In Elements class, they learned about controlling the weather. Calling down lightning bolts, gathering clouds for rain, things like that. There was no real-world practice, of course, as such things were deemed too dangerous. Just lessons. Still, he listened intently to what his teacher had to say and dreamed of a time when he could finally try it out. Then the bell rang again and he moved onto his Illusion class.
The new girl was in this class, too. Now he was really starting to wonder about her. It was rare for anyone to have affinity with more than one Mana College. He himself had power over all five, but he was the only one he knew who had even two. And yet, here was another person that was in a similar boat to him.
Illusion class was boring. There was nothing new to be learned that day. All they did was talk about how to make oneself look like an animal.
When would that come in handy? Who would ever want to look like a pig or a giant scorpion? It’s not like you gain its powers or anything in the process. He shrugged and moved on to his Knowledge magic class.
That’s when it happened. The new girl was in this class as well! How is this possible? A girl comes to his school out of nowhere with command of three Mana Colleges – a Trilober as they called them – and he didn’t even know her name?
Blasphemy!
He resolved right then and there to meet up with her after class and find out more about her, but she left the Knowledge classroom before he did and he didn’t get a chance. It was too bad, but there would be more chances in the future, he was sure of it. He bided his time through the final two classes of the day, which the girl did not attend, acting impatient and drumming his fingers on his desk the whole time. He didn’t learn a thing the rest of the day.
When he went back to his dorm that night, defeated, he dreamt of the girl with black, curly hair. His dreams were happy, and he woke feeling refreshed for the first time in a week.
The next day was a working day. A day when he would meet with the clerk and do whatever odd jobs needed to be done. It was part of how students ‘paid’ for their magical education – by giving back where they could. It was Etansday, and he was pretty sure there was no chance he’d meet up with the mystery girl today. Work days were often divvied up by gender to keep fraternizing to a minimum.
“You must be Teryn,” a voice called to him as he neared the work building. It had a large base and a tall spire that stuck out of the top at a weird angle. The building looked kind of like a shovel when you spied it from a distance.
Teryn looked up from the ground and his eyes met the two most beautiful, deep, emerald-green eyes he’d ever seen. They belonged to the new girl. Somehow, she was standing there in front of him plain as day. And she had talked to him!
“I . . . err . . . that is to say . . . yes, yes I am,” he stammered.
Smooth move, hotshot, he chided himself. A pretty girl asks about you and that’s the best you can offer?
The new girl extended her hand. “I’m Valeria Faire. Nice to meet you.”
Teryn, still somewhat stunned, took the offered hand and shook it weakly. “Nice to . . . um . . . meet you . . . too?” It was almost more of a question than a statement. Blood rushed to his cheeks and he averted his gaze before Valeria could see him blushing.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice, for she was still talking to him. “Do you know where we go to get our assignments?” she asked.
He frowned in spite of himself. Of course. She needs directions. That’s why she’s talking to me. I should have known better.
“Uh, sure. Follow me.” He led her to the clerk’s desk without another word. On the way, he stole a couple of glances in her direction and could have sworn that she looked back a time or two, but couldn’t quite tell.
When they reached the clerk’s desk, Teryn asked about orders for the both of them. To his delight and surprise, the clerk offered to let him show Valeria the ropes and put them both on the same assignment.
Great! Now just don’t mess it up, he reminded himself. Remember, she’s only paying attention to you because she has to.
Their assignment for the day was to repair some of the old, unused dorm buildings in the west end of town. Periodically, the Guild would move all the students around when the older buildings fell under disrepair. They’d stay that way until the old structures could be properly patched up, then move the students around again. Typically, this cycle continued once every couple of years.
He led Valeria through the winding roads of the Guild complex over to their destination in relative silence. Once there, he taught her how to use a dirblanket spell to summon dirt and mud and the right fire spells to use harden it in place and seal the cracks in the old, decaying walls. It wasn’t the longest-lasting solution, but it was free aside from labor, so the guild resorted to it a lot.
While they worked, the two got to talking. It turned out they had a lot in common. Both of them were orphans that didn’t know
