Magic Academy: Nymphomancy

Author's note: Chapter 5 is here! All likes and comments are greatly appreciated! I always try to respond to every comment.

As always, all characters are 18 or older. Enjoy!

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Saturday morning. I stood at the edge of a sprawling series of fields in my green Life robes and medic sash. All around me, the auxiliary grounds surrounding the school's main stadium had been transformed. What were normally practice fields used for various sports had been split off into dozens of duelling grounds, each roughly the size of a soccer field, separated by roped-off spectator lanes. White boundary lines had been freshly painted onto the grass, and bleachers had been wheeled onto each field's sidelines for the students who had bothered to wake up this early to watch the opening rounds.

It was the first day of the Winter Ladder tournament. And for the first time in my five years at Syldan Academy, I wasn't just here because Professor Barnett had voluntold me. School events sure hit different when you had something to care about.

The air was crackling - with nervous energy, but sometimes also literally as competitors warmed up. Jets of water arced across the sky, Nature mages rode twisting vines alongside familiars, and the discordant screech of steel on steel rankled my ears from behind, where a few Metal mages toyed around. Everyone was getting ready for their schools' opening rounds, the Round of 64.

Not all schools needed a Round of 64, however. You see, the sixteen schools of magic are not all equally populated. The schools that would be starting with a Round of 64 were Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. These schools were four of the largest, with each containing between 10-11% of all mages, and together making up 42% of the total magical population.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Night and Cosmic were the rarest schools at just 1% each, and Lightning and Spatial came in at 2%. These tiny schools had maybe just half a dozen to a dozen students competing today, and they could all sleep in because their small tournaments wouldn't need to start until much later.

But therewasa school that didn't start with a Round of 64, yet the reason was far from an inadequate population.

In the far fields, almost to the edges of my vision, I could see the Force mages already smashing into each other with enhanced blows that echoed like gunshots, even at this distance. Force Ladder had actually been underway for an hour already. With a great majority of their students competing, the Force tournament had needed to start the earliest with a Round of 128. Force wasthemost common school of magic, comprising 14% of all mages. Their culture was also highly bellicose - even moreso than the overall strength-centric ideology that most mages already subscribed to - so participation in combat sports was practically an expectation.

The schedule for today was ambitious. All matches except for the finals would be played today for most schools, with the next day reserved for the grand finals - twelve of the fifteen schools (excluding Life, of course) would have their championship matches tomorrow. The exceptions were three of the smaller competing schools, which would finish tonight. Two of them were Night, with only seven competitors, and Cosmic, with a mere four - out of their respective total populations of thirteen and ten. And then there were the Obscurants.

Why the Obscurants, made up of 4% of total mages, were slated to finish today instead of even smaller schools like Lightning or Spatial was an officially unanswered question with an unofficial likely answer: Lightning and Spatial duels were cinematic spectacles. Obscurant fighting was, well,obscureand honestly pretty hard to follow sometimes. Either way, only sixteen Obscurants had entered Ladder this year, which meant a clean four-round tournament that wouldn't wear them out by evening.

So yes, that meant that Sadie's showdown with Jasper would be determined on this day.

But first - Emma.

Her opening round match was about to begin. It was going to take place on the very field I stood next to, having requested my assignments to cover as many of Emma and Sadie's matches as I could. I was doing my best impression of a neutral, professional medic, but it pained me to not be able to offer Emma anything more than a very slight smile when she spotted me on the sideline.

A professor I didn't recognize - likely of the Water faculty - served as the referee and was finalizing the pre-duel preparations. She fastened theSafeGuardpendants around both competitors' necks.

These pieces of arcane engineering were core to all magical combat sports around the modern world. The centerpiece of each pendant was a brilliant enchanted gemstone. It generated a light protective shield around the wearer that didn't require any of the fighter's own concentration.

Typically, aSafeGuardwould absorb however many hits it could - accumulating small cracks along the way - until it gave and failed. However, these pendants were specifically customized for dueling purposes. Most non-lethal attacks would pass right through. They were calibrated only to catch truly severe strikes, focusing all of its protective energy to dampen the attack, and crack - ending the match.

The key word beingdampen, notstop. ASafeGuardcouldn't fully neutralize an attack that was too powerful. It could turn a decapitating blow into a serious gash, or a lethal blunt impact into shattered bones. The resulting condition may very well be fatal anyways undernormalcircumstances, but that's where Life mage medics like me came in. As long as the shield could prevent instant death scenarios, the aftermath could be healed with Life magic. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it seemed about as good as it could get and ithaddramatically reduced fatalities in magical combat sports over the decades.

The ref raised her right hand. "Duelists stand ready..."

Emma looked calm and relaxed, with her blonde hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She didn't seem nervous at all. Nor should she be. As the fifth seed, Emma was matched up against one of the weakest Water mages in the tournament for the first round. Who happened to be a wispy underclassman named Frankie, who hadn't even hit his growth spurt yet and barely stood much taller than Emma's five-foot-one. Nowhewas nervous, shifting back and forth unevenly.

The ref blew the starting whistle, and scattered cheers rose from the sideline.

Frankie, being only a second-year, hadn't learned enough advanced techniques to specialize in any particular Water combat style. He threw a haphazard bunch of basic water blasts, which Emma let him fire off without much disruption. I could tell that she was going easy on him. She took the opportunity to practice a bit of defense, and redirected the blasts easily.

After a little bit of this, Emma switched to the offensive. She launched a careful volley of water blades, which sliced through the air at Frankie. I could tell they weren't full power - they were shorter and slower than I'd seen Emma do in training - but the poor kid struggled to block them all the same. One nicked his forearm and, as he decided that dodging might present a better outcome than trusting his defense, another caught his thigh as he stumbled sideways.

The match would clearly end very soon, and Emma chose mercy. She opted for a jet of sustained, sharp water that she could control precisely. It pushed against Frankie's chest as theSafeGuardpulsed and worked to protect him against the needle-like jet. Only a few seconds later, a sharpcrackrang out across the arena and Emma stopped the water immediately.

I was waved over. As I crossed the field, Emma also jogged out to meet Frankie, who had dropped to one knee, breathing hard. He had some cuts from the earlier blades - but nothing too serious. Emma's control over the finish had been immaculate. It had just barely bored into his clothes and hadn't even touched his skin.

"Alright Frankie," I said, "these don't look too deep so I'm not going to cast any diagnostics on you, okay? Let's get these patched up right away..."

I knelt beside Frankie and channeled a minorWoundSeal. I traced an outline around his cuts and they began to close with a green glow. Less than a minute later, his cuts were gone. I applied a final layer ofSkinStitch, a passive spell that would linger for a few hours. It would speed up skin regeneration and also prevent scars from forming.

"You did great, Frankie," Emma said warmly, pulling the younger boy up and into a hug. "Next year, you're going to be someone to watch out for!"

Frankie managed a tired grin. "Thanks, Emma. I'll get you next time."

"That's the spirit!"

I wanted to congratulate Emma. I wanted to give her a high-five orsomething. But I was the neutral medic, and the referee was standing rather close by. So instead, I caught Emma's eye and flashed her a quick smile. She returned it with a little extra sparkle in her pale blues that was just for me.

There were two more hours until her next match. Time to work.

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More and more people trickled in as the sun rose higher into the sky, and I was glad to have a front-row seat on the medic bench instead of the increasingly crowded bleachers and walkways.

I staffed several more matches on this field over the next stretch. One notable fight I caught was Max Kim, the number-one ranked Earth mage and one of the Crown captains, smashing through his opponent in under a minute. Max was a 6'5" mountain of a human, making you wonder if he'd been carved from the same stone he commanded. His opponent barely managed to erect a hastily wall before it was turned to dust by a barrage of large rocks. The overmatched Earth mage lost his footing from the shocks and fell flat on his ass. But in the end, Max showed the same restraint that Emma had. Instead of blasting the poor guy halfway to Arkansas, Max summoned a swirling funnel of dirt that trapped his opponent in an immobilizing cocoon. Thirty seconds ticked by without escape, and the match was called. It was one of the alternate ways to win. Nobody even needed me.

But not everyone was as nice.

In the very next Earth match I worked, a female Earth mage finished her fight by raining a brutal avalanche of boulders down onto her already prone opponent. The second boulder cracked hisSafeGuard. The third smashed into his skull before the referee could jump in and deflect the rest of the boulders into the ground.

I sprinted over alongside Ali, another Life mage on medic duty. It was bad. The kid was unconscious and blood pooled rapidly from a massive head wound. His skull was also clearly fractured. I didn't need a basicDiagnoseto tell me that. First, I cast a strongWoundSealto stem the external bleeding.

"Ali. Call for help."

Ali nodded. He unholstered the flare gun from his belt and shot a red bolt into the sky. It would summon over one of the Life professors who were volunteering on this day. There weren't enough of them to supervise every fight, so we had to use this signaling system while they roamed the fields.

I channeled aDeepScan, praying that the dura mater had not been penetrated by bone. A few tense moments later, a tomographic sense of his cranium appeared in my mind. I examined it carefully.

Comminuted fragments of the parietal bone had been driven inwards, as we had feared, and I could see a subdural hematoma beginning to form. But there was no dural penetration, thank God.

"Dura's intact", I said to Ali. "But there's a brain bleed. We have to relieve it before it herniates." I looked around.Where the fuck was backup?I bit my tongue and forced myself to focus. Panic was a luxury ill-suited for the medical professions.

"Ali, can you hold aSuspension?" It was an advanced spell that drastically downregulated a patient's metabolic rate.

Ali shook his head. "Sorry... not there yet."

"It's okay. Can you signal again? I need toPurgethe hematoma."

Ali shot the flare gun twice. I heard murmurs from a gathering crowd on the sidelines.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Ali asked quietly.

"Yes."

And that was really what I believed. They had always taught us that confidence is of the utmost importance for a Life mage in critical situations. But that was much easier said than done. However, my confidence and self-esteem had also grown tremendously over the past month - it wasn't always smooth sailing, but it had grown nonetheless. Would I have had it in me to pull this off otherwise, I don't know. But what's the use of dwelling on scenarios divorced from reality?

Truth be told, I hadn't ever attempted this particular procedure. I had only learned about it once in Special Topics in Life Magic, a biweekly seminar for only the top few Life mages. It covered various advanced concepts and had no set curriculum, just basically whatever was on Professor Kaur's mind that day when he came down from the Upper School. I had also never performed a spell on a live subject without having practiced it on at least a medicalLiveDummybefore, but there was a first time for everything. Besides, I didn't have much of a choice.

I channeled my magic through the traumatized layers of tissue. The subdural space was hot and swollen. I coaxed the pooled blood slowly, millimeter by millimeter, easing it toward the nearest intact dural sinus for reabsorption. It was slow to respond, and the inbound flow fought me along the way. I strained to not deviate from my precise, gentle pace. Losing control here would result in a devastating buildup of pressure.

"Professor Hopkins!" Ali's voice. I didn't look up. "He has a fractured skull and hematoma. Corin isPurgingit."

I felt Professor Hopkins kneel beside me. He cast aLiveScanand began to monitor my progress. "Corin, how are you holding up?"

"Fine I think." I was getting pretty tired, but still able to push through.

"Can you hold on for another two minutes while I set up theSuspension?"

I nodded. I felt Professor Hopkins' mana sweep through mine as he cast his spell. It was not just a normalSuspensionas I had wanted Ali to do, but rather aLiving Suspension. This much more advanced variant allowed you to basically front-load the spell, constructing a self-sustaining state that wouldn't need to be maintained manually by someone else. It lasted about five to ten times as long as you spent casting it, depending on your power. I knew of this version, but could not perform it.

"Okay Corin, let me take over."

I waited until I felt Professor Hopkins' presence alongside mine inside our patient's skull, then fell back, sweat dripping profusely down my forehead onto the bloodstained grass.

Over the next fifteen-or-so minutes, I recovered as I watched Professor Hopkins work. He was efficient and decisive, but I could also see the toll it was taking. His breathing had grown heavy and measured and a vein in his temple bulged. This was not a trivial procedure, even for him.

Finally, he withdrew his hands and sat back on his heels.

"Hematoma is evacuated. The patient's brain is stable." He looked at me. "Very well done on your part of thePurge, Corin. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn't started the process quickly."

I gave him a faint smile.

"Now boys," he rolled his neck and I heard it crack, "if you have the energy, let's put a mesh on the fracture and handle the bruises. I'll fetch the transport crew."

These were much simpler procedures and I had recovered enough to do so. I spun my previous scanned model in my head and located the fracture sites. I channeled an easyBoneMeshover them. It was the gold standard way to heal this type of injury, laying down a regenerative matrix that accelerated the patients' own osteoblasts to repair broken bones. Over the next week, roughly, they would be as good as new, and, crucially, in the correct positions. It was slower than something like aRapidFuse, which could magically force ossification in as little as a few minutes, but it carried malunion risks.

Ali worked on the bruises with some other basic casts. As we finished, two Air mages ran up with a floating stretcher. Professor Hopkins authorized the transport, and one of them gently lifted the Earth mage onto the stretcher. They guided it smoothly away towards the infirmary.

A light smatter of applause rang out from the crowd. I realized that the whole process had taken north of half-an-hour.

Professor Hopkins nodded to both Ali and I. "Really good work, boys. He'll be alright. I'm sure he has a nasty concussion as well, but we know there's not much to be done there."

He was right. The brain refused to be rushed, even by magic. The best you could do was manage the symptoms with spells that reduced dizziness or brain fog. But concussions could only truly heal on their own natural timeline.

"You two should take a break," Hopkins said. "At least an hour. Eat something, drink water." He began walking off and beckoned us. "Come on, I'll sign you out at the medic tent."

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After getting some carbs in me, I looked around for Emma or Sadie, but couldn't find them. I assumed they were off preparing somewhere. So I walked around as a spectator for a while.

Force mages were especially brutal all around. I didn't notice a single one that showed mercy like Emma or Max. The most populous school with the most ardent belief in strength over everything stayed true to their word on the field. Their fights looked like heavyweight boxing matches, but give everyone some super-soldier formula and about three extra invisible arms. They smashed into each other with magically-enhanced punches and bursts of short-range telekinesis that sent bodies ragdolling through the air. Luckily for them, Force magic didn't have much in terms of continuous offensive spells, so once theSafeGuardwas cracked and the match over, there wasn't much risk of piling on extraneous damage afterwards. The result was a shit ton of bruises and potentially broken bones, but no catastrophes or lingering damage.

The same could not be said for Fire mages.

Contrary to popular belief - and what Fire mages would want you to believe - they werenotfireproof. Not naturally, at least. They had a spell for that, and obviously it was cast first thing every battle, but it required continuous concentration. When a Fire mage was defeated, their energy almost always bottomed out with them, and that concentration broke. And when it broke...

A Fire mage lay on the ground in front of me - and he writhed and howled as he burned. The referee doused him with a conjured blanket of smothering dust, but the screams continued. Life mages rushed in to do their duty. All things considered, burns were actually pretty easy to heal. They were amongst the first specific injuries that Life mages learned to deal with in class. Unlike with bones, there was no danger in forcing the skin and tissue to rapidly regrow. The worst part was the pain. Regrowing nerve endings was just as agonizing as getting them burned away - the body essentially reliving the burn in reverse as fresh neurons fired to life - and it could only be helped so much by non-addictive painkiller spells.

The knowledge that they would be okay didn't make the sobs any easier to stomach. I turned away with a wincing sympathy that manifested as a ghostly pain in my own skin.

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Two hours were up, and I was back on the sidelines. I watched Emma shake hands with her Round of 32 opponent, a chubby fourth-year named Sebastian. From our preparations on potential matchups, I knew he was a Hydrobulker and Level 30, dead average for his year. Typically, a Bulker might spell trouble for Emma, but being nine whole levels below her, this wouldn't be close.