The Archmage Coefficient (OP Archmage/ Mage Academy/ LITRPG/ Hidden Genius)

Arielle wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but she woke up to a heavy weight on her abdomen. The weight was purring too, and blowing hot air onto her palm.

Her eyes opened in increments to find that the dragon had somehow crawled over her and now had its head on her stomach and its nose underneath her hands. It must have noticed that she was awake because it started chuffing.

“Your head is heavy,” Arielle groaned, but the dragon apparently didn’t understand her or simply didn't care. She used the translate spell that she had formed with Heedy to attempt to make sense of its chuffing, but apparently it had no thoughts, and this was its version of blathering toddler noises.

She sighed and used some air to push him off, right as she heard footsteps from the bedroom.

“Good, you’re awake,” Vittoria said. “We’re a little late, but you seemed tired so I let you sleep in.” The sun was already up in the sky, though the colors still looked like it was near dawn. It was likely around the same time, if a little later, back at Erynwall.

Arielle crawled out from underneath the head, sat up and stretched, wiggling her toes. She paused and stared at them for a moment, recalling the trail of Calor that had been following her most of the day yesterday. It must have disappeared at one point during her fight with the demon, but she’d just noticed it right now, because her mind had been occupied with too many things.

She wondered what that was about. Did it have something to do with the cave and whatever was in there?

For now, she chose to put it out of her mind. There was just too much to worry about for her to add one more thing to it. If it came back, then she would deal with it.

Something clattered in behind Vittoria, and Arielle turned in time to notice that it was a rolling doll made of wood and carved into the general shape of a girl with a robe and a pointy hat.

“What is that?” Arielle asked.

“This is the Ari-golem.”

Arielle frowned. “It looks nothing like me.”

“It doesn’t have to. The creature can’t see. It just has to smell and feel like you,” she said. “This is just the base, but I'm going to give it some flesh. Or maybe scales if the dragon wants. "

"Are you sure it's going to work?"

"It has no choice but to. Once you leave, the dragon will have to imprint on something."

“It could imprint on you,” Arielle pointed out.

“Not likely. I don't plan on getting close enough. It’s already gotten used to your scent. If you were to die or disappear, it would take a long time to get over that. You're its temporary foster mother at this point.”

“I see.” Arielle yawned and straightened. She saw Inara walk out of her room and tentatively towards the kitchen. Ari made it a point to say, “Good morning, Inara.”

“Good morning." The girl squeaked and didn’t turn around, her steps quickening until she disappeared behind the kitchen door.

“Did I do something wrong?” Arielle asked Vittoria.

"No more than usual. Get up and get ready while Inara makes breakfast.” Arielle nodded, shifting out of bed and spurring the dragon to rouse too.

It sniffed the air a few times, then let out a low whine.

Vittoria sent the Ari golem forward to give it pets on the head, but the dragon's whining only reduced a little, to a low hum.

"Looks like it's not a fan," Vittoria commented. "It's okay. We'll get there."

Arielle left them to it and went to clean herself in the privy and put on her clothes. By the time she got out, Inara had already spread out plates of soft, baked bread, eggs, and sausages that Vittoria was halfway through devouring.

“Wow,” she said. "You really outdid yourself today, Inara. This is all delicious.”

Inara blushed. "Thank you. I'll go clean up the kitchen now."

"You should eat first."

She glanced at Ari briefly, then said, "I would prefer to finish cleaning."

"Suit yourself."

With that, Inara bowed and left them to it.

Arielle stared at the meal, not having much of an appetite for it. She was hungry, but she usually preferred her breakfast to be the same every day, and had gotten her taste buds acclimatized to the roasted duck and oats served at the Erynwall dining hall. Meat and bread just felt wrong.

She was about to mention it, but realized that she didn't want Inara to feel bad again. So she simply slid into the seat and took a plate of sausages and beef.

“It’s delicious,” she recited, but she merely picked at her food, recalling the question she had to ask Vittoria. "Have you ever been to Elfheim?”

“Once,” Vittoria answered through a mouthful of eggs. “When I was younger. And another time as an adult, but I was unconscious for that.”

“Do you know the different essences they use? The ones we don't have on Earth?”

“I know some of them. There are many, though. They have the most comprehensive list of essences to date.”

“Why is that?”

“Luck, I suppose. Their realm just happened to be populated with enough of them.”

That was not what Prince Aerendyll had said. He’d suggested that humans had done something to deplete their own essence base, but it didn’t make sense, because Elves were more powerful than humans and as a result their spells should use up more essences. So if anything, they should have depleted theirs faster than humans, given their population was about the same, and their magic-using population was even higher. Why did they not have the same problems humans did? And how come they never had to charge their essences with an EPUQ and the essences there existed already charged?

"I heard they don’t have EPUQ’s.”

"Yes. They're self-charging."

"How come?"

"Something about their atmosphere."

That might not be true because even the blue orb existed in its charged state, although it wasn't eager to bond with any of the orbs in the cave. Its vibrant color had not been dulled by the breaking of the bond, and she was pretty sure she could use it to form a spell if she wanted to. She’d been waiting until her cores were stronger, but this was as good a time as any. And learning they were self-charging made her plans easier. She had been wondering how to bypass the EPUQ.

“Do you know the spell form they use for oaths and such?” Arielle asked Vittoria next.

"Why do you ask?”

“No reason." She dropped her gaze to her food. "I was just thinking of…”

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“What? Going to Elfheim and borrowing some essences to help you break your friend’s curse?” Vittoria snorted. "I admire your ambition, Arielle, but it's practically impossible for someone like you to get into Elfheim. I’m part-elf, and even I have a somewhat hard time going there. All the access points are heavily monitored, access is rarely given, and rifts there are practically nonexistent. You won’t just pop into some random elven kingdom and make out with a bunch of essences. That doesn't happen."

“Hmm, I suppose." Arielle kept her eyes on her food rather than the ceiling. "In any case, I was just curious.”

Vittoria was quiet for some time, the air filled only with the sound of chewing and the scraping of utensils on plates. Then she said, "I had some lessons in Elven Culture and Magic when I was a child until my mother realized I wasn’t interested in them. The common essences I remember are Lithos, which means tranquility, Gianos, which means order, and Phalandrys, which means change. And a few others. Now, keep in mind, these aren't direct translations, as there is no exact direct translation from Elven to General Human Tongue. But they're the closest thing we can get, and their context depends on the spell. Usually, you can get an understanding based on the spell-form, but sometimes the spell surprises you and draws a different meaning from the essence."

"I see." None of what she'd said sounded oath-like at all, but it didn’t have to. She had a plan later for how to figure out what the blue orb did.

“By the way, the conversation I had with the dean,” Vittoria mentioned. “It seems you’re having extra lessons with him.”

“Yes. He’s teaching me how to read people, so I know when they're lying to me."

“That’s good. I'm sure he's an expert at that." She reached for a cup of mead and swallowed nearly the entire thing before she spoke again. "We also had a short talk about some of the things you were doing on campus. All your projects and discoveries....I think you might want to reel it in. You're in danger of exposing yourself."

"Professor Valeria needed my help. And so does Lyra. And Maus.”

“Yes, but you don’t have to be so obvious about it.”

“I’m not trying to be. I’m working anonymously with Valeria. With Lyra…okay, I certainly could have been more careful about that in hindsight. But the dean said he would take care of it. And I can't just stop helping them. I already gave my word."

“Right," Vittoria smirked. "But you have no plans on being a hero, correct?’

“Correct."

She didn’t know why that made Vittoria chuckle.

At some point, during breakfast, the dragon left Golem-Ari and came up to Arielle once more, nudging her hands. She automatically began petting him while she pushed her food around with the other hand.

"Do you want to give him a name?” Vittoria asked.

“It’s a him?”

“If my knowledge of dragon anatomy is correct, then yes.”

She thought about it and looked at his face. He wasn't her pet, so a name might not be warranted. However, it would make it easier to talk about him without revealing he was a dragon.

“Sir Spendulon.”

“What?”

“It's Tamsy Lous’ wealthy human patron's name. He helps her when she’s in trouble.”

"Who is this Tamsy Lous you always refer to?"

"She's an elf from my favorite storybook. She goes on world adventures."

"I see," Vittoria's lip twitched. "What a sophisticated name, Sir Spendulon."

The dragon chuffed in response.

After breakfast, Arielle left behind the spell script for the antidote so Vittoria’s friend could help them figure out how to make it for the snake. Arielle would also try on her end to make something to heal the dragon, as Professor Woden was good with potions and also with animals, and four heads were better than two.

Vittoria's last words to Arielle were telling her to be careful in the cave.

"I didn't feel anything while I was there, but that doesn't mean that it's entirely safe," she said. "Don't go there as often, if you can help it."

"Alright," Arielle answered.

Her return to campus was quicker than she'd expected it to be. It seemed one second she was in Vittoria's living room saying goodbye and the next, she was in the dean's office.

The dean had been sitting reading something, but he didn't look at all surprised at her appearance, peering up at her.

"Arielle. You're back from your excursion."

"Yes."

"How did it all go?"

"Fairly well," she said. Vittoria had informed her that she hadn’t told Dean Octavius exactly what they were doing, but he knew enough to probably make educated guesses. She'd also assured Arielle that he would keep it a secret.

Our goals are more aligned than I thought, Vittoria had said.

"Thank you for letting me go," Arielle told him.

“It’s no issue. Although next time, I would rather you inform me ahead of time."

"Next time? You'd let me leave campus again?" That was strictly against the rules. "Why?"

"I think we both know the answer to that," he responded. "You will not be able to leave on your own, though, given the threat on your life, but with Vittoria or Elric...I can be flexible. As long as we keep this a secret from the board. Everyone thinks that I took you out for a lesson. That is the story you will tell your friends. Alright?"

Ari nodded, saying, "Thank you," and bowing deeply before she left the office.

The exams were still in full swing, but it was a more relaxed atmosphere, likely because most of their tests were done. The hall looked sparser than normal even though she knew that those who hadn't passed would only have to go home at the break and not return. Yet some might have chosen to leave earlier, because it certainly didn't look like enough people were on campus.

She walked up to the library first to search for a book she had found there by coincidence, when she was searching for information on elven gems. It was a book of elven fables that was supposed to teach life lessons but also stories of elves using simple spells. It didn't go into details on what the spells were called or their composition; it just briefly explained what they did.

Nevertheless, that could help Arielle in her experiments.

On her way out, she walked into the path of none other than Wulfric, who was moving in through the entrance.

He stopped, stared down at her for a second, and his face tightened as he sidestepped her. Arielle was about to continue walking out, but she paused and turned around.

"Wulfric."

He was already halfway up the staircase before he stopped and faced her. His expression was carefully blank.

The guilt that had been plaguing her returned in full force. She didn’t know exactly what to say to him, but she felt compelled to say something.

Arielle thought for a second about what she wanted to say before she let it out. "I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression the first time we talked. About our closeness. I didn't mean to do that." It hadn’t truly been her doing, but if his interest had been spurred by Vittoria's actions, then she needed to apologize for it.

"Noted," he said. "Is that all?"

“I’m also sorry for how harsh I was with you the other day,” she said. “I was frustrated and was not as understanding and empathetic as I should have been. I have recently discovered that I am quite self-centered and have some difficulty seeing things from other points of view. I did not adequately consider your feelings when I made my decision, and if I had, the decision would have been the same, but I would have explained in a much calmer and polite manner why I did not want to attend the ball with you.”

He didn’t say anything to that, considering her words with a nod. “Is that all?”

Was there anything else she needed to apologize for? She didn't think so. At least nothing she could easily articulate.

"Yes. I think that’s all."

Somehow it felt like that was the wrong answer. His face tensed.

"Are you going to North Base?" he asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"No reason." He continued up the stairs until he wasn't seen anymore. Arielle was not entirely satisfied with that conversation, but there was nothing else she could think of to add, so she continued on her path too.

Finally, she returned to her room and picked up her notebook full of information on blood magic spells, oath spells, and the spell book Valeria had given her at the start of the semester.

Then, a short ride later, she was on North Base.

Thankfully, her cave was devoid of that threatening presence, but she recalled Vittoria's warning as she sat on the stones and began to meditate again.

Here was her plan.

First, she was going to try to create three simple spells using the blue orb as a way to ascertain its function, cross-referencing the spells she found in the elven fable book. To start, each spell would only use two other human essences; the first spell was [Flashlight], which only used Luxa and Massa. She was going to add the blue orb in the middle of that chain to see how it affected the rest of the spell, and after it recharged, she would repeat the spell, but adding the orb at the end of the chain.

She would also observe the recharging process.

She wrote this all down in her notebook, titling this project 'BOE', for Blue Orb Experimentation.

Then she reached out her hand and began to move the blue orb, the effort making her grit her teeth. That core was still tiny compared to the rest of them. The movement was slight and lazy, and only worked because the blue orb liked her enough to cooperate. She adjusted the speed of the rest of the orbs so that they would move in tandem and arrive at the same time.

As she gradually put it all together, watching as the orb got more active, she had a brief moment when she wondered if this was the wise way to go about it, or if she should have taken more time to think about it.

Then it was too late, and suddenly the linkages snapped into place.

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