Our week off wasn't really a week off. We spent every day at the Justice Arena. We traded off between learning new spells and dueling. The new spells came from Sirena and Evrain at first, but soon we started making our way through our spellbooks. We switched off who was in the circle. Those on the outside would provide feedback for the people inside the circle. This became very important for the duels.
After the second day, I brought a notebook with me to take notes. I took notes on everything. The feedback I received from my friends. The feedback that was given to the others. Common mistakes. Common tactics. The different strategies each of us used. What was effective against what. The different ways a spell could be used. Our strengths. Our weaknesses. It was no longer about training me. It was about training everybody.
When Saturday rolled around, I eagerly headed to Mr. Ahimoth's classroom. I didn't have much going for me, but I was receiving private lessons from a professor. For this lesson, I had a laundry list of things I wanted to discuss.
"Good morning, Mr. Ahimoth," I greeted enthusiastically as I entered his classroom.
"Good morning, Seraphina. Hope your break has been restful," Mr. Ahimoth returned.
I shrugged. "Well restful isn't exactly the right word." When Mr. Ahimoth gave me a confused look, I proceeded to explain everything that had happened the past week. "So I have a few things that I've noticed that I want to talk to you about."
Mr. Ahimoth looked impressed. "Nothing teaches like experience." He gestured for me to start talking.
I pulled out my notebook and flipped to my list. Mr. Ahimoth's face formed the most amused smile I've ever seen on the man. I began to read what I wrote.
"Okay, so, I've noticed that having the opposite problem as my peers can be a huge advantage as long as I can keep it controlled. This control problem is going to remain a big obstacle especially as I go against people at a higher skill level than me.
"Speed and strength are the two core skills. People tend to be naturally better at one or the other. I am able to control speed much better than strength, but I think I'm actually better at strength. It's just harder for me to control the strength of a spell thus hindering me.
"The essence is not constant. It ebbs and flows much like the wind. Along with this, the different schools of magic behave independently of one another. Though Life and Death tend to stay entwined with one another."
"Wait," Mr Ahimoth interrupted, "repeat that last one."
With my eyebrow raised, I repeated, "The essence is not constant. It ebbs and flows much like the wind."
"That's pretty normal. No, repeat the next part." Mr. Ahimoth was stroking his chin.
I continued slowly, "Along with this, the different schools of magic behave independently of one another. Though Life and Death tend to stay entwined with one another."
"That." Mr. Ahimoth pointed at me. "That I haven't heard before." I cocked my head to the side. This wasn't something I brought up to my friends because it was just something I had observed the past couple weeks. I included it in the list mainly for completeness.
"How would you describe sensing the essence?" Mr. Ahimoth asked.
"Well. It feels similar to the wind. But, unlike the wind, it's more like hundreds of separated ribbons instead of being one single mass. I can follow these ribbons as they move around. When I want to produce a spell, I grab one of those ribbons and lead it to my wand." This was my first time really thinking about it since I had first sensed and manipulated the essence.
Mr. Ahimoth stared for a while, eyebrows scrunched together. Finally he said, "I have never heard it described like that."
"How do you sense it?"
"It feels similar to the wind or like water, but nothing is clearly defined. It's like a stream of water dyed different colors. Using the essence is like dipping a bucket into that stream and collecting water."
I shook my head. "It kinda felt like that in the beginning. Things were muddier and not as defined, but they sharpened over time."
"When did you figure out that Life and Death moved together?"
"Like a month ago. The essence was particularly frantic one night. So much that I was having a hard time falling asleep. So I gave in and just observed. That was when I noticed ribbons of Life and Death tend to pair up together. I figured out later that they only separate when someone uses one, but they immediately snap back together once the sorcerer is done." As I talked, Mr. Ahimoth's face became more and more confused.
"The essence kept you awake?" The question threw me off. That was the detail he picked up on?
"Yeah. I feel the essence all the time. It happened after our first lesson together. There was one time I reached out for it during the lesson, and it never faded away." I hadn't realized it could be a problem until it kept me awake that night. It's happened again a couple of times since then.
"Fascinating. I've never heard of that happening before." Mr. Ahimoth was in awe. It was slightly off putting to see his normally stern face filled with wonder.
"Never? Like never ever?" I asked.
Mr. Ahimoth shook his head. "Never. Even the most experienced sorcerers describe the essence fading away once they are no longer focusing on it."
I wasn't sure if I should be excited or concerned.
Mr. Ahimoth seemed to be deep in thought until he walked closer to me. "I know it feels like you have no chance at getting the apprenticeship, but I think you do have a chance. It is going to take a lot of work, but it seems like you are up to the task." I nodded. "In that case, we have work to do."
We spent the next two hours on control exercises. Mr. Ahimoth took my comment about control being my biggest obstacle to heart. Afterwards, I was drained. I almost collapsed when I arrived at the dining hall, and ended up eating two and a half plates of food.
"What did you do?" Hayden asked as I devoured plate number two.
"Two hours containing the ocean." It was the only way I could explain it.
Once I was no longer inhaling my food, I gave a more detailed explanation. When I recounted what we talked about the essence, my friends gave me the same awed and confused expression that Mr. Ahimoth had.
"That is not how I perceive the essence at all. And you feel it all the time?" Sirena asked, leaning over the table.
"All the time," I confirmed.
"This could be a huge advantage for you. Your biggest advantage. We just need to figure out how to use it," Azalea said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
As exciting as that was, I was too tired to care. I got out of our practice session at the arena. While the rest of them went over, I beelined my way to the dorms. I flopped onto my bed and relished in not moving.
I couldn't spend the whole day like this, so I eventually sat up. My eyes landed on my bedside table where I had set down Masteria Morozova's autobiography. Finally with time to read it, I grabbed it. The book was clearly old. The pages were yellow and the leather cover was covered in small cracks. The spine had dozens of fold lines and was fully broken in some places. Delicately, I opened the cover and began to read.
Natalya Morozova was born into the Priory of the Great Oak. The predecessor of The Myre. The Priory of the Great Oak is a mysterious organization. The members were the first sorcerers in the world. It was composed of six Chosen Families who were to care for and protect the Great Oak. How they were chosen is unknown. Queen Selena was a part of one of these families. The Morozova family was not one of the original six. Natalya's grandmother, Anastasia, had come to the Priory to learn magic. It was thought impossible and she was denied. So Anastasia broke into the central courtyard where the Great Oak was. Picking up a branch that had broken off the tree, she was able to tap into the essence and use it. With this proof that magic can be done by anyone, the brothers and sisters started to teach magic to others. The Morozova family was deemed the seventh Chosen Family for opening magic up to all.
Natalya described her early life at the Priory. Her and Selena met as babies. Both were born and grew up in the Priory. What Chosen Family Selena was a part of was a mystery. There was no record of any of the original six Chosen Families. Except in this book, there was clearly a section that listed the Chosen Families. In the middle of a paragraph, there was an ellipsis that ended with, "and my family, Morozova." As I scanned, more weird gaps appeared marked with ellipsis.
I flipped to the front to read through the forward. It explained that this was a copy of the original manuscript written by Natalya near the end of her life. The original manuscript had suffered damage that obscured parts of the text. The parts that were missing have been marked in the text. Which I was willing to accept. If it was written by Natalya herself then the manuscript was close to 2000 years old.
I flipped back to where I left off. As I continued to read, what was missing was weirdly specific. The sentences still made perfect sense. If the manuscript was damaged, I would expect more to be missing. After rereading a few of the sentences with the gaps I realized that the only thing that was missing was names. Sometimes there was a first name but a missing surname while sometimes there was no name at all.
My eyebrows scrunched in confusion, but I kept reading.
People outside of the Priory had to be eighteen to start learning magic like nowadays. Members of the Priory, however, started their training at thirteen.
Members of the Priory have a heightened connection to the Great Oak. This causes the essence to more readily come to them than an outsider. For new sorcerers, this causes control issues and often leads to outbursts of pure magic. Because of this risk, training for a member of Priory has to start earlier to curb these issues before they become dangerous.
The first time one connects with the essence is a sacred moment. Selena and I choose to do it together. Connecting to the essence with another person was to bind your souls together. We both agreed there was no other way to do it. We were brought into the garden and sat in front of the Great Oak. Everyone else left the garden so it was just us and the Great Oak. Hand in hand, we reached out to the essence. It varies how long it takes for the essence to form the connection. Selena and I were there for an hour before the essence presented itself. In seconds, the six schools defined themselves. Hundreds of ribbons weaving throughout the room and us.
My index finger paused on the word 'ribbons'. My heart stopped then began to race. The comment about control had been odd, but this was too coincidental. A million questions formed in my mind with that single sentence.
Unfortunately, I had to wait until class started again before I could get any answers. One and a half very long days. After Death class, I asked Mr. Ahimoth if we could meet after school was finished. He agreed and I suffered through the longest Life class ever. As soon as the bell rang, I gave Alex and Garnet a quick bye and raced back to the Death building
"Hi Seraphina. What did you want to talk about?" Mr. Ahimoth asked as I rushed into the room.
"I got this book from the library and started reading it after our lesson this weekend." I set the book in front of him gently.
"Do you have an interest in history?" he asked, taking in the cover.
"My whole life," I answered. "But I found this section in particular, and I had to show you."
I flipped to the hastily torn bookmark I made and pointed out the specific paragraphs. It was silent as Mr. Ahimoth read.
"She describes the essence the same way you did," he stated.
I nodded. "You said you've never heard of anyone having the same experience. I asked my friends, and they said the same thing."
"I've read this book before. Along with teaching, I work on history research. I specialize in early Canderan history. This never stuck out to me before because it was so dissimilar to what I had witnessed nowadays. I figured it was a product of the Priory and it disappeared when the Priory did."
"But it didn't." I sat on top of a desk. My trust in my legs was fading.
"Somehow, 2000 years later, that trait shows up again. Along with some other similarities to members of the Priory."
"I noticed those too," I mentioned.
"We know the seven Chosen Families dispersed across Candera after the Priory was dissolved. They would have carried the traits with them and passed them onto their children. But that must have faded over time as they haven't shown up."
"Could those traits have been reactivated somehow?" I suggested, not fully understanding the implications of what I was saying.
"We do have no idea how the Chosen Families were, well, chosen. Nor do we know how they connected with the essence in the first place. Maybe that process happened to you which awoke..."
"Wait, wait." I was pulled out of history and back to the present. "Are we saying I'm a member of a Chosen Family?"
"That is what we are saying, isn't it?" Mr. Ahimoth sounded like he also didn't realize the implications of our theories.
We stared at each other in stunned silence. Mr Ahimoth finally asked, "What do you know about your heritage?"
I shrugged. "The Blazewinds have been farmers in the Fire Province for centuries. Though the record drops off after about 400 years."
"There is something here. I know you have a lot already on your plate, but I would appreciate your help in researching this. We could figure out one of the Chosen Families."
"I would love to." I never thought I would be able to do anything with my love of history, but I couldn't pass up the perfect opportunity. And if I was a member of a Chosen Family who had managed to unlock her family gift, then becoming Masteria seemed a little less improbable.