A Bored Lich

Glenin laid his elegant wooden cane on the foot of Cerlius's bed and stood at full height, a strange occurrence given his crooked spine. The few long strands of hair on the top of his bald head waved like a broken web. His beady black eyes seemed to bulge out of his wrinkled, liver spotted face. "Lance, you need to give me answers," his voice rattled out of his throat.

Meanwhile, Cerlius opened his mouth yet no words came out. It was hard enough maintaining his breath. 'Now if I don't lie, I'll lose Lance. No, he would stick to the rules in times like these. He would say the truth-'

"I'm sorry headmaster," Lance said. Cerlius wanted to punch him and hug him at the same time. The combination of blood loss, emotional turmoil, and the side effect of healing all added up.

'I can think of something but I just need more time. Why am I so adept at magic yet so pathetic with talking? Maybe I can bring up the note. No I can't say I read it, and that wouldn't explain where I was either. Maybe I can lie about-' He couldn't think fast enough. Lance's head was already lowered, ready to take the blame. All other instructors nodded, having predicted the outcome long before the interview even begun. They wore snarky grins, all but Trenton.

"Head Mage," Trenton elbowed Lance out of his way as he stepped forward and came face to face with Glenin. "Please do not pull these jokes. Lance follows the rules to a ridiculous degree. We all know this. He has suffered enough for his past and has more than earned his place alongside the rest of us. He deserves respect, not your petty blame. How can you talk about growth through good karma and obedience then proceed to stab someone so dogmatic in the back? Is this the example you wish to set?"

Glenin looked to Lance, who was rubbing his bruised, three fingered hand, nodded. "You're right. That tactic was immature of me, yet there is something off here. Do you have any information about this?"

"In fact I do." Trenton said, earning sighs of relief from Olpi and Lance and groans from the other instructors. "The reason Cerlius was late to his room was because of me. I instructed him to keep quiet about the short interview I had with him regarding black powder. I had also asked Olpi to keep the matter under wraps. Lance is just an idiot." He chuckled.

Glenin seemed to visibly deflate, as if a toy was taken from him. He looked to Celrius: "Is this true?"

Cerlius slowly nodded and whispered with an aching heart: "A sack of black powder in my room…from meeting…to prove it."

'The door would have withstood the blast anyway,' Cerlius thought.

"A sac which I have brought here," Trenton pulled the sack of black powder out of his spatial ring and placed it in Glenin's hand. Trenton and Cerlius exchanged a surprised look.

"It seems I was right," the Head Mage sighed. "I am too infuriated by the prospect of failure to even think properly. I apologize for my impatience. Cerlius, if you ever run into any trouble, feel free to come to me for help. I at least owe you that much for causing you trouble. As the one responsible for rules and safety, I often find it hard to hold back.

Rest assured, I will have my first-year instructors apprehend the attacker and conduct a thorough investigation. Watchmen will keep a tight surveillance from now on, no matter the hour. It seems I have to meet with the nobles to discuss accelerating the curriculum."

At this, every instructor present seemed to shrink back. "You don't mean," Jersin gasped. "That's too far. That's too cruel to our students, even for me."

Glenin nodded. "We're moving directly from basic elemental magic to compound spells. This will be a rough month. That's the most likely outcome." The instructors all tried to argue, warning that it was too advanced a topic to throw at the first years. Glenin got up and left, followed by everyone but Lance and Trenton. There was a notable silence where everyone remaining took a collective sigh of relief.

"Are you ok?" Lance asked as he leaned against the bed. "That entire interview was…intense."

"I'm tired." Cerlius leaned back and pulled the sheets up. The numbness went away. He looked at his instructor, who was so disorderly and worried, and gave a faint smile. "Go and sleep."

"Gladly," Lance turned to leave. "Trenton I would at least like a heads up before do something like interview my student."

"If I did that," Trenton said. "You'd try to worm your way into the interview and then I'd hear the both of you bicker again. I took a risk and it backfired spectacularly."

"And thank you." Lance said. "You've always been there after Sozo died. You've been the only one there for me." He wished them both a good night and left. Cerlius stared at Trenton, who remained behind.

"I'm not going yet," Trenton read Cerlius's expression. He closed the curtain. His multicolored eyes seemed to stare at a far-off place. "It must annoy you, hearing the name Sozo so much and being compared to her."

Cerlius shrugged. "Less annoyance more curiosity. She was a dark mage who Lance considered to be his sister, right?"

"It is a little more than that," Trenton explained. "She was a pillar of the academy. Her legendary healing skills knew no equal, even among the War Monks. The secret that not one mage figured out, was that she used dark magic to heal people. She would dive into it and try her best to use it for good. She healed injuries that holy magic could not. She even picked up a disciple who was proficient in dark magic and showed him a better path."

"Then why is she talked about like some monster?" Cerlius asked.

"She went crazy," Trenton lifted his robe to display a scar across his stomach. "One day she helped deliver a baby for the Von Trike family. The minute little Jackal came out, she screamed about someone named Maker. Her disciple was screaming it too, but we didn't see anything. Lance and I rushed into the room to find that she had killed the mother.

The disciple tried to kill the baby too, but something went wrong with his spell. They rushed at us like frenzied wolves and massacred dozens in the academy. Now she's just a scar, a shadow that follows Lance wherever he goes. It comes up in every conversation, every time something goes wrong, and it came up today."

"So what?" Cerlius asked as he closed his eyes. "Want me to promise I won't be a dark mage?"

"You have that unmistakable air about you," Trenton growled. "Your mana is like a sharp blade. If you turn out like Sozo, you'll break Lance, do you understand me? You'll break my friend in a way that will never heal. No matter how many accomplishments you earn, you always carry that burden. He will sacrifice everything to protect you, all because you remind him of Sozo. I am pleading with you here: think your actions carefully before you go and break the rules."