Chương 265: Day Two Hundred And Sixty-Three

Dear Diary, Y'know, for all that the Marshall is my favorite teacher, he's still a giant pain in the ass sometimes. So yesterday after Doc's lecture, like half the class descended on us. Well, mostly on Saffron, what with her being the Great and Mighty Archmage and all. She was absolutely in her element, showing off not only the improvements to Assess Health, but how she'd made them go. Okay, I'm pretty sure that's what she was doing.

I mean, she didn't say anything that had me thinking, 'wait, that's not right', but she sure as fuck lost me after like the second little interface window she popped up. The thing that impressed me the most? She came up with some kind of Shaping that let the rest of the class see all those windows she worked with. Y'know, without the whole 'seeing things through her eyes' cheat that I used. Smartass Senior Cadet Smith seemed to revel in pointing out flaws in the new Spell Saffron instituted.

Not, like, 'oh, none of it works' flaws, but little, 'wouldn't this be more efficient' or 'wouldn't that be more effective' things. Finally, right as I was about to say fuck my hurting jaw and light into her, Saffron replied to Smith's latest verbal offensive with, "you know, you're absolutely correct. I'm definitely putting that in the next version. In fact..." Then she poked at a few things in the window I'd come to think of as her 'working copy' of the Spell.

I think she changed it according to Smith's suggestion, but it's not like I could tell. As noted, they'd lost me a while before. At any rate, Smith seemed to take even more offense to that than any of the times she'd caught something 'less than perfect'.

"With all these problems with the Spell, I'm amazed you released it." Saffron just shrugged, because she's cool like that.

"I needed a functional version to Assess a close friend with unique biology, and after I'd done so Canta supported the release, so I did it."

"You," Smith spluttered.

"You spoke directly with Canta?" Saffron just calmly shook her head.

"Of course not. Sister Siobhan did. She is, after all, one of his High Priestesses." Another student cut in to ask, "how did you manage to get enough Mana to launch the new Shaping as a Global Spell?" Saffron smiled at him and said, "some of the Mana actually came from taking the older Global spells down. But most of it," here she popped Glowing Midnight on herself, "came from my Goddess." A moment later she popped her uniform back on.

The rest of the students all looked kinda freaked by that, and I might have snickered a little, pain or no. Of course, Smith took that moment to say, "Cadet Diaz, could you demonstrate your Project Spell?" Saffron frowned, but before she could jump to my defense I said, "sure." I painfully lifted my left hand to the desk, pointed more or less at Smith, and extruded a six inch Mana Blade from my pointer finger.

That length wasn't what I'd use in a fight, but I'd done it so often making toast that I really didn't have to think about it. Good thing, too, what with the motion and the Mana use making pain spike all along my arm. I still held it there, because once I had it out the Mana drain was pretty insignificant. Pulling it back in might hurt like a bitch, but that had nothing to do with it. Really. Smith looked at it, then at me, then back at the Blade.

"That's it?" I shrugged.

"Yeah?" She turned to Doc Roberts and said, "how is that a Project-worthy Spell?" Doc just shook his head.

"Because to my best knowledge, it is an entirely novel Spell. Not only that, but the blade she's showing you is probably the least powerful version of the spell, and even so it can cut through anything we've tested it on, with the single notable exception of a Mana Ward." Smith looked back at the Blade, a certain degree of respect entering her eyes before she spoiled it and said, "surely not Cold Iron, Holy Wood, or other similar Mana-resistant materials?"

I just shrugged, but Saffron came to my defense, and this time I let her.

"Doctor Roberts did not misspeak, Cadet Smith. Cold Iron and similar materials require substantially more Mana be channeled into the Shape, but it will indeed cut through even those materials." Now Smith actually looked curious. Way better look than, 'why are these two stealing my spotlight'.

"More mana? It seems... ah... particularly Mana inefficient?" I shrugged again and said, "yep." Saffron replied, "before I set the project aside for more urgent ones, I'd been working on a more Mana efficient version of the Spell. Also, having the Spell as a Skill reduces both its initial Mana cost and the Mana drain from cutting through objects."

She turned to me and said, "I realized while working on a new version that your Blades do require more Mana to cut through things than to just wave them through the air, but with any but Mana-resistant materials, that increased Mana cost is clearly well below any threshold you might notice." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Wait, what?"

"Was something I said too complex?" Smith cocked her head, "you said that the change in ongoing Mana expenditure is too small for her to notice?" Saffron didn't even have to respond to that one. Doc Roberts' sudden laughter from the front of the room drew everyone's attention. He turned from the students he'd been working with to face Cadet Smith and said, "our Tabitha has more Mana reserves and faster Mana regeneration than any person it's been my privilege to work with."

After that, they all peppered me with questions about my Mana Blade, and Saffron was nice enough to answer for me. By dinner time, I was pretty sure at least two of them would be working on an 'Improved Mana Blade' for their projects. Cadet Smith I couldn't tell, though; she looked like she wanted to, but at the same time wanted to work on her own original Spell. Weird woman. Hopefully she'd decide before it was too late to start work.

At the end of class, we waited until everyone else filed out, then Saffron stepped us back to our room. She helped me get ready for bed; by the time she finished Marie and Isnomi had returned for the night. By the time all of them were undressed and ready for bed, I'd managed to worm my way under the covers. You okay, Kitten? Certainly. Why do you ask, love? You've been really quiet tonight. Wanted to be sure you're okay. She laughed as she responded, I've been talking all day. I think I'm actually talked out.

I laughed a little at that, and it felt good despite the achiness in my chest when I did. The three of them joined me in bed, and we all drifted off in our warm little pile. Mimic dreamt of something awful going bad in the pantry. Weird. I woke as the others got ready for their days. I levered myself upright and out of bed.

"Ow. I feel like an old person." Saffron smiled at me.

"Well, you're talking, which is a vast improvement, even if you do sound kind of creaky."

"Yeah. Not gonna turn down help dressing today. But I'll keep myself upright while you do?" She helped me with my blouse, both holding the sleeves so I could get my arms in and reaching around me to tie it in back. I inhaled as that pushed her hair into my face.

"You smell so nice." Slightly muffled by my own hair in her face, she said, "you know what I'll do if I think you're milking this, right?"

"Uh... no?" She chuckled as she pulled back and booped my nose.

"No clue, really, but I guess it'll have to involve milk somehow. Maybe I'll get you pregnant just so you know how it feels to go around as a walking baby larder." Oddest thing? I had no idea how I wanted to respond to that. As weird as it had been at the start, I kinda missed it now that the menace had gone entirely onto, y'know, people food. What with me being some variation on mobile, we all walked down to the Dining Hall for breakfast. For the first time in a little bit, I got to eat my fill.

Or, y'know, eat until they kicked me out, since 'full' is for other people. With breakfast over and hugs and kisses dispensed to Marie and the menace, Saffron stepped the two of us up to the Practice Yard. Marshall duBois stood there waiting for us. The rest of the class, like fourteen Senior Cadets, had already spread themselves out to spar. The Marshall stepped over to us.

"Cadet Aetos, would you mind joining the final group for sparring? They need a third to act as ref; you can cycle in with them in turn."

"Yes, sir." She gave me a peck on the cheek, said, "be careful, love," then left me leaning on my cane watching her receding jiggle physics. I mean, her butt is damn firm, but it still jiggles just a little when she runs. Which she was doing, right up until the Marshall's hand descended on my shoulder.

"You're still recovering?"

"Yes, sir." I kind of shrugged toward my cane, which leaned between us. He paused in thought for a second.

"Can you move around slowly without that?" He nodded to my cane. I thought about it a moment.

"Yes, Sir. I'm not sure I'm up to anything athletic though."

"Okay then. Set it down for a moment?" I did, then he walked around behind me and leaned in to position my feet and hands into what felt like some kind of martial arts starting stance. Then he walked around in front of me and stood in the same pose.

"Now, just do what I do." We spent the rest of the morning doing some kind of off-brand Tai Chi. Slow movements that felt like slow motion boxing, maybe, or some other kind of martial art. By mid-morning I'd gotten myself sweaty, and by lunch time I was definitely ready for a break. The slow movements let me move without too much pain, but they still provided a workout.

"Thanks, Sir." He smiled as he picked up my cane and handed it to me.

"Creative solutions are pretty much the only reason I've got the big chair instead of Leonard. You're welcome." Saffron provided transport to and from lunch. When we got back up to the Practice Yard, the Marshall was waiting with a three foot long baton. Once he had the others working in groups, this time two versus two groups with a single ref each, he walked over to where I leaned.

"Lemme guess. Stick fighting?" He smiled and nodded.

"It's a mite different to sword fighting. Most sticks don't have an edge, for instance, but they also don't have a flat. It opens up options." So we spent the rest of the afternoon doing a kind of slow-motion dancing spar. By the end of the day, I'd gotten totally sweaty, to the point where if my cane hadn't been Smith made, I'd probably have dropped it a few dozen times already. I'd managed to disarm the Marshall twice when his stick got just as oily sweaty slippery as mine.

I'd also managed to get myself up to a reasonable speed. Nothing like actual combat, but fast enough that our sparring sounded more 'clickity clack' than 'click. click. click'. I didn't realize my mistake until after dinner when I tried to stand. Suffice to say Saffron had to Translocate me to bed, where I just sat there while she undressed me, then hissed as she lay me down on the bed. It took her like ten minutes of singsong soporifics until I managed to relax enough to drift off.

At that point I vaguely felt her snuggling up to me, murmuring, "only my Goof." Hey, I'm pretty sure I couldn't date me without killing me on the regular, so I'm glad my wife seems to like me not dead.