“I think you just became my new favourite student.” She said with a huge grin. Her hand out-stretched, her magic effortlessly containing the explosion of my Fireball. “Do it again!” her face lit up in a mischievous grin, eyes twinkling, “And put some ummph into it, I want to see what you can really do!”

  So I did.

  “Excellent casting speed for someone with your experience. Possibly too much control for a true Inferno mage…” she paused for a moment, seemingly coming to a conclusion. “You also have Storm spells, don’t you…” I nodded, seeing no reason to lie to the woman. Her shoulders drooped. “Ugggh, that sparkly bugger is going to love you… still, maybe you will come to love the brightest and hottest of the schools.” She gave me a big hopeful smile, her eyes taking on an almost begging look to them. “Show me your Fire Bolt.” I nodded to her, raised my hand and loosed a at her target. She let out another sigh.

  “No, you are definitely one of his. You have used in combat and I can feel its influence on your . Do you also have Arctic?”

  “Ice Blade.” I confirm.

  “Ahh a future magus then,” she said brightening up. “Let’s see what we can do about making sure your Fire magic isn’t holding you back in any way. You have a good foundation on both those spells. What you need now is combat experience to round out and consolidate that practice. A hundred casts of at an enemy and two hundred kills with should give you a strong foundation for the next steps on your path as a Mage. Go check out the Provisionary. You should find some tools which will assist you, now available to you as a recognised user of a rank 3 Inferno spell.” Her arms then wrapped me in a quick hug, before she pulled back and kissed me playfully on the forehead. “Even if I know I won’t get to keep you, Welcome to Inferno!”

  Back in the hallway, I considered the opposing personalities of the Arctic and Inferno heads. One cold and distant, the other warm and friendly, and yet both gave off a casual energy of absolute competence.

  Room 201 was my last destination on this floor, and it was nothing like the other two. It was still decked out like a horse shoe lecture theater, but the lights in the room looked like typical lightbulbs. There were no balls of lightning being twirled by a bored mage lounging at the front of the room. No tesla towers sparking out music. No plasma ball lamps looking to be touched. Just a middle aged man, in a three piece suit, staring at the chalkboard. His robe was hanging on a nearby hook and other than that one item, I would have been at a loss to tell you the difference between this and where I was lectured on programming theory at university.

  “Come in, Aenara,” he called out to me, his eyes not leaving what was written on the board. “Your reputation precedes you. It’s not everyday we have a mage join us who comes in with knowledge of three spells in a school.” I felt nervous, his tone didn’t have the cold icy discipline of the Arctic head, the fiery chaos of the Inferno one. It was in its own way, precise, measured and just as intimidating in its calm.

  “While I appreciate you changing to the Storm Mage title, I believe you have another one.” He turned to look at me for the first time, and I saw the electric blue of his eyes for the first time. They positively sparkled with power. “Which is much more appropriate.”

  “Eye of the Storm?” I asked as I approached.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t feel like I have earnt that title. I only have it because I got to start the race a little ahead of everyone else.”

  “Hmmrph.” he sounded contemplatively and indicated to the chairs at the front. “A fair position to take. The Professor on the Spell Forge sent me a message when you showed him three Storm Spells and he had confirmed with the Arcanum you had received Inferno spells from your first delve into the Lost Archives. Formalities must be observed. Your slip?” I passed him both the slip from the Spell Forge and the certificate from the Arena. “Pre-empting my next request. I take it then, you have seen the other two heads before me?” He said as he reviewed both the documents I gave to him.

  “I left the best for last?” I suggested, which got me a wry smile in return.

  “Well. Let us review what you know and we will go from there.” He waved his hand and a target made of lightning appeared on the far side of the room. “Start with please.”

  I nodded, raised my right hand and cast at the target he had created.

  “Good speed, good power. You have used that one in combat.” He waved his hand and the target faded from the far side of the room and was replaced with a more man shaped conjuration a few feet from us. “Shocking Grasp, please.”

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  “Do you mind if I use my Tempest Battlestaff?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow and then gave me a go ahead gesture.

  I stood up, pulled the weapon from [Inventory]. I approached the conjuration, casting , the moment I was in range, I thrust my staff into it and released the spell.

  “Not as polished, but still I can see you have applied that one in fights.” He snapped his fingers and the target disappeared. “Before you sit down, cast your final spell, at the far end of the table and take it to the other side of it, please.”

  I focused for a moment and then conjured a where he had requested. The basketball-sized orb flickered into existence, like a drifting plasma ball. I willed it to slowly cross the two meters to the other side of the table. I then released it and let it fade from view.

  “I can see you have practiced the casting, but have not quite the same experience with it. System granted, I’m guessing. Still, solid demonstrations for someone with less than two days access to magic. Someone taught you?”

  “High Explorator Wendy McCoy’s Echo. She taught me how to read the spell’s instructions and how to cast them successfully.”

  “Echo? Then The Spark is dead?” he said, a pained expression on his face. “These are poor tidings you bring me. Francis?” he sighed when I shook my head. He got up from the chair he’d been sitting on and walked over to his desk. Opening the bottom drawer he pulled out a bottle of whisky and two shot glasses. Poured a generous shot into each and then brought the glasses over to us. Leaving the bottle behind.

  “She was my Master and Mentor,” he looked at the ground for a moment, before he looked at me and offered me one of the glasses. “To the First Magus!” He raised the other shot and then downed it.

  “The First Magus!” I echoed, downed my own and joined him in contemplative silence.

  “Magus?” I asked after a short while.

  “Any mage who has demonstrated the ability to cast spells from the prime three schools is considered to be a magus. It’s the normal base requirement to open you up to the Advanced Schools and unaligned spells.”

  “Advanced schools? Unaligned spells?”

  “Magic is not so simple as to allow itself to be reduced to just three schools. Even within these domains there are spells which appear in the other two schools. Take our Gust spell for example, both Arctic and Inferno have spells with similar effects, but at a higher tier. As do we have , which is a higher tier version of Arctics . I will say no more on it to you though until you are able to sustainably cast a rank five spell. A fortnight at the rate you are presently going.” He grinned at his own joke.

  “Right. There is no way I am allowing my master’s final initiate to be anything but outstanding. We’ll start by getting you more practice with your spells. I expect you to use a hundred times in combat and kill two hundred enemies with . I’m marking as having been achieved, though don’t slack on it, you haven’t mastered it yet. Merely achieved the minimum acceptable standard.” He walked over to his desk and started thumbing through the pages. “I’m also told you are responsible for your fellow Voyagers recent progress, ahh yes. Here is the note. There will be additional resources available to you in the Provisionary in exchange for that contribution. You said you had seen the other School heads, what spells do you have?”

  “I gained Fire Bolt and Fireball from the Arcanum and I used my token, for demonstrating five spells, to get Ice Blade.”

  The mage nods. “A Magus Candidate then. In addition to the Storm spells, you’ll need to show mastery in those three spells and a rank three Arctic spell before the Archmagus will consider you for the advanced training. You could use your contribution points to purchase a rank 3 arctic spell, but you will also be granted one when you have demonstrated Ice Blade to a sufficient level of skill. Shiva might be a cold and officious woman, but she will be supportive to those who meet her standards.”

  “Am I able to create my own spells?” I asked, the thought coming to me that I might be able to make a rank three for Arctic.

  “What do you mean?” his tone, more inquisitive than abrupt.

  “Well, It started with noticing how Spark and Shocking Grasp have this chunk in common, which both have in common with Ball Lightning. I also realised there is a chunk at the start of Spark and Ball Lightning which is identical. When I got Fire Bolt, I realised how similar it seemed to Spark. The start and the end, with the only bits different is the bit which my other Storm spells have in common and…” he raised his hand stopping me.

  “And you want to take the Inferno spell component and replace…Shocking Grasp’s Lightning component?” I nodded to his question, happy with him realising the direction I was going in. “We call that spell modification, and yes, you can more than attempt that for rank one spells. It’s normally considered an advanced technique we teach apprentices in their second year, but if you can figure it out, the worst you should feel is a slight headache if the spell fails. I would await for your resonance and aether to reach five before trying any rank three modifications or you may find the feedback… inconvenient and leave you unable to effectively cast for a day or so. The system will confirm any spells you successfully cast. Report the ones you find. There are bonus contribution points, especially if you are able to discover a previously unknown combination.”

  “Ok, We have taken enough of each other's time for the day. As part of your training, you will be required to contribute to the college and expand our knowledge. While it is not mandatory, one of the easiest ways to contribute is to complete tasks created by senior members of the collegium. The terminals in the Provisionary have a list of the ones available to your rank, I suggest you check them out and select one or two of them. Also be on the look out for any knowledge. While we are nominally separate, we are a part of the campus as a whole and you never know what knowledge you find that might apply wider than initially believed.”