Tears of Dusk

Isyd stood in front of the whole class and glanced around. He counted thirteen Pupils, himself and Olav excluded. It wasn’t a crowd per se, but it still made Isyd uncomfortable to have all those eyes focused on him.

He tried to ignore the tension in his neck and turned his attention to Olav instead. The young man had a smug expression on his face and Isyd had to admit that he did look quite respectable and proud in his crisp uniform. His sleeves were rolled up and exposed the bracelet of the Crimson Gold Ring. Olav pulled a wand out of the inner pocket of his coat.

“There’s no objection at me using my wand I hope, Tutor?”

“Absolutely none! You are invited to use one as well, Young Isyd.”

“I don’t use wands,” Isyd said.

Tutor Milwyk took a few steps back to let them the full room of the podium. “Remember the sequence of Commands and try to Visualize your final [Spell]! It is okay if you do not get it the first time.”

“Worry not, Tutor Milwyk! My name would not be Olav Kazkan if I could not achieve such a simple [Spell] on a first try!”

Olav stepped forward and brandished his wand. The class was silent and all the eyes were turned toward him. The young man seemed to appreciate the attention.

At the tip of his wand, a blue light suddenly appeared and Olav began casting the [Spell]. First, the Water triangle, followed by the [STORE] circles, the [SHAPE], the [SUBSTRACT], the Fire triangle, then another [SHAPE] and finally the [RELEASE]. Olav moved his wand slowly and carefully, leaving the blue shimmer in the air as if he was painting on a canvas.

“[ICE SPEAR]!” Olav called out and gave a final tap with his wand, setting the light briefly ablaze.

Isyd could hear the collectively held breath of the other Pupils when the [Spell] shone…

And a cube of cloudy ice thirty centimetres wide appeared out of thin air and landed in front of him.

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone stared at the result of the [Spell], then a Pupil in the back gave a hesitant clapping that was picked up half-heartedly by the rest of the class. Behind him, Isyd could hear Naeht laughing herself silly and he felt a smile at the edge of his lips.

Olav gave his classmates an awkward smile and a slight bow.

“It is an excellent first attempt, Young Olav! Your execution of the Commands was really good and you managed to materialize something on your first try. Few Pupils could claim the same, so you should be proud!”

Truth be told, Isyd was also impressed. Like Tutor Milwyk, he hadn’t expected Olav to succeed to make anything. The fact that the [Spell] had produced at least a cube of ice proved that Olav was familiar with the Arts, despite being only of the 1st Opening. The young man probably had manipulated various [Arcanes] before, and perhaps knew one or two [Spells]. It would certainly explain his overconfidence. But there was a difference between casting a [Spell] learned by heart and casting an unknown [Spell] on the fly.

“Before I guide you on your next steps to improve,” Tutor Milwyk continued, “we should first see Young Isyd’s attempt.”

Isyd stepped forward and met his teacher’s curious, watchful eyes.

I should not show off too much too soon…

Where Olav used his wand, Isyd simply used the tip of his left index. Sweetness filled his mouth and jitters birthed in his belly, familiar sensations as he concentrated the Grace. The blue glow appeared on his finger, and with crisp and efficient movements, he cast the [Spell] exactly as Tutor Milwyk had.

“[ICE SPEAR].”

The [Spell] shone and a spear of clear ice fell between Isyd’s extended hands. The haft was two meters long, the two-sided blade was twenty centimetres and its sharp edges shone dangerously.

Gasps of awe erupted around the room and genuine claps ensued.

“He did it first try!”

“…the ice is so clear!”

“He did it so fast as well!”

Naeht approached Isyd from behind. “It’s funny how they’re so excited from such a simple [Spell].”

Isyd shrugged discretely and let his ungloved hand run along the cold surface of sculpted ice. He could have materialized the spear without casting the [Spell], but it would have raised too many questions.

“This is truly impressive, Young Isyd!” Tutor Milwyk said, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Your execution was nearly flawless and your [Spell] was as successful as we could hope. I’m glad to have such promising talents as my Pupils! Before the others try as well, I want to discuss briefly the difference in results between Young Olav’s and Young Isyd’s [Spells]. They both cast the [Ice Spear], but only Young Isyd succeeded. How is it possible? Can you answer, Young Isyd?”

“I assume that Olav here failed to Visualize the [Spell] properly and that’s why he got an ice cube instead of a spear.”

“Exactly!” Tutor Milwyk turned toward the rest of his class. “There are three reasons why a [Spell] can fail or go wrong: the Balance, the Concentration and the Visualization. The Balance describes how the Commands are arranged geometrically relative to each other. It turns out that there are correct and incorrect ways to go about it, ways of maximizing the circulation of the Grace through your [Spell]. Throughout the year, you will learn about those optimized configurations. Poor Balance results in a [Spell] of poor quality, like ice not fully solid or a weak, smoky fire.

“The second reason that can cause failure is the Concentration. It describes the amount of Grace that is gathered for the [Spell] to function. Often, poor Concentration makes the [Spells] impossible to even be cast. It is caused either by a lack of focus from the Artyst or by trying to cast a [Spell] superior to one’s Opening. As you become more experienced, Concentration faults should happen less and less as gathering Grace becomes more and more trivial.

“Finally, the last cause can be Visualization. Notice that to form the [Ice Spear], no Commands explicitly tell which form the ice must take, but only that it has to be [SHAPED] someway. How do we make sure that we materialize a spear instead of a cube? Well, the Artyst must have a clear picture in their mind of what they want to achieve. Only then the Grace will know which shape to assume. As Young Isyd has well hypothesized, Young Olav could not perfectly Visualize the Ice Spear. It goes back to the Idpulse we talked about earlier. As you become a more experienced Artyst, Visualization will become instinctive. Now, I’d invite all of you to come down here and practice the [Spell]. Come on, there’s enough room for everyone.”

The Pupils left their seats and headed for the rostrum. Tutor Milwyk turned to Isyd.

“Would you mind if others can touch your [Ice Spear]? I think it would help their Visualization.”

Isyd handed the spear and took a step back. The Pupils gathered around the ice weapon, touching it eagerly to get a better feel of it. The only exception was Olav, who stood up in the middle of the puddle formed from his ice cube melting. He was looking daggers at Isyd, but Isyd did not meet his eyes. After his spear had made its round, he retreated it, leant against the blackboard and observed the rest of the Pupils.

Spread out a few feet apart from each other, many were trying to cast their own [Spells]. The results were mixed: here and there, Isyd caught sight of bluish lights, puffs of mist or snow and the eventual piece of ice crystals being materialized. Often the [Spells] the Pupils were in the process of casting would vanish as they were being drawn due to lack of Concentration. Isyd wasn’t surprised: the Arts was so much more than simply waving a wand around and hoping for magic to happen.

Regarding Pupils of the 1st Opening, he and Olav were the exceptions.

Isyd’s attention went back to the young noble. Olav had been trying to cast the [Ice Spear] and he had just managed to materialize it. The spear was short and awkwardly balanced between the haft and the blade— closer to a long knife and crude of making—, but it was impressive, nonetheless. Other Pupils flocked around him, asking him for advice and to touch the spear.

Olav had found back his smug expression now that he had succeeded and was standing proud. He noticed Isyd staying in the background and his eyes shone with poison.

“Hey, Peasant! Want to try which of our spears is the best?”

Isyd shook his head negatively, somewhat distracted by Naeht who was flying around the man’s head. Still, Olav approached him.

“Come on, we both know you’ve been lucky to make it first try. Let’s see what your spear is truly worth! Don’t tell me you’re scared? It will be fun!”

Olav was about his height, so Isyd stared at the man straight in his eyes. He saw the mockery, the arrogance and the smugness. And behind all of it, Isyd saw the malice.

He sensed the danger before seeing it and his body moved on his own.

Pretending nonchalance, Olav had brandished his spear and was aiming for Isyd’s left thigh. Swift like an eagle, Isyd swatted the weapon away with his own then spun it for a counterattack.

Olav’s spear shattered like glass upon the impact. The young man stood there, dumbfounded. His eyes were fixed on the ice blade angled a few inches from his throat.

Silence filled the classroom, all the Pupils had turned to them.

Isyd held his spear in two hands, in a fighting stance. Sensing the eyes of everyone around him, he relaxed visibly and let out a feigned laugh and smiled. “Well, I guess it shows that my spear was the strongest, doesn’t it?”

He stepped back and leant nonchalantly on his spear. Olav let out an imperceptible sigh of relief, but his eyes were still wide from terror. Tutor Milwyk approached them, his eyes darting back and forth between Isyd and Olav, but he was still smiling.

“It was a great initiative to test which of the two [Spells] was the strongest,” the Tutor said. “It touches on something I wanted to discuss in our next class, but I guess there’s no harm for me to mention it now. Pupils, I have a question! Let us imagine we put the [Ice Spear] of Young Isyd in a cold room, could we hope to keep it there forever? Yes, Young Boshena!”

“The answer is no, Tutor,” the girl said. “Otherwise, it would contradict the Second Law of the Arts.”

“Correct answer, Young Boshena! No matter how good is the [Spell], no matter how appropriate are the conditions surrounding it, the [Ice Spear] will start to decay. The rate of this decay is something that can be calculated and can be influenced, but this will be the subject of our next lectures. For now, notice that even this flawless [Ice Spear] is starting to decay.”

Tutor Milwyk pointed on Isyd’s spear the part of the haft that showed a long crack along its length. The ice there had not melted so much that it had “evaporated”. Tutor Milwyk gave an exciting look to Isyd and readjusted his glasses on his pointed nose.

“Now that your [Ice Spear] is decaying, what would you do to solve that problem, Young Isyd?”

Isyd eyed his Tutor, gauging the question. Again, he could feel the eyes of the other Pupils on him.

In the end, Isyd shrugged and smiled.

“I’d simply make another one, Tutor.”

Isyd’s hand flew in the air, casting the [Spell] even faster than the first time. The second spear landed in his right hand amidst the murmurs of awe of his classmates.

Not hiding his pleasure, Tutor Milwyk gave Isyd a sly grin and nodded. “Truly promising… I look forward to seeing you in my next lecture, Young One!”