“Shielding Yourself from the differing mana of your enemies and the raw external mana that you Need to regenerate the mana to keep the shield up Is easy to do, but incredibly hard to master. For all casters, this is a lifelong pursuit but ask any of them and they will not say it is a wasted one. You will need to keep your attention on the shield, either just outside or on the membrane itself. What is normally done is to keep a static shell as the outer layer while keeping a more porous but elastic shell as a second layer. Where you keep your will, aura or whatever sensory apparatus/ gift you feel most inclined to use.”
As the abjuration managram droned on KRS felt a sort of despair he had never felt before. He loved magic and loved listening to Whatever discourse, he could hear about the latest or the oldest thoughts in the magical professions, but this course kept oscillating between what he thought was the easiest, most common-sense subject. That anyone would know. And then immediately going into the esoterica of the abjuration style, something so nebulous he could barely get his mind around what the hell the words were. At the end of six hours, having filled two Notebooks. One with trash and one with maybe treasure. Krs felt wrung out, and tired to the core. So, he simply elected to go back to his room's meadow and sleep and come at it fresh tomorrow.
After waking up eating and spending a long 10 hours researching abjuration topics in the library. It still didn't click for him. Where did his instinctual shield come from? How does one shield from more than just kinetic energy? What makes the best secondary shield concepts? For the first time, he felt this was not something he had instinctual knowledge of and that he lacked his usual vocerus spark for magic. Returning to the first semester study hall, he went up to the booths and asked. “Hello, I'm having some troubles with one of my studies, could you show me toward a study group or even where I might hire a tutor.”
The man behind the both leaned up from his Book and took a long look at Krs before he said. “Well to find and get in a study group is actually pretty hard right now. You see we had two critical failures of first year magic that went explosively awry. And seeing as people don't really know you, they don't know whether you will explode when you study together. This happens every year, so if you just give it some time, I'd let it go week and it'll be good to go. Now the tutors are actually quite expensive, because they are aimed towards noble scions of greater and lesser houses. But if you're finding that you're stuck on one of the elementary courses, it's actually a good thing. If you're stuck because you're not getting it, it could be because you just don't have a facility for that magic. Which is seriously good to know. You can also be overthinking it and trying to make it perfect because it feels like the course doesn't go into enough depth for your talents. Any way you look at it, I really recommend you go for all the elementary courses. If you're stuck with one, just pick another one, they often overlap in what you need to research and the concepts you need to get.”
“Thank you.” Said Krs as he smiled and walked away. But it can feel a small part in the back of his mind tingling, the part that made up most of what he had learned from the other Krs. As he walked along, he could not shake the thought that he was missing something with the booths. The annoying sound in this mind became more of a piercing sound and he went to the other side of the hall for different booth. “hello” Krs, said to the woman behind the table. “I would like some help with picking my courses if you would?” smiling, the woman behind the table said. “Why of course. Now what school of magic are you most interested in? You really should try them all You never know what you really enjoy doing until you try it.” Having that sharp prickling feeling in his forebrain ease up he suddenly felt that, yes, what he she was saying was smart and anyway, who was he to gainsay his seniors? Smiling up at her, he was just about to press elementary Restoration as his next class when his hand adjusted and sort of prodded himself onto.
Elementary magic tool use: short course on not killing yourself when using magic tools. 11 hours. 0.1 N-points at finish. Needs: elementary Transfiguration, Elementary transmutation, Elementary mana channelling.
Seeing the slight shock on Krs face the woman behind the desk seemed to get a small scowl on her face. But it was gone as quickly as it came as she said. “Why yes. Elementary magic tool use Is a very good Elementary course to take I wish you all the best.” Trying to think very little of it Krs sat down at the nearest bench to wait the half an hour until the beginning of the course.
“And that, dumb asses, is how you use your fucking Magic tool without blowing everything to the 9 Hells. Any questions? I'm just kidding. There won't be any fucking questions now Get in line for the exam! Quickly now move it, move it!” The managram of the former true Headmaster shouted. Krs could almost not contain his own smile, During the incredibly intensive but also incredibly knowledgeable lecture he just had. He had filled out almost 3 of his Mundane notebooks. The answers he had gotten the simple things he had written down questions for many, many times before. Krs felt it was more than worth the verbal abuse. After an incredibly simple exam He stood smiling outside the halls. Again, the tingling in his mind came, and again he tried to look for the reason why. This time all that came up was number of students leaving. After focusing to the point where he began to have a nosebleed, he decided to go home and rest before consolidating his knowledge.
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Coming back to the first semester hall after a good night's sleep. He said hello to the woman behind the table booth. “Well, hello, do you have anything you would like to ask?” Said the woman with a smile. “No, thank you. I will just take a course, I thought.” Setting his finger almost down on the book, He saw as it drifted towards elementary restoration. As his finger, then quickly juked to the side, and pressed Elementary Magic tool maintenance. And the lady behind the booth then said. “Well, it seems like you have a good Facility for magic item creations. That is very good for you and for the entire school, Now run along and learn.”
As Krs sat after six hours in the class and thrilled in what he had learned. He knew that the right thing to do was to go to the library for a couple of hours to check out all the questions he had. But for some reason he did not do that. For some reason, he stayed to the end of the exam as did almost all of the other students in the room. This felt incredibly strange to him because one of the students in front of him was snoring most of the time. Luckily, the exam was easy enough but because of his lack of general Magical knowledge, he could only get the minor victory of just squeaking over the cut off points needed to complete the exam. He still felt highly elated as He waited outside the room after the exam. The tingling was still in his brain, and he started counting the amounts of students coming out.
Feling a thumping in his mind as the room stopped spinning in darkness and he came too slowly. Krs found himself in a small pool of blood. Looking up he saw that many students were going about their business in the hall, but no one was standing around him. The only thing that happened was that every once in a while, a student would look over and then look quickly away. Getting himself up on his knees, he checked his face with his fingers and found rivulets of now clotted blood had poured from his eyes, mouth and nose. Getting himself to his feet and finding himself surprisingly not really in much pain and not that injured. He transfigured what he could of the blood into water and washed his face with it. After thinking awhile on how this happened, he got to his feet and went to his rooms Meadow to sleep.
Waking from a restless sleep, Krs laid in his Meadow for a while. He was getting pretty sure of what was happening, and he was also getting pretty sure that. He was not special. He was also understanding more and more of why they said this school was not a good school, just not as evil as the other school it split from. But in the end, all pity parties must end as Krs got off his back and went to the library. Standing in an agonisingly long line, He ended up in front of a librarian he had never seen before that said. “Hello welcome to the library. What can I help you with today?” “Yes, hello. I would like a student's book on how to avoid or defeat mind control. How to not get glamoured and how to not be enchanted? Do you have any of those exercises in book form?” Running a hand through his hair the librarian said. “Look, kid, if you're being Pursued or courted by half demons or half eldritch people who have the glamour or mind control spells. Then you getting the ability to negate their abilities will only egg them on and in worst case into a frenzy that leaves you quite dead. Just let them have a taste or just stay away from them for like a month. Oh, and also remember to go into your room every once in a while. No domination can ever survive upon your person in your own room.” Stopping the man with a hand before he was shooed away Krs said. “Sir, you misunderstand. I am not looking for this because I have a problem with it right now. I'm looking for this, so I'll be better for my Team I'm looking towards becoming an abjuration mage and I was thinking, if I was training this for a while, I'll be much better. I only need a couple of exercises to harden my will, mind and maybe my soul do you have anything like that in book form, Sir?”
“Yeah, maybe hardening your will is something you might get something out of and will undoubtably make you a formidable abjurer.” Rubbing his chin, the librarian looked down at his book for a minute or two before saying. “Ah yes, here we have something, for the will, wasn't it. Erdcarts mantras to the glory of the gods. It comes highly recommended and it's not as strenuous as the other one here. The Monks sally fourth trough splendiferousness. God, what an unwieldy title. But it's supposed to be pretty good, more honing your will through honing your body, but still.” Frowning a bit, KRS said in the end. “Those are good titles you have picked out, but there a little holy for my tastes. You know, maybe something I can use in my room, or when I'm on the move, or when I have a couple of minutes. I can take a lot of pain if that's what needs to be done.”
“OK, seriously, this is the 12th book you have Discarded as not efficient enough. I'm not supposed to pull from these books, but seriously, you are breaking my balls.” The clearly irritated librarian reached into a black box and came out with a pure yellow booklet. “This is Mayeburns sacrifice. It's an invocation Technique that forms a bond between you and whatever you want to kill. After you have subdued your enemy, you go into his/its mind and battle him. We don't recommend this because you will still be injured in the soul space between you two opponents. It also gives a small part of the life force of the extinguished one to a third party. We have never tried to track where the third party is from. It could be demonic; it could be fucking anything. All we know that no one is survived using this spectacularly suicidal technique. Now that's fucking everything, isn't it? Good. Fuck off.” Being shooed away again for like the tenth time, Krs put up another hand and said. “Wait, why can't I get a black book?” Looking shocked, the librarian said “Is that what you were going for? What the hell? If you read the mad ramblings of a wizard that has gone black The Colour of insanity, you too will end up in the rainbow Warren. Stark raving mad. I'm not giving it to you. Fuck off.”
Disappointed, but at least pleased to have something. KRS went to the Portal Plaza to see whether there was something that needed killing.