Skadi pulled out a potion and drank it. Erik frowned and looked at Irene, who grinned. She was our supervisor, maybe she knew what Cassie and Skadi were up to.

  After consuming the potion Skadi took Cassie’s hand. I was really curious what would come next, as they stood there. Part of me was waiting for something to explode.

  Then I noticed Skadi’s skin. It changed. It was not her normal earth spell that increased her durability. It was… blood! Her skin was slowly covered in blood!

  Cassie was looking normal, just breathing heavily. Eventually Skadi was fully coated and Cassie let go of her hand.

  Was this some sort of armor? It did not look very solid. Then again, neither did a water shield. I looked at the headmaster. His face was unreadable. But his eyes glowed slightly. Maybe he had a spell to analyse what was happening?

  Erik looked at Irene. “You knew about this?”

  “Yes. Remarkable, isn’t it?” She replied.

  “I would call it foolish. Girls, do you know what you have done?” He asked.

  Cassie grinned. “We created a blood armour, connected to Skadi’s blood.”

  Skadi formed an axe in her hand and swung it around. “I have complete control over it. I can use it as armour, or weapon, or both. It is more durable than a water shield. And if I cut someone with that weapon I can drain their blood. I can probably do even more with practice!”

  Erik shook his head. “You are using your own blood! That spell could easily kill you if you made a mistake! Irene, explain why you have allowed this.”

  Irene smiled. “Because those girls have a little secret. Our blood mage here has been empowering her blood. She has actually changed it, a bit like a magical creature. It means she has far greater control over it than she should have, given her lack of experience. The potion she consumed, one that Cassie made, contained her own blood. It increases her regeneration for a time, to make sure her body still has enough blood to function after using some on the outside. Then Cassie helped her activate the spell. It’s quite clever.”

  Erik looked less angry and more annoyed now. Then he looked at Skadi and Cassie. “How did you manage to change your blood and infuse it with mana? Alchemy?”

  “I, uh, helped with experiments.” Cassie admitted. “We did some testing in the lab, with blood not inside of her.”

  “Koyuki’s vampiric undead can do blood armour and attacks. It seemed like a good idea.” Skadi commented.

  I had a feeling our circulation technique helped too. Skadi had proposed using it to empower our blood in the past.

  “Those are undead. They do not need the blood inside of them. They can use it all and then regenerate it slowly over time. A living creature can’t.” Erik pointed out.

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  “Um, but I have learned some healing. And together with the potion I can create enough new blood.” Skadi said, sounding a bit uncertain now.

  Erik nodded. “Just make sure that there is always enough left inside of you. Blood armour is a very advanced technique for a reason. Before you use that in actual combat you need to train with it.”

  “Relax Erik.” Irene said. “I made sure they did not kill themselves. I did not actually expect them to pull it off, at first. But after a long talk and them showing me some of what they could do I agreed to give them a chance. I loaned them a healing potion to ensure nothing went wrong.”

  “Alright.” Erik said. “It was an advanced spell, so you pass. I will have a private discussion with Irene later. You can end the spell for now.”

  Erik seemed calmer again. Looking at him and Irene there was some silent communication going on. Part of me wondered if Skadi would get extra classes now. That would mean I was no longer the only one who accidentally increased our homework.

  Skadi nodded and the blood flowed back under her skin. It was a lot faster than summoning it.

  “Um, don’t you have too much blood inside your body now?” I asked.

  “No, the spell takes care of that. The body can break down anything it does not need.” Skadi replied.

  “Now let’s see if you have enough mana to be a senior mage.” Erik said and pulled a white crystal ball from his pocket. “This is a measuring orb. It is not the most precise thing and has to be recharged periodically, which makes it expensive to use. Normally you would be measured after graduation, since your core is still growing a lot.”

  He held up the orb, so that we could see it. Then it began to glow in a bright blue. “All you have to do is channel your mana into it. The orb can measure your core once you have connected to it. You don’t need to channel all of your mana, all the orb needs is a connection.”

  Then he took his finger and pointed at some lines. “The orb fills based on your core size. You need to fill at least the first line to graduate. Then we have this line, it represents the average at graduation. This line is for senior mage and that is for grand mage. If the entire ball fills you have enough mana to become an archmage. Keep in mind that archmages vary in core size as well. If you fill the entire ball you have at least the minimum requirements, we don’t measure beyond that. Who wants to go first?”

  “I can.” Cassie volunteered. Erik handed her the orb. She channelled mana into it…

  “Wow.” Cassie said, staring at the orb.

  “That is rather remarkable.” Erik commented.

  I blinked. Was I missing something? Was that not the average line?

  Erik continued with a smile: “You see, Cassie had a below average core for a new student. Alchemy was a perfect choice for her, since you can prepare potions before a battle. But now? She has reached the average… of a graduate.”

  My eyes widened as his words sank in. For most people the core grew rapidly until twenty, then still moderately until thirty. Over thirty it grew very slowly. There were exceptions, of course. But many expected their core to double during their time at the academy. But Cassie’s had already grown more than that, in a year.

  Erik studied Cassie. “Your sudden growth is not unique but it is rare. I will be honest, I had not really expected any real surprises. This test was mainly done for Koyuki, to formally make her a senior mage. But it seems there are more surprises in this group. If you keep growing like this, you will certainly become a senior mage, in time.”

  Cassie seemed really happy. She gave everyone a hug. Skadi took the orb next.

  “Oh my. Your core is twice the size of the average graduate.” Erik commented.

  You needed three times the average graduate to become a senior mage. Skadi would reach that easily in the next three years.

  Skadi looked happy too and another round of hugs followed. I also began to realise just how remarkable being a senior mage after the first year would be.

  Next was Helena. She channeled mana into the orb. Then she gasped.

  “You are a senior mage.” Erik said, stroking his beard. “Not by much, you just about reached the threshold.”

  “I am a senior mage!” Helena cheered.

  “Congratulations!” We cheered with her and more hugs followed.

  Erik observed us, contemplating things. Clearly he had not expected this.

  It was my turn at last. I took the orb and channeled mana into it.

  “You are close to being a grand mage, at least when it comes to your mana.” Erik said, taking the orb from my hands. “Your group has displayed remarkable talent. You have learned advanced magic in a year. Two of you are now senior mages and the other two are above average for your age.”

  “Wow.” Was all I said. Meanwhile I was getting hugged by my cheering friends.

  “All of you have a lot of talent. But you still have a lot to learn.” Irene cautioned us. “Keep in mind that efficiency with your spells matters and takes training.”

  “Indeed. Such a talented group… I think you will need extra classes next year.” Erik said.

  We all stared at him in horror.