Breakfast went smoothly for the misfits. They finished before the bigger classes and

Madam Quince led them through the castle to the assessment hall toward the back of

the main building.

Another class stood in line at the door. Avere stood by the door, looking for a signal

from inside before he sent the next air magician in training into the room. He waved

the glum student through the door as soon as he got the signal.

“Madam Quince,” said Avere. He bowed slightly.

“Master Avere,” said the older magician. She bowed too. “How are your classes

doing?”

“Middle of the road like I expected,” said Avere. “Some had great teachers out in the

wilderness, some didn’t.”

“I am sure you will be able to impress a certain amount of skill on all of them,” said

Madam Quince.

“I’m sure,” said Avere. “Seven outliers this year?”

“Yes,” said Madam Quince. “I expect that they know more than we do about their

abilities.”

Nick reached into his sphere of influence. Soft dashes were ahead, and on the sides.

Magic flew as the students used their spells. He wondered what the misfits would

have to do to pass the test.

What was the bare minimum for passing in this situation?

Could he hit that?

“Can we see what the air assessment looks like?,” asked Steve.

“Do you have an air magician in your number?,” asked Avere.

“Not really,” said Steve. “I can do things, but I am not an air magician.”

“I don’t think any of us are,” said Calliope. She watched as another student was

waved in to deal with whatever was behind the door.

“I will talk to Madam Quince about any observations of air magicians after your

assessments,” said Avere.

“Thank you very much for your consideration, Master Avere,” said Madam Quince.

“We’re hosting the Tournament this year,” said Avere. “Even the outliers have to be

ready to participate.”

“I doubt any of these kids are ready for anything like that,” said Madam Quince. “Still

I will do what I can to get them ready before they are picked.”

“I am hoping my own kids will come up to snuff before they have to face the

challenges,” said Avere. “Let me get back to work. The line is slowing down.”

“There is a tournament?,” Calvin asked. He vibrated with excitement.

“I doubt you seven will be able to perform,” said Madam Quince. “It requires a huge

outlay of magical power usually. You would have to be able to do more than what I

think you can do at the moment.”

“No single talents allowed,” said Calliope. She flexed her hand to show what she

thought of that.

“It would have to be a single talent that could flex across the board,” said Madam

Quince. “Most teams have a generalist, a summoner, a body alterer, and one mover.

You seven have four generalists with quirks, one semi body alterer, and two

unknowns. You would have to think fast against a team fielded by another class.”

“We could have Nick shoot them,” said Will.

“Would conflict be allowed?,” asked Calvin. “I would love to win such a

tournament.”

“They say other schools take part,” said Crow. “So if we entered, we wouldn’t just

have to fight whatever classes were fielded here, but others.”

“And the teams put together here will be of the best of their classes,” said Madam

Quince. “They will begin training together as soon as the first moon is over. The

teachers will have an idea of who is the best at what they teach by then, and they will

be coached to do better with each other.”

“Will Master Cairn be putting a team together?,” asked Nick.

“Yes,” said Madam Quince. “And they will be very good. I doubt such a ragtag

company such as yourselves will be able to stop any earth team he puts together.”

“That guy?,” asked Nick. “We can beat any team he puts together as long as he

doesn’t pick Bradley. Bradley may not look it, but he was a good earth magician back

home. He will only get better with practice.”

“We’ll see,” said Madam Quince. “Master Cairn’s teams have won the last three out

of five tournaments. Master Avere has won the other two, as well as a few in the past.

I have won two with teams that were more brute force than anything.”

“What do you mean brute force?,” asked Felix.

“I have had single spell holders such as myself,” said Madam Quince. “But their

spells ran in ways to cut down barriers and face opponents without worry. Their

combined team abilities allowed them to punch through anything in their way with

a minimal effort.”

“They say Sir Reynolds is still guarding the Rain Pass,” said Crow.

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“His spell made him a body alterer,” said Madam Quince. “He wrote me from there

a few weeks ago.”

“Rain Pass is close to where my village is,” said Crow.

Nick noticed how Crow glossed over how she knew this one magician had been

trained by Granny Bitter before taking on his watch duty. He doubted their teacher

missed the glossing. She seemed too sharp for that.

“I think we can do the same,” said Calliope. “It depends on how strong everyone’s

spells are.”

“It depends on what the battleground looks like,” said Madam Quince. “It will be one

of the deciding factors on how you have to face your opponents.”

“If we have to face anyone with any kind of mobility, we’re wrecked,” said Nick.

“It will make things harder,” said Madam Quince.

“I would like to win this tournament even if it’s the first I have heard of it,” said

Calliope.

“It will be a nice declaration to show people,” said Calvin. “It will mark us as very

good students at a very good school.”

Nick thought if they crashed and burned, they would be looked down by the rest of

the students for the rest of their stay at the school, however long that would be.

Calvin had a point. It would feel good to rub the other students’ face in losing to a

team of people who couldn’t do regular magic.

“You guys want to try this?,” asked Nick. “You’ll have to carry me and Crow. Our

abilities are really specific.”

“And you aren’t allowed to kill the other students,” said Madam Quince.

“That goes without saying,” said Calliope.

Madam Quince kept her focus on Nick.

“I will see about not shooting people in the face,” said Nick, begrudgingly.

“That’s not as good an assurance as you think it is, Master Sever,” said Madam

Quince.

“Sometimes things happen,” said Nick. “In the heat of the moment, someone could

take one to the face. Nothing can be done about that. I will try to not shoot my

enemies in the face so they can live and get some kind of healing.”

“And I will be there to put down any enemy first,” said Calvin.

“You will need some control to do anything like that,” said Madam Quince.

“I admit that maintaining a singular aspect is hard for some reason,” said Calvin. “But

I can throw mud balls with the best of them.”

“Mud balls?,” asked Will. He smiled at some future plan in his head.

“Yes,” said Calvin. “I can throw mud a far distance too with my magic.”

“That’s true,” said Felix. “I have seen him hit the neighborhood cats with them.”

“Hitting animals is cruel,” said Calliope.

“They started it,” said Calvin. “They are generally feral and mean.”

“It’s true,” said Felix. “One of the old ladies in the neighborhood died. They broke

into her house and ate her.”

“Animals will do that,” said Nick. “Dead people are the easiest prey for them.”

“The last of Master Avere’s students are going in,” said Madam Quince. “We will go

next to see what you can do.”

“The others should go first,” said Nick. “My one spell will be easy to evaluate.”

“I agree,” said Madam Quince. “Let’s line up and get ready.”

The children did that with Will at the front, puffing on a cigarette. Nick took the last

spot. He only had forty shots with no equipment. If he could get enough spirit money

before the tournament started, he could rig up a surprise for anyone trying to scout

him before the competition.

Just adding the rest to his party would allow them to talk and mark enemies in the

competition.

That would make things that much easier if they had to fight the other students, and

he could mark them, or his friends could use his map to mark them. He doubted he

could carry them on the rope, but maybe some of the other things would be useful.

Being able to call lightning down on an enemy might be a game changer.

The others went into the room one by one. Madam Quince stood by the door to usher

them like Avere had done before her. Finally Nick stepped into the room and went

to the small desk set up to one side. A man sat behind the desk in a blue suit with the

school’s crest on the jacket pocket. He gave Nick a bored look.

“Name?,” demanded the functionary.

“Nick Sever,” said Nick. “Ess eee vee eee arr.”

“What is your magical affinity?,” asked the assessor.

“I shoot things with magic energy,” said Nick. “I guess air is my affinity.”

“Any movement, summoning, alteration powers?,” asked the assessor.

“No,” said Nick. “I don’t have any of those.”

“All right,” said the man. He handed Nick the paper he was writing on. “Go down and

turn to the right. There is a target range there. Just show the assessor what you can

do.”

“All right,” said Nick. He did as instructed.

A woman waited in front of a room full of scarecrows mounted in the floor. Nick

handed her to the paper. She frowned at the contents.

“This says you can only shoot magical energy, Master Sever,” said the instructor.

“I only have forty charges a day,” said Nick. “So to pass, I just have to shoot

something?”

“I want you to knock down as many targets as you can with your spell,” said the

assessor. “That will determine if you can receive more training.”

“Do I go in the field?,” said Nick. “Or shoot from some place?”

“I want you to shoot from the line in the floor,” said the assessor. “That should be

close enough to the front row.”

Nick nodded. He went to the line, letting the energy of the thunder cracker fill his

hand. He took a moment to study the range and the targets.

He had no idea how many he could knock down with his forty firings.

“Ready?,” asked the assessor.

Nick nodded.

“Shoot,” said the faculty member.

Nick blew down the nearest scarecrow in an explosion of straw. He worked his way

right to left, clearing a column directly in front of him. He took aim at the farthest

target across the range and put the last two charges he possessed in the dummy’s head

so that it would fall over.

“Sphere of influence?,” asked the assessor. She wrote on Nick’s exam paper.

“The thunder cracker doesn’t use it,” said Nick. He didn’t want to explain that his

sphere acted as a map, and he could see Crow wandering around on it, as well as soft

pulses telling him where magic was being used. “And I am out of magic for the day.”

“You exhausted all of your power on this?,” asked the assessor.

“I don’t draw a thing from the environment, or from my inner self,” said Nick. “I have

forty charges. Once I am out, I have to wait until I wake up from a night’s sleep for

another forty charges.”

The assessor looked at him like she didn’t believe that. She would have been right.

More charges could be gathered from a market, or from defeated enemies. Why tell

the school that?

It was better to hold things back in case he needed them, than let the school know he

could be cut off if they pinned him up in a room and let his power run out.

“All right,” said the assessor. “Go back to the main corridor and leave out the other

exit. The rest of your class should be there.”

“Thank you very much,” said Nick. “Be seeing you.”

He did as directed and found the others waiting just outside the other door. He put his

hands in his pockets.

“How did it go?,” asked Felix.

“I have no idea,” said Nick. “I’ll probably be out of here tonight. I’ll be back home

on one of those flying earth birds by tomorrow.”

“Your exam papers will be ready in a few minutes,” said Madam Quince. “I take it

nobody had problems?”

There was a chorus of negatives, and a maybe from Nick.

“Did the assessor say something to you?,” said Madam Quince. She squinted at her

student.

“Nope,” said Nick. “But she didn’t seem to like that I used up all my power on the

targets.”

“All of it?,” said Madam Quince.

“Yep,” said Nick. “I’ll have to wait until tomorrow until I can shoot again.”

“That might not be enough to get you released from the Academy, Master Sever,”

said Madam Quince.

“Then I’ll think of something else,” said Nick.