Chapter 19: Chapter 18 - Wand Assignment

December was just around the corner, and the temperature in Orshon was just now starting to dip below acceptable. It didn't get that cold in The Relia kingdom. Their winters were short and sweet, usually only getting a small amount of snow throughout. But there was still a nipping bite in the air that tinged Kira’s ears and nose with a shade of red.

Returning from her masters place after a weekend spent there, Kira trotted through Orshon’s chilly early morning streets with some pace to her steps. It was Monday morning after all, she had a class to get to. Quickly handing over her permission slip to the knight outside the academy gates, she was let inside the campus. A warmth washed over her, putting a blissful smile on her face. She wanted to thank whoever’s magic had been used to put up a temperature barrier around the campus, they had her full unconditional thanks.

Exhaling a moan of satisfaction from the warmth pushing her blood back to her extremities, Kira continued her way back to the dorms so she could drop off her travelling bags she was lugging around.

Into the dorms, up the stairs, and through her door, she was met with the familiar sight of her room she’d been living in the past few months.

“Morning Kira.” Yuli yawned, waving from the kitchen table with a plate of food in front of her.

“G’morning. Where are your sisters?” Kira chucked her bags onto her bed and joined Yuli.

“Vea’s with Ashley down at the Herbology building. They’re working on their end of term summative, tryna get it down sooner than later. Helina, Abby, and Resseta are training in the knights field. Supposedly their own summative assignment is going to be brutal, but they don’t know what it is yet.”

“You know where the boys are?”

“Alexander’s probably just getting back from his weekend trip back home, as for Marcus, your guess is as good as mine.” Yuli replied with a shrug. “Speaking of summitaves though, how is Wands coming along? You and Marcus get any work done?”

Kira shook her head. “We’ve both been busy with the other classes to even think of starting it.”

“You shouldn’t delay that long, it’s harder than it looks.” Yuli warned her, “Gods, I mean Isabelle and I spent like 3 hours yesterday just laying the groundwork for it.”

“Crap. Guess I should put the rest of my work on hold for a bit and try to start Wands if it’s gonna take that long.”

“Well you did get Marcus as a partner, so he might be able to ace this thing in a couple of hours.” Yuli brought up, “He is easily the best student in class— by far — followed by yours truly.”

“Hah, Lady Thorn has something to say about that.” Kira crossed her arms in a pose.

“Lady Thorn?” Yuli raised an eyebrow with a smirk, “Oh yes, how could I forget how grand our noble Lady Thorn is at Wands. If you remember just the other day when we were trying other students wands to see how connection can help with spell casting, and you tried to cast a mana blast with someone else’s wand—“

“Ahh no!” Kira stopped her, “We don’t have to bring that up.”

The two stared at each other before breaking into a fit of giggles.

“Do you even know what wand you wanna make a presentation on? Isabelle and I chose Elder Erana’s wand.” Yuli asked.

“Not yet.” Kira shook her head. “I’ll grab Marcus after class and get some work done on it, hopefully.”

Chatting for a while longer, the two girls were eventually greeted by a sweaty— and a little stinky— Helina, who jumped straight into the shower. The clocks were ticking along, inching closer to class time, prompting the three girls to get dressed and depart. The others would meet up with them at class.

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Their first class on Monday’s was always Magic Foundations with Ms. Lemon. They all sat in their usual seats together, with papers, books, and pencils at the ready. Since their midterm test was only a few weeks away, they were wrapping up some recent topics, and would begin rehashing everything they’ve done so far to prepare for the test. Ms. Lemon did talk about the second term more, saying it was pretty similar to the first term; they’d learn new magics, practise spells they’ve already learned, but they’d also start trying to use all the magic they knew together, instead of separately.

They had just begun to learn the barrier spell, a handy magic to create a wall of mana to block physical projectiles. It was the opposite of dispel, which only stopped magic and couldn't do a thing against a pebble thrown its way. In their next term they still had to learn four more new magics, with the last magic being the rearrange spell, the most useful spell for your everyday wizard.

It wasn’t just Magic Foundations, all her classes were ramping up compared to the start of the year. Kira was a little overwhelmed if she was being honest. Each class beside Everyday Skills had a summative assignment that needed completing, there were the midterms to worry about, and they were still being shown new things in almost every class.

“Buuuh.” Kira exhaled, trying to wash away the exhaustion, but to no avail. Magic Foundations was over, but there was no time to dawdle, she wanted to get started on the Wands assignment before the day was done. Thankfully Marcus was of the same mind as her.

Their group of friends all split off on their own ways with whichever partner they needed to complete their most stressful assignment with. They had tried all working on their own separate things together as one large group, but realized quite quickly it wasn't the greatest idea. There were too many distractions when one was with all their friends.

Once lunch was acquired, and a comfortable place to sit was located, Marcus and Kira cracked open their Wands binder and found the very simple rubric they had for their summative presentation.

“30min presentation on a wand of your choosing.

Your presentation should include:

* The details on the origins of the wand, and a little information about its wielder.

* The make-up of the wand, and some information on the ingredients used to make it.

* The enhancements and changes the wand makes to the wizards magic, and why it works or doesn't work for that wizard.

* The techniques used to create the wand, and some information about the crafter and wand weaver that made it.

* What type of wand does the wizard have? (Starter, Intermedial, Final)

* What stage is their wand? (Young, Junior, Master, Grand, Elder.)

This list is the bare minimum required. More information should be added to make up the 30min’s needed.

If you have any questions, you can come ask me in my office in the summoning tower, or in the classroom an hour before and after class.

Due Date: December 12th, in class.”

But what wand should they do it on? They could go with one of the founder's wands, since they were all pretty well-known and there was a lot to talk about. One of the 13 Elders' wands was also an option for the same reason. They could even do one of their masters wands, or even their own wands for that matter. Any wand could work, they just had to be able to present for half an hour.

“Any ideas, Mister ‘top of class’.” Kira nudged Marcus’s arm.

“Your compliment will go straight to my head you know?” Marcus smiled, “Although, being the top in a class of 6 isn’t too impressive is it?”

“I don’t think anyone is half as good as you in Wands… so we’re gonna ace this presentation, right?”

Marcus chuckled, “I guess I have no choice, my reputation is at stake. I can’t let a girl down if she asks.”

The two bantered with each other for a bit more, both comfortable being around each other after having spent the last 3 months as friends. It helped that Marcus was extremely outgoing and would jump at the chance for their little group to hangout whenever possible.

This was the first time that it was just the two of them. There was always at least another around, usually Abby since they were always together whenever they could. She thought maybe she’d be awkward trying to keep a conversation, because while they were friends, they hadn’t known each other for years and years like she had with Abby. But she felt nothing of the sort. She was relaxed. Her words came naturally, like she had known Marcus her whole life.

Their talk eventually got back on topic, and Marcus said. “I was thinking we do it on Founder Lock’s wand, if that’s okay with you?”

“Hm, sure? I don’t really know much about her wand. Didn’t Mr. Woodsworth say that her wand was locked away and sealed somewhere?”

“Exactly! As a founder, her wand— beside Thorn’s and Frost’s wands that are still lost— is the most unknown wand of the lot. There are paintings of it, and books talking about it, but no one alive has seen it— well maybe your grand master has— but that’s beside the point.”

“It’s kept in The Vault, locked away in a tangle of magical puzzles created by Lock herself. Supposedly, whoever manages to break all the puzzles can claim the wand as their own— of course they can’t actually use the wand since it’s probably an Elder wand— but whoever breaks it also gets a special prize for doing so, at least according to certain sources.” Marcus babbled.

Anytime wands were brought up, Marcus’s entire being shifted away from his usual self. The man was obsessed with wands and could go on for days if he wanted to.

“That’s fine with me, but won’t it be hard to make a presentation on her wand if it’s locked away and no one’s seen it?” Kira questioned.

“Not at all.” Marcus answered. “Lots of people have documented and researched her wand in hopes of cracking the puzzles— to no avail of course. But! There is plenty to talk about, it’s one of the most interesting wands around.”

“Let’s do it then, no need to convince me further.” Kira didn’t care what wand they did, as long as it went smoothly.

“Great! So I was thinking…” Marcus started rambling again, writing down his thoughts and ideas onto his Wands notebook, making sure Kira was onboard the entire time.

Kira listened, and would occasionally chime in with her own suggestions, which Marcus was more than happy to jot down. It was nice seeing him like this, Kira thought. She didn’t hate his normal flirtatious and mildly obscene self, not at all since she knew he was joking around most of the time, but this version of Marcus drew her attention away almost unconsciously. She watched his face as he spoke, watching the way he combed his hand through his silvery hair every so often, and how his emerald eyes flickered when he was thinking hard.

Kira’s heart skipped a beat. When was Marcus this… this… handsome?

Oh gods, did she have a crush on him?