The days went by so fast I hardly believed it. The Long House slowly transitioned to a school. At first, they taught us reading and writing. Then came basics for math, magic alphabet, casting forms, enchanting and basic elements. I will admit that at first, I thought it was bizarre the Long House made an educational change.
Learning magic was no small feet and massive undertaking. First they do an affinity test to see what types of magic you can do. After your test they give you an alphabet you can learn from. The casting forms start with stances and execution depending on type. This hectic list will just get your foot in the door of magic.
Even if you mastered getting those primitive basics to second nature. All you can accomplish are the basic of basic spells, which are parlor tricks. Simple things like water becoming steam or ice can be accomplished with the before. It took more time and dedication to even attempt a basic spell like fireball. To do something like change the weather or shoot lighting from your hands, required talent and dedication.
At least that's what the introduction to magic for dummies told me. My affinity test revealed to me that my magic affinity is for nature magic. That meant plant life and animals could be influenced by my magic potential. I can't learn other types nor change the affinity I have been born with. This also means that fire magic is very effective against me, since fire devours nature itself.
Moving on to the magic alphabet, which is basically the structure of the phrases used to vocally command magic. In my case it would be, 'I order thy to follow thine command and act upon thine will.' After that, you input a command like pick up a rock or use it to beckon an animal to approach you. The more complicated or more demanding the spell is, they will always require an equal to or greater quality alphabet. The levels of quality were introduction, common, advanced or specialist followed by mastery or variant.
The reason behind the split with advanced and specialist, is that certain individuals have shown to be limited or dedicated behind specific spells. Advanced however are the crème of the crop; they know all the ins and outs of their affinity. The next step up in the branch is self-explanatory and shows the ultimate goal for those dedicated to magic. The draw back to learning the mastery of magic is it takes years and unwavering dedication. Even then only a handful of individuals can handle the strain of going above and beyond.
Most people study up to the level of common and unless your occupation requires it. They may have you required to study advanced or specialist to be on your resume. While the introduction to magic may sound fun. Let me tell you, it's more tedious and filled with cautions of consequences of straying too far with your capabilities. Like exercising, magic requires a pool of energy and the more you use the sooner you exhaust it.
The other cautions were never to attempt spells involving an alphabet you never read. Never cast a spell when you were exhausted. The most ominous one was never shortcut your way to a higher level. I'll see how learning magic goes before I decide on how far I want to go. I mean the other kids are a nervous wreck, some are clearly panicking.
All except Cecilia who seemed more to be taking a breath and gathering herself. I decided to pester her since she was calmer than everyone else.
"You seem cheery," I stated startling Cecilia.
"How am I cheery Shard?" Cecilia asked skeptically.
"You're not panicking," I pointed out.
"That's an understatement, and I am on the inside," Cecilia scoffed.
"I don't believe you for a second," I said unconvinced.
"Let me guess this whole thing doesn't bother you?" Cecilia half-heartedly guessed.
"Nope," I deadpanned.
"Shard, this is our future aren't you scared at all?" Cecilia asked shocked.
"We have time to prepare and best of all it's not tomorrow," I chuckled seeing Cecilia unimpressed at my attempt to lighten the mood.
"I don't get you at all," Cecilia sighed agitated.
"What's there to get?" I asked confused.
"How could someone with untapped hidden talent be so carefree?" Cecilia asked, almost snapping at me.
"Cecilia, I don't understand?" I asked hesitantly.
Cecilia took a deep breath before letting me have it.
"You're smarter than you let others know, you don't let anything bother you if it's pointless and worst of all your calm when the rest of us are scared out of our minds!" Cecilia clarified at the top of lungs.
I wasn't ready for the tone nor her answer to throw me for a loop. I tried to hide my advantage of being smarter than the other kids. As for avoiding pointless conflicts, I was only trying to be a well-behaved kid. As for being calm that was out the window and Cecilia had caught me off guard.
"I didn't mean to," I tried to explain only to be interrupted.
"That's enough from both of you," Flare stated, ending the conversation.
I didn't say anything to protest Flare's judgment and followed her with Cecilia to the corner. I sat down and simply waited in silence. Flare got the story from Cecilia and since I added nothing to change the story, she took it as a half-truth. After a while Cecilia and I were free to go, but I chose to remain where I was. Cecilia left and enjoyed whatever time in the Long House she had left.
"Shard were you trying to lighten the mood?" Flare asked, trying to piece together what happened.
"More like failing," I corrected.
"True but at least you tried," Flare chuckled.
Flare sighed seeing I didn't chuckle with her.
"It's okay that you don't want to stand out from the others," Flare assured.
"Then why did Cecilia snap at me?" I asked confused.
"Between you and me, I think she's a little jealous of you," Flare whispered in my ear.
I never thought of anyone being jealous of me. I mean sure I got a second chance at life. That's more than anyone else would ever get. When it came to other things like being smarter than others. That's something I'll have to remember. Others won't feel the same way when applying my exception rule.
The Long House hit a slow day and boredom had been putting everyone in a hazy awake phase. I was no exception to this event myself. I managed to patch things up with Cecilia. Even I don't know why she got so flustered with me when I apologized. I asked Remmy about it one time and all she did was laugh and said, 'that's cute.' Like that it is helpful in my predicament. I am going to ask Aunt Belle when she visits again.
Things soon took a turn for the worst in the Long House. Apparently Hal and Little Hammer got into a minor scuffle. I thought I could defuse the situation before it got worse. My first mistake was assuming that I could do anything to prevent the confrontation. I approached the two and stepped between, my last mistake.
"Come on, we don't need to fight each other," I suggested calmly.
"Mind your own beeswax Shard, Little Hammer has it coming," Hal threatened.
"I only said, why can't we get along?" Little Hammer stated confused.
"Hal, that's a fair question," I said siding with Little Hammer.
"Little Hammer is not right in the head, there's something broken about him," Hal snapped defensively.
I knew Little Hammer could be a little off but that was mean. No, that was cruel and intentional.
"Hal that's uncalled-for and terrible of you to say," I said disappointed.
Smack, I got hit in the face and sent to the floor. Before I had the chance to do anything else I got hit again. The air in my lungs was knocked out of me. I curled into the fetal position and waited to get hit again. There was another smack that was soon followed by a thud. I dared to look and saw Little Hammer standing over a shocked Hal.
"Apologize to Shard now," Little Hammer ordered.
"I'm sorry Shard," Hal sobbed with tears now escaping his eyes.
"What's going here, oh my goodness Shard are you OK?" Flare demanded then saw me on the ground.
I didn't move, it hurt to breathe and my head was killing me. Flare attended to me quickly and moved me somewhere with Scarlet Rose beside me. Cecilia explained everything to Flare. Little Hammer and Hal were put into timeout until their parents came to get them. Flare came back and revealed to me that my nose had been bleeding and I had nasty bruise on my ribs.
Hal had punched me first and then kicked me while I was down. Little Hammer had apparently punched like an adult and hit Hal square in the jaw. The worst part was I bleed all over myself and had a noticeable red stain. I knew when Remmy saw these heads were going to roll. Before I could even ponder the thought of that sight, Cecilia and Scarlet Rose stared at me with concern.
"What?" I asked with a half plugged nose.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Scarlet Rose and Cecilia asked concerned.
"It does," I clarified, wincing a bit.
"How bad?" They asked more intrigued now.
"Enough to make me never do that again," I coughed.
"That's enough talking Shard, try to sleep a bit," Flare ordered gently.
There wasn't a point in arguing with Flare. I leaned up against the wall and tried to get comfortable. Before I even knew it, sound asleep in bliss. At least for a little while, when I woke up I had been cleaned up and my bloody nose had stopped. I also saw Remmy with two other parents chatting with Flare.
I went to get up, only to be stopped by my bruised ribs. The pain finally hit me and made me gasp for air, which only made it worse. My quiet attempt to get up had been ruined and almost immediately been met with a concerned look from Remmy. She ran over to me and told me not to get up yet.
"I'll be right back please stay still," Remmy softly ordered.
"Remmy, is he OK?" Flare asked.
"Just waking up from bruised ribs, nothing a remedy can't fix," Remmy assured rejoining the group.
They chatted for a while longer out of my hearing range. I wanted to hear more but I settled for relearning how to breathe. Eventually Hal and Little Hammer explained what happened on their behalf. When Hal admitted to not hitting once but twice, his dad roared with disappointment. I felt the room shake when it was finished.
Little Hammer finished the story with him standing up for himself and me. He admitted that he punched Hal to stop him. When his mom asked why I stood between them. He replied with something that will stick with me forever.
"Shard said we shouldn't be fighting each other and I agree with him," Little Hammer stated.
After that Little Hammer, Hal and I were scolded for our actions. We all were punished for fighting since it was not tolerated in the Long House. It didn't matter who was the cause nor who resolved it, we all failed to do the right thing. That is what we were punished for, I still think it's unfair but examples had to be made to prevent future incidents. While we were all punished enough, it took a few weeks for my ribs to stop hurting. I definitely got the worst part of the deal.