Activities and studies at the Academy are broken into four quarters. Each quarter begins and ends on a solstice or equinox. All activities are suspended during the days around the solstices and equinoxes for festivals.

After devoting his afternoons to magical staff for two and half weeks, Chad finally won his first duel...against a novice...who was 13. While it didn't sound that impressive when he thought about it, he was still very proud of himself for how far he had come. The duel had been purely a staff fight with no magic involved. Chad won mostly through brute force, but he was only able to do so because he had been able to block or dodge his opponent's attacks.

As he was leaving the dueling grounds, he was hailed by Master Henry. “Chad, congratulations on your first victory!” Chad thought he heard a smidgen of pride in his voice. “I am sad that I won't be seeing you as much next quarter as you start your other studies. Enjoy the festival and try not to get into too much trouble.” This was followed by an exaggerated wink.

“Thank you, sir. I look forward to improving my skill under you. Enjoy the festival!”

Chad headed to the dining commons. On his way, he thought about his plans for the festival. The festival would last for several days, with all kinds of merchants and entertainers coming to try and make a profit off of the high spirits that accompany festivals. The official festival grounds were the wide bridge that connected the Academy and Candra over the river Thul, but the festivities were sure to overflow into the city and Academy grounds. Chad's plan was to venture onto the bridge on the equinox itself and spend the rest of his time enjoying himself on the Academy grounds.

When he got to the dining commons, Jet and Selena were already there. Their heads were bent slightly together while they talked looking like they had been best friends their entire lives. It was hard to believe that they had met for the first time only a few weeks ago. That meeting hadn't really gone as he had planned. He still wasn't sure if Quartz had forgiven him for bringing Selena with him that night. Apparently Quartz had considered her his archenemy and had dumped all of his frustration for the siblings’ situation on her, despite the fact they had never met. However, by the end of the meal Jet and Selena had become friends. Since then, Selena had been joining them every night for dinner.

Chad grabbed some food and went to join the girls. As he sat down, Selena asked, “How was your afternoon?”

“It was great, I finally won a magical staff duel!”

“Against a 13 year old novice,” Quartz added, as he sat down on the bench next to Jet.

Jet looked like she was about to laugh and Selena's eyebrows went up. “Excuse me, I misspoke. He won against a 13 year old, who just came to the Academy this quarter.” Jet's “about to” became a reality and Selena also let out a giggle.

“Chad, you villain!” put in Jet while still laughing. “I can't believe a big, strong man like you would pick on a poor innocent little girl like that. You should be ashamed of yourself!” She barely got the last word out before she burst into laughter again.

Trying to suppress her own giggles, Selena said, “Good job, Chad! We are very proud of you.”

“Yes we are,” Quartz agreed “but, next time, try to pick a more impressive opponent.”

Their jovial conversation continued through dinner, eventually leading to the topic of the festival.

“And remember,” Selena was saying to him, though she seemed to be including Quartz, “the Academy has a standard to keep. So, until the end of the festival, you are required to wear your formal robes. Also, if we leave the Academy grounds we are supposed to take staffs.” Indicating her staff next to her, she added, “Since you don't have your own yet, you can borrow one from the guard house.

“By the way, do you still have to work in the kitchen tomorrow?”

“No, since it was originally just to give me something to do until next quarter. Master Sanders gave me off for the festival, though I will be returning to work with him occasionally next quarter.”

The next morning Chad wore his formal robes for the first time. He was very pleased to find that, despite the added bulk, it didn't restrict his movement at all. He felt a little silly wearing his hat with the robe, but he had become accustomed to it, so he wore it anyway. He was surprised to see Quartz also put on a hat.

Jet met them outside of the dorms and Selena met them near the Academy village. Both of them were wearing wide brimmed straw hats. Of the four of them, Selena was the only one not wearing black robes and the only one carrying a staff, signs that she was an abecedarian and a full mage.

Chad was curious about the hats and couldn't resist asking, “Why are you all wearing hats? I have never seen any of you wear a hat before.”

“Because we normally stick out in a crowd.” Quartz took off his hat and pointed at his white hair then at Jet's black hair. “With our reputation, sometimes we just want to blend into the crowd, or at least try to.”

“I just wear it to keep off the sun,” Selena said a little shyly. “I wasn't wearing it on the expedition when we first met because I was trying to look authoritative.”

“Enough about hats!” Quartz said, itching to get to the festival. “Let's go get you,” pointing to Chad, “a staff and some spending money from the guard house.”

At the guard house, Selena took Chad to withdraw money while Jet and Quartz went to get staffs. Selena took Chad to a counter with a yellow mage sitting behind it. “Greetings, apprentice, how can I help you?”

“This is Chad Lawrenceson,” Selena said. “He would like to make a withdrawal from his funds.”

“Lawrenceson, Lawrenceson,” the mage murmured while he looked over a ledger. “Here it is, Chad Lawrenceson! Because of the festival you can only take out five Moons. Will that be acceptable?”

Chad was shocked. Five Moons! He had never seen so much money in one place before, much less held so much. In Fresh Springs they usually dealt in quarter Stars. “How much money do I have?” he asked himself absent mindedly.

“You have eight Moons and ten Stars,” the mage answered his unintended question. “Would you like the five Moons?”

That meant that he had been paid ten Stars every day he had worked for Master Sanders. “Yes, five Moons is fine.”

“Can he get one of those Moons in Stars?” Selena added.

The mage handed Chad four, square silver coins and twenty, round copper coins. The silver coins were stamped with the moon on one side and the Landrean royal crest on the other. The copper coins were divided into fourths with two stars and two crests on each side. Both coins had holes in the middle.

When they walked back outside, Jet threw him a staff with a quick “catch” as the only warning. The staff she threw him was different from the ones he used while practicing. It seemed sturdier and the surface was dark and glossy like Selena's rather than the natural wood he used in practice. “Official Academy staffs are fire hardened,” Selena said, interrupting his study of the staff. “Magic is also used in the process so they are extremely hard. They could stop a battle axe in full swing and not have a dent.”

“Shall we test that theory?” Quartz said, drawing Chad's attention to the weapon in his hands. Instead of a staff he was holding an axe. The axe handle was over a meter long and was also fire hardened. The ax head looked like any of the axes Chad had used to chop wood but with a blade around 25 cm long.

“An axe! Why do you have an axe!?” Chad burst out.

“Like Selena said yesterday,” Jet replied, gesturing with her two empty hands, “the Academy has a standard to keep. Mages are required to carry a means of self defense. For most, that means a staff. Actually, because people are more likely to have seen a mage wield a staff than an ax, you will probably seem more threatening than Quartz.”

“And she,” Selena said indicating Jet, “will be the most threatening because she doesn't have a weapon and therefore everybody will be wondering what she is concealing in her robes.” When she said this, Chad noticed that Jet really wasn't carrying anything.

“What are you concealing?” he asked Jet.

“Nothing,” Jet said hesitantly. “I study empty-hand fighting.”

During the next two days, as they enjoyed the festivities inside the Academy, Chad observed other mages. He confirmed that almost all of them carried a staff. Occasionally, he would see one with a sword or a pair of daggers strapped to their side. He only saw one other ax. The only other weaponless mages he saw were novices, none of which had weapons. Apparently, they weren't part of the Academy's standard.

The third day of the festival was the equinox. Chad and his friends headed out of the Academy for the first time since Chad had arrived. When he had arrived, they had entered the Academy from the west on the opposite side from Candra. Now Chad saw Candra and the bridge over the river Thul for the first time. The bridge in and of itself was a magnificent structure. It was wide enough for three rows of stalls with plenty of room to walk between, and it arched high over the wide river. However, it paled when compared to the city with its high walls and towers that could have only been made with magic. The sight from the apex of the bridge was marvelous. To the east he could see the royal palace in the middle of the city. Below him was a grand river. To the west was the Academy with its seven peaked Tower soaring high above the walls.

They spent the morning playing games and trying different kinds of food. Around noon, they stopped for something a little more substantial at a stall in front of the city gates. They got food and sat down under an awning at a long table. The only other customers besides them were three men in black robes with their hoods up. As they were eating, a commotion started within the gates.

Chad turned to see what was happening as a man came running out of the gates. He was wearing a hooded robe and a mask. An unnatural darkness surrounded him so that he was at the center of a two meter spherical shadow. A half dozen mages came running out of the gates hard on his heels. As the shadowed man ran past where Chad was, the three men at the end of the table jumped up and started running with him, each with his own shadow.

Right as the last man was starting to leave the table, Jet flung out her arm and a knife almost the length of her forearm pinned the man's cloak to the table. Jet was right behind her knife and knocked the man unconscious while he was still trying to get out of his cloak. As soon as he lost consciousness, the shadow around him disappeared.

The rest of the shadowed men ran towards the side of the bridge. Whenever their shadows touched each other they grew two fold. When they reached the bridge railing, they leapt off. The mages that were chasing them gave up the case and came back to where Jet had knocked the fourth man unconscious. They quickly gathered up the fallen man. One of the mages turned and addressed Chad's group. “You four, come with us. We will need to know what happened here.”

As they were hustled back to the Academy, Chad said to Jet. “I thought you said you didn't have anything concealed.”