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We're at 88 votes! Palindromes, whoop whoop!
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Mr. Lightwood stuck his arm out and muttered rastasnatch. A fireball slightly smaller than Káel's usual quickly formed, whipping towards the wall with deadly ferocity and a thundering crack as splays of roaring flames licked at its surface.
Káel gaped at the cracked and smoking wall as Mr. Lightwood fixed his sleeves.
"That's the permitted intensity in tournaments. Your combat suit can take twice the impact."
"That's insane," Káel replied, looking back at Mr. Greine who hadn't a care for the sight. He'd only tagged along for a required follow-up on Káel's lumience capabilities, and the roaring fireball couldn't pull the boredom out of his face.
"I thought it was a little harder than that." He looked back at the wall after Mr. Lightwood shook his head, writing something in the snakeskin journal he'd overstuffed with crinkled notes and Council papers. "Huh."
"Alright who did it?" Tia cut in, her voice turning to an unamused growl. "Lightwood, if you break another wall I'm calling Samanthra. Our infrastructure budget is tight enough after that stupid Novan dragon!"
Mr. Lightwood gave the ceiling a coy look. "My sincerest apologies," he muttered at the wall, a soft white glow twinkling all over it as the cracks melded back together. When the spell was complete he gasped, clasping his hands over his mouth. "Look Tia! It vanished!"
Tia let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever, Káel has to go meet with Mr. Skyfell in twenty minutes. Don't kill him."
"Wouldn't dream of it, he's the most entertainment I've had in years. Shame we can't put him in any cross school tournaments. Although, the Arcanis restarts next year." Mr. Lightwood gave Káel a wink. "What do you say Káel?"
Káel narrowed his eyes.
"Hah! That's it! That's the look! The battles that can be won from a look alone are staggering," Mr. Lightwood exclaimed, his lips continuing with a silent spell as Káel saw the bright flash of an attack.
There wasn't time to duck, his instincts going for a shield instead. Months of practice had prepared him for this, a basic shield that didn't bounce. Didn't risk the chance of another Andril Barrow incident.
He breathed with relief as Mr. Lightwood's attack shattered on its stiff blue surface.
"Saw that?" Mr. Lightwood said, Mr. Greine's nod tying a knot in Káel's stomach.
That was evidence against Phantom.
Mr. Lightwood snapped his fingers to pull Káel's attention back. "That was a special request. Let's start with separate attacking, then we can look at your dodging skills."
Káel grimaced, the memory of half a dozen spells whizzing about the room from every angle doubling back at him from first year. Dodging was Mr. Lightwood's favourite warmup, and Ms. Metulas' least favourite sight when Káel would come in burnt, scraped, and sometimes temporarily paralysed.
His time was worth a lot more than a Council made distraction, and everything about this was blatant overkill.
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YOU ARE READING
COBALT: The Sovereign's Stratagem (Book Two)
FantasyFacing the backlash of a few first year hiccups, Káel is hoping to impress the Grand Council of Lumi and get out on good behaviour, while squeezing what little information on his family he can get out of his crafty uncle. But without Phantom to ch...
