“Good grief,” Reiss said with a lopsided face of disbelief. He looked like a melting snowman. “How petty can you get?” He didn’t bother lowering his voice. Many had an opinion about his statement.

  Ginger himself was at a loss for words. Everyone in class turned to him and frowned as they pondered over what Fillys had posited.

  In the eyes of most of them, it did seem strange that back then, when Ginger had almost maimed them all with that flash of golden lightning, he had done it without an Incantation. A majority of the dragonlings in First Blue had celebrated when Professor Hennigar had eased their souls then, telling them that what Ginger had done wasn’t anything special at all. Now, their egos were beginning to itch again.

  Had they been lied to?

  Was Ginger special after all? Because of that Shaman he knew from the Wild?

  Ginger was overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of the attention. It wasn’t all just eyes stabbing at him, after all. The Kardia of his classmates limned their intent, donning a physical quality. It had a weight to it.

  But ultimately, that wasn’t what crushed him.

  ‘Why was I able to do that without an Incantation?’ Ginger found himself asking the same question for his own sake.

  Professor Hennigar clapped to turn the attention back to him. His wide bright smile chilled more than a few of the dragonlings into calming down.

  “There’s quite a simple explanation to that, actually, though I’m sure it will not assuage some of you,” he said.

  The Djuka repeated the Weavings for Small of the Back without the Incantation once, then twice, then thrice.

  A red flame exploded into existence before him again and condensed to the size of a fingertip.

  The class looked at it intensely, trying to extract Professor Hennigar’s intent from its emergence. It was all but clear that he did not mutter the Incantation for the simple fire spell.

  Why then did it work?

  “I do believe I said that both Weavings and Incantations are necessary up to a point. One of these points is when a user of a spell is unfamiliar with the spell in question. Weavings are normally a supplementary form of Preparation, but that doesn’t mean on their own, they are irrelevant. Remember, Weavings apply when compelling Mana Essence to take on a different form – the easier practice when studying Sorcery,” explained the Djuka.

  Fillys scowled. She had yet to find anything to disprove Ginger having a talent beyond her own in the Professor’s sermon.

  “Now, as far as I understand, during the lesson Fillys referenced, Ginger was attempting to perform a spell, a Charm he remembered from the Wild with Weavings alone. What he ended up with was Mana Essence changing its form into lightning. Isn’t that right, Ginger?”

  The plump dragonling was taken by surprise but he nodded all the same.

  “That’s right,” he said, feeling his skin burn lightly from Fillys’ glare.

  Professor Hennigar gave a sharp nod.

  “I believe I also mentioned that there are higher forms of Preparation beyond Weavings and Incantations. These can be applied to any spell, producing different effects upon casting. Thus, in short, you can shed away lesser forms of Preparation for a spell that you are familiar with while aiming for new types of Preparation. Additionally, familiarity can allow you to reduce the amount of Preparation required for casting a spell.”

  The dragonlings frowned in thought. Some stared accusingly at the plump dragonling and some sifted through their confusion to find the essence of what their Professor was saying.

  Yet Ginger might have been the most confused out of everyone.

  ‘But… I’m not familiar with the lightning spell at all. It just happened to have the same Weavings as the Charm I was trying to cast – the one that conjures a cool breeze,’ he thought. ‘Or does that not matter at all?’

  Perhaps there was another factor involved here. Something already floating through people’s heads. Yes. There was another factor here.

  Ginger noted it and his resolve turned stalwart.

  Reiss summarized the whole ordeal.

  “So, the fact that you knew the Weavings – because you had seen Ancor perform them multiple times – made it easier for you, huh? Oh, and the fact that Weavings normally work when changing the form of Mana Essence in general? Easy enough to understand,” he said more to himself than Ginger.

  “I wouldn’t call what I tried there to be Weavings though,” he thought, recalling those odd movements he tried in class back then. Apparently, they counted, even though they were supposed to work with Fetid Essence and Charms, rather than Mana Essence and spells. He hadn’t even tried them as much as most would think. He’d only seen Ancor do it… dozens of times.

  Murmurs and mutters ensued. The dragonlings had many dark thoughts, but ultimately, some of them found their way to the light.

  The fact that Weavings and Incantations could be discarded the more familiar they were with a spell was quite a nice prospect to look forward to actually.

  Professor Hennigar didn’t try to ease some of the dragons that continued to look at Ginger jealously. He had solidly established that, in a way, Ginger was a bit special after all. He went back to the subject of flame against flame.

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  “Now, as I said, let’s try the Small of the Back together. I’ll demonstrate the Weavings and Incantations again.”

  And so, the Professor did and had the dragonlings practice.

  The result only a minute into the practice poured flammable oil onto the earlier controversy.

  Ginger, after only a single try of the Weavings and Incantations to Small of the Back, managed to bring the spell to life.

  His hands moved quickly, clasping together, grabbing the thumb to his left hand and then clasping tight again and he muttered quickly:

  “Littlest of fires,

  born for the small,

  condense from the stream,

  and strike where I aim.”

  As he pointed his hand upwards, the condensed red flame zipped upward and smashed into the ceiling with a tsssa!

  The plump dragonling’s classmates gaped. Fillys might have been eating hot coals. Smoke streamed from her nostrils and she clenched her hands tight.

  Reiss had paid more attention to her reaction than Ginger’s perfect cast of Small of the Back. He stifled a mocking laugh with a big grin.

  “Well done, Ginger!” Professor Hennigar said brightly and applauded, but no one followed his example. The students poured their focus into the Standard fire spell. They refused to believe that they wouldn’t be able to perform it as easily as Ginger.

  Even Caron, oddly quiet, disregarded everything and furiously began Weaving and Incantating. There was an odd desperation to her face. It wasn’t a desire to prove that Ginger wasn’t talented – unlike with the others. Not at all.

  The next one to perform Small of the Back perfectly was Kairos Fayer. His red flame smacked the free wall with the same potency as Ginger’s flame.

  Then after a few others, Alcaeus managed, then Reiss followed, then Konstantina.

  The competitive atmosphere burned like the sun. The Small of the Back was hardly anything complicated to cast. Most dragonlings found that the only thing that tripped them up was the Weaving. If you were a bit slow in performing the simple three gestures, the spell would not work at all. Hence, more than a few had to try multiple times.

  Caron was among these types.

  She failed miserably.

  However, her Weaving wasn’t entirely the one at fault.

  The problem lay in her command over the Mana Essence in general. By all means, forcing the Mana Essence to change its form was the simplest thing to do where Sorcery was concerned, but your draw over the essence had to be strict and swift.

  Ginger and Reiss were surprised by how Caron kept failing. Her face grew increasingly hard, laced with depressions and shadows.

  Soon, many of the dragonlings who had managed to complete the task started to give Caron odd looks, pointing at her and giving wild comments.

  How could the rival of Vassilis be struggling with something like this?

  Even the most average dragonling with the worst Cast had managed, so why couldn’t she?

  By the time a red flame spawned before Caron and hearkened to her aim, everyone else had already managed at least a single cast of Small of the Back.

  The redhead could hardly celebrate. She donned a scowl.

  Ginger patted her on the shoulder.

  “We’ll talk about this after the lesson,” he said to her. He, much like Reiss, had an idea about what was going on with her. Caron sighed and nodded.

  Professor Hennigar broke the tension.

  “Well done. Well done. I expected nothing less from such fine dragonlings,” he said, clapping. “Now, I believe you’ve noticed another crucial difference between Sorcery flame and dragon flame. Well, I suppose first and foremost you’ve noticed that nomatter who casts Small of the Back, the output remains the same. It can’t be increased or decreased; it just is. That, my dear students, is because Sorcery exploits constants. Even the cost is constant, unlike with Dragon Flame and Kardia machinations like Pieyro. A dragon determines the power and cost behind their Custos Zoe or Contra Parousia, but Preparation defines the characteristics of a spell.”

  The dragonlings mumbled collectively, nodding and scribbling notes.

  “But as I had said before, do these differences really mean one is better than the other? After all, can we only take into account, flexibility, ease of casting, and output? How about we put this into practice? Let us take our most accomplished user of Small of the Back and pit them against our best user of basic dragon flame, shall we?”

  No words were necessary.

  The attention of everyone in the room fell on Fillys and Ginger.

  The two felt much of the same emotions after Professor Hennigar pointed them out.

  Excitement, anger, hatred, and the slightest twinges of anxiety.

  Ginger, after Reiss gave him a pat on the back, walked towards Fillys who also moved towards him. She whipped her apple-green hair out of her face and wore a cocky grin.

  The plump dragonling was unmoved.

  The other dragonlings tensed with excitement.

  When there were only about five meters between them, Professor Hennigar told Ginger and Fillys to stop.

  “You will not move from your respective positions. This is not a brawl. It’s just an exercise – one I hope won’t even last a minute. Demonstrate to me your skill in flame alone. Nothing more, nothing less,” he said and raised his hand.

  Ginger and Fillys nodded as they lanced each other with looks that could kill the average housefly. Their Kardia met in sparks in the middle and the air moved away from them in cowardly breezes.

  So much went unsaid between them… but also a lot was said.

  Only Alcaeus, Reiss, and Caron could guess what the silent battle could have sounded like.

  “On my mark,” said Professor Hennigar with his bright smile. “One, two, three…Begin!”

  Fillys was quick. She had already Saturated her Kardia in her gut before three, and as her cheeks inflated, she had every intention of doing the most with her dragon flame. With Professor Hennigar close by, she imagined that her best wouldn’t turn Ginger into a pile of ash.

  …But the plump halfling was shockingly quicker than her. He drew the Mana Essence around him twice as quickly as before, shaved off an extra second from his Weaving, and sped through the Incantation for Small of the Back.

  Everyone was bewildered when a red flame roared, condensed, and shuttled towards Fillys before her white flame could even spill from her lips.

  But she refused to be outdone. Not like this!

  Her eyes opened wide. She had been watching closely. She couldn’t afford to underestimate Ginger, not after what her brother had said about the plump halfling since the exercise at the Beginner’s Den.

  She saw the Small of the Back coming and dodged without shifting her legs. The spell had a weakness, she noticed. Because the user had to point where it was supposed to go, its trajectory was all but clear.

  After dodging, she let loose her dragon flame. She discarded all restraint and let it fire off as a jet of roaring white, red, and yellow flame at Ginger.

  The First Year spectators were alarmed. Like Nikolas before them, they finally felt the intensity of Fillys’ fire. An average human would be melted to the bone by such power, but a dragonling could be badly injured.

  The target in this, Ginger, wasn’t supposed to move from his spot.

  He had fired off his attack already.

  He has lost, was the common sentiment as the fire barrelled towards him.

  But then Ginger performed the Weavings for Small of the Back again, twice in less than half a second… and omitted the Incantations!

  Two fierce balls of red flame rapidly formed and condensed further than the size of a fingertip before him. Then, without a visible gesture from their caster, they sped around the incoming jet of fire – one to the left, the other to the right – and struck against Fillys.

  The young Doukas girl didn’t see them coming.

  She was so focused on her victory that the stinging sensations that smacked her forehead and leg with sharp pinches of hard force startled her.

  She shuddered, taking a step back and her flame lost its strength.

  Before any of its raging remnants could touch Ginger, a stream of sparkling clear water circled him protectively.

  When steam rose from its contact with the flame, that seemed to mark the end of the mock battle, showering the winner with a cloak of white hot victory.