“Chief Samuel. Call everyone to the town hall.”

  “Wha- may I ask why?” Samuel’s hands shook as he tried (and failed) to suppress his nervousness.

  “I’m going to begin teaching magic. I need everyone in order to teach. Hrm. You needn’t call the sick over. Just remember who those are, and inform me when they are recovered.”

  “Ah,” Samuel let out a sigh of relief. “By when?”

  “As soon as possible. If you fail to find Stevin, that’s fine.”

  Samuel nodded and headed out, while Dawn crossed her legs and began to meditate on a new rune, one to manipulate the earth.

  A brisk hour later, Samuel returned, telling Dawn, “Only Stevin and Jacob were unavailable.”

  “Understood. Go join them now.” Dawn stood up from her meditation and scanned the crowd. Everyone was lined up in rows, differing degrees of nervousness on their faces.

  “Hello everyone. Every day, I will call for all of you to begin your lessons. I will be teaching you magic. Does anyone have questions?” Dawn continued to scan the crowd, noticing a questioning look, but no one raised their hand. “Raise your hand like this if you have a question.”

  A hand slowly crept up. “Yes?”

  “U-uhm,” they cleared their throat. “What is magic?”

  “Hrm. That’s a hard-to-explain question. For now, magic is–,” Dawn formed a fire ball as she spoke, “–the power to alter the world. You can also form this ball of fire if you continue with these lessons. Anymore questions?”

  Seeing no more hands raised, Dawn moved onto her actual lesson. “First, we will learn what mana feels like. For now, everyone sit in a comfortable position. Then, try to feel your mana. Focus on yourself, and the energy in your body.”

  With the crowd slowly shifting into position, Dawn simply watched for several minutes. A variety of expressions appeared on the students, of exertion to apathy, tiredness, and joy. When half an hour had passed, Dawn rose. She approached the first student, one of the guards she beat up when she annexed the town. She placed her hand on his shoulder and slowly fed her mana into him. When he twitched, she stopped.

  “Do you now feel your mana?” Dawn asked, with the guard rapidly nodding in response. “Then you are dismissed for today.” Dawn stepped to the side and began the process again with the next student. “Do you feel your mana?”

  “Ah- Yes!” the student replied.

  “Then you are dismissed for today.”

  Dawn continued, going one at a time through every student, dismissing them when she awoke their mana.

  And when everyone was dismissed, Stevin approached her.

  “Hello Dawn.”

  “Hello Minister Stevin. What do you need?” Dawn stared at Stevin, noticing his face of acceptance, alongside the boars he hunted being prepared further away.

  “Hah. So you never cared about me, did you? No matter. I would like to quit.”

  “You wish to stop being my Minister?”

  “Yes.”

  “Very well. Will you continue to hunt?”

  “No.”

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  “Understood. Do you have anything else you wish to ask?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Then I will be off. Goodbye, Stevin.” Dawn left, not even sparing a second glance at Stevin as she headed back to the fields.

  When Dawn got to the farm, she manifested a shovel and began to dig out the irrigation ditch. And as she continued along the path, carving the outflow, she thought about what her lessons would be.

  Today was feeling mana. Next, manipulate mana. What next? Manifestation is easiest. Enhancement or spells? The understanding of the rune will take a while. That would be a good final exam. So enhancement after manifestation, then the [Flame] rune. And when they pass, I’ll assign their jobs.

  What needs to be done? Farming. The farmers need to be guarded, and we need a standing army. So warriors. Research? Not enough people. When we’re settled, I can start that up. Hunting? No. I can take care of that until farming gets started up. What else? I can’t teach everyone forever. So teachers to continue this cycle even if I stop. Anything else for now? Builders? Miners? Again, too few people. When we annex the other town, maybe we can start.

  Dawn looked up at the sky and saw the sun beginning to set. With one final check of her plan, trying to see if she missed anything major, she headed back.

  When both dawn and Dawn rose, she set out and hunted. And with the food acquired, she told Samuel to gather everyone for class.

  When everyone assembled, Dawn told them to “manipulate the mana within you. If you can’t figure it out on your own, raise your hand.”

  And like before, she simply stared at everyone. Noticing someone in the back, surprised, Dawn realized a mistake she made. “If you are successful, come up front to be dismissed.”

  The person from the back came forward, their bravado crumbling with every step. But, they arrived all the same.

  “Show me. Move your mana from this hand,” Dawn pointed at their right hand, “to the other.”

  She watched, noticing the strain on their face, and the soft sensation of mana fading from one hand and growing in the other.

  It appears I can feel mana now.

  “You are dismissed.” Dawn turned her attention back to the crowd, waiting.

  Several days passed. Dawn kept hunting, teaching, and digging. And today was the exam.

  “Everyone,” Dawn spoke. The crowd snapped to attention. “Today is the final day of general lessons. After this, everyone will get a specialized job. To get this job, you must demonstrate a deeper understanding of [Flame].” As she spoke, the rune manifested beside her. “Start by memorizing this rune. When you are finished, you are dismissed. But your exam continues. Study and meditate on the rune. When your understanding has deepened, come find me and demonstrate this. Any questions?”

  The crowd was still, staring at the rune. But they began to trickle away until finally, the last one left.

  Noticing this, she dispelled the rune and headed to the fields.

  When Dawn had just a foot left until the ditch was ready, someone called out to her.

  “Ah, Dawn!” Rosalia cried out. The girl who had been dismissed first in the mana control lesson had unsurprisingly been first in understanding the rune.

  “I take it you completed the exam?”

  “Yes!” Without Dawn even asking, she manifested a flame, on par with Dawn's.

  “You pass. You have three choices to pick from. Would you like to farm, fight, or teach?”

  “Which one lets me be with you?”

  “None of them. I will be doing my own thing. I could make you my minister if you’d like?”

  “YES YES YES!”

  “Very well. I appoint you, Rosalia, the minister of magic. Do you accept?” Dawn manifested her halberd and laid its blade on the side of Rosalia’s shoulder.

  Rosalia nodded, “I accept.”

  Dawn nodded lightly in response, before asking, “So, what do you want to do?”

  “Which does the most magic research?” Rosalia asked, excitement creeping into her face.

  “Likely teacher. You will be designing and teaching a curriculum, but you will have the most free time. Warrior and Farmer will be mostly focused on direct, repetitive work. Being a teacher may allow you to research while teaching.” Similar to a professor.

  “Sounds great, your majesty!” Rosalia bounded off, seeming much like a puppy.

  Dawn turned her focus back to digging. When she dug the final bit, the water began to travel through her newly created path. Dawn walked beside the water, inspecting the water to see if it continued to flow. It kept going, arriving at the field, and followed the outflow back into the river.

  Good. The farmers won’t need to bring buckets over anymore. Despite the thought, no hint of a smile crept onto her face. She was, as always, expressionless.