“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.”

― C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul

Alyssa walked away from her friends and orienting herself with the map attached to her schedule walked down a flight of stairs into the first lower level. The air became noticeably colder and she was glad for the warmth of her uniform.

Endless corridors led into the darkness and as she walked, sconces inset in the walls would begin to glow with a pale faintly blueish light, which went out as soon as she left their range, an island of light in the darkness. She began to feel a bit worried. ‘You don’t have to fear the darkness, with time it will comfort you more than all the light in the world.’ Asandria glided alongside her. ‘Speak the words I say and let me have access to your magic.’

She voiced a short elvish chant. Alyssa tried several times and then, at last, managed to bring the spell to completion. Darkness spread to her eyes and the world lost its luster, everything seemed touched by decay. Stone showed cracks and dust marred the formerly clean floor. As she raised her hand she could see the bones underneath her skin as ghostly shadows. But her sight was no longer impeded by the darkness.

“Thank you, but I don’t know that I would like to cast this spell often.” She turned her hand and then let it fall to her side. “Why does it have this side effect?”

Asandria looked faintly proud. ‘I have good eyes for talent. Even with my help, you got it to work in minutes, not hours or days. The side effects you deplore are actually a good thing. The eyes of the void see the inherent entropy in all things. You should be able to assess weaknesses in creatures and objects. But that is for another time. You would have to correctly learn the spell for one.’

They arrived at the room indicated on the map. At least Alyssa hoped she was correct.

The door opened at a touch. Inside was a large room, a bit of level ground ran along the circumference, farther towards the center steps descended to a sunken-floor area with some metal grates set into the corners. Dark stains led to them from large slabs of stone, four in number, that stood beneath the pitiless light shining from pale glowstones. Her left arm burned with a cold fire and she focused on what lay upon them. On the stone dais lay four figures shrouded in linen cloth. Alyssa felt, with her senses attuned to the void, an aura of frost surrounding them.

Twelve students stood at the back. She was surprised as she recognized Ludwig, the dark-haired duelist from the fight she had witnessed two days ago, a faint bruise on his left cheek shone sickly green in the unnatural light.

Carmen of Perrilen Heights stood at the side near a marble lectern with a great book on top. A chain of dark metal was hooked into the stone plinth. She looked up and nodded. She wore a black dress with a high collar decorated with a choker bearing a large opal. Her hands were clad in long dark gloves. Her ebony hair was pulled back with a band of silver exposing her pale face. The wand she had last seen when Professor Carmen had examined her still hung from the silken cord at her right wrist.

“I think that all are present who will be attending this lecture. So without further ado, let us begin.

I am assistant professor Carmen of Perrilen Heights. And I will be the teacher for this first section of ‘Void and Necromancy for beginners’.” She smiled a bit at that. "We will have some second years attending this lecture because void is traditionally the smallest of the great schools which forces us to combine the lectures which profit most of you. First years will simply have to measure up to the higher expectations. I think it fosters talent in those who have it." She let her gaze linger on some students who shifted uneasily. Nodding to herself she began to pace towards the stone slabs while lecturing.

"You had the first lesson in magical theory already but the implications of what you heard might not have been realized yet. Void is a problematic magic to master because it draws on entropy, death, the fading of structural integrity, and life. And if you want to control or manipulate that, it has to be present first. You might recall legends of witches who spoke powerful curses as they died, burning at the stake? They would have had a lot of void magic, their own death, to work with wouldn't they?”

She grinned mirthlessly and then walked down the steps and up to one of the slabs. “Can anyone guess what we will be using?”

Ludwig gave a half-smile and raised a hand.

“Sir Ludwig of Hundredstreams.”

“A corpse.” He lowered his hand.

Carmen raised an eyebrow. “That is correct. The decay of life and potential inherent in a sentient being is most suitable for necromancy and void magic. Without that, we could try a hospital ward for the terminally ill. I heard it said that a terminal illness of the caster would supply a great amount of power, though no one would probably go that far. There are some death cults in Sur Kesh who use poisons that only rarely kill the afflicted to get a similar effect."

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She paced in front of the students. "And as if that were not enough, void magic is corrosive to living organisms- that most assuredly does not include the undead sadly."

"To use it safely, you will have to protect yourself from it. Some use wands and enchanted items to channel the brunt of the charged mana. Some use the life force of the elements or plant-life, some use -and hopefully, I do not have to remind you that this is illegal – blood sacrifice.” She pulled back the linen cloth and exposed a dead man of perhaps sixty years. He had been hanged or strangled and his face was contorted and swollen, the tongue grotesquely stuck out of the open mouth. Blood had pooled and formed dark blotches on his grey skin. Two girls gagged and one was noisily ill. Alyssa looked away and slowly tried to acclimatize herself to the horrific view.

“We use criminals who forfeited their rights to a humane burial. And now you know why void magic is not widely appreciated.” She chuckled.

“We will have to learn the proper techniques to insulate you from the magic before I can have you do a demonstration. Nearly all the other courses will have you perform some magic to gauge your talent and the extent of your proficiency. But this would harm you greatly without preparation.”

She continued to explain what Alyssa already knew. She was surprised that it seemed a bit basic to her. But being taught by a vampire sorcerer was probably what you would call advanced training.

Professor Carmen distributed notes containing the words of a spell, “you will now proceed to memorize and then show what you have learned.”

One after the other they spoke the words of the incantation and Alyssa felt their magic gathering in a cocoon which then would serve to insulate the caster from the magic of the void.

As it was her turn, she hesitated then did as Vanessa had taught her. She pulled on the power of the earth and air in the room protecting her life, her soul as she went to grasp the void. Cyrus quietly lent his strength. Darkness rose mistlike from the bodies and gathered in her left hand, the cloth turned grey, rotting as it fell from the corpses, two of them twitched, dead eyes opened. Frost burned in her breast, the void shone through her eyes and she felt at peace.

The professor looked alarmed and shouted, “Stop. What the hell are you doing? Use the formula!" She calmed herself as Alyssa relaxed and let the magic disperse. "You are using an advanced technique I have not heard of, but with your lack of control you will do great harm to your body if you slip up even once.”

The other students murmured and cast covert glances her way. Most seemed wary, some alarmed, very few- The dark-haired boy from Hundredstreams included- seemed a bit intrigued. Cyrus raised his stinger menacingly.

Ludwig gave a sardonic smile. “I once heard that the necromancers of Ulsolm use such a technique.”

“I was taught by...a friend. But I will of course obey.” Alyssa forced down her uneasiness and replied.

She then spoke the words and a cocoon of magic spun from elemental air formed before her. After what she had learned on the road it seemed...easy.

“Very good. That is indeed the correct formula.” Carmen sighed. “Please talk to me after class.” She then went and corrected the others. "Anyone who has problems with the air component can use water or earth. I have the requisite formulae here. You can have them if you need."

“Here is a test to ascertain your knowledge of the theory involved.” She pointed at a stack of papers beside the door. “Each takes one. Class dismissed.”

The room emptied as the students took a piece of paper and went out the door, some looked back and talked among themselves. Ludwig was the last, he nodded at Alyssa and walked out.

“Show me your left arm.” Carmen stretched out her hands.

Alyssa raised her arm and the professor took her hand. She inspected the porcelain-like skin of her hand that continued to near the middle of her forearm. Alyssa felt the grip, but she did not really feel the warmth and there also was no sense of connection, as if she had touched the professor with something other than her skin.

“This technique. Does it have a name?”

“I would not know. My teacher only wanted for me to be more protected from the negative influence of the void. She was adamant that I practice it religiously...and it works best with plant-life or animals.”

“And she is right, but I think she was a bit too optimistic regarding your progress. I would like you to use my incantation at the moment. If there comes a time that I think that you are ready we can talk again, but at the moment I would have you be prudent.”

Alyss hesitated, “On the road, there were several dangerous situations, I do not think I could have survived if I had used such an incantation.”

“That may be true. But you are here to learn, and you will learn in as safe a way as I can possibly offer you. If your life is threatened I will not hold it against you if you disregard me, but otherwise, you will use this incantation. Do you know where the path you are walking leads?”

“I can guess.”

“You would become a wight mage. A soul caught in an undead body. Your arm is already infused with deepstone. Please be more careful.”

She took a piece of paper under the watchful eyes of Carmen of Perrilen Heights. Hastening out of the door she heard her sigh.

When she held the void it was always a feeling of stillness, a feeling of being complete. And as she walked briskly down the deserted corridors it seemed as if she fled the insecurity and unease hounding her thoughts. ‘I am so glad that I have you, Mireille and Alea. I don’t think I will find friends here.’

Asandria whispered in her mind, ‘you don’t need to. Power will always set you apart, estrange you. It is best you get used to it and see the world as it really is, they fear and covet what they do not have.' She grabbed Alyssa's face with both hands and glided in front of her. The cold on her skin felt strangely pleasant. "The Heartstealer will become aware of you before you are ready to face her- That much is certain, and not all weapons come with a metal blade some might wear a pretty face.’

Alyssa remembered a fragment of a dream, a smile blooming on a face too beautiful for mortal words to describe.

Sharp as broken glass and deadly as a night in winter.