Professor Kragsten glanced at the clock…
[0:15]
… And then she turned around and saw Aurelius' arm. The one that had crossed into the inner ring in time to end the drill. And then she swiveled and looked at Caius again as he bowed over, grabbed his knees, and breathed in and out a little hard.
In a second, Cynthia understood what happened.
Caius had been the vanguard to engage her. Both boys had known she was more than capable of battling them at the same time, even if they separated and came at her from different angles. So instead, Aurelius had a spell that made him so fast that it also erased his presence for a few seconds. The erasure was enough to protect him from Cynthia's senses, but she would have caught on still had she not lost her vision because of Caius' spell.
Had it been a real fight, Cynthia was sure she would still have been able to react. The presence erasure wouldn't have helped Aurelius land a hit on her. The moment he attacked or showed an intent to attack, he'd be 'visible' to her senses again. But that was if it had been a real fight.
In a drill of 'Base defense' such as this, it was an effective strategy. It was an approach Cynthia had not expected and as her beautiful storm grey eyes alternated between looking at Caius and Aurelius, she was amazed at how well they worked together. It had to have been the first time they were working together, yet the natural difference in approaches she had been expecting to get in the way of their cooperation didn't actually show up.
"Interesting," she mumbled before addressing the class while shoving her amazed speculating thoughts deep down,
"A round of applause for these two fine gentlemen!"
The class erupted into cheer but it looked like they had been close to it already.
"That was… something," Aurelius said now standing in front of Caius.
"It was," Caius agreed.
Aurelius held out a hand,
"I'm Aurelius."
"I know…"
"No. Introduction is proper etiquette and hearing it from people is not quite the same," Aurelius said.
Caius paused and then nodded with a smile,
"Right," he said and took the hand, "I'm Caius."
A friendly interaction that was happening many, many months earlier than it did in the original story.
The drill they just won was only because Caius knew Aurelius well enough as a character to know what spells he'd use and devised a strategy with that in mind.
That said, as he shook Aurelius' hand, Caius knew he was right to change things. Creating an antagonistic relationship with the main character starting with the loss of the drill would probably just lock him into events he had no interest in being involved in. It was best to go for a friendly but detached approach while he focused on the things that mattered to him. Namely, his Vampiric evolution.
When Caius got back to his seat, both Kaya and Eloise had bright eyes of admiration but whatever praise they were about to give was cut short when Professor Kragsten announced that she was going to make the Two-ring drill an exercise. All students were to get a chance to participate in groups of twos.
Kaya threw a hand up immediately and caught the Professor's eyes. The entire class seemed to have their hands raised but she was first.
When she was called into the Arena and allowed to pick her partner—anyone apart from Caius and Aurelius who already had their shot—she grabbed Eloise's hand.
The amber-eyed beauty looked stunned and stared at the Arena like it was the last place she wanted to be but she reluctantly agreed. It wasn't like she could avoid it. She'd have to participate sooner or later.
"Aim for the reverse scale," Caius told Kaya as she walked past him.
"Hmm?"
"The Lightning serpent spell has a weakness. Aim for the reverse scale," Caius told her.
"She might not use that spell," Kaya said.
"She will," Caius assured her.
There was a pause and then Kaya gave him an appreciative nod before entering the Arena with Eloise close behind.
The timer reset to five minutes and sure enough, Professor Kragsten cast the Lightning Serpent spell and it opened its maw wide, ready to spew out lightning streak beams.
There were very few spells the Professor had at the Third Circle that were as good at both attacking and defending as the Lightning Serpent spell and while it required a long cast, she had so much Mana that she could cast it as much as she liked. It was the perfect tool for the drill.
Kaya took a deep breath and a smile stretched across her face. Caius recognized it from their duel yesterday—A smile that showed off that desire for combat she had.
She cast her green spell circles and created a boundary of thick vines just in time to defend against the first streaks of lightning and the drill began.
Kaya's nature magic was as beautiful to see as it had been yesterday but Caius' attention turned to the magic he was actually seeing for the first time; Eloise's.
When Kaya's defense proved strong, the Lightning Serpent targeted Eloise next while she stood to the side trying her best to appear like she wasn't there. However, once an attack was on its way, her eyes widened and she spread her arms and cast a defensive spell.
A sound like the plucking of the keys of a grand piano emanated from her and spread all over the Combat Magic Classroom.
It was a deep thrumming sound that carried vibrations and then a spell circle appeared in front of Eloise, or at least it should have been a spell circle. Instead, it was a musical note composed of Arcane symbols in the shape of various bass-toned musical notes.
Sound Magic!
Long ago, a musical genius discovered there was magic in music. That the vibrations in the air that create sound have distinct enough magic to warrant study and development. So she started it and spent years performing concerts and orchestra just to perfect her philosophy.
The result was a derivation of Wind Magic that stood well enough on its own that it now had its own arcane symbols passed down within the Nightingale family and to Eloise who now used it well enough to block a lightning blast.
The deep tremor of a bass clef condensed the wind between the attack and the magical musical note, keeping it away but the constant stream of lightning without breaks was forcing Eloise back and she slid closer and closer to the edge of the outer ring.
"Nngh!" She groaned as she struggled to brace herself.
And then a collection of thick vines struck out, hit the lightning streak, and broke it in two, allowing her some breathing room.
"Thank you," she said with deep breathing but Kaya might not have heard her.
Kaya ran toward the Serpent, her eyes searching for the reverse scale Caius had advised her to strike at.
'There!' She thought with her beautiful face all focused on her target.
And then her senses warned of an oncoming attack and she made to leap away but even before she could, she heard plucking sounds like someone was playing an upbeat tune on a piano and then, streaks of Mana in the form of magical notes with sharp tapered ends fired in a continuous barrage that struck the serpent and forced its head up so it fired its attack at the ceiling instead.
Eloise was about five feet behind Kaya looking like she very much still didn't want to be here even with her hands stretched out forming a seal to create a magical note symbol that kept firing her barrage of musical attacks.
A beam of lightning streaks were fired at her next to interrupt her attack and she transitioned into a different tune that lifted her feet off the ground with vibrations and allowed her to glide away.
She floated fast enough to evade and then transitioned into a different and more forceful tune that unleashed a magical note of such intense vibrations that it struck the Lightning Serpent with enough force to send its head recoiling so hard that it fell towards its caster, Professor Kragsten, whose eyes were wide in impressed wonder.
So impressed, in fact, that when she effortlessly controlled her serpent's head away from her, she focused on Eloise almost to the point of ignoring Kaya completely.
"Come on, Miss Nightingale," she said with a taunting yet encouraging grin,
"Show me what you've got."
For a full minute after, it was mostly a duel between the two of them and the entire class was in awe of how many spells Eloise seemed able to dish out in retaliation to the Professor's lightning attacks.
The truth was that Eloise only really knew five spells at the Third Circle of Sound Magic. But there were so many tonal variations that she could switch things up enough to always catch her opponent by surprise.
It was like watching a musical solo. Every attack, every defense, every move came with sound that all came so nicely together, it had everyone in class tapping their feet against the ground in tune with the rhythm.
All that being said, Eloise was getting physically tired. Her reactions, which were already clumsy, became even more sluggish and it was clear she wasn't going to last long. And then, just when she was about to face a blast so powerful, it was sure to send her over the outer ring, a strong collection of vines rose out of a green spell circle that appeared on the ground.
Kaya had taken advantage of being 'ignored' and bided her time. Now she had both her hands on the ground, channeling mana into the spell circle she had created to conjure vines strong enough to complete her task.
The vines broke through the Serpent's reverse scale in a powerful and impactful hit that destroyed the spell and spared Eloise from the attack that would have sent her over the edge.
Eloise slumped in exhaustion but Kaya controlled a vine to hold her and keep her from falling out of the large ring and costing them the drill.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"I'm… fine," Eloise managed to say, "Just tired."
"Rest," Kaya told her before directing her eyes at Professor Kragsten who now no longer had her Lightning Serpent spell to defend the inner ring with.
"I'll finish this."