The next morning all three friends woke up excited about their progress. They made it through all their classes and lunch, until it was time for Elementary Magic.

“Today we're going to learn how to access the magic within us. Some of you may have been tempted to try this on your own,” he looked straight at Maddie, Gaius, and Cleo when he said this, “but it is actually quite dangerous if done without a trained instructor.”

“How does he know?” Gaius whispered to Cleo.

“I don't know, but if he doesn't, your whispering will confirm it for him.”

Corentin walked among the rows of students, each sitting on the grass. He came near to Cleo and Gaius and they immediately shut up.

Corentin walked around his students a few times, murmuring to himself. As he reached the front of the class he started walking again, but this time directing the students to move to either side and to the front or the back until they were divided into four groups. Maddie and Cleo sat across from each other on different rear quadrants, while Gaius was in the front right quadrant.

“Now, students in this quadrant,” he motioned to Gaius’s quadrant, “have, as far as we know, a single elemental affinity. Students in this quadrant, “ the one to the left “have more than one elemental affinity. Students in the back right and left have either a known and an unknown affinity, or only an unknown affinity, respectively.”

While Corentin had made clear rows between the different sections, the sections were by no means equal. The majority of the class was gathered in the “single element” category. Six students were in the “multiple element” space. One other student sat with Cleo. Maddie sat alone.

Corentin instructed the students to begin meditating as before, but after they were all sufficiently calm -- which took less time than usual now that Gaius was more focused --he had them turn their gazes inward. The technique he described was almost identical to the one Cleo had led them through the say before, except Corentin described things in more detail. He explained that the core inside them was their soul, and that the same energy that ran through the world ran through their souls. In fact, their souls were the same as the world -- they only felt like different things. Everybody's soul had a magical affinity, a part of the universal being that resonated within them. He said that it was because different parts of the universal being had different affinities, and their souls were made up of those parts of the universal being. He even said that the gods were really just emanations of the universal being, just like their souls. He moved past that quickly, though, as a few students started making noises.

His explanations confused much of the class, though most of them were able to hide it and continue their focus on their own souls. Maddie was listening to him somewhat, but her practice the day before allowed her to access her inner magic right away. She continued to try to grasp her magic, only to have it slide away. Cleo and Gaius likewise could access their magic, they just didn't know if they should manifest it. Corentin continued talking. After his slight detour talking about souls, he told them how to recognize the resonance of their magic. The three friends listened more closely, as this deviated from what they had done before. Rather than just accessing their magical cores, they were to move their attention around it. This would give them a bird's eye view. He then described what they might see and feel depending on their affinity. Once he had them accessing their affinities, he abruptly ended class early. As Cleo opened her eyes she saw a few flashes of Magical energy being extinguished as the more talented students had manifested their elements.

Cleo, Gaius, and Maddie were sitting in the astronomy tower, waiting for class to start. The sun had just set; they were early. They had decided not to meet back at their spot in the greenhouse, lest they be overheard. They didn't know how Corentin knew about them, or even if he really did, but they didn't want to take a chance.

“Any luck, Maddie?” Cleo asked.

“Still nothing. I can feel my magic, but I can't get enough of a hold on it or a look at it to see what it is. Could you see yours?”

“I think I saw the same thing you did. It was a sort of shimmer, like the mirage that forms on the desert sands.” She then had to explain the concept of a mirage to them, after which they agreed that it matched up with what they had seen.

“The water affinity might have had an influence, too. If a mirage is like water,” Gaius said.

“That...that makes a lot of sense, actually. I always forget that you're actually smart, Gaius.”

“Thanks,” he responded dryly.

Maddie sat quietly on the ground, her arms wrapped around her legs. Cleo poked her.

“You okay?”

“I am, I think. It was just hard being sent to sit alone. I must be something bizarre if Corentin needed to do that. Maybe I don't really have any magic. Maybe the examiners were wrong and Corentin knows it. Or maybe I'm a magical freak.”

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Cleo patted her on the shoulder. “You definitely have magic. You've felt it, right?”

“Yes, but maybe I just--”

“--You felt it. I know you did. Maybe you're not a magical freak, maybe you're magically special. Something unique. Something no one has seen before.”

Maddie sniffled. She looked up at Cleo with teary eyes. “You do know that's basically what a freak is, right?”

Cleo laughed. “I suppose so. But then maybe being a freak isn't so bad.”

Maddie laughed and dried her tears.

The next day Corentin directed the students to sit in the same formation. He subtly rearranged them, according to some plan of his own. He had Cleo and the other student with her switch places. Maddie he simply directed to sit in the center of her “square.”

“We'll be sitting in this formation every class from now on. It's time to start talking about the different types of magic.”

Most of the class looked pleased, including Cleo. She sobered when she looked over at Maddie, only to see the girl looking down at the ground worriedly.

Day one was focused on the simple elemental affinities. Corentin managed to keep from talking too much about the universal being, but he did continue to refer to them as souls and their affinities as resonance.

“Elemental magic is, for the most part, very simple. We recognize four major elements. Namely, that of the earth, of the air, of water, and of fire. The earth is largely static. It is the element of strength and stability. It can be difficult to enge with it because it is stubborn-willed. It tends to move slowly, and as such can be inappropriate for some uses. Combat, for example.

“Air is capricious. It moves easily but tends to go where it wants. It takes force of will to direct air rather than letting it direct you.

“Water is sometimes considered the easiest of elements. It moves quickly, always finds the path of least resistance, and is inexorable. Water can grind down stone if given enough time.

“Fire is easy to learn but difficult to master. Fire wants to be free, to consume. The mage’s will is taken up holding it back. Those that give in to fire’s desire to consume sometimes find themselves needing to be hunted down and stopped. Be wary.

“Those are the elements. From those four there can be many combinations for those who resonate with multiple elements.”

He went on to explain how different elements combined and what each element was best at. He led a few of the students from the single- and multiple-affinity groups through some exercises. Gaius was able to manifest a ball of flame and show off by changing it to a ball of light. This prompted Corentin to goo off-topic, explaining ways to change the expression of different affinities. He even held them late. Maddie started the class with interest, but soon grew bored. While the magical theory was both interesting and necessary, none of it really applied to her. Did it?

Over the next few days Corentin started to explain the other types of magic. Apparently what Cleo could do was called by several names. It was variously known as Pure Magic, True Magic, and, probably more accurately, Force Magic. It was one of a very few types of magic that couldn’t be seen and subscribed to no element.

Soon the whole class was practicing accessing and manifesting their magic. Gaius was early in the lead. His practice -- which he had apparently been doing in secret every day -- really paid off. He could manifest balls of light and balls of flame. He could even make them grow brighter or dimmer as he wished. Cleo was able to manifest her force sphere but she couldn’t do much with it. Water, oddly enough, proved a bit harder.

“I have more affinity for Pure Magic,” she told Gaius and Maddie, “so it keeps taking over when I try to access my water magic.”

Corentin assured her that it would come in time, and suggested that she look at the similarities between her force and water magics.

“Something I already pointed out,” Gaius reminded her. She conceded his point and redoubled her efforts.

Maddie lagged behind everyone else. She still could not get ahold of her magic. Corentin suggested trying harder, but she was already giving it her best efforts. Then he gave her various exercises, a few of which were designed to “trick” her magic into revealing itself. Nothing worked. He tried to reassure her, as Cleo had, that her magic must be very special and very powerful if it was so hard to access. Maddie nodded and outwardly gave consideration to his words, but she still felt like a dunce. In the end, Corentin could only promise to ask the other Druids about different types of magic that were not elemental.

Gaius tried to hide his excitement when Maddie was down, but controlling his emotions was something he had never mastered. Maddie could see how considerate her friends were being, but it only made her sadder and more withdrawn.

Cleo and Gaius tried to figure out ways to help her. They met when Maddie wasn’t around.

“What can we do. We can’t help her access her magic, and reassuring her doesn’t seem to work. It doesn't help that you’re practically giddy half the time.”

“Hey, it’s difficult for me. But learning fire magic is actually making it a little easier. You really have to be calm and in control. Otherwise I might burn down the whole school.”

Cleo snorted. “You could barely light a fire. There’s no way you’re going to burn down the school. But we’re trying to help Maddie, not extoll how you’re at the head of our class.”

“Hmph, you’re just jealous.”

“Gaius. Congratulations on being top of the class. Now focus on our friend and not yourself!”

Gaius managed to look sheepish at that/ “okay, okay, you’re right. But I’ve tried everything I can think of. Even Corentin seems to have run out of options.”

“She’s just getting more and more depressed every day. She seems really close to her father. Do you think we could bring him here?”

“Against the rules, remember? And how are we going to contact anyone if we can’t send messages out?”

Cleo sighed. “I just think if we had her family here, we could get through to her.”

Gaius thought for a while, then it came to him. “She’s a Brigantine, right? The Brigantes are very close to their goddess. They’re even named after her. Maybe she needs to visit her god.”

“In Brigantia?”

Gaius smiled. “I never thought I’d be smarter than you, Cleo. There’s a big temple on the island, remember. And I happen to know they have an altar to Brigantia there!”