Touch of Fate

Chapter 107: Classroom Etiquette

Mike summoned his mana and formed a sword of fire, and fell into the Flowing River Stance, ready to respond to the Instructor's next move. He wasn't sure what the man was intending, but the hostile intent behind that blow felt very real.

There was a crack of compressed air, and his flame blade was cut in two.

Johnathan shook his head, "Forgotten already, have you? Only Earth or Air while under this roof," he said while gesturing to the ceiling with his glaive. He turned, and put some distance between the two of them again. "Get yourself ready."

Finally catching on, Mike hopped up on to the statue he'd made earlier. Gripping the hilt of the sword in one hand, he drew it forth with one swift pull, and lifted it into the air triumphantly.

Slightly flabbergasted, the instructor took a few moments to regain his composure. "Was it really necessary to include that feature?"

Mike hopped back down to the floor, and once again entered the Flowing River Stance. "I was planning a bit about the Once and Future King, but I don't think anyone here would get the reference." He pushed some mana into the stone sword to harden and sharpen it.

Sighing, Johnathan resumed his own stance, "Let's just get on with it."

He launched himself forward and delivered a blistering mixture of thrusts and chops that Mike was hard pressed to defend against, even though he was faster and stronger than the older mage. Unable to do much more than simply protect himself, Mike weathered the storm until he saw a brief opening to make a counter attack.

Sweeping in low, he skirted inside the reach of the glaive, and whipped his sword in a horizontal slash. Mike thought he was sure to deliver a telling blow, but his footing suddenly gave out. A small patch of darkness pulled the proverbial rug from under his feet.

As soon as Mike's back hit the ground, he felt the cold material of the glaive press against his throat. "I can tell you've been trained a bit, and fought in a few battles, but you've never learned how to use your skills properly. You have the makings of a proper battlemage, should you decide to pursue that route."

Pulling his weapon back, Johnathan offered Mike a hand up. "Don't know what you did before coming here, but it's clear you lack practical experience against enemies of the same strength. Your style relies too heavily on your superior attributes, your spellcasting is far too flashy and inefficient, and you lack real versatility. A man with your range of abilities should have no problems dealing with an old, worn-out soldier like me. Now, let's go again."

What followed was a fast paced training course that saw Mike hitting the ground more often than not. All throughout it, Johnathan kept producing numerous bits of wisdom in regards to the proper usage of magic in combat.

"Arcanists will tell you that the only way to use magic is with a chant, and that free casting is phenomenally wasteful and largely ineffective. They're not exactly wrong, but to completely disregard free casting because of that, is to ignore one of the greatest advantages of elemental magic. Its speed. Even the most gifted of chanters still require a second or two to unleash their magic. While this doesn't make much of a difference when you're casting from the safety of a formation, in the heat of combat, every second counts."

Mike was having a slightly difficult time absorbing the lecture while dodging the random slivers of shadow that Johnathan had started sending at him from multiple directions, forcing him to occasionally summon earthen shields, lest he be pin-cushioned by them.

"You've got both martial and magical skills. Use them. If you can't defeat an opponent outright, make an opening. Attack them in the way they least expect it."

Taking his advice, as soon as Mike found a good opportunity, he fired a blast of wind in the instructor's direction. Johnathan simply cut the magic in two with his glaive, hardly even bothered by it. This was slightly unexpected, but Mike had already planned on his first effort failing.

Johnathan tried to take a step forward, but couldn't. Looking down, he noticed that the ground under his feet had flowed over his boots and hardened. With preternatural reflexes, honed by years of combat, he blocked Mike's overhead swing, causing the stone sword to shatter under the strength of the blow.

"Good try, but the finishing blow was too telegraphed. A thrust would have been faster, and less noticeable. Better yet, an earth spike, especially from any of my blind spots, could have ended the fight. Anyway, we're out of time."

Mike looked sadly down at his broken sword, before nodding his thanks to the instructor for the lesson.

"Sir, before we are done, I wanted to ask you something?"

"What?"

"Could you teach me Dark Magic?" Mike had been impressed by its functionality and versatility in Johnathan's hands.

The instructor gave him a long, hard look. "Maybe. If you are up to it, but now is not the time. The next class will be here soon, and you have yet to clean up your mess."

With a sigh, Mike resumed the work he had been interrupted in. Using his Earth Magic, he was able to slowly move the statue into the yard behind the training building. He left it there, assuming that moving it that far was sufficient, and headed to his next class.

The excess training had eaten into the time between classes, and now he only had a few minutes to make it to the south building in time for Introductory Magic Theory. Assuming that it was probably an issue to be late, Mike started running at high speeds, drawing a bit of attention to himself once he had gotten into a more populated section of the campus.

He skidded into the classroom just before the bell struck, causing a short ripple of laughter at his antics. The room was packed with over 60 students who had already found a place in the stadium-like seating. Slightly embarrassed, he hurried up the stairs and picked an empty spot near the back. He noticed the other members of his Basic Elemental Magic class scattered about.

[I guess they weren't kidding about it being a mandatory class for first years.]

After a short wait, the professor finally arrived. He was short, fat, and bald, but carried himself with a jubilant excitement that gave him a strange sort of charisma.

"Welcome, students, to Introductory Magic Theory! I am Instructor Barnes." He wrote his name on the chalkboard in large, almost illegible script. "Here we will be learning about the fundamental principles behind modern magical theory. Please make sure to pay attention, as every bit of what we cover will help form a foundation for your future magical knowledge. For today's class, we will be answering one simple question. What is magic?"

For the next hour and a half, the instructor described magic. Starting from the source of all mana, which was historically believed to come from the stars, he explained how mages were able to absorb and make use of the energy which permeated the atmosphere.

Originally, living beings on Ea were able to harness raw mana, allowing them to grow and develop without limit. The advent of the System changed that by making every being use it as an intermediary for their skills and abilities. While the process is still not well understood, the leading experts believe that the System creates a metaphysical link between the mana in the atmosphere and the skill user's soul, enhancing their physical form, providing supernatural insight, and allowing them to shape reality to limited extent.

"The System regulates what skills and abilities a person has access to, based on the strength of their soul. The act of practicing skills, such as magic, is believed to improve one's soul, allowing for further development." The professor was explaining.

[That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What about irregulars like me, who have a bunch of enhancements to skill improvement and acquisition? I certainly haven't spent a great deal of time enhancing my soul, but my skill list is kind of ridiculous, and that doesn't even account for the effect of titles. I suppose I also have an unusual soul.....]

In any event, he followed along as the professor began explaining why chants were effective in shaping spells. Apparently, there were several ancient languages that dated back to the time before or just after the advent of the System. These languages were embedded into the system, becoming the primary means of casting. However, with The Fall, most of these languages fell out of use and were lost to time.

[Sounds like using magic is basically the equivalent of running a program using the System as the OS, and the chants as a programming language. More support for the theory that the gods of Ea somehow have access to knowledge of a technologically advanced world.]

Most modern mages use a form High Elven, the most widespread of those ancient languages. However, since the High Elves were created after the System's advent, their language was also the least effective.

The alternatives are largely shrouded in mystery. Occasionally a lucky archaeologist will find a scrap of knowledge from the Age of Elysium which contain words and phrases of unknown origin. Magic scholars have devoted lifetimes to unlocking their secrets, but those who succeed guard their discoveries closely.

The instructor finished the class by announcing that tomorrow they would begin exploring the different types of known magic and how they fit into the overarching theory.

Mike stood and stretched, before hurrying out of the classroom. He needed to grab a quick lunch at one of the department cafeterias before his next class. He wanted to make sure he was on time for Basic Summoning Magic.