The next two weeks went by in a blur. Mr. Leda attended the practical sessions and helped her each time to find her magic, so that she wouldn’t fall behind in learning how to control her mana flow and Miss Joy gave her a clean bill of health.

In the theoretical lessens Ludwig began to teach them the nuances of why each type of magic only affected certain states of matter. It had something to do with the thickness of the corresponding mana strands or some such thing. It felt as if the theory was way over her head.

Half way through the second week she began to feel differences between her skin and her magic, and the next day she managed to find and direct her magic on her own. It started to respond to her mental probing and ripples formed on top of her mana. This made it easy for her to grasp it and then initiate the transfer to the training disc. This time slow and controlled. She couldn’t help but smile when a small vortex of wind appeared over the air training disc without Mr. Leda having to hold her hand.

After her success, she was given a spirit stone, and easily managed to work it as well, staring at the small light blooming into existence above it. The fire disc was next. Miss Sao lit the small candle with a lighter and then watched while she worked the training disc. The flame flickered for a few moments, but then became a small bird that flew in circles above it.

She had finally caught up to everyone else, she was finally a true student of the academy, even though she was just a donar.

In this moment of triumph she saw Rudehair glancing up at her. What was up with that smug grin on her face? Did she knew something that Lia didn’t?

That week their introductory classes ended, and their schedule began on Ariesday with physical education. Then they had lessons about etiquette, more on magic theory, history and magic law. At the end of the first half of the week, on Leoday, the donar’s current mana capacity was measured.

It simply involved holding a training disc of one of their colors and pouring mana in until the effect on the disc began to sputter, therefore their Mana Capacity was measured in Minutes. The lowest result were five minutes, with the highest being at roughly half an hour.

Lia had trouble concentrating, and took with twenty-one minutes third place. The funny thing was that her mana didn’t feel anywhere near as exhausted, but she had trouble keeping up with her concentration in supplying a steady stream of mana. She hadn’t quite caught up to everyone yet.

Ludwig, who was observing all of this, squinted his eyes, as if he knew that she’d been underperforming at this test, but at least he didn’t demand that she had to repeat it.

Her headache was thankful to him for that.

***

“We’ve determined that you have a modicum of control over your magic now,” Ludwig told them the next school day. “Which means that we’re now moving from seperate classes for Impero and Donar to joint classes of Impero-Donar-Teams.”

The class fell silent, and Lia had the feeling that some of the Impera were eying there prospective partners already. But … why was Rudehair eying her?

“We have chosen those teams for you,” Ludwig continued, and Lia felt a shiver run down her back. “There might be situations where you have to work with someone you don’t know, which is why we’ll change teams regularly. Of course we paired each Impero with a Donar that has compatible elements.”

Why was Rudehair looking at her with this smug grin on her face?

“Your task as Impero will be to guide your Donar in when and how to supply Mana, as well as much, so you can achieve the effects you’ve learned up until now.”

Lia stared at the rows before her. She had the hunch that she would be paired with Rudehair. That the girl smirked at her because she could push her around. It felt as if the color of her mana … changed.

“I will now call the pairings: Imir Qatar and John Taros.”

Maybe it was just her skin feeling cold and clammy?

“Peter Wendelstein will work with Orphelia Deimos.”

No, no, that couldn’t be. Rudehair couldn’t know the pairings beforehand and Lia had at least three more Elements than just Fire.

“Eclaire Centauri will work with Lia Eo.” Ludwig’s voice felt as if it was cutting into her skin. Her soul. It was almost as if ice was crackling all over her skin. That … that was just … coincidence? Right?

Rudehair grinned at her, with a smile so broad that it almost split her face in two. She was clearly savoring Lia’s reaction to that announcement. Only when she was satisfied did she turn away from her, but not without throwing some of her red hair behind herself. Lia felt frozen to her chair. She didn’t even hear the other pairings.

“… teams. We’ll move to the training grounds.” Dazed she looked up from Rudehair’s back and at Ludwig. What hat happened? What had he just said? He was already leaving the room while everyone else got up. Orphelia went to a boy with dark green hair, who smiled at her roommate. The appointed pairs formed fairly quickly. Some seemed happy, others not. Only she and Rudehair were still sitting. The other girl stared up at her and looked annoyed.

“Are you coming?” she finally snapped. “You’re my Donar, you’re supposed to follow my lead!” The others quieted down at her loud voice and looked at them. Lia had the feeling that they were looking especially at her, as if she was the one in the wrong.

“We’ll both be in trouble when we’re late!” Rudehair complained, but didn’t move from her seat, while the others began to leave through the door and followed after Ludwig.

Lia didn’t move. It took her several minutes more before the ice on her skin had dissipated enough for her to move again.

Eclaire stood up and moved toward her. She stopped half-way when Lia rose. “Good. You shouldn’t make me wait.” Rudehair began to move toward the door everyone else had move through already. Lia walked down toward the door herself, feeling stiff all over. Suddenly Rudehair stormed toward her and grabbed her hand, pulling her down and toward the door.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“We can’t be late. Not with him,” she explained while she pulled her along. Did she fear Ludwig for some reason? A part of Lia’s mind noted that Eclaire had already been instructed by him. What was he doing to punish late comers, that she was this adamant?

The memory of the frown on his face was enough to melt the ice in her limbs and get her to move.

“Finally,” Eclaire murmured and turned around, running down the stairs. Lia bit back a comment and followed the other girl out of the classroom, and through the door at the left.

Eclaire was running. Whatever Ludwig did, it put the fear of Nine in her. Lia had no trouble keeping up, and followed her around corner after corner, until the stones - or the illusion of stones - made way for crystal walls.

The darkness of space shone through the slightly glowing crystals, giving this place an ethereal beauty. She didn’t have time to admire the scenery, and had to catch up to Eclaire, because she hesitated for a moment.

They caught up to the rest of the class, just as they filed through crystal doors. They followed them, slowing down and catching their breaths. The crystal doors slid closed behind them, making no sound at all.

The training area itself was a stunning experience. It looked like a garden beneath a night sky. Rocks stood in a corner, half-sculpted into something recognizable, half looking like molten rock. Then there was a pond, a wind mill and torches at the corners of the room, in the middle were picnic tables, together with strange metal statues and small trees. If she remembered everything correctly, then there was every element available, so the students could learn how to control their magic.

“The Imperi - your Imperi - have learned how to control magic using the facilities in this training garden. The donar have learned how to control their flow of mana. Now you learn how to work together,” Ludwig said, looking at all of them in turn. Though she had the feeling, that he skipped past her and Eclaire pretty quickly.

“The Imperi will learn how to channel the mana they get from their Donars, and you will also learn not to overtax your Donars. The Donars will learn how and how much mana they can supply to their Impero, and not to overwhelm them.”

“Yes, sir!” The Imperi said, some of the Donar joined in afterwards. Lia didn’t. While Eclaire commented her faux pas with an elbow to Lia’s side, Ludwig didn’t. It seemed more that he pointedly ignored her.

“Now, go to your respective elements. Those that only have wood, metal or spirit mana will gather in the middle. I have to supervise your usage of magic. You have one hour to control an element. Together.”

As Ludwig dismissed them, Eclaire pulled her over to the torches. Orphelia and her Impero came over as well, choosing a different torch.

“What are you doing?” Rudehair demanded while staring at the torch. Her voice was just barely above a whisper. “Provide me with fire mana.”

Lia sighed. How could someone be this unpleasant? Grumbling, she put a hand on Eclair’s shoulder, closed her eyes and concentrated. With all the practice she’d gotten, it was easy to find and grasp her magic, which ended just where her skin began. She led it to her fingers and then pushed it into Rudehair, just like she had done with the trainings discs.

Rudehair gasped, stumbled away from her and the torch burst into a large flame, a gust of wind making it even larger. “W… what are you doing?” Rudehair hissed and stared at her angrily. “Just fire mana. Nothing else!”

Lia blinked and looked at her hands. She didn’t know what to say. As far as she was concerned, she had only mana. There wasn’t anything about different colors, she couldn’t just pull her mana apart into different … flavors. The discs simply used what she gave them, maybe simply taking what they needed to achieve the effect, but Eclaire? She would be overwhelmed by getting more than one color at once.

“I,” she began and gulped, clearing her throat. “I don’t know how.” Her frustration surfaced again, and she needed to get it under control, or Eclaire would really have problems. She tried to take deep breaths to calm her emotions.

“What do you mean you don’t know how?” Eclaire demanded. “Everyone else has no problems with it,” she exclaimed, waving to Orphelia and Peter, who was working the flame into a bird-like creature that made circles above their torch.

“I just have mana in me,” Lia argued back, fighting against raising her voice. She didn’t want to stand out, not again. “There are not colors, there are no … things. There’s just a giant me sized blob of energy, just mana!”

“You’ve got to be …” Rudehair grumbled, then … her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Okay I’ve got us into this, I’ll get us out. So, let’s try to figure this out.”

“How?” Lia wondered aloud. Something strange was happening. Eclaire was trying to be helpful? She looked at Ludwig for a moment. He may be unpleasant, but he seemed to have a positive effect on Rudehair.

“Unlike you I can tell which mana is which. That’s why I’ll try to see whether I can sort your messy mana apart. And then we’ll go from there.” Despite the reasonable suggestion, there was a certain heat in her voice.

“Okay,” Lia agreed, “tell me what to do.”

“Finally getting into the role you should play,” Rudehair said with a smirk. “Give me your hand and let me feel your mana. Don’t push it to me, just allow me to feel it,” she continued before Lia could bite back at her.

She took a deep breath and did her best calming her emotions, then lifted her hand so Eclaire could grab it. When the other girl took her hand, Lia closed her eyes and concentrated. She tried what Mr. Leda had done with her: Just brushing her magic against Eclaire’s skin.

Rudehair frowned immediately, tilting her head this way and that. “That’s tricky,” she admitted finally. “Your mana is just an entangled mess of strings. Is this how it is for every Donar?” she asked.

Lia shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Of course not,” she snorted, “why should you know anything?”

Lia felt her anger and frustration mount. It wasn’t her fault that she knew-

“There, I think I found a strand of fire mana,” Eclaire announced. “I’ll pull on it. You will observe what I am pulling and giving me only that, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she spat, gnawing her teeth. She didn’t like Rudehair’s attitude at all, but she had to admit, that she was trying to help her. It took her a moment to calm enough to feel Eclaire’s tugging at her mana. Apparently she could only tug at the surface, and couldn’t just pull the mana out of her. Lia tried unravelling her own mana, and managed to get a hold of just one string, or just one flavor of mana. It wasn’t easy to just pull that one mana out and holding the rest back, but she managed. She fed that one slowly to Eclaire, who gasped slightly, then turned with one hand to the torch and began manipulating the fire.

Lia kept pulling just that one strand out, giving it to Eclaire, and the longer she did, the more she had the sense that this one string was differnet from the rest. As if it had a color, or rather a flavor of its own. If she had to put a name to the feeling, it was like … a burning spice. Hot, unforgiving, consuming.

It was hard to keep the concentration up while watching all the things Eclaire did to the fire. It was almost as if she wanted to outdo Peter, forming not only one bird, but a flock flying in formation, and further away from the center of the torch. There was still a thin string of plasma connecting the torch itself to the birds.

“Right,” Ludwig called all of a sudden. “That’s enough for now.” Rudehair let go of her hand, and the torch sputtered back to a normal flame. There was sweat on the girl’s forehead, and Lia … Lia felt a massive headache coming on.

Peter was sweating as well, and Orphelia was breathing heavily, while rubbing her arms. It seemed as if everyone experienced the symptoms of using mana differently. At least she didn’t feel exhausted, and she might know now how to find the fire mana again … but as to the rest of the colors? She had no idea.

“Class is dismissed for today,” Ludwig announced, and everyone made their way to the door.

“Miss Eo?” Ludwig said as they reached the door, and she stopped. Eclaire stopped next to her, while Orphelia and Peter went on without them.

“Yes?” she asked, looking at his frown.

“I need to talk to you,” he said and she could hear him gulp, as if those words made him uncomfortable. “In private.”

Lia noticed Eclaire’s frown as she slowly made to leave. Lia could only wonder why Ludwig wanted to talk to her, and why it had to be in private. He wouldn’t want to try any of that with her, would he? She felt nervous as she nodded.

“Follow me.” He said, and she felt as if she had no choice but to come along.