Theo yawned, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He made a note to ask Sparrow or Sasha (or anyone, really) if there was any internal magic that could reduce the amount he needed to sleep. At the very least, Striding Wind had stopped him feeling as sore as he imagined he would be after fighting a giant, so he had that going for him.

It had been a while since he had a proper chat with Rick and Sean, so last night they’d stayed up late. He’d learned an awful lot about internal magic, but not much that was actually helpful. Mostly interesting facts and applications in ways he wouldn’t have thought of. Nothing about staying awake or surviving on less sleep, unfortunately.

At the very least, Theo could say it helped open his eyes to what internal magic could be used for, and how creative some people could get (but like a lot of regrettable late nights drinking, there were some things he could have done without knowing).

He wasn’t late to class at least, even if he had to use Striding Wind and hope that nobody would complain. He definitely didn’t do anything like jump over someone’s head on purpose again, just moved a little too fast for most people to manage, watching the buildings pass by at a reasonable clip. Theo waving to the guards as he entered the inner ring of Union City and they nodded slightly in response, and he waltzed his way past the House District.

In fact, Theo found himself to be early, and the only person at the classroom was Rowena. At least he knew that this was right place.

“Hello, Theo.” She noticed he was there, and Theo froze, before dumbly nodding in response. He took one look at her immaculate (expensive) outfit, and became distinctly aware of the wear and tear on his shoes (and how much difficulty he had in talking to her).

The silence stretched out between them, Rowena (thankfully) looking through books and Theo looking anywhere but directly at Rowena (and praying to Gilth or anyone that would listen) until Finn arrived. Theo let out the breath he had been holding, and whispered a quiet thanks to Gilth.

“Morning, Miss Fancy!” Finn yelled out, strolling up to them, and giving Theo a nod. Theo reciprocated with a grateful look.

Rowena’s incoherent spluttering and Finn’s carefree provocations filled the time until the rest of the class had arrived, and Eleanor politely coughed and announced her presence. She was thoroughly unimpressed, and didn’t acknowledge Rowena’s flustered attempts to apologise for her behaviour as she entered the room.

“Welcome to Magic. To some of you, this is why you are here. To learn action magic and how to wield it properly. To others, it’s simply a part of being a bard, and that’s all you needed to know. Regardless if you fall into one or neither of those groups, I am here to educate you about how to properly and effectively utilise action magic.” Eleanor had started talking almost as soon as they had entered the room.

“Some say that action magic is weaker than focus magic.” She stood behind the lectern, ramrod straight. Unlike other classes, Eleanor did not address any of them or even look at any of them, content to speak while staring off at some vague point behind them. Her voice easily had power behind it, and while it was forceful it felt more commanding than berating. “Action magic is slower to cast, can be interrupted easily, and bears much higher risk to the caster if backlash occurs when compared to all other forms of magic.” Theo felt a few eyes turn his way at that last part of the sentence.

“Which means that if a bard was to fight a wizard of equal skill and ability in a one-on-one battle, they would mostly likely lose.” Eleanor paused. Theo felt like it was an uncomfortably long pause, but just before it became unbearable she continued. “But, if the bard had the team coverage or enough time to prepare a spell, if they distracted them with a spell while they closed distance and stabbed them with a dagger, if they were able to sneak up on them, if they were able to chat to them directly without them suspecting they were fighting, if they had access to the wizard’s drink…in other words, in every situation besides a clean, simple fight, it is not as simple as saying a bard will not win.” A vicious smile slipped onto her face, but she carefully suppressed it and resumed her serious demeanour.

“Action magic can be incredible powerful and offensive, regardless what others say.” Theo thought back to Eleanor’s demonstration, and Everett’s “fight”.

“But the beauty of action magic lies in its versatility. To understand why action magic is the way it is, we must understand the differences between action, focus, and offer magic.” Eleanor paused to whistle what Theo now recognised as The Fisherman’s Song. Chalk hovered up to the blackboard, and three circles formed, with a word in each. Before he could sound out each word, Eleanor continued.

She pointed to the first word, and as she spoke Theo recognised it as ‘Focus’. “Focus magic relies on manipulating the flows of magic into runes, and channelling it in such a way that it manifests an effect. It requires incredible intellect to understand and execute advanced magic such as teleportation.”

She pointed to the next, and recognising some letters Theo knew this was ‘Offer’. “Offer magic relies on nothing but faith. Even the strength of the spells has less to do with the mana offered and more the belief the caster has in the god they are beseeching for help.” Eleanor paused with her explanation.

“For a better understanding of focus and offer magic, I would recommend all of you to audit classes at the Colleges of Spells and Prayer, at least for the first session. However, as I mentioned, focus magic requires a deep knowledge and understanding, so I would not recommend anyone continue past the first unless they truly have a deep interest.”

Aside over, she pointed to the last circle, which by deduction Theo knew would be ‘Action’. “Action magic draws its power from intention. Actions are simply a guide for intention, which is why we tend to avoid improvising and instead rely on set pieces, and why improvised pieces are often much harder to manifest proper spells with, and also are more prone to failure and backlash.” Eleanor’s eyes finally focused on someone, and Theo was dismayed to learn that it was on him.

He felt like a rat being toyed with by a hungry cat.

“For example, Theo fought Drew yesterday. And while he did well, his magic was less effective than if he had prepared spells in his repertoire. He was unable to counter Drew’s spells, even as his improvisation allowed him to construct a spell designed to counter it.” Theo wanted to look away, but couldn’t. It felt like staring into the sun (if one had their eyes held open and were forced to look directly at it).

“And while theoretically one could learn to seed intention into improvisation, to the point where they were able to do so in the heat of battle while making split-second decisions…it would be much, much more efficient to simply learn a series of spells and use them to the fullest.” Eleanor (finally) looked away, to Theo’s relief, and stepped away from the lectern.

“There are three spells that you are mandated to learn in this class; one support, one healing, one utility. The rest of your time will be spent learning spells that you may find suited to your own goals and needs, and improving on your spellcasting.” Theo was slightly surprised at this, having braced himself for a long year ahead.

He had known for a long time that he wasn’t good with learning actual songs; it’s why he started making things up in the first place. Up until now, he’d gotten away with only knowing one proper song, and just making it up and seeing where he ended up the rest of the time (which is partially why Sean loved hearing him riff about the Donkey and the Wench – it was different every time). So it was a nice to know that the actual required songs only numbered three.

“Today we will be focusing on the utility spell, which some of you may be familiar with already. The Fisherman’s song is a whistled tune that allows you to manipulate objects. It is useful to pick up many small objects, and its effectiveness decreases as the objects you manipulate grow in size. It is a staple not only for its use in day-to-day life, but also as both an offensive and defensive tool. It is the perfect example of a versatile spell, and that is precisely why it is one of the few mandatory spells, and the spell we are starting with.” Eleanor clapped, and looked over the class before continuing.

“Over the next few lessons we will make sure that everyone has a baseline understanding and ability to use The Fisherman’s Song, as well as understand how best to use it. Can anyone tell me the origins and history of the spell?” There was a beat, as people were hesitant to contribute, and people who normally interjected right about now (like Rowena) looked stumped.

“Gramps says it’ s good for keeping things steady in the boat, hold down struggling fish, gutting them, baiting them without much mess…If it was something you did while fishing, whistling helped.” Finn shouted out, in his trademark slouch.

Eleanor didn’t acknowledge his demeanour. “Thank you Finn. That is correct. As the name suggests, The Fisherman’s Song came from the docks of the Endless Sea, where it was used to assist in every part of fishing, including staving off boredom while sailing. It started as a folk song whistled while doing work, and gradually gained meaning and focus until it changed the way the fishing industry and many others function.

“It is a shining example of how action magic can evolve naturally given enough time. It is a big part of why action magic can feel intuitive – it is simply building on what we tend to do regardless.” She paused, gesturing with her left hand in circles.

“Of course, the use of The Fisherman’s Song among the general populace is not as directed or strong as it could be when taught properly, but it is enough to assist with their work. That will be the focus of most of our classes, not only learning how to use action magic, but using them to their fullest potential.” Eleanor paused, doing a headcount of the class.

“Would all those who have already learned The Fisherman’s Song raise their hand? You will be tasked with helping me teach it to everyone else.” A third of the class raised their hands, including Finn, Rowena, and everyone that Theo had seen participating in the Arts Exchange.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know how to whistle?” Eleanor asked. To Theo’s surprise, Everett raised their hand. Eleanor was also clearly not expecting that, taking a moment to recover and plan things out. “Okay, I’ll come over to teach you separately.”

“For everyone else, listen carefully. This is how it goes.” Eleanor whistled a very lovely tune that Theo recognised was exactly what she had whistled before when moving the chalk.

“Now, practice the tune amongst yourselves and those who know it, help those who don’t. We’ll cover intent later.” And with that, she went off to teach Everett how to whistle.

He tried to keep his mind focused, but things just kept slipping out and he had no way to grab onto it. He knew the song, he’d heard it often, but just like always he couldn’t keep his thoughts focused long enough to carry through the whole song, instead wandering off on a tangent about halfway through

He kept trying and trying, until it was lunch. They ate in the room, as the afternoon was still Magic. Finn sat down next to him.

“Need some help?” Finn asked.

“Please.” Theo smile, with the look of someone drowning who was just tossed a rope.

“Okay, I’ll focus on teaching it to you after lunch. Everyone else seems to be getting the hang of the tune at least, so it’ll be fine.” He had to admit, knowing that he was the only one struggling stung a little bit.

They ate their lunches side by side until Theo broke the silence, after swallowing a mouthful of hard cheese and (harder) bread. “How do you talk so easily to Rowena?”

Finn paused, fistful of bread halfway to his mouth. “Weren’t you paired up with her in the first class?”

“That doesn’t mean I know how to talk to her outside of class!” It was different, Theo knew, between being required to talk to someone in class, and talking to them of your own volition outside of it.

“…Do I need to teach you how to talk to girls? You’re in the wrong place if you want to be a bard and don’t know how to do that.” Finn had a funny look on his face. Theo shook his head rapidly.

“I don’t think that bards have to- that’s beside the- it’s not- she’s a noble! Isn’t there any etiquette or anything?” Theo sputtered, as the crux of the matter came to light.

Finn snorted. “Pfft, you’re talking to me. Do I look like I know anything fancy? Just talk to her normally. Or, do what I do and mess with her.” And with that, Finn went back to eating and staring at random things, and Theo was left with his thoughts.

---

By the end of the day, Theo had managed to chap his lips and exhaust himself. He had nothing else to show for it. He still had trouble learning the piece, while everyone else had started practicing using it (if they hadn’t already learned it, that is). Even Everett, who started out not knowing how to whistle, was doing better than him.

Finn had gotten frustrated and wandered off after an hour of listening to him start off okay then veer off in a completely different direction.

Sighing to himself, Theo started to leave the room, head low when he was stopped by Eleanor.

“Theo, one moment, please.” He looked at her with dread, and she evidently could tell. Her expression softened, and so did her voice. “I know you improvise, and from today I can see why. You struggle with performing a whole piece, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Theo admitted, “I just can’t keep my focus from wandering. And intention is similar.”

“Well, you seem to be able to direct your intention well enough while improvising.” Eleanor said with an encouraging smile. “Do you use Meditation?”

Theo nodded.

“Good,” she said, approving. “I would like you to work on that and see if that helps your focus… and if it doesn’t, if you can improvise spells that accomplish a similar effect consistently, then I will concede the requirement to learn all three spells. But! I still want you to try.” At this point Theo was rather confused, and it showed on his face.

Eleanor whispered, “Sparrow and I had a chat.”