It was the start of a new week, and Avakian had class; more specifically Novice Glyphcrafting. It was currently the class he was most excited for, yet a significant part of him felt anxiety. Currently the only reason why he was able to take the class is because he was sponsored by Kamatie, he didn't actually have the prerequisites that were usually required to be accepted on the course.

He woke late, having read deep into the night in an effort to learn as much as possible about etching. 'Eskrimmer's Elementary Runes' didn't teach him much that he hadn't already learned from Ellian, but he hoped it was enough to muddle through his first class.

Avakian rushed through breakfast, greeted Chiros, and then ran towards his class as fast as his small stature would allow. He skidded into the erebology department and dashed up the stairs, frantically looking for a room 'ER12'.

Entering the room it appeared he wasn't as late as he feared; the classroom had less than a dozen occupants. He recognised Professor Samuel, the elderly wizard smoking a foul-smelling pipe next to a cringing Ellian.

"Ah, if it isn't our newest student, arriving not-so-fashionably late." She smirked at his ill-fitting tracksuit.

"My new clothes should arrive soon!" He pouted. "...Also what do you mean late, there's only 9 people here!"

At that comment Samuel deflated slightly.

"More than we've had in years I'm afraid. Glyphcrafting and etching simply isn't a popular pastime here in the outer folds, I've had to start subsidising teaching materials with my own salary."

Ellian snorted. "As if you old white dudes don't get paid enough. Maybe if you didn't blow all your cash on ganja you'd have..."

The two continued their bickering for a minute before Avakain interrupted awkwardly.

"So.. When exactly does class start?" He gestured vaguely around the room at the students, who were mostly chatting over coffee and pastries.

"It has started." Samuel explained. "Although this class is called 'novice' glyphcrafting, most of these students have been here for years or even decades. They use the first hour of the class to catch up with their peers and discuss their ongoing projects."

"It works to your advantage though. Most of these oldies would love nothing more than to talk your ears off about spells or glyphs." Ellian snorted. "Sit down over there, I'll get you started on some beginner spellcrafting."

Avakian seated himself in a comfortable looking armchair, and waited patiently for someone to tell him what to do. Ellian left briefly to pick up some equipment, while Samuel was sharing his pipe with another person of significant wrinklage.

Ellian arrived back in the room with a bundle of supplies, including an etching pen similar to the one he used in the game of Sabat.

"Now.. So far the only glyphs you have been taught are Eskrimmer's Six, which are universally useful, however it isn't possible to affect the physical world with these glyphs." She explained. "That's why these runes are taught to newbies like you; it's basically impossible for you to hurt yourself with them."

While lecturing Avakian she was simultaneously drawing a rune on thick parchment.

"Now this rune.." She finished her drawing with an artistic flourish. "Is known as an actuator; more specifically a kinetic actuator. It gives off a weak amount of kinetic energy onto a target."

She pulled out a marble from her pocket and held it between thumb and forefinger.

"Your goal today is to get this marble to float in place in the air, without being in contact with anything." Ellian let the marble go, instead of falling as expected the marble stayed perfectly still in the air, as if held in place by an invisible vice.

"How.." He muttered.

"Whaddya mean how; I literally just told you!" She started up from her chair. "Now, if you don't mind, I have responsibilities I need to avoid."

She disappeared like smoke in the wind. The marble bounced twice on the table before rolling to a stop.

Avakian pondered. The rune Ellian had given him wasn't complicated, barely harder than any of Eskrimmer's Six. He emptied the box she had left on the table, finding several crystals - Void receptacles - as well as several tools for etching glyphs.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He started on his first rune, scalpel flowing through the corkwood mat as he lost himself to the angles and curves.

Unfortunately halfway through he realised he simply hadn't the space to continue, he scrapped his first piece of corkwood and picked up a second. He drew this rune on a smaller scale, cognisant of his limited space.

As he was drawing the rune - almost automatically at this point - Avakian felt something inside him resonate with the Void around him.

That something denied the existence of any higher power within it's tiny sphere of influence, it saw reality and rejected it, choosing to instead substitute it’s own.

It was as he was adding the finishing touches to his second glyph that he noticed a trio of students behind him, eyes tracking every movement of his hand.

"No fucking way that works." One middle-aged student exclaimed.

"Yeah, sorry kid, but you messed that up pretty badly. Although I respect how confidently you did it." Another commiserated.

Looking at the end product Avakian couldn't help but acknowledge their perspective. His glyph was far from the norm. It bowed and bent when it shouldn't, and lacked any common aesthetic. It looked a mess.

To a human.

The something inside Avakian was decidedly not human. It liked the rune; he could feel it twirling and humming with pleasure every time he glanced at it.

He placed the marble in the epicentre of the spell, before excitedly connecting it to the crystal receptacle. Almost immediately the ball started to rise above the desk, slowing down before it reached its apex, where it bobbed up and down like a boat in turbulent water.

It was a far cry from whatever Ellian had accomplished, but it did the trick.

"Well, I give up. Time to take up a different hobby I guess, I hear pottery class has openings." One of the onlookers joked.

Avakian surveyed the room smugly, looking for Ellian. He was immensely pleased with the outcome of his spell and was greatly anticipating another task to complete.

He found Ellian in a corner, leg slumped over an armrest flicking through a paperback, and walked over to brag.

"Done! What's my next task?" He asked.

She looked up from her book with a look of amused disbelief. "Your next task is to do it again properly. You would've needed to etch at least three of the runes I gave you to get the ball to float."

"It is floating! Come over." He insisted.

Ellian grumbled, but eventually got up and walked over to Avakian's table, where the ball was in fact floating.

She paused for a brief moment, before disconnecting the rune from the receptacle and examining it in greater detail. "This isn't the glyph you were supposed to draw. It looks to me like a bizarre variation that gives off a variable amount of force. Interesting."

She fixed Avakian with a glare. "Next time call someone more experienced before you activate a potentially untested rune. It's alright with a low-output receptacle like this one, but it's worth getting into good practices."

Avakian wanted to protest about being lectured on responsibility by someone that literally admitted to avoiding it, but decided he needed Ellian on his good side.

"Alright. If it makes you feel any better I was pretty sure it was safe." He defended.

"It doesn't. Don't argue with your seniors."

---

Avakian's next task was to get the marble to bob up and down in a parabolic arc. Ellian had told him to use the same rune he had for the first, alongside Eskrimmer's Six.

He spent the rest of the class working on this project; but could not get the same flash of inspiration that allowed him to create his original glyph. He could still feel the something inside his corporality, but it seemingly refused to assist him in any way.

Avakian sulked while eating a complimentary croissant and watching his marble rise and fall above the corkwood mat.

"What's up your ass? It takes some students a month to learn half the glyphs you seemingly managed in a day." Ellian asked, leaning over a nearby chair.

"The first rune I created.. I felt some.. Flash of enlightenment or something, and then I immediately lost it." He gestured wildly.

"Yeah?" She replied unsympathetically. "If you ask me, 'enlightenment' doesn't exist. Most people who claim to be enlightened are old fuckheads who need to justify why they spent their entire life lazing around on top of mountains or whatever."

"I don't mean metaphorically enlightened." He said frustratedly. "I mean something genuinely abnormal happened to my mind for a moment."

Ellian looked wistful for a moment.

"Huh. Could be a mutation or racial trait? There are some species' that are savants at etching. My mother was one of them, before.. Um.."

Even with Avakian's limited empathic skills, he sensed now was not a good time to touch that topic, given the bleak look on Ellian's face. He elected to change the conversation to a lighter subject.

"So by the way; why do you dislike Chiros so much? I've spent a bit of time with him now and he seems a very reasonable young man."

At this point Avakian had discovered that Ellian loved to rant about topics she disliked, so he figured the perfect distraction was to give her something to rant about.

"Ugh do not get me started on that kid. Everyone I meet seems to think he's some kind of holy person that can do no wrong. Only I know the truth; Chiros is part of some kind of secret sex cult that..."

Avakian sighed as he listened to Ellian's weird rant; it appeared he was going to be a while.