Taking their places after the last class let out, Gregory waved to Nick and the others as they left. Nick looked surprised to see them, waving back as he went by. Adept John raised an eyebrow when they entered, but did not say anything, taking a seat in the sun and waiting for the class to arrive.
“We’re supposed to try using magic today, aren’t we?” Gregory asked.
“That is what he said last time we had class. I’m excited to practice.”
Gregory’s smile slipped, but he forced it back in place. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“Greg, I didn’t—”
Clapping a hand on her shoulder, he shook his head, “I know, Yuki, it’s fine. Master Damon will figure it out eventually. Until then, I’ll take notes.”
“Actually, I want you to attempt to use every type of magic,” Adept John said, his eyes still closed. “If you can use the magic, it’ll work, and if you can’t, nothing will happen. It is another way of testing for magic, but this method hasn’t been used in generations, not since the Second Eurtik War, in fact. Master Damon requested I have you try this to aid him.”
“Okay,” Gregory said, feeling a bit of excitement spark inside of him. “I’ll do my best.”
The rest of the class started showing up and taking their seats. An undercurrent of excitement was palpable as the students chattered amongst themselves. When the bell chimed to indicate class was starting, Adept John got to his feet. “This week, you will be trying to use the most basic form of your magic. To that end, I’m going to put groups of you in different areas, so you can train without disturbing each other.”
It took a few minutes for the class to move to their assigned areas. Yukiko was off to the side in the biggest area of shade. Most of the class had been separated to the four corners of the yard where the elements had been placed, and the physical enhancement magi were set in the middle. The crafters stayed at their tables, with Adept John handing out small items for them to work on.
Gregory stayed seated to start, making notes as he watched each group in turn, but he kept glancing over to Yukiko. Yukiko smiled broadly after about ten minutes when the shadows around her began to move to her will. Gregory watched intently as she used her aether to command the shadows. When he started to look away, he thought he could see small strings of blue aether between her and the shadows. Blinking in surprise made the faint blue lines vanish and Gregory frowned.
“Do you see it, Greg?” Yukiko called out, looking back at him.
Gregory put a smile back on his face, “Yup, definite movement. Good job.”
Pleased smile in place, she went back to focusing on the magic. Gregory put his notes away and got up, moving over to where the alchemists and enchanters were sitting. One of them looked up at him questioningly when he got closer.
“I’m just curious as to how it works,” Gregory said. “Crafters have always had my utmost respect.”
“I don’t mind,” one alchemist said as she ground up some leaves in a pestle. “Not much to see with us, though. Mostly manual work until we start combining things.”
“Ours is all mental imagery,” an enchanter sighed as he set aside the plain brass ring in front of him, rubbing his forehead. “I need to take the mind path, it looks like.”
“Mind if I come back in a bit to see more?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t know their magic yet, aren’t you?” the alchemist asked.
“Yes.”
“You must be hoping they find out soon. The clans are already asking about people, and they start accepting them after the first tournament. Some are already getting interest from the great clans, I’ve heard.”
“I’m very hopeful,” Gregory admitted. “I’ll come back. Good luck with your project.”
Moving over to the two magi who had wind magic, he watched them keep a leaf in the air with short bursts of aether. As he turned to walk away, again he thought he saw small strings of blue aether going from the novices to the air under the leaf, but it vanished the moment he turned back to see them.
Am I imagining it? Or am I seeing the aether being used by people? Gregory wondered as he moved over to watch the water magi separate pure water from salt water.
After about five minutes of not seeing anything, he moved to where the single earth magi was making small holes appear in the ground before filling them in again. Again, no blue threads appeared as he watched, so he walked over toward the fire magi, who were lighting and snuffing out candles from a few yards away.
Shaking his head, he finally turned toward the five magi using physical enhancement. Gregory watched as each struggled to summon aether to coat various parts of their bodies.
“It is time for you to try to mimic them,” Adept John said, coming up behind Gregory.
“I’ll start with the wind magi,” Gregory said.
“Very well. Good luck.”
Gregory felt his aether start to stir each time he tried to mimic one of the groups, but each time, it settled back in place and nothing happened. When the teacher called an end to class, Gregory was disappointed but not entirely surprised.
“Maybe tomorrow will be different,” Yukiko tried to cheer him up as they headed for the arenas.
“Maybe,” Gregory agreed, though he doubted it. “You seemed to be getting better control as class went on.”
Yukiko smiled, “You think so?”
“Yes. By the end of the week, you might be able to completely cover yourself.”
“Thanks, Greg.” The happiness in her voice was joined by a little extra bounce in her step.
~*~*~
When they arrived at the blue arena, they took their seats against one of the walls and started eating their lunch. Gregory finished before Yukiko and settled himself into a lotus position, closing his eyes to meditate.
“Oh, before I forget, Greg.”
Opening one eye, he saw Yukiko holding out a ring to him. “Trading off every day.”
“Oh, okay. I thought we’d trade off in the morning, but this works, too.” Taking the ring of the mind, he slipped it onto his left hand. Closing his eye, he missed Yukiko’s smile.
Slipping into the right mind frame, Gregory felt his focus pulled to his aether. He stood inside a cavern, the fire before him slightly larger than a campfire and burning brightly. Guess this is how I interpret my aether when meditating, Gregory thought as he looked at the cavern. The light from the fire illuminated the stone walls, and Gregory watched the shadows flicker along them. Too much to ask to have Yukiko step out of those and join me, isn’t it? The flames seemed to flicker like laughter, and Gregory shook his head.
The shadows dancing on the wall eased his thoughts, except that every once in a while, he thought he saw something odd. After a few minutes, he got up to examine the wall. A thin hole had been dug out of the stone, smaller than his pinkie in diameter. Frowning, he began to walk around the cavern and he found more of them. Weird… I wonder what the holes mean. Maybe I can ask Rafiq tomorrow about spirit caverns.
“Greg, you awake?” Nick’s voice echoed throughout the cave.
Blinking, Gregory found himself seated against the wall of the arena with Nick standing a few feet from him. “Huh?”
“Napping?”
“In a way. What did you need?”
“On our next day off, the guys are going into town for some fun. Thought you’d like to join us.” Nick glanced at Yukiko. “It’s guys only.”
Gregory scratched his chin, feeling the vaguest hints of stubble there. “Tell you tomorrow?”
Nick rolled his eyes, “Need to check with her first? Come on, man, you can have a day away from her. Neither of you will die.”
“I just can’t remember if Yuki and I were going to visit the scrivener this coming day off or the following one. I don’t want to cancel a plan already made,” Gregory lied.
“That’s fair. Tell me tomorrow, then. Might want to wake up, though. Class will start soon.”
“Got it,” Gregory said, uncrossing his legs.
When Nick walked away, Gregory reached out and tapped Yukiko’s knee. “Yuki, class should start soon.”
“Understood,” Yukiko replied.
“Need to talk to you after class about next day off.”
“Something happen?”
“After class,” Gregory murmured, his eyes going to Nick and friends.
“Very well.”
Magus Paul Erichson strode out onto the sands of the arena floor as the thirteenth bell chimed. Seeing the novices already lined up, he nodded, “Good, do that every day. Before we get to the real fun, we’ll start with stretching and running.” Before he could say anything more, the novices spread out like he had them doing for the last few weeks. He grinned momentarily when they moved into position without command. “We’ll start with…”
The next hour was dedicated to stretching and running, leaving some in the class panting and drained. Paul shook his head, “I see that some of you still need to work on the basics. Too bad for you we’re moving past that. Now fall in.”
The handful of novices who were all but dead managed to pull themselves up and into ranks. A couple of others helped them, lessening the time it would have taken otherwise.
“Now, how many of you have had some training?” Paul asked. Half the class raised their hands, Gregory among them. “You novices move behind me. The rest of you, fall in.”
Those who did not have any training in combat formed new ranks before him, while the others formed ranks behind him. Gregory noted that the ones still standing in front of Paul were the novices who did the worst on conditioning.
Paul turned to the novices who had been behind him. “Pair off. You’re to spread out and spar to your best ability. My assistants will be around to help give you pointers.” Dismissing them, he spun back to the other group, “Okay, you sorry sacks; first, we get to work on falling.”
Gregory and Yukiko stepped away from the others, automatically pairing off with each other. Taking a spot near where they had meditated, Gregory noted that Nick and the others were the ones closest to them. A handful of magi in emerald kimonos began to walk among the pairs, watching as the fights began.
“Glad we’ve done this before,” Gregory said as he settled into a defensive posture.
“Now we get serious,” Yukiko said as she settled into a similar stance. “This is our best chance to learn and grow for the tournament. I hope you forgive me.”
Gregory was about to reply when she rushed him, her steps light and balanced. Not used to her being so aggressive, Gregory was forced onto his back foot as he deflected her initial attack. Yukiko capitalized on that, going down to sweep him, before springing onto him and striking his chest right below his neck.
“Point, and ably done,” a clear resonate voice said. “Break and square again. What is your name, Novice?”
“Warlin, Adept.”
“You have good speed, and you outclass your opponent.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Novice, just because she is a woman doesn’t mean you can go easy,” the adept told Gregory. “Defend and attack as if your life depends on it. It will later.”
“Yes, sir,” Gregory replied as he got to his feet.
“Carry on,” the adept said, turning to watch another group.
Settling into the same defensive stance, Gregory could see the worry in Yukiko’s eyes. He gave her a small shake of the head and extended one hand slightly, beckoning her with a smile. “Can’t learn without failure.”
The worry vanished, suddenly replaced with happiness, and Yukiko settled into her own stance. “Here I come.”
For the next hour, Gregory lost every single match against Yukiko. His body was battered and his ego deflated. Seeing the looks of pity from the others did not help his mood any, either. Yukiko walked with him, but stayed silent as they headed for the baths.
Leaving the bath after getting clean, Gregory leaned against the wall, going over every loss to Yukiko in his mind. When she left the building, she looked for him, worried he had left without her.
“I’m right here, Yuki,” he said softly, pushing off the wall to step next to her.
“I thought—”
“That I left you? Not going to happen that easily,” Gregory said evenly. “My pride is in tatters, and my body is bruised, but I’m learning. Partners learn from each other.”
Mouth opening, Yukiko started to say something before closing her mouth and shaking her head. Taking a deep breath, she started again, “You are a great partner, Greg. Dinner?”
“That’s why I was waiting,” he smiled. “On our fourth match, you snagged my sleeve and used that as the contact to pivot me into a clinch before throwing me. Can you show me that throw later?”
“Of course. What did you want to talk about earlier?”
“Nick said that he’s getting the guys together next day off and wants me to go with. I told him we were going to the scrivener either this day off or next, and I had to ask which it was. I didn’t want to lose the day of training with you, but also think it might be educational to go with them.”
“That would explain why Michelle asked me about next day off,” Yukiko nodded. “I can’t tell if they are serious in being friends, trying to recruit us, or trying to drive a wedge between us.”
“Go with them this time and find out?”
“Okay, but we keep the morning schedule and then study more after dinner.”
“Deal, Yuki.”
