When the students entered the Magic Studies classroom on Moonday, both Khurshid and Ak-tu were waiting for them.

“Please take out your birth charts,” Khurshid told the class after the final bell rang. “Mr. Caihong will be looking at them for me.”

Some of the students exchanged glances and hesitated to take out their mirrors or notebooks.

“We don’t have all day,” Khurshid said briskly, a small smile forming on his lips.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ak-tu said, rotating his wrist in several circular motions. “Raise your hand if you didn’t do your homework because you thought a blind man wouldn’t look it over.”

Five people raised their hands tentatively.

“Raise your hand if you took the birth chart directly from the air-net,” Ak-tu continued.

“Mr. Jihan said we could!” Mernao Rulek protested from the back of the class.

Ak-tu nodded slowly. “Yes, he said you could use the air-net as a guide—not as a way to plagiarize. But who here actually looked up how to make a birth chart on their own, without just stealing it from the air-net?”

Ren proudly raised her hand from where she sat beside Sarala. Zyn raised her hand after a moment, and Sarala followed. C3 was the only other student to join them.

Ak-tu smiled. “Next assignment, try to put a bit more effort in, will you? Plagiarism is not accepted here, whether your teacher is blind or not. Now bring me your work.”

The students lined up in front of Ak-tu. Ren was first, and she showed her work off to her father eagerly. Zyn was less enthusiastic, but brightened when Ak-tu told her she did a good job. Sarala was next, holding her piece of paper a bit awkwardly. It was filled with eraser marks and folded in places.

“Well done,” Ak-tu praised.

A smile danced at Sarala’s lips as she returned to her seat.

Most of the class passed, so long as they did something—even if it was plagiarized. The five students who did not do their work failed their first assignment.

“Carry on with class, Mr. Jihan,” Ak-tu told Khurshid. “As for the rest of you, be sure to do your own work!” he added sternly as he opened the door and left.

“Today, we’ll be talking a bit about spirits,” Khurshid said, drawing the class’s attention back to him. “We won’t go too in-depth with them, but… Well, we all have different views on spirits. I’ll give you a small introduction to how this school views spirits.”

“Are spirits the same as monsters?” Frost Wuolf asked loudly at the back of the room.

“Or demons?” Ayl Dattem asked in a quivering voice.

Khurshid smiled lightly. “This is exactly my point. What we call spirits here, others might call guides, ghosts, gods, creatures, demons, and monsters. It all depends on where you grew up, and what your culture believes about these spirits.

“All of these terms are referring to spirits, which are from the spirit realm. Spirits like to cross into the physical realm, which is the world we are in. Some spirits come to live in peace, while others like to cause mischief. The ones that scare or attack people are often referred to as demons and monsters. There are also spirits who just like to cause mischief for no other reason but fun, and these spirits are still looked down upon, but maybe not as much as the others. Not all spirits are ‘evil’ though, as there are others who seek to help people as spirit guides, whether it be answering their questions or even saving their lives. Ghosts and spirits are not the same. 

“Each spirit is just like you or me. We are all different, and spirits are too. Each spirit has their own motivation for doing what they do. Therefore, they can neither be seen as pure ‘good’ or ‘evil’—which is why we refer to them as spirits.”

Sarala rolled her eyes. There’s no such thing as spirits, she thought dismissively. 

She wasn’t the only one. A few students at the back of the room were muttering how they’d never seen any proof of spirits. 

Khurshid frowned as he heard the whispers. “Is there a problem back there?” he asked.

The students stopped talking at once. Some of them shifted guiltily in their seats.

“You do not believe in spirits, do you?” Khurshid asked them calmly.

“Of course not,” Sarala scoffed, before she could help herself. “Besides, how would you know some other realm thingy exists?”

Khurshid frowned at her, his blind eyes focused on her face; Sarala felt a shiver run down her spine.

“There is evidence of spirits, across the whole world,” Khurshid said after a moment. “Spirits are even viewed as gods in some religions, typically in places where they took over at one point in history before moving on. Some spirits have even been seen to attack human settlements for destroying too much of nature, terming spirits as nature’s defenders. I know that we all have different beliefs here on the matter, so I am asking that you are merely open-minded to the fact that spirits exist—since our classes revolve around this knowledge.”

But I’ve never seen a spirit, in all the time I’ve been in nature, Sarala thought bitterly. If such things existed out there, then surely I would have met one…

It was as if Khurshid was reading her thoughts, as he added, “A spirit does not need to make themself known to you for them to exist. 

“Now, the reason I’m bringing up spirits is because I want you all to have the same definition before we delve into the history of magic’s beginnings. It was said that spirits—who hold spirit magic as their core magic—were the ones to teach humans how to use the elemental magic in every living creature (despite spirits not having control of elemental magic themselves, for the most part).”

Sarala sighed as she realized that this class was going to be a lecture praising nonexistent spirits for giving magic to humanity. She was just starting to fall asleep when the class finally came to an end.

“Before we move to the Magic Channeling classroom, I’d like you to make note that this week’s homework will be researching evidence of spirits existing,” Khurshid said. “You will be paraphrasing your findings in next week’s class. Now, let’s get to channeling some magic!”

Finally! Sarala thought, and she got to her feet eagerly.

They left the Magic Studies classroom to go to the next room over. When they entered, they saw that the purple-painted room was set up like an obstacle course. Desks, chairs, sticks, and other random objects were strewn about all over the place. There were even firm pillows painted as targets on the far side of the room. Sarala sniffed the air, detecting the faint scent of something burned—was that the result of fire magic? 

“We will be working on magic now!” Khurshid said. “Or—soon. I just have to remind you of a few things before we begin…

“There’re two ways of using magic. You can control the elements in your surroundings or you can bring your own elemental magic out. We will be doing environmental manipulation for the first semester, and using our own magic—from within us, that is—the second semester. 

“When using wands, you have to tell the wand what you want it to do. The more confident you are, the better your magic will be. Any self-doubt, anxiety, or depression can cause your magic to be shaky or weak. Sometimes, your magic can even ‘shut off’ altogether. This is what we call a magic block. Magic blocks are nothing to be afraid of, and happen once or twice in your lifetime, typically if you’re seriously ill or struggling with your mental health.”

Khurshid signaled to the obstacle course, and Sarala saw the large cauldrons that had been in the Courtyard during the magic assessment week. 

“All four elements are in the cauldrons already, so there’s no need to conjure up anything. Gather around your elemental cauldron.”

Sarala moved to the green cauldron with the “Earth” label. Three other students—Raimugi Senzakou, Ebony Jay, and Beanna Ravford—joined her. Sarala glanced at the yellow cauldron nearby, where Ren and Zyn were joined by C3 and Mernao Rulek. There were six or seven students at both the fire and water cauldrons. A buzz hung in the air, as if each student held their breath in eager anticipation. 

“Now, take out your wands,” Khurshid ordered. “We will have one student go at a time per cauldron. I want you to lift your element out of the cauldron, then put it back down. Remember to order your wand. Try this five times before the next person goes. If you have any questions, call me over.”

Sarala glanced at the other three students a bit shyly. Raimugi, a blonde person, smiled at her. Ebony, a tall boy with dark brown hair, stood off to the side nervously. Beanna, a girl with vibrant orange hair, rolled her eyes at him and approached the cauldron first.

I think I’ll just go last, Sarala thought to herself.

“Remember: You need to command your wand with confidence,” Khurshid said loudly, as excited chatter started around the large classroom.

“Lift the rock!” Beanna ordered, pointing her wand at the rough stone in the cauldron. But the rock didn’t move, so she repeated her command more briskly. “Lift the rock!”

Khurshid moved over to their cauldron. “Focus on the boulder, not on the wand,” he told her.

Beanna frowned, then ordered, “Lift the rock!” 

The stone floated out of the cauldron as Beanna moved her wand upwards. She squealed in delight, then lowered her wand, causing the rock to sink back into the cauldron. She repeated the exercise two more times, then stepped aside for the others.

Raimugi went next, and they moved their boulder on the first try, picking up Khurshid’s advice. They lifted and lowered the stone all five of their turns successfully, giving a loud noise of victory each time. They then moved back to let Sarala go.

Sarala approached the cauldron with her wand out in front of her, feeling a bit uncertain. Did it matter which way her wand pointed? Was she supposed to point it at the stone first, or while she commanded it? 

“Lift the stone,” she said gruffly, hoping that her confident voice would mask the fact that she didn’t know what she was doing.

It didn’t. The stone remained where it was, in the bottom of the cauldron. Sarala frowned, then remembered what Khurshid had told Beanna. She had to focus more on the stone—on lifting it—rather than on what she was supposed to be doing with her wand.

Sarala took a deep breath and tried again, her golden eyes piercing the rock below her. “Lift!” she ordered, her lip curling back slightly.

The stone shifted a bit, but it didn’t go as high as it had for Raimugi. 

“Lift!” she growled, her anger starting to flare as she flicked her wand upwards.

The boulder suddenly shot out of the cauldron, flying up towards the ceiling. It smashed through the wood with a loud bang, causing each student to stop their work and stare in awe. Sarala blushed in embarrassment as the boulder fell from the air and crashed back into the cauldron. The cauldron shattered at once, the metal pieces clattering on the floor.

Khurshid swiveled his head about at all the noise, clearly trying to detect what had happened. “Who did that?” he asked in the silence that followed.

“She did!” Beanna yowled, pointing at Sarala. 

Khurshid moved closer, feeling the air with his hands to detect who the offender was. He frowned and said, “Ah. Sarala Kiran. Go see Mr. Caihong, please.”

Sarala knew her face was a deep shade of red by now, especially as she was holding her breath. Body stiff, she merely nodded to Khurshid’s words and exited the quiet classroom, only allowing herself to breathe again once she was out. She frowned as she glanced around the Courtyard, uncertain where Ak-tu might be.

Remembering about the frogoyles, Sarala glanced around for one. It took her a minute or two, but then she saw the fanged frog statue only meters away, connected to the side of the stone wall. She stepped forward until she was standing directly beneath it. 

“Um…frogoyle?” she called up to it. “I need to see Hawk-tu Caihong.” Ugh, I still can’t pronounce his name!

She stood staring at it for a long moment, but nothing happened. 

“Do you know where he is?” she pressed.

The frogoyle suddenly landed on the ground in front of her with a crunchy-sounding thud that was much softer than the stone hitting the cauldron. She let out a yelp of surprise, but quickly regained control of herself. The frogoyle peered up at her through purple-shining eyes, then hopped away, the stone scraping with each hop. It headed towards the Greenhouse. Sarala hesitated only a moment, then hurried after it.

She entered the stuffy Greenhouse, but quickly lost the frogoyle in the tangle of plants. She started to panic, then realized that it didn’t matter where the frogoyle went. He’s in here somewhere.

“Mr. Caihong?” Sarala called over the loud noises of birds, bugs, and bushes. “Are you in here?”

She wandered around the ground level, calling out for Ak-tu as she went until she reached the spiral stairs leading up to the next level. After going up, she walked across the wooden planks, which went around the perimeter of the Greenhouse. 

“Mr. Caihong?” she yelled again.

Ak-tu suddenly appeared in front of her, dressed in a green tank top that had easily concealed him amongst the plants. Sarala let out another yelp of surprise and stumbled back. She blushed outwardly, but only felt anger searing through her at her blunder. She should have punched the man, not jumped away in fright! Then again…she’d probably be in big trouble if she did attack. Still would have been better than being a total coward, she thought dismally.

“Can I help you?” Ak-tu asked brightly, flicking his wrist to create a tiny tornado in the palm of his hand.

“Um…Mr. Jihan told me to come see you.”

“Is there a particular reason for this?” Ak-tu pressed patiently.

Sarala hung her head. She glanced at the wand she still held in her hand, as slumped as her shoulders. “I threw a rock into the ceiling and it broke the cauldron when it landed.”

Ak-tu seemed to be glaring at her for a long, quiet moment. His unibrow always made him appear angry if he wasn’t smiling. Sarala waited for the yelling to come, to hear what her punishment would be. 

But then Ak-tu snorted in laughter. “You broke the cauldron?” he exclaimed.

“Yeah?” she questioned, taken aback.

“Were you angry as you did this, or too excited?” Ak-tu asked.

“I was angry,” Sarala said. “I couldn’t get the magic to work right the first two times, and then the third try…it…flew away.”

Ak-tu shook his head, chuckling. “Ah, Sarala, you need to control anger when it comes to magic! If your emotions are too strong, it can have a bad effect. It will also take more energy out of you—not that it matters too much when you have a wand. A wand means you’re wasting less energy than if you were just channeling with your body on your own. But it’s still valuable to learn to control your emotions before you get too far in magic.”