When Gwen pointed to the area, the whole group turned to look at it. Gatrie was the closest and made a hissing remark as he surveyed the area. At first, everyone gave Gatrie a confused look, but then Tana noticed something as well and covered her gaping mouth with one hand and pointed with the other. On the floor, a chain was laying with a sign that read "Restricted". Everyone quickly turned to glare at Gwen, yet she had already taken the book and run off to return it. She was lucky she was so fast; otherwise, it was quite possible she would have been caught. Not wanting to chance fate, the group decided to leave the library immediately after Gwen had put the chain back up. Once they got outside, they quickly chastised Gwen for her mistake.
"I swear that chain was already down when I went over there," Gwen fibbed as she had intentionally gone to a restricted section of the library.
"Nevertheless, did everyone get a chance to look it over before we put it back?" Emory asked the group, "It seemed very brief given how important of a mission it was."
Innes chimed in, "I thought so too except there was that note down at the bottom. I've seen some of my family's old records, and that call number is the code used to find the full file in a classified section of the records."
"If it's classified, why even have the summary?" Tana questioned, "By how little information, it seems strange to mention it at all."
"No, it was an important operation, so it'd be weirder if they didn't have anything," Innes explained.
"Did you all see the reference to Component A?" Gatrie tried to refocus the conversation, "I was surprised that the military outright conceded the existence of it."
Emory gave him a puzzled look, "That's your first remark? What even is Component A?"
"Obviously, what I'm about to say is completely hypothetical and was found deep down a rabbit hole of crazy ramblings," Gatrie warned, "But, supposedly, Component A was a secret injection the military used at the beginning of the war against the Mantoan. When magik was just being introduced, humanity was grasping at straws to buy time until enough people learned enough magik to get rid of the Mantoan. The rumor was that the serum gave you super strength and speed. According to the report we read, not only was it real, but it worked too."
"While it's slightly interesting they developed a sort of super-soldier serum, I think we need to get our hands on the full story before we jump to conclusions," Innes gestured slowing down with his hands, "Even for a footnote, this entry has a lot of classified information and creates more questions than answers. What kind of machine did they use to breach the entrance? Where did they take the ship? And what did they find that caused them to volunteer to strip the vessel? Unfortunately, I don't think we will be able to see the full version for some time. I don't know anyone with classified clearance, at least no one that will give us this information."
Redirecting the conversation again, Emory pivoted, "Did anyone find out anything about the weird magik?"
"What were supposed to look for," Gatrie scoffed, "Weird and dark magik?"
"I didn't find anything here, but I did reach out to my family about it. Maybe they'll have more lore about it," Sam said calmly. They had reached another set of dead-ends again; they had no new facts about the Void sphere and had only confirmed the guesses they had about the Commission without learning anything new. The silence became stifling until Innes had a predictable thought.
He turned to Emory, "Say, while we're waiting for our options to pan out, why don't you show us that new shield? I'd love to see how it differs from the Creation shield." Emory shrugged before walking a few feet away and closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were a deep blue, and a slight glimmer seemed to be coming off her skin. In an instant, the glittery effect expanded to a slightly bigger sphere than she could reach, and just like before, it continued to have a prismatic appearance instead of the solid sheen of Tethys's. Everyone's jaw dropped, but unsurprisingly, Innes was the first to slowly approach the shield. He had gathered fire in the palm of one hand that was growing in size as he approached. When he was a foot away, Innes threw it out at the shield with incredible force; however, Emory just stood there and smirked.
The fireball impacted the shield, causing waves of force to come off the collision, but no one expected the shield to suck the fireball dry like a juice box as the shield completely absorbed the fireball. Next in the mysterious turn of events, the shield started giving off little flames all over, showing that it had now added the power of the fireball to its own. Innes allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and reached his hand out gingerly. Once he touched the fire, he jerked back his hand and whistled, "Not only did my attack do absolutely no damage, but your shield also absorbed the fire and made it stronger! This is way stronger than the other shimmering shield!"
"I didn't know it would do that," Emory huffed as she canceled the shield, "The main drawback is it's incredibly tiring. I never really asked Tethys about hers, but this seems to stay on until I release it. Over time, it only draws a little bit of magik unless it gets hit which then takes up more."
"How strange. From what I know, it's just a set amount for the Creation sphere, and when it takes all the damage it can, it breaks," Sam commented.
"I did just get to this level," Emory considered, "So it's possible I'll be able to more things with it in the future."
Gatrie raised his hand, "This may be a stupid question, but how do you attack when you're in the sphere? Especially since you've been practicing with hand-to-hand combat." The group focused on Gatrie for a moment before they realized he had a point. Creation, though a public sphere, was rarely used in combat and more used for its second level spell to enchant weapons and armor, so the group was unsure how one fought with the shield up. Emory thought about how Tethys had used her shield as a sort of spring, allowing someone to get close before activating it and then propelling them through the air as it pulsed outwards from her body. Although this was effective to a point, Emory didn't think this would work for her style of combat as she preferred to strike instead of grappling.
"Let's head to lunch," Innes suggested, "Afterwards, we could head to the training deck and test some theories." The group agreed and left to eat. After having their fill, they moseyed over to the training holodeck and got in line for a room. Being the weekend, the hall was filled with students practicing, both as groups and as individuals. When the party found out they would have to wait over an hour, they quickly decided to head back outside instead and would test the limits of Emory's shield in a part of the courtyard away from most students.
"This seems far enough away from traffic. There are a few different properties I think we should test, the first being whether or not you can fight with it up," Innes indicated to the others as he charred a medium circle into the ground. It was about ten feet in diameter, the same size they used in their combat classes. Though he walked to side across from Emory, he wasn't really paying attention and ran right into Tana.
"Move over, musclehead," Tana joked at first before turning her blade to Emory, "She's my opponent today." Innes was taken by surprise; Tana generally trained by herself, and according to her watch last he checked, she was tied for the weakest of the group at this point. Over the course of their time at school, Emory progressed to level six, including her Pull level; Innes, Sam, and Gwen had made it to level five; Gatrie and Tana were still at level four. At least, that was what Innes had thought, but when he glanced down at her wrist, he saw the number five glowing back at him. Emory just smiled at the two of them bickering to challenge her; she knew Tana was a formidable opponent with her sword, so she opted to put on her gauntlets from her bag. Once on, she readied her hands and changed to an open hand fighting style.
Innes shrugged and signaled for the match to begin. Tana, using her ice powers to propel her forward, charged in quickly, but Emory cast her shield the instant Innes had started the spar. As Tana's sword struck the shield, it wobbled, stunning her slightly for a moment, and Emory reached out to attempt to grab the razor edge. However, when she moved her arm, the shield compensated and changed shape like some kind of amorphous blob. The sword was pushed away as the shield transformed, but Tana had expected this and swung an icy fist from the other side. This time it collided and caused an impact crater to the side of the shield. Emory reacted with a strong shove to Tana's torso which sent her back several feet. There was a strange mark, almost like a burn, on her uniform in the shape of a hand, yet she remained undeterred and readied her sword with both hands this time.
Innes wondered aloud, "Why do you think there's a burn mark on Tana? It's as if the shield still has my power."
"Or Emory is already working on level three," Sam replied, "Her level three allows complete mastery over the Primal spheres."
Tana took her time walking towards Emory this time. The shield was extremely durable, leaving Tana with very few options. Once she was within striking distance, she made a few cross swipes with her blade though each swipe was wrapped in an icy aura, but when they hit Emory's shield, they only left deep grooves on the outside and failed to cut through. Emory breathed heavily as the shield had taken quite a bit of damage at this point though she didn't falter as she released a ball of magik at Tana which popped through the shield as if it wasn't even there. Seeing this come at her and remembering the little testing she had done with Emory in the dorm room, Tana gracefully hopped backwards and swung her sword down hard on the attack. With sheer skill, Tana redirected the ball into the ground, yet she was only able to do this instead of canceling it altogether because she still wasn't strong enough.
"How strong are you? With my sword, I should be at level four, but it took everything I had just to deflect that," Tana thought. She decided to try one more attack, a trump card she had been working on in her training. "Since you're just standing there, you won't mind if I try something that requires me to build up, right?" Tana called out to Emory. While huffing, Emory extended a thumbs up to Tana.
"As long as you don't mind me trying something out as well," Emory grimaced, "But then, we should take a break. You're quite strong with that sword in your hands." Tana grinned so wide her teeth began to show, and she began to focus her magik into her sword. The aura surrounding it grew stronger and let off a cold chill, but the most spectacular part was an icicle growing from the tip. Normally, her sword was a typical longsword, approximately three feet in length and a couple inches wide, yet her ice continued to build and layer around it. After ten seconds or so, the sword had grown to double that length and triple the width, effectively making an ice greatsword. It appeared to be unwieldy, but Tana charged in as if it hadn't changed at all. At the last moment, Tana created a pillar of ice beneath her feet to toss her into the air and gain the height required for a downward thrust of her blade. This time the ice cut deep into the shield, enough so Emory had to drop to her to her knees to avoid what had pierced her shield. But her face told a different story, one that had predicted the piercing attack. Emory threw out her hands, and the entire shield began to vibrate violently, keeping Tana's sword in place. Then a shockwave exploded from the shield which caused Tana and her sword to go flying. Sam sprang up, transforming into a giant eagle, and managed to catch Tana on her descent. Meanwhile, Emory collapsed onto the ground, conscious but exhausted.
When Sam and Tana landed, Tana cheered, "That was great! I really pushed myself in that quick bout."
"You are strong," Emory panted as she slowly got off the ground, "I can't believe how much damage you did in such a short amount of time."
"Your shield is incredible! I mean, I was putting my all into those swings, but they all came up short. And that ball of magik, that was really powerful," Tana commented.
"I think it had something to do with my shield being up," Emory explained, "I watched it, and it seemed to get stronger when it passed through the shield." When the bolt had passed through the shield, Emory had seen it syphon some of the magik from Tana's attacks, thus increasing the power significantly. If she had to guess, it would have increased about one level.
Innes asked, "Why did the shield explode though? When I've seen Tethys's barrier break, it just shatters like glass."
"When I was first practicing the Arcane sphere, I learned that the level one spell could be a bolt or a pulse. Since I assumed the shield was just a heightened form of the level one spell, I guessed that it could act in the same way. So, when Tana pierced it, I converted the entire shield into a large pulse. However, I didn't expect it to be so draining," Emory explained her process to the group. Even if she wasn't a natural fighter, Emory was incredibly intelligent and a master problem solver. Combined with her superior magik control, it didn't matter if she had decades of martial arts training; she could use her raw power to overpower most opponents at this level.
"It looks like while you can't fight close combat with your barrier up," Gwen refocused the group, "But your blasts are strengthened when firing from inside the shield. I think you'll have to switch fighting styles if you choose to bring up the shield."
Emory nodded, "I had expected that. Honestly, it will probably be used only when necessary, both due to the cost and the style change. Still, it's handy to have."
"What about that burn mark on Tana?" Innes questioned as he pointed to the charred mark on Tana, "Have you already started working on level three?"
"That's due to the shield as well, I would guess," Emory commented, "When I brought up the barrier again, I could feel some lingering magik from your earlier attack. Just like the bolt, I think I used some of that magik when I shoved her. Or maybe." She trailed off as she created a ball in her hand. Interestingly enough, when she was finished, the sphere sparkled as it always did, but it seemed to reflect more blue and red light than previously.
Gwen gasped, "Look! There's some fire and ice in that sphere! You have already started working on level three."
"I guess you're right," Emory replied in confusion, "But just now, I tried to create just a fire bolt, so I must have a bit to go." The group continued to hypothesize about Emory's new barrier and chit chat about life for a couple hours under the shade of a large tree. After a few hours, when it was nearly dinner time, the group got up and made their way inside. However, at the entrance, they all stopped when they saw a petite girl approaching from the base entrance. She was bandaged from her neck down her left arm to her fingertips, and the rest of her body was covered in cuts and bruises though it looked like those injuries were healing. It was none other than Tethys.