Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (17/?) WiP 1 (Patreon)

Hey everyone! Here's the Work in Progress for Chapter 17 I hope you guys enjoy! :D 

“It should come as no surprise to any within this room that this ritual was doomed from the beginning.” A thunderous voice boomed, one that was promptly isolated and traced by the drone to that of a familiar white-robed dean. Everything about him, from his mannerisms of speech, down to the way he carried himself as he paced back and forth between the plinth and the crowd of professors, was identical to that of the man who had partially dominated the stage the previous night; haughty and with an unmistakable air of authority now reinforced with a dismissive and snide passive aggressiveness.

“I would tread the subject matter which you broach very carefully, professor.” The unmistakable monotone of the black-robed Mal’tory responded in kind. “Self-fulfilling prophecies are unbecoming of figures of authority such as yourself. You of all people should know, that should failure arise from this ritual, and should the proper channels be informed, that any and all verbiage that could be construed as seditious will be investigated.” The man stepped forward, walking around the devastated landscape that was quickly being reassembled back into its original, undamaged state. “A standard ritual of duplicity, performed by transplanar-grade mages, all graduates of the Academy no less, failing in a manner that hasn’t been seen since the summonings of dawn? Why, if I were to place myself within the shoes of his majesty’s investigator-general, I’d place the blame not on faulty mana-pools, or a peculiarity in extraneous circumstances, but on purposeful undermining of Academy ritual-protocols.”

“Just be a man and be out with it, Professor.” An annoyed, elderly female voice entered the fray. The red-robed professor all but pushed in front of a frayed and frazzled blue-robed Vanavan who had yet to have cast his hat into the ring. “If you’re going to be throwing around accusations then be blunt with what is being accused. Will it be sabotage? Or will it be sedition against the crown? Perhaps today we shall sprinkle in a dash of obstruction of protocol and decorum into the mix? Don’t beat around the bush, you quill-pushing, lazy, ignorant, taint-ridden, mouthpiece!”

Instead of the expected return of vitriol, Mal’tory simply stood firm, cold, calm, his face betraying only the slightest hints of annoyance to the vitriolic finger-pointing. “I will respond out of respect for your years of service, Professor, and indeed, out of the fact that I am still to this day your pupil.” That cold calm collectedness however vanished for a split second, if only to reinforce the power dynamics in the room. “With your advanced age, I believe it wouldn’t be my place to remind you not to conflate my respect for your person, and my respect for your station. So please, help me to maintain my respect for your person, without undermining it by forcing me to lose the respect for your station, Professor Belnor.”

A brief standoff was had between the two professors, which was promptly broken by the entry of the frayed Vanavan who was still wreaking of nervousness and anxiety. His facial expressions all but locked in a permanent haze of indecision.

“Professors, please. Let us place the failures of the ritual behind us and focus on what truly is at stake. The safety of those within the castle grounds. What we really must need to worry about now is how best to deal with this… this runaway null.” Vanavan interjected, as he attempted to veer the conversation away from the heated personal attacks and seemingly back towards whatever the whole situation was about in the first place.

“Aye, it will be difficult.” The red-robed professor responded with an exasperated sigh, turning towards Vanavan and purposefully allowing Mal’tory’s ultimatum to bounce right off of her. “The null’s lacking in a mana-field, similar to the girl’s. The soulpath's map will be useless, and we can’t have the gargoyles roaming the halls lest we incite further suspicion and potential panic. To do so is unheard of, and is a violation of the unspoken truce under the precedence set by the grace period. Something which I doubt any of us wishes to enact, not when we are now staring down the face of two unknowns.”

“The girl is not our primary concern, not right now at the very least.” The dean proclaimed, as his eyes shifted towards that of the plinth, and the bear-like figure clad in a thick leather coat, still completely still and lifeless in the corner of the room. “Our primary concern should be the recapture of this null, and its immediate destruction before the situation unravels even further than it already has.”

A collective murmur of agreement echoed throughout the room.

“Mal’tory.” The Dean continued. “Since it was your department’s decree that the ritual of duplicity be enacted, it falls on your head to clean up your untended mess.”

Another stareoff quickly ensued between Mal’tory and the dean, but this time, it was clear whose argument had won out as Mal’tory gave the shortest of bows in acquiescence; only to land that sharp gaze on a figure that stood just in front of the camera’s field of view.

“I think our apprentice has certainly seen her fair share of how Academy interdepartmental relations are handled.” Mal’tory announced in that signature monotone, this time with a clear undertone of sarcastic intent.

The Dean quickly interjected as he turned his attention to the apprentice in question, his voice shifting from one of absolute authority to one of a more fatherly, patronizing tone. “Step forward, Larial, you have not barged into a conversation you were not privy to. You will, after all, be standing where I stand in due course. It is necessary for you to see it all, every angle of the Academy, from its greatest successes to crises such as this. Indeed, it is not enough to merely be an observer, but to actively partake in such critical junctions.”

“The Apprentice does need to complete her prerequisite experience criterion in Crisis Mitigation, this would be a perfect time for her to gain some real world experience.” Mal’tory offered.

“With a null?! Absolutely not!” The red robed professor quickly shot back, taking a few steps closer towards Mal’tory as she seethed.

“How long should we shelter our own before they one day take our places? Would you wish for an individual with no experience in the handling of critical crises to stand by your side as you face off with another Unbidden? Or perhaps a mass-null crisis? Or a collapse of the book of souls? Could you see yourself on that day, amidst a crowd of inexperienced newbloods, and feel confident in your chances of survival, let alone successes?” Mal’tory shot back with little in the way of emotion, speaking as if he was pulling the situation from the pages of a history book rather than his headspace.