When Lasutro finally returned to their room in Gallina House, she was met with a controlled glance from Henry who quickly returned to their studies following their entrance. Who, after she set down their gifts, politely inquired about their audience with Princess, although his tone betrayed his interest in the subject as it had previously when Lasutro had first asked them for his help. To which Lasutro responded quickly and honestly, having found the brief period of days in which the two had not answered the other’s questions, voiced and unvoiced, far too uncomfortable to sustain for an extended period.
Over the course of the hour that followed the pair discussed what Lasutro felt comfortable sharing, which was most of the discussion she had with the Princess,the single exception being their spell. During which the two shared some of the leftover sweets the Princess had allowed them to take. When they finally finished Henry returned to his studies and Lasutro changed out of their fanciful wear into one of their undamaged set of clothes she initially brought with them from Sutiretni, all the while keeping in mind the new cut in their forearm.
Although she intended on exploring the several texts she had been able to borrow from the Citadel’s library upon their return, Lasutro found themselves unable to resist resuming their reading of their freshly gifted grimoire. The title of which she finally took the time to read, Transmutation of Concepts and Creatures by Oytatum M. Lyn.
Despite their resolve and desire to complete their reading of the grimoire over the course of the rest of their day, Lasutro was pulled from the trance the book had lured them into when the last signs of dusk faded from the sky. At which point she was left with little more than the increasingly familiar psychic pain, and the jumbled underlying concepts she had read. After setting aside the grimoire, she placed it carefully with their favored red tome and closed the drawer the magical texts now shared before preparing themselves for bed. Following which she took a moment to wake Henry who had managed to silently fall asleep face first into his notes while she was distracted by their new book.
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Over the week that followed their meeting Lasutro spent their increasingly shrinking free time working to master the spell she had taken to calling Rotyuck’s Object Seeker, a name that came to them shortly after a comprehensive review of their imitation spell, as well as the other spells their red tome had embedded the knowledge of. Additionally she attempted to make their way through their new grimoire, though for every single concept she managed to understand, even with the magical nature of the book, she was introduced to six more she couldn’t grasp. However, despite the frustration it caused them, Lasutro couldn’t help but be grateful for the gift, as the little knowledge she was able to glean from it helped as much as a full class lecture.
During their classes, Lasutro did their best to hide their growing suspicion of the faculty and their seniors. Something that she successfully accomplished largely thanks to the fact that more often than not their genuine curiosity on the subject of each of their classes. However, the Princess, who had become a persistent classmate in all their classes only two days after their formal introduction, was quick to notice the meaning behind their expression. Although when she confronted Lasutro about it, the royal made it clear that while she wouldn’t stop them from doing anything stupid, she refused to let them be so plain about it. As such the Princess began to school Lasutro in masking their expression, which the two ended up doing after their classes ended on the days the Princess insisted on studying together.
By the time the week ended Lasutro found themselves growing comfortable with the deception, with the mask she began to craft with the Princess’s help, though the lies she had told to make their way into the Academy began to wear on them in a way they hadn’t before. However when she reflected on the purpose they served, she reaffirmed their importance even if they originated from a near week-long streak of paranoia, which she was thankful to be mostly free of.
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On what would have been their thirteenth class from Professor Sunakra if not for their impulsive bravery, Lasutro became properly acquainted, along with the rest of their class, with Cores or rather the method of gathering mana. A subject that Lasutro unfortunately hadn’t had the time to research besides what she understood from the method she had been provided by their tome.
Although the lecture was typical in the sense that Professor Sunakra delivered it in the same style that she usually did, and instead of explaining some concepts fully, she told the class she would touch on it later. Which ended up being a part of the last third of the class, while she distributed a rather thin book, in comparison to the books she had previously assigned, to the entire class. The book, she explained, was not only an easy to understand text on the information the Professor had intentionally left out, but also a simple but excellent technique for the aspiring mages. After which she continued their lecture though instead of covering the contents of the book she described the various potential differences between the known Methods of the Core. When she finished she instructed the class spend the last minutes of the class studying their freshly borrowed books.
Just as class reached its end Professor Sunakra took a moment to stop the class before anybody could leave and take off with their borrowed copies of The Skire Lapidez Citadel’s Method for Initiates, she gave Lasutro and their fellow students a stern warning. During which she looked pointedly at several of Lasutro’s classmates and even the Princess herself, telling them to not attempt the method within the book if they already started to use another. A warning that is met by some with knowing silence and by others with confused expressions.
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After escorting the Princess to gates of the Imperial Villa as she requested following the days the two studied together in the Citadel’s library, Lasutro returned to their room, where she made simple conversation in the modern form of one of the ancient languages with Henry. A practice the pair agreed to attempt in order to improve their speaking skills, and while it helped they could both tell it was far less helpful than they hoped.
When Lasutro and Henry finished their occasionally painful conversation they each went about their own work, which in the case of Lasutro was the book she received from Professor Sunakra. As Lasutro continued their reading of the book, the meaning of some parts of the Professor’s lecture became clearer along with pieces of what she remembered reading from the Mind Nourishing Core.
Not long after she resumed their study of the borrowed book Lasutro reached the part of the book which described the Method of the Core mentioned in its title. At which point she found themselves attempting to compare the Citadel’s method with that of the Mind Nourishing Core. And through the comparison Lasutro realized several unique aspects of the Method of the Core provided to them by their tome.
The first non typical aspect of Freesill’s Method of the Core: The Mind Nourishing Core, being its active technique for gathering mana. In the case of the Mind Nourishing Core, its active technique was simply the reading of previously unread texts. A revelation that seemed obvious in hindsight to Lasutro and particularly useful given the secondary effect the technique had which had yet to display itself in Lasutro. That being, enhanced memory and cognitive abilities for the user.
Another oddity of the method that Lasutro found was not only the fact that the after reading through the entirety of the Citadel’s Method, none of its details eluded them, but also the fact that the Method of the Mind Nourishing Core passive ability to gather mana into the user’s Core was impossible to differentiate from the active, at least with Lasutro’s understanding of the method, even while she referenced their tome.
When Lasutro hit the inevitable block to their growing understanding of the Mind Nourishing Core, after reading and rereading both their class notes on the subject of Methods of the Core, and the book Professor Sunakra had given them, Lasutro shifted their focus onto their other studies. Although it wasn’t long before Lasutro found themselves setting aside both their finished and unfinished work to try something mentioned in their recently acquired text.
Not long after the idea came to them, Lasutro sat themselves cross legged on their bed after she had changed into one of their most comfortable robes and she began to pull on mana as she normally did when casting spells. However instead of pulling forth the spell as she usually did she tried to feel the mana in their body, using the vague description of the practice to guide their attempts.
For what felt like hours, Lasutro threw themselves at the task, grasping for something she knew was there but was somehow out of reach. Despite their growing frustration she kept at it, remaining unsuccessful in their attempts until she let go of the more physical concept of touching it and focused on the sensation, the thing she knew from experience. As she focused on that sensation, Lasutro began to feel it throughout their body, from the tips of their fingers to their toes, though the strength of sensation varied.
When she became familiar with directing their focus onto the sensation and the mana that created it, Lasutro attempted to follow it to source, or rather where the concentration of the sensation was strongest. After several minutes of focused thought Lasutro began to feel the concentration of the mana, their core, and as she did she was enlightened to its capacity or rather their capacity. Which revealed to them an incredible sense of their own ability to cast, at least in terms of sheer volume.
When Lasutro shook themselves from the almost meditative trance, she turned to face the night sky. A sight that quickly reinvigorated them to complete their unfinished studies that she had abandoned in favor of their curiosity. By the time Lasutro finished their work, even with the help of the rush that had energized them, the night was not long for its end. Its starry sky fading into a brighter blue and the candles that illuminated their desk burning the ends of their wicks.
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Lasutro woke with a start, filling them with a new rush followed by a sharp pain in their knee as she smashed it into the bottom of their desk as she stumbled out of their chair. At which point she quickly filled the air with expletives that she hadn’t spoken in nearly two months. An act that was swiftly met with a loud snicker from Henry as he prepared his things for the day. Though the smirk that marked his face shifted into a more polite smile following the glare that Lasutro shot back as she cleaned themselves up and began their own routine, albeit significantly hastened.
Despite the contained enthusiasm Lasutro had for each of their classes, she couldn’t help but feel exhausted with every lecture. When their classes finally ended, and she returned to their room she felt far too drained to even begin their studies for the day and instead simply collapsed into their bed.
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When Lasutro stirred from their long nap she was revitalized for a brief moment before the little energy she had gained from their sleep was crushed by an overwhelming sense of grogginess. After a quick assessment of the time with a glance out the window and help from the light snores of their roommate, Lasutro quietly slipped out of their school robes and into more appropriate attire. However, instead of returning to comfort of sleep once more, she found themselves lighting a new candle by their desk and opening their red tome once more. Suddenly filled with the motivation to study and practice the spells it had revealed to them despite the late hour.
Although she was incredibly tempted to practice casting Rotyuck’s Object Seeker, a temptation that grew with every step she made towards its proper casting, Lasutro instead took to one of the simpler spells provided by their tome: Rotyuck’s Mask of the Changeling. A spell that was while in general was easier to cast than the other two spells Lasutro had absorbed from their tome, in terms of both its mana usage as well as components. The difficulty of the spell came in the form of creating a believable effect in terms of the desired appearance. Fortunately its difficulty only served to drive Lasutro’s study of the spell, even as their exhaustion returned to them and red light of dawn revealed the dark clouds that hung above the academy.
Eventually, when the time to prepare for their classes finally came Lasutro did so quickly with a vigor that betrayed their physical exhaustion. However, despite the weight it placed upon them, she persevered through their various classes and studies for the day before committing themselves to their new goal while keeping up with their studies.
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After another week of study and perfecting Rotyuck’s Object Seeker in the increasingly chilling weather of the Empire’s capital, which quickly put a hold on Lasutro’s attempts to increase their stamina, Lasutro assembled the all the components for their spell on what the Academy had called Free Research day. Which happened to be the only day of the week that Lasutro was effectively able to do as she wished without missing a class or studying the assigned readings.
Though some of the changed spell components she needed had been initially difficult to find, Lasutro had been able to do so easily following a simple inquiry with their Professors of Alchemy and Component Studies respectively, who had been kind enough to list several reputable merchants within the city.
Despite Lasutro’s desires to cast the spell using its faster variation, as she had attempted in the Imperial Villa, she instead chose to use the new knowledge she had gained from their various and their own research to cast it ritualistically. A type of casting that provided several benefits over its more immediate counterpart, the first of which being the stability of the intricate parts of the spell. Additionally ritual casting often improved the spell’s effect to varying degrees as well as the spell’s efficiency. However ritual casting, due to the greater preparation required for the method, was significantly slower, even without accounting for the extended chants they demanded. Although Lasutro was aware of the potential damage their throat would take over the two hours she would have to chant for, she remained determined to cast the spell as a ritual.
After assembling all their components into one of their bags, along with their preparatory notes for the ritual,and an hour of leisurely waiting for Henry to stir from their sleep, the pair took a short trip into the city. There the two had a meal at a rather well hidden café while they discussed their impressions of a variety of the texts assigned to them in their shared classes. When the pair finished they returned to the Academy together, eventually saying their goodbyes at the entrance to the Citadel, with Henry heading to its library, and Lasutro to a separate building altogether; a building reserved for practical spell casting and arcane testing, the Orek Keep.
Following several minutes of brisk walking, Lasutro found themselves at the Keep, where she was forced to wait for several more minutes, a respite which she was grateful for and took the opportunity to satiate their thirst. Eventually, after a short, and vague on their part, exchange with one of the many Academy researchers who managed the Keep, Lasutro was led down into the grand bowels of the building and eventually into a magically lit room with a slight square dias little more than three meters by three meters which took up most of the room.
As Lasutro took in the surprisingly warm room, she split their attention between mentally preparing the steps for preparing their ritual and the researcher who had led them to the room. Who unenthusiastically laid out the various rules for using the room before taking their leave and shutting the incongruous door behind them. After several minutes of reviewing their notes for their ritual, making adjustments as needed, and mental simulations of the most efficient way to go about starting their various preparations, Lasutro began to undertake the first part of the arduous task she had assigned themselves.
Although Lasutro had anticipated and readied themselves for the extended period that the ritual casting she had devised for Rotyuck’s Object Seeker demanded, she quickly realized she had underestimated the difficulty of the task. Something that became particularly clear as she began to shape the yantra she had merged with an enneagram to form the complex ritual circle for their spell.
After nearly two hours of work, most of which was spent lamenting their choice to not bring more water for the few breaks she took and redoing uneven lines, Lasutro finished their ritual circle. Each line laid perfectly on the room’s dias in the chalk that now covered their hands. Every arcane rune in its proper place, patiently waiting for its activation. While Lasutro had thoroughly planned the ritual circle that laid before them,a shape that brought to mind a series of opened eyes only in its form made of chalk, she couldn’t help but admire its beauty.
When Lasutro shook from their admiration of their own design and the beauty she had begun to see within the arcane arts, she returned to the final steps in their preparations: the material components. The first of which was a sizable brass bowl that she had managed to engrave with relative ease thanks to their classes with Professor Zuumen, though the engravings were rougher than she would have liked. Which she quickly set in the center of their ritual circle, before grabbing the rest of their components.
Within the bowl she gently placed the second of the material components, a crystal ball. Following its placement, Lasutro poured the remaining material components into the bowl with the exception of two, their blood and the bracelet that she had begrudgingly continued to wear for the weeks since their incident with the Princess. When she finished, the brass bowl was nearly full, the water within it sparkling with the dust of the three ground pearls. Following which she exited the ritual circle and set aside the bag that had held all of their components, taking a moment to take one last drink of water before she began the ritual in earnest.
When Lasutro returned to the center of the ritual circle she whispered the first words of the memorized chant as she drew their dagger from its sheath that she had carefully tucked between their robes. Gradually syncing their slow movements with the breaths of the chant she softly spoke, Lasutro, carefully reopened their freshly healed cut, pushing the blade deep enough to draw the needed blood, gracefully returning it to its sheath as the first beads of crimson dripped down their forearm onto the crystal ball that remained visible within the filled brass bowl.
While she maintained the ritual's chant and their blood began to run down the crystal ball, Lasutro placed their counterfeit bracelet upon the increasingly bloody crystal ball. Soon after, when the bracelet became covered in scarlet, Lasutro covered their wound in the poultice she had prepared, all the while maintaining the chant.
As she dressed the wound she watched in partial surprise as the water that filled the brass bowl shifted from a tinted red to a familiar gray. A change that was accompanied by the steady but nearly imperceptible sinking of the crystal ball.
Despite the sudden temptation the sight brought to stop the ritual to simply study the fascinating effects on the various elements of the material components, Lasutro maintained their focus. Having hardened their resolve with the unexpected test of willpower, Lasutro continued the soft chant, gradually bringing their hands together as she began the most complex somatic component of ritual. Following nearly half an hour of methodical movements made in sync with the increasingly loud chant, the various chalk lines of the ritual gradually began to glow with an arcane light.
As the light of the ritual circle illuminated Lasutro began to notice the slow growing pull of mana from their body became noticeable, and shifted a part of their focus onto the ring that adorned the right hand. A beautiful gift, which served to help Lasutro with its use as an enchanted focus, allowing to not only assist with the flows of mana while she concentrated on the ritual but also enhancing the spell’s final effect.
With the Princess’s gift easing parts of their ritual, Lasutro gradually fell into a trance-like state and the thought of time left them as the seconds turned to minutes and eventually hours, all the while maintaining the spell's chant. Eventually, when the last of the ancient elven verses fell from their lips, and with it all but the smallest drop of mana from within them, Lasutro dropped to their knees. Pulled to the ground by both weaknesses that filled them, because of the near absence of mana and the guidance of the nearly completed spell.
With their throat raw and the taste of iron filling their mouth Lasutro let themselves fall face first into mystical gray waters of the brass bowl replacing the metallic taste for the briefest moment with something indescribable before shifting to familiar tasting air. A taste that was quickly followed with a smell that could easily be called its kin, and soon after, despite the fact that she still felt the cool waters against their eyelids she opened their eyes to an office. A sight that displayed itself as if she was there in the room, then quickly shifted giving Lasutro a complete vision of the room.
The shifting vision of the room threw Lasutro through the space in a manner that was only nearly disorienting,she began to hear the slightly muffled chirps of winter birds beyond the closed window and the rushed rustling of someone going through a book. When their vision of the room stabilized or more accurately when they finally acclimated to the dozens of points of view granted to them by the spell, she took in every detail of the well used office. A task that took them nearly no time at all due to the simultaneous visions of the room, which would have surely caused a migraine if not for being a part of the spell’s design.
As she inspected the entire office, only a few things drew their attention . The well maintained library that was paired with decor could only be described as drab by any reasonable individual, though Lasutro, despite their limited understanding of artifacts, understood the appeal it provided. Between the library and the door to the office, which were positioned just across from each other, sat the grand desk that could scarcely fit the aesthetic of the room. Its design more apt for the office of a noble hoping to display the piece of furniture as a strange proof of how hard working they are.
However, despite what its appearance suggested to Lasutro, the desk, and the two guest chairs that sat across from it and the window that framed the familiar figure of their Professor Odutis Zyciv, were filled with assorted books and loose sheets of parchment. Some of which were clearly taken from his own collection, others likely borrowed from the Citadel’s library.
Eventually, following what felt like an hour of studying the scattered papers and various open books that laid upon Professor Zyciv’s desk, she found themselves no closer to their stolen bracelet.Though the Professor’s notes clearly indicated that subject of his research was Lasutro’s bracelet and held no hints of its actual location, Lasutro couldn’t help but continue their study of them.
When their attention finally shifted away from the desk and the Professor, she found it redirected to the unoccupied parts of the office. Soon after their focus was drawn to an aspect of the room’s library she didn’t notice before. Specifically a book. A book which was peculiar in the way it wasn’t nearly as worn as the rest on both the shelf it sat on and those that surrounded it. Just when she moved to approach it, she found themselves thrown through the section of the library. The all encompassing perspective the ritual had granted them, throwing them off once more as she tumbled into the previously unseen space.
By the time Lasutro recovered, from both the sudden change in the odd perspective of the space she had and the fact their observations of the office itself had let them forget that their sight was a consequence of the ritual, she began to take in the room properly. After a few seconds of contemplation on its location within the office itself Lasutro realized the space itself shouldn’t have existed. A revelation that quickly turned to understanding as she began to notice the abundance of runes and arcane geometries that adorned its walls.
Although Lasutro recognized some of the runes and the variety of arcane enchantments that marked most of the room, she didn’t understand their effects outside what she could guess. Eventually their attention shifted to the evenly spaced stone pillars which filled the room, displaying a wide range of artifacts and obviously magical texts. Each of which were surrounded by the highest concentration of the arcane protections, some of which remained dim even with Lasutro’s presence.
It wasn’t long after she took the sight of the various pillars that she spotted it, not far from the wall she had fallen through and a few steps from the first column of pillars that she spotted. Despite the fact that the bracelet should have been visually indistinguishable from any other of the same design, the second Lasutro caught sight of it, she knew it was the one she had been seeking.
The instant she saw it and the need to properly inspect it came over them, Lasutro found themselves right by the pillar, and soon after she was observing it from every possible angle that it could be viewed at. When the inevitable impulse to grab it from behind its protective glass casing finally overcame them, Lasutro reached forward with a hand that passed through the glass as if it wasn’t even there, and tightened their grip upon the familiar cool silver, or rather anulmutnygaium only to find their entire arm missing.
Just as the panic rose in their throat Lasutro found themselves thrown backwards and following a near instantaneous revelation, realized once again it had been part of the spell. After several minutes of rest both for their throat and mind, Lasutro returned their attention to the spell to find the bronze bowl that had sat in the center of their ritual circle gone without a trace and a series of broken chalk lines that led to where she had taken their respite.
As she took in the physical aftermath of the ritual, Lasutro quietly tended to the embers of rage that demanded Professor Zyciv’s hands, calling on the mask the Princess had helped them construct, using it to focus on the goal of the spell, and the knowledge it had provided.
After she felt the coals of their anger had sufficiently cooled and she had written all the knowledge the spell had provided them up to the smallest details she could remember, she wiped away the chalk that remained on the dias. When she finished several minutes later, she gathered up the rest of their things before taking their exit from the room and making their way to the main hall of the Citadel, hoping to rid themselves of the metallic taste that pervaded their throat.