Rather reluctantly, the students filed up to the table. Theo joined the line. He was actually feeling optimistic about their assignment.

The enchanted sheets of paper that he carried in his bag had been his final project for one of his enchanting classes the previous term. He’d spent weeks working on it. And he’d taken extra time to research paper toys so he’d be able to make something that Iggy would like whenever he met the little dragon again. Because of that, he was very aware of the possibilities that the stack of paper on the table represented.

Alfred had called the paints 'finger paints,' but he hadn’t actually said they needed to paint with their fingers. If he could figure out how to make a writing tool out of paper….

Theo didn’t entertain any illusions about being able to create an inscription that was any better than the other students’. The enchanting course at the Royal Academy was five years. The others were in their final year — three years ahead of him. Obviously their enchanting skills would be better than his. But the focus of this assignment was creativity, not skill. If he could just come up with a creative idea, he still had a chance to make a good impression.

He picked up a set of paints, a cleaning cloth, and several sheets of paper. Back at his workstation, he took a moment to examine the materials — checking the thickness and texture of the paper and opening some of the paint jars to look at the color and consistency.

He had just decided what type of brush to make and was thinking through how to construct it, when a noise made him stop and look up.

It was the sound of paper ripping.

The noise hadn’t only attracted Theo’s attention. Everyone in the class had turned to look at Abigail, who was busily tearing strips of paper and rolling them into thin tubes. Noticing that the rest of the room was watching her, she gave a satisfied smile.

“He said we had to use what’s on the table, but he never said how we had to use it. If we aren’t allowed paint brushes, why not just make some from the materials we are allowed? Artistic enchanters study brush and pen making, so it seemed like the obvious solution to me.” She looked at Alfred. “It’s not against the rules, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. Making tools is allowed as long as they’re made from the supplies I gave you. A good observation, Miss Perinith.”

“Thank you, sir.” Abigail gave Alfred a brilliant smile. Then she returned to her work, a rather smug expression on her face.

The rest of the students glanced at each other. Then, one by one, they turned back to their workstations and started folding, tearing, and rolling their paper. A few went back up to the front to get extra sheets.

Theo was the only one who didn’t join in. He just sat, staring down at his paper sheets and feeling like an idiot. Some creative idea that had been…. Even if he’d already thought of it, everyone would think he was just copying Abigail if he did it now.

But what else was he supposed to do?

He tentatively dipped his finger in one of the paint jars and tried drawing the first few lines of a magic formation. They were thick and uneven. He’d barely be able to fit a single formation on the page like this, let alone a whole matrix. And even if he could fit it all, the uneven lines would cause problems with the magic flow. Best case, the enchantment wouldn’t function at all. Worst case, it would explode.

Though Iggy might enjoy that. Boom boom, right?

Was making paper brushes the only way to get the job done?

“Looks like everyone’s gotten started,” Alfred said, looking around the room. “Your turn, Iggy. You can paint here on this end of the table.”

“Okay!” Iggy jumped down onto the table and started doing a little dance of anticipation while Alfred got some paper and a set of paints for him. And cleaning cloths. A lot of cleaning cloths.

“All set, little guy. Try not to splash too much, okay?”

Iggy did his happy wiggle. “Can I sing, too?”

“Sing away,” Alfred said with a smile. “Let them hear your special painting song.”

Wait…what?

Surely Iggy’s splish splash painting was going to be distracting enough. But he was going to sing while they worked, too? Theo noticed a few of the other students looking similarly disconcerted by this.

The little dragon sat back on his haunches like a squirrel and dipped both his front feet into the open paint jars. Then he started happily pawing at his paper, smearing paint all over it. While he painted, he began to sing.

Splash the paint onto the page

Drizzle, drip, like pastry glaze

Making fireworks so bright

Little flowers made of light

“Is this part of working under difficult circumstances, too?” Theo heard someone mutter.

Iggy actually had quite a pleasant singing voice. But the song was still very distracting. It was normal for enchanters to work in silence to help maintain their focus, especially when working in a group like this.

Obviously Alfred would know this, which meant his allowing Iggy to sing was a deliberate choice. A part of the game.

Was it simply meant to be a distraction? The other students seemed to think so. Although several of them made annoyed expressions, they all lowered their heads and returned to concentrating on their work.

But Theo had already learned — in quite an embarrassing fashion — that it wasn’t wise to underestimate that little black dragon or his owner.

Let them hear your special painting song, Alfred had said.

Theo wasn’t sure whether to call it intuition or desperation, but he decided to listen closely and see if he could figure out just what was so special about it.

Add the colors — one, two, three

Count all the elements you see

Fire’s black like Iggy’s scales

Earth is red like a rusty nail

Light is blue like a glowing ball

Dark is brown like a dungeon wall

Air is green like shiny satin

Water’s orange like Mr. Kraken

What was with those colors? They didn’t follow the standard color-coding system for elements at all. Iggy seemed to have assigned the colors based on his personal experiences. Some made obvious sense, like wanting fire to be black to match up with his own element and color.

But how exactly was air like green satin...?

Puzzling over the little dragon’s color choices, Theo looked down at his paint jars. The colors they’d been given were the same ones Iggy listed in his song. Was there some kind of hint there? Something he could use?

Why had Iggy felt a need to assign elements to all the paint colors, anyway? You normally wouldn’t worry about something like that unless you were making an elemental diagram. Or if you happened to be using—

Theo's eyes widened as he stared at his paints.

“They can’t be…” he whispered to himself. “There’s no way.”

Elemental paints.

The standard enchanting process used magic formations — specific combinations of lines and symbols — to guide the flow of magic power. The path the magic took through the formation determined what the effects were.

But this wasn’t the only method. It was just the most widely preferred one because it was the safest and easiest to replicate.

One alternate method was known as elemental enchanting. Unlike regular enchanting, which used magically conductive but otherwise inert materials, it relied on materials that were charged with raw elemental power. This allowed the enchanter to create magic similar to that of magic beasts, most of whom also used elements.

It was powerful, but it was difficult to control and therefore dangerous. The required materials, such as elemental paints, were also difficult to make and often required rare ingredients. Which meant they were very expensive.

No responsible teacher would give his students such dangerous and expensive materials to mess around with, especially without telling them what they were. Elemental enchanting was considered an advanced technique and wasn’t even taught at the academy level. You needed to get an Apprentice certification and find a mentor who was willing to teach you if you wanted to study it.

As far as Theo could see, his fellow students were all drawing normal magic formations. If these really were elemental paints, that wasn’t the proper method at all. Their enchantments would destabilize and cause a disaster.

Since Alfred was calmly watching the students work without saying anything, the odds of that being the case were basically zero.

But….

Theo opened his jar of black paint and examined it closely. Logically speaking, it was impossible for these to be real elemental paints, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about them.

He stared at the paint, concentrating his senses. It was faint, but now that he knew to look for it, he could feel magic power emitting from the black liquid.

That definitely wasn’t normal.

One of the things Theo had learned from growing up as the child of alchemy and enchanting assistants was that almost all alchemy materials emitted magic, but hardly any enchanting materials did.

Checking the other jars, he discovered that they were the same, although the feel of the magic was slightly different for each color.

They couldn’t be elemental paints. But they didn’t seem to not be elemental paints, either.

Baffled, Theo raised his head to look at Iggy, who was still painting happily at the front of the room. His nose had a yellow splotch, and one wing was streaked with blue. He had started on a new song by now — something about a brave little dragon going off on a quest to defeat an evil knight.

Iggy’s very sensitive to magic power. Bits of the earlier conversation ran through Theo’s mind. He usually describes it as a scent or a color.… These are Iggy’s favorite finger paints. A wild idea was starting to form. Alfred’s toys are fancier.

Fancy toys. Was that what these were? It was crazy, but the more Theo thought it through, the more it began to make sense.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

If Iggy perceived elemental power as color, then elemental paints would seem like brilliant, glowing jewels to him. Of course he’d want to play with them. But that wouldn’t be feasible with the real thing. So Alfred, the brilliant Grandmaster enchanter who spoiled his little dragon with elaborate magic toys, had made a new type of elemental paints. Ones that emitted magic like the real thing but were safe for Iggy to play with.

If that was true — and Theo was fairly convinced that it was — it was a remarkable achievement.

Elemental enchanting was a rare skill, simply because it was dangerous and expensive to learn. Safe, inexpensive practice paints would completely change that, but no one had ever successfully developed any.

Until now, anyway.

Once again, Theo was forced to acknowledge the ridiculous, rule-shattering existence of the beings called Grandmaster wizards.

He felt even more intimidated by Alfred with this, but also all the more determined to catch his attention.

But what should he do? Their allotted hour was ticking away, and he still hadn’t even started on his firework inscription.

Theo had always been interested in alternative enchanting methods and had read quite a lot about them. He understood the basics of how elemental enchanting was supposed to work, but he’d obviously never tried it before.

Was it reckless to act like these really were elemental paints and try out a technique he’d never used? Would he look like a complete idiot in front of all these more knowledgeable enchanters?

And Magma the bravest dragon

Saved the day again!

Iggy ended his song with an emphatic splash of paint that left him covered in multicolored flecks. Unlike the serious, focused students, the little dragon was clearly having a lot of fun.

Oh…right.

Theo had almost forgotten what Iggy had told him when they first met. The thing that led to their argument. Alfred’s unusual philosophy about magic.

Magic was supposed to be fun.

Theo still wasn’t sure that he entirely agreed with that line of thinking. But wasn’t it better to follow Alfred’s ideals if he wanted to make a good impression?

Come to think of it, that had been part of the instructions for this project: Play. Experiment. Make a mess. Treat it like a game.

Then why shouldn’t he do just that? If their Grandmaster teacher approved of it, what did it matter what anyone else here thought?

Having come to a decision, Theo pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and reordered his paint jars. He couldn’t tell which paints were which elements just by the feel of the magic, but since Iggy was using the same paints, it was probably safe to follow the list from the song. He arranged the jars in a standard elemental circle to help him remember which was which.

There was no need to bother with making paper brushes now. Elemental enchanting used bold shapes and patterns, not thin lines. Painting with his fingers would be fine for a first attempt.

Once his materials were set up, Theo paused for a moment, staring at the blank paper while he mentally rehearsed what he needed to do. Then he dipped his finger in the red paint and started painting.

Start with earth to stabilize the formation and give it structure.

Theo’s movements were hesitant at first, but he gradually relaxed as he became involved in his work. Even Iggy’s singing stopped bothering him.

Next, put in some air to make the firework ascend.

He was making a single firework with a simple design. He could have done something much more elaborate with the usual pen and ink method, but this was an experiment with an unfamiliar technique. Simple was best.

Now add a dab of fire to ignite the firework, which was mostly made out of light element. But with a touch of metal to change the color and some tiny dots of darkness element thrown in to make it sparkle. Then fade into a larger patch of darkness paint.

Darkness — or void, as it was sometimes called — wasn’t really an element, per se. Rather, it canceled out other elements. It was often used at the end of an enchantment sequence to stop the effects of the magic.

“Just a few minutes left. Everyone, get to a stopping place and clean up. Don’t worry if you’re not quite finished. We’ll take a look at whatever you have done.”

Theo started slightly when he heard Alfred’s voice and looked at the clock on the classroom wall. It really had been almost an hour. He’d been so focused on his painting that he’d lost track of the time passing. He quickly finished filling in the brown shape he’d been working on and wiped off his hands.

The cleaning cloths, it turned out, were enchanted, so they could absorb a lot of paint.

And Alfred had just handed them out like ordinary rags…. Did he have any idea what a luxury these things would be for most people?

Theo sighed as he started putting the lids back on his jars of paint. He didn’t even bother trying to guess what the cost of those would be. They should be a lot cheaper than real elemental paints, but he suspected the amount would still be high enough to make his stomach hurt.

While the students finished up their work, Alfred was cleaning the paint off a very colorful Iggy. Once he was finally a solid black again, the little dragon jumped back onto Alfred’s shoulder and settled down there, yawning. Apparently all the painting and singing had made him tired.

Alfred went around and collected everyone’s papers. He carried the pile to the front of the room and spent a moment flipping through them before selecting one.

“All right, let’s start with this one.”

He placed the paper on a tray near the front wall, which projected an enlarged image onto the wall behind it. There were devices like this in most of the academy’s classrooms.

“Since this was an exercise in working with restricted tools and materials, we’re mainly going to focus on what adaptations you came up with and how well they function, rather than the overall design of the matrix.

"I know most of you were struggling to control your line width and placement because of the lack of proper writing tools. For this inscription, I can see that one of the ways you dealt with this was to use Hedian symbols instead of classical runes because they’re easier to write using thicker strokes.” Ariom picked up a long black pointer stick and used it to indicate a string of characters around the edge of the inscription. “That’s not a bad strategy for this particular project, since the design is very simple. However, with more complex matrices, you’d start to run into problems when….”

If Theo had any doubts about whether coming to this class was worth the time and trouble, they soon vanished. This was probably the most informative lecture he’d ever attended. A few minutes in, he pulled a notebook and pen out of his bag to start taking notes. The other students did the same.

Alfred seemed to have an uncanny ability to see what was going on in an inscription at a glance, with barely any need to ask the students about the thought processes behind their designs. He gave a thorough rundown of what each student had done to work around the assignment restrictions, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each adaptation and suggestions for improvement.

“Now, this last one is quite interesting,” Alfred said with a slight smile once they’d gone through all but one of the inscription papers. “For this one, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it before I give any comments. Let’s see what you make of it.”

Was he serious? Theo’s stomach clenched. That last paper was his.

He was a little nervous just to hear Alfred’s reaction to it. He didn’t think he wanted to know what everyone else in the room thought. He cringed a little when the familiar image came up.

The previous paper had been Abigail’s, and she’d managed to create an elegant, ornate inscription, even without any proper brushes. Alfred had actually criticized it a bit, saying that she had sacrificed too much of the matrix’s function and stability for the sake of beautifying it. But it was still the best-looking inscription in the class, by far.

Theo had thought his was decent enough while he was working on it. But coming right after Abigail’s…it looked like a five-year-old had painted it.

And to think Alfred had called Theo’s scribing unusually precise earlier….

The class broke out in murmurs as soon as they saw Theo’s inscription.

“What is that?”

“Who did that one?”

“Did some idiot think we were really supposed to be finger painting?”

“Is that…an elemental enchantment matrix?” Professor Nuren spoke up from the back of the room. “Whose paper is that?”

It was clear from her tone that it wasn’t a rhetorical question.

Very reluctantly, Theo raised his hand. “It’s mine.”

She frowned at him. “What were you thinking, doing something like that? Those obviously aren’t elemental paints. We’d never allow students to handle something so dangerous without any preparation. And based on that sloppy matrix, I assume you haven’t studied elemental enchanting outside the academy. You’re a second year, aren’t you? It was extremely generous of Grandmaster Denifort to invite you to attend this class. There was no need to pull a stunt like this to get attention.”

She sounded cross. Maybe Alfred telling the class not to focus on advanced techniques really had gotten to her....

“Did you really think they were elemental paints, Theo?” Abigail’s expression was concerned, but Theo guessed she was laughing underneath it. “Don’t you know how hard they are to get? And surely you saw that the rest of us were making normal inscriptions. If you weren’t sure what to do, you should have just copied us.”

Alfred quietly cleared his throat at that point, and everyone turned to look at him. He, however, turned to look at the dragon on his shoulder. “What do you think of Theo’s firework, little guy?”

Iggy flattened his ears. “I think Theo needs to practice painting more.”

Several people snickered. Theo felt his face flush. Even Iggy was criticizing him now?

“But he used good colors!” the dragon went on, brightening. “Theo’s the only one who didn’t get the paint colors all wrong!”

His statement was followed by a confused silence from the class.

Theo’s hopes lifted a little. Maybe he hadn’t completely messed things up…?

“Mmm.” Alfred nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned to Theo. “I’m curious.” He tapped one of the boxes of paints that were still sitting on the table. “What exactly do you think these are?”

“I think…” Theo began slowly, aware that most people would think what he was about to say was completely ridiculous. “I think they’re imitation elemental paints. They aren’t actually charged with elemental power, but they emit magic as though they were. I think you probably….” He hesitated a moment and then forged ahead. “You probably made them for Iggy to play with. As a safer substitute for the real thing. That’s why I assumed that the elements and colors were supposed to match up the same way they did in his song, instead of using the standard system.”

Alfred smirked. But he looked amused, rather than derisive.

“Theo, even Grandmasters can’t enchant paint.” Abigail sounded as though she were explaining something to a child. “You need to be an alchemist to make things like that. That’s why some artistic enchanters are dual-certified. So they can make their own enchanting materials.”

“And who says you have to be an artistic enchanter to dual-certify?” Alfred asked dryly. “I got an alchemy certification before I got an enchanting one, actually. My grandmother is an alchemist, so I studied that growing up. I didn’t get seriously into enchanting until I was an academy student.” He shrugged. “Well, it’s relatively easy to dual-certify in those two fields because there are so many overlapping principles.”

Was this guy for real? It was hard enough for most people to earn even one certification. Theo would have hated him right then if he weren’t so busy being impressed.

“I wasn’t really expecting anyone to notice it. But Theo is right. These aren’t ordinary enchanting paints. They emit magic. They don’t conduct it.” Alfred put his hand on the stack of inscription papers. “Which means that out of all the inscriptions here, there’s only one that’s actually functional. This one.” He picked up one of the papers from the table.

But not from the students’ pile.

“That one’s mine!” Iggy said proudly.

“Yes, it is. You made some nice fireworks.” Alfred patted him. “To be fair, Iggy has used these paints plenty of times before, so he already knew what he was doing. But here, take a look at these two side by side.”

He set Iggy’s paper on the tray next to Theo’s, so they were displayed together on the wall.

No one had to ask what they were supposed to be looking at. Iggy’s paper had several firework formations, while Theo’s only had one, but there was an obvious similarity in the colors and shapes.

“You see the resemblance? Theo’s technique definitely needs work, but he got the gist of it right. Have you tried elemental enchanting at all before?” Alfred looked at Theo, who shook his head. “I would have been surprised if you had. Well, there are a lot of mistakes, and pointing them all out won’t be that helpful if you’re not actually studying this enchanting method. But, for example, you overdid it with the fire element a little here.” He pointed at a small black patch on the paper. “And over here, it doesn’t transition properly from earth to air.

"So, unlike the rest of the inscriptions, this one would actually do something if you activated it. Just not what you wanted it to do. I assume you intended for it to shoot into the air and then explode in the typical flower shape. But as it is, this would just wiggle around on the ground and then burst into flames.”

Theo had no idea how he could know that just from looking at the inscription, but he didn’t question it.

“Basically, it’s just like Iggy said. You need a lot more study and practice in order to be able to do elemental enchanting for real. But this isn’t bad for your first try.” Alfred turned to address the rest of the room. “So, here are your two final lessons for this class.

"First, pay attention to your materials, especially ones you’ve never used before. I deliberately gave you supplies that wouldn’t cause any harm if they were handled incorrectly, but in real jobs, that won’t often be the case.

"Merchants can sell you poor quality goods. Materials can be mislabeled. Even outright sabotage from rivals or disgruntled colleagues isn’t out of the question. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll be lucky if your enchantment not activating is all that happens. Not assessing your materials properly can cause some very serious accidents. Be careful. Always.”

He paused, and his expression turned a bit stern.

“And the second lesson.... When you see someone doing something you don’t understand, ask questions before you start criticizing. It’s possible that the other person knows something that you don’t. Arrogance will cost you a lot in missed opportunities.”

He returned to his usual relaxed demeanor.

“Those two things are related, really. And they demonstrate a very important principle of creative, resourceful enchanting: Always keep an open mind. See things as they actually are and not as you assume them to be. Otherwise, you’ll run into trouble and lose out on potential resources.” Ariom glanced around the room. “So, that’s pretty much it. Are there any questions before we wrap up?”

No one spoke. But that wasn’t because of a lack of questions. For the first time, Theo felt in sync with the rest of the class. He was sure they were all thinking the same thing he was at that moment.

Questions? Where should they even start…?