Li Na was asleep when they arrived. The healer, Travis Myer, assured them that she looked far worse than she really was. Bones were fused and all the most critical injuries were healed, she just needed to rest while the swelling went down. Travis promised that the last of her injuries would be healed as soon as the swelling wouldn’t interfere. He seemed a lot more friendly outside of the disciplinary hearing.

Yaric received many disapproving looks at the sight of some recently eaten breakfast pasted to the front of his robes, particularly since they were in a medical ward. Thankfully, the Academy's medical wards were very different from those outside. Magic could cure most things in minutes. The beds were mostly for examination and to have somewhere to cast those spells. Patients only stayed in rooms when there were cases that involved complications, like Li Na’s, or situations that first required research before any spells could be attempted.

The ward had two dozen beds in a large hall, with curtains that could be pulled around them, all of which were empty. A passageway at the far end had six doors on both sides, each leading into a private room with a bed, as well as a bathroom and chairs for visitors. Li Na lay inside one, tucked into the bed. Her eyes were still swollen, but her calm, steady breathing let everyone know that she was asleep. She sounded peaceful, which went a long way in helping her friends relax as well.

Yaric tried to clean his robes in the bathroom, but Travis quickly lost his patience and kicked Yaric out, sending him to get changed. Running into an empty dorm was an odd experience but certainly a welcome one. No one wanted to be caught looking the way he did.

A quick shower and change of clothes were followed by another run back, where Sandy, Lloyd, and Jerold had joined the others. Sandy was deep in conversation with Travis when Yaric arrived.

“You three can stay here today for as long as the healers allow. There won’t be much point in trying to go to class,” Jerold was explaining. He seemed very concerned about Lauren, but she kept nodding distractedly and turning to watch Li Na. Sven, meanwhile, made for an imposing bodyguard next to her bed, his face impassive and his body utterly still. He seemed to have fully recovered.

“Patients here are usually sick, not covered in it,” Lloyd said, trying to crack a joke when he walked over to Yaric. “I’m glad you’ve cleaned yourself up.”

“Is there any news?” Yaric asked immediately.

“Your friend is fine.” Lloyd turned so the others could hear as well. “This might sound a bit callous, but her injuries are nothing. Wait until you’re covered in severe burns, or have a severed limb reattached. The experience might have been bad, but the injuries are a rather simple fix. Despite how they might look.”

“Prospect Li Na would already be discharged if she’d been brought straight here,” Sandy added. “Unfortunately, you were found by a member of staff who didn’t have much medical training. He didn’t know any better.”

“And Andrew?” Sven asked, his voice unnaturally even.

“That is none of your concern. They made their choices and are currently following through. I suggest that you three, you four, focus on your studies and forget about what happened. None of those students will ever be a concern of yours again.”

No one looked happy about being kept in the dark. After what Andrew had done, they at least wanted to know what the consequences had been. Yaric couldn’t help but think back to how Hiawatha had announced his background to the world just to justify the punishment he was giving out. But Yaric didn’t get to hear what happened to someone who assaulted his friends.

“And you four owe a great deal to Arch Wizard Phelps,” Lloyd pointed out.

“Wasn’t there going to be an investigation anyway?”

“Yes,” Lloyd acknowledged, “but that would have simply cleared you and your friends. Nothing more.”

Yaric was confused. “I don’t understand.”

“You four received a rather exceptional award a few days ago,” Sandy explained. “Next year will see you fulfilling requests and answering appeals. That isn’t just a great honor, it’s also a great responsibility. It’s a sign of significant ability on your side and significant trust from us. Any doubts or questions left after your fight earlier today would have made it impossible for any of you to retain that reward.”

“Is that why the Arch Wizard came in the first place?” Yaric asked, feeling like many unexplained events were starting to make more sense.

Lloyd just smiled in reply.

“All three of you will be back in class from tomorrow,” Sandy stated, “but, you have permission to arrive late if you’re coming past here to check on Prospect Li Na. For as long as she is here.”

Not much was said after that. Jerold just reminded Lauren that she had done well, then stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder while she sat next to Li Na’s bed. Sven didn’t say another word, and his sponsor wasn’t on campus. Only Lloyd had things to say, but his jokes were uncharacteristically flat, and he soon gave up. The adults left soon after.

There wasn’t much said after that. No one wanted to leave Li Na, but they all felt awkward just sitting there and watching her sleep. They sat through a long, uncomfortable hour before Sven finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry.”

…

“For what? You did nothing wrong.” Yaric knew he was the one who had hesitated when the fight started.

“I’m the best fighter in our group and I did nothing. You guys had to fight by yourselves to protect…”

“Stop. I expected that from Yaric, not you. No one has their guard up against classmates. You were surprised. We all were.”

“Even after you fell I still…”

“No, shoosh,” she said, spinning to face Yaric and pointing her finger at his face. “You don’t get to blame yourself either. You’d have something wrong with you if you were waiting to attack. I saw your face when we were watching the fight again. You didn’t hesitate, you just tried to stop the fight from escalating first. We were attacked, and they were wrong. Stop blaming yourself for everything. You’re beating yourself up for nothing after Andrew did that to you first, don’t make what he did worse.”

Lauren took a deep breath after her outburst, having barely paused while she spoke. Yaric was a little taken aback by just how firmly Lauren had spoken, practically scolding them. Lauren appeared to notice.

“I’m happy you don’t throw punches at the first sign of conflict,” she added, her expression softening. “Thank you for being there. Lina is lucky to have you guys.”

“We’re all in this,” Sven said, looking embarrassed to have been on the receiving end of one of Lauren's rare lectures.

The awkwardness intensified for a few minutes, but they soon settled into a far more comfortable silence. It was quiet in the room, leaving everyone with their own thoughts.

Lauren finally got up at lunchtime. There was no food available in the ward, so she left to fetch something to eat. She had to fend off dozens of questions from classmates who’d noticed their absence, but she managed to get a large meal that everyone could share, before making a quick stop in her room.

Sven raised his eyebrows when Lauren walked back in carrying the large wooden box that held her games.

“If Lina wakes up to find us watching her, we’re all dead,” she explained. No one doubted her for a second.

Lauren and Yaric finally left that evening, leaving Sven behind after he insisted on staying longer. Li Na hadn’t woken even once, and a healer who had just come on duty had laughed when they’d asked if that was something to be concerned about.

“As long as she’s in that bed and the runes are charged, you won’t find it easy to wake her up. We’re keeping her asleep until tomorrow.”

They found the main common room packed when they arrived. Rumors had already begun to spread, which was partly explained by the eager announcement that Andrew’s room was empty, along with Artur’s and John’s. The theories started flying once people heard about a bunch of beat-up students being led through the campus.

“Was that you?”

“Did Sven beat up Andrew again?”

“I heard people got hurt?”

“Why didn’t you let anyone know, we’d have come to watch!”

Yaric immediately regretted leaving Sven behind. He usually stepped up to handle things like this, often with Li Na’s backup. He was the last person to stand in the middle of a group with everyone looking at him, and Lauren wasn’t much better.

“There was a fight,” Yaric admitted. "Andrew and the others ambushed us.”

“I bet Sven messed him up!”

“How badly did they get beaten?”

“What’s it like to be on the other side of an ambush for once?”

“It wasn’t a joke,” Lauren replied hotly. “Li Na’s still in the medical ward. She’s going to be there all week.”

The whole room went quiet.

“It was a proper fight then?” someone asked from the back.

“Did they have weapons?”

“No,” Yaric answered. “No one had weapons. They tried to force us to forfeit the competition and hand them the…”

“No!”

“Again!”

“I thought they were already in trouble about that!”

“Stop!” Lauren shouted, raising her voice over the flurry of questions. “It’s been a long day. They tried to make us claim that The Behemoths had won, as Yaric said, and Andrew wanted us to leave his ribbon challenge rotation alone. They caught us by surprise when they hit Sven out of nowhere while we were all talking. Andrew was augmenting himself when he hit Sven.”

Lauren had to pause when several people hissed with sharp intakes of breath.

“We don’t know what happened to them, just that they were punished and won’t be in our class anymore,” she added.

“I bet they were expelled.”

“Using magic against someone else is really serious!”

“I was a Behemoth! We all know Shadow won! We were happy for you!”

The last shout got a big reaction, with a lot of students pushing forward to make it clear that Andrew had been on his own with his claims. No Behemoth had anything but good things to say about Team Shadow. More than that, none of them wanted to be associated with Andrew or any of his claims, and they all wanted to make it clear to everyone else.

Yaric and Lauren took turns explaining what had happened, answering questions as they went.

“Can anyone visit Li Na?” Chelsea asked.

“I don’t think there are any restrictions,” Yaric replied, trying to imagine Li Na’s face when her whole year came to visit, and she realized that she was the center of attention. She’d probably end up putting on a performance to retell the story.

Lauren started yawning, which set Yaric off as well. He felt like he’d been training under Hiawatha all day.

“I think we’re going to go to bed,” Yaric said, looking to Lauren for confirmation. She just nodded.

“I’m sure Li Na can answer your questions tomorrow,” Lauren added, carrying her box through the parting crowd.

“Was it Andrew that threw up all over himself?” Gerrick asked, grinning maniacally. “I heard one of them threw up all over himself.”

“I bet it was John!”

“Yeah, John is a terrible fighter!”

“Or Artur. He’s always been so full of it.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing them at breakfast.”

Yaric’s ears felt like they were burning.

“Andrew didn’t throw up,” Lauren answered. “Neither did John or Artur. None of them did.”

Yaric was grateful for Lauren’s intervention. He quickly checked to see if his clothes had been collected for cleaning, not wanting to have the evidence right there where it could be discovered, and was relieved to see that they had. There was still a faint smell hanging in the air, but his open window was helping.

Feeling mentally exhausted, Yaric decided to forego his therapy exercises. His cube could wait until tomorrow.

Breakfast was odd without Li Na. There were still plenty of people looking to ask questions about what had happened and even more speculation, but Sven fended off everyone’s questions while they ate.

No one was sad to see Andrew go. Rikard even seemed a little relieved. But as people heard about what he’d done to Li Na, there were a lot of discussions about what each person would do to Andrew if they ever saw him again. A sort of club was formed, mostly made of the same guys who’d been celebrating with Li Na after Shadow had won the competition. They all agreed to inform everyone else if they came across Andrew, so they could deliver some payback.

Sven didn’t seem very amused.

Classes were easier, as everyone spent most of the time focused on the lesson. Not much was different inside the class, though Lauren took it upon herself to make two sets of notes.

Li Na was also awake when they went to check on her between lessons. She was down at first, but quickly started to perk up.

In just a few minutes everyone realized that Li Na had no memory of the disciplinary hearing. She could remember being slammed into the ground, and she had vague memories of fighting on her back, but after that, she’d simply woken up in the bed with a healer waiting expectantly by her side.

Not even the lumps on her face were enough to hide her smile when she heard about an Arch Wizard turning up, or how the others had panicked when they’d realized that there would be no talking their way out of their mess. She didn’t even seem to care about what punishment they’d received. Just knowing about the two options was enough for her.

“The healer that came to see you was very impressed with how you augmented yourself after the fight,” Sven informed her when they were done.

“’Course,” Li Na mumbled. “It takes a professional to properly appreciate my skills.”

They had started making jokes about whose ‘skills’ were greatest when Li Na turned to Lauren.

“Lauren?” she asked, turning serious all of a sudden.

“What is it?”

“When Arch Wizard Phelps arrived…”

“Yes?” Lauren asked, leaning forward.

“… Did Yaric call him ‘that old guy’ again?”

“Ha ha ha!” Sven laughed loudly, having heard the story many times. Even Lauren struggled to hide her smile.

“Maybe you should start listening to your own advice,” Yaric suggested, remembering his first two years with his class.

“Only advice worth listening to,” Li Na stated.

“Well then, stop blocking punches with your face.”

…

…

“Ha ha ha!” Sven seemed to be relieved that Li Na was talking so easily, and most of all their natural return to normality, even if Li Na was still stuck in the ward, making rude hand gestures at Yaric while sticking out her tongue.

They ended up missing the entire lesson, which might have been pushing things a bit, but time ran away from them. All three wolfed down their lunch quickly so that they wouldn’t have to rush to class, only to discover that they’d already missed their chance.

Half the class seemed to have gone straight to the ward and Li Na already had almost a dozen people in her room, with many more waiting outside. Unlike her closest friends, many of them had also brought gifts. Bouquets of flowers were scattered around the room. The healer on duty was not very happy about the situation.

Unlike Li Na, who enthusiastically held court from her bed.

Everyone visited at least once before the week was up. Lauren took pages of notes for Li Na, even making copies of the study diagrams she always used.

Sandy was there on two separate occasions, having just stopped by to see how Li Na was doing. Yaric was surprised to discover that Lloyd had come past as well, leaving her a beautifully engraved mini statue of a galloping horse, which Li Na refused to let anyone touch.

The biggest surprise was during Li Na’s last day. The only time they could visit without half a dozen others was between classes, using the special permission Sandy had given them. But that was only half the reason why the four were so surprised when they suddenly became five.

“Good morning kids,” Arch Wizard Phelps said, already seated in the chair furthest from the door.

It took everyone a couple of seconds to collect themselves, after which they quickly inclined their heads as everyone had done during the hearing. Much to the Arch Wizard’s amusement.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said, before continuing without giving anyone a chance to respond. “It has recently come to my attention that my medical knowledge is somewhat lacking, so I’ve come here to begin rectifying the issue. Though I couldn’t come through here without stopping by to see the young woman that everyone else seems to visit constantly.”

Li Na was beaming, with her bruised and battered face somehow looking smug.

“I take it that you are recovering well?” he asked kindly.

“Yes sir, very well.”

“Good. Well, I don’t want to interrupt you any more than necessary. I only came to see that everything was as it should be. Unfortunately, I only had a moment to spare, as this old guy has much to do.”

Everyone turned to look at Yaric.

“What?”

But it was just the four of them again. The Arch Wizard was no longer on his chair. Instead, sitting on the chair like it had been there all along was an absolutely enormous tin box, filled with biscuits and sweet pastries.

“Ooh… I got a gift from an Arch Wizard!”

 

---

 

Lloyd leaned into the open doorway and reached back to knock rhythmically on the door.

“Twylla? You here?”

“Where else would I be, you stupid man? Get in here!”

Lloyd followed the voice into the kitchen, where Twylla usually was. She was already opening Lloyd's favorite beer.

“So?” she asked, dropping down onto a stool with a tired sigh, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was hoping you could check in on my place for the next few weeks. I need to leave town for a while.”

Twyla frowned. “You’re leaving again? Why? I haven’t heard about anything.”

Lloyd laughed. “You’re a semiretired healer, you aren’t supposed to hear anything. You shouldn’t know half the things you do.”

Twyla shrugged unconcernedly. “It’s not a crime. And I have my ways.”

“Probably your secret supplier,” Lloyd grumbled.

“So what assignment is it this time?”

“No job, not really. I need to make a quick trip up to Clery.”

“Clery? Isn’t that where you found your other student.”

Lloyd's lips twitched at Twyla’s reference to Yaric being his ‘other’ student. He knew exactly how Yaric would react if he heard that.

“Yes, that’s why I’m going there. He will have his acceptance ceremony in a few months, and I know what I want to get him. The catch is I need to be in Clery to get it, and I need to leave soon before something else comes up.”

“What are you getting him?” Twyla asked eagerly, leaning forward in anticipation.

Lloyd explained his idea.

Twyla just stared for a moment, looking shocked. “You thought of that?”

“Yes, why?”

“You, Lloyd Chen, thought of that by yourself?”

“I don’t see why you’re so confused.”

“I’m confused because this gift idea is coming from High Wizard Lloyd Chen, the most oblivious, self-absorbed, self-important…”

“Hey, I’ve never said I was important. It’s everyone else that does, blame them.”

“See what I mean?”

“So can you do it?” Lloyd asked. “Would you check in on my place now and then while I’m gone?”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow,” Lloyd replied, looking sheepish.

Twyla sighed deeply. “Typical. But no, I’m afraid I can’t.”

“You’re busy?”

“Yes. I have to pack for my own journey. I’m also leaving tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?” Lloyd asked, surprised.

“To Clery.”

“What? You’re also going? Why?”

“Because a stupid wizard with a big head is going there to get a gift for his student, and he’s going to need my help. Or he will just mess it up.”

Lloyd stared at Twyla for a few moments.

“You sure? We’ll probably be gone for at least three weeks.”

“I’m sure.”

“Well now this is awkward.”

“You don’t want me to come?” Twyla asked, pulling her head back and raising her eyebrows in an oddly threatening way.

“No, it’s not that. I was going to ask you for another favor, for when I got back, that’s all.”

“I’m not telling you where I get my beer.”

“Ha! I gave up on that a long time ago.”

“No, you didn’t. I’ve had kids hanging around outside for two years now.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Kids are everywhere.”

“But only those kids have a certain High Wizard paying them to watch where I buy my things.”

“What? That’s ridiculous! You’ve been drinking your own medicines!”

“What I’ve been doing is paying them twice as much to keep quiet. I pointed out that if they give you what you’re looking for, the money will stop because the job is done. But if they agree to keep quiet, they will get three times as much for as long as it takes you to figure out what’s happening.

“It’s been two years by the way, and I had to tell you.”

“Those little shits!” Lloyd downed the rest of his beer and stared expectantly at Twyla, who just laughed and fetched another bottle.

“So, what’s the favor?”

Lloyd started explaining grumpily. The more he talked, the wider Twyla smiled.

 

---

 

Classes moved very quickly over the next few weeks. Every teacher was focused on using the extra time to deepen their knowledge. Not even the gradually turning weather or heavy thunderstorms was enough to dampen their enthusiasm.

“Well done Prospect!” Emil exclaimed when he examined Yaric’s construct. “You’ve linked these perfectly, and you’ve done three instead of two! At the rate you're going your spell work is shaping up to be exceptional! I’ll be watching your performance next year.”

“Thank you, instructor, but I’ve had some help,” Yaric replied nervously.

“Oh? Everything I see here is by your hand.”

“Yes, but my sponsor gave me some special exercises and Lau… Prospect Lauren has some games that help as well.”

“I would love to hear about these.”

Yaric quickly explained the exercises and games, hoping that Emil would understand that he wasn’t some sort of prodigy. The last thing he needed was to have impossible expectations placed on him.

“All of those are excellent. But what makes you think working for your talent makes it worth less? You’re the one who put in the work. Never forget that these results are uniquely yours.”

Lauren kicked Yaric under the table without looking at him.

“Do you know why we need to start with these components before teaching you proper magic?”

“Because we aren’t considered proper students yet?”

“Yes,” Emil chuckled, “but it’s more than that. Spells require arcana to power them, and there are always minimum requirements. Energy has to come from somewhere. Each of you would have received a power rating when you went through the admissions process, so what does that tell you?”

“Oh,” Lauren breathed from beside Yaric.

“Yes, Prospect?”

“Our power levels determine how much arcana we can channel and how quickly our connection will strengthen. This whole time we’ve been increasing the amount of arcana we can channel!” she finished eagerly.

“Yes, exactly right. No one would be able to channel enough arcana to create a proper spell in the beginning, not when they’re still learning, anyway. By the time you’re back here as Novices, you’ll have developed enough power to learn proper magic without too much difficulty.

“And the exercises and games we just discussed also use channeling, so we’re boosting our power as well,” Yaric concluded.

“Correct. You and anyone else who joined you will have a real advantage when we start teaching you spells. Maybe not as much as you might think, as any channeling strengthens your connection, much like exercising a muscle, but I would assume that you’ve been channeling more than you would have if you’d just been practicing the class exercises.”

Yaric paused. He had been channeling more than he would have. But Lloyd’s exercises and Lauren’s games weren’t the end of it. He’d been channeling for an extra hour on top of that, almost every day since he’d first arrived. Half an hour each morning and evening.

“Like I said, I’ll be watching your performance, Prospect. Don’t worry, I’ll be watching your friends too. Now let me show you some more advanced versions of the exercises you showed me, and I think I can remember a couple of new ones as well.”

None of the other classes had any revelations like the magic class did, but they still moved quickly. The days spent on the training fields were long behind them now, and every lesson just got more and more intense.

 

---

 

Lloyd drifted out of the mayor’s office, clutching the book yet feeling numb. Twyla was right behind him. Everything had been going great right up until they said goodbye. Liam stayed behind. He was well aware that he was the one who had disturbed the visiting High Wizard.

“Are you okay?” Twyla asked, gripping Lloyd’s arm.

Lloyd nodded numbly as he turned down the stairs and made his way out into the weak sunshine. Twyla stayed right beside him the entire way.

‘This explains so much. So many questions about how Den Virgo treated the Miller family only needed a single piece of information to answer.’

“You didn’t know?”

This time Lloyd shook his head distractedly.

“It’s shocking, and I’m happy you care so much, but why is this affecting you so badly?”

Only now did Lloyd realize how concerned Twyla was, and he quickly stood up straighter and focused on the present.

“The boy,” he began shakily, “I’m certain he doesn’t know.”

“But how could that be?”

“He’s never said anything before, not even a hint.”

“You know that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Twyla, how could he know? Who would have told him? Virgo certainly wouldn’t care. What Virgo did made him something of an outcast here. Even when he did interact with others, why would the subject even come up? It’s not like people would just walk up to the kid and start talking about his dead parents, so why would they talk about someone they never met?”

“You’re sure?” Twyla asked, much more gently this time. The reality was starting to set in for her as well.

“I have to tell him. Something like this can’t be kept secret. It’s his life.”

“We can tell him together if you’d like?”

“How?” Lloyd asked so quietly it was practically a whisper. “How do I tell him? And after everything he’s been through?”

…

“You took him to see Faruk Bell didn’t you?”

Lloyd snorted. “Yaric is going to need more than that.”

“Not for Yaric, for you. We can speak to him when we get back. He can give us advice on what to do.”

Lloyd paused, biting back his retort and instead nodding in agreement.

‘That old dwarf better know some special spell…’

 

---

 

Full winter descended and quickly became an unusually cold one. Everyone was issued with a warmer cloak, lined with thick fur and featuring a large hood, and they were also given two separate evenings to go into town if there was any clothing that they wanted to purchase.

Lauren and Li Na both got themselves thick boots, while Yaric copied Sven when he found someone selling thick leather riding jackets. No one could resist getting proper gloves as well. Academy-issued clothing was good quality, the weather was just so much colder than anyone was used to. Well, anyone besides Yaric, who’d spent most of his life with snow during winter.

And did so once again. Three weeks before the Winter Solstice Tournament, thick flurries of snow started blowing past their windows, quickly blanketing the entire Academy. For Yaric it felt almost nostalgic, but for his three friends, who had hardly ever experienced snow before, it was a major event.

Lekton had only received snow twice since Lauren and Li Na had been born. Sven’s home was too far south to ever receive any snow, and his only experience had been when he’d been taken on a trip up a mountain.

It was easy to see who had grown up with white winters and who hadn’t, just by watching how everyone reacted.

Once the last lesson was over, no one could walk ten paces outside without having a snowball come arcing out of the deepening shadows.

Lauren had taken to wearing her cloak everywhere, almost always with her hood up, so she frequently got hit without seeing anything coming. Sven was singled out a lot as well, both making for a large target and presenting an opportunity to fight him on even terms. Li Na made things worse by getting into the habit of initiating snowball fights and then hiding behind Sven.

Yaric had had a lot of practice when he was younger, so he usually just stepped easily to the side and pelted his attacker.

It was a welcome distraction to the consistent pace of schoolwork.

They had finished the entire syllabus weeks ago and were now going deeper into subjects they had already covered. Some classes were so far ahead that they’d been forced to start entirely new topics.

“Dragons,” their instructor declared when they’d all sat down. “You’ve asked about them before, and we have nothing left to cover for the syllabus, so today we will be looking at dragons.”

The class started buzzing with excited murmurs.

“As you all know, dragons are not included when we discuss ‘people’. They look significantly different to humans, elves, or dwarves, as well as every other group found on the other continents. Yet neither are they monsters. Dragons fall into their own, unique category.”

“Ma’am, what about creatures like wyverns?” someone asked.

“Ah, now that is an entirely different topic we can discuss later. For now, let us focus on dragons alone. Despite the existence of wyverns, dragons are considered to be the sole entity within their group. While they are separate from people, they are always considered in a very similar manner.

“Dragons are just as intelligent as any of us, some say even more so, and they have highly evolved cultures. One thing we do know about them is that their system of education is extensive.

“Dragons also differ from people magically, in two key ways. First, every dragon is magical. There are no unconnected within their societies. So perhaps it won’t be too much of a surprise to hear that dragons always have every affinity. Every dragon can filter any type of arcana.”

Whispered discussions broke out throughout the classroom.

“What’s more, dragons also have an even deeper connection to arcana, which works much like our affinities do. If you consider our affinities as their baseline, each dragon also has one or more even stronger connection to magic, that goes even deeper than a ‘mere affinity’.”

“What does that do?” Kaylin queried, causing the whole class to go quiet.

Their instructor seemed to be enjoying herself, because she dramatically looked around the whole class before answering the question.

“No one knows…”

“What? How can that be?”

“No one? No one at all?”

“Then how do we even know it exists?”

Dozens of questions were thrown around faster than anyone could follow, until the instructor raised her hand for silence.

“All we know for sure is that dragons can use a special type of magic. Some describe it as a type of ‘anti-magic’, others have described it as being like an erupting volcano compared to the candle that we are capable of. The entire subject is fiercely debated.

"Very little is known for certain. We know that individual dragons have their own specialties in the same way that we have our affinities. We know that those types of magic, when performed by the right dragon, are exponentially more powerful than any spell performed by a mage or wizard. And we know that no mage or wizard has ever been able to replicate the feat…

“… except for the dragon touched.”

The class practically blew up.

Their instructor clearly intended to have a more informal discussion for their lesson, because she just smiled at the class while everyone threw dozens of questions at her, eager to discover how they could become one themselves.

“Alright, quieten down. I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you all. No one knows how the dragon touched gained their abilities. Every one of them carried a very special title that gave them special protection. A title that no one has carried for centuries.”

“Are they the dragon ambassadors?” Lauren asked.

…

“Yes. I’m surprised you have heard of them. All dragon touched were at one point acting as an ambassador for the dragons. Hence the name.”

“But what happened to them? And who were they?”

…

“We are drifting into topics not suitable for Prospects such as yourselves. Let’s move back to the subject of this lesson – dragons. And not their missing ambassadors.

“Missing?”

“Prospect Silver, we are moving on.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The subject was fascinating, but everyone kept turning back to discuss the ambassadors and dragon touched. As amazing as dragons are, there had been mages and wizards with special powers, and nothing could be more interesting than that. The lack of information made it even more fascinating, as they were all speculating or coming up with their own theories.

Li Na shockingly suggested looking in the library. That suggestion was like a bucket of cold water, making Yaric realize that they were all getting carried away. His shin bone hurt for a week after he pointed that out.

Physics and chemistry had also become more interesting, and not because of all the experiments they were working on.

“Today we’re going to have a slightly different lesson. We’re going to go over your knowledge of how things work, but from the perspective of a mage. For example, what would my spell need to do if I wanted to create a flame over my hand?”

A tall flame started flickering over his hand the instant he finished asking his question.

“A fuel source and oxygen,” Chris suggested.

“That would be acceptable, so long as you also ignited the fuel source. But depending on what you use, there could be byproducts. And combustion is rarely entirely controlled. So now I’m going to ask you, why can’t I just heat the air above my hand until it becomes a plasma?”

Wizard Golding smiled when he saw comprehension beginning to dawn. “That’s the reaction I was looking for, excuse the pun. Something like heat is an excellent example of the many options are open to a mage. Do you channel arcana to add heat to your subject, or do you draw the heat from your surroundings? Do you add a fuel source, use an already existing fuel source, or forego having one altogether? And if you do use a fuel source, what would be ideal?

“Every circumstance will likely be unique, but that only makes this topic more important. For the rest of this lesson, I am going to bring up problems, and possibly the kind of spell that needs to be used, and I want you to take it in turns to come up with ideas on how your spell would work.

“We’ll start with a simple one. You notice that a roof tile has come loose and is about to fall onto some hapless chap’s head. How do you save him? Come now, most of you only have a few weeks left as Prospects, I need you all to think.”

“Create a shield to catch it.”

“Not bad, but distance might be an issue.”

“Use a strong gust of wind to deflect it,” Lauren proposed.

“Ah, but that isn’t a spell, now is it?”

“Oh, uh, create a large volume of air… nitrogen, compressed and pressurized with the release directing the flow.”

“Creative, and a promising start. Rather complicated though, wouldn’t you think? Certainly achievable, however, and I would imagine that one day you would have no problem doing just that.”

“What is the correct answer, Instructor?” Kaeden asked tentatively. “So we have an idea of what we should be working toward.”

“Who said anything about a correct answer? There are many correct answers. Blowing the roof tile to the side is a correct answer. It simply isn’t the only one, and it isn’t necessarily the best one. We all have our talents and inclinations, as long as we find a solution that creates the result we want, preferably while taking advantage of our unique talents, no one could ever tell you that you were wrong. If a spell like the one Prospect Silver just described comes easily and effectively enough for you, by all means.

“But keep in mind your preferences and talents. All of you. Now, how else could you save this chap?”

…

…

…

“Blast it with lightning!”