Chương 20: The Battle of Fire and Ice
The Imperial Arcane Academy, under Dean Swans' determined direction, had meticulously worked towards narrowing the divide between nobility and commoners. However, this evolution wasn't an instantaneous phenomenon; it wasn't merely a clash of social classes. A subtle competition thrived among the nobles themselves, transcending distinctions among the noble ranks. In this world, excellence took precedence over lineage, respect earned not from inherited crests but from raw, unleashed magic.
A world that prioritised talents over titles – a captivating dynamic.
"You are musing aloud again," Colete chuckled. The raven-haired girl leaned against a desk, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement.
Eydis shrugged, "Like fireworks, you see. Library duty?"
Colete shook her head, her raven hair mimicking the movement. "New part-time hell. Father thinks registering borrowed books with levitation is business acumen." She sighed, "Thrilling, isn't it?"
Eydis scanned the library, a mausoleum of dusty tomes ignored by students who preferred practice to theories. A scrawny raven-haired boy noticed her, quickly averting his eyes. "Don't worry, it's quiet here anyway."
Colete noticed the book Eydis cradled, the worn leather embossed with flames and frost. "Battle of Fire and Ice? You're still brooding over history's ashes, Eydis?"
The brunette's smirk deepened, cryptic. "One must know the past to expect the future."
Colete, her patience wearing thin, whispered, "Please, spare me the philosopher act. My ears are already raw from your internal monologues." Leaning closer, her voice dropped to a conspiratorial hush. "No wonder Astra's been giving you the cold shoulder."
Eydis raised an eyebrow. "Arrogant of me to assume my roommate's glacial tendencies revolve around yours truly, wouldn't you say?"
As if summoned by fate, a third figure materialised from the shadows – Natalia, fire incarnate, wrapping her arms around Eydis with a laugh. "Whatcha readin', bookworm?" Eydis wordlessly passed the book. Natalia's crimson eyes flickered with recognition. "Fire and Ice... oh, that's a dark one."
Intrigued, Colete leaned in, "Dark history? Tell me more!"
Natalia's eyes flashed with the fire of her homeland as she recounted the tale. "It was three hundred years ago, Silverkeep's greed for magic-conjured minerals ignited a trade war that nearly consumed Inferno. Our phoenix warrior, Lady Anastasia, nearly triumphed... until the metal mage, Lord Damian Whitlock, intervened."
Colette's blue eyes widened in realisation. "Hold on, Lady Anastasia, wasn't she the banished third daughter of Duke Romanov?"
Natalia sighed, "Yeah, and our elements were no joke, but Silverkeep had this army of top-notch knights. And Lord Damian was also a genius."
Eydis studied her friend's expression, familiar with the tale. Lady Anastasia had pushed her mana to the brink, succumbing to the overwhelming power of her own element. However, Lord Damian intervened, channelling his energy into her fiery form and saving her life. The aftermath witnessed Lady Anastasia, her magic stripped away, being banished from Inferno land.
"So, that's how the Empire imposed mineral production restrictions on Silverkeep," Eydis added, gripping Natalia's trembling hand. But why did she seem so upset?
A tremor ran through Natalia's hand. "Every year, Inferno bleeds its finest to the Imperial guard, a price to pay for a war Silverkeep started!"
Colete, her voice soft, looked at Natalia. "Was Lady Anastasia... your hero?"
A single tear traced a fiery path down Natalia's cheek. "She burned for justice, refused to be extinguished. Silenced, exiled... while the hero basked in glory."
"Despite all that, he didn't inherit the dukedom," Eydis mused, finding this detail particularly intriguing.
"There's a rumour circulating in Inferno that Lord Damian and Lady Anastasia fell in love and eloped," Natalia disclosed, wiping her tears.
"Well hey, at least they make for good romantic novel material," Eydis playfully added. Natalia's voice, usually overflowing with fiery enthusiasm, dipped into a hushed murmur as she spun the tale of forbidden love. Eydis, tracing the swirling patterns on the worn library table, felt her mind drift away.
A giggle, shrill and out of place, echoed from a nearby table, followed by a pair of curious eyes darting towards them. Eydis felt the weight of their gaze, a pressure pushing against the bubble of their secret conversation. "Nat," she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur, "perhaps we should let Colete finish her work."
Natalia, caught in the throes of her narrative, nodded absently, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial hush as she whispered, "Alright, let me just grab a book first."
Leaving Natalia rummaging in the maze of shelves, Eydis made her way towards the exit. But fate, or perhaps the mischievous whispers swirling around her, had other plans.
A collision of frost and fire. Astra's icy violet eyes pierced Eydis, her scent of sandalwood and cinnamon a sharp contrast to the library's musty air. "Watch it," she hissed.
Eydis' hands, instinctively reaching out to steady the shorter girl, hovered for a moment, then retreated. Astra wouldn't take kindly to the gesture.
"Here we are again," Eydis arched an eyebrow, her voice a silken taunt, "bumping into each other... everywhere but our shared bedroom. I'm starting to think fate has a peculiar sense of humour."
"Fated to annoy me, perhaps." Her voice was a knife slicing through the library's hushed silence.
Eydis' smile remained playful, but a flicker of curiosity danced in her eyes. "There must be more to it than mere…annoyance, wouldn't you say?"
Astra's breath hitched, a flicker of vulnerability momentarily piercing her icy facade. Then, in a voice as cold as the winter solstice, she hissed, "There is. Hatred."
At that moment, something shifted between them. The air crackled with unspoken truths, the corridor suddenly hushed. Astra, a figure sculpted from moonlight, moved with the quiet grace of a falling snowflake. Silver hair cascaded down her back, framing eyes the colour of twilight violets. Her attire, though simple, held an understated elegance. A white gown, woven from stardust and whispered secrets, clung to her slender form. Her beauty was a paradox, both ethereal and sharp, the embodiment of fire and ice itself. In her quietude, she was a snowbound peak, breathtaking and aloof, yet beneath the frost, a hint of untamed fire flickered in her shadowed gaze. Then, like a glacier calving, they retreated, leaving behind an icy abyss.
As Astra stalked past, Natalia finally arrived, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Did you see that, Eydis? The spark? She's practically begging for a battle, a perfect storm in human form! Imagine the fan-fiction potential, the views, the drama!"
Eydis frowned, rolling her eyes. "Please, not again." As she made her exit amid Natalia's excited chatter, a few more intriguing details about her roommate came to light. Firstly, she was a highly exceptional metal mage. Secondly, her last name was Clamor Elite—a name that rang like an alarm in Eydis' head, unmistakably linked to her first love, Sir John Clamor Elite.
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