Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Sixty-Six

About two hours had passed since they had arrived, and a few had even left altogether to return to their rooms for the evening. Cypher and Alex had started sparring again and their third round simply ended in a draw, although neither of them was happy about that result.

Their break had only lasted for a little while before they had gotten back at it so neither of them was in top form for the third round. Still, the battle had been exciting enough that some of the other students had started cheering for their favorite of the two.

The group, however, had been disappointed to see the match end in a tie, and afterward that crowd had dispersed, most of them choosing to follow after the first group of students who had chosen to return to their rooms.

Only a few students remained after that and continued to spar with each other, inspired by the effort Cypher and Alex had shown during their fights. Now that the sun was beginning to set, the two boys were simply sitting in the dirt and talking about how they could have dodged ‘this’ or blocked ‘that’, it seemed that both were quite competitive.

“You’re really good with that staff Alex, I hardly had time to react with you swinging that thing around. I’m really glad that I guarded the edges of that thing or I’d be in bad shape.”

“Don’t give me too much credit Cyph’, you’re quite skilled yourself. I never imagined that someone swinging a giant butter knife would give me so much trouble. You handle yourself well my friend.”

“What are you calling a butter knife? That glorified backscratcher of yours isn’t much better. Just wait till we start learning some magick, then we’ll really see which of us has the better style!” Cypher smiled as he said that and Alex clicked his tongue.

“Speaking of magick, is that guarding spell the only one you know, or do you know more than that? Oh, actually sorry never mind, Master always said it was rude to ask about another Conductor’s spells. Forget I said anything.”

Cypher paused then and gave Alex’s statement a bit of thought, ‘Well, Alvin never told me anything like that. Perhaps he just forgot? Or maybe Conductors go about things differently from one another. I guess it should be fine to show him. After all, the Galvans are already mad enough at me I imagine.’

“Don’t worry about it, Alex. In fact, I don’t mind showing you what I know. Although I hope you won’t be too disappointed to learn that I only know one other spell.”

Alex’s eyes lit up at that and a wide grin spread across his face as he jumped up, “Well come on then let’s see it! Is it like a fireball? Or perhaps you can shoot water bullets? By the way, what’s your element? I got suuuper lucky so mine is fire!”

“Hah! Calm down and I’ll show you! As for my element… Well, that’s a secret for now, but maybe you can figure it out!” Cypher was excited to actually focus and use his spell against something for the first time. A surge of excitement welled up inside him as he considered how he would go about showing off his power.

‘It shouldn’t be a problem, and it’ll be good practice in case I ever need to use it in battle,’ he thought to himself.

“Come over here and I’ll show you what I can do!” Cypher led Alex over to the end of the field. The two stood about thirty feet away from a target made of straw and cloth. Alex leaned against his Scal’tar, his hand resting on the crossguard as he waited patiently.

“Now, watch closely and I’ll show you how it’s done!” Cypher boasted, pride welling up in his voice at his achievement.

He focused again, and this time his Athenaeum appeared before him. He walked inside and grabbed the single book off the shelf, the one that contained his only true spell. The guard spell he had learned was only for protecting the edges of bladed weapons for training purposes.

It was limited and only consisted of a simple incantation. It was also very weak as far as magick was concerned and couldn’t be called a true spell as it lacked a proper diagram. Even learning it had only taken a short while.

He opened the book and beheld the diagram for the lightning bolt spell. He smiled internally as he began to choose the parameters of his spell. He wanted it to be a spectacular showing so he could impress his new friend. Still, this was the first time he was actually using the spell. Given that he didn’t know how powerful it could be, and remembering how the Gaelin stone had ruptured back when he had first met Alvin he decided that maybe taking it easy might be the best course of action.

However, a sudden urge overtook him. It was a strange feeling. It felt as though something was tugging at the fabric of his very mind but it was a subtle, almost imperceptible feeling. He shook his head and the sensation vanished but he couldn’t help but wonder what it was. He would ask Alvin about it later. For now, he had work to do! Once his preparations were complete he opened his eyes again.

Only a few seconds had passed as he prepared in his mind. Time, as it would seem, passed very differently inside his Athenaeum than it did in the outside world. He raised his hand and began to chant the words he needed. With the understanding of his Orrium’s existence and with the new knowledge Alvin had given him about how Magick worked, he was confident that this wouldn’t be beyond him. However, that feeling quickly returned and before he knew it, he was changing the parameters of his spell.

“Duet, Verse 3, Crackle of Lightning Bolt!” As he finished his spell, Cypher felt the power being drained quickly from his Orrium. It was a lot more than before, and Cypher felt weakness creep into his limbs as such a large amount of Zight was consumed to cast the spell.

He was shocked, this was not what he had planned at all and he wondered why on earth he had cast such a powerful version of the spell. Before he could give it much more thought, however, the laws and nature of the magick flowed through him in an instant and shot out from his outstretched hand towards the target.

The bolt of magick was extremely bright and fast, it crackled through the air in jagged, unpredictable patterns but continued forward toward its predetermined destination. Just as Alvin had said, it felt light and didn’t seem to cause him much backlash.

It was a bit more powerful than the first rank as well, and while Cypher was pleased that he had been able to empower as he had, it was still beyond what he originally planned for. Thanks to the knowledge he had gained from building his Athenaeum, his understanding of the spell was truly complete and after some study, he had learned how to enhance the spell beyond its base level of effectiveness.

Testing it out at full power was on his list of things to do, but right now was hardly the time for such a thing. Why on earth had he decided to make the spell so powerful?

Alvin had assumed that his power was limited to the first rank and could only cast solos, but even Cypher was surprised that he could easily surpass it and step into the duets of the second rank. He had also cast it at Verse 3 which meant that the spell was three times as powerful as it would have been had he only cast it at verse 1.

The Zight drain was larger than when he had destroyed the Gaelin stone, but he still felt a lot of raw power in his Orrium and knew that he could cast that spell at least a few more times before his center of power ran dry.

The color it produced was light blue and left afterimages in his vision as he watched it travel. It was over before he could blink, and hit the target almost as soon as it had left his hand.

Something strange happened after that though. The moment the bolt hit the target it burst into flames and began to send black smoke billowing toward the sky, however instead of dissipating, the bolt of lightning kept surging through the target.