Chương 31: Chapter 90: Assault

Viren shoved some of the long strings on the ground into the nearby bush with his foot. There. Out of sight, out of mind. Now, no one would see that there was a stray bit of rubbish lying around and no one would latch onto it as though a few stray strings would undo all the other preparations they had worked so hard to achieve and— Tallow scratched his cheek lightly.

"Right, right," he murmured.

"No more thinking about things like that. I'm just going to focus on the events. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Why are you muttering?" Acrypha asked with perfect clarity, tone, register, and volume too.

"What's wrong with muttering?"

"It makes you look anywhere between suspicious and deranged. But I never said anything was wrong with it. I asked why you're muttering."

"Maybe I'm just talking to Tallow."

"Deranged it is, then." Viren felt like if he was to live up to his billing as deranged, then he might as well take Tallow out of his coat and chuck the cat straight at Acrypha's face. He resisted the urge, however. That would be very unheroic. And considering he was to be in the presence of a national hero soon enough, he thought it best to restrain any unheroic impulses for later.

"Now you look murderous because your mutters were cut short," Acrypha said.

"I do not! Don't you have anything else to do besides scrutinizing me?"

"I admit I got bored with all the work." She almost cracked a grin.

"Picking on your fragile ego is significantly more fun."

"Cursed Calamities," Viren said with a very audible mutter.

"And here I thought you had no idea what fun was."

"Very funny and mature, Viren."

"Who's picking on who here?" Admittedly, Acrypha was distracting Viren from feeling any of the anxiety he was entertaining at the upcoming meeting. Not that he was going to say that out loud. And it was a stupid feeling anyway. There were thousands of students at Arcoryx Academy. Why would the Prime Minister ever decide to pay attention to one lowly first-year like Viren? It wasn't even as though he was a standout figure in his year.

He wasn't as smart or talented or just plain superior to everyone else like Acrypha was.

"Hnngg," Viren said.

"What was that?" Acrypha asked.

"Nothing. Just noises of dissatisfaction."

"Hmm…"

"Don't hmm."" Why?" Viren spread his hands. He couldn't believe she didn't hear it too.

"Because you sound like him!" Acrypha huffed but didn't disagree with the point. They had to pause their bickering for the time being as the time had finally come. Their vaunted guest had arrived. The fanfare was loud and brilliant. Now that the Prime Minister was done touring the important districts of Arcoryx City, he could turn his attention to Arcoryx Academy, which was where he was receiving the best reception of all, in Viren's entirely unbiased opinion. Out there, it was just politics.

It was a celebration of his standing at the peak of Androvia's Royal Court. In here, in the fields and bounds of the academy, where magic was celebrated more than anything, the Prime Minister would be lauded as one of the foremost mages in the entire Realm, not just in Androvia. Here, his real accomplishments would be pushed to the fore. Here, he would be recognized for his real achievements. As was expected, the first thing the Prime Minister did was deliver a rousing speech to the entire academy.

He addressed all the Academs, students, and staff, his words locking in everyone's attention almost like they were magic. Viren felt like he wouldn't forget any of what he heard, even though most of it seemed to vacate his memory not long after. Although, one thing certainly stuck.

"In the end," the Prime Minister was saying.

"Remember that, before all things, you are the academy. You are—dare I say it—the foremost institution of magic. Of learning. You are where the next generation will grow. You are where the future is cultivated. As such, it's not just the duty of the Academs and the staff, but that of the current group of students as well, to leave behind a legacy befitting those who come after." The clapping that resulted from that speech echoed over the entire academy. Viren's hands were hurting a little after he was done.

"Your turn is coming up," Viren hissed at Acrypha as they moved on to the next stage of the reception. Acrypha didn't look particularly happy about it, but she stoically didn't complain either. Say one thing for Acrypha, say she was dutiful. The next event basically had the Prime Minister conducting a little meet-and-greet with the various top performers of the academy. Everyone who had stood out across the last semester or two for good reason got to meet and talk with him personally.

Acrypha, having knocked it out of the park at the duels and also achieved record scores in her entrance exam, was one of the first. Viren tried not to feel miffed. He certainly wasn't jealous of Acrypha. If anything, he was both happy for and proud of her. If anyone deserved to go up and get the Prime Minister's attention, it was her. That said, he would dearly love to be the one to end up there as well. He had to get to a position where he deserved it too. The event lasted for almost an hour.

Of course, Acrypha only spoke for a minute or two, and then returned when she was done. There were a lot of other students waiting in line for their turn, and the Prime Minister gave everyone his undivided attention.

"Are you feeling blessed?" Viren asked when she was next to him again. Acrypha just grunted a bit.

"He was… nicer than I was expecting. Actually genuine." That made Viren scowl a bit.

"You seriously doubted him?"

"People can have a lot of faces, Viren. In fact, everyone does. Some people are just much better at hiding them, or are much more fortunate about when they need to show those other faces." Viren really wanted to counter that, but unfortunately, something in the way she had spoken kind of suggested she was right. He just focused on the next event. That would be the most fun.

With the help of a few enthusiastic Academs, multiple societies within Arcoryx had combined their capabilities to create a fantastical play, one where even Viren himself was intent on taking part. He had tried convincing Acrypha to join him, but she had declined.

"You can still be a houseplant," Viren said, not totally joking.

"Or a giant cat." Acrypha looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"I'll pass, thank you." This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Viren tutted and shook his head.

"You're missing out."

"The only thing I'll miss out on is second-hand embarrassment, so please, spare me." This time, Viren couldn't help but laugh. Unfortunately, there appeared to be some sort of hold-up. He tried to be patient and waited as long as he could. Ten minutes. That turned to thirty. That soon became a whole hour.

"Stop tapping your feet and go check it out if you're so agitated," Acrypha said.

"Why aren't you agitated?" Viren asked. She wasn't looking at him. Only at the near distance where the Prime Minister had disappeared. Viren hadn't even noticed when or where he had gone. Everything was always such a busy humdrum, though it seemed even more chaotic than usual.

"I'm not agitated because I understand something is happening," Acrypha said.

"But without more concrete evidence, there's no point in getting worked up." Viren couldn't emotionally understand that, even though he intellectually agreed with her. He took her first advice, though. When he found one of the graduate students who ought to know better, he found himself speaking with a cat lady. Er, a Therian.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked.

"Something happened with the security," she said. She blinked at him.

"Do I know you?"

"Uh, me?"

"Wait, I do know you. You were at Ryland's side." Viren frowned. Now that he thought about it, the lion-headed woman did seem faintly familiar from somewhere and the mention of Ryland had jogged his memory.

"Oh, right. You were his teammate at the Entrance Trials." She nodded.

"Sint. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Viren. Glad to meet you too." He said the last bit distractedly, though, as he turned and tried to see what exactly was going on with the Prime Minister.

"Security, huh? I guess it is a big issue…"

"It might be, yes." Viren's confusion didn't get much time to settle. All because it was replaced by worry, concern, and fear. The ground began shaking. Everyone cried out, and several people actually fell to the ground. Viren looked around wildly, trying to see what exactly was going on. Spells were flashing into being and popping off everywhere, Academs and graduate students caught between casting their magic and communicating with each other.

"W-what's going o-on?" Viren asked. The trembling had made him lower his body towards the ground, his feet spread wide to ensure he still maintained some balance. It was one of the first lessons at Excursion Club. Sint was stable, somehow. It was either magic or her feline nature.

"You should get back. Find safety."" Safety? What's happening?"

"We might be under attack." The words struck Viren's heart like an arrow. What in all the Realms did she mean by an attack? Why would Arcoryx Academy, a place where students came to learn magic, be attacked? A group of older mages rushed past him towards the location where Viren had last seen the Prime Minister go. Sudden bangs and flashes tore through the area, followed immediately by screams and cries. Viren found his arm gripped by an implacably strong grip, and then he was being hauled away.

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to pull free from the Therian's hold on him.

"Let go!"

"I told you to get out of here."

"What? No, I have to help!" Viren's notions of heroically stepping up now when it really mattered were trampled by far too many things going on all at once. People were running away from the site of the magical explosions. Everything was chaos. The Academs were trying to corral the students away to safety, but their orders were lost in the din, their magic finding no room in the mess.

"Viren!" Acrypha came up and grabbed him.

"You're alright." Seeing her, Sint finally released Viren, then immediately shot into the fray. A lot of the graduate students were quickly trying to get through the chaos to join a few of the Academs who had gone the opposite direction to assist the security forces against whatever was going. Against whoever was attacking.

"I shouldn't be running," Viren said, even as he felt the crowd around him trying to pull him away from the worst of the mess. But even as he felt that instinctive reaction, he wondered what in the Realms could he have even done in this chaos?

"This is mad."

"Let the adults handle this," Acrypha said as she continued dragging him after Sint had dropped her grip. Where had that Therian run off to? Viren didn't get a clear-cut answer. He was forced to try and find a path through the crowd, forced to get farther and farther away from the explosions and sounds of various spells firing with detonating blasts and shaking impacts. Magic reverberated in the air with terrific potential.

"This way!" The familiar shout called out to both Viren and Acrypha. The crowd of students they were surrounded by all shifted like a river, so they were herded along towards where Alendra was gathering everyone into a specific hall. It vaguely reminded Viren of the time the Incursion had attacked Arcoryx City. Except this time, he wasn't about to go out and fight. He was running like everyone else. Shame surfaced like a viper about to strike with venomous fangs, but he tamped it down. Chaos broke out.

Screams and cries suddenly resonated far too close, so loud that Viren couldn't even hear Acrypha who was right next to him. Not with the sudden burst of explosions and magical impacts hammering the vicinity. Training with the Excursion Club had Viren locating just what was going on in seconds. The attackers were heading straight for them.

While most of the graduate students were either dragging the students in another direction or quickly trying to form a barricade to stop the attackers, Alendra and Acrypha both had other ideas. They both rushed out to meet the enemy mages head-on. Which was what inspired Viren to do that exact same thing. The first rule of chaotic engagements was that relying on coordination and teamwork without preparation or planning was suicidal. Basically, Viren couldn't waste time worrying about the others.

He didn't need to, thankfully. Both Alendra and Acrypha were better, more capable mages than he was. The only person Viren needed to worry about was himself. So, he pushed Tallow off to follow the other students before throwing himself after Acrypha and Alendra. His cat listening to him buoyed his confidence a good deal. Which crumbled just a bit when he saw exactly who he was supposed to be fighting. Labourers? His mind boggled. How were they casting that sort of magic?

Those furious elemental floods, those incredibly powerful summons, the flash of Glyphs that were far too high-Tier for what they should have been capable of. That was insane. And why were they attacking the academy? Or were they attacking the Prime Minister? The first of them was already almost upon Viren, so he was forced to shove aside his storming thoughts for the time being." [Fuel Soul]!" he shouted. There was no time to waste. No room to play around. These people were assaulting the academy.

He couldn't think about taking it easy." [Immolation]!" In seconds, the man was burning away, completely engulfed in roiling flames." [Multi Barricade]," he grunted. The flames shattered. Viren gawked, unsure of what he had just seen. His mind reeled. Oh! He hadn't actually set the man on fire, just his outer barrier spell, which had then shattered and—" [Surge]!" the man shouted. The man's second barrier exploded outwards. It expanded its boundary quicker than anything Viren had seen before.

The Wardens pursuing the man—the ones he had hoped would catch up if he managed to slow down the "labourer"—were smacked right off their feet. As were the students and Academs getting caught by the rapidly expanding forcefield. Viren cried out and tried to retreat, but like everyone else, he was far too slow. He could only marvel at the magic. A barrier spell used offensively like that? This man was definitely no labourer.

Then Viren was flying off his feet, the ground sailing at him as he screamed— He jerked to a stop, only to be carried aloft like he had suddenly gained wings. Then he struggled. Hard.

"Let go of me!" he shouted at the iron grip on his robes.

"[Immolation]!" His flames shattered again. The "labourer" laughed as he continued hauling Viren along with him, practically using him as a human shield, preventing anyone else from attacking in fear of harming Viren himself.

"We've got one!" he shrieked out in triumph.

"We finally caught one! Come on, you fools. It's time to leave!" Horror tried to freeze Viren's furious struggles. They were using him. He was their getaway plan. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The air was rushing away, nearly preventing him from breathing, everything beyond him a blur with how incredibly fast the man was moving. There was only one option left. Viren was surprised he even managed to arrive at it with how his thoughts and feelings were awhirl. But if no one could free him, he had to free himself.

"It's not going to work, boy," the man said as Viren started casting, his manasoul burning again.

"You won't get away from me so easily." And that was true. Some of the man's barrier had expanded and locked onto Viren in a weird way, holding him tight and preventing him from going anywhere." [Immolation]!" Viren screamed anyway. Because instead of targeting the man, he was setting himself on fire. So as the sudden burst of agonizing heat ate away at him, forcing him to scream, he forced himself to remain conscious.

For the man holding him had started screaming as well, the flames squeezing through that tiny gap where his barrier was connected to Viren himself.