258 The Broken Statue

'One, two, three…' Cerlius thought, counting the number of steps from Mage's Shadow to the first floor of the Magic Academy.

'You should be careful around that Trenton fellow,' Larque warned. 'He was testing you.'

'Fifty-seven. He is of no concern to us. Fifty-eight. I can handle him. Fifty-nine.' He counted out two-hundred steps to the first floor. Trenton and Lance halted for a second to catch their breath but Cerlius didn't share their fatigue. 'Maybe it's because I'm a kid…or I guess I'm supposed to be an adult.'

He was led from the stairway to the academic area's hallways. He kept his distance from the Watchmen but was still close enough to read a few more plaques. A pattern made itself clear: the closer a Watchmen was to his classroom, the newer its plaque was. Cerlius read descriptions of mages from centuries ago, a group called "Human Elementals".