Name: S’Hraa
Time of Day: Morning
Location: Kitchen--Hallway
Interacting with: @CaptainMarvel
----
S’Hraa was puzzled by the foreign words the orc uttered. An unfamiliar language that proceeded a familiar one. Why would he mix them together? Was S’Hraa supposed to understand it? Was he not? Perhaps the Orc may have uttered it incidentally, occasionally uttering incomprehensible words unwittingly. Regardless, S’Hraa was a bit disappointed at his rejection, Hunting is a favored activity and he likes to see the techniques and habits of others in order to find methods he can use to improve his own.

It was then that Orky threw a portion of his steak towards S’Hraa, who only detected something small moving towards him. Reacting instinctively rather than consciously he bared a clawed hand and catching it successfully. S’Hraa was confused at why the orc tossed a slab of meat at him, did he not hear his request for live meat? What would he even do with it, maybe as bait for hunting? After some thought he threw it towards the wolf “Maybe you’ll find the satiation from this that I won’t, I require fresher sustenance than this for my palate. I’ll just have to find something later.”

S’Hraa decided to sneak out to the forest later in the day to hunt down a meal, dusk being the best time as the darkness will help to hide his movements though it may make it harder to track something if the fauna tends to be diurnal. It would also give him an opportunity to collect alchemical ingredients, perhaps even some of the more… illicit substances for his experiments. First, however, he would need to procure more paralyzing poisons to augment his own, and perhaps a stimulant to keep himself alert. With that in mind, he elected to leave the kitchen and go to the dormitory where what ingredients he did have is stored along with what few personal items he has.

On the way, he mentally gathered the ingredients he needed, reciting it quietly though others may hear and, without an understanding of the agents, would likely dismiss it outside of some rather frightening names. …Foxglove….Deadly Nightshade….Rock Zinnia…Blue Cress… Prairie Cap… a miniscule amount of Weeping Plague, wouldn’t want death to come to quickly…” S’Hraa is too lost in thought to notice anyone, though the red stains from having a steak hurled at him may rise some concerning glances.

Character Name: Anyu
Time of Day: Late morning to early afternoon
Location: Auditorium of the main hall to the classroom to the practice fields
Interacting with: Everyone, in a sense

---

The rest of the morning leading up to the beginning of their class passed by like a whirlwind to Anyu as she tagged along with Marius’s group. Their first stop had been the quartermaster’s office so that anyone in their group that hadn’t already picked up their uniforms could do so as Tiana had suggested. The uniform itself was a relatively simple affair and consisted of a forest green robe that was trimmed with a lighter green cloth, sturdy brown trousers, a scarf of golden cloth and a pair of leather gloves for colder weather, a light gold shirt, a belt with a symbol of a tree spreading its branches in the dawn on the buckle, and a pair of sturdy black boots. In order to help students keep cool in the humid heat of Alsijan, most of the uniform was made using cotton.

Despite being told quite often that she and the other students needed to pick up their uniforms, Anyu found it hard to believe that the Guild would just provide them all with enough sets of clothing to last them a week. Though some of the other students might have felt that the uniforms were lacking in quality, they were leagues better than the ratty, oversized tunic Anyu had been wearing since being found by Ilya what felt like forever ago. She was also pleasantly surprised to find that the uniform fit her tiny frame rather well, with the only issue being that it was a little too long in the arms and torso. They had even remembered to leave a hole in the trousers for her tail to go through!

Once everyone in their group had changed into one of their uniforms, with the rest to be delivered to their dorm rooms later in the day, they made their way to the nearest dining hall in order. Considering it was still somewhat early on in the day, the dining hall was occupied by a good number of students who were also planning on breakfasting. Fortunately, there were still enough open seats that Anyu and the rest of Marius’s group were able to sit together once they had obtained their food. Seeing as how none of them really knew each other all that well, there wasn’t a ton of conversation that took place while they ate their respective meals, a turn of events for which Anyu was grateful.

After everyone in their group had finished eating, they proceeded to the auditorium of the main hall for the orientation of the new students and were able to get seats in the middle of the rows. New students, most of them from other houses, continued to trickle in and fill in the rows around them while they waited for the orientation to begin. Sitting there, Anyu took the opportunity to observe her surroundings. She could see almost immediately that the auditorium itself was quite spacious and was easily able to hold many time more students than were probably going to be attending the orientation. The space as a whole was dominated by the large stage in front of the rows of seating, which was an impression that was only enhanced by the fact that it was well illuminated by magical lights. Before Anyu could look around at much else, however, a tall woman wearing a dark blue robe that was chased with silver embroidery walked onto the stage and up to the podium of dark wood in the center.

”Good morning, everyone!” the lithe human woman standing behind the podium said, her warm tone cutting through the chatter of the students assembled before the stage she was on. Smiling, the woman pushed a lock of her strawberry blonde hair over her ear while she waited for the students to quiet themselves sufficiently. Once she was certain that she would be able to be heard without shouting, she continued. ”I believe that some of you may have already met me, but for those who haven’t had that opportunity, I am your Headmistress for the year, Maryn Bashan. While I am here mostly to give you a brief overview of the rules that the Guild feels should be stressed the most, I wanted to say a few words of encouragement first.”

”Some of you here may be feeling that your acceptance as a student was a mistake and that you aren’t talented or smart enough to become a fully-fledged mage,” the Headmistress continued, her bright green eyes sweeping across the students gathered before her periodically as if making sure that they were listening attentively. ”I want you to push those feelings aside. If you don’t, they’ll only get in your way and cause you to stumble. Instead, focus on the opportunity that you have been given to study here. The Mage’s Guild of Alsijan is one of the most prestigious magical organizations in the world with a rich history that stretches back centuries. Each of our teachers and mentors possesses a vast wealth of knowledge that they are eager and willing to share with you. Take advantage of that and continue pushing forwards.”

The Headmistress paused and nodded to the group of attendants at the back of the room before continuing. As she spoke, the people from the back of the room dispersed and began traveling down the aisles and handing out stacks of books for the students to pass along the rows they were seated in. ”With that said, we’ll now move on and go over some of the more important rules that you’ll have to abide by while you’re a student here. To avoid taking up too much of your time, we aren’t going to go over every rule in detail. Those will be covered by the handbooks that are being passed out to everyone right now. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that ignorance of the rules is no excuse for not following them! Make sure that you read the handbook and understand the rules of the Guild if you want to avoid disciplinary action.”

Anyu listened attentively as the Headmistress proceeded to discuss some of the rules that she had been alluding to throughout the presentation, like the ban on using magic in the dormitories, so that she wouldn’t accidentally break any of them. As it was, she was probably going to have to ask one of the other students to tell her the less important rules because of the fact that she couldn’t read a word of the book that they had been provided with. Hopefully, Anyu wouldn’t end up breaking any of the more obscure rules in her ignorance and getting into trouble.

True to her word, the Headmistress didn’t spend all that much time going over the rules that they were expected to follow as students. ”I want to thank you all for your time. I know that this kind of stuff isn’t very interesting, even if it is important,” she said as she wrapped up. ”From here, everyone will split up into their respective Houses and go to their first lesson with their House mentor. Attendants at the back are holding up placards with the House symbols on them. Go and find the one that matches your House so they can take you to the appropriate classroom. Thanks again and have a great time this year!”

Even before the Headmistress had finished speaking, some of the other students in the auditorium were beginning to stand up and start making their way to the back of the room where the attendants were standing. Though the chaos meant that things probably took longer than they really should have, everyone eventually made it to the attendant that was holding the symbol of the House before being lead to the classroom where they would have their first lecture as students of the Guild.

As it turned out, House Meadowmist’s class was on the second floor in a spacious classroom that had a wonderful view of the dormitories they had come from. The classroom itself was probably rather typical for organizations like the Mage’s Guild at the time, consisting of a number of desks arranged in rows for the students to sit and take notes at and a large board of black glass that had been imbued so that it glowed wherever the teacher wrote on it with a similarly enchanted stylus. Of course, there was also a wooden podium at the front of the room for the teacher to lay their notes and other belongings down while they taught.

Their teacher was already sitting in the room on one of the desks and consulting his notes when the attendant directed them through the door. The mentor of House Meadowmist was a Wood Elf man with short, curly dark brown hair and a clean-shaven face. Though he, like most everyone, towered over her, Anyu could tell that he was a little on the shorter side compared to some of the other elves that she had met so far. Upon seeing them enter, he rose to his feet gracefully and gave them a large smile. ”Ah, there you all are,” he said jovially, gesturing for them to all take a seat. ”Hopefully that whole orientation business wasn’t too boring for you. Marwyn is usually pretty good as keeping those things moving, but it can feel like they drag on for an eternity.”

Once everyone was seated, the man continued. ”Hello everyone. My name is Denolin Elmrock, but feel free to call me Den. I’m sure you’ve already introduced yourselves and gotten to know each other a bit, so we’ll just move onto the lecture,” Den said as he moved to the board and grabbed the slim stylus. He wrote “The Basics of Magic” at the top of the leftmost part of the board before he spoke again. ”I’m going to apologize in advance if this is a review for any of you here, but just bear with me. Not everyone has had the same prior education in how to use magic. Don’t worry though, after lunch you’ll be attending a more hands-on class where you’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your abilities so that we can see how far along you are.

“Though it may seem mysterious and strange, the act of using magic is really just the manipulation of the energy that makes up our world. This energy is called mana. There are a number of theories dealing with the nature of mana and magic in general, but we don’t really have the time to get into any details at the moment. Currently, we understand mana to be an external energy that can be manipulated by mages at the cost of some of their own energy. This is why mages feel fatigued after using a lot of magic, either all at once or over a longer period of time. Of course, all it takes to replenish this energy is getting some rest, so don’t worry too much if you overdo it here and there during your studies.

“Now, while all magic is performed by manipulating mana, the way that one manipulates mana is very, very important. As it turns out, certain magics can only be performed by manipulating mana in particular ways. This is why acts of magic are divided into the various categories that we call Schools of Magic. As an example, to use magic from the School of Evocation, a mage must use mana to manipulate the various elemental energies that help form the foundation of the world, but using magic from the School of Illusion requires shaping mana to create fake images and sensations that trick or mislead others. These are two very different effects, but can both be said to just be the product of manipulating mana.

“And of course, much like some people have a natural talent for swordsmanship or painting, so too does every mage have a natural talent, or affinity, for using one or two of the Schools of Magic. Of course, every mage can learn how to use magic from every School if they’re dedicated enough. It’s just that a mage with an affinity for a specific School will always be better at using it than a mage without an affinity for that School. As such, most mages choose to focus on developing their abilities with the Schools that they do have an affinity for. It’s also worth noting that mages with only one affinity usually find themselves exceptionally talented in that School of Magic.

“As a sort of supplement to the Schools of Magic, we also have what we call the Magecrafts. These are skills related to the creation of magical items that don’t really rely on a particular way of manipulating mana, which is why they aren’t classified as Schools. It also makes them more or less open for everyone to learn regardless of their particular affinities. Of course, you’ll still have people that are more talented than others in that craft, but that’s just the way life is. During your time here, you’ll have the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to engage in the Magecrafts if you’re so inclined.”

Just as Den finished speaking, the ornate clock hanging above the doorway chimed softly as the longer hand ticked along so that it was pointing at the top of the clock with the shorter hand. Tsking slightly, Den continued once the clock had finished making noise. ”I suppose that’s my sign to stop here for the day. We’ll cover the different Schools and Magecrafts in more specific detail next time,” he said as he made a note of how far he had gotten in his notes. ”Go ahead and enjoy your lunch. But remember that you have to be on the practice field in an hour for the diagnostic class.”

From there, the group made their way to the dining hall for lunch, finding a table that they could all sit at easily enough after getting their meals. Having never attended a class in her life, Anyu was a little overwhelmed by how much information she had just received in what was a little under an hour of time. ”There’s no way that I’m going to remember all of that,” she lamented to herself. She also hadn’t been able to understand any of what he wrote on the board either due to her illiteracy. Hopefully he hadn’t written anything on the board that he hadn’t also said in his lecture.

Lunch for Anyu passed in relative solitude, even though she stayed with the group that Marius had gathered back at the common room. With the lunch rush going on, there was just a lot of background noise that made it hard to hear what the people around her were saying. Anyu still did her best to respond whenever she thought someone was addressing her, though she wasn’t sure if they could hear her over the din. She wasn’t a very loud person after all, and she didn’t really feel comfortable raising her voice even if it was just so that people could hear her.

Eventually, however, lunch was over and the group was on their way to the practice fields that Den had told them about. The fields were not terribly large, seeing as how they were in the middle of the city and all, but they were easily large enough for the students to spread out and show off their magic without interfering with one another. Though the Meadowmist students arrived a little earlier than the specified time, Den and several of the other teachers were already there and were talking amongst themselves in a lighthearted manner.

”Okay guys! Come over this way,” Den called out whenever he noticed the Meadowmist students arriving, signalling for them to follow him to an area of the field. ”We’re going to go ahead and do this one at a time, so go ahead and line up behind that white line on the grass. The order you line up in doesn’t matter to me in the least, so do it however you want. When it’s your turn, go to the square over there and state your name. Then the proctor will ask you a few questions about your affinity and what you’re comfortable trying with your magic before giving you the go ahead to show off. This is purely a diagnostic test, so don’t worry about making mistakes or anything like that. Just do your best. Ok? Then let’s get started! First in line, you’re up!”

Character Name: Marius
Time of Day: Morning to Afternoon
Location: Auditorium of the main hall to the classroom to the practice fields
Interacting with: Den

Marius spent the morning doing what he usually did, trying to convince those around him of his greatness, belittling the mediocrity of it all, and thinking and planning how his companions would fit into his grand master plans, which mostly involved alot of talking about them out loud with barely any semblance of reference. To an outsider, the injured boy seemed to be unhinged, much like some of those around him. It made one wonder whether Meadowmist Students were the odd balls.

At any rate, he got his robes, this time actually appropriate to his house colors (The nurses just gave him one off handedly) which fit him sublimely. "Very heroic." And then he realized everyone was wearing them. This crushed his image of the constant need to stand out. He almost accused them of copying him but he reminded himself they were a team and they had to have commonality. Unity and all that nonsense. He then had a lower opinion of the 'freshman uniform' but he kept his opinion to himself... atleast vocally.

The orientation was when Marius was the most quiet. He viewed the Headmistress, the one who gave him his injuries with a look of cold calculated scorn. The whole time she spoke he had been thinking, scheming, plotting, attempting to maybe beat her not with force but by over-achieving her little curriculum, or by planning some other plan of attack to take her off balance. It was fate that he sit in the audience today, but anyone who beat him was a challenge, a challenge that must be overcome to his glory.

He was lost in thought for most of lunch because each plan of his kept leading to his own downfall. It left him quiet and irritable. He only spoke when spoken at.

Finally out in the yard with their teacher... he didn't catch his name. He was more focused on the open field and was looking forward to testing his mettle and skill and showing his companions how its really done. He grinned as his boots hit the grass. "Finally." He grinned. "Practical application. Who really cares how it works as long as it does?" He would have the most benefits out here in the yard. The classes are just going to be a waste of time for him.

The teacher called them to a line, and Marius was sure to be in the front where he belongs. He had his hands on his hips while he stood heroically, waiting for the moment where he could step forward and show everyone the great destiny that was planned for the Hero.

He stepped to the square, head held high. "Good afternoon. I certainly don't need an introduction, but I've seen first hand that this school is ignorant to legends that walk among them. Marius Sirvaki. The Phoenix Dawn! My affinities are Abjuration and Evocation. The only schools that actually matter." He flipped his head and held a hand up as if shruggin. "Honestly, I wonder why the school even bothers teaching anything else, but- I guess some people are destined to be... fortune tellers, or party magicians." He couldn't really think of anything of practical purpose. Magic was a tool, and for those destined to save the world, magic was his sword and shield.

After the proctor got the information and gave him the go ahead to demonstrate, he lowered his stance, the wisps of mana visible as his fingers made the seal. His form seemed to be silhouetted and imposed in a number of arcane symbols that seemed to flicker as if made of smoldering fire. "I thought you'd never ask. Flame Wall!" He made a motion with his hands, striking his forearms and gripping the bit of mana from the air into his fist, emphasizing the power needed to twist two schools into one spell of awesome power. Extending from the little box as if a line of bonfires with wicker of paper wedged inbetween the logs, all set a blaze, a fire with tongues as tall as a man surged from the ground, almost obscuring Marius from the proctor.

His voice arising over the fire that was killing the grass and lighting the nearby shrubbery ablaze. "As you can plainly see, I have mastered both schools and am able to implement both at the same time. But that isn't all." He ducked low, the mana appearing again forming the sigils but this time, one hand held bits of blue light, while the other seemed to crackle and spark with energy. He jumped, and then seemed to jump again, forming a barrier under his feet, that he pushed off again, to clear the flames. In the motion, his other hand reeled back and a bolt of lightening formed inside of it. "Thunder Lance!" He cleared the flames and launched the bolt towards the ground, having it burst with a boom and a flash of light some meters infront of the proctor, leaving only a blackened patch of grass at its passing.

With his demonstration done, he waved his hands, causing all of his effects to vanish, himself standing tall and proud. "A perfect combination of defense and offense. You may promote me to the next grade now." He seemed oblivious to the fact that he managed to cause quite a bit of damage to the courtyard around him, a large ugly scorch mark of grass, a bush burned to a crisp, and an innocent tree whose branch took such fire damage that the branch fell to the ground into splinters and the tree itself still had embers and was in danger of catching fire.

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with: Marius Sirvaki @ShwiggityShwah

---

After telling his students to line up and calling for the first student to step up to the square marked on the field, Den went to join the other two proctors for the diagnostic exam. As the mentor to House Meadowmist, he was expected to lead the test in a sense, which mostly just meant making sure that the students’ demonstrations proceeded smoothly and were judged fairly. It was no big deal really. And, truth be told, Den generally enjoyed getting the opportunity to see what the abilities of his students were, so he didn’t particularly mind the extra responsibility.

The first student to take the test was a red-headed man that approached the square on the field with an eager, yet confident stride. After the man had stepped into the square, he introduced himself as Marius Sirvaki, the Phoenix Dawn after a rather snide remark concerning the ignorance of the Guild when it came to legends such as himself. ”So this is the student that challenged Marwyn to a duel the other day,” Den thought wryly as he noted the Schools of Magic that Marius had an affinity for, as well as his disdain for the others. That was a mindset that would almost inevitably cause issues when he needed to work with his fellow students. But that would be a problem for a later day. For now, Den just needed to focus on evaluating his skills. ”Okay, Mr. Sirvaki, you may proceed with your demonstration.”

Evidently eager to begin, Marius wasted no time in dropping into a stance and pulling on the mana around him to cast his flame wall spell, his figure surrounded by faintly smoldering arcane symbols. While such displays were decidedly impressive to watch, they also happened to be largely unnecessary for the manipulation of mana from a purely academic standpoint. Many students that had received some level of training before coming to the Guild had similar habits when it came to casting magic, however, as they had somehow learned that they were necessary. Either that, or they had a habit for showing off whenever possible. Considering what he had seen of Marius’s personality so far, Den wasn’t quite sure which was more likely.

As the flames from Marius’s spell surged from the ground to form a wall that partially obscured him from sight, Den had to admit that Marius’s overconfidence was perhaps not entirely undeserved. Simultaneously using magic from two separate Schools at the same time was definitely something that was beyond the ability of the Guild’s typical new student. Using the barrier to maintain the wall of fire so that he didn’t have to continuously feed it mana had also been pretty clever. Of course, that didn’t really mean that Marius had mastered either of the Schools that he used, but that was a lesson that he would probably have to learn on his own.

Marius promptly followed his wall of fire with another demonstration, drawing mana before leaping into the air and utilizing a barrier to provide himself with the ability to jump again. As he cleared the wall of fire that he had created, he launched a bolt of lightning at the ground a short distance in front of Den and the other two proctors. Reflexively, Den put up a small barrier to protect himself and his colleagues from any errant effects when he saw that the bolt was going to land nearby. When Marius signalled that he was finished with his demonstrations by dismissing his wall of fire, Den allowed his own barrier to vanish as well.

Marius’s demonstration with the lightning bolt further cemented Den’s belief that he had had a significant amount of training before arriving at the Guild. Even though air and fire weren’t opposite elements, it would still take a complete novice some time before they were able to achieve the level of mastery in each that was necessary for combining them. The aftereffects of the demonstration, namely the damage to the environment, also confirmed Den’s suspicion that Marius was somewhat lacking in finesse. While Den supposed that it might just be the case that Marius was showing off, there were ways to demonstrate power and dexterity at the same time that would have been more impressive than just brute force.

”While I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Den said as he finished scribbling down his notes on Marius’s performance, ”advancing to the rank of adept requires more than just demonstrating a proficiency with magic. In particular, you’ll also have to show that you have learned the material from your classes to a satisfactory degree by passing an exam. Not to mention the fact that the actual test of your magical ability will be a lot less free-form than this diagnostic test.”

As Den responded to Marius’s somewhat absurd request, the other two proctors went about making certain that none of the embers remaining from Marius’s demonstration would catch anything on fire. ”That’s not to say that your demonstration was lackluster,” Den continued after he had placed his notes on Marius’s performance in a wooden chest nearby. ”You’re clearly a talented mage who has had a substantial amount of training before arriving. It probably won’t be too long before you pass the actual advancement test.”

Once the other proctors had returned and placed their own notes in the chest and Marius had rejoined the others, Den called out for the next student to step forward.

Character Name: Sylvanna Teledar
Time of Day: Early morning
Location: Dormitory
Interacting with: who really gives a toss

Eventually, Sylvie found herself out on the practise field like everyone else. It was about time, too, because she was sick of sitting through orientations and lectures. They had promised her a chance to use magic, and she wanted a chance to use magic! Magic was directly conducive to having fun, unlike talking, talking, and more talking. Granted, there was fun to be had in talking, but not the kindof talking they had been doing up till now. It was more fun listening to Phoenix Dumb talk about being Phoenix Dumb than anything else. The moment he stepped out onto the foreground, Sylvie was anticipating a fun time.

Marius did not disappoint. He immediately caused a huge scene with his flashy magic, and he caused a whole bunch of problems for the staff to deal with. Sylvie giggled and cackled as she watched him obliviously grandstand in front of the almost assuredly annoyed proctors. She was a little disappointed to see how calmly Den responded to him. She was hoping for more of a furor like with Mama Tiana back in the dorm. Where was the fun in people calmly talking things out and being reasonable? Still, she was quite satisfied with his performance. If she had been one of the proctors, though she would never do so due to it being all too dull, she would have given him perfect marks.

However, the best part was that with the end of his stunts came the time for her to make her own show. Sylvie loved getting the chance to have things go her way. It was great to have others entertain her, but sometimes they didn't go the whole hog, so it was better to be able to stir things up personally. Right now, Sylvie was running high on Marius' example, and so she wanted to add some flair to her own attempt. Instead of walking out like a normal person, Sylvie pirouetted into the center of attention. "Hark, ye masses!" She began, as if announcing herself to the world. "I am the scintillatingly superb Sylvanna Teledar! I am an adept of the schools of Enchantment and Alteration." Her claim to significant skill in either field was as embellished as her performance, but from the looks on the proctor's faces it seemed they were under no illusions of what they were dealing with.

When given the go ahead to make her own mark on this test, Sylvie launched into an even greater performance than before. She leapt into the air, pulling off a spin mid-air, and landed in a dramatic fashion, before pointing to the furthest point of the field, behind the proctors. "See? My magnificence is laid bare for the world to see!" One look in the direction she pointed in would reveal nothing of interest. It would appear as though she had done nothing at all besides some fancy acrobatics.

But therein lay the trap. With at least some distracted, Sylvie took the chance to perform some actual magic. Her spell was one of Alteration, and it was directed at a female proctor with her back turned to her. It was nothing harmful, at least physically; it was merely designed to weaken the fabric of clothing, in this case breaking down the proctor's robes to the point they came apart at the seams and fell from her body. To Syvlie's great amusement, and the proctor's certain horror, she was left completely exposed save her undergarments. Sylvie, overwhelmed by the hilarity of her own little jape, collapsed to the ground howling with laughter, oblivious to the possibility of actual consequences from this.

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with: Sylvanna Teledar @Etranger

---

The next student to come forward in order to take the test was a tall Sun Elf woman who announced herself as Sylvanna Teledar in a grandiose fashion after pirouetting to the square. ”Is she trying to outperform Marius’s demonstration?” Den pondered idly as he noted which Schools she had affinities for. If this was going to be the start of a strange rivalry between the two of them to see which of them could show off their skills in the most extraordinary and over the top fashion, the following year was going to be a pretty interesting one. Den just hoped that none of the resulting antics pushed their teachers too far. They were pretty hard to replace after all.

”Okay, Ms. Teledar, you may proceed with your demonstration,” Den said with a permissive gesture of his hand once he and the other two proctors had finished scribbling down the notes on their initial impressions. Upon receiving permission to begin with her demonstration, Sylvanna launched herself into the air and pulled off a spin somewhere near the apex of her jump. ”It seems like we have a couple of athletes in our group this year,” Den remarked to himself with a small smile as Sylvanna landed dramatically.

When she pointed behind to the other side of the field behind them and declared that her talents were on display, Den and the other proctors turned somewhat excitedly to see what she had done. Of course, their excitement quickly gave way to confusion as they failed to find even the barest hint of magic at the specified location. Had she done something more subtle? Was the change small enough that they would need to get closer to actually see it? Truth be told, that level of precision would be quite commendable in a new student.

Unfortunately, before anyone could ask any such clarifying questions of Sylvanna, the clothes belonging to the female proctor standing next to Den fell apart. With a small shriek, the blushing woman quickly tried to cover herself as much as possible, though her efforts were ultimately in vain. ”Y-You horrible little…” the moon elf woman stammered indignantly before she began stomping away from the group. ”I’ll see that you’re expelled for this! Do you hear me?” Judging from the laughing fit Sylvanna seemed to be having over the whole thing, however, it seemed obvious that she had in fact not heard the moon elf woman’s threat.

”That was a little uncalled for, don’t you think?” Den asked with a sigh as he walked over to the laughing Sun Elf after his colleague had stormed off, using her magic to turn herself invisible once the shock of the whole situation had worn off a bit. While it was true that Sylvanna was a new student and had been acting within the context of the diagnostic test, it was also true that she could have chosen to demonstrate her prowess with Alteration magic without embarrassing one of her proctors.

”We’ll have to discuss your punishment later,” Den continued after a moment. Expulsion was almost certainly too severe a punishment for what was essentially a juvenile prank, but scrubbing pots in the kitchens or mopping floors weren’t. Hopefully a week or two of extra chores would help Sylvanna realize that she shouldn’t be pulling pranks on her teachers or other more advanced students of the Guild. Of course, she shouldn’t pull pranks on anyone, but her laughing fit made Den think that it would take a little more than some manual labor to convince her to give up pranking people.

While Sylvanna recovered from her laughing fit, Den recorded his impressions of her abilities as displayed during her demonstration. From the fact that she hadn’t bothered to utilize Enchantment magic, it was clear that she hadn’t really taken the opportunity to show off her abilities as seriously as she should have, so it was a little harder than normal to accurately judge her abilities. She had shown a level of precision when it came to using her Alteration magic to weaken the proctor’s clothes at the seams from a distance, however, which was a point worth noting regarding her ability with that School.

As Den and the other remaining proctor finished their notes on Sylvanna’s performance, they were joined by another teacher who would fill in for the moon elf proctor that Sylvanna had humiliated. Once he had arrived and Sylvanna had returned to the others, Den called out and gestured for the next student to come forward.

Character Name: Artemis Eldon
Time of Day: Early morning
Location: Dorm—>Auditorium—>Class—>Practice Fields
Interacting with: Den @TaliPaendrag

When the dwarf offered to take Artemis to lost property, she was relieved that she didn’t have to find it herself. Directions were definitely not her forte. The two made their way to the lost property building with the dwarf, Brandon as she’d learnt, leading. When they arrived at her destination the two went their separate ways. She retrieved her bag and regretting making it so full and heavy. At least the walk wasn’t too long. When she got to the dorms, she found that the previous group that was inside had already left, probably to do their pre orientation duties like Tiana suggested. Artemis decided to eat some snacks that she had packed to satisfy her hunger. When she was done, she went to find the quartermaster’s office to get her uniform using her map. Although she got a lost quite a few times and it took a lot longer than she’d like to admit, Artemis finally found the office. After getting her uniform, she went through the same process of getting lost and repeatedly looking at her map while trying to find the auditorium. She was honestly surprised she made it in on time. A lot of this could’ve been avoided though if she’d just asked for another‘s help, but she was far too stubborn and prideful to have to bother someone again. She made a mental note to study the map when she was done with classes.

After the orientation, Artemis met up with her house, Meadowmist, reuniting with few familiar faces from her dorm when they made their way to their first class. As their teacher, Den, lectured the class about the basics of magic, Artemis tried to stay attentive, though she mostly spaced out since she really wasn’t learning anything new. After class, she stuck with her Meadowmist peers until it was time for their practical.

When everyone got into line, the fiery boy who called himself Marius went first. Although his execution was rather destructive, the raw skill and power he demonstrated was surprising, amazing even. Though she wouldn’t dare to admit it out loud, Artemis was envious at his prowess over evocation magic. The fact he was able to combine two different elements in what seemed like ease showed his higher ingenuity in the class compared to her. However, the attitude that he showcased made it hard to admire him unfortunately. Instead of making him someone to look up to, Artemis made sure that he would be someone to overcome and defeat. A rival if you will.

While watching Marius’ demonstration, the girl in front of Artemis in line, Sylvanna she later learnt, was giggling at him. Artemis had no idea what was so funny but then again she usually didn’t get most humour. When it was the aforementioned Sylvanna’s turn, Artemis was once again surprised at a peers’ performance. Though it was for completely different reasons than the previous one. Artemis gawked at the fact that the girl had was ignorant enough to conduct such an outrageous spell. Unsurprisingly the poor embarrassed teacher threatened expulsion but Sylvanna only kept laughing. She confused Artemis to no ends.

It was her turn now. She stepped into the square determined to impress the proctors. She already came up with something to do and she hoped that her demonstration stood ground against her peers. “My name is Artemis Eldon and I have an affinity for Conjuration and Evocation” She stated. After she answered the proctor’s last question they gave her a thumbs up. It was time to start.

She knelt down and placed her hands on field. A tugging feeling surged through her arms as she moved the element of Earth to her will. In a matter of seconds, a mass of dirt exploded from the ground a couple of metres in front of her and shot for the sky. Instead of the dirt going absolutely everywhere, she manoeuvred it using hand gestures to fall directly on her. As the dirt cascaded towards her, she prepared herself for her next spell by closing her eyes and focusing on the task at hand. When the dirt was close, she seemingly disintegrated into the air and reappeared a sidestep away just out of reach of the dirt that crashed into the ground. Then she faced the dirt and willed it using various hand gestures to mold a simple geometric cat from the ground up. As she fisted her hands, the dirt went hard like dried clay. She hovered her hand just above the cat and she conjures a hat to big on top of it’s head.

“I’m finished” she said as she retrieved the hat and tried to will as much of the dirt back into the small crater she had created. She couldn’t make the grass grow back though so there was just a patch of dirt left behind like a temporary scar. She turned over to the proctors and awaited her evaluation.

Character Name: Rahele (Profile/CS)
Time of Day: Early Afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with:

Despite now being more familiar with her colleagues, Rahele continued to stay quiet and just move along objectively, thoughts always in some spell or piece of knowledge she was trying to understand. Even with Marius' brash talkative ways, the woman had learned that responding to those with nods and small eyebrow movements was enough to not offend the man, in fact, there was probably no difference between saying something in response or not, as the number of words the self-declared hero would hear were about the same.

In the training field, she paid close attention to the instructions and wondered what she could do to showcase her magic. While she did so, she observed her fellow mages doing their own showcase. It was easy to predict how Marius' would go, and once again, he showed some actual skill and natural talent on what he could do. Sylvanna's had been a bit surprising, the use of Alteration from a distance was not something she could do... furthermore, she saw some money making opportunity in those pranks, after all, an unraveling spell created the demand for a remending spell. Artemis' came next, and the word Conjuration actually caught Rahele's attention. She had never seen it in practice before, and her eyes, that had stayed neutral at the sight of thunder and raging proctors, widened a bit when the woman just vanished and reappeared.

Then it was time for her to step in and do her own presentation. She gently walked to the field and nodded slightly. Rahele of Modiri, my affinities are Animancy and Alteration." she said calmly, raising a hand over eyes, when the hand left her eye color had changed to aquamarine, with a slight mana-infused shine to it.

She looked around into the distance in search of birds, thanks to Marius, only crows remained. She sighed, they were terrible to make deals with, but still, she signaled for one to come. She also reversed the Alteration spell on her eyes, no longer needing the enhanced sight.

She whispered to the bird a bit, visibly annoyed at one point, until finally, in exchange for a bag of worms and some fancy seeds, the crow grabbed one of the branches that fell during the demonstrations and brought it to the former witch, who quickly moved to a stone she had scouted earlier. She poked it with the branch a few times, the wooden stick almost breaking each time, then it shone with mana-infused light and with one strong shove it caused the rock to crack open. To finish her demonstration, she split the branch in half without doing any sort of dispelling, showcasing she had not strengthened the branch but instead used it as a wand to infuse a spell into the stone.

"I hope this is satisfactory. Thank you for your attention." she told the Teacher.

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with: Artemis@FurFox

---

The next student to step forth and take the diagnostic test was a Moon Elf girl who approached the square with a determine stride before calmly introducing herself as Artemis Eldon. As Den noted which Schools she had affinities for, he had to admit that he was simultaneously relieved and disappointed that Artemis seemed remarkably normal compared to Marius and Sylvanna. On the one hand, it meant that her demonstration would probably proceed rather smoothly, which was further supported by her calm and collected demeanor. On the other hand, it probably wouldn’t be as… interesting, for lack of a better word.

”Okay, Ms. Eldon, you may proceed with your demonstration,” Den said once he and the other proctors had finished scribbling down their notes so far. Upon receiving permission to begin, Artemis knelt down and placed her hands on the ground, which was a fairly clear indication that she was planning on demonstrating her ability with Evocation magic. Such hypotheses were confirmed a few moments later when a section of the ground in front of her burst apart and flew into the sky before Artemis maneuvered it to fall directly on top of her.

Moments before the clod of dirt collided with her, Artemis vanished from sight for just an instant before reappearing just out of the way of the pile of dirt she had been controlling. ”I really got a bunch of talented students this time around,” Den remarked to himself as he made a note of Artemis’s ability to use Conjuration magic to teleport. Though she had only crossed a very short distance using her magic, it was still a rather impressive feat considering the fact that she was just a novice. It usually took Conjurers several years of study and practice before they were able to teleport at all, though it did apparently become easier once it had been done the first time.

Evidently not content to finish her demonstration by showing of her ability to use teleportation magic, Artemis promptly turned to face the pile of dirt that she had been manipulating before and used her magic to mold it into the a geometric model of a regular cat. Once satisfied with the appearance of her sculpture, she solidified the dirt so that it would keep its shape before conjuring a large hat and placing it on the sculpture’s head. A few moments later, she declared that she was finished and went about retrieving the hat and moving the dirt she had been using back into the hole that she had pulled it from.

”Very well done, Ms. Eldon,” Den said in a congratulatory tone as he finished making his notes. ”Though I’m sure that you are aware, I must say that being able to use Conjuration magic to teleport is an incredible accomplishment for a new student. Of course, the precision you displayed when working earth aligned Evocation magic is also noteworthy. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited to see more of what you’re capable of as the semester goes on.”

Once he finished giving her his evaluation and she had rejoined the other students, Den called out for the next student to come forward and demonstrate their abilities.

---

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with: Rhiale@Moyai

---

The next student to approach the square in order to take the test was a silver-haired human woman who calmly introduced herself as Rahele of Modiri and stated that she had affinities for the Schools of Animancy and Alteration. Her use of a location as a substitute for her last name was a little puzzling, but Den wasn’t all that concerned about it. It wasn’t all that uncommon for the Guild to accept students that had troubled pasts that they would rather forget. Odds were that Rahele was just one such student. Regardless, Den didn’t have that much time to consider the possibilities before Rahele signalled the beginning of her demonstration by placing her hand over her eyes.

While she had clearly worked some sort of magic by briefly covering her eyes, it was a little hard to see what that might have been. Den and the other proctors were just too far away to really make out the change in her eye color or the slight shine that they had obtained due to her magic. Fortunately, the Guild had a policy of making sure that a proctor with an affinity for Divination was present for these tests for just such occasion. Said proctor, a stocky Gnome with an impressive gray beard, was nodding occasionally and making notes as Rahele looked around the field for something.

A few moments later, however, Rahele used magic with an effect that Den could see, namely the arrival of a fairly hefty crow from another section of the practice field. Rahele then proceeded to spend the next several moments speaking quietly with the bird as if negotiating something with it. While she spoke too quietly for Den to hear what she was saying, it was clear that the negotiations weren’t going exactly as planned from her annoyed expression at points. Eventually, however, she seemed to come to an agreement with the crow, as it flew off to retrieve a branch for her.

Rahele then used the stick to prod a stone from nearby on the practice field a couple of times. As expected, the flimsy branch nearly snapped each time she used it to press the stone. At least that was the case until she used her magic to make the stick glow brightly and shoved it at the rock. Upon making contact with the enchanted branch, the rock cracked open with seemingly no more effort than it would have taken to snap the branch originally. Then, without dismissing the magic that she had laid upon the stick, Rahele snapped it in half in order to show that she had actually used the stick as a conduit for her magic to weaken the rock instead of strengthening the branch.

After taking a few moments to confer with the Gnome proctor about what magic Rahele had used in the beginning of her demonstration and finalize his notes, Den responded to Rahele’s finishing comment. ”I wouldn’t worry. Your performance was quite good. Your ability to use Animancy to communicate with animals was certainly interesting, even if your negotiations did take you a little while. I understand that it isn’t a particularly hard ability to learn, but it’s still rather uncommon in these parts. It was also refreshing to see you use Alteration magic in a way that didn’t humiliate one of your teachers. In all seriousness, having the ability to morph aspects of yourself that aren’t necessarily physical shows that you have a lot of skill with Alteration. I’m curious to see how you advance that during your time here.”

Once he finished giving her his evaluation and she had rejoined the other students, Den called out for the next student to come forward and demonstrate their abilities.

Character Name: Brandon Argyle
Time of Day: Early Morning
Location: Dormitory
Interacting with: Proctors and Co.

Marius' blustering was practically predictable by now. Not only had he raced to be the first to show off, but he made a complete mess with his obnoxious display. He not only displayed a complete lack of concern for having left fires for the proctors to put out, but even took the opportunity to spit upon the schools of magic he did not personally partake in. Had he been free to do so, Brandon would have slapped him down on the spot. The fact that the proctors barely reacted to his downright disrespectful attitude spoke volumes of their permissiveness. It was ultimately their prerogative to treat their students as they saw fit, but Brandon did not believe any good would come of sparing the rod with this entitled egomaniac. He would only push his boundaries further if left to assume there was to be few if any consequences for his acting out.

Speaking of acting out, the next one to leap and twirl her way into the limelight was Sylvanna. The moment she started mimicking Dumb's characteristic flair he knew this was going to be even more of a mess than ever. Sure enough, her demonstration ended with her effectively assaulting one of the proctors. Brandon buried his face in his palm at the sight of it all. At least for this one they were actually planning a punishment, although Brandon would have preferred to have the girl put in the stocks. It would be fitting not only for being more severe, but also for giving her a taste of her own medicine. One would hope that after being publicly humiliated, she would learn some empathy for the people she subjected to a similar humiliation. He was certain the human institution's chosen punishment would not be nearly as fitting or enlightening, however.

With the end of the Sun Elf's nonsense, a return to normalcy came upon them. The first to deliver such normalcy to them was Artemis, the Moon Elf that Brandon had assisted earlier. There was no announcing of her name like it was some great and noble title, nor any dancing around like she was preforming a play. Just a good, honest display of her magical talent, as should be expected on any good student. It was practically refreshing after having to endure Dumb and Dumber. The next one, Rahele, was equally straightforward in her demonstration. The lull in unwelcome excitement was precisely what Brandon had needed before getting ready for his own display. Not to say that either of them lacked in spectacle, but they were certainly less rambunctious than the two that came before them.

Finally, the time came for Brandon to put on his own show. He had the perfect idea in mind to give a sense of his capabilities and turn a few heads, although hopefully not in any way the same fashion as the first two. "I am Brandon Argyle, of the Republic of Bergen. I am versed in the schools of Evocation and Abjuration." Saying it aloud reminded him that his fields of interest were akin to those of Marius. It was disconcerting, but he was sure he would prove to be set well far apart from him in time. The opening move of his demonstration was for Brandon to stomp on the ground, producing a modest stone from the ground. It might seem beyond underwhelming at first, and it certainly wasn't all that impressive a feat, but it was not the end of his maneuvers. His next move was to create a small yet sturdy barrier in his right hand. While it was still midair, Brandon slapped the stone he had produced with his barrier, sending it flying forth, embedding itself in the ground a short distance in front of him.

Brandon then began stomping his feet rhythmically, producing more stones before slamming them into the ground in a sort of pattern. But as he did so, he began his final flourish. He began to sing.

"~Merck toch hoe sterck nu in 't werck sich al steld~" Marius and anyone else familiar with the Dawrven tongue would at least recognise the language.

"~Die 't alled tijd' so ons vrijheit heeft bestreden~" He continued to sing, loudly and clearly, as he produced his work of art upon the ground.

"~Sie hoe hij slaeft, graeft en draeft met geweld, om ons goet en ons bloet en onse steden!~" As he finished his song, he stood back to allow a better look at his work. It was a bit hard to see at a distance, but anyone coming close enough would be able to see he had made a clear image with all the stones he had embedded in the ground. "It is the rune of house Argyle, so that you know." He spoke aloud. The whole thing was a sort of training exercise that his teachers back home had used. It was a demonstration of concentration and magical merit to do so while singing perfectly and making an icon. Back home, they tended to use other objects to do so, but as Earthen Evocation was one of his fields of interest, he saw it only fitting to work it in.

Name: S’Hraa
Time of Day: Noon-ish
Location: Outside
Interacting with: Anyone who cares
----
While the rest were out for a meal, S’Hraa worked on alchemical concoctions eventually filling a handful of vials with various potions and poisons only discernible by color and, for those perceptive enough like S’Hraa, smell. While alchemy is simple enough that anyone can create something, it takes education and skill to know which ingredients to combine into a solute and what solvent to combine with that to reach a desired effect. Such a task often initially relies on trial and error and later on with rote memorization and dedication, which makes alchemy a long and difficult craft to master. A craft that S’Hraa has been doing nearly all his life and yet still has more to learn. Eventually it came time for him and the other initiates to show their aptitude.

Marius was the first, and though he showed skill his personality left a bitter taste for S’Hraa. Mnanh’ Ssyahr… His ego clouds his judgement and will only beget his eventual demise. To see him fall would be satisfying and may even teach him humility. This fool will likely drag the rest of us down otherwise, but how can I make him suffer?

Next was Sylvanna who also demonstrated some skill but likewise opted for a childish prank. Between Marius and her, S’Hraa will find himself agitated frequently.

The rest have kept an acceptable behavior and proven themselves to be competent. Nothing really stood out to S’Hraa but at least he can see himself befriending them out of convenience of proximity if nothing else.

Then came S’Hraa’s turn. Everyone else performed readily apparent acts S’Hraa preferred subtlety. Slithering up to his place, he paused briefly to ensure the proctors were ready. “I am S’Hraa of the Hri’Saa tribe, legendary for our hunting prowess. I will be displaying my aptitude for Illusion and Animancy.” S’Hraa then proceeded to create an illusion of a human, visibly bruised and cut up. “While our bodies do have a natural healing process, it is time consuming and requires a lot of energy. Obviously with the capability and mana one can speed up this process tremendously… “ S’Hraa said, while visibly healing the illusion. “… even life-threatening wounds for those particularly skilled enough. I have acted as my tribe’s Nnn’Bthnk, or a prestigious healer, for my aptitude and given the opportunity I can display my skill here as well. However, unlike many other Animancers, I was responsible for dealing with troublesome animals that proved to difficult for the others.” S’Hraa shifted the image, displaying various parts of a human body as he mentioned them. “This part of Animancy is where I shine. I can sense the tears in organs, the cracks and shattered pieces of bone, and most importantly the flow of blood within the body despite them being obscured by flesh. Knowing the flow of blood… S’Hraa said as he removed a small vial from his robe filled with a yellow liquid, and attaching it to an indention in one of his fangs. “… and given my natural venom I produce, or any alchemical poison I create. I can identify the ideal spot to attack and paralyze or, if need be, kill something quickly within seconds.” S’Hraa coiled up and sprung rapidly opening his maw vey wide and biting the illusion, injecting the yellow liquid into thin air. Although visually the yellow liquid spread through the veins as S’Hraa altered the illusion, in reality it fell to the ground.

”Of course I can do more than just make a visual aid with my capability of Illusion.” S’Hraa then created several copies of himself, each coming apart from him in a different direction like paint peeling off a wall. Each illusion moved independently of each other, none of them being real as S’Hraa concealed himself, turning invisible. While illusion can hold many purposes, one stands above the rest and is usually the most useful reason to employ… S’Hraa said as he created the illusions and hid himself. After Silently moving away from the apparitions and hiding his tracks as he did so, S’Hraa then moved behind the proctors and coiled up. He dispelled the illusions making it seem as if S’Hraa just simply disappeared. After waiting a moment for the likely confusion he sprung, making a clearly audible rustle of leaves and likely grabbing their attention before landing just a few feet directly behind Den and slithering upright with the sort of look only a predator can give.
“…and that is to distract someone from realizing what is actually happening.” S’Hraa finished, confident that his skill would not be in doubt. While S’Hraa did not mean to potentially frighten Den he decided it was worth the risk. ” Apologies if I frightened you, I just think that would be both the best, and a notable way to display my ability.” S’Hraa said before returning to his spot.

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with: Brandon@Avant

---

The next student to step forward in order to take the test was a Dwarven man with blonde hair who introduced himself as Brandon Argyle of the Republic of Bergen in a solemn tone of voice. ”He seems like a mature, responsible kind of guy,” Den thought as he noted that Brandon had affinities for the same Schools as Marius. ”Maybe he would be a good influence on Marius and Sylvanna? Might be worth considering if they end up being even more eccentric than they appeared to be.” Filing that thought away for later, Den gestured for Brandon to begin his demonstration when he was ready.

Brandon began his demonstration simply by stomping the ground in order to cause a moderately sized stone to rise from the ground in front of him. While the stone was still rising in front of him, he slapped it away with a barrier that he had created in his hand so that it embedded itself in the ground. More stones followed the first as Brandon began to stomp his feet rhythmically. Maybe Brandon was planning on demonstrating his magical endurance instead of his precision or raw power like the other students had done? It would certainly be an uncommon choice if that’s what he was going for.

As Den watched Brandon’s display progress, he couldn’t help but note the differences between Brandon and Artemis’ styles of working Evocation magic to move earth. At first glance, it appeared that Brandon’s style was primarily focused on using explosive bursts of magic that he synchronized with his movements. It seemed very similar to how people took a deep breath and focused before attempting to lift a heavy object in one motion. Artemis’s style of working Evocation magic had seemed to focus more on moving earth with dexterity and precision. In a sense, she had been using magic to guide the earth rather than force it to move as she wanted. Of course, neither style was necessarily better than the other, though one might be better suited to certain applications than the other.

Towards the end of his demonstration, Brandon suddenly began to sing loudly and clearly in a language with which Den was unfamiliar. While he belted out his strange song, he continued to stomp and launch stones into the ground a few feet in front of him with the same even rhythm that he had established at the beginning of his demonstration. Moments later, he had finished and looked upon his work appraisingly before explaining that he had created the rune of his house using the smaller stones. Curious, Den and the other proctors moved closer upon hearing this in order to get a better look at the shape before scribbling a few more notes on their clipboards.

”Very well done, Mr. Argyle,” Den said as he finished making his notes. ”Your demonstration clearly showcased your endurance and your ability to multitask, even if you didn’t display quite the same sort of raw power or precision that we have seen already today. It’s also a little impressive that you were able to localize your barriers to your hands, though I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard of Abjuration being used for launching rocks. Of course, it’s not revolutionary or anything, but it requires more finesse than it would appear to at first glance. I’m sure that you’ll do quite well here as your schooling progresses.”

Once he finished giving her his evaluation and Brandon had rejoined the other students, Den called out for the next student to come forward and demonstrate their abilities.

---

Character Name: Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with:S’Hraa@Lurking Shadow

---

The next student to approach the square in order to demonstrate their proficiency with magic was a large snake-like Tosuri that introduced himself as S’Hraa. Following the trend that the previous couple of students had set, he also mentioned that he was from the Hri’Saa tribe. ”Huh. Our first Illusionist,” Den thought idly as he noted which Schools S’Hraa had affinities for. ”I wonder what elaborate display he’s planning on showing us for his demonstration.” Perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of their magic, Illusion mages often seemed to come up with some of the most interesting and elaborate displays for their demonstrations in Den’s opinion.

S’Hraa began his demonstration by creating an illusion of a human who was covered in bruises and cuts. As he spoke about the body’s natural healing process and his ability to use Animancy to speed the process along, he made it so that the illusion’s cuts and bruises faded away as if he was healing them. A few moments later, he shifted the illusion to display different parts of the human body as he mentioned his ability to locate specific injuries in those parts of the body with his magic. He continued to discuss his ability to determine the best spot to inject the different alchemical concoctions that he could make to paralyze or kill his target quickly, demonstrating what he meant by springing forward and “injecting” a yellow liquid into the illusion.

Evidently opting to demonstrate his abilities with Illusion magic more clearly, S’Hraa proceeded to create several copies of himself that scattered in different directions. Each of the copies appeared to move independently of the others, which made it tricky to tell which of the images, if any, was the original. A brief moment later, all of the images vanished, which prompted the proctors to look around for where S’Hraa might have gone. Though it was fairly clear to them that S’Hraa had used his Illusion magic to make himself invisible, that didn’t mean that they knew where he had moved to while hidden. As such, they were rather all rather surprised when he landed behind them with a predatory look.

Though he hadn’t been frightened perse, Den had still jumped when S’Hraa suddenly appeared behind him. As such, he took a moment to tidy his clothes and finish his notes before opting to give his evaluation of the Tosuri’s performance. ”Perhaps what stood out to me the most in your demonstration was your extensive knowledge of anatomy. Even if you weren’t able to actually demonstrate your ability to heal using Animancy, it’s clear that you have received an exemplary education in the subject as a whole. Of course, this isn’t the first time that a new student has been unable to display their proficiency with healing magic, so don’t feel like that’s a mark against you or anything.

“Your demonstration of your proficiency with Illusion magic was somewhat simple, but effective. The ability to weave multiple illusions together to enhance their overall effects is something that many new Illusionists struggle with, even if the individual illusions are relatively simple affairs,” Den said. While somewhat longer than the evaluations he had made of the other students’ demonstrations, he really didn’t want S’Hraa to feel that his inability to properly demonstrate his proficiency with Animancy was going to be held against him. As it was, it would be hard to justify being hard on any of the students that had already demonstrated their abilities. It seemed that they were a particularly talented bunch this time around.

”Okay, I think that there’s only one student left, right?” Den asked after S’Hraa had rejoined the other students. His gaze swept across the group of students several times before he noticed a small figure that he hadn’t seen come forward to demonstrate their abilities yet. ”I knew we still had one more to go! Come on over and show us what you can do,” he called out to Anyu, while gesturing her for her come forward.

Character Name: Anyu
Time of Day: Early afternoon
Location: The practice fields
Interacting with:

---

As Anyu and the other Meadowmist students followed Den to the section of the field where they would be demonstrating their magical abilities, she couldn’t help but feel rather anxious about the whole thing. Though she had come to realize that she probably didn’t need to be afraid of being punished by the Guild for using magic, Anyu was somewhat afraid that her inability to properly control her magic might get her into trouble. What if everyone thought that she was just refusing to participate because she couldn’t get anything to happen? She had never really tried to use her magic on purpose before. And even if she could get something to happen, what if she ended up hurting someone due to her lack of control? Just thinking about the number of different ways her demonstration could go wrong made Anyu’s stomach churn.

And so, when Den instructed them to line up behind a white line on the grass while he explained a little bit more about how their demonstrations were going to go, Anyu made sure that she was behind everyone else and off to the side so that she could see past her larger classmates. Once Den had finished explaining the procedures of the test, he called for the first student to approach a white square that had been painted on the grass a short distance away from where the line actually began.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Marius ended up being the first student to step forward to take the test. Though Anyu was probably not the best judge of the magical talent of other people, she was absolutely amazed by the power and skill that Marius displayed throughout his demonstration. Of course, it was also a little frightening for the small feline girl. Marius was a heroic person who seemed to want nothing more than to vanquish evil. What would happen when he discovered that she wasn’t really a good person like he was? Trembling at the thought, Anyu resolved to avoid letting him get to know her for as long as possible.

Sylvana, the strange Sun Elf girl who had been laughing during Marius’s demonstration, was the next to take the test. Though she ultimately didn’t really display the same level of skill that Marius had, Anyu was decidedly more astounded by the Sun Elf’s performance. Of course, that was really only because Sylvana had the courage to make one of the teacher’s clothes fall off with the use of her magic. Just the thought of having that kind of anger directed at her by an authority figure made Anyu squirm with discomfort, but Sylvana seemed completely oblivious to the teacher’s outrage as she lay on the ground and laughed hysterically.

The next student to take the test was a pale girl named Artemis. As it turned out, she was the first student whose demonstration didn’t involve causing substantial damage to the environment or using magic on a teacher. While that meant that her performance wasn’t as exciting as the others’ had been, Anyu was still amazed at the skill and abilities that Artemis had displayed. In particular, Anyu found it incredible that Artemis could use her magic to teleport and make objects appear out of thin air, though this was mostly because Anyu had never seen or heard of anyone using magic that way.

A silver-haired girl named Rahele took the test after Artemis had been evaluated. So far as Anyu could tell, Rahele’s performance consisted largely of summoning a pretty rude crow and talking it into bring her a stick before using magic to make the stick strong enough to break a rock. Overall, Rahele’s demonstration seemed to be rather simple and straightforward when compared to those of the students that had gone before her. In a weird way, this was somewhat comforting to Anyu. She would have felt pretty bad if she had been the only student whose demonstration ended up paling in comparison to those of Marius and the others. Of course, Rahele’s display was still probably much better than Anyu would be able to do, but still.

Brandon, the Dwarf who had been so strangely nice to Anyu earlier, was the next to take the test. Much like Rahele’s demonstration, Brandon’s was a straightforward affair that consisted of him repeatedly launching stones into the air with a stomp before slapping them into the ground in front of him. Though it wasn’t nearly as flashy as Artemis’s manipulation of earth had been, Anyu thought that it seemed pretty impressive how he was able to keep it up without appearing to get tired or altering his timing at all. He even managed to maintain the same even rhythm while singing some strange song!

The next student to take the test was a large, snake-like Tosuri named S’Hraa whose demonstration involved using lots of different images to show off his different skills until the end when he vanished only to reappear behind the teachers a few moments later. If he hadn’t been describing what his abilities were before he vanished, Anyu probably would have thought that he was using a slower form of the teleportation that Artemis had used seeing as how she hadn’t been able to detect him at all once he vanished. Even though it wasn’t like Artemis’s teleportation, Anyu was still pretty amazed by how many different ways S’Hraa was able to use his magic.

Unfortunately, once S’Hraa had received his evaluation, Den called for Anyu to come forward and demonstrate her own meager abilities. Afraid that hesitating might make some of the others upset, Anyu hurried over to the square despite her reluctance. ”M-My name is Anyuki,” she stammered as loudly as she felt comfortable, which meant that the other students could probably just barely hear her. ”I-I, um, don’t know what my affinities are. S-Sorry.”

After watching her fellow students effortlessly proceed through their demonstrations with confidence and determination, Den was admittedly caught off guard by how nervous Anyu appeared to be. It was also abundantly clear that she felt bad for not knowing something that everyone else had. ”Hmm… Well, that’s not a big deal. It’s not all that uncommon for us to get students that haven’t received any formal education in magic,” Den responded gently in an attempt to put Anyu more at ease. ”We’ll probably be able to figure out what they are after seeing your demonstration. Go ahead and begin whenever you’re ready.”

Afraid that she might end up getting in trouble if she didn’t at least try to do something, Anyu closed her eyes and took a deep breath to help her focus when Den told her to begin her demonstration. Though she had never consciously tried to use her magic before, she had a vague idea of how it might work. Every time she had accidentally used magic in the past, she had felt some kind of icy energy surge through her and into her surroundings. She could even feel some of that same energy flowing out into the air around her in order to create the tiny snowflakes that were currently falling nearby. And so, she figured if she could find some way to make that energy surge on purpose, she might be able to do something.

Unfortunately, Anyu quickly realized that knowing what it feels like to use magic and knowing how to use it are two completely different things. No matter what method or level of effort she used to make the energy surge, it remained pretty much unchanged from its usual state.

”Okay, Anyuki, you can go ahead and stop now,” Den called out once he figured that he had seen enough to make an accurate assessment of her abilities. Unfortunately, that meant that her demonstration had only lasted for about a minute. The fact that the only thing she had managed to do in that time frame was make it snow a little bit around herself wasn’t a very good sign. Maybe she had even less training than Den had originally assumed? If so, why had the Headmaster’s department decided to place her in the same House as a group of students with far more experience? Sometimes their decisions just made no sense.

”First of all, I think that it’s pretty clear from your performance that you need a lot more training in how to use your abilities,” Den continued once Anyu had directed her attention towards him, somehow appearing even more nervous than she had before. ”In particular, your ability to make it snow despite the heat leads me to believe that you have some natural talent as a mage. It also indicates that one of your affinities is probably for the School of Evocation with a specialty for manipulating water, which is good to know.”

”Th-The snow wasn’t part of it,” Anyu responded as Den made a note about her potential affinity. Though she was afraid that he might be upset with her for failing to actually do anything during her demonstration, she knew that she had to be honest about it. And so, fidgeting slightly as Den turned his attention towards her, Anyu took a deep breath and continued. ”I, um, wasn’t able to do anything with my magic. S-Sorry.”

”So it’s not something that you can control? Does it always snow around you?” Den asked, his tone slightly incredulous. Anyu’s only response was to answer each of his questions with a small, hesitant nod. That certainly made things interesting. ”Well, that tells me that you definitely have an affinity for Evocation magic and that it’s probably your only affinity. It also tells me that you have less experience with using magic than I had originally thought. That means that you’ll probably have to take a few remedial classes on the basics until you manage to get some control over your abilities.”

Once Den had finished giving her his assessment, Anyu couldn’t help but heave a little sigh of relief that nothing horrible had happened and that she hadn’t gotten into any trouble. The assessment itself was ultimately unsurprising to Anyu, however. She had always been aware of her own lack of control and figured that she would have to work hard if she wanted to learn how to use her magic to help people. On top of that, she had always known what her magic was typically like, though it was admittedly nice to know what the proper name was for it. It made it sound really official and important in her opinion. All things considered, Anyu didn’t think that she could have really asked for anything more.

”Okay everyone! Gather ‘round!” Den called out once he had finished talking with Anyu. When the other students had gathered in front of him, he continued. ”First of all, I want to thank you all for taking the diagnostic test seriously. Having an idea of your current abilities will help me and the other teachers figure out the best way to help you develop and hone them while you’re students here.

“Now, I know that some of you are going to be upset with me for this, but you do have an assignment to turn in at the beginning of class tomorrow. Don’t worry, it’s a really simple assignment. All you have to do is fill out a form asking about what additional classes you want to sign up for. These possible subjects that are covered by these classes include things like learning one of the magecrafts, learning a new language, or even learning how to fight with different kinds of weapons. I expect everyone to sign up for at least one class, though you could sign up for two if you really wanted to. I’ll be dropping the form off after dinner. Apart from that, you’re free to enjoy the rest of your evening.”