[Notes from the Story Channeling System: Names were translated into their phonetical versions of the world they are channeled into. The name for females were translated to end in the letter A or E or Y, with the names for males ending in any of the other letters. The names for the futa/hermaphrodites can end in any letter. Some information is censored or modified, to fit into the world it is channeled into, due to the limits and filters set upon information entering the world from outside of the world. Many terms were translated into their equivalent in the world they are channeled into.]
After the two entered the class, they noticed the teacher was an old-looking man, but as soon as everyone gathered around to see him do some enchanting, he started moving around the room with the energy of a hyperactive kid, gathering lots of things on the table he sat down at. Then he told the children to each take a seat, and think about what they think is possible to do with enchantments, as well as what they think is impossible to do with enchantments, because the lesson today would be to have the teacher tell the kids at what level something can be done with enchantments, but it's up to the kids to say what that something is. Each kid must ask mention at least one thing, and after asking each kid in the order they arranged themselves in, they would have to raise their hand and be picked by the teacher, before they can say that something.
While paying attention to what the others were saying, and what level the teacher would be needed for that, he started looking at Zora. Light-blue skin, almost-neon-yellow bright yellow lips with just a hint of being close to lime yellow, red eyes, and red hair. Slim, like most of the students, and with a nice body to look at.
Eventually, it was Zora's turn. "Anything to do with sounds and music, including stealth, offensive, and defensive uses."
The teacher raise his brows for a second, then lowered them and started talking. "Higher stages of Copper for sound amplification. Lower stages of Iron, and in some rare cases higher stages of Copper for sound deafening. Middle Iron for sound changing, and higher Iron for sound stopping."
After a short pause, he continued. "The sound stopping is often used for stealth attacks in regions with wild aura fluctuations and plenty of places with slightly higher concentrations of aura, to make the target think they're walking towards something of value instead of walking towards a trap, and outside of fighting it is used for privacy. Sound modifications are used in many locations where people need to pay good money to enter, especially if they're meant to be used even by people without even a single advancement, who are still in the Stone level."
And shortly after, it was Sipher's turn. "First, flying, with the weight of one human, and separately with the weight of a few humans. Second, balanced increase in distance above the ground. Third, unbalanced increase in distance above the ground, without trying to keep the flight in a straight like, and also allowing the attempted flight to cause uncontrollable movement and even result in lack of flying, by which I mean causing the moving to be done to something or someone, but it would be up to that something or someone to control and steer the movement to achieve controlled flight. Fourth and lastly, applying that movement to a carriage, like a cart or a wagon."
To which the teacher replied "Fourth one at the higher stages of Copper level, uncontrolled flight at lower stages of Iron level, second at middle stages of Iron level, and first at higher stages of Iron level. But depending on your ingenuity, you can use multiple enchantments at lower stages of Iron level to achieve controlled flight, and you would need a small miracle to do those things at the higher stages of Copper level. For the weight, the difference is how much aura is used, and you might need to use multiples of the same enchantment, to move all that weight. But you should be able to move small objects and control their flight even at middle stages of Copper level, so you would have plenty of time to practice, to avoid getting yourself killed by using a flying object you enchanted yourself. Next person."
After Sipher's turn, he kept listening to the teacher, no longer stealing glances at Zora. But, without Sipher knowing, it was Zora's turn to steal glances at Sipher. And after everyone was done asking questions, and the class fell into complete silence, with the teacher waiting for students to start raising their hand again before the end of the class time, Zora began thinking about Sipher's interest in flying and movement enchantments.
"Flying carriages are expensive, even more so for large ones. Expensive to buy, and expensive to make. If he's good at making small ones before he gets to Iron level, I might be able to convince my parents to let him take a look at the cheaper flying items we have, for him to try to learn how they work, so he can copy that. With some luck, my parents will approve of our friendship, because of how expensive large flying object are, and how expensive the maintenance is. And even land-based and water-based moving objects are in high demand, even if their price is lower, but the costs of making them is also lower, so he should be able to do that."
"The question is, will he end up working for my family, which would likely put an end to our friendship or put a lot of distance between us, or will he show the talent to be more than merely a worker for other people, and make truly unique things few others can make, and still progress in other paths other than enchantments? In time, I will see.", she thought.
With no other questions asked, everyone left the classroom when the class time ended.
image [https://www.royalroad.com/dist/img/ornaments/22.png]
And just like Zora followed Sipher to talk with him, Sipher followed Zora to the music class, arriving when people started going in, and Sipher entered after Zora and went to the teacher, then said.
"Greetings, teacher. I have not been selected to be part of this class, but I am interested in music, and the uses of sound. May I, please, be allowed to be part of at least this first lesson?" said the boy, and after a short phrase, he started talking again, remembering that it's bad manners to not introduce yourself to a teacher whose class you did not join. "My name is Sipher Filk."
After looking at the kid and waiting for him finish introducing himself, the teacher pulled out a tall stack of paper from a storage item, the stack angled horizontally some distance above the desk with the text facing the teacher, and the papers started sliding down one by one, just enough to see the name of the student on the test papers, until the movement suddenly stopped, a few papers went back from the lowered stack, stopped again, then the lower stack moved to a side and then up to be at the same distance above the ground as the other stack, and the paper with Sipher's name slided down and horizontally moved to the teacher's left hand. After quickly reading the front and back of the file, the file moved back into it's original position, and the stack to the right slid in front of the stack on the left, resulting in the original stack of papers, which promptly disappeared inside the same storage item Sipher did not see.
"Very well.", the teacher said. "I will allow you to be present, but in exchange you must use, or at least try to use, 3 musical instruments, and if you want you can also use your voice, to see if you have any talent in using sounds. First, a drum made from a small hollowed out log with a chicken leather covering one end, for which you must use your palms to gently hit the leather to make sounds. Second, a string instrument with 4 strings, for which you need to use your nails to move the strings to produce sound. Third, an air instrument made from a hollowed out branch with a hole for pushing air through the instrument and a few more holes which can be covered with your fingers to make different sounds. You can start in what order you prefer, and the goal is to eventually find some sounds you can make which have some use, then tell me the use."
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
While the two were talking, Zora was surprised beyond belief. Not only did Sipher barge in uninvited, he also dared to talk to the teacher and ask her to invite him to be part of the class. Very few people have the guts to barge into a teacher's class, and even less have the guts to ask the teacher something else than forgiveness for barging in. But she hopes he will not be punished too harshly for his insolence. And as the teacher starts talking, her surprise grows even larger, because the only punishment is for him to try singing.
He picks up the flute, and tries making sounds covering and uncovering multiple holes, in search of an useful sound. He founds one sound he repeats a few times, after which he searches for another sound, he finds another sound he keeps repeating, then he stops. "During stealth and infiltration missions, making noise can lead to being noticed. But sounds can be used to make others think what they heard was an animal or a bird." Then Sipher starts making chirping noises somewhat similar to the ones he heard in the forest, and ended with making a sound similar to an eagle from his life on Earth.
He picks up the drum, and tries to find an useful sound, but without success. After a short pause, he tries tapping the side of the drum, the log, and after another short pause, he starts talking. "Due to the limited fighting capabilities at the Stone and Copper stages, it is possible for large groups of people to appear more intimidating by having everyone take a step at the same time. In order to have everyone do that, a signal is needed, to know when to step. Using a drum allows everyone to step follow the sound of the drum in order to step at the right time. If large-enough groups are walking and stepping at the same time, it is possible to make the earth shake, which can cause fear in their enemies." Then he started a 3-step repetitive drumming by tapping log-log-leather on repeat for a while, before stopping once again.
"It is also possible to use musical instruments, including the drum, to communicate with other groups, for example to have one person in a safe position use the drums to give orders and receive messages, even if they cannot see eachother. For example, the drumming becoming faster could mean people started running instead of walking," which was followed by increasing the speed at which the log-log-leather is being tapped.
"And changing the sound in other ways can let others know if the group is advancing, is being stalled, or is being pushed back." after which the log-log-leather slowed down to the previous slower tempo, and it changed to log-log-leather-log-leather, and after a few repeats, it changed again to log-log-leather-log-log-log-leather for a few more times, after which Sipher put the drum back on the table he took it form.
Then he picked the string instrument, and kept using the string, first one by one until he found the last one out of tune, then two by two until he found that the out-of-tune last string and the first string being used together makes an even worse sound, after which he used the three tuned strings to make a simple song. low-low-mid-pause, low-low-mid-pause, low-low-mid-high, low-low-mid-pause, low-low-mid-pause, low-low-mid-pause, low-low-mid-high, low-low-mid-low, then he repeated that 2 more times, and ended with a more aggressive plucking of the top "high" note and the out-of-tune note, causing a screeching sound which made the students flinch and the teacher narrow her eyes and look at him angrily.
"Music can be used to make people feel certain emotions, A slower song can be relaxing, a faster song can give energy, and an unexpected sound can be used to distract attention, and even to attack.", Sipher said, then placed the instrument on the table, and looking at the teacher he said calmly, "that is all."
After a few minutes of looking at him angrily, in which time Sip became anxious, the teacher started speaking. "Acceptable. I will talk with the other teacher to let him know you will be joining this class, but remember one thing well. My class is for making music. His class is for making noise. DO NOT!", and the sound echoed through the class and could be felt through everyone's body, "make such noises in my class!", she said angrily. "Now take a seat next to that girl who was surprised the moment she saw you approaching me."
After bowing, he looked at the class and found the students surprised, and the most surprised of them all was Zora, so he followed the order and net to sit next to her. The rest of the class progressed with the teacher singing an energetic song, which slowly transitioned into a calming song, undoubtedly reflecting her feelings and intent of calming down. And the relaxing song continued until the end of the class, and a few minutes after the song stopped, people started to be released from the trance, until the only ones remaining were Zora and Sipher. But before the two can start moving to the door, the door closes on it's own.
"Zora Alteris", the teacher started speaking. "I have talked with your parents about the purpose of your participation. I have high expectations for you."
"Sipher Filk. I have no expectations for you to practice music outside of class. And because your status as an orphan, I have decided to allow you to join the class in order to experience something most orphans cannot afford to experience before they approach the limits of their aura training, or before they meet their end. At the very least, you have proven you can appreciate music, even if you have no talent at making music. The goal of the academy is to help people grow. And during classes, I expect you to try to help Zora Alteris to know what is wrong with her music, and to come with ideas for how to try solving that, at least once she runs out of ideas. You are enrolled into the enchantment class, so you should see how you can use enchantments in music. I will not grade your results in producing music, but after you reach the Iron level and start making enchantments, I will grade your results in using enchantments to improve the music miss Alteris makes. You two are free to leave." the teacher said, after which the two kids quietly left the classroom, and then the school, before they stopped and looked at eachother surprised.
image [https://www.royalroad.com/dist/img/ornaments/22.png]
"Not a word of what the teacher said about me. If anyone asks, I was surprised someone had the guts to approach the teacher, and we were stopped and had the teacher tell you you won't have to make music, but use enchantments for music after you reach Iron level." Zora said.
"Agreed.", Sipher said.
And then Zora started talking again, in a slightly louder voice. "What in the 19 heavens was in your mind when you barged into the teacher's class and started talking to the teacher without even apologizing for the rudeness and asking for permission to speak? Do you have any idea how close you were to being expelled? Most teachers would have simply kicked you out of the class and then talked with the other teachers to lower your chances of making it to the Iron level, but she's different, she uses music to control people, and often uses it to make the people who were rude to her kill themselves. She could have outright have made you kill yourself in front of the whole class. The only reason she didn't do that immediately is because she realized I know you, and she was going to do that anyway if your usage of the instruments and the talk about the purpose of those sounds didn't impress her. Even I was only recently told about how music is used on the battlefield to communicate, and imitating bird sounds with the flute was smart, but making a nasty sound with the Ukulele almost got you killed once again." she said, getting angrier and angrier.
And after a short break, she continued, but calmly: "You were so close to getting killed. Next time you are planning to talk to a teacher whose class you're not a part of, try to ask me about it before you try anything." And after signing once, she continued again: "That being said, I am tired, so I will be going home now. I live outside the sect, and I use an enchanted item to teleport home and another one to teleport in front of the door of the academy, on the inside of the sect if I'm in the academy, or on the outside of the academy if I'm outside the academy. To go home I need to first leave the academy. Goodbye!", she said looking tired.
"Goodbye!", Sipher said surprised, his surprise only growing when she stepped through a door in the air, with him unable to see on the other side of the door.