When Rhysel arose late in the morning, she fixed Tasel a larger meal than usual, as she'd be gone for most of the day, then collected some things for her to take to the school - the copy of her notebook that Tasel had made, a blank notebook, and a couple of pencils. She headed off towards the school around one, walking the long distance back to town. <Keo, what room is Ar Kithen's class in?> she asked.

<Room eight. Ask the lift for the academics wing classrooms.>

<Great, thanks.>

Rhysel reached the school about fifteen minutes early and took the lift from the entrance hall to the academics wing, looking at the doors to find room eight, on her left, between rooms six and ten. She opened the door slightly to see if a class was currently in session. Ar Kithen sat behind the desk at the far end of the room, but the seats were empty. She opened the door further and walked in. "Hello," she said, nodding in greeting as she shut the door behind her.

"Hello, A-er-you're early," Ar Kithen said.

"I wasn't entirely sure how long it would take me to get here." Noting his stutter, she addded, "If you'd rather call me Aral Camlenn, you're welcome to, although I'll find it a touch odd - Aral isn't a word back home, you see."

"Do you have another title that would be more appropriate?" he asked.

"'Mage Camlenn' was what I was usually called in formal circumstances - 'Journeyman Mage Camlenn' if one wanted to be really technical, although it's a bit cumbersome for everyday use."

He frowned. "I don't think that will translate effectively. "Mage" isn't a title here, and if it were, it would mean one of the Elcenian mage varieties."

She smiled. "You begin to see the problem - which is one reason I've just been going by Rhysel. Still, when in troll-lands, follow troll-customs, as the saying goes. Just don't be surprised if it takes me a while to get used to Aral Camlenn, if you use it."

"Well, the comparison to trolls aside, that is probably an apt description, although I'm probably somewhat unusual in this respect," he replied.

"Oh? Is that an unfavorable comparison here? I was told trolls don't exist in Elcenia."

"They don't, but that doesn't mean there aren't stories about them," he said. "Probably they differ from the trolls you mean, but the translation spell you have in place evidently deems them sufficiently similar to warrant translating instead of letting the original word through unadulterated."

She nodded. "Interesting. Apologies if I caused offense." She moved further into the room, approaching him and pulling the copy of her notes out of her satchel. "I thought you might want a copy of this - it was my notebook. Been filling it since I was an apprentice. I don't imagine much of it will be clear now, but it does provide a good start to how things work." She held out the book.

"No offense taken. When will you want this back?" he asked, taking the offered book and studying the unadorned cover.

"It's a copy. You can keep it. My original is back at my - um, home here."

Ar Kithen put it in a drawer of the desk. "Thank you. I'll look it over later."

She nodded. "You're welcome. Where would you like me to sit? I'm more interested in how you're teaching, as opposed to what the content of it is. I hope that won't be a disruption."

"Unless you stop me in the middle of the class to ask a question on the finer points of syllabus construction it shouldn't present a problem," he said dryly. "You can sit wherever you please; seats are not assigned, so if you arrive this early on a regular basis, you can sit wherever you please the entire term."

She nodded. "Well, if I sit in the rear I can observe how the students react as well, I suppose." She seemed slightly unsure of herself at the moment.

"Or off to one side, towards the middle of the column," he suggested. "Affords a view of most of the students without them so thoroughly obstructing your view of the chalkboard and so on."

She looked at the layout of the room thoughtfully for a moment. "I think you're right, that would be best." She deposited her satchel on a chair mid-way down the leftmost row of seats. "Are you free after the class is over?"

"For the subsequent forty-five minutes. Why?"

"There's something I wanted to ask you about in a bit of detail, but I don't think right before class is probably the right moment - it's about a type of spell I heard someone mention once."

"Ah. I'm probably not the ideal consultant, but I will answer your questions if I can." He walked back to his desk and picked up a stack of packets of paper, and walked up and down the aisles, placing one on each desk. After he put one of them down on the desk she chose, she picked it up and looked at it curiously.

"Seventh Tier Magical Theory," it read on the first page. "Advanced studies in the principles behind the manipulation of wizarding magic. Prerequisite: Sixth Tier Magical Theory. Instructor: Ar Kithen. Textbook: Advanced Theory I by Loraan Mesik."

She flipped through it idly, figuring he'd go into it in more detail over the course of the class.

Korulen and a half-dozen other human and elf girls approximately her age peep into the room. "Is this seventh-tier theory?" one asked tentatively. Ar Kithen nodded the affirmative, and they filed in and took seats in the rear right corner of the room, skimming the syllabi and then picking up their conversation about how cute someone named Tefin Haalinar was without missing a beat.

Korulen then noticed Rhysel. "Rhysel!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled at Korulen. "Observing mostly. How Ar Kithen teaches and how teaching is structured on your world in general."

"Oh." She looked like she wanted to ask, "Why Ar Kithen?" but couldn't think of a way to say so politely while he's in the room.

"He's willing to acquire my magic." she said in reply to the unasked question, but didn't explain further instead saying. "I suppose I should have expected to see you here, since you're on tier seven now. Your mother told me you passed your tier tests. Good work."

"Thanks," she said cheerfully. "I mean, there are three tier seven theory classes - luck of the draw - but still, good to see you."

Rhysel smiled. "Thanks." Her expression took on a wryness as she added, "Just don't expect me to help with your homework. I expect this is all going to go way over my head - aside from his teaching methods, which is what I'm interested in anyway. Who are your friends?"

Korulen rattled off some names; the girls looked up from their commiserating on the sundry charms of Tefin Haalinar one by one as she did so and waved or smiled at Rhysel. "This is Lutan, and Rikenar, and Saasnil - different one, obviously - and Pamen and Feris and Kaarilel." Rhysel nodded to each in turn, smiling politely. She glanced over at Ar Kithen to see him flipping through the first chapter of Advanced Theory I, then turned back to Korulen and the girls.

"And he's played deraab for at least four years, that's got to be where he gets those muscles-" said one of the girls, tittering, as the original conversation picked up again. It came to another abrupt halt as the door opened again and about ten more students filed in and scattered around the room, most of them apparently not in groups, although there were a couple of pairs.

Rhysel watched the reaction of the girls curiously, in case the boy in question happened to be in the room. She decided he wasn't, although the girls could just have been very discreet.

Ar Kithen looked up and made a quick count of the students present, then compared it with a sheet of paper, presumably an attendance list, on his desk. "Although anyone taking seventh tier theory probably is familiar with the layout of the school and should not be having any trouble finding the room," he announced, "since it is the first class of the term I am going to wait to call roll until five minutes after the time when I would normally start class, unless the stragglers arrive before then. If any of you have friends who you were expecting to be in this class who are not, now would be a good time to make use of communication crystals, whisper charms, and link paper."

A couple of people pulled out the aforementioned items, and over the course of the next five minutes eight more people showed up, looking vaguely sheepish, and found seats. Rhysel pulled the notebook she'd brought out of her satchel, setting it on the desk, although she left it shut for the moment.

Ar Kithen called roll, checking off each name. No one was absent, a fact which he noted with a detached satisfaction. He put down the attendance sheet. "Welcome to seventh tier theory. For those of you who have not had classes with me before, my name is Ar Kithen. There is a syllabus on each of your desks. You should already know everything on the first page; please turn to the second one." Everyone did, including Rhysel. She also flipped open the notebook.

The second page began with a basic outline of the class requirements. Ar Kithen summarized, "On days other than the first class of term, I subtract two points from the term score for every lateness and ten for an absence that isn't excused with a note from a household member, the headmaster, or a healer. I sincerely hope none of you do not think that I cannot cast a forgery detection spell, which is all I will say on the subject of what will happen if a note attempting to excuse you from class is not from any of the above."

A hand was raised. Ar Kithen looked expectantly at its owner. "By 'household member' does that include -" began the student. The teacher shook his head. "I didn't specify a parent because you are equally welcome to bring a note from an aunt, uncle, grandparent, significantly older sibling or cousin, or another responsible adult. Getting your five-year-old sister to scrawl an excuse, or blackmailing your nephew to pen a lament about how you were laid up with the Tebaal River Pox, is not acceptable. To preempt reenactments of previous attempts, your pet cat, your potted cactus, your animated statuette of Kutran Habalekiran, and your alternate personality also do not count as acceptable excuse dispensers."

Most of the students laughed.

"Kutran Habalekiran is so last year anyway," called out a girl from among Korulen's acquaintances. Rhysel smiled at that, refraining politely from making any audible noise.

"Moving on," he said, sighing. "Your grade for this class is determined subtractively. You begin with a score of three hundred points. There is a midterm and a cumulative final exam, as well as four unit quizzes and one research paper. The research paper may be turned in at any time throughout the term provided I have time to grade it before I am required to turn in the term grades to the headmaster, so I would advise you to get it done during the first three quarters of the term lest it be lost in a pile of last-minute submissions and run a serious risk of being overlooked. Details on the paper requirements are on page five."

Rhysel looked at the requirements on page five curiously, intrigued by his grading system. It read, "You must write a paper in Vekan scholarly format on an advanced magical theory topic of your choice. It should be between five and seven pages long, clearly written, expound usefully on a subject which has not been overexamined (for this reason papers on Koen gaps, linaga hira cipher theories, transworld breach hypotheses, and shared pool theory are not permissible), and adequately defend your reasoned position on the subject." She circled the phrase "Vekan scholarly format", drawing a line to a question mark in the margin to reimnd her to ask about it later.

"Feel free to make appointments with me," the page continued, "if you are at a loss for a topic and require help. Remember that it is often a fruitful area of research to attempt to challenge a prevailing theory. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will be checked for with every paper without exception; it will result not only in a failing grade for the course but also summary expulsion from the academy."

Ar Kithen continued to speak as she skimmed page five. "You stand to lose seventy-five points on the midterm, a hundred on the final, a hundred on the paper, five for each quiz, and five for miscellaneous behavioral ranging from arriving late to class to, as a student five years ago decided so inventively to try, leaving fried beetles in my desk over the weekend. However, losing your five behavioral points in no way exempts you from losing further points for later misbehavior - consider those five points your leeway.

"The reason each quiz is worth so few points," he went on, "is that they are primarily a diagnostic tool for both myself and all of you. If everyone does poorly on a quiz, it is a signal that I have not given adequate time to a subject and review sessions and a reexamination of my methods of presenting the material are in order. If you do poorly on a quiz that everyone else does well on, it indicates that you should seek tutoring or revise your study habits in time to improve for the midterm or final as the case may be." She started to take notes about some of the things he's mentioned, including his grading system and the purpose of the quizzes.

"Pages three and four are our schedule, loosely," he said. "Since each assignment is printed there in advance, I will not notify you of them unless it is necessary to make a change to the schedule, which it probably will be due to the vagaries of individual classes, the upcoming fever season, and unpredictable random events. I advise all of you to make friends with at least one classmate so that if you are absent from class you can get up-to-date information about any such alterations. However, if you miss several classes and you need to catch up - or if, as is stated on page five, you are having difficulty finding a paper topic -do not hesitate to make an appointment with me. If you are having difficulty in class on a chronic basis and would prefer for whatever reason not to make an appointment with me," he continued, putting down his copy of the syllabus, "there are four people signed up to tutor this class. You can obtain their names from the headmaster's office if necessary without me being informed."

She added a note to ask about the tutoring system-it probably wouldn't be helpful to her for some time, since there were no advanced kamai students, but it piqued her curiosity.

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