Elinora

I didn't know what I had expected but it was definitely not what I got. School seemed more like it was back home and less like it was always pictured in books with cauldrons, elixirs, frogs and more like math. Ms. Pern drew multiple runes onto the blackboard explaining how the different symbols could be combined together to achieve various results. Even their respective order in the rune was of importance, I felt my head spin already. And one thing became painfully obvious, I really had to work my ass off if I wanted to catch up with the rest of class.

But I could understand my mother's reasoning. The people here were about my age, the ones I saw attending the beginner courses were at least half a decade younger than me. I would be too out of place and making friends would become impossible. I was glad my mom put me here, sure I would have to work really hard but at least I didn't feel like I had to repeat fifth grade. Repeating those beginner courses was definitely not an option.

The class seemed to drag on for what felt like ages and the fact that I had absolutely no clue about what Ms. Pern was talking about didn't make it better. Also couldn't concentrate, I blamed it on the girls that sat right next to me. Arine. Throughout the whole class, my mind drifted back to her, I couldn't help myself but steal a glance at her every now and then. Every time I did, I saw her hurriedly taking notes but I also noticed something else. It was as if a force around her kept pushing me away, subtly telling me I should stay away from her. Later in class, I observed her doing the same but she was much better at hiding it, it took me nearly the whole class to catch her trying to sneak a peek at me. I wondered if she had felt the same connection I did that day.

Lost in my thoughts about Arine I almost missed Ms. Pern signaling the end of class. And much to my dismay, I had to find that I wasn't any wiser than before. Daydreaming in class probably wasn't such a good idea after all. What a way to start my magical education...

I put away my few unused pen and notepad and wanted to use the opportunity to catch Arine when Ms. Pern called out to me.

“Ah, Eli. Can I speak to you for a moment?” I turned to her then back to Arine only to find her already gone. Just my luck.

“Sure, what's it about?”

“I wanted to give you this, ” she handed me two books titled “Magic I, first steps and beyond”, “Would you be so kind as to give Arine the second copy?”

“Uhh, Arine?”

“Ah yes, the girl who sat beside you. Her magical ability just recently manifested” - she put a finger to her chin and started at out the window - “it's unusual for it to happen at such a late stage but exceptions prove the rules.”

I took the two books from her and was already halfway out the door when she called me again, “One more thing. I want you both to read at least till chapter 4 before next week and you'll have a practice class with Ms. Rustle next. Use the time to do some of the exercises, yes?”

“Uhh, yes. Thanks.”

So Arine’s magic just recently manifested? Seems like I wasn't the only one to start from scratch and the thought of a study buddy sounded great. I even had a reason to strike a conversation with her, if I only could find her now.

I made my way into the schoolyard determined to find Arine again. I searched the whole place for about an hour before I gave up. I knew the campus was big but this was ridiculous. Most of the campus was arranged in different areas, each with their own flora creating an amazing display of all the different flora and fauna that one would find in this world, there was just one small problem. Whoever had thought about the layout of these places seemed to be a massive fan of mazes. This whole place was a damned maze rendering it impossible to look for someone who just so happens to find their way into it...

It would have taken me hours if not day to find her in here, that is if, of course, she even was still in here somewhere, and hadn't just returned to her room or one of the many other buildings available to the students. It made me a bit sad, I looked forward to talking with her, but since we were in the same class I would get my chance soon enough. I looked up at one of the many clocks placed around campus, one and a half hours to go.

Resigning to the fact that I had to wait, I set out in search of a nice spot to kill some time. I followed the cobblestone path up to a small river, which wiggled its way under a few cobblestone bridges and diverged from there. I followed the river to a pond that was home to some water lilies and planted myself under a stone totem.

The place I found was devoid of other students. Fading out all but the sound of nature, fishes splashing in the water, birds happily singing their mating songs and insects buzzing around I felt so at ease again. I pulled out the book Ms. Pern gave me from my bag and started to read the first chapter.

I relished the wonderful feeling my surroundings gave me. I felt like I was truly a part of it, as I started to turn the first few pages. The book turned out to be rather interesting and piqued my interest in magic even more. The first chapter was basically an introduction to magic and a short summary of how it worked. The whole world was covered in the magic of different types, with three hundred seventeen known and categorized as of this volume. Every type had a source and the magic would flow through the world like wind, creating streams of magic in the process. Mages are able to absorb magic from those streams and form the magic in the process, creating what's commonly referred to as spells. Most mages are born with an affinity for one type of magic, which makes them form and use those types of magic quicker and more efficiently. If the affinity is strong enough, mages might even feel what is referred to as 'Magic relaxation'. An effect that only occurs if a large amount of the specified type of magic is available around the mage, making them feel more at ease even in a high-stress situation.

The chapter also mentioned that some types of magic are drawn to specific sources. The example the book gave was about fire magic. If a large enough fire starts it will act as a magnet and redirect that magic stream onto the fire. Smaller fires act the same way but with a much weaker effect. An erupting volcano would be able to draw almost all fire magic in the surrounding area, estimated about a 3.7-mile radius around it.

I wondered if I might have an affinity for nature magic, the strong sensation I got would imply it but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. My short reading session was interrupted by the wholesome bell of the academy, signaling only fifteen minutes left before my next lesson.

Luckily whoever designed this maze was so kind as to put maps at every other corner, making it easy for me to find my way to the practice grounds.

The grounds weren't far from the spot I was reading at and when I arrived, I was not only greeted by a few other students who were already there but also by the stunning resemblance of an archery range.

A few practice dummies were set up and behind it, a small wooden wall with targets at different distances were placed and the middle held a small ring with runes drawn around it. I presumed they were there either to determine if someone left the ring or to prevent damage from traveling outside of it.

After a while, more and more students started to arrive and we all assembled around the middle, waiting for Mr. Rustle to show up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed Arine hiding behind a few other students, trying to get as much distance between her and the other students as possible without being weird. It became obvious pretty fast that she wasn't comfortable interacting with them in any way. When our teacher arrived I took a spot next to Arine and hoped she wouldn't shy away from it as she did from the others. Fortunately, my presence didn't seem to bother her as much as the other students did, the strange feeling that told me I should back away from her but I persisted.

“As a few of you know, I'm Mr. Sirus. Mr. Rustle didn't feel well today so I'll be his substitute for now.” He wore a light brown suit and had short dark brown hair with hazel eyes, and the way he held himself told that he was a well-experienced mage and didn't take kindly to any pranks the students might pull.

“I want you all to continue where you last left off with Mr. Rustle and for you two, ” he looked at Arine and I as the other students all started to line up against the far wall, waiting to take their turn at shooting their spells at the bullseye, “I am well aware of your situation so we will start with something slow.”

He held his hand out and a small orb with blueish tint started to appear. “I want you to try and gather the magic around you into your palm, and once you have accomplished this, report back to me.” He turned around and started to scold a student who had gravely miscalculated a lightning spell and nearly hit another student.

“Do you have any idea how we'll go about this?” Arine didn't answer, instead, she just looked at me and shook her head. “Well, then I guess it's trial and error?” 

I held out my hand and started to concentrate, feeling the magic around me and tried to will it into my hand. I could feel a small amount of magic gathering up in my hand but when I opened my eyes again, it was only a small white light, barely any larger than a grain of rice. I looked over to Arine, who seemed to have a much easier time. A purple looking sphere the size of a tennis ball was hovering above her palm. She looked dumbfounded at it, then gave a weary smile and shrugged.

Prodded by her success, I tried again...and again...and again all the while Arine kept watching me, the purple sphere still in her hand. Pulling together all my strength, I grabbed my right wrist with my left arm and concentrated harder than ever before. I could feel how more and more magic gathered up in my palm and when I opened my eyes and a green sphere was floating in my palm...and collapsed again. I got visibly upset. Why can't I do it? Am I so much of a loser?

Before my thoughts could spiral again Arine took my right arm in her hand. She didn't say anything, only signalled for me to try again. With Arines hands lending me her support I was a lot calmer. I didn't try to force it this time, instead focusing on my palm and keeping an eye on my breath, and slowly I felt as the sphere grew larger and larger. When I opened my eyes I held a green sphere in my hand and once Arine removed her hand, it didn't collapse. Amazed at the small sphere in my hand and the feeling it gave off, like a small gust of wind kept brushing over my palm, I looked back at Arine who gave me a smile and thumbs up in return.

“Impressive.” I heard Mr. Sirus say gorm behind us, “What you have there in your hand is a sphere of raw magic. Shape it to define your spell or,” he said as the same light blue orb appeared again in his palm, spinning fast enough to create small whirls of wind, “ you can release it to unleash a large amount of raw magic.” he pointed his palm to one of the targets

far away and let go of the sphere. It traveled at an incredible speed and when it hit the target exploded in a blue dome, taking at least three other targets with them. “Ups, I guess that was a little too much magic,” he said, scratching his head. 

“Well anyway, you should always try to shape your magic. While raw magic has a greater amount of destructive power, it isn't suited to fight or for day to day use since it's impossible to control it. Next, I want you to try and shape it like this.” He showed us his palm and again, the light blue sphere started to appear only to morph into the form of a small bird. Mr. Sirus released it and the magic bird flew high into the sky before slowly disintegrating into the world again.

I shared a look with Arine and we both nodded. We tried for the rest of class to shape the sphere with little luck. It was only when the bell rang that we both were able to create the same small bird Mr. Sirus did. Well, Arine was anyway. Mine looked more like a butterfly but I was happy nonetheless.

 

“I didn't expect you two to pull this off. At least not on your first lesson. As a reward let me show what you might one day be able to do.” he pressed his hands together and slowly pulled them apart. Before his hand a large circle with runes appeared moving clockwise, then, a second layer of runes appeared on top rotating counterclockwise and a third rotating clockwise again. He clapped his hand together and a ray of blue lightning shot to the ground, hitting every bullseye right without destroying it. Show-off.

“You can shape your magic in any way you want, but the most common is to form runes with them to aid you in your channeling.”

“What are runes for?” Arines asked, this being the first time I heard her speak. I was so surprised that I nearly missed Mr. Sirus explanation.

“Runes are a way for your magic to set boundaries or enhance them. You can use them so you don't have to focus on things like precision or accuracy, for example, but they can also be used as a catalysator, to gather more magic or to give new unique effects to your spell.”

After our lesson with Mr. Sirus I felt new confidence arise inside me. Maybe it wouldn't be so difficult to learn magic after all?

We stood there for a while, only Arine and I. Mr. Sirus and the other students had already left, leaving us in an awkward situation where no one seemed to be able to make the first move.

“Uhmm... Ms. Pern gave me this for you.” I had gathered my courage and showed Arine the book we both were supposed to read.

“Thanks.” She took the book and looked at it like it was going to bite her before putting it back in her back. We returned to our awkward silence once again until Arine decided to break the ice, “Do you want to like... study together?”

A huge weight was lifted off my chest. I had hoped she would make the first move, fearing the possibility that she might have rejected me if I made the offer. Together we headed for the library and I tried my best at small talk but Arine seemed to have a high resistance to it. I asked about her family a few times but it only made her shut-in more. I decided I wouldn't push it if she wasn't comfortable talking about it and focused mostly on how excited it would be to learn magic and do all this crazy stuff. She didn't share my excitement, but oh well.

Arine seemed to be already familiar with the library as she made a beeline to one of the sections and instantly pulled out one of the many books. I didn't see its cover but it contained a lot of runes with detailed descriptions about them. I had a good enough idea about what it was about.

Not wanting Arine to do all the studying alone, I also headed for the bookshelves and pulled out a book called 'Studies on magic effects on the body in different environments'. The first chapter was called 'Anreétas’ studies on magic body modification in newborns'. I had a feeling I wouldn't like where it was going, but against my better judgment, I decided to read it anyway.

Conducted on the four hundred seventeenth blue moon in conjunction with the three hundred twelve green moon.

I could already tell Amebrias calendar would give me a lot of trouble in the future,  hundred seventeenth blue moon in conjunction with the three hundred twelve green moon, who thought this was a good way to measure time?! Saving my irritation about this strange way to handle a calendar, I read on.

In this study, eight hundred newborns were examined. About seventy were found to undergo a magic body shift. Transferring their secondary and primary sexual characteristics to those of the opposite gender. The process was stopped in sixty-five newborns, placing them in magic neutral territory and observing their development [...] the participants all seemed to follow a normal development as far as prepubescence goes [...] major deficits have been found in individuals placed in magic neutral environments. Their social skills seemed to be minimal and the participants are actively trying to avoid social interactions [...] some reports of participants dissociating with their bodies had been found. [...] the mortality rate of those who were denied a magic environment are found to be at about sixty percent, while participants who were relocated into a magic environment seemed to still undergo the body transformation, trying to stop it resulted in the death of two participants. [...] After remigrating into a magic society the participants seemed to adjust well to their new bodies [...] it can be concluded that a deficit in magic will disrupt the emotional and social intelligence of the subjects. More studies will have to be conducted.

I wanted to vomit, somehow reading this study made me feel extremely uneasy. I closed the book and put it back onto the shelf, hoping to never again touch it or read another of those studies.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes...I just read something...disturbing. I think I'll need some air.”

“I'll go with you.” She put the book under her arm and left for the reception, “just a moment.” She returned with the small piece of paper and put it in her bag together with her book. “Where do you want to go?”

“There's something I want to try.”

I took her hand and guided her through the town back to the outer ring. I opted to not use the teleportation crystals since I wanted to show Arine around a little and it would only cut our time together short. I didn't want that. 

Wandering through the city of Alos, without getting lost, the first shops of the day started to close down. The streets were getting less busy and the sky turned a lovely orange announcing the sunset. All around us, small blue fireflies started to appear, waiting to illuminate the city after the sun had finally set.

“Wow.” I heard Arine whisper as we stood on the edge of Alos, admiring an endless ocean of orange clouds.

“Beautiful isn't it?” I said with a grin, Arine definitely wouldn't appreciate what I had in mind next. A few hundred yards away I saw some people jumping off the edge and safely gliding back up. That set my mind to it. I took Arines arms and together we jumped off the edge and into the sea of clouds.

We keep falling until we hit the first cloud. Our fall was stopped and a strong gust of wind pushed us back up, gliding us gently back onto the ground.

Once we hit the ground again, a wave of euphoria overcame us, “I thought you were trying to kill me!” The sound of her voice already told me I shouldn't worry too much but the big grin on her confirmed it. I didn't have to worry. “Ehm...Eli?” she looked away for a second, “is it okay if I call you Eli?”

“Sure, if I can call you Ari.”

She was quiet for a moment much too interested in the tree sitting next to us. “I'm glad...we're friends.” she lifted her gaze from the tree and looked at me uneasily, awaiting my response. 

A big smile formed on my face, “I'm glad too.” She didn't wait for me to say more as a big grin appeared on her face and she grabbed my arm, dragging me to the edge again. We kept jumping until the sky was pitch black and only the small fireflies illuminated the area around us and at that moment I knew, this was the best day of my life.