When the teacher walked into the classroom, they didn't hush immediately.

Nerluce, because he respected no authority, and others because she didn't look much like a teacher. She was young. Younger than any other teacher Nerluce had ever had. She was probably in her late twenties, making her a bit older than Coam. Her hair, however, marked her distinctly as an experienced magician with a fire affinity.

Magic altered physical appearance. Alterations were linked to the amount the person practiced magic in a certain element. They could be as minor as smelling like smoke or as major as someone's entire body turning into fire. Nerluce had never met anyone who had turned into fire before but there were plenty of myths about it happening and he figured those kinds of things had to come from somewhere.

The teacher had hair that looked just like fire. She had it pulled up in a ponytail but there was no mistaking the waves which danced like flames and the coloring. Her hair was a yellow-golden-blonde at the roots but it became orange at the tips. Her robes seemed a little bit singed around the edges as if they were burning up upon contact with her skin, though that might've been Nerluce's imagination. Her eyes were that of gray smoke, blotting out the skies.

What got the class to shut up was when she pointed at one of the two basins of oil in the front of the class and it caught on fire.

Even Nerluce had to shut up. His eyes went wide and his lips twisted into a frown. What... how did she do that? She hadn't snapped her fingers nor had Nerluce seen her transfer a spark. His attention was drawn in a single action. Maybe the teachers from academic studies should try lighting something on fire.

"Alright then," the teacher said, sitting down at her own desk, though it was in the least proper way Nerluce had ever seen. She was sprawled out even worse than Nerluce was, her elbow propped on her shoulder. "Anyone have an idea 'bout what just happened?"

The class was silent.

The teacher smirked, eyes skimming the room as she hunted for her victim the way teachers so commonly did. But when those predatorial eyes landed on Nerluce - or Nerluce's white hair - the teacher's smirk widened into a grin and Nerluce swore he saw fangs. "Hebikotis always seem to know a lot about fire. Answer."

And that meant she knew Nerluce's clan and, more specifically, Coam.

Nerluce stood up, not knowing the answer and ready to bring shame to his family name. But... why bother guessing when he knew he'd just get it wrong? It was much easier to just get it wrong and then the teacher would stop expecting things from him, whether she knew he was related to Coam or not.

"Well," Nerluce said, slow and thoughtful. "It seems you have an affinity for water."

"Wr-" The teacher, who so clearly wanted Nerluce to be wrong she prepared her answer beforehand, cut herself off to give Nerluce a look, probably realizing that he was, in fact, not Coam. Rather he was his own dumbass. He smiled at her, the most pleasant smile he could manage, and sat back down. "Wrong. Sasaquī, does the High Priestess's little favorite have any ideas?"

At this point, Aristide stood up, unprovoked. "Elder Priestess harnessed the heat magic when she pointed at the oil basin and transformed it to create the fire magic."

The teacher whistled. "Ain't yuh a clever one?"

She pointed to the other basin and it, too, was engulfed in flames. Nerluce was just as fascinated by it the second time it happened as he was the first. It was the perfect display of power and control - subtlety and dramatics. Nerluce couldn't help but be awed. Coam was always praised as the best fire wielder in the Clan but she had nothing on this woman.

"Just don't call me Elder Priestess ever again," the teacher said, rolling her eyes. Aristide bowed, low and respectful before sitting down. Nerluce rolled his eyes. "My name's Taayir and if I hear one of yuh shits calling me anything but Taayir I'll make yuh stand on yer left hand the rest of class."

Truly a fascinating teacher. Nerluce couldn't help but let his lips curl upwards. He'd trained with many different masters from all around Itoroh but... well they were all the same stuffy archetype. This woman seemed different from them. Nerluce wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up his resolve, but for the first time in a long time, he was actually excited to be learning magic.

How absurd.

"To start, I gotta give the whole 'what is magic' talk because not all of us grew up in super important clans," Taayir said, rolling her eyes, though Nerluce wasn't certain at what she was rolling her eyes to. "Magic is an extremely versatile power and there are as many ways to wield it as there are magicians."

Not according to all of Nerluce's past teachers. He furrowed his brow and found himself listening more intently.

"I ain't gonna teach yuh the right way to wield magic. That's up to yuh to figure out." She started smirking and Nerluce saw her fangs reappear. "Magic is simultaneously an art form, a weapon, and a science," Taayir explained. "How yuh balance these three things is what makes yer magic unique."

Taayir paused as if she was waiting for someone to pipe up but everyone was either following along perfectly or too scared to ask. Nerluce knew it was the latter because he wanted nothing more than to ask a question. Only... well it seemed that she already held some dislike for him just based on his family name and... well Nerluce wasn't in the mood to be humiliated so he kept his jaw clamped shut.

Seeing that no one was going to ask any questions, Taayir continued. "Due to the fluidity of magic, it's constantly being improved." She yawned a bit here. "There are plenty of debates about what is the best method and I'll be honest with you... I don't give a shit how yuh control it. Just know that there are different ways to use fire magic than what yer great-great-grandpa did."

For some reason, Nerluce felt as though Taayir was looking at him when she said this.

She continued to talk about magic. About theories about magic. And... well Nerluce's mind started to drift. He didn't exactly remember what had first taken his attention away from the lecture, but he did know that when he managed to refocus, he had no idea what was going on. Taayir was talking about something that went way over his head and still in the predicament of not wanting to speak up, he just went back to not paying attention.

Nerluce let his mind drift from what he thought they'd be having for dinner to what he wanted to have for dinner and then he thought about some ways to make his roommates laugh at dinner which made him think about Aristide who was sitting right in front of him, listening so intently when he had to know this better than any of them.

Nerluce wished he had a fake bug. Or a real bug. He just wanted to know what would happen if he slipped it down the back of Aristide's robes.

And that was when Lyana slammed her hand down on Nerluce's desk, snapping Nerluce from his daydreams. She made a face and stood up and Nerluce realized that he needed to be doing that as well. He and Lyana and everyone else for that matter all got up and went to the front of the class where Taayir handed them a candle and they lit it in the brass basin before returning to their desks.

The only problem was that Nerluce had no idea what they were meant to be doing.

He stared at his candle, intently, trying to look as though he were focusing on it like the others were. Nerluce looked out of the corner of his eye at Lyana's candle. Its flame was nearly double the size of Nerluce's. Were they trying to melt the candles then?

"Hey!" Taayir snapped, hurrying towards Lyana. "What are yer trying to do?"

"Sorry," Lyana said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Focus on the fire!" Taayir snapped again. "The goal is to not burn your candle out! Control! Control! Make the flame small!"

"Oh!" Lyana said.

And then her flame went smaller and smaller and smaller before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Yuh ain't supposed to make it go out!" Taayir shouted at the top of her lungs and startling a couple of other candles into going out.

"Oops," Lyana said. "Should I...?"

"No. Nope. Just forget it. Sit there." Taayir waved her finger at Lyana before turning around to look at Nerluce and his candle. She narrowed her eyes and Nerluce could tell he was about to get lectured as well. "What's goin' on over here, Hebikoti?" she asked. "Yuh find this exercise a waste of yer talents."

"I wish it was," Nerluce grumbled.

"What was that?" Taayir snapped.

Nerluce looked up at her and smiled. "I'm doing my best." And then, still not breaking eye contact he bent his neck and blew out the candle. "Oh no. Mine went out. Sure is drafty in here."

Taayir smiled and then Nerluce felt a hand on his wrist. He learned two things very quickly. First, Taayir had nails and she seemed to have no problem digging them into his flesh. Even though she wasn't gripping him tight enough to bruise or draw blood it was still much too tightly. Second, Nerluce found he was very, very afraid.

Was she... was she going to hit him? He didn't know. He didn't think teachers could do that but also didn't think teachers could swear.

Whatever was going to happen was already in motion, though and Nerluce was helpless to stop it as Taayir dragged him out of the room, slamming the door behind them so they were standing outside. It was a cold and slightly rainy day but this high up the mountain the rain came down in more of a dreary slush of water and ice.

The wind howled and Nerluce looked up at Taayir. She tightened her grip and then let his hand drop. "What the shit was that?" Taayir spat out. "I've taught plenty of yuh little spoiled bastards but most of them at least have the courtesy to pretend and try!" She threw her hands up. "What is the matter with yuh? Enlighten me! Please!"

Nerluce glanced down.

He really didn't know what boldness possessed him that made him blow out the candle. Perhaps it was pessimism. He knew he would be able to make the flame grow larger or smaller. He wouldn't be able to do anything. So why bother trying? It was better to be seen as rebellious than incompetent.

So he'd blown out the candle and even now he didn't regret it. So he didn't say anything, just kept his eyes trained on the ground.

Taayir clenched her jaw. "Do you not understand? There are a bunch of other kids in there who are trying their damndest while yer just sitting on yer thumb! Do you think that just because yuh Hebikotis are masters from age three that gives yuh the excuse to slack off? Why not just be an ass and show off? I'm sure some of these little shits would follow you around for it! They'll follow you around regardless!"

"Is that it?" Nerluce asked, quietly.

"Yuh'd love it to be, wouldn't yuh?" Taayir snarled. Instead, she pulled out a candle and thrust it into his hands. "Light it."

Nerluce stared at the candle and then looked back up at Taayir, utterly helpless. He couldn't light this thing. There was no way that she could expect him to light this thing, could she? That was advanced magic! Far, far more advanced than anyone in this class should be learning! Why was she making him do this? Was this something he was meant to be able to do?

"Light it or yuh can pack yer shit and leave," Taayir said, smiling. "Yer choice."

"I-" Nerluce's hands were shaking. He needed to light the candle but he didn't know how! Was this a standard test? Was everyone else able to do this already? Was he so incompetent that he was the only person in this entire temple who had no clue what he was doing? He had known all along he wasn't good enough but to be asked to leave so soon...

Lord Father would kill him. Lord Father might actually kill him. Or worse. Send him to fight on the border. For anyone without magic, that might as well be a death sentence and for anyone with a family name like his... well that promised ten days of torture to extract information he wouldn't have because he was so useless the only thing he could possibly be was a meat shield.

"Alright," Taayir asked. "Go."

"Wait, I-" Nerluce was still shaking as he lifted his hand and tried to snap his fingers but even that was an impossible task at this point. His vision was partially blurred by tears as he tried to get a solid snap out to at least give the impression he was trying.

And he was. He was praying to all the fire gods he knew of to come down and bestow him with some of their holy flames. But the heavens turned a blind eye to Nerluce and the candle remained unlit. Nerluce was suffocating. He was choking on wax and smoke and ash and fire and all of it was in his lungs and he couldn't get it out.

"I'm- I'm sorry," Nerluce said, handing the candle back to Taayir. "I... can't."

"Can't?" Taayir asked, raising a brow. "What do yuh mean yuh can't?"

"I can't!" Nerluce snapped. "I can't make fire by snapping my fingers! I can't control it at all! I'm not Coam! I just- I just can't!"

Nerluce's chest rose and fell, aching and rapid. His hands were trembling and he felt the tears break. He muttered a curse beneath his breath and wiped his eyes, pleading for them to stop. He couldn't take any more embarrassment in one day. He already wanted to be struck down or drowned or whatever merciful god was watching him had in mind.

And then, Nerluce heard a sigh and a muttered, "Shit." Taayir placed her hand on his head. "Hebikoti kid, that's- it's okay? I'm not going to kick yuh out for not bein' able to do something."

"What?" Nerluce asked, looking up.

She seemed to be genuinely sorry but Nerluce knew that adults were good at twisting their emotions. He had no idea what Taayir was really thinking and feeling so the unease inside of him didn't dissipate.

"I'm not sending yuh away," Taayir said again. "I'm still going to teach yuh. In fact..." She moved her hand to her mouth and nodded, slowly. "In fact, I think I'm going to make yuh into the best fire magician this temple has ever seen." She ruffled his hair. "So go take a walk. Clear yer mind. Drink some water and come back whenever yer ready. And then..." She grinned and winked at him. "Then I'll teach yuh to be an even better magician than yer bitch ass sister."

Nerluce stared, speechless as Taayir didn't say anything else but smiled and turned back into the room, probably to yell at the other students. Nerluce wiped his eyes and choked out a laugh. How pathetic. He'd cried in front of a teacher. And now she acted as if she could really help him. But... well Nerluce would admit this was the first time that something like this had happened. He'd never... he'd never had someone... well had someone tell him he could be greater than Coam.

It was impossible but... the idea was nice.