The three sat for a few hours, first discussing Tommy’s situation. Then, later on into the evening, they moved onto Fleya’s time out in the field. Tommy wasn’t sure if he caught most of it, but it seemed like Fleya was only sent out for two reasons, the first being something important, the second being to show a display of power.

Terrowin seemed interested in which of the two Fleya thought the mission was. She had determined it to be a simple display of power, though her recount of the fight between her and the speedy Adroit had both Terrowin and Tommy on the edge of their seats. Fleya eventually stood and her and Tommy bid Terrowin a good evening.

“So, where to now?” Tommy asked, the feeling of comfort and security from the past few hours slowly fading. Anxiety was starting to creep back up as he realized it wasn’t just talk anymore. He was being thrown to the proverbial wolves, and it was completely on him whether or not he would eat or be eaten.

“Now, we take you to get situated with living accommodations. I will have Terrowin setup a schedule for you based on your current ability. Getting started with a physical training routine will definitely be high priority.” Fleya explained, leading him through the large building that contained the living quarters of the students. They were heading progressively deeper into the building, creeping ever lower.

"The quality of your room is all dependent upon how much you are worth to your sponsor. Seeing as you don't have one, you'll be living off of the good grace of the Academy," Fleya spoke candidly. Tommy elected not to say anything back, knowing he would have to change this himself if he didn't like it. Looking around, he couldn't help but feel a bit at home. He hadn't exactly been living in luxury back on Earth and was used to the occasional litter strewn hallway. A few of the torches in the wall even gave off the occasional hiss as embers shot into the air, their lights sparking in and out. Eerily similar to a fluorescent light back at home.

They eventually came to a stop in front of a beat-up door. Tommy wasn’t quite sure how deep they were, but the entire hallway gave off the atmosphere of a murder scene. There was a large black stain from...something, covering a large portion of the floor and wall next to his door. Fleya approached the door and raised her arms, making a gesture and acting as if the stain wasn't pulsating the closer she stood to it. Tommy felt a shift in the air around him, like someone had opened a window in the room and the air was rushing towards it. It was only briefly though, then he watched as faint lines formed in the shapes of intertwining symbols around Fleya’s raised wrist and hand.

She reached out to touch the door then motioned Tommy forward. Cautiously, he stepped forwards. Pushing her hand towards him, he watched as the symbols left her arm and floated towards him.

“Consider this your first lesson. We need to attune your room to you. I’ve done most of this for you already, you just need to take over the spell to control it. To do that, you need to reach out for the spell and assert your will onto it. If your will is great enough, or if the original mage allows it, you will take over the spell. Ready to try?” Fleya explained, motioning to the symbols, or rather the spell, floating in the air.

Tommy hesitantly reached out with his hand, asking, “Do I just touch it?” His hand made contact and passed right through it.

But not before sending a powerful shock throughout his body.

“Did that feel good?” she asked with a hint of a smile on her face. Cheeks burning red with embarrassment, he took another direction.

“Would you please show me what to do?”

Fleya nodded, hearing this. “You have to connect to the spell on a deeper level. You have to be able to reach out to the aura around you with your perception.” Seeing the blank look on his face, she sighed and tried something else. “Close your eyes.”

Determined to figure it out, Tommy shut his eyes and waited. Fleya continued.

“Have you ever felt like you’re being watched, or like you could sense something was going to happen before it did? Those are all flows of the aura around you. Alerting you. Or sometimes they are shifts in the aura that someone else has manipulated.”

That would explain the feeling he had felt earlier, when she first started the spell.

“Now, what you need to do is train your mind to be able to actively interact with those feelings. An example is when someone holds their finger close to your forehead.”

As she said this, Tommy felt a slight tingle focus on his forehead between his eyes. It was almost like he could sense the presence of something close to him. Opening his eyes, he saw Fleya’s finger hovering in front of his face, pointing at his forehead.

“You need to learn to train that perception, to extend it outwards to interact with the aura around you.” Fleya watched as Tommy mulled over her information, digesting it. “When I first started learning, it was always easier at first with my eyes closed."

Tommy took a breath and closed his eyes. Without quite understanding what he was doing, he started to search for the feeling he had earlier. The minutes ticked away as he tried to do as she asked, but he had no luck. Just as he was about to give up and ask for help, he felt a faint flicker at the edge of his perception. It felt like the tickling sensation from Fleya’s finger, but a little more solid. Almost like it was physically in front of him.

Tommy reached for that feeling. He wasn’t entirely sure how, but he could feel it as his senses crept slowly outwards, towards the spell. It almost felt like he was pushing a car uphill, every inch closer to his destination seemed to weigh down on him even more. Determined to not give up after coming this close, he heaved against the invisible bonds keeping him from the spell.

Slowly at first, and then all at once, the resistance caved. As his mind made contact with the spell he felt a trickle of power run throughout his body. It felt like his skin was acting like a drain in a plug, and a steady stream of power washed into him.

“Now, the important part here is asserting your will over the spell. Reach out for it and force it to submit to your intent. The stronger you can enforce your will over the spell, the stronger the spell will be. As you grow and learn, you will be able to channel more power into the spells you cast; however, if your willpower isn’t strong enough, your spells will only ever be so-so," Fleya explained with a shaking hand gesture. “You need to fully take over the spell and then enforce it with your will.”

Tommy focused more intently on the hovering glyphs in front of him. He could see the spell, he could feel it, but his grasp was so tenuous. It felt like he was trying to hold an oiled glass jar with buttered fingers. Breathing in deep and pouring more focus into the spell, he felt as more aura channeled into him, enforcing the spell and solidifying it in front of him. On instinct, he reached forward like he saw Fleya do earlier.

Unbidden, the spell drifted towards his hand and formed around his wrist. Once the last symbol settled into place, the weight of holding it seemed to lessen, but not by much.

"Good, now you need to cast the spell at the door, but you need to do it with intent. Any spell will work if it's built correctly, but every great mage builds the intent of the spell into the spell itself with their will." Tommy nodded his head to acknowledge her, keeping his eyes locked on the runes swirling in the air around his wrist.

"And this spell helps link me to the...room?" he asked her, trying to fully understand what it was he was doing.

"Correct, just focus on the spell linking you to the room, the magic should do the rest."

Nodding again, he turned his full attention back to the spell. He noticed that the more he seemed to focus on it the more aura would flow into the spell. The moment he would think of something else, he saw a clear decrease in the aura that supported the spell. Acting on instinct once more, the runes around his hand feeling as if they were actually there, he pushed them onto the world with his intent.

Link me to the room, the room and I are one, he thought, feeling a bit silly.

The spell flew from him into the door and stuck to it, glowing brightly before sinking into the wood of the door. As the spell settled into place he could feel an immediate difference. He could almost feel the room beyond the door like it was an extension of himself.

“This is a standard linking spell. It’s one of the first spells we teach here. It allows you to control this room entirely, sealing it off to all but you, and whoever you’d like to permit entry. Seeing as this is just an entry level room, you won’t see much for comfort. But, you will have access to a training room as well as a cultivation study.” Fleya explained. She then walked Tommy through the process of activating the spell to open the door. The process was surprisingly simple, seeing as he could practically feel the room like it was his third arm. He thought of it, and the door simply unlocked. The two stepped into the room, taking a furtive sweep of the place.

There wasn’t much.

A small bed sat in the far corner of the room with a desk positioned next to it, equipped with notepads and writing utensils. There was a small closet built into the wall at the foot of the bed with three doors attached to the wall on their left. In the center of the room sat a small fire pit, much like the one from Terrowin’s dorm. Fleya showed him each of the doors in turn.

“This first one is a cultivation study. Because you’re Adroit, you will need to not only work on spell craft but will also need to focus on will power and physical training. Doing all of this, as well as practicing a regular breathing technique, will allow you to pack a bit more power in that core of yours,” she explained, pointing towards his stomach. In his mind's eye, he could faintly make out his core and the twisting paths leading from it and into the rest of his body.

“This room will allow you to attune to your affinities faster by providing a more aura rich environment. You'll get a better study once you've earned yourself one. This one won't do you much good once you've reached Knighthood.”

Tommy had more than one question, but she was already moving on. The second room was a ten by ten-foot room that was completely covered by glyphs.

“This is the training room. In here you can safely practice most small or close-range spells and cultivation techniques. Anything on a larger scale or power intensity will need to be practiced in one of the private training rooms, or on the battlefield outside.” Fleya stepped past him once more and showed him the third room. “Just your average bathroom,” she finished, looking around and then back at Tommy. “Any questions?”

“Only a few,” he responded, sarcasm thick in his voice. A smile played at the edges of Fleya’s mouth while she waited for him. Questions seemed to fly through his mind in a jumble, he wasn’t really sure where to start. After a moment, Noru spoke up.

Boy, quit dawdling. Any questions you have for her can be directed to me. Get her out of here and let's be done with this. Tommy rolled his eyes a bit at the impatience of his statement, but at the end of the day Noru was right. As crazy as this all was, he at least had an expert living inside of his brain, full time. If anything serious popped up he could just ask Noru.

“I have a lot to think about, and a lot I’m sure I need to ask eventually. But, let’s just start with the easiest. What do I do tomorrow?” he finally asked.

“Myself or Terrowin will be here in the morning to collect you. The class structure is pretty loose here. You’re not required to attend any lectures...but with you being so far behind we thought it would be best to get you started with the fundamentals.” The two discussed the next day’s events a bit longer before Fleya bid him a goodnight and left. Willing the door to lock behind her, he was shocked when he felt the door seal itself behind her. Before it had been such a struggle, but now, only a handful of minutes after first casting it, he could use the link spell so easily.

You’re not actually building the spell or taking it over like you were earlier. The spell has already been built and cast, linking you to the room until you actively dismiss it. Because of this, you can simply reach out to interact with it. A moment passed in silence before Noru spoke up again. Although, maybe we should have you dismiss and recast the spell each time. To get you up to speed that is.

Tommy groaned internally and walked away from the door. He had already experienced a lot in one day and could focus on getting better tomorrow. Tommy started a barely lit fire in the firepit after a moment of walking around his room, inspecting his new living quarters. Turning the torches built into the wall off, he sank into his bed and relaxed. Tomorrow would be his first real day in this place. He had a sinking suspicion that it wouldn’t go over as easily as he’d like.

Noru, reading his thoughts, laughed in the back of his mind. Just before he drifted off, he could hear Noru say one last thing.

Sleep well Tommy. Tomorrow the work begins.