What should I wear on my first day of magic school? I decided to be low key, going with a comfortable pair of shorts and a green tank top. My hair was too short to put in a ponytail, which is fine because I have no patience to fuss with it anyway. I keep it cut in a way that looks good so long as I brush it after I let it air dry. Before leaving our suite, I slid my feet into my Birkenstocks.

  The time since we arrived in San Diego had been a whirlwind. Going to Baja Betty's with Miriam and Marisol had been fun. Their friends mostly had elemental affinities, although they included one guy with a dimension affinity in the group. Jake, a guy who invited me to join him at Crafting Club, had a second affinity in enchanting in addition to his fire affinity. Those with water affinities were all surfers, and they spent the meal plotting how to balance academics with their busy surfing schedules.

  The next day, Wednesday, we did some sightseeing with Mr. and Mrs. Wu, checking out Cabrillo National Monument before heading up to La Jolla to see the cove and to walk around Torrey Pines. Thursday, we explored Ocean Beach. We spent a long time at dog beach playing with the dogs before walking to the other end of Ocean Beach to check out the tide pools. That evening, the chancellor, Victoria Armstrong, welcomed our freshman class and their families at convocation.

  Crystal's parents took us to buy our books and enchanted appliances for our dorm the following day and then they returned to Wisconsin via teleport. I needed only five books, but they ran me $450 because the four textbooks were so expensive. Only magical theory, mana manipulation, herbology, and potions required textbooks (An Invitation to Magical Theory, Mana Manipulation: A Practical Introduction, Magical Plant Care, and one simply named Potions) and herbology also required a nonmagical reference book called Native San Diego Plants.

  Enchanted appliances were more necessary than I expected because electronics didn't work at Artemisia. I heard that the magic of the spatial expansion interfered with electronics and cell signals and I heard that electronics would work just fine but the school disabled them to force students to rely on magic. I don't know if either explanation is true. Most students leave campus regularly to use their phones and laptops, but that solution couldn't work for everything.

  We each picked up a small, enchanted gadget that projected an illusion of the current time and allowed us to set an alarm. Unlike a clock radio that only gave options of beeping or radio, you could choose magical alarms that did anything from producing the smell of coffee to actually making coffee to mimicking the light of sunrise to pouring water on you. I chose a model that produced the smell of coffee and mimicked the light of sunrise for 10 minutes before beeping if you had not turned it off already. Mr. Wu, lover of gadgets, also bought us a similar item that only worked as a clock - no alarm - for our common room.

  On top of that, I got a package of 100 unused message cranes and an enchanted ear bud that kind of took the place of a cellphone. I could use it to reach anyone with a similar device, so long as their earbud was in their ear. Each of these items ran on ambient mana, so I could use all of them except for the magical cellphone already. For the phone, ambient mana mostly powered it but I would need to learn how to channel mana into it to initiate or answer calls before I could use it.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Over the weekend, I continued unpacking and arranging things in my room, meeting people, and exploring campus and the surrounding areas. Upperclassmen moved in, and the campus became much more crowded. At last, it was Monday and I was finally starting my magical education for real.

  Crystal and I grabbed breakfast in the cafeteria and headed for Feldspar Hall at a quarter to ten. Grabbing two seats in the middle of the room, we waited for class to start. Other students filled the lecture hall, and at ten on the dot, six copies of a man with olive skin, brown eyes, and short hair so dark brown it looked black converged on the front desk from all sides. The class quieted. Then all six copies poofed out of existence.

  "Welcome to Introduction to Magical Theory," a voice called from the empty front of the room. Then only one copy of the same man appeared, "My name is Daniel Sterling. I will be your professor this semester."

  With an entrance like that, he had the class's rapt attention. I would like to tell you that my first class in magic was fascinating and I left it knowing how to do impressive feats of magic, but that would be lying. Sterling went over the syllabus and then had us go around the room and introduce ourselves.

  An Asian-American guy in the first row started. "Alan Jin. I'm from Seattle and I'm an earth mage specializing in metal. I'm interested in combat applications for my magic, both directly in battle and for producing weapons."

  Next up was a woman with blond hair flowing midway down her back. "Luz Alvarez, light affinity, from Houston. I want to specialize in illusions."

  "As you can see, I am partial to illusions too. That is an excellent use of a light affinity," replied with professor with a warm smile.

  "Bridget Embry, fire and earth affinities," said a redhead. "I'm from Chicago and I want to explore my dual affinities' volcanic abilities."

  "The combination of fire and earth can be formidable," Sterling responded. "I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish."

  "Connor Kelly," a freckled guy said next. "Form affinity. From Boston. I want to shapeshift."

  "Carmen Rodriguez," said a woman with dark brown hair that fell just below her shoulders. "I'm an enchanter. I grew up in New Mexico. I don't know what I want to do yet, but I'm interested in creating enchantments that produce illusions." She smiled, "Like the ones you used to make your entrance, Professor Sterling."

  He smiled back at her like they were sharing a secret.

  When it was my turn, I said, "Hi, I'm Angelica Moore. I'm a nature mage from Wisconsin and I'm interested in growing my own magical herbs for healing potions..." I paused. It felt like an outside force brushed against my mind. Just briefly and so slightly that I wondered if I imagined it. Ignoring what was probably nothing, I added, "especially those that can be used in veterinary care."

  There was only one other nature mage in the class, Lucas Silva, and he also had a life affinity. Crystal was the only diviner.

  Afterward, Crystal and I found a small cafeteria that served Mexican food in Emerald Hall, the building that housed the Light department. We grabbed seats outside and Tansy joined us. Realizing my bean and cheese burrito needed a moment to cool down, I set it down and asked, "Did you... nevermind, it's stupid."

  "No, what?" she asked.

  "In theory, when I was introducing myself, I thought I felt something brush against my mind. Just for a moment. Did anything like that happen to you?"

  "No," Crystal said.

  "I probably imagined it."

  "Sterling seemed nice," she said. "That was some stunt at the beginning. I thought he must have a light affinity until that enchanter spilled the beans about how he did it."

  After lunch we split up - me to Potions in Chalcedony Hall and Crystal to the divination building, Jade.