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Entry tags:
More practice
Prompt: College
Word Count: 590
It had been a dream of Rebekah’s ever since she’d been old enough to understand why she saw the world in colors that were impossible to explain to her older brother. Tumas hadn’t been born with magic. Not many people in her country were; a lack that made the country beef up its army and pursue the more physical branches of magic like alchemy. Those few born with an inherent gift had a mixed life. On the one hand, magic was a valuable talent, a special gift just like extreme intelligence or the ability to play a musical instrument. On the other hand, because of the general lack and the emphasis on other means, magic users were subtly scorned and viewed as having an easy life. It wasn’t true in most cases of course, and it wasn’t fair, but as her grandfather had told her, that was just human nature.
She’d never been taught to rely on her magic. Tumas, seven years her senior, had just begun learning the warrior arts when she was born. Tragedy had struck, taken their parents when he was eleven and she was just four years old. But it had been time enough for the fundamentals of their foreign father’s martial skills to take root in her brother. He had continued training to be a soldier, going off to a special school and leaving her with her maternal grandfather. Tumas had been a hugely important figure in her life, coming home taller and stronger with each school holiday and slowly teaching her how to defend herself. She admired him greatly, looked up to him, and now that she was old enough, she could see how he’d come to dote on her, spoil her just a bit and see her always with eyes that remembered when she was still a squalling babe.
Tumas had marched off to war at eighteen, leaving her at eleven worried and scared and with the kernel of a dream. Many girls her age trained in domestic arts and in commercial tasks. She didn’t have the patience for the book learning necessary to become a researcher but she wasn’t stupid. Tumas told her of a college he’d learned of, far off on the border of their country, where magic users and those with enough determination and smarts could enroll to further enhance their abilities. But not just anyone with magical ability was allowed entrance. There were tests that had to be passed, mostly for book learning but also a few for physical fitness. At the school she could be trained to do more than just the basic shielding and grounding taught to any child with a hint of potential. She could actually learn to utilize her talents for the good of the country. It was enough to halfway comfort her through her fears during her brother’s absence, and she worked hard.
Rebekah wasn’t sure what she wanted to be but she did know how badly she wanted to be accepted by the school. Being a battle mage was appealing because she could be on the front lines near Tumas. But being a healer was probably both more practical and more useful. Even being one of the artificers or having a talent for the rumored espionage magic would be fine because she would be utilizing her gifts to the fullest. And, even though Tumas had been gone again for nearly a year and wouldn’t be back for another five months, the day she received her acceptance letter, Rebekah swore her brother somehow knew.
Word Count: 590
It had been a dream of Rebekah’s ever since she’d been old enough to understand why she saw the world in colors that were impossible to explain to her older brother. Tumas hadn’t been born with magic. Not many people in her country were; a lack that made the country beef up its army and pursue the more physical branches of magic like alchemy. Those few born with an inherent gift had a mixed life. On the one hand, magic was a valuable talent, a special gift just like extreme intelligence or the ability to play a musical instrument. On the other hand, because of the general lack and the emphasis on other means, magic users were subtly scorned and viewed as having an easy life. It wasn’t true in most cases of course, and it wasn’t fair, but as her grandfather had told her, that was just human nature.
She’d never been taught to rely on her magic. Tumas, seven years her senior, had just begun learning the warrior arts when she was born. Tragedy had struck, taken their parents when he was eleven and she was just four years old. But it had been time enough for the fundamentals of their foreign father’s martial skills to take root in her brother. He had continued training to be a soldier, going off to a special school and leaving her with her maternal grandfather. Tumas had been a hugely important figure in her life, coming home taller and stronger with each school holiday and slowly teaching her how to defend herself. She admired him greatly, looked up to him, and now that she was old enough, she could see how he’d come to dote on her, spoil her just a bit and see her always with eyes that remembered when she was still a squalling babe.
Tumas had marched off to war at eighteen, leaving her at eleven worried and scared and with the kernel of a dream. Many girls her age trained in domestic arts and in commercial tasks. She didn’t have the patience for the book learning necessary to become a researcher but she wasn’t stupid. Tumas told her of a college he’d learned of, far off on the border of their country, where magic users and those with enough determination and smarts could enroll to further enhance their abilities. But not just anyone with magical ability was allowed entrance. There were tests that had to be passed, mostly for book learning but also a few for physical fitness. At the school she could be trained to do more than just the basic shielding and grounding taught to any child with a hint of potential. She could actually learn to utilize her talents for the good of the country. It was enough to halfway comfort her through her fears during her brother’s absence, and she worked hard.
Rebekah wasn’t sure what she wanted to be but she did know how badly she wanted to be accepted by the school. Being a battle mage was appealing because she could be on the front lines near Tumas. But being a healer was probably both more practical and more useful. Even being one of the artificers or having a talent for the rumored espionage magic would be fine because she would be utilizing her gifts to the fullest. And, even though Tumas had been gone again for nearly a year and wouldn’t be back for another five months, the day she received her acceptance letter, Rebekah swore her brother somehow knew.