"And more senior."

"Also correct."

"...so stop that."

"Sure. So how do you usually turn people away, if it's not that they look too hot to belong in a dusty old wizard's tower?"

"Well, if they don't know any magic."

"...isn't that a bit backwards? Aren't you meant to be the ones teaching magic?"

"Well, sure, but after there's, like, they've shown any aptitude."

"Like after they've successfully electrocuted a marin to death and not themself?"

"...oh you've met Pierre. Yeah. Wizard Mara does not want to be bothered by people who can't electrocute a marin to death without electrocuting themselves in the process."

"So suppose someone shows up who wants to be a mage but doesn't know any magic and wants to start from scratch, you...?"

"...tell them to go take the basic lessons downstairs on how to get Skills and then lend them a book on the basics," he says, pointing at a pile of small thin books over in a corner.

"I suppose that optimises very neatly for not wasting Wizard Mara's time."

"Which is exactly as intended," calls a voice from the door behind Vallynn, making the other boy jump. The robes the owner of the voice is wearing are, unlike her assistant's, not designed to turn her into an amorphous blob, and might have been exactly what Vallynn had been thinking when he mentioned looking hot in wizard regalia: a dark purple bodice with a low cleavage, light grey down fluff surrounding her shoulders and flaring up behind her back, and a long blue cape, so dark it's almost black, with pinpricks of light that look like stars in the night sky.

Vallynn doesn't jump, though, and just turns around and grins at her. "And you must be Wizard Mara. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Vallynn."

(Yeah that is exactly what he meant when he said robes could be sexy. Those are not his style, though. Not quite.)

"Mm, that's to be determined, Vallynn. Did you give poor Bjorn a fright with your, ah... skirt? Loincloth? What are you wearing, dear? Actually, don't answer that, I don't care." She walks past him towards the back of the room where another door, this one closed, leads to presumably her office or... something. "Bjorn, let me know when this jungle man has proven any good—"

    "Uh, actually..."

"—yes?"

    "Um. He did telekinesis?"

She turns around to squint at Vallynn. "You wasted an entire Skill on that? It'd better be truly impressive range and power."

"Uh, no to all of those."

"Beg pardon?"

"It's not very impressive range or power but it's also not a Skill."

"Show me."

Up into the air goes Bjorn's book, to the boy's chagrin.

"...well well well. Interesting. Maybe you do have potential, jungle man.

"But I don't want my time wasted so how about you go talk to all of the other instructors in this shoddy building and make extra sure there isn't anything else you're missing and come back when you have? I'll be rather cross to find any gaps in your education."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now shoo, you're distracting Bjorn."

Down drops the book.

Bjorn yelps—the book is very heavy—and Wizard Mara snorts before retreating into her room.