Chapter 11

The remainder of the week passed in relative harmony. Az had shown up for Dorian’s class the next morning, only to find that it was just him, Dorian, and two other students that still remained in the class. One was the boy who had been so enthusiastic about learning to summon lightning. Az wondered if he was still hoping Dorian would impart that particular skill. Of Michael or the other nobles, there was no sign. It seemed they had been allowed to leave the class for greener pastures. Az tried not to envy them. For his part, Dorian made no mention of the dramatically reduced class size, his demeanour as jovial as ever. He simply instructed the remaining students to practise the same mana compressing exercise as he had introduced on the first day and then sat back and read a novel at his desk. Asmodeas considered approaching the man and trying to get some additional instruction out of him, but decided to simply see how the lessons played out for now. Az didn’t think he noticed when the class ended and the students walked out, so engrossed was he in whatever he was reading.

After that, Az spent his days free from classes quietly studying in the library or his room, taking breaks to explore the sprawling grounds of the academy. He still felt that he had barely scratched the surface of all that there was to see. There were as many secrets to be unearthed within the labyrinthine network of buildings that spanned the grounds as there were to be found in even the most eclectic book of magic sequestered away among the shelves of the library.

He slowly worked his way through more advanced texts on spellforms and general magical theory. It was an intoxicating feeling; Az’s understanding of magic was growing in leaps and bounds, his brain making connections between previously disparate bits of knowledge as he gleaned some new insight from what he was currently reading. He had always enjoyed his studies during his childhood, but this was different. He could directly apply his new understanding to controlling the mana within his own nexus and feel his skill and control growing as he applied what he learned. Az was reminded of the old adage, that had always seemed somewhat contrived; knowledge was power. In this case, it rang true. The path to power as a mage was to constantly seek superior understanding, to never falter in the relentless pursuit of knowledge.

Az took some time to practise what he had already been shown in his classes; he exercised and flooded his body with mana to slowly work on his body enhancement, also devoting some time to circulate mana through his body while meditating before bed. He had found a fairly quiet training hall where he practised his Force Lance until he could nearly cast it instinctively. Az was gaining finer control over how much power he channeled into the spell and found that the more he practised the further he could send the deadly projectile before it dissipated. He had encountered the explanation for such a result quite early in his time at the library; regularly practising spells increased the strength of his will, which held the spell together even as it travelled away from him. It was thought that some remnant of the mage’s will remained even after a spell had been cast, enforcing the commands of the spellform’s runes upon reality for some time before dissipating.

He had even devoted some time, rather begrudgingly initially, to Dorian’s exercise of compressing a sphere of mana. After the first few days though, Az was forced to admit that the exercise was remarkably effective. It left him mentally exhausted in a way that casting spells did not. He understood that it was likely because the exercise was one of pure willpower; runes did not come in to it, and so it was the strength of his mind alone that forced the mana to obey. It seemed that each time he attempted it he did better than the last time, yet it also grew more tiring. Az didn’t bother practising the spells that Kayla had shown him in the Spellcraft class. They didn’t have much immediate benefit beyond mild convenience. He tried the levitation spell a few times on heavier objects, but he didn’t possess either the willpower or the mana to move anything larger than a book. Az tried to end each day with a near empty nexus, pushing past the exhaustion that filled him each time he emptied his mana reserves. All that he had read and heard in class pointed to this being the most efficient way to increase his mana reserves. Still, he wished it were not so utterly exhausting. He fell asleep each night feeling as if he were on the verge of collapse, and rising in the morning felt like a colossal task. Az would not let himself slack off in this regard; Iskander’s words echoed in his mind. Greatness; it was within his means, if only he reached for it.

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Az was a little overwhelmed by all that had happened in just his first week of classes. The life of a mage it seemed was rather eventful. Even so the past few days were exceptionally strange; the academy’s immortal Chancellor had taken a vested interest in him, an ancient evil God had derailed his destiny, a mysterious teacher that had crossed an immortal witch and lived to tell the tale now terrorised first year students and his fate was tied to Az’s own somehow.. it was a lot to process. As a respite, Az made the trip back to the Tantalus estate to visit his mother and Colin. His father, of course, was too busy with something or other to see him. His mother had been mildly scandalised that he had walked back rather than send a letter ahead for a carriage, but she had been evidently pleased that he had come to visit. She had a tirade of questions about his time at the academy so far, but Az weathered them as best he could. She seemed more concerned with who he was associating with rather than what he was learning. Still, the familiar needling was a welcome distraction from all that had occurred.

Colin had been more openly happy to see his young charge again, and had given Az some pointers on his body enhancement. Az had known that the man had fought under his father’s command but he had never considered him a mage. It was rather naive of him to have not realised that Colin was likely a mage of some strength, however. A son of the Tantalus family - even a second son - would not be entrusted to the care of someone that could not protect him, but still.. Az didn’t think he had ever seen the man cast a spell.

Colin had simply laughed when Az asked why he had hidden that facet of his identity from him. “Because you would never have left me alone if you knew I was a mage. You were never good at following your father’s command to leave mana alone until you were ready. Did you think you were such a master of deception that I did not know you were secretly practising channeling your mana?”

Az had had no response, only glowering at the laughing soldier. He was surprised that Colin had been willing to overlook Az’s clandestine practising. In all the time he had known him, Az had never seen him so much as consider disobeying one of his father’s commands.

It quickly became clear that Colin was highly knowledgeable about body enhancement and he taught Az a new training exercise that should be more effective than what he was currently doing. It was a series of slow, exaggerated movements that resembled some of the katas Az had seen some martial arts experts perform. In essence, it was a sequence of choreographed moves, where each move flowed smoothly into the next. A slow punch transitioned into a back step followed by a sweeping kick, the whole sequence congealing into something that resembled a strange dance rather than any real combat moves.

Colin called it the Mantis’ Song and explained that mana had to be circulated around the mage’s body with each move. A kick saw Az drawing mana from his nexus and extending it out in sync with the motion of his leg, only for him to draw the mana back into his center and redirect it along his arms as he flowed into a punch. The idea was to keep his mana constantly flowing smoothly around his body, improving the strength of his will and his control of his mana, all while the flowing mana would strengthen and remake his body as he exercised. The benefit of this exercise, Colin said, was that it involved the entirety of the body, and as Az grew more familiar with the routine, he could slowly speed it up to produce an even more pronounced effect.

Az thanked his guardian for his instruction and promised he would practise the kata every chance he could. Colin seemed somewhat embarrassed by Az’s gratitude and enthusiasm, dismissing his tutelage as “just part of the job.”

The trip back to his family’s estate was as refreshing as it was short lived, and before long Az was departing once again for the Academy, though this time he had managed to leave before his mother had time to prepare a carriage. He promised he would come to visit again soon, and with one last wistful glance back at the familiar estate, he was gone.

He had the rest of the evening to prepare for the week ahead, though the first day should be fairly uneventful. Az had Magical Theory with Ms. Lenz, and then another Battlemagic class with Zim. He was rather looking forward to getting his hands on the Shield or Fireball spell though. His practice with the basic Force Lance spell was coming along quite nicely, and in time it would be a real weapon, but he was eager to add more spells to his arsenal.

After that, there was Body Enhancement and then he had the dubious pleasure of another of Dorian’s classes. He couldn’t help but wonder if the man would finally decide to teach them something different now or if he intended for them to practise the mana compressing exercise for the entirety of the semester. Such things were not worrying about, Az reasoned. Only time would tell.

He spent the evening reading quietly in his room, and practised his new Mantis’ Song routine and the mana compressing exercise Dorian championed before retiring to bed, emptying the remainder of his nexus in to the sphere of mana until it slipped his control and dissipated harmlessly into the air. As he lay exhausted in bed, his nexus nearly empty, Az had a sudden premonition that it was going to be a long week.