The sandwiches were good; Olivia couldn’t argue with that - the bread had been fresh, and the meat and vegetables slathered in a rich sauce had filled her belly nicely. While they ate, the cohort continued talking about relative age, and Olivia, for the first time, was introduced to how the System calculated days and minutes. After learning about the System’s twenty-hour day with seventy-five minute hours, and 375 days per year, she did some quick math and realized she wasn’t quite as old when compared to the others as she’d thought. At least not, subjectively. “It’s weird, though, because when I think of an hour, I still think of sixty minutes. You’d think with the System Language Integration, I’d think of the same time period that you all do.”

“Hmm, yeah, maybe the concept of an hour translated, but not your exact definition,” Veena mumbled around her last bite of sandwich.

“This conversation is boring. Enough about time,” Adaida said. “We need to think about how we’re going to beat the other cohorts, especially when it comes to spellcrafting.” That got the table buzzing, and everyone started talking about their ideas for spells, but then Hanwol spoke up with a dour expression.

“Useless speculation. We’ll find out tomorrow after Alyss evaluates us all. She’ll tell us exactly what we’ll need to do.”

“Grouch,” Veena said, scooting her chair away from the table.

“Yep, time to get going,” Rald said.

“I’m anxious for our next class; all the cohorts have separate classrooms and instructors.” Shani grabbed her sister’s hand as she spoke, and they swung their clasped hands between them, walking quickly with excitement. Olivia hurried after them, and the Bogoli siblings brought up the rear.

“Why’s that?” She asked.

“I’m not sure, but that’s what they told us during orientation,” Shani said, looking back at her.

“It’s because everyone cultivates differently, and it would be too hard for one instructor to guide all the students in all the cohorts,” Hanwol said.

“Goodness, you’re turning into quite a know-it-all today, brother.” Veena snorted when Hanwol didn’t acknowledge her ribbing. Olivia tuned them out, paying attention to the winding route Rald was leading them through in the main academy building. They climbed three different sets of stairs and finally came to a long hallway with twelve doors lining the left-hand side. Rald looked at the numbers above each door and stopped by the one labeled 406.

“Here we go,” he said, looking back over the cohort. Then, he turned the knob and stepped inside. The Ghelli sisters walked in after him, and Olivia followed close behind. The only way Olivia could think of to describe the room they entered was serene. A bank of pale blue stained glass windows dominated the far wall, providing the only light source in the room. Wooden flooring took up the area near the door where a shoe rack sat. Rald was already shoeless, having put his shoes on the rack, and the Ghelli were also taking their shoes off. Olivia followed suit while she looked around some more. The rest of the room’s flooring was composed of a springy mat. She wondered if it was bamboo; did they have bamboo in this world? Ten different shelves lined the wall under the stained glass, and on each was a different assortment of plants, rocks, and incense. Sitting in the middle of the mat was a very lean Ardeni man. He wore a sleeveless tunic and loose pants, and he was strumming on an instrument that reminded Olivia of a harp; the tune was quite lovely.

“Welcome, Copper,” He said in a smooth voice, rising to his feet in a fluid motion. “Yes, please remove your shoes and then come onto the mat. Sit here close to me, and we can talk about cultivation.” He waited for them to approach and take a seat on the mat, then he walked in front of them, gently drumming his fingers on his instrument while he spoke. “I am Sange. Yes, I’m a professor, but just call me Sange. This is a rabanichord, and I think you’ll find its tune helpful while we meditate here. I’ll be getting to know each of you - all about your affinities, your Cores, and your cultivation drills. I’ll work with each of you to improve them, and I hope you’ll all come to understand the true importance of a powerful Core. Your Core is both your source of Energy and a limiting factor - unless you learn to push your Core development into advanced stages, you’ll never master the most powerful of magics.”

Olivia watched Sange pacing back and forth as he spoke, admiring the smooth movements and the aura of barely contained power that he presented. His head was shaved smooth, and his face sported a neatly trimmed magenta beard. The contrast of the magenta beard with his blue skin and red-purple eyes was very complimentary. She realized she’d been staring at him so intently and thinking about how interesting he looked that she hadn’t heard his instructions when everyone started getting up and walking. She blushed furiously and scrambled after Veena. “What are we doing? I spaced out!” She hissed into her ear. Veena looked up at her with a grin.

“Spacing out, huh? Interesting! Well, we’re all supposed to sit near a different shrine. He said to find one that ‘spoke to you,’ whatever that means.”

“Thank you!” Olivia walked over to the far wall, where the different shelves were arrayed with plants, rocks, and unlit incense sticks. Like Veena, she didn’t know what to look for, but everyone seemed to be in the same boat, just wandering up and down the row of altars. Olivia was standing by the fourth in the series of ten, and she decided to walk up to it. She knelt to sniff the incense stick and pulled back - it was something like cinnamon and bothered her nose. She stood and wandered over to the next one, where Rald had been standing but was walking away. Olivia sniffed the incense, and it wasn’t unpleasant, reminding her of bergamot. She looked at the plant and saw that it had waxy round leaves growing in a clay pot of rocky, moist soil. Gently, she rubbed one of the leaves and sniffed her fingers, noting a faint tang of pine. Smiling, she picked up the large, smooth stone resting on the altar and held its cool surface to her cheek.

At first, Olivia just felt the chilly, heavy presence of the stone, but then she started to feel a stirring presence within, not necessarily a consciousness, but something was there, and it was steeped in Energy. Olivia gently set the stone back down on the altar, and then she sat in front of it on her knees, her hands resting together on her lap. She glanced to her left and right and saw Adaida seated in front of an altar, but everyone else was still moving from one to another. Slowly, the members of her cohort began to make choices, first Rald, then Veena, then Hanwol, and finally, Sheena, with a huff, just seemed to select an altar to sit at randomly.

“Good. Please begin to channel your cultivation drills, and I’ll come and speak to you individually.” Sange made good on his stated intention, kneeling in front of Veena and talking with her in a very low, hushed voice. Olivia closed her eyes and tried to tune out the world, concentrating on her cultivation drill that the System had awarded her when she’d developed her Prisma Core during the orientation. She pushed her Energy out along the pathways in her body, paying careful attention to all the little nooks and whirls - she hadn’t even realized she had the little pathway leading out from her navel before they played that push-stone game.

More than she ever had in the past, she turned her inner eye toward the stream of Energy slowly inching through her body. Before, when she’d done this drill, she’d only ever tried to add Energy to the circulation from the Energy gateways in her hands. Now, she concentrated on finding any other external pathways, and as she uncovered them, she tried to absorb ambient Energy and add it to the circulation. She started with the one in her navel and slowly spread out from there. She found another opening near the base of her throat and two more at her knees. Finally, her circulation of Energy reached her extremities, and she absorbed even more ambient Energy through her hands and the two gateways she discovered in her feet.

“Wonderful! It looks like you’re really making the most out of that simple cultivation drill!” Sange’s voice was soft, but it came from right in front of her face, startling Olivia. She opened her eyes and saw him sitting cross-legged in front of her, a slight grin on his face.

“I really haven’t used this drill very much. I always seem to get busy or have another priority.” She looked down, her face reddening. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she was back in middle school explaining why she hadn’t done her homework. It’s not like she’d been assigned to work on her Core, but she knew how important Sange felt it to be.

“Well, that’s alright, for now. Going forward, though, you need to take Core development very seriously!” His words were stern, but he said them with a slight grin and the hint of a buried chuckle in his voice. “Now, let’s see what we’re dealing with; I have to confess, I haven’t gotten your student file yet. Did you recently arrive at the academy?”

“Yes, just the day before yesterday. I’m Olivia.”

“Excellent, Olivia. I knew your name, though - we professors talk. I just don’t know the details about your Core or affinities. Care to fill me in?”

“Oh, of course. I have a Prisma class Core, and I have affinities with earth, which is funny to me because it’s the name of our planet, fire, water, and air.”

“That is funny. When I say ‘earth,’ it’s synonymous with natural material. Isn’t the System Language Integration fascinating? In any case, those are a lot of affinities. That Core is rather rare, as well. I’m not surprised your provincial mage representative promoted your admission here. How well can you control those differently attuned Energies? I know this is a rude question, but do you mind telling me what the System rates your affinities at?” Olivia almost answered him immediately, but something made her think twice about it. Why had he said it was a rude question? How did her affinity relate to the other people here? No one had ever asked her that question before, and she wondered if there was something taboo about revealing that aspect of yourself. “I can see the hesitation on your face. Olivia, I’m duty-bound to protect the interests of all my students. I’m not going to reveal what you tell me to anyone, just as I won’t tell you anything about your cohort members’ pathways or affinities. That’s up to you all to share with each other if you want to.”

“Well,” Olivia wavered a little, but she felt like she’d have a hard enough time fitting in and succeeding in this strange place without alienating one of her professors. Still, she decided to round down and keep it simple, speaking very quietly, “My Energy affinity is nine.” Sange’s smile fell away, and his eyes seemed to focus on a distant point. He was quiet for a long moment, then he looked at her and spoke.

“With all of your affinities?” His voice was strangely flat. Olivia nodded. “Have you told anyone else here that?”

“No,” Olivia spoke softly. Sange glanced around, ensuring that none of the other cohort members were listening.

“Listen, Olivia. That’s very high. It’s best you keep that number to yourself, and I’ll do the same. If your cohort asks you about it, ever, simply tell them that you have a high affinity - no need for exact numbers. You see, when people hear ‘high affinity,’ they’re going to assume something around five. I may be acting a bit overprotective, but I don’t want you to become a target for jealous students or, ancestors forbid, professors. Nor do you want extreme interest and competition from professors who recruit apprentices. At least not now. You need to develop yourself more, free from those sorts of external pressures.”

“Okay, thank you for the advice.” Olivia’s face was solemn, but she knew all too well what it was like to have headhunters after you. True, pharmaceutical recruiters and government think tanks were probably different from power-hungry wizards, but she was happy to have the head’s up about under-representing her abilities for now.

“Now, there’s affinity, and then there’s talent. Tell me, have you ever tried threading more than one affinity at a time through your pathways?” Olivia simply nodded to his question, and he grinned slyly at her. “And? Were you successful?” Again, Olvia nodded. “Ahh, being coy now, I see. Well, I won’t press it for now, but I’m going to give you an assignment. First, answer this question: have you ever drawn differently attuned Energy into your Core while doing your cultivation drill?”

“No,” Olivia said softly, trying to picture the implications.

“Excellent, then this is your assignment: today, tonight, and tomorrow, during my class, you are to concentrate on feeling, finding, and cultivating Energies that match your affinities.” He grinned, winked at her, and stood, walking over to Hanwol, who was apparently next in line for his consultation.