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I knew what I was going to do on that day. And everybody involved knew what I was going to do on that day. That was the plan, and I used to lose my mind whenever plans went awry. But that was me then. What should be obvious is only obvious after the fact, so the best way to plan is to plan for the worst.
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Being so large, the great academy of Cinderfall had tiers at every level. For every year, there was a stratum; for every stratum, there was a wall; and for every wall a gatehouse. You could separate the grounds into four levels. Highest seniority placed you within the outer ring. Hence, fourth years resided in the bottom and first-year students resided at the top. I had never walked so much before my first year at this school.
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Up and down the halls, every kind of kid combatted boredom with improvised fun or dilligence. If we could practice magic on our own time, the atmosphere within the walls would be more, well, magical. Instead, it was hide and seek, book tossing, or board games like Demons & Dragons. We did have extra-curricular activities, which is why I could see students on horseback as I walked past the first gate.
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Thank the gods, anyone and everyone could partake in Arcane Symmetry lectures and demonstrations because the discipline deals more with harnessing, mounting, and balancing spells. It is more complicated than it sounds and applies to all words of power. Hence, the complexity of Arcane Symmetry never ends.
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Things happened as they usually did. I entered the library with my glorious and large sack. Madame Vogue, being critical but not spiteful, marked down all the books in my posession with the usual curiosity for every title. Then, with the librarian’s blessings, I carried the books all all the way back to the realm where I could face one of my greatest contests: Maister Rorke’s classroom. There would be strikes and stuggles, a battle of words, but I would succeed.
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This time, there would no strange boy to stall me.
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I entered the classroom without bothering to knock, and the maister was there waiting for me at his desk. Head down in reading, he did not bother to look up. I suppose that is because he knew that it was me. It is difficult to misread the gait of a girl with a limp.
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“Which set of tales hath thou gathered for me on this occasion, madame Lux?” he said in monotone.
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“I wandered around the library in search of a diverse array. So diverse, Chronicles of Stems, Mistwalker Plagues, old history books, too. It is a large library. Do you also like to read, maister?”
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“What else is there? One might spend a summer in Cinderfall’s library without finishing a fraction of the texts. And yet…” he lifted his head from whatever he was writing in his journal to look up at me, and his eyes lacked color. “Would you believe that I have visited greater archives?”
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I wasn’t in the mood to talk about how much I envied him. “I cannot believe a lot of things, professor.”
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“Then, where would you like to start?”
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He was only pretending that today he would be helpful, as was his manner. He wasn’t actually going to be helpful. By now, all of this had become a game for him.
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“How about we make Priestess Serrina proud? I want to start with Tribulations in the Trinity.”
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“Storm spells notwithstanding, at least you might avoid destroying the school in that literary endeavor.”
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“Professor, we both know there’s not enough mara in my blood to do any of that… I tried.”
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Maister Rorke glared at me briefly.
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“I jest, of course. You are too serious sometimes, professor.”
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“You are too familiar, young Lux.”
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His words sparked a thought. “It shouldn’t be a sin to get to know one’s teacher. Why did you decide to become a professor? Is it really nothing but a steppingstone toward some higher rank of honor?”
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“Why are you so curious?”
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“You are supposed to be my teacher, yet it feels like you never answer a single question that I ask.”
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His eyes took me in with all their blueness. I had a point, and he knew it. That must be why he leaned back in his elegantly carved teacher’s chair and answered my question. “Imagine, for a moment, being told all throughout your life that you are special, that the arcane has blessed thee and the world awaits your exploits for the greater good. Then, imagine being told what you can and can’t do nearly every waking moment, abiding by the rigid disciplines of magecraft, being forced to meticulously inscribe thousands upon thousands of runes on parchments, then paraded in forums filled to bursting with noble cynics and cynical nobles only so that, when everything is said and done, it becomes impossible to fill the role you so desire because it is the whim of some ancient bureaucrat that you first deliver a few sparks of prestige to said bureaucrat’s alma mater.”
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…
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I said nothing. What do you say to that? I didn’t know, but the ensuing silence gave him the necessary time to breathe again.
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“Apologies, Lux. You are going to get the wrong idea. It is not that I see my station as punishment, it’s that I surmised what it means to be favored in high circles. Ultimately, your life is not your own. Thus, when I tell you not to let a few inhibitions dictate your growth, I mean it. Don’t revolve your life around limitations.”
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“I see,” I muttered, trying to be composed. “I see. I see.” I guess we’re not so different… “Sorry for giving you a hard time.”
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He shook his head. “There is nothing to fret over. Well, there is, but we are what we are. In your case, an insidiously curious student with foreboding skills of oberservation. Just wait until your abilities boil to the surface.”
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“Does that make me a problem student?”
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“I must not say.”
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“Am I the worst student?” I said with enthusiasm.
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Again, he glanced at me. “I have a list somewhere.”
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“Is that a jest?”
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Professor Rorke finally smirked when he looked at me. “What do you think?”
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“How might one reach the top of that list?”
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“I am not about to give unto thee a challenge.”
“I could use a challenge in the free weeks.”
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“Thou out to try horseback riding.”
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“Why is everyone saying that?”
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“‘Tis a useful skill.”
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“Can you ride a horse, maister?”
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“Not well.”
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“Then how does a maister travel?”
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“There is all manner of incantations when a warpstone is unavailable.”
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“Will you teach me, teacher?”
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“Eventually, perhaps…”
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“As it sits, I am slow and can hardly cast a spell to save my life. Do you intend to leave your student behind when you teleport out of his school?”
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His white teeth vaguely gleamed through the sly grin he gave. He wanted to laugh. “I wouldn’t leave any students behind.”
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Crash
ns216.73.216.182da2
and then Add to home screen.