Of Wizards and Ravens [Magical Academy, Progression Fantasy, Slice of Life]

We materialized a quarter of a mile away from the Northern Stellthone Army Corps outpost where our target had most likely stolen the books from Olivine's library, and I took a deep breath. The entire landscape was smokey and dusty, with most of the brush in the area highly susceptible to wildfires, and almost no water to be found anywhere. The light here was more intense, and I thought I could smell faint traces of interference from a plane of light and warmth. I was suddenly glad that, for all the heat of White Sands, the abundant rivers and oceans meant that there was always moisture in the air, unlike this dryness that ripped at my throat and tore at my eyes.

"Do ya' think we're actually here?" Salem asked curiously. "Or do ya' think this is all an illusionary trainin' exercise?"

"If it is an illusion, it's a very well done one. But I suppose the Erudite could craft something of that level," I said, shrugging. "Not to mention, there's the possibility that Northern Stellthone already agreed to return it, and are allowing the class to use this as a training opportunity."

"It doesn't matter," Jackson said, doing his best to keep his naturally booming and vibrant voice quiet and low. "Real or not, we need to accomplish our goal. Let's get off the road and plan for a moment."

I nodded and we rushed away from the road and through the desert. There were no convenient low bushes or rock formations to hide in, but we threw ourselves on the ground in a small ditch, hoping it would be enough to avoid the gaze of anyone traversing the road. Salem raised his hand, and I felt a psychic connection reach out to me. At the same time, Yushin flicked her fingers up and down in a spellcasting gesture, and a sheet of brown light enveloped us, tinging our clothes, skin, eyes, and hair all the same beigey brown as the dirt around us.

It was far from perfect – we were one solid brown, compared to the shifting browns of the desert – but it would at least reduce the odds that we'd be spotted by passerby, people flying overhead, or the hundreds of flying monsters and demons that populated the desert, leaking in from the other realm and from aberrant summonings.

"Can you make us all invisible, Yushin?" Jackson's voice asked, speaking through the mental link directly into our minds.

"Unlikely. The spellform is highly delicate, but also incredibly costly. I would need to reapply the spell every five to seven minutes, and would only have enough ether to keep the spell maintained for roughly twenty minutes."

"You've modified it with your affinity and bloodline before, is it possible to use them to enhance the duration?"

"Perhaps. My assassination affinity requires me to have a target I am working to kill, and my bloodline's command over shadow is less than its command over venom, but it is still there. I may be able to lessen the drain if we are in shadow, but I cannot guarantee it."

I nodded and glanced to Salem, who made a so-so gesture with his hand.

"I can use mental projections ta' draw people's attention an' such as needed, but I cannae just wipe us from their minds," his mental voice said. "Yushin, can ya' blur our forms? Make us look more indistinct?"

"Yes," she responded instantly.

"If you can do tha', then I can use my empathic knot ta' project a sense of belonging an' authority," Salem said. "An I can draw attention away from anyone who looks too close. It's risky, but…"

"It's significantly less costly than invisibility, and places us on less of a time crunch," I said, nodding. "I can use false face to blur my own features. Make me look more generic, and more like the people of Stellthone, lessening the burden on Yushin."

"Wait," I said. "Does anyone know Stellthone? Even if Salem's able to help make sure they don't notice that the accent isn't that of a local, we still need to speak…"

"I do," Jackson said. "Not perfect, but I can."

Yushin nodded and began casting on Jackson. Within moments, his face had rippled, his vibrant blue eyes fading to brown, his muscles shrinking to more average, his already earthen dark skin growing a few shades darker still. Weather lines appeared on his face, and he seemed to age a dozen years, until he was in his mid-thirties.

His uniform began to shift, illusionary weave transforming it into more generic civilian clothing, like an off-duty soldier. I cast my own false face, aging and weathering, and tanning my pale skin, turning my eyes brown, making myself look more like I just had a bit of Hydref or Dreki heritage, but had grown up here. Yushin completed Salem, then herself, then we began heading in.

The base itself had a low stone wall wrapping around it in a circle, with entry points running north to south and east to west. In the center of the circle was a five-story tall tower, the administrative building where our target lived. It projected out a permanent dome of force, blocking entry from the air, which was expensive to create, but useful for outposts like this that prevented their cities and civilians from being overrun by demons.

We approached the westernmost entry of the outpost, where a pair of soldiers was standing guard. One of them clutched a staff in his hand, marking him as a wizard, while the other had a glowing bronze shield mark on her forehead, indicating that she was a destiny wielder, likely with some kind of defensive power.

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As we approached, sweat broke out on the back of Salem's neck as he maintained his empathetic connection to each of them, pushing sensations of boredom and indifference onto the pair. Jackson, who had taken the lead, waved to them as he strolled up, calling out in Stellthone casually. I saw Salem's face strain further as he flicked his hand and muttered, trying to disguise the poor accent. The guardswoman said something back, and the pair chatted a few moments before we were waved through the gate and Salem let out a sigh, relaxing.

The inside of the camp was bustling with people, despite – or maybe because of – the fact that the sun was starting to go down. I drew my wand out and cast hidden conversion, both to relieve some of the burden from Salem, and because a group of four moving in complete silence was more attention grabbing than muffled, indistinct conversations.

"What did she ask?" I asked Jackson.

"She asked why we were coming in. Frankly, it's a good thing this is a wasteland outpost, and not one in a city. They're more concerned about demons than military secrecy."

"You're tellin' me," Salem muttered. "At leas' we're in more people now."

"Should that not make it harder?" Yushin asked.

"Nah, they were payin' attention to us. In a crowd like this, nobody's lookin' too close. Makes it easier ta' blend in."

We moved through the camp at a normal stroll, not creeping along, but not rushing and drawing attention to ourselves that way either. We slowly circled the five-story tower, and Jackson let out a frustrated groan. I was frankly tempted to mimic the motion.

"Another guard on the interior? Why?" he asked.

"Ya' said it yourself," Salem said. "They dinnae care if ya get inta' the camp, since they're worried 'bout demons. But when it comes ta' military secrets, that's a bit different."

"I know, I'm just complaining."

"What's our plan?" I asked. "We can try to cast invisibility and sneak in while the door is open for someone else, but that's a lot of people to pass through in a small time period."

"It appears the sun will go down in about twenty minutes or so. We will be halfway through our class time," Yushin said. "I cannot move us through the shadows, but I may be able to improve our invisibility, while Emrys and I move at superhuman speed. But that still means getting two through the door."

"Could ya' teleport us in?" Salem asked, glancing at me.

"I'm not sure," I said. "The entire thing has a permanent force dome, and the mage was good enough to interview for a teacher position. Even if we can assume none of his wards are lethal, since he doesn't want them targeting his own people, it's hardly unreasonable for him to have placed permanent circles of alarm and dimension wards."

"On his room, certainly," Jackson agreed. "But across the entire tower?"

"Point," I agreed. "Alright. It can bring me, and about two hundred pounds. If Yushin can use her bloodline to slip in…"

"That leaves me outside," Jackson said quietly. "I understand. It's for the best. Even if I get found out, the three of you can complete the mission."

I frowned. I didn't like it. Was there any way I could help?

"Do any of you have a mirror that you don't mind losing?"

Yushin frowned and shook her head, as did Salem, but Jackson produced a small hand mirror, used for shaving.

"Great," I said. "Jackson, I'm going to seal you in this mirror for an hour. Your mark will bring you back to campus."

"Why not place everyone in the mirror?" Yushin asked.

"Because the spell breaks if the mirror gets messed with," I responded. "You'd just be ejected out, leaving me to teleport in alone."

We found a crate of junk and tossed the mirror in, then I cast hidden hideaway, sealing Jackson and I within the mirror's other world, which was… flooded with junk. Jackson took a seat on a cheap paper box, which thanks to the mirror's distortion, was the size of a couch.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked, frowning. "It's not too late, we can leave and just–"

"It's fine," he interrupted. "Go on without me."

I frowned, but nodded, wished him luck, and then stepped out of the mirror, re-appearing next to Salem and Yushin. We stayed near the door until we started getting the attention of the guard, after which we moved around the camp in a leisurely stroll as the sun slowly set, keeping within eyesight of the door, waiting for someone to enter.

It was getting late by the time we finally had our chance, but it wasn't in the form that we'd planned for.

A man emerged from the tower, dressed in the adorned uniform of an officer, and I whipped my wand up, spat three words, and teleported. Blue light swirled over Salem and I, and we fell out in the hall of the tower, even as the door slammed shut behind us. I glanced around, trying to find Yushin, but she must not have been able to turn invisible and get through the door in time. I cursed under my breath, but Salem was already moving us toward the stairwell. As he did, I cast ethersight, looking for the door that was doubtless warded.

We did have a bit of intelligence coming in – the first three floors of the tower were administrative, with the top two layers being officer's quarters. Ours would likely be near the top, considering his power, but we didn't know for sure. We wound around the stairs, passing by doors as we made our way up, but when we got to the entry to the fourth floor, I paused, holding my arm out.

"Circle of alarm," I hissed. "It's been placed on the stairs. Probably keyed to let the officers through. We'll have to teleport over it."

I raised my wand and began to mutter, holding onto Salem, and an instant later, we appeared on the other side. I continued to creep forward until I pointed at a door with another glowing abjuration spell placed on it. I didn't recognize this spell, but it seemed to be about fourth or fifth circle in power, though it was hard to tell.

"Buy me time," I said, raising my wand and starting to cast general dispel. "This will take about six minutes."

Salem nodded and began to weave threads of psychic power around us, while I focused on the door. A few times people passed by, and the strain showed on Salem's face as he tried to make them ignore us, until…

"Got it," I hissed, reaching for the door knob. It was locked, so I drew a thin band of metal and turning key from my pocket and set to work. The lock was surprisingly complicated, and I was a bit rusty, but I managed to unlock the door. It swung open, revealing a small quarters, covered in papers and diagrams, and a hellhound panting. It barked, the sound resonating through the air, and charged us. I tried to grab the dog and wrestle it down, but the instant I'd pinned it down, it triggered the contingency spell, and I vanished.