01.09 - Three of a Kind

“So… I’ve let Uriah know what you’re up to,” said Hannah, closing her chat terminal screen. “He should be here any minute now. But don’t take all day. He already promised to help me with something else later.”

“Fine,” Luc said again, dragging the word out as he turned back to the console. “I’m thinking of using my usual spell to accelerate the metal balls, like always. But this time, I want to add a spell with the Fire Elemental Core that will make the balls convert all the kinetic energy into light after a while. Getting the different colors to look right will be tricky.”

“And we’ll need to figure out the right altitude,” Mary said. “Too low, and it won’t be much of a show. Too high, and the Aura needed to fuel it will burn out too quickly.”

“Right,” Luc said. “And there have to be multiple shots at once, like a real fireworks show.” His hands moved instinctively to the interface, scrolling through schematics. “Maybe we could modify some Aura Batteries to extend the runtime? Or even hook it up to the training Thrones?”

“Only if the new Thrones arrive in time,” Mary said. “And that’s a big ‘if.’ Borrowing from the garrison might work in a pinch, but that would require bending some rules.”

Luc grinned mischievously.

“No borrowing unless we absolutely need to,” Mary said. “Besides, let’s focus on what we can do with what we already have.”

With that, the two turned their attention fully to the Fire Elemental Core.

Mary gestured toward the screen. “The Energy Transmutation API is efficient enough, but your current spell is too monolithic. Try breaking it down into smaller sub-spells; the compiler can handle optimization, and you’ll have more flexibility if we need to tweak anything later.”

“You think it’ll make that much of a difference?”

“Trust me,” Mary said. “It’ll save us time when we inevitably have to debug this thing. And if we want to improve the Aura Base Code later, modular spell parts will make it much easier.”

The sound of the front door creaking open echoed faintly through the room, drawing Luc’s attention away from the console.

He turned just as three figures in white robes stepped into the room.

Uriah entered with a confident stride, his long, fiery red hair falling loosely over his shoulders, a playful smirk on his face as he surveyed the room. He, like the other two, was about a year older than Luc.

His confidence was earned, moreso by his appearance than his spell aptitude. Oh, sure, he was a kind of prodigy, but that was true for all of them. But in recent years, Uriah had focused more on his appearance than his spellcraft.

Behind him trailed Rogue, whose short, dark green hair contrasted sharply with the longer, light green strands framing his face. He carried himself with a casual, almost careless ease, hands stuffed into the deep pockets of his robe.

As with Uriah, looks were deceiving. He was a trickster through and through. His spells reflected his personality, using Aura-based traps to invert the senses of his opponents. Luc had faced him countless times in mock combat and gotten used to the concept behind his spells, but having your senses randomly inverted still was a challenge that was hard to overcome.

Finally, there was Rem, her dark purple hair cropped short in a style that accentuated her serene, undine features. She moved with a quiet grace, her sharp amethyst eyes scanning the room.

She was a bookworm, or a romantic, or both. Her spells were influenced by her disposition, or a warped sense of empathy, or both. Her Body Transmutation spell enabled her to switch pain and wounds between two entities, a hard counter for many brute force opponents.

“Sup,” Uriah said. “Have you been waiting long?”

“A bit,” Luc said. “Were you busy chasing skirts again?”

Uriah laughed unbothered. “We’ve been escorting my dear sister to the bookstore,” he said, casting a sidelong glance at Rem.

“They had a limited-edition sale of one of my favorite romance authors,” Rem said in a soft voice. A faint blush dusted her cheeks as she added, “It’s not every day you get to snag a signed copy.”

“And don’t forget the ‘limited edition’ wallflower of an apprentice bookstore clerk,” Rogue said with a mischievous grin. “Quite the hidden gem.”

“Thought as much…” said Luc. ”You may be a year or two older than I am, but if you keep wasting time like that, I’ll catch up to you soon enough. Just wait.”

Uriah chuckled, tossing his red hair back with a theatrical flair. “We’ll just train twice as hard tomorrow. Besides, you should’ve seen her, real beauty in disguise. With a bit of makeup, a change of clothes, and a few adjustments to her hair, she’d be the talk of the town.”

“Just make sure the two of you don’t end up the talk of the town,” Luc said.

Rogue’s grin widening. “Pester a beauty? Us? Never. On the contrary, she was sneaking quite a few glances our way.”

“‘I bet those two boys are dating,’” Rem said as if quoting the poor clerk's thoughts. “‘But maybe they just haven’t been with the right woman yet… what if… what if I could change them?’” she finished, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she clasped her hands to her chest.

Luc shook his head as he turned back to the console.

Rem chuckled softly, her expression lightening as she moved further into the room. She glanced toward the basket near the fireplace, where Ann lay nestled against Lily. Ann stirred at the sound of footsteps, her ears twitching before her wide eyes blinked open.

“There’s the one I came to see,” Rem said, crouching down to scratch Ann gently behind the ears. Ann responded with a contented purr, leaning into the touch.

Rogue crossed the room to join her. “Guess it’s not all about fireworks today,” he said, watching as Ann nuzzled Rem’s hand.

Uriah followed him.

“Don’t get too cozy,” Luc said over his shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.”