By the fifth time Thenio caused an explosion during scribing class, everyone was more or less prepared for it. His classmates were already avoiding him like he had demon poison, out of fear of losing limbs and possessions. The teacher had put up a barrier around his workstation to protect the rest of the room. And Thenio, who had spent the last seven years causing explosions on a far-too-regular basis, was well past being shocked at just how painful magic burns could be.

What he wasn't prepared for was his scribing teacher coming to find him in the infirmary after the class had ended.

"Really, Thenio, I don't know what we're going to do with you." She shook her head, then looked at him with a skeptical expression. "Have you really been doing the exercises I gave you? How has your magic control not improved at all since the beginning of the year, if you've been doing them properly? It doesn't make sense."

He knew it didn't make sense. But he also knew for a fact that he'd been doing the exercises, even if no one believed him. Most of his free time was devoted to magic control exercises these days.

Not that it was helping.

"You know exams are coming up in a few weeks, don't you?"

He knew. He had marked the dates on the calendar in his dormitory room a long time ago.

"I've been willing to keep working with you because you've been doing so well on all your written assignments. But it's going to be a serious problem if you can't get your practical scores up."

He knew that, too. Why else would he practice so hard?

"If you still haven't made any progress in a few weeks' time, there are going to be some...very unfortunate consequences. It's a shame, but this is the best magic school in the country. There are many more applicants than we have space for. We simply can't keep students who don't fulfill their class requirements—it's not fair to everyone else. Do you understand? Even if you prefer theoretical knowledge, you can't become an enchanter with just that. Practical skills are very important."

He knew that! He knew all of this! Why couldn't she tell him something he didn't know? If this was really the best magic school in the country, why did the professors just keep repeating this same useless lecture? Work harder. Do better. You'll never be successful if you can't take things seriously. He'd already heard it a thousand times from his parents. Couldn't the professors of the prestigious Kafron Royal Academy of Magic come up with something new to say? Something that would actually help?

After she left, Thenio stayed sitting in the infirmary, clenching his teeth and staring at his bandaged arms. He'd lost count of how many magic burns he'd gotten by now. They still hurt like crazy every time.

After that first explosion that Lem had gotten caught up in, the doctor who'd treated Thenio had explained to him that the reason magic burns hurt so much was because the flow of magic power in the body was disturbed, and it took some time for it to calm down and go back to normal, even after the physical wound was healed. The disturbed magic flow aggravated the nerves, which caused the pain. It was a simple enough explanation. Even the nine-year-old Thenio could understand it.

But it wasn't the whole story. It was only now—seven years and dozens of burns later—that Thenio finally understood the true pain of magic burns.

Proper wizards almost never burned themselves. Burns were usually the result of poor magic control, which meant they were the mark of an amateur. Getting a magic burn meant you did something wrong. You messed up. You weren't good enough. It was normal to burn yourself a few times when you first started learning to use magic. People were usually sympathetic when it happened to a beginner. But when it kept happening again and again, year after year, they started to wonder what was wrong with you. Thenio himself had long been wondering what was wrong with him.

Unfortunately, most people explained the situation away by assuming that he was lazy and irresponsible and lied about doing his control exercises. And once they'd decided that was the case, nothing he said seemed to make any difference.

When Thenio had finally been accepted at the Royal Academy—after failing the practical skills portion of the entrance exam twice—he'd felt truly hopeful for the first time in years. Surely the country's best magic teachers would be able to help him?

In reality, though, all they'd given him were more lectures and more magic control exercises.

Thenio let out a long sigh and stood up from the cot he'd been sitting on. He thanked the nurse—who he was quite familiar with by now—and headed slowly back to his dormitory. Even after the pain medicine they'd given him, his arms were aching from the magic burns, and his head was aching from the unreasonableness of it all.

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Thankfully, Thenio had a break from classes the following day, even though that didn't mean a break from studying. He couldn't afford to take a break. But he did go lightly on the magic training, in consideration of his burns. Instead, he planned to spend the day reviewing his class notes and working on written assignments. Or trying to, at least. It was hard to focus when his arms still hurt and yesterday's conversation with his professor was still echoing in his head.

The weather was pleasant, so Thenio decided on an outdoor study session for the afternoon, hoping the change in scenery would help clear out his thoughts. He found an empty table in a secluded corner of the academy grounds and settled down with his textbooks in front of him.

It was quiet for the first hour or so, other than the rustling of pages and the occasional sound of people passing by. Thenio read a chapter about the major factions involved in the Great War for his magic history class and finished some sketches for his enchantment design class. He had just pulled out his notes on alchemical catalysts to start reviewing when he heard noises nearby.

"Caw-caw bird!" called a childlike voice. "Come back, caw-caw bird! Come back and play!"

Thenio turned his head in time to see a crow burst out of a nearby shrub, cawing loudly, and fly off toward the center of the campus. A second later, another small, dark figure flew out after it. At first, Thenio assumed it was another crow. But when it got closer, he realized the shape was wrong for a bird. It had too many legs and not enough feathers.

Was that what he thought it was…?

The little creature seemed to notice Thenio sitting there. As it neared his table, it slowed and hovered briefly in the air, flapping its bat-like wings. Then it glided down and landed on the table with a soft clatter of claws.

Yes. That was definitely a dragon. A kitten-sized dragon with black scales and brilliant orange eyes. It was wearing an ornate leather harness.

Thenio and the dragon stared at each other for a long moment.

"Hi!" the dragon said brightly. "You smell nice."

"Hah?" Thenio could only manage a weird noise in response. He'd heard wrong, right? He was sure he'd heard wrong.

"Your magic." The dragon took a few steps closer, eyes shining as it looked up at Thenio. "It smells like all kinds of colors! Sparkly and pretty. I like it a lot!" The slender black tail was waving enthusiastically. That meant the dragon was…happy? Maybe? Did dragon tails work like dog tails? Thenio didn't know much about dragons. The best he could do was identify this one as a male, since it had a tiny pair of horns in between its deer-like ears.

"I…thanks?" Thenio had no idea how to respond in this situation. He had no idea how magic could smell like pretty colors, either. "Uh…does everyone's magic have a smell?"

"Mmm!" The dragon nodded vigorously. "Everybody's magic has its very own smell. Except it's not a smell. It's like a smell. But it's not a smell. And it's like a color, too. Only it's not really either one, you know? Mmm. Anyways, your magic is super special. I never smelled a magic like it before." He suddenly turned his head, distracted. "Oh! Obby caught up!"

Thenio followed his gaze and saw a small, round object floating toward them. It came over to where the little dragon was and hung over him, bobbing around like a balloon.

Thenio blinked at it. "Is that...a chicken?"

Now that it was closer, he could see that it was a plush toy that resembled a chicken with a ball-like body. It was made of a furry black material, with a bright red comb and a yellow beak and feet.

"Mmm! It's my chicken friend Obby." The dragon stood up on his hind legs and caught the toy in his front paws. "He's good at following me, but he's a little bit slow. And I can fly fast, you know? Super fast! So he got left behind when I was chasing the caw-caw bird. But now he's here." He set the chicken down on the table. Thenio half expected it to float back up when he let it go, but it sat there obediently. "Ariom made him for me. Because he knows I really like chickens. So he made me my very own chicken friend! He's good, huh? Oh. But his head doesn't come off, okay?" The dragon suddenly looked serious. "Not all chickens have removable heads. That's very important."

"Huh? Oh. Um…right?" Thenio nodded, trying not to show how bewildered he felt. Just what kind of chickens did have removable heads? "I guess it would be a big problem if you tried to take the head off a chicken you weren't supposed to."

"Right, you get it." The dragon nodded approvingly. "Uncle Bero's chickens are okay, but you have to make sure you don't go around pulling the heads off other chickens without asking permission first. Ariom said he made Obby's head not come off on purpose to help me remember. You remember too, okay?"

"Ah. Okay. I'll remember." Were all dragons this weird? And did they all need regular reminders to not decapitate chickens? Thenio sincerely hoped not. "Um…is Ariom your contract partner?"

"Ariom is just Ariom," the dragon said with another nod, as though that explained everything. "Oh! And I'm Iggy. What's your name?"

"I'm…Thenio. Thenio Iterune." Thenio was still terribly confused, but he decided it was better to introduce himself properly. He didn't know much about dragons, but he at least understood the most important thing: A dragon was a high-class luxury. Dragons were one of the most sought-after magic beasts, whether as pets or as familiars. And they were one of the most expensive. Only aristocrats and high-ranking wizards could afford them. Since Iggy could speak, that meant he was a familiar. Which meant that there was a very rich and possibly very powerful wizard behind him. It was definitely in Thenio's best interest to try to make a good impression, no matter how strange the little creature was.

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"Thenio. Got it." Iggy nodded again. "Let's be friends, okay? Obby will be your friend, too. And Ariom. Your magic is interesting, and he likes interesting magic things. So he'll like you, right? You should meet him and be friends."

"Ah. Okay." Thenio also nodded, smiling awkwardly. He seemed to have just become friends with a slightly crazy dragon and a toy chicken. This hadn't been in his plans for the day….

Then his expression became serious as his head finally caught up with the conversation enough to realize that said crazy dragon had just told him something that might be very important.

"Hey, Iggy," he said slowly. "What did you mean when you said my magic is special? Is there something strange about it?"

"Um…maybe it's strange?" Iggy tilted his head to the side. "It might be strange. I mean, it's nice, okay? It's a really nice-smelling magic. But it's different from other people. Mmm. Most magics just have one or two smells, right? Some special magics can change, but they can only be one color at a time. But yours is lots at once! It's pretty, right? But. Maybe it's confused. Or...broken?" He paused for a moment, apparently considering his word choice. "Mmm. Right. It might be kind of broken. And confused. I think it doesn't know what color it wants to be. So it tries to be all of them at the same time."

"Oh." Thenio felt a bit ridiculous. Was he actually expecting this weird little dragon to give him a helpful answer? Still…. He was silent for a moment, trying to work some meaning out of the nonsense about colors and smells. "Then…how do I stop it from being confused? How can I make it be like other people's magic?"

Iggy shook his head. "Thenio's magic is Thenio's magic. It can't be like someone else's magic. Mmm. It's special, okay? But. Maybe it can be unconfused? I don't know. Maybe Ariom would know. Ah, but you should be less mean to your magic, okay? It looks really tired. It will be even more confused when it's tired."

"My magic is tired? What does—" Thenio's question was interrupted by the sudden chiming of the academy's clock tower, which wasn't far from where they were.

"Oh, I have to go!" Iggy said urgently. "Ariom said to come back as soon as the clock made noises. His meeting is supposed to be over now. I'll come back to play again next time, okay?" He spread his wings and jumped off the table. "Bye, Thenio!"

"What? Wait!" This was important! Was he going to just leave in the middle of the conversation like that?

Apparently he was. The little dragon zoomed off and disappeared from view before Thenio could stop him. Obby the chicken floated up and drifted slowly after him.

Thenio stared after them in silence, trying to wrap his brain around what exactly had just happened.

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The research group meeting finally ended, and Ariom let out a small sigh before he started putting his notes away.

The group was organized by several professors at the Royal Academy, but they had also invited a few outside wizards, like Ariom, who worked in related fields. They met once a month to discuss recent developments in the study of Pre-War Era documents and artifacts. It was normally a subject he was very interested in, but there was a certain professor in the group who gave presentations so dry they could have put a rampaging behemoth to sleep. Ariom pitied the students who had to sit through his classes. He was glad he'd let Iggy go play outside. There was no way that hyper little guy could have sat through this entire meeting without causing some kind of disturbance.

One of Ariom's cousins was currently a student at the academy, and he usually left Iggy with her while he attended the meetings, but she'd had a supplemental lecture to go to this afternoon. Nobody at the Royal Academy of Magic was stupid enough to mess with a familiar, though, so it was safe for Iggy to play by himself as long as he didn't wander too far.

...probably. You could never guarantee anything with that little bundle of chaotic energy. But his harness did have several safety enchantments inscribed on it, just in case.

The sound of the academy's clock tower striking came from outside as Ariom finished gathering his things. Shortly afterwards, there was a scrabbling noise as a tiny black dragon landed on the sill of an open window nearby. Ariom held up one of his arms, and Iggy flew over and perched on it. Obby the chicken was dutifully bobbing along in the air behind him.

"Ariom, I'm back, see?" Iggy stuck out his chest proudly. "See? I came back just like you told me to!"

"Yes, you did really well." Ariom smiled and rubbed the little dragon's head. "Did you have fun playing outside?"

"Mmm!" Iggy nodded enthusiastically. "Obby and I played together. Then I saw a caw-caw bird! So I chased it around. But it flew too far away, so I had to stop. But then I found a friend! My new friend Thenio!"

"Thenio? You met someone from the school?"

"Right. Probably? He was wearing those green school-colored clothes. And he was sitting at a table and reading books and stuff. And he had special magic! Super special with lots of colors in it."

"Lots of colors? Like a null affinity?"

Iggy shook his head. "No, not like that. Kind of like that. But different. And kind of like our magic. But also different. This was lots of colors all at the same time. So many colors! And the null kind of magic is shiny, right? Smooth and shiny. Thenio's magic is all sparkly and pretty. I never smelled a magic like his before."

"Really? Sparkly magic?" The unusual description caught Ariom's attention.

"Right, spiky-sparkly. But." The dragon's ears drooped a bit. "Thenio's magic isn't happy, you know? It was hurt. And tired. And scared?" He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Maybe not scared all the time. But I think it's easy for it to get scared. Mmm. And then it goes boom! Like when someone steps on your tail, you know? And your body wants to jump and hiss and run away. Getting your tail stepped on really hurts, okay?" Iggy flattened his ears and twitched his tail in agitation. He was silent for a moment, apparently dwelling on the horrors of tail abuse. "But. Magic burns hurt more, right?" He shuddered a little. "Mmm. Magic burns are bad. Really bad. Even more bad than getting your tail stepped on. And Thenio had lots of magic burns, you know? New ones. And some old ones, too. So. That's how I know his magic goes boom when it gets scared."

Ariom frowned. "How strong is his magic?"

"Um…not very strong? I think? Not as strong as me. His magic is bigger than some of the people who wear school-colored clothes. But not as big as the biggest ones. Less big than Seyli's magic. But. It will be a problem if his magic gets bigger, right?" Iggy sounded concerned. "If his magic gets really big, and it gets scared, then Thenio will have a big problem! Instead of going boom, he'll go boom, boom, BOOM! Like fireworks, okay? I don't want Thenio to turn into fireworks!"

Ariom was quiet, thinking over Iggy's words. His forehead was still creased in a slight frown.

A woman in a professor's uniform, who had been listening to them from across the conference table, spoke up during the pause. "The two of you always talk like you're having some kind of deep academic discussion, but you know it sounds like complete nonsense from the side, don't you? Can you honestly understand what he's saying?"

Ariom raised an eyebrow at her. The woman was fairly new to the group, so he didn't know her well, but her question was enough for him to be sure she didn't have a familiar. No one who did would ask such a stupid thing. Obviously wizards could understand their own familiars.

Assuming they wanted to, of course. But that was a different issue.

Rather than answering directly, he asked, "Have you heard anything about a current academy student who has serious magic control issues? He's probably been involved in several incidents recently."

"What?" She looked confused at the apparent change of subject. "Well, yes, I've heard some rumors like that. A first year enchanting student, I think it was. I heard a teacher from that department calling him the Walking Magic Bomb, since he's caused a string of minor explosions during classes." She shrugged. "Well, we get students like that once in a while. Probably a spoiled noble brat who barely squeaked past the entrance exam but is still convinced that he's a genius who doesn't need to practice his magic skills outside of class. You work with nobles a lot, don't you? I'm sure you know the type."

"Thenio's not like that!" Iggy glared at her, flattening his ears. "He's working super hard, okay? His magic is all tired out. I could smell it being all tired out!"

"Calm down, little guy." Ariom stroked the dragon's back soothingly. "I'm sure your friend is a very good worker. But let's not argue about it right now. We need to go soon. Seyli and Tava were going to come meet us after they got out of class, remember? They're probably waiting downstairs."

"Oh! Right!" Iggy's expression brightened, and he scampered up Ariom's arm to sit on his shoulder. "And then we'll go visit Mr. Kraken and have spicy fish balls, right?"

"Right." Ariom gave the dragon a light pat and then stood up, slinging his bag over his other, dragonless shoulder. "You were a good boy and waited while I had my meeting, so you can have all the spicy fish balls you want."

He bid farewell to his colleagues and left the room, with Iggy humming happily on his shoulder and Obby trailing behind them.

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Later that evening, Ariom sat in his workroom, looking over an enchantment diagram. Iggy was perched on the edge of the desk, rolling a large green marble back and forth between his paws and singing to himself.

Spicy, spicy, spicy

Don’t you taste so nicey?

Fiiiiiish balls!

Spicy fiiiiiish balls!

The little dragon finished his song and sat quietly for a minute. Then he looked at Ariom. "Are we going back to the school tomorrow?"

"Hmm?" Ariom looked up. "No, I don't have another research meeting until next month."

"But we should go again to visit Thenio! I told him I'd come back and play with him. And that you'd meet him and be friends."

"Thenio's probably really busy right now, little guy. He's a student, and it's almost the end of the term. Remember Seyli talking about how many papers she has to write? Thenio should be the same. He must have a lot of assignments to finish and exams to study for. It's better if we don't bother him for a while. We'll try to find him when we're there next month, all right?"

"No! We need to go see Thenio and help him!" Iggy came across the desk and shook Ariom's arm with his front paws. "It's super important!"

"Why?" Ariom frowned. "Why is it so important?" He knew as well as anyone that magic instability was a serious problem, but it was strange for Iggy to be so concerned about someone he'd just met. The distractible little dragon couldn't even remember people's names half the time.

"It's because…because…um…." Iggy fidgeted awkwardly. "I don't know how to say it right…."

Ariom waited patiently. Human language was difficult for many magic beasts, even after they formed a familiar contract. And Iggy was still a very young dragon. He often had trouble expressing complicated ideas, and Ariom knew that rushing him wouldn't help.

"Um...Thenio's magic is nice, okay? I like it a lot. But. It doesn't know what it should be. So it's confused and scared. And tired. And sad. From trying too hard to be something. And Thenio's tired and sad. And I want Thenio to not be sad. And I don't want him to go boom like fireworks! But also…." Iggy tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Mmm. Also. You want to learn how to make magic not get scared and go wild, right? It's important to know, right? Because wild magic is bad? So. I think. Helping Thenio would help. If we can make Thenio's magic learn to not be scared, then we can teach other magics to not be scared, too. And also…um…." He paused and screwed up his face. "I don't know. There's more, but I don't know what it is. Just. Helping Thenio is really important! I don't know how to say why. It's just…important."

Ariom sighed and leaned back in his chair. He stayed quiet for a few minutes, one hand stroking Iggy, who was watching him anxiously. Finally, he reached over and picked up a small, leatherbound book that was lying on the desk. The edges of the book's pages were covered in small tabs with names written on them. Ariom skimmed over them until he found the one he wanted and then opened the book to that location, revealing a blank page. He pulled out one of the many pens organized in a rack at the back of the desk and began writing a short message. His handwriting was extremely neat and beautiful. An enchanter's handwriting.

I need to ask a small favor. Iggy is insisting that I meet a student that he talked to while we were at the academy today. Thenio Iterune. I think he’s a first year in your department. He seems to be prone to acute magic instability, so he's probably caused some accidents. What can you tell me about him?

"All right." Ariom let out another sigh. "I can't promise I'll be able to do anything for him, but we'll try to meet with him, at least. Okay?"

"Mmm!" Iggy waved his tail happily.