After Henry had calmed down, he assessed his situation. Due to the events that had occurred that day, he had missed his first class, 'Arcanics.' Having realized this, he almost felt like kicking himself, as now he felt even more behind, however he had to shrug it off. It wasn't his fault that an assassination attempt had to happen just before then. Henry's schedule included a regular sleuth of other subjects he was used to including math, physics, chemistry, arcanics, philosophy, and history. There was also a new subject for him, Novice Incantations. This was in fact his very next course. They had claimed during orientation that each of their schedules were handcrafted to strengthen their weaknesses and fortify their strengths.
"Didn't Femble say my 'magical journey will not be a normal one.' Maybe that will mean I'll finally catch a break?"
As Henry entered the class, he immediately spotted a few objects: metallic spheres on top of everyone's desks with strange symbols located inside a grid-like mesh and what appeared like a horn filled w/ some substance. Henry instantly recognized it as the same metallic ball that was used for his magic assessment. He recalled from his memories the strange events from that day.
The examination consisted of placing your hands onto a magic ball, much like the one in front of Henry now, before the test proctor would then ask you to follow a specific set of instructions. Unbeknownst to Henry at the time, the proctor's instructions were for a simple light magic rune to be drawn onto the the ball. When Henry followed the proctors instructions, the magic ball did not light up like Henry had seen it do for others. In fact, as nothing happened, Henry began to feel nervous and closed his eyes.
"Stupid ball, do something," Henry had thought.
[[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]]
"Hm?"
While Henry had his eyes closed, he had seen the words 'SYSTEM INITIALIZED' flash in his closed eyes briefly. Henry's eyes opened slightly, but the text was gone. However, he did so just in time to see what happened next. Instead of lighting up, the training sphere began to levitate in the air, before bumping into the ceiling and bouncing off the wall, and finally falling to the floor. The proctor was shocked by this, however once everything settled down, she had looked into Henry's eyes with a smile.
"Welcome to Gratiswiesel Academy."
Returning back to the current moment, the room buzzed with the murmurs as students engaged in animated discussions about spells and incantations. With a deep breath, Henry stepped further inside. He took a seat at the back of the classroom, his eyes darting between the strange spheres and the instructor who was setting up at the front. The instructor, a tall figure with an air of authority clad in dark robes, turned to face the class. Her silver hair glimmered under the flickering lights as she clasped her hands together.
"Welcome to Novice Incantations! My name is Professor Eldara, and today we will delve into the fundamentals of magic casting." Henry felt a mix of excitement and apprehension wash over him. He had heard whispers about Professor Eldara; her reputation for being both brilliant and demanding preceded her.
"Now, before we begin, I want you all to take a good look at those metallic spheres on your desks. They are not just tools; I want you to think of them as conduits for your magical energy."
Henry heard Elijah's voice whisper in his ear.
"You can disregard that piece of advice."
Henry looked at where the voice came from, before recognizing it and realizing that any attempts to find the source would be in vain.
The professor continued, "as you would have learned in your 'Arcanics' course from earlier today..."
This sent alarm bells through Henry's head. "Shoot! Of course the course material would build off of other classes in the curriculum," he thought.
"Runes can be chained together to form more complex effects than their constituent runes. What most non-magical folk do not know, is that each and every school of magic only exists as a matter of convenience and study. In reality, there are no such things as schools of magic."
This led to a round of gasps and murmurs, followed by a smile by Professor Eldara.
"For example, if an evocation wizard wished to summon fire out of thin air, they would have a number of options. One of the simplest and most common ways of accomplishing this actually using two novice level transmutation spells to first turn some oxygen into carbon, and then another which then force the carbon and oxygen to combust, producing flames, if you remember your chemistry! Allow me to demonstrate." The professor seemed to dip her hands into a horn much like the ones on their desks. She then proceeded to suddenly move her hands through the air, although seemingly random, Henry picked up on some of the patterns.
Henry thought, "all of her movements, it's as if she uses a hand to pick a direction before using her other hand to branch off into another direction, using her fingers to tap on specific positions in the air." Henry was able to see the pattern in this, and with her explanation, Henry was almost able to see each and every step the professor had explained a moment before.
While all of this happened, the students gasped as the air seemed to appear like a haze, but Henry was busy focusing on some of the finer details within the haze to notice or care for the fact that this was happening, nor the lights that were being produced. No, more accurately, Henry had already been looking at where the light had started to emit from, as particles seemed to rush along the paths the professor had drawn, before finally completing the circuit, and bursting out into a plume of flames in front of her. He had watched the hazy air almost appear to solidify into small fine pellets of dust which spontaneously combusted. Professor Eldara had been careful to aim the flames to an empty, nonflammable part of the room, seemingly from the preexisting scorch marks.
Professor Eldara proceeded with her explanation, "As you can see, even simple novice level incantations such as this can be incredibly effective, especially in a resource constrained, tough situation. Today, you will all be learning how to convert oxygen, into carbon. You will be using a training sphere just like the one used during your assessment. These sphere contain an internal supply of spice-root, so you will not need to use the pouch, on top of your desk, you have all been given today. In due time, you will be able to cast spells without the help of a training sphere, and only using your trusty pouch. You should all have been able to demonstrate your ability to activate the runes using the spheres in front of you."
"I mean... I did... right?" Henry thought to himself.
The professor moved over to a blackboard that was pushed against the wall to the right of the scorched testing ground, and pulled it closer to the students before writing some notes with a piece of chalk. "As you may remember from your general education's chemistry courses, all matter is made of elementary particles called atoms. Later, you will learn it is a bit more complicated than that, but for now let us work with this simplified system. Each particle has a "weight" or more accurately, a mass. In transmutation level incantations, you will find it easier to convert materials with a higher atomic mass into materials with a lower atomic mass, hence why today we will practice turning oxygen, into carbon."
At this point, a number of students had already been losing attention.
"I guess some things never change, even if it's a mage's academy," Henry thought to himself. Henry continued to focus, as this topic did somewhat interest him. There was also the fact that he felt he needed to cling to every detail since he already felt that he was behind. Before coming to this academy, he had long figured that he would train to be a craftsman, as he admired the fine details of tools and architecture. However, without an element of rune crafting, craftsmen had made significantly less than they had in the past, which was why Henry jumped at the opportunity to become a mage.
"As today, we are only focusing on converting oxygen into carbon. If executed successfully, this should take the appearance of ash or small pebbles of coal coming out of the effective end of your spell. You will activate the rune, ρ, located at the top left of your sphere. This should cause a flow of air to start to course though to the other end of the sphere. There is where you will conduct the first invocation we will learn today, the Invocation of Decay. The rune used for this invocation is λ, however why this is significant won't become clear until at least your third year! As the rune ρ glows softly under your fingers, feel the energy of the sphere pulsate in response to your intent. Visualize the flow of air as it begins to swirl within the sphere, connecting with your will."
A student raised their hand and spoke up after being called on, "Professor Eldara, what happens if we accidentally convert too much oxygen?"
"An excellent question! If you draw too much oxygen from your surroundings, not only would you fail to create carbon as intended, but you could also risk a runaway reaction that could in some cases destroy a good deal of your surroundings, or at the very least leave a royal mess to clean up. Always maintain awareness of your surroundings and ensure that others are not affected by your spell's execution. Now, let's proceed with a demonstration. Watch closely as I activate the rune and channel my energy into this process..." Professor Eldara steps forward and places her hands over the sphere's surface. A faint light emanates from her fingertips as she invokes the spell. The air inside the sphere begins to shimmer as tiny sparks dance around its edges. Slowly, from one end of the sphere, small black pebbles resembling coal begin to form and drop out onto her palm. "You see? With focus and control, I have successfully transformed oxygen into carbon. Now it's your turn!"
The students gathered around their own spheres, eager yet nervous to replicate her success. "What if we make a mistake? Should we stop immediately?"
"If you feel something going awry—like an imbalance or excessive pressure—immediately release your hold on the spell by deactivating the rune with a mental command. But remember: practice makes perfect! Mistakes are part of learning. I will be here every step of the way to diffuse any potential issues you may create for yourselves!"
The students nodded attentively as they placed their hands on their spheres.
"Begin by activating the rune, ρ, and channeling your energy into it. Visualize every step clearly before proceeding with your invocation."
As the students concentrated, some succeeded almost instantly while others struggled with their spells. The student next to Henry raised his hand. "I am able to make the air flow, but I can't turn it into carbon! Why won't it work?"
"Patience is key! Focus on maintaining control over both aspects—your intention of transmutation and the flow of air within. Adjusting how you visualize each element can often make all the difference."
The classroom continued to hum with energy as students continued practicing under Professor Eldara's watchful gaze. That is when her eyes laid on Henry, who was still sitting sheepishly at his desk staring at the training sphere in front of him. "Henry, have you completed the exercise?"
Henry had been processing what he had just been told and seen. It left him feeling confused. He simultaneously felt a weird sick feeling in his gut, yet at the same time, strangely excited. It felt like he had been let in on one of the universe's deepest, darkest, precious secrets, yet he did not know what that was. One of his biggest gripes with magic had been this notion of "schools of magic" that never appeared anywhere else except in his magical studies. This new notion, one that implied a mage is not necessarily locked into any one perspective of magic, massively appealed to him. However due to these thoughts, he had failed to even start the exercise. "Oh um, not yet, apologies." Henry quickly began to attempt to apply what he had only began to understand from Professor Eldara's lesson. He held the training sphere in his hand, touched the ρ rune, and while holding onto the other end focused on the the incantation they were supposed to be practicing. As he held the sphere, focusing, nothing happened. As he felt frustrated, he finally started feeling the will in him rise as he once again grew frustrated with his predicament. "Why doesn't it every do anything when I want it to do it," he thought in frustration. Just then, the ρ rune began to glow, however instead of a breeze appearing on the other end, it was as if the sphere became a self-propelled projectile, as it shot off, punching a hole through the wall. This appeared different from the incident at the assessment, as he had not been touching the same part of the sphere as that day. Additionally, the force behind this appeared to be much more, as not only had it punched a hole through a wall, but another two classroom walls, before a figure appeared to be standing with a large gauntlet with the training sphere clasped in it. Femble lowered her gauntlet, revealing a wide-eyed student staring shocked back at Henry through the holes in the walls.
Henry heard Elijah's voice let out a soft chuckle in his ear, like a whisper, "Well that explains why there was one student who's death we foresaw, but did not particularly stand out during the assessments. We were worried the assassins were broadening their targets, but it was just you." The student staring back at Henry, was none other than Sarah.