With the first week of their semester well behind them, the professors weren't as insistent on tasking them with challenges or surprise tests as they once had been, much to the relief of everyone in class.

Rather, they engaged in more traditionalized lessons one would come to expect at a normal teaching institution, whether it was designed for mages or your everyday civilian. They'd start their lessons with lectures, read a few chapters of a text, and maybe close out by answering questions from the professors, and Elaine much preferred it this way, though she was uncertain how long it would last.

After how difficult her first two days had been—as well as whatever had happened to her during the Fulcudo game—Elaine had spent the rest of that weekend either sleeping or catching up on her studies, only leaving her dorm room when it was time for them to get a bite to eat or when she needed to use the ladies room. By the time Straize rolled around, Elaine felt rejuvenized and ready to fill her brain with the knowledge Professional Sorcerers had to offer.

Potion Making wasn't anything special. Professor Lurgs advanced in their syllabus by going over various terminologies as well as identifying and explaining the kinds of apparatus they'd be using in their preparation of certain concoctions, all of which Elaine was already privy to. Having spent so much time helping out at her parent's potions shop, there was fairly little of what Lurgs was teaching that she didn't already know. Nevertheless, the sorcerer's bubbly and lively personality kept her from being bored, all the while Simon—who was now her permanent lab partner—and his constant muttering made her wish for someone to place a lock over his mouth.

The Arts of Abjuration class was challenging, to say the least. There was a lot of statistical information and hard-to-read phrases they were required to commit to memory. But with Fearne's help, Elaine managed to get through the class well enough. As for her Study of Spirits class, Professor Altair hadn't instructed them to Summon any more spirits like during their initial lesson. Instead, she educated them on the vast and exciting history of the Celestial Realm, and the societies the spirits on that side had forged for themselves.

The end result was a class that felt to Elaine oddly like Magihistory, instead as a substitute for learning about famous sorcerers and duels in Incante's past, they were being taught about the societal hierarchy of spirits, and the way Altair described them made them come across far less alien as Elaine originally perceived them to be. From a particular perspective, humans and spirits weren't all that different from one another, at least, in regard to their civilizations.

Most of the week flew by like a summer breeze, but what was most surprising was how mundane Professor Marsh's lessons were. After being trapped in a pocket prison, she reckoned her entire class had grown anxious about what he'd left planned for their syllabus. Conversely, though, Marsh spent the majority of the class sitting behind his desk reading from a textbook. He expected everyone present to remain utterly quiet, and those that didn't—or even made the slightest fraction of a sound—would be dealt with appropriately. In spite of how sluggish his lessons were, Elaine was determined not to be captured by one of his dry glares.

"And so it was stated in the Year X356 that any and all practice of Black Magic would be considered illegal, and should any sorcerer engage in it regardless, they would be charged with a lifetime in prison, or, in more severe cases, an immediate death sentence," Professor Marsh continued perfunctorily, wiping his eyes after every other sentence. "As the years moved on, the amount of Black Magic-related crimes have decreased drastically, however, there are still warlocks and other rogue mage organizations such as Eclipse that practice it in spite of what the law dictates. Magic is dangerous; Black Magic even more so."

Black Magic terrified her, but she couldn't deny that it was interesting. People feared what they couldn't understand, Elaine was no exception. However, the more she learned of Black Magic, the more horrified she became. Some of the most heinous incidents in Incantian history, such as the Aetherium or the Grand War between Incante and the neighboring country of Ekenthall that she learned about in Magihistory or even the ever so mysterious Bedlam—a blank period in history that hardly anybody knew about in much detail—were catalyzed from the act of Black Magic.

Though she reckoned she'd have to get accustomed to hearing about it. This was Black Magic Defense, after all. In a seat two rows in front of her, she spotted Kliff Dresden raise his hand in the air, "This Eclipse organization," he said pensively, "I have it under good authority that the Military has been uprooting and destroying most of its branches. They say in the next few years or so it would no longer prove to be a threat. Is there any truth in that?"

Allan shrugged, causing the crow on his shoulder to shift its wings slightly. "Who can say, really? The Military keeps matters such as those under wraps. Besides, Eclipse isn't like Serpent Fang or Titan's Fist; what they're involved with isn't meant for public ears. But if all goes well, they'll be dealt with, in due time."

Elaine drew a shuddering breath as she finished another line of notes in her text. She'd heard of Eclipse before, a heinous organization composed entirely of Dark Magic practitioners—warlocks. Some feared them more than they did stories of Shadowborn, but living out in the countryside meant that she'd only ever grasped whispers and the odd rumors, though what she had learned of them hadn't sat with her lightly.

Something flew over her head in a funnel of air, and smacked Jack at the center of his forehead, causing him to sit straight in his chair as a line of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth. "No sleeping in my class, Durge," Marsh grunted, cutting his wand at the startled boy. "Try that again, and I'll have you shoveling griffin dung off the roofs for the next month."

"Y...Yes! Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" Jack stammered, his voice attuning a higher pitch than normal.

Elaine stiffened, and concentrated on completing her notes. In this class, it wasn't wise to doze off or get distracted. Professor Marsh was merciless to slackers. His strict nature almost made his behavior during their Pocket Prison text seem tame by comparison. Almost.

Even so, Elaine kept at her work, and their no-nonsense professor left her alone for the most part, except if he called on her for attendance or to ask a question. She liked to think that she was no longer on his list of students he was considering expelling from the school, though she'd be extra certain to perform well in his class, just in case his consensus of her ever altered, which she already predicted it might.

Really, Wrez and Thursday were the only days in her class schedule that she truly dreaded, mainly because that was when she'd have her Spellcasting class, and as Thursday rolled around again, Elaine found herself casting a barrier spell so that the ball of magic flying directly for her wouldn't knock her into the air. At first, she thought Spellcasting was exciting; it was a class centered on learning and practicing various forms of magic. What more could she ask for?

In actuality, she learned that her professor was much less concerned about going through a textbook or conducting lectures than he was about holding practical exercises. Every class would begin with a hastened class attendance, followed by announcements of which he refused to go into much detail, and then the rest of the afternoon was spent in the Training Hall where they all were now. Professor Knight was a passionate, if not irrational mage, and Elaine wasn't entirely sure if she was fond of him or not.

What she had discovered, however, was that she had indeed heard of him before. Known as the Ironheart Sorcerer, Professor Knight was once a high-ranking State Sorcerer of the Incantian Military, as was the case for Professor Marsh as well. How they both wound up teaching at Glyph Academy was anyone's guess, though Elaine didn't permit her mind to ponder the subject for too long, as it would require her to take her focus off of her opponent.

Several meters across from her was Mason; his wand was brandished and he had fallen into a solid stance with his legs spread apart and an arm outheld in front of him. Inhaling, he shouted, "Iraitus!" as another ball of turquoise energy blasted at her, like a flickering bullet the size of a cannonball.

Quickly, Elaine followed Professor Knight's instructions, once again casting the spell he had taught them for the day—well, "taught" was a strong word; more so he showed them how to cast it once and then broke them into groups to practice it. Elaine steeled her position with one leg placed in front of the other as the swing of an arm brought her commoner's wand at level with her eyes. "Cutumo!" she yelled, squinting on impulse.

In a flare of turquoise light, a barrier of magic appeared before her, translucent to the point that she could clearly see what was on the other side, and it stood to be approximately two meters in height. A bang! that sounded to her like a thunderbolt crashing into a sheet of metal vibrated her eardrums.

The moment Mason's attack spell slammed into her barrier, shards of energy dispersed into her face, causing Elaine to stumble back in surprise with windmilling arms. She collapsed to the floor as all that remained of her defense spell was fragments of light gradually fading out of existence, as well as shimmering Essence particles that floated to the ceiling.

"I don't think I'm doing this right," Elaine grimaced, her voice ripe with irritation.

Mason trodded to her, placing his wand in its holster before kneeling down to lend her a hand. Elaine always knew he was taller than most his age, but she once again realized this as the giant towered over her. "You need to work on your stance," Mason grunted, though his expression was kind. "Defensive spells aren't just about magic power, it's about technique."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Elaine smirked warily as she allowed him to pull her to her feet. One forceful yank from his muscular arm and she was standing once more. "Although I'm starting to think defense spells aren't for me."

Mason shrugged. "Every sorcerer has their specialties, it's nothing to feel bad about."

"Speaking of specialties, you never showed me yours."

"Ah, right, so I haven't. Guess we should change that." Mason marched back to his starting position a good stretch away from her. "The Professor did say we should rotate turns of who attacks and who defends. I'll create the barrier this time, you just hit me with everything you've got."

"O...Okay then..."

"That is to say, I want to see you cast that Light Magic spell you used during our first Spellcasting lesson."

"Wait, what? But the instructions were to—"

"I'm aware," Mason sighed. "But we'll be able to improve our skills greatly if we go all out, don't you think so?"

Elaine never figured Mason to be the reckless type, but the way he was speaking kind of reminded her of how the boys in her hometown got whenever they challenged each other to duels. She glanced over her shoulder, across the court of paired sorcerers participating in the same exercise as they were, and located Professor Knight himself. The large man had his arms crossed and wide teeth bared as he observed Kliff and Adeline spar with one another. So fixated was he that she highly doubted that he'd even notice if they changed the routine or not.

Elaine hesitated still. "Are you sure about this?"

Mason nodded at her as he took out his wand. It was rather thick as opposed to others that she'd seen, extending fourteen inches in front of him. It was also composed of a sort of bluish wood Elaine recognized to belong to zantamine tree; there was a forest of them not far from Page. "Don't hold back on me, Harwood," he said in his weighted voice. "Us Hammers don't bend easy."

Well, this was what he wanted. Shaking her head, Elaine whirled her wand in the air before lashing its tip to where Mason was standing, beams of golden energy fizzling off the wood. She closed her eyes as she concentred; she'd gotten better at casting the spell but by no means was she an expert. Unsheating her eyelids, Elaine wrapped both hands around its handle and shouted, "Light Magic: Icto Lumen!" at the top of her lungs.

At the same time, a javelin of light flew out of her wand, and in seconds, the golden projectile flew itself over to Mason, piercing through the wind a discordant howl that scraped the ears. Mason remained calm—as he normally did—and in a flash of movement, shot his dominant hand at the approaching spell. "Munis Emtum!" he growled.

There was a collision followed by a roaring explosion that shook the earth beneath her, smoke swamping the area where she'd last seen the stoic mage. Elaine's heart sank. Fritz! I knew this was a bad idea! she shouted in her mind, hurrying for him in a sprint. Icto Lumen was a powerful spell with the potential to permanently wound or even kill somebody. She should have never allowed Mason to convince her to cast it again.

Her heart thundered in her chest. Beads of sweat sprinkled her forehead. She could feel her mouth turn dry. Magic wasn't supposed to hurt people, especially those whom she considered as friends. Depending on how injured Mason was, they would need Medical Mages on the scene as soon as possible. But as Elaine got closer, her eyes discerned a large shadow behind the sheet of goldish smoke that looked similar to a small hill.

The smoke cleared, and Elaine staggered as she took her next step. Unlike hers, this barrier had a bluish coloration to it, though she could still see what was inside—Mason was alive! The defensive spell that she'd been "taught" was designed to cover only the space in front of a sorcerer, acting as a kind of enchanted shield, as opposed to this one which covered Mason on all sides, curving into a globular ceiling five feet over his head.

"This is my magic," Mason said from the inside of the dome. His voice was muffled—like he was speaking directly into a rag—but Elaine nevertheless heard his muted words.

"Barrier Magic," Elaine said softly. "Incredible..."

Mason nodded his head at her, and as he did, the dome-shaped barrier broke apart into a cluster of hexagonal-shaped chunks before dissipating in thin air. "It's more advanced than your average Cutumo spell, and requires a lot more magical energy to pull off. That said, it gets the job done."

"Amazing!" Elaine exclaimed, skipping over to him on light feet. "How long did it take you to learn it? Did you have a teacher? Just how much stronger is it in comparison to other barrier spells? Does it have any after-effects? Can you alter its durability in any way? Can you—"

"Elaine," Mason said, raising a finger. "One question at a time, please."

Elaine covered her mouth with both hands before she could gasp at him. "R...Right! Sorry. My bad," she said as she felt herself color with red. "I got carried away."

"Nah, it's no big deal," Mason chuckled. "As for my Barrier Magic, well, let's say I kind of developed it out of necessity."

Elaine cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me, have you ever heard of the Argos Mines?"

"Of course! Who hasn't?" Elaine said loudly. "It's only the largest mining company in the entire country. Why, it's where everyone gets their wunderstones from. Without them, we wouldn't be able to create arkstones and arcanetech. It's practically a backbone of Incantian society and...and...wait, don't tell me..."

"Yup," he smiled, pink dots burning on his cheeks. "My family owns the business. And once I graduate as a Professional Sorcerer, it won't be too long after that that I'm set to inherit the mines for myself."

"Really?!" Elaine exclaimed.

The Argos Mines were located in the northern region of Incante, engrained neatly into the Argos Mountain range that was assaulted by a treacherous blizzard regardless of what time of year it was. She'd heard stories of men going missing or freezing to death in those mountains; it wasn't a terrain befitting of someone who lacked the experience to challenge their fury.

"That's right," Mason confirmed, sliding his wand away. "As a matter of fact, me and my little brother have been working there from the moment we could swing a runeaxe. But the working conditions are tough. In order to reach the wunderstone pockets, we must drill deep into the heart of the mountains...and that usually leads to cave-ins or avalanches, and situations like these have only worsened as the years have gone on. It's almost like the mountains themselves are trying to force us out."

Elaine gulped. "I can't imagine that was easy on you and your brother."

"Eh, we got by," Mason shrugged. "Though, he wasn't as lucky as I was. He didn't possess enough Essence to be considered a mage, and so while I'm here studying magic, that sulmo is in the cliffs shoveling snow. I learned Barrier Magic on my own whenever I had the chance, and used it to protect myself, my brother, and the other workers. I've no problem inheriting the place when my old man inevitably retires. However, after I learn how to cast my magic better, I'll be able to use it to keep all of my employees safe from the mountain's battering. I'll be a barrier that will never break."

Elaine smiled at him. "That's...very noble of you. It sounds to me like you already know the kind of sorcerer you're aspiring to be. I, on the other hand, am still figuring that part out."

Mason raised a brow. "Really? That is to say, you are uncertain as to why you want to be a sorcerer."

"No, I want to provide for my family and learn about all kinds of magic."

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is..." Elaine trailed off. "I don't know, it's complicated. It feels like my...heart is pounding for something else...and I just can't figure out what it's trying to tell me. I know, I sound like a crazy person, don't I?"

"Not at all," Mason said shaking his head. "Being a Professional Sorcerer isn't as straight-cut as others might think. Right now, I'd say most of the students here are just gathering the building blocks, stacking them together to see what sticks and what crumbles. The further we improve our skills, the more we recognize what we excel at and what we don't. By then, well, maybe the voices of our hearts will become clearer."

"Maybe..."

"But hey, with how apt you are at casting magic, I'd say you would make a decent State Sorcerer."

Elaine cringed at him, her cheeks engulfed in a fiery redness.

"Ah, but you aren't that big on dueling, are you?"

"Not really, no," Elaine sighed. "I don't want to use my magic to...hurt anyone."

"Well, I'm sorry I can't be of any more help. My brother constantly teases me that I'm not very good with words," Mason apologized, scratching his nape. "Although, perhaps I can take your mind off of your... quandary if I gave you a few more pointers about defensive spells. And in return, you tell me more about your Light Magic."

Immediately, Elaine felt her worries about the future siphon out of her, and all that she wanted was to learn more about awesome Mason's Barrier Magic. "No problem! You've got yourself a deal!"

The rest of the class had gone by quicker than it had at the start, and Elaine wasn't as fatigued as she'd been a week earlier, however, it helped that she was kept in good company. Mason waved her goodbye as he marched for the exit with her other classmates, more than likely heading for either the dorms or the cafeteria.

As Elaine slid her wand back into its holster, a blur of movement to her right drew her attention to Professor Mason standing by the bleachers, messily scribbling something onto a clipboard with his massive hands. She'd asked him earlier if he knew anything pertaining to a sorcerer randomly casting spells of which they had never been taught. First Icto Lumen, then the strange barrier spell she had cast inside of the pocket prison.

Something was definitely going on, but the only answer Knight gave her was that, in rare cases, some sorcerers were known to develop random spells in what could best be described as "spell distortions". According to Professor Knight, they usually occurred during highly stressful or dangerous situations, which fell in line with how Elaine first discovered her pair of alien light elemental spells.

But that answer hadn't brought her the satisfaction she thought it might. Was there a way to stop these spell distortions? If there was, Professor Knight didn't seem to think so, and told her that they were purely situational and couldn't be stopped outright. And so Elaine was once again at another dead-end. Perfect...

"Elaine," Fearne called, running to her ahead of Custas, the boy himself sauntering over with his hands in his pockets. "Are you busy? We were just wondering if—" Fearne's boot tripped on something, and the girl nose-dived to the floor in a cloud of dust.

"Fearne!" Elaine exclaimed, rushing for her.

"I'm fine," Fearne smiled as she sat straight off the ground, though her face was now tainted by gray splotches of dirt. "Just a little trip, nothing to worry about."

"Jeez, I'm starting to wonder if someone placed a Clumsiness Curse on you as a child," Custas snickered, and Fearne shot him a glare. "Relax, relax. It's only a joke. Here, let me help you up—"

"I can manage," Fearne grumbled. Even when she was frustrated or angry, there was a cuteness to her that always made Elaine smirk. "In any case, what was I saying? Oh, right! Are you busy, Elaine?"

"Right now? Ah, I don't think so. Why?"

"Apparently there's a gathering of clubs going on at the moment. They're recruiting for new members," Custas explained. "We were thinking of checking the place out to see if anything catches our fancy. You in?"

Clubs, huh? Elaine thought, crossing her arms. That did sound appealing, but her stomach was complaining, and she'd already set her heart on having a warm bath and—

"Not to mention," Custas continued slyly, "there sure to be all kinds of magic users there, casting all kinds of awesome magic spells."

"Let's go!" Elaine spat without another second's thought.