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"Found it!" he whispered, though he could not be heard by any save Saure. "This is an earth spell. You must chant it to the elementals of decay. And you must concentrate and visualize the first strip breaking down as you speak the words. Ready?"
Saure nodded ever so slightly.
"'Grim be thou, but hence get now. Find ye better grounds to plough.' And you must hold the other strip next to it." Fred quickly closed the book, and the quiet thump was enough to make her jolt.

She picked up the other strip of bark with a quivering hand, and brought it next to the other. In an uncertain voice, she chanted: "Grim be thou, but hence get now. Find ye better grounds to plough." and she visualized as strongly as she could, the first strip turning black and crumbling. She was so engrossed in this, that she at first didn't notice that this was actually occurring. She squeaked in shock when the first strip fell apart in her hand. The second strip looked as if it had only just been separated from its parent tree. The reverse side was wet with sap.

This time, the old woman Parapheum did clap twice, but her applause was silenced by her neighbor's hand.
Head Parapheum appeared livid. His quill jotted with angry haste.

"Head Jordik… I believe now we administer the simple preliminary testing…"
"Yes, yes, don't tell me how to perform my own job." he snapped at his neighbor. "Saure Fira, you have passed the entrance test, and would start in second year training if you pass the basic preliminary testing for power-sidedness and magical potency. Though I doubt thoroughly at this point you will fail."
Saure curtsied with pantomimed skirts to the panel of judges and thanked them graciously.
The green bell was produced and rung, the courier returned, and the tray-cart was removed. The courier returned with a small nondescript wand, parchment, and a black quill and inkwell on a clean tray-cart.

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"Some who enter our halls know not their power-hand." explained Head Jordik. "Many were never presented with the need to write, and many have not cast enough spells in order to perceive their dominant side. You understand the importance of one's power-hand, do you not?"

Saure tilted her head and regarded the Parapheum with a quizzical expression. "Forgive me, your honor; I do not understand your meaning."

Head Jordik harrumphed at her and jotted a quick note before shuffling his parchments. The Parapheum to his left leaned forward and peered down at the girl with a softer countenance. "One side of a person is stronger than his other side, Saure. The stronger hand is called the power hand, and it is best for casting. You can often tell which hand is your power hand by how well you can write with it. Can you write, Saure?"
She frowned a bit, but answered in the affirmative.

"Go on, then. Whichever hand feels most natural."

She picked up the quill first with her left hand and dipped it in the ink. She then wrote a common phrase from her early schooling days.

'The elves cannot what dwarves have wrought; the best of these serves not the trees.'
It was a riddle that oft resounded in her mind while trying to get to sleep. It still made little sense to her now.

Then, to the judges' surprise, she passed the quill to her other hand and wrote the same sentence just as easily as she had with her left.
"I can write with both hands, really… does this mean I don't qualify?"

Head Jordik was still not entirely impressed, even as his compatriots were astounded. "Pick up that wand, and cast a