[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qSXKgkY.png[/img]
[sub][@Nanaya][/sub][/center]
Forty-five minutes.

In one way, it is plenty.

In another way? It wasn’t enough to get at the heart of it.

While others sought their pairs, Otis stood up. It was a class of eight. A small classroom, with only a few whose personalities he could consider as audacious. He had been in groups before, where the moment a teacher sat back, the room exploded with dialogue and conversation. That was not the case here. People did things quietly enough; even Davil was whispering for some strange reason. The Strigidae ignored him for now, settling a meaningful glance upon Alto, before stepping up to the front of the room.

[b]“I will explain and demonstrate my process,”[/b] Otis declared. It would have sounded arrogant, perhaps, if not for the neutrality of his tone, the lack of any particular expression on his face. His amber gaze caught Davil’s, then bounced upon Ciara’s, before finally settling vaguely in the direction of Chloe. She would be best suited for learning this particular spell, wouldn’t she? One hand extended outwards, wrist rotating so that the splayed fingers seemed to be moving around space.

[b]“Instructor Alto spoke of understanding, of the collective and the many. That is the key to emotional essence. Envision the fervor of an Astrite choir. The quietude of written exams. Moods mesh together to form an atmosphere, within which emotional essence can be found.”[/b] His hand continued to move around that invisible something, before it clenched, forming a fist. [b]“But while understanding such atmosphere is necessary for capturing emotional essence, that understanding must be accompanied by an understanding that you are [i]distinct[/i]. You are the user, not the tool. The priest at the head of a delegation. The invigilator at the front of the room.”[/b]

He had not clenched his fist. He had grabbed something intangible, something that he could now pull at, manipulate.

[b]“Now, it is simply a matter of understanding what yourself is, and holding yourself as distinct from all others. Empathy is important, but self-awareness is more so. The length of your fingernails. The thickness of your skin. The inflating of your lungs. The grumbling of your guts. Delve into yourself in your entirety, utilizing whatever imagery best suits yourself for envisioning your uniqueness.”[/b] A pause, but a short one. [b]“I envision myself colorless.”[/b]

That invisible something he grabbed at now seemed to melt into the air around him, a gentle breeze tickling beneath his clothing. Otis’s gaze darkened briefly, drawing upon a sense of ‘distance’ in order to modulate his Personal Barrier. The distance of being unpaired. The distance of being unlike. The distance of being…

[b]“And from that point, maintain that sense of self. Utilize it to enforce a separation between yourself and all else, until the world around you recognizes that. There are many spells that create Barriers, but the keyword for this one is ‘Personal’.”[/b]

Otis clapped his hands together. Gone was the knowledge-giver, returned was the knowledge-seeker.

[b]“That being said, that’s how it is done in with arcane methodologies, and it’s based off my own mental model. If anyone else has or finds greater success in a different model of visualization, please, share. There’s only eight of us present, but there are four primary conduits, so I do expect at least three non-arcane students here, for divine, occult, and primal. It’d be interesting to compare and contrast pathways as a result, especially for the divine and the occult, both which historically have a greater sense of 'borrowing' from an entity separate from yourself! I'd also be interested in hearing about how any of you would establish yourself as separate from the world, if you do choose to follow in my example!”[/b]