Jadwia was now certain that this routine would be the death of her. For a week now, she had woken up before the crack of dawn and walked to Isyd’s and Kewin’s inn. The sun was still hours away and at times the cobblestone was covered with clear ice, making the journey through the streets treacherous.

  She usually arrived at the same time as Oliwer did despite leaving the Academy earlier than him. The boy often greeted her with a bleary-eyed smile at the same time as Kewin and Isyd were leaving their inn. Then, without further ado, they started running. Without consulting each other, they all fell into a line with Isyd at the head and a floating [Lightball] overhead followed by Kewin then Oliwer then finally Jadwia, sweating and panting and cursing all the while under her breath. Isyd was well aware of her displeasure – Jadwia had made no pretense of hiding it – but he had simply shrugged her complaints away and insisted she showed up. It was an integral part of the training he had promised when he recruited her. Oliwer had immediately been intrigued and excited by the novelty. To his credit, Isyd had pushed back the beginning of their daily jog by an hour to be accommodating of Oliwer’s sleep. In exchange, the young boy had not missed even one day and had barely complained. Not wishing to be outdone by someone younger than her, Jadwia had also showed up every day despite hating it.

  And it she did.

  To take her mind off it, Jadwia often imagined her mother’s face seeing her right now; her sole daughter out and about running in the streets of the city before sunrise. A young woman of her station ? Engaged in a ? A woman ? Her mother would collapse from the shock of it. The thought drew a smile on Jadwia’s face and gave some spring to her jog.

  At the same time they crossed the Amber Bridge. Kewin had explained to her that he and Isyd used to run all the way to the Topaz Bridge, situated further upstream before the splitting of the River and the Little Stream, basically racing to cross it before it was raised for the day. Now that Isyd had pushed the jog to an hour later, this was no longer an option. This meant that to go back to the Inside, they crossed instead the Amber Bridge and ran alongside the periphery of the Academy. Despite taking pleasure at the imagined mortification of her mother at her current state, Jadwia was secretly terrified to be recognized by anyone of the Academy in such a disheveled state. For better or for worse, some of her properness had rubbed off on her. Still, this was unlikely given how early in the day it was.

  In the last leg of their jog in the outskirts of the forest, Jadwia managed to take over Oliwer and arrived first in the meadow where Isyd and Kewin were already waiting. This place had become an unofficial meeting place for the Tears. Jadwia slumped down on the ground out of breath, too tired to worry about the dirt that would get on her clothes. Oliwer arrived soon after and did the same as her, letting a long and deep sigh.

  “Good job! You made it all the way today as well,” Kewin said as he handed them their waterskin. “As I have said, you would get used to it soon enough.”

  “I don’t think I will get used to this in a hundred years,” Jadwia grumbled while clutching her side.

  Isyd rolled his eyes but said nothing. He clasped his hands together then began what always followed their run through the city: stretching. Under the weak sunlight of dawn as sole source of light, Isyd’s movements were slow and methodical, calculated to release the accumulated tension and unlock the full range of his body’s motion. In silence, Kewin, Oliwer and Jadwia got up and followed after him the best they could. Jadwia had to admit that in contract with what had preceded, she in fact enjoyed this a lot. She closed her eyes briefly and let her mind gain full awareness of her body, of its soreness and its weight. The near silence that surrounded them allowed her to hear the beating of her heart, the ruffling of the wind through the naked branches, and how the two came to resonate in her mind in harmony. It was almost like a song.

  By now Jadwia could estimate when Isyd was done with his exercises. When she opened back her eyes, he had clasped his hands together and let out a long, held breath, signaling the end of their session. Kewin and Oliwer immediately sat down and flexed their sore muscles, and Jadwia joined them, forming a ring around Isyd as per usual. Jadwia was surprised how quickly they had all fell into a routine, so that the four of them often moved without needing to utter a word. Isyd wasn’t one to give orders often, but his presence alone forced people to align vis-à-vis him.

  “Good work today. You are all making good progress,” Isyd said.

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  “You know, this wasn’t exactly what I had imagined when you spoke of ‘training’…” Jadwia couldn’t help but remark.

  “And what did you imagine?”

  “I am not sure really... Something to do about the Arts? Some [Spells] practice maybe?”

  “It will come in time, and then you’ll be grateful of what we’ve been doing currently. It’s my first time teaching anything really, but I decided to take a holistic approach. I think it is the best way forward.”

  “It’s different for sure!” Oliwer exclaimed. “My private tutor back home never made me run even a single yard. He was much intent on making recites old texts written centuries ago!”

  Isyd nodded. “I don’t want to disparage other methods of teachings, but how can you expect an Artyst to perform in stressful, lengthy and demanding times if they all have the endurance of a bedridden maiden?”

  Jadwia felt like the last remark was aimed at her, and she felt her cheeks redden. That’s certainly how she appeared on the first day.

  “You two have received our planning for the next semester, have you not?” Isyd continued. “You must have seen our incoming class of .”

  “Is that what we are doing here? Practicing the Physical Arts?” Oliwer asked.

  “Yes, and no,” Isyd said sitting down as well. “Frankly, I still have difficulties understanding the insistence of separating them into different branches. The Arcanic Arts from the Healing Arts from the Physical Arts and so on… It is only something I’ve witnessed here in the Commonwealth.”

  “You’ve... learned the Arts elsewhere?” Kewin asked tentatively. It was extremely rare that Isyd spoke about his own life.

  “I’ve lived several years in Shikhara, an island far in the East. They teach the Arts differently over there. They see it more as a whole”

  “And you think it’s a better way than how we do it here in the Academy?” Jadwia asked.

  “Not ‘better’, The way the Academy teaches has its advantages, certainly when it comes to the specialization into one of the Artystic branches, but none of you are at that level yet. I believe that you all need first and foremost a strong foundation and understanding of the Arts and the Holy Grace. For now, try to forget about Openings, Meshing, Idpulse and all that... Just you and the Grace; how it feels to you, how it resonates with you, how it flows in and out of you...”

  Jadwia exchanged a look with Oliwer and Kewin. “This sounds a bit... convoluted,” she said.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to guide you,” Isyd said with a faint smile. He reached behind for a satchel and rummaged in it. “Speaking of which, I got you this!”

  “Lightspheres?” Oliwer said, reaching for it.

  Isyd pulled back before he could grab it. In each hand, he indeed held two Lightspheres that only appeared normal on the surface.

  “I spent the past two days in the Atelier working on those Lightspheres to modify them. If you look closely, you’d noticed the little piece of Blysht I added inside of it. I also modified the [Arcane]. Your task is quite simple: you must turn on this Lightsphere.”

  In his hands, both spheres sparked alight, diffusing a cold, white light in the shimmering air.

  “Turn it on? That’s it?” Oliwer asked, confused.

  “That’s it. We will only move on to the next step of your training after you achieved this, not before,” Isyd said as he handed them the Lightsphere.

  Jadwia took hers with a frown. Was Isyd underestimating them too much? Surely, this couldn’t be this difficult. Lightspheres were designed with the average population in mind, so that people with no knowledge of the Arts could still use them. The only thing required to turn on a Lightsphere was to touch the surface with one’s palm. Then, the [Arcane] would draw in the heat and amplify to ignite the coils trapped inside and...

  Nothing happened.

  The Lightsphere remained dull in Jadwia’s hand. Confused, she readjusted her grip on the sphere and pressed her palm on its surface. She could feel her hand grow cooler and the heat being sucked away but nothing happened. Even though Isyd had just activated them a moment ago, Jadwia brought it to eye level and peered through the surface to be sure that it wasn’t internally defective; the coils were wrapped around the small Blysht, keeping it in place, but besides that it looked like any Lightsphere would.

  Jadwia looked to the side to Oliwer, who appeared as confused as her, then she glanced back to Isyd. The man had gotten up and had a satisfied grin on his face.

  “Remember, we can only progress on your training you achieved this. Also, it’s everyone for themselves. No cooperation between you two. Good luck!”