"I figured as much," she mumbled, her brows furrowed in concentration. "That usually happens when your body is filled with more Power than you can control. I've seen it happen when a Bhisaj was healing a particularly bad injury, for example. It's like a fuse; the bridge between you and your Power is temporarily collapsed in order to protect you. It's only temporary and should wear off soon."
I just nodded along, her explanation shining a new light my first experience with Pan's Bounty and Ronald's reaction when it happened. If he hadn't had a Battery on-hand, I probably would have "tripped my fuse" per se, and been unable to accompany him to Vaishnavi's house for dinner that day. I was about to ask her why she thought he hadn't explained that to me back then, but the expression on her face and my newfound sense of relief were impacting a part of me that had been neglected for over a week.
"I love it when you get all focused," I said to her, softly grinding against her leg.
"What are you doing?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
"Well," I drawled, "seeing as how I'm sure that I can trust the voice, I figured it's okay for you to move back in, and since I'm supposed to be convalescing, I'm sure nobody expects me back for the rest of the day. That means that you and I can make up for lost time."
"Oh? And did you think to ask whether I
wanted
to move back in, or whether I want to make up for lost time? Or, did you just assume that as the male in this relationship, you could make all my decisions for me?"
"What?!" I exclaimed, pulling away. "Of course not! I would never—"
That's when I noticed the sly, teasing look on her face, and realized she was just messing with me. Growling in mock frustration, I wiggled my fingers threateningly, starting to tickle her sweet spots. Just as she started begging for me to stop, we were interrupted by someone knocking at our door.
"This isn't over!" I exclaimed, getting up and giving her a stern look. "I'm going to punish you for that one!"
"I look forward to it," she responded, giving me a sultry look.
I froze where I stood, wondering whether I could get away with ignoring the person at the door and just ravishing Rayka then and there.
"Rayka?" a voice carried through the door. "It's Vaishnavi. I heard about Chris and wanted to see if he was better."
"Go open it," Rayka said, laughing as I huffed in displeasure.
I stalked to the door, mumbling and cursing Vaishnavi's horrible timing the whole way. However, I couldn't help but smile as I saw how worried she looked when the door swung open.
"Chris!" she exclaimed, taking in the sight of me. "You're awake! We didn't know how long it would take this time."
"Not as long as we expected, I suppose," I replied jokingly. "I think I've beaten my previous record with this one."
She just smiled along and hugged me, before following me inside.
"Pranam, Agrayodhin," Rayka said in greeting, walking out of the bedroom.
"Please," Vaishnavi said, motioning for us to sit in the living room, "you know you can call me by my name."
I could tell that Rayka didn't know what to say, so I decided to just butt in as we sat down opposite her.
"So," I said to Vaishnavi, "are you here just to check up on me, or is there something you wanted?"
"I do need to talk to both of you," Vaishnavi answered. "But first, Chris, Swati wanted me to convey her apologies and to let you know that Vince will be reprimanded accordingly."
"Don't worry about it," I responded, waving it away. "It was a training accident. They happen. I'll tell her as much tomorrow, anyway."
"That's the thing, Chris; you won't be seeing her or Vince for a while."
"What? Why not?!"
"They've been deployed, and you may soon be as well. That's what I've come to talk to both of you about."
"I don't—"
"You'd understand if you let her speak," Rayka chided me, smiling at Vaishnavi apologetically. I just squinted expressionlessly at her, while Vaishnavi just smiled softly and continued.
"You haven't been made aware of this yet, but there has been a rampant increase in Dark Wielder activity over the last eighteen months," Vaishnavi explained. "It's gotten to a point where we need to deploy more Wielders in the real world, just to stay on top of our relief and disguise efforts."
"I need you to explain that to me," I told her, a pensive expression on my face.
"As I'm sure you know, the Academies have managed to remain secret, even in today's digital world, where every person with a smartphone is a potential vector for discovery. The only way for us to do so is via mutually beneficial agreements with certain clandestine agencies spread across the outside world."
"So, wait, there are people out there who know about the existence of magic?"
"Oh yes, and so much more. But that's a whole other discussion, alright?"
"Fair enough. Go on."
"Our agreements work both ways: When these agencies pick up chatter about what seems like the aftermath of a Dark Wielder attack, they get in touch with us, and we handle cleaning up after the attack, rescuing and healing those we can, and funding rebuilding efforts where necessary. The agencies intercept any digital communications that may expose the true nature of the event, cover them up, and then work with us to create a believable tale that we sell to the media.
"In return, when these agencies encounter an ongoing instance of Dark activity, or what seems like Dark activity, they fill us in, and we take it from there. There have even been instances where Wielders from the Academies have stepped in and helped resolve situations where Darks weren't involved, simply to help our allies out."
"Are instances like that at the root of most urban myths or sightings of magic, aliens, monsters, and so on?"
"You hit the nail on the head."
"And that's what Swati and Vince have headed out to do? And what Rayka and I might be doing soon, as well?"
"Not so fast," Vaishnavi said, putting her hand up, her signal for me to calm down and let her explain. "Yes, that's what Swati and Vince will be doing, but you can't just jump into heading out on active duty. Nobody can. I'd like for you and Rayka to join my own taskforce, but both of you need to go through the Proving, first."
"Do you think he's ready?" Rayka asked, a concerned expression marring her face.
"He has to be," Vaishnavi responded. "We don't have the liberty of taking much longer."
"Would someone like to explain?" I asked, annoyed that they were talking about me like I wasn't even in the room.
"The Proving," Rayka said, turning to me, "is a more advanced version of the Challenge that you take every year. Rather than just assessing your physical and magical performance through a series of tests, it actually pits you against other Wielders in your Tier, and maybe a few above it, in a no-holds-barred gladiatorial-style battle. Real weapons, all the spells you can cast, no limits whatsoever.
"You fight in two battles per day, and each battle lasts till only one fighter is left standing. Even if you end up draining yourself dry, you still have to face your next set of opponents for the day.
"The Proving started as a way to keep weaker Wielders from the front lines of battle. The lower you rank, the lower down the pecking order you remain, and the less battle you see. If we want to work with Vaishnavi on helping with the Dark crisis, we have to rank within the top twenty—"
"Fifty," Vaishnavi interrupted her. "You're right in calling it a crisis, so emergency protocols have been activated. The top fifty will be readied to deploy to the real world, while the next two hundred will join the ranks of the warriors and ready themselves to defend the Academy, should the need arise. We need the numbers if we're to have any hope of getting ahead of this.
"As with any Proving, all those who pass— the top two-hundred-and-fifty Wielders in this case— will earn their weapons and Armor. We may even have to go so far as equipping all the Wielders within the Academy, just in case."
"Wait, defend the Academy?" I asked, bewildered. "Do you think the Darks might try to mount an attack against us?"
"We have no evidence to the contrary," Vaishnavi answered, "and so, we must be prepared for any eventuality. As a result, your training will be stepped up. Your classes have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, and Ronald will be stepping in for Swati, in order to help improve your general fighting skills. Senga and Lisbet will be pushing you harder than they ever have before, so you better get ready to face up to that.
