Though Lasutro had intended on waking up for their second day of classes,and their foreseeable future, at time that granted them little more the minimum time she could to prepare themselves for all their classes and arrive on time to their first class, Lasutro stirred from their sleep a hour before dawn with an impending sense of dread that filled their outermost thoughts.
Unable to return to their sleep and hoping to quiet their inner whispers of anxiety, Lasutro quickly and quietly prepared most of things for their coming classes before returning to their bed where they began reading another one of their personal books. Several hours later, about a half hour after Henry had awakened and prepared his own things, the two once again headed off together, though their conversation was far sparser than the day before, neither made a comment on the subject. Eventually, the somewhat painful casual chatter between the two was mutually cut short when the two arrived at their first class of the day, the first of two.
Despite the fact that class was located in a building that had no room for a quadrangle, beyond the door to the class was a room that was not only larger than the other classrooms the two had seen but also without a roof. A feature that seemed to be continuously commented on even by both the students within and those just making their way inside. Besides the casual discussion among the various students on the lack of a roof and wooden furniture, there was some commentary on the temperature of the room. Something which left the room far warmer than it should have considering the season, but not much warmer than the rest of the building.
A few minutes after Lasutro and Henry’s arrival, along with a couple groups of nearly tardy students, three older individuals entered the classroom each with varying degrees of the particular confidence that Lasutro had begun to notice among both their Mage professors and to a lesser degree the older students.
Although the three each seemed experienced in teaching in one way or another, it quickly became clear that two of them, the young red haired dwarf with a short braided beard and the younger of the two blonde half elves, were assistants to older half elf who had a somewhat patchy beard that he habitually rubbed as he directed the two in assembling a variety of objects onto a larger stone table. A table which sat not far from the front of stone bench seating that was filled by the various students.
As his two assistants executed his instructions, the half elf faced the class and introduced himself after a small bow of his head. “Greetings class I shall be your professor for this class Sonaflamusma and its affinities. I am Mage Aerusvitae Defolyum, and you may address me as you wish, I simply ask you do so with respect. ” He paused, briefly turning his attention toward the various devices set up by his assistants before making a nod of satisfaction to himself and returning his focus to the class.
“Today we shall begin with a practical experience of one aspect of both red and yellow mana, but first there are some things we must discuss. First of all not all classes shall be like this class, but I will try to alternate our classes between the experiential kind and the more theoretical. For the sake of simplicity and to simply ease you into the use of the foci I have prepared, with the help of my assistants.”
The Professor gestured to the stone table now filled with two distinct kinds of foci and toward the young dwarf and the half elf, before addressing the class once more, rubbing his beard as he did so “Ah and before I begin my second thought, I should give you all a proper introduction to them since they will be helping throughout your classes with me.” He turned his head back to face his assistants with a look encouraging them to begin their own introductions. In response the two gave each other a similar look before turning their attention back to the class at which point the half elf who bore some resemblance to one of the students Lasutro remembered seeing in the main hall of the Citadel but did not know the name of, stepped forward.
“I am Mage Norril Defyrus, it is nice to meet you all. I graduated from the Academy only a few years ago and have been serving as Professor Defolyum’s assistant while I pursue my own research. Although I am a rather recent graduate, I ask you refer to me as Sir.Defyrus or the like. Thank you in advance.” Defyrus gave a small bow before stepping back to his place beside the table of foci, after which the young dwarf stepped forward toward the class.
“Well I am Huryl Coalarm, and I am helping the Professor, for his help in my graduating project. Call me as you will, but as Professor asked please be respectful, though I may not be an Academy recognized mage yet but please keep in mind I am your senior in the Academy.” Immediately after he introduced himself, Huryl stepped back to the table of foci he had just finished along with Defyrus, giving a small bow as he did.
“Now that is taken care of the second matter is related to our use of these Foci.” He made a casual gesture to the table that was slowly becoming the center of the class’s attention. “That being my rules for your operation of them, which will certainly extend in most cases to the various other tools we will use in later classes.”
The Professor continued his address of the class, describing a series of simple to follow rules that were very self explanatory, such as not using them without his or his assistants supervision, and not pointing the focus toward anybody. When he finished his explanation of the various rules he had for the class, he transitioned to the third and final matter he wished to discuss with the class. That matter being his expectations for the class, that being several practical things in the case of each student. Those abilities being: the ability to cast a spell with and without the use of attuned mana, the ability to manipulate attuned mana to a noticeable degree, the consistent ability to identify objects carrying attuned mana, and the ability to make use of both aspects of at least one of the two types of attuned mana.
After he finished his plans and expectations of the class, he began a basic explanation of one of the group of foci he and his assistants had prepared. Which, despite how little information the Professor gave on its construction and the manner in which it functioned, Lasutro found the little he said to be incredibly fascinating, so much so that the anxiety that had been filling their chest faded alongside the growing sense of paranoia that had accompanied it.
From his explanations on the make of the focus, he seamlessly transitioned into a demonstration, performed by his assistant Defyrus, during which he described how Defyrus was using the focus and occasionally elaborating on why. When the Professor finished his explanation of the procedure for the foci’s use he gave a nod of approval to Defyrus and directed the class’s attention upon him. As the class’s eyes fell on them Defyrus pointed the short staff towards an empty portion of the room and after a several seconds the blade shaped crystal, that was embedded on the top of the staff, darkened with a gray smoke at which point Defyrus whispered several words in language Lasutro didn’t understand and suddenly at point not far from where Defyrus had pointed a small cloud of a deep gray smoke appeared. Just when the smoke began to expand outwards in an attempt to fill the room the Professor whispered a few words and performed a simple gesture towards it and it suddenly quickly dissipated into the air.
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After which the Professor with their assistants helped organize the class into several groups that each were given one of the foci Defyrus just demonstrated. Each of the groups were made up of three to four students, and under the supervision of the Professor and his assistants. The student with the focus changing every so often, as each group practiced what the Professor described as the most simplistic use of the focus which simply attuned the mana pushed into it.
Eventually the Professor switched the class over to a more tangible form, that is the basic manipulation, which was demonstrated by shifting the direction of the incense smoke opposite to its natural state.
When the class, or at least most of it, achieved a satisfactory level, Defyrus and Huryl quickly retrieved the foci from the class, following which they received a similar lecture on the construction and function of the other foci. A lecture that also included a demonstration of the focus, though by Huryl instead of Defyrus, who took the similarly sized staff that was obviously more weighty and took a step towards the portion of the room with the various still burning sticks of incense held by their respective censers. And after receiving a nod of confirmation from the Professor, Huryl raised the metallic staff and whispered several words that Lasutro couldn’t make out before slamming it into the floor filling the room with the crack of heavy metal against stone. At which point the jagged ruby colored gem that sat at the staff’s end darkened for a moment after which it returned to its normal color.
Distracted by the sound and brief change in the focus, Lasutro missed the moment when all the incense that had previously been slowly burning across from where Huryl stood, laid completely turned to ash in their respective censers. An effect which received mixed hushed commentary from the class that was quickly ended as they reformed their groups and began a similar but distinctly different series of uses of the focus such as simply warming a coin shaped piece of iron by simply surrounding it with red mana and even growing the flame of a candle to burn a bit of string roughly two fists above it.
Shortly after the class started to get a hand on using the foci Professor Defolyum had the Defyrus and Huryl once again retrieve the foci from students as he listed several readings of specific chapters of certain texts for the next class along with vague explanation of its connection to the subject of that class. When he finished, the Professor dismissed the class, staying for a minute to discuss something with his assistants which rather effectively deterred the students who had questions for the Professor with the exception of about three.
Lasutro and Henry did not count themselves among the three persistent students and so took their leave shortly after the Professor dismissed them, and began making their way to respective classes with far less tension than earlier in the day. The pair’s second attempt at casual conversation for the day helping to keep the tension down, in part assisted by an observation first made by Henry, that being a slightly greater sense of their own ability to effect red and yellow mana. An observation which Lasutro found momentarily comforting even as the two went their separate ways,
Shortly after the pair split, Lasutro found their anxieties rising again, the thought of the overly familiar hallway where their next class was to take place as it had the previous day. Although the feelings that attempted to eat away at their insides grew with every step she took towards the dreaded hall she remained stoned faced. The fear brought forth by the two separate forces of discomfort screamed at them to remain, an idea that was also echoed by the logical part of their mind simply in a more calming manner.
As Lasutro walked down the hallway that somehow managed to fill them with more unease then it had in their mind and even the sense of dread she first awakened she found themselves glancing out one of hall’s tall windows and imagining it filled with cracks. Thoughts that did nothing to ease the dread that had started to infect their mind. However, a few minutes after she took their seat in the room and Professor Sunakra began her lecture, the tension that had twisted Lasutro’s muscles into a multitude of knots gradually seeped out of their body as the Professor’s lecture drew their complete and undivided attention.
Unlike their last lecture that was more informative in the sense it left no room for questions or chances to confirm one’s understanding, Professor Sunakra asked questions of the class sometime purely on the topic she had just touched on, and questions that intentionally created discussion between not only the Professor and a student but the members of the class itself.
By the end of the lecture and the class itself, Lasutro found themselves reflecting on how the assigned reading and lecture worked to enhance their fundamental understanding of the Arcane and their ability to cast in general. Although she had planned to leave immediately after their class ended, Lasutro instead remained and waited for the last of their class to take their exit, leaving them and Professor Sunakra alone.
While Lasutro had really only stayed on whim, she did have a series of questions for the Professor, some related to the lecture and others that she attributed to their own lack of a real mentor. After taking a moment to collect their belongings, Lasutro, nervously at first began to direct the various inquiries that she had towards the Professor, who initially answered with the shortest possible answers she could, in an ineffective attempt to get the young half elf to stop their questions. However, as the possibility of driving Lasutro off without simply commanding it became clear to Professor Sunakra, she resigned herself to answering her student’s questions as she normally did.
Though it wasn’t her intent to, Professor Sunakra quickly became immersed in the conversation with Lasutro, in part due how some of the questions she asked seemed to be what the Professor considered basic. Yet the occasional argument Lasutro gave against some of the answers she received, simply due to their ignorance, held more weight than the answer the Professor had long considered “correct”.
As the conversation between the two went on, the dread that Lasutro had momentarily forgotten crept back into the forefront of their mind, reaching its peak when she heard the slightly muffled sound of heels clacking against the hallway’s floor just out of sight. Despite their investment in their conversation with the Professor, and the way their dread grew with every echoing step, Lasutro found themselves inching towards the door. When she reached the casually opulent door, their arm moved independent of their desires and in a smooth motion she pulled the door open just in time to catch a glimpse of the source of oddly ominous footsteps.
Though the sight of the noble lady who Lasutro was inexplicably familiar with, only served to feed their sense of dread, she couldn’t help but stare as the woman continued down the hallway muttering to herself frustrations that she didn’t expect to be overheard. Ignoring the increasingly frustrated attempts by Professor Sunakra to redirect their focus to the pair’s conversation, Lasutro found themselves quietly stepping into the hall to watch the young noble despite the near debilitating foreboding that wrapped them. As it reached its peak a sudden chill rolled down Lasutro’s spine and with it an inexplicable instinctual feeling pushing them into a quiet run toward the frustrated noble.
No more than a few seconds after Lasutro broke into their near silent sprint she watched as one of the few students that she remembered from their time on the Jester’s Torrent, although noticeably taller and with an unnatural grin, seemingly apparated from the shadows of the wall. With their classmate’s sudden appearance, an equally sudden realization of the situation hit Lasutro as the young noble was shoved with such force to shatter the window upon her impact. Though she was less than a few seconds late to reach the noble’s attacker and insufficient strength to catch them as she fell, Lasutro still charged to the window abandoning logic in favor of instincts and a gradually returning memory.
Shoving past their classmate in their seemingly pointless, if not suicidal attempt to save the now falling noble woman. Lasutro only let the thought of stopping themselves cross their mind for less than a moment before she let their momentum carry them out the window and into the falling noble, at which she felt a familiar cold pull from their left arm.