Even this early in the morning, the streets are abuzz with life. With less than a week left before the start of term, Evermore is as busy as ever. Students and teachers flock to the streets buying last minute supplies and familiarizing themselves with the area. A small band of performers play to the rhythm of a dancing toad, happily hopping across a small stage. Several students play a game of leechball in the local park, and many passers by comment on their lack of professionalism when handling the quiff, the ball of meat the students are currently using to play. 

There also appears to be a long line, wrapping around the block as Wendy and Alice make their way toward their next lesson. Passing by, they find that there's currently an 'Everything must go' sale with a small curio shop called 'The Phantom Ink'. A competitor of 'The Majestic Owl', the owner of this shop often has this sale right before term begins as an attempt to squeeze money out of tourists. Sadly for the suckers who buy into that gimmick, everything is actually marked up from its usual price.

"Ah, you're right on time. Oh, and you brought a friend?"

Sable greets the girls as they walk into The Majestic Owl. 

"Yea, this is Alice. I figured since we need to buy a few things for our room, that she could tag along for today's lesson. I hope that's ok."

"...Does she know?"

"Oh she knows. Had a run-in with some boars the other day, it was crazy."

"You're not hurt, right?"

"Nope! But something weird happened. I'll tell you later."

Sable breathes a sigh of relief

"Well that's good to hear. Oh, and dad stepped out, so it's just going to be me today."

"Aw, I was hoping to ask him something, but I'll wait. Do you know when he'll be back?"

As the girls chat, Alice takes a look around the store. Alice has never stepped foot inside this store, having not had the opportunity to explore the town outside of her lessons. The foreboding atmosphere is enough to drive most people away, with shelves stocked full of shriveled heads, faceless books, and stuffed animals. What really stands out however is the 8 foot tall Owlbear in the front window, as if put there in an attempt to be an inviting display piece and not a heart attack waiting to happen to an unsuspecting patron. Alice nearly jumped out of her shoes when she saw it up close, getting a laugh out of Sable who assured her it has long since been dead.

"I've never seen one up close. Must have been a tough fight."

"It was, apparently. According to my dad, it was terrorizing the forest for months, which is surprising considering Owlbears aren't native to this region."

"Do you think someone brought it here on purpose? Or maybe disturbed its den?"

"Who knows. Bit too late to ask it anyway."

Alice stared at the creature, curious as to the kind of life it really lived before inevitably becoming nothing short of furniture. 

"So, for today's lesson we will be focusing on a skill called quick casting. It's a bit advanced, but considering what you've already experienced, especially Alice, I'm sure the two of you can get the hang of it easy."

Sable brings the girls out back after closing the store. They are in a fenced off yard with a small shed facing the forest so there's plenty of room for their lessons here instead of the store's basement. Now given Alice's background as a knight in training, she is already fairly familiar with this skill, having practiced it endlessly. But her reflexes could use a bit of work given how easily others have managed to get a few good hits in.

"Now, with quick casting it's all about your reflexes. How fast you are able to respond to something, and counter it as well. You can be the most powerful mage in existence, but if your casting is slow, you leave yourself wide open for attacks. Observe."

Sable quickly pulls out her wand and shoots a gust of air at the two girls, quickly knocking them to the floor before they had time to react.

"In a fight, the winner isn't always the person who can cast the most spells, it's usually the one who casts first."

Even by knight standards, Sable was freakishly fast. 

"Alice, since you're already familiar with quick casting, you will be playing with Henry over here." 

Sable walks toward a child sized wooden doll that springs to life with a flick of her wand. 

"For the next hour, you are going to play with Henry. Every time one of you gets hit by a spell, you'll get one point. The one at the end of the hour with the most points wins. Oh, and one last thing. Henry will keep track of the score, so focus on dodging and countering as much as possible before the timer runs out. Good luck!"

Pulling a small clock from her pocket, she winds the timer and places it on a nearby bench. As soon as Sable presses the button on top, Alice is immediately hit by a spell, sending her reeling back. Henry stands at the opposite end with his painted-on smile, a small dinging sound escapes his mouth while waiting until she stands up to make his next move.

Turning towards Wendy, Sable gestures to her to follow as they make their way toward the small shed. Pulling out a key from her pocket, she unlocks the shed, opening it up to reveal shelves full of random toys.

"This is where we used to store extra merchandise before the basement was cleaned out."

Rifling through the mass of toys, she eventually pulls out a small wound up pseudodragon. With a few cranks it springs to life, flying just a few feet above their heads.

"This was one of my favorite toys. Bob here is going to- "

Wendy interrupts with a small snort "Bob?" 

"Yes BOB. I know, I know, I have a terrible way of naming my toys, but I love em all the same. Now focus."

Sable gives her a side eyed glace, seemingly annoyed by the interruption.

"Sorry"

"Anyway as I was saying. BOB HERE is going to help you focus on quick casting. Unlike Henry, BOB isn't going to do anything other than fly around. Now, ready your wand."

Wendy takes Wilfort out of his case and aims at Bob. Wilfort pipes up.

"No no no, you're not even holding me properly. Tighten your grip miss, but not so much as to break me of course."

Sable is surprised, having yet to encounter Wilfort actually speaking. "What was that?"

"THAT would be me young miss, Wilfort Brimstone."

"A talking wand? Just how loaded are you?"

"Loaded?"

"It means rich. You must be if you have something like him giving you tips."

"But I'm not - "

"Focus miss Wendy! Otherwise we'll be here all day..." said Wilfort in a snobbish tone.

"Right, sorry."

Wendy takes aim again at Bob. At this point, she has been able to conjure balls of water no problem as well as change its shape but not as quickly as she'd like.

"Remember what you were taught. Let the mana flow through you, but keep control at all times."

Wendy closes her eyes for a moment, thinking back to a roaring waterfall. The way it crashes with such force onto the rocks below and how quickly the water moves. She opens her eyes, letting the mana flow through her and lets loose a quick burst of water that Bob easily dodges. 

'DING DING DING DING DING'

The alarm goes off indicating the end of their lesson for the day. Alice lies on the floor trying to catch her breath, covered in dirt and bruises. Wendy on the other hand has resorted to chasing Bob around the yard after failing to hit him even a single time, waving Wilfort around like a bat.

Sable helps Alice up from the floor as she struggles to stand up. 

"Good work today, both of you. Alice, despite it being your first lesson you've done well to put up with Henry for this long, though you need to seriously work on your stamina." 

Alice stands there, defeated. She was not expecting a doll to put up more of a fight than the other knights.

"Wendy, though you gave up at the end, you've definitely improved a bit. You're getting better at having control of your water overall, which is impressive given that your abilities are still fairly new. Keep practicing and soon you can play with Henry."

Sable and Wendy turn toward Alice, who jumps when she realizes Henry is standing right next to her. She could have sworn he was on the opposite end of the field not even a second ago.

"The final score for today is 274 to zero."