Nothing.
3 days left until he turned 18. Then he would be too old to start at any of the training schools. He'd have to either resign himself to a life without being able to control magic, or join the academic magi in the archives, acting as a conduit to their magic. His only hope after 3 days was if one of the professors saw potential in him, and decided to send him to a training school anyway, in the event that he was just a late bloomer. It wasn't entirely unheard of, but the last time it happened, that particular mage lost control of his magic and destroyed an entire city.
Nothing he could do now except go to class and try to shine. Even though he lacked the runic markings of a mage, he knew that he knew more than any other student in his classes - although the fact that he was the oldest student in all of his classes was probably didn't hurt.
On the way to the lake where his first class was located, Jarrod noticed a large gathering of people around the entrance to the furnace.
"Jarrod! Did you hear?"
Jarrod turned around to find himself greeted by a tall-redheaded boy. "Hey Pietro. Do you know what's going on?"
"Jasmine got her first rune. Water, just like everyone was expecting. She's being tested now."
Disappointment filled Jarrod. Jasmine was 10, and after only 3 years at the academy, she had already gained her first rune.
"Do you think she'll pass?"
"Of course. Water runes have run in her family for generations. They own a whale farm and she was practically born in the water. It's her life."
Jarrod stared glumly again. His father had been a powerful fire mage, and everyone had expected that he would follow in his shoes, but even with his affinity for fire magic, the professors were reluctant to send him to a fire school without a rune. "Do you ever think we'll get our runes?"
"If we had runes, it would mean we wouldn't be able to do cool stuff with other people's magic. Come on, we have to get to the lake, or we'll miss the start of the class!"
The two boys sprinted towards the lake, earning a sigh from the professor as she closed the dome off, signaling the start of class.
"OK, you all know the drill. Before we start today's class, we must clear our minds. There is nothing to worry about. In the dome, there are no exams, no homework, no chores..." Jarrod let Professor Jala's voice drift through him, relaxing his mind. The sunlight shining through the dome of water made patterns of light dance across the lake. In order to prepare for the class, Jarrod watched one patch of light as it flowed on the surface, coming and going with the current.
"Now that you're all calm, we can start. Today, we're going to try pushing water. Just to add a bit of challenge to it, I'm going to split you into two groups, and whichever group manages to push the water past the marker I've set up wins. Even though it looks peaceful, the water in the lake is quite powerful. Nothing likes to be pushed, so you have to persuade the water to move with you. Watch."
Professor Jala turned to the lake and closed her eyes. The shore began to grow as the water in the lake was pushed further back. Professor Jala opened her eyes and sighed, as though apologizing to the lake. She began numbering the students, "1, 2, 1, 2..."
"Number 2s to the other side!" A stampede of students began to move to the other side of the lake. Jarrod was relieved to see that Pietro was on his team.
"How many times have we played this game? Let's beat these new kids!" Pietro grinned.
At least being old has some benefits, Jarrod thought to himself. He removed his shoes and stood on the shore of the lake. A cold feeling entered through his feet as he felt Professor Jala's magic flowing through him. He focused on the lake, and began to match his breathing with the push and pull of the tide. Once he found his rhythm, he began thinking about pushing harder than pulling. Push, then pull. Push, then pull. Push, then pull. He could feel the water moving further and further away. Push, then pull.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
The sudden scream shook Jarrod from his trance and he opened his eyes to see a kid flying through the air and landing on the grass ten metres from the shore. He ran towards the kid. "Are you alright?"
"Urgh, it hurts."
"What's your name?" Jarrod asked.
"Albert."
"Do you think you can get up, Albert?"
"Yeah." Albert stood up, shakily. "Thanks."
"How long have you been at the academy?"
"About a year."
"Ah, so you haven't done anything like this before. Let me show you how it's done. Water is pretty lazy, it likes to stay where it is. So if you push it, it'll push you back, because it doesn't want to move."
"Like fat people on the train!"
Jarrod laughed, "Yeah, kinda like that. That's why you got hurt, the water pushed you away because you pushed so hard. So instead of trying to push it all at once, try pushing it a little bit at a time. It helps if you can feel the flow of the water, so you can push when the water is already heading away from you."
After a few minutes, Albert had gotten the hang of pushing, and so Jarrod returned to the shore.
"Where did you go? They're pushing back towards us and I don't know how much longer I can hold them out on my own."
Jarrod returned to his trance, and resumed pushing the water. Push, then pull. 3 more days and then he might never have to do this again. Push, then pull. Beating all the kids at the basic exercises. Push, then pull. Scoring the highest on the yearly exam and being congratulated by the teachers. Push, then pull. Push, then pull.
"Jarrod! Jarrod! Jarrod!"
Jarrod opened his eyes to Professor Jala shaking him.
"You seem to have lost yourself to the water."
The cold feeling flowed out of his feet, and he looked up to see that the water of the lake had moved quite a long way past the markers. All the other students were staring at him.
"I'm sorry, Professor."
"It's fine. It seems Team 2 lost today's competition, so it is your job to push the lake back to where it was!" A collective groan rose from the other side of the lake. "Everyone else, you're free to go." She turned to Jarrod, "If I may have a word with you?"
"Ummm, OK."
"I saw what you did with Albert today. That was very kind of you."
"It was nothing, really."
"I know you're smart, Jarrod. And you are quite familiar with the water. If you had even a glimmer of a water rune, I wouldn't hesitate to send you away. It's unfortunate that you do not." Professor Jala frowned.
"Yes."
"I also know that you're nearing your 18th birthday..."
"Yes?" Jarrod was hopeful. Was she going to suggest that he go to water school despite not having a rune?
"You are quite a talented student. You learn fast, and you are able to help others. Do you find that you feel close to water? Does it soothe you to hear running water? Do you feel alive when it rains?"
If he was perfectly honest with himself, he didn't feel any of those things. Both of his parents were fire magi, and if anything, he felt the least connected to water out of all the elements. But this could be his chance. He might be able to go to a training school. Plus, he did feel calm when he was near the lake.
"I guess?"
"Would you be interested in helping me with my research? I'm looking at different ways to purify water that has been polluted." Professor Jala must have sensed his disappointment, so she added, "I know you're hoping to get into a training school, but in the event that you don't, just give it some thought? It's not the end of the world if you don't end up being a mage. There are hundreds of thousands of people out there who can't control magic, and they manage to get by."
"But they didn't spend 11 years training in the academy!"
"Which is why becoming a research conduit might be something to think about."
Jarrod had no reply.
"Anyway, you'd better hurry along to your next class. Wouldn't want to be late." Professor Jala raised an eyebrow.
Jarrod looked at the lake. It had already been pushed back to its original position. "Oh, right. Thanks, Professor."
Pietro was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs to the spire. "What did Professor Jala say?"
Not knowing how he felt about the research offer, Jarrod simply told him about Albert and the pushing lesson.
"Lucky I'm so great that we managed to win even though you were gone for half the game, huh?"
Jarrod managed a smile. "You might be the best."
"Don't doubt it!"
Professor Avir greeted them with a smile. "Welcome!"
Jarrod and Pietro looked around at the class, and everyone seemed to be sitting with a book in their lap writing furiously.
"Do we have a test?" Pietro asked.
"No, I just want everyone to have these notes for future reference. They're important for this year's exam."
They sat down and began copying the notes into their book. 20 minutes later, Jarrod finished copying and went to grab his textbook for fire class to get some extra reading done when he realised his bag was gone.
"Hey, where's my bag?!"
A few students looked up for their writing and looked around. "Hey, my bag is gone, too!" Soon, everyone was looking for their bags.
Professor Avir chuckled. "Why don't people ever look up?" Floating in the air was an assortment of bags. "This is today's real exercise. I want you all to get your bags back!"
Pietro jumped up, nearly grabbing hold of a bag strap.
"No, no, no. Not like this!" The bags floated away from them, out the window, and hung in the air outside the top floor of the spire. "Today, children, you learn to fly!"
Jarrod and Pietro looked at each other. Despite being the more experienced students in the class, they had never learned how to fly before. Flying was something they taught at air school, not the academy. The students gathered at the windows and looked down at the large fall that awaited them.
"There is another 30 minutes left in this lesson, so if you want to make it to your next class in time, you'd better start now!" Jarrod felt a warm breeze blow over his hands, and he knew Professor Avir's power was inside him now, he just didn't know what to do with it.
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