The moment Professor Astora dismissed us, the class erupted from their seats. Students poured out of the lecture hall like a chattering swarm, buzzing with excitement. The hallways of the campus echoed with footsteps and conversation, voices overlapping as we collectively spilled outside and made our way across to the central courtyard.
I walked beside Sophie, hands in my pockets, my mind still processing Professor Astora's lesson. Around us, students were eagerly comparing notes on the class, their grimoires, and the fact that magic wasn't restricted to just what our grimoires contained.
'I still can't believe we can learn other magic,' a student ahead of me muttered, his fingers nervously drumming against his books.
'Yeah, but did you see Lydia's ball? It lit up like a disco light, but she barely did anything!' another responded.
I searched through the crowd for Lydia. Up ahead, her curls bounced as she walked, her bookish intensity had been replaced by unrestrained excitement. It made sense that she'd excel, she was always buried in books.
Sophie was walking in contemplative silence. Her fingers absently tracing the silver chain on one of her bracelets, lost in her own thoughts.
'You okay?' I asked.
'It's just different from what I expected. I knew magic wasn't just about instinct, my sister has shown off a bunch of times before. But the idea that we can tap into magic from the world itself - I don't know. I'm excited to learn more.' She exhaled softly, her head at a subtle tilt.
I found myself nodding along with her.
'I suppose if your grimoire isn't what you were expecting, it means you can grow past it in other ways.' I said absentmindedly, distracted by my underwhelming performance of trying to generate a simple light. 'It's not as easy as it looks either way.'
'Did you struggle too?' Sophie smirked, casting a sideways glance toward me.
'I mean, I guess. I figured out how to feel the magic around me though.' I said, trying to brush off my performance, or lack thereof.
'Wait what?' Sophie turned her head sharply to look at me.
'Yeah, I can feel the magic in the air, in the ground, in you.' I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.
Sophie squinted like she couldn't understand, reaching her hand out to feel the air.
'You'll have to teach me that later,' she replied.
Ahead of us, the pathway opened into the central courtyard, where we had watched Anthony duel with the third year.
—
Unlike the other courtyards, which were carefully cultivated with small gardens, shrubbery and picturesque fountains, this place had an almost ominous presence. Stone statues towering around the perimeter, each depicting historically significant wizards. Some had expressions of serene wisdom, others bore the scars of battle.
The ground beneath our feet was soft bark, charred and displaced in some areas from previous spells. This was the courtyard reserved for practical lessons during the day, a space designed for students to unleash their magic under the watchful eye of professors there to keep everyone safe.
Waiting for us in the center of the courtyard, arms crossed, was Professor Doherty.
I stiffened instinctively. The last time I had seen him was during my interview - if you could call it that. Unlike Professor Astora who had congratulated me, Doherty has maliciously poked and prodded me into a corner. Threatening to make me forget about the whole experience and returning me back to my normal life.
He had made it clear he didn't have time for weakness. That he had no expectations, if anything it had felt like he had made that decision as soon as he saw me in the exam hall.
I had awakened through sheer survival instinct, driven by the will to find my place in this world. I didn't want to go back to applying for mundane jobs that I had no interest in, I needed magic.
Now, his gaze swept over our class as we filled into the courtyard. I felt the same burdensome weight of judgement settling over me again.
'Took you all long enough,' he barked, his arms still crossed. He was well built, carrying the unmistakable presence of a battle-hardened veteran. I wouldn't be surprised if he had seen his fair share of wars, or duels, or whatever the magic equivalent to a war was. His short cropped beard was flecked with grey, and his steely eyes studied us each individually like a blacksmith inspective an ingot, determining which pieces were worth tempering and which would shatter under duress.
The chatter between the students quickly died down.
'I'm Professor Doherty. I don't care what you think you know about magic, and I don't care how impressive or rare you think your grimoire is. My job is to teach you how to use magic in the real world, where hesitating could mean a fate worse than death.'
His voice cut through the air like a sharpened blade.
'If you're expecting to wave your hands and sing fancy incantations like some storybook you've read, you're in the wrong class. Magic is a weapon. And a weapon is useless if you don't know how to wield it.'
A few students gulped, others straightened their posture, determined to prove themselves.
Doherty glanced over the students, nodding to himself, satisfied with the tension.
'We'll start simple. I need to understand what you're all capable of. So today, you'll focus on some basic defense and combat roles.'
He snapped his fingers. A row of training dummies - tall wooden figures, enchanted to move like real opponents - wheeled themselves into the courtyard. Then, with another flick of his wrist, glowing sigils formed in the air.
'First,' he growled, 'you need to learn how to cast a basic shield. If you can't even defend yourself, you won't survive a fight.'
He demonstrated with a simple motion of his hand. Materialising a translucent barrier of magic in front of his body, shimmering like a glass wall. Without any warning, he fried a blast of magic at himself.
The energy struck the shield and dispersed harmlessly.
'Your turn,' he ordered. 'If you can't block a simple attack, you won't get very far. Focus, solidify your magic, form a barrier before the spell hits you.'
A ripple of unease passed through the entire class. This wasn't a theoretical exercise, or lighting a small crystal ball. He was really going to fire magic at us.
Around me, students began trying to summon their shields - some with immediate success, others barely managing a flicker of something. Each shield seemed to manifest based on what the caster was imagining: a wall, a tower shield, and even a curved screen.
Serenity had created an entire dome that covered her from all angles, while Ryan had created what looked like a brick wall.
When Doherty's spell came my way, I brace myself.
I had created a large round shield that was about 8 feet tall and just as wide. The impact vibrated against the barrier, shimmering and holding firm as the professor's magic dissipated in the air.
'Not bad,' he muttered, moving onto the next student.
I exchanged glances with Sophie, she had formed a shield of pale blue energy that glistened under the light of the morning sun. Her's was noticeably more stable and far thicker than mine. She contained her smugness, but I could tell she was pleased with herself.
'Alright,' Professor Doherty announced after testing each student. 'I suppose there's hope yet, let's move on and see how you all attack.'
He gestured to the training dummies.
'Hit them with whatever you've got. Show me what you can do, and I'll tell you where you stand.'
The moment he said it, the energy in the courtyard shifted. Students lit up with excitement at their chance to prove themselves, though a couple of them seemed hesitant.
I clenched my fists as I brimmed with determination. I didn't want to end up exhausting myself in the middle of the spell again like I did in the interview room.
We started lining up in front of the dummies, exchanging glances and words of encouragement to each other. The statues watching over us like silent observers, it felt like our magical forefathers were looking down on us judging the next generation.
Professor Doherty paced in front of us, feeding on our collective anxiety.
'As you've no doubt already been told,' he stated. 'Your grimoire is a powerful foundation, but it doesn't define you. I want to see how you use it, so we know what you should focus on this year.'
Given his tough love attitude so far, that actually sounded strangely profound.
He pointed to the student at the start of the line. From where I was standing, I could see her curls trembling with anticipation.
Of course Lydia was at the front.
She stepped forward, opening her grimoire with practiced precision. The pages flare with a soft pearlescent glow, reacting to her touch. She extended her hand, and three spheres of light materialised, hovering above her palm like miniature rotating suns.
Life really was unfair, I struggled to create a dim light earlier with the help of an artifact. But Lydia was already able to cast magic at this level?
With a flick of her wrist, they flew toward the dummy.
The moment they made contact -
Boom!
Each orb exploded in rapid succession, creating a chain reaction of pearlescent light that scattered across the courtyard. The dummy remained intact, but its surface was now marred with scorch marks where the spell had landed.
Lydia exhaled, watching the results with a furious intensity.
Professor Doherty grunted. 'Light-based magic. Textbook control, but weak impact.'
Lydia nodded, her smug smile fading. I could have sworn that I caught a brief flicker of irritation in her eyes as she strode past me.
'Next. Mr Vale?'
Eric Vale. A tall, sharp-featured student, smirked as he cracked open his grimoire. The pages inside were stained with blood, the text pulsated with an eerie red glow.
'Bloodwhip,' he called out.
The air around his hands began to ooze blood, thick crimson chains coiled like serpents, writing and twisting with liquid movement before he snapped his arm back.
Swiping his hand in the air, the chains lashed forward, raising up in the air.
Crack!
The chains drove down at a blinding pace, digging into the body of the dummy causing it to hiss, as if it was cracking from the inside. For a moment, the wood smoldered as if it had been burned, leaving behind a glowing ooze where the chains had dug in.
Professor Doherty nodded slightly. 'Good restraint. You didn't use too much magic that time. It needs to be faster though.'
Eric nodded, smirking smugly, clearly pleased with himself.
One by one, the students took their turn.
Serenity produced a razor-thin blade of air, invisible to the naked eye that sliced clean lines into the dummy's wooden frame. She seemed bored by the entire process and Doherty reprimanded her for not taking it seriously.
Ryan was almost a cliche, stomping his foot he summoned jagged spikes of stone that erupted from the ground.
Anthony used a more refined version of his lightning lance, burning a hole in the chest of his dummy and leaving it charged with electricity for a few minutes afterwards.
But the most surprising display came from a quiet student called Ethan Bishop.
His grimoire was unassuming - a leatherbound book with no visible marks, but when he opened it, the pages rippled like reflections on a disturbed pond.
Ethan raised his hands, and to everyone's surprise the dummy began to warp.
Its wooden frame bent inward, as if reality itself was folding around it. The entire dummy twisted, distorting in an unnatural way, before snapping back to normal with a loud crack.
A few students gasped. Even Professor Doherty's brows lifted slightly.
'Spatial distortion,' he muttered. 'Rare. And dangerous if uncontrolled.'
Ethan gulped but nodded, stepping back without a word.
I exhaled. Everyone here was stronger than I expected. Their magic wasn't just basic elements, they had complexity and uniqueness.
And then-
'Sophie Aldren.'
It was Sophie's turn. I had seen her grimoire a few times, but after James' advice I thought it would be rude to ask her about it. From what she had briefly mentioned, it was a combination of ice and fire.
She seemed nervous as she stepped forward.
Her grimoire formed from ice in the air, a black book layered in front with silver filgory. I stood a few paces back from her, but when it opened I could feel the heat draining away, like an ice cold breeze had blown past the courtyard.
She raised her index and middle fingers up in the air, as if beckoning the dummy to come closer. A jagged row of icicles formed in front of her. She then sharply snapped her wrists back, causing them to dart towards the dummy.
Each icicle hit its mark in rapid succession.
Silence.
Then the icicles erupted into ice blue flames, spreading across the dummy and freezing it instantly. The flames ate away at the heat and moisture, causing her dummy to crack like glass.
'Impressive,' Professor Doherty remarked. 'Rare. And just as dangerous as spatial distortion, be careful where you cast that.'
She nodded her head and quickly shuffled past the remaining queue of students. I could see the faintest smile on her face though, and I couldn't help but feel slightly proud for her.
'Mr. Calloway?'
My head snapped back to look at Professor Doherty, I mustn't have heard him the first time because he was glaring at me impatiently.
I stepped forward, my pulse steady. Everyone had performed an impressive feat of magic so far, I didn't want to let the side down.
The air distorted in front of me as my grimoire appeared from within its mirage, the golden veins glowing on the cover, a stark contrast to the blackened scorched cover. The pages smouldered as ash drifted down from its pages.
I drew from the world around me, pulling in the shadows of the courtyard as they gathered under my feet. I had more control this time, the shadows slithered beneath my feet like curling smoke. I could feel the power within the void.
I stretched out my hand.
The shadows didn't just obey, they were hungry.
Tendrils of darkness unfurled like a living creature, writhing and pulsing they expanded beyond what I had intended as they rushed toward the dummy. Unlike before, when my spell had simply flickered and died - this time, the tendrils hardened properly. Their tips sharpened into jagged points with shifting edges.
For a brief second, I saw something in the void of light - a hollow sun, burning black in the space where no light could exist. A shape I couldn't describe, a force that felt like it was waiting for me to notice it.
And then -
They struck.
The shadows pierced the dummy from all angles, burying deep into the wood in a slow, deliberate motion. When the tendrils retracted, they didn't just leave holes - but absence. The space where they had pierced looked out of proportion, as if reality itself had struggled to fill it back in.
I exhaled slowly. Unlike before, I didn't feel like collapsing. The exhaustion was there - but it wasn't overwhelming. However a couple of the tendrils had also missed their mark.
Professor Doherty studied the remains of the spell. Then his eyes flicked back to me, unreadable.
'Darkness.' he finally said. 'Your control is still weak. If you overuse it, your magic will consume you before your enemy even gets the chance to attack.'
I clenched my fists, I knew that already. I had started to obsess over that fact after my performance during the interview.
But Professor Doherty didn't move on immediately. Instead, he looked at the remnants of the dummy - staring at the holes intently as if he himself was missing something.
As the lesson eventually wrapped up, I sat beside Sophie, watching as the last students took their turns.
'At least you didn't collapse this time.' She nudged me slightly.
'Yeah, progress I guess. Right?' I smirked.
I looked down at the shadow on the floor, my magic felt like it was pulling at something beyond just darkness. The truth was, I wasn't sure if I was making progress at all.
And for a fleeting second, the shadow felt like it wasn't mine at all.