Chapter 227: Demonstrations of Skill and Power
Sebastien
Month 9, Day 1, Wednesday 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday afternoon, while she and her friends were hanging about, Sebastien was asked to fill in for a third exhibition, this time for Natural Science. This time, they gave her a couple hours of advance notice. Several of her friends were intrigued and decided to follow her.
“This isn’t fair,” Damien complained. “Why are they scheduling exhibitions when they know the students are going to be in exams?” Sometimes, Sebastien forgot that Damien was taking the maximum seven classes each term—one more than her. He still had his Divination exam scheduled for the latter half of the day, while everyone else was free.
Sebastien took advantage of the extra time to plan something different. When she arrived at the exhibition area, she made several requests to the organizers: ten pounds of cotton or any other fibrous material they could provide; a bucket each of wood, dirt, and stone; and a standing wall or chalkboard to use as a base for her spell array.
As before, they were enthusiastic about meeting her requests, and the organizer in charge of advertising started dramatically yelling stuff like, “Come one, come all, and witness a demonstration of skill and power by none other than Sebastien Siverling, the only person that Grandmaster Thaddeus Lacer has ever found worthy in his lifetime! That’s right! Sebastien Siverling, the young man that Thaddeus Lacer chose, even when it is well known that he turned down the High Crown’s own heir!” The man put a hand to the side of his mouth and leaned forward as if sharing a secret, despite the fact that he was yelling at almost the top of his lungs. “You might have read about Mr. Siverling in the newspapers.”
There was a pause, and though the man’s back was turned, Sebastien was still somehow sure, based on body language alone, that he had just given an exaggerated wink. “And folks, he’s here today to show you the true, secret wonder of Natural Science. Did you think Natural Science was boring and useless, barely real magic? Well, think again! Prepare to be amazed!” It went on like that.
Sebastien had a sudden, revelatory suspicion. ‘Are the organizers somehow being rewarded by how many people their exhibitions attracted? Well, hopefully they’re not disappointed.’ She had something less flashy planned than an illusion play or mock elemental battle.
Once the materials arrived, Sebastien arranged the component buckets on stools of varying heights around the edges of the chalkboard spell array. By this time, a substantial audience had arrived.