Chapter 80 - Offense

Lily glanced down and saw the rapidly crumbling rock lying on the ground. She hadn't felt any pain but still retracted her cloak slightly and examined herself carefully. To her relief, she couldn't find even a hint of damage to her person or clothes.

"I told you the Ward would protect you," Delila said confidently.

"I expected the rock to still travel," Lily answered.

"The Ward absorbs the spell, including all its momentum, and then releases a slight shock wave when it releases itself to discharge," Delila answered.

"That's not to say it's entirely foolproof," James added. "If I dropped a rock directly on top of you, and it was wide enough, there's a good chance the shock wave would not be enough to save you."

"But such moves are prohibited, and in the case of accidents, there are healers on standby," Stuart quickly clarified. "After all, it's supposed to be a show of magical prowess, not gravity."

"Any last questions about Wards before we move on?" Delila encouraged.

"I guess just how would it work in the case of multiple projectiles? Does it only absorb the first, or does it absorb anything within a certain radius?" Lily asked.

"The latter," Delila answered. "Otherwise, anything with multiple projectiles would be potentially prohibited."

"That's a relief," Lily said with a happy smile.

"Worried about a small barrage of flamebolts?" James asked curiously. "Your cloak seemed more than enough to handle anything like that."

"No, I was worried about my offensive spell," Lily clarified.

"Oh? Multiple projectiles? Let me guess, you shoot stars?" James asked.

Lily nodded.

"Oh. For real?" James asked, looking genuinely surprised. "Damn, that sounds awesome. Your little Starlights didn't do anything when I touched them directly, so I wasn't expecting that."

"Be warned that delayed casting potentially lethal spells are prohibited," Stuart said sternly. "At a minimum, you will forfeit your victory, and depending on the severity, you risk expulsion or worse."

Lily gulped.

"As long as there's no large delay between the projectiles, then everything should be fine," Delila said reassuringly. "We can easily confirm right now if your spell is fine or not."

"I guess that's my cue," James said with a clap of his hands.

He did a quick chant that summoned a chunk of rock from nowhere, rather than pulling it from the ground, then proceeded into another chant that carved the rock into a statue. Lily couldn't help but notice a striking resemblance to the statue and the rather grumpy Stuart.

Theo would love to learn that spell. I bet he's going to love going to Tresnia.

"Right, you can shoot your spell at this; if it breaks, I'll make another one," James said proudly as he patted the statue on the shoulder.

Stuart looked mildly peeved but didn't say anything.

"Okay, but… Umm… I should maybe explain it a bit first?" Lily asked.

"Do you need to? Can you not just cast it?" Delila asked.

"The spell is a bit weird… I can't control how many projectiles it forms," Lily explained.

"Do you lack control?" Stuart sternly asked. "I don't want you casting a spell and putting yourself and others at risk."

"No, it's the nature of the spell itself," Lily answered.

"Explain," Stuart demanded.

"Yeah… Please explain because I don't understand how that works at all," James agreed, scratching his head. "Can you not limit it at all?"

Lily quickly shook her head, "No, I can control it, but only its upper limits. The minimum is entirely random."

"Random?" Delila asked curiously.

"Magic is not random," Stuart scoffed.

"Not in the strictest sense," Delila agreed. "But I know when casting chain lightning, the spell can randomly hit targets."

"Mind explaining more, Lily, or just going straight to the demonstration?" James asked.

"Explanation first," Stuart demanded. "I do not want a random spell cast without knowing the details."

Lily took in a deep breath, nodded, and relaxed.

"Okay, so the spell is called Starcluster, and when I cast it, it shoots somewhere between zero and five stars," Lily explained. "When I first learned the spell, I could only cast between zero and one, but the maximum possibility has increased the more familiar I've become with the spell. I can reduce the maximum, but I cannot remove the chance of landing on zero."

Stuart and Delila seemed to be contemplating her explanation, while James seemed to be grinning happily at what he heard.

"Your spell is like rolling dice? Now I'm the jealous one; that sounds like a gambler's wet dream!" James joked.

"And you're sure you aren't just failing at casting the spell when you get these subpar results?" Stuart asked, his tone somewhat accusatory.

"Even when I get zero stars, there's still a positive effect," Lily answered.

James grinned, "This day just gets better and better."

"Explain ?" Delila asked, sounding a little tired now.

"On a zero, the spell still shoots out stardust," Lily answered. "Anything coated in the stardust takes extra damage when hit by a star. The same goes for stars; they explode into dust on the target. So if I shoot three stars, the second and third stars get boosted."

"Is it a cumulative effect?" James asked excitedly.

"Umm…" Lily mumbled.

"Does the stardust effect stack?" James reiterated. "Does each star get stronger the more stardust there is?"

Lily nodded, although a little hesitantly, "I think so. The biggest boost is having any stardust, but I think it does get empowered further the more stardust there is."

"Ahh, I want to see it!" James said excitedly and began pointing towards his statue.

"I guess we might as well see it for now; I can't think of anything else to question…" Delila sighed.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Indeed… I suppose we can get her to verify by lowering the amount that she actually has control over the spell," Stuart commented.

Am I seriously going to lose some points on control due to the random nature of this spell? I'm betting Rose just threw a massive fireball or set the room on fire!

Lily sighed. She raised her hand and gave the spell enough Mana to go no further than three stars. She completed the spell with a tiny whisper and a few gestures and silently prayed that she'd get any result other than zero.

When two stars flew out from the completed spell in her palms, she nearly cheered on the spot. The stars went careening towards the statue, the first one striking it and exploding into stardust and damaging it. The second one landed mere moments later and struck, blowing the statue's head clean off.

"Yes!" James cheered. "That was amazing!"

Stuart swallowed a bit, looking at the beheaded statue of himself.

"That was quite a substantial boost…" Delila said, staring at the result.

Lily nodded, "It's why even a zero result is good, assuming my next cast is at least a one."

"No kidding," James chuckled as he gestured towards the headless statue. "With results like this, I'm not going to complain."

Stuart cleared his throat, "Well, I will complain if I don't see some truth behind your claim of control."

Delila reluctantly nodded, "Sadly, that is true. We need to know that you can actually control your spell. This goes doubly so for an unknown bloodline ability."

"What are you suggesting then?" James asked, seemingly to be entirely on Lily's side.

"Can you lower the result to always be zero?" Delila suggested.

Lily paused before nodding. She hadn't tried it before, but it sounded feasible.

James conjured up another rock, although he didn't turn it into a replica of Stuart this time, opting for a more plain mannequin look.

Diminishing her output drastically, she lowered the spell to what she assumed would be insufficient to produce even a single star. She cast the spell and found herself holding her breath in anticipation as it completed. She sprayed the target with stardust and smiled.

"I assume that's the zero result you mentioned?" Delila asked.

Lily nodded.

"Again," Stuart instructed.

Lily cast the spell again, blanketing it in more dust.

"Again."

Lily felt her eye twitch a bit as she did it again. More dust.

"Again."

This was repeated just over half a dozen times, and Lily was growing concerned that Stuart was planning on draining her Mana dry.

"Well, not a single star formed," James pointed out.

"So she wasn't bluffing about lowering the maximum," Stuart said.

At this point, Lily was just grateful he hadn't spouted "Again" once more.

"I agree, this is a clear demonstration of control," Delila pointed out.

"And my statue is covered in this stardust; I can't wait to see what a single star will do to it!" James said excitedly.

"Very well. Raise the maximum to a single star," Stuart ordered.

Lily suppressed her desire to complain at his repeated orders and nodded, casting the spell once more.

Please give me a star first try; I don't want to deal with this man anymore!

Her prayers were answered, as a singular star flew out from the spell moments after she completed it and struck the statue. The explosion was significant, blasting the entire stardust-coated statue into rubble and shrapnel.

Lily let out a tiny cry, but all the examiners seemed prepared for this inevitable outcome. Delila finished casting a spell in mere moments as a strong gust of wind erupted in front of her, blowing any shrapnel away from all of them and against the wall.

Lily winced as the rubble crashed against the wall. She was terrified that she would get into trouble for damaging the building, but when the dust settled, she was relieved to see that there wasn't even a single scratch.

"Good thing I reinforced the walls before we started," James chuckled.

"The offensive spell test is always such a hazard," Delila sighed. "Especially when bloodlines get involved."

"To be fair, you did have her coat the thing in stardust like a dozen times," James retorted.

"It wasn't that many," Stuart defended himself. "But I'm rather satisfied that she has some control over the spell."

"So … Pass?" James asked.

Lily held her breath.

"Pass in my books," Delila said. "I'd hate to be that statue."

"I just have a few questions," Stuart said.

Lily barely held back a sigh as she nodded, hoping he wouldn't have her cast the spell another dozen or more times.

"How is your aim with the spell? Do you have any control over it once you've cast it?" Stuart asked.

"I can make some minor adjustments to it, but honestly, I haven't really had any moving targets to use as target practice," Lily answered earnestly. "It's probably something I can work on."

"Good to hear. Would you mind one last demonstration?" Stuart requested.

Lily agreed, and Stuart whipped up one last statue for her to fire at.

"I want you to aim to the right of it and then adjust the stars to lean left after casting," Stuart explained. "That will be sufficient enough demonstration for control."

"Any maximum number of stars?" Lily asked, checking to be safe.

"No more than two, I'd say," Stuart answered.

"Please , no more than two," Delila agreed.

James clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Damn, I was kind of hoping to see the full five."

Lily giggled and then began casting the spell once more. When she released the spell, two stars flew slightly away from the statue, and she exerted her control to correct their course. The stars slowly swerved until they collided with the statue, reducing its upper half to rubble.

"Excellent, I'm satisfied," Stuart announced, to Lily's relief. "I don't know if you were jesting about it being random, but you seem to have cast the exact number of stars required each time."

"I wasn't joking… But I guess I got lucky," Lily joked.

"Lucky rabbit, hey?" James teased.

"Hmm…" Stuart grumbled before shaking his head. "Regardless, I suggest you work on your after-control. It will be essential if you are involved in duals and tournaments. I can promise you, you won't have any immobile opponents unless they are extremely green."

"Or an earth mage," James interjected. "Metal too. We both like to bunker down."

"Those expectations aside, movement is crucial!" Stuart declared.

"I'd like to, but Instructor Richardus is rather against us using any offensive spells until we are actually at the schools," Lily informed him.

"A pity… Perhaps we could donate a set of Wards to the orphanage?" Stuart muttered.

"That's oddly reasonable of you," James replied.

"Well, this orphanage has produced two powerful bloodlines," Stuart explained. "It seems wise to invest in the future; these adventurers' offspring seem to be made from something else."

"Two ?" Delila asked curiously.

"The Dragia girl came from here as well, unless I'm mistaken?" Stuart said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"That's my big sister Rose!" Lily said proudly.

"Sister ?" James questioned.

"Oh no… Is that why you asked about Regarth?" Delila asked, looking somewhat disappointed.

"My sister Rose went to Regarth, and I'm going to join her!" Lily declared.

Delila and Stuart muttered a curse under their breath. James, however, laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest thing in the world.