After the initial explanation, Jharak finally got to information Leon found far more useful than the things he could have figured out on his own.

"Magic power isn't something you'll see in your status, neither is affinity.  One will tell you whether or not you should become a mage and the other tells you what element you're best suited to work with, regardless of your job."

"I, myself, the legendary Jharak, knight of fire, have low magic power, but..."  Jharak holds up his short sword and the blade in suddenly coated in flames.  Some of the children gasp, but Leon could see that coming from a mile away, not that foreknowledge stop the display from being any less impressive.

"This weapon, " continues Jharak, "is enchanted to call fire, which I can then control with my high affinity for fire."  He swings the blade, sending the fire into the air in the shape of a large bird.  "You all will be tested for magic power and affinity when we reach the academy."

With the children suitable awed, Jharak causes the flaming manifestation to explode.  The student and not a few servants and slaves, jump in fright.

"Hahaha, you should see your faces!" Jharak laughs uproariously.

"Well, that's about all the real magic I can do.  But even if the mageist mage that ever maged turns out to be one of you, you're still weeks, if not months away from learning even the simplest of spell formulas."

"Now, follow me," Jharak says, turning and walking away.

First, he takes the children to an area set aside with 15 empty tents.  "Pick one, then leave your belongings here.  Don't worry, anyone who wants to keep their hands attached won't touch anything."

Most of the children don't have anything to store.  They weren't transported with anything but the lint in their pockets.  The weapons and gear some have would have been taken forcefully already if the instructors wanted, so those who have received such things pick a tent and leave their belonging on a bedroll.

Three of the 29 would be champions are dead or missing so Leon and one other student ends up with a tent to themselves, with one left empty.  Few of the students want to be alone, but one boy and girl are left over.  Leon's desire for privacy far outweighs any thrill that would come from sharing a tent with one of the female students.  Jazzy Emmete doesn't seem too upset over the arrangement though.  Like Leon, she prefers her own company.

Next, the instructor leads the children to a field set aside for training the guards.

"The fact that none of you have so much as a belt knife, tells me what kind of world you come from, but here, if you wish to live to see the sun, it would be wise to carry these with you at all times."

Handing each of the teens a small, sharp dagger with a leather sheath, he makes sure they are securely tied to belt loops or around a waist before moving on.  "Those are more tools than weapon, but they'll do when the ale is in the dust."

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"Now given the lack of weapons, your poor movement, and the fact that the short walk through the woods makes all you breath heavier than a goblin in a brothel, I'm assuming none of you know how to fight."  Jharak gestures to an array of wooden weapons laid out at the edge of the field.

"Even mages know how to use at least one real weapon for emergencies, and believe me, there will always be emergencies.  Find whatever weapon speaks to you most, then we'll start the fun part."

Leon heads to the various training weapons slowly but is soon passed by boys and some girls who don't want a chance to lose their preferred pick.  'Typical school mentality'  he thinks, but even if all the children chose the same weapon, there is no chance of running out.  Training weapons, especially wooden ones, are not meant to last, they are meant to teach and as such naturally acquire a short life span.

Leons analysis reveals nothing special at all about the weapons so he goes about picking some of them up, and seeing if, as instructor Jharak says, any speaks to him.

Small training dagger, nope.  Short sword, not bad, but..., 2 handed swords, hell no.  no to the axes, not liking the halberds.  oddly enough, not hating the spears,  seems like the type of thing to enemies away, far, far away.  But honestly, I'm going to do everything possible to become a mage, no way I go to a new world with magic just to swing around a weapon my old world already has.

 Leon goes through the vast selection multiple times, eliminating weapons until he finds himself holding a 6-foot staff.  The design is simple and he figures it can't be too hard to learn, but more importantly,  I can swing a magic staff in an emergency much like a regular staff, no?  Well if not, I'm still fine with this."  

Soon enough all the children have chosen a weapon, and it's time to begin their first lesson.  Leon is paired with a guard who briefly explains some points of the weapon with disinterest.

"Xestu staff, use for leaving bruise on the enemy."  The guard who had not given his name seemed unimpressed with the non-lethality of Leon's choice.  Nonetheless, he demonstrated some positions of the weapon and instructed Leon to memorize them.

"High guard, powerful attacks from above. Low guard, sweep the legs or thrust to the chin or strong swing to those coming from your back.  Mid guard, versatile and should be how you meet your enemy.  False-sword threatens thrust to the face, but nothing stopping you from just beating them with your weapon, heh.  Next is..."

10 guards and stances design to allow one to fight at long and short range were demonstrated, then his trainer simply called them out, forcing Leon to transition from one to the other.  Compared to the sword swings and spear thrust the other children were doing, Leon's lesson looked tame by comparison.  Whatever, I want to summon fireballs not run around with giant metal knives anyway,  Leon pouted silently.

The lesson went on for hours until dinner was served.  By then the children were thoroughly exhausted, most having rarely expended so much energy before.  Jharak disappeared after handing them over to their trainers but reappeared with the other instructors shortly after dinner.

Some of the children, tired but well-fed, were about to retire early, but Ohm Icura had other plans.  Leading the student back to the training field, he informed them their training had just begun.

"Choose your weapons and assemble before me." The earth instructor said impatiently.  Once that was finished he informed the children of their next training exercise.

"To help accelerate your learning of the basics, we will have you face each other in the honor circle.  The rules are simple, two trainees enter, one leave on their back.  Today, we shall choose your opponent for you, but normally the circle is used when one is challenged.  Any questions?"

 Penny Wilmore, normally one of the quiet kids, therefore it was a testament to how tired she was to speak out.

"Do we have to?"