Dueling tryouts day two.

After finishing lunch, you make your way to Delmorgan Park and the gazebo tryouts were held the previous day. Professor Schwartz, Lucas, Misaki, Liam, and Grant are all having some sort of discussion with the few students who have already gathered. Looking through the small crowd, you see Lee and Brice have already arrived. Oddly enough, Harmony is nowhere to be seen.

"Strange." You think to yourself. You would have expected her to be early if anyone was.

"Hey." You hear as a soft hip gently bumps into your own.

"Oh, hey yourself." You smile turning to see Parisa standing there.

"I had fun last night." She says with a warm twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, me too." You agree, a slight hint of nervousness in your voice. "Look, I have never done anything like that before. I..."

"What? Been with a girl? Could have fooled me." Parisa interrupts you in jest.

"That's not..." You stare at the cute brown-haired girl. "With so many people involved."

"I know what you meant. Don't worry, you will get used to it." She assures you with a wink.

Used to it? Does she normally handle relationships so openly? "Yeah, I..." You pause trying to think of how to respond. "Just wanted to be upfront about that."

"Well, aren't you the gentleman." She says while taking your arm in hers and leading you towards the gazebo. "Come on. Let's go join the others."

"Right." You say, following her lead.

"So today we will be talking about some of the more basic spells used in dueling." Professor Schwartz says to the gathering crowd. "Once everyone is here, we will split off by house again and your team captains will be giving you instruction on these and leading today's exercise. But first, I would like to introduce our two newest team captains. Liam will be our new captain for House Wyvern. He may be our youngest captain but he is highly experienced, this being his second year on the team." Professor Schwartz pauses as the small crowd begins to clap. Once the applause dies down he continues. "And for House Pegasus, Grant here will be taking the reins. This will be his third year on the team and I expect his leadership to benefit you all." Again the crowd applauds the newly appointed captain.

Looking around, you see the crowd has grown to include everyone from yesterday. Harmony facing forward on the other side of the group from you, paying no one else any attention, looks more put out than usual. All four team captains begin to split off into their respective corners, calling their houses to join them.

"I guess this is where we part ways for now." Parisa says with a smile.

"Yeah, good luck out there." You reply

Parisa releases your arm and rushes to join the other House Pegasus members and you turn in the direction Misaki has led your fellow House Phoenix trainees. Approaching Lee and Brice, you decide it best to leave Harmony alone for now. No need to get her angrier than what she already appears.

"Hey, guys." You say taking your place at their side.

"Hey bro." Lee greets you.

"Glad you could make it." Brice says.

"As Professor Schwartz said earlier, today is all about spell defense." Misaki starts. "If you can't defend yourself on the court, you're as good as dead weight to the team. First, we will be practicing a simple spell shield. While it is quite a strong defense, it only lasts for a second. So timing is crucial. Thankfully the casting only needs one simple word, obstion, and a simple gesture. Now repeat after me. Ob-sti-on." She says again, emphasizing each syllable. "This shield only works in one direction at a time and requires the use of one free hand to form this gesture in the direction you wish the shield to be projected." She proceeds to hold her hand up for everyone to see her thumb and middle fingers folded inward to her palm while her other three fingers stand tall and slightly spread out from each other. "When cast, this shield will stop physical attacks and most projectile attacks. Spells that cover an area and vision-based spells can still get around and through it." Misaki pauses to make sure everyone is still paying attention. "It will be visible as a translucent yellowish-white light roughly the size of the area it will guard. Anything that hits this shield beyond an inch or two of its visible edges will get through, although slightly diminished. Go beyond that inch or two and the shield is completely ineffective. Any questions so far?"

No one speaks up. "Good. Now I want you all to take a moment to practice this spell. As it will be your most basic form of defense, you must master its casting before we move on to the next exercise." Misaki finishes.

Everyone in the group begins trying to cast their shield spells and most get it right away on their first try. The shield, like Misaki said, only last about a second or two before its light flickers out and it needs to be cast again. As it turns out, subsequent castings need you to open your hand and reform the gesture each time. The shield itself is round with about a three-foot diameter but it appears that everyone's shield varies in size just slightly. Only one boy struggles on his first attempt before Misaki steps in to adjust his finger placement and soon everyone is casting it as if they have been for years.

"Wow. This is simple." Lee says.

"This is only half of it." Brice assures your mutual friend. "Timing is going to be critical."

"Ok. It looks like everyone has the gist of it. Time to move on." Misaki instructs the group. "Some of you may already know this spell but we are going to cover it anyway, just so we know it's in everyone's arsenal. Of course, I'm talking about our good friend the magic missile. Far from the most powerful spell out there but, like the shield, we just learned, it's quick and easy. Do not underestimate it, as it can save you in a pinch or be that final blow you need to quickly end a fight." She raises an arm to indicate the target lanes off to the side of the courtyard. "We will each take turns practicing this attack on the range before pairing off to take turns trying to shield ourselves from it."

Your group follows your team captain over to the range where House Cerberus is already lined up taking turns firing at their chosen target.

"About time you guys showed up." Lucas teases Misaki.

"You can't rush perfection." Misaki taunts back. "Now line up people." She directs to your group.

One by one the members of your team line up and, obviously, Harmony is first in line. Before receiving any further instruction, she says a couple of words while quickly throwing a hand towards the target down range. A bright grayish-white bolt flies from her hand to strike the enchanted pile of stones and they topple to the ground. Without a word, Harmony turns and leaves to stand by the paved corner you all just came from, her face baring a faint scowl.

"Nicely done." Misaki compliments before waving the next boy forward.

"Damn. I feel bad for whoever gets paired with her today." Lee says.