*Date: 33,480 Second Quarter - Chalice Theocracy*
Aris was going back and forth in the small alchemy room, his boots wearing a path in the stone floor.
"Yes, we are staying. We should." He turned to Fox. "We are staying, right?" Then raised his head thoughtfully. "But..."
Fox's tail twitched with irritation. "Kid, stop already. There are things we can't change. And things we can. We have to plan."
"Rathvoss is a player. How did we not see that? What if he sells us out?" His frantic pacing wasn't stopping, hands gesturing wildly.
Fox finally snapped. "Aris, stop and sit."
Aris sat down on the workbench stool, mind still filled with uncertainty. His leg bounced nervously.
"We can't leave her here, so..."
"Aris, listen." Fox padded closer, golden eyes serious. "I know we shouldn't leave her here, but how are we gonna find the other relic she wrote about? The Lock?"
"I don't know. I... don't know anything. I'm just a normal teenager. How am I supposed to..." He was getting frantic again, voice rising.
"Don't start again." Fox's voice was firm but not unkind. "Why did we come here in the first place? To learn spells, to get stronger. You are somewhat doing that."
"You're saying we should stay?"
"I'm not saying that. But you learned how to move forward. You don't have to stay here. And Lyra without memories is kind of safe here, so..."
"So..."
"Whatever you choose, either stay and try to find answers from here, or leave and look for the other relic, is up to you."
Aris gulped. He'd never made a decision of this scale before. His whole life had been following instructions, doing homework, obeying rules. "Maybe..."
The door opened suddenly. Aris jumped, frightened for a second. But his furry friends Orric and Gumo entered, the wolfkin and bearkin looking apologetic.
"Sorry we barged in," Orric said.
"Is it okay? We can come?" Gumo asked, the bearkin friend squirming nervously.
"It is school property. Of course you can," Aris said, trying to compose himself.
Gumo was still squirming. Orric saw it and finally said, "When we talked about you brewing potions, Gumo was wondering if you have some for us."
"If you have extra," Gumo added quickly.
The bearkin opened his satchel and left a bunch of different herbs on the table. Dried flowers, roots, crushed leaves in careful bundles. "I gathered these and asked my mother to bring dried varieties from our hometown."
Aris felt warmth spread through his chest. "Thanks, Gumo. Of course you can have them. I know most rich people entered their kids to the academy to gain status. So some of us can't get access to basic potions."
"Your potions seem to have given you a boost to gain some ranks," Orric observed. "But we only need them before the Dungeon trial."
"Sure, of course. I was about to start experimenting with tier 3 potions," Aris said. Tier 3 should be C rank, he thought to himself.
"Tier 3? Wow, you advanced fast," Orric said, ears perking up.
"Well, I need it. I'm doomed to form a weak party."
Gumo looked confused. "What do you mean? We can take you. I am rank 11, Orric is 8. One of us can take you."
"Oh, he didn't tell you. He's gonna force his way into the top 30," Orric explained.
"Aris, don't! Entering at the bottom only gets you weak members," Gumo protested.
"I have to try," Aris said. Perhaps one last time, he added silently to himself.
The rest of the days went in a blur. He headed to his classes, continued his potions, sparring with Orric or Gumo. Entered his duels. His control on the dueling board improved significantly. Draining his opponents' stamina, his mastery of Radiant Convergence increasing. He learned to send missiles with his will, sometimes flashing light to blind, sometimes sending precise strikes with Radiant Convergence.
Radiant Convergence was especially amazing against spellcasters. While they were preparing attacks, Aris was sending Light Flares to disrupt and missiles to hit. But most physical opponents still overwhelmed him, even with potions. He was no match for most of them as Level 1. With the stone fully charged, I can probably take anyone, but things have to stay this way, Aris thought.
In passing days, he visited the library, tried to form friendship with the new Lyra. But she was completely different. Her new introvert librarian persona made her all alone. She was distant to everyone, students and staff alike. Doing her job, living a quiet life. Seeing her like that made Aris furious, but there was nothing to do other than leaving her flowers occasionally on her desk.
As days passed and Aris moved up the rankings, the Fae students' bullying, especially Sliver's, got awful in the dueling arena. Now that humans weren't backing him up, they were getting insolent every day.
Before his 89th match, Aris had won his second match of the day and took 30th rank. He was celebrating with Orric and Gumo. His last match of the day, the 89th duel, was against rank 32, a Fae named Barcowa. He was a tough physical type Aris wasn't good against. All the other Fae students were behind Barcowa, cheering, hyping him up.
Sliver walked up to Barcowa with a voice loud enough that everyone could hear.
"He is nothing but a trickster. Don't just push him against the board. Make him suffer. You got this. If you win, I will place you on a good team, Barcowa."
Behind Aris, only Orric and Gumo were cheering. And Rathvoss shrugged.
"Aris, Barcowa, stop blabbering and take your positions," Rathvoss barked.
Aris coated his training shield with his shielding skills. Using reflect potions against physicals was unnecessary. He downed his blood-infused tier 2 potions. His speed and stamina jumped instantly. He was feeling, seeing much better. But Level 1 stats jumping to Level 10 average stats might seem useful to the user. Against an estimated Level 30 kid, he was still slower and weaker.
Before he started his attack, he sent Radiant Mark. But Barcowa's shield deflected the mind attack. Does he have advanced mind shields already? Aris thought.
Aris produced his second spell, Radiant Convergence, and started flashing light. But Barcowa was on the move. He made himself smaller behind his shield and charged with force. Aris jumped to the side to get away from the shield bash, but Barcowa opened his shield at the precise moment and hit Aris's arm. His Radiant Convergence Orb concentration was gone. Aris had to charge again to recreate it. This meant loss of momentum.
After running around the ring and charging his spell, he kept hearing Faes mocking his running. When Aris couldn't take it anymore and got distracted for a split second, he dropped his shield concentration. Barcowa with a kick dropped the wooden shield from his hand.
Aris was now in the open without any attack or defense skill.
Orric shouted, "Aris, withdraw! Take the loss! You don't want to get injured before the last games!"
Aris, for a split second seeing his opponent's frantic face, jumped backward to outside of the ring. But Barcowa didn't stop his charge. When he was about to hit Aris, Rathvoss produced a shield between them.
"Contain yourself, Barcowa. You won," Rathvoss said, voice hard.
Fae students were now cheering more loudly, celebrating.
Barcowa, when leaving, said to Aris, "Coward."
With that loss, Aris ranked down to 33. He had three matches left. And one was against Sliver Stoneflower.
Back in his room that night, Aris stared at the ceiling, Fox curled beside him.
"You okay?" the familiar asked.
"I made my choice," Aris said quietly. "I'm staying. I need to get stronger. If I'm not strong enough, I can't search for a relic to restore Lyra's memories. I can't protect anyone."
Fox's tail flicked. "Good call. Besides, you're learning faster here than you would anywhere else. Even if half of them want to kill you."
"Only half?" Aris smiled weakly.
"Maybe three-quarters."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"Three more matches," Aris said. "One against Sliver. If I can just..."
"You'll do what you can do," Fox said. "That's all anyone can ask."
Aris nodded, determination settling over him like armor.
He would stay. He would learn. He would grow stronger.
And one day, he would find the Lock and restore Lyra.
Whatever it took.