Nagan | Broken Time Series: Book One

Chapter 11

In the end, he never found anything close to what he was looking for. He hasn't even finished skimming through one wall! He would've asked for some help, but then that would mean he had to admit he can't read Tarkovish. His pride would not allow that.

He spent all his time in the library until he heard the 10-minute warning bell chime. It was just enough time for him to grab a small bread roll and an apple before jogging to his first class. He saw it during his early morning exploration, so he had no trouble locating it.

Once entering the classroom, he easily spotted Az near the front with an empty seat next to him. Without wasting any more time, he quickly made his way to the seat and plopped down into the chair. Az gave him a look that was a mixture of curiosity and relief.

"Where were you all morning?"

"I woke up pretty early and decided to try to find my way around the castle. I got a bit lost though," Nagan explained, leaving a few bits of information out, and took a bite from his apple.

"But we have maps on our class schedules?" Az pointed out in confusion, "Why would you get lost?"

"They only tell us where our classes are located, but I wanted to know where everything else was," Nagan stated matter of factly.

"Such as?"

Nagan cast a glance at Az in near annoyance. "The library. Other classrooms. Teacher offices. I don't know. Anything and everything. You'll never know when you might need to fetch a teacher suddenly or know where to go for emergencies."

"Ah. I guess that makes sense," Az replied and dropped the subject as a cheery woman with slightly frazzled hair swept her way to the front of the classroom carrying a piece of paper. She muttered a bit and kept looking up towards the class before glancing back down at the paper to scribble something. Was she taking attendance?

When she was done, a wide grin donned her features before saying, "And a fine morning it is today, class! I am Professor Korma Grishi, and I am so happy you are all here!" Her voice reminded Nagan of a talking parrot he once saw on the street. Pitchy and a bit raspy. "Such turning points in your young lives to learn how to unlock your magic!"

Nagan glanced up to the ceiling and saw a cluster of dim, grey wisps floating lazily around the central light. There was a brighter one that moved significantly faster and in an orbit, which he recognized as his own, and an even brighter red orb that whirled around so fast it looked to be a ring. So those lights were a sort of magical presence...

"Anywho," Professor Grishi lifted a medium-sized basket to the top of her desk while a few students groaned. They seemed to know what was going on. "You may have heard of this activity from older students, but it is effective and efficient! Not to mention more controlled."

She lifted a single quartz out of the basket. "Since you are all sitting here today, that means you have started presenting your magic potential. Though it is not very strong or very controlled. That is where the amplific quartz comes in handy!" While supporting the basket at the crook of her arm, she started walking to each desk and setting down a quartz, all the while continuing to give instructions. "Please do not touch them until I say so. Anywho, as its name says, the purpose of this quartz is to amplify your magic enough to make it visible. The normal human eye cannot detect magical traces, and the quartz will act as a container for your potentially explosive ball of energy. Once you put it in your hand, you should see a faint glow. If you do not, look closer."

By now she had finished passing the quartz and stood by the desk. "Your goal today is to make that light brighter! Simple, yes? And you are to make it brighter and brighter until it cracks! Once it has cracked, that means your magic potential is strong enough to be controlled properly. And after that, you may move on to more complicated classes such as incantations and runes! It is not usually a fast process, but it will teach you patience and concentration! Both essential for magical success!"

With her frizzy look, wide eyes, and too excited of a grin, Nagan couldn't help but think she was a bit crazy. She looked like the person who owned an abnormal amount of cats, all named something like Sir Purrs-a-lot or Cleopawtra.

"With all the information you need, you may now begin to unlock your magic!"

There was a slight pause as every student looked at her blankly. She cleared her throat. "You may pick up the amplific quartz now."

A chorus of 'oh's sounded before the students started to hesitantly pick up the quartz. Some were bright while others were barely there, but Professor Grishi was right when she said all of them should glow.

Nagan watched with amazement as Az held his quartz. The light was small, but bright enough to be seen. Like a star trapped in glass.

"Wow..." Az breathed before noticing that Nagan wasn't holding anything. "Aren't you gonna try it?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to see what happens," Nagan replied casually, but flinched back slightly when his fingers grazed the quartz. Was it supposed to be so hot?

Az was already concentrating on making his light brighter to notice Nagan's flinch. Fortunately, at Nagan's second attempt, the quartz had cooled enough to be handled comfortably, and he gazed into it as it sat at the palm of his hand.

At first, he didn't see anything, which confused him greatly, until he realized it was glowing! Just...not in the same way as everyone else. His was darker, and the quartz looked as if it had a storm inside it. Since it was already glowing, maybe he needed to make his white instead of grey?

But how on earth was he to do that?

He glanced at Professor Grishi and saw that she was already helping another student.

There was probably a simple solution to this anyways. He was supposed to concentrate to get results, right? So maybe he just had to think 'white.'

And that's what he did. At first, nothing really happened. The quartz just got unbearably hot to the point where Nagan nearly had to drop it. Maybe white wasn't the right word to concentrate on. How about 'light?' The quartz became brighter, but not whiter.

After nearly 10 minutes, Nagan had tried almost everything he could think of. Snow, clouds, pearls, paper, even bride dresses. But all it did was either make the quartz hotter or brighter. With a huff of frustration, Nagan set the quartz down and stared at it with a crease between his brows. What was he doing wrong? Everyone else's was a white light, so why was his stormy grey? That's when a thought struck him. Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way...

Nagan recalled all those times his special word had saved his life. How a foreign feeling pooled into his gut before releasing it through his voice. Maybe this had the same concept? He was trying to make his light white, not brighter. It made sense that maybe his goal had to be done differently from the rest.

With a deep breath, Nagan picked up the quartz again, but this time he concentrated on letting magic gather rather than trying to direct it immediately. Almost immediately he felt the foreignly familiar feeling gather and prepared to release it. Looking straight at the quartz in his hand, he muttered the word, "White."

Without any warning, there was a loud crack and a bright white flash from the quartz before it shattered into pieces. Not expecting that reaction in the slightest, Nagan shouted in alarm.

Az dropped his quartz in shock from the shout as did others in the room. All eyes turned to Nagan in surprise and bewilderment, wondering what on earth just happened. Sheepishly, he brushed the quartz shards carefully off his hand and looked to Professor Grishi. "I'm...sorry."

Thankfully, she didn't look angry in the slightest, but her owlish expression clearly expressed her own amazement. "Oh my...this hasn't happened in years..."