Andrew Rowe - Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Divisions? Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this. Sera and I will probably be split up… That could be good or bad.

“Each division will have objectives throughout the year. Completing these objectives will earn points, both for individuals and for their divisions. Each student has a minimum requirement to earn five hundred points to continue to the second year at the academy.”

“Candidates will enter their second year retaining their scores from the first year, and graduates with high scores will enter their military service at a higher rank. A large part of your score is derived from the performance of your division, and thus, it behooves you to work together with your classmates.”

Chancellor Wallace gestured to a man in a gray suit, with a sharp beard and salt and pepper hair. He stepped up to the front of the platform, coming in clear sight, but not near the podium. “Tiger Division specializes in offensive combat. Students with the Elementalist Attunement will be assigned to him. Professor Ceridan will be your supervisor.”

Next, she waved to a woman in a black suit with perfectly straight, shoulder-length black hair. “Professor Orden will be supervising Serpent Division, which specializes in reconnaissance. Students with the Shadow and Diviner Attunements will report to her.”

Professor Orden? Lyras Orden, I presume. I’ll need to talk to her. A shame I’m not in her division; it sounds interesting, and being placed with her would be convenient.

Chancellor Wallace pointed to a man in a purple suit, with a dueling cane and carefully sculpted eyebrows. “Students with the Shaper Attunement will report to Lord Teft and focus their studies on personal combat. He oversees Hydra Division.”

I started hearing students leaning over and whispering to each other, discussing their division assignments, but Sera and I remained quiet. Focused. Neither of us had been assigned yet.

I recognized the next person who stepped forward. She was the teacher who’d helped me with my paperwork after I’d first earned my attunement. “Phoenix Division provides valuable support both on and off the battlefield. Students with the Mender and Enchanter Attunements will report to Professor Edlyn.”

Welp, stuck with the healers. I’m pretty much doomed to obscurity.

Sera must have seen my expression. She gave me a condescending look and a pat on the arm.

The chancellor beckoned to a thin man in a dark blue military uniform, similar to the one the vice chancellor wore. “Lieutenant Talon will oversee Tortoise Division. Tortoise Division focuses on defensive combat and battlefield control. Summoners and Guardians will report to this division.”

“Transfer students with attunements from the other towers will be assigned an appropriate division for their specialization. For example, Soulblades will be assigned to Tortoise Division due to sharing similar combat capabilities to Summoners.”

Huh. I’d known we had some foreign students, but I hadn’t really considered that they might have taken their Judgments at other towers and earned different attunements. It’d be interesting to see what kind of other attunements were out there.

“Finally, there’s Spider Division. You already know if you’re in Spider Division. As the name implies, Spider Division is infiltrators and saboteurs — and that’s exactly what they’ll be doing within all of your other divisions.”

I heard a collective groan from the students.

“Listen closely!” Chancellor Wallace was surprisingly sharp, and the crowd was silenced. “This is one of the most important parts of your first year of training. Each of you will have specific opportunities throughout the year to report someone you believe to belong to Spider Division and any supporting evidence.”

“Correctly identifying an individual Spider can yield a reward of up to one hundred points. However, if your entire division fails to identify even a single member of Spider Division by the end of the year, each division member will lose two hundred and fifty points. And incorrectly identifying someone as a Spider will result in a loss of up to one hundred points.”

Well, that last part means I can’t just write down everyone I can think of. I’ll have to keep thinking about this, maybe trade some information.

I wonder if the Spiders lose points if they’re identified? Probably, but if not, maybe I could make an offer to get one of them to come forward?

She smiled. “People for Spider Division were selected from all possible attunements, and thus, you cannot identify them that way. Attempting to discover the spies in your midst should be a valuable exercise.”

Chancellor Wallace folded her hands on the podium. “I’m sure you’re eager to meet your classmates. Thus, we’ll be concluding this ceremony. You will find your schedules within your orientation packets, but you’ll need to head to the dispensary to pick up your uniforms and shield sigils. Good luck… and keep your eyes wide open.”

Our first order of business was picking up our uniforms, so Sera and I headed toward the dispensary.

“So, who do you think we’ll run into first?” Sera nudged me.

I hadn’t really thought about it. “I’m… not sure?”

She grinned. “I bet a bunch of our friends are here. I know Patrick and Roland passed the tests. Maybe we’ll get in some of their classes!”

Hrm. Maybe that really was Patrick I saw earlier.

“Yeah,” I said absently. “That’d be nice.”

Sera rolled her eyes. “Please, restrain your enthusiasm, I can’t take the intensity.”

I tilted my head at her. “Sorry, Sera. You’ve gotta keep in mind that I haven’t seen any of these people in years… I didn’t exactly keep in touch. I don’t know if Patrick will even remember me.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. The two of you were practically brothers when you were little. Patrick still talks about you all the time. He’s excited to see you, even if you’re not. Try to look a little happier when you talk to him, for his sake?”

I grimaced, but I nodded in agreement. “I’ll try.”

She was wrong about one thing, though. I only had one brother, and I’d lost him. Patrick, as much as I’d enjoyed spending time with him, was just a friend.

That said…

She was absolutely right that I was being needlessly grim. I needed to at least try to cheer up a little. Being a walking rainstorm wasn’t doing a service to anyone.

I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. “How are you doing? Are you happy to have an attunement?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Uh, yeah, obviously. And my attunement is kind of amazing, too. Sorry you got stuck with that one… I know it wasn’t what you wanted.”

“Eh, I’ll probably get used to it.” I doubted that, but I was not going to let myself get dragged down into another depressive spiral. “Any idea what attunements our friends got?”

Saying the word “friends” was a little strange. I hadn’t seen them in so long, I didn’t know if I had that right.

“Oh, I didn’t ask, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.” She stopped and pointed a hand. “Hey, I think that’s the dispensary over there.”

We headed over, only to find a line leading out the door.

Of course there was a line.

We kept up the small talk as we waited. I admit, I felt a little better from it. It was good having a peer to talk to after such a long period of time. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to face my old friends, but Sera’s presence was growing on me.

After we finally made our way inside, we got marched into separate fitting rooms, where university staff took our measurements.