It took a moment for everyone to process what had happened.

Reginald was already next to Jenny by the time Theo thought to start moving. He was checking over her as Theo rushed over, using Striding Wind to make it there as fast as he could. He knew he wasn’t that good with Hymn of Healing, but even if he could vaguely approximate any similar effect it could make a difference.

When he got there, he noticed the tension in Reginald’s shoulders had lessened, and while Jenny looked pale and faint, her face wasn’t screwed up in pain (which was a good sign, to say the least).

It could have just been shock, Theo cautioned himself from relaxing too early.

Bruce, Simo, and Duncan arrived soon after, Duncan looking worried while Simo and Bruce looked slightly worried but not materially so (like they had seen her go through worse unscathed).

Jenny brought her hands up, turning them around and carefully examining them. To Theo’s relief, they were unharmed. Immaculate. Trembling a little bit, but otherwise fine. She gently closed her fist, and then opened it before doing it again, slightly faster, before finally closing her fist violently. She rolled her wrist, wiggled her fingers, and was about to channel mana before Reginald slapped her hand.

He glared at her, and as she met his gaze Jenny politely lowered her hand, and held it in her lap with her other one.

“You might feel fine, but wait until a medic has seen you before you decide to do anything even remotely related to magic.” Reginald had a note of concern in his voice (which definitely clashed with Theo’s perception of the man, but he guessed that he was just seeing his fatherly side).

Jenny nodded, silently. She cracked a weak smile, but that didn’t make her face any less pale.

“Abraham!” Reginald nodded at a fast-approaching figure. Theo felt them before he saw them, as the winds chopped up and tore through the air, buffeting them as he tried to not get too much dust in his eyes.

The man known as Abraham had rushed over from the College of Spells a torrent of air beneath his feet as he rocketed towards them. It dissipated as he landed gently on his feet right in front of them.

As soon as he touched down, Abraham was pulling things out of a bag too small to actually fit them all. He wrapped a glowing chain around his arm, and moved his hand over Jenny’s forehead.

The chain pulsed blue three times, as Abraham stared intently at it. He nodded, before carefully unwrapping it and putting it back in the bag, before pulling out a curved piece of glass.

He placed the glass over Jenny’s heart, and moved it around, almost following her veins and arteries. After a few minutes of Jenny patiently waiting as this man almost rubbed a piece of glass all around her body, Abraham finally put it away.

“You’re low on mana and shaken up, but otherwise you look fine. No mana corrosion anywhere inside, and as far as I can tell there’s been no tissue damage or any marks or injuries at all. I’m not familiar with internal magic-related injuries, however, so it’d be best to get another opinion from someone from War.” And with that, runes flashed around his feet and Abraham started to float as tornados formed underneath his feet. He dashed off in the direction of the College of War, leaving a ripple in his wake.

Theo looked carefully at Jenny. “Are you okay?” She smiled (not as weak as it was before) as she nodded.

“I’ve been through worse.” She seemed almost proud of that.

“She has.” Bruce and Simo chorused (well, Simo mumbled).

Enough urgency had bled off Reginald that he looked almost composed again.

“Well, considering we are all gathered here, I may as well continue the lesson.” Theo found this odd, but he was in no state to critique anyone’s behaviour or trauma response. The others weren’t as understanding, and shot varying looks his way.

“I have a duty to educate and teach you about focus magic, and I intend to do so to the best of my ability, regardless the circumstances.” Reginald defended. He cleared his throat before continuing.

“While forming mana is difficult, control and precision are key to focus magic, as eventually you will wish to form them in places other than directly in your hands. In fact-“

“Move.” Abraham had returned, and with him he brought Grant, who (not-so-politely) requested Reginald to get out of their way. Reginald sighed, acquiescing and rolling his eyes.

Theo hadn’t seen Grant since the whole ‘trying to convince him to join the College of War instead’ thing happened, and the receptionist surveyed Jenny’s surroundings and managed to only briefly stop after seeing Theo.

Theo wasn’t sure if he should nod or say hi or do anything, so he defaulted to staring slightly too long as Grant turned his focus to what he was here to do.

It seemed to be a day for Grant to be stunned, as Abraham pointed out Jenny as the potentially injured person.

“I don’t even think I need to examine you. You feeling alright Jennifer?” Even so, Grant pulled out some other examination device that seemed to resemble a hammer, holding it up to Jenny’s forehead and heart.

“Yeah, I feel fine.” Jenny was starting to sound a little exasperated from having to explain herself over and over.

After a few moments of the hammer being inert, Grant nodded. “Diagnostics agree. Abe, mind giving her a mana accelerator? Just to make sure.” Abraham reached once again into his too-small pocket, pulling out a straw connected to a big brick. He offered it to Jenny, who hesitantly drank it out of politeness.

Even if it was good for her, Jenny was going to be wary of strange drinks.

Almost immediately after drinking it, she perked up.

Jenny smiled at Grant, before a knowing look came over her.

“Hey Grant, so I’ll be fine if I experience backlash like this?” Grant tilted his head slightly and furrowed his brow, confused as he answered.

“I guess you could, but I don’t see why y-“

“Okay thanks for the advice!” And with that, Jenny bounded into the wider courtyard, almost unaffected by the previous events.

Reginald looked over, equally concerned and curious. “What are you thinking of examining?”

Jenny started to form a small ball of mana. Before Reginald could complain about health and safety, it stopped growing (and with it, Reginald’s fledgling remarks). She turned her hand over, palm (and ball of mana) now facing the ground.

She lowered the hand, and then triggered a backlash. It was quieter than the previous one, due to the difference in mana, but it was still loud enough to leave Theo’s ears ringing.

Which was a good distraction, because Jenny had been flung until another courtyard, where she climbed out of the pile of rubble she created, with the widest grin Theo had ever seen plastered on her face.

Reginald’s jaw was gaping open (as open as Jenny’s smile was wild), as he regained his composure and decided that the winning move was to cut his losses and end class here.

“Thank you all for coming to the focus magic audit, I will be teaching again next week, if you are inclined to learn further about runes and such. I uh,” Reginald paused, running their hand through their hair, still unsure exactly what had just happened. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

Reginald walked off carefully (like a poor sod stuck in a maze where every step had a booby trap). Bruce and Simo looked at each other, while Jenny caused another explosion, landing somewhere in the park this time.

They awkwardly waited around in silence as Jenny walked back to them, staring at her hands the whole time. Theo didn’t know what anyone else was thinking, but he could guess that they were having a lot of interesting thoughts and concepts about the possibilities of weaponised backlash (because that was definitely what he was thinking of).

“So, two times is my limit right now. Not a useful movement aid, but definitely good to add some unpredictability and aggression to my fighting style.” Jenny spoke aloud, more talking to herself than any of them.

She looked up, confused. “Where’s Reginald?”

Bruce coughed. “He gave up and left early.”

Jenny punched the air. “Yes! I didn’t mean for it to go down how it did, but I’ll take it.” She wrapped an arm around Bruce’s shoulders. “Looks like I didn’t have to accompany you for the whole thing anyway!”

Bruce massaged the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.

“Pub time?” Jenny asked, looking directly at all of them (lingering for a moment on Theo).

Bruce sighed, before nodding.