The days slip by, and soon, I've been here for two weeks. The morning classes—learning how to use magic, riding, and weapons training—are still rough and probably always will be. The history ones, though, are finally getting easier. Each night, I either lift weights or practice with swords and other weapons for an hour after dinner, and then I head to the library and read as much as I can.
But I’m still lagging behind in the most important classes, and I can’t take it anymore. Plus, the probation remains in effect. Every so often, I will see the angel spying on me. It gives me the most uncomfortable feeling. I hate that he’s judging me.
After classes this day, I don’t rush off to get dinner. Instead, I march over to the office buildings and mill around until I find the office where Mentor Serafina Le Rogue is.
The witch eyes me. Her hood is down for the first time ever, revealing silver hair and eyes that pierce through me.
“Yes, Mirella, can I help you?”
“I was hoping that you might…”
"I have many talents, but reading minds is not one of them. If you wish something of me, ask it, and you might receive."
I’ve grown accustomed to her bluntness over these past two weeks, and I think her brashness is mostly an act to put off first years. Or maybe I’m wrong. Her glower is impressive.
“I would like a tutor,” I blurt out.
And please not Valentina Collins. That witchy witch has it out for me.
I've avoided her as much as possible, but I just get this bad feeling whenever I see her. Neither of us has spoken since the whole lock on the stable incident. I really don't know what to make of her. If she wanted me to get in trouble, if that was the whole point, why did she bother to help put the horses back in the stable?
Probably because she knows I would’ve ratted her out for sure if she ditched me then.
“You would like a tutor, hmm? Do you now? One so that you can return to practicing your magic while under supervision so that you do not break your probation.” Her eyes glitter, and I know she could have added again.
But how does she know about my probation? And my use of magic since? I've been careful not to leak any magic outside of class, and there have been a few incidents when I have leaked during lessons, but I am trying harder to control myself to not use magic when I don't mean to. Now, I really need to master how to use magic when I want to.
“I have been wondering about you,” Mentor Le Rogue says.
She pushes her chair back, stands, and marches out of the room and the entire building. I race to keep up with her. The long skirts of her dress and cloak hide her legs, and she appears to float rather than use her legs to move.
The mentor brings me to one of the classroom buildings I have yet to enter. Down the hall we go before she motions for me to enter a room.
This area is strange. No pictures on the walls, no desks, no benches, no seats, no furniture at all. The walls are all a sterile white, same as the floor.
I glance behind at Mentor Le Rogue. She nods me ahead, and I walk until I reach the center of the room and turn back around to face her.
“I have been wondering about you,” she repeats. “The moving objects… is it with wind or with your mind?”
“My mind,” I say without hesitating.
“But you have used fire and wind, have you not?”
Feeling trapped, I nod.
“So it could be wind.”
“Possibly,” I mutter, “but it feels different.”
“Different,” she says skeptically.
I shrug, uncertain how to explain it.
“And you tried to fly.”
“Try is right.”
“What else?”
I swallow hard.
Mentor Le Rogue snaps her fingers. Although the ceiling is blank too, without any lights, the illumination in the room goes out, plunging me in darkness. No light appears, and I struggle to see. The door closes. Is the mentor inside with me or out in the hall? The door did have a glass window so she would be able to see me regardless.
All of a sudden, the walls burst into flames, most of the floor too. The fire licks its way toward me, and I begin to panic. I can fly. I have to fly. But no, that won’t work. The fire might be magical, but there’s smoke, and the inhalation will cause me to die.
Die? Is this some kind of crazy test thing and if you fail…
I won’t fail.
So no flying. I’ve used two of the elements, definitely, but can I conjure water?
I don’t have a choice.
I know it’s a sin to live in California and to never have gone to the beach, but I’ve seen it in movies and on TV, and I close my eyes and picture the calming waves… Yeah, the waves in my mind aren’t that calm. In fact, it’s a raging storm, the sky above black as coal, the waves frothy and devouring, and just as the heat from the flames nearly causes me to sink to the ground, a rush of wetness rushes out of my palms.
My eyes open to see water gushing into the room, smiting out the fire as quickly as the fire appeared.
The room becomes dark again, the water disappearing. When lights turn on from wherever the lights are, Valerie stands before me.
“Valerie?” I cry, giving her a hug. “But how…”
“Where am I? What are you wearing?” My friend glances all around.
“We’re at my school. How have you been?”
"I'm fine, just confused. Where are we?"
I frown. This looks like Valerie, but is it really her? What kind of magic does the mentor have? Can she read minds too, just like Mentor Magnus? Is that why Valerie is here? Or is this just an illusion?
“Valerie, how are things with Mario? Are you two still dating?”
“No, we broke up. Don’t you remember?”
“That’s right. Why again?”
“I would really rather not talk about it,” Valerie says stiffly, turning away from me.
“Really? Maybe because you never dated Mario. You dated Luigi.”
She glares at me, looming above me like a giant. Valerie’s face isn’t even on the giant’s face anymore, and a massive fist as large as my entire body goes to hit me.
Just an illusion. It’s only an illusion.
But Valerie had felt real enough, and a punch, imaginary or not, might cause some real pain, so I do my best to think of something, anything. Thankfully, the fist is moving slowly, but I have to block it.
With another first. A giant-sized fist.
I stare at my hand, imagining it to grow. Wind from the approaching fist billows my hair, and I’m panicky.
Then, my hand morphs. It’s as huge as the fist, and I grab it, holding the fist in place.
The giant disappears, and my hand returns to normal.
A table appears out of nowhere with vials and ingredients, and a book opened to a potion for endurance. None of the ingredients are labeled, and I have to guess what is what and even the measurements because it's not as if there's measuring cups here, and the recipe calls for pinches and clumps. The potion bubbles and changes from blue to purple to black and then red like it's supposed to, but I'm not willing to drink it in case it's not prepared just right. In a few months, we're going to be split in the Intro to Magic 101 course so we can start to have more specific training in our individual magical areas, but for now, we're still learning about magic in general.
The table disappears. Does that mean I made the potion correctly? I have no idea if that’s the case.
A raven flies around the ceiling. Without warning, the raven falls down, dead.
Great. A test for necromancy.
I don’t have an emotional tie with the raven, and I don’t want to show that I have this particular dark talent.
But then the raven morphs and changes shape to that of a fish, one in particular.
Skittles.
Someone is definitely reading my mind, which means they already know I can do this, so I just cross my arms and tap my foot.
A spell book appears, and I read the spell aloud. I’m not sure what’s supposed to happen, and I don’t really feel like anything happened either. Maybe I can’t do spells. I mean, I can’t possibly do every kind of magic possible.
A table appears along with Mrs. Cook, and this time, I make sure to use the wind to fork feed her a bite of her meal.
At this point, I’m beginning to grow weary, and I collapse onto the ground, not even caring when something else appears or rather someone. Oh. Logan. With a sign that I’m supposed to enchant him. Yeah. Pass. Not even going to try.
The door opens, and the mentor strolls in.
I stagger to my feet. “Did you enjoy the show?”
She purses her lips. “Your potion would have killed you, so you have no aptitude for that. Same with the spell. Your illusion was barely passable. You only possess two types of magic—necromancy and environmental.”
I swallow hard. “Necromancy?”
“Mirella, I understand why you are so against revealing this gift, but not all necromancers are evil.”
“I know but…”
“And the fish still lives.”
“Yes.”
“While a fish is not the same as a human, I take it there has been no change in behavior of the fish before versus after?”
“Uh, it’s a fish.”
She purses her lips.
“No changes that we noticed.”
"And water, fire, and wind. It is possible you can affect the earth, too. If you would like, you can come back tomorrow to finish the aptitude test."
“Isn’t it rare for a witch to have more than two types?” I ask.
The mentor nods. “Rare, however, suggests that some have possessed three or even more.”
"Not me." I try to smile but can't. Worse, I realize I'm back on the floor again. My mind and body feel like mush.
Mentor Le Rogue sighs and helps me to my feet. “You have been pushed harder than perhaps you should have, and I apologize for that. You can have a tutor. Luckily for you, I know just the student. He’s a second year, and he has the same abilities as you.”
“I’m not the only necromancer here?”
“No. He has embraced his, but he does not use it often. He prefers to use it only to help heal others.”
“Heal? How I thought it’s only for bringing dead stuff back to life.”
“Yes, and in the cases of paralyzed individuals… some have requested to have the limbs ‘killed’ so that he can bring them back to life. He has successfully helped a few hunters be able to walk again after they were injured to the point that even other magic could not heal them.”
“Wow,” I murmur.
"Several other mentors and I have told you repeatedly that magic itself is not good or evil. It is how it is used that matters," she says stiffly as if offended that I have yet to accept this lesson.
“Great. Um… I’m going to go to bed now.” I stumble to the door.
“Mirella?”
“Yes?” I don’t even have the strength to turn around to face her.
“You may sleep in and miss my class tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
In the end, I actually sleep through all of my morning classes. I’m starving and devour my lunch quickly. Before classes resume, I seek out both Mentor Sinte Maza and Master Vanhylde. They’re actually eating together in a large teacher’s lounge area in one of the office buildings.
I approach them and swallow hard. “I apologize for missing your classes this morning. I—”
“Serafina already explained to us last night that you might not be able to make it. The aptitude test for witches can be rather exhausting, or so I hear,” Master Vanhylde says.
“Oh, good.” I breathe easier.
Mentor Sinte Maza does the nod/almost bow thing, and they both return to their meals.
I clear my throat. “I, ah, also wanted to ask you both if you think it would be a good idea for me to have a tutor to help with your classes. I mean, I think I need tutors. I want—”
“You are not far behind the other witches in weapons training,” the master says. “Witches are not known to be physical fighters.”
“No, I know, but I just… I don’t want to let you down.”
The valkyrie narrows her eyes. “That is not the point of the class.”
“I do not want to let myself down or my fellow hunters,” I murmur.
“Fair enough.” The master sits back in her chair, appraising me, and is that a hint of a curl to her lips? No. She never smiles.
“You do need the help,” Mentor Maza grunts.
I flush.
“I know that you have been lifting weights and training with weapons after hours, but you haven’t been riding horses any extra,” he adds.
“I-I didn’t know if that was allowed.”
He blinks a few times and resumes eating.
Oh, so it is allowed. Guess I’ll have to fit that in too.
I nod to them and back away. Tutors. I hope I like all of them, and I hope they can help me. I’m still feeling out my way here, and I need help to cover some ground to catch up to the others.
But I will catch up and then keep on going. Nothing is going to hold me back.