Nava watched a number of club members twisting and turning as they danced between poles or through hoops. While she knew the spell, she had never really had the chance to use it extensively, especially around other people. This was the first time she had really evaluated her skills against others. ‘It’s possible,’ Nava admitted. Sorcerous talent was, after all, a factor. You could not do without physical talent when it came to moving your body around, but when your propulsion system was a spell, talent with magic was talent with flight. ‘I suppose we’ll find out. Shall we?’
Melissa grinned. ‘Sure. Pick a course and we’ll join the queue.’
~~~
‘How are you not tired?’ Melissa sagged onto the ground to rest while Nava hovered in the air a metre or so above and in front of her. ‘You have to have a really huge quintessence reserve.’
‘It’s… bigger than average, I guess,’ Nava replied, ‘but I’m replenishing it as I go, so that’s not really a factor.’
‘You know Gather Quintessence? Of course you do.’ Melissa grinned to show she did not mean anything by the assertion. It was just one of those things: Nava knew a lot of fairly advanced magic for her age. Then Melissa’s eyes widened. ‘But you’re flying. You’re flying and using Gather Quintessence.’ Now she narrowed her eyes. ‘You can have two active spells in your head at once.’
‘I can handle two at once, yes.’
Melissa’s eyes got narrower. ‘More? How many?’
Nava’s expression did not change, but the slight delay in answering suggested that she was weighing up her options. ‘Four.’
‘Four?!’ It came out as something of a shout and Melissa glanced around before continuing. ‘That’s amazing,’ she said in a more normal tone. Actually, it was more of an amazed, admiring tone. ‘I so wish I could do half of what you can.’
Nava did not immediately reply, and Melissa was actually starting to get a little uncomfortable by the time her friend finally spoke. ‘You don’t. Don’t ever envy me, Mel. I’m not someone who should engender envy in someone like you. Believe me, it’s the other way around. I’m going to… I need a little time to myself. Come get me when you’re rested.’ Without waiting for a reply, Nava shot upward, becoming a speck of darker blue against the sky in a matter of seconds.
Melissa watched the speck for a few seconds before looking down. What did Nava have to envy about her? Nava had proven better at aerobatics than Melissa, and the difference was down to magical talent. Technique-wise, they were about equal, but Nava could redirect her motion with greater precision and speed because she could manipulate quintessence more easily. Melissa was actually no slouch at it, but Nava could run rings around her if she had to. What had happened to Nava to make her so good at magic, but at the same time cause her to envy someone who was, in every measurable way, her inferior?
‘Then again,’ Melissa muttered to no one in particular, ‘maybe I don’t want to know.’
~~~
There was a noticeable breeze at one kilometre above the school, but Melissa was dressed in her combat practice gear and barely noticed it. At this time of year, the weather was warming as the planet’s orbit took it steadily closer to its star and, on a bright day like this, a little wind was not going to make much difference.
She had not seen Nava for over an hour. Her mysterious friend had vanished into the sky and, sure enough, had waited for Melissa to join her rather than getting bored and coming down again. It had taken Melissa about thirty seconds to get up there and another few seconds to spot Nava, and Nava was just hovering, floating languidly in the air as though lying on a cloud. It looked like she was staring down at the flyers below her, but when Melissa looked down too, there was little to see since most of the club’s activities were happening at low altitude.
‘It’s kind of pretty,’ Nava said as Melissa approached.
‘What is?’
‘The campus. It’s funny, we’ve been here for a couple of months now, and I couldn’t tell you what half the buildings are there for without consulting my ketcom. We don’t go anywhere aside from our apartment blocks and the first-year teaching building.’
‘Well, mostly. I guess you’re right.’ Melissa was now looking down at the huge expanse of the campus and, yes, it was kind of pretty. There was a lot of white concrete, true, but it was bright in the spring sunlight and there was enough design to the buildings to make the view interesting.
‘It’s the first time I’ve come up this high just to look around. I got wrapped up in studying the layout.’
‘I… I’m sorry if I upset you earlier.’
Nava shifted into a more upright position and slid closer. ‘You didn’t upset me. One of the reasons I like flying is that it gives me some alone time. I need my alone time now and then. Haven’t had much of it recently.’
Melissa suspected that Nava was lying about being upset, or not telling the whole truth anyway, but it was really hard to figure out what Nava was thinking ninety-nine percent of the time. ‘Okay. Had enough for now?’
‘For now.’
‘Good. I want to get in another couple of tries on the obstacle courses before we have to give up for the day.’
‘Fair enough. We are going to have to work on your stamina.’
‘That’s what she said.’
‘Sorry?’
Melissa started down, grinning as she went. ‘Never mind. It’s a really old joke. Let’s go wrap ourselves around a few poles.’
‘Um, that’s what she said?’
‘Touché.’
235/3/27.
Students in the combat stream were introduced to practical exercises aimed at teaching you how to fight a lot earlier than those on the support stream. Mitsuko had got
