Chapter 19:

  “Although there are some theories, we don’t exactly know why the ability to use magic manifests itself in the body at the age of eighteen. While there are some late bloomers, magic never appears at an earlier age,” Tauri walked to the starting line on the race track.  “My point is that all 21 of you are quite young. Your bodies have the ability to adapt and grow accustomed to intensive physical training.”

  A human student raised her hand. 

Tauri nodded, “Name.”

  “Nora of house Azol. Professor, while I understand what you're saying I don’t understand why you are saying it. This isn’t the martial academy, why do we need to train so hard?” Norah brushed her hair away from her face. 

“You are one hundred percent correct Nora. This isn’t the martial academy. While you will have some basic weapons training, you won’t ever be expected to master the sword.” Tauri began doing stretches. “But, warriors and magi have something crucial in common. We both rely on our bodies. Whenever we magi cast a spell our bodies use mana. Where does that mana specifically come from, anyone?”

  “Our blood,” Kithina voiced.

“Good, someone has done their readings,” Tauri smiled. “Our bodies absorb the ambient mana in the environment around us and that mana normally resides in the core of our body, our heart. But when we cast a spell, that mana travels through our blood to the rest of our body. Now, you may not feel mana while it lies dormant in you, but I guarantee that isn’t the case when you're spellcasting. The act of casting a spell makes the mana within you move, quickly at that. The force of that active energy is very taxing on the body, too much of it will kill you. The energy will also kill you if your body is too feeble.”

  Stryg remembered the feeling of heat coursing through his arms when he ripped through the ropes at the city gates. His arms felt like they were on fire. 

  Tauri removed her black robe to reveal a similar outfit as the students. She had an athletic build, her body was skinny save for the muscles in her wide thighs. Stryg couldn’t help but stare at her butt as she stretched her legs. Stryg looked away, what was he thinking? She was an orc for Lunae’s sake, the historical enemy of all goblins.

   “Which is why we magi strive to stay in shape. The stronger your body is the more active mana you can handle. In other words, the fitter you are, the greater spells you can cast. The quantity of spells you can cast increases too,” Tauri explained.

  Nora seemed miffed but stayed quiet.

  “Quality and quantity,” Kithina murmured to herself.

“Never forget my young magi, your body is a conduit for power. A very fragile conduit. But, if you can master your body and mind,” Tauri took a long relaxed breath. Her veins darkened and became perfectly visible on her red skin. “Then you can channel that power to achieve incredible results.”

  Before anyone could speak Tauri dashed away in the blink of an eye. Her feet barely touched the ground as she sprinted across the track. Stryg’s mouth hung wide open. Not even the animals in Vulture Woods could compete. Her speed was unnatural. In a dozen seconds she had finished her lap. Students began clapping at her performance.

  Tauri laughed in joy, her veins reverting to normal. “I love a morning run. With enough practice some of you will be able to run like me.”

  “Only some of us?” Kithina asked with uncertainty. 

Tauri’s cheerful voice took a solemn tone, “Indeed. All spells are relegated to the chromatic color of mana used to cast them. Each color creates different spell forms with different effects. The spell I just used was a high level agility spell. Agility enhancement is an orange spell form and therefore requires orange mana to cast.”

  Nora’s brow furrowed, “Wait, are you saying that we don’t all have orange mana?” 

Tauri glanced up at the sky, “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “The majority of mages only have one color of mana,” Callum, the half-vampire, added.

“Only about 1 in 10 mages have two colors. Anything beyond that is incredibly rare. Your colors were tested when you came to the academy. The chrome-probes, remember? Whatever color appeared on that magestone is the color of mana you possess.” Tauri confirmed.

  “That can’t be,” Kithina whispered. She had dreamed of casting all different kinds of spells, like professor Rime’s creation of a lily or Tauri’s incredible speed. Now she worried about what spells she was limited to. 

  Stryg recalled the magestone test. He had gotten the magestone to turn black. So, I have black mana then? Stryg looked at his hands in contemplation.

  “Don’t worry too much about it. You’ll learn more about chromatics in your other classes. I’ll say this though, all colors are balanced, not one is greater than the other. So, don’t worry over what color you may have. Now, my job is to train your bodies. I want everyone to line up,” Tauri said.

  The students followed her instructions and walked to the starting line of the track. 

  “We’ll take it slow today. Normally, I’d say to do a quick jog to get you all warmed up. But, I want to see how fast you are in your natural states. The track is about a quarter mile long. I want everyone to run as fast as they can. I will be timing each and everyone of you,” Tauri pulled out a small magical device. “And I expect you all to try your hardest, otherwise I will be giving you a failing score for the day. The faster the better.”

  Callum and Clypeus smiled at her words. Kithina shook her head, of course the two vampires in class would be happy. They had the advantage over the rest in these kinds of activities. Kithina sighed, she was a dwarf and from what history had shown, her height-challenged species was never known for being swift by any means. So much for excelling in her classes. At least she wouldn’t come in last, she glanced over at the wide-eyed goblin. There were a couple of other dwarves in the class, even if Kithina was slower than them, at least she’d be able to overtake the goblin. Goblins and dwarves were both known to be short, but dwarves at least had stamina and strength on their side. 

  Stryg wasn’t paying attention to any of the others. He was too worried about the test. Races were common back in the village. He had always come in last. Too slow and too little energy to sustain a full sprint. Stryg didn’t need to do great, he just didn’t want to fail. The others already looked down on him, he didn’t need to add “slowest of all” to the list. Most of his classmates had longer legs than him to boot. Things weren’t looking great. He took deep breaths, he could do this. All he had to do was not come in last. He needed to focus all his energy in one burst. One sprint. Just one lap.

  “3, 2, 1, go, go, go, go!” Tauri yelled.

  The students scrambled forward. Some pushed each other, trying to get a few feet ahead. Kithina braced herself as she was shoved out of the way by an orc classmate. Stryg nimbly dodged his competitors, he was used to foul play in races. A few faster students ran ahead. Eventually, the crowd thinned as the swift and slow students were separated. 

  Stryg ignored the other runners and focused on himself, it didn’t matter if the others were faster. He just needed to finish before the last straggler. His eyes focused on each step he took. He forced his legs to push him as fast as he could. The wind pushed back as if to deny him. Stryg remembered running away from the snake monster in the caves, the poacher in the city gates, the gangsters in the common district. He had always run away. This time he was running toward victory, he wouldn’t lose. Stryg kept his head down as he charged through the track. His eyes caught the white paint of the starting line as his feet sprang past. He had finished the lap. He slowed his steps and came to a stop. Stryg gasped for breath as he rested his hands on his knees. His legs felt tired, but it wasn’t bad. He had felt much worse. 

  “He cheated!” A voice cried out. Stryg looked up at a group of students arguing in front of Tauri. 

“I’m a pure vampire, and I wasn’t able to beat him,” Clypeus stated.

  “Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” Callum spoke softly.

“He must have used magic!” Another student declared.

  Tauri shook her head, “I was paying attention. No spell was cast.”

“Then explain how a damn goblin beat us all!” An orc pointed an accusing finger at Stryg.

  Stryg stood up in shock. Wait, they’re talking about me? 

  He looked around, as if expecting another goblin to appear. He hadn’t paid attention to the other runners. Had he really come in before them? It couldn’t be.

  Tauri scratched her ear, “I don’t get what all of you are flipping out about.”

“Goblins shouldn’t be faster than orcs or vampires, or anyone here for that matter,” Clypeus said.

  “I mean, sure, yeah,” Tauri shrugged.

The group of students seemed upset.

  Tauri frowned, “Wait, do you really not get it? Stryg is clearly a hybrid.”

The students gawked at Stryg in shock.

  “Eh?” Stryg didn’t understand. 

Tauri stretched her arm out to him, “It’s pretty obvious if you just look at him. His skin is more blue than green, he has silver hair, the points of his ears are short, and he’s got no facial hair. I mean come on, his eyes are literally purple for crying out loud.”

  “Another hybrid?” Callum said slowly, trying to absorb the information.

Tauri laughed, “Didn’t I say we have plenty of hybrids at the academy. So, don’t worry, you didn’t lose to an ‘ordinary’ goblin. Your fragile masculine pride is intact.”

  The group shuffled around in embarrassment. 

“Um, Prof. Tauri. What is a hybrid?” Stryg asked with uncertainty. He had felt uncomfortable at how she had pointed out all his odd features.

  Tauri’s eyes widened, “You don’t know what you are? Are you serious?”

“I don’t know what a hybrid is if that’s what you mean,” Stryg said impatiently.

  Tauri smiled sadly, “A hybrid is a child born between parents of different species. You are a half-goblin. My guess is your half-drow, too.”

“What? That’s, that’s not possible,” Stryg denied, shaken. 

  Tauri walked over and patted his shoulder, “It can be a lot to take in. Your parents never told you?”

“My mother died when I was born,” Stryg mumbled.

  “That’s pretty common in hybrid births. My mother... she passed away when I was born, as well,” Callum said, sadness clear in his eyes.

Tauri nodded in sympathy, “And what about your father Stryg?”

  “I... I never knew my father,” Stryg said with dawning realization.

Tauri sighed, “That’s a pity. It seems you get your speed from your dad’s side of the family though. You managed to outpace everyone, even the pure vampire over there.”

  Clypeus looked away. “At least it explains why there’s a goblin in the magic academy and how he won the race. He’s not even a goblin,” Clypeus grumbled.

Stryg was still trying to take in the situation. “Wait, I won?”

  “Yup. By a long shot. Judging from your muscles I bet you exercise often, unlike any of these rich kids.”

“...But I’ve always lost every race,” Stryg whispered.

  Tauri tilted her head, “Did you race against a bunch of other hybrids?”

Stryg shook his head, “No, they weren’t freaks like m-” He stopped himself. “They were normal.”

  “Hm. When was the last time you raced against them?” Tauri asked.

“A few months ago, I guess.”

  “Your body could just be beginning to show signs of your hybrid nature. It’s rare, but some hybrids only develop traits of one parent until the later stages of their life,” Callum explained.

  The stragglers finally arrived at the finish line. Kithina was struggling to catch her breath. She looked at Tauri and the others surrounding Stryg. What was going on?

  Tauri grinned, “You’re all finally here. You took longer than I hoped. Not to worry, I’ll have you fit in no time. Do another ten laps, feel free to jog this time.”

  Kithina could feel her legs wilting at the cruel sound of the orc’s laughter. Forget flunking and getting kicked out of school, Kithina would die right here on this bloody track.