I spent most of yesterday looking around the library and finding as many books on magic as I could to read. I started reading one and got halfway in until I realized it was... just a fairytale... Three hours wasted. After that, I started another book that spends a ridiculous amount of time explaining ether scientifically. As cool as it was, it wasn't much help. After realizing that was most of the book, I started yet another one. This one seemed to repeat everything Sylvis was saying about picturing magic within you and feeling it out.

  But today wasn't about reading. I would take that class or whatever it was to learn about healing magic. I had scoped out the area ahead of time so I wouldn't be late or have to rely on stalking people again... Heh...

  The "classroom" was small; seating maybe twenty people total. Cheap desks and chairs were lined up to face a bigger desk and chalkboard. There were two tall and lanky bookshelves on either side of the chalkboard holding maybe forty books in each. Not wanting to make eye contact with whoever was teaching this class, I sat in the second row, behind a girl with long blonde curly hair. The chair scuffed across the floor as I pulled it back, drawing her attention to the fact that someone was now sitting behind her. She made brief eye contact with me before turning back to the large empty desk at the front of the room.

  I placed my papers and pen on the desk in front of me. I was hoping to take many, many notes. Maybe if I dissected every piece of information, I would learn something my brain seemed to be skipping.

  A few minutes later, more people entered the room, including Aqua. When was I going to stop feeling so weird around her? Thankfully, she hadn't noticed me. Neither did Marge, who sat up front on the other side. I silently cursed myself for being too socially awkward to get up and move to sit next to her. I was surprised Aidan didn't join. Didn't he say he wanted to get better at general magic?

  Eventually, a man with short black hair and glasses walked in— Glasses? Could his eyesight not be cured with magic? Strange. He also looked fairly young to be teaching the class. I was expecting someone older, like my teachers back at home. Maybe anyone could teach these classes. Maybe one day I'd teach a class. ...But that would involve me staying here, which I have no desire to do.

  "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Zephyr. I will be teaching today's class on healing magic," the man introduced. "I'm sure many, if not all, of you have used healing magic at some point. And I'm sure most of you can heal a simple scratch, but not broken bones. Healing magic is different than, say... elemental magic. It is commonly misunderstood that healing magic draws upon nature to heal the afflicted. This is, however, not the case. You will only be drawing ether from yourself."

  Ether from self... No broken bones... Got it.

  "You could argue that you're using your own life source to heal others. This is why it is impossible to heal yourself."

  Wait, what? You can't heal yourself?! Then what's the point?!

  "Healing a scratch uses but a sliver of your own health — an amount that will easily replenish over a couple of hours. Healing an injury such as a broken bone requires a bigger sacrifice of the caster. If your body isn't willing to make that sacrifice, the spell will fail."

  "So, how do you do it?" someone from the back asked.

  Zephyr closed his eyes, placing his palms onto the desk as he leaned back. "Two ways. One, you can increase your maximum ether. Your life source and ether are inextricably linked. You could even argue they are one and the same. By practicing magic, you test the limits of your ether. Some are born with a naturally large capacity for ether, while others are smaller. Both can grow; the speed of growth is determined by genetics and practice."

  "And the other way?" Marge was practically on the edge of her seat.

  Zephyr straightened his glasses. "That is the safest way to increase your healing potential. The other involves practicing healing magic consistently. Either by finding someone willing to hurt themself over and over for you to practice on, or by simply being in the right place at the right time. The more life you sacrifice, the more tolerant your body becomes to healing magic. I must remind you that your maximum ether will not increase this way. Your body has a limit for a reason. If you ignore this limit, you risk killing yourself."

  The room became utterly silent for a moment; just a moment. I could faintly hear the sound of a pencil rolling against wood. I looked over and saw a guy with light brown hair leaning against his curled-up palm, rolling a pencil back and forth with his other hand. Aqua was sitting next to him looking like she could lose it any second now.

  "What are you doing?!" she whispered to him, the pencil flying across the desk into her hand. "I thought you wanted to come with me?"

  "There weren't as many people as I expected," he whispered back boredly. There must have been twelve other people here. How many had he expected? He briefly made eye contact with me, a peculiar smile on his face, before turning back to Aqua and retrieving his pencil using magic just as she had. Strange.

  "Using the right amount of ether is equally important," Zephyr continued with his lesson. "It is a common mistake to use more ether than necessary when healing. This puts a greater strain on your own body and can cause an influx of ether in the other person. While this might be useful if their ether is running low at that moment, it can come with some unwanted side effects if their ether is full, such as dizziness and hypertension."

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Zephyr pulled out a small pocket knife and poked his finger on the tip. He looked over at the boy sitting next to Aqua. "You seem to have been paying particular attention. Would you like to come up and demonstrate the correct amount of ether?"

  He bit his lip and gave a crooked grin as he walked up to the front of the desk. Holding his hand out so it hovered above Zephyr's finger, I could see a faint green light emanate from his palm. Satisfied, he walked back to his place next to Aqua

  "Thank you for demonstrating too much ether." Zephyr straightened his glasses. "You used twice as much ether necessary. When you use the right amount, the ether in the air should barely be visible."

  "The cut was too small," Aqua's friend replied. "Calculating the necessary ether would be impossible. It's like trying to weigh a drop of water with a scale meant for weighing heavy objects."

  Zephyr paused for a moment. "Perhaps I underestimated the assignment..." he said quietly. "Very well. For this next example, we will try something bigger." He grabbed the knife and dragged it across his arm, a faint red line appearing, yet the blood remained in place. "You?" He pointed at me.

  I froze. "I-I can't use magic—" I stammered.

  "This will be the perfect opportunity to learn!" He beckoned me to the front desk, and I reluctantly followed.

  I sucked in a deep breath and held it. I pictured his skin weaving together to close and... poof.

  "...Applying ice to the wound does help with inflammation, yes." Zephyr smiled at me sympathetically. I could hear everyone laughing from behind me. I was so embarrassed. I had completely iced over his arm. Heat emitted from my hands, and the ice immediately melted. "Would you like to try again?" He asked me.

  "...I'd really rather not, "I said quietly.

  Thankfully, he accepted this answer and simply nodded, allowing me to go back to my seat.

  "You didn't have to go up there if you didn't want to." Aqua's brown-haired friend caught me off guard. He looked so serious as if he were genuinely concerned about me.

  "I-It's fine. Lesson learned." I tried to smile it off, but his deep blue eyes were staring so intensely at me. I quickly looked away back at the curly blonde-haired girl in front of me.

  Come to think of it, he was the only one who didn't laugh, wasn't he?

  The class lasted a few more minutes before Zephyr dismissed everyone. I don't think it even remotely helped me as far as casting magic goes, but the information itself was incredibly useful for whenever I could use magic.

  That made me wonder... Will I be using magic on Earth? Would I even tell anyone about it? Would I tell Matt? I'd have to tell Matt, wouldn't I? That's probably something you'd want to know about someone before you started dating them... But other than him, would I tell anyone? How messed up would it be that I'm the literal cure to cancer and I keep that to myself? But... I'd probably be locked up in some government facility if I ever told anyone other than Matt... Especially Rose. Rose would blab it to everyone.

  "Did you learn anything?" Maverick caught me off guard and caused me to jump in place.

  "Don't do that to me!" I shouted. "But to answer your question, I learned far more from Zephyr than you." I crossed my arms.

  "Wow." Maverick stared into my eyes, his expression unreadable. "Then I guess I should give you an assignment. See that vase?" He pointed down the hall to an end table with a vase sitting on it. Guess someone forgot to put flowers in it.

  "Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "Take it back to your room. I'll tell you the rest later."

  "O-Okay...?" I sputtered. Whatever. I'll fulfill his stupid request.

  The vase was slightly heavier than I expected, and I probably looked like an idiot carrying it around with two hands underneath it. Whatever. I'll just take it up the elevator and back to my room.

  I gently placed it down in front of my door before opening it and placing it on top of the desk in front of the window. I wonder what the importance of this vase is?

  And I wonder when Maverick will tell me. It's been two hours and nothing. I'm glad I ate breakfast before going to that class, geez. I'm getting bored reading... Amanda's Blind Web; a book I had picked up in the library. It was yet another fairytale.

  A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Finally. But why hadn't he teleported into my room like he's prone to do?

  To my surprise, it wasn't Maverick at the door. It was Sylvis.

  "Sylvis?" I gawked.

  "Hello, Elaina. I received an anonymous tip that you had stolen one of my vases...? Ah, and there it is." She glanced behind me at the vase on my desk.

  "What?! N-No, I didn't steal it— Well, Maverick told me to steal it," I tried to explain.

  "So you did steal it."

  "Because he told me to!"

  "Did you go around stealing things on Earth because your friends told you to?" She faked a gasp, and I could tell she wasn't taking this seriously at all.

  "Of course not! But Maverick's my teacher!"

  "So you would steal something if your teacher asked you to?"

  "No! ...Yes? I-It depends! W-Why are you asking me all of these questions?!" I fumbled.

  "There's no need to panic, Elaina." She smiled sympathetically at me. "I simply like to gauge what kind of people I let into my home. I will warn you that the punishment for theft is reimbursement of the item's original value."

  "You want me to pay you?!" I freaked out.

  "Yes."

  "In installments?"

  "Upfront." Her smile widened as if she had just informed me I had won the lottery.

  "Can't I just return the vase instead? It means nothing to me. I'd be more than happy to return it—"

  "But it's the principle that matters, Elaina! You must repay me for the time I've wasted investigating this matter." Her expression immediately changed to shock and realization. "Of course, you don't have any money, seeing as you just arrived, yes? In that case, you can always duel your way out—"

  "You want me to duel you?!" I practically screamed.

  "No! Of course not!" She placed a hand over her chest. "Your opponent would be picked by me, but I assure you it will be a fair fight. Mostly. I have to give you some sort of challenge, right?" She chuckled.

  "In this duel... Can I die?" I asked, wanting to know the risks before agreeing to anything.

  "Goodness, no! What sort of person would I be if I let my family kill each other off?" She feigned another gasp as she placed a hand over her chest again.

  "Fine. I accept." It's not like I had money or would be getting any, anyway.

  Maverick totally set me up.