The rest of Jeb’s conversation with the Dean went quickly. After the conversation, he went to the plot of the land that the Academy had reserved for him and grew a crop of Managrass. If I ever want to go home, I’ll need to hire something faster than a caravan. The thought made Jeb realize that he hadn’t figured out how to pay for this term’s tuition. The previous term, he remembered, had been paid for by a scan of his Status.
Jeb rushed back to the Dean’s office, only to find that he was not there. He went to the Library and wrote a quick note to the Dean about his tuition, sliding it under his doorway. Hopefully he’ll see this. He spent the rest of the night studying at his desk in the Stacks, listening to the books rearrange themselves on their shelves.
The next morning, Jeb saw a note in his doorway when he opened it.
Jeb, I had assumed that you would wish to use the proceeds from the sale of your Manaweave to pay for your tuition this and future terms. If that is not the case, please let me know. Dean Aquam
Jeb nodded as he read the letter. Anything he could do to avoid going further into debt was probably a good idea, even if he would not have to pay off the Censusmaster’s debt for a long time. Jeb went to breakfast and ate a quick meal before heading to his Theoretical Glyphs course.
Class that day again focused on each of the students drawing a Glyph from memory. This time, clearly to make it easier, the Professor had distributed textbooks of Attune Mana Glyphs. Jeb had never learned any of the Glyphs on the book, and was more than a little surprised to find out that Clay was apparently also a First Tier Element. After a moment of further consideration, he decided that it made a fair amount of sense. It wasn’t that much different than Sand, which he had created an Attuning Glyph for.
As Jeb looked around the room, he saw that no one else seemed to be copying out one of the Glyphs exactly. If the Professor had selected Glyphs that no one in the course knew, that would explain the Elements he had chosen. Flame was represented, but not Fire. Jeb idly wondered how the two Elements differed, and made a note to himself to read up on that in the future.
Despite his efforts, the class period ended without Jeb having successfully scribed a Glyph onto his Manaweave. Jeb stayed after class to see if the Professor had any advice.
“I would simply advise you to continue working,” the Professor said calmly. Seeing that Jeb was feeling somewhat disheartened, he continued, “I expect no more than half of the students in this course to successfully Inscribe a Glyph by the end of the term.”
“Then why is that the only assignment you have us work on in class?” Jeb asked.
“It is far easier for me to see whether students are learning and trying to actually draw Glyphs from memory and knowledge of principles of Glyph construction when they do it in front of me. For that reason, I assign the readings to be done outside of class.”
“Oh,” Jeb replied, a little confused. “Thank you.” The Professor nodded, and Jeb left the classroom, considering what the Professor had said. The fact that he did not expect everyone in the course to be able to Inscribe a Glyph was emblematic of something, Jeb was sure. Try as he might, though, Jeb could not figure out what it signified.
Back in the Library, Jeb looked at the syllabus for Theoretical Glyphs. As Jeb had suspected after meeting with the Professor, he saw now that there were neither homeworks nor examinations in the schedule that the Professor had given at the beginning of the course. At first, Jeb had thought that was because the Professor did not have a firm plan on how the students’ mastery over the material would be tested. Now, though, he was beginning to suspect that the only metric the Professor planned to use was their ability to Inscribe a Glyph.
The layout of the assigned readings emphasized that idea. Over the course of the term, they gradually shifted from the completely theoretical musings on what, specifically, caused the shapes of Glyphs to hold Magic that he was currently reading. By the end of the term, topics were far more concrete, describing exactly how to modulate thickness of lines and strokes to better produce the Glyph desired. Jeb resisted the urge to flip to one of those sections in the course textbook, instead trying to wrap his head around the concepts that the current chapter expounded. The fact that he was forced to rely on a dictionary to define every third word only made the process that much more difficult.
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At his next Theoretical Enchanting course, Jeb did not try to make a full Glyph. Instead, he tried to apply what the readings had talked about, noting the difference in how well Mana traveled through even a single brushstroke based on how he drew it. His Professor nodded approvingly at Jeb’s work, which made him smile. At the end of the class session, he could actually see progress that he had made. Even though he hadn’t made a perfect starting line, he had a number of ideas for what he could do better the next time. A small voice in Jeb’s head reminded him that he could work on the Glyphs outside of class.
As Jeb walked to the Stacks, he debated whether or not to do so. On the one hand, he had time even after finishing all of the work for his other courses. On the other hand, working on Glyphs seemed like the sort of task that could quickly drive Jeb to insanity trying to do it completely perfectly. There was also the fact that any time he spent working on Glyphs was time that he could not spend working on something else, such as growing new varieties of Managrass. In the end, Jeb decided that he would limit himself to filling a single piece of Manaweave a day.
And so he passed the rest of the term. As his Theoretical Glyphs and Theoretical Enchanting courses kept going, Jeb saw more and more how the two Magics were so wildly similar and dissimilar in different ways. The fact that neither textbook he read felt comfortable defining exactly how the lines and shapes of the Glyphs and Enchantments caused the Magics in them to be bound made Jeb wonder how much of the disciplines were just belief based.
Of course, just after he had that revelation, he read a chapter in each text describing some long dead Theoretician who had similar ideas. In both Enchanting and Glyph Magics, someone had raised a number of children, lying to them about the way that the Magics worked. Despite the children’s active belief in how the Magic should work, a Glyph of Least Create Fire needed to be drawn correctly in order to produce a flame. Another Theoretician found that, even when it was believed to be a Glyph of Least Create Water, scribing Least Create Fire would produce fire.
After reading those chapters, Jeb found himself fascinated by the way that reality was, somehow, encoded in the lines and nodes of the different Magics. As the term came to a close, he met with Dean Aquam to plan the courses he would take the following term.
“Given how much Manaweave you have produced this term, it seems as though you have an enduring interest in horticulture,” Dean Aquam began the meeting. Seeing Jeb nod, he continued, “and I have been reviewing the Status that you gave to the Academy when you arrived. Why did you learn the Brewing and Distilling Skills?”
“My family thought that they could be useful for learning Alchemy,” Jeb responded.
Dean Aquam nodded. “Is that still a subject you are interested in studying?”
Jeb thought about it for a moment. Professor Fredrick had implied that he would not need to continue taking Remedial Civics. He had no interest in continuing to take Civics courses, so he had room in his schedule even if he did not drop any of his other subjects. “I think so,” he said. “Though I think that I would need to start at a very introductory course.”
“Are there any other subjects you have yet to study that interest you?” Dean Aquam asked. Seeing Jeb’s face start to furrow in concentration, he quickly continued, “I plan to continue asking this in future terms as well, but there is no point in delaying learning a branch of Magic if you are passionate about studying it in the upcoming term.”
Jeb shook his head at that. “I’m sure that I’ll want to learn other Schools of Magic in the future, but I can’t think of any right now.” After a moment, he amended that statement, “well, that’s not entirely true. I have to assume that there’s a Magic related to Weaving, and that seems like something I’d like to learn. I worry that I’ll be stretched too thin trying to learn how to weave while I learn whatever Magic intersects with it.”
Dean Aquam nodded again. “That makes sense to me. Would you like to find room in your schedule for an actual Weaving course next term so that you have time reserved to learn the Skill?”
“If it fits with the other courses I plan to take, that would be fantastic,” Jeb replied. The two discussed what courses would be good to take as followups to the ones he was currently enrolled in. As it turned out, after two terms of Theoretical Enchanting, the subject diverged into different directions. Jeb was far more interested in the connection between Magic and the runes in an Enchantment than in the other portions of the course, and told the Dean as much.
When they had finished planning the upcoming term, Dean Aquam changed the subject to how Jeb felt that his courses were proceeding. The two discussed the difficulties Jeb was having in some of his courses. Despite the fact that the term was coming to a close, he still had not managed to inscribe a Glyph.
Dean Aquam frowned at Jeb’s tone when relaying that information. “Is there a reason that you are surprised to be unable to form a Glyph without access to the System?”
“The Professor said that no more than half of the students would be able to do so. I know it’s at least a little arrogant of me to assume that I would be in the top half of the class, but I had hoped to be,” Jeb replied honestly.
Dean Aquam chuckled. Seeing Jeb’s puzzled expression, he explained, “I believe that in all my years at the Academy, your Professor is the only student who ever successfully inscribed a Glyph without any access to the System. You will not fail the course if you are unable to, if that was your concern.”
It hadn’t been, but it was still a nice reassurance. The two chatted amiably for a few more minutes before Jeb left. Only after he was gone did he realize that he could have asked the Dean about Ritual Magic. There’s always next term, he thought to himself.