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

Anticipation shook through Riorke.

He’d been waiting for this rematch ever since Arielle had shown him up and thrown him on his butt during their last fight.

She’d beaten him so thoroughly that it was humiliating. That rarely happened, so naturally, he was excited to go up against her again.

Of course, back then, he’d kind of underestimated her. Up to that point, all her fights had ended in less than a handful of seconds, and he hadn't really had much information on her fighting style. She had also been going up against opponents who were, in his opinion, weaker than him, so he felt he had a chance.

Oh, how wrong he'd been. She'd ended him in almost as little time as she'd ended them, and his had only taken slightly longer because she actually cared about hurting him.

Sweet, but humiliating.

So yes, he wanted another shot at redemption.

When it came to combat, it wasn’t just about pure strength and casting ability. It was also about strategy. General Irial and his trainers back home had drilled that into him for years, and it had never hit him quite as sharply as now.

Riorke was faster and stronger than most of his cousins and the people he trained with, so while strategy was on his mind, he knew he could still demolish them without it. He really only thought about being strategic when fighting people like Lacey, whose skills were nearly evenly matched with his. Or with Riordan back when he was still…

Anyway.

Arielle was much stronger than Lacey and much stronger than Riorke, too. So he needed to be strategic with this battle.

The thing he’d noticed about Arielle was that she preferred to observe for much of the beginning of the fight. She started purely defensive, avoiding and shielding against all their attacks while monitoring her opponent's skills.

Then she would either return the perfect counter for it or eventually dole out one explosive, long-range, high-tier offensive ability that would take them out in one sweep.

She was not as good at short-range combat, which meant that was where Riorke had to take the fight to.

He had to get close to her and stay close, not giving her any space to cast her spells. The problem with that was that, with her [Blink] spell, she could create gaps a lot faster than he could close them.

However, he could use the others to his advantage. He would have preferred it if this were a one-on-one, as that was a true measure of his skill, but that might be too unrealistic for him at this time.

At least with the others, he could hope to keep her distracted. He would wait for an opening and take it.

That was if they didn’t get in each other’s way.

He glanced at Lacey, waiting until he looked over to send a signal. He and Lacey could coordinate an attack, but they had to account for the others. James was a Calor-Massa, from one of the many warrior sects in the region. Ria was a threader, from a Massa-Calor noble family that specialized in that art. She was the only other person in this class, apart from Lacey and Ari, who had come close to defeating him. She was a range fighter, and so was Olivier, a light-user.

The rest were good melee fighters in their own vein, but none of them came up to his level of experience. He might have to work around them or observe them for a bit before going in.

Regardless, the final hit would be his, not because he wanted to win the reward.

He just really, really wanted to beat Arielle Blacksoil.

“Are you ready?” Graham asked the group.

“I think you’re going to need a bigger circle, professor,” a boy called Calvin called out wryly, much to the amusement of the class.

The professor brushed his chin and took out his wand. “You’re right. [Dilatio].”

Just like that, the circle moved, growing to about double its radius, causing the surrounding circles to shrink in response.

Arielle watched it in rapt fascination.

“You can do that?” she asked.

“Of course. Did you not notice the first time that you nearly walked into Telip and Selena’s duelling circle that it was much bigger than the ones you’ve been using?"

“I wasn’t really paying attention then," she admitted. She cocked her head. “Can you do the spell again?”

“No,” he said, and Arielle pouted.

“Focus, Arielle." Graham gave her a serious look. "This is a very serious battle for you. Your undefeated status could be in danger, and you could even get hurt.”

“Okay,” she said, though she didn't look like she believed it. She was still sighing her disappointment over Graham not repeating the spell.

Amazingly, she seemed more focused on the magic behind the expansion of the circle than the actual battle. Almost as if she didn't regard them as an actual challenge and would rather be running calculations in her mind.

It was a little insulting, but Riorke only smirked.

He didn’t mind if Arielle was cocky or even arrogant. She’d more than earned it. This wasn't about humbling her or even getting payback for her earlier win.

This was about proving to himself that one day, he could be as good as her. Or at least good enough to defeat someone like her.

Plus, it would be a lot of fun.

I'm looking forward to it, he thought right as the bell rang.

***

Arielle was really curious about the circle expansion spell.

She hadn’t caught it entirely, but it had made the essences that formed the duelling circle emerge from underground for just a brief moment before they went back in.

Arielle had never seen anything like that. Up until now, she hadn’t even known that essences could move underground. What made them do that? Runes? Where were the runes? Embedded in the ink that drew the circle, probably.

Interesting.

She was analyzing it when the bell rang, and the students rushed at her. [Blink] took her back in time, but two people simultaneously sent spells at her from opposing sides.

“[Air shield].” It was a familiar spell that came into being almost before she was done saying the words. It adequately blocked the spells, and she used [Space Null] and [Hollow Air] to deflect the simpler, more predictable follow-ups.

Then she remembered her intention to use only Vitae-focused spells. She'd learned a few spells that she'd adjusted and even incorporated into her Grimoire so she could teach Lyra later.

One of them was a protection spell that detected cursed energy or ill will in others’ aura. Arielle had added a repelling aspect to the spell so that it would reflect all attacks from anyone who had ill will towards her. It was an adept-tier spell, and Arielle eventually envisioned that it would become a life-force protection spell that could be very powerful for Lyra to use.

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However, when she tried it now to reflect the attacks, it didn't reflect all of them. Perhaps because the spell had only an adept level of complexity when it needed a higher level. Or maybe it was simply not reading much ill will in those attacking her.

Oh well.

Arielle used [Root Bind] to trap James, who was about to get to her, then targeted [Discordance] at Ria. Ria had been weaving her thread around Arielle, and Ari knew she would use [Thread Bare] to immobilize her for a few seconds.

[Discordance] was meant to vibrate the aura surrounding their opponent, making them agitated and distracting them from their spell work. It was another very scalable spell, although it used quite a bit of Calor, which might make it difficult for Lyra. However, the Calor was trapped within the Vitae enclave, so perhaps that might make it easier to use.

However, once again, it didn't work perfectly.

She had to compensate with another [Space Null].

Then she alternated [Air Shield] to block the shoves from James and Byron, who took turns trying to push her from different angles. They couldn't touch her. [Air Shield] moved too fast.

Then came the long-range attack from Olivier. An arrow of light shot right at her feet to cancel out her spells and makeher fall.

A targeted [Space Null] spell took care of that.

As she worked, she was reminded of the Vacu circle sinking into the ground. How far down was it? What kept it constantly active? How many essences did it use up per day, and did it reuse the same essences or did some of themescape?

Speaking of which, how did reusable essences work in cases like that?

Why were some reusable, but others not?

Arielle couldn’t let her mind drift too far as she got a gust of wind to her side.

She blocked it, side-stepped an air lasso, and deflected a thread at her feet.

This was starting to get hectic.

Each spell and attack was ineffective on its own, but the problem was that, combined, they seemed to be attempting to overwhelm her from all angles. Arielle could be faster than them, but she didn’t want to expose an abnormal casting speed. She couldn’t keep having her spells coming together before she said them, or people would catch on.

So Arielle had to always wait till she had at least started casting the spell before she could let the orbs snap into place. At times, she would have to hold them back, and perhaps someone who was watching closely could tell how erratic her speed was.

Hopefully, no one was watching too closely.

Arielle observed their moves as well, at least the ones immediately surrounding her.

Most interestingly, Olivier had activated a light-based bloodline spell. From the pattern and the way his eyes moved, Arielle saw that the spell was helping him predict Ari's next three moves. His eyebrows ruffled in frustration, though, because the others were getting in the way and messing with her predictions, but Ari still took note of the spell form, fascinated by its formation.

Probably, when the boy levelled up that spell more, he would be able to overcome that obstacle. It was a really neat spell, one that Ari might steal for herself. In secret, of course.

Then suddenly, without warning, Riorke was right in front of her.

What the–

"[Blink]” she said, and it took her away in the nick of time, though his open palm brushed her abdomen.

Where did he even come from? She’d never seen him coming.

Did he somehow use the others as a cover for what he was doing? She’d seen her brother do something similar before, and she was impressed, though it was jarring being on the other end.

He came at her again, rushing forward faster than she thought he could, the heat in his eyes reminding her of Selena.

And as she swept back again, she felt a presence behind her.

She only had time to hear Lacey's happy, “Surprise,” right as he grabbed her robe.

Gasp.

They had tried to trap her. She'd thought they were friends.

Oh well. This had gone on long enough. She hadn’t achieved her goal of using mostly Vitae-dominant spells because she’d been working on instinct, but she could at least make her big finisher one of the spells she’d half-created lately.

“[Air Vine]” she said, and the air turned into a swirl of tentacles that grabbed and threw her opponents out of the circle.

Just like that, the battle was over.

“Okay,” Graham said, and his voice was strange, like he was annoyed but also trying not to smile. “Arielle wins again.”

"Of course she did," someone said, and there was semi-reluctant clapping from the rest of the crowd except Lyra and Maus, both of whom cheered loudly.

Ari immediately went to Riorke and Lacey. “Are you okay?”

"Dizzy," Lacey said as he got up. "And slightly embarrassed, but otherwise good."

"Same." Riorke was already back on his feet. "It's just frustrating that all that planning could only get me this far."

“Sorry,” Ari said.

"Don't be,” he grinned. "It was great. And I'll beat you one day, I know I will. You just wait."

Arielle didn't think that was likely, but the little Lyra on her shoulder told her that it probably wasn't wise to mention it, given how sore Riorke could get about losing.

“Rematch soon?" he asked.

“Okay," she said. “Whenever I'm free and available." She really wished he would learn some spells, though, for his own sake.

***

Graham stared at the kids discussing, feeling a curious mix of pride and disappointment.

Well.

That didn't work as well as he thought it would. They all fought well, but ultimately, there was a clear winner from the beginning.

In hindsight, Graham should have known. Even six of his best Class B first years weren't enough to even make Arielle sweat.

However, he thought that the sheer frenzy he’d induced with his little deal and all of them coming at her at once would at least trigger a modicum of fear or something that showed up as panic in Arielle.

Instead, she’d looked as if her mind was far away throughout the whole battle.

Just like every other battle she’d ever been in, except for perhaps the one she’d had with Anne.

Even with Anne, her feelings had been borne more from anger and frustration than any real fear of losing. At times, it was clear her mind wandered. She'd never even considered losing or getting hurt as an option.

On one hand, it was good to be confident and fearless.

On the other hand, that kind of confidence could get her killed. He wanted to hope that she wouldn’t be the same in a real battle, but truly, he didn’t know.

He could understand why Selena had gotten irritated with her now. It was clear that she would have to work a lot harder to frazzle Arielle Blacksoil and teach her to take battle seriously.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to take her to the very edge to do that.

***

Once she was done with her classes for the day, Ari took her spell book and headed to Rava.

She figured she could kill two birds with one stone and study more about Vitae while also visiting the blue orb.

When she got to Rava's office, the other woman seemed to be expecting her.

“Ari," she said, getting up. "Dean Octavius told me you’d be coming.”

“He did?"

"Yeah. You want to go to North Base, right?”

Ari nodded.

“Sure. I’m curious about why, but the dean already told me it was a top-secret project the two of you were working on. Right?”

She nodded again. She would have to thank the dean for lying on her behalf and saving her the effort.

Later.

She had an idea for how to discover more about both the blue orb and the Vitae simultaneously, and she couldn’t wait to try it.

Once they arrived at North Base, Rava took the opportunity to check out pressure lines, leaving Arielle in the cave alone.

She sat and eyed the orbs, noting that today the blue orb was hanging out with Vacu.

That was interesting.

Vacu typically didn’t hang around anyone for very long, being one of the most withdrawn of the orbs apart from Vitae. But while Vitae was simply uncaring about the activities of the other orbs, Vacu seemed to want to join in but was always shy until the orbs came to surround and include it.

That typically only happened during spell-casting or when it was a manaling.

But it seemed to be having a good time drifting close to the blue orb, buzzing eagerly and not withdrawing.

Arielle wondered what that meant, but she started with Vitae first.

She closed her eyes and activated Orion, making the boundary smaller and smaller until she targeted one Vitae orb.

She activated the aura-reading charm as well as [Sensate] all simultaneously to get a deeper read of what was going on.

Then she simply meditated.

She did as she'd done since she was a child, except this time, she ignored all the other orbs and focused just on the Vitae.

As she sank into it, things began to become clearer to her. At first, it was just its motion, the vibrations in the air around it.

Then it was its very essence, showing that its microvibrations were part of what gave it a solid appearance. As she slowed it down, she found that it was actually quite transparent with tinier, circular orbs organized in multiple concentric rings around a central shifting substance.

Interesting.

Did all the other essences look like this?

She pulled back and checked out another Vitae orb, coming to a stop.

This vitae orb had eight micro orbs.

The last one had ten.

What did that mean?

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