“Come in,” Dean Aquam said as Jeb knocked on his door.
Jeb bounced in, setting the pages onto the Dean’s desk. Aquam took them hesitantly, frowning as he paged through the sheaf in front of him. When he got to the end, he looked up expectantly at Jeb.
“I realized that I didn’t know how to read the notation that the Ritual was written in,” Jeb started to explain. “However, there are a lot of Rituals that are repeated between different books. By going through them all, I was eventually able to trace a path between the notation that you taught us and the notation that the book used.”
“That was very well done,” Aquam said, tone careful, “but why does it seem as though you are dissatisfied with the results?”
Jeb sighed. “Each different notation system pays attention to different aspects of the dance. In transferring between every one, I ended up losing a lot of important information, even if I’m not entirely sure where. Right now, I have the bare bones of a dance, and all I can really tell is that I need to put a Bound object in the center to start the Ritual the first time.”
Aquam cocked his head, and Jeb heard waves crashing somewhere far away. “Is there a reason that you did not rely on your Skill at all? I do remember you mentioning something about your family training Skills in that way.”
“My Magic Skill didn’t really seem helpful,” Jeb admitted. “I think that translating Rituals is far enough removed from any of the other Magics I’ve learned that my Skill doesn’t know how to handle it.”
“Right,” Dean Aquam said, gesturing with his hand, “so why did you not use your Ritual Magic Skill?”
Jeb looked around the room, trying to see if there might be an answer hidden in a secret corner. Not finding any, he wrinkled his brow. “I don’t have the Ritual Magic Skill,” he said slowly.
Aquam’s eyes lifted in surprise, and he nearly knocked a book off of his desk as he moved in surprise. “You truly did not earn the Skill? Every other member of the course did, and all of them have crystallized their souls significantly more than you.” Before Jeb could answer, Aquam put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. “Please do not tell me that you have forgotten to claim your end of term rewards again.”
Jeb grimaced, trying his hardest to turn it into a friendly smile. “I may have,” he said, “for the last few terms.”
Aquam shook his head good naturedly. “You are quite possibly the only student at the Academy so unconcerned with progression. I would recommend going back to your room before accepting the term rewards. Given how hard your first terms’ hit you, I expect that multiple at once will knock you out for at least a few hours. Come back when your soul is settled again, and we can see whether you have any new insights into the process.”
“Ok!” Jeb said, reaching to take the pages back from the Dean.
He coughed politely. “It is not that I do not trust you,” he said, putting the pages in a drawer in his desk, “but you do have a habit of continuing down projects instead of checking back in with your advisors. I will keep the pages to prevent that impulse.”
“That seems reasonable!” Jeb agreed, standing to leave the office. Back in his room, Jeb searched through his soul, trying to remember where he collected rewards. It had been long enough that it almost seemed as though his soul had forgotten what that meant. After a few moments, though, Jeb found the disused portion of the System relating to Rewards and collected the results from his past terms.
Congratulations! You have completed Terms at the Academy. New Skills Gained: Ritual Magic
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Rewards for Suppressed Quests and Term Performance: 60 Intelligence, 60 Willpower, 60 Magic Affinity, 60 Mana Depth, 60 Charisma, 250 Mana, 1100 EXP.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Learn a New School of Magic. You have delved deeper into the realms of Magic. Rewards: 2 Intelligence, 2 Willpower, 2 Magic Affinity, 2 Mana Depth, 2 Charisma, 96 EXP
The Statistics hit Jeb like a brick, knocking him down onto his bed. After a few moments, though, he felt better enough to start Leveling up again. Just before he did, he debated whether or not it was a good idea to do so. In the end, he decided to wait until after he and the Dean met about Rituals. Trying to stand, Jeb found that his body would not listen to him, so he let sleep claim him.
When he woke again, Jeb ran to the Dean’s office, hoping that he would be awake. To his relief, the Dean opened the door to Jeb as soon as his fist first touched the door. Dean Aquam looked him up and down cautiously.
“You seem relatively hale,” he said slowly.
Jeb nodded, then froze. “Is there a reason that I should not be?” he asked with some small amount of concern.
Dean Aquam shook his head. “No,” was all he said in reply.
After an awkward few moments in silence, Dean Aquam cleared his throat and handed the sheaf of pages back to Jeb. Jeb excitedly read through them. His brain seemed to fuzz for a moment, as though it was struggling to process the fact that he had written most of the pile just a day before. It had been the culmination of all of his studies up to that point. Now that he had the Ritual Magic Skill, though, the scratchings looked less like the work of a dedicated scholar and more like the idle musings of a child.
Jeb quickly fixed the numerous errors he had made in translating different notations. Once he did that, he realized that he had misinterpreted some of the different symbols, and fixed those as well. He was about to start on the initial translation again when Dean Aquam took the pages back.
“Jeb,” he asked, tone patient, “how long have you been working in silence?”
Jeb frowned at the unexpected question. “In my life? I don’t even know how I would begin to-”
Dean Aquam cut him off. “I apologize, that question was unclear. Since I handed you back the pages, how long have you been working in silence, neither speaking to me nor appearing to hear when I speak?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Jeb admitted, glancing around the room to see if there was a visible clock anywhere.
Dean Aquam nodded slowly. “It has been nearly a full day. Although I admire the work ethic, it is not generally healthy to work without breaks for so long, especially when nothing you are doing is particularly time sensitive.”
Jeb nodded. “I apologize,” he said, “I did not mean to ignore you.”
Dean Aquam shook his head, letting out a small laugh. “I am neither mad nor disappointed in you for being too entranced in your work to notice my speaking to you, Jeb. I simply wanted to know whether your focus was intentional or accidental. Given that it is accidental, I recommend that you return to your room, claim any Levels that you may have earned, and then get some sleep.”
Jeb hurried back to his room and laid down in his bed. The feeling of warm blankets over his body quickly lulled him to sleep. When he awoke, he realized that he had messed up the order that Dean Aquam had told him to work in. Hoping that it would not cause any issues, Jeb quickly claimed his Levels.
Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!
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Level Bonus: +10 to Willpower +10 to Mana Depth +10 to Intelligence +10 to Magic Affinity +10 to Charisma +10 to Presence
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Excess Experience detected.Multipliers applied: Level Up: 4/5 Remaining Experience: 1164
Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!
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Level Bonus: +10 to Willpower +10 to Mana Depth +10 to Intelligence +10 to Magic Affinity +10 to Charisma +10 to Presence
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Excess Experience detected.Multipliers applied: Level Up: 5/6 Remaining Experience: 710
Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!
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Level Bonus: +10 to Willpower +10 to Mana Depth +10 to Intelligence +10 to Magic Affinity +10 to Charisma +10 to Presence
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Excess Experience detected.Multipliers applied: Level Up: 6/7 Remaining Experience: 338
Jeb had just barely enough Experience left to Level Up one more time. However, that would increase his Class’s Tier, and he wasn’t entirely certain if that was a good idea. Another note slipped underneath the door.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
I will see you at the Grove. Headmistress Petra
Shrugging, Jeb shouldered his lute and walked to the Grove. Unlike his last two Class Advancements, this one was relatively uneventful. Jeb saw no reason to change from being a Wizard, and so spent no time considering the other options. It seemed as though the System understood Jeb’s desire, because he felt another star pull his system closer and came back into himself in front of a new line of text.
Congratulations! You have Tiered Up! -318 Experience, New Class: Wizard.
Excess Experience detected. Multipliers applied: Level up: 7/8 Tier Up (3-4): 0.75 Total Multiplier: 21/32 Remaining Experience: 8
As soon as that table faded, another appeared.
Congratulations! Your Skill Ritual Magic (Magical) has been consumed into the Skill Magic (Magical)!
Jeb ran back to his room, barely making it before the rush of new Statistics, Levels, and Class hit him. Once more falling into his bed, Jeb reflected on the fact that he should really start listening to his body before it shut down on its own accord. There had to be signs that he was missing which would tell him that he needed sleep. Before he could write the thought down, though, it, like him, drifted off.
When he awoke again, Jeb stretched. It was amazing how much better everything felt with a new Class, even if it was just the higher Tier version of what he already had. Marveling in the way that his body felt just a little more like his own, Jeb picked up his lute and absently started playing it. Every sound that came out of the instrument sounded as though it had a new depth and resonance that he had never been able to appreciate before. Feeling the siren call of the lute to keep playing for hours, Jeb very intentionally set it down and moved to the Dean’s office. He was excited to continue his project to teleport Bound objects.
Back in the Dean’s office, Jeb was hit with a tidal wave of pressure. Almost the moment that his lungs started to panic, though, the sense of water disappeared.
“What happened to your Ritual Magic Skill?” Dean Aquam asked.
“It was consumed by my Magic Skill,” Jeb said.
“You allowed Magic to consume Ritual Magic?” Dean Aquam asked, seeming somewhat perturbed.
“Yes, why wouldn’t I?” Jeb asked, reaching for the pages to continue translating. Dean Aquam let him. Jeb absently noted that Dean Aquam seemed somewhat confused as he changed the different notations with as much ease as he had two days before.
“Are you not finding it more difficult to translate without the Ritual Magic Skill?”
“No?” Jeb replied hesitantly. “It doesn’t seem like I have lost any of my abilities in different Schools of Magic when they are consumed.”
“Interesting,” Dean Aquam said, pulling out a sheet of paper to begin taking notes. What he was notating, exactly, Jeb was unsure.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Age: 18 Class: Wizard Level: 8 Experience: 12/429
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Total Statistic Load: 1228 ->1888 Physical Load: 338 ->388 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 53 Endurance: 54 Vitality: 55 Presence: 124 ->174
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Mental Load: 890 ->1500 Intelligence: 188 ->310 Willpower: 189 ->311 Magic Affinity: 181 ->303 Mana Depth: 166 ->288 Charisma: 166 ->288
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Mana: 2515
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Glyph Attunement: 31 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Water (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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Skills: Meditation Gift of Gab Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Glassblowing Magic Weaving
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer Academy Student
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)