Unsure of what to do, Aldric did the first thing that came to mind. He laughed. A genuine laugh, the kind he hadn’t done in a very long time. As soon as he started, he found it hard to stop. He had to turn his head away for fear of spittle flying all over the poor girl’s face.

He saw her cock her head to the side, obviously perplexed by his sudden attitude change. Then she looked down at herself, seeming to only just now realize how close she was.

“I-I’m so sorry!” she said as she hurriedly backed away. “I-I didn’t realize what I was doing, I just got so excited and I—oh, please forgive me...” She stared at the ground, shame faced and beet red with embarrassment.

“Hah, n-no, I’m not... heh, sorry,” Aldric tried to say, struggling to get his laughing fit under control. “You just, heh... you just reminded me of someone, that’s all.” He took a moment to gather himself, then asked, “What was your name, anyway?”

“N-Nadrina Flemming,” the girl stuttered.

“Of what house?”

Nadrina’s face fell even further, if that was possible. “I-I’m not a noble. I’m sorry.”

Now that had Aldric’s attention. When she had said she’d worked hard to get here, she probably wasn’t kidding. Kedrin had founded this school on the idea of education for all, but there were many obstacles on the way to such an idealistic goal. Many commoners simply didn’t have the means to make it to the academy. Money was no object to someone as successful as Kedrin, but Aldric was sure that several potential mages in the world simply lived in places too remote to consider making the effort. Not to mention, many families in that situation needed all the family members they had to get by. The fact she’d made it here at all was impressive on its own, and leaving her entire life behind was testament to her determination.

Again, Aldric was reminded of a younger version of himself, being forced to strike out on his own. The parallels made him wonder if Kedrin had put this girl in his class on purpose.

“Well then, Nadrina, as for that demonstration from class today... how do you think I did it?”

He’d obviously surprised her with the question. She opened her mouth to respond, probably to say she didn’t know, but then paused and considered it. Aldric was pleased to see she could think before speaking.

“I’ll assume that you’re just that fast at carving and imbuing,” Nadrina muttered, talking more to herself than Aldric. That spark was back in her eyes again. “You had mentioned you were combining elemental runes; fire, earth, and air. Fire would obviously burn the desk, and earth would... what would earth do? What about the earth rune would change the desk the way it did...?”