Fallen Mage Regressor

Mal stopped and faced Hypode from across the field. Mal felt the tension between them crackle like lightning.

He went through his list of options. He still had access to basic spells. Arcane Sphere with push and pull, and the shield spell. He could also do the plant stuff. Finally, his boots were equipped with Airgrass. Unfortunately, that last one wasn't really applicable given that the only thing it did was silence his footsteps.

Meanwhile, Hypode had probably mastered a handful of other spells. Flame. Pain. A number of effects became more and more viable the longer they learned at the school. If Mal was particularly unlucky, Hypode might have learned a more advanced version of Arcane Sphere, like Bolt. Technically, that was a second year pattern, but Mal wasn't taking any chances.

"Though I admit I dislike you," Hypode suddenly said. "I never did properly thank you for what you did."

"What did I do?" Mal asked.

Hypode made a choking noise. "You know what you did!"

"No, not really."

Hypode breathed in and out, then the tension in his voice disappeared.

"My point is that I'm obligated to apologize in advance for what I'm about to do."

He held out his hand and an Arcane Sphere formed in front of him. It blasted out and Mal dodged to the right. The Arcane Sphere hit the grass and visibly punctured the dirt, like somebody had taken a mallet to the ground.

Mal instantly identified the spell.

Burst.

A concentrated push effect. More sudden and more compressed. It allows for a sudden 'burst' of energy that was more damaging than a typical push effect.

Another Arcane Sphere whizzed toward Mal. He dodged again with a smooth movement.

In later years, students would learn more effectively how to zone and reduce the number of options that an opponent had. But for right now, Hypode was plum out of options.

Hypode stopped. Mal could see it in his eyes: they were at a stalemate.

Hypode was out for victory.

Mal was aiming for another draw.

And this time, by Eternus himself, he would get it.

Mal shot forward with an explosive burst of speed from his legs. Hypode's eyes shot open before they quickly narrowed back in concentration. An Arcane Sphere blasted out at Mal, and at the close distance, it seemed as if there was no chance of dodging.

So instead, the shield spell that Mal had been charging sputtered to life and blocked the Arcane Sphere at just the right instant.

The shield visibly cracked and strained from the pressure. Hypode's more developed core almost overwhelming Mal's nonexistent one.

But at this stage, it wasn't enough.

Runic backlash kicked in and the spell burst backward in a shower of light. Hypode clenched his fists. A shield rose up to meet the backlash.

Even Mal could admit that he was somewhat impressed by the maneuver. The mana bounced between the two shields and dissipated harmlessly into the air.

Mal jumped forward as soon as the coast was clear and attempted to lock Hypode into a grapple with outstretched fingers. Hypode stepped out and charged up another Arcane Sphere.

Another Burst effect, Mal could smell it on the air and see it in the way the amount of mana that had flown into Hypode's body. It was the same amount that had been in the earlier spells.

This time, Mal was too close for the spell to fire off harmlessly.

Mal grabbed Hypode's wrist and wrenched it into the air. The Arcane Sphere shot into the sky and Mal felt the burn as it shaved his hand.

But Hypode wasn't deterred. His hand lit up and Mal cursed.

He was applying an effect to his hand—a touch pattern instead of an Arcane Sphere pattern.

And based off of his previous spell usages, it would likely be another Burst effect.

Hypose impacted his hand against Mal's right side. The concentrated energy hit him like a brick and he stumbled back and dropped to the ground.

Already, he could tell that the area was going to bruise.

He stood up when pain spread through his abdomen and chest, each part of his internals feeling like they were being crushed section by section. His knees clicked and lost all muscular control, forcing him back to the ground.

Mal glanced back down at where he'd been hit.

The liver.

Hypode pointed an Arcane Sphere down at Mal and grinned.

Well, Mal's winning streak was bound to fail eventually, though he didn't expect it to come so soon. It was hard to discern where exactly he'd made a mistake. But then again, he hadn't been going all out. Even now, the bracelet on his wrist twitched, almost as if it was asking him to be used.

A gentle breeze rolled along the ground, even reaching Mal despite his low position.

And then, abruptly, his boots shook in response.

A gust of wind hard enough to propel Mal backwards and push Hypode and toss Hypode into the air erupted from his feet. On the way down, Hypode hit his head against a rock and instantly fell silent. Mal winced out of sympathy. The guy was going to get brain damage at this rate.

After that, though, his mind went back to what had just happened. He stared at his boots with a faint grin.

Looks like there was a secondary effect he was unaware of.

For once, Mal had gotten what he'd asked for.

A draw.

Mal had been unable to move after the shot to his liver, and Vigil had judged that in a serious fight, damage like that could lead to his death, even if the other opponent at that instant seemed indisposed.

Mal was tempted to try to power through the pain just to make a point, but he had to admit the blow had been right on target, and it probably wouldn't have been worth it to make the attempt.

After recovering (AKA, being sat down next to a tree and watching everybody else fight while in immense pain), he'd felt well enough to stand and Rolam and Philo helped pull him to his feet.

Rolam slapped his back. "That was an excellent fight, honored leader!"

"Philo agrees, although he's a bit confused as to where that sudden gust of wind came from."

Mal's jaw opened and shut a few times.

"Yeah, the weather patterns around this time of year are pretty strange," he finally settled on saying.

Nima squinted at Mal for a few seconds, then shook his head as if it had been nothing more than a strange aberration or a dream.

A clap.

"Excellent work!" Vigil shouted. "Now, everybody line up for review."

The students followed the instructions and Mal couldn't help but notice all of the glares being shot in his direction.

Were they angry at him? But why?

He followed the gaze more carefully and resisted the urge to laugh when he saw what was happening.

No, not him. They were glaring at Rolam and Philo.

They probably didn't believe the level of improvement that had occurred.

Mal couldn't blame them, he didn't really believe it either. It had only been a few weeks since they'd begun patching up the weaknesses in Philo and Rolam's approach, and it was already bearing fruit. But then again, those two were Heralds, so Mal supposed he should have expected something as ludicrous as this.

One of the students' faces was different. Instead of disappointment or anger, he looked...

Scared.

And he wasn't looking at Philo and Rolam. No, he was looking at Nima.

Before Mal could ask what that was about, Vigil started speaking again.

"There were a few patterns that I noticed among several of the competitors, so we'll be going over that..."

After that, Vigil started talking about the usual suspects. People were hesitating, they weren't thinking outside the box. All sorts of stuff that Mal was sure would be very useful to literally anybody but him.

"Finally," Vigil said, his tone changing a little. "I would like to congratulate Rolam and Philo for their victories in particular. They've improved immensely in a very short period of time. Learn from their example."

A few beats of silence.

"But they were cheating!"

Vigil raised an eyebrow at the student who'd shouted.

"No, you're all just shit at this," he said. "Class dismissed."

As they were funneling out, Mal looked back at that fearful student's face. As soon as the student noticed Mal, his body stiffened and he dashed off in another direction.

"Hey, Nima," he said. "How did your fight go?"

Nima perked up. Rolam and Philo glanced over at him with equally curious gazes.

"Well," Nima said. "I realized that I could use my illusion magic and just show my opponent something scary. He surrendered right after that."

"Something... scary? Like what?"

It was the smallest expression, something that Mal would've ordinarily never caught. A tiny smile bleeding with malice. It reminded him of the smile Mal used to give in the mirror, back when he'd been a monster.

Then it was gone as quickly as it had been there.

"Nothing," Nima said.

Mal stopped in his footsteps. He watched Nima's back as the other boy stepped further and further from him.

Mal had never seen Nima make a face like that before.

…

The necklace. Mal had never confirmed, had he, what it was that Nima wore around his neck?

Mal knew someone had betrayed him. A mole in the school.

Mal just didn't know who it was.

Could it be that the mole was under Mal's nose the entire time?

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