Aldric doubted they were that upset about the sudden relief from studies, though Nadrina and Lilianna had looked rather put out when he’d told his own class about it. Only academy staff remained, and Kedrin had left strict instructions for them to not disturb him for anything less than an emergency.

“Did you really have to blow them up?” Aldric asked mournfully, looking down at the remnants of his old creations lying on the desk. They’d recovered the mace, or rather, the melted hunk of metal that roughly resembled a mace. Only fragments of the shield were left, not even enough to tell what it had once been.

Zasia scoffed indignantly from the seat next to him. “It’s your own fault for leaving your forgotten toys lying about. And I’m fine, thank you for asking.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a badass. I wasn’t worried,” Aldric answered, waving away her complaint. “But come on! I thought I’d never see these things again, and now look at them!”

Kedrin leaned over his desk and interrupted them before they could get to arguing again. “So, these are definitely the ones you made, then?” he asked, staring at the pieces like they might come to life and attack again.

“Yeah, no doubt about it,” Aldric said, feeling just a touch self-satisfied. “I’d recognize the Bang Mace and the Sucker Shield anywhere.”

Zasia groaned wordlessly, and Aldric rounded on her. “What? I named them when I was fourteen! I had a weird sense of humor!”

“Had? As in, you no longer do?”

Aldric’s witty comeback was broken off when Balrus interrupted. “What exactly is it that these things do? I get the basic idea, but the actual enchantments are a mystery to me.”

“The mace repulses mana, while the shield absorbs it,” Aldric explained, his tone taking on a note of pride. “It’s basically the process by which mages take in mana from the environment, but given form through runes and reversed for the Bang Mace. The shield converts spells back into ambient mana while the mace dispels mana completely.”

Balrus had a gleam in his eyes as he looked over the broken pieces with renewed interest. “And you made them yourself? Is there any way you could make more? Or enchant existing weapons to do the same?” His hand unconsciously gripped at the hilt of his sword.

“Don’t get too excited,” Aldric said, holding up his hands in a “stop” gesture. “Mages can’t use them, or at least, not very well. They affect any form of mana around them, which would include your own. You’d be sucked dry in a few minutes.”

“Oh.” Balrus looked rather disappointed at that.