Soulburned: The School of Souls
Chapter 15: First Day
The first day of Lyra's classes began with Conjuration. This was rather convenient for her since the classroom was on the same floor as her dorm.
Professor Greystole's classroom was a large, circular chamber. In the center of the room was a smaller version of the summoning circle taking up the Summoner Hall's common room. Like the other, Runes and glyphs were intricately carved into the stone floor, however, this one was made of brass, as opposed to silver. Lyra didn't recognize any of the symbols. A large, crescent-shaped, desk wrapped around a little over half of the room, it was lined along the outside edge with stools. opposite the desk was a podium.
She was one of the first to arrive.
Lyra recognized Kreg sitting at one of the stools, and since she'd already been introduced to him, she chose to keep it simple and sit next to him. He tensed slightly when she realized it was her.
"Lyra," he said.
"Morning, Kreg."
The boy fiddled with somthing in his pockets but made no further attempts to communicate with her.
The kid's pretty involved with this House stuff. Entity said. Are your families, like, feuding?
Lyra shrugged mentally.
Not that I'm aware. I've never heard of the Bastion family.
"Ever cast a conjuration?" Kreg finally asked, breaking the silence. "
Lyra was taken aback.
"Have, you? I thought you were a First Tier?"
"Oh, of course I am, but I tried the very first night I had my mark!" His smile faltered and disintegrated into a frown, "Da wasn't too happy about that... it didn't go well. I tried to conjure a candle, and I did! But... well, fire probably wasn't a good first attempt."
"Well, you're one up on me, I've never cast anything," Lyra said. "Conjurations or otherwise.
Entity scoffed and drew Lyra's attention out the window, where the shimmering white dome still shimmered, encompassing the city. Lyra could feel the spell, constantly tugging at the corner of her mind, somehow still bound to her Logos.
That was you, not me. Lyra thought.
Same difference.
No, not 'same difference'!
"Space out a lot, huh?" Kreg asked.
"Oh, I- I guess." Lyra's face flushed. "Did you say somthing?"
Stop distracting me!
You don't need me for that. Entity chuckled.
"I just said that it's surprising. That you haven't tried casting anything yet. I always imagined that the Great Houses would have like... tutors and stuff. If you were planning on becoming a Wizard, you could have had any teacher in the city! I'm surprised you're only a First Tier!"
"Well, maybe some of the other Houses do... but my father's never been one for academics. I went to the same public primer most Sclerans go to. He didn't exactly approve of me coming here, and it wasn't exactly a plan I had."
"So... you're Declan's sister."
"Yes, I am. Obviously..." Lyra said, not sure where the boy was going with this. "Do you know Declan?"
"Well, no." Kreg said, "But his arrival at the Iris was pretty big news. He was the heir of a major House... and now you're here..."
"Spit it out, Kreg."
She was beginning to reconsider her choice of seat.
"Is there a different heir? If both you and Declan have taken Wizard Marks... who inherits?"
"I don't know. I'm sure my father will figure it out."
"Wow... Wow!" Kreg said, "Da's gonna love this!"
"Don't tell your Dad, Kreg." Lyra said, "I'm sure my father will learn I'm here soon... if he hasn't already, but please, don't speed that along. It's not an interaction I'm looking forward to."
"I-uh, sure." The boy smiled, "My lips are sealed."
He's absolutely going to tell his dad. Immediately.
Yeah... I know. I'm sure Father knows already. The whole First Tier heard my name called, and it sounded like the rumor mill was already spinning. I'm surprised he even reported me missing...
The classroom was beginning to fill up with other students. A student she didn't recognize sat on her other side, quickly introduced himself as Andrew, and then buried his head in a book. It was a large tome but had no markings on the cover or spine to identify it.
"Oh!" Kreg said, "Look who it is!"
He tried, and failed, to point at girl who had just entered without drawing attention to his movement.
"Two nobles in the same class! Crazy!" He said, shaking his head.
The girl was a year or two younger than Lyra but stood about a head taller. She had large bangs that swept down over her face, obscuring her Mark, but her most striking feature was her eyes. Even from across the room, Lyra could see that they were different colors. One was blue, like most Scleran eyes, but the other was red.
The girl sat on the far end of the crescent, almost directly opposite Lyra and Kreg.
"Who's that?" Lyra asked.
Kreg looked at Lyra, his eyes wide in incredulity.
"Really?"
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"Yes, Kreg, really."
"That's Lord Gimbel's daughter, Veron."
"Ah." Lyra should have figured it was another member of the Great Houses. Kreg seemed a little obsessed.
"She has been studying with tutors, her father's on the Iris's Council, and has been pulling strings to get her early lessons... Supposedly."
"Neat," Lyra said, losing interest.
Veron however, had not. She was staring across the Summoning Circle at her.
Lyra met her gaze and nodded slightly.
Veron bowed her head, her face slowly stretching out into a smug smirk as if she was enjoying some private joke at Lyra's expense.
Why is she looking at you like that? Entity asked.
I, really don't know. I've never met her before.
But, aren't you both like, royalty or somthing? Are you sure you didn't meet her at some ball or something?
Lyra scoffed, momentarily drawing a few of the other students' gaze.
No, we're not royalty. We're just wealthy... or at least, she probably is. House Mornstag is barely a notable house anymore and has been skating by on reputation alone for years. It's why dad's... the way that he is. The Great Houses are just descended from Sclera's founders, but even they weren't royalty, just powerful.
Entity was silent.
Shouldn't you know all of this? Can't you like, read minds? Kreg's head had to be full of this stuff when he went through the Trial.
I can't remember.
Lyra frowned.
A personification of Logos can't remember something? To even suggest that feels like blasphemy.
Entity remained silent.
Professor Greystole entered the room and took his place behind the podium. A smaller version of the summoning circle was emblazed on the front of the podium, however, the glyphs and runes that dotted its surface were clearly just decoration. Lyra recognized the glyph for "Teamwork", and another for "Learning." It struck her as somthing akin to a motivational poster that might have been hung in Primer.
"Class, welcome to Conjuration - C01. For these first few weeks, we'll be going over the basics of Conjuration, and how it relates to other fields of Soulmancy. Many of the principles you learn here will be applicable to the entirety of your studies. Conjuration and Illusion are considered the foundation of Wizardry after all... Now, take one of these books and turn to page seventeen.
There was a deafening crack, and suddenly a wooden table appeared in the center of the Circle. It was laden with thick, heavy books that bore the same Glpyh as the podium. Several of the students had jumped in alarm. Fear was baldly splayed on some of their faces, potentially traces of unresolved trauma from the recent Kovite attack.
Greystole noticed the mood in the room and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Sorry about that, we'll keep the flair to a minimum going forward... Page 17!"
Books were handed out, and Lyra opened to the aforementioned page.
Intro to Conjuration.
She briefly skimmed the page and groaned. This was basically the same information she'd received in Primer.
"Conjuration at its core," Greystole began, "Is creation. Unlike Summoning, which transports an item or creature into this world from somewhere else, Conjuration is the act of pulling shadow matter from the Void, and shaping it with your Logos. It is a Wizard's bread and butter, and has limitless applications."
Greystole droned on.
"When will get to actually conjure something?" Kreg asked, breaking the monotonous lecture's grip on the room."
"No one will be conjuring anything until we cover the basic theory." Greystole said, "We start with review. I need to know where you all are so that I can meet you there. I understand that for most of you this is old information, but it can't be helped.
The man snapped his fingers, and a rolled-up scroll appeared in front of each student.
"Pop Quiz!" He said, "Pull out your quills and begin."
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The rest of her classes were the same.
In each, she was assigned a few chapters to read, given a quiz, and sent on her way, heavy book in tow.
By the end of the day, she was soaked in sweat from lugging the heavy books up and down the tower and felt almost dumber for it. Every class had been review.
Hey! Enity said, I learned a lot.
What could you have possibly learned?
How easy it is to bore you, for one. Adolescent politics, for a second. You all seemed so... uncomfortable. All Eager to prove yourselves but reluctant to appear that way.
Primer all over again. Lyra thought.
She collapsed onto her bed in a heap.
"Sending Stone showed up for you in the Node," Erika said absently. The girl was leaving through a book. It seemed like less of a school book and more of a trashy romance novel.
"A what in the where?"
Erika tossed a smooth, palm-sized rock onto Lyra's chest. A single rune was carved into its surface. Next to the rune, someone had painted her name.
"Teleport Node."
"What is this?" Lyra asked, turning the stone around in her hand.
"Sending Stone, It's a message, channel some Logos into the rune. "
Lyra did. It took her a few tries to get the thread of Logos to extend into the stone, but eventually, she managed.
Lyra. Declan's voice said in her mind. I'm still on leave. Meet me at Crampo's Tavern. It's just outside the Iris campus by that weird bird statue. You know the one. I'll buy you dinner. 8 o'clock.
Lyra sighed, then began getting ready to meet her brother.
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"So?" Declan asked around a mouthful of mutton.
"So... what?" Lyra asked.
Declan took a swig of his beer.
"So, how's the Iris? First day?"
"The stairs suck," Lyra said. She could barely feel her legs
"Yeah they do," Declan chucked. "Which Vocatoin Hall are you in?"
"Summoner"
"Oof!" Declan cringed, "Shoulda warned you about that one. It's way up there."
"Yeah, that would have been helpful. A warning about the Trial would have been helpful too."
"Hey," Declan said, "I couldn't! They'd have reprimanded me, stuck me in a post even further outside the city."
"What was it like?"
"The battle? Hellish. Don't join."
Lyra nodded.
"Noted. Glad you didn't die."
His head was still wrapped in a bandage. The Mender that had treated him had been unable to save his eye. Once the wound closed completely, he'd be left with nasty scar and an eyepatch.
"They going to reassign you for that?" Lyra asked, pointing at the bandage."
"Nah, not enough Wizards on the Wall for that. They'll keep me there for as long as they can. I got promoted though." He added nonchalantly.
Lyra arched her eyebrows at him.
"Promoted? For getting hurt?"
Declan chuckled.
"Not quite. My CO, a mage named Thale, was promoted to Tower Guardian, so I was bumped into his spot."
"Wow, you've met a Tower Guardian."
"Yeah, can't believe it myself, we were in the same Tier." Declan shook his head, "I'd like to know how he managed it." he absent-mindedly rubbed at his wound and winced. "Or maybe not."
"How'd you even get hurt?" Lyra asked, "You didn't say."
Declan grimaced and pointed out at the 'weird bird statue' that was placed outside the tavern.
"Did you hear those screaming bird things?"
"No, I was in Exam Hall, and then the Trial when the attack happened."
"Lucky. They sounded horrible. Some of the other warriors are calling them 'Banshees'. When they first came over the Wall, one managed to get ahold of me. Thale was the one who managed to get it off of me. Crazy mage saved my life."
Declan paused for a moment.
"He'll be in the Iris... If you happen to see him, tell him I said thanks."