Chapter 2 #2
Such as Professor Cassian Veilmonte’s classroom.
The first thing he’d done when he’d gotten hold of the classroom was strip the old paneling from the walls, revealing three windows that opened into the lake.
Now the whole classroom shone with green wavy light coming through lake and blue lanterns, giving the room the vibe of a true alchemist’s laboratory.
“You should talk to him sometime, you know,” Trisha said, reaching the bottom of the steps. “He’s not an asshole, I promise.”
“What would I ever talk to him about?”
“He’s acing this class, you know.”
“Really?”
“He’s got straight A’s in every subject except for the one that Headmaster Eldric’s teaching. Something about the headmaster hating his guts.”
“The pious headmaster bathed in the holy light of the sun?” Lesya said, and then burst into giggles.
“The very one, the prick,” Trisha laughed. “What grade did he give you in the midterms?”
“B minus,” Lesya said, headed toward Professor Veilmonte’s classroom. There was a group of students wearing beige robes standing by the door. The usual suspects, cocksure Solaris students flexing their channeling devices, loud, boisterous.
“You’re the best at dreamwork. What’s he getting at, giving you a B minus?” Trisha asked angrily. “Motherfucker gave me a C minus.”
“Guess who he gave an A plus,” Lesya said, nodding in the direction of the Solaris students.
“His beloved grandson,” Trisha said, eyeing Elias Solwyn with great contempt.
“What are you looking at, paleblood?!” Elias Solwyn caught Trisha staring at him. He was a whole foot taller than both of them. His unruly hair fell on his forehead, his blue eyes catching the light of the blue flame lamps.
“Ignore him,” Lesya said, hoping to just brush past them and walk into the class. Despite all the great and noble attributes their household was supposed to represent, students of House Solaris, especially Elias and his entourage, could be real assholes.
“Hey,” Elias said, shoving Trisha’s shoulder. “I wasn’t finished.”
“Back off, motherfucker.” Trisha glared at him, shoving him back. “Grandpa’s not here to watch your back.”
“Is that a threat, Evermore?” Elias’s second-in-command, Theo, growled, standing by Elias’s side.
“Would you look at that? He’s dumb and ugly,” Trisha scoffed. “Where do you find these losers, Elias? The orphanage?”
Elias and Theo gawped at her for a second.
Now that is how you insult someone, Lesya thought. Both Elias and Theo’s parents had died in the years following the Necromancy War, killed by vengeful Deathless.
Before the group of Solaris students could do anything, Theo Cohen got ready to cast a spell at Trisha.
When Lesya was given the choice of picking a channeling device, she did not opt for a quarterstaff, wand, or ring, finding all three to be trifling and unpractical.
A quarterstaff was too big to stow. A wand was almost phallic in symbolism.
Rings were rarely as powerful as wands or quarterstaffs.
There were other options for channeling devices, such as orbs, or magically imbued books.
It came down to the mage’s channeling aptitude.
There were some who had opted for blades, daggers, swords.
But Lesya had thought of practicality above everything else. And the dragonhide leather hand harness that was strapped around her wrist and index finger was practical enough that she could wear it everywhere and cast her magic at a moment’s notice.
It saved her precious seconds on the draw, and before Theo Cohen could take out his spellblade and hurt her friend, Lesya let loose a stunning spell, and since she cast the spell using the harness, it shot out in a wide area, hitting all the Solaris students standing there blocking the entrance.
They were all thrown back, crashing into the wall, limbs splayed.
Lesya took hold of Trisha’s hand and pulled her toward the classroom. She opened the door, led her friend inside, and closed the door.
Professor Cassian Veilmonte stood leaning against his desk, perusing a book. His once wild silver hair was combed back to give him more of a scholarly look. He looked up from his book and gave the girls a nod.
“Thought I heard you two outside,” he said. “Where’s the rest of the class?”
At that moment, the Solaris students burst through the door, all looking dazed and flustered, eyes glowering, faces red from the spell’s impact. Theo still had his spellblade out. Its blade shone dark blue, ready for casting.
“I think I have warned you no less than several times that a spellblade is not a channeling device suited for use within the campus, Mr. Cohen,” Cassian said dryly. “Only one of you attend my advanced class. The rest of you are in remedial. What are you all doing here?”
“She—” Elias spat, pointing at Lesya.
“If you’ve got qualms with your fellow students, I suggest you take them to your housemaster, Mr. Solwyn, or better yet, your grandfather. You shall find no sympathy here. Out with you.”
Lesya suppressed a grin as she took her seat next to Trisha.
“But I’ve got this class!” Elias retorted.
“That may be, but I don’t want you in here today. Don’t think your actions have gone unnoticed across the campus. Riling the students, stirring trouble. Go loiter about. Don’t you have a lynch mob to gather?”