The infirmary was a little building close to the center of the caves. Lit with warm, bright runes, it had a large sign so residents could see it from anywhere in town. Hireth wore a long, black cloak and drew the hood over her face. Illius, as always, wore his hat religiously. Meanwhile, Eric opted for something plain. Still, Illius could tell the people they met still took interest in them—it hardly surprised him, considering how few people lived down here. He couldn’t imagine that much went on without some notice.

Hireth stepped inside the infirmary’s cozy waiting room, and the man behind the front desk stood up as she approached. “Can I help you?”

“We need a magical aptitude device.”

“Ah.” He glanced at her, and then Eric and Illius in turn. “Yes. Kaz said you might stop by. One moment.”

He came back with a long, thin device vaguely resembling a copper telescope, and handed it to her.

“Can I take this?” she asked.

“Um… I guess so?” He looked like he didn’t want to say yes, but he also didn’t want to tell her no.

“Awesome. Thank you.” She picked it up, and they left. Then, she led them through the streets to the very back of the caves, where a massive door of solid cast iron loomed before them. Hireth turned to Eric. “Can you… open that? Kaz will kill me if I break it.”

“Sure? But, like, how?”

She tapped the center of the door—with that, hundreds of runes lit up in red hues, wildly fanning out all over the door and into the rock wall beyond. “Put your hand there and flood it with magic.”

“Alright,” Eric said, an edge to his voice. Blue magic ran through the door, filling up each of the little runes. When the magic reached the edges of the door frame, the giant metal slab groaned, then creaked open. “You’re sure this isn’t a murder lair?”

“I’m sure,” Hireth told him, stepping inside. “Well… it’s a little bit of a murder lair. It’s a training-not-to-be-murdered lair?”

“Great, makes me feel much better.”

Inside, they stepped into an arena. It receded far back into the cave—the sheer size was overwhelming. It must have stretched on for hundreds of yards, and the ceiling arched so high above, Illius could hardly even spot the gigantic stalactites dangling from it. The stone pathway they’d walked in on turned to soft sand. Wooden beams formed a physical barrier between the sand and the seats, and Illius watched Hireth activate a magical barrier as well. Eerie black magic slid from her, forming a dome over the arena, and Illius could feel his magic start to swirl inside of him. Her black magic was nothing like what he’d felt at the library—so much smaller—but it still put him on edge.

“Alright!” Hireth clapped her hands together. “Let’s get started. First, per our gracious host—your magic levels.”

Illius stared at the elegant device in Hireth’s hands. It obviously wouldn’t hurt him, yet it made him uneasy. He’d spent his youth avoiding things just like it.

“Eric.” Hireth called him over. “You should know how to do this, in case I have to leave you for a day.”

“Okay.”

“You’re looking for the dot in the middle to turn white.” Hireth looked through it and started to twist the dials on the top. “If it’s red, you’re too low, and if it’s blue, you’re too high.” She twisted all the dials as she pointed it at Eric. “And… fifty-three for you.”

“It says two-hundred.” Eric tapped the top of the device. “You need some glasses, Auntie.”

She gave a little smirk. “Alright then, here you go.”

Eric took the device and pointed it at Illius, adjusting all the dials. After a second, he declared, “315.”

“Sounds about right.” Hireth nodded.

“And.” Eric spun it back around at his aunt and started adjusting. She stood there, her eyes twinkling, as he grew more and more confused. “It says you don’t have any…”

“It’s hard to measure black magic.” Hireth took the device from him. “It’s anti-magic, not magic. Nothing works quite right.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s do this thing now.” Hireth moved the device out of the arena.

“Wait.” Eric paused. “How does Illius have more magic than I do, if he just used all of his yesterday?”

“Because you are a sad little human with average amounts of magic,” the witch told him.

“I am an extraordinary human, and my magic is amazing, thank you very much.”

Hireth laughed. “Well, the good news is that magical power has little to do with how good of a mage one is. The more comfortable you are with your magic, and the more knowledge you have of runes and spells, the easier you can defeat someone with raw power.”

“What’s the bad news?” Eric asked.

She gestured to Illius. “Raw power taught well is gonna beat your ass.”

“Like The Awakened,” Eric muttered.

“Yes.”

“So…” Illius asked. “How much magic do I have?”

“We don’t know.” The witch shrugged. Eric raised an eyebrow at her, and she continued, “But… the aptitude measurements correspond to classes. Eric has two hundred, so class two. Although, he’s probably more of a class four at his magical peak.”

“What’s that?” Eric butted in.

“Magic regeneration over time is a curve. You’re constantly using magic—it’s your life force—so the peak of the curve is the time when your magic is the fullest. It’s the entirety of one’s magic potential. Eric, you’re somewhere in the two hundred range, because you also used a lot of magic yesterday. Make sense?”

They both nodded.

“What’s my potential?” Illius asked.

Hireth hesitated. “The original numbers I calculated were somewhere around eight hundred. You passed that at some point, and my guess is you ended up at around a thousand before you released it all yesterday.”

“He has over twice the magic I do?” Eric asked.

“Mmhmm.”

“How much do you have?” Eric asked his aunt.

“Mine peaks around six hundred.”

Eric cackled. “So, if he learns how to control it, he can kick your ass?”

“Theoretically, yes.” She smirked. “If all it came down to was a match of strength.”

Illius glanced down at his hands. “Is a thousand normal for a therian?”

“No,” Hireth said. “I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“I’m a little freaked out,” he admitted.

“The demon lord peaks around eight hundred, Illius. The Awakened is also somewhere around there. You have more magic than anyone I have ever met.”

“Alright!” Eric grinned.

“What if I can’t control it?” Illius looked at Hireth.

“Oh, by time we are done, you are going to be able to freeze a lightning bolt,” she told him.

“I can do that?”

“Yep.” She sat in the sand. “Ready to get started?”

Illius glanced at Eric. He refused to stand there helpless again—he couldn’t leave Eric’s safety to fate. Power greater than the Demon Lord’s? He may never like it, but he was going to learn how to use it.

“Yes.”