Mr. Allenbury sent Gamris off to the side to stew his own anger and called up the next person in line. Barlor hesitated for a moment before walking up to the white line and preparing to fire on the dummy. Namar knew that regardless of whether or not Mr. Allenbury decided to distract Barlor during his practice forms his chance of succeeding even one of the practice forms was practically nonexistent.

Barlor held out his arm and pointed towards the dummy; a marble of spiraling blue energy manifesting at his fingertips. It was too small, too weak, and yet Barlor was already beginning to push it outwards. That was when it struck. A blinding flash of light that forced him to close his eyes, but right before he closed his eyes he saw it. The marble grew bigger, spun faster, it got brighter. In that moment Namar knew what happened. Barlor got lucky.

When the class opened their eyes they saw the damage inflicted. A small hole exactly the size of a coin, right where the heart would've been. A resounding success. Barlor cheered and so did the rest of the basic students. The advance students however, were noticeably less impressed with the outcome.

Mr. Allenbury didn't look particularly pleased, but he wasn't upset either. He simply shrugged. “Next form.”

“Yes sir.”

This time Mr. Allenbury made sure that Barlor wouldn't get any luckier. The next flash came sooner, and Barlor’s spell failed to even form properly. It held the rough shape of a ball before dispersing into wisps of blue gas.

“Next form.”

“Yes sir.”

This next form was the most outrageous demand. Dent both arms, don't make a hole, don't knock over the dummy while doing so, and don't take its arms off. Namar wasn't at all concerned that Barlor would succeed this one, it’d be easier to catch lightning in a bottle.

Barlor formed an orb in his hand and threw it. He grazed the side of the arm and knocked the dummy over.

“Damn.”

Mr. Allenbury simply nodded his head. “Well you succeeded one of the forms at least. You’re free to get lunch.”

“Actually Mr. Allenbury…”

He chuckled. “What? You’re not going to tell me you want to stay are you?”

“Yeah, actually. I'd like to stay.”

The class whispered amongst themselves.

“Oh,” Mr. Allenbury was caught off guard for a second. “I don't see why not. You're free to stay if you so desire.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Oh, and do remember. This was your choice.”

“Umm… right.”

“Good. Move along then.”

Mr. Allenbury called up the next student. Again and again they tried and failed. In the end maybe seven out of the twenty or so advanced students actually managed to succeed one of the forms. It was finally his turn. Namar was last in line, and all eyes were on him. Were it someone else they might’ve been a little worried, anxious even, but Namar was no stranger to failure. Either way Namar didn't mind. If he did it, he’d get some food and rest. If he didn't, he’d be ‘punished’ with the opportunity to practice. He walked up to the white line.

He wasn't quite sure why some people used their hands. He guessed it had something to do with extending their reach or visualization, but he didn't need that. He closed his eyes. Focusing a small amount of mana into a point on his chest and anchoring it in place. As long as he focused on maintaining the connection his aim wouldn't be thrown off. It was a neat trick, one he stole from another student attempting the forms.

A tiny mote of emerald light extended a couple feet of his chest. He felt a connection to the light and pushed mana through it. A beam of light powered through the connection and struck the dummy. At first he failed to even scratch it, but he kept on going. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to carve a hole into the dummy. At this moment Mr. Allenbury decided to interfere, stepping on Namar’s foot with as much force as possible. While it was definitely painful, he could still handle it just fine. He’d dropped hot metals on his foot on the past and in comparison this was nothing.

Unfortunately Mr. Allenbury didn’t stop there. He applied even more force and started to twist his foot from side to side doing his absolute best to cause excruciating levels of pain, and unlike a hot metal, Mr. Allenbury wouldn’t quit trying to crush his foot. But as much as it hurt, Namar had to keep going. Any more force and he might accidently enlarge the hole he was carving into the dummy.

This went on for what felt like an eternity, in reality a minute at best. As Namar neared the end of his torment he rejoiced, success. At the last second Mr. Allenbury lifted his foot. Namar was so happy he almost screwed it up, a sudden burst of energy slipped from the orb and struck the dummy in the chest. At the same time he finally managed to pierce straight through the dummy’s chest. The dummy rocked backwards for a second before coming to a rest at its base once more.

“Nicely done.”

Was that a compliment? Namar simply nodded.

“Next form.”

Right there were still two forms left to go… Was it really worth trying? Yes. As Namar created a emerald sphere before him, he quietly wondered why he’d even bother asking that question. As the sphere formed a flash of white light took him by surprise, wiping away the emerald light in its entirety.

“Getting distracted are we?” Mr. Allenbury raised an eyebrow.

Namar rubbed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Hmph. Next form.”

Namar hadn't gotten any practice with this last one, but it was worth a shot. A pair of orbs formed over Namar’s shoulders. He saw someone else try this one too, he wasn't sure why but there must've been some reason for it. He packed in as much mana into as small a space as physically possible. Where to aim, where to aim. The shoulders still counted as part of the arms right?

He fired mana in tiny bursts the majority of which missed, but the few that did hit left almost little to no damage. He figured he’d do this the same way he did the first one, gradually increase the power of his attacks until it did what he needed it to. However it was also extremely wasteful. Namar was almost empty, his only choice left was to drastically increase the level of his attacks. He gathered all the mana he had left into the orbs and prepared to launch them simultaneously.

Both orbs struck, placing small craters in the arms of the dummy. That’s odd. Mr. Allenbury didn't do anything to distract me… A very well placed roundhouse landed in the middle of Namar’s gut. He fell to the floor coughing and sputtering.

“Good effort, but I should warn you that wasting mana like that is going to result in a lot of pain, one way, or another. Especially if you forcefully generate mana. That goes for you and your friend over there.” Mr. Allenbury glanced at Barlor, then to the wrecked dummy. “I’d encourage you to avoid doing that. It's a neat trick, but a bad idea for developing mages. Still, your gamble paid off. Well done.”

“Got it.” Namar coughed.

“Would you like to stay as well?”

“No thank you sir.” Namar stood up carefully.

“Fair enough,” He shrugged. “You’re free to go. If you need directions ask one of the staff members in black robes.”

“Got it.”

Namar did just that. Hand on his stomach he walked outside and asked one of the staff members for directions. He tried as hard as he could to remember the directions to the lunch room, but ended up getting lost instead. He was getting desperate at this point, as it turned out generating mana made him really hungry. The more his core filled up with mana the hungrier and hungrier he got. It took a while, but he realized he’d been starving the entire time.

That was when he ran into another student. A tall girl with blonde hair and arctic blue eyes. She jumped back in surprise. Her voice was soft and elegant. “You… don't look so good.”

“The lunch room. Where is it?”

She tilted her head. “You were that last advanced student weren't you?”

“Yes! Now where do I get food?”

“Have you been lost this whole time?”

Namar deadpanned. “No. Not at all.”

“Alright alright, calm down. Just trying to start a conversation.” She looked around for a bit. “Follow me.”

Namar followed her lead

The lunchroom was a large, open building above ground with large glass windows to let the light in. It was crowded, messy, and loud. The once orderly arrangement of tables were moved to make way for more students to sit together in a group while others chose to sit on the floor or on their own. There were three lines on the far left wall, one in the middle, and two to the right and left respectively.

They stood in the left line. He wasn't sure why they weren't all equal, after all the left line was by far the shortest one. The student he’d just met ordered two plates of… something. He didn't know how to pronounce it.

Namar received his plate, and he couldn't help but stare. It was some kind of meat, steak maybe, dipped in a kind of sauce he’d never seen and covered in exotic spices. He gawked at his food and almost ate it right there.

“There isn't any space around here. Let's eat outside.”

Her voice snapped him out of his reverie.

“Right!” He said perhaps a little too loudly.

She looked at him strangely.

“Right. Let's do that.” Namar tried to pretend like the last few minutes of his life never actually happened. He confidently walked out the door and held it open for his new benefactor.

She nodded towards a tall tree by the stone wall. “How about we eat over there.”

“Anywhere works.” Namar really didn't care. He just wanted to eat.

They sat down by a tall tree, whose many leaves created much needed shade from the sun. The grass was as soft as could be. The wind was just right. It might’ve been nostalgic if weren't so damn hungry. He sat down against the tree and dug into his food. When he finally finished he sighed in relief and left his plate beside him.

The girl across from him just sat there, looking extremely unamused. She ate from her plate carefully, daintily, almost… artificially. It dawned on him that he’d treated her somewhat poorly the entire time, despite the fact that she’d bought him such good food. Although in his defense she was wasting his time with pointless questions.

“I…” Namar scratched the back of his head. “Owe you an apology for treating you so rudely earlier.”

She rolled her eyes. “Really, and was that supposed to be your grand apology?”

“I guess?” Namar shrugged.

She took a bite from her plate and continued to study him.

“Alright, alright, I'm sorry! You happy now?

She sighed. “I suppose that’ll work. My name is Juno. Juno Elway. It's a pleasure to meet you.” She held out her hand.

“Right. Of course.” Namar shook her hand.

She pulled away rather quickly and looked at her hand. “You’re not of noble birth. Are you?”

What? What kind of question was that? Oh shit. “What do you mean? Of course I am.”

“Really.” She didn't seem entirely convinced.

“Yes.” Namar nodded. “Really.”

“Is that so. Tell me what family are you from? I'm afraid I don't recognize your face. ”

“The… Brandy’s of course.”

“Truly? I've never heard of them.”

“Yes well that's probably because we are foreign to these lands. You see I'm here to… elevate. Yes! Elevate the status of my family.” Namar looked around for something, anything that could change the subject.

Her voice became sweet like honey. “Oh? And what is it that the Brandy’s do?”

Maybe I’ve convinced her. “We make Brandy! Obviously.”

“Really? Alcoholic beverages? I've always been interested in those. Tell me what kind of ingredients do you use? “

Something, something, anything! “We use Corundum of course. It's quite simple really.”

“Corundum. Isn't that a rock?”

“Not in my country!” That came out a lot more desperately than he intended.

She sighed. “Why do you even bother lying to me?”

Namar looked down. “Please don't kill me.”

“What the-” She dropped her softer more elegant voice. As it turns out her accent was a fake. “Where the hell did that come from!”

“I'm sorry! It’s just-” Namar raised his hands as if to defend himself from the incoming verbal onslaught.

“Just what? You think we’re all like that huh? Think we’re all the same?” She stood up and started walking towards him

“No it's just-”

“Just what? I show you where the lunch room is, I pay for your food, I even pick this nice spot for you, and you still think I'm the type to do that?” Her voice was slowly getting louder and louder. She leaned over Namar and glared at him. At that moment people started wandering off in different directions. Anywhere, but there, really.

“I don’t know maybe?” Namar shrunk back and looked to both sides.

“Gods this what I get for trying to be nice to commoners!”

“You see sentences like that are why ‘commoners’ think you’re the worst.” Namar tried to defend himself weakly.

“Oh please, after everything we do for you people, give me one good reason to hate us!”

“I could give you a pair of names if that’s what you want!” He said those words without thinking, and immediately he wanted to take them back.

“Oh.” She seemed to deflate almost immediately. “I'm… Sorry.”

“No I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve known better.”

“It's fine. It’s fine. I should've been more composed.” She took a deep breath.

When she next spoke she was back to using the same elegant voice as before. “I suppose we started off on the wrong foot here. Let’s try this again. My name is Juno Elway. Second in line to the house of Elway, and you are?”

This again? He kinda preferred her normal voice over her fake accent. Whatever it's not like it mattered much anyways. He stood up and shook her hand firmly. “Namar Brandy. Humble smith of Oakswear. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

The toll of a bell firmly punctuated their handshake.

Juno gathered her plate. “Well. I suppose that’s our cue. Let’s get going.”

“Right.” Namar followed her lead. Partly because they were headed in the same direction. Partly because Namar was still having trouble with directions.

Juno looked back. “Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Is Brandy actually your last name?”

“Um… yes. Why?”