The next morning, bright and early, she awoke to a delicious smell wafting from the lower levels. She descended, entering the kitchen near the back of the tower to find Janus standing over the stove and humming tunelessly. He was making omelets. Serali winced just a little at his off-key humming, but then she inhaled the delicious scent and smiled.

"Is there one there for me?"

"There is indeed. You'll be working hard to day, and I want to keep you fed." He grinned "You know the real reason why mages keep apprentices don't you? It's because slavery isn't legal anymore."

Serali smiled. "Well, I hope I get some magic out of this."

"Of course! We teach you apprentices just enough to keep you from getting frustrated and leaving. Or at least that's what my last apprentice said. He had dreams of instant power and glory, he was much too impatient. He's the one, by the way, who left the Adventures of Whoever book in your room. You might want to read it sometime for the entertainment value, but it's not at all like real life. The other book was left by the apprentice before that. He enjoyed theory. He only left it behind because he got a more advanced edition from me as a journeyman's present. You might like some of it, though I think you'll be one of the one who are better at application than at theory."

"I like to know why things work, but you're right, I like to play with actual results much better."

"Well, I'm afraid that for a while at least, you'll not be getting much of either, since I'll be testing you. You'll do some spells, of course, like the cantrip I used to test you for fire magic. But it's not going to be much fun. Some of the tests are tedious, and a few are even painful. But you should know the full range of your options before you decide what to study."

He flipped the omelet over and then deposited it on a plate which he handed to Serali. She dug in with appetite. After she was finished, she made to leave to go upstairs, but Janus stopped her.

"Cleaning up this will be your first chore. You can clean out some of the rest of the tower too, it's gotten dusty while I was away. Not the whole thing, of course, but as much as you can do before lunch"

"I thought you said I'd study magic in the mornings too?"

"And so you will, as soon as you have assignments to study, until then though you'll just have to work."

Serali sighed, then started in on the dishes. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning out dusty corners. She started with the kitchen, since she was already there, and worked out. She finished most of the first level before her break.

After eating lunch, the tests started. Some of them were obvious, like being asked to stare into a bowl of water and get it to slosh around. But what was the purpose of trying to keep her mind blank while Janus burnt a variety of odd things in a little brazier? And why on earth would he prick her finger and ask if she could make the drop of blood do anything? She was puzzled, but went along willingly enough with everything.

The afternoon testing finished, Serali was released to her room. She pulled out her lute and strummed idly for a few minutes, but then decided to read one of the books that Janus' previous apprentices had left behind. Not really in a mood for theory, she picked up the adventure book. It proved to be quite interesting, thought perhaps a bit over-dramatic in its prose. She went to bed with scenes of great battles and whizzing fireballs in her head.