Chapter 72 - Stars and Stone

"Sorry, sir, it was my idea to come out here," Theo apologized profusely.

Lily frowned and shook her head, "It was my idea to test my attack spell. You just wanted to show me some earth magic."

"But-"

"Enough, you two," Richardus interjected. "While I'm upset that you did this behind my back, I'm glad that you took some precautions. Next time, please discuss this with me beforehand."

"So it's fine for me to practice my spell?" Lily asked.

"Under the correct supervision, yes," Richardus answered.

Damn. I was hoping I could do it unsupervised with just Theo. My only other option is to hunt some gremlins and slimes at night.

"Now, now, don't look so sour," Richardus chuckled. "With my guidance, we can have a much more effective lesson. One that benefits both of you."

"Both of us?" Theo asked.

The instructor nodded, "At the moment, only Lily is gaining from this. You can already pull rocks from the ground. However, what if you pulled them and then tried to prevent Lily from destroying them? That way, you'd be focusing on your control."

"That's a brilliant idea," Lily praised.

"I should hope so. I am a teacher, after all," Richardus teased.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Theo asked. "Lily needs to be at the top of her game to get an offer letter to Regarth."

Richardus hummed in thought as he scratched his chin, "That depends. Do you have any other spells you are hiding?"

"I have another light spell," Lily answered honestly. "Otherwise, just my defensive cloak and my offensive star."

"That's more than enough, to be frank. You've got some good coverage with the former, and having multiple offensive spells could even be seen as a detriment. One might question your intentions if you've spent a lot of time studying nothing but attack spells," Richardus replied.

"Really?" Theo asked before Lily could. "I would have thought Regarth, as a magic academy focused on dungeons and adventurers, to want students with more attack spells."

"A well-honed blade is far more useful than a barrel of rubbish," Richardus answered. "Not to mention, Regarth will want to train you according to their curriculum. If they have to spend too much time untraining your bad habits, they might figure you aren't worth the trouble. Not to mention, no institute of learning wants a delinquent."

"Rose…" Lily whispered.

"She nearly didn't make it in," Richardus answered bluntly. "I won't go into detail, but she nearly didn't despite her powerful bloodline."

Rose told me she barely just didn't get a full scholarship. Was she fibbing?

"So, what other training can you think of?" Theo asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well," Richardus began after clearing his throat. "It would depend on your cooperation. But you could throw gravel and rocks towards Lily, and she could defend herself. After seeing her cloak in action with the bucket, and now again here, I'd say it's a flexible spell worth investing in."

This is definitely going to be my first signature spell. Even the instructor says it's fantastic, and he barely knows what it can do.

"I don't really want to launch rocks at her," Theo admitted.

"Please, Theo?" Lily begged. "I can't really practice it on my own."

"It'll be good for you, too, lad," Richardus pointed out. "You've got absolutely no capability with air magic, so you lack a basic tool for self-defense."

"But throwing rocks? Isn't that a bit too much," Theo protested.

"Which is why you can work on your control," Richardus clarified. "That way, you can control how you defend yourself. If you get it good enough, you could even just launch sand in the eyes."

"Exactly!" Lily excitedly agreed.

Theo seemed to be debating with himself until he eventually sighed and gave a tiny nod, "Okay. But if you get hurt, I immediately stop this forever."

Lily confidently flexed her cloak, causing it to magically ripple. "You'll have to try your best," she said.

"Excellent," Richardus said. "Now, unless you two have somewhere to be, why don't we get started?"

Both eagerly nodded, and the round of training began. The instructor gave Theo some tips on how to reinforce the stone he pulled while Lily watched from the sidelines.

When he was done, he pulled out another chunk of stone from the ground but didn't release his hand. Lily assumed he was reinforcing the stone, although she couldn't tell without Camilla's magical spectacles.

I wonder if you can learn to sense Mana without a magic item. Something to ask Arakil.

Then Richardus gave Lily the go-ahead. She cast the Starcluster spell with an upper cap at three stars, and when it actually manifested, two stars were flung out. The first star-struck, doing nothing more than coating the stone in stardust. Theo prematurely celebrated moments before the second star hit, exploding in a starry shower.

The stone target was barely holding on, with multiple fractures and bits of rubble begging to collapse.

"I forgot the second one hits harder," Theo said regretfully.

"A fascinating spell," Richardus commented. "If you had fired three, not even a bit of stone might have been left."

"I can't control it like that," Lily said regretfully.

"An uncontrolled spell?" the instructor asked with a hint of concern. "Should we halt all future practice with it?"

"No, not like that," Lily sighed. "Let me explain—"

Lily gave them the rundown of the spell and its random nature. She confirmed that she could control it by limiting it but couldn't control the bottom end of the spell.

Richardus seemed skeptical initially, but after some demonstrations of Lily repeatedly setting the limit to one star and never going above that, he finally seemed to relent.

The instructor warned her that she would likely need to clarify herself to the examiners and work on a more satisfactory explanation, as her current answer made it sound like she was at fault.

"To think a random spell exists, truly a strange world we live in," Richardus chuckled. "Are you sure it's star magic and not gambling magic?"

Lily pouted a little at the teasing but did agree that it was a little absurd. Arakil had mentioned there were ways to stack the deck in your favor with Astral magic. Still, it was beyond her capabilities at the moment, and he encouraged her to continue focusing on what she already had.

Plus, he wants me to learn how to gather passively and work on keeping my cloak up in a basic form indefinitely. I've got more than enough on my plate!

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

During the testing, Theo evidently got a complete workout from his attempts to reinforce the stone, as it had to suffer a constant barrage of star after star.

His limit was three consecutive stars as the double debuff of stardust was too much for him, but he vowed to improve it. Lily, wanting to encourage him and herself, made a counter-bet by saying she'd work towards reducing it to only two stars.

Richardus seemed thrilled by the friendly competition and actively encouraged it. This was when he told them to swap between defender and attacker.

Lily recast her cloak, allowing it to billow and swell around her before wrapping around her. She gave a taunting smirk and wink, hoping to ignite the competition.

"Show off," Theo joked as he stuck out his tongue.

"Competition aside, remember to be careful since these aren't stone targets we are talking about," Richardus warned.

"I will," Theo confirmed.

The instructor, happy with that confirmation, quickly chanted out an earth spell. Lily recognized a few words as a slight modification of the cleaning spell he had taught them during class. All the loose rocks and rubble gathered before him in a neat pile, and Lily realized he was making an ammo stockpile for Theo.

Then Theo began his assault. Lily was ready and ensured her cloak covered her fleshy bits while having it gather slightly in front of her as the rocks pelted against the nebula-infused fabric.

I knew some silly rocks wouldn't be able to get through.

When Theo ran out of ammo, Lily swept her cloak outwards and revealed herself untouched, even from dirt.

"Damn, that seems a little unfair," Theo joked. "I didn't even get her clothes dusty."

"It's a remarkable defense," Richardus admitted. "If I knew what type of magic it was, I'd seek out the chant for myself as it seems a lot more subtle than the wind barrier I usually use for myself."

"You make an entire wind barrier?" Lily asked with bubbling curiosity.

The instructor nodded, "Yes. Although mine is relatively simple in that it only tries to deflect attacks, more advanced versions have been known to redirect projectiles back at their attacker."

"That's so cool," Lily replied.

"And all I have is rocks and dirt," Theo grumbled.

"I'm sure Tresnia will be teaching you earthen armor or some sort of protection in that regard," Richardus mentioned.

"Or you could just shove a giant rock wall in front of any attacks," Lily suggested.

"That also works and is a much safer option," Richardus added. "Rather prevent the attack away from you in case of a secondary effect like an explosion."

Both Lily and Theo nodded excitedly.

"That is a good lesson for you," Richardus said, pointing at Lily. "You demonstrated it against the bucket; why aren't you using your cloak to intercept attacks further away from your person?"

Lily blushed a little, "It was a bit of a heat of the moment sort of thing. I don't currently have that much control over it. I want to, though, as I don't think I could block bigger attacks by just covering myself."

Richardus nodded in agreement as he seemed to ponder a solution.

"What about if I launch bigger rocks away from Lily, and then she tries to intercept them?" Theo suggested.

"That's a brilliant idea!" Lily instantly agreed. "We could even have you aim at a target, and it's my job to protect it!"

"An excellent suggestion, both of you," Richardus also agreed. "But you'll need to be far enough away from the target, Lily. I don't want any possibility of you getting injured on my watch."

"I agree; I'm not going to launch any boulders if you aren't safely out of reach," Theo said.

"Okay!" Lily agreed with zero hesitation.

"One time, and then we better wrap it up for the day," Richardus informed them. "While I'm enthralled by your energy and enthusiasm, we don't want either of you to encounter Mana fatigue, as that's when mistakes and accidents happen."

"Yes, sir," both students agreed.

To illustrate his point, Richardus summoned the stone target this time so Theo wouldn't need to spend his Mana on it. Lily wasn't sure how tired the boy was, but when she looked at her own Mana Core, she estimated she still had a reasonable amount left in the tank.

My Astral affinity has really kept my spells efficient in their Mana cost. With bargains like this, even Camilla would swoon!

When everyone was ready and Lily was at a safe distance, she extended her Nebula Veil toward the target. She stretched it out to her utmost limit, leaving only a thin, wispy trail connecting to herself.

As for Theo's ammunition, the instructor cast that modified earth spell again with another slight addition to the tail end of the chant. The result was the rocks and rubble not only gathered in one place but also compressed together into a singular imperfect sphere.

"This should be good enough," Richardus said, pointing at the cannonball-sized rock.

"I hope I can launch it," Theo muttered. "It's a little bigger than I was expecting…"

"I think you are more than capable," Richardus informed him. "Potency has never been your weak point, only control. I believe in you."

"I believe in you too!" Lily shouted.

"Thanks…" Theo mumbled as he could barely hide the smile on his face.

He took a deep breath and reached toward the rock by thrusting both of his hands outward. The rock lurched as if being shoved and rolled around a bit.

"Ready?" Theo asked.

"Ready!" Lily confirmed.

Theo nodded and then thrust his palms forward with a slight battle cry. The rock launched, hurtling towards the target.

"Nice shot!" Richardus praised.

Lily would have also given some encouragement, but she had no time—she had a statue to protect! Exhaling, she made a waving gesture toward the Nebula Veil, causing it to spring to life and surge forward like a black mass trying to engulf the rock.

At first, Lily thought she had succeeded, but the rock was pushing back on her black and starry cloak. She instinctively realized it lacked enough weight to push back against the projectile. She clenched her hands into tight fists and tried to focus as much Mana as possible, her Mana Core spinning frantically.

The magical cloak grew out like a billowing smog before surging toward the rock, attempting to halt it. She tried some more but could feel the strain.

If I can't block it, maybe I can redirect it!

Lily tried her best and likely would have succeeded if she had thought of the solution earlier. But time was of the essence, and she only managed a partial redirect before the rocky cannonball smashed into the side of the target, taking half of it with it.

"Yes!" Theo exclaimed excitedly.

"Damn, I was so close!" Lily whined.

"Better luck next time," Theo teased.

Lily was about to throw a friendly taunt back, but Richardus cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. He pointed to the remains of the target.

"I hope you can see why I said safety is important. Imagine if that was Lily and not Stone."

"I'd never fire a rock like that at her or anyone!" Theo refuted.

Richardus nodded, "Good. I wasn't saying you would; I only meant that you should always be aware. The same goes for you, Lily. Your cloak clearly has a weakness against physical objects."

"Weight," Lily responded.

"Excuse me?" Richardus asked.

"Weight. I could… Feel it?" Lily tried to explain. "It was too heavy, and my cloak didn't have enough behind it to block, so I tried to redirect it instead."

Richardus nodded, "That makes sense. It is a similar issue for defensive air and water spells. Perhaps with enough training, you can overcome it or find a way to not be in that situation in the first place."

Lily nodded, eagerly eating up the explanation.

"But that is more than enough for today," Richardus said. "Class dismissed; I'll clean up the rocks here."

"Thank you, sir!" both kids exclaimed excitedly, Lily even giving a tiny bow in thanks.

"You're very welcome," Richardus said, holding back a grin. "I'm always grateful for eager students willing to listen."