The children began to concentrate. For several long minutes, the only sounds in the courtyard were the soft hum of energy and the quiet frustration of the childs. Most, accustomed to Kargath's test on brute force, struggled. They pushed too hard, their energy turning the water in their bowls into a chaotic slurry of swirling filings. More than one bowl cracked under the strain of their uncontrolled power.
But then, successes began to emerge.
Ylva Silverfang was one of the first. Rather than persuasion, she used sharp, precise waves of silver energy to herd the particles into a dense, stable cluster at the center of her bowl. It wasn't an elegant shape, but it was controlled and unified.
