Royal Institute of Magic: The Shadowseeker (Book 2) (12 page)

“Pah,” James said, scrunching his face and waving a gigantic dismissive hand. “Those things are designed to work for all but the weakest minds.” He walked over, and pulled a small red spell from a shelf that was clearly labelled “One”. It was tiny, and James' fingers looked like they would squash it any moment.

“This is your first test. There are five difficulties of spells you will need to master. When you can make the most difficult one explode, you will move on to the spellshooter.”

James threw it, without even looking. It hit the middle of the target and burst into flames. James casually walked over and picked up another one.

“There are three factors to getting any spell to cast: willpower, concentration and vision, in that order of importance. You must will the spell to do as you command. You must be able to concentrate, and block out any exterior distractions – not easy when you might have a screaming, man-eating troll bearing down on you. Finally, you must be able to envision what you want the spell to do. With this little spell, you simply want it to explode into a little flame when it comes into contact with something.”

Ben's disappointment at not getting hold of a spellshooter had disappeared. He was looking at the shelf of spells, itching to get his hands on one and launch it at one of the targets. But James had other ideas and, barring a handful of times when he excused himself to check on the other room, he spent the next half an hour lecturing them on exactly what did and did not constitute willpower, concentration and vision, until Ben felt he could recite every definition of each word. When that was done, James spent another fifteen minutes telling them how to handle the spell (“Do not squash it; the magic could leak out and it would become worthless”) and even how to throw it (“If you spin the spell, it could lose its potency and perform in unexpected ways”).

“I think you're ready to give it a go,” James said, rubbing his huge hands together. “I've only given you a basic overview, but it should be enough to get started on the first spell.”

James had them stand opposite the two remaining targets, and placed a spell each in their hands, with surprising delicacy.

“Your first spell,” James said, with a solemn nod. “An important moment in any apprentice’s journey. The question is – will you be the first to successfully cast a spell on their first go?”

“Nobody has done it before?” Ben asked, holding the little spell up to his face.

“It takes, on average, two dozen attempts before you get one to cast,” James said. He stood back and folded his arms. “I will be counting for both of you.”

Ben felt a little rush of adrenaline. Jimmy had stopped throwing, and even the two girls, Emma and Debbie, had paused, to watch. James gave them a frown, but didn't tell them to return to practice.

The small pellet weighed more than he expected, enough to give Ben confidence that he could throw it a good distance. The target was no more than thirty feet away, a series of red and white concentric circles, standing just in front of the wall. Willpower. Confidence. Vision. James' booming voice kept running round his head, making it difficult to clear his mind. He could feel eyes on him and he had the sudden urge to look up. Little noises like James' annoying nasal breathing and occasional sniffs suddenly seemed difficult to ignore. What had seemed like the simple task of hitting a large dartboard with a pellet suddenly became infinitely more difficult. Concentrate! Vision. That was easy, at least. He wanted the spell to burst into flames in the middle of the target. Ben positioned himself in line with the target. He raised his arm, and threw, his whole body following through like a tennis player. The little red spell flew forwards and just missed the bull’s-eye. There was a tiny flashing glow and, for just a moment, Ben thought it was going to ignite. But instead it bounced off the target and hit the floor. He stared at the pellet on the floor with a mixture of disappointment and frustration, his confidence deflating like a popped balloon.

“Very good!” James said, breaking the silence, and clapping. Jimmy joined in enthusiastically, and the two girls gave him admiring looks before turning back to continue their training.

“Really?” Ben said, lifting his head. “It looked a bit pathetic to me.”

“Not at all. You achieved a minor glow on your first attempt. That’s rare – very rare. Your willpower is excellent and there was nothing wrong with your vision. But your concentration needs work. Go and get another spell.” James turned to Charlie. “Right, your turn. Remember, don't worry about throwing it as hard as you can. That isn't important.”

Charlie narrowed his eyes, and Ben saw a steely determination that few people knew existed. He threw the pellet; it hit the outer rim and bounced harmlessly away.

Charlie smiled brightly. “I'm quite pleased with that. Did you see me hit the target?”

“I've seen worse first efforts,” James said, glancing briefly at Jimmy. “Your concentration was good, but you need to work on your willpower. Believe that you can make the spell cast and it will.”

Ben hurried over to pick up his spell and get back into position. He was determined to make it cast second time.
Has anyone ever managed that?
he wondered. Ben took a deep breath, to relax his body. He wound his arm back, his eyes fixed on the bull’s-eye. A loud cough echoed in the small room just as Ben was swinging through. He jerked and the spell hit the target just to the right of the bull’s-eye. It glowed again, brighter this time, before bouncing to the floor.

Ben turned angrily, assuming it was Jimmy. But someone else had entered the room, leaning casually against the door frame with his legs crossed.

“I'm sorry, did I distract you?” Joshua asked with a smirk. “I had something in my throat.”

Ben was furious. He made a move for the door, but a huge hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“I'm coming over to inspect your snow storm spell in a minute,” James said, staring hard at Joshua. “I expect to see a vast improvement.”

Ben was pleased to see the smirk wiped off Joshua's face and he turned to go.

“Wait,” James ordered, and Joshua turned round. “I want you to watch Ben's next attempt.”

“What? Why?” Ben asked. The thought of Joshua smiling if he messed up again was not a pleasant one.

“To help you focus,” James said. “The fear of failure will drive you.”

Ben had no answer to that. He flashed a dirty look at Joshua, who was now watching with renewed amusement.

“No pressure,” Joshua said. “I promise not to cough this time, but I've had hiccups all morning. Let's hope they don't re-surface.”

Ben had several nasty responses ready, but held his tongue. Instead he turned to James. “Did my last go count? It's a bit unfair; Joshua distracted me.”

“You think it's going to be nice and peaceful every time you fire a spell?” James said, his humour returning. “That would be nice, wouldn't it? No, that effort counted just as much as your first one. This is your third attempt.”

Ben bit his tongue, retrieved another spell and marched back to the starting position. He swung his arm back, but before he could thrust forwards, a hand grabbed him.

“Slow down,” James said, releasing Ben's arm. “I want you to count to sixty before throwing.”

Ben almost ignored him and threw anyway. His count to sixty started off rushed, eager to get to the end so he could smash the spell against the target as hard as he could. But by the time he neared sixty, his breathing had slowed and he gave James a grateful nod.

“Now, concentrate,” James said. “I don't mean block out all the noise, because that's impossible. Just focus on what you're doing and don't worry about external distractions.”

It was a lot harder than Ben had imagined. He kept trying to block out all the noises and create a cone of silence. But as James said, that was impossible, and eventually he figured out a way to accept the external sounds and not be bothered by them. He took a deep breath, eyed up the target, and then, instead of giving everything in the follow through, launched the spell at a much more measured pace. It arced through the air and hit the target. There was a puff and a tiny flame, no bigger than a candle, before disappearing.

“Very good!” James said, clapping, his huge hands sounding like a drum. “Success at the third attempt. You join a very exclusive group.”

Charlie gave him a high five and Jimmy attempted the same, but missed his hand completely. Both the girls were smiling and clapping too.

Ben grinned, and couldn't help turning to Joshua who looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. There was a look of undisguised hatred in his eyes that was so strong it sucked away some of Ben's elation. Surely that couldn't stem from the silly incident when he stole Joshua's spellshooter in the library a few weeks ago? There was something else there, Ben was sure of it. As Joshua turned to leave, Ben decided he was going to find out.

It took the rest of the session for Ben to cast five consecutive spells and move up to the next grade, which earned him a pat on the back from James. Charlie managed to cast his first spell on the twentieth attempt, which he was delighted about, having been worried that he was simply incapable of it at all.

To Ben's surprise, training in the other departments turned out to be just as interesting. In Diplomacy, they learnt about the different races and cultures in the Unseen Kingdoms and how to deal with them, from the Grey Dwarves in the north (always place your left fist to your chest in greeting) to the Sea Fairies (they are easy to bribe, especially with sweets). Despite Ben's dislike for Draven, the Department of Wardens was almost as cool as the Spellswords. A large part of their job was to watch the country borders and make sure no Unseens entered the ordinary world without authorisation. They sent out teams to track and capture those that did. In their first practical, Ben and Charlie got to watch a group of three Wardens poring over a map, tracking the location of a rogue troll in Yorkshire. The Department of Trade was again completely different. The Institute had many valuable assets, and the Traders used these to bargain with the Unseens for goods and, most importantly, spells. Even the Department of Scholars proved to be fascinating. There was a lot more to it than just reading books – they were constantly investigating and researching unsolved mysteries, and often went travelling to dangerous places to solve them.

The next two weeks passed in a blur, with both Ben and Charlie so busy with cleaning in the mornings and learning in the afternoons that other than the trip into Taecia Square to buy watches, they had little time for anything else. Ben had wandered the Institute a few times in the hope that his Guardian status might trigger something, but to no avail. The Institute was huge, and he had no idea where to go or what to do. Natalie's suggestion of searching for architectural designs of the Institute had proved fruitless. Even the prospect that the Shadowseeker might still be searching for him became secondary to progressing with the apprenticeship. But that all changed at the beginning of the third week.

“What's the plan today?” Charlie asked.

They were in the locker room, picking up their handbooks. It was Monday morning and Ben and Charlie were both bubbling. They were probably two of the few people who preferred weekdays to weekends.

“We're a bit behind on Trade,” Ben said, flipping through his book. “We've got a practical step where we have to successfully haggle with one of those devious gnomes in the Southern Quarter to purchase a level two spell for no more than thirty quid.”

“That sounds— ow!” Charlie jumped back, shaking his wrist. “Ayla, stop it!”

Charlie's locker gave a lazy blink of her huge green eye, and then shot another spark, which crackled and hit Charlie square on the chest.

“I'm warning you!” Charlie said, pointing a finger at the eye. “I went out and bought some olive oil spray, and I'm not afraid to use it.”

Charlie retrieved his handbook, and closed the locker with a last meaningful stare at Ayla, who replied with one more cheeky wink.

“Graduating from this apprenticeship will be worth it just to get another locker,” Charlie said.

“You don't have any family in the Institute, do you?”

The question came from Emily. Her locker was just three away from Charlie's, and she had been watching him, combing her long brown hair.

“No, why?”

“Oh well. You're allowed to share lockers with family members,” Emily said. “Olivia, my locker, is almost as bad as yours. She completely shuts down on the weekends, so sometimes I store my stuff with my older sister up in the Department of Wardens.”

“So your sister's locker opens for you?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah. My sister just had to order her locker to grant family access. It's really handy.”

“How long does it last for?”

“Forever, I guess, unless my sister cancels the order. It's not uncommon for families to share lockers, especially if someone ends up with a troublesome one.”

Charlie was starting to look unusually interested, which Ben found peculiar, as he had no family within the Institute.

“So, if your sister left the Institute for a while, you'd still have access, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Emily said, slightly taken aback by Charlie's intensity. “Listen, I gotta run. Good luck with your locker.”

Charlie watched Emily leave the room with a thoughtful smile. He turned to Ben, tapping a finger on his chin.

Ben gave him an odd look. “What is it?”

Charlie gave a warning glance at the handful of apprentices still in the room. They quickly left and headed for the stairs. Charlie gave several surreptitious glances as they worked their way up the marble staircase, searching for anyone who might be able to overhear. They spotted Natalie, just in front of them, chatting animatedly with some friends. Ben called out to her. She immediately saw the meaningful looks on their faces and excused herself.

“What's going on?” she asked.

“Not here,” Charlie said. “Let's find somewhere quiet.”

The Department of Trade often had empty negotiating rooms and it didn't take them long to find one. The room had one small table and a window looking out on to the Institute courtyard, lined with heavy curtains that were half open.