“So, the bindings come off tomorrow, are you excited to cast again?” Chandrika asked, looking up at the enchanted sky in the Green Expanse.
“I am very, very excited to be able to cast magic again. I am not excited for the absolute wringer that Baphelus is about to put me through. I never thought that I could be this tired from just… learning.” Gio replied, looking through the branches of the pink cherry tree.
The two friends were lying in the grass, beneath the shade of the ever-blooming pink tree they had claimed as their de-facto hangout space. The past month had been a gauntlet of academic challenges for the duo.
Chandrika had been training for most of the day with Headmaster Vespertine between classes, and weaving with her grandmother at night. For her efforts, she was rewarded with [Directed Mind].
[Directed Mind] - Your focus is unbreakable, and your mental skills answer when called. Reduce the duration of harmful mental effects, and become resistant to backlash from your mind-based skills.
Eudoria had spent her time largely refining Chandrika’s ability to interpret what her skills were telling her, rather than attempting to control [Great Sage]. Her grandmother had spent the evenings teaching Chandrika control exercises and guiding her through meditations. Her hard work had paid dividends, and although she was incredibly tired, Chandrika had never felt so in sync with her bloodline skill.
Gio, on the other hand, had never felt more mentally fatigued in his life.
Between keeping up with class, experimenting with Sapphire, spellform research with Xerxes, and Baphelus’ increasingly draconian assignments, Gio was feeling beaten. But he had also never felt more like he was embodying his purpose.
His status agreed. His new occupation skill was insane.
[A Student’s Diligence] - When working on subject material assigned to you by a system-recognized teacher, you work faster, retain more information, and may receive additional insights derived from your teacher’s experience.
The learning skill had surprised Gio, especially when he felt a fragment of Baphelus’ understanding of mirror mana flow into him while doing some research on another spellform. The feeling of even a bare sliver of comprehension of a subject that the lich knew was enough to cause Gio to need to go lie down for a moment.
Baphelus had kept Gio busy enough to make the time go by very fast. Between other assignments, he had Gio work on one spellform for each of the four weeks that Gio had until he could use magic again. Gio supplied everything except for the final imbuement for the spellform, which meant that they were rightfully his to keep.
[Mirror Image] (Tier: Lower Uncommon)(Schools: Illusion, Mirror) (Type: Sustained Cast) Create an image of yourself that mimics your movements and appearance. May be manipulated with additional mana to cause the images to perform simple animations.
[Reflective Shard] (Tier: Upper Common)(Schools: Conjuration, Mirror) (Type: Projectile) Conjure a fast and sharp shard of mirrored glass. Deals piercing damage and may mimic the properties of materials it pierces.
[Scrying Glass] (Tier: Upper Uncommon)(Schools: Divination, Enchantment) (Type: Servitor) View a distant location from a handheld mirror. The location must be one that the caster is familiar with and within a range determined by the caster’s abilities.
[Mirror Jaunt] (Tier: Lower Rare)(Schools: Mirror, Arcane) (Type: Movement) Step briefly into your reflection on a mirror or other suitable surface, traveling through the mirror dimension and out of another reflection within a short distance.
Mirror Jaunt and Scrying Glass… torturous to scribe, and likely to be the hardest spells to learn by a mile. Baphelus also promised that I would be casting Reflective shard until I could shape the conjuration outside of the bounds of the spell, so that’s some more torture to look forward to.
Gio and Chandrika spent a bit more time under the shade of the tree, enjoying the perpetual springtime of the Green Expanse.
_____
“I am going to beat that man within an inch of his unlife. Your cortisol levels are sky high,” Professor March threatened.
“Well… It’s not entirely his fault. I’ve been pushing myself pretty hard so that I wouldn’t fall behind during this time.” Gio replied, attempting to meekly defend his mentor.
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“Mhm. Well, despite your best attempts to inhibit the healing process, it looks like the amount of time you spend around Mistress Blossom has ensured that you’re recovered enough for us to unbind you. I say this with the most care and conviction I can muster, Giorgio: I don’t want to see you again for a long time.”
With a flick of her wrist, the thin, silvery chains binding Gio evaporated away into sparks, causing the channels of mana that had long been deprived of circulation within Gio to burst to life. He breathed in, and sent an inquisitorial pulse of mana throughout his body.
Not as bad as I expected it to feel after not doing any mana shaping for a month, but there’s definitely a bit of lost progress.
Status.
_________
Name: Giorgio deGloria
Race: Human
Class- [Student- Mirror Mage] - Evolution: Tier 1, Unawoken.
Occupation: [Full-time student at Crystal Ring Academy] - In good academic standing.
General Skills:
-Multitask
-Mana Shaper
-Fledgling Knowledge Seeker
-Gardening
-Beginner Spellwright
Class Skills:
-Beginner True Magic
-Mana Sense
-Catoptromancy
-Font of Mirrors
-Specular Mind
Occupation skills:
-A Student’s Diligence
Mana Affinities:
-Major Mirror
-Greater Death
-Greater Light
-Lesser Arcane
-Lesser Knowledge
Spellbook:
-Cleanse
-Eyes of the Abjurist
-Hairline Fracture
-Scrivener’s Charm
-Detect Magic
-Prismatic Shape
-Purity Aura
-Mirror Image
-Reflective Shard
-Scrying Glass
-Mirror Jaunt
Synergies:
-Shattered Reflections (Reflect+Hairline Fracture)
-Studious Charms (Fledgling Knowledge Seeker + A Student’s Diligence)
_____
OTHER:
(RARE) Occupation skill upgrade token
1 Commendation
Mentorship under Saint Baphelus of the Manse
_____
I really hate seeing that Greater Death Affinity. I also wish I understood what Studious Charms was doing for me besides a general sense of improved studying inside libraries.
“Lorelei, Thank you so much for your marvelous bedside manner. I hope next time I see you, it is on different terms as well.” Gio replied.
_____
Gio stared down his reflection, that he had nicknamed Rio, as they traded projectiles. The room looked like a regular warzone, with knife-sized spikes of [Reflected Shards] littering the ground.
The irony of claiming to want to practice safely and then proceeding to launch tiny glass shards at yourself for hours was not lost on Gio, but after a few hours of reflecting harmless lightballs, Gio had the itch for something with a higher velocity. Rio had been curiously only aiming for his legs, as if the dungeon-spawned animated reflection was being considerate of Gio’s recovery. Gio copied suit, and made sure to pace their practice, lobbing easy-to-reflect shots onto his reflection.
“Alright, Rio. Let’s shift back to light for a while, I want to try practicing with [Mirror Image].”
Gio felt a little insane talking to his reflection, but after Baphelus’ story about his friend’s trickster reflection, Gio was inclined to lean into the superstition that there might be something more to the myth that mirror mana does more than just copy a person’s image when it reflects them.
Rio had, after all, taught Gio how to use [Shattered Reflections].
Mirror image had been a tough spell to learn, and Gio had not managed a successful spellcast on the first try. On a whim, he tried focusing on his reflection in the training room. He activated his mana sense and tried to dive into the details of the reflection magic that the dungeon was producing.
Whoa. That’s worthless to me.
A dizzying array of enchantments were hidden just beneath the surface of the mirror. Enchantment was a subject that Gio hadn’t yet remotely dived into. Even his [Scrying Glass] spell eluded him, but he wasn’t deterred.
It’s only my first day back in action. We’ll get there.
Looking into his reflection’s eyes, Gio felt a strange sort of bond with the figure staring back at him. A petty, sibling-like rivalry had developed in the training room, and Gio- who didn’t often feel particularly vindictive or even competitive- was determined to outdo his reflection.
Rio proved to be a difficult opponent, effortlessly ascertaining the real Gio’s position among half-cooked mirror images.