Nature vs. Nurture

Vinvintin Harbor was a charming town. Even if Agnes didn't enjoy the slopes and stairways, she had to admit she quite liked the town's mindset around their core industry. For a town that produced so much wine, there weren't the large vineyards on the outskirts one might expect. Instead it seemed like every store and home had their own vines growing anywhere and everywhere they could. This also meant more varieties of white wine than Agnes ever even knew existed, which made the seaport a fun place to stay for a few days as they made their preparations for the expedition into Giant Country.

Chloe on the other hand quite liked the verticality of this city. There were a lot of fun places to clamber up and take in vistas of the harbor, the sea, or the main thoroughfare that ran all the way up to a high plateau. Hektor found himself busy with negotiating the ins-and-outs of pulling a trade ship into the port. A tricky dance of explaining quite why the Pahari was here with next to no cargo, no intention of picking up goods, and without tipping his hand about heading inland. Which was even more precarious when one of his main goals was to try and find a halfway decent map of Giant Country.

“Found it!” Hektor cried as he bounded in to join their daily lunch at a cute little establishment called the Peach Blossom Cafe.

“A place with a good squid ink pasta?” Chloe replied in jest.

Hektor rolled out the map on their table with a curt “You know what I mean.” to Chloe.

“Not too old.” She mused, showing a rare studious side. “Looking around where it gets towards Trelle...Arkos is there but Lampana's gone, probably drawn about fifteen years ago. Good find Hektor! This should be pretty accurate.”

Hektor was taken aback by the shift from Chloe but thanked her before posing the question to no one in particular. “So we just find the direct route to where we think the Giant King is holed up? Think he has a big castle or something?”

“Hold up Tumlin.” Agnes said as she gazed intently at a spot on the map. “We have a stop to make first.”

The other two looked up in confusion and Chloe was the one to ask, “Huh? Uh, Granny Agnes you know there isn't exactly a bustling market out there, right?”

“Here.” Agnes said, pointing at a spot on the map. “You forgot one, little cat burglar. The seer. I have a few words for him.”

“Kinda far out of our way, but if you think it might help I'm in.” Hektor concurred.

The three spent the rest of their lunch at the Peach Blossom Cafe hashing out the details of their upcoming excursion. Ultimately deciding to leave in two days. Hektor needed a little more time to secure supplies and ensure the Pahari would be able to leave without incident after a change of plans to send it out East to its owner, family patriarch Baron Tom. This was perfectly agreeable to Agnes, who felt she was ahead of schedule overall and had a point of interest she was still trying to figure out how to approach in Vinvintin.

Almost on cue, Chloe asked about it. “So Granny Agnes, any luck with the mage's college around here?”

“I found it, at least I think.” Agnes responded. “But it seems like they aren't too keen on visitors.”

They finished their meal discussing the odd college and peppering Hektor with a list of provisions he was to acquire. Afterwards Chloe and Agnes decided to investigate the school further. The town sitting in a gap between plateaus meant even in the hot summer it was mostly rather shady. Though at the peak of the day with the sun directly overhead, it could be unbearable to the point Vinvintin Harbor practically shut down.

Chloe led Agnes up the main street just as the afternoon reached the point town was becoming active again. It made sense given the landscape, but the entire city being build along one steeply sloping road and a laid-back culture made for a lot of congestion during peak hours. It didn't bother the nimble, streetwise Chloe much but she did worry about Agnes's ability to keep pace. Luckily the time of day made it easy to be sure when they found the spot, a rare time you might see students out in front.

It was a large structure located on the main road that ran at a sharp angle up through town, close to the highest point. The building itself was made of a rich marble and was instantly recognizable due to its odd geometry that almost certainly required the use of magic to shape. Though the basic elements of a main hall with towers at either side were there. The entire compound was surrounded by a high wrought-iron fence. Agnes thought it looked like a very unwelcoming place.

They could see a group of students outside on the grounds, sitting in a circle and focused intently on their task. Each taking turns conjuring a flame, a simple trick that Chloe had seen Agnes perform time and again. One student would name a finger and another would try to create one above that. Being around Agnes and growing up around retainer wizards at the Taronite Mansion, Chloe was instantly struck by how much they struggled to keep a smooth flame.

“See what I mean?” Agnes said, looking up to Chloe. “Look how big they are.”

Something clicked for Chloe, who turned to Agnes and simply asked “No. Could you show me?” a little too loudly for someone she was right next to. “Left hand, first finger.”

Agnes conjured a small, steady flame above the index finger of her left hand.

“Move it to your ring finger, and make it glow blue without getting bigger.”

Agnes followed suit, having more trouble extending her fourth finger without the pinky than moving the flame. Not quite understanding why Chloe was asking her or why she was being so loud. Nor did she notice she had the attention of the practicing students. The request itself was simple, changing the intensity of the fire within or where it was leaking out of her hand was almost second-nature to her.

“Split it into three without changing the total size.”

Agnes simply complied, still unsure and without noticing how intently the students on the grounds were watching. This was just the easy way to heat a kettle when the stove was too cluttered.

“Make just the middle one go back to an orange flame.”

Once again, Agnes did it. Still puzzled by why Chloe wanted her to mimic this simple exercise the students were clearly doing to practice fundamentals. She was even more confused when the girl tossed a few grapes towards her right hand and simply said “Keep em afloat.”

That was a little trickier, but it wasn't that hard to conjure a strong enough breeze to keep a few grapes floating above her right hand while still performing basic changes to the fire in her left. Heat to the left, breath to the right. At least, it wasn't too hard until one of the students shouted “How the heck are you doing that lady!”

Agnes was a little miffed with herself that she almost dropped the grapes from the shock as she turned to see the enraptured crowd on the other side of the fence. “Doing what?” she asked. “This is just basic practice.”

“Basic...practice?” One young man inquired. “If that's basic what's serious to you?”

“Now now children, there's nothing out there that should interest you more than your studies.” A haughty voice called from inside the fence. The source of it, a posh adult woman Agnes and Chloe assumed was a teacher strolled across the yard to chastise the students further, grimacing when she noticed Agnes.

“Street performers, really?” she sneered with such a look of disdain it finally made her drop the spell. A look that made her feel completely out of place, continuing with. “I don't see what students of Rapthorne Academy could ever hope to learn from someone so lowly. Standards children, standards.”

“B-but Ms. Roland!” One child protested. “Look!”

“Now now.” The teacher barked, rushing to usher the students away. “I will not hear another word. Back inside!”

Chloe, enraged, tried to protest but Agnes tugged on her sleeve to stop her. They simply made their way back down the hill in silence, each trying to contain their respective anger and disappointment before retiring to their room at the inn for the evening.