“A spark,” Shalise said, apparently seeing the confusion on Eva’s face. “Irene and Max might have had the right idea. Maybe I’ll try back next year after I practice magic more.”
“What about the shield Professor Kines taught us?”
Shalise casted a spell. Something appeared in front of her, Eva could tell by how some of her blood hit a barrier.
Eva tried casting a small fireball at it. Her shield shattered on impact, though the fireball didn’t make it through. At least that was something.
It didn’t seem that Shalise considered that a victory. “That is that,” she said dejectedly.
“We’re here to practice, right? So let’s practice.” Eva readied her wand again, not that she needed it. “Bring up your shield and when you do, imagine the biggest, strongest wall you can.” She was just repeating Franklin Kines’ words from the start of the lesson. Her blood shields didn’t need any sort of thought behind them.
Shalise did so. Eva tossed another small fireball at her.
The shield shattered again.
They spent ten minutes practicing against Shalise’s shield. One of the fireballs actually splashed against the shield instead of shattering it. Shalise got so excited she lost concentration and the next fireball hit her square in the chest.
It was just a small impact; Eva couldn’t amp up the power much at all. Still they continued.
A loud crash drew the entire room’s attention.
Tony Burnside was lying on his back. His wand rolled a few feet away. He struggled against something.
Eva sent some flecks of blood over to find he was almost entirely encased in earth. The only part that wasn’t was his head.
Juliana stood over him. She had a sword pointed at his neck.
“Juliana Rivas, what are you doing?” Franklin Kines ran over to their ring.
“I want this man removed from class,” she said firmly. “If he isn’t going to take it seriously, it is only going to hurt anyone who has the misfortune of partnering against him.”
“This is not a sparring session,” Professor Kines said. “You’re supposed to practice shields.”
“I can’t practice shields if he won’t even try to hit me.”
Professor Kines whisked his wand out and pointed it at the prone Tony. The earth crumbled off of him.
Tony batted the sword out of his face and stood up. He tore off his helmet and armor. Without a glance at anyone, he marched straight out of the classroom.
“Alright,” Professor Kines shouted. “Class dismissed. Everyone out.” Juliana turned and Kines added, “except for you, Juliana.”
Eva walked over to Juliana’s side, leaving Shalise looking very uncertain in her ring. Jordan and Shelby walked over to her a moment later.
“I don’t believe I asked for your presence, Eva. Return to your dorms.”
“I had the ‘misfortune of partnering against him.’ I’ll say my input to defend my friend.”
Juliana smiled, still facing away from Professor Kines.
“You both will be kicked out of this class if anything like tonight happens again.”
“Us?” Juliana spun to face the professor. “
“Should he return to class, he will be given one more chance as well.” Franklin Kines pointed a finger at each of the girls. “You two will come to me if you have a problem with another student. You will
“Am I understood?”
“Sure,” Juliana said. Her sword squirmed back up underneath her clothes. She turned on her heel. A smile spread across her face as she walked away.
Eva shrugged at Kines as she followed after.
“That was fun,” Juliana said. “I could get used to knocking over upperclassmen.”
Shelby snorted. “Yeah, but you’ll probably make enemies that way.”
“You didn’t have to go fight him,” Eva said as they walked through the Infinite Courtyard back to the dorms. She felt guilty about almost getting her friend kicked out of class.
“No. I did. My mother would never have stood for someone slacking off if she taught a class like this.”
“She’s a retired mage-knight, right?” Jordan asked. “Maybe she would teach a class like this. Not that I think Professor Kines is a bad teacher, I just wonder what kind of background he has to be qualified to teach a class like this.”
“Well, she’s in Russia right now.” At Jordan’s questioning glance, Juliana added, “don’t ask. After that, I don’t know. Teaching doesn’t seem her style. It isn’t adventurous enough.”
Genoa Rivas was a scary woman.
Extra Lessons
“F D P L T C E O,” Shalise said without hesitation.
“Good,” Professor Baxter said. “Next line down?”
“P E Z D I O E T O.”
“Close. Still, better vision than almost any normal person.” Professor Baxter shut off the projector. “Keep practicing that spell and I might have to pull out the air mage chart.”
