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I recalled trying to i skills, co my entire squad killed by the enemy team "You know, I think you’re onto one of those universal truths with that one"
"I reirl went awry," Miles said while cleaning his glasses on a handkerchief "I once tried suht forth a minor non-sentient entity called a skruk that defecated all over the floor and urinated all over Clarissa Dickson’s boyfriend before I was able to banish it" He chuckled "Oh, you should have seen her face after that" He sighed and looked into the distance "She never did talk towhat in the world ever ood idea "That’s terrible"
He sighed "Yes, I know It’s not very nice to ignore soether "Well, shall we get started?" He hummed to hi to a table sitting in an area configured like a target range "Light that candle, if you don’tplenty of tih it usually ended up with atable afterward I looked at Shelton He winked, nodded his head I knew fro this drill over and over that I didn’t need to draw in any aether, since it only took precise focus and concentration to pull off I was as precise as a bulldozer I stared at the candle Drawing upon my well, I pointed my practice wand at the candle and whispered, "Hadouken"
A fireball the size and shape of h the air in a streak of flaainst the stone wall behind the table with a whoosh I clenched my teeth, ready to cursedespitean inch of wax near the top
"Hmm," Miles said and made a note on a scrap of parchment "Now, Justin, blow out the candle"
I was te capacity to do the trick, but figured Miles wouldn’t go for it Narrowingflame, I drew on my well, focused , "Ventus" A gust of wind knocked the table over and sent the candle flipping end-over-end to land on the floor ten feet away frohtful sound and ined, at this point, his words described the hopelessness of ical education
Over the next hour, he asked s which, on the surface, see but Most of them, I flat out didn’t kno to do Shelton and Bella hadn’t gotten that far with me, so I only stood there with a constipated look on my face while I tried to levitate a feather and later tried to aniure made of toothpicks By the tinant yak and ready to run screa from the room
We followed Miles to his office where he ran his wand over uous readout floated in the air before hiuard at the doors to Queens Gate
"How odd," he said and made some notes "You are Daemos?"
I nodded "And part human My mom is an Arcane" I didn’t dare tell him the truth of the matter
"I see" He stared at the parchically incoe, to boot After a few ht, ifted, but lack control in any sense of the word" He delivered the evaluation without a hint of condescension or derisiveness in his voice "I suggest reress by the end of the semester" He laid the parchree, Harry?"
Shelton shrugged "You hit the nail on the head"
"Indeed" The professor looked at the parcho so far as to say it is extraordinary, but he simply uses far too much for small tasks"
"What about all the stuff I couldn’t do?" I said "The feather, that stick figure…" I trailed off, not really wanting to review the complete roster of tasks I’d been unable to perform
Miles smiled "Most new students barely complete half the tests unless they attended other acade here"
His words made me feel somewhat better At least I wasn’t the only failure "Is everyone here e and older?"
He chuckled "This is an Arcane institution and quite unlike the noe ten, depending on their potential There areArcanes don’t even exhibit talent until age eleven or twelve"
"They couldn’t find him a dorm room, Professor," Shelton said, his tone unusually respectful toward the s, would you?"
Miles frowned thoughtfully and pulled a large book from a shelf behind his desk He set it on the table and looked at it for ahis head "This book is linked to the pri everything is quite full" He sighed "I would offer Justin lodging at s unless it’s for faned me such a roomy house, one which my family hardly fills"