The Academy

by Vincent Trigili

  In a graceful and fluid dance of power that had taken some time to perform, she had successfully changed the entire practice room into a stunning meadow. She had perfectly woven sound and light together to make a complete scene. I could find no flaw in her execution, yet something must be wrong; the scene was still obviously an illusion.

  “I do not know what is wrong, Flame. You did everything perfectly, and it really does look great.”

  “But it is still not right. BAH!” Her posture and tone made it obvious she was very frustrated. “I don’t understand. I did everything exactly like the books say to.”

  “And that is your problem,” came the deep voice of Master Mathorn. I turned in surprise to see him standing there among the trees.

  Flame jumped and stumbled over her words a bit, but finally managed to ask, “What do you mean, Master?”

  “Well, Flame, you crafted a perfect scene, one where everything is just so. Nothing is out of place. Now, tell me: out there in the real world, where is there anything as perfect as this?” asked Master Mathorn.

  Flame pondered this for a good while and finally confessed, “Nowhere, Master.”

  “That is so, and we all know that instinctively. Now, look again at your scene and tell me what the problem is,” he said.

  Flame was lost in thought for a while. She walked through her illusion, looking at things, and then said, “Master, is it because we know nothing is this perfect so therefore we know it’s not real?”

  “Exactly, Flame. At a quick glance, or even if you were just rushing by, an illusion like this would fool many people; however, if anyone stopped and looked for a while they would instinctively know something was wrong with it. It is as if our souls know such perfection is impossible and automatically reject it. So, keeping that in mind, try again.” He waved his hand and the perfect illusion was gone.

  Flame began casting the spell again. Her hands and body moved in a dance-like fashion as her voice chanted beautifully, and power was flowing through and around her. A look of intense concentration and pleasure lit her face as she manipulated the world around us. Soon the meadow was growing again. Once more her execution was perfect. I could not see even the least bit of power out of place as I studied her movements.

  I looked around at the meadow she had created this time. The scene did not look quite as beautiful, but was strangely better. It was the first improvement I had seen on this spell in weeks. It was a bit humbling that it had only taken Master Mathorn a few moments to get her past this setback.

  “Now, Flame, look at your new creation. What do you think of it?” he asked.

  “Master, somehow it’s not as good, yet better at the same time,” she responded. She looked very thoughtful as she studied it.

  “Exactly. An illusionist’s goal is to mimic the real world, and the real world is never perfect. The trick in crafting illusions is to find the balance between mistakes and perfection; it is in that balance that the greats like Master Andreya are separated from the average.” He took another look around at the meadow. “This is very impressive for a student of your rank. In our schools I would not expect you to reach this level for a long time to come. How far ahead of your classmates would you say you are?”

  “Master, I don’t know. I haven’t seen them practice in a long time,” she said.

  “I see. How are you learning your art?” he asked.

  “Master, I have all the textbooks for the next few years, and Shadow has been helping me through them,” she responded. I was not sure where this was leading, but I realized that Master Mathorn was not pleased with what he saw.

  “Shadow, you should be proud of your student. She is excelling in all the areas you are teaching her, but I fear you yet lack the sense of the broader picture to train her as well as possible.” He thought for a while, and we waited in silence. “Come with me,” he said as he walked out of the room.

  “I knew it; he’ll cancel our sessions now,” sent Flame.

  “No. I think I know him pretty well by now, and he has something in mind but what I do not know,” I replied.

  We walked on through the endless maze of corridors to his office. The great door opened of its own accord as we approached it, and then Master Mathorn did something I had never seen him do before: he walked up the stairs. I was almost too stunned to move, but managed to recover and followed him up with Flame close behind.

  He brought us back into the study where I had been working on scrolls all week. Flame saw the blank staves and gasped. “Those are from my uncle’s shop!” she sent.

  Before I could reply, Master Mathorn said, “I see you recognize the wood. Excellent. One of them is for you when you are ready for it.”

  “Master, may I hold it?” she asked.

  “Of course.”

  When Flame picked one up I detected the slightest bit of power passing from her to the staff. As she turned it over in her hand it seemed to change; not in any major way, but its color shifted slightly and the length seemed to adjust a bit. Master Mathorn was quiet as she examined the wood with a slight tear in her eye. “Master, this is the most wonderful specimen; it must have cost you a fortune.”

  He smiled and said, “I am glad you approve. I am pleased with what I have purchased from Buckerty’s so far and intend to recommend them to the headmaster as one of our primary sources for quality wood.”

  “Master, that is wonderful news; but I fear that the trade routes are closed due to pirates,” she responded.

  Still smiling, he said, “Flame, trade routes are for the mundanes, and you are among wizards. Now please, both of you, make yourselves comfortable. Shadow, Flame, you have both well exceeded expectations, and so the professors here are a bit undecided about what to do with you. We expected the first few rounds of students to excel as that seems the way of it, but a few like yourselves perform far beyond reasonable expectations. This, of course, is part of the reason we took Shadow out of the main school and why you have been allowed to join him in the practice rooms. Flame, the problem with you is that you have excelled at illusions like making that meadow, but you do not seem to have as good a grasp on the basics of your primary line, pyromancy.”

  He paused a moment, and I felt a bit of a failure. I should have directed her more towards the lessons in her books instead of working for so long on that meadow. It was difficult not to feel that I had let her down.

  “Now that the problem is clearly stated, we can work towards a solution. Flame, what do you suggest?” he asked.

  It was then I finally began to understand many of the lessons he had taught me. He did not really care if I solved the problem; he cared more that I could think through the difficulty and attempt to come up with a solution rather than parroting what was in the books. He was more of a guide than a leader.

  “Master, I don’t know,” said Flame.

  “Flame, let me ask you something. Suppose a sorcerer broke into the school and captured Shadow. For some reason, you are the only one to know about it. What are you going to do?”

  “Master, I would rush to Shadow’s aid and … ” she trailed off there as she made some connection in her mind. After a long pause she continued, “Master, I guess the truth is I would rush in and be captured or killed myself. A better plan would be to get help … oh, I see.” She stopped suddenly there and a light came on in her eyes.

  “So we have a problem here. What is the solution?” he nudged.

  “Master, I guess I need to find someone to help guide my studies and make sure I’m on the right track,” she answered.

  “Exactly. Unfortunately that is not something I can do for you, at least not as well as others. So, for the short term, I will make my library available to you where at least you can study broader material than you now have access to. I want you to focus on learning defense first, since you appear to have no knowledge of that at all. I also want you to start taking a rest day each week. I will release Shadow from his classes on the
first day of each week so that you can both stay on your current practice schedule and also have a day off. Shadow, starting first thing in the morning you will spend a little time each day in my library studying the broader picture of how all of our art works. This will help you not only in your own studies, but also as Flame’s tutor. For my part, I will speak with my fellow wizards about getting Flame a more suitable teacher.”

  Master Mathorn left us, and we spent the rest of the day wandering around his immense library. We both felt a little down. I knew eventually I would have to break the ice, so I piped up and said, “Flame, I am sorry I was not a better teacher.”

  “Oh, I know you tried, but we both should have known better. We’re just like a couple of overgrown children playing in a world we don’t understand.”

  “Well, at least I was right, and he did not take away our practice time,” I started. “And we really did get good news from him. He is going to make sure you get proper instruction and a day off. I know it hurt to get less than a shining review, but we will do better now that we know we have a problem to solve.”

  “Yeah, but this sinks our chances of going home this summer.”

  “I do not think so. Let us see what happens.”

  Before I could say anything else, a glowing orb appeared between us. I had seen such objects flying around in this area, but did not know what they were. Next I heard the headmaster’s voice coming from it: “Shadow and Flame, please report to my office,” and then the orb was gone.

  “Hopefully we are about to get some news about our future,” I said.

  When we arrived at the headmaster’s office it was occupied by Master Mathorn, the headmaster and a female elite wizard whom I did not recognize. They were seated around the headmaster’s conference table, and the headmaster gestured for us to join them.

  “Shadow, I have known you a long time and I trust you, so tell me: in your own opinion, is Flame making good progress under your tutoring?” asked Headmaster Rannor.

  “Headmaster, in some areas I feel I have been able to help her greatly, but in many others I do not have the knowledge even to estimate what she needs to learn,” I replied.

  “Flame, I know that I can trust you to speak your mind. Do you agree with his assessment?” asked the headmaster.

  “Yes, Headmaster,” she timidly replied.

  “I see. Flame, you are by far one of the school’s best students and, frankly, the system we currently have in place at this school cannot handle someone as advanced as you are.” The headmaster paused there, seemingly deep in thought. “I fear that if you stay in our current program, you will suffer and end up in the long run doing less well than your peers. Please understand that this is not your fault, but indicates a failing of the system. Much time will have to be spent researching and working out a solution to this situation for the benefit of future students, but now we need to deal with the situation at hand.”

  “Am I being kicked out?” Flame blurted out.

  “Oh, no, dear one, not at all. What would make you think that?” he asked.

  “Sorry, Headmaster, but it was starting to sound like that to me. Please continue,” she replied with relief.

  “Master Mathorn has suggested a plan, so I will let him describe it,” he said.

  “Shadow, how do you feel your own training is going?” Master Mathorn asked.

  “Master, I may not be the best judge of my own progress, but I think it is going well,” I replied.

  “Flame, how do you rate Shadow’s progress?” he asked.

  “Master, he’s grown by leaps and bounds. When we started learning to use our powers he struggled to keep up with me, but since starting his lessons with you he has so far outpaced anyone we know that he could take the next year off and still be on top,” said Flame with more than a little pride.

  “And to what do you attribute that success?” he asked.

  “Master, your one-on-one teaching,” she replied.

  “I see. Well, Flame, my recommendation then is for you to follow the same path he is on.”

  “Master, I’m greatly honored, but didn’t you say you couldn’t teach me?”

  “No, I could, but there is a better option; two, in fact. Master Salsartazar has volunteered to take you under her as an apprentice, if you wish to accept. Your other option would be to move to our realm and join one of our best schools where we have a much more mature program and you could be in a large class of peers.”

  There was a long silence as we waited to hear Flame’s response. “Master, if the choice is mine, I’d prefer to stay here at the Academy and serve as best as I am able to defend it and our realm. I’d be greatly honored to become Master Salsartazar’s apprentice although we have not yet met,” she responded.

  “Flame, the choice is indeed yours and I am grateful you plan to stay. I look forward to the day when you can reach back and help those who will come after you in the same situation. Congratulations on being the second one in your class to be promoted to apprentice wizard,” responded Headmaster Rannor. Just as he finished speaking a wave of color passed over Flame, leaving her in the full red robes of an apprentice.

  Chapter Forty

  “Phoenix, are you saying that Larath was a magi?” asked Michael.

  “No, I’m saying he was a magus,” I responded.

  “Oh, yeah; one magus, many magi!” said Michael.

  “The rumor around the school is that even Grandmaster Vydor and the other masters got that wrong at first, and nobody had the guts to tell them.”

  Michael was a good prospect, but he was really struggling with history. It used to be Headmaster Rannor who would handle the history tutoring, but with his new schedule he just didn’t have the time anymore. I still remember him approaching me to say, “Phoenix, I have just the job for you.” I had no idea what I was in for when he said that, but it turned out to be a good thing in the end.

  I didn’t see Flame and Shadow as much after they had been promoted. I was so jealous when I first learned of their accelerated progress through the ranks, but that changed one day when I got to see them in action. It was around a year after Flame became an apprentice, and it was a very humbling experience. They came down to our magical defense class to demonstrate some of the spells we were learning.

  After Professor Frostbite introduced them, Shadow got up and said, “Now, there are several ways a wizard can defend himself, depending on how he is attacked. The easiest way is redirection. Flame will toss a fireball towards me, and I will use a simple force push to direct it at the stone wall where it will break apart harmlessly.”

  I watched Flame reach into the air around her, and fire began to build in her hands. She quickly gathered it into a ball and threw it at Shadow. It was a much bigger and more powerful ball than I had ever attempted, and had it hit Shadow it could’ve caused some serious damage.

  Shadow easily cast the force push spell and with a simple gesture sent that great fireball into the wall, leaving a nice scorch mark.

  “Now, anyone can cast that spell, and I know from my time among you that many of you see it as a minor spell, not good for much. So let me show you what you can do with it if you really practice. Flame, fire at will!” said Shadow.

  To our amazement Flame started rapid-firing what must’ve been dozens of fireballs at Shadow, who expertly kept up with her, and every one of the fireballs pounded into the wall, leaving nice dark scorch marks.

  After a while, Flame threw a much larger one at Shadow who once again cast the push spell, but this time he pushed it back at Flame! She responded quickly with the same spell and pushed it back at Shadow. Soon it became obvious they were playing catch with a massive fireball that probably could kill a man. There were lots of “oohs” and “ahs” from the class as they played around with the fireball.

  While they continued to play catch Shadow said, “Now you can see how useful this spell can be, so it is time for us to move on to your second option for
defense. Each of you has a primary line of magic. Flame’s is fire, as you all know, but Professor Frostbite’s primary line is ice. Professor, are you ready?” asked Shadow.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Now Professor Frostbite will demonstrate the use of a counter spell to defend yourself with. This one is much trickier, as you have to judge the power of the spell coming at you to make sure your spell is at least as powerful. If you fail to do this you run the risk of the attacking spell actually becoming more powerful by absorbing your spell.” Once he’d said that, he redirected the fireball at the professor who expertly cast an ice ball in return. The two balls collided in the space between them and with a flash of light canceled each other out.

  “Well done, Professor,” said Shadow as the class broke out in applause. “Now, there are two more methods we will demonstrate for you today that you will all eventually learn. Please remember the following methods are very advanced, and you should not risk them until you have had a tremendous amount of practice. The push is your best defense at the student level, as it can be used on almost any attack and requires very little power to use. This next defense is significantly more dangerous, but there will be many times when it is your only option. I will demonstrate, then explain. Flame, please cast.”

  Shadow turned to Flame, who was channeling down what looked like a massive pillar of fire into a bowl she formed with her arms. I could feel the overwhelming heat from it from where I was sitting, and I worried I might get burned. Flame looked at Shadow, who nodded. With a loud shout she threw all the fire straight at him!

  It was like a wave of pure fiery death rushing towards him. He did not move but instead stared it down. Soon it washed over him and around him; there were gasps from the audience as he completely disappeared under the flames. Soon, however, the fire faded and Shadow was standing there unharmed.