One day until the Monthly Ranking Test.
Aegis woke up feeling like soone had taken a baseball bat to every single muscle in her body, then co back for seconds just to be thorough. She rolled out of bed and imdiately regretted having bones.
[Right. Item gathering day.]
She’d been putting this off, but with the test tomorrow, she needed every advantage she could get. There were still a few items she hadn’t grabbed yet, mostly because they required specific timing or were hidden in places that would definitely get her expelled if caught.
Lune was already up, painting by the window. The morning light hit her canvas at just the right angle to make the wet paint shimr.
"You’re up early," Aegis said, pulling on a fresh uniform.
"Couldn’t sleep. Too many thoughts."
"About?"
"Colors."
"That’s... vague."
"Most thoughts are."
Aegis decided not to pursue that particular rabbit hole. She had things to steal and rules to break.
The academy halls were mostly empty this early. A few overachievers heading to the library. So poor bastard doing punishnt laps around the courtyard. Normal morning stuff.
Aegis took a detour past the music rooms. Through the door’s small window, she could see Liora and Talia sitting on opposite ends of a piano bench. The distance between them could have fit another person. Maybe two if they were small.
[... Good luck.] Aegis would have liked to walk in and ease the tension between them a bit, but ti was of the essence.
She moved on before either of them could spot her. The last thing she needed was to get dragged into whatever relationship drama was happening there.
Two doors down, she found Sophie.
And Vera.
Making out against a wall.
Sophie had Vera pressed back, one hand tangled in black hair, the other sowhere Aegis definitely didn’t want to think about. Vera’s usual bored expression had been replaced by sothing that involved a lot more tongue than Aegis was prepared to witness.
She backed away slowly. Very slowly. Like she’d stumbled on a sleeping dragon and any sudden movent might wake it up and make things worse.
"What’cha lurkin’ for?"
Aegis’s soul evacuated her body.
She spun around to find Scarlett grinning at her, arms crossed, looking entirely too pleased with herself.
"Jesus fuck, Scarlett!"
"Who’s Jesus?"
"Nobody. Nothing. Don’t sneak up on like that!"
"I wasn’t sneaking. You were just distracted." Scarlett peered around the corner. "Oh. Oh wow. Is that your sister?"
"Unfortunately."
"With the casually bored one?"
"Apparently."
"Huh. Crazy."
"Sure." Aegis grabbed Scarlett’s arm and pulled her away from the traumatizing scene. "Co on. Let’s go before they notice us."
"Where we going?"
"I need to grab so stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"The kind of stuff that’s technically not stealing if no one’s claid it yet."
Scarlett’s grin widened.
"Now you’re speaking my language."
---
The first stop was the old observatory tower. Nobody used it anymore, not since they built the new one with actual working equipnt. But Aegis knew from the ga that there was sothing special hidden up there.
They climbed the spiral stairs for what felt like hours. Scarlett didn’t even break a sweat. Aegis tried not to wheeze too obviously.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Scarlett asked.
"A pendant. Silver chain, blue stone. Should be in a box sowhere near the telescope."
"How do you know that?"
[Because I’ve played this ga before.]
"I read about it. In a book."
"What book?"
"A very old book."
"What was it called?"
Aegis blinked.
"’Things Hidden in Abandoned Observatory Towers: A Comprehensive Guide.’"
Scarlett laughed.
"You’re so full of shit."
"Maybe. But I’m right about the pendant."
They reached the top. The room was exactly as Aegis rembered from the ga. Dusty telescope pointed at nothing. Broken chairs scattered around. And there, tucked behind a stack of moldy star charts, a small wooden box.
Aegis opened it.
The Pendant of Minor Mana Regeneration glead up at her. Not the most impressive item, but every little bit would help tomorrow.
"Pretty," Scarlett said. "What’s it do?"
"Helps with aether recovery."
Scarlett picked up the pendant, examining it.
"You sure nobody owns this?"
"It’s been here for fifty years. I think we’re good."
"If you say so."
Aegis put the pendant on, tucking it under her shirt. The tal was cold against her skin.
[One down.]
---
The next stop required more finesse.
"We’re breaking into the headmistress’s office?" Scarlett whispered as they crouched behind a pillar.
"Not breaking in. Just... borrowing sothing she doesn’t know she has."
"That sounds like breaking in."
"It’s different."
"How?"
"Because I said so."
The office door was locked, obviously. But Aegis knew from the ga that there was a ventilation grate that led right into the room. The problem was getting to it without being seen by the magical wards.
"Okay, so here’s the plan—"
"We punch through the door?"
"No."
"We punch through the window?"
"No punching anything."
"This plan sucks!"
Aegis pointed to the grate near the ceiling.
"We go through there."
Scarlett looked at the grate. Then at Aegis. Then back at the grate.
"You’re joking."
"I’m not."
They stared at each other for a mont.
"Fine," Scarlett said. "You go through. I’ll keep watch."
"You sure?"
"Just hurry up before soone cos."
Aegis climbed up to the grate with Scarlett’s help. The tal was old and rusty, coming loose with minimal effort. She squeezed through, trying not to think about how many spiders probably lived in here.
The vent was dark and cramped. She crawled forward, following the ntal map from the ga, until she saw light through another grate.
Valdris’s office spread out below her.
It looked exactly the sa as last ti she’d been here. Big desk. Lots of books. That painting of the academy’s founder that seed to watch you no matter where you stood.
She dropped down as quietly as possible.
[Where is it? Where is it?]
According to the ga, there should be a hidden compartnt in the third bookshelf from the left, behind a copy of "Theoretical Applications of Practical Theory."
She found the book. Pulled it out. Felt around behind it.
Nothing.
[What?]
She tried the books around it. Still nothing.
[Did they change it? Is this another difference from the ga?]
"Find what you’re looking for?"
Aegis froze.
Standing in the doorway was Valdris herself, looking amused rather than angry.
"I... can explain."
"Please do. This should be entertaining."
"I was... studying?"
"In my office? Through the ventilation system?"
"... I’m very dedicated to my education."
Valdris walked over to the bookshelf. She reached up to a completely different book and pulled it out. Behind it was a small compartnt.
"Is this what you were after?"
She held up a ring. The Ring of ntal Clarity. It gave 10 to Intelligence when worn.
"Maybe?"
"Hmm." Valdris examined the ring. "I’d forgotten this was even here. Tell , how did you know about it?"
[Shit shit shit.]
"Lucky guess?"
"Try again."
"I had a dream about it?"
"More creative, but still a lie."
"Would you believe if I said a ghost told ?"
Valdris tilted her head.
"Starcaller, what do you need this ring for?"
"The test tomorrow," Aegis replied, before deciding there was probably no reason to hold back. "The ring is enchanted to make your, uh... reasoning better. I need every advantage I can get."
"Your academic performance has been exemplary."
"My theoretical knowledge is... not great. Tomorrow’s test requires actual understanding, not just morization. So, I ca to borrow that."
Valdris stared Aegis down. She glanced once at the ring and then once at Aegis.
Suddenly, she tossed the ring to Aegis, who barely caught it.
"Consider it a loan. If you do well tomorrow, you can keep it. If you fail, I’m taking it back along with your enrollnt."
Aegis smiled.
[Thank god for 100 Charisma.]
"That’s fair."
"Now get out of my office before I change my mind."
"Which way should I—"
"The door. Use the door like a normal person."
Aegis hurried out, clutching the ring. Scarlett was waiting in the hall, looking guilty.
"I tried to stop her, but she-"
"I know, I know," Aegis waved her concern off. "Co on, let’s keep going."
---
They made two more stops. The abandoned alchemy lab yielded a Potion of Greater Stamina. The old dueling grounds had a pair of Speed Boots hidden under a loose floorboard.
By the ti they finished, the sun was high and Aegis’s inventory was significantly fuller.
"That was fun," Scarlett said as they walked back. "We should commit more cris together."
"It wasn’t cris. It was... aggressive borrowing."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
They passed the music room again. Liora and Talia were gone, replaced by so first-year practicing scales badly.
Sophie and Vera were also gone, thankfully. Aegis didn’t need that image burned any deeper into her brain.
"Hey," Scarlett said suddenly. "You nervous about tomorrow?"
"A little."
"You’ll do fine."
"You think?"
"Yeah. You’re too stubborn to fail."
"That’s... actually kind of sweet."
"Plus if you fail, who’s gonna give their dessert at dinner?"
"And there it is."
They reached Aegis’s dorm. Lune was still painting, though she’d moved on to a different canvas.
"Find what you were looking for?" Lune asked without looking up.
"More or less."
"Good. Sophie ca by earlier."
"Oh?"
"With the Wheeler girl."
"Oh no."
"They were very loud."
"I’m so sorry."
"It was... educational. In its own way, I guess."
Aegis decided she didn’t want to know what that ant.
[One day left. Then the test. Then I can stop worrying about this and start worrying about whatever cos next.]
She looked at her new items. The pendant’s weight against her chest. The ring on her finger. The boots that made her feel slightly faster.
It wasn’t much, but it was sothing.
Tomorrow would co whether she was ready or not.
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