FLAIR, TUESDAY, FATHERUS 3RD

Flair and Alyviah, Flair’s new Aquamancer friend, were the first to enter Professor Niall’s classroom for the first morning of classes. Flair was so excited to have her efficiencies read. Not even the idea of being taught by Niall, the water mage, put a damper on her mood.

She took in the Aquamancer’s room, which had a certain charm. The constant sound of running water radiated throughout the room from the dozens of fountains and water constructs. There were four rows of four desks, separated into two equal groups by a large fountain running the room length. Flair realized that one desk was missing.

“Teacher, did you know a desk is missing?” Flair asked.

Niall was thumbing through a hefty tome. He set a cantrip to hold his spot and gently closed the book. “Yes, apprentice Lukas decided this was not the school for him. He left the program.”

“Oh, really?” the young Pyromancer squealed. Flair decided that the best seat was front and center, so she pulled Alyviah to sit next to her.

Within minutes, all fifteen of the young students had found their chairs. When Aellaria walked in, Flair couldn’t help but grimace. ‘She won’t even acknowledge me. Like she thinks she’s better than me.’ Flair thought. ‘Bitch.’

At exactly 8:00, Professor Niall pushed the door closed. As it stopped, Flair realized that the flat pane was made of liquid water instead of glass and shimmered with the sudden stop. “Good morning, my precious young stars. Look at you– just beaming with potential. Now, we teachers have concluded the status of every student here, and we decided on this:”

Four lists of names appeared at the front of the room, each belonging to the four teachers who taught the first-year students.

image [https://i.ibb.co/ZgKrcww/Niall4trans.png]

“Oh no…” Alyviah whispered. “I’m at the bottom.” Whispers and mutters filled the room as everyone saw where they were and commented.

“Next time, if you don’t drown yourself, you'll only go up, okay?” Flair said, trying to console her new friend a little bit. Flair had made friends with the struggling Aquamancer while they waited for their respective fights the day before. Flair tried not to cringe, remembering Alyviah’s accident.

“Freshmen, as you can see, there are only fifteen names in this class. Lukas decided that he could not take the heat. If the thought of fighting is too much for you, then I encourage you to leave now. Spire is a difficult and demanding place. If you aren’t giving your all, you don’t belong here. The sorcerers of Spire don't bow down; they…”

“Rise up…” murmured the class.

Niall walked in front of his desk and gestured with grand sweeping motions. “No Freshman! I won’t be happy with mediocrity. I won’t tolerate dropouts from here on out. Some teachers here at Spire press their students until they break, but not me! I believe you will all make it to next year if you try hard enough– if you put in the passion! What do we do here at Spire!”

“Rise up!” The class shouted.

Niall beamed at the students. ‘He's like a kid.’ Flair thought. Flair looked at the list closely before saying, “Excuse me, teacher, but if Aellaria beat me, why is she only four ranks ahead? Shouldn’t she be like… higher?”

“During Aellaria’s only fight, she hardly cast any spells. She won but chose not to try to continue. I’m sorry Aellaria, but most teachers thought you have low drive.” Niall apologized

Flair grinned and turned in her seat to see Aellaria’s devastated reaction. ‘You went through all that hurt for nothing. You-.’

Aellaria just sat there. She looked bored! Flair’s grin melted away as she turned back to Niall.

“We will never replace the lost students, so you have only lost competition here today. At the end of the year, anyone ranked below forty will not be advancing.” Niall took a moment to lock eyes with the five students at the bottom of his class.

“What do we do if we are at the bottom?” Alyviah asked. Alyviah was the only one who brought such a bulky arcane focus to class. It was a full-length staff with a rounded end painted blue. It was taller than Alyviah was, and she awkwardly held it aloft while sitting.

“That is a great question, Alyviah. Once per week, you can challenge anyone above you to a duel. Those at the top shouldn’t get comfortable because those at the bottom will aim to dethrone. They have less to lose.” As Niall walked back and forth, he would make wide gesticulations with his arms. At the very least, he was a spirited and lively teacher. “Additionally, your ranks will be affected by the mid-year and end-year appraisals.”

“Finally, none of you have to leave my class this year. You can easily make it into the top forty if you all work together and work hard. Any questions?”

Fourteen hands raised. Of course, the only person to not raise their hand was Aellaria. The bitch seemed to be asleep. She had her arms crossed, and her eyes were closed.

Niall pointed to Flair for her question. She smirked and said, “Aellaria is asleep. Is that like, okay for such a great institution?”

Without looking up, Aellaria responded, “Niall, I am not asleep. I am in W.I.”

Niall brightened up at Aellaria’s response. “Wonderful! That is dedication. That will be fine if you can maintain focus and demonstrate the basics. Flair… snitching on a fellow blue is disappointing. I only just got done saying you should all work together! I want us to be like a family, and I suspect if you saw Aellaria as family, you wouldn’t have felt the need to tattle.”

Flair scoffed again and said under her breath, “She was the one that was sleeping.” The unexpected admonishment made her sink in her chair.

As the question well started to dry, Niall continued with the day's second goal. Teaching basic magic. "Magic has two forms, chaotic and formation. Today, I will teach you how to use your mana to craft cantrips of your efficient schools."

Niall gestured, cast a spell, and a diagram floated in the air. "There are six elements. Six base formations of mana."

"All of you think back to when your talent emerged. You felt your element overflow and manifest in a multitude of ways, but did you know that the element that came naturally might not be your most efficient?" Niall summoned an image of a drop of water and then a second of a bolt of electricity. The water droplet shimmered as it floated, and the lightning bolt crackled and danced with life.

"To find efficiency with mana, there is this tool, the mana siphon." With a flourish, Niall produced a six-sided box. Niall held the box in his hand, and then one side of the cube glowed a deep blue. "I am most efficient with water magic, but my talent actually emerged as…” Niall turned the box to show off a dark purple side existed. "My mana is perfectly efficient with Water but only mostly efficient with Electricity."

"Today, we will be finding your efficiencies. Multiple efficiencies are rare, but we need to know if you have them. Knowing your efficiencies will make your training more effective and give you more options in combat. We will start with Paris and make our way down the list. You will each receive elemental wands for the efficiencies you display."

Paris was a very handsome young man. He had sweeping dark brown hair and striking ruby-colored eyes. Pinned to his blue tunic was a pin for his class ID, and on the opposite side was his family crest. He swaggered forward from the back of the class. When Paris put his hand on the cube and pushed mana into it, the purple and red sides both lit up brightly. The first ranked in the class smirked.

Niall handed Paris the purple and red wands that would allow him to cast Electric and Heat magic. “Congratulations, Paris! You are perfectly efficient with heat and electricity.”

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Paris held his smirk and addressed the class“I knew already, but now you all know I am better.”

Callo let out a good-natured laugh at Paris’ antics. It made Flair swoon. Then Flair immediately scolded herself. ‘You're not a little girl. Get over him.’

Callo was the next highest-ranked in the class. He stood up, wearing a simple blue vest with his class pin. Flair couldn’t stop herself from admiring his bare, strong arms. His muscles had filled out since they graduated from the academy three months ago. The cube said that Callo was perfectly efficient with ice magic.

Next up was a strange-looking boy named Behngi. He had a lithe build, pink hair, and long, pointed ears. ‘An elf? What is a fucking elf doing at Spire?’

One at a time, the class made their way to the front of the room, had their efficiencies read, and then returned to their seats. After Paris, everyone had only one efficiency, as expected. That was the case until it was Aellaria’s turn. The bitch with the wide-brimmed hat trudged her way to the front of the class.

Flair started to get up and walk to the front of the class. She was next. However, Aellaria was stalling. Flair looked at the cube in Aellaria’s hands, and not a single side lit up. A dim brown light was hardly visible on one side, and the other five seemed devoid of light. Flair could see the readouts from this distance. Aellaria’s efficiencies seemed to all read as scarcely efficient.

The freak with the black hair smiled while she looked at the cube, and then she started to laugh.

“Oh no! The sheltered girl is having a panic attack, teacher!” Flair shouted, standing right behind Aellaria, ready to get her reading from the cube.

Niall studied the cube and wrinkled his brow. "Are you alright, Aellaria?" He asked with genuine confusion and worry.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I just thought of something funny.” Aellaria responded.

Niall watched Aellaria and said, “Please stay after class, Aellaria. Here.” Almost as an afterthought, Niall handed Aellaria a wand for Geomancy, which was technically her primary element.

After Aellaria, Flair learned she was Fire efficient. Flair already knew, but this confirmed she was perfectly efficient, higher than she had hoped. “That's right! I burn bright, bitches! Oh, sorry for cursing, teacher. Also, I don’t need the stick. I have my own.”

Then, it was Marin's turn. She pushed her magic into the cube, and the results were resplendent. She turned to Niall. “Teacher, is it broken?” Marin asked.

When Marin turned and held the cube out to Niall, three of the cube's sides glowed brightly, and a fourth shimmered faintly. Marin was perfectly efficient in Aquamancy, extremely efficient in Cryomancy and Aeromancy, and partially efficient in Pyromancy. The only dark sides were purple and brown.

Niall gently took the cube back and reset it to show his efficiencies with water and lightning before handing it back to Marin. “Go ahead and try again.”

When Marin tried again, this time, she pushed even more mana into it, hoping to get an accurate reading. The results were the same. As the cube glowed on four sides, the class watched in awe.

Flair burned with a jealous intensity. The EAMP was fresh off the farm and, by lucky coincidence, was over three and a half times better at magic than she was. “Wow, that is so nice for you. You must feel so special to be born this way.”

Callo laughed again, responding, “We had the same tutor, Flair, and she was not cheap. You would be in the top ten if you put as much effort into your studies as you did pretending you were better than others.”

Flair turned her head to glare at the owner of the familiar voice, “Frick you, Callo. You’re just salty that Bren and I both turned you down. Tip: salt and ice don’t go well together.”

Callo smiled at her display as if she had said something funny. His reaction made Flair deflate in her chair. It wasn’t any use. Flair knew she was defensive. Even if she thought she was flirting, Flair knew that Callo thought she was a bitch. ‘Stop fucking doing that!’ She thought, berating herself.

Niall stepped forward to take control of the situation. He smiled, took the cube back from Marin, and handed Marin the four wands she showed efficiency with. “Alright, everyone, let’s return to our seats and move on to the lesson for today. We are starting an exciting chapter of your lives, but now it is time for the boring thaumaturgical basics.”

One student stood in front of Niall still. Her face was red with embarrassment. Alyviah stood there awkwardly, holding onto her oversized staff.

Surprise spread over Niall’s face for a split second before it melted into a charming smile, “But only after we get Ms Alyviah’s readings, of course.”

MARIN

The rest of the class consisted of students showing their proficiency at creating cantrip spell circles. Marin was the only student who didn’t know how to create the circle. Each student demonstrated their ability to make a mental circle and cast a cantrip to give the circle the form of their respective element.

Marin started to think that the class would turn on her for being behind. She thought that at any second, Flair or someone else would ask the value of teaching just one student today’s lesson when they could move on and become more effective as a group. Instead, someone else spoke up.

Behngi was an elven ward from Arcane. The elves were mysterious and dangerous, but Behngi seemed to have the patience of a saint. He sat next to Marin and said, “When you will the circle into existence, you are trying to draw the entire diagram with your mind. That is too difficult. Simply picture a dot in your mind, and then will the dot to grow into the spell circle. Like a sprout rapidly growing into a tree.” As Behngi explained, he created a dot out of electricity that he pulled out wider to become the cantrip spell circle.

This simple lesson clicked with Marin. She poured her willpower into a single point and then imagined that point growing into the spell circle. However, she couldn’t quite prove it was real since she couldn't manifest it with an element. “I… I think I have it…”

“Then push your mana through it. Nothing more than a stream.” Callo said ahead of her.

Marin closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and willed her mana into the circle she hoped existed. There was a cold sensation as her mana pushed into the ring and manifested into the world as snow. Unfiltered, the dominant air, cold, and water mana blew forth from Marin’s hands as a gust of snowflakes. The miniature flurry blew upward and started to land next to her, mainly onto Aellaria’s hat.

The entire lesson plan was the majority of the class helping Marin learn the elemental runes for her four efficiencies and then watching as she made each of those basic cantrips.

A kind, stout woman named Chlora taught Marin to form the most basic water rune and use that cantrip.

Callo and Badnel showed Marin how to form Cold.

Olyza and Ozzy showed Marin how to form Wind.

Finally, the Pyromancer, Syn, showed off her proficiency with Fire and helped Marin form the cantrip for Fire. Fire came out the weakest of Marin’s attempts, but she almost cried because of how kind and patient all her classmates were.

FLAIR

On the road to Spire, Flair initially saw Marin as an easy target. She just knew maybe this year wouldn’t be as challenging as the tutor said. At the very least, she was better than the poor little EAMP. However, there was a special little ember in this EAMP that teacher Niall and all her classmates would nurture and protect. ‘What about my ember?’ Flair thought.

image [https://i.ibb.co/m5csT1p/GG4trans.png]image [https://i.ibb.co/zxjNDxs/Kaira4trans.png]image [https://i.ibb.co/dKSh38N/Aeren4trans.png]