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

At first, Arielle thought she had made a mistake. Nothing happened. Even as the spell form held steady, there was no visible light to be seen.

But she waited, analyzed, and squinted until she saw something.

A faint bluish-purplish glow travelled in a straight path outside the cave.

Interesting. It wasn't as strong a light as [Flashlight], nor was it as bright. When she turned the light to illuminate the corners of the cave, something else happened.

An image flashed in her mind briefly, one that lacked color and depth. It was strange outlines, bumpy blacks with bright whites, and as she moved the light, the image changed too.

“What is that?” she wondered aloud as the spell time elapsed and the spell shut off. The orbs went in their different directions. The blue orb bobbed in the corner, euphoric after its first time in a spell in what was likely a long time.

It greeted the rest of the orbs that tiredly trekked its path.

"Hmm."

Arielle wrote down what she had seen: the blue orb plus [Flashlight] transformed into a ray of bluish-purple light and gave an image of something strange.

She wondered if it would matter where she placed the blue orb on the spell form? What if she placed it at the end of the structure?

She had to wait ten minutes for the orb to recharge before she could try again. When she did, it morphed once more into a slightly different structure***, a red light that wasn't quite as narrow, and it moved on its own. It swayed around the cave, stopping in different places.

What was it stopping for?

Arielle used [Sensate] to follow the movement of the light before it stopped on the cave wall. Her enhanced hearing picked up skittering and buzzing.

Insects.

It was stopping for the moving insects on the wall, identifying them. That was interesting. So in this orientation, the blue orb turned the spell into a movement tracker? Or just an insect identifier?

She tried a different configuration, placing the blue orb at the start of the spell. It twisted around, and this time, it gave her a yellow light that settled on a tuft of grass in the cave.

So maybe this light pointed out plants?

The fourth arrangement was a little harder to understand. It gave her little wisps that travelled around the space, before collecting at a given point. At first, she saw nothing special about that point. No insects or plants. And then she realized. Orbs. It was the cross-section of the ley-drift, where the orbs were thickest.

Reveal. It reveals things.

Arielle’s heart beat in excitement.

Luxa was already a revelatory orb, but it seemed that the blue orb deepened that or altered the type of revelation it was. This was good. Perhaps with the right combination of essences, she could reveal more about the soul and the abyss.

So far, she had only tried it out with light.

Time to try other spells.

Her next attempt was with [Wind Gust]. She placed the blue orb between the first Massa and Calor junction and waited to see what would happen.

Once again, the spell transformed slightly before it worked.

But it didn't reveal anything like with Luxa. Instead, a gentle, pleasant breeze floated around the cave, rustling her hair and soothing her.

She frowned. That was strange.

She tried it again, placing the Blue Orb at the very end of the spell, and what she got was a small whirlwind floating on the ground, picking up the debris before it disappeared.

Placing it at the start of the spell form caused a random particle in the air to move around the room until it landed in her palm, before disappearing.

Her fourth attempt was the only one that she found useful.

She cast the spell and then pointed at a rock. It located that rock, then pushed it back a few inches. The air did not carry anything else, just the rock.

So the last configuration had focused and isolated [Wind Gust]. That would be useful, except that it was also confusing.

She wrote down her findings and then moved on to the Vacu spells.

She created a [Air Slice] and placed the blue orb in the middle.

Suddenly the spell materialized into a slender black sword that shimmered and vibrated the air. She gaped as it swung around an axis, cutting through the air and making it ripple with the force before it disappeared entirely.

Arielle grinned. That was very useful.

She tried [Air Slice] again, and this time, it sprouted black tentacles around an axis, whipping through the air, making it shimmer as well, before it disappeared.

She paused after that spell, noting it down and examining everything she had collected so far. Though she was more confused than ever, she was still excited.

The Blue Orbs seemed to amplify the magnitude of [Air Slice], but it had reduced the effect of [Wind Gust] and had transformed [Flashlight] into a different thing altogether.

And she couldn't really even blame it on different isotopes because this was the same isotope changing spells in different ways. What accounted for the changes? What was it actually doing?

She didn't have much time left, so finally, she combined the orb with [Sensate]. Her idea was that it might be one way to amplify her senses such that she could see through the atmosphere and into the abyss (or into a soul). It was a rough thought, and she expected it to come with some undesirable side effects.

But the explosion of sound and scent and everything else made her yelp before she quickly eliminated the spell.

It took her a second to catch her breath.

The blue orb had amplified every part of that spell, beyond tolerance. That much stimulus had nearly knocked her out.

She would have to find a way to turn it down in its next iteration, as the blue orb once again joined its compatriots at the side.

Arielle wanted to understand exactly what that last spell had become, wanted to see if she could isolate and eliminate different parts, but she didn't want to risk blasting her eardrums. After all, the spell tended to change slightly, even after she put it together, which might eliminate any modifications she made. She had to be careful here, because while the simple spells all had manageable effects, complex spells could easily hurt or overwhelm her.

She also had to remember that she didn't have the same anatomy or resistance as the Elves.

Some things might be too dangerous for her to try.

The orb drifted to her, bobbing happily. She balanced it on the edge of her finger, smiled, and petted it.

“You did great,” she said. "All of you."

The rest of the used orbs bounced tiredly as they retreated to their corners.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” she mentioned as she heard Rava’s footsteps returning.

The second she got on campus, she went to Professor Woden's office. He wasn't there, so she resolved to talk to him tomorrow after her presentation.

When she got back to her room, Maus and Lyra were sitting there, seemingly having a conversation. They fell silent as Arielle put down the books she had borrowed from the library. She planned to read the elven fable book through the night.

"Hey," Maus said, getting to his feet.

"Hey," Arielle answered as he nodded curtly and immediately headed out the door. Lyra's gaze flickered to him first, then back to Ari.

“Hey, where have you been?” Lyra asked. "You didn’t come back the entire night.”

“I had a lesson with the dean.”

“You’re lying.”

Arielle sighed. She really needed to get better at deceit. She instead avoided Lyra's gaze and made herself busy arranging her books in reverse alphabetical order.

"Did you go to visit Elric?” Lyra's tone was soft, gentle but firm nonetheless.

She had inadvertently presented her a better excuse than the truth. “Maybe.

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“Then why not just say so? I wouldn't have told anyone," she asked. "How is he?”

“Fine,” Arielle answered shortly. She wanted to end the conversation quickly so she wouldn’t get caught in another lie.

But Lyra didn’t seem in the mood to end it.

“You don’t have to lie to me, Arielle. In fact, it kind of hurts me when you do."

Arielle bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Lyra.

"If you’re really sorry, then tell me the truth." She crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s going on with you? You've been strange ever since the thing happened with Elric. You got back and have been nonstop at the library or at lessons, or in our room, reading. Your mind is always far away, so it’s hard to even carry on a conversation with you. You also didn’t tell me that your cousin was attacked by demons. I had to hear it through the grapevine like everyone else. Not to say that I blame you.” She hurried to add that last part. “I understand it's very traumatic to talk about, which is why I gave you space and everything. But you know...you can talk to me if you need to. Right?”

Arielle bit her lip. She wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. There were certain things she simply couldn’t talk to Lyra about, as much as she wanted to.

Lyra didn't say anything for some time, then sighed. "Arielle, we're your friends. But friendship is a two-way street. It shouldn’t just be about you helping us out, we also want to be able to help you. We care about you and want to know if you’re dealing with something. You’re totally entitled to have secrets. Maybe your secret classes with the dean are beyond anything we can understand. But you could at least give me a heads-up when you're going somewhere. Or tell me why you constantly look stressed these days, or just tell me what's going on in your mind."

Arielle had finished stacking the books and began to unstack them again. She didn't know how to respond to Lyra. She couldn't answer any of Lyra's questions, and it made her feel like a bad friend, but she also felt like anything she might say would be the wrong thing, and she would end up losing Lyra forever as a result.

The thought terrified her.

Part of her was waiting for Lyra to start yelling like Celie would have done by now. Celie would be pissed, and Lyra was like Celie, so she was probably annoyed right now. She had to do something, but her brain felt like it was frozen. Arielle's mouth opened and closed several times, but not a single word left it.

She was scared.

She didn’t want Lyra to stop being her friend, and it was a lot easier to lose a friend than a sister.

"Arielle?"

"Yes."

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to respond?"

Arielle didn't know what to say, so once again, she said nothing.

"Great talk," Lyra breathed as she walked away.

***

Vittoria burst out of the assembly room, irritation flaring across her skin. She felt the urge to go back in there and use the Cudgel of Light to paddle a few backsides.

And probably other more delicate areas.

Incompetent buffoons. Idiots.

This was exactly why she didn’t want to come back here, because she knew she would have to deal with this. No matter how powerful she was, how much she had proven herself, how right she was, it would always be bureaucracy that won in the end, and bureaucracy made her miserable.

She had made what was, in theory, a very simple yet detailed request.

She had told them about her discovery of the wounded dragon in the volcano, and the ritual circle that accompanied it. She’d advised lockdown of the island and evacuation of surrounding villages while they dealt with the problem.

The particulars of the evacuation should be dealt with by the Lower Courts, since most of those were mundane settlements, and they would figure out the logistics of it. Vittoria herself was working on breaking the ritual circle in a way that caused the least amount of harm, and a few more investigators were analyzing the demonic presence in the area.

It was all going well until the council disagreed on whether an evacuation was necessary.

They discussed the delicate political situation in Pyronis, the ownership of the mines, and the battle between the Camhanachs and the Lethamons. They kept going on and on about power and politics and everything that had nothing to do with the fact that hundreds of lives were in danger.

In the end, it had been put to a vote, and the non-evacuation faction had won out by a single vote. The Ascendant hadn’t been in attendance, so there was no veto. They had agreed to erect the shields and put in robust warning systems but felt that it was unnecessary to displace so many people and ruin their livelihoods over something that may not happen.

And, fair enough, they hadn’t known everything, including about the free mini-orbs Arielle saw and the fact that someone was likely siphoning them. She hadn’t mentioned what the ritual appeared to do, because she didn’t want the culprit to know how close she was to catching them, so they would cover their tracks. She would share it only if she needed to but everything she had told them should have guaranteed an evacuation for however long until Vittoria dealt with the situation.

But no. One idiot had ruined the vote, making it such that vulnerable people had to stay in place. And if they died, it would be her fault.

So, she wouldn’t let them die. She needed to complete her investigation as fast as possible.

While she’d spoken, she’d paid careful attention to the body language of those in attendance to see who knew about this.

Lord Watersky, a Master and distant cousin of the Lethamon’s, had seemed a little nervous to her. That was where she would begin her investigation.

The meeting ended after the assembly decided to send Elric and a few geomancers to erect the shields and assign rings of protection that would help contain whatever complication occurred on the Island.

Vittoria had gotten most of what she wanted; however, she left the meeting feeling wholly unsatisfied and irritated with the entire process.

“Commander.”

Vittoria stopped and turned around to find Lord Wesley approaching her.

He bowed and then straightened, a smile tugging the corner of his lips.

"It's been a long time," he greeted. He seemed amused by her irritation, and though he was younger than her by many years, he appeared older. The concept of aging was directly related to power levels, and so often Archmages could look much younger for longer than Masters like him. Not to mention her elven genetics complicating things.

Vittoria blew her breath out through her lips.

Lord Wesley was one of the few people at court she did not mind as much, so she jabbed her finger back at the room she'd just left and said, "They're idiots."

“Yes, but you knew that already." He took her hand, tucking it in the crook of his elbow. She towered over him, but let him hold it as they walked. “I’m more curious about your reaction, though. You seem to be assigning the issue more urgency than it warrants."

"An agitated dragon trapped on an Island close to human settlements doesn't sound urgent to you?"

"It does; however, you stated that the dragon is dying, correct?"

"If it dies and activates the ritual circle, then our problems may become ten times worse."

"If it's a rift,*** we’ll deal with it, as we always have. Plus, from what you explained, we’re only assuming the dragon’s death activates the ritual circle. That might not be the case, and if it isn’t, we can go kill the dragon first while it’s weakened to stop the effects of the agitation while we deal with the rest of this mess.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Because a fifteen-year-old nuisance told me that I couldn't. The words sounded ridiculous even in Vittoria’s head.

“You said it would take you weeks to undo the ritual circle?”

“Possibly.”

“And you did not find who may have laid the ritual circle?”

“My best guess is demons. I was attacked by one while there.”

“Ah. Of course. Them. But why?”

“That’s what I have to find out.”

He peered at her. “There’s something you’re not sharing with us, Vittoria,” he said. “The real reason behind your annoyance. Perhaps the assembly can sense it, and that’s why they’re not letting you have your way.”

Vittoria grunted. She wasn’t about to tell anyone about the mini-orbs, not even Wesley, whom she liked fairly well. If Lord Watersky of the Assembly was involved, then she didn't know how far up it went, and she would rather catch the rats before they went into hiding.

She had the means to investigate it herself anyway.

“Anyway,” Lord Wesley said, switching topics. “That’s not what I came here to talk to you about.”

“It's not?"

“Yes. This is about Elric. Or rather his newfound cousin, Arielle. Did you meet her?”

"Yes. Once,” Vittoria said without skipping a beat. “She visited Elric after his illness.”

“I see. What did you think about her?”

“I’m not sure. I tend not to have opinions about infants.”

“Infants? She’s an adolescent at the very least.”

“Same thing. They’re so young they don’t even know who they are yet. How can I form an opinion on an incomplete, unformed piece?”

“Yes,” Lord Wesley murmured. “I often think the same. I tend not to bother with the younger generation. I've met many talented ones over the years, and even in recent times, but most of them have ended up disappointing me in one way or another." He paused. "But for Arielle, I find the girl fascinating.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. You know, she challenged Anne Earthbinder over a slur Anne used to offend her adoptive father, who is a Mossborne, of all things. It was one of the more entertaining and one-sided fights I’ve watched in a while. Though Arielle is technically an Earthbinder herself, or at least a distant cousin, she seems to want nothing to do with that family. And nothing to do with ours too. Wulfric told me that she rejected him and my invitation to the Iverson ball quite plainly." Lord Wesley smirked. "He was quite shocked, if I do say so myself. I've never read a letter that irate before, as this is not a normal occurrence for him, being rejected by girls. Then again, I knew there was a chance she would be too smart to fall for his charm." He shrugged. "The shocking thing is that she seems to reject association with our family as a whole. She didn't have to turn down the ball to rebuff Wulfric's advances. She could have simply come on her own, yet she turned away my gifts and announced categorically that she would not attend. I’ve tried to investigate her family for old grudges or potential criminal activity. Apart from the fact that her origins are a little murky and her sister does clandestine work, there's nothing of note."

"What does her sister do?" Of course, Vittoria already knew, but this seemed like a good spot in conversation to ask.

"She's an assassin registered with the guild. She has not worked much lately. The family seems to have come into some wealth, which is suspicious to say the least.”

"Likely from Elric."

"Yes, that’s what I thought." He sighed dramatically. "In any case, she doesn’t seem to like Wulfric, or any of my gifts, and Wulfric is annoyed with me now because he believes that I may have led him to making a fool of himself. And I may very well be a fool too. I’d prepped for her as a guest of honor, after all, and now she might not even attend for reasons that continue to elude me."

"Did you ever think maybe she doesn't want to come to the ball because... it's a ball?"

He gave Vittoria a puzzled look, clearly never having considered that possibility. "What young woman doesn't like a good ball?"

"Me." Vittoria reminded him, and he looked stunned. That was Lord Wesley. Well-meaning but old-fashioned with fairly traditional ideas on men and women. "I hated those things when I was her age. Perhaps she doesn't want to attend, not because she holds a grudge against your family, but because she despises such flashy events."

"Fascinating," he said, and his eyes glowed with even more interest that made Vittoria regret saying anything. "So what do you suppose she does like?"

"I wouldn't know. As I said, I only met the girl once." She spotted Lord Watersky pass them, moving quickly through some doors.

"Excuse me," she told Lord Wesley as she extracted her elbow from his hands and began to follow the man, forming the spell as she walked.

It was a complicated spell, one that required several steps and layers, and recruited a lot of Luxa in particular.

But she had cast it enough that it was second nature to her, and she didn't even need to say the words to do it.

Now what she needed was contact.

She tracked him until he was outside and called out his name.

He froze when he saw her there. She smiled and waved. He smiled awkwardly and waved back.

That was all she needed.

By the time he drove off, she had created a small door.

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