The grey haired boy, Kay’rin strode down the path between the stone benches, with a haughty look on his face. He had a way of holding his head as if he was looking down on everyone else. But then he also looked like he came from a lot of wealth. He was healthy for one, his grey hair was more a silver color then that pale flaxen blonde-grey everyone else had. His eyes were a grey with a little blue in them too. He was also clean. Very clean, definitely not the same quality of human as most of the rest of the people of this world. He also had a bit of height to him. If Jace and Verna weren’t in the same room he easily would have been the tallest person there.

Kay’rin made his way down and as if where he wanted to sit was predetermined sat down next to Jace as if it was only natural, despite all of the other free spaces around them.

Jace smiled suddenly, part of him rather liked this decisive and straight forward type of character and he initiated conversation with him. “Hi, I’m Jace. 18, from Buffalo, NY. Planet Earth. You?”

Kay’rin blinked and looked at Jace curiously as if he had just said something strange. The look almost made him laugh. Then Kay’rin gave him a little salute fist to heart, and looked forward.

‘Well that was awkward.’ Jace wondered about that weird little action. He wondered if Kay’rin just was a shy and awkward character who didn’t like to talk. Or wasn’t good at talking. He could sympathize a bit. He spent weeks not really talking to anyone while learning this language. He remembered not wanting to embarrass himself by sounding funny. Then as time passed he found he was just used to not talking much. He wasn’t a naturally quiet person, but the language barrier was definitely a steep one.

Two people entered the hall. One was a wizard in brown, the other was that young man in red he saw the prior day. The young man was following the wizard as if he was some sort of aid.

“Welcome everyone, I see you’re all not here yet. I understand “after dawn” is a bit vague, but generally if you’re told to be anywhere after dawn, try to be there around dawn. Today we are going to see how far you can go and place you in the proper classes. We don’t believe in wasting anyone’s time with periodic regular tests. When you are able to do the work of a higher level of magic, you will be put into the higher level class. “

“Now then, the first level is called Warlock, and if you’re female, Witch. This is basic magic that can at most affect yourself or something you touch. With a ritual you may be able to affect a single target at a limited distance. This is the very lowest level of magic.”

“Ladies, I hope you are aware you are not exempt from the laws regarding unmarried women if you are only at the Witch level. If all you ever amount to is a witch, then the least you can do is give birth to a grand wizard. Men, I expect you to help them do that.” This line made Jace shift uncomfortably. It was one thing to see how the humans lived in those slums, but to hear this matter spoken of so plainly by a kindly old grandfather in a beautiful fortress on a beautiful island seemed a bit cold. Yes, it was this inhumanity the ability to treat half the species as mobile baby making machines that just always rubbed him wrong. The people here are just lacking something important, he didn't know what it was but whatever was missing seemed to always gnaw at Jace’s conscience the longer he interacted with them.

“Now then, you aren’t even a warlock if you can’t do the basic magic. So we will explain how you can reach this level. Karius is the senior student. Just this morning he broke into the Grand Channeler level, making him the only Grand Channeler amongst the students here. He shall walk you through performing your first magic.“

Karius stepped forward and a flash of blue light surrounded him for a moment as an ethereal illusionary glyph form appeared before him. The form very slowly rotated and looked identical to what Jace had been shown back in that cave. Karius then spoke up. “This is the ‘glyph.’ This shape is the key to all magic. Within this glyph is said to be 1 million secrets. Your study of the glyph shall take a lifetime. Some of you have seen this before so for you this part means nothing, for those who have not, you are behind. All of those who wish to become a warlock must memorize this form and be able to reproduce it perfectly. Raise your hand if you are at this stage.”

Jace and Kay’rin’s hands went up, as did 2 or 3 others. Karius looked a little annoyed by that low number and spoke again “You five, please come over here. The rest of you will sit there through the end of this class. We will provide you with a physical model of the glyph. Men, you cannot give your seed to any of the females until you can become a warlock. This includes your slaves. This is our punishment to you for being slow. Women, you no longer can wear clothing and must submit to anyone like a slave who wish to give you their seed. This is your punishment for being slow. When you become a witch you can wear clothing again.

The five strode up to stand next to Karius, He had them each draw the glyph once from any angle they wished, perfectly to prove they could. One of the males in line was sent back for failure to do this. Then Karius asked them all to follow his instructions. They were to close their eyes, imagine the glyph, find the glyph for “light” and merge with the pulse of the world. Then they were to force the pulse of the world through the glyph for light and direct the energy to their fingertips. Karius then made his index finger glow with a white light.

"Now start" He said.

Jace had heard about tossing a child into water to teach him to swim, he wondered if that's what this felt like.