“I’m not sure I can do it,” said Lucy truthfully.
“Modesty is becoming; a lack of self confidence is not. Never underestimate your significance,” said Eric sternly.
Lucy nodded, “Then I will keep my lofty goals.”
Eric nodded back.
“I have spoken to your teachers. They find your performance more than adequate. I was thinking about putting you on a fast track program. What do you think of that?”
“What would that entail?”
“You will stay in your classes for now but go at a quicker pace. Your Intro to Basic Magic instructor will teach you the next skill as quickly as you can learn them rather than trying to keep you with the class. Also, what do you think of Kinowenn?”
“I was thinking of choosing it as a land to study further.”
“Good choice. I can arrange for you to start that on Monday.”
“What of other lands?”
“I expect you to finish reading the book for that class on your own time. You will not be tested. Your other teachers will work with you as well. Moving at your pace rather than the pace they have set for the class. This will involve extra work on your part, but you will cover material much more quickly. Are you willing to do this?”
“Yes,” replied Lucy. This was sounding great. It had only been a week and already she was sometimes frustrated by how little she knew in comparison with her friends. Besides, she would enjoy working faster in some of her classes.
“I will make the arrangements with your teachers. Any questions?”
“Why me?”
“I would like more time before I fully answer that question. Let me say that we have an experiment of sorts in mind and we think you are what we need to complete it. However, we need you to be more advanced than you are if we are to proceed with the experiment when the time is right. If you rise to the challenges placed before you, I shall tell you in good time.”
“If I fail?”
“Then you will have no need to know, and you may return to normal pace with no penalties or side effects other than, perhaps, an elevated feeling of stress.”
“I will not fail.”
“I like to hear that. Remember that in days to come. I expect your friends will help you as well as they can. Accept their help. Also remember to give help to others in need.”
Lucy nodded again. “Will I learn any astronomy or astrology?”
“You may learn some astronomy, if you choose. Stars can be useful in navigation, although there are other ways to get a sense of direction so we do not require it. There really is no point in learning astrology.”
“Why not?”
“Each land has its own star formations and names for them. Some races have legends and even prophecies about stars and what they mean. We have not found that there is merit to these ideas. It turns out that stars are simply stars. Enjoy them, but do not look towards them for prophecy.”
“So, not everything has a deeper meaning?’
“Sometimes the deeper meaning is simply that they are.”
Lucy nodded more so because she was unsure of how to respond than because she understood. If nothing else, this meeting was giving her a lot to ponder.
“Have you any other questions while you are here?”
“My job?”
“Right now, your priority is learning as much as you can as quickly as you can. We will put off starting your job for another week to give you a chance to try this new method. Then we will add it in. If it becomes too much, come speak to me and we will work out something. It may be that we will only have you work Saturdays rather than trying to fit it in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Lucy nodded, “I have an off the subject question.”
“Ask away. My aim is to answer.”
“I notice we have other races, if you will, as teachers. I have not noticed students from other races. Why is that?”
“A good question. We teach anyone interested in learning here independent of race. Most do not choose to come here. With you, you must leave your land to learn magic and must travel to other lands to practice it. Individuals in other lands can sometimes learn in that land if they choose. Or, they may not choose to learn at all. Very few dwarves or giants are interested in learning magic. Elves generally teach their own. Very few have any desire to leave the land they are from, so many of our services would not even benefit them. We provide a place to learn, we do not control who is allowed to practice magic and where they are allowed to practice it. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry. You will meet many individuals from other races soon enough,” Eric smiled kindly. “Now, I believe I am detaining you from inflicting injury upon your person.”
Lucy laughed.
“Perhaps you should skip the practice and have Gavin teach you a new weapon. Orin and Tannin won’t mind. I believe they are starting a new weapon this week.”
“I might do that.”
“Besides, you won’t need to shoot arrows if you can throw fire.”
“True,” responded Lucy as she left his room.
Lucy made it only a few steps down the hall before encountering Justin.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I had to do a couple of things before I joined the others at the practice yard. Then, I decided to see if you were done with your meeting.”
“I just finished.”
“Are you ready to go to the practice yard, or do you need anything from your room first?”
“I’m ready to abuse my body,” said Lucy. “I may forgo the bow and ask Gavin to start to teach me another weapon.”
“Not a bad idea. Shall we then?” he asked motioning down the hallway.
They walked in silence for a few seconds. Lucy was sure Justin was dying to ask how her meeting had gone, but trying his best to do it in a nonchalant way. She was curious to see how long he would be able to wait. Not long as it turned out.
“How did your meeting go?”
“Fine,” Lucy replied, doing her best to seem uninterested.
“Anything interesting come up?”
“Depends on what you call interesting,” said Lucy noncommittally. Obviously Justin knew something or guessed something. Did he know about the experiment Eric had alluded to?
“Do your teachers think you are doing ok?”
“Sure. My performance is adequate.”
Justin was positive from what he had seen that her performance was more than adequate. He was also sure she was teasing him. Perhaps he should have waited for her at the practice ground so as to appear less eager. However, Justin had learned early on that practicing with weapons and having your mind elsewhere was a poor combination at best. Now, the dilemma was, should he tell her what he knew or let the matter drop? He decided to let the matter drop. She would tell him soon enough.
They walked in silence down the stairs. Lucy was surprised he let the matter drop. She was sure he was going to grill her. In fact she wanted to tell him about her meeting. She had questions to ask, but Justin always seemed to know more than he let on. This time, Lucy had been hoping to learn something without having to ask. Instead she asked him about his work with the creatures. It turned out the kitten had stopped breathing fire. However, Nerek now lacked eyebrows. This conversation captured their attention until the practice yard.
Lucy watched in amazement as Maya and Gavin sparred. It looked like Gavin was toning down his abilities, but the show was still impressive. Gavin was wielding a practice broadsword. Maya had a shorter practice sword and a practice dagger. Practice blades were made of tightly bound reeds. They were hard and flexible, though lighter than actual blades. They hurt like the dickens and left red welts when they hit you, but they generally did not cause trips to the infirmary or loss of limb. The school frowned upon dismemberment.
Gavin lunged, and Maya parried, spinning off to the side and kicking out with her leg catching Gavin in the back of the knee. He start
ed to go down, twisted, grabbed Maya, and brought her with him. At this point, Gavin noticed Lucy and Justin. He smiled and let go of Maya. Maya had her back to them and did not notice. She immediately stabbed her dagger at his side. Lucy had a chance to see just how fast Gavin’s reflexes were when he was able to stop her even while distracted. Gavin nodded in their direction, and Maya turned to look. They got up and brushed themselves off.
“How was your meeting?” asked Maya.
“Fine,” Lucy shrugged. “It seemed pretty routine to me.”
“Good,” said Gavin. “That means you will have no mental distractions while we work on improving your accuracy with a bow.”
“I was thinking,” began Lucy, “could you work on teaching me a different weapon instead?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to work on not injuring yourself with a bow?”
“Exactly, I’ll work on not injuring myself by learning a new weapon.”
“My expertise is at your disposal,” said Gavin with a mock bow. “What would you like to learn?”
“For some reason, I think I might end up liking a staff, so, can we try a sword?”
“I’m not sure I follow your logic.”
“Well, if it turns out I’m terrible at a sword as well, at least some preliminary instruction should help me from killing myself in class.”
“I’m not sure it makes sense, but I’m willing to give it a try.” Gavin simply enjoyed weapons. Whatever Lucy wanted to learn was fine with him. “The first thing to do is find a length you are comfortable with. You might learn how to fight with different lengths in class because there are advantages and disadvantages to each, but each person usually has a higher comfort level with a certain length.”
Gavin led Lucy to the room where the practice weapons were kept while Justin grabbed a staff and picked up sparring with Maya where Gavin had left off. Gavin started handing Lucy swords and asking her to hold them in a such and such a way or turn her wrist this way and that. At first, Lucy was not sure what he was looking for, but after trying to roll her wrist with a sword that was too long and almost dropping it, she began to understand. She tried different lengths and weights and settled on one about two and half feet long. Gavin grabbed two identical practice swords and led the way back out to the practice field.
Maya and Justin were working up a sweat, and Maya’s hair had come loose.
“Can we stop a minute so I can put my hair back up?” asked Maya, ducking a blow from Justin’s staff and returning it with vigor.
“Certainly,” replied Justin, “as soon as you kill me or yield. To my knowledge no battle has been called due to hair issues.” He swept his staff at her legs, and she managed to jump out of the way.
Maya narrowed her eyes through her hair and kept sparring.
Gavin and Lucy walked a reasonable distance away, and Gavin began with simple instructions on how to hold a sword and swing it with power. Not too much power that it threw you off balance. He explained how to block in order to slide your opponent’s blade and displace the force of a blow rather than try to absorb the full force of a blow with your body. Breaking a wrist while blocking a blow did not bode well for the rest of a fight. Then he stood next to her and slightly in front so she could see him without turning her head. He ran through a basic set of thrusts and blocks. Lucy followed along and did her best to memorize the routine.
“I want you to work on practicing that in your spare time. Right now how do you feel about some sparring?” asked Gavin.
“I don’t know,” said Lucy with apprehension. She had seen how good he was with Maya, and she could tell he had been holding back with that. “I’ve never sparred before.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll go easy on you.”
“What if I accidentally hurt you?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you hurt me, I deserve it.”
“Too true, your reputation would never hold up,” Lucy joked.
Gavin winked and got into fighting stance. Lucy copied him. They circled each other.
“Your move,” said Gavin.
“I prefer to play black in chess, if you don’t mind,” replied Lucy.
“If you insist.”
Gavin jabbed at Lucy’s shoulder. It was a light jab and not very fast. He was testing her reactions to find out how fast he could go. He wanted to challenge her but not hurt her. Lucy brought up her sword in a move they practiced earlier, and the blow slid away. Maintaining some of the momentum from the block, she continued the movement and tried to hit Gavin in the side. He blocked it easily. They continued back and forth.
Lucy found she preferred to block rather than attack. That could be a problem with an opponent like Gavin who could simply wear her down and then kill her. Even if she did not manage to win the sparring exercise, at least she had so far avoided self-inflicted bodily harm. Always a plus when dealing with weapons.
Gavin kept pushing Lucy. Every hit he went a little harder or a little faster, trying to find out how much she could take. She was keeping up pretty well for a first timer, but he could tell her arm was beginning to tire. Finally, he went just fast enough to work past her defense and the practice sword slammed into Lucy’s side. She grunted in surprise and pain, and Gavin lowered his sword.
“That stung!” said Lucy, wincing. “I suppose you had to do that?”
“Of course,” Gavin replied. “Someone has to hit you first, and I thought it might as well be me. Besides, now you know what it feels like so you don’t have to fear the unknown.”
“No, but I can fear repeating the known.”
“There is that,” said Gavin, and he appeared to think it over.
Justin and Maya and joined them.
“Tired?” Justin asked Lucy.
“Yeah, and I can tell I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”
“That’s your body telling you that you accomplished something.”
Everyone laughed at that.
“At least this soreness will be from muscles used as opposed to personal incompetence,” said Lucy, and everyone laughed again.
“Gavin,” said Justin, “you have any energy left?”
“I have enough to beat you,” said Gavin.
“We thought so,” said Maya, “but do you have enough to take on both of us?”
“I welcome the challenge.”
The three faced off. Lucy, deciding she wanted nothing to do with that many people and weapons flying around at that point in her training, moved off to the side and sat down to watch. After a few minutes she decided she might as well stretch as she watched and began to feel better.
After the three way spar, which ended in a tie, they went for a ride.
Justin and Lucy walked in together on their way to shower before eating. They discussed the ride and how Lucy might not be as inept at weapons as she had first thought. Then Lucy decided to bring up the meeting with Eric.
“I don’t know why, but he’s putting me on a faster training schedule, if that makes sense,” said Lucy.
“You have shown a lot of talent. Maybe this is his way of challenging you,” said Justin noncommittally.
“Archery is a challenge.”
“True, but not one that challenges your skills as a mage. I was watching you with that matchbox. You’re learning quickly.”
“I’m not the only person to ever learn something quickly,” said Lucy defensively.
“No, but you are the type of person who might get frustrated if the rest of the class is too slow too often.”
Lucy nodded in agreement.
“Besides, there could be another reason.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know what that reason is would you?” asked Lucy. Justin had not shown any surprise at her revelation even though it was obviously not a common practice. He must know something.
“Your door, I believe,” replied Justin.
“You know something.”
“I know many things.”
“Don’t be difficult, just tell
me.”
“We can do this one of two ways. You can be patient and wait for things to be revealed. To be honest I don’t know much more than you, but I am not allowed to tell you what I do know.”
“The other way?”
“The other way involves me giving off subject answers and flippant responses until you get exasperated and go in to take your shower, most likely slamming the door in my face.”
“Those are the only two options?”
“Sadly, yes. You may pick either one though. I have no problems being exasperating.”
“That I’m sure of. However, I think I’m too tired, sore, and hungry to care to be exasperated on top of that so I’ll choose option one for now.”
“Sounds like a plan. Enjoy your shower; I’ll see you in the Dining Hall. By the way, if you need any help with the faster lessons, all you have to do is ask.”
“Thanks, I might do that.”
Justin turned and walked down the hallway. Lucy shut her door and began to strip off her clothing. The muscles in her right arm hurt from somewhere around her ear, down her neck, and all the way to her fingertips. Also her left side was beginning to bruise where Gavin had hit her with the practice sword. She might ask Justin to heal that for her after dinner. There was no reason to suffer through bruises if she didn’t have to. Lucy sighed as hot water flowed around her body. Hot water is a beautiful thing.
Lucy reflected on her meeting with Eric. Even if the reasons were unknown, Lucy was interested and excited to learn at a faster pace. She had better do some of her homework tonight and then try to have some fun tomorrow. It might be one of the last days that she was not swamped with homework. She had a feeling her work load was about to double. Even with that possibility Lucy was sure of one thing. She loved this school.
Chapter 14
The next week was unbelievably busy for Lucy. She worked very hard in all her classes and loved every minute of it, but at the same time, she was overwhelmed by the amount of information she was learning.
Having chosen Kinowenn, Lucy no longer needed her Intro to Other Worlds course. Instead, she jumped right into a course on Kinowenn geography. She was only a week behind, which wasn’t too bad, but it did require some catching up. Her teacher, Howard, handed her a blank map of Kinowenn and instructed her to fill in all areas, mountain ranges, rivers, lakes, deserts, and major cities by Wednesday. In class, they were learning about which animals and plants you would find in the Karranga Mountains. Lucy found this fascinating and was excited to work on her map.
The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 Page 10