A Different Kind of Progress

The courtyard had grown quiet by the time Garrick set his practice sword against the wall.

Essa, returning from the library, noticed him lingering beside the practice yard.

"You've finished early."

"I dismissed the others."

She studied him for a moment.

"Something's bothering you."

Garrick nodded toward the empty courtyard.

"It's Ycre."

A faint smile crossed Essa's face.

"I was wondering when you would bring her up."

Garrick folded his arms.

"She's improving."

"I assume that's a good thing."

"It usually is."

Essa waited.

"But not like this."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I've taught hundreds of students."

"I know what progress looks like."

"They become more balanced."

"More confident."

"Their mistakes grow smaller."

He looked back toward the practice yard.

"Ycre..."

"...keeps changing."

"Changing?"

"One week her footwork improves."

"The next, her timing."

"Then her awareness."

"But never because of the exercises I've given her."

He shook his head.

"It's as though she's discovering a different lesson alongside the one I'm teaching."

Essa quietly closed the book she had been carrying.

"When does she practice next?"

The following afternoon, Essa stood beneath the covered walkway while Garrick conducted the lesson.

Ycre bowed.

The exercise began.

Advance.

Retreat.

Cut.

Recover.

Again.

Garrick corrected her stance only once.

The second sequence flowed more smoothly than the first.

Then came the third.

Essa frowned.

"Again."

Ycre repeated the movement.

This time Essa ignored the blade entirely.

Instead, she watched Ycre's free hand.

Barely perceptible.

The fingers shifted through the beginning of a somatic gesture.

Not enough to complete a spell.

Only enough to begin one.

At the same instant, a faint shimmer of arcane energy gathered around her feet.

It disappeared almost as quickly as it formed.

Yet her next step landed effortlessly.

Lighter.

More balanced.

Again.

The shimmer.

The step.

The turn.

The cut.

Not separate actions.

One continuous motion.

Essa's eyes narrowed.

Then she smiled.

"Ah."

Garrick glanced toward her.

"You see it?"

"I do."

"What is she doing?"

Essa watched another exchange before answering.

"She's weaving small currents of magic through her footwork."

Garrick remained silent.

The shimmer returned.

Tiny.

Almost invisible.

"Shifting her balance before she commits her weight."

"Helping her body arrive where it already intended to go."

Garrick watched another exchange.

"...she isn't correcting herself."

Essa looked at him.

"No."

"She's preventing the mistake."

Another exchange.

This time Garrick saw it.

Every movement flowed naturally into the next.

Not because Ycre had become faster.

Because she never allowed herself to fall out of balance.

He let out a quiet breath.

"...that's why her rhythm keeps changing."

Essa nodded.

"You've been teaching her how to move."

"And she's been teaching herself how magic moves."

Neither spoke.

Ycre completed the exercise once more.

Graceful.

Balanced.

Effortless.

Completely unaware she was being watched.

Finally, Garrick smiled.

"...we've each been teaching half of it."

Essa never took her eyes off the practice yard.

"No."

Garrick looked at her.

A quiet smile appeared on her face.

"She's simply the first student who never believed they were separate."