Clarita was startled when the door burst open and a red sweaty mess that used to be Lizzy trudged in, throwing her books on the desk and herself on the bed. The huge sob from the bed next to her, caused her to frown. “Are you okay?” With no response, Clarita put down her work and went to sit on the edge of Lizzy’s bed, putting her hand on her back. “My day wasn’t my favorite either, I didn’t sleep well, but tomorrow will be better.”

Lizzy rolls over, her eyes puffy from crying. “Why is everyone so horrible here?” Clarita gives her a shy smile. “I didn’t make too many friends either, most of the students here are nobles and I'm just a commoner.” Lizzy looked at her friend and realized that perhaps she wasn’t the only one having a hard day. “You’re not a commoner, you’re a wizard now. That’s even better than some noble families.” Clarita just nods. “My dad always says there are two keys to happiness. One is to appreciate what you have, and we at least have each other right?”

Lizzy takes Clarita’s hand and gives her a smile. “Absolutely you’re right.” Lizzy gives a deep sigh. “Maybe we should go get some dinner from the hall?’ She asks. Clarita gives her a look. “Only if you use the bath first” She says smiling. “Deal” Lizzy pulls herself out of bed and grabs her things. “Oh, hey. What was the number two?” She asks. Clarita shrugs. “Happy wife, happy life he says” The two girls laugh out loud, finally smiling again.

As the two girls arrive in the cafeteria, Clarita shows Lizzy where to grab a tray and get in line. The food is a simple porridge, with bread and a slice of lamb. “Where should we sit?” asks Lizzy, gazing around all the tables. Clarita shakes her head. “Most of those tables are only the nobility, if you want to sit with them that's okay, I’m over at that end table with the others.” Lizzy just smiles. “Of course I’m sitting with you, let’s go.”

Clarita takes her to a table with six others sitting down. They all introduce themselves in turn. Chuck is short and pudgy, next to him is his sister Elaine who's unsurprisingly also short and pudgy. Then There’s Brasko, Simu, Chadrick and finally Jasmine. Jasmine is quite striking with an olive complexion and long black hair. “Welcome to the loser’s club” mutters Brasko with chagrin. “For the last time, we’re not calling it that” grumbled Chadrick. “It's nice to meet you Lizzy.” Jasmine says with a smile.

Lizzy casually tucks some hair behind her ear. “Oh no, thank you for inviting me to sit with you.” “Alright, now give up the goods, why aren’t you sitting with the other nobles.” Simu butts in causing Lizzy to blush. Jasmine slaps him on the arm, but she also looks at Lizzy questioningly. “Umm, well.” She notices even Clarita is looking at her. She had never had the courage to ask Lizzy herself. “My grandpa used to be the Archmagus here, and I guess something very important was stolen from the tower under his watch. I guess all the other mages are mad at him… I really don’t know why they would act like this to be honest.”

Lizzy wasn’t lying, the magus’ behavior seemed off in her opinion. “Well no worries, you’re with us now and we don’t care what your grandpa did or didn’t do.” Clarita consoles Lizzy with an arm around her shoulder. Having some friends again Lizzy felt her confidence returning.

When Clarita and Lizzy got back to their room, Claita climbed up to her bunk to do some reading, and Lizzy went to her desk to work on some enchanting notes for enchanting. She moved her journal off the top of the pile and grabbed her enchanting book. As she opened the book she sat there with a blank stare for a moment. The pages were empty. She quickly flipped through the whole book. Empty. She then grabbed her history book from the stack, seeing it blank she quickly flipped through the rest. All blank.

“What in Zenut’s midden is going on.” She wondered. She grabbed her journal with her notes, fearing that it too would have gone blank. Fortunately as she opened it, she saw that it was fine. As she was about to set it down she noticed something. The book now had an index, and all the blank books were listed. “Magical tome indeed” She muttered to herself. Her grandfather had not explained what the book did, but she had a feeling she shouldn’t be surprised that it was magical. “Xena’s breath, You have a magical tome?”

Lizzy winced, realizing that her grandfather had asked her to keep it quiet and she hadn’t hidden it past her first week. She noticed Clarita poking her head over the bed looking down upon her with a shocked look. “Just a gift from grandfather. It’s not all that exciting, but it will be easier to carry.” Lizzy says with a sigh. “That one book is probably worth more than my parents' house. But I guess as an enchanter you will be able to make things like that whenever you like?” Lizzy appreciates the lack of malice when Clarita discusses the discrepancy in their financial statuses.

Quite a few people would have a hard time hiding their jealousy or distrust of those not in the same social hierarchy. “If you don't mind helping me keep this a secret?” Clarita just nods quickly. “Of course, I won't tell anyone.” “Thank you. You’re a good friend.” Clarita gives lizzy a quick smile before going back to reading. Lizzy once again opens her journal and squares her shoulders. “Let’s see what else you can do, book.”

The next few days flew by in a whirlwind of indistinguishable moments. She hadn’t found anything new about her magical tome other than that it stored books. While convenient, it was certainly not life altering. Miss Maribel quickly became her favorite teacher. Maribel liked to tell her students that enchanting was at its core, investing your magic into outside sources. This wasn’t an overly complex notion, Lizzy would be able to power spell scrolls, items, wards and so on for others to use. Enchanting could be very lucrative, especially with her family’s merchant background.

Yet Lizzy had never truly considered herself as a supporting character in her head, so it was a tad challenging to accept her lot in magic. Formations was drastically more interesting, and perhaps her favorite subject, if only it wasn’t being taught by a dreadful bore. The idea of taking multiple glyphs and combining them was an exacting science, but the outcome was no additive. You could take several minor glyphs that weren't’ especially powerful on their own, and when arranged in a very specific pattern, the power was exponential.

The mathematics and theory involved left many of the students with pale faces and dread in their hearts, but for Lizzy it was invigorating. This all left Beginner Magic as her favorite class. Because for a turn of the hourglass once a day, she got to spend time with Traveth. “Defend the weak, uphold righteousness” when Traveth spoke, Lizzy started on with rapt attention. “and that’s how I knew I was going to be a defender.” She almost gave a small clap at his story, but managed to stop herself. That would have been humiliating.

Traveth was the only friend she had made so far. Well not counting Clarita and the others. Traveth was her only friend in the same class as her, a noble to his core. Many of the other noble scions wouldn’t give her the time of day, while frustrating, she had grown even closer to Traveth. “Is that a new bow?” He asked her. She blushed furiously. “This old thing?” It was, of course, brand new. She had gotten it on her last school outing. Once a month a chaperon would take students who wanted on a short outing out to the local shops and eateries.

Lizzy found herself rarely going as none of Clarita’s crew ever went, something about lack disposable money, if Lizzy remembered correctly. While she appreciated the acceptance, she had very little in common with, well, the common folk. One day perhaps, when they were mages, and wealthy, their lot in life would change, but that was many years in the future. “My father is sending a carriage at the end of this month for me to have dinner with him and his new wife, perhaps you would like to come with.?”

Lizzy’s heart felt like it might beat right out of chest. Her breath caught. “Absolutely, I’d love to.” “Fantastic, I’ll let father know. Just make sure you get a pass from a teacher.” “Of course, I look forward to it.” He nodded as the bell rang, and the all shuffled out. He merged into a group of other boys chatting and slapping each other on backs as she headed to her next class.

“Oof” Lizzy grunted as was knocked to the ground again. Her orange athletic jumpsuit was covered in dirt and sweat. “You Valerians really love the dirt” The boy Flynn, who stood across from her, chuckled to himself. “You’re just supposed to be practicing, not using all your force, you Agothirian ape.” Lizzy spat at him. Flynn grimaced at her slur. He was after all, from Agothir, and as a culture built around the mountains and mining, they tended to be larger, burlier, and hairier than their fairer Valerian cousins. Hence ape was quite the insult.

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For a moment Lizzy almost regretted it, but then her anger one over her as she got back to her feet and went back into her defensive stance. No one in this class was her friend, whether they were Agothirian or Valerian. “You’ll regret that” he told her. He practically broadcast his kick in his anger, snapping his right leg toward her left side. She ducked under his leg and shot a quick left jab into his side. He grunted in anger. He went to back hand her with his right hand when she brought her right arm up to block.

It still pushed her back and she almost stumbled. Lizzy might be quick, but she had a hard time competing with the brute strength that most of the boys had. He came in again, right hand heavy punch. Slow as he might be, her stumble put her feet out of position for a dodge, so she tried to block. She didn’t have the needed strength to completely block, so instead of her face his meaty fist smashed into her collarbone. She winced in pain as she backpedaled, his left hook coming in hard and she was smashed to the ground.

On her back, she could see his seething anger. Flynn towered over her as he came at her, fear flashed through her eyes as she kicked out. The kick connected as the boy let out a high pitched squeal and fell to his knees, both hands clutching his genitals, his face a rictics of pain. “Bitch” he grunted. Lizzy quickly found her feet as the instructed walked over. Gargamel glanced down at the boy with zero sympathy in his eyes. Then he looked over at Lizzy with his piercing gaze. “I’ll allow this win by default, but the young miss will not use this method to victory again am I clear?” Lizzy quickly nodded. “To be clear, victory can be found at any cost, but I wont have you rely on cheap tricks.

Tricks quickly become a crutch, and hurt your own growth.” He looked down at the boy before glancing at one of the other groups. “You two, switch partners.” Lizzy kept her sigh of relief quiet and her smile invisible as she swapped with some random boy. Her new partner was closer to her in size, and wouldn’t have quite the advantage Flynn had. “Lizzy,” she said to the new boy. He grunted, slapped her hand away and swung on her. Even as she sparred with the new boy in earnest, she couldn’t help but smile inside. It had been her first victory.

Her excitement lasts until she sits down at the table with her food. Glancing around the sullen group, she notices something amiss. “Where is Simu?” The others glance around for a minute before Jasmine answers. “Apparently he left. No goodbyes, no reason. We wouldn’t have even known if we hadn’t asked a teacher.” Lizzy takes a bite of her roast chicken and grimaces. She wasn’t that close with Simu, so it didn’t have much effect on her, but she could tell the others were upset. “Maybe he had a good reason, maybe he had a family problem or something, you shouldn't hold it against him.” “Maybe” mutters Jasmine.

Lizzy’s glance around the table tells her the others are less inclined to agree with her assessment. “A coward is what he is.” Brasko blurts out. “Not even saying goodbye, I thought we was friends.” Chadrick pats Brasko on the back. “Magic aint for everyone I guess, I had thought he was doing well though.” “We'll never know,” Chuckie bursts in. Lizzy glances over at Traveth a few tables away. He makes eye contact with her and waves giving her reason to smile. She notices Clarita give her a disapproving glare. Lizzy give a sigh, and eats her chicken wondering how she got stuck here.

Lizzy nearly sprung from her bed in excitement. Today was Herday, and tomorrow was Synday. A day of rest, the day of her date with Traveth. “Stop smiling so much.” Grunted Clarita. Lizzy’s normally perky roommate had become increasingly grumpy as of late, but Lizzy paid it no mind. Today she was invincible. She strutted though breakfast like a peacock with her head held high. She smiled while her commoner friends whispered conspiracy theories. She even smiled as she sat down in history, her least favorite class. She was so happy that Perla slipped into a seat next to her without her even noticing. “Stay away from him. He doesn’t even like you.” Lizzy was confused. Was Perla talking to her? “I’m sorry, what?”

She asked the girl. “Traveth, stay away from him, I won’t warn you again.” Perla quickly got up and left, leaving as fast as she had arrived. For the first time today a frown found Lizzy’s face. Lizzy just grunted in response to the now vacant seat next to her. The level of jealousy these other petty noble girls had was pathetic. The normally curmudgeonly professor Scottum made his way into class with pep in his step. “I have exciting new class.” He said as soon as he set his ledger down. “The new headmaster has decided to go forward with the new policy to begin cutting the chaff. Those of you who aren’t performing up to expectations will be expelled from the program.

The students looked expectedly stunned by the news. “But… But we’ve already paid to be here.” Stuttered out one of the other students. “Yes you have. I’m sure it will be an incredibly exciting conversation to tell you families how you lost their money.” Scottum gave a dark chuckle. “Now, back to a brief overview of this week's lesson, the founding of Valeria. When Valerius the first and Gadalf first came looking for a place to found their new kingdom, there was no one here but a handful of random savages. The great knight and mage had only a thousand soldiers at their command, but the savages were divided and easily conquered.

Valerius founded his capital Agothir, and Gadalf built the grand city of Gadalfa’Va.” “Wait, I thought the city was already here?” Interrupted a spectacled student from the front. “Scottums face twisted into a scowl. “You will not interrupt me again, and certainly not with this nonsense of a precursor city. The great and powerful Gadalf built this city and there will be no more on the subject.” Scottum looked coldly around the room before breaking into a sly smile. “Now I bring this up to let you know that when class resumes on Nepday, we will be having a test.”

Loud groans went up around the room. Scottum slapped his hand down hard on his podium. “Now with the new rules, anyone who doesn’t pass could potentially be on the hook for expulsion. So enjoy your day off.” Scottum continued on with his lecture, but the atmosphere was morose for the remainder of the class. When the bell rang, the students couldn’t leave fast enough. Lizzy did her best to maintain her gleeful mood as she made her way toward professor Stein’s class. She wouldn’t let the sinister Scotum ruin her day. Stein was his usual short and droll self, but the lesson was rather interesting today.

Lizzy hadn't gone over any battle magic in any of her classes, as it was reserved second year or combat focused students. “So while one symbol, by itself could barely stop a strong wind, combining all five symbols creates a shield that could stop and arrow or even a level two or three spell depending on the enchanter.” They had just gone over spell levels in their beginner magic class, with grandmaster spells being level seven, something that could potentially block a level three spell that could be created by a level one enchanter was incredibly powerful. It just showed how strong formations truly were.

“If you could just put this formation in a scroll, why doesn’t everyone everywhere have defense scrolls?” Asked a chubby boy who sat just in front of Lizzy. “Ah, but that wouldn’t work would it? Paper can only hold a brief charge based on the amount of mana imbued in it. A formation like this by even a low level caster like yourselves, wouldn’t last a week. A higher level caster like myself could imbue it, but paper is such low quality it would burst into flames.” Stein continued on. Lizzy raised her hand and spoke. “What about a shield though?” Stein nodded his head. “You’re walking down the right path, that is the very nature of enchanting objects. Again though, we run into problems with the fact that the charge would only last so long. So the shield bearer would find himself constantly needing to pay an enchanter to charge his shield for him. This cost would beggar almost any knight.”

Another girl with pigtails asked the question this time. “But couldn't you just add a charging rune?” Stein nodded, almost seeming to have some life come back to him from all the interaction. “Yes, and there comes the rub, how many enchanters can use six glyphs? Very, few let me tell you. A grandmaster enchanter can at most, use seven glyphs. For every glyph you add to a formation it becomes infinitely more complex. A lot of these formation, like this one are well known, so even students can be taught them. But the mathematics and foresight to create one from scratch? Astounding. Hence why grandmaster enchanters can virtually print gold pieces. They are very sought after. I myself have only ever made two formations from scratch, and can at most sketch formations with up to six glyphs.”

The students were silent this time, deep in thought. This was all deeply interesting to anyone interested in enchanting. Most enchanters, like their professor Stein, would probably forever be stuck as mediocre wizards. Sought after, but not sought out. Whereas anyone who could make it to grandmaster enchanter would have kings as clients. Lizzy from what she knew from her grandfather, knew that there were only a handful of grandmaster mages in the entire country of Saurex and not one was an enchanter. There was a cough from professor Stein. “Is no one going to ask which two I created?'' The class looked deeply chagrined.

Beginner Magic came faster than a right jab. Lizzy was all smiles as she sat down next to Traveth. “Hey, Liz you excited about dinner tomorrow night?” Lizzy was full of smiles. “Absolutely, can’t wait.” She replied with a little blush. “Great, I’m sure my father will be excited to meet you as well.” This day couldn’t get any better she thought to herself.