Chương 29: Chapter 28: That sounds concussed, actually

Cuman's smirk was no longer on point. His eyes turned from Miro to the radiating scorch mark between them, then to the woman striding calmly forward. His posture didn't change, but Fabrisse could feel that Cuman wasn't used to being interrupted mid-performance, especially not by someone outside their year. What good was a bully without his smirk? Fabrisse counted that as a personal victory. She didn't look at Cuman.

She walked right past him like he was another overgrown shrub and stood beside Fabrisse instead, hands at her hip.

"Oh, you're back, little Lugano," Cuman said, schooling his voice back into that familiar shade of casual cruelty.

"The Rock Witch's personal watchdog returns." He gave her a theatrical bow.

"Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, Miss... Assistant Mentor? Magus Exemplar? How high have you risen now with all that dazzling academic ingenuity?"

"Try again," she said. Cuman clicked his tongue.

"Relax. No need for the girl to get defensive. Or is this a family business now?"

"I'm not his family," Liene said.

"I just hate watching cowards pick targets instead of opponents." Cuman's grin returned, though it looked slightly forced.

"Right. Well, enjoy hiding behind your big sis, Kestovar. I'm sure the next time you try throwing rocks, she'll let you use both hands." That sentence doesn't even make sense. For a second, he felt an itching need to do something. To fight like a reckless, glowing idiot. But he didn't. Cuman turned on his heel, gave Miro a shove to get him moving, and stalked off without another word. Or so Fabrisse thought. Cuman had made it perhaps six steps.

He looked over one shoulder, and a slow grin crawled back onto his face.

"Psych." He shook his wrist.

"Spark, crackle." [SKILL CAST: Triumph Sparkshot (Rank II)] Half a dozen emerald sparks exploded from his fingertips with snapping reports, riding a rushing current of wind straight toward Liene. Fabrisse' s robe fluttered. He shielded his face with his hands. Liene lifted a hand." Refract." [SKILL CAST: Lumen Shear (Rank I)] A ring of sparkling aqua radiance bloomed in front of her palm. The light bent. Emerald sparks entered the halo of light and veered wildly off course.

By the time they reached Liene, they had lost almost all their force, brushing past her with nothing stronger than a passing gust. What happened... was so fast. And both spells were kept under-leveled so they wouldn' t trigger the courtyard wards. But how did they still look so dangerous? Fabrisse was sure those sparks from Cuman could' ve knocked him off-balance. Then he examined the spells in detail.

[SKILL CAST: Triumph Sparkshot (Rank II)] Element: Wind Emotional Modulation: Triumph (66%) [SKILL CAST: Lumen Shear (Rank I)] Element: Light Emotional Modulation: Conviction (74%) Emotions. That explained part of it. Even low-ranked spells could feel frightening when their emotional modulation was that refined. It also helped that Cuman and Liene weren' t throwing around ordinary academy spells. Rare and Epic invocations were built differently. Liene lowered her hand.

The last emerald spark fizzled harmlessly into the grass." Three seconds," she said. Cuman raised an eyebrow. Liene gritted her teeth." To leave my sight." His grin returned." Careful, Lugano. Talking big only works if you' re willing to back it up." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. She said nothing. He spread his arms." Go on, then. Challenge me. Or are you only brave when there' s no duel attached?"

"I'm not you," Liene said.

"I don't spend my afternoons baiting people into brawls. Some of us actually have things to do." Cuman snorted.

"Cute." He jerked a thumb toward the courtyard.

"Keep talking while the wards are protecting you. Last I heard, you' ve never won a duel in your life." He gave a dismissive wave then trotted off.

"Come on, Miro. They' re not worth the effort." Miro hurried after him. Fabrisse glanced sideways at Liene. Was that true? She gave nothing away. Then again... it didn' t sound impossible. Liene wasn' t the sort to challenge people over bruised pride. She spent most of her time in the infirmary. Healing thaumaturgy wasn' t exactly famous for producing duelists, and academy duels were voluntary outside a handful of combat courses. Why would she have fought enough people to build a reputation in the first place?

The more he thought about it, the more Cuman' s accusation sounded like something he enjoyed repeating until everyone else did too. As he watched them take off, Fabrisse exhaled shakily, brushing dust from his sleeve.

"Thank you," he whispered to Liene. Liene stepped beside him, brushing soot from her coat. She looked him up and dow, lightly jabbing a thumb against his arm.

"Are you bleeding anywhere? Or worse, emotionally leaking?" Fabrisse gave a lopsided smile.

"Only my dignity."

"Ah, that's fine then." She wiped a strand of hair that was covering his left eye, ignoring his startled yelp.

"Didn't suit you anyway. Looked like a wizard trying to cosplay a wilted leaf. At least they didn't mess up the cute hair." He laughed, and for a moment, the lingering tension in his chest eased.

"Thanks for the timely sunbeam. I didn't know you were into dramatic entrances."

"I time them to your moments of maximum idiocy," she said as she ruffled his hair.

"Which is often."

"Easy." He reached up and gently, awkwardly, touched her wrist, guiding her hand away with a motion that was far more sheepish than he would've liked. He couldn't even meet her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liene peered down at him. He was about to respond before the glyph showed up. [NEW SIDEQUEST UNLOCKED: "Rock and Retaliation"] Objective: – Strike Cuman Gollivur with a Stone-Based Thaumaturgy spell – Bonus Objective: Humiliate him publicly for 100 EXP Reward: Spectral Appraisal (Rank I) – View target's combat stats: FP, attributes Time Limit: 7 days (Standard Calendar) [SYSTEM NOTE: Violence is not always the answer. But sometimes, a well-placed pebble is.] Why do the sidequests give the most juicy rewards? This feels like something that should be earned in a main branch of quest. [SYSTEM NOTE: Spectral Appraisal can be attained later via the main questline.] Accept Sidequest? [Yes] [No] I mean... do I really want to fling rocks at Cuman's face? By the Will of the Flamus, yes I do!

"Fabri. Are you sure you don't have a concussion?" Somebody said.

"Huh?" He didn't. He was just staring at a spectral glyph nobody else could see. It was, of course, Liene, huffing to herself.

"Why am I even asking? A concussed man wouldn't know they're concussed. I'm stupid!"

"Yes." He said as he chose 'Yes' on his glyph.

"That doesn't sound convincing. That sounds concussed, actually. Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?" Liene now leaned in a bit to bring her eyes to his level. Her face punched straight through the glyph hovering in front of him, scattering the projection like she'd just walked into a curtain of light. It was, objectively, too far into his personal space. He resisted the urge to flinch.

"Fabri?" she said again, brow creasing. He turned away.

"Just a breeze. Or a concussion. One of those." She frowned.

"Don't joke about that."

"Sorry." He appreciated her care, but something about how worked up she was gave him pause. Sure, they were close, fellow underachievers and occasional co-conspirators, but even he wasn't this worried about his own injuries. It wasn't like he'd fallen off a cliff. There was a pause. Then her voice dropped an octave.

"Right. I'm reporting this. What are their names again?" He very quickly turned back to her.

"What?"

"You got spell-slammed in a sanctioned zone. I'm going straight to the faculty authority queue—maybe Bellare if he's on rotation, or Vavis. They'll actually do something."

"Liene, wait—""I'll even bring a transcript if I have to. Or dig up those lantern rune logs, if those things recorded glyph activities. They'll corroborate—""You've never gone the official route in your life," Fabrisse said, incredulous.

"Oh." With a breathy laugh, she spun on her heel.

"Exactly! Which means it's too late to start now!" She threw her hands up.

"Do you think they'll care? That it wasn't a duel? That it got out of hand? No one steps in unless someone's unconscious, and even then only if someone inconveniently sees it." He continued.

"I don't think the Magus are going to file a citation on Cuman Gollivur. His uncle chairs the Discipline Board." She turned back to him with a grin too toothy for someone frustrated. He felt his spine trying to retreat from his body. Liena chirped, "So that leaves only one option."

"Oh no." Oh wait. The quest. Oh yes.

"We play them back," she said.

"But only with Stone-based Thaumaturgy," he said. A light breeze drove past. Now it was her turn to exclaim, "What?"