22nd of Exium, Cyclium 1323 of NPC
The start of the last week of Exium, the sixth month, was special for all students of the Academy, ranging from eleven and twelve-year-olds who were just starting their journey, all the way to seventeen and eighteen-year-olds who spent over half a decade carefully studying the path of magic. The same went for teachers, and it was no different for Helfira and her creaking bones.
This day, which fell on different dates each annual cycle, or cyclium, signaled the start of two weeks where students would show to their teachers what they have learned during the past months of classes.
The grades for the first and second-year students were largely ceremonial, only used to grade three students of their respective years, which would be excluded from the payment of tuition— a stimulans that had proved its worth over the cycliums countless times over. Of course, none of the students knew of this little deception, not even those few who had someone in the Academy. Helfira couldn't even imagine what kind of reaction such a piece of information would cause, and a part of her wanted to find out.
Tapping a finger on the covers of a particularly thick book, she enjoyed the hollow sound she was able to produce, as the summer sun warmed her ever colder hands.
Her alarm spells, cast like a net over the comfortably filled room that held over fifty students, informed her of a student that moved too far too suddenly out of his original position.
Eyes snapping open, she spotted the student in question and a single glare was enough for him to look down.
Even as she reprimanded that one, her net tingled from another direction. An opportunist? She smiled. Clever child.
"Students, you are here to show how much you know— not what your neighbor knows," she said, allowing her voice to pass through the silence spell that was focused around her. The blonde little girl fidgeted and opened her mouth to say something in her defense, and Helfira only raised one of her sharp eyebrows as if to ask her, how will you defend yourself? Shrinking back in her seat, the girl bowed her head to her paper and Helfira nodded in satisfaction.
The first years were always the rowdiest, but they would learn, in time, of how difficult it was to cheat here— just as their seniors have learned and, for that matter, how Helfira herself has learned long ago.
The questions on the papers, for this exam, were a mix of memorization of basic concepts they worked on in the past months and hypothetical questions. If even a third of the questions on these papers got any kind of answer that had sense, it would be considered satisfactory because the real goal of today's exam was for the students to show that they learned to read and write their numbers and letters to a passable degree, but most of all to show that they understand what was asked of them. Based on the quality and quantity of the answers, these students would be graded into categories for focused studies in the next five months.
She smiled wickedly. Of course, they didn't need to know that.
From what she could see, almost all of the students present in front of her seemed to be in basic possession of literacy of the Empire's Common. Little Slav should get a bonus for this, Helfira noted as her eyes swept the rows of students. He did a good job.
Once things settled, she resumed her rhythmic tapping, safe in the knowledge that she wouldn't bother the students.
The real grading at the Academy started from year three and upwards, as only those who managed to get to year three were counted as real students. Year one and two were just acclimative years for prospective new members, where they taught basic things that frankly everyone should know, from pauper to Emperor.
They don't even name months, for Heavens' sake! she thought.
Her lip curled as she remembered how one particular endeavor for education went. She had been just a young woman in her early twenties when the Council of the Pyramid decided that they should lower the price of education at the Academy. It got to the point where anyone could pay for their education with just six months of work. Three new dorms had been erected and, if she recalled correctly, the Council Members had expected a sharp rise in applicants after that decision was spread far and wide. Instead, the fall of applicants had been so abrupt that there was even one generation where no new mages emerged, that cyclium when the price of education had been placed at a round zero.
Of course, the Councilors could hardly be blamed for such a result, as they later learned that a rumor had started circulating around the same time, about the Academy's need for young children for some forbidden experiment. Such had been the fear that not even those boiled brains in Chameos had sent their children to learn, to say nothing of those poor ignorant people of the Empire.
Helfira remembered the outrage in the magi community at the Academy well, and she wondered for a thousandth time if that rumor was spread by agents of malicious intents or was it a spontaneous result of some depraved mind that caught on like a spark in a dry pile of leaves. Either was possible. It took many cycliums to recover, and it was only when the price of education was returned to the price that stayed till this day, that things slowly started to improve.
Helfira remembered from when she was a child, some seven decades ago, that there was a movement made by the Order of the Scribes. Their goal had been to spread books written in the Empire's Common to non-magi of Lowlands, of common diseases that could be entirely avoided by simple civic planning and access to clean water. From what she learned, most of those books had ended up in the hands of the few ruling houses of the Empire or, Helfira shuddered, destroyed, and such barbaric actions had not been done by nobles alone.
She later learned that it was not the first time something like that had been done, that similar actions had been attempted over the centuries and she wondered why some of these Scribes even bothered. The first thing a teacher should learn is that you can only teach the willing.
Why waste time on those who were content to stay ignorant?
Sitting in the room with her were fifty of those willing to learn, for the simple fact that they came to learn. A warm smile came to her, as she saw the dear children, some of whom had traveled across continents to arrive at the Library of Lissea, and thus they showed their mettle and willingness.
Her eyes lingered on a few new arrivals, those she was particularly fond of, most of whom she had already taken under her wing. After all, this was her first generation after her decade-long Expedition, so she indulged herself a little.
A red-headed girl sat on the far right, fidgeting in the seat that was too big for her. Lomera. The girl had come a long way in the past five months that Helfira knew her. She still stammered, depending on her agitation, but the shyness borne out of fear for her life that held her back had almost melted away. Under Helfira's guidance, the little girl had gained Mana Manipulation and started doing the shaping exercises in an effort to level the skill. Her rare dual affinities, that of life energies and dust, intrigued Helfira.
Her eyes rowed and found her next favorite, the boy named J'ro. He wasn't on her list by merit alone, Helfira knew. Helfira's Mentor had left a large mark on Helfira, and somehow she hoped to leave a similar one on the boy who bore that gift of a peculiar skill. J'ro was on the cusp of Mana Manipulation, Helfira was sure that a week or three would be enough for the boy to gain the skill. But will he gain Mana Metamorphosis, she thought.
She turned further, waving to a little boy that seemed to be waiting for her to look away.
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Her eyes settled briefly on the raven-haired Eunim and, seeing him, she searched and easily found the golden-eyed, raven-haired girl called Euria, Eunim's twin.
Twin.
Mages had issues having a single child, to say nothing of living, breathing twins.
A shudder ran through her as she remembered how stubbornly persistent she had been, before her baby Porfira came along. Even when her husband had wanted to take things more slowly, Helfira didn't allow herself to rest as a single thought had guided her during that period. What if Helfira's mother had stopped trying? Her colleagues had dissuaded her, but she knew, no, she believed that she would be able to have a baby of her own.
Lovela's potent emotion-numbing skill had been her second rock during those few years, and Helfira was sure that she alone was responsible for a few of her friend's skill levels. She felt something warm slide down the side of her nose and land in her dry mouth. Salty, she thought. Quickly, before anyone could see, she made a small illusion before her face. The blasted illusory magics were never her forte, but this one would serve their purpose, at least until her eyes stopped watering.
Her eyes returned to the students.
The father of the twins had arranged for them to study at the Academy, where, in the right hands, their biological similarity could possibly give an answer to the problem that had plagued mages for millennia. Of course, the two of them would have to agree upon graduation, as a special deal had been made for the distribution of all Repository points gained.
There was brown-haired Sonia, another mageborn, as children of mages were often called. The girl had a gift for magic from a young age, as surviving mageborns were wont to have from a young age. Her little Porfira had been extremely talented as well, but when Helfira went away on business the silly girl had left her talent aside for what? To play politics? Helfira shook her head at the sour notion. Such a waste.
Penelope, another outside arrival, was in possession of a very sharp mind. Often, merely based on just an errant word, the girl was able to find answers to the strangest of questions Helfira posed and, during their private lessons where Helfira guided the girl's mana to the best of her ability, they often conversed at length about alchemy, or brewing as the girl called it.
Then, standing in the center of Helfira's little group, was the green-eyed Tercius.
Already taller than her, Helfira was sure that the boy was another Lazarus in the making, in more than mere height. Initially, Helfira had worried for his prospects of becoming a mage and she was not alone in the sentiment. Based on how fast Tercius was able to run, he surely had a relatively high-level physical skill. Millenia of study of skills indicated that the first few skills had some small, but not negligible, influence on all skills that came after, and for those that had physical skills early on the road to magehood was more difficult. The benefits of a healthy, well-developed body were desirable, but more often than not such a body proved a detriment to the gift of magic, and the choice between the two was clear to anyone with a speck of sand for a brain.
The reason she never told him and had stopped anyone who wanted to intervene was twofold. The first was simple: it was either too late for the boy, or it wasn't, and therefore there was no need to scare the boy unnecessarily. False modesty put aside, Helfira was supremely confident in her ability as a teacher, after all, with her teaching experience, her Teaching at the second barrier, Mana Manipulation at the third, and Mana Metamorphosis at [47], few were those in whom she couldn't awaken the gift for magic. The boy's powers of observation and reflection were more than admirable for a child of that age, and Helfira knew of full-grown magi that never reached that level. For these reasons, combined with the boy's present mana skills, she would put a foot in a fire if he failed.
The current target of her thoughts stood up, and collected his belongings, while carefully arranging the papers. He stepped down the stairs and came to her desk, where he deposited his work.
“All done?” she asked.
“Yes, Mistress,” he said.
"Will you go for the next one?" Helfira asked and extended him the second set of papers. Some students would go for it if only to have a few more free days.
“Can I take a break first?” he asked after a long look. “Five minutes?”
“Bathroom?” she asked and he nodded. “All right,”
As the boy went on his business, she returned to her earlier line of thought. Per the current theory, many of the students would fail at becoming magi for no other reason than that they focused in other ways when they were only small children. But what was the alternative? Go out and say to the world that they need to keep their children bound to books and away from hard physical activities? Impossible. The majority of the population of the planet were farmers and physical laborers.
Another solution was to start with the training at an earlier age, but Helfira had read of a few such trials whose results turned out lackluster. To nobody's surprise, small children rarely had the necessary focus for safe spell casting and when these children had grown up, few had a desire to continue in the pursuit of the path of the magi. Historical statistics meticulously kept over hundreds of years, showed that the best result came when children between the ages of eleven and fourteen started training. The Golden Period, as one Master of old called it, where both the mind and skills were at a pliable intersection.
Her hands leafed through the papers Tercius wrote on, and her eyes scanned the characters, searching for errors. A brief examination only resulted in one observation, which could not be called an error in itself. The boy tilted the letters in a way she never saw before, and for a moment she found it odd before she shrugged. Everyone had a quirk of some kind.
Morning turned to noon and seventeen students remained to work on the second of six tests designed for the first years. It was left up to the students as to how they took the tests, as long as they took each one at least once in the course of the two weeks. They could even repeat the tests, with a different set of questions, for as long as the exam weeks lasted.
Lunch was delivered, around one past noon, and only seven students remained for the third test, all seven from her group. Helfira gave the order for them all to place their writing implements down and eat.
Between bites, Helfira encouraged light discussion between the students, all the while trying to capture the dynamics that occurred when her group met together.
“Is anyone here interested in the next test?” she mentioned between bites. She wanted to go home and rest a bit…
To her surprise, all of them were interested.
She snorted. "Trying to finish all of the exams in one day? There's little wisdom in that, children,"
"My mother promised that she will allow me to have my friends over, Mistress, provided that I do well on these exams," Penelope said, with a bubbly smile. "And I thought that if we finish early, we can spend more time together!"
Poor woman, Helfira thought. She doesn't know what comes her way.
"She did, did she? Does she know how many friends you have?"
The girl's eyes shied away. "Not exactly, but…"
"Are all of you going?" Helfira asked.
All of them nodded, except Tercius.
"You are going!" Penelope said, and Helfira heard the firmness behind the statement. Here was a line that had been repeated. All of the other children, except Sonia, encouraged Tercius, much to his protests.
"I told you already, Penelope. I plan to work on my Runes and Rurds during this break…" he said, and Helfira heard the frustration in his voice.
"You have time for that when we come back!" Penelope said and turned to Helfira, her eyes pleading. "Please, convince him, Mistress. He just keeps his eyes on books or his Well all day long…"
"Didn't we run together yesterday? Half an hour, if my memory serves me right? We share meals, as well, and classes—" Tercius said.
"Yes, but that's it! Mistress, you tell him. This …" Penelope said, as her eyes searched for something. "… this isn't good for his health! Yes, that's right!"
Helfira looked at the spirited girl and said, "Now, now. You should first make sure your mother learns how many friends you have before you try convincing another of joining you,"
Tercius nodded. "Exactly, that's what I keep telling her."
"Use not your studies as an excuse, Neophyte," Helfira said to the boy, using Rurds of the first tier. Curt and rough sounding, the sounds that came out of her mouth were abruptly clipped, as their artificial nature shone through. "Tell me, what makes you hesitant?"
"Mistress. I can not endure two week of play games," the boy said.
"I can not endure two weeks of playing games," she corrected, replacing places of only two Rurds. "Rather than decline your friend's invitation, a better solution would be to present a game of your own,"
"Invitation? I not familiar with word," the boy said.
Helfira almost smiled at the sour face Sonia made, as she observed Tercius speak Magik. The language was forbidden to learn before the Academy, and it was only formally taught in year three and later. Tercius had ended up taking another achievement from the girl. First to form a Well in their generation and first to speak Magik of the first tier, adequately. If Sonia was anything like her father, and nothing Helfira saw so far indicated otherwise, then these two achievements were like thorns driven right under her nails.
You shouldn't be familiar with this much in the first place, child, Helfira thought as she looked at Tercius. Still, what's done is done.
"I am not. Remember the proper Rurd in the middle there. With the word. Only say the first Rurd a bit faster, and clip it properly. Use the tongue. With the, with the, like so," Helfira corrected. "The Rurd invite means to invite, but with the accompanying Rurd they make invitation,"
"A game to play… Thank you, Mistress. Thank you for help," Tercius said. The boy gave a small smile at Penelope and the rest of the students. "Alright, I'll go,"
"Praise the Gods," Penelope said, throwing her hands in the air. A glint came to her eye as she looked at Tercius and Helfira almost chuckled. "Now I just need you to help me convince Mother to sign the visitation applications for all of us,"
"Of course I do," Tercius sighed. "And here I thought that you invited me along because of my cheerful personality,"
Helfira couldn't help it, she snickered.