Penelope didn’t mind that the others didn’t talk to her.

  Each of the other pairs of Casters looked down on her, like she was less than them. In reality, she was higher level than any of them and she had the combat experience to take on all of the teachers at once and walk away. Most of the locals who had been strong enough to fight had gone down to the fourth floor, which left either the specialists who were training the next group or the rare few who were too old to participate in combat.

  She didn’t need their recognition to know that she was stronger than them, but some respect would have made learning how to do the jobs a lot easier.

  The days passed in a routine that made it easy to lose track of the days. She learned how to add her mana while making paper to create the magic paper that she could copy spells onto to create a one-time-use spell. She learned about herbs and how to dry them so that the medicinal properties were preserved. In sewing, they learned how to weave their mana into the cloth to create clothing that could not only hold enchantments but was more durable than regular clothes.

  By the time that they started learning from Cirdor, the others were so used to getting away with snide comments that they had stopped making them under their breaths, which was a mistake.

  “Leave it to the fish to let a stupid humie drag them down.” Lezal Draynor scoffed as Penelope walked into the classroom. “They missed all of demonology. If they were smart enough, they’d kick her out of the boat on the way here and let her drown before she costs them another job.”

  Penelope ignored the green Elf woman. The comments didn’t bother her, considering that as soon as she reset, her jobs were all going to be higher than all her classmates’. With what she knew, she would be able to show Lanlo and Rendhe how to proogress faster and the next go-round, all three of them would be at the top of the class.

  Cirdor, on the other hand, did not let the insult slide.

  “Miss Draynor…” The orange Elf tapped his desk with the six-inch wooden stick from his belt as he stood up. “What was that?”

  “Just a cough.” The green woman coughed in her hand, drawing a laugh from most of the others.

  “I don’t like liars.” Cirdor’s golden eyes narrowed as he approached the younger Elf. He held out the short wooden object. “You think you’re better than Penelope?”

  “My scores are higher.” Lezal’s eyes darted from the stick to the teacher. “That’s a fact.”

  “Scores, like levels, aren’t everything.” He offered her the stick. “If you think you’re so much better than Penelope, duel her and prove it.”

  “That’s not fair!” Lezal pointed at Penelope. “She’s higher level than me!”

  “So you’re admitting that this human is better than you?” The orange Elf turned and gestured at Penelope.

  The Elf woman’s cheeks darkened. “I’m saying I could beat her at anything she hasn’t gotten a head start on me in!”

  “Really?” Cirdor shrugged. “Then here, take this staff and enchant this piece of magic paper.” He pulled a blank sheet of paper out of his pocket. “You should be able to finish before her, especially with a casting medium?”

  Lezal’s dull, golden eyes lit up. “Of course!” She snatched the paper out of the older Elf’s hands.

  “Unfortunately, I doubt you’re able to even start before she finishes.” Cirdor nodded at Penelope as he took out a second piece of paper. “You’re level ten in scrivening and she’s only level four, but I know for a fact that you won’t be able to get one drop of mana into your scroll.”

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  A smile crossed the orange man’s face as he handed the paper over to Penelope. He mouthed a single word, then turned around to face the rest of the class. “Good, now… begin!”

  Penelope cast the spell that Cirdor had mouthed to her.

  “A Camadt’s Bite!” Lezal swore. “What did you do to this?” She slammed the small staff on the table. “I can’t build up any mana!”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the staff, my dear.” Cirdor walked over and picked up the medium. “But if you don’t want it, I’m going to put it back on my belt.”

  “What did you do to me?” Lezal glared at him. “I can’t build up any mana!”

  Penelope kept part of her focus on ensuring that the other woman’s mana dissipated the moment she tried to build it, while also keeping her focus on the task at hand of putting the same spell onto the paper Cirdor had given her. It wasn’t as easy as it could have been and keeping the spell confined to the paper wasn’t a simple task. Little bits of the spell bled off the page, forcing her to reinforce the spell with even more mana while also dissipating the stray pieces of the spell that she’d lost control of.

  It took a few minutes, but once she was done, Penelope turned the page around and pushed it across the table. “Done.”

  “Excellent!” Cirdor picked up the page and walked back over to Lezal’s desk. “And just as I predicted, you haven’t made one drop of progress.”

  “She cheated!” Lezal pointed at Penelope. “She did something to me so I couldn’t beat her!”

  “And that shows you exactly why she’s better than you.” Cirdor rolled up the page and bopped the Elf on her purple head. “The Demons aren’t going to care if you’re ready. They don’t care if you can’t focus under pressure. All that matters once you walk into that Dungeon is who can use all of what they have to be the one who walks away.” He pointed at Penelope. “She’s been doing that and she came to us so she could learn how to do it even better and what have you done?” He eyed the entire class. “You’ve made fun of her for being a Human and done everything you can to slow her progress.” He clicked his tongue. “She’s the number one person you want watching your backs down there, so you should be helping her get as strong as possible!”

  None of the other students dared to look at him. Cirdor held his glare for a few moments, then walked back over to his desk. “I find it shameful that the moment Demons knock on our front door, instead of embracing the allies with experience, you make fun of them and try to hamper their growth.”

  “Isn’t that what he did to you when you first met?” Rendhe muttered under her breath.

  “That was different.” Penelope kept her voice low. “He didn’t know that we weren’t part of the incursion.”

  Cirdor glanced over at them but didn’t say anything to stop the conversation between the two women.

  “We have just under four weeks left before the barrier to the boss room comes down and the next group can go down to the fifth floor.” Cirdor cleared his throat. “We need to get all of you as ready as we can. There have already been too many deaths on the fourth floor and we can’t afford to continue to lose people.”

  Murmurs circulated among all the other students.

  Cirdor tapped his staff on the desk. “My point is, we don’t have time to fight against each other. If you all aren’t ready to shoulder the burden on your teams, then it could mean an entire group dies. This isn’t the time for rivalry or petty competition.” His eyes narrowed. “If I see any more of it, I will expel you from the program and find a replacement who wants to be a part of the team.”

  No one spoke as his words sank in.

  He sighed. “This is where you say, ‘Yes sir!’.”

  “YES SIR!” They all spoke at once.

  “Good…” The orange Elf twirled his finger at the wall at the front of the class. “The primary function of enchanting is to seal a spell inside or over an object. The goal is to create objects that can be reused over and over again, but we’re going to start with one-time use items, but before we get to that…” Pale blue light etched a circle on the wall. Three smaller circles overlapped each other inside the outer circle, then a smaller circle formed around the area in the middle where the three circles overlapped.

  “This is a power circle. The first thing you’re going to learn in this class is how to create one. Once you can do that, you’ll learn how to channel your mana through the circle to regulate the mana you’re using so you don’t overload the object you’re trying to enchant.” His gaze drifted over to Penelope. “Miss Flynn, since you’ve already learned this part, I want you to help your table and the table behind you.”

  Penelope turned around to look at the Elves. Lezal clenched her jaw but held her tongue.

  “Yes, sir.” Penelope glanced at the laughing blue Elf that only she could see. Sometimes, I hate when you teach me stuff.

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