Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

The next morning was busy. We had to pack up the camp and prepare for the journey. We also saw the teachers magic at work, as they removed the defences. The trench that we had dug by hand was filled within minutes with magic. I guess they made sure that the next class had to do all the work again.

Cassie’s foot was well enough to do some walking. My wounds were healing nicely too. As we began to march I looked at the sky. “Do you think it will rain?” I asked my friends.

“Maybe. There are some dark clouds in the distance.” Skadi said.

Helena looked at the sky. “I will take rain over the heat.”

“Really? Even if it is a storm?” Cassie asked.

“Yes.” Helena replied.

Cassie shook her head. “You water affinity types are crazy.”

“No, that is just Helena.” Skadi said. Helena pouted.

I nodded. “I don’t want to walk in a storm. Also, would that not be a water and air mix? Do we have someone with that combination?”

“Someone with water and air could become a rather powerful storm mage, yes. I don’t think we have someone like that in our year though. Dual affinities are not that common. Especially strong ones.” Helena said.

“Could you use the rain to form a water shield? And use it to protect yourself from the rain?” Cassie asked.

“Huh. Interesting idea.” I said. “I see no reason why not. But I would need to use mana to keep it running. Might be tiring over time.”

“It would be training! And you could even learn to protect someone else as well!” Cassie said.

She did have a point. And my core was rather large. “Ok. I will give it a try, if it starts raining.”

Cassie grinned victoriously.

It was after the lunch break that the first drops started to fall. Also the wind picked up. There was even some thunder in the distance. While Helena seemed to welcome the rain, Cassie walked closer to me. I looked at her.

“Ok, I will give the shield a try.” While I focused on my magic I noticed Nyx jumping on my head. She had been walking so far, but I guess she also wanted to avoid getting wet. I tried forming a disk above my head which was large enough that Cassie would be protected as well. There was enough water in the air that I did not need to create more. That saved a lot of mana.

My first try had a flaw. With the wind the rain did not come directly from above but had a slight angle. With a bit of effort I managed to tilt my shield the right way.

“Great job!” Cassie praised me.

“Well, I need to keep that up for the duration of the storm…” That could be exhausting but at least it was practice. Something felt a bit weird with the shield. I frowned. Cassie looked at my head and giggled.

“What is happening?” I asked.

“Nyx is pawing your shield.” Helena said. “No wait… now she has summoned her tongue and is licking it.”

“I see.” Nyx’ antics might register as small attacks, which increased the mana consumption slightly. Well, she had not eaten the goblins yet. If she wanted to play on top of my head, so be it.

Skadi went a different route. She used her earth affinity to strengthen her skin.

“Does that work?” I asked her, while pointing at her skin.

“Surprisingly, yes. I don’t feel the wind anymore.” Skadi replied.

Helena did nothing. Well, nothing to provide her shelter. She formed a few ice knives as training. Helena just smiled as the rain hit her. Even as it got worse she seemed content. Around us students tried some things of their own. I spotted Shin, who tried to divert the wind in front of him with an air barrier.

As we marched on we saw lightning in the distance. The rain kept pouring. Thankfully, we were on a cobblestone road. So we did not walk through mud.

“You know, this is good practice,” I had to admit. “Usually when training I focus on summoning the shield quickly. Keeping it going while marching, and making small corrections as the wind shifts, is something different. I am starting to get a better feel for the spell.”

“See! And you are helping a friend. You are even entertaining Nyx.” Cassie said.

I groaned. “What is she doing now? I can feel her roll around or something.”

“She is on her back kicking your shield and trying to claw it. Oh!” Just as Cassie stopped speaking I felt Nyx leave. She fell down, turned in the air and landed on her feet.

“She just rolled off your head…” Cassie stated the obvious.

I looked at Nyx. “Have you considered walking?” I asked her. She ignored me and jumped on my head again.

“Hey! Your paws are wet!” I complained. She did not care. But this time she actually settled down and curled up. At least my friends were all amused by her antics.

After a while the storm lessened. There was still rain but the wind was mostly gone. A lot of the students seemed tired. I saw a few drop whatever measures they were using.

“Are you getting tired?” Cassie asked me.

“Not tired enough to drop the spell. I do feel some strain but it’s workable.” I was honestly surprised how well it worked. Then again, my core was pretty large. That helped to compensate for my inexperience.

“How about you, Skadi?” I asked.

“I feel it. I think I am going to drop the spell. The wind is mostly gone, I can deal with the rain.”

By the time we stopped for the evening some students were breathing hard. I was still doing well. The rain refused to stop though. It looked like a wet night. While the tents were waterproof most students were soaked. And it would be hard to get a fire going.

Meanwhile, the teachers seemed dry and in good spirits. “Students, welcome to the outdoors!” Peter said. “Some of you learned a lot about magic fatigue today. Remember that. Now I would recommend you a hot soup, if you can manage a fire.” He was clearly amused.