Chapter 6: Scout’s Dishonor

  The weekend was the perfect time for Ambrose to plot and plan. Two days of the school being nearly empty suited him just fine. It gave him all the chances he needed to plan out a potential ingress to the headmaster’s office. There were basically two that he could find, and both of them were extremely dangerous.

  The first, of course, would be breaking the security for the front door and getting in and out before the headmaster could get there. It would have to be fast, and he’d have to be prepared for any defensive measures the wily old bastard would have protecting his space.

  Flying was impossible, due to a massive ward around the school, but climbing wasn’t out of the question. The office and floating garden were pretty high up, but as far as Ambrose knew, no one would be stupid enough to try to climb it and risk whatever defenses were placed up there. It could’ve been nothing, or maybe it was way worse.

  To his great luck, the headmaster often disappeared for days at a time, flying off in his ship, the Wanderer, to destinations unknown. The other faculty members were tight-lipped about it, which made it a piece of hot gossip for the students. On the second day of their weekend, word got out that Vanderborn disappeared abruptly.

  So Ambrose took that opportunity to check the office defenses.

  Surprisingly, Vanderborn didn’t have a secretary, a guard, or anyone. He was either in the school and willing to handle problems, or he was gone. With no one there, it was just one thick wooden door engraved with the headmaster’s name and titles that stood between him and the office and quarters of the world's most powerful man.

  Ambrose put his hand on the door, half-expecting to get shocked or for an alarm to go off, but nothing happened.

  He knocked, and aside from a very satisfying thumping sound, nothing happened. Then he tried the ornate doorknob, and it wouldn’t turn. It didn’t even jiggle. No matter how much force Ambrose applied, it was like trying to move a mountain. Frustrated and curious, he slammed his fist into the wood.

  Other than hurting his hand, the entrance to the office remained serene and empty. He stood on the landing, staring at the door that wouldn’t budge, and pondered going back down the spiral staircase. As far as he could discern, there weren’t any active spells on the door, but it could be hard to tell with full-fledged warding Rituals.

  Just as he was about to give up and come back later, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Ambrose froze and looked around, but reminded himself that he wasn’t doing anything wrong. At least, not yet. The anxiety still rose, until a familiar face made him relax.

  “Ambrose?” Jessica said. “What are you doing up here? Grandfather’s gone for a day or two.”

  She didn’t sound suspicious yet, which was a plus. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a loose-fitting robe, like they did in Marana to the west. It was patterned after whales and sea drakes, and despite no doubt being expensive and tailored to her, it still looked big on the petite mind mage.

  “Is he? I was trying to ask him about the finals, but I guess I missed him,” he said smoothly. “What brings you up here?”

  “You,” she said. “The door’s set to alert Grandfather if someone tries to enter without his permission, and because I’m blood related and he’s gone, it alerts me instead. It’s actually really annoying.”

  Ambrose made a face, hoping to hide the sudden spike of fear. He almost sniped at her, but instead gave a sheepish shrug. “Sorry about that. Wait. What’s the alert like? How hard do I have to hit the door for it to go off?” Without waiting, he slapped the door with the palm of his hand.

  Jessica winced. “Could you not? It’s worse with me being close. What was your question about the finals? Maybe I can answer. He doesn’t tell me much, but I still overhear a lot when I’m studying or on our weekly lunches.”

  “It’s something private,” Ambrose admitted. The truth was usually the best lie when possible. “Related to a challenge he gave me after our duel. He said…Well, you probably already know this, but the top few people get Wildcards.” His voice dropped to just above a whisper.

  Judging from the expression on her face, Jessica didn’t know that, but she schooled her face into neutral, curious interest. “And you think you have a chance of that?”

  “Well, why not?” Ambrose said, actually a bit annoyed. “I’m one of the top three duelists, and my grades are better than almost everyone’s. You beat me on theory and rote memorization, but I can actually write a decent essay without sounding like a golem.”

  Her pale face flushed dark. “You know damned well that Williams has a grudge against me. There’s no way she thought I was a golem, it was just a chance to be cruel and it’s not my fault my essays are orderly enough to-- “

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Jessica, Jessica,” said Ambrose, holding up his hands. “Relax. Your essays are fine. Not good enough to earn you a Wildcard, but…”

  To his surprise, her face fell, and she looked close to tears. “M-maybe not, but you don’t have to…You’re a real asshole sometimes, you know that?”

  She turned and stormed down the stairs.

  Ambrose cursed and looked at the door. Chances were he wasn’t going to be able to enter, even if he stayed and kept trying. Sighing, he knocked on it three times just to be a bother, then chased after her.

  He caught up with her at the bottom of the tower, which was an open room that showcased Vanderborn’s trophies from his pre-Rentan adventures. There was a massive dragon skull in front of a stained glass tableau, weapons of the Tiger tribes in a case, and a tapestry of the time he’d fended off a dozen other wizards assaulting the school. For as cold as he could be, the headmaster wasn’t shy about displaying his successes.

  In a moment of rare sensitivity, Ambrose said the two words that might as well have been swear words in his house, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…Well, I did, but I was being an ass. C’mon Jessica, there’s no one I know who’s smarter than you.”

  “Smart, sure,” she said in a thick voice, “but not powerful. Never powerful enough.” She stopped in the middle of the room, fists balled up. Tears went down her cheeks as she spoke, filled with a sudden fire. “I already have him reminding me of my lack of power. I don’t need my friend mocking me for it too.”

  Her stunted mana was something of a sore spot, and was one of the few things he tried not to joke about too often. It was too mean, even for him, and for as strong as Jessica could be mentally, she was also brittle. Her soft heart often hurt her.

  “You’re right,” said Ambrose. “I don’t want to mock you for it. I want to help you get better. You have a decent deck now, but it lacks a good finisher outside of your [Whirlpool Cephalopod]. You’re so close to being a good mage-hunter, but we need to get you something better and less mana-intensive. And…We need to work on your attitude.”

  “My attitude?” Jessica said, blinking in surprise. “What’s wrong with my attitude?”

  The best way to get someone out of feeling sorry for themselves was surprise. It caught her off guard, and lent his next words extra weight.

  “Your pursuit of personal perfection is admirable. I could never do what you do. But you spend too much time trying to get better and not nearly enough time paying attention to those around you. You don’t think of how to counter other people, you think of how to do what you do best. And that’s fine, most of the time. It can work. But if you want to be at the top, you’re competing with opportunistic, amoral bastards like me.

  “You need a weapon, Jess. Maybe switch to smaller summons to manage your mana better. If I force people to operate under a ticking clock, then you need to be better about the death of a thousand cuts, or using your opponents' own strength against themselves. Your grandfather might be an arrogant, dismissive, old son of a bitch, but he’s not wrong about some things. You do have everything you need to succeed. You just need to utilize it better. And we’ve got the better part of a week to make it happen.”

  Jessica stared at him for a second that stretched out into eternity. Then she looked down. “Sometimes, I feel like I was born with the wrong affinity. How many mind mages do you think focus so much on improving their bodies?”

  “Just you, you silly bitch.” Ambrose moved up close and put an arm around her shoulder. “I think it’s honestly going to catch some people off guard, but we need to make you more lethal. Don’t you have access to an absolutely nepotistic amount of cards you can use?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “No, I’m mostly limited to what I can acquire on my own. At least until graduation. I have to fail or succeed on my own merits, according to my grandfather. People still give me stuff sometimes.”

  While this was all effective at getting Jessica to not question his presence at the empty office door, Ambrose did care about her. At least, he cared about her as much as he allowed himself to care about anyone. She was one of the few people who didn’t dismiss him out of hand, and she was so damned earnest, without being cloying. Jessica truly wanted to be the best version of herself, and she believed in the school.

  “How about this,” said Ambrose with a sigh. “I know a few people who are willing to trade or sell. You at least get a good allowance, right?”

  “Not really…”

  Gods help him.

  “I’ll cover it,” he said. “But only if you don’t tell anyone about it. I have a reputation to worry about.”

  Jessica laughed, and gave him a quick, light hug before she pulled away. “Don’t worry, I won’t let on that you have moments where you’re more human than imp.”

  “Oh, for that, you’re on your own.” He pretended to leave.

  “Wait, I’m sorry,” she said, chasing after him. “I couldn’t help it. It’s better than my signature creature. Who cares about an [Illusory Double] if it can’t touch anything?”

  “I don’t know, you used it pretty well in our duel. Like I said, it’s about attitude. We’ll do some shopping, and maybe watch some duels if there’s anything going on. And we’ll wrap it all up with some dinner and homework.”

  Jessica wiped away a drying tear. “I already did my homework.”

  He sighed. “Of course you did. Then you come up with some way to cap the night.”

  “I’m sure I can think of a few things,” she said. With one last look around the gaudy tribute to her overbearing grandfather, the two left the office.

  Part of Ambrose wondered if it would be smart to maybe try to con her into helping him break in. It would be the practical thing to do. But…Maybe Jessica was right.

  Maybe he was more human than imp. At least sometimes.