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There was a rocky aftermath, but after a great campaign of sporadic inattention, we completed our long slog through the chapter of Divine Mandate I. So, what did we learn? Holy magic's three branches are Storm, Intervention, and Light. What do they all mean? Storm harnesses heavenly energy to manifest destructive spells; Imagine beams of light that can carve stone, the antithesis of dark matter. Intervention is a Chant meant to protect oneself and others from things earthly and supernatural. Finally, Light is a nuanced medium that communicates healing and illumination – Chanters who follow this path never tread alone and never find a dark corner that cannot be lit. Overall, the power to heal and protect people is admirable and useful. Maybe, I could understand a little bit of why Serrina was so devout... Her dedication to prayer might also explain her stoicisim. Who was I to judge?
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Onward, the Storm discipline is a specialty of the vicars, and it places them on par with the magisters in terms of potential. The chanters who understand Storm are fully-fledged casters with the ability to smite the wicked. Church Inquisitors are prime examples.
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Intervention is alslo a Holy discipline favored by knightly orders. It is common knowledge that knights are the most able-bodied warriors of the fief. They swear their oath to Lord and land, Lord with a Capital L, for their patron is the God of Justice Ziu. The Chant of Intervention imbues them with the power to defend themselves from the arcane and combat the other worlds. However, only master knights, or paladins, stand a chance against Mara crystals, which lend power to magisters and maisters. Whenever knights go after an apostate, they accompany an inquisitor. Often, they succeed in the hunt, so the church would have us believe. Inquisitors are yet a bit of a mystery, aren’t they?
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"And that's the chapter," I declared.
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"Wait, wait!" Roy scribbled notes as if it were a timed exam. "What else?"
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"Thirteen more chapters to go," Elise yawned. "If this is the beginning of a greater school of thought, I shiver at how many tomes await."
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She really is lazy. "Try not to complain about something you haven’t even started."
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"I am simply thinking aloud. Anyway, you made a promise."
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"What promise?" I said like a buffoon.
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"Don't play the buffoon. Tell me about the boy you mentioned."
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I sat back in my seat. "Well, a promise is a promise."
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Roy, meanwhile, set his quill down and began staring with a blank expression. I didn't even think about him before now.
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"Okay, so, I was in the banquet hall, minding my own business..." I slowly recalled the very brief yet annoying interaction with that other first-year boy from the cafeteria. I recalled it in detail, as well as the strangeness of it all, from the staring to the point where he started playing pranks. Elise clung to my every word, and in the end, her brow lifted in satisfactory delight. She seemed proud. "How did he say it?" she asked.
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"Normally, I guess."
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“No, but how? Did he say it like ‘your face!’ she said with jubilance. Or ‘your face.’?” she sneered.
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“I don’t know.”
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"Then I think a boy complimented you because he thought you were pretty."
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"Really?".
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"Have you never been complimented before?"
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"I've been called smart before, although most people would say it as if it were a revelation."
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"Yes, but no one has flattered you as a woman?"
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Thoughts in Limbo, I gently shook my head.
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"That's very sad."
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"I guess that's why it didn't seem possible."
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"Oh, come on now. She glanced over at Roy. "Ron!"
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Roy made eye contact.
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"You're a boy."
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"Yes," he confirmed.
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"Do you think Pollux is pretty?"
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She had to go and make the poor boy feel awkward and puzzled...
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"Doh," he swallowed his tongue, blushing. “Well…”
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And I leered at Elise.
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Elise smiled innocently. "See..."
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I didn’t know what to make of it. "Is that why you wanted to study together?" I asked Roy.
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He seemed genuinely puzzled. "No."
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I don't know why I asked the next question. "Do you think Elise is pretty?"
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Roy stared at Elise.
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Elise glowered.
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"It's hard to tell," he said.
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"The fuck does that mean?"
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"Hehehe.” I smiled. “Shall we continue this time next week?"
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"Yes!" Roy stood up.
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Elise rolled her eyes. "Fine."
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In bed that very same night, I tried to remember a time where I had study partners. It was difficult enough finding people who could read, let alone study. Back home, a lot of the boys used books as stools, and I would lament the occasionally lost page. So, I would read in the stalls, a horse named Wilbur as my sole audience. I miss Wilbur. Wrapped in clean bedsheets now, those memories felt surreal, but they lulled me to sleep...
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The next morning tarried from normal routine. At the break of dawn, our class representatives called us to the great hall. This meant there would be an announcement. What kind of news? It was anybody’s guess, but inside I was an ember of worry and excitement. It’s because this announcement was not on the calendar. Something sudden had happened. What could it be? What would it mean?
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Four students took to the rostrum, standing on the stage before us. One for every corpus of the student body. From there, the boy who introduced us at the Cinderfall entrance ceremony, darkly groomed and square-chinned, showed a calm yet serious expression. As the brawny and tender boy made the gesture for silence, everyone complied. The illusory decorations had been dissoolved in preparation for his new announcement.
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“Good afternoon, everyone. Hear ye, hear ye: though there is no immediate need for concern, we have information that must be shared. As of yesterday, hostilities have commenced between Lords Calabeck and Rochambeau.” Those names are familiar. Calabeck has declared himself proper heir to the diogese. However, the cassus belli is not important. “This concerns us because Calabeck borders the Cinderfall fief, and Rochambeau borders Baumwolland to the west. While Lord Raygen has personally assured the headmaster that this will not affect our fair academy, this series of events requires our grim awareness. Please, stay alart and remain safe as the conflict unfolds. If you must travel, do not venture off the roads… Such is the norm.”
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“If you have family in these lands, pray for them,” one priest interjected.
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“Right,” the rep continued. “And a reminder: always wear your uniform. Venture between classes with them, never without, and… for the foreseeable future, students may don them for the road.”
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Murmurs and more murmurs confused the crowd of kids. I saw a sober disparity between panicked and inert faces. I knew that many of them had family in the countryside, so I couldn’t imagine the thoughts racing through their minds. Meanwhile, most students hailed from outside this county and outside the duchy. Cinderfall was famous, remember? They came from all over the Imperium, even from provinces that were home to rival schools.
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But of course, those who had never seen a war now carried a morbid curiosity in their wide eyes. Not me and not the locals. Believe it or not, this was nothing new for imperial denizens like us. It’s why I had so many siblings at the orphanage. Yes, some had parents who didn’t want them. Others got to see them die. Which was worse? If I ever meet someone lucky enough to experience both circumstances, I’ll be sure to ask them.
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That same afternoon, I had other plans outside matters of war. See, when a good idea stuck, I was very terrible at procrastination. You could say it made me reckless, reckless as I strolled through the ringed walls and armed guards, for classes were done and I dared to do something unpredictable, possibly dangerous. It was the kind of venture no student should endeavor, no matter how burdened by curiosity. But I had done it before, and I thought this should be no different as I waited in the Hunter Quarter.
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“Usually, the lasses waiting outside my door are much older.” It was Magister Renaud, who had arrived outside his classroom just in time to let me use up his free time. “What brings you here, Pollux, when class is over?” He already had one foot through the door. We walked in together.
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“I had a question that has been pestering me for a while now, and I knew I could only ask the best, most skilled and handsome teacher in the school.”
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He trod over and ‘round his desk draped in drake hide. “Well, one of those is true, but I only ever hear it when people want something from me.” Renaud’s voice was very husky, and his beard was always growing out but never grown. Not enough to hide the scars. Though the gray strands were starting to show, they complimented his blue eyes quite well. There was a kindness in them that helped subdue his fierce demeanor. I could have called him the most grizzled teacher in the school, but there were no brownie points for that.
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“I have a question, professor.”
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“You have a question. There’s always a question, but-”
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“Can one possess magic without casting spells?”
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I couldn’t tell if he was puzzled by the question or the interruption. “You don’t mean a sprite.”
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“No, I mean, can someone possess mara in their blood and lack the ability to affect the arcane. And I don’t just mean a small amount of blood. I mean as much as a maister if not more.”
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“Every boy and girl from every hearth of every village and canton is tested for blood. If such a person existed, we’d be well aware, Lux.”
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In my heart, I already knew his answer, yet I was still disappointed. “So, there’s no chance of an anomaly? They’ve never been found?”
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“If they have, then it’s a well-kept secret.”
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“Hmmm.”
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“Why are you asking this?”
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“I guess, I’m just paranoid. Curious about myself…”
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“Why so curious?”
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“Because, though I have undergone the tests, I have never successfully conjured an element or anything… nothing but light. But that’s not tangible. It’s not…”
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“It’s not the affinity you desire?”
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“Is it an affinity? Or is it just pity from some diety?”
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Hunter Ludwig picked up a scabbard resting next to his exqusitely carved desk. The sword was still in it. And from the equally exuisite scabbard lined with silver inlays in the vein of tree branches, he pulled out a long blade that looked like it had never seen dirt. “Magic may be a fascination guided by our will, young Lux, but it remains now and forevermore a manfestation of nature. No less than the bees and the beasts that live among us. It does what it may, whether we aknowledge or understand it.” As if taken somewhere else, he began handling the blade like a fencer in a dance, lost in his own thoughts… or so it seemed.”
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“I’m not sure I understand your point, professor.”
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“My point,” he returned, aiming the tip of his sword at me, “is that in any moment of any hour, any action of any motion, any thought of any emotion, may spark the arcane of thine intent. Do not confuse it with will or want, but let it happen as it may. Then, do what you will if it be thy will.”
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At the time, I didn’t know if I was too dumb or too smart for his reply. However, it helped me realize that I just wanted one answer, and I was a fool. “Thank you for your time, professor,” I said with a bow.
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On my way out the door, the mighty hunter spared one more line of wisdom. “Be wary of the night, young Lux. It, too, has an intent of its own.” Now, that was less cryptic. You could count on Ludwig to make sense about anything related to monsters. Everything else was hit and miss… or a jest.
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