Annabelle’s Bastion

Hanging up the phone is quite rude.

If you go behind the main building, you will find a series of flower patches. One patch has a pink flower; head the direction it’s facing. You will eventually come across a tree with a head-sized hole in its trunk. Wait there.

Come alone, Aria—I will know, even if it’s a teacher.

“That’s it? Just like that?” Cole incredulously asked, staring at the phone Aria handed to him. “It couldn’t be more suspicious!

“What’d I tell you?” Gromak smugly said. “I dunno who’s behind the boy, but they’re probably tired of waitin’ on the students to do his work. Said they weren’t gonna kill you, but tonight would be the best time.”

“Would they really be so blatant?” Cole asked. He handed Aria the phone, which she slid back into her pocket. “There will be chaos from the students dead already, and Aria is more important than them.”

Gromak shook his head. “That, boy, is why this is the best time!”

Aria nodded. “The man behind Ashton may have thought of it. They can kill me and make it seem like I was another of the… elusive killers victims.”

“Ah!” Cole exclaimed. “But there’s only been one body, right? I imagine you disposed of—”

“I believe they killed Scott—the man who gave me information—as well. Likely the same way they’d kill me.”

“Ah… well…” he trailed off.

“That’s the gist of it,” Gromak said, standing up. He looked at Aria, his face stern and bronze eyes sharp. “Girlie, what are you thinking? Tell me what you hope happens here.”

“I—” Aria paused.

She had no idea.

Finding the person responsible for her woes at the academy was supposed to happen later and on her terms. But now? She was likely just walking to what they expected to be her death, serving herself on a platter. She could take Ashton’s word for it; they wanted to talk to her. However, that would just be blind faith in a cowardly man’s word.

But what else could she do? Waiting was possible, but it had already been six months… six months of Annabelle being alone in the world she abandoned her on. She could tell Alisha, but she had been gone the last few days—a frequent occurrence lately.

Cole turned toward Gromak. “Is there any way for you to sneak—”

“Nope—don’t got ways of hidin’ my mana yet and they’ll just flee,” Gromak interrupted Cole, putting his large hand up to silence him. “This is all the girlie’s decision, boy.” Even when talking to Cole, his eyes never left Aria. “So?”

“I will go to the meeting.”

“Wha—”

“And? That’s not a plan, girlie. What happens when you get to them?”

“I… will try talking to them.”

It felt ridiculous to even say.

“Talk? That’s?”

Aria clenched her fists. “I… don’t know.”

Gromak snorted. “You’re dealin’ with a full-fledged mage, girlie. You won’t survive if they attack you—no exceptions.”

She knew that. If she was that naïve, she’d have just left without reporting back to Gromak—she knew he’d stop her from doing something that stupid.

“What… what should I do?”

She truly had no idea what her path forward was. Trying to sneak into Ashton’s dorm would likely be impossible; he would be more on guard than he ever was before. Not to mention the extra eyes on her.

If she didn’t go to the meeting, when would she ever have another chance to get close to someone directly responsible for her problems?

Gromak suddenly chuckled, lightly shaking his head as his gaze warmed. “That girlie’s been a great influence on you.” Before Aria could ask, he continued, “I wanted to see how strongly you felt—go to the meeting and leave the rest to me.”

That easy?

“Really?” she asked. He sounded like he was going to dissuade her from doing it, but that was just to see her reaction?

“Really.”

“Wha— sir, she’d die!” Cole exclaimed, moving closer to the counter. “If you can’t be there, she’d be alone!”

“I will be fine.”

She trusted Gromak. He would probably have some way to find out where they were going to take her. That, or he didn’t think they’d kill her. Regardless, he would never send her to what was certain death.

“Here, girlie.” Gromak tossed Aria something she reflexively caught.

“What is this?”

It was a silverish ring with runic symbols carved across its body. Those symbols had countless more within, a beautiful piece that didn’t seem possible with ordinary hands. At the top was a tiny, almost unnoticeable white crystal where the symbols connected.

“That’s a Mana Concealment Ring.”

Aria’s eyes widened.

Gromak briefly chuckled at that. “Hehe… it’s a dud in all practical use ‘cause it doesn’t work on mana above a… well, a low level. It’ll probably even break tonight once you use it. The academy should be gettin’ a ton of ‘em soon.”

She was weak enough for it to work. At least, her mana was.

“Will this help?”

“Probably won’t even notice it. But Just in case.” He shrugged. “There are at least a few guards walkin’ around with mana sense. I suppose that is goin’ to be changin’ sometime soon, though—finally found a stable source of ‘em, too.”

Aria heard from Gromak a while ago that Alisha was finally on board with recruiting mages to run the academy. Supposedly, it had been capped for the initial months. Which also meant employment there was competitive… she might be able to get rid of the investigators.

“Thank you,” Aria said, placing the ring in her pocket. Presumably, it activated the moment she put it on.

“We’re really doing this.” Cole, who had been silent, finally said, switching his incredulous gaze from Aria to Gromak. “You might be heading to your death…”

“As for you, boy.” Gromak turned toward Cole, pointedly ignoring his objection. “I got somethin’ I could use your handy ability for sometime soon.”

“Are you really doing this?” Cole instead asked Aria, looking again like he wanted to glean something from her eyes.

It was somewhat amusing when people attempted to do that.

Annabelle was among the few capable of it.

“Yes.”

He closed his eyes heavily and sighed. “Fine, I will not back out now…” He resolutely met Gromak’s smirk, only to falter at his mischievous gaze. “W-what do you need me to do, sir?”

“Heh… you ever turn into a rat?”

 

Other than the occasional chirp of birds and the light wind, the forest was dead silent. It made Aria feel uneasy walking to her destination; her sharp sense wouldn’t mean anything to a mage’s ambush.

She had confidence in Gromak… but that did unexpectedly little to calm her heart.

The ring on Aria’s finger felt like it was constricting her, an uncomfortable feeling akin to a snake wrapping around her body.

However, even while traveling via the island’s edge, she didn’t want to risk being detected.

It was a bit embarrassing—the ring only worked because she was weak enough for it.

Not long after she left her dorm, she came across a few patrolling mages, but they didn’t look to be taking their duty seriously.

Perhaps that was because they had mana-sensing abilities.

No matter, she easily snuck past them.

Behind the main building, there were many colorful flower patches with plants across Bastion’s worlds. She remembered them clearly—she liked them as a child. Finding the pink one was easy; it was the only one of that color in the thick patch.

Supposedly it could be used to create some kind of potion, but Aria didn’t care much for alchemy back then.

That pink flower faced east.

If she went further north, she’d run into the minor colosseums used for combat training and tournament qualifiers. Having a hiding spot near such important buildings seemed silly.

There wasn’t anything of special note in that direction; normal trees, no paths, and no indication of a trail.

She was likely just meant to head straight, then.

Most of the trees were undamaged, and she didn’t remember there ever being one with a head-sized hole in it during her childhood.

The location had to mean something; perhaps a path to the dungeon underground or some kind of soft spot in the island’s security.

After ten minutes passed with her silently walking forward, she saw it.

That wasn’t a natural hole—not one from an animal, either. Marking the lighter brown wood was an unnatural oval with black marks that pierced all the way through the tree trunk.

A fight?

Aria listened to innumerable rumors and conversations while searching for information about her enemies, but she had never heard of a battle taking place.

Firebolt, too. It was certainly a fight between students since Firebolt was the common Sigil, chosen by a sizable amount of the combatants.

Checking closer, she could see more marks on the ground around the tree. But nothing stood out more than that hole. How did it even pierce through? A Firebolt packed with explosive power would have done far more than that, and one charged for burning would have burnt the tree down.

Could the ability be altered for piercing? That seemed impossible.

More than likely, it was another ability she hadn’t heard of.

It likely belonged to Ashton Wells, then.

Maybe he used that area to test it in relative peace.

There wasn’t anything else she could glean—just knowing Ashton might have an unknown ability was information enough—so she stood by the tree.

Her golden ring shined as it materialized around her forehead, casting a light on the dark surroundings.

She activated her localized shielding—an ability she could hardly wait to tell Annabelle about.

With it, her barrier wasn’t something that required mana to be sectioned off for it. Rather, it just took her mana whenever she subconsciously knew a blow would cause her harm. And instead of covering her body, it only covered the impact point.

Now her barrier was likely the strongest in the academy and didn’t impede her combat ability at all—only enhanced it.

Supposedly everyone would learn it in the later mana control courses. But for now, she was ahead once again.

Aria felt something from her right, and instantly turned her head to the sight of Ashton Wells walking from deeper in the forest. He underestimated her vision. He didn’t seem happy, yet his smile emerged as he entered the light cast by her ring.

“You’re punctual,” he said, his tone even and even somewhat hospitable as he smiled at her. “I have to admit, I didn’t think you would show up—and you didn’t bring a teacher.”

It took a lot to avoid killing him right then.

But Gromak had to have some plan… so she resisted what was the strongest urge she had ever felt in her life.

“I don’t need anyone for this.”

He nodded, but his gaze stopped on the mana concealment ring. “Oh? I’d love to know how you got your hands on one of those. Alisha, perhaps?”

So, he had an informant in the teachers. That should have been expected, yet it made her feel uneasy.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I suppose not—look.” He waved his hand, showcasing the exact same ring—down to the color and gem. “These will be crucial for… illicit activities.” He chuckled, lightly shaking his head. “Did you know that they found a stable source of sensory Sigils? Partner it with the academy expanding their mages, and I expect the night to no longer be free reign.”

They were going to become a form of contraband. Gromak said they were going to be given to the students, but that was likely only for certain circumstances and they’d likely break quickly.

“What now?”

The less she had to hear that arrogant voice, the better.

Annabelle once told her that people who spoke like that were the most insecure, often overcompensating for emotional weakness.

Ashton pointed at the hole in the tree. “There’s a teleportation device in there, one masked by some kind of concealment spell.”

Information.

It wasn’t an ability, but a utility resource that allowed the teleportation.

“How many uses?” Aria asked.

“Ah, ah,” Ashton said, wagging his finger, “I’d like to keep that to myself.”

She should break that finger.

“Fine.”

“Well, let’s not dally.” Ashton approached the tree that Aria had already stepped away from—the further she could be from him, the better. Seeing that, he wryly chuckled. “I don’t bite.”

“I don’t want to keep your masters waiting.”

Ashton’s brow twitched and his hands nearly clenched, but he controlled it. “Fine.”

He reached into the hole and Aria only heard a brief hum as a cyan light enveloped her and Ashton.

Just like that—like she had only blinked—she was somewhere else.

Rather, she was in a massive, stone-and-chained room with broken statues, torn carpets, a distant drip of water, and gates dotting the walls.

A dungeon.

“And now, Aria,” Ashton said, his tone dark and smile gone. A dark blue ring formed tightly around his forehead, emitting a faint whir.

Aria reacted instantly, jumping back to create some distance.

Was this it? Where was his master?

“Arrogant woman.” Ashton extended his hand, his palm facing Aria. “I will teach you how to speak to your betters—take this lesson to your next life.”

“You’re too weak,” Aria immediately replied.

Who was she to deny the free opportunity to tear him apart?