"Needless to say, I'm more than impressed with you all," Professor Knight announced in his booming voice.

The class had gathered in a crowd in front of the entrance doors after the last few students had subdued their homunculus. And despite Knight's words of encouragement, Elaine couldn't procure a sense of pride or enjoyment or satisfaction. She was exhausted, extremely so. It felt like she'd just ran a marathon, or had finished helping her father with cleaning the old shed—truly a herculean task, that one.

"Those homunculus I enchanted were intended for second and third years, yet you lot managed to take them out anyhow. Outstanding," Knight caught his words with a noticeable squint, and a grin wormed on his face. "Well, at the very least, most of you did."

Elaine heard someone mutter a curse next to her. It was Custas, and his expression had contorted into a frustrated scowl. The boy massaged the nape of his neck repeatedly; apparently his homunculus hadn't released him until the end of class. Was that some form of intended punishment? She wanted to say something to lift his attitude...but she barely possessed any invigoration to claim as her own, no light to give. She was herself running on fumes.

"Regardless," Knight continued, "this should give you a little taste as to how most lessons in this class will unfold. Don't be fooled into thinking you've seen the worst of it, you implings. I mean to push you to your breaking point, to free the sorcerer buried deep within your Essence. Having said that, however, I am by no merit a monster. So, it'd serve you all well to know that the results of today's lessons won't be graded."

"Wait, for real?!" exclaimed Rayla, gleaming at him happily. She'd been one of the students that had finished the exercise last, and Elaine hadn't seen precisely how she defeated her homunculus, assuming she did so at all.

"Truthfully speaking, I was only interested in seeing how you lot would react, and what spells you'd use to overcome this challenge," Knight grinned. "You've done well, but I've got this nagging suspicion that some among you have yet to bare their fangs. I guess it's depending on me to apply more pressure, what do you say?"

Hands on her stomach, Elaine peeked over to the left side of the crowd huddled in front of her. There she spotted Kliff Dresden, and she had a solid hunch that he was one of the students Knight was referring to. Kliff's magic was strong, as well as he seemed to be a pretty capable sorcerer in his own right. But this exercise hardly proved to be difficult for him. He along with Adeline and Jack were amongst the first to complete it.

An itch bothered her in the back of her mind. What would it look like, she wondered, for someone like him to get serious, to be pushed to the edge, to be forced to use his more advanced spells? She reckoned he had access to a plethora of powerful magic spells up his sleeve, just that he didn't deem it necessary to cast any of them.

To this, Elaine found herself feeling a tad bit jealous of her professor, his shoulders bouncing as a loud string of laughter flew out his grinning, wide teeth. From his position he'd seen it all, had seen each of her classmates casting their magic. She wanted to see them too! Elaine desired to know everything about magic that she could, she kept a strong yearning for—

A cramping pain twisted in her stomach, and Elaine had to lean on Fearne so that she wouldn't stumble to the ground. She imagined she was a rather sorry sight to behold. Hopefully her classmates—discounting Fearne, of course—wasn't paying her too much attention. Especially not Kliff, how embarrassing would that be?

Hang on, Elaine thought, grimacing. Why should I be embarrassed by what he thinks? It's not like...he...err...

She peeked towards him again, and the boy himself must have felt her stare as shot a quick glance back at her from over his shoulder. Elaine froze as a fire ignited on the sides of her face. But Kliff didn't say anything. Merely the boy shrugged, concealed a yawn with a hand, and then turned his attention to Professor Knight, who was rambling on about "passion" and "power" and whatever else.

"Elaine, I fear you might be coming down with a fever," said Fearne, whose shoulder Elaine was slanting on.

"A fever?" Elaine gasped. Quickly, she sprung a hand to her forehead to check. It was warm, but not to the point where she needed to be concerned about an illness. "I don't understand, I feel fine?"

"No," Fearne shook her head. "I'm talking about your blush."

Elaine started at the response. Slowly, she slid her fingers to rest on her cheeks. Yes, they were as infernal as the Scorching Valley. "It's uh..." Elaine stammered. "It's nothing. Really, I'm okay."

"If you say so," Fearne sighed. "Still, you never mentioned that you specialized in Light Magic of all things. Others around here would kill to master a single spell of that magic, yet you used it with such precision. It was incredible!"

Elaine groaned. "You saw?"

"It was kinda hard not to," said Custas, hands behind his head. He looked to have attained a much less irritated attitude than before, his naturally lax nature returning. Although Elaine suspected his lost of annoyance, or rather, disappointment had entirely to do with the revelation that their performance today wouldn't be evaluated. "When you casted it," he smirked, "it was so bright that I had thought I was going blind."

"Really?" Elaine asked. "It didn't seem that bright to me."

Custas frowned at her, doubtful. "You're joking, right? Surges, what are your eyes made of? Diamonds?!"

Contrary to his claims, she could nevertheless discern a good majority of her surroundings at the time, even if most of her focus had cemented to the homunculus. She couldn't overstate her joy when Professor Knight had snapped his fingers and the gang of homunculus disintegrated in thin air.

But Elaine had come to learn rather quickly that the spells she had conjured had left quite the strain on her body. A pressure weighed down on her shoulders, causing her arms to feel heavy, and for her feet to drag with each step. And that headache, did all sorcerers get this way after they used a new spell for the first time?

No, she suspected this had more so to do with the fact that she not only cast a spell she knew nothing about, but casted said spell twice in a row. Repercussions of a severe ilk were bound to hunt her eventually. As fortune would have it though, Spellcasting was the last class of the day. Only a little while longer and she'd be able to retire to her dorm room. Only a little while longer...

"Don't lose hope, my implings," Professor Knight grinned. "I transform all of my students into capable sorcerers. This batch will be no exception. I'll have you sweating blood long before midterms even arrive!" he laughed, hands on his waist.

Boy, I can hardly wait, Elaine thought, a fatigued frown sprouting upon herself.

"Until then," the professor smiled, folding his arms, "take this weekend to prepare yourselves accordingly. Come next week Wrez, why, that's when the real fun begins. For now, however, class is dismissed. You're free to leave."

There was some shuffling and whispers but, in time, the crowd dispersed. The entrance doors had swung open on their own. Since the lesson was over, whatever enchantment that Knight placed on them had in turn expired, just like he'd mentioned earlier. And while Elaine longed to merely saunter back to her dorm and spend the rest of her afternoon curled in bed, what instead she was met with was finger pointed directly at her.

It was Jack, and as Elaine started when she noticed him, she began to realize that all around her she had amassed an audience, of sorts. Numerous members of the class had her trapped in a ring; each came bearing an excited smile or wide-eyed looks of wonder and admiration. The shock of it all only served to make the thumping in her head that much more grating.

"So, you specialize in Light Magic spells, do ya?" said Jack. "We all saw that spell you used on the homunculus. It was surgin' awesome! Never seen a Light Magic spell in action before. Think you can teach me a few tricks—"

"Hold on, hold on!" exclaimed Rayla, the blonde-haired girl with red eyes cutting in front of Jack with a hop. "How long did it take you to master that spell? No, who was the one that taught it to you in the first place? Was it hard, you know, to learn!" The girl had her fists held in front of her, and that dimpled smile of hers was now shining as brightly as a star. "Oh, I've got so many questions!"

Elaine cracked a nervous grin. "Actually, I..."

"Honestly, Elaine," said Simon, pushing his glasses up his nose, "I experienced first-hand your skill for potioncraft. Never would I have imagined, however, that your talents extended to sorcery as well." A pained look carved a path onto his face, and he extended to her a solemn, teeth-gritting bow. "I underestimated you. So it would seem, you aren't completely useless on the battlefield either."

Elaine cringed at him. Is he trying to insult me..?

"How about it, Abby?" called Jack, sneering. "What'd you think of her?"

Elaine spotted the tan-skinned girl departing for the entrance, stalking with an arched spine that further accentuated her annoyed scowl. "Huh?" she grumbled. "Yeah, she was pretty decent, I guess. Good job, Lana."

"It's Elaine," she corrected, but the girl had already excused herself out of the room amidst her slouching and mutters. Jeez, my name isn't that difficult to remember. Or is it...?

Someone cleared her throat behind her, and Elaine surprised herself when she spun around as quickly as she did, causing her blonde hair to twirl in a rapid motion. Standing before her Kliff paid a partially astonished once-over, only to then trade the unusual expression with a kind smile. A kind, handsome smile of a noble. 

"I'm sure the others would have already mentioned this to you," Kliff started, straightening his back, an arm bent behind him, "but that truly was an incredible display. Your Gift, it's strong."

Elaine gaped, and the cluttered ensemble of thoughts and emotions fighting for space inside her head made her throat feel stiff. She didn't know what to say, what was she to say? Kliff had to be one of, if not the strongest students in their class. And here he was, complimenting her of all people.

Was what she had done really all that special? Well, yes, it had to be. But it was a surprise as abrupt and unwelcomed as a solid slap to the face. So stunned was she by what had occurred that she couldn't even appreciate or fully acknowledge her marvelous yet unintentional feat.

She had theories, of course. Theories that made her want to crack open a text and scour its contents until she procured an answer she could be content with. She had her professors to count on as well. Surely they'd be able to explain the anomaly to her. But in spite of being the one to dismiss them, it was none other than Professor Knight who was the first to leave the class. He was in high spirits, and didn't even stop when Adeline tried calling after him. That, or he just couldn't hear the girl over the sound of his loud humming...

Wait! What am I doing? Elaine winced. Once again had she arrived at the realization that such a high-class mage was showing interest in her. And...and he was holding something in his hand, something familiar. "My wand!" Elaine exclaimed, recognizing its humble, wooden design.

"Yeah," Kliff affirmed. "You dropped it, or I suppose, it fell out of your holster after you defeated that homunculus. It'd be a major inconvenience to get through the semester without a dependable wand, wouldn't you agree?"

"Th...Thank you," Elaine uttered, taking the wand from him.

Kliff grinned politely at her. "Don't mention it."

Honestly, how big of a sulmo could she be? She almost lost Ellend's cherished wand—her wand—on the very first day of classes. Talk about humiliating. However, as she took another glance at Kliff's charming smile and debonair demeanor, she found that her embarrassment inflamed, as did the infernos sweltering on her cheeks.

"See!" Fearne said. "You're blushing again. Are you sure you're not sick?"

Elaine whirled away from them both, giving them nothing but her back. It was the only thing she could think to do in order to hide her sheepish smile burning on a crimson expression. I love you, Fearne, Elaine thought. But by the Twin Sisters, can you please stop talking!

*

* *

Elaine collapsed onto her bed. Several hours had passed since their Spellcasting lesson—she'd had dinner since then—and yet the grating after effects hadn't subsided. Her arms ached, her legs quaked, and her head, why, it was as if that stubborn headache was having a surgin' wonderful time pestering her with its slamming rhythm.

But she'd count her blessings where she could; she had survived. Fritz, she had survived. She liked to think that she made an amiable impression on all of the instructors she'd interacted with thus far. That was something to be thankful for, wasn't it?

With her head resting on the pillow and an arm and leg strewn over the side of the bed, Elaine stared wordlessly at the ceiling. If she strained her ears well enough, she could just barely hear the ghostly moans of creaking wood caused by the footsteps from the students a floor above her. None of her professors had distributed any assignments, praise be to Aeris.

However, with nothing left to do for the evening, Elaine's mind eventually wandered back to when she had fought the homunculus. That spell, what was it truly? Like Professor Knight had mentioned, they wouldn't have that class again until Wrez of the following week. She'd ask him about it then, that is, if she could hold his interest for more than a second.

A distinctive snap! sounded off from the other side of the room, and Elaine caught a glance of Fearne—now dressed in a green-colored nightgown—feeding her veladora snaptrapper a dead mouse. It was a sight that would require some time to get used to. Quite some time, indeed. "Phew," Fearne gasped. "Some first day, huh?"

"I'll say," Elaine moaned.

"I was already aware that the syllabus here at Glyph wouldn't be a cake walk. My parents even told me that more than twenty percent of students either drop out or are expelled before winter. But I'm sure that's just an exaggeration on their part."

Elaine sat up in her bed. "Expelled?!"

"Or so they say," Fearne shrugged, patting Gulp on his bulbous head. "Graduating from Glyph is a monumental achievement. There are sure to be a handful of, let's say, less-than-fortunate folk who fail to acquire it."

I see. We'll just have to make certain that we aren't one of them, Elaine thought, more determined than ever.

Something chipped at the window, a sound similar to a marble sphere tapping on glass. She exchanged confused, partially concerned glances with Fearne, and the girl—who had released her braided ponytail so that her brown hair streamed free over her shoulders—inched closer to the window. She pulled aside the blinds, and whatever was waiting for her on the other side made her roommate beacon a smile.

"What is it?" asked Elaine.

"It would seem," Fearne grinned, "that you have a message."

Elaine stared at her blankly. "Wh...What do you mean by that?"

Instead of giving a straight answer, Fearne pushed open the window doors. Without waiting for permission, the feathery creature flew inside of the room. Elaine gasped as it nearly collided into her, but its reflexes were sharper than her own, apparently. It circled around the space a total of three times, assessing its new environment with intelligent, green-colored eyes.

Eventually, it chose to land on the side stable, repeatedly flapping all four of its wings until its talon-equipped feet clopped atop wood. It inspected them both with a keen intensity, quickly turning its head from side to side.

"A messenger falcon?" said Elaine. She'd seen flocks of them gathering at the Falcon Master HQ, watching them shoot off from their perches and soar across the clouds towards a different part of the country. Never before had she been this close to one.

These falcons were larger than other bird species—standing to be approximately eight feet tall. Its most notable feature was that of its double set of wings, though it folded the bottom pair underneath the top two whenever it was grounded. It was dressed handsomely in red and white feathers, black arrow-shaped markings descending from its chest. There was also a green, ribbon-like headcrest that reached from the top of its scalp to its tail feathers.

Someone had already strapped a scroll case to its back. When Elaine reached for it, she noticed that the falcon was looking at her expectantly. "It's common etiquette to present them with a gift for their services," Fearne explained with a chuckle. "Your Page, it would have been quite the long journey for him to travel, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But I doubt he'd be interested in being compensated with tokens."

"Oh! I've got just the thing for him!" Fearne exclaimed. She hastened to her bedside without elaborating. Seconds later, the girl returned with one of the mice she'd been feeding Gulp with earlier. "Here you go, little guy."

Elaine cringed as the falcon snatched it from her with its sickle-shaped beak, swallowing the tailed mass of white fur whole. Only then did the raptor turn around, allowing them full access to the scroll case and its contents.

Elaine opened the case and, sure enough, there was a single, rolled sheet of paper addressed to her. She didn't wait. Discounting her initial fatigue, Elaine made for her study desk and hurriedly opened the letter. She switched on the lamp so that she could see the black-colored sentences better.

She recognized the handwriting in an instant. It was from Ellend himself; he kept that horrible habit of conjoining his "o's" and "u's" together so that they looked like misshapened "w's". She'd gotten better at deciphering his scribbles over the years.

"What does it say?" asked Fearne.

Elaine smiled, though not directly at her. "It's from my brother, Ellend. He's just checking in on me, confirming if I made it to the academy safely. Hmm, that's odd. The date is two days late."

"Ah, that must be how long it took for the falcon to get here," Fearne said, patting the raptor on its head.

Elaine scanned the letter intently, her eyes traveling from one side of the sheet to the next. It read:

Greetings, El. I hope this message finds you well.

You'd be happy to hear that Ma and Pa have finally come to terms with the fact that you're actually not here anymore. The moment you left, why, I didn't think I'd ever succeed at calming them down. Pa kept pacing in his room, wondering if those Glyph Sorcerers really were who they claimed to be, fretting that something terrible might happen to you along your journey. Ma wasn't as bad as him, however, she did spend the rest of the day in the kitchen, cleaning dishes that had already been cleaned. She seemed better at dinner, though.

As for Liam and Milo, well, they're Liam and Milo. Nothing new to report on their end. And he won't admit it himself but I'm sure Liam misses you. A lot. I haven't had the time to practice my spells recently, you know, on account of not having a wand. So when you return I'll expect you to teach me one or two tricks, yeah? Also, don't feel pressured. I know you told Ma that you're only attending Glyph for our sake, however, if you ask me, discovering the kind of sorcerer you want to be is way more important than running a potions shop. So have fun, and stay smart. I'll send some more letters when I find the time. That is to say, whenever I can bribe Liam into running to the Falcon Masters for me.

See you when you get back.

Sincerely, Ellend Harwood.

Elaine could almost hear his voice as she read the letter. The kind of sorcerer I want to be? It sounded oddly similar to the question Raze posed on their train ride to Glyph. But she already knew the answer, didn't she? She longed to learn magic to help people, regardless if they were her family or not. Magic was a Gift, and just like her light, she'd spend it on those less fortunate than herself. Just as a sorcerer should. 

Now, did that mean she'd join the Military like Jack, perhaps the Arcanum like her aunt? Maybe she'd even become a Medical Mage, that'd be different. She fetched a pen in her hand and started writing on an empty sheet of paper. Surely, Ellend and the others would be curious as to what she'd been up to since last they saw each other.

"Listen, Elaine," Fearne said from behind her. "I wanted to thank you earlier. You know, when you stood up for me, and against the Barrows, no less. It was very brave."

Elaine stopped writing, swerving in her seat to better view Fearne who was sitting on the edge of her bed, hands clasped in her lap. "Don't mention it," Elaine said. "You're my friend, I had to do something. Besides, I couldn't just let those jerks get away with it, making light of someone else's business."

"So it's true then?" Fearne asked. "That you're here as a replacement for another student?"

Elaine diffused a sigh. No point in keeping the secret now. "It wasn't just any student. It was the same person who sent me this letter, and gave me my wand. My brother."

"I see," Fearne nodded. "He sounds like a nice guy."

"He is," Elaine smiled. "It was his idea to attend the academy in his stead. No matter how hard I argued or refused, he wouldn't back down. So now...now, I have to make him proud. Make all of them proud."

"Well, if today was any indicator, I believe you'll make an excellent Professional Sorcerer." Fearne gathered a roll of fresh clothing that she tucked underneath the crook of her arm, slung a towel over her shoulder, and grabbed what looked to be a small kit made out of some kind of animal leather. Elaine gave herself a quick once-over; a nice, steamy shower would do her some good right now.

"Hey, Fearne," Elaine called, catching the girl as she was about to open the door. "Don't stress yourself over what Minerva said. She has absolutely no idea what she's talking about. You think I'll be a great Professional Sorcerer? Well, I think the same of you."

Fearne turned red and began nervously chuckling to herself. "R...Right, thank you."

Elaine sneered at her deviously. Now, who's blushing?

As Fearne shut the door, Elaine glanced at the messenger falcon again; the bird was picking underneath its wings and ruffling its feathers. "Right, I suppose I shouldn't keep you waiting for too long," Elaine scoffed. Spinning a pen in her hand, she continued with her letter, scribbling out the words trapped in her head.