The Archmage Became a Mushroom Tamer

Chapter 20 - Technical Grounds

Chapter 20 · 1,432 words

The trial tribunal area was a shaded alcove adjacent to the arena, a recessed space between the stone walls where three senior instructors sat behind a table cut from a single slab of grey granite. The alcove was cool, the air still, the sound of the arena's crowd reduced to a distant murmur. Aldric stood to the side, his ribs aching with every breath, Spore's container at his feet. The mushroom was barely visible inside, cap drooped, edges brown, the deep red faded to a dull maroon.

Voss stood before the tribunal. His posture was formal, his voice controlled. He was not angry. He was something more dangerous. He was convinced.

"The Freshman Trial is designed for students with combat-capable classes." Voss's words were measured, each one placed with the precision of a man who had prepared his argument. "The System's framework is clear. Combat classes receive combat skills. Support classes receive support skills. Utility and low-tier classes receive cultivation and labor skills. This hierarchy is not arbitrary. It is the foundation of the social order that thousands of citizens depend on for stability."

He paused. The three senior instructors watched him. Their faces were procedural, waiting for the case.

"Mushroom Tamer has zero combat skills in the System framework." Voss's hand moved, gesturing toward Aldric without looking at him. "Zero. The skill tree contains five cultivation-type abilities. None of them are offensive. None of them are defensive. The System has made this determination, and the System does not make errors in class assignment."

Aldric said nothing. He listened.

"Therefore," Voss continued, "using cultivated strains as weapons in a combat trial violates the event's intent. The student has not demonstrated combat skill. He has demonstrated an exploitation of a gap in the rules, a gap that was never meant to exist. I am requesting formal disqualification on the grounds that Mushroom Tamer does not qualify as a combat-capable class under the Trial's governing framework."

He stepped back. The argument was structurally coherent. It appealed to institutional purpose rather than mere rules. It was a genuine defense of the framework that Voss believed maintained order. Aldric's mind shifted to the System's skill definitions. If Voss was arguing intended use, the counter was institutional authority.

The senior instructor in the center, a woman with close-cropped grey hair and the lined face of someone who had spent decades adjudicating disputes, turned to Aldric.

"Your response."

Aldric stepped forward. His ribs protested the movement. He kept his voice level.

"Instructor Voss's argument rests on the premise that Mushroom Tamer's skills are not combat-capable. I do not dispute that the skill tree contains no offensive or defensive abilities. What I dispute is the conclusion that cultivation skills cannot function in a combat context."

He held up Spore's container. The mushroom's deep red cap was barely visible through the glass, dull and drooped. "This is a Fireball Mushroom. It was cultivated using Spore Grafting, a System-sanctioned skill granted to the Mushroom Tamer class. The strain was developed through Substrate Infusion, another System-sanctioned skill. The combination was optimized through Strain Selection, a third System-sanctioned skill."

He set the container down. "Every method I have used in this Trial derives from Mushroom Tamer's skill tree. The System grants these skills. The System does not specify what the cultivated strains must be used for. Spore Grafting creates strains. It does not restrict the strains' application. Substrate Infusion prepares environmental substrates. It does not restrict environmental application in combat. Strain Selection optimizes combinations. It does not limit optimization targets."

The senior instructor's eyes narrowed slightly. She was reviewing something, her own System interface, Aldric realized, checking the skill-tree documentation.

"The logical implication," Aldric continued, "is this: if Instructor Voss argues that cultivation skills can be prohibited from combat based on their intended use, he is arguing that the System's skill definitions are incomplete. That the System failed to restrict applications that should have been restricted. That the System's framework requires correction."

He let the implication hang.

"If the System's skill definitions are complete and authoritative, as Instructor Voss has just stated, then the skills mean what they say. Spore Grafting creates strains. The System does not say 'for non-combat use only.' To prohibit a System-sanctioned skill based on intended use is to argue that the System's own definitions are insufficient. And if the System's definitions are insufficient, then the entire Class assignment framework that Instructor Voss is defending becomes questionable."

The alcove was very quiet.

Voss's jaw tightened. Aldric could see the trap closing. Voss could not argue that cultivation skills should be banned from combat without also arguing that the System's skill definitions were incomplete. And arguing that the System makes incomplete definitions undermined the institutional authority that Voss's entire position depended on. The System does not make errors. The System's definitions are complete. Therefore, the skills mean what they say.

Voss opened his mouth. Closed it.

The senior instructor in the center raised her hand. "The tribunal will deliberate."

The three instructors leaned together, their voices low. Aldric stood and waited. His ribs ached. His hands were still trembling. Spore sat in its container at his feet, barely warm.

The deliberation lasted four minutes. Aldric counted them.

The center instructor straightened. "The challenge is denied."

Her voice was formal, carrying the weight of institutional record. "The tribunal finds that all methods demonstrated by the Mushroom Tamer derive from System-sanctioned skills within the Mushroom Tamer skill tree. The System's skill definitions do not restrict application context. System-sanctioned skills cannot be prohibited based on intended use without undermining the authority of the System's own framework. The ruling is recorded in the administrative log."

She paused. "The Mushroom Tamer is cleared to compete in the finals."

The words were flat, procedural. But they carried the weight of precedent. System-sanctioned cultivation skills could not be banned from combat. The ruling would be logged. It would be referenceable. It was a small crack in the institutional framework, barely visible, easily ignored, but it was there.

Voss's face was carefully neutral. Recalibrating. He gave Aldric one look. The expression was the cold assessment of an opponent who had lost a battle and was already planning the war. His eyes moved from Aldric's face to Spore's container and back, and in that movement Aldric read the shift: Voss was no longer asking whether the Mushroom Tamer should be permitted to compete. He was asking how.

The audience beyond the alcove was murmuring. The ruling had been audible from the spectator rows, and the reaction was divided. Combat-class students looked resentful. The framework they depended on had just been confirmed to have a gap they had not expected. Low-tier students looked cautiously hopeful. If a Mushroom Tamer could compete, what about them?

Aldric felt the relief. Narrow, controlled. No triumph. The ruling protected him for the Trial, but Voss's investigation would continue through institutional channels. The victory was a shield, not a sword. He had earned the right to fight in the finals, but the institutional war had just begun.

Voss turned and walked away. His stride was measured, his posture straight. He was heading toward the academy's administrative corridor, the direction of his office, his records, his files.

The next phase of conflict would not be fought in an arena.

Aldric picked up Spore's container. The mushroom's cap was warm, faintly, barely, but warm. The fresh substrate Mira had prepared was doing its work. The thermal matrix was recovering. Not fast enough for comfort. But recovering.

The finals awaited. The Blade-class opponent, the top-ranked combat student in the year, had been watching every match. He had seen the smoke, the slippery surfaces, the flash-bursts, the fireballs. He had seen the everything-at-once deployment against the Shield-class. He had seen the damage Aldric had taken. He would have a counter-strategy.

And Voss was already planning his next move.

Aldric set the container down and sat on the bench. His ribs throbbed. His mana was critical. Spore was recovering. The body had almost nothing left.

But the ruling was logged. The System's own framework protected him. For now.

Mira appeared at his side. She did not ask about the ruling. She had heard it. She asked: "Spore's recovery estimate?"

"Two hours for functional capacity. Three for full output."

"The finals could be within the hour."

"Then we work with functional capacity."

She nodded and turned back to the substrate materials. Her hands moved. The work continued.