Theo was surprised at the number that had stayed back.

All in all, there were seven people waiting. Obviously, he, Drew and Jade were there, but so were Edgar, Olivia-Marie, Ingrid, and Finn.

Sasha looked at the group, and nodded.

“First of all, Jade. I’m not going to stop you from auditing internal magic classes, but I want to make sure first of all that it’s not going to affect what I’m teaching you or your other classes. There isn’t much that could be of use to you that I could see, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything at all.” Jade nodded, taking this in. Sasha turned her attention to Theo.

“Theo, you are learning internal magic with The Dancing Wind already, so my comments will mirror those for Jade. I’m sure Spa-The Dancing Wind has a path in mind, but it’s worth discussing with them if there’s other stuff you could pick up.” Theo nodded, noticing Sasha’s slip but not acknowledging it.

“Drew, you may find it useful to audit the class. They teach Stoneskin and Iron Bones, which I think your fighting style may benefit from.” Drew had a thoughtful look on his face, as if considering and weighing things in his mind.

“Now, you all may be wondering what I mean by auditing classes.” Sasha began, addressing everyone, “to encourage inter-college collaboration and cohesion, all colleges offer extra classes in magic. As you would expect, the College of War offers internal magic, the College of Prayer offers offer magic, the College of Spells offers focus magic, and we offer action magic.” That made sense to Theo.

“This is a chance not only to learn other forms of magic, but other styles and philosophies. Eleanor will talk more about auditing classes from the Colleges of Prayer and Spells, but I will go over the class offered by the College of War.”

“The internal magic class focuses on first tier internal magic, and tends to go from the basics. It starts with meditation, which Eleanor will also cover for its benefits to all magic. From there, it will also cover some basic defensive and offensive internal magic. The biggest consideration for all of you is which internal magics to learn to maximise your time. Internal magic is a slow, dedicated process, which takes patience and perseverance and practice. However, I encourage all of you to attend one class at least.” Everyone’s reactions were mixed. Some looked hesitant, but others (mostly Edgar) were determined and eager.

“Now, does anyone have questions?” Sasha asked, surveying the group, mostly lost in thought (more so thinking hard than lost).

“How many internal magics is a reasonable goal to aim for?” Edgar raised.

“It depends. It depends on your comprehension and your ability to infuse mana. If, for example you were a prodigy who could pick things up in a week,” Theo felt the urge to sneeze, “Then there really isn’t a limit to the number of tier one internal magics you could learn and maintain. If you’ve got average talent, on top of everything else I’d say two at most.” Sasha answered. Edgar furrowed his brows. Ingrid and Olivia-Marie whispered to each other for a moment, before Ingrid raised her hand.

“What internal magic let Theo sing for such a long time?” Ingrid asked. Sasha looked over at Theo, inclining her head slightly (as if to ask if she should field this question or toss it to Theo). Shaking her head, Sasha responded.

“That would be Endless Song. It was also the internal magic that stopped his throat being blown out while experiencing mana backlash. However, getting to the point where you no longer need to breathe will take quite some time.” Sasha supplied. Ingrid looked back at Olivia-Marie (conferring among the council), before nodding and accepting that as an answer.

“Unless you are willing to invest a lot of time in internal magic in order to learn how to compress that mana and utilise the third step to a competent level, the benefits of internal magic will be limited, and that includes magic like Endless Song. The more powerful effects all require a deeper understanding to utilise.” Sasha advised.

“What would help with fishing?” Finn drawled, interjecting. Sasha looked unimpressed but otherwise didn’t comment on his behaviour.

“There are many different internal magics that could help with speed, balance, co-ordination – all sorts of things that could be useful while fishing. Even something like Endless Song could come in handy, solely for the endless air in case you couldn’t swim or started to drown, but it probably wouldn’t be worth the effort of getting to the third step to do so.” Sasha mused.

“Once again, I would encourage you all to audit at least one internal magic class from the College of War. This year, they are held Fesday afternoon. I’ll see you all in Motion on Chenday.” Sasha concluded, waving goodbye as she walked off to her office.

The group milled around for a little while, packing up and chatting amongst themselves as they also prepared to leave.

“How long did it take you to learn Endless Song, Theo?” Asked Olivia-Marie. Theo froze, wondering if he should lie or tell the truth (and sound like he was telling a lie – it still felt a little unbelievable to him). He decided to evade the question.

“It took a while. The body strengthening step is good, but using it to not breathe takes a lot of control over compressed mana.” Said Theo as he rushed out the door, trying to put some distance between him and any more potential questions he didn’t know how to answer.

---

Shit beer had never tasted sweeter.

Theo sat at the first seat on the left inside The Pub. Ingrid and Olivia-Marie clearly had more questions they wanted to ask, and he was glad he got out of there when he did. He’d shaken them off by using his Striding Wind-enhanced movement to always be a smidge faster than they were, slowly increasing the gap between them until he could return to a less frantic pace and not have to answer any more questions.

“How’s the… coin situation?” Theo asked Alan, who was polishing another stein. He was trying to find a way to ask if anything had happened to the secret chest without actually saying so (like a teenager trying to get their hands on mana dust). “Any problems pop up?”

Alan paused his polishing for a moment, as he considered how to respond.

“It’s hollow, but nothing’s falling apart.” In other words, the chest was still empty, but nothing had happened because they’d taken the coin out. “What did The Dancing Wind have to say?”

“He’s having a closer look, might try to get some of the other Colleges’ coins for comparison.” Theo explained. Alan nodded.

With that out of the way, tension left Theo’s body, his head was clear of errant thoughts, and he could begin to unwind. As he did so, however, he felt aches come to the forefront of his senses. Aches that hadn’t existed before his fight with Drew.

Theo groaned as he cycled the first step of Striding Wind, trying to rid himself of those aches and pains as fast as possible. He heard a pair of chuckles from his right, and Rick and Sean sat down next to him. They waved, two identical knowing smiles plastered on their faces.

“Had a fight?” Sean asked. Theo took a sip of his beer, grimacing as it hit his (still slightly raw) throat before nodding.

“Physical Combat class. Another internal magic user.” Theo explained, shaking out his arm and letting Striding Wind do what it does. He had to stop himself from moaning out loud, as more and more soreness left his body. Rick nodded his head.

“How’d it go?” Rick asked. Theo cycled through a series of descriptors in his head (including “terrible”, “exhausting”, “like watching a kitten fighting a tortoise”). He eventually decided on a classic.

“It was fine. Was pretty close, but I couldn’t get through his defense, and he couldn’t hit me.” Theo explained. Something in the (defeated) way he held himself, or in his tone of voice must have tipped them off, because Rick shared a look with Sean, and they unanimously dragged their seats closed to Theo.

“Right, debrief time.” Said Sean. Theo was confused at why they were both focusing intently on him (or even, what a debrief involved). They were clearly expecting this, as Rick began to explain.

“I find that, after each major fight, it’s good to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, but also work through any feelings or ideas or things we learned in that process. So, how did the fight go down?” Asked Rick.

Theo ran through the fight.

Rick and Sean nodded along, no judgement in their faces.

“So, I think the shield was a good choice. I also think letting go was the right move, but unfortunately he was ready for that.” Sean commented. “I know he was bigger, but I bet you could have waited until he was tired and low on mana, and engage in melee then.”

“If I was you, I’d stay at a distance and pick them off with ranged weapons. So maybe look into that.” Rick said, countering Sean. Theo saw them share a heated look. He made a mental note to do as Rick said. Rick continued, “I don’t think we could really help on the action magic side, but if your magic is weaker but more versatile, try quantity over quality. Keep throwing different things at it until one sticks.”

That made enough sense to Theo.

“I’ll try it.” Theo said, smiling. He reached for the beer, pausing with his hand halfway there as another thought struck him.

“There was also another fight, where just before they hit or were hit, both of them seemed to turn…grey. Would you know what that was?” Theo said, remembering the almost marble colour of Sasha and the more uniform grey of Jade.

“Ah. That’s Stoneskin. It’s a very useful piece of internal magic. Protects and toughens up your skin, and at the third step it turns your skin as hard as stone, which is the grey colour you saw.” Sean said, gently flickering a slight grey as he activated Stoneskin.

“Nobles also like it a lot, because the first step makes your skin flawless.” Rick supplied.

“Really?” Theo flushed as he realised that internal magic didn’t have to be combat or utility oriented.

“Yeah, there’s a few internal magics like that…”