Two knocks on the door made Tercius turn towards it. "Occupied," he informed.

"I know," came the answer from the other side. "I need to talk to you,"

It was Penelope, Tercius realized. For a moment the wooden door made her voice unfamiliar.

"Now's not a good time, Penelope," he said after a moment. A lot was going on through his head at the moment, and one more thing to think about was the absolute last of what he needed. But it was often not about what you need, but what you get.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

He shook his head slowly. "Go away, Penelope,"

"I… listen… I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't think that---"

Tercius made those four steps to the door and opened it. Even as he started speaking, his voice cracked a bit. "No need to add anything else. You didn't think. That's it. You already said to me once that you're sorry, that first time we spoke about things like this, remember? I remember specifically asking you to think about what you said to other people, or before other people. And now you're sorry again? To tell the truth, I don't even mind these two so much, if you manage to draw the lesson from them. If a third time to say sorry doesn't come around."

She looked at him, her eyes misty, then she nodded. "I promise that…"

He held up a palm. "I don't need a promise. You know, if you dedicated a small part of that energy you give to hounding me, you could have figured it out by yourself…"

Tercius headed back to the hall, and Penelope came to walk beside him. "The restroom is free,"

"Oh, no. I don't need to go. Mistress Fenia asked that someone checks on you and I volunteered."

As they walked, Tercius realized that a simpler solution might have been to just lie to her. When she asked last night about what he figured out, he could have told her something to keep her entertained– some kind of fabricated story. Omission might have been an even better way to go, as he never thought well of lies.

"So you forgive me?" she asked, hopefully.

Tercius sighed. This was not a good time for him. "I will trust you one more time. Think of it as some kind of a trial. An experiment, like your mother does with her potions. I have placed my trust in you, and now you need to show me I did not misplace it. If you show me that you can control your impulses for… five months, then you will be forgiven."

"What does that mean? Five months…" she whined, then asked once more, nicely, when he frowned at her.

"Focus on yourself for some time. You will need to gain a new skill now, Mana Manipulation. I want you to, besides your regular assignments, focus all of your free time on that. So… no more joining gossip groups those girls do in the cante---"

"You mean Torry, Mel---"

"I don't care for their names. To me, they are simply 'gossip girl 1', 'gossip girl 2', and so on. The real question here is: Do you want to be a 'gossip girl whatever number' or do you want to be Penelope?"

"That's not nice to the---" she began.

"Who says I'm trying to be nice?" he said and stopped walking. She stopped near him, as he looked her straight in her eyes. "Your behavior was way out of line. Both last night and that time last cycle. You need to choose one of those two. 'Gossip girl' or Penelope. Think about it."

A thought came to mind. "Let me add some weight---" he leaned in and whispered to her a secret he knew about her 'friend' 'gossip girl 1'.

As he pulled away he saw that her eyes were gleaming like gems. "No way that's true…"

"I saw it with my own eyes," he said with all seriousness. "If a word of it gets out, I think that something like this will spread like a forest fire."

"You can bet it would…" Her eyes sparked. They lost a lot of that luster once she saw his wide smile. A fire was ignited within, he saw. "Hey! You told me that on purpose, didn't you? To test me?"

"Praise the Gods, there is something resembling a brain in that head after all," he said mockingly, spreading his arms wide.

"Now I think that you're making fun of me." She said with a glare. With a puzzled look on her face, she asked, "What's a brain?"

Tercius almost chuckled. "A moment earlier the answer would have been: 'In your case, nothing at all.', but now? Maybe an AAC-sized dust collector?"

"I don't understand…"

"I'm making fun of you…" he said.

"I knew it," she said and swiped gently at his upper arm. “What does that word mean? Brain?”

“Basic Anatomy will give you that answer. Better pay attention in that class,”

***

Mistress Fenia had been waiting near the entrance to the hall, and the woman hurried to Tercius as soon as they came into view.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Tercius smiled at the fretting woman. "No need to worry Mistress, it was only a momentary shock. I just missed the place terribly,"

The woman didn't quite believe him, he saw. She tried to approach him but he took a step back. At that moment the reaction was stronger than him. She saw it and stopped where she stood. "You were as pale as a ghost. That's not something a–"

"Believe me, Mistress, I am quite happy to have seen it. The place I saw wasn't marred by grief, but rather by nostalgia," he said sincerely. Pointing a finger at the door behind the small woman he said, "We should go back in, let's not make others wait longer than they have to."

She took a long look at him, seemingly studying the lines of his face. "All right, but if anything out of the ordinary happens, make sure to come to one of the Masters or Mistresses immediately. Understood?"

He nodded and the Mistress waved him in.

“Can we continue?” Master Lazarus asked once Tercius made his way to his seat.

“Go ahead,” Mistress Fenia answered. “I think that there’s nothing wrong,”

“Good. Oh, where was I? Ah, Master Kot, if you would, please demonstrate the way Shapers cast spells,” Master Lazarus turned to the brown-haired Master and asked.

Master Kot gave a nod of agreement. The mage raised his left hand, his index finger extended. Where the finger passed a glowing red line stayed in the air. A circle the size of a dinner plate, then another next to him. Master Kot filled out the interior with Runes, and two Tercius recognized. The one in the left circle was for 'cold', the one on the left for 'warmth', at least that was what Eunim had taught him. All around them, a smaller script of unfamiliar Runes floated up until Master Kot lowered his left hand. When he did, the circle on the left, the one with the cold Rune in the middle, flared with an intense light, but only for a moment. A wave of cold plunged the underground hall below zero, leaving everybody's teeth chattering. His breath was freezing, as he tried to warm himself from the suddenly biting cold that nipped at everything at once.

Then the second rune was activated and the temperature returned to normal. It was like the first spell never happened, yet his mind and body knew that they did.

"Thank you, Master Kot," Master Lazarus said. "And finally, Master Slav, if you would demonstrate how Gesticulators do it,"

Master Slav stood up from his seat and went near a wall. "Observe," he said to the class. The man waved his finger in some absurd way, twisting and turning them, for a few seconds. Then he ran to the other end of the hall with a speed that approached Tercius' own with Running.

“Now, a few questions for the whole class,” Master Lazarus said while pacing between the tables. “Did Mistress Fenia have to clap? Did Master Kot have to use his finger to draw the shapes?”

After a few answers, Master Lazarus explained. "Mistress Fenia did not have to do it. The spell could have been cast in such a way that your ears don't hear a thing, yet you still fall under the spell. Master Kot could have made the drawing without lifting a finger. He could have made the drawing only visible to himself. Then why did they do it in such a way? Think about that for a moment."

Tercius had to use Meditation very briefly to blunt the impact the man’s words had on him. I don’t even need to hear a thing and the spell could still affect me? Tercius looked at the small woman that sat near the end of the table. Not a word raised in opposition to Master Lazarus' words.

“To show us how it’s done on a basic level,” Tercius said the words out loud. His mind was still on Mistress Fenia, while his mouth spoke the words that came to mind. “The clapping, the finger-painting were more in line with what Gesticulators would do. At the beginning all three branches have elements of the others, but as they progress further in mastery…”

“Finger-painting,” Master Kot guffawed from his seat and slapped the table. Masters and Mistresses around the table either chuckled or seemed incredibly amused. “That’s a first,”

“Correct,” Master Lazarus said, looking at Tercius. “Don’t forget to raise your hand, and add the title next time. I can’t have a disorder during class.”

Snapping out of the fugue state he said, “Apologies, Master,”

"Like your colleague said, the further along with the mastery you go the less you need any of these three tools. All three paths lead to a single point, one which all mages aspire to. Casting by mere intention. What these three tools are intended to do is to help new mages get there faster. Now, by year five you should have some grasp on all three paths, but for now, you will have to choose one. Each path was made in mind with different personalities we as a species and individuals seem to have.

“Not to say there are no other paths, but these three make the vast majority. If you know how to sing, or you like to play an instrument, or merely like to hear yourself talk, I recommend going the Speaker route first. The Speaker path offers the widest ranged spells of any path at the lowest mastery level.

“If you like to draw, are interested in Runes, or you enjoy mathematics and equations, go the Shaper route. The Shaper path offers the control of casting unmatched by any other path at its beginning.

"If, perchance, any of you enjoy to dance, or are attracted to physical activity go the Gesticulator route. But don't be fooled; this route is also for those who dislike physical activity as a simple flick of a finger is enough for a spell. The Gesticulator path is the one of the speed of casting at its lowest end.

"Each route has advantages and disadvantages, and that is why we insist on students learning all three before leaving the Academy. The road to intention casting is long and arduous, and rare are those who get there. But these three paths, Speaker, Shaper, and Gesticulator, in conjunction with each other, offer an alternative that is just as good as intention casting, if you put in the time to practice. That's it from me, for today." Master Lazarus said, then made his way out of the hall. The rest of the teachers stood up and followed after him.

***

Master Slav’s classes of writing and maths had finished an hour before, immediately followed by dinner. It was well into the evening when the company assembled once more. The common rooms were wide and spacious, and in a large enough number for two hundred students to socialize.

"Well, I know what I'm choosing," Euria said confidently. "A Shaper is tailor-made for me,"

“And me,” Eunim added. “Runes and maths? Is there even a decision to be made?”

“I don’t know what I'm going to choose,” Penelope lamented dramatically.

Euria scoffed. “Oh please, did you not hear what the Master said? ‘Those who like to hear themselves talk’? A match made in heavens, if you ask me,”

“No one asked you,” Penelope said with a glare, then threw a careful glance Tercius’s way. “But I see your point,”

“I guess that means that I’m a Gesticulator,” J’ro said and flexed his wiry arms. “How about you Tercius?”

All three paths had their attractions, in Tercius’s mind, but the one that drew him the most was control. Compared to control, speed and area seemed lackluster. Besides, like Master Lazarus said, all three would meet in a central point; intent casting. How are these mages called? Intentionators? Intentionals?

“I think Shaper is my first path,” he said finally.

The rest of the group had an opinion about that, each arguing their point of view. It was much later that Tercius asked the only member still undisclosed. "Lomera, what will you choose?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe you can join me?" asked J'ro. "With a snap of a finger, you can cast a spell, think about how awesome that is,"

"Please, as if that beats all the Runes you get to learn," Euria said, then placed her hand on Lomera's shoulder. Pointing at herself, her brother, and Tercius, Euria said with a haughty expression, "She is a Shaper like us,"

Penelope rose from her seat. "She should come with me and be a Speaker…" near the end the blonde girl went quiet. Even she realized that her tongue was once more faster than her mind. Red-faced, she slunk back into her seat without another word.

Tercius shook his head, yet someone from his old life appeared before his eyes. A friend of his, one of the few he had. Turning to Lomera he said, "I… know someone who has a… similar impediment like you, yet when he sang… it was… well words would only paint a pale picture of his singing voice. Did you ever sing before?”

Lomera shook her head from side to side.

“Try to sing when you are alone, maybe? You never know…”

Lomera looked at him, and Tercius saw that she was trying to see if he was messing with her. With a slow nod, she finally agreed. Tercius turned to her roommates, "Try to give Lomera some time alone, in your room. Maybe write her a few songs you know?"

***

The next day, after classes, Tercius found himself seated before Master Lazarus. They were in the man's office that, like the rest of the underground complex, was very basic. A table, a few chairs, one small bookcase near the wall. Everything else was of grey stone. Already some students took to making this place a bit more homey, mostly by painting the dull walls with images of the sun, the vast outdoors, and the sky. Although most of it was basically rubbish, it did liven up the place. The Masters and Mistresses did not reprimand anyone for it, although the two ladies who came and cleaned the place did give a nasty scolding to them during breakfast.

The day started the same way as the one before it, with a shower, a breakfast, and then a class held by Master Lazarus. The twins found out they both had lightning affinity, a fact which made both of them visibly happy. Penelope's affinity was somehow water, Tercius expected something more… fire-like.

Out of all the students, only eleven had still had inert AACs, and Tercius was among those. He had used his skills, the ones he deemed safe to use, all the previous day, just like Master Lazarus told them to. Still, he had patience, and Master Lazarus told them that for some it took a while.

“I don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get to it,” Master Lazarus said. “I saw that you have a Mana sensing skill, is that correct?”

“Yes, Master.”

"Good, then this will be a lot easier. A lot of mages have sensing skills, but they make the giant error, in my opinion, of keeping them at level 20. I do understand how difficult it is to level skills, but still…" Master Lazarus said. The man placed the back of his palms on the wooden table and a sphere of Mana slowly leaked to drift above his palms. "This here is a pulse of Mana. Now, you try to match it in shape and size. I will guide you along, don't worry if you fail."

Tercius scooted near the edge of his seat and placed the back of his palms on the table. Willing the Mana to exit over his hands was easy– he had done it before who knows how many times. The difficult part was to mold it into a sphere, while still releasing the Mana. That was the goal, Master Lazarus informed him once Tercius tried to first expel the Mana and then shape it.

“You need to learn to do multiple things at once. Expel, shape, and then use. Those three need to become seamless, indistinguishable from each other. No, no, try again...”

Master Lazarus made it look easy every time Tercius saw it, and he tried practicing what he saw, but he did it in only two stages: expel and then shape. The proper way was a bit harder, as he had already developed a wrong perception.

“You know, when Master Belior told me that a ‘wild’ mage had graced our Academy, I must admit that I did not believe him. Now, seeing this stumbling… I can see you had no guidance at all…” Master Lazarus said, shaking his head– the beard braid swaying side to side. “Can I ask you how you did such a thing? Did you know how dangerous it was when you did it?”

Tercius ended up staying at the man’s office a lot longer as the Master found the tale Tercius told him extremely curious. Tercius told him that he sensed a power of some kind in his body. Not a lie, but also not the whole truth. What he sensed at the time was Energy, not Mana. Mana Manipulation was an… unintentional development. Of course, he kept those things for himself. He explained how he played with Mana, how he got Mana Sight when he used another similar skill he had, and Master Lazarus showed interest in Tercius’s trade.

"Fascinating... And you're a Stonemason, eh? A noble trade," Master Lazarus said nodding approvingly. "Your trade is extremely searched for in Chameos, Tercius. Well then, you better send in the next student..."