“Don’t be mad, Master,” he said, standing up with a smile and dusting off his clothes to no effect. “A good apprentice is a sign of a good teacher. You should be proud of me.”

“Give me something to be proud of and perhaps that’ll be the case.” The grumpy sword master retreated into his home and slammed the door shut behind him.

Rolling his eyes, Alistar relied on his magical awareness to perceive the energies within the waters around him, casting his own outward and making them interact. Now that his influence against the element had been established, he willed a large globe of water to gather in front of him that was about the same size as his torso. Maintaining his focus, he took a sip from the floating, slightly undulating liquid before he dipped one arm inside of it and shook it around only to repeat the process with his other limbs, and then eventually his torso and head. Like this, he thoroughly cleaned his body, which left the water muddy once more. Just when he was about to dismiss the globe, the door opened and Tramon stormed outside with long strides, giving him a look that forbade him from dismissing the water just yet.

Once his master had finished cleaning himself, he turned around and went back inside of his house. “Tomorrow, same time,” was all he said before closing the door. “And remember, no magic.”

“Will I finally be promoted to a third-tier apprentice?” called Alistar, taking the following silence as a negative. “Oh, I’ll need a new practice sword as well!”

“Have your uncle get you one when you ask him to buy me a new cane!”

Alistar scratched at his head in a helpless manner and then quietly left the yard, hurrying down the nearest pathway which was now dotted with mud from his master’s earlier actions. Looking up at the gloomy autumn sky, he suppressed a shiver as a cold breeze brushed against his wet body, which prompted him to seek out a place to dry off.

Many of the collegia’s structures were connected by cobbled pathways, all sheltered by stone ceilings with tiled rooves that were held up by long lines of immaculately carved columns of white stone. Since the closest building was one of the many dormitories that housed much of the collegia’s students—whether scholarly, magic-oriented, or those pursuing the way of the sword—he decided that it wouldn’t be best to head inside. Instead, he made his way over to the library where he could still be productive by passing the time doing some casual research.

“But the floors are made of stone,” he pleaded, feeling disheartened that the old lady in charge of supervising the library had almost immediately kicked him out. “Please, I’ll clean up my mess.” Looking at the water he’d trailed in, he willed the mass of drops to float up into the air and then ferried them outside of the doorway where they dropped harmlessly to the ground in a mock instance of rain.

“Rules are rules,” said the woman, who had lifted her eyebrows at the casual display of magic. “I don’t care if you’re the count’s nephew or the king himself. Nobody is coming into my library drenched in water.” With that, she closed the doors behind her with a light click.

Alistar had no choice but to wait outside, shivering lightly in the cool autumn afternoon.

“Alistar?”

He turned his head to see Lessa, whose approach he hadn’t sensed due to his distress. Today she was dressed in a simple dress of blue silk, a navy-coloured blanket draped over her shoulders to stave off the weather.

“Lessa? What are you doing here?”

“It’s nice to see you too,” she pouted, faking a frown with her thin, pink lips. “Why are you out here? You’re shivering.”

“I’m not allowed in the library because I’m wet. I told her I’d clean up after myself, but that didn’t sway her.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Rules are rules, after all.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “So I’ve heard.” Seeing that she was carrying a thick book with a beautiful cover of intricate, nature-oriented artwork, he speculated that she was here to return it. “What have you been reading, there?”

“This?” she said, hefting up the book. “It’s a beginner manual for wind magics.”

“You’re learning wind magics?” His eyes lingered on the book as if glued by an external force. He had long since wanted to start studying other types of magics aside from the ones that he held an affinity for, but Mr. Albeck was strict with his learning schedule. “How is it coming along?”

“Well, I’m returning the book, aren’t I?”

Her blonde hair was very shiny as if it had just been cleaned, which provided a beautiful contrast with her honest, silver eyes.

“What,” she said. “Is there something on my face?”

“I…your hair looks really pretty today.”

Her blush was almost immediate, though so was his. He often complimented Madeline and Patricia in a similar manner, but doing so never made him uncomfortable or uneasy like he was now.

“I wish I could say the same for yours.” She reached up and ruffled his short hair, which had seen a recent trimming. She pulled her hand away to show a light layer of dirt and grime. “I take it you were just training with the sword master?”

He nodded, a bit embarrassed. He’d thought himself completely cleaned, so it was no wonder why he’d been prevented from entering the library.

“One moment,” he said shyly. He gathered up some nearby water and rinsed his head for a second time. “Is it better?”

She bit her lip, thoughtful. “Let me try.”

The water that he’d gathered was abruptly removed from his control, though it remained in the air as if of its own accord. This was quite impressive, for the only way to seize control of the implemented magics of another mage was to invest twice as much energy as the original caster, at least as far as he was aware. Closing her eyes for a moment to heighten her concentration, she caused the water to begin to swirl around in an endless circle, like an enthusiastic dog chasing its own tail.

“Hold your breath for a minute, would you?”

By the time that she pulled the water back, it was slightly muddied. During this time, Alistar had been struck with an innovative yet dark idea on how to make more use of the simple, everyday spell. So long as he maintained a globe of water around someone’s head, they would surely be unable to breathe.

It’s a pity that there’s no way to test the thought.

“Now,” she said proudly, “let me try one more thing.”

He was suddenly assailed by a strong, cold breeze that forced him to alter his footing so that he wasn’t flung backwards.

“Oops,” she giggled, lessening the strength of the wind. “Sorry. How’s this?”

He nodded, more aware of his shivers as she took a few minutes to partially dry him. Noticing this, Lessa took off her blanket and draped the folded fabric around his shoulders. It was very warm.

“What about you?” he said, unsure. “I don’t want you to be cold.”

“I don’t want you to be cold either.”

An awkward silence set in where neither of them knew what to say next.

“That was really impressive,” he eventually said, averting his guilded gaze. “The way you moved the water, and what you did with the wind.”

She stifled a laugh, making him question what it was that she found so funny. “It took a few months, but I can finally create little gusts of wind like that. You know, this is the spell that some people use to circulate air throughout their homes. Well, the spell that their servants use.”

“Is it difficult?” he asked, recalling that Servan had once told him that the air within Crystellum was circulated in a similar manner.

“Well, it certainly ins’t easy,” she sighed. “I’ve been studying this book for over two months, but my master says that I need to know how to use at least one type of auxiliary magic. Since she thinks I’m best suited for wind magics, she’s been teaching them to me little by little. I’m not sure if she’s right, though, since it took me so long to learn the most basic spell.”

Intrigued as he was, Alistar cleared his throat and offered to return the book in her place.

“You just want to read it,” she said suspiciously. “The deadline to return it is today, but maybe you can take it out after I bring it back?”

He peered at the title, reading The Winds of Change.

“Okay, I’ll remember it.” Seeing her suppress a shiver, he made to return her blanket but she steadied his hands with her own and shook her head.

“Anice invited me over for dinner tonight, so give it back to me then.”

“O—okay, I’ll make sure it’s laundered.”

“You better!”

Just then the double doors swung inward and a middle-aged woman with thinly rimmed spectacles poked her narrow, brown-haired head out. She focused on them immediately.

“Master,” said Lessa, who pulled her hands back with a light blush and then gave a belated bow. “I was just on my way in.”

“Come now, Miss Silvus. There’s a lot to cover during today’s lesson, and if I wait any longer I fear that that table will be my grave.”