Arcane Dropout Read online

  “Lee?” said Lead Instructor Mattis. “It’s your turn. Please, don’t make this as difficult as he did.”

  Lee slowly nodded. He glanced around, wondering if he stood a shot at making a break for it. Harper was standing right behind him, close enough to seize his arm if she needed to. Not that she would, given how effectively she’d used her binding spell against David.

  “He’s going to fail,” shouted Kristoff. “Just look at his face. How pathetic.”

  “Shut up!” hissed Eliza. “He’s just nervous.”

  Lee found himself appreciating the vote of confidence. It was something, at least. Enough to bring him back from the brink. He’d been in tough situations before. He’d gone up against specters that should have killed him, fought possessed men with a hundred pounds and half a foot on him. He could…

  He blinked, taking a step forward as a ridiculous idea popped into his head. Glancing around, Lee caught sight of the cute ghost girl he’d seen earlier. She was kneeling in the snow, tracing patterns through the thin, upper layer of fresh powder with one finger.

  “Whenever you’re ready, Lee,” said Mattis, with a somewhat sympathetic sigh.

  “He’s never going to be ready,” said Kristoff. “This is just sad. I almost can’t watch.”

  Nobody stood up for Lee this time. He felt a hot flush come to his cheeks. It reminded him of his worst moments in high school, the times when he failed not from lack of preparation but because of circumstances outside of his control. Not having a change of athletic clothing for gym class, since he and Zoe had only ever had money for the clothes on their backs. Not having a graphing calculator for a math test, given how outside their means the expensive and pointless things were.

  “I…” Lee ran a gloved hand through his hair. “I just need a second.”

  A second for what? The ghost girl was looking at him, but her expression was a simple mixture of curiosity and confusion. Lee glanced from her to Lead Instructor Mattis and back again.

  “Lee, I’m sorry,” said Mattis. “You’ll be alright. Stand over here with Harper until Instructor Constantine returns, and—”

  “No!” snapped Lee. “I mean… just hold on. Please?”

  He held out his hand toward the ghost, as though asking for her hand, even though she was far out of reach. She stood up and brushed her dress off, though it was of course already free of snow. Tapping a finger against her lips, the ghost slowly began walking toward him.

  Lee nodded desperately and beckoned to her with his hand. The ghost girl smiled back at him, though it almost seemed like she was trying to keep her reaction contained. She rolled her eyes and shrugged.

  “Just get him out of here,” shouted Kristoff. “He obviously doesn’t meet even the most basic requirements.”

  Harper took hold of Lee’s shoulders. He struggled out of her grip, ignoring the way she fell into a casting stance in anticipation of restraining him further.

  The ghost girl leaned over, formed a small snowball, and lifted it into the air. Several of the new initiates gasped, and Mattis’s mouth fell open slightly.

  “That... is telekinesis,” said Mattis. “Conjuration magic.”

  “Hold on,” said Harper. “I think it’s clear that—”

  Her answer was cut off by the snowball that struck her square in the face. The ghost girl broke out into beautiful laughter, laughter that only Lee could hear. He wanted to do the same, but Harper’s reaction left him wondering if he might need to dive for cover instead. Her eyes narrowed into furious slits, and he saw her shoulders shift as she turned to face him, hands twitching as though she was on the verge of flinging a spell.

  Despite the dangerous tension, Lee breathed a sigh of relief as he looked over at Mattis and saw her give a slow nod.

  “It appears as though Lee Amaranth has passed the test,” said Mattis. “Wouldn’t you agree, Instructor Harper?”

  The blonde instructor said nothing. Lee didn’t dare turn around and face her. He walked over and fell in line with the other initiates, giving the ghost a subtle, appreciative bow on his way by.

  “Good job!” said Eliza. “I get why it took you so long. Telekinesis can be really tricky.”

  “Yeah,” said Lee. “More than you even know.”

  CHAPTER 5

  “If you would all follow me please,” said Lead Instructor Mattis.

  She strode up to the wooden doors set into Primhaven’s front gate and set her hand against the wood of the door on the right. A magic circle with a rune in the center glowed with blue light underneath her palm, and the door slowly began creaking open.

  Mattis walked forward, letting the group of initiates follow behind her, with Harper bringing up the rear. Lee was last in line, and he could feel Harper’s gaze boring into his back. He really, really hoped that she wasn’t the type to turn something like an offhand snowball into a long-term grudge.

  The group slowed almost immediately as the initiates entered the university’s campus, and Lee instantly understood why as soon as he’d passed beyond the wall. What he’d been expecting was essentially what he’d seen from overhead on the airplane descent: more snow, ice, and a collection of somewhat decrepit buildings.

  Primhaven University was apparently even more cloistered from the surrounding world than it initially appeared. It was warm inside the walls, impossibly warm, warm enough to justify the thick blanket of carefully manicured green grass that Lee found himself walking across.

  In fact, green appeared to be the color motif to which the entire campus paid respect. The nearby buildings close to Primhaven’s entrance were squat structures of grey and white stone with beautiful emerald-toned roofing tiles. Further within the grounds stood a surprising number of towers, at least five or six at a glance, all of which stretched upward far higher than he’d been expecting. High enough that they should have been visible above the college’s wall, even though Lee was sure he hadn’t seen them from outside.

  One of them stood higher than the rest, and the sight of it took Lee’s breath away. It was a singular, central spire, near as tall as any of the skyscrapers in a major city, but far, far thinner. More prominent was the fact that a cluster of small, floating islands hovered around its upper tip, like hulking scoops of earth pulled loose and somehow set aloft. They moved, swaying back and forth in the same manner as loose scraps of driftwood might ride along calm waves.

  “I’m sure this is a far cry from what most of you were expecting,” said Mattis. “Primhaven is an arcane university, and with that status comes many benefits. Some of you may have seen the college from overhead, or rather, the simple illusion veil that hides its inner workings from prying eyes. It’s a necessary precaution for us to take, of course.”

  “How…” Eliza was the one who spoke first and gestured to the islands hovering around the tower in the distance. “How is that even possible? The level of arcane essence necessary for suspending islands of that size in the air would be…”

  “Part of the reason why Primhaven was founded here is because of the wealth of magical resources nearby,” said Mattis. “The Zephaphine Islands are suspended through a direct link to a vein of pure arcanum crystal around the base of the First Tower. I’ll explain more about that during tomorrow’s full orientation. For now, I will show the male initiates to their dormitories, while Instructor Harper will show the female initiates to theirs.”

  The surprisingly warm environment of Primhaven’s inner campus was too much for even Lee’s cheap parka. He pulled it off, along with his gloves, and noticed most of the other initiates doing likewise.

  Eliza had a much fuller figure than her thick pink coat had let on, with most of that filling out being in the interesting, eye-catching places. She was wearing a low-cut maroon blouse with a frilled, tunic-style bottom, and it was the type of garment that made her generous chest all but impossible to ignore.

  She smiled at Lee, though Kristoff and a few of the other male initiates were giving her just as much attention. Lee
glanced around for something to distract from the wonders of Eliza’s cleavage, and his gaze settled on Harper in her place.

  Instructor Harper was a tall woman and she seemed young for a full-fledged instructor. Her blonde hair was shiny and straight, and she’d woven it into an intricate braid which ran in between her shoulder blades, two-thirds of the way down to her waist. She had piercing blue eyes and full red lips, though the latter might have been enhanced by the sudden change of temperature that came with the shift into an artificial climate.

  She wore a simple white long-sleeve shirt that was just baggy enough to hide the details of her upper body, along with black leggings that were much more honest about the taut curves of her buttocks. She was in good shape, and the thin scar that ran along the edge of Harper’s chin suggested that her conditioning served a practical purpose.

  “Initiate Amaranth,” said Harper, in a sharp voice. “Is there something you need?”

  Half a dozen different quips and comebacks tickled the tip of Lee’s tongue. He was well aware of the fact that he would more than likely be back to his normal life within a day or two, once he’d gotten a chance to investigate the campus and figure out what had happened to Zoe. The temptation to be a smartass was almost overwhelming, but he managed to suppress it for the time being, and he shook his head. Instructor Mattis noticed the exchange and cleared her throat, dispelling some of the tension.

  “Well then,” said Mattis. “Gentlemen, if you’ll follow me. The men’s dormitories are to the west of the gate. It goes without saying that men are not allowed inside the women’s dormitories during evening hours, and vice versa.”

  “It does?” asked Lee. “We’re all adults, aren’t we? Isn’t that sort of thing…?”

  He trailed off as he remembered the youngest of the initiates, the boy whose name he’d forgotten. He’d managed to pass the test without much trouble, and now, with his winter outer wear off, Lee could see that he hadn’t even reached puberty properly yet.

  “Most of Primhaven’s students are adults, but not all of them,” said Mattis. “Because of that, the university adheres to gender housing policies similar to any boarding school. You will still have classes with the female initiates, but the obvious limitations apply to nighttime behavior.”

  “What about instructors, though?” asked Lee. “Are they allowed to…?”

  He trailed off as his general sense of judgement caught up with him. Mattis just stared at him, her eyes blinking a few times in quick succession, mouth turning into a thin-lipped frown.

  “Mind your tongue, initiate,” she said. “This is an institute of learning. Remember why you’re here.”

  Her advice was relevant, though not in the way that she’d probably intended it. Lee fell in line with the other initiates as Instructor Mattis led them toward the men’s dormitories. He scanned the campus, making note of each building’s position and trying to get a sense of where the best place would be to begin his investigation.

  There were four separate dormitory buildings for the male students. Lee noted the copper plaques outside of each of them that denoted the different ranks the students subdivided into. They passed by the “Mage” dormitory, the “Adept” dormitory, and the “Disciple” dormitory before coming to a stop in front of the “Initiate” dorms.

  “Several other groups of initiates have already arrived and taken up residence,” said Mattis. “Each of you will have an assigned roommate: Kristoff and Jermaine, Erik and Amano, Lee and Toma.”

  Lee glanced over at Toma, the short Asian teenager who, outside of himself, had struggled the most during his entrance test. Toma made an “okay” sign with his fingers and grinned at him, seemingly pleased with the arrangement.

  “You’ll have the next hour to get comfortable in your room before the ceremonial First Night Feast,” said Mattis. “Be sure to change into the initiate robes that you’ll find in your closets, which will serve as your official uniforms during school functions. You can still wear your regular clothing outside of class time, and the servants will be bringing your bags up from Gillum over the next few hours and delivering them to your rooms.”

  Mattis read off the room numbers and each of the pairs headed into the building to get settled in. There was a central common room with couches, a TV, a communal bathroom, and several study nooks, along with a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. Lee and Toma’s room was near the entrance to the dormitory, which was convenient for Lee, given that he already planned on sneaking out that night to start his search.

  The dorm room was larger than he’d been expecting, with two neatly made single-size beds, two desks in each of the corners nearest to the door, and a small trash can. There was storage space underneath each of the beds, along with a shared closet through an open doorway in the back where they found the clothing that Mattis had mentioned.

  “Oh god,” groaned Toma. “That was so cracked. I’m so glad it’s over with. I thought I was going to throw up.”

  “Same,” said Lee. “Did you know about the test beforehand?”

  Toma shook his head. “I basically went into this blind. At least, nobody in my family warned ahead of time about this shit. I have literally no idea what’s going on.”

  Lee let out a few sardonic chuckles. Toma glanced away, seeming to have misinterpreted his response.

  “I’m the same,” he explained. “My older sister was—ah, I mean, nobody else in my family is a mage, either. I guess you could say I ended up here by accident.”

  Toma furrowed his brow for a couple of seconds, then seemed to relax.

  “I thought that might be the case. Fuck that test. It’s like they designed it to be as painful and anxiety-inducing as possible.”

  “I’m just glad that it’s over with,” said Lee.

  “It is, but it isn’t,” said Toma. “There’ll be more tests throughout the semester. Fuck, I feel like I should be practicing, or studying, or something right now. The last thing I want is to end up going through the Cropping.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” said Lee.

  Toma sighed. “At least I’ll have a chance to relax tonight after dinner. You don’t mind if I do some reading in the dorm after my stuff gets here, do you? I guess I could do it out in the common room, but…”

  He trailed off, but Lee didn’t need to hear him finish his thought to assume where it had been leading. The welcome that Kristoff had given to Toma had made it clear that his lack of magical aptitude would likely mark him as a target for harassment.

  “Of course not,” said Lee. “I might have to borrow a book from you, since I didn’t exactly bring much with me.”

  In reality, Toma reading would probably give him the breathing room he needed to sneak out and explore the university grounds. Lee tried not to smile as he considered how lucky he’d been in the random roommate draw.

  His first move would have to be to get a sense of the school’s layout. A quick survey of their dorm led him to exactly what he needed. There was a simple map of the college on the back of their door. Lee traced a finger to and from the relevant landmarks with his fingers, his eyes settling on the Library, and the smaller room inside of it labeled “The Archives.”

  The experience of the admission test had given Lee a small amount of insight and hope into one of the potential scenarios that would have resulted in Zoe disappearing in the way she had. She might have failed that test. It was a little hard for him to imagine, given how capable she’d been with her magic, but if she somehow had failed, then her memory of the supernatural would have been wiped clean, potentially including him, given his abilities as a mystic.

  It was both a comforting and a frightening thought. Zoe could still be alive, but completely ignorant of her relationship with him. Ignorant of the fact that at one time, the two of them had sworn to always look out for each other, that they’d both been as close as a brother and sister could possibly be.

  “I still feel sick,” said Toma. “I’m going to try to calm d
own in the bathroom.”

  “Take deep breaths,” said Lee.

  He would find his way into the Archives, search for clues related to Zoe’s disappearance, and sneak out once he’d found what he was looking for.

  Once he’d thanked a certain ghost for her unimaginably helpful role in the process, of course.

  CHAPTER 6

  With Toma in the bathroom, Lee decided to take the opportunity to change into the initiate robe that Mattis had mentioned. He found two different sizes of robes in the closet and was surprised by how perfectly they seemed to match his and Toma’s relevant builds.

  The robes were a mixture of grey and blue, with a thick navy belt around the waist that was purely ornamental, given the buttons running up the front. The sleeves had tight elastic cuffs that allowed the sleeves to be pulled up easily, and the lower half had slits cut along the legs to provide a decent amount of leg mobility.

  Lee was still trying to figure out how to pull the thing on as he made his way out of the closet, and he almost tripped over himself in surprise at what he found waiting for him. Instructor Harper was in his dorm room, standing over his bag. She was holding his kris dagger in her hands, staring down into the polished sheen of the serrated blade’s broadside.

  “How did you come by this weapon, and what do you need it for?” she asked.

  Lee did his best to keep from letting how far off balance she’d thrown him show in his expression.

  “It was a gift from a friend,” he said. “I keep it close for good luck.”

  Harper lowered the knife. It was so hard to hold eye contact with her, given, well, basically everything about her. She was so beautiful that it felt unfair, and Lee suddenly didn’t know where to put his gaze.

  There was the thin scar running along her chin, faded, but too straight and purposeful to not have a story behind it. There was her body, a combination of taut muscle, athletic thighs, and full breasts. There was the dagger, his dagger, which she still held in her hand.