The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,39

a little too vigorously, and said, “It's like Ben said. Everything is getting more difficult.”

Dagmar rose an eyebrow. “Are you aware of the make–break point?”

“No,” they answered in union.

“Fifty days. That is how long you have to complete the first grade of the apprenticeship if you wish to progress.”

“We've only been here seventeen,” Charlie said, doing the maths far quicker than Ben.

“Which means you're over a third of the way through.” She took the baton from her desk and patted it idly. “Your performances are watched closely during the apprenticeship. Even if you become a member, slow progression could mean not entering the department of your choice.”

Ben felt like he was back at school being lectured by the headmaster. The only difference was, this time he cared.

“We'll try harder,” Ben said with conviction.

“I'm sure you will,” Dagmar said. “However, in order to help you to keep up, you will now find daily targets for each department in your handbooks. Meet these, and you will be fine. Fall too far behind and you will find yourselves in trouble.”

Twenty minutes later, they had retrieved their handbooks from the lockers and were perusing through them in the common room.

“This is tough,” Ben said. “Look what I have to get through by Friday. I've got to talk a city goblin down by fifty percent in a trade deal and bargain for the release of a Creeten in the Kingdom of Ursla. I've no idea what a Creeten is and haven't the faintest idea where to find the Kingdom of Ursla.”

“You think you've got problems. They expect me to graduate to the third grade spell pellet. I'm closer to touching the moon than I am to making one of those cast properly.”

“We'll manage,” Ben said. He turned a page in his handbook and smiled. “Hey, guess what we're doing this afternoon?”

Charlie rubbed his cheeks and sighed. “Darn, I was hoping you'd forgotten about that.”

Ben stood up, his sudden invigoration sweeping away any lingering unpleasantness from Dagmar's conversation. “Come on, let's go.”

They climbed the staircase, Ben trying to pick up the pace, Charlie trying to slow it down.

“I hope there aren't too many people in there. There's something about being publicly humiliated that I'm not very fond of,” Charlie said.

They entered the Department of Spellswords and headed straight to a room marked “Sword Combat Training”.

Ben rubbed his hands and grinned. “You ready?”

“No – shall we come back later?”

Ben ignored the comment and opened the door. Inside, the space was open plan, the rooms partitioned by glass, giving them a look at the whole area in one sweeping glance. The room they had entered was a small lecture hall, with a whiteboard, a desk, and several rows of seats, all currently empty. To Ben's right were four square sparring rooms. Three were empty, but in the nearest was an apprentice battling a magically created soldier. The swordplay was quick and intricate, the soldier clearly skilled. But the apprentice, who had four stars above his shoulder, was no slouch, and matched him blow for blow. There was another figure in there with them, but he was just watching, arms folded. Ben noted the two green diamonds above his shoulder.

The figure looked up and spotted them. He gave a friendly wave and promptly left the glass room, completely unconcerned at leaving the apprentice alone with the magical soldier.

“Hello, hello!” the Spellsword said, with a broad smile.

Now that he approached, Ben saw that he was an elf. Unlike most elves he had seen, the Spellsword was dark skinned, with black hair that ran just past his shoulders.

“Welcome! I'm sorry, I was dealing with a student. My name is Zadaya. What are your names?”

Zadaya was clearly not fluent in English, yet unlike most people learning the language his accent was perfect, though his grammar was not.

“So, this is your first practical lesson – yes?” Zadaya said, after introductions were made. He had a youthful exuberance about him and Ben thought he couldn't have been more than twenty, though it was always hard to tell with elves.

“Yes, this is our first lesson,” Ben said.

“Good! I expect you want to get straight into the box and fight, eh?” Zadaya said, making an exaggerated sword fighting motion with his arms. “Not sit down and listen to Zadaya talk about boring things like posture, balance, and technique – am I right?”

“Yes,” Ben said, just as Charlie said, “No.”

“I'm perfectly happy to listen to a lecture,” Charlie said.

“Pah! Lecture is boring.” He motioned to them. “Come!