“Good morning, students,” the professor said. He did not wait for a return greeting. “I am Professor Laur and I am the Master Wizard of Rainbow Tower.” From his position beside the podium at the bottom of the lecture hall he scanned the students in the tiers rising above him. He was dressed in the royal blue uniform all the teachers wore. His clothes were sharply pressed and his shoes gleamed, his hair was pulled back and bound tightly. This professor embodied neat, professional, and no nonsense. Seth thought he was quite a bit different from the dirty, street-beggar looking person that was in the tower the day of the gauntlet.
“This class is your introduction to magic. As I am sure all of you have read the student handbook, you’ll find that the first half of this lecture is review.” There were soft sounds of dismay from a few students. The professor smirked as he continued. “Magic comes in many forms. I’m sure you’ve all heard of cores, chakras, dantains, and meridians. Perhaps you have experience with gates, pools, spiritual forms, pacts, contracts, or granted power.” He paused again making direct eye contact with an unfortunate student in the front row until they squirmed.
“We don’t teach that here.”
He turned and flipped open a book on the podium. “Magic can do many things. It is a power that can light the darkness or raise the tides. It can shake the earth or unbreak glass. With sufficient skill and power perhaps someone here will slay demons and walk the celestial shore.” His expression indicated he thought this unlikely. He flipped several pages in the open book. “As you can do many things with magic, so too are there many ways to do these things. Some methods are far more dangerous than others, both to the mage and any bystanders within range.
“This class will focus on structured magic. Unless you are completely incompetent, I am sure all of you have noticed the various circles and sigils about the school. These are spells that are either already in use or are awaiting empowerment. The lights,” he gestured to the lamps embedded in the ceiling above them, “the doors,” he pointed out the sigils lining the door frame, “and many other mundane uses to make things simpler and easier.”
He began to slowly pace. “Most of you here have some sort of innate talent, probably elementally aligned. You can do things with your specific element that you can’t do with other elements.” He focused on one of the students in the middle tiers. “These talents are categorized as unstructured magic and we will not be covering that in this class.”
The student was the girl with the long braid and pearl earrings Seth had seen in the Rainbow tower. She looked like she wanted to ask a question, but was too intimidated.
“You might be wondering, ‘If I can do so much with my talent, what do I need with circles and structure?’ The answer is: everything.” He drew a symbol in the air that left a trail of light as he drew it. He incanted and touched his open book, then pointed to the blackboard behind him. The glowing symbol changed color and vanished. Words and symbols drew themselves over the blackboard.
“This is the copy spell. We will be learning this spell over the next few weeks. You will use it throughout your time in school for note taking, and it is one of six required spells that you will need to demonstrate your mastery of at the end of the semester in order to remain a student.”
There was an uncomfortable shifting amongst the students. Professor Laur’s gaze shifted from student to student and nodded. “That’s right. Remaining a student is dependent on your ability and performance. This is also outlined in the Student Handbook, along with the list of required spells for each semester.”
“Now, this is an example of structured magic,” the professor continued. “It has no elemental requirements. It has no required affinities. Everyone in this room regardless of what type of talent they have will be able to perform this spell, or they should not be here and soon won’t be.”
His pacing started carrying him into the rows of students. “Structured magic is the backbone of all magic disciplines. Once you understand a structured construct, you can manipulate it into unstructured forms.” He waved his hand and the class notes written on the blackboard started glowing and moved on the blackboard forming a new diagram and the text explaining it.
Seth noticed one student had cast the copy spell already, and was casting it again to copy the new information. Seth’s own handwritten copy was incomplete, and the same was true for most of the rest of the class. He considered just giving up copying the class notes and just listening to the lecture but decided against it. He also knew he didn’t know enough to try to cast the spell himself so he buckled down to work faster.
Another student attempted the copy spell. This time everyone nearby was coated in ink as the boy’s inkwell exploded.
The professor sighed deeply. “Failure to understand the spell you are attempting can have unfortunate and unexpected results. In some cases, they can even be deadly. Do not cast spells you do not understand, and absolutely do not attempt to modify a spell you are not fully proficient in.”
The student swallowed nervously and mumbled an apology as his neighbors looked ready to murder him.
“Patience and understanding,” the professor said. Seth got the distinct impression that the professor was telling himself to be patient even as he addressed the students. The professor cast another spell, and the ink removed itself from the other students. The errant caster was still covered though.
As the class resumed Seth wondered why a professor who was a Master Wizard of one of the top tier towers was teaching basic magic to first years. Lower level classes were usually taught by lower level teachers. Maybe the foundation of structured magic was just that important that they started with the best teacher? Also, the Rainbow Tower was known for illusions. It seemed counterintuitive to Seth that illusions would be a structured magic. He thought structured magic would lack the necessary flexibility.
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The professor continued the lecture and explained each facet of the circle and symbols. He also explained that they would be practicing with casting aids and using a reduced version of the spell. As he paced the classroom he paused in front of tsunami girl with all her towels. He gazed at the floor a moment before skirting around. There was quite the puddle there already.
After nearly an hour, the professor allowed the students to start practicing. Most were a resounding failure, but there were some unexpected results. The boy who’d walked into the fire tower to get the key managed to light all the paper around him on fire. Seth thought that was an accomplishment. Tsunami girl didn’t copy anything, but managed to turn the puddles of water around her black.
Seth’s own success was marginal at best. The professor stopped in front of his table and looked over his work. He picked up Seth’s ink bottle and examined it more closely. It was a gift from Benjamin, an Everfull Inkwell. It was not quite as expensive as an Endless Fountain Pen, but still a very nice gift. The professor examined the circle on the bottom of the inkwell for a moment longer before putting it back on Seth’s desk. He looked consideringly at Seth before continuing his pacing about the lecture hall.
The cat was bristling on her desk. She paced back and forth and Seth could feel her upset through the link but had no idea why. He gave her a scratch on the head and tried to soothe her a bit by petting her, but she wouldn’t settle down. Well, there was nothing he could do for her right now.
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I was pissed.
Magic was awesome. And when Professor Slick explained that the advanced copy spell could transcribe your thoughts?
I was so excited that I’d finally be able to talk to these people, and maybe even get a few answers.
But no.
Of course not. Because the copy spell requires a verbalization. One I cannot ever do.
Because I’m a fucking cat.
Honestly, I sometimes like the fact that I’m a cat now. I mean who wouldn’t want to be cute and fluffy? Any sane person would be down for it, or so I tell myself. Except for the fact that I can’t talk. At all. And not being able to talk means I’m isolated in so many ways that are just unnecessary.
The only thing I could really hope for was that I’d be able to do an unstructured magic version of this spell with no verbal component. Drawing the circle was going to be a bitch too since I didn’t have thumbs to hold a pen with.
Ugh. I’m not getting anywhere. The lecture had lasted over an hour, and now practice had gone on just as long. I jumped down and wandered around the lecture hall to look at what everyone else had done.
Most didn’t get any significant results, but there were a few that made interesting progress. I didn’t want to be too rude, so I didn’t really get up in anyone’s business and stayed off their desks, but I did peek at their results.
The random thoughts of a bunch of teens are funny. One guy’s copy attempt was a really good likeness of a girl in the row in front of him.
Another just had the same sentence over and over like it was punishment lines. Maybe she had a mental stutter. I kinda wished I could read what she wrote.
I found Owen and wasn’t shy about greeting him, jumping right up onto his work.
“Please no paw prints, Kitty,” he said.
Ugh, like I’d want ink all over my paws. Actually, there wasn’t much ink on any of his papers. I looked around more closely.
The letters were blocky and misformed. The circle looked like it was drawn by someone who’d never drawn anything ever. Owen wrote like a kindergartener.
Owen watched me looking at his work. “I’m not usually this bad,” he explained.
Do I sense an opportunity here? Teaching Owen would also teach me. Seth, I’m putting you to work!
But that would be later. For now I gave Owen an encouraging rub and got down. There were other things I wanted to check out while here. The first was a girl with a raven made of shadows and after, a tiny deer I just needed to terrorize.
As I walked along the backrests of the tier above the raven the Professor plucked me up. I hung in his grasp as he examined me and I knew I was in trouble. That little tremor of fear from Seth through the link was disconcerting. I felt my tail get bushy and my ears flattened. I instinctively opened my paws and bared claws.
What would work here? Play up the cute little baby cat? Fluffy kitty with a side of vicious? I was still considering my best play when I saw a flash of surprise cross his face and then vanish so fast I doubted it was really there.
He then turned and walked back to Seth’s desk and plopped me in front of him. “Keep track of any familiars you have,” the Professor announced to the students. “You must not allow them to just wander off. This past year there are reports of missing familiars. I suggest greater caution.” The professor stared at Seth. “And better training.”
Shit.
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“Professor Laur, could I have a moment please?” Seth asked after the Professor dismissed the class.
“Of course. Seth, wasn’t it?”
“Yes sir.” Seth walked down to the podium so he could speak more softly. “I wanted to ask if you knew the causes for a person to lose their power, and if there were ways to get the power back.”
Professor Laur nodded. “Your brother is Saben.” It wasn’t a question. “I am sorry, but there is nothing I can tell you that would help Saben.”
“There has to be some way to help him,” Seth insisted.
“I admire your dedication to your brother, but there are many talented mages working on this problem. If a solution can be found, they will find it.”
“How can I participate in solving the problem, Professor? What do I need to do?” Seth asked.
“At your skill level, young man, you would not be an asset. I strongly advise you to leave this to the adults. Students should not be experimenting with forces that could put their powers or even their lives at risk.”
Seth didn’t want to hear that. “Who is doing the research, Professor?”
“Adults. Professors, and qualified applicants. Not students on their first day.”
“Qualified applicants? So some students are selected?” Seth tried not to sound too hopeful.
Professor Laur sighed. “You can talk to the professors at the Circle Tower. This is considered a health and life affliction. But I would not expect to be allowed to participate, at least until your second or likely third year of magic training. This is much better resolved by experienced mages. What you can do, Seth, is focus on your studies.”
“Thank you, Professor.” Seth was optimistic about his lessons in the Circle Tower. He joined the throng of students filing out of the auditorium.