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4/13/2022 4:36:42 AM
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Solitha Chapter 8 Part 3: The Evaluation

“And now for your prepared spell,” Evaluator Teorakest declared, having already made the notes for that portion of the exam. Welp, Nona might not have stuck the landing on that section, but he could still finish strong. Flame was a notoriously hard spell for beginners to control. Nona had spent at least three full days just trying to get the tiniest of embers to spark without burning Ahsante’s whole manor down, all under a watchful eye. If nothing else impressed this guy, being able to cast a controlled Flame certainly would. The problem with Flame is that the Shape felt disjointed, the rune displayed many wavy tendrils spreading out in random directions, so it was difficult to slowly integrate a Knot into the Shape of Flame like other spells. The trick was to cast an inverse-spell, create as loose a Knot as possible, then quickly shove it into the Shape before it had time to collapse. Once the spell was cast, then Nona would work on refining the little details. Nona held out a closed fist, imagining the Shape of Flame inside it. In the back of his mind, he threw some Thread together without really thinking about the Knot at all. Then, with a flick of his wrist, splayed out his fingers as if igniting a fire in the sky. Nothing happened. The Knot should’ve been forced into the Shape of Flame when he moved his hand, but it just unraveled instead. No matter, he’d try again. He closed his fist, then “ignited” it, but still there was no flame. It didn’t make sense; he was literally doing the same spell that morning! Nona shook his wrist, rubbed his hands together, and starting sating “fire!” or “go!” out loud when he splayed out his hands, all the mental resets Ahsante taught him when struggling with a new spell. Nothing was working. “Are you unable to cast your prepared spell?” Evaluator Teorakest asked presumptuously, resting his hand on his chin. “I can cast it,” Nona shot back irritably, splaying out his wrist once more. “I do not have all day; therefore, I shall grant you three more tries,” he declared sharply. Nona gulped. Three more tries, got to make them count. There could not have been anything wrong with is Shape or the integration of the Knot, so maybe there was something wrong with the Knot? Nona went slowly, focusing only on constructing his Knot. He guided the Thread all around him to the location above his fist, then tried to lay down his first Thread. It slipped away from him like an eel. He grasped at it again, but it avoided him, completely disregarding his mental commands. It wasn’t that his Knots were unraveling before they were fully integrated, like in the training room; Nona couldn’t cast any Knots at all! This was bad, real bad. Without a proper Knot, not only was Nona unable to cast fire, but he couldn’t cast any other spell if he wanted to! He narrowed his eyes at the spot where he had gathered Thread, then focused on controlling one Thread. It writhed and struggled against his mind, but Nona held firm, gently laying it into place. One Thread at a time, Nona carefully crafted the most unstable, nastiest, mess of a Knot he had ever made. A few Threads managed to slink out, but Nona didn’t care. He was clueless when it came to Teorakest’s questions, Teorakest wasn’t impressed with his Lightball, he thought Nona’s Ward, was stupid, and Nona failed the end of his Wind and Levitiate demonstration; if he couldn’t bring himself to cast this one, basic spell, he would be a complete failure of a mage. It might have been his sloppiest work, but Nona managed to hold a Knot together. Quickly, before it could fall apart, he splayed out his fingers, integrating his Knot with the Shape of Flame. A roaring inferno burst forth from the palm of his hand. A great column of flame spiraled up towards the ceiling, spreading in all directions. The flames licked at the invisible Ward that protected Teorakest’s desk, which flickered underneath the sheer power of the Flame, threatening to shatter. The Knot raged against the boundaries of the Flame spell, changing and morphing its nature completely out of Nona’s control. Teorakest swept an arm, and a sudden gale pushed the flame away from the desk and to one of the side walls. Nona, encased in a fiery prison of his own making, was stunned by its strength. “Dispell it!” Teorakest yelled over the roar of the flames, his robes flapping with the wind. Nona blinked, bringing himself to examine his wild spell. It was surging with power, with no sign of stopping. If he simply let go of the spell as he normally did, all the leftover power would release at once, probably exploding the entire chamber, Gigagrub skin or not. Still, if he let the gushing inferno continue as it was, it would consume the both of them. Sweat dribbled down his face,as Nona’s mind twisted and turned, searching desperately for a solution. Finally, he thought the Flame spell might be weak enough, so he raised his other hand and clamped it down in the gushing inferno. Nona’s spell obeyed, the Knot collapsing to a single point, then ballooning outward. A great sphere of flame replaced the spiraling column, shattering the Ward, and flinging Teroakest back against the wall. His Wind spell unraveled, and so did Nona’s Flame, the threads oozing out from both as if nothing had ever happened. Nona bent over, panting heavily, hands on his knees. He could still feel remnants of the power of the spell flowing through his veins. Evaluator Teorakest cleared his throat, and Nona raised his head. Nona had recolored the ceiling and the tops of the walls a nice ashen black, and the acrid smell of flame burned Nona’s nostrils. Teorakest was back in his seat, calmly regarding the aspiring student, although the fringes of his sleeves looked a little baked. “Raw power, but little restraint. Dismissed,” he declared, pushing his now-cracked spectacles up the bridge of his nose. Nona said nothing, and simply left, head hanging low in shame. Ahsante’s servant was waiting for him, and they trudged back to his manor. When he finally got back to his room Reke was laying on the pages of a book, reading it line by line. Nona rummaged around in his pack for a spare change of clothes as Reke looked up and asked, “Hey, how’d it go at the Mage’s Guild?” “Fine. Are the baths ready?” Nona answered tersely “Yeah, servants have been keeping it warm. Ahsante figured you might want one when you get back.” Without a word, Nona stormed out, a bundle of clothes under his arm. Stupid! Sure, just go ahead and burn down the whole Guildhouse, that’d be an impressive feat of magic! And the other tests didn’t fare much better especially that stupid oral one! How was he possibly supposed to know the answers to questions he’d never even heard of! Even the spells didn’t fare that well. It was really awesome how, in the practice room, he could do each one of those spells perfectly, but as soon as he needed them, all his skill just went straight out of the window. What an abysmal performance. When Nona returned from the baths, he was much calmer. He was still angry beyond belief, but it had boiled down to a low simmer instead of a boiling inferno. Ahsante was waiting for him in his room, quietly discussing important adult stuffs with Reke. “Look, I’m sorry—” Nona began. “Congratulations! You’ve made it into the Mage’s Guild,” Ahsante announced simultaneously. Nona blinked. He thought he had royally botched every single one of those tests! “Wha- How- Why-“ he stammered, unable to formulate a thought. “Your resolve was quite remarkable, young student. The Mage’s Guild would be remiss if we were to allow such potential to go to waste, or, worse yet, be misused. Take a night off, then prepare yourself to move into the Guildhouse, Apprentice,” he explained, then swept out of the room to allow Nona his privacy. Nona giggled with relief. He made it! He actually made it, even though he could have sworn that Teorakest guy hated every single one of his demonstrations! Reke gave him a polite congratulations, but Nona didn’t even hear it. He flopped down on the bed, letting his brain process the wild ride of emotions playing throughout his head. Even with disaster after disaster, Nona still managed to eke out a victory. It felt good, really good, but he knew he could’ve done better. As he fell asleep that night, dreaming of all the crazy new magic he would soon be learning, a little remnant of anger burned within. He could have been better. …

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  • I feel like I have a somewhat better grasp of the magic, now, though I'll admit I'm still not sure what exactly the Thread actually is. You might have explained it, and I just missed it, but it's worth looking into to see if it might've been glossed over. The evaluation was fun, but it did feel kind of weird to have Nona going from struggling with the basic spells to suddenly casting a gigantic inferno. I was expecting the fire to be a bit smaller. Though, I also get that the "great power, but no control" bit was intentional. I dig that the evaluation was rigged, though, and that the Mage's Guild has ulterior motives. Though, I don't quite understand why he couldn't have just turned him down anyway. Overall I liked it. Good fun.

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