Classes started a week later. My schedule ended up being Writing, Reading, and Intro to Magic on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays over a total of four hours from eight to noon. Tuesdays and Thursdays had Archery and Swordfighting, also in the same time frame.

Reading consisted of the teacher bringing us to the library and letting us pick out two books to read that week. The other kids there were mostly ten to twelve years old. I was by far the youngest, but not the only younger kid in the class.

Writing was little more than simple phrases in print copied from what the teacher wrote on the blackboard. I would have to up my skill with writing on my own time so I could skip those useless classes.

Archery and Swordfighting had the same kind of structure. We'd listen to the instructor for up to half an hour then practice. The afternoons that were open were free time that many people spent sparring or working their part-time jobs.

Intro to Magic was by far the most interesting class to me so far. When I walked in the first day with Dave, we sat with Keira--Alicia was in a more advanced version. The classroom, like the ones for the other classes, was an accommodating room big enough for about fifty kids. Desks were lined up in semi-circles around a podium and blackboard in the middle. it reminded me more of a college auditorium than a school's classroom.

The teacher walked in not long after we had. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the board.

"I am Mr. Ryan," he said. "I expect each and every one of you to be seated when I arrive. This is the first class of the day for all of you so there are no excuses. Starting next class, I will lock the door when I enter. If you are late, you will miss the class. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Ryan," the class responded with a severe lack of enthusiasm.

"Good. Now, can anyone tell me anything about magic?"

A girl on the other end of the classroom from us, in the second row, raised her hand.

"Yes...?"

"It can be used internally to make you stronger or externally to attack."

"What is your name?"

"Kelly."

"Kelly, you're close. You're right about it being internal and external, but magic can do more than strengthen or attack. It can save a life or make you wish you were dead. It can dull your senses or cause your blood to boil. if you can imagine it, magic can probably do it."

Mr. Ryan wrote on the board the names of each of the eight elements of magic.

"There are eight types of magic. Each does different things and they can be combined together. For example, Green magic is about life and Purple magic is about time. If you combine the two, you can cast a spell that speeds up healing to make it nearly instant. Each type of magic has more than one way to describe it, but the aspect is singular.

"Red is the element of fire, heat, and rage. Purple is both time and space. Yellow is light, electricity, and magnetism. Green is life and vigor. Blue is cold and slow. Orange is gravity, earth, and strength. White is protection and purity. Black is poison, curses, and death.

"Even if you think some of them are opposites, such as White and Black, or Red and Blue, they still worth together. Take Black and White. You can craft a spell that purifies poison from your body.

"Each and every one of you have some aptitude with at least one form of magic. Most people have between one and three total affinities. I am lucky enough to have five.

"In order for you to learn how to cast spells, you will first need to feel the magic within you and move it through your body. Yout first assignment is to meditate. I will be frank with you. Most of this semester will be spent getting that feeling of magic and gathering it together for spellcasting. Spellcasting is a different class and will not be covered here.

"If you have any questions, come see me after class. For the remainder of class today, I want you to meditate and try to feel the magic in you. You will feel the different aspects of your affinities in your magic. Try to focus on those feelings and move them."

I sat at the desk and closed my eyes. It was a warm day so I tried to focus on the cold of Blue magic. Tens of minutes passed and I was about to give up when I felt the magic somewhere near my navel. I tugged on the cold feeling and found it surprisingly easy to move. By moving it, I felt the other flavors of magic touch my mind. I could feel the slight warmth of Red, the prickly shock of Yellow, the vitality of Green, the miasma of Black, and each of the other colors in their own special way.

I tugged at each, in turn, feeling the peculiarities that came with each type. Then I tried moving two at a time. Then three. It got harder to focus on more than one feeling at the same time since there had to be some common ground that included both types for me to move them. Black. White, and Purple, for example, moved together under the understanding of fate.

I tried to move all of them at the same time and found that to be easier than moving even two at a time. They were all magic, after all. I could feel their power circulate through me. I pushed them to move faster and more strongly. The effect was immediate pain, so I lessened the strength until the pain went away. I guessed that the strength should be focussed outwards and not to attack my own body.

Milestone: One With Magic

All Stats +1

I checked my status and discovered that I now had a skill called General Magic at the first level. Having all forms of magic made things both easier and far more difficult at the same time. It made grasping how to move magic easier and allowed me to learn any spell that existed, but it also left me in the position of having to understand how magic worked on a fundamental level if I wanted to create my own spells and utilize my gifts to their fullest.

Just having moved the magic inside me for about fifteen minutes gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach and a slight headache. My status confirmed that I was left with only five points in MP at that point. I stopped circulating my magic and waited. It took five minutes for me to feel better. Checking again showed that I had gained one point per minute leaving me at ten.

I opened my eyes and rested for the rest of the class. It would be an interesting semester for just this class alone! I had some questions for Alicia when we were back in our apartments in the evening. I would have asked Mr. Ryan, but I also didn't want to make a fool of myself to him or let the class know about my affinity situation.