Olpi's eyes went wide, shattering her practiced poker face. She knelt down in order to obscure her face once again with her hair. There she remained, staring into her own horrified expression, and taking deep breaths. 'H-hello?' Even in her mind, her thoughts stuttered. 'W-what kind of magic is this? No, I probably imagined it.'

'I have no idea,' Cerlius continued, mercilessly shattering her sense of denial. 'I was just following instructions.'

'Whose instructions? What is this? What do you want from me?' Her head began to ache, a condition that even the ointment couldn't fix.

'Calm down.' Cerlius's plain tone only made her headache worse.

'Calm down?' She got to her feet and took up the mask of a proper servant. 'How can I calm down when there is a voice in my head!? We can't be seen talking or I'll get beaten again and you'll be thrown in the Dimmer. Whatever this is, please stop it.'

'The instructors won't notice anything more than a spell being cast.' How she envied his acting ability, to have the guts to maintain his neutral gaze. If only she were born a normal human. 'They won't draw suspicion if we don't make it evident. Stop pacing.'

Olpi had to force herself to keep still, now covered in a nervous sweat. If all her irregular actions weren't enough to implicate her yet, now so much as a twitch could indict her. 'I'm sorry. I am just freaking out. I don't know what to do. What if you attack me? I'm sorry. I can't hold back words in my head.'

'I was hoping to ask for your help but it seems as if I was mistaken in doing so.'

Her rapid heartrate slowed as Cerlius's stare twitched, as if there really was a person buried under it after all. A weight lifted from her shoulders but something heavier replaced it. That neutral expression of his…it was the same expression which all Demis wore.

The sound of hurried footsteps made her tense up. She took a long breath in and a long breath out. 'Maybe they aren't coming for me.' The footsteps grew louder.

"Olpi." The voice called, as if everything today was out to get her; first the Demis, then Cerlius, and now it was…another Demi. The man put a shaky hand on her shoulder. "It's Menla, come quick. She's about to fail her deadline."

Olpi glanced back at Cerlius: 'Are you not out of my head? If not, understand that we Demis live in a very different world than you students, even if you are different from the rest. Please let me be. It is better that way.'

Demis weren't allowed to run so she could only do an awkward, hurried walk. "What happened?" She looked across the Reach, but since she and the Demi were walking towards a denser area of the Reach, masses of spells obstructed her vision.

"She's not ready to present." The Demi explained. "Her spell isn't powerful enough to be called useful. Instructor Jersin isn't going to accept it."

Olpi increased her pace to a near jog, mindfulness slipping away. "She said that she was practically done." She said, more to herself than to the Demi. "I should have just stayed with the group, where I belong."

"She didn't want to distract you." The Demi reassured her. "Since you haven't made your spell yet, and your deadline is only a few days away."

"We never make our own spells," Olpi said. "We try but we can never do it on our own. She knows that. It doesn't matter if my deadline is only a few days away since her deadline is much closer. I can take the beating. Menla can't. She's sick." She cursed under her breath. "Instructor Jersin might kill her. I should have just endured the gossip to keep tabs on her. I should have-" Rounding another lake, she met up with the rest of the Demis, who had had gathered around Menla.

"Olpi!" The dwarven girl hugged Olpi as soon as she got close. "I'm sorry that I lied to you," she cried. "I tried to make a water shield spell but it didn't work. The instructor said that it wasn't good enough. I didn't want to-"

"Ssshhh," Olpi rubbed the girl's red, curly hair to calm her. "We still have time. Show me what you have so far."

"Ok." Menla let go and pulled out her mana, which condensed to form a water spell with the Ripple property. Characteristics appeared on the outside: Condense, Force, and Stream. She pushed mana through, which emerged as a single, rapidly shrinking droplet.

Sweat beaded down Menla's chin. The magic circle shook. A crack rang out and the droplet exploded outwards in a flat, circular shield which grew outwards, swirled, and fell to the ground. Menla fell to a knee coughing, and the spell dissipated. "I can't keep it steady. The shield covers a lot of surface area but it's too thin and doesn't direct the force outwards like I want it to." She pulled on her hair. "And I only have enough mana for one other spell."

Olpi rubbed her chin for a few moments. "Did you try adding the Gyro characteristic to make it spin? Then the shield could hold itself together." To her dismay, the child nodded.

"I did that, but then I can't condense the water."

"Well, why do you need to condense it?" Olpi glanced at the instructor Jersin, who was slowly making his way over. Most of his face was hidden by his discolored hood, all but the wide grin. He drew a rusty metal cane from his spatial ring, making many Demis flinch back. Olpi was more surprised that her blood had dried by now, knowing full well that the man had never once cleaned the thing.

The instructor slowed his walk across the Reach to a crawl, taking his time to stroll past dangerous elements. Students bowed, but his gaze, alight with a sadistic joy, never once wavered from the Dwarven girl. Slow and steady. It was the wait for the punishment that broke most, and the very same wait which that man enjoyed most.

Past the instructor was Cerlius, head cocked to the side, watching. Dozens of magic circles floated around him, all of the water element. They went from property to property, characteristics changing and producing different results.