( Elizabeth Aurelius's POV )
She designed the drill in fifty-one minutes.
That was the first error, and she identified it on the walk back, which was too late to be useful.
Fifty-one minutes was not enough time to design an exercise.
It was enough time to design an exercise that confirmed what she already believed.
There is a difference, and she has known about it since she was twelve, and she had walked directly into it on a Saturday morning in her own training yard.
The arrangement itself was adequate.
Thirty-seven students.
Movement, positioning, a mana relay along a line.
One gap, left uncovered on purpose, forty feet from the end.
She explained it once.
Then she stood at the edge of the yard and did not speak for eleven minutes.
The first ninety seconds were excellent.
She permitted herself to enjoy them, briefly, which she has since reclassified as the second error.
Class One moved the way Class One moves.
Fast.
Quiet.
Very clean.
