“Now, send off your prayer, and use mana to lift those words upwards, until they float by themselves.”

Kevin had instructed them all in various prayers used for each god. Theo mulled over the simple words for Gilth.

“O Gilth, allow me to perform to the best of my ability.”

The domains of the gods were definitely more flexible than he thought two hours ago, before the class had started. Still, he wrapped the words in mana, sending the thought off into the heavens. He watched the small glimmering package of distortion fly upwards.

A moment later, Theo felt a slight clarity and relaxed confidence fall over him. Not so much he felt in control of everything, but he definitely felt more like it was natural for him to be in control. Like life was a play, and while he didn’t have a copy of the script he knew all the other actors would supports the choices he made.

There was an odd feeling in the air, as all around him people mumbled various prayers to various gods. Theo felt his hair stand on end, as the briefest and lightest of flickers of the gods’ attentions focused in on their class.

Even if individually those would have been barely noticeable, all together they were a thousand raindrops coalescing into a wave (but then again, Theo’s senses were heightened from Owl’s Eyes, Bat’s Ears, and Dog’s Nose, so it might have just been an incredibly faint rain to someone else).

Either way, he was definitely coming back again.

Kevin clapped his hands together, and Theo’s attention returned from the sky.

“Thank you all for your interest in learning offer magic. Next week we will discuss worship. Regardless of whether you wish to continue learning with me, I hope you have found today to be informative. May you all have a blessed day.”

And with that, Kevin bowed and walked back into the College of Prayer, Francis following in their wake.

---

“Anyone going to the focus magic audit?” All the bard students had gathered together after the offer magic audit for lunch. They were discussing what they had just experienced, as well as the focus magic audit coming up.

They were sitting together on the outskirts of the central park, in the corner between the College of Prayer and the College of Spells, hands filled with bread or cheese or fruit.

Theo was still too pre-occupied with thoughts about responsibility and legacy to pay much attention as they conversed.

“I was going to check it out, but I’m not feeling that serious about it. I’m free so I might as well, right?”

He didn’t think he was cut out to lead anything, and the idea of being someone with potential stressed him out. The pressure of living up to that was already starting to linger in his head.

Theo distantly registered that someone was laughing, and as his eyes searched for the source he saw a few of the wizard students passing by. He recognised the one laughing. He was the one who had asked about collecting blessings (who looked like the end result of sticking your nose up in the air for ten years).

A few of the other wizard students looked a little nervous, and one even tried to gently tug on his sleeve. He didn’t respond, except to glare at them for a moment. He turned to face Theo and the bard students.

“Trust illiterate bumpkins to treat focus magic so casually.” The energy in the air changed immediately, as Theo’s thoughts were forcefully pulled back to the present. Finn visibly bristled at that comment.

“Benedict, please-“ One of the other wizard students tried to intervene, but (who Theo now knew as) Benedict shook them off their arm.

“Please continue? Gladly.” The one trying to moderate Benedict let go and gave up, opting to throw their hands up in the air as they turned around and left him. Finn quietly seethed, and even though he was picking up on things slower than normal, Theo had been around (and in) enough bar fights to recognise the look of someone getting ready.

Benedict sighed. “What did we expect? This is what happens when you play with an inferior magic. Rowena is a perfect example of this failure. Then again, she might have already-“

The fist came out of nowhere.

Finn used no magic. He just simply punched Benedict, catching him on the chin. For a moment, Benedict achieved flight, as his neck snapped back and his body rocked backwards, before gravity caught up and he tripped backwards over himself, landing on the floor on his ass.

There was a loud silence, as everyone tried to process what had just happened, including Benedict himself. His face switched between surprise, pain, and disbelief, as tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

“You, you…!”

Finn walked closer to Benedict, but before he could make it too far, Theo had wrapped his arms around his waist and physically stopped him from getting close to Benedict. Finn struggled for a second, before finding he couldn’t escape Theo’s body-strengthening-enhanced physique.

“Don’t make that mistake worse.” Theo warned. Surveying the scene and returning his attention to Theo, Finn grimaced and conceded that point, and let out a long sigh. He deflated, and the anger in his limbs quickly faded. Theo let go.

“Right.” Benedict was still on the floor, hand cupping their cheek, blinking hard to avoid tears forming. They were clearly in shock, and everyone else stood around the three of them, awkwardly processing all that had just happened.

Theo sighed. It seemed that, drunk brawl at The Pub or no, some things didn’t change. There was always a peacock strutting around, and people who knock them down a few pegs.

Distance and time. Those were the keys to stopping a fight. The farther away both parties are from each other, the less chance they’ll be able to scrap again and cause more problems. The more time has passed, the less raw those feelings became.

“Okay, so we had some tensions between us.” Theo stepped between them, hands out front non-threateningly and placating. He looked between them equally, as he paused.

“And while some said things they shouldn’t have,” He deliberately said this while looking at Finn, not Benedict, “Some did things they shouldn’t have.” This time, looking at Benedict.

He reached a hand out to pull up Benedict. “But what’s done is done. And nobody’s hurt too badly.” Benedict hesitated, flushing before taking the proffered hand and pulling himself up (while pointedly ignoring all the wizard students who had been unsure if they should stay with him or just go).

Benedict had the decency to look ashamed, mumbling a thanks as he crossed his arms. Finn, on the other hand, was definitely still partially in the anger stage, if the looks he sent Benedict’s way were any indication.

Theo sighed internally, but his lip quirked up a little. He was used to dealing with drunks and de-escalating fights that would have been way worse otherwise. That was normal; that was what he knew what to do. Better this than trying to crack the meaning behind the legacies, or what any of that meant for him.

“Are you okay? Like, physically?” Theo took a closer look at Benedict, but it looked like he was okay. Shaken up, but okay.

He was unconsciously chewing on his lip, eyes staring off into the middle distance.

Benedict didn’t respond, merely nodding. Theo nodded back.

“Okay, it’d be best if you moved along. This way we can all get on with our lives and forget this ever happened. Sound good?” Another slow nod.

Benedict wandered off to join the other wizard students in their own little group that had slowly distanced them from Benedict as soon as they saw what was going down between Benedict and Finn.

Theo exhaled, smile gracing his lips. Looking around, he noticed all the bard students were looking at him differently. He suddenly felt self-conscious, flushing.

“Finn, you okay?” Theo changed the subject so he wouldn’t have to wrestle for that for a little bit.

“Yeah.” He was examining the hand that had punched Benedict (as if trying to tease out secrets from within). Not a scratch, or any bruising. “He pissed me off with that insult, and then went on to insult Rowena. Only I get to do that!” Even though Finn was clearly trying to bring levity to the situation, Theo still wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking.

He didn’t really know quite how to feel about that whole situation in general, to be frank.

Theo sighed, and grabbed some cheese.

At the very least, he had learned that the behaviour of sober brawlers was similar enough to drunk ones for the things he’d learned at The Pub to work.

Well, that and sometimes the right magic to use is just to punch someone.