Semester Resumes

Early in the morning at the 9th bell, Will stood in a row with other cadets on the coliseum stage. Today was the first day of the spring semester. All the first-year cadets were required to appear. They stood in line based on their rank, which meant all eyes were on Will. Marshall Rolf stood in front of them, examining them, not saying a word.

Finally, after 15 minutes of silence, Marshall Rolf spoke, "This year, the end-of-term exam will once again be held in Death Valley. There is no better training for a knight than live combat. You need to prepare; your life Will be at risk. Cadets who did not seriously prepare have died. Instructors will be present to rescue students, but once saved you are refrained from returning to combat and your scores will be calculated.

The exam will last three days, you will camp in the Fort Death courtyard. Additionally, you will take turns joining the soldiers on night watch. At the end of three days, your results will be calculated, and the points you earned will be added to your current point totals. The headmaster sent your point totals over the break. When you return to campus there will be prizes for the winner of the term final and point leader.

This experience simulated a mock war for students. A month before we leave for Death Valley, there will be a friendly Guild War. For those of you unfamiliar with guild wars at the academy, it is a yearly competition between guilds to earn a command post. Guild Masters will nominate cadets for command positions, and you will vote for your commanders.

If you are not elected to a command position, you are required to follow your commanders' orders. Failure to do will result in disqualification and military punishment under Fermion law. Your Guild Master may also choose to penalize you further. The guild that receives the most command positions, wins the Guild War and receives a greater percentage of resources from the academy.

Any questions," Marshall Rolf finished his address.

Hearing no questions, Marshall Rolf dismissed the cadets. This was the first time, since the midyear battle, they got a chance to spend time together. The cadet's spent an hour talking, laughing, and fighting.

"Congratulations Will on coming in second place at the Mage duels," Sarah said blushing.

"Thank you, Sarah," replied Will, pretending not to notice her interest.

"Are you coming to the guild the day after, we can talk strategy."

"I'm sorry Sarah, strategy for what?" Will asked clueless as to her meaning.

"For your election. Surely the Guardian Guild shall nominate you for Quartermaster, he could also nominate you for Infantry Commander," Sarah said excitedly. Sarah seemed ready to plaster his picture on all the walls.

Being roped into Guardian's Quartermaster was enough, he had no desire to run. Will had zero desire to run for any position.

"Thank you, Sarah, for your support, you are truly a great friend. However, I have no desire to run for a command position," said Will sharing his aversion to politics.

"How amazing, you are right Will, a person's performance should speak for itself. How I admire you," Sarah said, inadvertently grabbing Will's arm in her excitement.

"How bold Sarah, have you decided to make your move?" Chole said.

When Sarah realize she and Will had locked arms, her face turned rosy, and pink, excused herself, and left the coliseum.

Chole, Anne, and Grace all laughed, before excusing themselves to check on Sarah. Scratching his head, Will looked at the other boys, who looked as clueless as he was. The rest of the students talked until the 10th bell rang and people left to resume their classes for the semester.

Seeing everyone walk off, Will decided to walk to the library. Will missed the Roman basilica building with its giant murals. Walking into the library Will missed the giant doors and the old, familiar scent of books that wisped into his nose. He walked to the front desk and created the librarians he came to know.

The elders welcomed him, shaking his hand, and smiling, it made him feel like coming home after a long journey. At first Elder Thaddeus and Elder Li were confused at the commotion, thinking an honored guest had arrived. However, when they left their offices, they saw Will surrounded by the library staff laughing and smiling. The prodigal son returned.

"Will great news! Cadets and mages are returning books more than ever before, in fact, we are struggling to keep up. Ha-ha there was one mage who returned his father's overdue books, asking if he could be awarded points," said a bald, chubby elder, with a wide grin laughing at the success of Will's new policy.

"Your recommendation was truly awe-inspiring; the headmaster only made one change to your suggestion. Students have to at least check the book out for a week, in hopes they actually read the book and are not just trying to add points," said an older, smiling, white- and auburn-haired woman.

"Yes, yes, congratulations Will," said Elder Thaddeus cutting in. Hearing his words, the other elders stopped gathering around Will and returned to work. "Thanks to your suggestion, your workload has decreased substantially. There are fewer and fewer late books for you to copy names and add to the penalty list. The elders are thrilled to remove work from your desk, but no I have another problem. Seeing your decreased workload, I believe the headmaster will either ask me to remove your quest from Guardians or decrease your points," he said.

"No good deed, goes unpunished," mumbled Will.

Pretending not to hear, "Will let's discuss your performance in the mage duels," said Elder Thaddeus ushering Will into his office.

"The spell [entangled] you use was an apprentice-level spell. Were you surprised you did not see it in the Knight Academy's terramancer apprentice skill book?" he asked

"Yes, master, I am curious," Will responded.

"The terramancer skills books in the Knight Academy were chosen to help knights with smaller mana pools than yours. You will not find journeyman, or master terramancer spells in this library. Those skill books can only be found in the Mage Academy library.

The spell [meteor], and [rock golem] are difficult spells because they require you to manipulate your mana outside your body. The fact that you can cast both spells, is very impressive for a knight. The Mage Academy has a larger compendium of terramancer skill books. The spell [entangle] and [quicksand] are two apprentice spells not listed here. I've taken the liberty of bringing you both skill books to practice," Elder Thaddeus said, passing Will two pamphlets.

"Thank you," said Will bowing.

"This semester, you will learn these spells and master [golem]. You will practice [golem] until you have a 3-meter tall, ogre-like golem. Perfecting that spell should help you break through your bottleneck," he said.

Will thanked his master and was about to leave to the park behind the library to practice until the 12th bell, before Elder Thaddeus said, "remember to come here tomorrow for your quest, there is still work to be done." After which, Elder Thaddeus closed the door.

Will practiced casting [entangle] for two hours. Will realized his use of the spell at the duel was incomplete. [Entangled] created a sentient poisonous vine, that when cast correctly would attack your enemies continuously, allowing the caster to focus on other areas of the fight. Will realized if he had a group of enemies, he could create a pincer attack with [entangle] and [golem].

At the duel, Will had to use his mana to direct the vines, but only at the first level of the spell. At the completion level, both [entangle] and [golem] had a high mana cost upfront, but afterward, only a little mana would be used by either. After both existed, the little mana needed to heal any damage they took fighting. If the poisons vine nor golem were fighting, there was no mana cost.

The spell [quicksand] was a trap. The spell was simpler to understand than [earthquake], as both required similar principles. At the initial [quicksand] required casters to fill a hole with sand and create a vacuum. However [quicksand] was also similar to [meteor] where at the completion stage, water would mix with the sand, creating a pressure trap, sealing opponents in quicksand. Will thought this spell would work created against water mages, especially if they cast [marsh], or [flood]. These three spells would certainly be enough homework for the year.

Hearing the 12th bell, Will walked to the dining hall. This entire day was nostalgic for Will, seeing the cadets filing into the large dining hall. Will grabbed a tray and walked through the lunch line, he was given a roll, having his bowl filled with warm beef stew, and a sweet bun. He grabbed a cup of fruit juice and joined his classmates. Thanking the waitstaff, Will sat down at the table with his peers. He missed hearing them complain about magical theory and history. He laughed with the rest of the class when Anne told a story about Evan. The cadets ate and laughed. Will was happy to be a disciple but missed out on moments like these.

After lunch, Will, Mark, and Chole walked as a group to the training grounds. Each took turns what they missed the most as disciples. Knowing this was a rare moment, Will felt closer to Mark and Chole than ever before, especially Mark. After Will and Mark met at the entrance to the southern district, Will understood why Mark was so motivated. Who wouldn't be, growing up in abject poverty, living in those conditions, and being given this opportunity? If their lives were switched, Will would grasp this opportunity with everything he had and not let go.

Before they arrived at the coliseum, Mark said, "Will you are one of the good ones. I haven't met a lot of nobles like you."

Comments like these stumped Will, how do you respond to this type of compliment? "Thank you?" said Will unsurely.

"My master and I talked after the final battle, he told me you were offered to kill me, but refused. At first, I thought you were a noble scum like the rest, every time we talk, you treat me with respect, like everyone. You are even nice to the commoner staff at the academy. If never heard a noble acting like you do," he said embarrassed for past bigotry towards Will.

"Mark you're so silly, that's just how Will is, don't overthink it," Chole said, before adding "let us go or we'll be late" running ahead to the stage.

Will nodded to Mark, still not sure what to say. Will was surprised the staff at the academy had spoken of their experiences with Will, to Mark. Why would he investigate him like that? Maybe it was a good thing, he lived with Elder Thaddeus off campus and rarely spoke to anyone anymore.

At the 14th bell, Marshall Rolf announced he was pleased to have a full class again. But, Will did not miss the stretching, calisthenics, and sparing. After Will's first-place rank, everyone wanted to spar against Will. Will had replaced Mark as their idol. Will took turns sparing with each person with magic, during spars most people held back to work on advancing his/her sword skills. Will spared with everyone in the class, except Vincent who insisted they have a real match. Will refused several times until Marshal Rolf told Vincent that today was practice only.

Hearing the 18th bell, Marshall Rolf shouted at everyone to stop, wash up, and prepare for dinner. After speaking with Marshall Wolf briefly about the Guild Wars, Will dashed off to catch up with his classmates walking back to the dining hall.

As a welcome-back present, the dining hall was filled with sweets, cakes, and pies that were elegantly placed on each table. The first-year cadets seeing the treats only improved their mood, and Will's class was no exception. They gulf down dinner to east dessert as fast as possible. The entire dining hall was filled with cheer. The fourth through first years all laughed and celebrated the new year and return to class.