Shaya suppressed a wince at Auric’s question, wishing he hadn’t asked. She didn’t want to lie to her mentor, but, as much as she wanted to, she also couldn’t tell him the truth. Her wits remained frayed from the onslaught of exams and she wanted someone far wiser than her to tell her how to survive the coming days.

Auric held up a hand, “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry.”

Spit, I hesitated too long...

“It’s alright,” Shaya gave the bronze giant a tired smile, “Now can I replace the hilt? I still have some bone left over from the Fraxraptors...”

“I’ll allow it, but just this one time.” Auric nodded magnanimously and walked with her to the handle station. “While you’ve become quite skilled, I think I’ll supervise you for this. It’s a shame you have to replace such a nice hilt in the first place and I wouldn’t want to see a beautiful sword marred by ugly work.”

“Oh gods!” Shaya’s eyes went wide, her small outburst drawing the attention of some of the smiths at their stations. “This is one of yours, isn’t it!?”

Auric smiled, ruby eyes burning softly, and ran a red-hot finger along the blade. As he did so, a sigil glowed: a smith’s hammer coated in complex, jagged runes that Shaya didn’t recognize. When the sigil faded, Shaya could just make out the etching in the blade’s pattern.

“Do you place marks on all of your items?” Shaya teased.

“Of course! Nobles and warriors from across Arcadia – and beyond – know that any item that holds my mark is the pinnacle of craftsmanship. My blades never dull and my armour turns aside gunfire.”

“Huh, makes sense,” Shaya said, “I bet there’s more value to it than that too, given how thaumaturgic rituals can be tied to symbols...”

Auric’s chuckle reminded Shaya of a rocking boulder. ”You’ve been in the capital too long, you’re starting to think like a noble.”

“Too true,” Shaya sighed.

She laid the sword on the workbench and strapped on her tool belt. From it, she pulled a needle-point chisel and fine hammer, setting them to the side. These tools, just like all the others in her belt, had been forged by her hand – a fact she took no small amount of pride in. While she came to the Academy to become a warmage, becoming a smith was a true joy.

“Thank you for offering me this job.” Shaya said, unscrewing the sword’s pommel.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, brushing off the compliment, “you’ve done fine work and more than made back our investment in your training already.”

“It’s not just that.” She hammered out the pins holding the wooden grip in place. “I know you offered it to me for more than just the job; more than just your business. You knew that having me work metal would make me a better Amber mage – learning the patience to sculpt stubborn materials translated directly to sculpting Amber more accurately and quickly.

“I’m actually surprised that smithing isn’t mandatory for Amber mages!”

“You can learn similar lessons from pottery and even masonry,” Auric countered with a warm smile, “but I take your point. And I accept your thanks.”

“Good,” Shaya replied with a nod, prying the wooden grips off her sword. “Do other magic academies or colleges do things differently than here? Back when the Kingdoms were allowed to run their own, I imagine Kelahk’s earthshapers went through very different training... especially given how much their magic is frowned upon these days.”

“Indeed.” Amusement flickered over Auric’s features, the wizened mage knowing she was baiting him into talking about magic theory that he probably shouldn’t in this political climate.

The fact he did was one of the many reasons Shaya was grateful to her mentors.

“The earthshapers practice a form of magic loosely categorized as ‘primal’ magic. As the name suggests, it’s closely associated with the Titans and their elemental powers, which is considered a dangerous, corrupting influence by the current rulers.”

“Is it?” Shaya asked, frowning at the leftover bone she hoped to use for the handle.

It was much shorter than the sword’s tang – a piece forged from the same ingot as the blade to build the guard and hilt around. That meant there was only enough bone for a single-handed grip. It would make for an odd hilt to a straight sword, but she was planning to use her transmutation magic to extend the bone anyway. Another thought occurred to her. The bone would have to be in one piece for the magic to work, which meant the tang couldn’t go all the way through the hilt. Which also meant the pommel would have to be re-attached separately.

“You’re looking at a complex assembly,” Auric nodded, understanding her line of thought, “There’s a shortcut we can take, but it might be risky.”

“Bri and I need to practice for tomorrow’s exam, we owe Apricot and Samorn for dismissing us out of hand... so I’m willing to take that risk if it gets me more time for reven- er, justice.”

Auric chuckled, holding up a finger as a bright, controlled beam of heat extended a mere inch from it, “It’s called burning, where we heat the handle material and push the tang through it. It can make for a sloppy attachment though.”

“I, uh, can’t do that,” Shaya said, “and I didn’t realize you were a Ruby mage as well.”

“Hm, I’m not. At least, not anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Zaal explained how an aether can influence you over time, yes?”

Shaya nodded.

“Well, it’s more than just that. Aether and emotions are tied together, and emotions are the... strongest triggers a person can have for memories.” Auric’s expression grew distant for a moment. ”In any case, I can’t - won’t - draw Ruby aether in dangerous situations anymore. Even beyond that, I try to limit my usage.”

“Then let’s not take this shortcut,” Shaya said with wide eyes, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or worse.”

“A few minutes will be fine,” Auric snorted, but dismissed his spell, “cut the tang down to the correct size and we’ll give it a shot. I suspect it won’t take long at all.”

“Why’s that?”

“Fraxis’ metamorphosis manifests as wood: a wood that hates fire more than the average wood.”

“Good evasion, by the way.” Shaya clamped the sword and measured the hilt’s length – twice – against her own hand’s width. “So, if primal magic is a thing, then what other types of magic are out there? And what’s the ‘good’ magic to use?”

“Magic theory – which isn’t for first years - suggests that each colour is a spectrum within itself. In the middle of this spectrum is the primal magic, at the top is the magic the Empire preaches - order magic.”

Auric paused his explanation as Shaya picked up a saw of matte black metal – adamantite – and started cutting through the handle. Because the tang was shaped from the same mithrite ingot as the blade itself, it required something even harder to cut through it.

Shaya, being a keener, took the opportunity to interject with her theory: “I’m guessing the bottom of the spectrum is chaos magic, then?”

“Correct,” Auric nodded, “So take Amber for instance – its primal form is earth. The upper spectrum moves the magic to its highest ideals: earth is strong, protective, binding, unchanging. That’s why Amber magic can shield others, prevent magic from warping reality, and so on. Chaos magic goes to the opposite extreme: earth is stagnant, static, dull, stubborn. Those magics can imprison, shackle and slow its targets – and do so metaphysically.”

“But can’t a mage cast any seeds regardless? Even if it works against their espers natural affinities?”

“Remember that espers, as spiritual entities, lack the nuanced range of understanding that mortals are allowed – there are simply things that they cannot conceive of. That includes things which are intrinsically opposed to their ideals. Even asking them to perform such acts could break an invoker’s bond!

“But.” He raised a finger and reignited his spell. “This is simplifying things for an overly curious first year. And we have other things to focus on.”

Shaya held the spawn’s bone out for Auric to burn through its center and surprised herself by how much she trusted him not to melt her fingers. After a few seconds of heating up the material, she pushed the tang into it, and they repeated the process until the tang fit snugly within the bone. Finally, she filled the hole with adhesive and clamped the pieces together.

“I guess that’s it for now,” Shaya sighed, hoping she’d be able to finish the blade in one night, “there’s no way I should shape the grip or reaffix the pommel while the glue’s drying.”

“Aye,” Auric agreed, “I guess you’ll just have to swing by tomorrow evening.”

“I’ve been invited to dinner at Apricot’s tomorrow night, but I’ll be free in the afternoon. Until then,” Shaya looked at the blocky clamps on the sword, “is there somewhere you can keep it secret; keep it safe?”

Auric rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

+++++

“Today’s exam will test your abilities as a conjurer!” Rea shouted, giddy to see what her students could do as their class stood before a different testing ground, filled with equally spaced giant buildings of identical design. Shaya noted that the area was closer to the Wards than the other artificial cities she’d been in thus far, and wards and Wardens ringed the area.

Rea paced in front of them and gestured at the buildings as she continued: “You’ll be faced with a series of challenges that you are only allowed to interact with using your conjured creatures. While these may include combat, I hope you’ve all learned that summoning is useful for far more than violence!

“Your ultimate objective is to open a locked chest within your assigned building and activate the magic item inside. You will be scored on speed – but you will not be graded against your peers!” Rea’s eyes flashed with mischievous light. “Though I am known to play favourites and will offer special rewards to those that impress me the most!”

Shaya and Bri exchanged grins at Rea’s words as others in the class chattered amongst themselves in excitement. Beating Apricot and Samorn at their own game was going to be sweet enough as it was, but a prize from Rea would be quite the cherry on top. And Shaya’s sweet tooth was insatiable...

Shaya’s grin grew at the thought.

A sharp, chirping noise from her backpack caused some of the students around her to look at her funny, but Shaya ignored them as she adjusted the heavy pack on her shoulders. Ren gave her a knowing smile, but looked away when she returned it with a glare.

“In addition to only being able to interact through your summons,” Rea continued, “you will only be allowed to summon a maximum of six creatures and the exam’s timer starts before you begin summoning, so use your time wisely. Furthermore, only one of these can be a bound ally!”

There were gasps and curses all around. Shaya’s peers apparently hoping to power through the exam using only more powerful creatures... including Apricot and Samorn, if Shaya identified the sudden tension in their shoulders correctly.

Rea’s grin was sadistic, the tall, thin woman reveling in her surprise. “Good luck!”

Teaching assistants led each of the students to their own testing ground, and Shaya was sad to be parted from Bri. She would have loved to see Bri’s plan in action up close, but the stories after the fact would have to suffice. Though she suspected she’d see the effects of Bri’s exam even from where she was, and almost pitied the identical, conjured warehouse that stood before her girlfriend.

The building was two stories tall, with only a few small windows on the second floor. Two large double doors marked the obvious entry into the building, though Shaya suspected they’d be the first challenge to overcome. She set down her backpack and opened it, plotting out her heist with a grin.