I stroll out into the plaza, where I spot Lovina and her friends sitting on picnic blankets and munching on some food. She catches my eyes and waves me over with a smile.

As soon as I reach her, she says, “Girls, meet Nova. Nova, these are Donna, Rona…” She lists off all of the ten or so people around.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, smiling.

They all chime something different before continuing their own conversations. Lovina pulls me to sit next to her. “You took so long,” she says, pouting and completely throwing off my earlier impression of her.

“I’m sorry. I had an assignment that I needed to do.”

“Oh, right. I heard they’re doing something new this year. All the new mages received an assignment as soon as they chose which direction to go. Speaking of which, what direction did you choose?”

“I’m a 2, 3-4.” If I reveal that I am a Jack, I wonder how many enemies I would get.

“You’re basically a Jack of all trades!” Lovina’s eyes twinkle. “I was right about you. You aren’t a normal ten-year-old.” Was I just overthinking her earlier words?

“What are your classes?” I reach for a sandwich and take a bite.

She also reaches for a sandwich, saying, “I’m a 4, 2-3. Not much different from you.”

“Do most mages have subclasses outside of their main class?”

“Honey, have you seen the world? The chances of someone who can do well in more than two of the four classes is one of ten thousand mages. How many tries did it take you to successfully cast your first spell?”

I stop chewing for a second, thrown off by the question, before resuming and swallowing. “Around ten times? But it was a gem spell.” A little lie won’t hurt, right? I gaze up at the shocked faces around me.

“A gem spell?” Another girl scoffs as all the chatter around us ceases. “Gem spells are notoriously hard to pull off, and you’re saying you can do it within ten tries? Stop showing off.”

Blinking innocently, I turn to gaze at the one who spoke. “What do you mean?”

She sticks her nose up. “Since you don’t seem to know, I’ll enlighten you, Miss Allandis. There are three tiers of spells: action, dimension, and gem spells. Action spells are the easiest to use, like fireball. Dimension spells are harder, as they require a switch of space, like summoning spells. Gem spells are known to be the hardest. Even Mage Natasha Broffenberg was known to take at least thirty times before she successfully cast her first gem spell at the age of thirteen. You’re merely ten years old, and you claim it only took you ten tries?”

Since using magic has become a habit for me, I stare at the girl in shock.

“Seeing as how you’re in a daze, you must regret lying now, right?” She sticks her nose up.

After a short moment of silence, Lovina chides, “Donna, just because you can’t do what someone else can doesn’t mean you can so openly doubt. If she really is a genius comparable to Mage Broffenberg, then you would pay for it.”

“What Lovina said is true,” I say, smirking. “If I successfully cast one right now, would you believe that what I said is true?”

Donna sputters before answering, “Even if you successfully cast it, it doesn’t mean you didn’t take only ten tries.”

“Then if I can successfully cast a dimension spell that any of you give me as well as the spell I learned, would you believe me?”

“Ha! If you can do that, I’ll apologize for my ignorance.”

“Good. I’ll start with my spell first.” I think about what spell I could use that wouldn’t be as hard for others to learn. My thoughts go to a textbook that Teacher Broffenberg had shown me. It was written that the easiest known gem spell, which most people use as their first gem spell is a mana storage gem spell. It creates a gem out of the user’s mana and breaks once all the mana has been withdrawn, and is one of the ways mages cope with not having enough mana. Even though it’s the easiest gem spell, it’s supposed to be difficult to create one. I smile, and with my hand stretched out in front of me, say, . A pink gem forms in my palm, and it slowly grows to the size of a small pebble, when I release the spell.

The other girls around gasp. Whispers of disbelief float to my ears, and I toss the pebble to Donna, who bounces it a few seconds before catching it. “You can inspect it. You all heard me say the spell.”

She stares at the gem and then at me, and then back at the gem. Then she tosses it back and crosses her arms. “Who knows how many times you used to cast it successfully the first time.” It really was my first time, though…

“Exactly. Now give me a dimension spell.” It would be really hard to give me a spell I don’t know, but I’ve never found much use in any dimension spell except for a summoning and teleportation one.

“Fine. Use . It creates a barrier around your body.”

“Donna-” Lovina says, but I cut her off.

“You and I both know that’s not enough information. Resec is not a known spell, so either you or a friend of yours created that spell.”

She visibly clenches her teeth before replying, “It’s supposed to create a barrier all around your body that repels physical attacks, but the barrier is invisible.”

I nod. “Ok.” Taking a moment to visualize a barrier, I take a deep breath. I see myself as the figure within a snowglobe, and the glass happens to be bulletproof. Then I walk to stand a bit away from the group and say, . Nothing happens visually, but I can no longer feel the slight breeze in the air. “Throw whatever you want.”

Donna immediately throws the sandwich in her hand, prepared. It hits the barrier and drops to the ground. She takes a cup of water from another girl’s hand and splashes it in my direction. The liquid lands on the top of the barrier and rolls off the sides. Her mouth drops open.

“Are you done yet, Donna?” Lovina’s voice contains obvious hints of annoyance, although she keeps a smile on her face.

The girl glances toward Lovina and shuts her mouth. “Yes.” Turning back to me, she stands and curtseys. “I sincerely apologize for my ignorance.”

I didn’t actually expect her to keep her word. Releasing the spell, I reply, “That’s okay. I hope we can all get along.”

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, could we…” She turns away and her ears turn a bright shade of red. “Could we be friends?”

“Of course.” I smile widely before returning to my spot next to Lovina. Picking up another sandwich, I see her eyes gaze coldly at me from the corner of my eye, but when I look at her, she’s smiling. What is this uncomfortable feeling I’m getting?