That evening, I went ahead and did all of the homework for rest of the week. I went to my parents and said that I needed to spend about thirty minutes every day at a friend’s house for a group project. We had to really do such a project for the darned science fair and I was able to convince them with that.

In reality, I did the entire experiment by myself and I would pretend to walk to Blake’s house. That way, I got to spend a little more than half an hour every day, and I could get to the meeting point discreetly. Rufus said I should be ready in about a week, and that would be in time to relieve the other magician and recruiter pair.

Of course, I wanted to resolve the problem as soon as possible but he wasn’t keen on the idea. That really confused me. If I had so much latent talent, then I should be fine out there. Anyway, Rufus took the training seriously, and he didn’t even lose one day for me to go and meet my ally.

When I asked him on the first day of my instruction, he only told me, “Some of the other magicians we commonly recruit are little schoolchildren like you. Of course, all kind of people can have this kind of power and not all of them are people that you could, or should, befriend. I haven’t even met the other person, but it’s statistically likely that the person is not a middle school or high school age lady.”

“Also, come close to me. I’ll show you my strongest magic. Just close your eyes.”

I did as he said and when I opened them I was in a white, featureless void. The floor didn’t have a strong impression against my shoes, and the walls were also similar looking apparently, because I couldn’t see any of the boundaries of this space.

“Do you like it? This is my training space. One hour in here is only fifty minutes outside,” he boasted.

That’s not very impressive, but anyway, it was a safe place for me to try magic out.

“At least, could you do something about the floor. I’m getting dizzy.”

“Hmm. I guess humans don’t have a good sense of orientation. Okay, I’ll try my best.”

The blank scenery changed. First, the floor changed to dirt, and then flowers and short, neat grasses sprouted under my feet. Then, I felt the air move in a breeze, and the sky turned blue and a few idyllic clouds appeared. Iron fences sprouted out of the ground like rising towers and marked clearly the boundaries of the artificial rooms.

I would have thought I was in middle of a meadow, but the sun in the sky didn’t feel warm, and the flowers and grasses did not give off any aroma. It wasn’t exactly the most comforting place, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable either.

“Wow, where is this?” I said unconsciously.

“This is a memory of Mirror-, I mean, this is a recreation of a place right by my hometown. I don’t remember the exact name of this park. I’ve been doing this line of work for quite a time now. So, over here, we can be here for about an hour without any worries. If you shoot a wayward shot or something, it’ll just dissipate into a wall.”

“Shoot what?”

“Normally, a magician has to learn for months before they’re ready to take on a combat role. Since you’re lucky enough, and we’re low on time, I think this much time every day will okay.”

“You don’t seem very confident in me.”

“Take this,” Rufus produced a long cylindrical tool.

At one tip, it ended in a very nice star shape made from a tough, but clear material, and the other side ended in a wooden knot, like the shape of a violin scroll. I thought it was a toy, but the clear edge was sharp and it gave me a little shock when I touched it.

The wand was also very cold to the touch. Rufus let me feel it in my hand but after about thirty seconds I had to swap hands.

“Cold, isn’t it. This is one of the magical implements I’ve produced. It’s a wand type, as you can see. It’ll only get colder as you use it, so don’t hold it bare handed.”

“How do you use it then?”

“Well, my hands are full with sustaining the room, but I guess I could show you.”

He doesn’t have hands. When he took the want from me, it levitated in front of his face, and when he focused, it was surrounded by a white magical circle. Afterwards, the sharp-ended tip changed shape.

It became a round barrel of sorts, and it released a bolt of what looked like electricity. The bolt stood in the air for a flash moment, and then it went flying forwards. It was so fast that I could barely see it, but when it came across a barrier, it shattered into shards and fell to the ground. The room became colder.

I had seen magic before, but I couldn’t absorb what I was seeing. The wand must’ve have quickly formed ice and launched it at speeds that could be weaponized. Was that really something you could hand to me?

“Alright. Do you want to try?”

Rufus instructed me that before I could do that, I had to either master levitation or create protection for myself.

“Try creating an object. That should be the most basic of all spells.”

Creating matter from nothing is not a big deal at all! Sure thing, let me just spontaneously learn how to break the laws of physics.

Rufus looked at me like I was crazy, “I could go and explain the science between these things, but you really don’t want to hear about. Just take the wand and try imagining something to keep your hands warm. Let’s at least get that far today.”

I juggled the painfully cold thing between my hands, even sometimes spilling it onto the floor. It never caused frostbite, and it didn’t even turn my fingers white. It just really felt cold even if it didn’t directly hurt me.

I tried and tried to make something appear. Luminaire city isn’t a place where we ever have to wear gloves or mittens, so visualizing a pair was difficult. To my folly, I tried different winter apparel: jackets, hoods, boots, but nothing happened. I was about to give up, when suddenly, I felt different and a pencil fell to the ground.

I felt a little exhausted, so I just kind of sat down. Over by my leg, I looked and there was a pencil on the grass. It was white and texture-less, but it was a pencil.

Rufus remarked, “Hmm. There are many things wrong with this. Your imagination is lacking and you might not be as good as I thought. Still, let’s call it a day.”

Keep those to yourself.