Children Of The Sky (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 2)

Chapter 42

"Can anyone tell me what a mage of the Order of Avani is limited to?"

Anything made of plant matter and stone, Chad thought dully, but didn't speak up. He was leaning over his desk, chin in his hand, staring at the pencil that rolled beneath his fingers. They'd started practicing basic magic two days before, and it'd already been dragging him into the ground. Being in all four classes didn't help, either; soul magic was, in addition to a power over the souls of creatures, a culmination of all the other orders. Most didn't live long enough to master it all, much less learn how to handle each one, but training with Craventi had given Chad something of an advantage there. He knew how to use the four components, so he'd been put in all four classes. He was just bad at it.

"Mr. Benson, are you with us?"

His eyes snapped to the front of the room and locked onto the professor--Julor Nadin, one of the tallest men Chad had ever met. There was a smile tugging at the man's lips as Chad rubbed his face and ignored the stares of his classmates. He'd gotten used to those a long time ago. "Yeah, sorry. Did you ask me something?"

"I did." Professor Nadin tapped his desk. "Can you tell me what physical limitations a mage of any order has?"

"Sure," Chad said, still only half paying attention. Somebody threw a pea-sized stone at him from behind, hitting the back of his skull. He ignored it. He'd gotten used to that, too. "A mage from the Order of Avani can only lift solid objects up to twice what they can lift without their magic. It's why gravel is so dangerous, and why most of the buildings here are built with small bricks. They can move a lot more if the objects are small."

"Very good, Mr. Benson," Nadin said. "Now, can someone else tell me why the Orders of Pyralis and Ahio are so much different than the other two?"

As the drone of voices talking about the weight of air and fire filled his ears, Chad started rolling his pencil again and waited for the end of the lecture.

Nadin called his name when he was almost out the door, and, wincing, Chad stepped to the side to let the last few students pass. "Yeah?" he asked wearily.

Professor Nadin eyed him for a few minutes as if debating what to say. "Get some sleep tonight, Benson," he finally said, and waved Chad away.

It felt like Chad had walked out of a prison when he at last pushed through the doors and trotted down the stairs, pulling up the hood of his jacket against the light rain and holding his satchel close. Everything smelled like water and stone and dirt, and it was only stronger in the alleys. Chad thought about just setting his books and shoes inside when he got home and going for a long walk barefoot in the rain. It'd be nice, getting out into the world by himself. He'd felt the loss of his wanderings heavily the last week.

"Chad!"

He stopped dead in his tracks at Dria's voice and looked up. She was walking towards him, soaked and grinning. He blinked once, then grinned back, feeling less lonely all of the sudden, and fell into step beside her when he reached her.

"Why're you out here?" he asked, shivering as the rain got through his jacket and touched his skin. "Didn't you go to talk to Craventi?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to tell you, too, and I didn't want to wait." Her steps were bouncing, almost, and he laughed at her, earning him a shove. "I don't have soul magic. He said I've got something I can't pronounce, and that it mimics others' magic. So I--"

"--was mimicking ours," Chad finished, and she nodded. He shook his head disbelievingly as they turned the last corner towards home. "That's bizarre. I haven't heard anything about that in the Orders."