by Rick Field
They walked along in silence, and waited for the teacher for General Applications to arrive.
It was to be a short wait, as a stocky Mage of above middle age swept in, and opened the door. Liane obediently followed Cassandra and sat down next to her Proctor, once more taking out the papers on which she was making notes and the calendar she was keeping.
“Welcome to year three of General Applications, Lords and Ladies,” the woman spoke. “And welcome, as well, to our new student.” Liane flushed when the entire class looked at her, and she wished she could withdraw her head into her robes.
“As this is the third year, I will start with a recapitulation of our previous two years. Who remembers the household charm required to clean and fold clothes?” Liane wrote down short descriptions of the spells discussed by the teacher, confident in the knowledge that this was merely recapitulation and that Cassandra had this written down in her own notes. The hour passed by before she had realized it.
All kinds of useful information had been discussed, and Liane was fairly sure she would take this class herself when the time came. Thankfully, the teacher did not set homework, nor did she assign a test, so Liane needed only to carefully catalog her notes and place them in her bag when they were dismissed.
“Proctor?” Liane asked as they walked down the hallway to the staircase leading down from the third floor of the practical and laboratory building.
“Assistant?” Cassandra replied.
“May I ask a question regarding Decorum, Proctor?” the young girl asked.
The proctor nodded. “Of course, Assistant.”
“I have noticed that not everyone follows the Decorum in the same way, Proctor. I was wondering why that is, and why nobody seemed to care,” Liane asked.
“Your education in Decorum is sorely lacking, Assistant,” Cassandra said after a few moments' deliberation. “Depending on the situation and the people involved, other rules of Decorum come into play. A teacher may choose to relax to a more informal style of Decorum in their classroom, should they so choose. As a teacher is above the students on the social ladder, they have but to comply with the rules of Decorum the teacher chooses to follow. I am sure you noticed the difference between Runes, Glyphs, and Magical Symbols, and General Applications.”
Liane nodded. “Yes, Proctor.”
“Good. Now, between people of equal standing, the rules of Decorum are more relaxed. One is allowed to speak in a more direct manner, and so on. However, one should always be conscious of the underlying fundamental rules of Decorum. Assistant, what is the primary reason we use Decorum?”
Realizing that the lesson had turned into a test, Liane scrambled for some information that had once been told to her during her first few days at the Academy, two years ago. “We use the Decorum so that we may fight with words, rather than with magic. We must always be conscious of the fact that fighting with words might lead to fighting with magic, and must therefore make sure not to offend with words – lest we be forced to fight with magic,” the young girl rambled off.
They were crossing the courtyard by now, and Cassandra was silent for a few seconds, before a twitch quirked her lip. “You have a truly formidable memory, Assistant.” Her hand reached out, grabbed Liane by the shoulder, and pulled her sideways. “To one side, Assistant,” she said, calmly, so that another student could pass. The girl, a few years older than Cassandra and with the brightest blonde hair and bluest eyes Liane had ever seen, walked by without granting them a single glance.
The young girl's eyes were fixed on a strange creature seated on the older girl's shoulder. It was about half the size of a cat, its fur was a bright gold, its eyes were glowing red, and it sported a pair of brightly feathered wings. The creature's eyes bore into Liane's, before it obviously decided she was no threat to its mistress, and looked straight ahead once more.
“Proctor?”
“She is the Lady Magus, Assistant. Always move aside when the Magus comes by.”
Liane looked at the back of the retreating girl. The strange creature turned its head one-hundred eighty degrees and stared right back at her. “Who is the Lady Magus, Proctor? And what is that creature?”
“The Lady Magus is the president of the Student Council, Assistant. The Lord Headmaster governs the school, its teachers, its buildings, and ensures that lesson plans are made and lessons take place. The students govern the rules students must adhere to, from curfews to meal times. All disciplinary measures are taken by the Student Council. There are two presidents, one Mage and one Warlock. Those two presidents are called the Magi.”
Cassandra looked at the back of the girl, now almost out of sight. “That creature is a chimera. Chimeras are magically created animals, built out of the combination of parts of different animals. Should you ever qualify for the class of Deep Secrets and Ancient Lore taught by the Lord Master, then you too, will learn how to make one.”
Liane nodded as she followed her proctor to lunch, thinking deeply about what had been said. Making a chimera sounded like fun.
She was still thinking about the odd, golden colored creature when the two of them entered the dining hall. The buzz of the people already present brought Liane out of her contemplation, and the girl looked around. Seeing Milor already eating, she turned to her Proctor.
“Proctor? May I join my friend for lunch?” she asked as they waited their turn to place their order.
Cassandra nodded. “Of course, Assistant. You now have two hours to yourself, and may use them as you wish. Please join me at two for Elemental Magic, unless you would prefer to join your classmates.”
Liane immediately nodded. “I will be there at two pm, Proctor.”
Cassandra nodded but gave no other reaction to the statement, and Liane quickly made her way over to Milor after receiving her meal. Walking over to his table, she topped next to him. “Good day, My Lord.”
“Good day, My Lady,” he replied, looking up.
“May I join you for lunch, My Lord?” she asked, looking at the empty seat in front of him, then back to her friend.
“Of course, My Lady. It would be my honor,” he replied, motioning for the seat in question. “May I ask how your day has been so far?”
“It has been incredible so far, My Lord. I have learned so much,” she said enthusiastically, trying, yet failing, to keep the excitement out of her voice and the big smile off her lips. “How has your day been, My Lord?”
“It has been calm, so far, My Lady,” Milor answered. “I am looking forward to four hours of Fighting Arts this afternoon, however, so I may have a different reply for you by tonight.”
That added an implication that she was welcome to join him for dinner. Liane's smile grew wider, still. They both turned back to their meals, eating in silence. Finally, she looked up, wanting to ask something that had been on her mind since the first class. “May I pose a personal request, My Lord?” she finally ventured.
Milor looked up from his meal. “As usual, My Lady, I reserve the right to decline,” he replied.
It took her a few seconds to compose her request adequately. At last, she said, “I have had a very interesting morning, and one of the lessons was about Blood Magic. That branch of magic can be used to find somebody, and can also be used to protect someone against those tracking spells. May I ask My Lord to donate a few of his hairs so that I may experiment with the techniques demonstrated?”
Her friend was silent as he thought her request over. “It seems like an interesting venture, My Lady,” he finally replied. “I would like to agree, but only if I may be present. I would be interested in seeing you perform this particular piece of magic.”
Liane's grin was contagious, and he found himself returning it. “Of course My Lord. Thank you very much!”
“Composure, My Lady,” he cautioned with a thin smile. “Please control yourself. Remember the Decorum.”
She calmed down instantly, feeling as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-cold water over her. “My apologies,
My Lord.”
He waved it off. “We are all students, My Lady,” he said.
After an enjoyable two hours spent with Milor, Liane found herself next to Cassandra during the Elemental Magic course. The subject was taken by every Mage at the Academy, the only subject that was actually mandatory for Mages. This year, they would be studying the element of metal, and Liane was looking forward to it.
Sitting on the third row from the front, right next to Cassandra, Liane looked around, at the 400 or so other Mages present.
The hall they were in was large, and unique within the walls of the Academy. Called the Thasterian Hall, it was named in honor of Lord Thaster, the Mage-Architect who first constructed the current Academy.
The room was large, and built in true stadium form, with sloping seats so that everyone had a clear view of the center stage, where the Doctora was preparing to start her two-hour class.
On the desk of each student, a magical construct mimicked the teacher's form and speech, allowing them to see and hear, no matter where they were located in the Thasterian Hall.
“My Ladies, permit me to wish you welcome,” the young teacher said. She was easily the youngest Doctora Liane had yet seen at the Academy, and the young girl was wondering how this young teacher would compare to the other, older, teachers she had already seen and heard.
“For our new students, welcome to the Academy, and welcome to Elemental Magic. This year, we are studying the element of metal.” The Doctora's voice was crisp and clear, the strange properties of the room amplifying her voice so that everyone could hear her perfectly. “As always, this course will begin with the very basics for our new students, while it is expected to be a good recapitulation for our returning students.”
“This class is the one class you must all take, and it is the one class that will teach you what it is to be a Mage. This class will teach you to use magic, and to bend elements to your will. I expect most of the returning students to find the first month of this class to be boring and repetitive, having already mastered the basics of magic. You are expected to help the new Initiates with their work, rather than daydream.”
Liane glanced at Cassandra, who merely winked in reply.
“Good,” the Doctora said. “Let us start. I am sure that the basic initiation lessons have instilled the basics of magic within our new students. Let us begin with the basics of Elemental Magic. In order to gain mastery over an element, one must first understand that element. Metal is hard and rigid, it resists and conducts heat, and can only be melted at high temperatures. However, in its raw and innate form, it is a mere ore, a stone in the ground. A Mage who excels in metal manipulation can draw ore straight from the ground and form it into a weapon with a single spell.”
She lifted her hand, and a jar of gray sand on the teacher's desk exploded, forming into a long knife in the teacher's hand.
The older students sat up straight, and Liane assumed that this was not something they had seen before.
“Good, I have your attention, My Ladies,” the Doctora said calmly. She jerked her hand, and the spell released, the blade turning back into the dull grey sand it had originally been, and fell to the ground. “Now, the basics. The initial form of metal manipulation is the following spell.” She wrote on the blackboard, and Liane found herself copying without conscious thought. After an entire morning of note-taking, she was used to it.
The two-hour Elemental Magic lesson flew by in a flurry of magic, theory, and compulsive note-taking. By the end of it, Liane's head was swimming, trying to fill in the blanks that the morning's advanced classes had left open with the new concepts introduced in the Elemental Magic class.
After they were dismissed, Liane simply followed her Proctor, who apparently decided not to go to their rooms before dinner would start. They went to the library instead, and Liane welcomed a chance to digest today's lessons, even if there was some homework for herself as well.
“Before we start, Assistant, please show me to the book on spell manipulation that you used,” Cassandra said as they took a quiet corner on the top level of the underground library. “I will study that book while you do the homework on Elemental Manipulation. I am sure that I will be able to finish my homework before you can, and I would not like to interrupt your work.”
Liane nodded. “Thank you, Proctor,” the young girl said, and showed her Proctor to the book in question. “This is the book, Proctor. Spellcraft and Manipulation Explained.”
Cassandra nodded, took one of the two copies on the shelf, and leafed through the book. “Thank you, Assistant,” the Proctor said. “Let us return to our table. We both have homework to do. Feel free to interrupt me if you have any questions.”
“Thank you, Proctor,” Liane said gratefully, following the older girl back to their table. Taking out her books and paper, Liane started the set homework on metal manipulation, a rather basic exercise in how to gain different basic shapes out of iron powder. Liane was almost jealous of how fast Cassandra finished the exercise, but resisted the temptation to sneak a peek at the older girl's worksheet. If she wanted to be good at this, she needed to do the exercises herself.
She never noticed how her Proctor nodded once at the sight of Liane refusing to look at her sheet, despite it being somewhat open on the table. Copying the Runic Table for Runes, Glyphs, and Magical Symbols took her longer, especially at first, when she needed to learn the shapes of the different Runes. It would not do for her to have to rely on her Assistant to correct a faulty Rune.
They finished roughly at the same time, Liane's metal manipulation requiring her to reference the book quite a few times – even with her good memory.
“I do not really require your assistance at this point, Assistant,” Cassandra said. “Perhaps a good book of fiction will relax you after a long day of hard work. You did excellent work today, so I think a reward is in order.”
Liane blinked, then frowned. “Thank you, Proctor. But... what is fiction?”
The older girl looked up from where she had already opened the book on spell manipulation. “I see,” she said, quietly, standing up. “Please follow me, Assistant.” Obediently, the young girl followed. Taking a turn to one of the many sections she had never before explored, Liane stopped when Cassandra pointed to a number of large racks. “This is the fiction section, Assistant. The books here are filled with tales of fiction. They are imaginary, not real. I find them relaxing and entertaining, although you might want to explore and see what style you enjoy most.”
Liane was beginning to understand what Cassandra was trying to say. “You mean like fairy-tales, Proctor?”
Cassandra gave a hesitant nod. “Almost, yes, Assistant. Please enjoy yourself, and return to the table when you have found something that has caught your interest.”
“May I ask what interests you, Proctor?” the young girl asked before her Proctor could leave.
“I enjoy fictional tales of magic, Assistant,” Cassandra said, pointing to a particular case of books. “They may not be true to life, but I find them highly entertaining.”
“Thank you, Proctor,” Liane said as the older girl left, and turned to the case in question. Taking a book at random, she flipped it open to the first page, and read it. It didn't seem interesting, so she closed it and took the next one. It took her almost a dozen books before she realized that there was a summary printed on the back of the books, which allowed her to speed up her search for a good book. Finally finding something that interested her (Brave Warlock goes out to fight a dragon – dragons were fun, even if they didn't exist), Liane returned to the table.
As she sat down, she didn't have time to open her new book. “Did you use this entire book, or merely excerpts from it, Assistant?” Cassandra asked, pausing her reading of the book, and looking at her young companion.
“I was not allowed the book by myself, Proctor. The Doctorii would skip to the correct page and only allow me to study the page that was selected for me,” Liane answered truthfully.
“I thought so. Under the Rules of Equality, that would be as much as would be allowed to you. Please read this, Assistant.” Cassandra said, skipping to a particular page, and flipping the book over so Liane could read it.
“Chapter three – Large Manipulation Sets,” Liane read the chapter title. “Sometimes it may be necessary to create a large set of manipulations based around a single, prime, spell. Such a set of spell is called a subset of the prime spell, and when a truly large number of manipulation spells are required, the subset may become so large as to be cumbersome and oversight might be lost. In order to write down such a subset, the declination circle was developed as a technique to write down the subset of spells and their effects. Figure 3-1 demonstrates a basic circle of the light spell. In the example, the three primary colors are manipulated on the basis of the standard light spell. Use of this technique will require usage of the two primary runic tables, as well as usage of both major and minor glyphs.”
Liane looked at picture 3-1, which took up the entire next page. The first set of runes was the one she was intimately familiar with, and those runes she could read as well as standard letters by now. She had seen the second set of runes before, but was not intimately familiar with them. They seemed to have been used primarily to describe the effects of spells, rather than the spells themselves. The major and minor glyphs connected both sets of runes, providing connectors for spell and effect.
Liane blinked, she recognized the glyphs from use in the gate, but had no idea as to their meaning.
“I believe that this will be of help to you, Assistant,” Cassandra stated dryly, pushing her textbook forward, open at Appendix B – Index of Major Glyphs. Liane flipped the page. Appendix C – Index of Minor Glyphs stared at her.
Liane merely nodded mutely.
“I believe I have found a new task for you after dinner, Assistant. Please descend to the third level of the library, proceed to the runic section, and retrieve additional material to help you read and understand the meaning of the glyphs. As my Assistant, you have access to the restricted sections of the library. Feel free to look around and sate your curiosity.”
