A tall Mage stumbled into the dome, he wore a pointy blue hat that covered his long black hair. His blue tunic had a slit in front of his chest revealing his pale white skin. There were three scratches on the side of his pasty white face, his hand covered his mouth as he hobbled in, almost on the verge of collapsing.

“Sorry,” he coughed sickly. “I’m late.”

He coughed hard within the palm of his hand. “I crossed a black cat and,” he paused his sentence to cough again, “and it chased me into an alley. We fought it out.”

“Is that the reason you have those scratches on your face?” Quinn asked, curiously.

“No, that’s a birthmark,” responded the sick Mage.

“Did you defeat the cat?” Quinn asked another question.

The tall Mage coughed again but this time it was restricted in his throat. “No, the cat strolled out the alley,” he croaked, his eyes turning a bloodshot red.

A mystifying silence surrounded the un-well Mage as all the students wearing blue stared at him oddly – some with concern, some with fright. But Grey did not have a chance to study the Mage as his fellow classmates. He sat on the grass, rotating and massaging his neck. The strained muscle had begun to pinch against his nerves causing his neck to ache again.

It must have been the tumble, he thought, rising to his feet and dusting a few grass strands off of his tunic. He looked towards Quinn then to Aaron, still massaging his neck. Both of them had the same slight puzzled look on their face and Grey turned his head to focus where their eyes concentrated on. A tall Mage stood in his sight with long black hair, he was deathly pale and had red watery eyes. He was obviously sick with a fever but his attire was fairly strange, he had an open chest tunic that invited more of the cold air in.

The bloodshot eyed Mage barked out a cough that interrupted the strange glances around him. “Will everyone gather in a circle around me?” he asked, his voice a crack of a whisper.

Although, he was barely audible the thirty students obeyed his instructed question and surrounded him in a circle. Grey stood between Aaron and Quinn.

“I will be your teacher during these afternoon sessions,” the sick Mage voice grew into a strong whisper. “We are a little late on time,” he coughed and looked down at his watch.

Grey arched his eyebrow, studying the adult Mage in front of him – he was obviously sick with a deathly disease and he was the reason the lesson started late but he did not take any responsibility for it.

He was a strange teacher.

A cough escaped from the tall Mage’s throat as he spoke, “But it is important to start. Let’s start with introductions, goals and hobbies. I guess, I should begin.” The Mage wiped some of the water from his eyes. “I am Mage Chalah Arctus but you can call me Mage Arctus. Let’s see,” he paused thinking about his own hobbies and goals, “I like cats.”

“But didn’t a cat try to kill you?” asked Quinn, puzzled.

“Well it did try but I am still here,” the Mage grinned then his chest bubbled up in a cough. After his cough settled down, he grinned again and said, “My goal is to breed cats and eventually have a farm filled with them.”

“That would be a hassle,” Grey accidentally spoke out his thought.

“A hassle of love,” said Mage Arctus, winking at Grey and Grey blinked awkwardly for a full three minutes. “Well then, let’s begin with you,” suggested Mage Arctus, pointing his index finger at Grey.

Grey glanced up at Mage Arctus and said, “I am Grey Ethel. My hobby is sleeping.”

“Sleeping you say and what is your goal?” asked Mage Arctus, an involuntary cough escaped from his throat.

“My goal is to live like an autumn leaf,” said Grey, wishing that his goal would come true.

Mage Arctus mouth turned into a lopsided grin and his chest coughed out. So this was Grey Ethel, Sir Drane Ethel’s son, he thought to himself. He was fairly different from what was expected, the description given by Sir Drane Ethel was far different than what his son said. Sir Drane Ethel said the boy was eager to learn the Mage arts and extremely talented but he recalled Grey’s hobby and goal – sleeping and desiring to be an autumn leaf?

The boy seemed to desire to avoid all hard work. But then again, Mage Arctus thought, Sir Drane Ethel was not a Mage of lies, even if he was – all parents were allowed a few lies for bragging rights on their children and those who observed trees intently would understand the true philosophical meaning behind it and that alone was a talented skill.

He nodded his head and pointed his finger to Aaron.

“My name is Aaron McCallen. I don’t really have hobbies. But my family is important to me and my goal is to resurrect my family name.”

“How noble,” commented Mage Arctus, then pointed his finger to a random pigtailed girl.

“I am Cathy Suppleton, my hobbies include swimming and tennis. My goal is to be a proper Mage like my father,” she said proudly.

“Fantastic,” said Mage Arctus then pointed his finger to Quinn.

“My name is Quinn Theoyn, my hobbies include everything that is interesting. My goal is to increase in knowledge.”

Mage Arctus coughed, “A sponge of knowledge.”

After all the thirty students had introduced themselves and explained their hobbies and goals. Mage Arctus led them to an isolated patch of white tulips. They all stood around the square patch of tulips while Mage Arctus remained in the centre, leaning onto a tree.

“This will be the first lesson. Since we are almost out of time, I will explain and demonstrate,” Mage Arctus said, surprisingly, he did not cough in between sentences like he usually did. “Now in principle the world is made of the living and the dead. The biotic and abiotic.”

He bent down to his knees and lifted some soil from the tulip patch. “This sand is dead, there is no life essence within it. It is abiotic,” he said, dropping the sand back into the tulip patch. “But this tulip.”

He pointed to the tulip.

“It’s alive, it has growth and has the ability to blossom. It is biotic. Now can we name a few examples of abiotic factors?” Mage Arctus asked his students as he stood to his feet and leaned against the tree.

“A rock.”

“Water.”

“The air.”

Mage Arctus clapped his hands, applauding his students’ knowledge but he really shouldn’t have because he coughed uncontrollably. “Very well done,” he said in between his uncontrollable coughs. He then managed to control it and asked, “Could we identify biotic components?”

“Animals.”

“Insects.”

“Humans.”

Mage Arctus smiled. “Correct. You will all be experts in the Mage art before you know it. Now, that you understand the meaning of the alive and dead,” he said, coughing some more but his cough grew heavier and worse.

“Shouldn’t you go to the doctor?” asked Aaron, concerned about his teacher’s health.

Mage Arctus steadied himself on the bark of the tree, trying to control his cough with a weak grin. “Ah, this cough is a nervous habit. The first day of school gives me the jitters. Don’t be so concerned, I won’t drop dead just yet,” Mage Arctus reassured his students by broadening his grin but then a light cough escaped from his throat. “Returning to the lesson. The concept of the dead and alive play an important role in our Mage powers. Within our blood or our bloodline, we have the natural ability that allows energy to be transferred,” he said.

“Energy to be transferred?” A few students whispered in question at the same time.

“Energy transfer is defined as an energy exchange from one individual to another. Shall I demonstrate?” Mage Arctus opened his palm and created a whitish-reddish swirling ball. “This white-red ball is energy. It is the energy released from my body,” he explained.

The students studied with amazement at the white-red swirling ball, it rotated in different directions, like small lightning bolts had struck in different directions within their teachers’ hand.

“How did you do that?” asked Quinn.

“A good question curious Quinn. This will be your first lesson. In order to release this energy, it requires concentration and calmness. Do not think about anything specific but concentrate on the feeling within. It releases from your chest, there you will experience a light burn and it will transfer from your veins and outside into your palm. This is the natural ability that all Mages experience. Most of them experience their first energy ball within two days or even mere hours,” explained Mage Arctus.

The school bell rang loudly when Mage Arctus completed his sentence. The school day had ended.

“Ah,” said Mage Arctus, he closed his palm and the swirling white-red energy disappeared. “This will be your homework, ask your parents to help you. Or if you want to impress them.” He glanced at Aaron. “Show them your achievement without any guidance,” he said and coughed, limping towards the exit but before he walked out of the dome he turned to face his students and said his last words for the day, “Class dismissed.”

And then he hobbled out.