Saturday morning and I was meeting with Vivian in her office before our training. I was fairly confident that I knew what it was going to be about. But there was always a risk of something going sideways. With the curse you never really know.

"Good morning," I greeted as I stepped inside the room. The door was already open and for once she looked less busy.

"Good morning," she greeted back. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary.

I sat there for a moment, sitting in the chair across from her and watching her pull out a familiar looking piece of paper. Jarec's information was good. Someone had challenged Russel to a duel.

A Pixie, judging from the signatures from both Professor Dellik and Gregory Set.

I gave it a quick read-through. Most of it was just the normal dry language for a formal document like this. I didn't recognize the name of the student. However, I could see the part about what each person would lose or gain if they won. This one's surprised me.

This was the strangest way to get a date I had ever seen. If the Pixie won Russel had to go on a date with them? Was this allowed? Then again, Dellik had already signed the thing. He must not have any problem with this.

"Did you know anything about this?" Vivian asked.

"I might have heard a rumor or two."

"Jarec?"

"Jarec."

"It's good that he keeps you informed."

"He's been a tremendous help."

"Are we agreeing to this?"

"He seemed up to it when Jarec told him a challenge was probably coming."

"Thus, you're signing it?"

"I have no reason not to." I picked up the extra pen she kept on her desk for me to use on this kind of stuff. The ones she liked to use were purple with red or blue detailing. This one was red.

"You're doing a fine job, you know," Vivian said as I finished and put the pen back.

"Huh?"

"Being Tower Representative. The first year is the hardest. Being the youngest in the room makes it even harder."

"Were you?"

"I was older than you, but only in my third year. Most of the others were in their fifth. They barely spoke to me or listened, and you're handling better than I did."

The idea of anyone not taking Vivian Hearth seriously was strange. But if she was in her third year, she would have been about seventeen. She hadn't earned her reputation yet.

I didn't know if I wanted a reputation like hers when I was older. But then again, I was pretty sure I didn't want her job. Either of them.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Whether or not I would ever need to tell her that was something I didn't want to think about in that moment.

"All I can do is my best."

I got a gentle smile in response. A moment passed as she signed some other document.

"Lucinda tells me your training has come along. She seemed excited about it." The smile was bigger now.

"I think asking her to show me some things made her entire decade."

"Parents are supposed to be the ones who teach their kids their first spells. Lucinda started younger than most at four. Ruby didn't know any spells when we met, and she always enjoyed learning."

I hadn't given it much thought. I would have likely started at age five, but it was more like watching your kid take their first steps than learning to read.

I hoped Mom didn't feel robbed. I was still learning a lot from her.

"Mom's enjoying herself, and I'm making pretty good progress. I'm still playing catch up though."

"You'll get there in time. Everyone here is still learning."

I could hope that it was true. We would have to see what my future held.

(**********)

We weren't outside like usual. Instead we were in an empty classroom that I was unfamiliar with. It wasn't like the room Telvis taught in at all. It was entirely flat with a carpet that was almost exactly Vivian Hearth Purple.

No desks or chairs either. Vivian didn't say much as she went to the center of the room and pushed her foot onto a patch of carpet a slightly different color. A very small burst of power and the floor shifted around me. A table appeared in front of her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lump of rock.

I stood on the other side of her and upon taking a closer look it seemed to be a lump of raw iron ore, judging from the red color of the rock.

"What are we doing?" I asked. She'd asked me to follow her and I had without questions. Probably should have asked that sooner.

"I've heard you're taking an interest in enchanting," Vivian said.

"Kinda. I mean…all of this is new to me and I think learning a little bit of everything might help me narrow down what I want to really focus on."

"An approach we like to encourage."

"Plus enchanted stuff works without any negative reaction from the curse so it's been pretty safe for me."

"Ah, that does make sense. Enchanted things don't require energy input to work."

"Basically."

"But there is a risk to enchanting an object yourself."

"There is?"

"Even for those of us who aren't cursed," Vivian stated.

I frowned. No one had said anything about this to me.

"The risk comes from when the object is damaged or if the spell is broken by an outside force, for most the risk is very minor. A temporary headache in most cases. With you however, there might be more serious consequences."

"Oh, that's why we're doing this."

"If something is to go wrong, I'd rather it be with supervision that understands the situation."

That was probably for the best. "I trust you. So where do we start?"

"I want you to channel some mana into the rock. Feel free to give it whatever form you want."

I gulped. I had just started taking the class and had no idea what I was doing. I picked up the ore in my right hand, it wasn't heavy and about the size of a baseball. I could probably do this without anyone getting hurt, right?

Okay Serafina, take a deep breath.

It was like someone had poured warm tea into my veins as I tried to focus my power and felt it move past my heart and into my arm and to my hand.

It pooled in my palm and fingers. I clenched my fingers around the ore. The rough edges digging into my skin almost painfully. I needed to give the power form.

Breathe Serafina.

I exhaled and focused on the spell to make an object glow. Just like the spell I was going to use on my quartz.

There. So faint I almost didn't see it past the natural red color of the ore. Just the slightest glow of my pink. I'd done it. Cold pain in my left wrist wasn't ideal, but it couldn't shake the feeling of accomplishment.

It was just a little bit more progress.

"And how are you feeling?" Vivian asked.

"I'm okay," I said as I released the ore and put it back on the table. "Nothing out of the ordinary for me."

She gave me a look like she was trying to see if I was telling the truth.

"Let me know when it changes, are you ready?"

I wasn't sure. But this was something we needed to know. Whatever the case.

Vivian reached over and touched two fingers to the ore. A small burst of purple at her fingertips.

And then it felt like someone had split my head open with a molten axe.

There was a gasp nearby as the pain faded almost as fast as it started. I counted to five before I felt confident speaking.

"That…that sucked. I hope that's not how everyone feels when that happens."

"Most don't describe it as painful. This just means you'll need to be very careful with anything you enchant for the time being."

That was fine. I probably wouldn't be doing it much outside of class until the curse was fully gone.

But that was okay. I needed to remember I was at a school to learn things about magic. Being better at it would come in time and that was the point.

Everything else going on was just the price of being me, I supposed.

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