Jaux Ballad has always wanted to enter the realm of magic, but could not do so by regular means. In his desperation to become a magician he finds himself with more power, and more trouble, than he could ever have imagined.

*=+=*=+=*=+=*

Jaux was wearing a new silver anklet today.

Ace students were allowed to leave the Lyceum on open days without requiring an escort. However, they were not allowed to bring another student along with them, even if the student was their novi. Jaux had to stay behind while Frey went out to collect some rare supplies.

Frey was still a bit paranoid from yesterday's incident, so she gave Jaux one of her old magical charms. Whenever the anklet was charged up with enough magic, a protective blessing would automatically activate around the wearer.

Desyi thought it was sweet how much Frey cared about her new novi, so she generously offered to keep watch on Jaux.

Although Jaux was honestly grateful for how much the girls were willing to keep her safe, she was a bit peeved that she could not go inspect the black statue today. She was still uncomfortable in her new body, and was beginning to miss the option of peeing while standing up.

Right now Jaux was in one of the school's magic training rooms. She was currently testing out all the curses in the little book that her specialty teacher gave her. Since most of the curse magics found in the little book required a living target, Jaux had to convince another student to act as her practice dummy. No one actually wanted to be hit by any of her curse magics, but luckily there was a student in the training room who needed to practice defensive spells.

The exercise took over three hours, but Jaux was delighted to find that she could cast all twenty-six curse spells from her specialty book. The process could have been completed a lot sooner, but the practice mage was actually incredibly effective at using barrier defenses. Only about one out of every five spells managed to sneak through and hit the practice mage.

"I hope I can memorize all of these new spells," Jaux said as she left with training room with Desyi, "they're all so fantastic!"

"Actually, I think it would be best if you just memorized the most useful spells." Desyi noted.

"Huh? Why?" Asked Jaux. "Isn't it even more useful to know a big variety of spells?"

"It is, but if you learn too many new spells at one time, you might mix them up later on." Explained Desyi. "This could lead to mistakes during casting, such as combining spell patterns from incompatible spells."

"Oh, okay. I guess I can just memorize the leg weakening spell and the minor pain spell." Jaux muttered.

"That should be great! I think the neck numbing spell might be useful too." Commented Desyi.

=+=+=

About an hour after lunch, Jaux and her roommates were all reunited in the comfort of their room. They were once again sitting in the circle of pillow seats, which was apparently the standard group meeting setup between them.

"Did you manage to get the parts you needed?" Tricks asked Frey.

"Yep, got plenty of lead, just the right amount of gold, and an empty mystic stone." Frey responded.

"What do you need that stuff for?" Asked Jaux as she looked curiously at the pile of metal in the center of the circle.

"Frey's making a new personal wand." Desyi answered.

"Yep. Metal and stone wands can cast much more effectively than wooden wands, but since they aren't as flexible as wood, they often need to be specially designed for the mage who is going to use them." Frey continued to explain.

"But don't you already have a stone wand?" Jaux questioned as she recalled the pearl wand that Frey used in class yesterday.

"I do, but that wand was designed with a concentration genre casting pattern. Since it's a stone wand, the pattern can't be changed. That wand will always automatically include a concentration based pattern in every spell I cast." Replied Frey. "Many blessings tend to use some concentration magic, so it's been very useful for me. Unfortunately, my new ancient tile's blessing uses motion magic, which is why I'm making a new metal wand for power genre magic."

These things were always getting more complicated, Jaux was starting to get irritated by just how many details you had to keep in mind when studying magic. Her love for using magic was still unchanged, but the glamour of studying was fading swiftly from her mind.

The process of wand crafting was still fun to watch. Desyi, Tricks, and Frey all took a part in the spectacle of it. Desyi cast a powerful heat enchantment on her hands, which instantly melted every piece of metal she touched. Tricks, borrowing Frey's pearl wand, concentrated the molten lead and gold into thin wires. Frey then used some motion magic to shape the wires around a tiny crystal sphere in mid air, creating a complex piece of art. The gold wires were mostly straight and had very sharp angles, while the lead wires curved over and around the gold wires.

When the wires of the wand were finished, Frey kept them floating in mid air. Tricks then pulled out a bag of fine gray dust. The gray dust was manipulated onto the wires and mystic crystal, completely covering them. When the manipulation was completed, a rough-looking metallic wand hung in the air. Desyi finished off the wand crafting show by shooting a great concentration of tiny lightning bolts from the tip of her own ruby wand. The lightning was an amazing display, but so bright that Jaux ended up getting blinded.

"Whoops, forgot to tell you to look away. Sorry!" Desyi apologized when she saw Jaux's head pull back violently.

By the time Jaux could see again, Frey was already closely inspecting her new wand. While Jaux was blinded, the trio of young wand crafters had managed to attach a brass handle onto the new silver wand.

To test the wand, Frey cast a spell on herself that caused her to sparkle faintly. She then got up and ran around the room so fast that she looked like a blur of white.

"This is perfect, now I don't have to carry around that tile to cast this spell!" Frey exclaimed with glee. "You can keep my pearl wand if you want, Tricks. You'll owe me a big favor though, it was expensive."

"Aw sweet, this should help my illusion spells out a ton. Thanks!" Said Tricks as she pocketed the wand into her robes.

"Alright, let's stop wasting daylight in here." Frey announced. "Come on Suhara, I’m gonna teach you about auras.”

=+=+=

Frey had taken Jaux up to the roof for their private little lesson.

Auras were a form of spellcasting that let a person radiate energy from their bodies. This form of magic allowed a single spell to be cast on everyone around the mage. When used with blessings, it could strengthened the allies of the castor. When used with curses, it could weaken all the nearby enemies.

“Mages may be incredibly powerful,” Frey said, “but each spell take a bit of concentration to cast, which means it is difficult to deal with situations where you’re outnumbered.”

“You mean like those thieves yesterday, when all of the other students attacked them at once?” Asked Jaux.

“Exactly, the knight had powerful defensive enchantments, but the rest of the thieves could not fight back against so many waves of spells.” Said Frey. “This is where your specialty in curses becomes really useful. If you could cast an aura, you could weaken every enemy that is close by, evening the odds against you.”

“So how do I cast an aura?” Questioned Jaux.

“Normally, your spell is concentrated into a single blast. You’re going to learn how to turn that into a wide and consistent explosion.” Frey instructed. “Instead of concentrating all of your magic into your wand, you’re going to manipulate the magic inside your body, and command it to burst free. Concentrate on the flow of magic that runs through your veins, and cast as if your skin was the wand.”

Then, as a demonstration, a flow of pure light began to emit from Frey. Jaux felt it washing over her, empowering the flow of magic and strength inside her body.

Jaux attempted to duplicate the effects. She carefully concentrated a bit of her magic deep within, before trying to charge her skin with its energy. However, she was unable to release the energy before the aura of light washed it away from her.

“Uh, Frey, could you turn off your spell? I can’t seem to cast mine while it’s affecting me.” Jaux commented.

Frey grinned apologetically, before turning off her aura field. As the glow of white began to recede, Jaux felt her strength decreasing to normal.

Faint black mist began to pour out as Jaux tried to once again cast an aura. The mist refused to burst outwards, and instead just flowed from her skin to the ground. Jaux was disappointed at this, hoping that auras would be as easy to use as the curses from her small spellbook.

"It's alright Suhara, that's very impressive!" Encouraged Frey when she saw Jaux's disappointed face. "I couldn't cast a significant aura either when I tried for the first time, you just need practice."

Jaux continued to attempt casting the curse aura, with Frey giving her tips and advice. By the time the sun was setting, Jaux was able to fire off a small pulse of dark mist that would travel roughly half a meter away from her body before evaporating into nothingness. Frey had assured her that it was amazing progress.

=+=+=

As the two girls headed downstairs, Frey was spotted by a couple friends.

"Hey Frey-ray! What're you up to?" Said a boy with finger-length emerald hair.

A girl, who Jaux guessed was the sister of the boy, ran up and gave Frey a hug. She also had emerald hair, but it was curly and down past her shoulders.

"Oh hey, did you finally claim a novi?" The girl said when she noticed Jaux's black collar.

"Yep. Guys, this is my new roommate and novi, Suhara." Frey introduced. "Suhara, these are my friends Norman and Deledy."

"N-nice to meet you two." Jaux greeted.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Deledy cooed as she gave Jaux a little hug.

"So why'd Frey pick you to be her novi?" Asked Norman as he shook Jaux's hand.

"Uh..." muttered Jaux in confusion. She actually wasn't sure why she was picked.

"I picked Suhara because she's a curse magician," explained Frey, "she is a fellow mage of the power genre. I just knew I had a ton I could teach her. She's also learning very fast!"

"Wow! Curses! I've never heard of a mage with that as their first specialty!" Deledy exclaimed. "Where did you first learn magic from?"

"Erm..." Jaux nervously muttered, having forgotten where she claimed to have come from.

"Oh sorry, she can be a bit shy sometimes," Frey apologized, "Suhara comes from Western Beradina."

"Y-yeah." Jaux confirmed while nodding.

"Ah, of course," said Deledy, "that makes a lot of sense, the faraway deserts would probably have a different magic preference."

"Mmhm," Norman agreed, "I imagine fire would not be very popular somewhere that was already so hot all the time."

"So where are you guys heading?" Frey asked the siblings.

"We're heading to the apothecary. I need to make a few new potions." Norman answered.

"An apothecary attendant is also buying one of my heat bracelets." Deledy added, "I think she's going to go traveling soon and will need it to keep her warm during the nights."

"Ah, you two better hurry then. It's almost half an hour till curfew." Frey noted.

"Aye, we should," agreed Norman, "It was nice to see you again, Frey-ray."

"Likewise." Returned Frey.

"Take care, okay?" Deledy made sure to add.

The four mages split back up, heading on their different paths.

"Your friends are nice. What do they do?" Jaux asked Frey after about a minute of silence.

"Oh, they're fellow ace class magicians." Frey told Jaux. "Norman is a combat specialist who uses a lot of powerful potions, and Deledy is a crafter who makes many useful magical accessories. I considered asking Deledy to make me my new wand, but she charges everyone for her services."

"Ah okay. How do you become an ace class magician anyway?" Questioned Jaux.

Frey giggled a bit at the question. "Well, there are some special rules and restrictions regarding achieving the ace class...

However, the most vital requirement is to defeat a demon."