Thursday, febuary 22nd.

Me and Julius talked for a while longer last night before we both went to bed.

After we woke up, Nicolas had the class practice invoking again, praising the people with strong auras. A good half of the class has managed to invoke their aura, though some of them had trouble channeling it afterwards. Most just had it fizz out, but one of the boys stopped channeling so abruptly it had an almost audible pop.

Today, we're heading back to the academy with the rest of the year, walking in a long line with teachers intermittently keeping a tap on us. I'm walking with Julius, talking about different basic spells and their uses. He's been quite excited about the chance to cast his first spell.

I stumble as someone kicks my heel from behind, and turn around to see Arthur grinning at me.

"Get a move on, slowpokes, you're blocking the path" [Arthur]

"Shut up you bullheaded dirtmancer wannabe." [Nathan]

"Uhh, hitting me where it hurts, insulting my element." [Arthur]

He acts sassy, but we both know that most people would consider that a direct provocation.

"And I'll let you know, you can't call me a wannabe anymore. I invoked my aura yesterday." [Arthur]

He says, obviously beaming with pride.

"Congrats, Julius invoked his too." [Nathan]

"And you?" [Arthur]

"No.. Not yet." [Nathan]

He puts a hand on my shoulder and stop to face me.

"Wait, you didn't?" [Arthur]

He asks, a look of surprised disbelief on his face.

"Nah, I, I couldn't get it right." [Nathan]

He looks at me for a few seconds with a suspicious expression.

Then he slaps my back lightly.

"Well, don't worry. You'll do it soon, I'm sure." [Arthur]

I feel bad about lying but..

I'm not ready..

"Hey, did you hear?" [Older student 1]

I hear in a whisper from an guy a year or so older than us, passing by looking nervously around.

"Yeah, Rubyfeather told me. Is it true?" [Older student 2]

A girl around his age asks him, looking scared.

We've drifted to the back of the class, close to where some of the students a year older than us walked. As Arthur stopped me, they started to pass us.

Now that we stopped, we can hear what they are talking about.

They all talk in hushed voices, looking around scaredly.

The teachers are also looking around with a sharp look on their face.

Somethings up.

"I hear it almost killed Greytusk." [Older student 3]

"What was it?" [Older student 4]

"I heard it was a Ra'nar." [Older student 5]

"Here?! No way!" [Older student 3]

"Will Greytusk be fine?" [Older student 4]

"He'll be fine." [Teacher]

A tall muscular teacher approached from behind the students.

"He got a couple bad wounds on his arms.. The thing managed to get the jump on him, but he managed to defend himself long enough for another teacher to arrive. He's going to have some scars, but he'll survive just fine. It's nothing you should concern yourself with, and we have patrols out in case it comes back, so you are quite safe." [Teacher]

"But mister Littlehorn, Yellowhide told me that he lost an arm." [Older student 3]

The teacher sighs and scratches his neck.

"Yeah.. We managed to reattach it, but as I said, he'll live, but he'll have some scars." [Littlehorn]

He turns his head towards us with a confounded look that turns to irritated concern.

"What are you doing here, get back to your class." [Littlehorn]

Snapping out of a daze, i push the others along as we scamper forward.

As we get back to our class, while Arthur and Julius start talking about what we just heard i pull out my sketchbook and slowly flip through it. Arriving at the last used page, I see a small illustration of a a footprint with four digits. I linger a few seconds, staring absentmindedly at the sketch before i pull it away. As I do, what the teacher said resounds in my mind.

"He'll live, but he'll have scars."

I run my hands across my forearms, where the boar lacerated me years ago.

Pulling back my sleeve, I reveal my scar-less forearm and stare at it as I trace the skin with my fingers.