“I can’t practice shields if he won’t even try to hit me.”
Professor Kines whisked his wand out and pointed it at the prone Tony. The earth crumbled off of him.
Tony batted the sword out of his face and stood up. He tore off his helmet and armor. Without a glance at anyone, he marched straight out of the classroom.
“Alright,” Professor Kines shouted. “Class dismissed. Everyone out.” Juliana turned and Kines added, “except for you, Juliana.”
Eva walked over to Juliana’s side, leaving Shalise looking very uncertain in her ring. Jordan and Shelby walked over to her a moment later.
“I don’t believe I asked for your presence, Eva. Return to your dorms.”
“I had the ‘misfortune of partnering against him.’ I’ll say my input to defend my friend.”
Juliana smiled, still facing away from Professor Kines.
“You both will be kicked out of this class if anything like tonight happens again.”
“Us?” Juliana spun to face the professor. “He is the one who wasn’t following your directions.”
“Should he return to class, he will be given one more chance as well.” Franklin Kines pointed a finger at each of the girls. “You two will come to me if you have a problem with another student. You will not take matters into your own hands or you’re gone.
“Am I understood?”
“Sure,” Juliana said. Her sword squirmed back up underneath her clothes. She turned on her heel. A smile spread across her face as she walked away.
Eva shrugged at Kines as she followed after.
“That was fun,” Juliana said. “I could get used to knocking over upperclassmen.”
Shelby snorted. “Yeah, but you’ll probably make enemies that way.”
“You didn’t have to go fight him,” Eva said as they walked through the Infinite Courtyard back to the dorms. She felt guilty about almost getting her friend kicked out of class.
“No. I did. My mother would never have stood for someone slacking off if she taught a class like this.”
“She’s a retired mage-knight, right?” Jordan asked. “Maybe she would teach a class like this. Not that I think Professor Kines is a bad teacher, I just wonder what kind of background he has to be qualified to teach a class like this.”
“Well, she’s in Russia right now.” At Jordan’s questioning glance, Juliana added, “don’t ask. After that, I don’t know. Teaching doesn’t seem her style. It isn’t adventurous enough.”
Last semester wasn’t adventurous enough with all the necromancers and nuns? Eva sighed and followed the others back to the dorms.
Genoa Rivas was a scary woman.
Chapter 004
“F D P L T C E O,” Shalise said without hesitation.
“Good,” Professor Baxter said. “Next line down?”
“P E Z D I O E T O.”
“Close. Still, better vision than almost any normal person.” Professor Baxter shut off the projector. “Keep practicing that spell and I might have to pull out the air mage chart.”
Shalise canceled the spell. Her vision went dark and she could barely hear the professor talking. No, it didn’t go dark. Her brain just needed a reboot and adjust to unenhanced senses.
It depressed her somewhat. The red of Professor Baxter’s tie became less red. The black of her suit turned almost gray. The colors around the room changed as well. Outside the window had the most depressing change.
She had almost been able to see the crystals of the snow as flakes poured down on the Infinite Courtyard. Part of it might have been her imagination. Her vision couldn’t become that good. Could it? Either way, without the spell active, outside turned into a large mush of snow instead of the vibrant crystalline wonderland.
Shalise sighed.
“Miss Ward, are you listening?” The professor’s stern voice carried a slight tone of danger.
“Sorry professor.” Shalise snapped her head to face her instructor. She’d been kind enough to give her extra lessons, and now Shalise wasn’t even paying attention. “I just shut off the spell.”
“Of course.” Professor Baxter said with an understanding nod. “You’ll get used to the abrupt change over time, though the change gets more drastic as you improve.
“As I was saying, most students can accurately read the bottom line by the end of year exams. You’re about on the mark, if not ahead by a few letters.”
Shalise sat ramrod straight as she listened to the air mage talk.
Professor Baxter lectured about how other students did and how Shalise was right where she needed to be. If there were any shortcomings, they were minor and completely understandable given the events earlier in the year.
It wasn’t the lesson Shalise had been hoping for. None of the lecture helped her pitiful sparks turn into lightning bolts. Her light breeze of air wasn’t strengthening into a gale.
She hadn’t even tried proper telekinesis yet. That was supposedly extremely advanced as it incorporated order magic.
Shalise sighed again. There was probably a reason elemental magic took up four years of classes with an optional two years of element specific learning.
“How long did it take you to cast a proper lightning bolt?” Shalise asked during a pause in Professor Baxter’s lecture.
“Half way through my second year, though I was by no means an average air mage.” She pointed at a frame hanging off her office wall. “You don’t get to be a class one air mage at age twenty-two by being average.”
“Then when do average students usually start casting lightning bolts?”
“By the end of the third year, for most. Some earlier if they’re dedicated or talented.” She took a seat on the edge of her desk, crossing one leg over the other. “I wouldn’t fret if I were you. The first year is almost entirely familiarizing yourself with magic. How it feels, how it moves, and how to harness it in simple capacity.”
Shalise rolled her wand between her fingers. Two and a half years. “That is such a long time. What am I supposed to do in the mage-knight class until then?”
Professor Baxter pursed her lips into a half-smile. “All elemental magic is difficult to use in combat, at least at early levels. You’ve probably noticed other first years being ineffective against even second years.”
“Juliana isn’t.”
“Miss Rivas is an outlier. Not to make light of her talent–of which she has much–but I suspect she has been training in magic since her fingers could grip a wand. I know her mother personally and it is just the thing she would do.”
“Why aren’t others taught so early?”
“Practicality, for the most part. Would you entrust even an eight year old with the ability to light a fire at any time?”
Shalise blinked. The thought of some of her siblings–Cody especially–having the ability to conjure flames at will sent an involuntary shiver up her spine. Shalise shook her head.
“I thought not. Sometimes I think we shouldn’t teach teenagers to do so.” Professor Baxter chuckled lightly. “And that isn’t even taking into consideration the toll that magic takes on younger bodies. It can be very dangerous to health and development. I’m sure Genoa kept a close eye on her daughter as she taught magic. It helped that earth is a very stable element.”
Shalise drooped down and put her chin onto the desk. “That’s very interesting,” Shalise half-lied, “but it doesn’t help me now.”
“I suppose not.” Professor Baxter pulled out her thin, silver dagger. “Is a bolt the only thing you think you can do with lightning?”
Her dagger crackled with yellow light. Thin arcs of electricity danced around the blade.
“Touch this to someone and they’re sure to feel it. There are no distances involved and no worrying about the lightning arcing off to the ground before your target.”