“A unique facet of cantrips that most people don’t bother to teach,” professor Caeruleum said, flicking their hand up into the air and forming a shimmering umbrella over their head, “is that they’re not just spells. Magyk was very intentional when she changed the way magic worked. Each spell is more like an exercise to teach you the general shapes and patterns of the ether…”
Professor Caeruleum was a tall, slender elf, with blue hair and a prominent angelus bloodline. They were very pretty, but insubstantial, like they might vanish at any second. Their hair was navy blue, with streaks of silver, and their accent reminded me of Salem’s, but less brusque and more sing-song. Maybe they were from a different county in Hydref?
They wore the classical robes of a witch, complete with a thick black cloak and a hat, which surprised me. I’d seen the option on the tailor’s catalog, but I hadn’t thought anyone would actually wear it. Still, they were strong if their seal was to be believed, as it was indigo with violet accents.
It was still amazing to me how many powerful people were clustered in Panath hold, but I supposed it made sense. It was the capital hold, and the most ether dense area in the entire nation.
“Notably, the umbrella cantrip contains very similar arrays to the ones found in many shielding spells, from simple spells like arcane armor and shield, to more complex spells like king’s armor or unyielding aegis,” the professor said. “By mastering the spellcraft of the umbrella cantrip, you’ll learn to more effectively shape the ether of all of those spells. Now if you’ll turn your attention to the board…”
This classroom was markedly different from the others I’d been in. It was long and large, more than enough to be a banquet hall, and its ceilings stretched up at least fifty feet. Banners hung in the rafters, and on one end of the hall was a series of tables and a chalkboard. On the other end there were mats, like the kind sword schools used to teach combat.
A piece of chalk floated behind professor Caeruleum, and began drawing out the spell array for the cantrip, alongside its word of power and images of its gestures.
“I will demonstrate, slowly,” the professor said. They began moving their hands and enunciated the word of power. I wished I’d cast ethersight, so I could follow the ether manipulation more closely, but cantrips weren’t too complex.
Professor Caeruleum demonstrated twice more, then clapped.
“Everyone pick a mat and start practicing. Leave your papers and grimoires here, just take yourself.”
Once we’d all picked a spot, the professor fished around in their neckline, then held up an amulet. There was a flash of ether as a gentle rain began to patter down all across the half of the room with the mats.
“That should give you the right motivation to practice, aye?” they asked wryly.
I wasted no time in spinning ether from my pool into the shape on the board, and spoke the word of power, moving my hands, but I messed up the gestures slightly. There was a ripple as the spell failed, and I started again.
By the fifth attempt, I managed to form a thick blue etheric dome over my head. A solid start, but nothing compared to the professor’s finger flick to form a near-transparent barrier only a millimeter thin.
I started working to refine the flows of ether and improve my hand gestures, and after some time professor Caeruleum approached me. They watched my motions, then shook their head.
“You need more flair when you flick your wrist. You’re not brushing off a fly, you’re throwing a ball with your fingernails.”
I restarted the cantrip, adding extra flare into my wrist when I flicked it. Sure enough, when the umbrella appeared, it was much thinner.
“Well done,” professor Caeruleum said. “Now, I believe we need to speak. You aren’t on my roster, and you came in late. Why?”
“I took professor Gemheart’s course on Fundamental Transmutation because I wanted transformation and telekinetic spells,” I said, working to tighten the flow of ether through the spell structure. “He read my dossier. You’ll get one too, according to him you get briefings on some students, and suggested I take your course instead, and study a group of spells on my own time, then take his second year course. Oh, and he says hello, and hopes you’re well.”
Professor Caeruleum studied me for a long second, then a spark of amusement entered their eyes.
“The old man told you to skip registering and run right to my class, didn’t he?”
“He did,” I agreed.
“Makes sense, he never had much concern for proper procedure. Even the Erudite can barely get him to wear a uniform. Though I suppose I should be flattered he sent you to me, and not to professor Samir. He has seniority.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I re-cast the spell. The professor watched, then nodded.
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“Show me your arcane armor and shield spells, please.”
I pulled a strip of leather from one of my pockets and tapped it to my chest with one hand, while flicking my other about and shaping ether. I muttered a quick sentence of words of power and allowed the armor to envelop me, then tucked away the leather, moved my hands in another motion, spoke a few more words of power, and cast a shield.
Maintaining a new spell – even if it was only a cantrip – alongside my armor and shield put a bit of a strain on my shaping skills, and the shield and armor both had a faint blue shimmer, rather than the complete transparency they were supposed to have.
Professor Caeruleum watched, then delivered their verdict.
“Decently done. I don’t like to waste class time on two spells practically every wizard worth their salt knows, but if you want to attend my remedial lecture for teaching shield and arcane armor, they’re on the next two Tuesdays.”
“I’ll consider it,” I said agreeably. “Did I miss anything else? If you don’t mind. I can go to office hours, if you prefer?”
They waved their hand dismissively.
“You’re fine. What affinity do you have?”
“Curse magic,” I admitted. They raised an eyebrow.
“Really? What’re your other two electives?”
“Applied Mage Combat – mandatory, as a part of my scholarship – and Conjuration One.”
A wicked little smile spread over professor Caeruleum’s face.
“Oh, you will be a nasty one to fight, yes indeed. Can you anchor curses to having your spells broken? One of our first spells we’ll be looking at is called Peacecharm, and if you can weave curses in to target someone who breaks your peace?”
“I… Maybe?” I asked. “Yeah, I think I could, but I’m not sure how. I need to study my grimoire more to be sure.”
“See that you do,” the professor agreed. “And you said you’re going to try and take the second year transmutation course? Are you hoping to undergo the process to become an archmagus?”
“A what?” I asked.
I’d heard of archmages, but I always thought it was just another way to refer to people like the Erudites, or people like professor Alydia or Emir. Powerful mages. Not that there was a specific process for it.
“Being an archmagus is more than just a title, it’s a ritual spell,” professor Caeruleum explained. “Cheap, as far as fifth circle rituals go. But it requires you to have never undergone a mage dedication ritual, and yet still have managed to defeat at least three fifth circle dedicated mages in their own branch magic, as well as have overcome a monster or demon or something similar. One with a lot of power.”
“That’s… vague,” I said. “A lot of power?”
Would having defeated Greta count? Her bloodline made her strong compared to normal humans, and she was older than I was. But she was nowhere near the power of Yushin’s relative or Gerhard, who were in turn far below demon lords, my mother, or the Erudites.
“Yeah, well, non-human bloodlines don’t have neat and orderly ranks like spells,” professor Caeruleum said. “I’m not an archmagus, mind you, but from what I recall of the texts I read, you’ll know it when it happens.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded. They were right about bloodlines being even harder to measure than spellcraft.
“Very few of our students graduate with archmage titles, but it has been done a few times,” the professor continued. “I figured with your hope of taking three schools of magic and a combat course, you might be aiming for it. Oh, and let go of the armor and shield, I’ve seen enough.”
I released my spells and looked at the professor.
“What does the ritual do?”
“A few things. It extends the time before your ability to accumulate power majorly slows down by three years. It effectively makes it so every spell you cast is more effective for less power. Your ether pool will recover a lot faster. Most impactfully, though, you pick a first circle spell from each of your three disciplines, and those three spells become as cheap as cantrips to cast.”
“Well I wasn’t before, but now? Archmagus Emrys of White Sands… I like the sound of that.”
They grinned at me and tipped their hat, then grew more serious.
“Just watch out. Students who take an extra course in their second year flunk out or fall victim to the Creep more than students who relax and don’t. And students who try to become archmages are even more likely to fail school or fall to the Creep. Spend time with friends, get a job, give yourself permission to take weekends off and have fun. That can help ground you.”
I nodded seriously at them.
“I will. I might need a job anyhow, as it seems rituals will get increasingly expensive.”
They winced and gave me a sympathetic nod.
“They do. I’ll pass you a syllabus once we wrap this up, but before I go: do you know the shadecoat spell or waterproofing spell?”
“I know both… Why?”
“You picked up the umbrella cantrip too quickly,” they explained, then gestured around. I glanced at my fellow students and saw what they meant.
Only about half of them had managed to cast the umbrella spell already, and of those, a lot were worse than mine. Not all, but I was clearly in the top few.
“I also ask so you know what you’re getting into,” professor Caeruleum explained. “Out of the top eight, one already knew the cantrip and two also knew the waterproofing spell. The other four? Raw talent in abjuration magic They’re the ones you’re going to have to beat to become an archmage.”
I watched the other students in the room carefully, then nodded. I started shaping out the umbrella cantrip again. If mastering cantrips and first tier spells could help me progress as a mage, I’d master my cantrips to the best of my ability.
It also struck a note in my memory. The old crone who had been ranked the first among the Erudites, she had told me that I would have been better served by mastering my cantrips better.
I might not be taking the course on cantrips or on ether manipulation, but that was no reason to slack off. If I was to master conjuration, transmutation, and abjuration, I would master them.
I plucked at the edge of my uniform until the threads began to fray, then cast the basic mend cantrip on it. I called the shadows to drape me in the shadecoat cantrip, and flicked weirlights up to circle around my head. I lit the tips of my fingers on fire, then snuffed it out, levitated the freshly mended hem of my jacket, spun up northfinding, then started all over again.
Before I knew it, the class period had come to an end, and I went to rush down to administration. I couldn’t completely maintain my cantrip exercises as I moved through the halls, but I shrunk my weirlights down to the size of sunflower seeds and kept them bobbing around my hand in a twisting pattern.
There was a bit of fuss in the administration hall as they tried to situate me with professor Samir, instead of professor Caeruleum, but they eventually accepted that I’d already been in Caeruleum’s class, and switching me wouldn’t make sense.
After a lunch of flavorless porridge and salted fish, I took out the campus map and poked around, looking for instructions to get to that one cabinet.