Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) Daniel Schinhofen (books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📖

have done for years, but it took a few mysterious incidents last year to push them into doing it.”

“Did they ever find the assassins?” Gregory asked.

“For you? No. For the poor novice who was drowned? Yes. That is academy business though, and does not concern us.”

“Yes, sir.” Gregory hesitated, but then asked, “Sir, about Magus Yang in—?”

“Leave it be. It will be seen to,” Lightshield said, cutting him off gently. “He is going to lose a lot of face for his clan and, in turn, their parent clan. You can only cut so many corners before it gets away from you.” Picking up the bucket, Lightshield rinsed himself off.

“Sir, thank you.”

“No, Gregory, do not thank me. I should be thanking you. The clan is on the rise again, and while your wives are certainly helping with that, it is because of you that they are even here. If you had not joined, they would not have, nor would the others that will be in a couple of days. You have revived this clan and, with it, my family’s legacy.” With a strained grunt, Lightshield got to his feet and wobbled. “Now, if you do not mind helping me to the tub?”

Chapter Seventy

 

“Final four, all three of us!” Daciana was beaming as she reached their table. “And tomorrow, I’ll face Ness in the finals.”

“Or I will,” Victoria told her.

Daciana grinned. “True, if I lose, but I’m not gonna.”

“I doubt Gregory thought he’d lose to Jenn during the last tournament, either,” Victoria said, “but he did.”

“They’ve been like this since last night,” Nessa said, taking her seat. “At least my fight today is straightforward, if a little threatening.”

“It’ll be tough,” Gregory said. “Do you have a plan?”

“I have some ideas, but nothing that makes me hopeful enough to be as confident as Daciana.”

“You can do it, Ness,” Daciana said. “I want to see you in the finals.”

“Much better than seeing Frederica,” Victoria said. “If you go all out, you’ll be fine.”

Nessa gave them both a smile. “I’ll be doing my best, but if she gets ahold of me, it’ll be the end.”

“You still have some of your barrier charge left?” Gregory asked.

“Yes. I’m not sure it’ll do me much good when it’ll only last for a few seconds.”

“I broke my leg on a barrier,” Jenn said, remembering her first fight with Gregory. “Greg positioned it so my kick ended short, but I had all my strength behind it. He kept attacking it to stop me from healing, and stayed on that side as I couldn’t put enough weight on it to move.”

Gregory grimaced, thinking back to the fight. “I wasn’t proud of it, but you had too much aether. I think you paid me back for that, though.”

“Yes, yes I did,” Jenn said, “and I went too far doing that. I was so worried at the end.”

“We have studying to do,” Yukiko said, breaking the conversation. “Nessa, if you came up with a plan, I’m sure it is a good one. Don’t over-doubt yourself. A little doubt is fine and normal, but if you let it keep building, you’ll break yourself before the fight even starts.”

Exhaling slowly, Nessa nodded. “I’m good. I’ll be seeing one of them in the finals.”

“Me!” Daciana and Victoria said in echo.

Gregory snickered. “Okay, ladies. Study now, fight later, and, no matter who wins, no hard feelings. We push each other to excel, but we don’t let a loss to one another pull us down and linger.”

All three novices nodded, pulling materials from their bags to start on Magi Squares.

“When are you fighting today?” Victoria asked.

“Lightshield wasn’t at breakfast, so we’ll have to check the board to find out,” Jenn said.

“It’s only the main arena being used today, right?” Daciana asked.

“For the fights, yes. The other arenas have displays and challenges going on,” Yukiko replied, passing her Magi Squares to Gregory. “We’ll be there to cheer for you three, just as we know you’ll be cheering for us.”

The novices smiled and got to work.

~*~*~

They came around a curve in the path to find a scene playing out before them— Hayworth and Nick were barely a foot apart, both glaring at the other. Their clan members were spread out behind each apprentice, as if waiting for the fight to start. The air was tight with tension. The only thing stopping them from coming to blows were the five men in uniform watching from a dozen feet away, their hands on their weapons.

“If you two are done, stand down,” Sergeant Willof said firmly. “The fights will be posted shortly. You might get to settle this today, or you might have to wait until tomorrow.”

“His clan would melt before us,” Nick sneered.

Hayworth snorted and stepped back. “Sergeant, Swift Wind apologizes for causing your men distress. Unlike other clans, we understand that we all serve the empire.”

“Yeah, of course,” Nick laughed.

“Is there a problem here?” The voice was conversational, but a sudden pressure touched all of them.

“No, Grandmaster,” Nick said, backing up. “Just a discussion while we wait.”

“Hmm. Sergeant?” Grandmaster Pan asked Willof.

“Swift Wind and Eternal Flame were having an argument over who would win in a fight, sir,” Willof replied. “They didn’t come to blows, but that was only because we were here, I believe.”

“Then we are fortunate that you were,” Pan nodded. “I have come to post the fights for today.” Pan went over to the bulletin board. “Sixteen clans will fight in single-elimination fights. These are the brackets and will continue on through tomorrow, so you’ll have a good idea who you will face both days, if you make it past today.”

“We’ll make it past today,” Nick said.

“The Eternal Flame is known for being in the final four,” Pan said evenly. “I should