The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,34

Ben Greenwood! I've been expecting you,” a booming voice said. “And Charlie Hamburger!”

“Hornberger,” Charlie said, with a resigned voice that indicated that was not the first time his name had been pronounced wrong.

James McFadden was just as imposing as Ben remembered. He must have been at least six and a half feet tall, with shoulder-length blond hair and shoulders so broad they could probably carry a small car.

“I bet you're anxious to get going, eh?” James said, slapping both of them on the shoulder; Charlie almost fell over. James led them to another door Ben hadn't noticed, on the opposite side of the room.

“Keep working, everyone! Don't think I can't see you just because I'm not in the room,” James shouted at his students, as they passed through the door.

The room was a pale imitation of the one they had just left. It was far smaller, with five small targets at one end that Ben could reach with a moderate throw. At the other end was a shelf with five drawers, labelled one to five. In each one were mounds of spell pellets.

“Hi, guys!”

Jimmy's clothes were dirty, with several brown stains that looked as though they had been vigorously scrubbed without success. Clearly he had forgotten to bring spare clothes, but this did nothing to dampen his cheerful demeanour. There were two brown-haired girls next to him who were trying to stand as far away as possible and Ben spotted them waving their hands in front of their noses. When they spotted Charlie and Ben, they gave a cheerful wave and introduced themselves as Emma and Debbie. Ben felt Emma's eyes linger on him a little longer than necessary.

All three had red pellets in their hands. Jimmy closed an eye, stuck out his tongue and, with a back swing that looked like a baseball player, threw his pellet at the dartboard. It missed entirely and bounced harmlessly onto the floor.

“That was hopeless, even for you, Jimmy,” James said, hands on hips. “You're distracted. Concentrate!” He said the last word so loud that Jimmy's feet left the ground.

The two girls at the end of the room fared better. They threw their pellets with swings that instantly told Ben they were both sporty. Both hit the target, and both pellets exploded in little puffs of flame.

“Good, good!” James said, nodding. “How many in a row?”

One girl held up two fingers; the other, three.

“Get to five and you can progress to the next grade. Keep going!”

Ben watched with a mixture of fascination and disappointment. There was no spellshooter in sight. Charlie, though, was looking a little brighter.

“You're not ready for them, not by a long shot,” James said, with a chuckle, when Ben asked the question. “You need to master these spells first and show you have what it takes to command a spellshooter.”

“What about the spells in the shop?” Ben asked. “Charlie and I both threw those.”

“Pah,” James said, scrunching his face and waving a gigantic dismissive hand. “Those things are designed to work for all but the weakest minds.” He walked over, and pulled a small red spell from a shelf that was clearly labelled “One”. It was tiny, and James' fingers looked like they would squash it any moment.

“This is your first test. There are five difficulties of spells you will need to master. When you can make the most difficult one explode, you will move on to the spellshooter.”

James threw it, without even looking. It hit the middle of the target and burst into flames. James casually walked over and picked up another one.

“There are three factors to getting any spell to cast: willpower, concentration and vision, in that order of importance. You must will the spell to do as you command. You must be able to concentrate, and block out any exterior distractions – not easy when you might have a screaming, man-eating troll bearing down on you. Finally, you must be able to envision what you want the spell to do. With this little spell, you simply want it to explode into a little flame when it comes into contact with something.”

Ben's disappointment at not getting hold of a spellshooter had disappeared. He was looking at the shelf of spells, itching to get his hands on one and launch it at one of the targets. But James had other ideas and, barring a handful of times when he excused himself to check on the other room, he spent the next half an hour lecturing them on exactly