[IC] Of Blood and Magic

[ReusableSword]

Victor Astorio

At the very least he now had some time to think about what he was going to talk to the princess about after classes today. Victor wasn’t sure how or what he would say, would it be safe for him to tell her everything or be safe. Should he completely come clean it could be dangerous for leaf if he weren’t careful. The issue remained that he lacked the resources to investigate this further, effectively he had hit a roadblock.

These thoughts rolled through the counts mind while he got ready for class. He didn’t talk much to Salem only mentioning a change to his training schedule due to winter hours. Victor didn’t want his mage staying up later to try and catch more time in the sun while until he was used to his new classes. He also mentioned wanting to go over code phrases with him later while he was walking out the door. This didn’t leave much room for discussion.

Victor made his way to his first class of the day, an intro to tech class. Salem said it would be fun but he highly doubted that. Maybe this would make him more self sufficient in this new age and he wouldn’t have to keep breaking his phone or having the boy do it for him. None of this sounded fun to him he was glad he could get this out of the way first and enjoy his other classes.

He seemed to arrive at the class a bit after most of the others, but a few were still trickling in. he was wearing his normal loose-fitting clothes, but this time went with a more forest green pallet accompanied with a light jacket. It wasn’t normally something he would wear but it was still something one would expect some one who works for the council to wear. More akin to a field agent than anything.

Finding a spot towards the middle of the class with the small note book he kept in his pocket and a pen that he sat on the desk. He had brought his cell phone with him as well incase he needed it but it was off. He wasn’t sure if there was assigned seating like there was in other classes for the nobles, but he didn’t like sitting up there anyways. The teacher soon found her way in and started the class. This Dame Patel, he didn’t really have any opinions on her. Really, he hadn’t sat down and talked with her at length, she just came off as very energetic and that never really mixed well with him anyways.

[Trainerblue192]

This what Salem was here for, it was what he had come to school to learn. He eagerly finished getting ready in his dorm, choosing to wear a loose linen first green shirt, some brown pants, and an off-white canvas apron with leather straps. Salem was no stranger to work inside of a greenhouse and knew just how messy it could be, or so he thought. He readied himself before a mirror, getting psyched up as much as he could be to be learning some more plant magic. He didn't know exactly what to expect, or how much more advanced these classes would be, but he was ready to find out. His eyes glanced at an orchid that was set on the back right edge of his sink, its pale white petals allowing for the vibrant pink to shine through their center. He focused his magic and imagined the trail the plant would follow, wrapping itself around the stick placed in and growing. A thin strand of green magic formed its way from the plant down a small length of it no longer than an inch, and the plant began to grow and follow its trail.

Pleased with his progress, Salem decided it was time to head out. Placing his dirty dishes into the sink for later as Victor began to speak to him of changed schedules due to the winters shorter days. He nodded along, rinsing the cup and the teapot so that no stains would be left behind, tossing the leaves into a composte bin as Victor continued on. The last he heard was something about having codewords and then the front door closed leaving Salem in silence. He let out a sigh as he stared into the pot with water in it and a single swirling leaf. He was more than glad that Victor was finally learning to use technology. If he hadn't needed to Google one more thing for the vampire it would be too soon. Granted there were worse things he could have him doing. Salem dried off his hands with the towel that hung below the sink, pulling his hair back and up into a messy bun before sliding the tie off his wrist and holding it in place.

He made his way towards greenhouse 4, unfamiliar with the setup there as his previous trainings were at 2. Salem could see the chaos happening within the building, magic appeared to be going haywire in there, though he wasn't sure what else he expected when you get a bunch of novice mages into one room with throny plants and poison. He only hoped for their sake it wasn't as dangerous as it sounded...or looked. He filed in, taking a stand at a nearby table as he awaited the others. The professor seemed to make a grand entrance if by grand you mean narrowly dodging a flying thorn. It lodged itself safely into a wooden shelf as Salem followed it with his eyes and filing it away for later ideas in combat. The professor was a mess, but what more could he expect of someone who toiled with dirt for a living? Salems phone vibrated and he saw he had 2 new messages, one from Lilie and another from Max. How did he miss Lilies earlier?

Whatever the case, she was less likely to answer now that classes were almost in session. Probably too busy trying to contain herself to her seat with her overexcitement bouncing her up and down. It was an adorable thought, and even better mental image. He pushed it aside as the image Max had sent loaded up. Salem had to cover up his chuckle with a cough as he saw the message and vibrant image. > Whats he supposed to be? The lion that gets tamed Salem was about to send the message when his finger paused over the screen and he deleted his response. His mother wouldn't be proud of such a statement, instead he choose to send another. >Let's just be glad Varis was never that cruel. It probably wasn't what Max was looking for, and Salem was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that Max messaged him but he didn't put too much stock into it yet. Clicking his phone off as the other students began to file in.

[Achronum]

January 7th - 10:00pm

Was it already too late to drop this class? As the instructor--Varis couldn't believe he was forced to consider whatever the abomination of a vampire was as one--spewed vulgarity and disrespected the basic foundation of their entire society, all Varis could wonder was where in the world Ryner managed to find these freaks. This was the problem with a modernist in charge of a learning institution. No respect for any of the rules and expectations that protect that world from crumbling beneath them and everyone wonders why even a Starag acts out. It's obvious when vampires like this manage to cling desperately to positions of authority when they are clearly little more than insects that need to be squashed as quickly as possible.

Varis grumbled as the instructor stepped away to gather supplies, turning his attention to his companion. Eris at the very least seemed to be enjoying himself, alluding to his tireless supply of awful and unnecessary commentary, but Varis scowled at the question. “Between this break, the boy nearly assaulting me in my own home, and whatever mockery of a class this passes as, I’ve barely had the opportunity to encounter something otherwise. There’s been exactly one pleasant thing since we left the Academy and this moment that even vague registers as something other than unpleasant but I suppose that’s the life of a noble heir.” Varis grumbled. “I suppose you had something at least passingly enjoyable over the break happen?”

---

Mage Classes

Aaron

Lighties for Lyfe!!!

“Good evening, Aaron.” The Professor greeted Aaron, the lights at his fingertips vanishing as he straightened. He grimaced as his back cracked but otherwise ignored it. “I had some help but the design is mine. Since you’ll be working in two affinity classes at once, I figured I’d combine the two base lessons together in a visual format for easy reference. 102 will focus on using your magic in tandem with another to complete the lattice and 201 will be creating illusions of the animals inside and then working to develop your animation skills. That being said, we’ll still be relying on the light around you as is. Your illusions will still look like light magic until you start to learn how to filter the light you’re manipulating but it’s something that, if you progress quickly enough, we might have some time to start playing with before the end of―”

The Professor shielded his eyes as a brilliant burst of rainbow erupted from the center of the room. Spiraling patterns and shapes whirled around it a dizzying display before coalescing into a vague humanoid shape. The light faded out and instead stood an older student, bundled up in dark winter clothes, with her eyes screwed shut and knuckles white around the metal rod clutched in both hands. Her hoop earrings shimmered with faint, fading rainbows until Russel cleared his throat pointedly and she opened her eyes. She released her death grip on her focus, the elegant runic designs leaving imprints on her skin, and she quickly patted herself down, muttering off body parts as she touched them.

“As you know Aaron, Affinity 102 is a group class but because light affinities are so rare, we had to bring in the only other light mage on campus. Aaron, meet―”

“I did it. I did it!” Aaron’s partner shouted, cutting off the Professor’s introduction. She beamed as she did a short victory dance. “Am I good or am I good? Translocation, mastered!” The Professor clapped as he laughed.

“Very good, Meredith, but why don’t we focus on your punctuality next. As I was saying, Aaron meet Meredith, your senior light mage. She agreed to come in and assist as a Teacher’s Assistant credit.”

Meredith held her fist out for a fist bump. “Nice to finally meet you, dude! Last semester was an absolute shithole for me or I’d have swung by earlier, that and the whole terrifying vampires thing, but now we can be lighties! You know, like besties but with light.”

Lilie

Tides and Tribulations

“Lilie!” Esi exclaimed happily, grinning at her student. “Welcome back to class! Hopefully, you rested over the break because we’re going to push you and your magic to the very brink this semester!” Esi laughed, the infectious sound filling the room. The dour man next to her smiled, transforming his face from the stiff, dour man into something far more warm and pleasant, and he chuckled along with her. Esi clapped him on the back and wheezed as she knocked the breath out of him.

“And this is your other teacher for this class, Baron Gelbero.” She gestured at her colleague, who nodded a greeting as he struggled to get himself back under control. “He’s doing me a favor and taking a break from his ever important resonance research to help me try out some new teaching exercises! I’m really excited for this semester and I have high expectations!” She sang the last part excitedly.

As she finished, the doors opened again and five more students poured in. Two guys passed melted snow back and forth in a blurring display of control until it smacked one in the face and they broke down laughing, not stopping until they reached the metal barrels. Another girl approached the metal barrels curiously, pulling a thin strand of water up after a quick wave to Esi. ONe more guy slipped in just as he door closed, taking a moment to catch his breath after clearly sprinting here to make it on time. He crossed the room quickly and paused, scanning the room, before settling in line with the others.

Esi gave Baron a thumbs up.

“Welcome to Affinity 102.” Baron’s voice was rough around the edges, as if it hadn’t been used in a while, but it carried across the room with the effortless ease of someone acclimated to speaking in front of crowds. “I am Baron Gelbero, a resonance researcher at the Academy. If it makes you more comfortable, please feel free to call me Bar. This semester, you’ll be learning to manipulate water along with another person. It’s a critical stepping stone to learning how to safely handle channeling larger quantities of magic without running the risk of resonating before you’re ready.”

“So that means, it’s partner time! At barrel number 1, Anabell and Marcus! At barrel number 2, Lilie and Jonathan! At barrel number 3, Kyle and Sean!” Esi declared, pointing at the left, middle, and right barrels respectively. “Today we’re going to start with something easy. All we’re going to do is pass some water back and forth. Kyle and Jonathan were already practicing but every five minutes, you’re going to gather more and more water until you can’t hold it anymore. We just need you to get comfortable brushing against each other’s magic as you pass the water between each other.

Esi pulled a stream of water out of the center barrel and sent it shooting at Bar without warning. Bar blinked, startled, but the water coiled into a tight ball in front of him nonetheless. He gave her a dry look before much more calmly sending it back to her. “Now, the point of this exercise is to release your control over the water in the same moment as your partner takes it. It'll be a bit of a shock the first few times, literally, so don't be surprised if you drop the water too quickly! Once your comfortable passing passing water back and forth and it feels more like a tingle, we'll move onto mingling your magic longer! Go ahead and get started! Bar and I are just gunna wander around and observe so don't mind us, okay?"

Max

Clickity Clackity, Roll for Attackity

"I could have but since this is a practical lesson, I believe that standing would keep you more engaged in the exercise." Professor Artiae explained, closing the binder and setting it off to the side. "Maxwell, meet Ashton. Ashton is a 3rd year student with a metal affinity and agreed to assist us with your lesson this semester." Ashton finally tucked away his phone and barely spared Max a look. He shoved off the table so he stood properly. His face was blank and expressionless.

"This semester we'll be working on combining metals of two different types. Last semester, you mastered melding objects of the same types of metal together. By the end of this, you should be able to do that with two or more different types of metal with the same degree of fluidity. Of course, keeping them together for longer than a few minutes will be a challenge but that's why we have a second mage available." Artiae gestured to Ashton, who just nodded. "His job will change over the course of the lesson. At first, he'll assist you in combining the metals, getting you used to working in tandem, but towards the end, he'll be actively hampering your ability to do so. It will build your magical strength and build your understanding if you find yourself against another metal mage."

Artiae gestured to the table in front of him. "Each of the cubes are a different material. We'll change the pairings you attempt each week until you are capable of melding portions of all of them and maintaining the form. However, your final exam will include this." He patted the pyramid in the center. "You will not be manipulating this but rather using it as a standard. You'll have to use all the other metals to match the density of this in the center. In real world application, it is important you can not only manipulate metal to your benefit but form it in such a way that it's structure isn't a continuous drain on your reserves." Artiae took a step back from the table.

"Now, fair warning. Considering your personalities, I wouldn't be surprised if you two struggled with this a little. Normally, magic intertwining creates feedback similar to a light electric shock. You'll build a resistance to it as you become familiar but when magic of firmly independent mages interact, the resulting consequences can cause the metal to reject both magics explosively. I'll catch any unexpected shards before anyone gets hurt of course so please feel free to explore the experience as much as you wish today. We'll start with Maxwell. Please separate one of the blocks into four equal parts and keep them steady while Ashton reassembled them." Artiae instructed, pulling off his winter gloves to reveal the metal underneath. "Once you've successfully disassembled and reassembled a block three times without it exploding, we'll move onto combining two different metal types in the same manner."

Ashton pulled out a wooden wand, a few feathers dancing off the back. "You can do it." Ashton encouraged flatly. Artiae gave Ashton an exasperated glanced but otherwise stayed silent.

Salem

A Rose by Any Other Name

"Welcome, welcome! It's good to see everyone again. Are we ready to get down and dirty with some serious magic?" Leo asked as he fiddled with the rose cutting in his hand. Two of the students were practically bouncing up and down, excited at the prospect of playing with their magic again, while the others… really didn't care for the time of night, their exhaustion in the face of a sudden schedule change muting their excitement. One girl, tall and dressed in gardener's overalls and a plain black long sleeve shirt with her black hair cut short, rolled her eyes in exasperation at the lack of energy.

"Now, last semester we tested your abilities and guided you into kickstarting early growth and blooming. Now, it sounds like an easy task but most of you learned it's an incredibly delicate process and what the consequences are for failure. But that's okay because you have to start somewhere and it's easier to be careful when you know messing up kills what you're working on." Leo reassured them. "Now, everyone of you managed to get at least one of your seeds growing so now we're going to do that same thing from cuttings! Two of you probably already know this," Profess Leo nodded at Salem and the black haired girl, who sent Salem a quizzical look. "But cuttings are an easy way to propagate roses. By cutting and replanting specific sections of a rose bush, you can grow any entire plant from just this stem! Aren't plants so cool?" The Professor beamed excitedly.

"Of course, we're doing things a teensy Itty bit different. Cuttings are divided into three categories: Softwood, Semi-hard wood, and hardwood. While we'll go into all three types later, we'll be using hardwood cuttings for this semester. Hardwood cuttings are taken from the rose plant during late fall or early winter, just after the newly grown stems of the year have fully matured and already entered dormancy. Out of all three, these are the most difficult to persuade to take root." Leo explained with a flourish of the cutting in his hand. "So why do we use this for a bunch of novic mages? Because it's the perfect multitiered problem for group studies! With the amount of magical stamina you each have currently, you wouldn't even be able to begin touching the necessary reserves to startle these babies out of their slumber but by carefully combining your magical energies and guiding the stem through the process of awakening, you should be able to grow a single, beautiful bloom and start the process for it to continue into a full fledged rose bush! Remember, you'll have to balance all the lessons from your last semester against the overwhelming urge to slam your magic into the poor thing. Balancing what part of the process your magic is stimulating versus how much magic you are applying is the key. Too little magic and the cutting won't respond. Too much magic and the cutting will grow too quickly and die. Now we'll separate into partners…" Leo patted himself down, checking every pocket as he muttered to himself until finally, he pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his breast pocket.

"And here we go! Okay table one, Salem and Angelica. Table two, Evan and Andrew. Table three, Todd and Isabell. Get into your groups, check out your table, and introduce yourself to your partner." Leo instructed as he pointed out the tables. "Don't worry too much if you're struggling at first. Mixing magic like this may be a little frightening at first; most people just experience a bit of a shock for a while but really compatible magic might just click and people that just don't work well with others might find their magic refusing to do anything but fight so don't be too discouraged if your cutting withers away before you even try anything. It's a normal part of first time attempts."

Angelica, the black haired girl who'd given Salem an appraising look, settled in at table one. She immediately went to put on her gloves and smirked at Salem when she joined him. "Looks like we're the only two with a brain here if people don't know about cuttings already. I'm Angelica Brightwood. Ready to show these amaturer's serious magic?"

---

Vampire Classes

Ben, Amaris, Victor

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

“Now that everyone is settled, I'd like to welcome our honored guests of the evening. Countess Marivaldi, Count Astorio, and Count Eve, thank you for giving me the opportunity to guide you through the complicated world of modern technology!" Dame Patel nodded in their directions before she took off immediately, barely giving her mage the time to set up the introductory slide. "Now in this class, we'll be discussing three modes of communications! The simplest of these is the walkie talkie known as a channel. Next, we'll dive into phones, a simple device that transmits your voice so long as you hold down a button. Once we’ve mastered a walkie talkie, we’ll move onto phone calls and text messages from cellular telephones, also known as Cell Phones to most mages today, and finally we’ll end our semester mastering email on a computer. With all that said, let’s move right into walkie talkies!” Dame Patel clapped her hands and her mage changed the slide and provided her with a heavy black rectangle with two knobs on top next to a short tube like protrusion. The three screens above her all displayed images of the same item in her hand from overhead, the front, and the left. Each image had lines connecting labels to their appropriate spot.

“As I discuss our fantastic mortal contraption, please refer to the images above my head. A walkie talkie, or a radio as some mortals refer to it even though it's a waste of such a whimsical name, transmits your voice from this device to any number of similar ones on the same channel across a specific distance. Of course, it then begs the question: what is a channel? A channel is much like a room. Anyone in that room can hear you but anyone out of that room cannot! Source that the center knob has several numbers around it. Each number represents a channel and the white line on the knob points to the channel you are currently on. For example, the one I have now is on channel 3." She dipped tilted the one she held towards the class, displaying that it was set to channel 3. She gestured to her mage, who also held a walkie talkie, and he muttered softly into it.

The one in her hand crackled to life and her mages voice echoed out. "Testing, testing, one, two, three." The walkie talkie went silent again.

"Now see what happens when I change the channel to four." She twisted the knob, the click quiet in the large space, and the mage once again muttered into his walkie talkie. No noise came out of the device. "See? Relatively simple so far! Any questions?"

Varis,Eris

Blind, Deaf, and Dumb: What Fun!

The emaciated vampire all but tossed one blindfold, a pair of earplugs, and a wickedly sharp dagger at each pair. She smirked, a twisted, sadistic thing, and put her hands on her hips. "You shit heads will be working on touch first. Pull the blindfold and earplugs on one of you maggots and the one without all the shit gets the dagger. Pretty sure most of you can guess the game here. Dumbasses in blindfolds, drive up that touch sensitivity. People with the daggers, pick a spot on your partner, trace a number, and have the partner tell you what you traced. Simple as that.” The vampire explained.

“So why are we using knives made sharp enough to cut any one of you up like a fucking steak? The whole point of the lesson is to heighten how well we manage our senses so in order to ensure our partners are being as light as vampirically possible, anytime you press any harder than just resting it on the skin, you’ll get cut and for every cut, you lose two points off your grade. Now, get working.” She barked with a laugh.

[Obscene Symphony]

Aaron was busy getting a closer look at the lattice on the floor as Professor Daun explained it, trying to get a rough mental estimate of how much of a challenge the tasks it presented would be until a brilliant flash of colour drew his eye to the corner of the room. His eyebrows raised as the flurry of light gave way to a woman, patting herself down.

“I did it. I did it!”

He almost jumped again as the mellow tone of Professor Daun’s introduction was interrupted once more, Aaron casting a disbelieving look over at the girl the Professor eventually managed to introduce as Meredith. The only other light mage on campus, was she? Aaron knew light was an uncommon affinity, but he didn’t realize it was that rare.

The girl’s—Meredith’s—bubbly attitude was certainly a change of pace from the evening he’d had, but an amusing thought did cross his mind that she’d probably get along swimmingly with Lilie. Maybe if things kept going well they’d get a chance to meet. Come to think of it, Lilie probably had a partner or two in her class too, or more seeing as her affinity — and there he went, distracted again, and missed most of Meredith’s last sentence.

Cracking a sheepish smile, Aaron did his best to pretend he’d been paying attention, eyeing the girl’s outstretched fist with veiled confusion. Was she… trying to hand him something? Gesturing to the lattice maybe? He wasn’t sure, but he offered Meredith a nod of acknowledgement, figuring a handshake probably wasn’t what she was looking for with that… whatever it was.

“Nice to meet you too, Meredith. And don’t worry about it,” he said, waving off her apology. He had to assume that “the whole terrifying vampires thing” referred to his partnership to Varis, and if that was the case, he certainly couldn’t blame her for keeping her distance. If anything, it was preferable. “And thank you for offering your time. Aside from Professor Daun, you’re actually the first other light mage I’ve met. I hope I can keep up.”

Looking back to the professor in question, he gestured to the ground. “So, how do we get started?”

_@Achronum

[Scribe of Thoth]

---

Making alloys by bullying a collared weirdo on the astral plane. Sounded like Max's kind of class. Professor Artiae's mention of 'firmly independent' mages elicited a raised brow from Max, though he didn't comment. He certainly wasn't talking about Fido over there, so what, was he just calling Max uncooperative? As empowering as it was to hear he could make the room explode just by being difficult, it couldn't be that hard. He hadn't made that stupid crystal explode in last semester's partner exercises, in any case. All the other guy had to do was let Max take the lead; he was probably used to that.

Labrador's monotone encouragement didn't exactly put Max in the mood to behave, though. Sure, this guy would rather be eating kibble out of his leech's hand than sit here; Max totally understood having better things to do, but he could at least keep quiet instead of being patronizing. That explained the comment, then; Artiae knew Max was disagreeable at best and fully expected him to perform the magical equivalent of French kissing with this jackass regardless. If the sparks didn't fly, there was probably reason for concern.

Max checked his phone rather flagrantly one last time before he fully engaged with the lesson, unconcerned with looking rude. Salem didn't even play along with the joke. What, was Aaron on his pity list because he got sent back to the pound when his owner allegedly died? Lilie, surprisingly, at least got him to exhale forcefully from his nose. Asston definitely had a leash somewhere; with self-respect that low, his vampire probably walked him to class and let him piss on street lamps. The brunet slipped his phone away shortly after, not looking to push the envelope too far.

The cube in question was already inhabited by a plentiful dose of Max's essence by the time he began, and the first part of the exercise was child's play. The mage extended a hand, bidding the metal to hover above the table. Pure metal, uniform crystallization, near-limitless possiblities for a clean faultline to form. He suspected that wouldn't be the case in a moment, but that just meant he needed to do another hasty internet search on metallic structure when he got back to the dorm later. His pointer finger flicked to draw a plus shape in the air as indentations etched themselves into the cube in parallel, and after a few moments of seemingly nothing happening, the cube segmented into four equally-sized prisms in a loose orbit about each other.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll hold them in place," The mage muttered before anyone gave him shit about the pieces moving too much. Spontaneity was far easier when his magic already had a flow to it, in his opinion. Inert metal needed to build up momentum, but objects that were already charged were easily and effectively manipulated. Granted, the whole point of the exercise was to stop movement, but he knew what he was doing, damn it!

The fingers of Max's other hand flexed at his side to drill the motion into muscle memory. While the professor could probably catch shrapnel in his sleep at this point, the boy didn't see any reason he shouldn't be prepared to at least deflect anything flying at him regardless. Ashton could fend for himself; it'd probably be a mercy for him to get brained with a metal rod.

---

@Achronum

[Trainerblue192]

There was a weird mix of energy a out the room. Some clearly eager to use their magic again, while others seemed to be either exhausted or uncaring. Salem focused his attention at the two that were practically bouncing in place. His mind immediately going to the thought of how Lilie must be doing the same thing. Eager to get her lessons on and advance, or at the very least use, her magic. He would've liked to think that even Max would have more energy than the other two in the room. He may not like people, but he seemed genuinely interested in figuring out more about magic and developing his skills with it as varied as he can. Why else would he take up Salems offer to trade lessons for transmutation and evocation. The final student, however, held a different pose from all the rest. He couldn't quite decide how he felt about her. Either she was very good at what she could do, or she was cocky and overconfident.

Salem listened on to the explanation that Professor Leo was giving to the class. He hadn't really thought about how other plant mages may of developed outside of a non plant family. They didn't have much of the knowledge that he, and apparently this raven haired girl, had. At least, not if Professor Leo had to explain about what cuttings were. Salem glanced over towards the overall girl, noticing her look towards him before he turned his attention back towards Leo. Was she sizing up her competition? Or simply just surprised to see another mage who already knows about the subject? If it was the former, then Salem had no cares on how she viewed him. He wasn't here to compete with other mages of his kind. He was here to learn, develope, and enhance his skills for what he would need in the future.

Once the Professor finished his little speech and gave out the pairings, Salem began to make his was towards his table, noticing that Angelica was already there. He slipped his hands into one of his aprons pockets and pulled out a pair of small leather gloves that came up just past the wrist. Slipping them on and tugging on the cuff of each glove to ensure they were snug. He extended a gloved hand out towards Angelica for her to shake. "Salem Spellman. I don't know about 'showing them serious magic' but I am ready to further develop my skills and hone the ones I have. We may be speeding things up, but horticulture is still about patience, practice, and a delicate touch. Don't want to be singled out for knowledge only to wither our cutting on the first try now do we?"

[Hero]

---

---

The boy assaulted who now?! Did Sunny finally break under the pressure? Eris couldn't really stop his jaw dropping from shock, but he did miraculously hold back the hollow laugh that was about to follow. Huh, the kid snapped a lot sooner than expected, Eris figured it would've been maybe at least a year. Oh wait a second, Ismene did mention he had called, didn't she? He expected that much, but he didn't think the kid would lose it like that.

"Mmm...the dedication is admirable," He replied slowly, albeit his expression wasn't too impressed. "Better than finding out he had a secret celebration, I suppose."

But he wasn't going to get into that. Unfortunately, Eris didn't have too much to offer. "My grandfather wanted to see me about exchanging some assets, but aside from confirming that Adonis' investments went down faster than a mortal with whisky, it wasn't what I had hoped for," He rolled his eyes. As fun as it was seeing his cousins try and fail to reach his own magnitude of success, he had seen that one coming from a mile away.

"I'm more interested in the meeting tonight," He stole a glance at his watch, trying not to grin. "It'll be the first time Malek and Ismene interact without us around. I'm very interested to hear how that goes." He was all too aware that Ismene was essentially losing her seat at the top, and no amount of smartassery or lying was going to convince him that she was just okay with the changes. But he was extremely interested to see how she would handle it, that much was for sure.

He took the blindfold and wrapped it around his eyes. "I can take solace with knowing I have a lot in the pipeline. I'm going to end up making that debut sooner than later, too," He may or may not have already set out the rumor that the two were going out in preparation for his next hunt, but that was something for later. For now, he'd pop in the earbuds, smoothing his shirt as he readied himself.

---

@Achronum

---

---

Lilie was glad Esi was just as excited and ready to go as she was. She had no idea that there would be two teachers this time around, however. What interested her the most, however, was the mention of resonance research--her eyebrows shot up so quickly they probably looked like they were going to fly off her face. For some reason she had always thought of researchers being the type of people to get locked away in labs, or placed in cities--she honestly never imagined she'd get the chance to actually meet one! He wasn't exactly what she was expecting, either, but that wasn't really so much as a bad thing as it was, again, surprising.

Once the time came for the class to start, however, she shelved all those thoughts. The girl practically bounced into place, her heart racing with anticipation as she listened intently. Manipulating an element with another person sounded a little tricky, but it was still a challenge she was eager to step up to. She still felt like she had something to prove, so she made sure to mentally go over everything she had learned so far as she approached the barrel.

"Let's do our best!" She told Johnathan as she decided to take the lead. He already had practice, so it was up to her to catch up. She didn't want to come off as too cautious, but she did dip her fingers into the barrel, pulling up a handful's worth. The sooner she tested their limits, the better, right? With that in mind, she took in a deep breath and sent it over.

---

[Bert Macklin]

Walkie-talkie. Walkie-talkie. Walkie-talkie.

The phrase echoed into Benjamin’s head, the syllables performing a haunting melody as they replayed over and over. The intricacy of the definition betrayed the actual outcome. Dame Patel had an explanation that was both precise and informative with an endless supply of chip and patience. The result was in a word that he had somehow never heard before, a technology that had not crossed his mind in his near century. The device was as mysterious as his smartphone, a relic from an era of communication.

And it was called a walkie-talkie.

The snort that had erupted from Ben was both wholly unnecessary and shamefully humiliating. After the Dame went out of her way to acknowledge them and he had been sure to remain as pleasant as possible, to remain humble despite the honoring, it was outright disgraceful that he would dare to react in such a way. But no amount of willpower or exercise or leaning into old habits could save that distinct chuckle of his to escape.

Shameful. Absolutely shameful.

Who, however, could blame him wholly? Could they have not used a pair of words that didn't speak to his inner juvenile? No. No, for his lineage it was inappropriate to react in such a manner. The class had only just begun, he needed to get better control of himself. Even if he had to bite down on his tongue to ensure he would remain silent, he would do so. An arduous task, he realized as the dame repeated the word, but one worth committing to.

[WeepingLiberty]

Amaris Marivaldi

_{Interacting with:}

Amaris could feel the inevitable shifting of eyes as Dame Patel greeted the three nobles she would be teaching for the semester. It seemed most of the major shock of their attendance had faded by now but that didn’t stop the curious glances from the students who had yet to experience the nobles up close and in person. Even she couldn’t help but cast subtle glances towards her classmates as if to verify for herself the names that had been said. There wasn’t much time for students to spend gawking anyway as Dame Patel shifted quickly into the subject at hand.

The class overview sounded simple enough, but an entire semester for only three devices? It might have been considered an introductory course but didn’t that seem a little… too easy? Or so was her thought before the instructor introduced the object referred to as a ‘walkie talkie’. It was a curious device, small enough to be held with one hand but much larger than the phone she possessed at current. As far as she could tell from where she was seated, there was nothing that looked remotely like a screen anywhere on it.

How is one supposed to direct their call? Did you speak a name to it and it connects to the device belonging to that person? There was also the matter of its name, a basic combination of words that led the Countess to believe that some walking would be involved in its use. However, as the demonstration was made… there was no name request and certainly no mobility from either as a test was conducted. Even after a short description of the device, Amaris was no closer to answering her own question about it. What she did learn, however, is that it was far from secure as a means to communicate. From the sound of it, anyone with a compatible device could just wander in on a private conversation. Was that, perhaps, a reason why she had never seen anyone use something like it?

Eventually, Dame Patel opened the floor to questions but Amaris found that she had too many. Was there a way to keep people out of the room you were speaking in? Would you even know if someone new had entered it? Was there a limit to how many people could fit into the same room at one time? But above all else… where did the ‘walkie’ come in to the ‘talkie’? Holding back a sigh of confusion, Amaris raised her hand into the air and asked the only question that wouldn’t result in a rambling train of her thoughts.

“It seems so open for a private communication device. What sort of occasion was it designed for?”

[ReusableSword]

Victor Astorio

A short mention of the other nobles in the room then quickly moved on with the lesson. It was something he enjoyed about this professor, quick to the point with a little bit of flamboyance to get the point across. She quickly went over a few quick things Email, Cell Phones, and Walky Talkie. He was somewhat familiar with the last one as they used them on the council but cell phones were hard to understand and the Email was a strange realm of trickery.

The other’s in the class mostly seemed to be equally confused or intrigued by what was being explained with the hand held’s. Honestly he wasn’t too keen on the inner workings of it. It was always, “we are on this channel.” Or “hold the talk key down for a second before talking.” Half the time the dam things would only work within a few kilometers of each other.

Benjamin seemed to find the name funny by the not so subtle snort and smile. At least he wasn’t so stone faced all the time. Glancing to Amaris he could tell that she was thinking very hard about the subject given the face she was making with the explanation given.

“It seems so open for a private communication device. What sort of occasion was it designed for?”

The question finally came up when the teacher finished her explanation. “Huh, that is a good question… what did they tell him when he had to use them.” he thought for a moment before adding to the discussion.

“Short ranged interpersonal communication. We use them during oper… uh Jobs with the council occasionally.”

Pulling the brick of a cell phone out of his pocket with a shrug. The phone’s screen and case were cracked in several places but the device was top of the line for simplicity and endurance. Even with these specs, it still looked damaged and worn.

“I just want to know how to use this… I’m not even sure where to start with the Email.”

Jostling his phone around even as he did made one of the buttons fall off. This was enough for victor to look at the device like it betrayed him. “So much for endurance with it being a week old.” he whispered, a frown showing on his face.

[Achronum]

January 7th - 10:30pm

Mage Classes

Aaron

Lighties for Lyfe!!!

“Tonight we’ll be taking the ball exercise and expanding on it.” He wove light as he spoke, an orb no larger than a baseball hovering in front of him. “The basic principle of the exercise is the same: guide the light in a specific track, allowing it to do the majority of the work while you concentrate on its shape. However, today we will work on expanding that track significantly further than you’ve done already. We’ve touched on other shapes last semester but this time we’ll be creating a significantly large shape while also maintaining the brightness.” The orb in front of him shifted into a pyramid and elongated until it was three feet long. As it did, it dimmed.

“Ultimately, the light you’ve bound within the parameters of the shape has to travel farther and farther, meaning you’ll have to gather more light as you expand the light’s pathway. Otherwise…” It continued to grow, turning fainter and fainter and fainter until it vanished completely. “That’s where your partner comes in. There are two parts to this. One of you will gather the light and keep it from escaping while the other will pull from that light and draw it into its new shape. Start with a pyramidal shape just like I demonstrated and use the lines on the floor as a guide for the length of the light.”

“The other issue you’ll encounter is another person’s magic. It’s an usual experience, weaving magic together like this, but the sooner you acclimate to it, the better. You’ll encounter some spells that are too taxing for a single person as you grow in your magical abilities. I always find the first time working with someone’s magic feels slimy but it varies from person to person so keep that in mind. Your magic may recoil or refuse to work, or it could get hyper excited and overwhelm you, but stay calm and whatever happens, I’ll be here to make sure nothing too terrible happens.” He chuckled.

“The first time my magic mingled with someone else's, it looked like the sun rose in the room, it was so bright.” Meredith chimed in, already whipping the metal rod around. Light streamed up the runes and pooled at the tip, shaping itself into a large pyramid. “Alright dude! Lets see what you’re made of!”

Lilie

Tides and Tribulations

“Okay, yeah!” Jonathan took a wide stance, like he was expecting her to chuck it at him with everything she had. His brow furrowed as he focused, tongue sticking out as he watched Lilie pull the water up out of the barrel into her hand and send it over with practiced ease. He stretched out his hand, magic following his fingertips as he did, and he caught the water as Lilie let it go, just the briefest brush of their magic coming together.

Esi hadn’t been lying when she said it’d probably feel like a shock. Jonathan let out a yelp as his hand felt like he’d been zapped by a lightning mage and he felt his magic surge in response, the barrel of water erupting like a geyser. Jonathan stood there shell shocked as water dripped from his hair. He blinked once, twice… and he laughed. His whole body shook as he doubled over, one hand on his knee and the other on his stomach. “What was that?” He wheezed as Baron gathered all of the water between his hands and guided it back into the barrel.

“An exciting start to the evening. Maybe we should have warned people to wear rain gear.” Baron mused as he cleaned up. “An excellent first attempt. You can see why it’s so important that you don’t jump into collaborative magic without practicing with your partner first. It would be disastrous if you’d tried that for the first time in something more advanced.”

Max

Clickity Clackity, Roll for Attackity

Ashton watched Max separate the blocks apathetically. He raised his wand once Max had them steadied and with firm stokes of his wand, the blocks smoothly extended towards each other. Everything went smoothly right up until first contact. The temperature in the room spiked as MAx and Ashton’s magic boiled, the metal almost glowing as it let out a sickening screech and shattered into a cloud of razor sharp slivors. Artiae snatched control over the metal from the pair in a heartbeat, a circular motion causing them to whirl around the students and back to him. They settled neatly in his palm as they formed the single block again. The ambient temperature settled back to normal.

“We’ll try this again.” He said as he placed the metal block back on the table, unphased by the commotion. “However, we’ll switch roles. Ashton will separate and steady the metal while Max reforms it.” Ashton gave the Professor a concerned look, eyes darting to Max, and then back. After a moment of the Professor ignoring him, Ashton just sighed and did as the Professor asked, levitating the block and dividing it into four equal parts for Max to reassemble.

Salem

A Rose by Any Other Name

Angelica looked him up and down, ignoring the outstretched hand. “Last I checked you weren’t the Professor so you can save your little lectures for whoever you like to push around outside of class.” She retorted, turning her attention to the pot and the cutting. She pulled a pair of shears from her bag and placed them on the table with a decisive thump.

She quickly made a small space in the dirt for the cutting to rest, picking one up, standing it up in the hole, and gently mounding dirt around it so it was well supported. “So we’ll focus on reinforcing the roots first before we do anything else. Once we’ve done that, we can work on a few leaves and thorns and then the actual rose, got it? We need that solid foundation before we expect it to work on its own.” She explained with confidence, lighting tapping the shears against the cutting.

---

Vampire Classes

Ben, Amaris, Victor

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Dame Patel paused as Ben failed to hide his amusement, eyes crinkling as she laughed. “It’s such a silly name but I love it all the same. I’m glad you agree!” She nodded at Amaris’ question. “Good question, good question, Countess! Like Count Astorio said, walkie talkies are fantastic short range communication devices! You are correct in thinking the standard walkie talkie is an unusually open method of communication but that flexibility is exactly why it’s so useful! A cell phone, for example, has a lot of specifics and confusing details you need to understand before you can even make a call and that can confuse vampires and mages alike who matured separate from that technology, reducing the efficiency of the device to connect them to their peers. A walkie talkie though can be set up to communicate with any number of them beforehand, handed to someone, and with a single press and hold of a button, you can communicate with every person who has this device! Much easier than the labyrinth of applications a cell phone holds!”

“As for when you’d use it… Like we said, it’s most effective for short range communications. It’s good for places where you’d expect to get separated with extremely limited communication options: hiking in the mountains where your cellular telephone doesn’t work, for example. Several agencies under the Council’s control and plenty of private security teams also employ them as they are quite cost efficient and, again, simple to use. These organizations usually use coded language to counter the possibility of anyone overhearing them in order to conceal their intention from those eavesdroppers.” Dame Patel continued. “And don’t worry Count Astorio, we’ll get to everything in due time! We can’t run before we walk, chikadees! For now, we’re going to have some practice!” She clapped her hands excitedly and her mage began distributing walkie talkie around the room.

“Now each one is already preset so don’t worry about adjusting any of the dials today, we’ll work with those next lesson. Today you’ll just need to get the hang of chatting with each other through these! Make sure you spread out; stay too close to the others you’re talking to and the walkie talkies will make an awful racket known as feedback!” She picked up a piece of paper off the desk and began reading off of it. “Group 1 will be Count Astorio, Countess Marivaldi, and Count Eve…” She continued rattling off namesfor a minute and folded it away once she was finished. “Now have fun everyone! I’ll make sure to come around if you have any questions, little ones! Remember, press and hold the large button on the side while you’re speaking and release it once you’re done!”

[Bert Macklin]

That Dame Patel would indulge him gave Ben a great source of humility. He did, at minimum, give her a nod of acknowledgement and appreciation. To think that communication went beyond letters and phones! Their evolution was one he was entirely unfamiliar with as the changing times often meant more stubborn vampires dug their heels in firmly in the old ways. While it was as good a time as any to remark on even his own father's stubbornness, he had to admit that he was in that camp as well. Aside from spending years crafting his penmanship, receiving phone calls from his mages and receiving letters from his father and others held two different methods that he was able to mentally compartmentalize; letters felt more personal and calls felt more accessible. Of course, he could simply be just like his father, but he would prefer to avoid that thought.

The evolution of technology really did amaze him. He was aware of the Eve security detail using similar devices, but he was the last person to know. As his mage would attest, despite his young age Ben was not the most 'tech-savvy' (a term that still confuses him but to his chagrin is often uttered in his presence) vampire. This was not entirely uncommon regardless of a vampire's age. However, even the oldest would at minimum acknowledge the convenience and have their mages learn the new technology in order to keep up. For years he had assumed he would be going the same way as his mages were young and he was still cultivating his Luscin branch. Broadening his horizons and at least making an effort, however, was more prudent.

Lilie had brought up the suggestion more than once. It didn't take much thought to realize that the typewriter he used for his assignments was slowly driving the mage up the wall. Ben had long gotten used to the clack of keys and would dare say he actually enjoyed it. Comparing it to the much softer clicking of a laptop did enlighten him to the difference. The poor girl would often retreat to her room or go outside whenever he worked. To her credit, she was always polite about it, but her dislike became obvious. And so there Ben was, listening intently to Dame Patel's lesson. The walkie-talkie (whose name he will never understand) in his hand felt like some mystical object. It was larger than he had expected for one, the dials and buttons a mystery to him. He wondered if his father knew of these. He took Dame Patel's warning to heart as he avoided any buttons; causing an awful racket was the last thing he wanted. He decided to take the advice to spread out as he rose from his chair.

Once he had deemed himself far away enough he cleared his throat and pressed the button. "...I am not sure what to say," he said, the thought only occurring to him after the matter.

[Obscene Symphony]

Listening carefully to Professor Daun’s explanation, Aaron didn’t judge the task too difficult—an estimate he made cautiously, of course, given his proven tendency to fall on his face through the simplest of tasks. Reasonable apprehension aside, though, he was feeling fairly confident; his performance in Professor Daun’s class had been generally impressive (or so he was told) and on top of that, Meredith seemed to adopt the tougher of the two parts of their task: shaping the light into the pyramid. All Aaron had to do was draw more light into the pyramid to maintain brightness, presumably at a rate matching Meredith’s so there wouldn’t be any spikes or dips. It was a clever first test: it built on an already well-developed skill, but challenged him with finer control at the same time.

Honestly, Aaron was really just excited to tackle a job he actually knew how to do.

Eyeing the pyramid for a moment, he raised his hands in front of him, taking a long, slow breath. As he exhaled, his ring began to glow; however, a moment’s hesitation dimmed it. The mention of encountering another’s magic sprang a memory to mind, one of his first Affinity Mastery class at the Academy. It seemed so long ago now, back in the brief window where he and Salem were on decent terms: they’d grown bored of the crystal exercise, and decided to have it out in what amounted to a magical arm-wrestle. It didn’t really occur to Aaron until now that that night, having his magic interact with someone else’s, was a much bigger step in his learning than he’d given it credit for.

Despite the fresh bitterness associated with Salem, Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. “As a matter of fact, Professor, I’ve actually done it before.”

Back on task, his ring brightened once more as he focused on drawing light from his surroundings, his eyes glossing over in glowing gold to match. Blinking the sensation away—he’d have to get a handle on that eventually if he wanted any semblance of discretion when he practiced, but that was a job for another time—he took another breath, bracing himself for first contact with Meredith’s magic as he guided the light into the pyramid.

“Touching” Meredith’s magic was like a static shock, and Aaron’s light flickered in surprise before stabilizing again. It was a while ago, but he remembered his contact with Salem’s magic pretty well: not nearly as shocking, it was… earthy, he supposed, with the strange sensation of being both dynamic and rooted at the same time. Like an old tree, or a field of grass; changing, sure, but never budging. Salem had described his magic as a puppy, eager to please—he supposed that was a fair enough interpretation, if a little simplified.

But Meredith’s was nothing like Salem’s. Where his had a sense of stability, Meredith’s was all over the place, buzzing with excitement—much like its master, Aaron supposed. His own magic got a little overwhelmed at first, but stayed surprisingly stable. There was no explosion of magic or fearful fizzling out, just a moment of adjustment for his magic to learn the new rhythm before it melded cooperatively with Meredith’s, blending Aaron’s supplemental light into her pyramid.

“There, not so bad,” Aaron muttered, focus still on the pyramid as he checked that the flow of light within was even, with no bright or dark spots.

_@Achronum

[Hero]

---

---

It all happened so fast. One second, Lilie was confident they had succeeded without any issue, and in the next, there was the clash. Was it a clash? That felt like too strong of a word--she could swear their magic had only just barely touched one another. But no matter how small it was, the contact was enough to break their focus in more ways than one. "Ah--!" While Lilie's reaction was to immediately withdraw and step back as if to move away from the shock, Jonathan's reaction made sure to make the water from the barrel shoot out. Without really thinking, Lilie raised her hands as if trying to control it, eventually throwing her arms above her head as she ended up getting splashed.

Somehow, she didn't end up as drenched as Jonathan, but she was equally surprised. Was she too forceful? She was trying to be smooth and gentle, but then again, they both reacted in surprise. Once he started laughing, Lilie couldn't help her grin, wringing out her ponytail a touch. Well, at least the class wouldn't be boring!

At that point Baron had stepped in and easily gathered the water from both the floor and their clothes, explaining the importance of practice. Maybe she was too ambitious and started with too much. "Is this how all magic feels like when they hit each other?" She ended up asking as she dipped her finger in the barrel, deciding to start with a much smaller stream. Would a smaller source of magic result in a smaller shock? "Or is it because we're trying to mingle our magic together?" She sent the stream to Jonathan, bracing herself.

---

[WeepingLiberty]

Amaris Marivaldi

_{Interacting with: Benjamin @Bert Macklin and Victor @ReusableSword}

Victor was first to offer insight into the device, seemingly already familiar with its purpose. It was a rather textbook explanation, and paired with a personal experience to him that she couldn’t relate to, but it somehow lacked what she needed to fully grasp what the object was. He had added what sounded like a limitation of distance, which seemed like a rather important detail to know, but ‘interpersonal communication’ seemed so… redundant. It defined without explanation which, with how swift he was to follow up into his own off topic request. For a man training her to be patient and focused, he seemed to be lacking quite a bit for this particular subject.

The Dame took the inquiries in stride, addressing each concern individually until she had covered everything that she thought she needed to. Her detailed response had captivated an eager Countess, Amaris listening intently to every word describing the potential for the device. So it was something that was used primarily in groups instead of with an individual, although it didn’t rule that type of communication out entirely either. There was also the matter of physical distance playing a role in the device’s function. From the sound of things, it’s primary use was in coordinating group efforts, whatever those efforts may be, and to be as accessible a device as possible. Suited to vampires and all types of mortals? What a wondrous mechanism indeed.

Amaris gratefully accepted the walkie talkie into her hands and rose to her feet. She wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. With its brick-like shape she would have thought it to be a bit heavier, but it was surprisingly light to her. Perhaps a bit on the clunkier side, but one couldn’t always expect fashion with function. Count Eve had already received his device and had started making his way to another area of the classroom as instructed. She cast a quick glance at Victor before scanning the room for an optimal place for her to stand. Once satisfied with a destination, the Countess made her way to the wall and stared down at the device expectantly.

Despite having known what was supposed to happen, Amaris couldn’t help but to react as the object crackled to life and Benjamin’s voice filtered through. Her eyes widened with surprise before a small smile worked its way onto her face. She shifted the weight of the walkie talkie around in her hands, inspecting each of the knobs and buttons in turn before pressing her thumb down on the button slowly. She repeated the action of pressing down the button a couple of times before holding it down and raising the device closer to her face curiously.

“Ah! I hear you, Count. Is my voice coming through as well?” It took Amaris a moment to remember that she also had to remove her thumb from the button so that she could actually receive a response.

[Trainerblue192]

Salem cocked an eyebrow at Angelica, shrugging and pulling his hand back as he placed his forearms against the ridge if the table. He watched as she decidedly replanted the cutting into a new pot to allow it to grow and blossom as needed. "I'm not exactly sure who you think I am to be bossing people around outside of class. But I can assure you that's far from the truth." He spoke with a smile still on his face, though it was clear Angelica wasn't here to make friends, she was barely here to learn if he guessed it. In his mind she only seemed to care about one thing, being right and being on top. When she was done explaining to him what steps they should take in he nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a simple enough plan to approach this. Though remember that we should be working together on this or it won't work. If you try to overpower me in magic, you'll simply end up placing more roadblocks for the both of us. I was thinking maybe before we start we could try and sync up our breathing, be on the same page so that when our magic comes out it won't have to fight to match, it'll be relatively close already." Salem offered her with a serious look, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as if to ready himself.

[Scribe of Thoth]

---

What the fuck. Max had expected unpleasantness, maybe akin to a cat being rubbed the wrong way, not having its fur ripped out and set on fire. And, like touching a fire, he'd recoiled away on instinct and withdrew his presence from the shrapnel without thought rather than doing something useful with his magic like stopping the explosion. If Artiae hadn't been there, he'd probably be dead. Wonderful start. There was sweat pooling on the back of his neck too; hopefully that came from the sudden burst of heat and not fear, he didn't need Poodle over there thinking he was soft.

In the short time it took for Max to catch his breath the surprise and panic gave way to annoyance. That collared idiot was going to get them both skewered; all he had to do was cooperate - surely that tool was capable of that. Asstongue or whatever was a senior, so he had to have taken this class already, which meant he already knew how to do this. Was he being intentionally difficult? Got his kicks making underclassmen look like idiots because he had no power in his home life with Count BDSM? He was tempted to snap at him, but as he opened his mouth, Max realized he didn't have much ground to stand on. The guy had volunteered for this; not even Max was willing to waste hours of his day for a whole semester just out of petty spite, so this coward certainly didn't have it in him. Weak men like that could be angry conniving little shits, but he doubted to that extreme.

So that meant Max was at fault. Great.

"Is that gonna make a difference?" Max questioned the professor as his classmate flicked his queer little wand around. Maybe he'd been focusing too hard on holding everything in place and his magic subconsciously rejected any outside movement to the contrary. So, it would stand to reason that if he was the pusher in this case, Ashton would be responsible for compensating for him, rather than the other way around. Logically, anyway; nothing in magic made any fucking sense at first.

Adequately prepared for another near-death experience, Max extended both hands to prime the levitating fragments with his magic before he brought both hands together, curling his fingers inward to slide the pieces gently and steadily into place. His movements were notably hesitant and incremental now, probing each movement for resistance or more heat before proceeding. Yep, he definitely looked like a coward now. So annoying - why was the second person necessary? It wasn't like he knew any other metal mages, nor did he feel like mixing his magic with any other mages on principle even if he did know one. There was probably some asinine lesson about teamwork in here somewhere. Though, the last academy-approved lesson on teamwork he received ended with mental magic conspiracies and Eris losing his fucking marbles, so Max didn't exactly have his hopes up.

---

[ReusableSword]

Victor Astorio

Victor sat back and listened to the others. Honestly he only knew a few things about how the radio worked and a bit more about how to talk on one, but was mostly in this class to learn about the cellular device in his hand and what this internet email is all about. The only other thing he was interested in is how they used spiders in the computer and how they used a web spanning the world without it being seen. A sticky situation for sure, at least he liked spiders.

The professor handed all of the student’s radios and had them split up away from each other. Benjamin spoke first with Amaris right behind him, the others in their group seemed hesitant to speak into the strange contraption. The awkwardness in how they looked and handled the thing made him smile. Even if he was the one to be awkward with it he would still find it funny.

He could hear the jumbled mess of the other group and sighed. He brought the radio up stopping a few inches from his face and pressed the talk button. “Victor to Benjamin, be sure to keep the radio an inch or two away from your face when you speak, how copy? Over.” his smile didn’t fade but he tried to trip the other count up with the radio procedures he has used before when working with the council.

[Achronum]

January 7th - 11:00pm

Mage Classes

Aaron

Lighties for Lyfe!!!

“Ooooh, pretty boy’s got some moves on him!” Meredith cheered as their magic intermingled, her mgic flaring briefly for a moment before settling in tandem. “Nice control. It took me aaaaaages to get anything to stay in shape for me.” The Professor snorted, covering his mouth as his shoulders shook at a memory of first year Meredith.

“You were certainly an imaginative student.” Professor Daun agreed once he got himself under control. He took a moment to circle the pair, poking his finger into the light at various points and muttering quietly to himself. After a few minutes, he gave a short nod. “Excellent form, Aaron. Solid stability, firm structure, and a great job melding. I’m tempted to say we can attempt continuing it but we probably shouldn’t get a head of ourselves just yet.”

“Please, this guy’s a natural! Let him have some fun!” Meredith exclaimed excitedly. “Come on, lemme give you a little sunlight and we can make this whole pattern all in one go!” Professor Daun held out his hand to stop her but it was too late. With a cackle, the pyramid lit up like the noontime sun, Meredith’s magic whipped in a frenzy and slamming into Aaron’s with the intensity of a tsunami, and the pyramid exploded into a brilliant display of light, dimming into dancing motes that drifted down like snow. Meredith blinked her eyes repeatedly as Professor Daun only sighed, having shielded his eyes at the last moment.

“Oopsies?” Meredith shrugged sheepishly.

“Meredith, if you could stick to my lesson plan, I would greatly appreciate it.” Professor Daun requested dryly before composing himself once more. “Now, we’ll go ahead and switch it up. Aaron, you’ll form the pyramid and Meredith will manipulate it. We’ll continue alternating for the rest of the class as I review each attempt and we will not incorporate any light other than the ambient light in this room.” Meredith laughed and Professor Daun rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. “Alright, you may begin.”

Half an hour would pass like that, alternating positions as Professor Daun instructed the pair to change the size, brightness, and orientation of the pyramid until he finally permitted them to finish. He glanced at his watch. “Very well. It seems class has finished for the day. Aaron, you’ll be returning here for your next class but go get some fresh air for a moment. I need to refill my coffee personally.” He shook his empty thermos.

“Alright, break time!” Meredith shouted eagerly, heading for the door only to whirl on her heel and pull out her phone. “Actually, real quick, gimme your number. Gotta keep in contact if we’re gonna be Lighties for Lyfe!”

Lilie

Tides and Tribulations

“To an extent. If you attempt to manipulate the same object, like in this exercise, you will inevitably experience this to some degree. The more familiar you are with the other person and the more acclimated you are to the process, the less disastrous the results.” Baron explained, continuing on as he elaborated. “And that’s only if your magic is the same affinity. If, for example, a water mage and an ice mage were working together and one was manipulating water and another was manipulating ice shards in the water, their magic is technically close enough to interact but don’t interact directly because they are not manipulating the same substance, despite the fact that ice is water just in solid form. A strange phenomena but we’re still working on a better understanding of that.” Baron glanced over at the pair a few feet away, whose barrel had tumbled over when a violent whirlpool formed inside. Esi was cackling up a storm as she corrected the barrel.

“That being said, there are some objects that can permit opposite magics to interact but rather than mingling, it’s usually just them pressing together against a glass wall. Never quite interacting, without some dedicated focus, but still infusing the same object. The Awakening crystals from last semester are one such example.” Baron finished his explanation, gesturing back at the barrel. “Now that you’ve attempted it once, it should be relatively easy to predict and adjust to the effect. Remember that as a primary water affinity, your magic is closely linked to your emotions so take a deep breath and don’t startle when you feel the tingling sensation, alright? It’ll fade over time and you grow more comfortable with each other.” Baron moved onto the next group with a curious nod.

“Alright, we’ve got this, no problem!” Jonathan grinned at Lilie, coaxing a stream of water out of the barrel and swirling it into a ball. “Ready for round 2?” He asked as he sent the stream back to Lilie. This time, there would be a brief shock but no drastic explosions or violent whirlpools. As they continued over the next half hour, Jonathan got creative, making the stream curled and twirl as he passed it back and forth.

“Alright, times up! Good job everyone! Feel free to practice out of class if you’d like! Tomorrow we’ll start increasing the volume you all work so get ready; those magic muscles are going to be sooooooore tomorrow!” Esi threw her head back, cackling, as she dismissed the class.

Max

Clickity Clackity, Roll for Attackity

“It does. Just like looking at a difficult problem from another angle can change your understanding of it, changing your role in a team can help teach you how to better adjust to an unfamiliar situation. Learning when to push, when to pull, and when to do nothing is alla botu experience.” Artie explained as he watched Max manipulate the metal. Slowly, steadily, the blocks come together, Max experiencing just a bit of resistance from Ashton’s magic. There were a few points when the metal started humming but Ashton let out a sharp breath with each pause and the metal calmed.

Finally, the metal hovered in a nice, neat metal cube and Ashton dropped it with a heavy clang. Artie adjusted it back into place with a wave of his hand. “Good. When working with others, it is always wise to handle magic slowly and carefully, no matter how comfortable you are in your success.” The same block slid back in front of Max. “Again. Max levitating, Ashton forming.”

“Move him to the next metal.” Ashton demanded, arms crossed. “We fixed the problem, finished your puzzle, and now we move to the next, more complicated puzzle.”

“I know you don’t agree with my methods but control is important in a mage who can bring down a building on a hundred innocent people with a stray thought. You will repeat the exercise until I judge you, as a pair, are ready to handle something more volatile. If you don’t like it, I’m more than happy to withdraw you from the class.” Artie informed Ashton, who scoffed but kept his mouth shut, wand ready despite his irritation. The rest of the class would be completed in relative silence, only the terse responses from the Professor as the exercise was repeated over and over.

Finally, the bell sounded and the Professor gathered the cubes together. “Tomorrow, we’ll move onto the next metal. It’ll prove itself more volatile and strenuous so make sure to get plenty of rest and eat a hearty breakfast. You may find yourself exhausted at the end of tomorrow’s class if you aren’t prepared.” Artie dismissed the pair, Ashton all but running from the room.

Salem

A Rose by Any Other Name

"Besides being a noble's pet? The fact you feel the need to repeat everything the Professor's said as if I'm not standing in the same classroom." Angelica replied exasperatedly. "It's not only annoying but a dick move so if you could stop, I'd appreciate it." At Salem's suggestion of breathing exercises, she gave him a decidedly unimpressed stare but played along. She closed her eyes, judgement rolling off her in waves, but matched his breathing, though she stayed restless and impatient. Her shears never left the cutting as they continued and when he finally placed his hand near the cutting, her magic surged out.

Whereas Salem's magic is slow and steady, the power of old growth forests unperturbed by the passage of time, their falling leaves weaving magnificent patterns of ages past, Angelica's is the flurry of new growth after a wildfire, the beginning of a never ending cycle, the blooming of a cactus flower after a long drought. The magic mingled and mixed in the stem and the plant drank. It took and took and took, greedy in it's demand, and the pot shuddered and shook, cracking as roots wriggled out from the bottom and sides, dirt spilling out. The rest of the class looked over as one, two, three rose blooms burst out in deep, vibrant reds from the tip and the cutting turned brown and wilted, sagging as it died. There was a moment of silence as Angelica stared in confused horror, panting heavily, broken only when Professor Leo started laughing.

"Excellent, excellent!" He clapped his hands. "Thank you Salem and Angelica for that perfect demonstration! What happened here was an excellent example of what happens when plants have either fully entered dormancy or are close to dying. Our magic, attuned to the natural state of living matter as it is, immediately wants to correct it and will pour into the plant in a process similar to osmosis. What happens is that this then causes the plant to grow explosively in unsustainable ways. Plus, that much exposure to magic in such a short time may cause strange and unexpected alterations." He pointed to the wickedly pointed barbs at the ends of the roots sticking out of the bottom of the pot.

"But now that you've experienced it, preparing yourself for it will be much easier. This time, try waking just the root system and growing it before you aim to expand its leaves, and focus on releasing your magic in a slow, steady rhythm. It helps me to think of it as small pulses rather than a continuous stream. A pulse of magic, examine the situation, another pulse, so on and so forth." The Professor suggested and then pointed to a bin at the far edge of the room. "Deposit the pot and all in the bin and I'll straight it out later. Collect a new one from the shelves, there is more potting soil against the wall, and then try again!"

The end of class would come for Angelica and Salem with two more dead cuttings and one with the beginnings of a solid root system. Angelica was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and dirt smudged her face and overalls. "Well, that wasn't what I expected but not a terrible attempt. This is harder than I expected." She laughed, peeling off the gloves and slapping them on the table.

---

Vampire Classes

Ben, Amaris, Victor

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

As the class spread apart, the various sounds of radios crackling to life could be heard across the classroom. More than one viciously high pitch screech broke out from groups that were too close and Dame Patel just laughed as she glided around the classroom, correcting and fixing little problems here and there. One vampire was talking into the back and another held it so that the antenna pointed at their partners, insisting despite Dame Patel's reassurances that it only worked like that.

After spending a good portion convincing the student it in fact didn't work in such an impractical manner, she floated her way to Count Eve, settling in to watch him operate the little device. She nodded as he pressed the button and spoke into it. "Good, good! It's very simple but quite effective! The school has some that operate across the entire campus so they can have an excellent range if you need them too. With the rise of cellular devices, these have lost popularity but they do nicely when you don't want anything too complicated. You can even get one for your mage if you find cellular telephones too bulky or frustrating for casual check ins." She drifted away.

Just before class ended, she leapt back to the front of class. "Okay, my darling Chickadees, listen closely. You may keep those radios for the rest of the day! Get used to using them and replying to your partners and bring them back tomorrow night so we can begin learning how to adjust your channels and conversing with others! Good luck and have fun!" She dismissed them for the evening, watching them file out with a proud smile.

Varis,Eris

Blind, Deaf, and Dumb: What Fun!

As soon as class ended, Varis all but threw the knife on the ground and curled his lip in disdain. The whole lesson was an absolute disgrace. Who in there right mind made a Sinnenodel--the heir to the family in fact!--hold a knife and use it for any reason on another? Varis put up a fight for as long as he could, threatening in any manner he could, before he'd given in when the walking skeleton threatened to fail him. It felt like a slap to the face because Varis didn't fail at anything so he'd gritted his fangs and done the utterly juvenile exercise.

He stormed out of class, eyes black and shaking with rage, and barely waited for Eris to follow. "Who does she think she is, demanding I do anything? How dare she speak to me like that! I could understand the others but me? The shamelessness of this no name, low life, cockroach is absolutely appalling. I will find a way out of this mess and I'm going to make sure I step on her to do it." Varis seethed. His next class was meant to be easy and enjoyable, a way to destress as he poked holes full of whichever small minded Noila glorified the history of the royal lineage but his anger would make every mistake, every embellishment, frustrating rather than fun opportunities to embarrass others. He needed something…

"I think I'll take the first part of our next class to evaluate the boy's next lesson. Listening to some pompous lecturer salivate over the history of the Royal line is only going to worsen my mood." Varis sighed, disappointed all the same. He genuinely enjoyed debating historical perspective but right now, any failure to acknowledge the clear and obvious narrative flaws would have him storming out. Watching the boy struggle in his class ought to improve his mood greatly.

[Obscene Symphony]

Though Meredith’s impromptu lesson supplement was a speedbump to his concentration, Aaron couldn’t deny that it was, in a way, kind of exciting. Not only was the sudden flood of magic a shock to his own, but the feeling of sunlight, actual sunlight entering the stream was… exhilarating. Not just from a practical standpoint, either; aside from the very tangible burst of energy, the idea that he had, by proxy, finally worked with sunlight was like a glimpse into a very exciting future. After all, that was what light mages were known for, their biggest claim to fame: the power to protect, and also to destroy, by manipulating the single most dangerous substance known to vampires. He knew on an intellectual level that such a power would someday be his to command, but to feel it, even just for an instant, was a kind of thrilling he hadn’t experienced before, and couldn’t wait to feel again.

Things calmed down for the rest of the lesson, and though the excitement never quite faded, it wasn’t long before the two of them were working well in tandem, having found a rhythm that worked for both of them. By the time the lesson was up, Aaron felt leagues better than he did when he came in, like he’d just come back from a run in the woods.

As jazzed up as he was, he was still definitely ready for a break, but Aaron hardly took two steps toward his coat before Meredith whirled around in his way, asking for his number. He opened his mouth to give it, but hesitated, remembering the conditions of his isolation, should he agree to undertake it.

“That’s a good idea, but do you think we could exchange numbers later?” he suggested, hoping a friendly grin would cover the outright oddness of the request. “There’s just a good chance I’m gonna be getting a new phone soon; no point in giving you a number that won’t work in a few nights.”

"Oh, yeah, totes! Just let me know when you get your new stuff working and we'll do a tradsies then!" Meredith agreed, unphased by the request. "Not like you can get away from me anytime soon anyways!"

Vaguely ominous statement aside, Aaron nodded in agreement, bidding Meredith goodbye for the time being. With that hurdle jumped, he collected his coat and made his way outside, leaving the front unbuttoned to take advantage of the chilly air. He had nowhere to go, really, and with the benches covered in snow he opted to lean on a wall near the entrance, calmly watching the snow. He could feel a bit of fatigue creeping in from his lesson, but it paled in comparison to the buzzing of his magic: His body might have been starting to feel the strain of the magical workout he’d just undergone, but his magic was raring to go, alive and excited from the new and challenging stimulation of more complex work. He was greatly looking forward to tackling the challenges in store for the next lesson; in fact, daunting as his major was, the fact that it came with early access to higher levels of Affinity Mastery was definitely a silver lining. With any luck, the eagerness of his magic would persist throughout his education, and that enthusiasm would help protect him from the grim possibility of affinity loss going forward.

But that was far too dour of a subject to dwell on, and for the first time in a week, Aaron was feeling… content. His magic’s thrum, the pleasant fatigue of exercise, the satisfaction of a job well done in class; it all worked together to bring him a rare tranquil moment, his head not clouded with the worry, fear, or dread for the future that usually harried his waking mind. It was a little selfish—moon only knew there were plenty of things that deserved his attention right now—but if dark thoughts were content to stay at bay, he wouldn’t invite them back just yet.

Holding his palm out in front of him, he let his magic flow freely, forming a trio of little lights in his hand, slowly orbiting one another. They weren’t very bright—there wasn’t much light on a cloudy night aside from what he could pull from nearby street lamps, and he had no interest in pulling very hard to brighten them—but they were charming, occasionally forming links among themselves as they traveled. The sight brought a smile to Aaron’s face; a few months ago, merely pulling light from the environment required full focus, and now pulling and shaping it felt as natural as breathing. If he wanted to think very hard on it, he supposed it was reassuring, a tangible example that, at least in this one single area, he was actually moving forward for the better.

He passed a few minutes that way, until his magic finally calmed down enough not to be bursting at the seams—a smirk met his lips at the thought that Meredith’s out-of-control magic might be a bad influence on his. Flicking his wrist to check the time, he noticed there was still an unread notification on his phone, from Max of all people. Right, that came in right before class started. Sighing, Aaron supposed he’d deign to take a look, fully prepared for some poor taste jab about Varis’ survival as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

> Attached: 1 IMG
> Thought you dyed your hair for a sec smh

Hm, not about Varis after all. Aaron peered at the image, examining it for a moment in confusion. At first, he wasn’t really sure what he was looking at; upon realizing it was a mage in a garish outfit, he felt no more enlightened. Aaron was no fashion expert, but at least he didn’t walk around looking like a Charms student that got into a fight with a can of paint. What about this had anything to do with— oh. He finally noticed what must have been the focal point of the picture: a heavy leather collar around the mage’s neck, secured with… what on earth were those things? Straws?

Aaron rolled his eyes, closing the image. It didn’t matter; this was no different than any other of Max’s “Fido” comments. Collared mages weren’t the norm, luckily, but they were common enough that you’d see them from time to time; a few—this one included, obviously—walked around campus, and Aaron had seen his fair share accompanying nobles and delegates at Noila Castle. Fortunately, despite her rather… particular preferences for the dress code of her mages, Her Majesty wasn’t a fan of collaring, and popular opinion in his circles was that it was something of a faux pas: frowned upon, but best dealt with by pretending you didn’t see anything. Was this Max’s class partner, then? If that was the case, Aaron didn’t envy him. It sounded more than a little distracting to try and dance around that elephant in the room and work on his magic at the same time.

> Classy.

_{@Achronum @Scribe of Thoth}