'Doevm, remember.' A harsh voice echoed in Cerlius's mind. A fragment of his memory returned, one which bared a hatred so pure and immutable that his mind retracted from reality. He sunk deep within a sea of boiling blood.

The air left his lungs as he cursed the world. Those people. Those hypocritic, backstabbing, false-righteous excuses for humans killed…someone in a spectacularly brutal display of gore and suffering.

Cerlius didn't know who "them" referred to, only that they had made him watch as one by one, family member by family member, bleeding and beaten limb by limb, Cerlius and everyone were blended into a paste by tearing blades and unrelenting fists before being stuffed into a cramped wooden box. At least the family was together, all but the one whose name they had cried out, hoping in vain to save them.

Through sheer force of will Cerlius jammed his fingernails into his side. His burning lungs pulled in air as he surfaced above that sea, free of the depths but trapped in his mind. He coughed and sputtered as he scanned the surroundings, finding nothing but a black sky and a red sea meeting at the horizon. 'Is someone there?' thought Doevm, Cerlius, whatever his name was.

'The name's Larque.' The source less voice rang in his head. 'We got a problem for what you did to me and Doevm.'

'Who are you?' Cerlius thought. He clutched the sides of his head, which pain shot through. 'Get out of my head. Get out of my thoughts.'

'We will have to talk, no matter how you feel about it.'

'I don't trust a word you say.'

'I don't trust you either. I don't even know what manner of being you are. For now, just know that I'm watching with both great care and an endless hunger. You need to remember.'

Something akin to a door shut and Cerlius's stomach sunk as he rose high in the dark sky, up and up until he rose out of his trance. His mind reconnected with his body. In the brief moment he pulled himself back together he could have sworn that he had a book in his hands, but in the blink of an eye it was just paper – one filled to the brim with notes on Lance's three spells.

Cerlius glanced at the other students. 'Laruqe, are you gone?' When he got no response, he crossed his arms and drummed his blistered, scarred fingers, against his bulging bicep.

'Who was I? How did I end up in this state? The other students don't have scars or sheaths for weapons. They don't smell odd. Maybe those differences affected how many of my memories were taken, or maybe something interfered.' Faint chuckling sounded in his head, interrupting his thoughts.

Lance turned to face the class: "While I did just explain the three concepts of magic, I need to go into depth to ensure your understanding. Can anyone explain out how I casted the three spells using the Lorickan theory?"

"First," Cerlius began. "The magic circle was formed by condensing mana into a flat disk. Then holes were punched in the disk to make an intricate design which I assume represents the element called upon, water. After completing it, mana was pushed through the magic circle to convert it to water."

"Correct," Lance remarked, "But no matter how correct you are, that does not give a student an excuse to break the rules, Doevm, Cerlius, whatever you go by. I understand that you are still confused so I will spare you an hour's stay in the Dimmer, but don't do this again." The students shivered, the color draining from their calm expressions. "Next time, please raise your hand and I will allow you to speak." Cerlius raised his hand. "Speak."

"I understand." Cerlius said before putting his hand down.

Lance waited, expecting Cerlius to say something more, but he didn't. Bewilderment slapped Lance's aura of authority: "Um," he stuttered. "…ok then." He shook his head, regaining his composure. "No matter. You accurately described the first spell. I'm surprised you are familiar enough with the elements to name which I used, even if it was obvious. Speaking of…"

A rapid turning of paper and dipping of quills made a small burst of ink's chemical smell drift through the air. Everyone sat forward, Cerlius being the first to do so. "Most spells that humans use…" Lance continued. "Are based off the core six elements, water, air, ground, fire, holy, and…" he frowned. "Dark." He let out a long sigh and rolled up his sleeve, displaying his three-fingered hand and the scar running down his arm.

"Practicing that vile, corrupted magic, no matter the reason, is met with immediate execution. The last dark mage to walk these very halls took my fingers and ripped my life to shreds. It's only thanks to tight regulation that an atrocity like that day will never happen again. I only mention Dark magic because we must acknowledge its evil existence."

"It is the only element that Projen Lorick, the previous head of this magic academy, did not define while deducing the elemental properties of each and every spell. Each and every spell allowed to humans at least. There are countless types of other magics but they aren't relevant at this point of your studies." He rolled down his sleeve and nodded to a student who had raised her arm.

"What about the basic water spells you did? What was different about the second and third spells?"

"Ah. Yes." Lance chuckled. "I apologize. Whenever I talk about dark magic, I tend to get distracted." He cleared his throat and put his hand to the crystallin billboard. Bright blue mana flooded out of his hand and formed a picture at the center of the second magic circle he used.

"For the second spell, I altered the magic circle's design." The picture shifted, adding more complex designs to the magic circle. "And this assigned a property to the spell, Ripple, which made the output (a drop of water) expand in an 'O' shape." The picture on the billboard shifted. The magic circle vanished as a ring of mana expanded, beginning at the center, and disappearing upon hitting the edges.