"Atta boy. Oh and don't forget to hit up the Wizard Tower, it's really cool."

The professor teaching the spell development lectures Astrid has been recently watching is probably a very central case of what Evelin meant when she said that mages are often a pile of fabric that sets things on fire. She is a stout woman of average height, long curly grey hair, a very pale complexion, and dark grey robes so shapeless you could imagine the woman is actually three goblins in a trenchcoat wizard's robe.

Astrid and Vallynn are the last ones to arrive, and three other mages—all of them clearly older and more experienced than the two of them—are already seated at the sofa and one armchair and a futon surrounding a round carpet and facing the professor herself, who is erasing the contents of the blackboard.

Vallynn doesn't intend introduce himself to the professor as Astrid's friend, or at all, really. He just shows up and makes a beeline for another one of the armchairs.

Unfortunately for him, Astrid must've told the professor about Vallynn in enough detail that he's recognisable. Which isn't saying much, really, given the givens. "Ah, are you perchance Mr. Vallynn?" she asks, as soon as she notices them.

He shoots Astrid a look.

She shrugs, not looking like she's feeling particularly guilty.

He sighs and looks at the wizard. "Yes, ma'am."

"Splendid! We heard so much about you. Come, come, why don't you demonstrate your spell to the class?"

Some of these mages have definitely been here a while. Who's this upstart who thinks he knows what's what?, they must be thinking. This is going to suck.

Well, he supposes there's nothing to it. "Which spell, professor, ah...?"

"Frij," she introduces herself. "And the one you created, of course!"

Ahhh that's probably the teekay one and on the one hand the smart thing to do if he wants to lay low is to just demonstrate it but another part of him thinks it would be dishonest to not mention the others. That part is also backed by the little traitorous part of him that likes showing off and is enjoying this attention, so unfortunately that's what wins out. "Ah, there are a couple," he says. "The telekinesis spell is the one you probably mean?"

Astrid raises her eyebrows in surprise but the other mages look even more shocked. Or rather, one looks sceptical, one looks curious, and one looks shocked, which cashes out to the same thing, really.

"Why don't we start with that one and you tell us about the others later?" she suggests, agreeably enough.

"Right. Ah..."

"Here," she says, grabbing an inkwell from a table and offering it to Vallynn. An open inkwell which will definitely spill onto the floor if held too unstably.

...oh is that a challenge? Vallynn's hesitation melts in the face of that, replaced by an intense desire to prove himself. He places a hand below the professor's and says, "You can let go now."

She does, pulling her hand away quickly enough that if Vallynn's reaction time isn't good enough he'll definitely spill.

This guy.

Well, Vallynn's reaction time is good enough, actually, and the inkwell barely wobbles before getting locked in place.

"Fascinating. Is there a physical distance limitation, then? Do you have to have your hand close to it?"

Is Vallynn just imagining the challenging tone? Well, regardless, he'll answer honestly. "Yes to the first and no to the second," he says, pulling his hand away, too, and starting to move the inkwell in simple patterns in front of him slowly.

"Fascinating," she repeats with a glint in her eye. "What's the range? Are you going slow on purpose? How well must you perceive your target?"

"Range is sight," he says, his feelings once again melting away and being replaced by academic excitement. "I'm going slow on purpose because I don't have very fine control. It's like trying to balance it using only two fingers, one under it and one next to it. And I need to—I guess be able to perceive it well enough to know how to place those fingers? If the inkwell were stoppered I'd be more willing to be daring."

"That's a Skill," scoffs the sceptical mage.

"Is it?" wonders the professor, unruffled. "Pay attention to the flow of magic directly and tell me what you see, Mr. Gaël."