Theo wasn’t sure what he expected Fesday morning. Thelonious instructing him, maybe someone else there as well.

What he didn’t expect was for almost half the class to be there. Drew, Finn, Astor, Jade, Ellis, Ingrid, all waiting at the door to Thelonious’ classroom, all sitting down and looking like death. Theo coughed, and looked at his feet.

“Fuck you, Theo.” Finn groaned. Drew nudged him (which only made him groan louder), and offered a weak smile to Theo.

“Not his fault that he started practicing the right internal magic years ago.” Drew said, before wincing and shifting how he sat.

Theo sat down next to Drew, and leaned in.

“Doesn’t Rest help?” Theo whispered. Drew shrugged, before immediately regretting that decision.

“Muscle aches don’t fall under what it can regenerate. Didn’t feel like that was a big deal until today.” Theo nodded in sympathy

Thelonious walked over to the class, paused as he took in the fact that they looked like they had all been in a fight and lost, shrugged, and continued walking.

“Good morning everyone. Physical Combat or Survival?” Thelonious asked.

“Survival.” Theo replied, as everyone else refrained from nodding too hard. Thelonious nodded in their place, and everyone slowly picked themselves up, grunting like they were twice their age.

---

If Theo was the only one not groaning before, he wasn’t any more. He didn’t know there was so much to writing, and it was frustrating to see the gap between what was expected of him, and where he was currently. It was like telling someone to win a war when they’d barely held a sword.

Well, that was enough of that headache for the time being. Theo shook his head, and engaged Meditation, as he began to enjoy his lunch, sitting under a tree in the park. He’d ventured deep into the middle, so it was quiet and undisturbed, as he tore off a chunk of sourdough and took a bite out of a wedge of nutty cheddar.

Theo sighed, shoulders relaxed, before almost choking when Sparrow appeared to his left.

“That’s a decent cheese.” Sparrow said, mouth full as they reached for his bread. Theo glared at them, but their hand didn’t slow down in the slightest. “Apprentice tax.” They almost sang, as they daintily popped the chunk of bread Theo had been holding into their mouth.

Sparrow chuckled at Theo’s sour face, and threw a stubby sausage at him. Rolling his eyes, he caught it and bit into it. The glare on his face softened, even moreso as the flavours melted onto his tongue.

Sparrow held another sausage in their hands, and Theo plucked it from theirs, biting into it and letting the oils coat his mouth. It was still that savoury, almost-sweet taste from the first, and it was just as good.

“Apprentice tax.” Theo returned, and Sparrow grinned, rolling their eyes as they procured a third sausage from somewhere. Shaking his head, Theo paused, taking in the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves above, bouncing around to cast segmented shadows on his face.

Closing his eyes, Theo started to circulate Meditate. Sparrow nodded in approval, and joined him in doing the same.

After what felt like both an instant and an hour of listening to wind bumping into trees, Sparrow nudged Theo. His eyes slowly opened, as time resumed.

“Time to teach you some more internal magic.” Sparrow said, getting up without un-crossing their legs, spinning on the spot. Theo scrambled up after them, as they seemed to waltz by every obstacle and person at a speed just fast enough that he would have to run to catch up (if he didn’t use any extra speed from Striding Wind).

---

Sparrow led Theo into a room, deep inside the College of Song. The entrance wasn’t even a proper room, instead it was a part of the wall that Theo couldn’t tell apart from its surroundings, triggered by pressing a specific combination of wood panels that he couldn’t remember.

“Why aren’t we in the park for once?” Theo asked, as parts of the wall folded inwards, leaving a wooden mouth with teeth waiting to swallow them. Sparrow nonchalantly entered, and Theo followed close behind, in case the teeth would bite down on him if he was too slow.

“Second tier internal magic is not something to throw around casually.” Sparrow explained, as they rearranged some things on the interior of the dark wood to seal it up again. There were no windows in the room, and if it wasn’t for a lamp covered in runes it would be as dark as if Theo had closed his eyes.

“Plus, we’re going to be discussing the coins later on, and that will definitely need to be away from prying eyes.” Sparrow shut their eyes, and started to cycle internal magic. Theo shrugged, and started again on the combination of Meditation and Self Awareness.

After a few minutes, the mouth opened again, and someone stepped through that Theo swore he recognised from somewhere.

“This your apprentice?” They asked, and Sparrow nodded. “You’re that kid who plays at The Pub, right?”

“I’m not a k-yes, that’s me.” Theo sighed, slightly defeated. That would explain where he recognised them from. And in all fairness, they made him feel short for the first time in a while so he wasn’t as fussed about the k-word as he usually would be.

“Esther. From the College of War.” She was tall (about a head taller than Theo, or as he would say “just slightly”), with muscles so big they had their own muscles. Her tanned skin was without scar or blemish, and if she stood still Theo could have mistook her for a copper statue.

“I’ll teach you the basics of Stoneskin and Iron Bones, and the theory behind Rest. Sparrow said you’ve got Striding Wind and Meditation down, so I’m curious what kind of genius they have on their hands.” Esther said, sizing Theo up, in a way that made him want to shrink into himself.

He managed to keep his back straight as he nodded. Esther cracked the kind of smile Theo associated with sharks (which he had never seen, only heard boasted about by fishermen), and cracked her knuckles.

“Let’s start with the basics. Stoneskin is a staple for warriors and nobles. It strengthens your skin, allowing you to turn it as hard as stone with the third step, and makes it stronger in general.” Theo was confused why nobles were mentioned for a moment, before remembering his conversation with Rick and Sean.

“It also helps with scars?” Theo tentatively added. Esther raised her eyebrows, and looked over at Sparrow.

“What kind of useless shit are you teaching him?” She asked.

“Wasn’t me. Nothing wrong with good looks.” Sparrow said, hands raised in front of them. Esther rolled her eyes, swivelling her head back to Theo.

“You’re not wrong, but unless you’re looking to live up to bard stereotype and trying desperately to bed anyone around you, that’s not important. It repairs your skin, which is more useful than you’d think.” She reached behind her, and pulled out a massive three-hander sword (that she casually hefted with one hand).

Resting her palm on the edge, Esther ran her hand across the sword and Theo flinched as the smell of iron in the room intensified. Holding up her palm, Theo watched as the skin knitted itself back together and soon it was as if she had never been cut at all.

“Now, you try.” Esther said, stabbing the massive sword into the table in front of Theo. He looked at her, wide-eyed, as she nodded expectantly.

Theo knew by now that his expectations about magic and how things worked were very different to the reality.

But even so, he didn’t expect to have to cut himself to learn internal magic. Steeling himself (after bringing his hand close but pulling away three times), Theo held his sweaty hand to the sword.

Before he realised he had touched it, there was a line of fire stretching from his middle finger all the way down to his wrist. Theo’s hand jerked back, and when he inspected it, he found a clean incision that had barely started to bleed.

“Focus on placing your mana into the cut, and pulling the two sides of the skin together. It might take you a few tries…” Esther trailed off, as Theo flexed his hand, cut gone. She blinked hard, multiple times (like a hummingbird’s wings), mouth still open.

She closed her mouth. “Hm. Okay.” Esther took a second to process things, before nodding vigorously. “That’s fast.” She shook off the surprise.

“Next step is to do that to every part of your skin at the same time, and then infuse mana into it. That’s tricky, but means you get the most effect out of Stoneskin and its third step.” To demonstrate, her skin lost its softness and became a pinkish, marbled colour that Theo recognised from the mansions in the Housing District.

Her skin turned back to normal, but not before Esther had pointed to her ankle. “Old Achilles didn’t infuse his feet, and that’s how he died.”

A thought struck Theo.

“What would happen if you infused every part of your body, in general? Not following any internal magic?” He asked.

“You’d be mana cursed. Mana madness.” Sparrow interjected. “Best case scenario, you lose the ability to conduct and move mana. Worst case scenario, you lose your sanity, and have to be put down before you infuse enough to become a Class A mission.” They warned.

“Great for last stands and suicide missions.” Esther added.

Sparrow glared at them, coughing very pointedly. “Point is, it’s not pretty. Don’t even consider it, just run.”

Esther burst out laughing. “Of course The Dancing Wind teaches their apprentice to be a coward.” It was clearly a joke, but paired with her predatory teeth, it had some edge to it.

Sparrow turned to Theo, ignoring her jab. “Try it.”

Theo focused, closing his eyes. He let the mana flow through his body, guiding it towards his skin. A shiver ran down his spine, and his concentration broke. The mana dissipated, and he opened his eyes to see a faint glittery mist rising from his body.

His eyes flickered, as he engaged Meditation, and saw the way some still lingered on his skin. He closed his eyes, and took a moment to understand the way mana flowed through and around his body.

Theo stopped Meditation, and tried again. This time, the mana spread more evenly, and pooled pleasantly just under his skin. With a slight nudge, it started to move into his skin, and his skin drank greedily.

Once the flow was established, it was easy to continue feeding mana into it, and Theo once again entered an internal magic-related meditation (the state, not the skill).

“Looks like you’ve got it, now it’ll-“ Theo distantly registered Esther’s voice, as it was cut off by Sparrow.

“Give him an hour.”