Birthday celebrations always had a distinct atmosphere, I found. There was something about them that tended to make them stand out from other events. Maybe it was the symbolism, the telling the universe ‘that’s right, I made it another year!’. Perhaps it was the fact that they were simultaneously standard and personal. Whatever it was, I always found it fascinating, even when they were relatively small affairs.

  Which was good, because Cassie’s birthday definitely counted as small. A lot of people liked to invite around all of their friends, make a big deal about the whole thing. I had expected Cassie to as well, since that was what she normally did (she had a lot more friends than I did, or at least more people that considered her their friend). So I was surprised when I showed up at her house with my mother to find only two others there. Cassie was present, since the whole thing would have been a bit redundant without her, and her mother was as well.

  From the outset, both Vaughns were stilted and awkward with each other. They clearly hadn’t patched things up since their last confrontation some time ago, which didn’t surprise me much. Cassie had basically moved in with us after all, so she didn’t really see much of her mother these days.

  On Jolene’s part, she had yet to drop by since that day. I was starting to see why, since the two could barely talk to each other. Seeing their behaviour brought back those same questions about what had happened when I had last seen them together, but I pushed them down again. At the end of the day, it was for Cassie to decide when she talked about it. Besides, I had a feeling that Cassie’s love of adventure wasn’t at the core of their tension.

  My own mother had heard all about their fighting, and clearly had come prepared. The moment we walked into Cassie’s house she strode over to Jolene, saying loudly that “We need to talk,” before walking back outside. Jolene just mutely followed after her. I knew that the two had been friends before the mother-daughter fight, but clearly Mum was on Cassie’s side here.

  Cassie shot me a look, as if to ask what that was about. I just shrugged. “Who knows. Happy birthday by the way.”

  Cassie perked up. “Thanks. Ooh, what’s that?”

  I lifted my arm, showing off a small bundle of fabric wrapped around my gift. “It’s a surprise is what it is. You’ll see soon enough.” I set the gift down by the door and walked over to my friend.

  Cassie huffed, before gesturing at long table that sat against one wall. “Do you mind helping lay out the food? We were doing it, but… well, you know how she is sometimes.”

  “Sure,” I said, before pausing. “…You might need to remind me where you keep your food.”

  Cassie gave me a flat look, which had me on the defensive. “It’s been ages since I visited you here, what do you want from me?”

  My defensiveness fell away as Cassie started laughing softly. “What?” Cassie only laughed harder, walking into the conjoined room. I shook my head and followed her in, seeing an array of food spread out. I saw breads, a chicken, there was even a pie of some sort. I had no idea where Jolene had gotten the ingredients for a pie. I knew it had to be Jolene, because Cassie could barely boil water.

  “That’s a lot of food,” I stated.“Yeah. I really don’t know why mum made so much.”

  As if summoned, Jolene burst back into the house like someone had set a fire. She marched through the house, collecting an overcoat and bite of food before leaving again. For some reason, she scowled at me when she moved through the kitchen, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t say anything to Cassie either. In less than a minute she was gone again, like Storm Jolene had never struck.

  Cassie looked about as surprised as I felt. She also seemed a little disappointed, which made sense. I felt myself grow frustrated with Jolene. No matter what had happened between them, Jolene was about to miss one of the most important days in her daughter’s life. I couldn’t imagine anything that I thought Cassie was capable of being worth leaving her like this, not today of all days.

  My mother walked in, a mixture of anger and guilt playing over her features. “Sorry Cassie. I tried,” was all she said.

  Cassie just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it Jemma. She just doesn’t understand. She’ll come around, or she won’t.” Despite her candid words, there was a slight air of sadness around Cassie, which simply would not do. I shuffled out of the room, returning with my bundle of cloth.

  “I know you’re meant to wait until after we eat to receive gifts, but I think you need a pick-me-up. Hope you like it.” I handed the bundle over to her, more than a little nervous.

  Cassie took my gift gently, hesitantly unwrapping the fabric around it. Before long she had revealed a leather sheath, which had all of the straps required to attach it to a belt. Held within the sheath was a length of wood, maybe ten inches long. The wood was covered in runescript, and tapered at one end. The grip was wrapped in dark leather, and there was a small white stone embedded in the hilt.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Cassie gazed reverently at the wand, before looking up at my nervous form. “You made this?”

  I laughed awkwardly. “Mostly, yeah. I had to get Almon to help figure out the script, and he also supplied the gem. I actually don’t know what it is. Still, the rest was me.”

  Cassie stared, her gaze flicking between me and the wand. She ran a hand along its length, before settling her right hand comfortably into the grip. She looked at me for permission, and I nodded. She practically sprinted outside.

  Before I even got outside I heard a crack, emerging to find a grinning Cassie staring in awe at a charred whole in an innocent tree. “Wow!” She exclaimed.

  “I see you found the embedded spell,” I said.

  “I did! It’s so smooth!” She cast it again, needing no incantation for the preloaded magic. A burst of lightning crackled from the end of the wand as the runescript briefly lit up a pale blue, carving another hole into the old oak that Cassie was victimising.

  “There’s more, you know. Cast another spell,” I instructed. I was eager to see her reaction to this, since it had taken the lion’s share of the time I had spent on the thing.

  Cassie did as I asked, muttering under her breath and flicking one hand. She pointed the wand at fallen branch, causing blue sparks to begin to sputter from beneath it. The branch slowly lifted into the air, causing Cassie to whoop in joy. The stick fell to the ground again as she turned back to me.

  “It was so light! Why was it so light?”

  I grinned. “The wand makes your magic more efficient, essentially. So long as you channel your magic through it, your spells will be more powerful. A little faster, too.”

  Cassie’s eyes widened, and she bounced over to me and tackled me faster than I could react. “Thank you Lia! Best gift ever!”

  I heard a quiet laugh from behind me, turning a little to see my mother standing in the doorway. She gave me a thumbs up and retreated back into the house, allowing me to turn my attention back to my friend.

  “You deserve it,” I said matter of factly. “Besides, this is an investment, isn’t that right partner?”

  Cassie laughed as she disentangled herself from me. I began to walk back inside, but Cassie gave her wand a longing look.

  I sighed. “Go on then.”

  Cassie cheered and went back to punishing the nearby vegetation. I settled in for a long match of Cassie vs Tree, a small smile on my face. Distraction successful.

  -------------------------------------------------

  Once Cassie had gotten her fill of blasting the surrounding woodland, we went in to eat. The food was good, but the absence of its maker was felt all the more sharply for it. Still, me and Mum tag-teamed to keep Cassie occupied, doing our best not to let her think about it too much. That became a little harder when the other gifts came out.

  My mother had made Cassie a jumper, dark brown to match the colour of her eyes. Cassie loved it and wore it immediately, but fell quiet when her mother’s time to give a gift came. Jolene still hadn’t come back, but she had left a small pouch. In it was a note and a ring. The ring was silver, and although it looked fairly basic to me it clearly meant something to Cassie. I never saw what was in the note.

  I had expected Cassie to be sad, or at least sombre. What I had not expected was to see Cassie get frustrated. She scoffed more than once as she read through the note, and went so far as to set it alight with her magic one she finished it. She kept the ring though, which confirmed my theory that there was more to it than first appearances.

  I had no idea what to say, and it was clear that Mum didn’t either. Thankfully, we were saved form having to respond by a knock on the door. Cassie stood to answer, revealing Almon on the other side.

  Almon, I swear I could kiss you. Ew, nevermind. Still, thanks.

  Almon walked into the room silently, holding a thick book. Cassie was clearly just as confused as the rest of us as to why he was here. He had already provided his well-wishes earlier during out last lesson before we left. “Master! What are you doing here?”

  He cleared his throat before he began speaking. “Cassandra. I have something to announce. As you are now of age, are capable of casting spells from at least three different schools of magic, and are in possession of a suitable baseline of magical knowledge, I am releasing you from your apprenticeship. I pronounce you a Wizard of the First Circle, for as long as you are worthy of the title. Do with this title as you wish, but carry it with you wherever you will go.”

  Silence fell upon the room like a weighted blanket. I don't know how I would have reacted if it was me, but Cassie proceeded in the most Cassie way possible. With a shriek she lunged at Almon, embracing him in a grip I knew from experience to be unrelenting. Almon clearly hadn’t expected this result (for some reason) and took multiple seconds to return the hug, visibly awkward with the contact.

  “Thanks, Ma- Almon,” Cassie corrected.

  “You have earned it, Cassandra. Even if you could be a most frustrating student, you are somewhat skilled at magic. Congratulations, Wizard.”

  I decided to clap, and my mother picked it up before long. Cassie released her teacher and turned to us, giving us a theatrical bow. Almon took the opportunity to press the book he was holding into Cassie’s hands.

  “You may be qualified now, but you are far from finished learning. There are many spells in this volume, and most are beyond both your skill and qualifications for now. I expect you to return this once you are done gallivanting around the world.” Despite his words, Almon was smiling as he spoke. It seemed he was truly proud of his troublesome student.

  “Thank you, Almon. And thank you for teaching me.” Cassie said sincerely.

  “Bah, don’t worry about it, Cassandra. We all must have a legacy, after all. I suppose you’ll have to do.”

  We all laughed at that. While Almon didn’t stay for long after that, the tension caused by Jolene’s absence had all but bled away.

  Extract from a lecture given by Professor Elise Elmwood, Department Head of 'Enchanted Industry' at the Verdant University.

  "Settle down, class. Yes, I am aware of the reputation of this course, and that many of you took it for the free credit after an easy passing grade. I am going to inform you today that the understanding of this course that you have is false. Believe you me, I've seen many a student walk into this hall like they were expecting to breeze through my class only to leave steeped in regret. Enchanting is a science. Enchanting is an art. Enchanting must be respected. Understood? Good. Now pay attention.

  Today I will be introducing you to the art of enchanting, as well as laying out the groundwork for which the entire subject rests. The first thing that you need to understand about enchanting is that anyone can do it, if the have the knowledge. Most enchantments will have built in mechanisms to draw in ambient mana, so the enchanter themselves does not need any. Of course, many more complex enchantments will require an activation fee of a sort, to kickstart the more expensive effects. Still, that is far beyond the scope of this lecture.

  Now, there is a common misunderstanding that enchantments can only be properly imbued by learned mages, primarily wizards. That is patently untrue. There is a bias towards wizardry when it comes to enchanting for two reasons. The first is that both wizardry and enchanting benefit greatly from structured, official education, and the second is that a proper understanding of spellforms and their various complexities provide an excellent framework through which to understand runic script.

  However there have been a number of famous enchanters throughout history that used other forms of magic, or even not been mages at all. Need we be reminded of the cataclysm formed Kerban the Dark and his golems? No, I didn't believe so. Of course, popular representation likes to paint Kerban as a master wizard or dark sorcerer. In truth he didn't have a drop of magical aptitude. Remember that the next time you mock somebody for weak spell casting ability. Now, are there any questions? Relevant questions, if you don't mind."