Throne of Time [Magical Academy, Time Loop, Mystery]

The last two days before classes passed without any attacks, excessively noisy gatherings, or Maut-mai disruptions. Suria was immensely glad that Darkmoon University seemed to settle down as the first day of classes began, and as promised, the university got off to a running start.

As she walked to her very first class along with Maut-mai, Suria checked that she had all her supplies in her satchel for the twentieth time. She’d done everything she could to prepare and part of her was convinced that she was going to forget something at the last second. Her exercises had increased her runic capacity to six, meaning she could cast an augmented spell without any need for potions. That might be less than many students, but she was proud of her progress and didn’t intend to stop her exercises.

She didn’t have to go far: Foundations of Modern Spellcraft was a general class that took place right in the Taedric Building. It was in one of the student areas she hadn’t really visited, a large room with a semi-circle of desks facing one wall. The professor wasn’t one of the department thrones, just a middle-aged man who was widely agreed to be an unremarkable instructor.

”I hope this won’t be too bad,” Maut-mai whispered to her. ”They say he’s terribly dull.”

”Shh.” Suria hushed her roommate and checked to make sure they hadn’t been overheard. They’d arrived a little early, but the classroom was filling up quickly.

Hopefully she would be ready, even if so many of her classmates already had more experience with magic than her. Suria had tried to cover as many basics as possible and finished reading the first volume of the Classical Glyphos Primers, just in case they used ancient terminology. From what she’d heard from other students, the class was more theory than practice, so her runic capacity shouldn’t be a limitation.

As the room filled to maximum it grew noisier and noisier. Once it was at last time, and a starting bell rang out above them, the professor rose to stand at the front. He carried a stick that seemed peculiar and Suria tried to figure out whether it was a type of stylus before realizing that it was a wand with glyphs on it. She understood its purpose when their professor waved it and silence fell over the classroom.

”Welcome, one and all, to Foundations of Modern Spellcraft.” The professor smiled blandly at all of them. ”No matter who you are and how much or little you have learned, this course will help you start off on your journey as a proper mage. But first, we do have some details to take care of...”

He went on to discuss the examination schedule, how to turn in assignments, and the policy on lateness. It seemed like this large class was simply indifferent to most students: anyone who failed would have to take it again, but someone who could pass without attending would probably be unnoticed. Some students attempted to shout over or trick the silence spell while Suria did quieter tests: she could hear herself hum, but sound failed to carry and even talking to Maut-mai was nearly inaudible.

”Now, let us begin.”

The glyphed wand waved again and the class settled in. As unruly as many of them were, they still wanted to listen.

”Magic is not like running,” the professor said grandly, ”it’s more like farming. Now now, don’t make a fuss, hear me out. Human beings can run naturally: a child will gradually learn to walk with little help, and progress to running as they grow up.

”Imagine someone trying to farm in the same way. Or, if you are really so offended by the earthy analogy, imagine someone trying to build a ship or run a business based purely on their natural instincts. It would be a disaster, wouldn’t it? Any difficult task, any truly complex field, requires building upon what others have learned before you.

”So do not misunderstand me when I say that farming is ’unnatural’ in a sense. A sophist might say that it is ’natural’ because it works with nature itself, with the plants that grow all around us. But farming is distinct from that natural growth, more concentrated and focused than wild plants in the field. In the same way, magic is an ’unnatural’ method of working with the world, a complex technique with more intense results.”

Suria leaned forward, listening raptly. It was all straightforward and intuitive, yet she’d never heard anyone speak about magic this way before. This, more than the practical ability to cast spells, was what she had hoped to learn from a university.

”What about animals?” a student called through the silence ward.

”Not a bad question,” the professor said cheerfully. ”There are indeed some animals that have the ability to use magic naturally. Animals have claws and teeth and thick hides that humans do not... and yet we have spread across the world, because we delve into the fundamentals of reality instead of taking them on instinct. Any further questions on that subject, however, should be directed to a Naturalism professor.”

”But people can sense magic,” someone else objected.

”See now, I’ll get to that all in good time,” the professor said with another wave of his silencing wand. ”Leave questions for the end or this will take forever.”

He went on to speak about the general theory of magic, how it reflected an underlying structure of the world. Suria was disappointed that he didn’t go into more detail on the specifics: runes somehow guided the flow of magic, while inscriptions channeled energy, and together they formed stable commands. There had to be more to it, and perhaps that would be explored later.

”And now we return to the previous question,” the professor said. ”Yes, humans can sense magic, but this is not a purely natural instinct. It is more like how a farmer can judge whether crops are ready, or a sailor can read the clouds. The result of experience, not some inborn instinct.

”As such, this instinct must be cultivated. This, along with the slow growth of mana pools, is one of the reasons that so few develop the ability to use magic before the age of twenty. Bear this in mind throughout your education. An untrained person may be able to pick some fruit, but they will never be able to raise a crop like a farmer because farming is the fully developed version of those basic instincts.”

Many in the crowd still seemed to find this analogy undignified, but it made perfect sense to Suria. She found herself wondering about exactly how mana senses worked, since they didn’t seem universal. Fortunately, she didn’t need to speak up, because several others called out similar questions.

”Yes, yes, I hear you.” The professor waved his hands with a smile, though not his wand this time. ”Mana perception is not a single sense, but a thousand overlapping senses that must be developed separately. A mage who has studied fire magic will be able to sense it more precisely, and from a greater distance, than he or she could sense water magic.

”This can have some interesting applications when it comes to less obvious forms of magic. One of the most common is spatial magic: it has no obvious signal like flame, and accordingly could pass unnoticed. And yet, if one focuses on uses of spatial magic, one can slowly build an entirely new sense...”

As the lecture continued, Suria realized she had a smile plastered on her face. Some of the others were growing bored and restless, but she continued to lean forward, soaking in everything...

~ ~ ~

The first term continued, and though it wasn’t all as captivating as the first day, Suria continued to love it. She had Foundations of Modern Spellcraft every other day, but it was joined by her second class after two sessions.

Commercial Application of Talisman Artificing took place in the Earth Society Building, which gave her a good reason to explore a little further into the western side of campus. The building was the grandest marble construction on a campus filled with grand marble, all sleek surfaces and elegant designs compared to the blocky or rugged stone of other buildings. It was also laid out entirely sensibly, though she didn’t need to go deep into it for class.

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As far as she could tell, the building was dedicated to more business-oriented magic. There were no gaggles of nobles here, only serious craftsmen and craftswomen, including many older than the average student. Her first couple of classes were boring but practical. She felt confident that the course would help her earn money, teach her a little more about talismans, and provide a source of supplies.

Four days into the term, Suria finally had her first session of Introduction to Glyphic Combat. She was excited for it, both due to the subject matter and because it took place in the tower.

That tower, piercing out of the near edge of the forest, had been one of the first things she’d seen of Darkmoon University, even before she’d set foot inside. Apparently it was called Skypiercer Tower, or just the Skypiercer by most students. It really was shockingly tall, especially when standing nearby. She worried a little about finding the base, but there proved to be a cleared path into the forest that led directly to the front door.

Practically every other building had a foyer or some kind of entrance hall designed to impress, but Skypiercer Tower’s first floor began with a busy crossroads. Suria saw offices to one side, and toward the back there was a line of stone plates that were hovering up and down, transporting students and staff to higher levels.

Would those crush someone if they came down on them, or did the plates have some sort of protections or safeguards? Suria was too nervous to push herself out of her comfort zone, so she instead found some stairs around the corner of the offices. They apparently only led to certain floors, but they would do for her purposes.

After ascending many stairs, Suria came out onto the third floor, which appeared to be occupied by several large classrooms. She was surprised to see that each of them was open on one side, looking over the forest. There were no chairs, but all the students were clustering away from the entrance, so she went to stand in that general group.

Unlike her other classes, the students here seemed to be of all types, more diverse than any crowd she’d seen since the opening feast. Not just people from across the world, but students who looked like they had been there for several years, even some who wore a seal beside their identification pin. How was she supposed to compete with ranked seal mages?

Before she could grow too anxious, the professor arrived - not through the door, flying directly up from the forest. She was an older woman wearing steel armor and she had scars across her face, including some that tore up the side of her head, leaving her white hair falling in the other direction.

Though the professor introduced herself and discussed some basic details of the class, the information ran through Suria’s mind like water. Too many people, too many places, too many rules. She couldn’t wait to get to everything the class could teach her.

”This is Introduction to Glyphic Combat,” the professor began. ”Unlike some courses that have highly regimented studies, this one seeks to flexibly prepare every mage attending Darkmoon. No matter your current level of strength and skill, you should be able to take something from this course.

”There are several kinds of people who enroll here. Some of you intend to pursue a career that requires dangerous interactions, and I assure you this class will help prepare you. Others are fools convinced they’ll be heroic mages like in some sort of legend, and my job is to convince you otherwise.

”I know there are also some of you who are just taking this course as an introductory requirement for Evocation classes, and you may view it as unnecessary. I assure you, even if you seek more academic magic, you will want to apply yourself here. Professor Milirent has assigned me all of the more physical courses, but that means he relies on my evaluation of your potential and discipline. If you want to proceed on an Evocation track, you will want my recommendation.”

Anstell Milirent was Throne of Evocation, and though Suria didn’t know him, she remembered him as the little old man with the sideburns. This was the first example she’d seen of the university revolving around the top professors. When she looked over the crowd, she wondered just which category each of them fell into... and where Suria would place herself.

”Unlike some courses, we will be moving every session depending on our needs, so check the announcements posted on the first floor,” the professor continued. ”Our main need, versus other classes, is enough space to cast spells. The tower is a convenient location to release them, and as your capacities increase, your classes will take place on higher floors.”

She opened a combat runebook, formed from sturdy stone and bound with metal strips, and swept her gaze over the class.

”Now, who can tell me the components that make the difference in the fundamental strength of a spell?”

”Runic capacity!” someone shouted out.

”Not exactly,” the professor said. ”With more runes you can cast more complex spells, but if a glyph is composed of twelve runes, the higher capacity you don’t use is irrelevant.”

”Inscription strength,” another student offered.

”That’s certainly true, there are meaningful differences between inscriptions. However, in practice this is less relevant than you might expect.”

The professor used her runebook to cast an illusion and light blossomed into the air, displaying three runic squares in front of the class. They were soon filled by red inscriptions, two of which filled the square in different ways, then a third that was oddly misshapen.

”The first is the most common fire inscription in Taedric tradition,” she explained, ”the second is the ’modernized’ symbol for fire popularized by the Akrashic Union, and the third is an amateur attempt at a fire inscription. What you will find is that inscriptions polished by tradition are usually optimized, to some extent. The modern version is easier to teach, but not meaningfully stronger than the ancient inscription.”

”I don’t buy it,” a muscular young man said. ”Some inscriptions are far stronger than others.”

”What you’ll actually find is that some inscriptions are more appropriate for a given task. If you want to crush something underfoot, you’d be better served by metal boots, but they’d be the wrong choice if you want to move silently. Growing stronger as a mage is less about finding more powerful inscriptions than understanding which one to use for a given situation.”

And having internalized enough to make a good selection, Suria added silently. That had been nearly impossible once, but now she had access to more inscriptions than she could possibly learn. She liked the professor’s style, however, and eagerly listened as the class broke down all the different components of the spell.

Careful construction of runes had a significant impact as well, partially on power and far more so on mana efficiency. The professor showed them more examples - a perfect runic square with sharp corners contrasted with squares that were lopsided or had gaps - and went into great detail about the best methods of construction. Even though Suria felt pretty confident in her ability to form runes, it was interesting to learn a little of the underpinning theory about how it all worked.

”Materials are overemphasized as a component of spell power,” the professor explained as she levitated several blocks of stone. ”This one is merely decent-quality shale, while this is expensive mana-laced granite. A spell glyph on the latter would be, optimistically, perhaps 10% more efficient. Legendary stones that make your spells ten times more powerful are a myth for children who want shortcuts.”

That might be true, but Suria struggled to reconcile it with all the mages back home who emphasized material quality. She wondered if ”decent-quality” was doing a lot of work in the statement, because the professor didn’t even discuss cheap or unsuitable materials.

”Ink is also overemphasized,” the professor continued. ”Yes, quality will make a difference in the final spell’s output, but the difference is usually overwhelmed by the skill in making the inscription. An incompetent mage with the most expensive ink in the world will make a weaker inscription than a powerful mage using simple ink.”

Most of that part of the lecture was already familiar: the most important thing about the materials was that they were capable of surviving the magic channeled through them. That was why ancient spells were always carved directly into rock, and even now with all the advances in glyphic magic, people tended to create talismans and runebooks from stone.

Creating glyphs in other substances was far more advanced, and Suria was disappointed that the class wasn’t going to explain that. She had always wanted to understand how runes could be stitched into cloth without burning through, and the professor even mentioned some cultures that wrote glyphs in sand for temporary spells. As simple as the basics were, there was so much more to learn.

”Ultimately, the reason that inscriptions tend to reach the same optimization points is that their strength is bounded by the runic shape.” The professor generated empty shapes this time: a triangle, a square, and a pentagon. ”A triangle formed of three runes is simply a magically ’smaller’ construction than a square, and thus it can support less power. That’s why modern glyphwork almost always uses squares for primary inscriptions and triangles for augments.”

”So you’re saying size matters,” someone shouted from the back, resulting in some laughter until the professor glared at them.

”No. Do not misunderstand. It doesn’t matter how large you form a runic triangle, what matters is that the magic is contained by three runes. With a few exceptions that will not concern you until much later in your careers, this is an absolute law.”

That made sense to Suria, since she’d observed extremely small glyphs on devices or wands that seemed fully potent. On the other hand, she’d seen some enormous glyphs on walls and other fortifications. Was that just for the sake of intimidation, or was it one of the exceptions the professor mentioned? If the size wasn’t necessary, surely it would make more sense to hide the glyphs in small form somewhere.

”Alright, that’s enough theory.” The professor snapped her book shut and gave them a smile twisted by a scar across her lip. ”I can see some of you champing at the bit to burn something. We need to test your actual spellcasting ability in order to properly group you. Anyone who can’t pass the test will be removed from the course.”

They could simply be thrown out that easily? As she looked around at the students around her, all so much stronger and more capable, Suria swallowed and clutched her talisman tightly.