There was indeed another factor involved where Ginger was concerned.

  He had remembered it said about him somewhere a distance away – outside the school walls.

  Besides the average mechanics of Sorcery, Ginger also had a striking talent for wielding Mana Essence that was unlike that of most dragons.

  Fai had evaluated him and compared his talent to that of a Djuka – quite like his own Professor Hennigar.

  Admittedly, Ginger had not thought about the details of that evaluation at the Stalwart Stallions shack until just now. Well, to say he ever thought about it in-depth would be a lie. What galvanized his will to put his great talent to use were the words he recalled Shan – Fai’s daughter – saying:

  Mana Essence is pretty impatient. If you don’t put that talent to good use, all that potential will disappear.

  Thus, Ginger put it to good use. He found himself expressing this talent that most in his class feared he had.

  In a flash, he had beaten Fillys. He had bested her Dragon Flame in an indirect confrontation and he forced her to move her feet – a rule that Professor Hennigar had said wasn’t to be broken. And best of all, he did it without harming Fillys, contrary to what she had intended.

  After the steam started to clear, the First Years exploded into a shower of cheering, speculation, and nonsensical yelling.

  As Reiss and Caron rushed to Ginger, Alcaeus, Konstantina and the rest of Fillys’ crew rushed towards her. A few dozen dragonlings also rushed towards the two mock battle contenders mostly to stare and shout.

  Professor Hennigar donned his bright smile. Well, he had had it on ever since Ginger decided he didn’t need the Incantations to Small of the Back – a feat he had not expected the plump dragonling to show.

  He allowed the students to devolve into chaos for a time.

  Ginger was bombarded with questions and a nigh-infinite series of faces. Reiss and Caron did their best to push the unwanted company away. The plump dragonling wished they could have blocked his view of Fillys’ face instead.

  The word livid wouldn’t have done justice to the look she donned as she glared at Ginger. She had a small, dark dot at the center of her forehead – where Ginger’s first Small of the Back had smitten her. It was almost masked by how red her face had become.

  ‘She would eat me if given the chance,’ Ginger thought with a sigh. But he did find it in himself to wear a smile.

  He had done it. He set his mind toward something in the heat of battle (mock battle, granted) and it worked perfectly.

  As Reiss and Caron led him away, the dwarfish dragonling proved to share the same sentiment as Ginger with a “Good grief, man!”

  Caron merely gave Ginger an exasperated sort of smile that summarised all of her feelings. Ginger gave her a knowing look and nod.

  And it was then that Professor Hennigar culled the chatter.

  “Come now, come now. This was not a brawl that you need to break up,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that both our participants made a spectacular show of exactly what I wished to express. No doubt you all saw more concerning the pros and cons of Sorcery rather than Dragon Flame?”

  The dragonlings nodded and mumbled.

  They had indeed seen a lot more about Sorcery through Ginger’s actions.

  An eager one – a girl with silky black hair tied in a ponytail – raised her hand sharply. Many followed her example. With a chuckle, Professor Hennigar allowed the girl to speak. Naturally, she had a question.

  “Professor, you said that you can only skip over some forms of Preparation when you are very familiar with a spell. But Ginger just learned this spell – Small of the Back – like the rest of us. How is he already able to skip over Incantations?”

  Professor Hennigar maintained his smile, but inwardly, he felt a powerful wave of weariness.

  Quite like Ginger himself, and perhaps the entire class of dragonlings, he knew that the plump dragonling had an unnatural talent for Sorcery. He had tried to ease the egos of the other students during the first lesson for the Course by masking this fact, but inevitably, it had reared its head.

  Ginger was able to omit the Incantations for Small of the Back because he was talented. That was just it. But instead of packaging the answer this way, the Djuka wove it into a blanket of overbearing, distracting facts and delivered it to his students.

  “Let’s look again at what Ginger did to circumvent his opponent’s attack and manage a hit, shall we?” he said and he performed the Weavings for Small of the Back, conjuring a ball of red flame that swiftly reduced in size. “Fillys managed to catch a weakness of the Standard spell. The user has to set its trajectory with a gesture, and thus, it is easier to see where the attack will land. Perhaps some of you did not notice, but the second time Ginger used Small of the Back – twice, in fact – the speed of the spell was drastically diminished. Why do you think that is?”

  The Djuka half-succeeded in luring the students away from their collective burning query. He gave them all just enough time to consider the new question posed as valid for thought before promptly answering it.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Indeed, Ginger skimmed over the Incantations. But in doing so, the spell lost some of its constants. It lost its original size – becoming much slower – and it lost its maximum speed. What does that tell you?”

  The girl to ask the previous question whipped her hand into the air again. Professor Hennigar allowed her to speak.

  “You said before that Sorcery is about constants. So… if the spell itself – like Small of the Back – is supposed to be a constant – with a constant output, for example…” She seemed to realize the answer on her own. “Preparation is what bears the intent of a spell!”

  “Exactly!” said Professor Hennigar energetically.

  Another student raised a hand. It was a gangly boy with large, downturned eyes.

  “So… Professor. Using a spell like Small of the Back with both Weavings and Incantations yields a standard set of effects – like what we all did. And removing the basic Preparation – the Incantations, for instance – can cause the spell to lose that standard set of effects, right?” he asked.

  “That’s right,” replied Professor Hennigar. “And what does that tell you about other types of Preparation other than Weavings and Incantations?”

  “Then… other, higher forms of Preparation can increase the quality of a spell?”

  “That is correct!”

  As some of the dragonlings scribbled notes and discussed amongst themselves, their eyes brightening, Ginger found himself applauding the Professor’s way of skirting the real question and its real answer. He had noticed indeed.

  ‘To skim over the Preparation of a spell without being familiar with it, like I did, still requires some kind of talent,’ the plump dragonling thought to himself.

  He had skipped over the Incantations against Fillys because… he just felt he could do it. Small of the Back somehow became akin to a familiar friend at that moment. He knew he could count on it. Even without the Incantations – which did indeed weaken it – it was still useful. It was slower and smaller, but he didn’t need to point where it would go then. Better yet, it was just enough to distract an unprepared opponent in that state.

  And Ginger knew a lot about catching opponents off guard.

  As it so happened, Professor Hennigar had only delayed the inevitable with his skillful sidestep of the real question. Fillys cast her hand upward. The question she was about to ask was no mystery.

  Yet, it wouldn’t get to be voiced. The lesson’s allotted time elapsed and Professor Hennigar wasted no time putting a period on what he intended to teach for today.

  “I look forward to our next lesson,” he said as the students, some satisfied and some quite the opposite shuffled out of the room.

  Ginger, Reiss, and Caron stalled until most of their peers were out.

  “We’ll be waiting outside,” said Reiss, and he and Caron parted from the plump dragonling.

  Ginger rushed towards Professor Hennigar. From the way the Djuka had not shown any signs of leaving the room, he surmised that the instructor had also wanted to talk to him before he left. A bit nervously, Ginger got the point.

  “You made me an offer before. That if I share with you information about the Wild, you’d give me extra lessons. Is that offer still…” He failed to find the last word he needed for the sentence.

  “Of course, Ginger. I’d be happy to oblige,” Professor Hennigar grinned. “Just so you know though, what you tell me might get published. I was planning on writing an article, you see. Something that spreads a bit more awareness about the Wild and its conditions. Your input would help a lot. So, be sure to filter what you intend to tell for our little exchange.”

  Ginger pondered for a little while and nodded.

  It wasn’t a bad trade if that was the case.

  It’s not like he was going to be sharing personal information. He intended to share about Fetid Essence, the monsters in the Wild, and their habits rather than the lifestyle of the humans there. Well, at least not all of it.

  “Er… would you mind if I ask you a question, sir?” asked Ginger, his voice looking strained.

  “Sure.”

  “How much do dragons and all other creatures on Ravi know about the Wild? I mean, I know they look down on humans and the Wild in general, but I don’t see anyone giving any details about what they hate. Do people here even try to visit the Wild?” Ginger felt a bit of venom rise up his throat as he asked. He quickly swallowed it after saying his piece.

  Professor Hennigar gave him his signature bright smile before gesturing towards the open doorway. As they walked towards the exit to the Huddling Fury, he then answered:

  “First of all, it’s a lot harder to traverse between Ravi and the Wild than you know. Your…mentor must be a very accomplished practician of whatever type of power you use in the Wild. I’d delve into why it’s difficult to spatially relocate between places like ours and yours, but ahaha, I’m not so good at explaining such things honestly. You’ll learn about it soon enough, I trust.”

  “But concerning how much the races on Ravi actually know about the Wild… the truth is most carry biases and rumors as their truths. They keep to that and since they don’t have less costly ways of relieving themselves of these biases, and a staggeringly little drive to correct them, they well… sit on their arses. Only Sorcerers and other more, curious folks try to learn as much as they can.”

  Ginger frowned. He didn’t quite like the answer.

  The Wild had its evils and cons, yes, but it wasn’t the worst place in the world.

  “To the credit of those unwilling to learn about the Wild and the humans though, Ravi is vast. It’s but one continent of many elusive ones that every single race here has yet to land on,” said Professor Hennigar as he patted Ginger’s shoulder. “The world on this end is very broad, Ginger. That is a fact.”

  Seeing that the plump dragonling wasn’t moved, Professor Hennigar chuckled. They had reached a pathway leading from the Huddling Fury to other buildings in the school.

  “But perhaps the Wild is bigger than most give it credit for. Maybe it possesses many geniuses like you who can run circles around the so-called talents of Ravi in Sorcery,” the Djuka nudged the dragonling. “You can prove the worth and scope of the Wild single-handedly. Continue on this trajectory and soon, you won’t just make a single class full of little dragons gape in awe. You’ll be stunning the Bureau next, I bet.”

  Ginger chuckled.

  “Thanks, Professor.”

  They split up after the Djuka told Ginger they could begin the extra classes next Stride. Ginger rushed to catch up with Caron and Reiss who asked him what the Professor had said. He explained in great detail. He might have quoted every sentence.

  Many eyes kept poking at the three, Ginger in particular. Some had half a mind to approach, but Caron deterred them with a glare.

  “Well, I might not be a super prodigy in Sorcery, but I won’t have any trouble punching the teeth out of annoying idiots,” she said, yawning. Ginger was happy to see she didn’t look as miserable as before.

  “Do you feel better now?” Reiss asked him.

  “What?”

  “You did this – asking for extra lessons from Professor Hennigar – so you could outdo me and Caron, right?”

  “Oh, come on. I—”

  “Don’t bother trying to deny it,” said Caron with a disappointed shake of the head. “It’s not like we blame you. It will help - getting those extra classes. I just wish you could be a bit more honest about the main reason why you decided to do it.”

  Ginger made to retort against this, but he deflated.

  “I just think I should match the effort you guys are putting in for me. That’s all.”

  “Well, there was a better sort of way to go about it,” said Caron with an accusing stare.

  Ginger frowned.

  “What?”

  “You giving me extra Mana Essence lessons!”