashed towards a clump of students who had coincidentally formed together as they moved about, and he slashed through them all like he was wielding a sword. Their outer shields were already flickering, and he managed to burst three of the five with his maneuver.

"One final attack! He can't block us all," A call came from a student behind Reivyn.

He assumed a ready stance as he twirled about to see that all of the other students had focused on him. Multiple Spells came flying at him from every direction. He released the shield Spell he had built, and with an effort of will, he transferred the same intent to his "Flame Blade." He noticed out of the corner of his awareness that the weave inside of the Spell form altered a bit, and he used his shield to block several Spells from his left, and he used his "Flame Blade" to parry the other Spells.

Whatever it was that I subconsciously did, it worked, Reivyn noted as he batted the Spells away with his improvised fire sword. He wasn't able to stop all of the Spells launched at him, and his shield artifact lit up as it blocked the ones that got through. His protection, however, was still mostly intact, and it didn't even flicker.

He stood there in his ready stance as the other students who had launched the volley witnessed him come out of it almost unscathed. Several of them sighed as they sat down where they stood.

"That's it for me," Tom said with a laugh. "I don't have enough Mana to form another weave, much less continue fighting."

"Me, too," Vane said. Trick nodded his head. The other students seemed to share their sentiments, as they began walking to the edge of the stage. Reivyn stood where he was, his shield Spell and "Flame Blade" still going strong. He looked around and saw that the battle was over, and everyone else had stopped competing.

He dismissed his Spells, and the sounds of cheering from the crowd finally entered his conscious awareness. It was almost deafening, the loud shouting from all of the students as they fully immersed themselves in enjoying the spectacle. A sudden Notification popping up caused him to pause and inspect it.

New Skills Unlocked!

Tier 1:

Light Armor (1)

Tier 4:

Dual Spell Casting (1)

Nice, Reivyn thought. I wonder if I was able to more easily get it because of the Ambidexterity Skill? I should mention this to the others. And I didn't realize that these robes would count as "Light Armor." I should practice sparring in these clothes, as well.

Reivyn stood up straight, opened his fan, and strode off the stage towards his roommates with his head held high. He could make out that some people were cheering for him specifically and congratulating him on a job well done, but most of the cheering was for the Elite Class as a whole.

"How are you still so nonchalant?" Vane asked, bent over breathing hard. "How much Mana do you still have?" Reivyn glanced at his tab once more.

731/2,240

"Just over 700," Reivyn said. His three roommates gave him a weird look as they digested that information.

"What?!" Tom shouted. "You still have over 700 mana?!" Many of the other students nearby from the Elite Class, as well as the closest ones in the audience, looked over with surprise.

"That's more than half of my total Mana pool," Trick said, shaking his head. "And you were running about casting twice as many Spells as anyone else." Reivyn shrugged.

"Yeah, I can see how you were confident in crushing your opponents," Tom said after regaining his composure. "It's not just that you know a ton of weaves already. You're a monster."

"You're not wrong," Reivyn said with a smile. "That's what my parents say, too."

"Your parents call you a monster?" Vane asked, his eyebrow quirked up with a skeptical look on his face.

"In a loving way," Reivyn defended.

"Sure," Trick said. "They 'lovingly' call you a monster."

"C'mon, let's go," Reivyn said.

"Hold on a minute," a voice called out. The four friends stopped and looked over to see Master Feld entering the arena. "Elite Class, gather up really quick," he instructed.

The other students stopped their exit and looked at each other before making their way back up onto the stage.

"This isn't anything important," Master Feld directed his voice toward the audience which had quieted down upon him taking the stage. "You all can go about your business. I'm only going to talk to them for a moment."

The students in the audience mostly resumed walking towards the exit, talking about the chaotic battle they had witnessed enthusiastically, but some stayed where they were to see what Master Feld wanted with the Elite Class.

Master Feld waited for the Elite Class students to gather up before him. Most of them were excited about what they had just done, but some were a little disheartened about their poor performance. The boy who had jumped in front of the girl that Reivyn attacked was one such student, and he seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else at the moment.

"I noticed several of the students pause and supposedly check out a System Notification," Master Feld said once everyone had gathered around and were paying attention to him. "Now, Skills and Stats are private matters, so I don't want anyone to think they have to share, but I would like to know if anyone gained anything unexpected out of the melee just now. Just a show of hands will be fine."

The students looked around amongst themselves, and about half of them raised their hands, Reivyn included.

"Excellent," Master Feld said with a small smile. "If anyone wants to share what it was, that would be great. But as I said, you don't have to."

"Umm," a tentative voice spoke up. Reivyn looked over and saw that it was the boy who had jumped in front of his Spell. "I unlocked the Danger Sense Skill," he said meekly. Maybe he's trying to recover from the embarrassment, Reivyn thought. I mean, good on him, that's a very useful Skill.

"Good, good," Master Feld congratulated him. "Anyone else?"

"I unlocked Battlefield Awareness," one of the girls who had ended up dueling with the other spoke up. Her opponent on the field nodded her head to indicate she had as well. They smiled at each other. It seems like they're friends off of the stage, Reivyn chuckled. Kind of like how Tom joined the other students in their last attack on me.

"Great," Master Feld said. "That's all I wanted to know. Thank you for sharing. You can go about your business, now." Master Feld took the information he had received and walked out of the Arena.

"What was that all about?" Tom asked to the group of friends as they once more made their way to the exit.

"Well..." Reivyn said, contemplating the situation. "How often is the Arena used for a free-for-all melee?"

"I don't recall anyone else doing it," Trick answered.

"Maybe we showed that there were benefits they hadn't considered before," Reivyn speculated. "Sometimes people are too close to the issues to see everything involved, and they've been doing things a certain way for so long that they don't even consider other avenues of approach."

"That makes sense," Vane said. "It's just been taken for granted that the dueling arena is used between two people dueling. I don't see how anyone is likely to unlock Skills like Danger Sense or Battlefield Awareness in a simple duel like that."

"Speaking of," Tom interjected, "I noticed that you raised your hand, too, Reivyn. What did you unlock?"

"I unlocked Dual Casting," Reivyn didn't conceal the Skill. He had displayed his ability to weave multiple Spells simultaneously to practically the whole Academy, anyway.

"Huh, I would have guessed that you already had that Skill, what with how you were slinging Spells about like that," Trick said.

"Nah, I was using Ambidexterity to help manipulate the Mana with my off-hand," Reivyn replied. "Speaking of, that might be an avenue of approach to assist all of you in gaining the Skill if you want to work towards it."

"Yeah, it would definitely be useful..." Tom said. "In the future. I'm not sure any of us have the raw Mana pool necessary to make it a viable strategy at the moment."

"You're not taking your Class Spells into account," Reivyn pointed out. "The Mana cost will be a lot less that way."

"Good point," Tom conceded.

"Alright, it's settled then," Vane said. "Another Skill you'll be helping us unlock."

Reivyn's life at the Academy returned to normal after the large, open battle between the entire Elite Class, but it seemed that his little scheme had also drawn a lot of them closer to each other. He could often hear students of the Elite Class discussing different aspects of what had happened during the battle with each other. Everyone was trying to analyze their own actions as well as each others' in order to be better Casters.

Many students included Reivyn and his roommates in their discussions, and they didn't hold anything back from each other. His roommates' predictions of a larger study group also came true, as even some of the other Elite Class students joined the group. Their numbers swelled and stabilized at around 80 students each time.

Melissa, Larissa, and their friends went to most of the study groups, but they also had their own things to attend to, so sometimes they had to get a teacher to supervise. Regardless, the girls also managed to make new friends in the Novice Class, and the study group was a harmonious environment for everyone that attended. It was mostly the same students each time, but there were some that rotated in and out.

Another change to the students' life came about in the official formation of group duels. The school created rules and formalities for different levels of free-for-all battles as well as team battles. They even made it a mandatory exercise going forward to participate in them as classes, and the benefits were seen by staff and students of each year alike.

"You seem to have had a pretty big impact on the entire Academy," Tom said. "It's been a long time since a change so big has happened, that I'm aware of."

"As long as it's a good impact," Reivyn said with a shrug. "I've always been open about helping anyone and everyone, and if I don't even have to be involved, even better." The four boys chuckled.

"Yeah, if you were involved every time, you'd have no time for yourself," Vane said.

"Your little plan worked even better than we anticipated, too," Trick said. "Now the lower class students are also preoccupied with their own battle royales and team competitions that they have less time to stir up rumors to cause drama."

"It'll still come," Tom said. "Mark my words, but it does seem like our entire Novice Class is closer to each other, at least on a class-by-class basis, than it has been in the past."

"Now that you've caused such large waves and your own studies are coming along, what's the next step?" Trick asked.

"Well, it's about time we went to the Cobbled Ruins Dungeon," Reivyn replied. "We'll have to put our study group on hold while we're gone, but it should only be for a couple of days at most. It is only half a day's journey away."

"Sounds good to me," Tom said. "We'll make preparations and get the recording artifacts from the Academy Quartermaster. When did you want to go?"

"I was thinking we could go towards the end of a week," Reivyn said. "We get allotted time off to be able to go, and I don't want to go on a weekend so I can go and visit my family for a break."

"Sounds good," Trick said. "You can take us with you, too, and introduce us to your friends at the Knight Academy and family while we're at it."

"Good," Reivyn said. "Sounds like a plan."