Nerluce felt as though he was working harder than he ever had before.

He could tell that Lyana was getting annoyed with his antics, yet he couldn't stop. He studied every second of free time he could get. He tried to also work out while studying. It wasn't all that difficult to read and jog in place or do pushups or some minor physical activity. In fact, he found it helped him focus. He stayed up later every night, his candle burning longer and longer as he learned Magickal history and Magickal control at the same time.

Yet for the most difficult task of all, Nerluce had barely gotten anywhere. Creating your own, Magickal Weapon was one of the two requirements for Magickians with a flame Affinity at Ethera to become Seraphs and Nerluce needed as much time and practice as he could get. Taayir had been coaching them through the process in class and there had already been plenty of amazing results.

But Nerluce was hopeless as he'd ever been.

"Just... see it in your mind," Lyana said. "And then..." She snapped her finger and a long flame extended from her hand.

Despite themselves, everyone in the classroom turned to look at Lyana as she summoned her weapon, Phoenix. Lyana was infinitely talented and had more Magickal power in her pinky finger than Nerluce did in his entire body. Phoenix was the culmination of that power. It was a massive, flaming weapon of fire and death: a long-handled scythe. The air around Lyana was heated by Phoenix's fire.

Nerluce stared in awe at Phoenix before shaking his head, trying to snap himself out of it. He needed to focus on summoning his own weapon. It was smaller and simpler and therefore theoretically easier to summon. He didn't even need to make it out of his own flames right now. Lyana had just done that to show off.

"You know that doesn't work for me," Nerluce said. "I got to see it in real life first."

"Well you don't like any of my designs," Lyana huffed, dismissing Phoenix with a wave of her hand. The classroom seemed darker without its all-encompassing glow. "If you just told me what you want it would be easier."

"I don't know what I want," Nerluce said.

Lyana groaned, throwing her head back in annoyance. "Have you at least decided on what type of sword you want to use?"

"Oh, yeah!" Nerluce had actually been looking into swords for the past couple of days now, studying their differences. He'd considered different types of swords from all over Ecekasuri but figured it would probably be best if he used a type that originated from his own country. "I think that a tachi would be best." He showed Lyana the image from the book on swords he'd borrowed from Ethera's library.

"Tachi?" Lyana asked, squinting at the picture of the sword. "It looks like a katana. What's the difference?"

"Well they are pretty similar," Nerluce admitted. Coam used a katana so that was just about the last type of sword he wanted. "Tachi are better swords for horseback and are an older design." He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I liked it."

"I like it too," Lyana said as she started sketching.

"I just want a sword that... I don't know isn't like Coam's."

"You've said it before," Lyana said, not looking up from her parchment. "Suru-Suru has only one master. Whatever you craft is guaranteed to not be like Coam's no matter what."

"Not helping," Nerluce grumbled.

Taayir walked over at that point, picking up Nerluce's book on swords that Lyana was sketching from. "You don't need this," she said. "Lyana, your art is beautiful but overly complex. Fire is unlike any other element. It doesn't accept a detailed design." She closed the book and set it back on Nerluce's desk. "I want you to focus on two things right now: a general shape and a name."

"I have a name," Nerluce said.

Taayir cocked a brow. "Oh, let's hear it then."

"Euonymus alatus," Nerluce said.

He grinned, proud of the name he'd chosen for his sword. Nerluce had been doing a lot of reading lately and figured that he might as well chose a name representative of that. He'd found the name in an encyclopedia he'd been flipping through, looking for something else when he saw a picture of one of his favorite trees, burning bush, and decided to use the scientific name for it as a name for his sword.

Like it or not, plant Magick was a part of him so... just as his red eyes, Nerluce intended to wield this firey sword as a mark of defiance.

"No," Taayir said.

"Why not?" Nerluce asked, eyes wide.

Lyana snorted. "It's too long and complicated. How is anyone supposed to remember that."

"Also it's too obvious," Taayir said, giving him a pointed glare before glancing to Lyana. Right. No one was supposed to know about his Magick. Nerluce looked down in embarrassment as Taayir wrote out the name Nerluce had first chosen and then crossed out most of the letters. "There. Ealatus. You keep the reference without the bullshit." She turned back to Lyana's sketches. "Those are good. Try one of these, Nerluce."

"Fine, fine."

The parchment was passed in front of Nerluce. He looked over the simple sword drawings with mild disappointment. He wanted to make something... he didn't know. Something unique. But maybe Lyana was right when she said that swords were boring and easily mistaken. With these designs, he could be summoning anyone's sword.

As he felt his heart sink lower and lower, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Nerluce started and looked up at Taayir. She squatted down so she was at eye level with him. "Most Magickal Weapons start out plain and develop over time with their master's personality. You don't have to make it perfectly your first try."

"But I want to," Nerluce said.

"I know. I get it, trust me." Taayir sighed as she stood up. "Just try making the plain sword, alright? It'll save you a lot of trouble."

Nerluce nodded but he couldn't help but glance at Aristide.

He wasn't crafting a fire weapon. Technically, Taayir had asked him to help out students who needed it but Aristide wasn't doing that either. He instead was sitting at his desk with a flame, making it grow and shrink. Once, the flame almost took the form of Taayir's whip before Taayir hit Aristide on the back of the head and the flame was snuffed out of existence.

Nerluce didn't understand what Aristide was doing. He already had Kōttaiki and with a weapon of that quality, there was no need to change it. Any weapon he crafted would undoubtedly be weaker. Aristide had to know that as well, yet he kept toying with his flame like he was thinking about creating another amazing weapon.

Turning his attention from unfairly talented Aristide, Nerluce focused on his own candle and flame. He first separated a portion of the flame from the candle. They'd learned how to do this last year and it had become relatively easy for Nerluce. He focused on growing the fire. He kept his eyes closed and breathing steady. Breathing was a big part of physical Magick because it was one of the easiest physical actions a person could do.

Nerluce breathed and moved his hands slightly and slowly, the flame grew larger. This took more time for Nerluce than it did others but he was getting faster. Every time he did it, he felt himself improve just a bit. Nerluce made a mental note to practice this at least five times a night until he was as fast as Aristide was gathering water from the air to form Kōttaiki.

When Nerluce finally had enough fire to actually do something with it, Nerluce was a bit stumped. He glanced down at the images that Lyana had drawn him. Alright... maybe he should make the blade first? Nerluce bit the inside of his lip as he moved his hands apart from one another as if he were stretching dough apart. The fire moved sluggishly and it burned unevenly. Nerluce's lips quirked downwards.

How was he supposed to get it even? In his mind, he saw it evenly but it never turned out like it was supposed to. Nerluce huffed out a breath and dismissed the fire, letting it burn out of existence before starting over again.

Nerluce was halfway through his second attempt in trying to make the blade even when Taayir exclaimed, "Aristide, you're here to help, not play. If I wanted someone to sit around and try to make Suru-Suru I would have Lyana doing it, not you." She huffed, loudly. "Do you have no shame that you're being outdone by a girl who isn't even a Seraph yet?"

"No," Aristide said.

Nerluce's second attempt sword fell apart out of nowhere and he groaned in frustration. "Aristide, you should help me... it's impossible."

"You should help me," Aristide said, turning his head. "How does your sister make Suru-Suru blue?"

Nerluce shrugged. If he knew that he wouldn't be struggling so hard in the first place.

However, that was when he noticed that Aristide had truly created an impressive replication of Suru-Suru above his desk. Only the color was wrong. It burned the usual red-orange of fire, completely oblivious to the true power it would have in the control of Coam. Aristide's brows pressed together as he waved a dismissive hand and the almost Suru-Suru was gone.

Nerluce rolled his eyes. Aristide seriously was too talented for his own good. If Taayir let him alone, he'd probably have it figured out before their evening meal.