“Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”, Wendy whispered in my ear as she leaned over me.

It was pretty obvious that I was in a bad mood because I sat hunched with my arms folded over my chest. I huffed, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Kalli was either ignoring me or not paying attention. When I peeked, I saw her working diligently over an anvil with Alex at her side. The pyromancer’s affinity for fire and heat resistance made her an ideal candidate for the smithing profession and the girl was getting a crash course from her new best friend.

Once she had made sure that I was okay, Kalli had quickly excused herself to get to class on time.I nearly jumped out of my chair when I felt a gentle breath blowing in my ear.Turning suddenly, I discovered that Wendy trying to get my attention.

She giggled, “You seemed lost in thought. Whatever it is that’s got you down, come play with me and I’ll make it all better.”

I wasn’t so sure that practicing wind magic was going to cheer me up. Just when I opened my mouth to reply, she tipped a cup full of tea against my lips. I spluttered as the hot liquid flowed over my tongue. It was significantly stronger than any tea I had ever tasted.

My coughing fit that ensued finally got Kalliphae’s attention. Are you alright over there?

Tea…too…strong.

I could feel Kalli’s eyes rolling at me, so I scooted back in my chair and rose to my feet, asking Wendy, “What did you have in mind?”

She smiled and dragged me over to our secluded spot on the roof, replying, “I managed to talk Mr. Soares into giving me a few more days to work you over. You are still several spells behind.”

It wasn’t my goal to drag Wendy down just to get caught up so I suggested, “I can just join the class. There has to be something better you can be doing with your time.”

Wendy shook her head and explained, “There’s no need for that. It’s my job to help new students as the teacher’s aid.”

It suddenly clicked why Wendy was so advanced and in a beginner’s class. I asked her, “What do you want me to do first?”

She set her extra-large cup of tea down and took a flute out of her bag. It was a long wooden shaft with holes she could cover with her slender fingers and an opening on one end to blow into.

Wendy’s Rosewood Maelstrom Flute

A musical instrument that doubles as a magical instrument. Infused with a young maiden’s mana.

Level Required to Equip: 1

Item Level 4

Accumulated Mana: 17,868

Magical Attack: 4

I moved closer to Wendy to examine the flute as she held it out, asking, “Is that thing a wand? I didn’t know you could make something like that into one.”

Wendy frowned at me. Apparently, she didn’t expect me to know what it was. She said, “You can make anything into a wand. All you have to do is infuse an object with mana. The more personal that the item is to you, the greater effect your mana will have on it. Have you started to make one for yourself yet?”

I grinned as I dug in my bag to show off my wand. One that I never used. I took it out and marveled about how well the handle fit in my hand after the last upgrade. The red tip stood up in stark contrast to the green-haired girl standing in front of me.

Kalliphae’s Training Wand (Edited)

A stick infused with magic that has become a young girl’s first wand

Level Required to Equip: 1

Item Level 6 (Edited)

Accumulated Mana: 28,000

Magical Attack: 6

The moment I examined it, I realized that I hadn’t leveled it up in quite some time. I made a quick tweak.

Kalliphae’s Training Wand (Edited)

A stick infused with magic that has become a young girl’s first wand

Level Required to Equip: 1

Item Level 15 (Edited)

Accumulated Mana: 75,000

Magical Attack: 15

The wand transformed once again, growing a cross guard just above my grip while the tip flattened out into a fine wooden blade. Green thorns crept up out of the base and entwined around the red blade.

Wendy’s eyes sparkled as she watched the transformation, “Does it do that every time you take it out?

I nodded dumbly, and Byakko, who seemed to have woken up decided to comment. You do realize that you are creating an inferior focus when you do it that way, right?

Kalli was paying attention to us again as I replied to the tiger.

What do you mean inferior?

The cub chuffed in my head. A wizard’s weapon is an extension of his mana. That thing you hold in your hand might as well have been infused with air. Compared to a true focus, that thing is but a child’s toy.

I looked down at the wand, wondering if I was going to have to start all over. Kalli’s voice filled my ears. What did you do to my wand?

Upgrades.

I could feel the girl rolling her eyes from the crafting room. Wendy poked me, apparently having had enough of my silence, “I asked you a question. Why are you spacing out?”

Shaking my head in an attempt to block out Kalli and Byakko, I replied, “Sorry. It doesn’t do that every time. I guess it just evolved.”

The girl giggled, “This isn’t Pokemon. Wands don’t just evolve. That was weird. Anyhow, let’s practice pushing wind mana through our wands.”

Wendy held up the flute to her lips and blew into it. The melody that came out was soothing to my ears. The wind picked up as she continued to play. I remembered that I needed to come up with a way to see mana in the air as I watched the wind swirl around her as if dancing to her mana.

After she finished, she lowered the flute and sighed sweetly, “That’s how I infuse my mana into my instrument. Making music is just a bonus. Pretty cute, huh?”

Kalli, I noticed, had gone back to crafting and had stopped paying attention again. I nodded at Wendy and looked down at my wand, asking, “How do I do what you just did?”

She smiled and instructed, “Since this is a wind-related class, I want you to attempt to infuse your wand with wind mana. Just hold the wand cast a simple Sviszt spell. You don’t have to put any power behind it. Just let your mana pass through the wand.”

I clutched the wand in my hand and thought about my recent experience with mana. There was no need to infuse my core with wind. Just filtering my mana through a small channel of wind would be sufficient to produce the mana that I needed.

Starting with choosing a point to create the filter, I formed a cyclone of wind mana in the channel leading through my left arm to my hand which held the wand. The placement of the filter made my arm cramp up but once I felt the green mana swirling there, I was able to push mana through it. It flowed through my wrists directly into the wand which started to hiss as it received the green mana.

Wendy watched me work and asked, “Are you going to use the spell, or are you trying something else?”

I looked up and explained, “I’m just pushing mana into the wand like you asked me to.”

She quietly observed as my mana filled the wand and started to overflow, billowing out as gusts of wind. Wendy nodded and continued, “Okay. Enough of that. Next, I want you to practice casting an actual spell through it. Would you like to try something new today or just stick with the spell that you know?”

Beginning to feel adventurous, I replied, “Let’s try something new.”

Wendy beamed at me, “Great. Today we are going to try a defensive spell, Svzorvm. It’s known as the storm shield. When you cast it, the wind will surround you like a tornado. The spell will deflect most physical attacks, and quite a few magical ones depending on how much mana you pump into it. Don’t try to put too much mana on your first try though. This spell takes some work to control.”

The aeromancer gripped the flute in her hand rather than play it. She twirled it around herself and chanted the spell.

“Svzorvm”

Wind visibly formed in the air around Wendy following the motion of her wand. It quickly coalesced into a miniature storm swirling around the girl.

She yelled from inside of the vortex, but the raging wind made it hard to hear her, “…absolute…wind…it can….but that’s not all.”

The wind died as she dispersed the spell. Wendy was radiant as she winked at me and said, “Now you try it.”

I took a deep breath and clutched my wand. The goal was to not overdo it while still at the same time using my mana as efficiently as possible. I cycled my mana through the wind filter just as I had when I was feeding the wand, only this time I tried setting up the filter in the wand itself.

The wand shuddered in my hand but held together. I applied a steady stream of mana and spoke the word.

“Svzorvm”

Then I mimicked Wendy’s motion and twirled the wand around myself. The wand immediately started dispersing wind around me. The spell in the magical word channeled it into a storm which proceeded to rotate around me.

At first, I was in full control. The gentle wind that spun around me was too weak to guard against anything but I was in full control. When I pushed more mana through the wand, my control started to drop as the wind speed increased.

I felt confident that I could manage the spell. It didn’t take long for my control of the storm to slip and I pushed more and more mana into the wand. Wendy noticed before I did. She yelped and dove behind a wall just before my storm lost its perfect spiral form. The storm quickly grew lopsided and ballooned out around me. It began picking up rocks and anything not tied down on the roof.

Wendy shouted at me, “Pull it back into yourself. It is your mana. Take control.”

This time, I could still feel the wind as it flowed around me. I opened my hand the way I had seen Kalli do so many times in the past and willed my magic back to myself. To my mild surprise, it listened. The storm danced around me as it started to collect in my palm. Once enough of the wind was collected back into my hand, I clenched my fist, disconnecting the mana from the storm.

The remaining air quickly dissipated once the mana fueling it was cut off. Wendy made her way back over to me clapping slowly, “Well done. That was a good first try.

Wendy made me practice the spell another three times before the end of class. When we wrapped up she stood in front of me cheered, “Okay. Now, are you all properly cheered up?”

I sighed, “I suppose.”

The girl frowned, “We need to do something about that. You can’t just walk around all day grumpy like that. Would you like some more tea?”

Shaking my head, I declined, “Sorry. That stuff is a little too strong for me.”

She frowned at me for a moment.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GROUP WITH: WENDY MAYUKO? Y/N

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be in a group but any distraction would help if it made me stop wondering what Kalli was doing every few seconds.

YOU HAVE JOINED THE GROUP

Wendy’s elation at my accepting her group invite washed over me. Wow. I thought for sure you’d be in a group with Kalli. Did something happen?

That’s complicated.