How to Become an Open-Minded Enchanter
In which a small dragon sings about paint and makes fireworks
There was a small commotion going on outside when Theo left the alchemy lab building, having just finished his classes for the day. Several students were standing on one side of the walkway, looking up at a nearby building. He couldn’t see what they were looking at because of the trees lining the walkway, but as he moved closer, he could hear them talking.
“What’s it doing up there?”
“Do you think it’s lost?”
“It’s not full grown, is it? Is it okay to just leave it? Should we get a professor?”
“What’s that floating green thing?”
Finally reaching the edge of the group, Theo looked up and saw what the fuss was about. A kitten-sized black dragon was perched on a windowsill two stories up. Its face and front paws were pressed up against the glass, and its long tail was waving energetically. A small, bright green ball was hovering in the air behind it.
Theo made a face. There were probably a lot of little black dragons in the world. But how many of them turned up randomly around the campus of the Royal Magic Academy and were accompanied by a flying rubber ball?
It was definitely him.
Theo briefly considered sneaking off before the dragon noticed him. Their last meeting hadn’t exactly gone well…. No, he shouldn’t. He reminded himself that he was prepared this time. And he needed to make up for that careless mistake before it came back to bite him.
“Iggy?” he called out.
Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. The dragon also turned its head and looked down for a few seconds. Then it abruptly leapt off the windowsill and dove straight at him, green ball trailing behind.
“Theo!”
He barely had time to brace himself for the impact. But tiny dragons, it turned out, are very lightweight. Iggy landing on his shoulder felt like someone had tossed a towel at him. It didn’t hurt at all.
“See, Theo? See? I told you I would remember you. And I did!”
“Yes, you did. Very good.” Theo actually was a bit impressed. He and Iggy had only met once before, and that was almost two months ago now.
“Oh, he can talk. He’s a familiar, then?” The girl who had suggested getting a professor was looking curiously at Iggy. “I was sure he was just a baby. I guess he’s an unusually small elemental breed?”
“I guess? I know he’s fire element, but I’m not sure what breed he is.” Theo glanced at Iggy, but unlike his usual chatty self, the dragon didn’t seem to want to contribute any additional information. He was avoiding Theo’s gaze. “But yes, he’s a familiar. I know who his contractor is. He’s probably just taking a stroll around campus while his partner’s in a boring meeting. You don’t need to worry about him.”
This seemed to satisfy the group. They dispersed with only a few more curious looks at the little black dragon. Theo was grateful for that. He hadn’t lied — he did know who Iggy’s owner was. But he’d never actually met the man before, so further questions would have been awkward.
“What were you doing up there?” Theo asked when the others were gone.
“Looking for Aria and Cecily. You know them? Cecily goes to school here. And Aria is my cousin. She gets to come to school with Cecily because she’s training to be a familiar.”
An academy student with a pet elemental dragon? Theo didn’t recognize the names, but there were very few students whose families could afford to buy them such a luxury.
“I don’t know them, but I think I know who you’re talking about. Is Aria a Violet Flare?” Violet Flare dragons were a rare, top quality elemental breed, considered by many to be the best of the fire element dragons. Getting one required spending years on a waiting list, not to mention an astronomical sum of money. It had caused a huge stir when a student actually showed up with one for a pet. That was the year before Theo started at the academy, but he’d heard stories. “Wait, you said she’s your cousin? You’re not a Violet Flare, are you?” Iggy’s scales were definitely black, not violet. But the very thought that he might have a creature worth a king’s ransom sitting on his shoulder made Theo’s blood turn cold. He definitely needed to stay on this dragon’s good side from now on.
Iggy’s ears drooped. “Aria is a Violet. I’m…different.”
“You’re a hybrid?”
“No,” Iggy said testily, his ears flattening even further. “My egg came out the wrong color.”
“Oh.” Theo was far from being an expert on dragons and had no idea what it meant for an egg to “come out the wrong color.” Was it some kind of disease? A mutation, maybe? It was obviously a sore point for Iggy, whatever it was. “Well, black is a nice color, isn’t it? It’s very elegant.” Actually, with Iggy’s size, the effect was more cute than elegant, but Theo knew better than to say that.
Wait. Wouldn’t a mutant Violet Flare dragon be even more rare and valuable than a regular one? The weight on Theo’s shoulder suddenly seemed even heavier.
“Really?” Iggy’s ears lifted hopefully.
“Of course. You’re a very handsome dragon.”
Iggy gave a happy little wriggle. Then he suddenly jumped off Theo’s shoulder, spreading his wings to swoop around behind him. “Alfred! Theo says I’m handsome!” Theo turned in time to see the little dragon flutter down onto the outstretched arm of a man standing a short distance away. “I couldn’t find Aria and Cecily. But I found Theo! And I remembered his name! And he thinks I’m elegant and handsome!”
“Does he?” The man — Alfred — gave an amused smile and lightly rubbed Iggy’s head in between his tiny horns. “Well, he’s right, of course. You’re very elegant and handsome.” Iggy’s tail swished enthusiastically at that. Alfred avoided being hit by it with what was clearly a well-practiced move. “Cecily and Aria are out doing a field study today. I asked at their dormitory. They won’t be back until tonight. So we’ll have to do fireworks with them another time.”
“Aww….” Iggy wilted with disappointment. But he quickly brightened again. “Let’s ask Theo to come do fireworks with us!”
“Oh? You want him to come?”
“Yup! Theo’s my friend!”
“Didn’t you two have a fight the last time you saw each other?” Alfred shot Theo a wry glance. “About whether or not I’m a proper wizard?”
Theo felt his face turn red. He’d been wondering when that would come up. “I didn’t know…” he stammered. “I mean…I wasn’t trying to….”
Iggy came to his defense. “I told you, he was just all grumpy and worried because his homework was too hard. He didn’t really mean it. And just because we had a fight doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
Theo looked at him in amazement. He’d been trying not to let on how stressed he was about his schoolwork during their last conversation. But Iggy had still picked up on it?
“Besides,” Iggy continued, “Theo smells nice.”
“I — What?”
“He means your magic, not your physical scent,” Alfred explained. “Don’t get weird ideas. Iggy’s very sensitive to magic power, so he can detect the low level magic emissions that people and magic beasts let off all the time. Just that he usually describes it as a physical sense, like a scent or a color. You know everyone has their own unique magic signature? Some are more pleasant to him than others. Yours is apparently one of the pleasant ones.”
“Oh.” Theo didn’t know what to say in response to that.
“And since Iggy likes you, we might as well get along.” Alfred moved closer and held out his hand. “Alfred Denifort.”
Theo shook hands, feeling awkward. “Theo Ranoa. It’s an honor to meet you, sir. And…um…about the things I said before….”
“Don’t worry about it.” Alfred waved his hand indifferently. “I know my approach to magic is a bit unusual. You’re hardly the first person to be skeptical about it. And don’t worry about the ‘sir’ part, either. I’m really not into that kind of thing.” His tone was calm, but a bit distant. Was he normally like that? Or was he actually still upset, in spite of what he said?
“Oh!” Iggy suddenly interrupted Theo’s nervous analysis. “I remember! Theo was making a toy! I said I would come see it. Did you make a good one? Can we see?”
“Even if he made one, he’s probably not carrying it around with him, you know.” Alfred patted the excited little dragon.
“Well, actually…I am.” Feeling grateful for his own foresight, Theo opened his school bag. “It turned out to be pretty useful, so I made a few to keep in my bag.” After a little rifling, he pulled out a piece of paper covered in faint, silvery writing. “It’s not exactly a toy. But you can turn it into one. Hang on a minute.”
He got down on one knee and set his bag sideways on his leg to form a makeshift desk. He put the paper on it and started carefully folding. Iggy jumped down to watch more closely, his front paws on Theo’s knee and his tail twitching. After a couple of minutes, the paper had been folded into a shape resembling a frog.
“Almost done.”
For the final step, Theo put his finger against the paper and sent a small amount of magic into it. The silver writing glowed briefly and then faded to a dark grey. This indicated that the reinforcement enchantment had activated, making the paper resistant to any physical damage. Though it was hard to say how well it would hold up against a little dragon who had a history of accidentally making his toys explode….
“There.” Theo set the paper frog in front of Iggy. He pushed down on the frog’s back with his finger and then let go, sending it flying into the air.
“It jumped! It jumped!” Iggy said excitedly, jumping up and down himself.
“Here, you try it.” Theo retrieved the frog and put it on the ground next to Iggy. “Hold down right there. Um…try using the side of your claw, so it doesn’t catch on the paper. Right. Like that. Now slide your claw quickly off the back end. Oh, almost. Try it again….”
It took several attempts, but Iggy finally managed to make the frog jump high in the air, as Theo had done.
“I did it!” the little dragon crowed. “Alfred! Alfred! Look! I can make the frog jump!”
“Well done, little guy.” Alfred chuckled as he watched Iggy chasing after the frog and making it jump again and again. Though Theo noticed his eyes were focused on the paper frog, not the dragon. “Iggy and I are here to teach a special class for the senior enchanting students,” he said after a pause. “You’re welcome to join in, if you’re free right now.”
“We’re going to make fireworks!” Iggy added in, without looking up from his new toy.
“That’s…well, I am free,” Theo said, a bit uncomfortably. “But I’m only a second year student. If the class is for seniors….” Naturally, he’d be thrilled to have a chance to learn from Alfred and to try to mend their awkward relationship. But he’d just make a fool of himself if he got in over his head.
“You’ll be fine.” Alfred was still gazing intently at the frog, but now he turned and gave Theo an encouraging nod. “If you designed the enchantment matrix on that paper by yourself, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with the project we’ll be working on. Like Iggy said, it’s just making fireworks. Basic stuff.”
“You’re teaching senior students basic enchanting?” Theo was perplexed.
Alfred gave a sly smile. “You’d be surprised at what you can do with the basics. Magic is a lot more than just technical skills, you know. Why should I bother coming here to teach a class on something you could simply learn from a textbook?”
Theo wasn’t quite sure what he was getting at. Maybe other branches of magic were different, but enchanting ability was mainly based on your knowledge of magic formations and your scribing skills. Wasn’t it?
“Anyway, if you want to come, it’s fine. I’d better head over there now to get things set up. Come on, Iggy. We need to go get ready to make fireworks.”
Iggy, who was in the process of pouncing on the paper frog, froze and turned to look at Alfred. Then he looked back at the frog under his paws. Then he raised his head and stared meaningfully at Theo.
“Ah, you can keep that if you want it,” Theo said quickly, realizing what the little dragon was asking. “I made it for you. It’s even fireproof.”
Iggy’s expression immediately lit up. He carefully scooped up the frog and flew with it up to Theo’s shoulder. “Thanks, Theo! You made a good toy!”
“Really?” Theo glanced at the green ball, which was still floating dutifully behind Iggy, in spite of him ignoring it while he played with another toy. It looked simple enough, but Theo knew it had an absolutely ridiculous number of enchantments on it. “I thought it would be pretty boring compared to the sort of toys that Alfred makes.” He was actually quite happy that Iggy approved of his creation, but he reminded himself to stay humble. He was just a student, and Alfred was a certified wizard and Grandmaster rank enchanter. Their abilities couldn’t even be compared.
“Alfred’s toys are fancier,” Iggy agreed. “But he’s never made a toy out of paper. And I never had a toy that Theo made for me before! So it’s special because of that!”
“Oh…well…I’m glad you like it,” Theo said, embarrassed. He also felt a little guilty. No sane magic student would pass up a chance to get on a Grandmaster’s good side. A connection like that could have huge advantages, both now and in the future. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth to know he was basically using Iggy to make Alfred have a better impression of him. Especially when the little dragon seemed so sincerely pleased by the attention.
“You should come do paints and fireworks with us!” Iggy’s tail was waving enthusiastically again, hitting against Theo’s back. “It’s fun! We’ll go splish splash and then boom boom!” A couple of sparks flew out of his mouth on the booms. “Are you coming?”
“Sure.” Theo gave a slightly forced smile. “It sounds great.”
Iggy’s description sounded a little bit ominous, actually. Did all fire dragons enjoy blowing things up as much as this one seemed to?
He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he was getting himself into.
The class was going to be held in one of the academy’s enchanting lab rooms. It was a large room with several rows of individual workstations and a long demonstration table at one end. Alfred went over to the table and set his bag down on it. It was an unassuming, worn leather bag — not too different from Theo’s school bag.
Or it looked that way. Until Alfred started to pull out box after box of enchanting materials. Far more than a bag that size should have been able to hold.
Well, of course. Why shouldn’t the owner of an insanely expensive dragon also own an insanely expensive space compression bag? Theo didn’t know why he was surprised at this point.
Grandmasters were something else. Seriously….
Theo sighed and set his cheap, non-magical canvas bag down on the nearest workstation. Then he went over to help arrange the items Alfred was unpacking.
One of the boxes Alfred pulled out was full of folded pieces of cloth. The rest contained glass jars filled with various colors of paint. This was a bit unusual. Inscriptions were normally done with thin inks and fine-tipped pens, to allow for smaller writing. The smaller you could write, the more magic formations you could fit in a given space. Paints were mostly used for large-scale inscriptions that covered an entire room or building. But that didn’t seem to be what this class was about, since Iggy and Alfred kept talking about fireworks. Unless they were going to be learning to make some kind of permanent fireworks installation, sort of like the enchantments some high-class water fountains had? But how many people would actually use something like that?
Well, Alfred might, for starters. Since Iggy was a fire element dragon, he should be immune to heat, so he’d probably love a fireworks fountain. Theo wouldn’t be too surprised to hear they had one installed in their home.
They had just finished setting the paint boxes out on the table when an older woman came into the room carrying a stack of paper. Theo recognized her as one of the professors that taught advanced enchanting.
“Will this do?” she asked, setting the paper down on the table.
They were sheets of heavy white paper about a foot square. It looked like a thicker version of the practice paper normally used in scribing classes.
Alfred lifted the top sheet and felt it between his finger and thumb. “Yes, this is fine.”
“Was there anything else you needed?”
“No, that should do it. All we need now is for the students to show up.”
They only had to wait a few minutes before people started trickling into the room in ones and twos. They all seemed to know the professor, and most of them greeted her before taking their seats. Theo, the only lower level student present, sat and listened to the exchanges, feeling a bit awkward.
He suddenly stiffened as a familiar voice reached his ears. Glancing over, he saw a confident-looking young woman walking to the front of the classroom, where Alfred was leaning casually against the table with Iggy perched on his shoulder, watching the students as they entered.
“Grandmaster Denifort.” The young woman smiled brightly as she drew near them. “So good to see you again. I was thrilled when I found out you were teaching a class here.”
Theo gritted his teeth. Of all the…. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that she would be here? He should have realized when he heard the class was for senior enchanting students…. And she already knew Alfred? His hopes of building up a good relationship started to diminish rapidly.
Abigail Perinith. She was the granddaughter of a well-known Master enchanter, who ran the workshop where Theo’s parents worked. She and Theo had known each other since they were young children. The first time they’d met, Abigail had knocked Theo’s favorite stuffed toy into a mud puddle to distract him while she stole the cookies his mother had given him for an afternoon snack. And making his life miserable had continued to be one of her favorite hobbies ever since. Given the difference in their families’ status, there wasn’t much he could do about it other than avoid her as much as possible.
“Oh? Theo?” And here she came…. “What are you doing here? I thought this class was only for advanced students.” Her tone was friendly, but there was a malicious glint in her eyes. Theo knew she’d love to be able to call him out as some kind of infiltrator.
“We invited him,” Alfred said. “He’s Iggy’s friend.”
“Iggy’s…?” Abigail looked a bit confused by that, and her smile faltered for a moment. But she fixed it quickly. “I see.”
“You two know each other?”
“Yes, we’ve known each other for ages.” Abigail smiled sweetly. “Theo’s parents are assistants at my grandfather’s workshop.”
She said the word “assistants” with a slight emphasis, and Theo noticed several people glancing his direction when they heard it. He frowned. Stupid elitists. It’s not like there was anything shameful about being a magic assistant. It just meant that, for whatever reason, the person hadn’t been able to jump through all the hoops that were required to get a wizard certification. But there were plenty of people in the magic community who regarded them as failures and looked down on them. Most of those same people were also quick to assume that the child of such failures was destined to be a failure as well. Theo had spent his whole life struggling against that kind of bias.
But Alfred maintained his calm expression. “Is that so? What areas do they assist in?” He sounded genuinely interested.
“My mother does alchemy preparations,” Theo said cautiously. “And my father is a scribe. You probably know that the Perinith Workshop specializes in pre-inscribed magic crystals?”
“Mmm.” Alfred nodded. “That explains it. I thought your scribing work on that paper was unusually precise for a student’s. You must have learned from your father. A lot of assistant scribes do really beautiful work. Most certified enchanters could stand to learn a thing or two from them.”
An awkward silence followed these words. It was clear that most of the people listening weren’t quite sure what to think of them. Abigail looked like she’d just smelled something nasty but was trying not to let it show on her face.
Theo was dumbfounded. Had Alfred just…praised him? No, had he just praised assistants? A Grandmaster wizard?
Wait, before that, when had he examined Theo’s inscription closely enough to even know how precise it was? Theo hadn’t seen him using a scribing loupe. All he’d done was to stare at the paper frog while Iggy was playing with it…. What, then? Was it actually possible to examine an enchanted object in detail from six feet away? Without a loupe? While a dragon was playing with it?
“It looks like everyone’s here.” The professor’s clear voice cut through Theo’s confused thoughts. “Please take a seat, and we’ll get started.”
There were eight students there, apart from Theo. It was hard to believe that only that many people were interested in a special class taught by a Grandmaster wizard who had won multiple awards in the prestigious Roshencroft Magic Competition. They had probably limited it to only a few of the top enchanting students. Theo was amazed at his luck to somehow get in with such an elite bunch.
And all because Iggy thought he smelled nice….
Determined to make the most of the opportunity, Theo paid careful attention while the professor introduced Alfred as their guest teacher.
“…Grandmaster Denifort has a great reputation in the field for his creative and resourceful solutions to complex enchanting problems. He’s frequently called upon by government and Association leaders to help deal with difficult circumstances arising in the kingdom. We felt that you students would benefit greatly from hearing some of the insights he’s gained through these experiences, and we’re delighted that he was willing to come teach this class today. Please give him your close attention.”
Theo had the impression that Alfred and Iggy were both rather bored by this speech, but Alfred thanked the professor politely before he addressed the class.
“Well, as Professor Nuren said, I was asked to teach you a little bit about becoming more open-minded and resourceful as enchanters. I specialize in custom enchanting work, which requires a lot of adaptability. In a workshop, you more or less have control over the enchanting environment. You make designs that suit your capabilities. You order whatever materials and tools you need. Nothing wrong with workshops, of course — they fill a vital need. But they don’t usually demand much in the way of creativity. Custom work is different. Every job is unique, and you often have to work in unfavorable conditions and make do with whatever resources you have available. So how do you learn to do that?
There’s the hard way, of course. Just jump in, unprepared, and learn as you go. That does work. You’ll learn a lot if you stick with it long enough. But you’ll make a lot of mistakes and waste a lot of materials. Clients won’t be happy, and they’ll stop hiring you eventually. So I don’t recommend going that route. There’s a better way. A way to be at least somewhat prepared, even when you don’t know exactly what’s coming.
The process is actually very simple, although it does take a great deal of time and effort. There are two parts to it: First, get a really solid foundation in the basics of enchanting and scribing. I mean really solid. Don’t just memorize magic formations. Take the time to thoroughly understand the principles involved and exactly how every piece of the formation functions. Don’t worry too much about the fancy, advanced stuff, beyond what you need to pass your classes and certification exams. Just be sure to know the basics. Know them forwards, backwards, inside out, and upside down.”
Theo couldn’t help but wonder how Professor Nuren — whose job it was to teach the fancy, advanced stuff — reacted to this piece of advice. But she was sitting at the back of the room, and turning around to look at her would have been much too obvious.
“Once you have a solid foundation to work from, you can move on to the second part of the process.” Alfred paused and flashed a mischievous smile. “Play.”
A slight rustling went around the room when he said that, and Theo heard a soft “Huh?” from somewhere behind him.
“Yes, you heard that right. Take time to play around. Think of the enchanting fundamentals you’ve been learning so thoroughly as your game pieces. Once you’ve collected them all, it’s time to play with them. Experiment. Make a mess. Set a few things on fire. Use up a lot of cheap materials. Play games with your pieces until you understand what you can and can’t do with them. And there’s a particular type of game that will help you out the most with that. Restrictive games. Games where the rules limit what resources and methods you can use in order to achieve the goal and win.” Alfred gestured toward the materials stacked on the table in front of him. “We’re going to try a game like that today to help you understand what I mean and see how you can benefit from doing this. The rules are simple: Your goal is to make a magic firework. The design is up to you. Make it as simple or as complex as you like. But you’re only allowed to use what’s on this table. All scribing needs to be done manually. No magic use allowed. Are there any questions?”
Abigail raised her hand. “Sir, what type of brushes are we allowed to use? Are there any restrictions?”
Theo knew why she was asking. Most students would only have the standard set of brushes in their scribing toolkits. But Abigail was studying to be an artistic enchanter, meaning someone who specialized in creating inscriptions that were not only functional, but also beautifully ornate. They were expensive and not very practical, but they were popular with aristocrats, who bought and displayed them as a way to flaunt their wealth. Artistic enchanters worked with a much broader range of paints and inks than other enchanters did. Since Abigail’s grandfather was never stingy with the enchanting supplies he bought her, she probably had a ridiculous number of paintbrushes to choose from.
“Didn’t I just say it? You’re only allowed to use what’s on this table.” Alfred gave another mischievous grin. “Just paper and paints. No tools. No magic. Though there are some cleaning cloths here, since things will probably get a little messy.” He reached up to stroke the little dragon on his shoulder. “These are Iggy’s favorite finger paints. Or paw paints, in his case.”
“Finger paints?” A boy on the front row repeated, looking bewildered. “You want us to draw enchantment matrices…with finger paints?”
Most of the students looked similarly confused. Scribing practice generally focused on producing thin, neat lines. Painting with your fingers was the exact opposite of that.
“This is how you become a resourceful enchanter,” Alfred said patiently. “You practice working under difficult circumstances. I guarantee that what I’m asking you to do is possible at your skill level. You’ll just have to be more creative than usual in how you go about it. Everyone can help themselves to the materials here. We should have plenty, so don’t worry about making mistakes. Just get more paper and try again. I’ll give you an hour to work, and then we’ll discuss the results. Let’s get started.”
Rather reluctantly, the students filed up to the table. Theo joined the line. He was actually feeling optimistic about their assignment. The enchanted sheets of paper he carried in his bag had been his final project for one of his enchanting classes the previous term. He’d spent weeks working on it. In addition, he’d taken extra time to research paper toys so he’d be able to make something that Iggy would like whenever he met the little dragon again. Because of that, he was very aware of the possibilities that the stack of paper on the table represented. Alfred had called the paints “finger paints,” but he hadn’t actually said they needed to paint with their fingers. If he could figure out how to make a writing tool out of paper…. Theo didn’t entertain any illusions about being able to create an inscription that was any better than the other students’. The enchanting course at the Royal Academy was five years. The others were in their final year — three years ahead of him. Obviously their enchanting skills would be better than his. But the focus of this assignment was creativity, not skill. If he could just come up with a creative idea, he still had a chance to make a good impression.
He picked up a set of paints, a cleaning cloth, and several sheets of paper. Back at his workstation, he took a moment to examine the materials — checking the thickness and texture of the paper and opening some of the paint jars to look at the color and consistency. He had just decided what type of brush to make and was thinking through how to construct it, when a noise made him stop and look up.
It was the sound of paper ripping.
The noise hadn’t only attracted Theo’s attention. Everyone in the class had turned to look at Abigail, who was busily tearing strips of paper and rolling them into thin tubes. Noticing that the rest of the room was watching her, she gave a satisfied smile.
“He said we had to use what’s on the table, but he never said how we had to use it. If we aren’t allowed paint brushes, why not just make some from the materials we are allowed? Artistic enchanters study brush and pen making, so it seemed like the obvious solution to me.” She looked at Alfred. “It’s not against the rules, is it?”
He shook his head. “No. Making tools is allowed as long as they’re made from the supplies I gave you. A good observation, Miss Perinith.”
“Thank you, sir.” Abigail gave Alfred a brilliant smile. Then she returned to her work, a slightly smug expression on her face.
The rest of the students glanced at each other. Then, one by one, they turned back to their workstations and started folding, tearing, and rolling their paper. A few went back up to the front to get extra sheets.
Theo was the only one who didn’t join in. He just sat, staring down at his paper sheets and feeling like an idiot. Some creative idea that had been…. Even if he’d already thought of it, everyone would think he was just copying Abigail if he did it now. But what else was he supposed to do? He tentatively dipped his finger in one of the paint jars and tried drawing the first few lines of a magic formation. They were thick and uneven. He’d barely be able to fit a single formation on the page like this, let alone a whole matrix. And even if he could fit it all, the uneven lines would cause problems with the magic flow. Best case, the enchantment wouldn’t function at all. Worst case, it would explode. Though Iggy might enjoy that. Boom boom, right?
Was making paper brushes the only way to get the job done?
“Looks like everyone’s gotten started,” Alfred said, looking around the room. “Your turn, Iggy. You can paint here on this end of the table.”
“Okay!” Iggy jumped down onto the table and started doing a little dance of anticipation while Alfred got some paper and a set of paints for him. And cleaning cloths. A lot of cleaning cloths.
“All set, little guy. Try not to splash too much, okay?”
Iggy did his happy wiggle. “Can I sing, too?”
“Sing away,” Alfred said with smile. “Let them hear your special painting song.”
Wait…what? Surely Iggy’s splish splash painting was going to be distracting enough. But he was going to sing while they worked, too? Theo noticed a few of the other students looking similarly disconcerted by this.
The little dragon sat back on his haunches like a squirrel and dipped both his front feet into the open paint jars. Then he started happily pawing at his paper, smearing paint all over it. While he painted, he began to sing.
Splash the paint onto the page
Drizzle, drip, like pastry glaze
Making fireworks so bright
Little flowers made of light
“Is this part of working under difficult circumstances, too?” Theo heard someone mutter.
Iggy actually had quite a pleasant singing voice. But the song was still very distracting. It was normal for enchanters to work in silence to help maintain their focus, especially when working in a group like this. Obviously Alfred would know this, which meant his allowing Iggy to sing was a deliberate choice. A part of the game.
Was it simply meant to be a distraction? The other students seemed to think so. Although several of them made annoyed faces, they all lowered their heads and returned to concentrating on their work. But Theo had already learned — in quite an embarrassing fashion — that it wasn’t wise to underestimate that little black dragon or his owner.
Let them hear your special painting song, Alfred had said. Theo wasn’t sure whether to call it intuition or desperation, but he decided to listen closely and see if he could figure out just what was so special about it.
Add the colors — one, two, three
Count all the elements you see
Fire’s black like Iggy’s scales
Earth is red like a rusty nail
Light is blue like a glowing ball
Dark is brown like a dungeon wall
Air is green like shiny satin
Water’s orange like Mr. Kraken
What was with those colors? They didn’t follow the standard color-coding system for elements at all. Iggy seemed to have assigned the colors based on his personal experiences. Some made obvious sense, like wanting fire to be black to match up with his own element and color. But how exactly was air like green satin?
Puzzling over the little dragon’s color choices, Theo looked down at his paint jars. The colors they’d been given were the same ones Iggy listed in his song. Was there some kind of hint there? Something he could use?
Why had Iggy felt a need to assign elements to all the paint colors, anyway? You normally wouldn’t worry about something like that unless you were making an elemental diagram. Or if you happened to be using —
Theo froze, staring wide-eyed at his paints. “They can’t be…” he whispered. “There’s no way.”
Elemental paints.
The standard enchanting process used magic formations — specific combinations of lines and symbols — to guide the flow of magic power. The path the magic took through the formation determined what the effects were. But this wasn’t the only method. It was just the most widely preferred one because it was the safest and easiest to replicate.
One alternate method was known as elemental enchanting. Unlike regular enchanting, which used magically conductive but otherwise inert materials, it relied on materials that were charged with raw elemental power. This allowed the enchanter to create magic similar to that of magic beasts, most of whom also used elements. It was powerful, but it was difficult to control and therefore dangerous. The required materials, such as elemental paints, were also difficult to make and often required rare ingredients. Which meant they were very expensive.
No responsible teacher would give his students such dangerous and expensive materials to mess around with, especially without telling them what they were. Elemental enchanting was considered an advanced technique and wasn’t even taught at the academy level. You needed to get an Apprentice certification and find a mentor who was willing to teach you if you wanted to study it. As far as Theo could see, his fellow students were all drawing normal magic formations. If these really were elemental paints, that wasn’t the proper method at all. Their enchantments would destabilize and cause a disaster. Since Alfred was calmly watching the students work without saying anything, the odds of that being the case were basically zero.
But….
Theo opened his jar of black paint and examined it closely. Logically speaking, it was impossible for these to be real elemental paints, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something odd about them. He stared at the paint, concentrating his senses. It was faint, but now that he knew to look for it, he could feel magic power emitting from the black liquid. That definitely wasn’t normal. One of the things Theo had learned from growing up as the child of alchemy and enchanting assistants was that almost all alchemy materials emitted magic, but hardly any enchanting materials did. Checking the other jars, Theo discovered they were the same, although the feel of the magic was slightly different for each color.
They couldn’t be elemental paints. But they didn’t seem to not be elemental paints, either.
Baffled, Theo raised his head to look at Iggy, who was still painting happily at the front of the room. His nose had a yellow splotch, and one wing was streaked with blue. He had started on a new song by now — something about a brave little dragon going off on a quest to defeat an evil knight.
Iggy’s very sensitive to magic power. Bits of the earlier conversation ran through Theo’s mind. He usually describes it as a scent or a color. … These are Iggy’s favorite finger paints. A wild idea was starting to form. Alfred’s toys are fancier.
Fancy toys. Was that what these were? It was crazy, but the more Theo thought it through, the more it began to make sense. If Iggy perceived elemental power as color, then elemental paints would seem like brilliant, glowing jewels to him. Of course he’d want to play with them. But that wouldn’t be feasible with the real thing. So Alfred, the brilliant Grandmaster enchanter who spoiled his little dragon with elaborate magic toys, had made a new type of elemental paints. Ones that emitted magic like the real thing but were safe for Iggy to play with.
If that was true — and Theo was fairly convinced that it was — it was a remarkable achievement. Elemental enchanting was a rare skill, simply because it was dangerous and expensive to learn. Safe, inexpensive practice paints would completely change that, but no one had ever successfully developed any.
Until now, anyway.
Once again, Theo was forced to acknowledge the ridiculous, rule-shattering existence of the beings called Grandmaster wizards.
He felt even move intimidated by Alfred with this, but also all the more determined to catch his attention.
But what should he do? Their allotted hour was ticking away, and he still hadn’t even started on his firework inscription.
Theo had always been interested in alternative enchanting methods and had read quite a lot about them. He understood the basics of how elemental enchanting was supposed to work, but he’d obviously never tried it before. Was it reckless to act like these really were elemental paints and try out a technique he’d never used? Would he look like a complete idiot in front of all these more knowledgeable enchanters?
And Magma the bravest dragon
Saved the day again!
Iggy ended his song with an emphatic splash of paint that left him covered in multicolored flecks. Unlike the serious, focused students, the little dragon was clearly having a lot of fun.
Oh…right.
Theo had almost forgotten what Iggy had told him when they first met. The thing that led to their argument. Alfred’s unusual philosophy about magic.
Magic was supposed to be fun.
Theo still wasn’t sure that he entirely agreed with that line of thinking. But wasn’t it better to follow Alfred’s ideals if he wanted to make a good impression? Come to think of it, that had been part of the instructions for this project. Play. Experiment. Make a mess. Treat it like a game.
Then why shouldn’t he do just that? If their Grandmaster teacher approved of it, what did it matter what anyone else here thought?
Having come to a decision, Theo pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and reordered his paint jars. He couldn’t tell which paints were which elements just by the feel of the magic, but since Iggy was using the same paints, it was probably safe to follow the list from the song. He arranged the jars in a standard elemental circle to help him remembered which was which. There was no need to bother with making paper brushes now. Elemental enchanting used bold shapes and patterns, not thin lines. Painting with his fingers would be fine for a first attempt.
Once his materials were set up, Theo paused for a moment, staring at the blank paper while he mentally rehearsed what he needed to do. Then he dipped his finger in the red paint and started painting.
Start with earth to stabilize the formation and give it structure.
Theo’s movements were hesitant at first, but he gradually relaxed as he became involved in his work. Even Iggy’s singing stopped bothering him.
Next, put in some air to make the firework ascend.
He was making a single firework with a simple design. He could have done something much more elaborate with the usual pen and ink method, but this was an experiment with an unfamiliar technique. Simple was best.
Now add a dab of fire to ignite the firework, which was mostly made out of light element. But with a touch of metal to change the color and some tiny dots of darkness element thrown in to make it sparkle. Then fade into a larger patch of darkness paint. Darkness — or void, as it was sometimes called — wasn’t really an element, per se. Rather, it cancelled out other elements. It was often used at the end of an enchantment sequence to stop the effects of the magic.
“Just a few minutes left. Everyone, get to a stopping place and clean up. Don’t worry if you’re not quite finished. We’ll take a look at whatever you have done.”
Theo started slightly when he heard Alfred’s voice and looked at the clock on the classroom wall. It really had been almost an hour. He’d been so focused on his painting that he’d lost track of the time passing. He quickly finished filling in the brown shape he’d been working on and wiped off his hands.
The cleaning cloths, it turned out, were enchanted, so they could absorb a lot of paint. And Alfred had just handed them out like ordinary rags…. Did he have any idea what a luxury these things would be for most people?
Theo sighed as he started putting the lids back on his jars of paint. He didn’t even bother trying to guess what the cost of those would be. They should be a lot cheaper than real elemental paints, but he suspected the amount would still be high enough to make his stomach hurt.
While the students finished up their work, Alfred was cleaning the paint off a very colorful Iggy. Once he was finally a solid black again, he jumped back onto Alfred’s shoulder and settled there, yawning. Apparently all the painting and singing had made him tired.
Alfred went around and collected everyone’s papers. He carried the pile to the front of the room and spent a moment flipping through them before selecting one. “All right, let’s start with this one.” He placed the paper on a tray near the front wall, which projected an enlarged image onto the wall behind it. There were devices like this in most of the academy’s classrooms. “Since this was an exercise in working with restricted tools and materials, we’re mainly going to focus on what adaptations you came up with and how well they function, rather than the overall design of the matrix. I know most of you were struggling to control your line width and placement because of the lack of proper writing tools. For this inscription, I can see that one of the ways you dealt with this was to use Hedian symbols instead of classical runes because they’re easier to write using thicker strokes.” He picked up a long black pointer stick and used it to indicate a string of characters around the edge of the inscription. “That’s not a bad strategy for this particular project, since the design is very simple. However, with more complex matrices, you’d start to run into problems when….”
If Theo had any doubts about whether coming to this class was worth the time and trouble, they soon vanished. This was probably the most informative lecture he’d ever attended. A few minutes in, he pulled a notebook and pen out of his bag to start taking notes. The other students did the same. Alfred seemed to have an uncanny ability to see what was going on in an inscription at a glance, with barely any need to ask the students about the thought processes behind their designs. He gave a thorough rundown of what each student had done to work around the assignment restrictions, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each adaptation and suggestions for improvement.
“Now, this last one is quite interesting,” Alfred said with a slight smile once they’d gone through all but one of the inscription papers. “For this one, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it before I give any comments. Let’s see what you make of it.”
Was he serious? Theo’s stomach clenched. That last paper was his. He was a little nervous just to hear Alfred’s reaction to it. He didn’t think he wanted to know what everyone else in the room thought. He cringed a little when the familiar image came up. The previous paper had been Abigail’s, and she’d managed to create an elegant, ornate inscription, even without any proper brushes. Alfred had actually criticized it a bit, saying that she had sacrificed too much of the matrix’s function and stability for the sake of beautifying it. But it was still the best-looking inscription in the class, by far. Theo had thought his was decent enough while he was working on it. But coming right after Abigail’s…it looked like a five-year-old had painted it.
And to think Alfred had called Theo’s scribing unusually precise earlier….
The class broke out in murmurs as soon as they saw Theo’s inscription.
“What is that?”
“Who did that one?”
“Did some idiot think we were really supposed to be finger painting?”
“Is that…an elemental enchantment matrix?” Professor Nuren spoke up from the back of the room. “Whose paper is that?” It was clear from her tone that it wasn’t a rhetorical question.
Very reluctantly, Theo raised his hand. “It’s mine.”
She frowned at him. “What were you thinking, doing something like that? Those obviously aren’t elemental paints. We’d never allow students to handle something so dangerous without any preparation. And based on that sloppy matrix, I assume you haven’t studied elemental enchanting outside the academy. You’re a second year, aren’t you? It was extremely generous of Grandmaster Denifort to invite you to attend this class. There was no need to pull a stunt like this to get attention.” She sounded cross. Maybe Alfred telling the class not to focus on advanced techniques really had gotten to her.
“Did you really think they were elemental paints, Theo?” Abigail’s expression was concerned, but Theo guessed she was laughing underneath it. “Don’t you know how hard they are to get? And surely you saw that the rest of were making normal inscriptions. If you weren’t sure what to do, you should have just copied us.”
Alfred quietly cleared his throat at that point, and everyone turned to look at him. He, however, turned to look at the dragon on his shoulder. “What do you think of Theo’s firework, little guy?”
Iggy flattened his ears. “I think Theo needs to practice painting more.”
Several people snickered. Theo felt his face flush. Even Iggy was criticizing him now?
“But he used good colors!” the dragon went on, brightening. “Theo’s the only one who didn’t get the paint colors all wrong.”
His statement was followed by a confused silence from the class. Theo’s hopes lifted a little. Maybe he hadn’t completely messed things up…?
“Mmm.” Alfred nodded thoughtfully. Then he turned to Theo. “I’m curious.” He tapped one of the boxes of paints that were still sitting on the table. “What exactly do you think these are?”
“I think…” Theo began slowly, aware that most people would think what he was about to say was completely ridiculous. “I think they’re imitation elemental paints. They aren’t actually charged with elemental power, but they emit magic as though they were. I think you probably….” He hesitated a moment and then forged ahead. “You probably made them for Iggy to play with. As a safer substitute for the real thing. That’s why I assumed that the elements and colors match up the same way they did in his song, instead of using the standard system.”
Alfred smirked. But he looked amused, rather than derisive.
“Theo, even Grandmasters can’t enchant paint.” Abigail sounded as though she were explaining something to a child. “You need to be an alchemist to make things like that. That’s why some artistic enchanters are dual-certified. So they can make their own enchanting materials.”
“And who says you have to be an artistic enchanter to dual-certify?” Alfred asked dryly. “I got an alchemy certification before I got an enchanting one, actually. My grandmother is an alchemist, so I studied that growing up. I didn’t get seriously into enchanting until I was an academy student.” He shrugged. “Well, it’s relatively easy to dual-certify in those two fields because there are so many overlapping principles.”
Was this guy for real? It was hard enough for most people to earn even one certification. Theo would have hated him right then if he weren’t so busy being impressed.
“I wasn’t really expecting anyone to notice it. But Theo is right. These aren’t ordinary enchanting paints. They emit magic. They don’t conduct it.” Alfred put his hand on the stack of inscription papers. “Which means that out of all the inscriptions here, there’s only one that’s actually functional. This one.” He picked up a paper from the table. But not from the students’ pile.
“That one’s mine!” Iggy said proudly.
“Yes, it is. You made some nice fireworks.” Alfred patted him. “To be fair, Iggy has used these paints plenty of times before, so he already knew what he was doing. But here, take a look at these two side by side.”
He set Iggy’s paper on the tray next to Theo’s, so they were displayed together on the wall. No one had to ask what they were supposed to be looking at. Iggy’s paper had several firework formations, while Theo’s only had one, but there was an obvious similarity in the colors and shapes.
“You see the resemblance? Theo’s technique definitely needs work, but he got the gist of it right. Have you tried elemental enchanting at all before?” Alfred looked at Theo, who shook his head. “I would have been surprised if you had. Well, there are a lot of mistakes, and pointing them all out won’t be that helpful if you’re not actually studying this enchanting method. But, for example, you overdid it with the fire element a little here.” He pointed at a small black patch on the paper. “And over here, it doesn’t transition properly from earth to air. So, unlike the rest of the inscriptions, this one would actually do something if you activated it. Just not what you wanted it to do. I assume you intended for it to shoot into the air and then explode in the typical flower shape. But as it is, this would just wiggle around on the ground and then burst into flames.”
Theo had no idea how he could know that just from looking at the inscription, but he didn’t question it.
“Basically, it’s just like Iggy said. You need a lot more study and practice in order to be able to do elemental enchanting for real. But this isn’t bad for your first try.” Alfred turned to address the rest of the room. “So, here are your two final lessons for this class. First, pay attention to your materials, especially ones you’ve never used before. I deliberately gave you something that wouldn’t cause any harm if they were handled incorrectly, but in real jobs, that won’t often be the case. Merchants can sell you poor quality goods. Materials can be mislabeled. Even outright sabotage from rivals or disgruntled colleagues isn’t out of the question. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll be lucky if your enchantment not activating is all that happens. Not assessing your materials properly can cause some very serious accidents. Be careful. Always.” His expression turned a bit stern. “And the second lesson. When you see someone doing something you don’t understand, ask questions before you start criticizing. It’s possible that the other person knows something that you don’t. Arrogance will cost you a lot in missed opportunities.” He returned to his usual relaxed demeanor. “Those two things are related, really. And they demonstrate a very important principle of creative, resourceful enchanting: Always keep an open mind. See things as they actually are and not as you assume them to be. Otherwise, you’ll run into trouble and lose out on potential resources.” He glanced around the room. “So, that’s pretty much it. Are there any questions before we wrap up?”
No one spoke. But that wasn’t because of a lack of questions. For the first time, Theo felt in sync with the rest of the class. He was sure they were all thinking the same thing he was at that moment.
Questions? Where should they even start…?
Off-Stage Chat
Abigail:
Wait…do you mean that, as a teacher, you deliberately sabotaged your students? How could you do something like that?!
Alfred:
Isn’t it the teacher’s job to make sure the students learn properly? It was an important lesson. And this way, you’re not going to forget it anytime soon, now are you?
Besides, everyone loves seeing snooty rich characters get their comeuppance after they’ve been bullying the protagonist. Gotta make the readers happy….
Abigail:
Wha — ? You….
Theo:
Alfred…did you just break the fourth wall…? (・_・;) Is that allowed?
Iggy:
Fourth wall fireworks! Boom boom!
