Karil was lying on his back, hands tucked under his head, and was trying to peer a hole into the ceiling, although, honestly, the poor thing had done him no wrong. It was a fact that said ceiling was nothing special, but if it could talk, it would have remarked that it is just like any other ceiling in the dormitory. This, unfortunately, would not help it much, since Karil hated it exactly because it was the dormitory’s ceiling. He hated the dormitory. All in all, right now Karil hated everything – the small cozy room, the comfortable bed, the bedside table, that fat, nasty, greasy master-in-training Ludlo, whose father was on top of it all a member of the Council. But above all else, the boy hated another master-in-training – not particularly tall, with unruly chestnut hair and the terrible habit to turn every practical lesson into a complete catastrophe. The name of this nuisance was Karil.

Ever since he could remember, Karil had dreamed of becoming a master. He was an orphan with no home or relatives. The one who brought him up was the cook of the Academy where the young future masters learned the basics of elemental control. The boy practically grew up in the Academy. He lived in the dormitory, ate in the canteen with the rest of the students, and helped Nula in the kitchen. Albeit nice and caring, the cook could not fill the void left by his lost family. Nula was normal and in the beginning had a difficult time getting used to little Karil setting his diapers in flames, or four-year-old Karil levitating in his sleep. You might say that for someone working at an institution for young elemental masters she was excessively sensitive, but still, it should be noted that it is quite frightening to wake up in the middle of the night and to see your infant ward drifting towards the opened window of the fifth floor.

And so, from a very young age, the boy knew that he was not like Nula, and this really bothered him. He also could see that all masters-in-training from the Academy were very similar to him. How great was his happiness when three years ago he was officially accepted as a student after just barely passing the entrance exam! And how fast did his dreams crumble to dust.

During the first weeks, Karil understood that he would never fit in with his classmates. To them he would always remain the boy from the kitchen; the odd-jobs servant with whom was below one's dignity to interact, not to say befriend. This he could somehow swallow. His greatest pain, however, were the lessons.

Every elemental master, before showing an aptitude for a specific Element, had to learn the basics of nature-control. Karil plowed through the theory without much effort. The practical part, however… According to all of his teachers, his powers were simply not enough, or he was not capable enough, and as a whole, he did not have the gift to be an elementalist. For example, when they had to manipulate fire, he couldn’t ignite even a spark. During the earth-manipulation lesson, instead of turning the heap of dirt into solid rock, he had created something more akin to a bubbling mud-pit. With the Air, the situation was no better. When after putting extreme effort he somehow managed to levitate the training dummy a foot above the ground, instead of letting it hoover in place he had hurled it to the other side of the training grounds, knocking the teacher out cold.

And always in these terrible moments, Ludlo was there. The perfect Ludlo. Ludlo – the teacher’s favourite.

The boy trashed in his bed. Ludlo’s grinning face surfaced before him, gloating at his inevitable failure, and not giving him even a moment of peace. Just today that obnoxious jerk had told him that he is eagerly awaiting the water-manipulation exam (that was going to take place tomorrow morning!), so he can have something to laugh about.

Karil jumped out of the bed and started pacing around the room. No matter how much he tried to deny it, the truth was that he was afraid. This was the last exam! Afterwards, the students were to be taken to the Temple of Forces where their elemental aptitude would be determined. Up to this point, Karil had survived by studying hard and probably by sheer luck, but now… If he failed in this exam, he wouldn’t be allowed in the Temple. It was very likely that he would be expelled from the school but the possibility to spend the rest of his life as Nula’s assistant, scrubbing pots and bowing before the rude and disdainful upper-level students, did not rub well with him. He needed to calm down, needed the confidence that he is going to make it, that he has a chance.

Karil suddenly stopped and listened. It was eerily silent. Everyone was surely asleep. Probably no one would detect his absence. The boy considered it for a second and then opened the window into the night.