“Today, as promised, is the day of the competition!” Tutor Milwyk announced to his class.

The Pupils stood in a semi-circle on the rostrum of their classroom. Fifteen of them, all of the 1st Opening and as it was his habit, Isyd held himself in retreat from the others, arms crossed, watching and waiting.

“The past weeks have been spent learning and practising the fundamentals of [Spells] and casting,” Tutor Milwyk continued. “As I had announced, after a month’s time, we would hold a friendly competition among ourselves to see and appreciate the progress that had been accomplished. Today is the day! The competition will consist of four parts. For the first test, you are asked to cast a [Spell] similar to those we have practised during the lectures. In my eyes, this is the only test that truly matters. What we measure today is your ability to cast a [Spell], the rest of the competition is just bonuses to make the day more interesting. Any questions? No one? Well, then I guess we can begin then!”

Tutor Milwyk walked amidst his Pupils and began distributing a piece of paper folded in two. “Written here is the object you will try to cast with an [Ice Spell],” the professor explained. “Worry not, they are all everyday objects and should theoretically be easier to materialize than the [Ice Spear] we practised with.”

Last in the line, Isyd finally received his paper and opened it to read his assignment. In cursive was written a single word: “fork”. Isyd threw a glance at the other Pupils. Some were shifting on their feet nervously, others stood stiffly and sternly stared at their papers and Olav and his three friends that followed him everywhere appeared bored out of their minds. Isyd noticed distractedly that only Olav and another girl— Jadwia, he thought her name was— were actually using wands for their casting.

“Alright, let us begin!” Tutor Milwyk called. “Remember the three important things when it comes to casting a [Spell]: Balance, Concentration and Visualization! Begin!”

Isyd raised his hand. The only thing he had to watch for was not to cast the [Spell] too quickly. He would have a hard time explaining how someone of the 1st Opening could have such a developed Idpulse. Still, the casting was trivial for such a simple [Spell] and his finger swiftly sketched the Commands in the air.

“[Ice],” he whispered. The [Spell] flickered and a small fork sculpted in clear ice fell in his hand.

It took some Pupils several attempts but after three minutes, Tutor Milwyk called for the end.

“Alright! Those who have successfully cast their [Spell], please step forward.”

Out of the fifteen, nine Pupils stepped forward and showed the result of their [Spell]. Similar to his fork, there was a knife, a spoon, a glass, a sphere, a frame, a ring, a dice and finally a bottle. Only nine successes, which was less than Isyd expected for such an easy exercise.

“Young Letchen, Young Olav, Young Dymtr, Young Bohdan, Young Boshena, Young Lujan, Young Kewin, Young Jadwia and Young Isyd, I congratulate you on your progress! The rest of you do not get discouraged too soon, it is still early in the semester and you will have all the time to catch up. Please, come to me after the competition so that we can organize and see where your difficulties are. Shall we continue with the rest of the test?”

“Make it more difficult, Tutor,” Olav said. “I’d like to be at least challenged...”

Letchen, Dymtr and Bohdan snickered, the girl Boshena rolled her eyes and Kewin Udachur threw an awkward glance in Isyd’s direction.

“Well, challenged you shall be, Young Olav,” Tutor Milwyk said. “The three next tests respectively focus on the Visualization, the Concentration and the Balance.” He extended his staff and swiftly cast an [Ice Spell]. In a cloud of mist appeared the sculpture of a cat about to pounce. The details were astounding, from the whiskers on the nose to the tensed muscles of the hindlegs. Isyd had to admit that it was impressive— he wasn’t even sure he could do something as detailed.

“It is hard to cast something into existence, even more so when it is something you are not familiar with. It demands a level of imagination and a flexibility of mind that normal people do not possess. How are you to cast a [Spell] you’ve only seen in books? How are you to develop a [Hex] that wasn’t never created once? This is why Visualization is so important for an Artyst and this is what we’re going to test now. I ask you to recreate this [Ice Sculpture] as faithfully as possible. You are allowed to touch, feel, and observe it as closely as possible to help form the picture in your mind. Please, proceed.”

The Pupils timidly approached the sculpture, reaching for it and grazing at the curves and edges. Isyd was the last to touch it. Surprisingly, he took off the glove of his right hand, revealing his bandaged fingers. He couldn’t sense the cold of the ice, but it wasn’t what he was looking for anyway. Isyd briefly closed his eyes as his hand touched the sculpture.

There it was. The faint rhythm of the Grace. Isyd did not know how else to describe it. Few people knew that the Grace emitted a certain kind of noise, a thrumming that could not be perceived by normal hearing but that was always present. Some Artysta had theorized that it was a direct consequence of the First Law of the Arts, but it was a phenomenon difficult to study. Only a few people could perceive the Song of the Grace, usually Artysta of very high Openings with an extreme Grace sensitivity. Isyd had never studied any of it. He’d learned about the Song of the Grace by trials and errors. He’d learned to listen to what the Song told me, to interpret the different tones and rhythms. It turns out that Commands had a way of changing the Song ever so slightly depending on how they were arranged and the role they played in the overall [Spell]. By listening attentively, Isyd was able to deconstruct a [Spell] and analyse how it was made in terms of Balance, Concentration but also Visualization.

It wasn’t an exact science. Listening to the Song didn’t help Isyd in repairing his palcat for instance. But for simpler construction such as this [Ice Spell], it was relatively straightforward.

Isyd opened his eyes and stepped back, refitting his glove. The picture he had now in his mind was a close approximation to what Tutor Milwyk had Visualized before casting the [Spell]. His mouth felt the sweet taste of Grace being gathered and his fingers began sketching the [Ice Spell] in the air, similar to the one he used to materialize the fork of ice.

Isyd heard gasps coming from the Pupils who stood on the side-line. The sculpture Isyd had made was exactly similar to the original.

“Impressive, Young Isyd!” Tutor Milwyk exclaimed. “I did not expect anything less of you!”

Isyd glanced around at what the others were doing. Kewin Udachur was also finished. He’d materialize a cat who was three times smaller than the original. It did have the correct posture, but the front legs were oddly too long and the cat was missing a bit of its tail. Isyd could see that the young man was hesitating by trying to cast a new [Spell] and risking a worse result or simply accepting what he already had.

“Young Kewin, your result is more than acceptable. I’m glad to see so much young talent!” Tutor Milwyk reassured him. “Impressive work as well, Young Jadwia and Young Olav.”

Their sculpture was also correct enough to pass, but there was always something slightly off. For the girl Jadwia, the cat was missing details when it comes to its face as if someone had forgotten to sculpt the eyes and nose and whiskers, while Olav’s cat was oddly shaped in terms of proportion. In the end, the Pupils Dymtr and Letchen also managed to pass after two successive attempts.

“Young Boshena, Young Lucjan and Young Bohdan, please join your classmates in the back. Do not be discouraged by this, Visualization is one of the hardest skills you can learn as an Artyst and the Academy shall help you refine the skill. Now, let’s move on to the second test: Concentration. An Artyst must learn the art of consistency. In your career, you may find yourself in tense situations demanding you to cast [Spells] after [Spells], again and again. Thus, you must make sure that you will not falter after the third or fourth attempt due to a lack of Concentration. For this task, I ask you to cast with an [Ice Spell] five items in quick succession and in this order: a sphere, a cube, a tetrahedron, a square pyramid and an octahedron.”

“A tetrahedron? What’s that?” Letchen asked.

“A pyramid with a triangular base,” Boshena grumbled in the back. “You would know if you attended the class of Geometry Fundamentals…”

Letchen smirked and shrugged. “What’s the point? I passed the test and you didn’t, right?”

The young woman threw him a murderous look and crossed her arms.

“And an octahedron is two square pyramids connected by their base to form an eight-faced polyhedron.” Tutor Milwyk added. “You have less than a minute to cast the five objects so you cannot take your sweet time to gather the Grace. Be efficient! We shall begin with Young Dymtr. Please proceed!”

The young man had long, dark hair and brown eyes. Tutor Milwyk pulled out of his robe an hourglass and flipped it the moment Dymtr began casting. The first [Ice Spell] was successful, but he struggled on the second one and began panicking. The light at the tip of his finger began flickering in and out as he tried to outline the Commands and eventually, the whole [Spell] collapsed before he could cast it and the time ran out.

“It was a decent attempt, Young Dymtr. Do not be disheartened! It is well-known among us teachers that Concentration is the bane of the Pupils of the 1st Opening. You will have all the time to improve. Young Letchen, please proceed.”

Letchen’s attempt played out similarly to Dymtr: a successful cast sphere, but the moment he tried to gather Grace to for the second [Ice Spell], his Concentration faltered. He was about to finalize it when his time ran out. Frustrated, the boy let out a curse and stepped back as Tutor Milwyk called for Olav Kazkan.

The young noble appeared as smug and confident as he always was. At the mark of Tutor Milwyk, he began casting the [Ice Spells]. Isyd observed him go through the different geometrical shapes one after the other, and for a moment he thought that Olav would succeed. However, after the tetrahedron, Isyd noticed his movements slowing down as he drew and the light at the tip of his wand grew dull; Olav’s Concentration was weaning. By the end, his face was so tense you could hear his teeth grinding and his hand holding the wand was trembling under the effort. Olav Kazkan managed to cast the square pyramid in a final burst, but then his time ran out.

“That’s a stupid test!” Olav spat. “It proves nothing! I have no time to waste in silly games!”

“It is in those small games that one learns the foundations of the Arts,” Tutor Milwyk said calmly. “Believe me, as you progress in your studies, you’ll be grateful to have practised the basics again and again. It is only with a strong foundation that the greatest heights can be reached.”

Well, doesn’t that sound familiar… Isyd threw a mocking grin in Naeht’s direction who huffed and rolled her eyes at him.

Olav Kazkan was about to give a scathing retort to his teacher but then appeared to regain control of himself. He shrugged, muttered something under his breath and join Letchen and Dymtr in the back.

“Young Kewin, please proceed!’”

The albino was startled at hearing his name, even though it was obvious he was to be the next. He did not appear confident in the least, standing there awkward and his eyes darting here and there. Therefore, Isyd was pleasantly surprised when he saw the boy perform the [Ice Spells], as well as Olav had done a minute ago. His Concentration had lapsed slightly when making the cube, but he’d pushed on and recovered. When all believed he would succeed in the task, he began struggling at Concentrating on the last item, the octahedron. His [Spell] collapsed twice and he was about to try for a third time when his time ran out.

Kewin Udachur let out a sigh of relief and a small smile as Tutor Milwyk complimented him. The boy appeared at least content with his attempt and proud he made it this far.

“He’s really not bad!” Naeht drawled at Isyd’s ear as she watched him move to the back of the class. “For a beginner that is!”

Isyd nodded but said nothing, his attention was ported to Jadwia as she was about to start her demonstration. The serious look on her face made it seems she was about to attend a trial for her life instead of a friendly competition between classmates. Tutor Milwyk gave her the signal, but to the surprise of everyone, Jadwia did not begin casting. Instead, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. She remained there, wand raised and immobile for the first ten seconds of her timer. Then, suddenly, her eyes snapped back open and her wand flew in the air, drawing the [Ice Spells] one after the other, not missing a bit. The class watched with bated breath as the sphere, then the cube, the tetrahedron and the square pyramid and finally the octahedron materialized out of ice.

“Remarkable demonstration, Young Jadwia!” Tutor Milwyk exclaimed. “This is proof of great talent and dedication! You should be proud.”

The girl was breathing heavily as if she had just run out a flight of stairs, but her smile was wide and proud indeed.

“Young Isyd, at last, please proceed.”

Everyone’s eyes were on him, curious to see how the “prodigy” of their class would fare.

Isyd did not bother with any embellishment. He raised his hand and cast the [Ice Spells] one after the other, calmly, methodically, effortlessly. The five geometrical shapes materialized in front of him and he was done before his time had reached the halfway point.

“Impressive as always, Young Isyd. Your talent ceases not to amaze me! There we have it: Young Isyd and Young Jadwia have proved their mastery of Visualization and Concentration. The last task revolves around Balance. In this class, I demonstrated the [Ice Spear] and the Commands that compose it. But this was just one way of constructing an [Ice Spell]. The 3rd Law of the Arts teaches us that there are theoretically infinite ways to rearrange the Commands to achieve the same goal. Artysta must learn versatility and efficiency while exploring the different expressions of the Arts. Your last task, Young Jadwia and Young Isyd, is but a simple one: rearrange the [Ice Spear] as to need only one Fire Essence instead of the original three.”

Jadwia paled next to Isyd. She rose a timid hand. “Can we… practice it before casting the [Spell]?”

“Definitely. In fact, I invite you to use the blackboard as much as you’d like to get a feel of the Balance of your [Spell] before casting it for real.”

She rushed to the blackboard, grab a piece of chalk in passing and began sketching the different Commands. Isyd watched her do, curious. Her movements were fast, almost frantic as she drew circles after circles, triangles after triangles, but in the end, she always ended up back to the original [Ice Spell] Tutor Milwyk had thought them.

Feeling Isyd’s gaze on her neck, Jadwia whirled in his direction.

“What? Are you waiting for me to give you the answer?” she snapped.

“No. I already found it,” Isyd said. “I’m just curious to see what you’re gonna come up with.”

Colour rose on Jadwia’s cheeks and Isyd realized belatedly that his words had come out as condescending.

“Just you wait…” she growled and she went back to her drawings.

Several minutes passed but in the end, she couldn’t come up with another [Spell] that did not involve at least three Fire Essences. The Balance seemed to evade her and she was growing more frustrated as time passed.

“Time has passed, now it is time for your attempts, Young Jadwia, Young Isyd,” Tutor Milwyk finally called. “Even if it is not successful, I want you to know that I am incredibly glad of the progress done. Now, please proceed, Young Jadwia.”

Jadwia stepped forward and grimaced as she moved her wand and cast her [Spell].

“[Ice Spear]!”

A perfect spear appeared in her hand, similar in all points to the one Tutor Milwyk had used as a demonstration.

“Your [Ice Spell] is near flawless, Young Jadwia, but I’m afraid that you cast the same [Spell] as I did, with the three Fire Essences…”

“I’m sorry I couldn't come up with anything, Tutor…”

“No need to be sorry, Young Jadwia. Be proud of the progress you made so far and excited for the progress you will make in the future. Young Isyd, it is your turn to demonstrate.”

Isyd gathered Grace and began casting. He started the same way he would have done for the original [Ice Spell]: a large circle for the [STORE] and an inscribed triangle point down for the Water Essence. He then added the single Fire Essence as another triangle point up inside of the Water Essence. Around each of the points of the Fire Essence, he added the [SUBSTRACT] arcs to remove the heat and create the ice. The ice was then [SHAPED] from the tips of the Fire Triangle to the centre where it was [RELEASED] out of the [STORE] circle by intersecting with the vertexes of the Water Triangle.

“[Ice Spear],” Isyd whispered. The [SPELL] flashed and the weapon appeared in front of him.

The Pupils clapped and Tutor Milwyk gave him an appreciative nod. “It seems to me you are Blessed by the Grace, Young Isyd Wybrany. The Balance of your [Spell] speaks of a good understanding of the 3rd Law. I can only congratulate you!”

Jadwia raised a hand. “Were there flaws in the Balance of my [Spell], Tutor?”

“No, there weren’t. As I have said, it was near flawless.”

“So, doesn’t that mean I also succeed in terms of Balance?”

“Studying a [Spell] by heart does not mean that you understood the Balance behind it,” Isyd intervened.

Jadwia turned to face him. “How do we know that you didn’t your [Ice Spell] by heart as well?”

“I didn’t.”

“So you say, but you have no way of proving it. You may as well as I found that [Spell] in a book of the Library… It still doesn’t mean that you have a better understanding of the Balance than I.”

“I do understand it better.”

Jadwia flushed red at Isyd’s matter-of-fact tone. Before she could retort, however, Isyd extended his hand and began drawing a [Ice Spell], slow enough so that she could see the Commands as they appeared. The Balance was different to Tutor Milwyk’s or the one he’d just cast; the two Essence Triangles were now facing each other and intersecting at their point. The [Spell] flashed once and a spear of ice appeared. Isyd let it clatter on the ground as he was busy writing another [Ice Spell].

Then another one.

And another one again. Wordlessly, staring straight at Jadwia, Isyd cast five [Ice Spells] one after the other, each different from the previous one in terms of Balance.

As the fifth [Ice Spear] fell on the floor, Isyd let down his arm. “I could continue, but I think I proved my point,” he said.

Silence had fallen on the classroom like a heavy veil.

“I… You…” Jadwia began, wide-eyed.

“You wonder why you should bother to learn more than one form of a [Spell]?” Isyd interrupted her. “Because it will make you a more complete Artyst, that is why. Artysta must learn to be versatile in their practice of the [Spells] instead of being restricted by them. The real world is so much harsher than the comfort of the classroom, but it is in the real world that you will have to practice the Arts.

“Know that in the Marshlands, the air is too damp to Concentrate enough of the Fire Essence to fuel three Fire Triangles, let alone one. What will you do then? Know that in the dry air of an ongoing wildfire, it is too hard to Concentrate any significant amount of the Water Essence. What will you do then? Know that in a life-or-death situation, the mind panics and often you will forget all the [Spells] you so carefully memorized. What will you do then?

“You will adapt! This is what you must learn to do. What makes an Artyst is so much more than the sums of the [Spells] they studied, the books they’ve read. It is their ability to use the Arts to their full capacity, with ease and flexibility. Do not simply study a [Spell], but the logic behind its Balance.”

Isyd let his voice fall. He had not meant to speak that much and so vehemently, but… well, the attitude of his classmates reminded him too much of what he’d seen at the beginning of the War. Artysta who were too proud and confident of their abilities, who refuse to learn or change their ways, have always been the first to die.

Tutor Milwyk cleared his throat. “Very well said, Young Isyd… I would not have said it differently. Please, remember that you are all here in the Academy to learn and improve in the Arts. Do not see today as a dooming defeat, but rather the first markings of the path you must now follow. Young Isyd here is already well on his way and I hope that you will all try to emulate him as much as possible.”

Several “Yes, Tutor!” came up in a mumbled noise as the 11th Hour bell chimed in, dismissing the class.

Isyd tried to meet Jadwia’s eyes, but she kept them downcast, chastised and face flushed. A part of him wanted to apologise to her, but he feared coming off even ruder than he already did.

In the end, Isyd decided to leave the classroom first, not meeting the eyes of his fellow classmates.

Thus, Isyd failed to notice Olav’s poisonous glare aimed in his direction.