The Battle Mage

Sycamore

Jack jostles through the crowd in front of us, pushing people out of the way so we could get to the front. We're both relatively short, and being in front is a necessity so we could hear and see. The teacher, a man shorter than Jack but twice as wide, stands on the small platform in the center of town. It's the only place in town with enough room to fit every student in our school. We take students from neighboring towns too, so we're a bit over packed. It's a hot, hot day in early fall, which is only magnified by the crowd, and I can see sweat gleaming on the teacher's bald head. 

We reach the foot of the stage, the crowd pressing in on us from the back. Everyone's sweaty, but no one cares. They're too excited about the group assignments to worry about personal hygiene. Today is the beginning of our first school assessment, which is essentially a mass test to determine placement in future courses. They send you out to complete a useless task to test how well you have your knowledge and magic developed. It takes about a week, and at the end they find how well you did as a group and individually and grade you on it. Not a letter grade, per say, but a "you would be good for x classes" grade. The advanced classes are of course the end goal. 

The teacher claps his hands to get the attention of the students. The crowd gradually grows silent. When it does, he says in a loud, booming voice, 

"I hope you all are confident in your preparedness for this exam. I know many of you are nervous, but honestly, you just need to be confident in yourself. Except for the written test. You should probably study for that." A titter runs through the crowd. "As for the tasks, each group will be given a task that suits their students. For instance, a group with more battle mages might get assigned to a more violent task than groups with healers. Understand?" People nod. "Good. The initial group assignments are pinned on the board in lunch room. If you want to trade, take it up with with Gerald. When every group is settled, you'll get your tasks." He waves his hands at us. "Get out of here." The group splits from the stage, and I recognize the keen  disadvantage of being in the front: We're now at the back of the line to see the assignments. 

"I bet I'm with you." Jack says, walking with the crowd towards the lunch room. "Obviously." I reply. "We requested each other, and Gerald loves you." Gerald is the language teacher and student head. He organizes pretty much everything, so it's a good idea to be on his nice side. "Who else?" He asks. "We would need a healer." I respond. "Past that, no idea." Each group has a minimum of one healer and one battle mage. Seers like Jack are rarer, especially at his skill level, so they're dispersed unevenly. "Maybe Keanu." Jack says. "He's a wicked fighter." "Jacob." I say to him. He wrinkles his nose. "The one that smells like fish all the time? No thanks. If I have to sleep in  a tent with him, I'd suffocate." "Don't be rude." I say, punching his shoulder. "He sells fish from the lake for a living. He can't smell like much else." "Yeah, and Mina sells meat, but she has the decency to mask the pig smell with whatever herbs she uses." I shrug. "Maybe he can't afford herbs." "Neither can Mina. She picks them." We've reached the lunch room and wait for the crowd to die down before looking at the assignments. 

"Here I am - seer." Jack reads off. "Wesley Warley - healer. Who's he?" I shrug. "No idea." "There's you - Battle mage." "They spelled my name wrong, it's Thalia, not Talia." "A true tragedy." He says sarcastically. "Lisa Lu - Shifter. I know her, she's in my language class." "I thought there weren't any shifters in our grade." "She's grade 3, above us. She's a bit of a ditz. Keanu Kane - Battle mage. Oh, awesome!" "There's no way he's going to stay in our group. Haley's not in it." Jack pouts. "I want him in our group. I don't even know who Wesley is." "Maybe Haley will join us." I suggest. He shakes his head. "She's in Poppy's group. Never leaving that one." "Fair enough. Hey, we're meeting our group in the art room. Let's go." We get out of the way for the few stragglers in line behind us.