aY234YRU

1python script output that converts html from http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html to simple text file (for eReaders).
2
3Samsara Quest
4written by Exabyte
5--------------------qst2txt--------------------
6
7>Here's how this quest is going to work. Other than the first few options, I'll almost always allow write-ins. In fact, I usually won't give prompts. You guys are playing the main character, after all.
8>Sometimes, you'll end up in situations that are risky, or have a significant opportunity for failure. At those times, I'll have you guys roll 1d100s against a DC of my choosing. I'll be taking the average of first 3 rolls, unless it's something the MC is good at- in which case it will be the highest of first 3.
9>It's been a long time since I've run a quest. Nearly five months, jeez. /qst/ didn't exist at the time, so I'm going to give this a try!
10
11The counselor's office is cluttered, covered in accolades that don't belong to the inhabitant. Degrees on the walls, expensive oaken desks and cabinets, even a soft leather chair. An iridescent dweomer brightens the room, gleaming both red and blue in a direct disregard for physics; The result reminds you of a blacklight. It would be impressive, but...
12
13You sniff. There's no possible way the councilor was the one to cast the dweomer. He's clean-shaven, snappily-dressed. His hair is even parted and slicked perfectly. He's too clean and collected to be a real Magus. Hell, he probably isn't even an Adept. He doesn't even have an Implement on him.
14
15You could blink it the dweomer in a second if you wanted, and there'd be nothing he could do about it. Other than turn on the electronic lights, of course. For a moment you consider it.
16
17"Adept Angwaz, I'm sure you know why I've requested to speak with you," He said, smiling politely. It's an expression that reminds you of a rat.
18
19"It's about my thesis." You say.
20
21"Precisely." He says. "While I understand the urge to do something... impressive, to endear yourself to other wizards, there are some things that are quite simply impossible."
22
23He frowns. "I'm afraid that as your counselor, I can't condone this. Moreover, the board of governors care a great deal for their image. I strongly suspect that if you continue on your path, it's probable they may retract your scholarship in order to prevent you from... well, making them a laughingstock."
24
25"You're saying that if I insist on keeping my thesis, they'll remove my scholarship." You say, voice flat.
26
27"Essentially." He says, nodding politely. "It's good that you see it the way I do. Do you have any other thesis-"
28
29"I think I'm going to stick with what I have now."
30
31>[] Loremaster: You did expect this kind of reaction, but you've done your work; It's possible. Nobody else has studied the hermetic arts as much as you have, after all.
32>[] Invoker: You don't give a shit what anybody says- even if you get kicked out, you're going to finish your magic and shove it in their stupid faces.
33>[] Savant: The archmages never got to where they are by playing along with the laws of magic. Neither will you. You're inspired, and there's nothing more dangerous than a mage with inspiration.
34------------------------------------------
35-omitted one small post.
36>Heh. I'm surprised that image still exists.
37
38>Savant: You're particularly good at inventing spells on the spot. In fact, you're amazing. You can cast spells without any preparation at all, as long as you understand the magic behind it and have an Implement of some kind.
39
40"I... don't recommend that, Adept." The counselor says, frowning at you. "I'll do what I can, but... Teleportation? Instant transference of physical matter? It's... A pipe dream. Too many charlatans have tried and failed."
41
42"I know." You say. "But I have a good feeling about it. I'll be fine."
43
44The counselor sighs.
45
46"Am I excused?" You ask. You're not sure you can stand the man much longer, after all.
47
48"Yes, yes." He says. "For what little it's worth, good luck."
49
50You smile politely at him, and make your way back out of the office. 
51
52Almost as an afterthought, you tap a few runes on your Implement. The electronic device chirps happily, draws on a bit of your mana, and the dweomer in the office winks out.
53
54Your guidance counselor curses, and flicks on the light switch. 
55
56The old book that inspired you is still in your bag- It's full of hermetic magic, complete with a recipe for summoning magic. It doesn't work anymore, after all- most Hermetic magic began failing centuries ago... But you have a feeling it's related to the alignment of the constellations. All hermetic magic, that is. But if you could adjust it to work with the current night's sky...
57
58It's a nice autumn morning. The wind is blowing, the slight scent of rain is on the wind, and the Arcanist's Academy looms behind you, stretching into the sky. The few trees on campus are rustling, leaves falling to the ground... It's a nice day.
59
60"Hey, Jaz." Someone says. You turn to him- and then you also have to turn your head up, and up, so that you can meet his eyes. Rathod would be imposing, if you hadn't known him for years. The man's huge. Brown hair, a charming grin... But most noticeable is the golemic artifice crawling up his shoulder and covering his arm. It's a prosthetic, of course, but it's probably stronger than any other artifice you've ever seen. 
61
62"Thod." You respond. He grins. "How'd it go?"
63
64"I should probably figure it out sooner than later. According to that weevil in there, I might get my scholarship revoked."
65
66"That's not good." He says. "Any ideas?"
67
68"Well, there's this hermetic-"
69
70He sighs. Audibly.
71
72"Listen! All I need to do is figure out the astronomy."
73
74"Still on that constellation kick?" He asks. You glare at him.
75
76"Fine, fine." He says. "Listen. I think I heard of a few things that might help with... all that."
77
78"Really?"
79
80"There's Brun, over in combat evocations." He says. "She has a solid grounding in Hermetic magic too. She could help. Or I guess you could always try the library."
81
82"What about your Master?" You ask. An archmage's help would be invaluable, and Thod apprentices for one.
83
84"I can get you in contact, but he's an ornery bastard. I won't be able to help you convince him."
85
86>?
87------------------------------------------
88>The common magic used by wizards nowadays is known as 'Analytical Magic', based off of the thaumaturgy of western traditions and the few hermetic spells that still work nowadays. They use specially-designed electronic devices known as Implements, and rune arrays programmed in in order to cast spells. Modding an implement to add your own runes is technically illegal, but who really cares?
89
90"Maybe I'll try your Master later," You say. Though you didn't need Thod's advice to check the library- you'll do that as a matter of course. "Can you tell me more about this Brun?"
91
92"You don't know her?" He says.
93
94"I don't remember her," You shrug.
95
96"Red hair, freckles, She's uh, taller than you. Ring any bells?"
97
98"Everybody's taller than me," You snap.
99
100"Uses a battleaxe as her implement?" He tries
101
102"Wait," You say. "Battleaxe? Couldn't you have mentioned that first?"
103
104Thod looks a little sheepish, but you do remember seeing the crazy girl somewhere around campus.
105
106"Her family's a bunch of monster hunters." He says. "Apparently they figured out how to get a few anti-monster charms working, so they leverage that for all it's worth."
107
108"Do you know where she'd be?"
109
110"Probably still in the Combat Evocations testing room." He says. "Working on some kind of force projection."
111
112"Thanks, Thod!" You say. "I'll go talk to her."
113
114===
115
116Combat Evocations is pretty crowded, like always. All of these kids decide they want to be wizards so they can throw around fireballs and fight monsters to get rich. Nevermind that half of them will end up dead the moment they step into the wilderness. You push your way through, to the testing rooms, and look down the row. It reminds you of a bowling alley, almost, except with expensive magic sensors on the far end of the wall. A tall, muscled girl- almost as huge as Thod- is swinging her battleaxe like it's a toothpick. Each time she swings, a shockwave of distorted light jumps from her blade to the sensor.
117
118It looks like it's actually dealing physical damage, but according to the way the girl keeps cussing and tapping runes on her Implement's display she might be having trouble with it.
119
120"Brun?!" You call.
121
122She turns to you, and squints.
123
124"Who're you?" She asks.
125
126"Jasmine." You say. "Jasmine Angwaz. Thod told me about you."
127
128"Yeah? What's up?"
129
130>?
131------------------------------------------
132>>390768
133>Not at all. But there are records, out there, of people summoning items and objects from elsewhere. The only problem is it's one of those spells that don't work anymore, so most people figure the records were faked or illusion.
134
135"Thod told me you're somewhat of an expert on Hermetic magic," You say, "and I'd love to consult with you on it for my thesis."
136
137"Really," She drawls. "I'm not an expert. I don't think there is an expert anymore. Not since most of it stopped working."
138
139"I'm sure you can help!" You chirp. "Anything would be better than the mostly-dead end I'm stuck on right now. And maybe I can help you with your spell in exchange."
140
141Brun quirks her lips. "Sure. Let's see if you can help me first. If I can finish this damn array, I'll have the rest of my day free."
142
143"What are you trying?" You ask, peering at the array on her axe. The runes look like a pretty simple force projection. She even has it keeping her axes' edge, and amplifying the force from her swing with magic. With a spell like this, she could fight monsters from afar.
144
145"Trying to project silver." She says. You raise an eyebrow at her. "What? We've got werewolves around my estate. They'll just regenerate as it is. My axe is silver, but it's not"
146
147You titter. This'll be easy.
148
149"That's because a projection spell isn't actually force projection. It's not magically transferring all the force you put into your swing. It's using your swing as a guide. Give me your Implement."
150
151Wordlessly, she hands it to you. You struggle to lift it, but then you lean it against the terminal of the testing room. You draw up your own Implement, and start delving into the programming.
152
153"Uh..." She says. "You know we're not supposed to do that, right? I'd like to not die in an atomic fireball."
154
155"It's fine." You say. "I'm just giving your axe a thaumaturgic reference to itself. Standard Implements don't have nearly enough runes programmed in. If you want to make the really esoteric stuff, you need to make a few changes."
156
157You hand her back her Implement, and there's a new rune in the array- one you'd programmed in.
158
159"Just link that rune to your 'force' rune and that should work. Use the Material bond.."
160
161Brun warily glances at the array, but taps it a few times and nods. 
162
163"Step back."
164
165You do so, and she swings- and the sensor chirps, giving her feedback on the 'silver force wavelength recieved'.
166
167Brun whoops, and scoops you up for a second, twirling you around.
168
169Then she sets you back down and pats your head.
170
171"So." She says. "My day's free, now, and my dad'll be pleased. What do you need to know about Hermetic magic? Other than the basics, I mean."
172
173"Well..." You say.
174
175>?
176------------------------------------------
177>>390842
178>Every adept needs to submit a Thesis in order to become a full magus. It needs to be something new, or something marketable, or something amazing, in order for the existing magi to accept them into their ranks.
179>You're attempting to figure out teleportation, which is mocked and disregarded as impossible. You know it's possible- you've found a book that has an actual, literal spell for summoning creatures from elsewhere in the world to your location. The only problem is that the spell is hermetic... And hermetic spells slowly stopped working over the past few centuries.
180
181>Also, writing post now.
182------------------------------------------
183"Well... I know OF it." You say. "Come on, let's get somewhere private."
184
185"Right, right," She says, and the two of you start talking. "First of all, it's not like analytical magic."
186
187"Of course," You say. Analytical magic is your specialty. An enchanted crystal sits within your implement, shaping magic essence into whatever shapes the programmed runes desire. A fireball, for example, is just a shape that contains heat surrounding a shape that turns magic into heat, as well as the programming that allows the sphere to be sent onward. 
188
189The addition you'd made to Brun's axeplement wasn't Analytical magic.
190
191That was Thaumaturgy. A completely different branch, that relies on a set of physical laws where a 'lesser' shape, if accurate enough, manipulates the 'greater' through magical energy, or vice-versa. What you'd done was programmed in a rune that automagically turned her force projection spell into a 'lesser' of Brun's axe.
192
193"Hermetic magic, back in the stone ages or whatever, was just a bunch of cavemen waving sticks. They did it in the right order, said the right gobble-de-gook words, and magic happened. Nobody knew why, and eventually people streamlined various actions down to their basics. If you've got a hermetic spell that means you need to call your uncle a fat chicken, then people needed to figure out whether it was insulting your uncle that cast the spell. Or calling him fat. Or calling a relative a chicken."
194
195"Did anyone figure out how they worked?"
196
197"People had theories. Some people think it was a huge magic machine that watched over everything and shaped magic in response to esoteric commands, and it stopped working when the machine broke down. Some people think it was just self-hypnosis. If you believe an action will do something, and you stuff magic into it, you'll get a spell out. That one doesn't hold water, now that most of the spells don't work."
198
199"I think it might be related to the constellations." You say. You do remember poring through journals around that era, talking about stars dying...
200
201"That's a new one." She says. "But how can I help? I'm not good with the theoretical stuff."
202
203"Thod said that you and your family had some hermetic spells that still worked..."
204
205Brun sighs.
206
207"Rathod's gotta learn to keep his mouth shut. Doesn't matter how cute he is if he's blabbing," She grumbles.
208
209She meets your eyes. "Yeah, we have a few spells that work still. Gran'da figured it out. Ended up tweaking *his* gran'da's spells, and we ended up with a bunch of disease repellant wards. I don't know why they work, just that they do. They're not major or anything. It's not like it's teleportation or anything. But they work when they're tweaked right."
210
211"How did he get it working?"
212
213"Changed a few words, replaced the elm ash with maple ash... I think he was trying random stuff, to be honest."
214
215Maybe if you could compare the old with the new...
216
217>?
218------------------------------------------
219>>390965
220>The only summoning spell you have works on creatures... but it's Hermetic magic.
221
222"You think Thod's cute?" You ask, smirking at her.
223
224Brun rolls her eyes. "Yeah. What, you don't?"
225
226"I've known him since we were kids." You say. "Before he was even apprenticed. He's more like a brother to me."
227
228"Lucky me, then."
229
230You shake your head and change the subject.
231
232"Is there, uh, any chance I could have a look at a few of the working wards? Plus the old ones. The old wards are just as important."
233
234Brun gives you a careful look.
235
236"This isn't just a library book you're asking to borrow, you know. This involves my family's livelihood. But you are trying to crack hermetic magic, aren't you?"
237
238You suppose you are... Though that's not your main goal.
239
240"I think I'll need something in trade for that information." She says. "You've already given me that silver rune, an' I can figure out how to replicate that for other spells, but... Let's see...."
241
242She goes silent for a moment, and pulls out her cell for a few minutes, typing. You're curious what she's saying, but eventually she looks back to you.
243
244"Tell you what. 'da said you can have both records of old and new spells, but if you end up cracking Hermetic magic, you give the solution to us. Even if you want to keep it secret from everybody else."
245
246... It's not a bad deal, considering...
247
248>?
249------------------------------------------
250"This is my livelihood on the line too, you know," You say. "Deal. but only after I finish my thesis, and only to you."
251
252"Not only to me." She says. "Even if most of our wards don't work anymore, this is the Dalheim family magic we're giving you. So in trade, this information goes to... Let's say, the Dalheim family head, and we'll be passing it down from head to heir every generation. That way, we can update our wards as we need to."
253
254You hesitate... But that's better terms than you'd expect, for an 'if'.
255
256"Deal." You say. "I do hope you'll consult me when the time comes to enter the market, however."
257
258She nods, and pulls out her cell again. She asks for your email, and your Implement chirps as it receives the information.
259
260"You have your smartphone in there?" She asks.
261
262You hold up your bracer, and grin.
263
264"I've got everything in here. Even my ID card's somewhere in here. It was a hell of a time getting a magnetic projection spell so I can open my dorm, but... I figured it out." You shrug.
265
266"How'd you keep it from breaking everything?" She asks. "Sometimes when I cast the wrong spell, the handle of my axe falls off when it shakes too much."
267
268"Well..." You say, and you start to talk.
269
270===
271
272The night finds you poring over pages of hermetic rituals, scratching pen against paper as you compare and contrast the hermetic rituals. They do seem a bit silly at first, doing the same exact ritual repeatedly to find what's more and less effective, but it's somewhat a necessity. A 2:3 ratio of elm-to-maple ash works, but a 3:2 doesn't. If you mix in a few shavings of oak, it works with some extra effect, according to the extremely expensive sensor in the corner of the testing chamber, but you're not sure why.
273
274She'd also sent you a bunch of other wards, none of which work, and no matter how much tweaking you do, you can't get those working.
275
276You sigh, slamming your head against the table. This is all you can do. Brun had wandered off a few hours into the testing, but it's pretty safe to say that you made a new friend. She might not be the cleverest wizard, but she's pretty nice. Even though she's tall. Like the rest of those tall bastards in the world.
277
278You grumble to yourself, and pull out the starmaps- one brand new, purchased this afternoon, and the other as old as you can find. The second was made back during the Tark occupation of Romalia, some five hundred years ago, and there are some pretty obvious differences between the two. Now it's up to you to figure out how to figure them out.
279
280> Please roll me some 1d100s!
281> Also of note, which I didn't fit into the OP, is that certain numbers on rolling- a natural 100, or a natural 1- will override the 'average of 3' as either a critical success or a critical failure. Good luck!
282------------------------------------------
283>>391112
284>>391118
285>>391119
286>Average: 53 - Mild Success!
287
288>>391169
289>I add all three results together, and divide it by three. Then I round up.
290
291
292You don't get much done. Well, you barely get anything done. You do end up mapping out the major astrological changes - Vekar Major is entirely separate from the Shadow constellation, which must be why the 'shu' syllable in the ritual chants had been replaced with 'vak'... Or so you guess. 
293
294You've essentially 'proved' your hypothesis that it's the changing of constellations that killed Hermetic magic, but you can't figure out how each hermetic component interacts with the stars at all.
295
296It's hard to tell, without a good ability to analyze everything. You have the information, but no matter what you do, you can't really fit it together.
297
298Your Implement begins to ring, and you pull your earbud up and out of it.
299
300"Jaz here."
301
302"It's me," Thod says. "Just calling to make sure that you're, well, doing alright. And that you're actually planning on sleeping. Are you?"
303
304"This thing is kicking my ass. I've mapped out all the changes in constellations for the past, uh, five hundred years or so, and I think this might be it... It'll just be a lot of work. It's a bit beyond me."
305
306You might just need to get hundreds of hermetic spells and figure out how to get them working before you can come up with a 'cure all'.
307
308Suddenly- 
309>>390901
310an idea hits you.
311
312"Wait!" You say. "Call me later!"
313
314"So you're *not* sleeping ton-"
315
316Then you hang up on him, and quickly delve into your runes. If you use thaumaturgy on the night sky itself, making a miniature magical version of the night sky, and then shift it into the ancient sky, and use that as a major reference for hermetic magic...
317
318This is the kind of modding that Implements weren't designed for... But you are one of the best, aren't you?
319
320>Roll me some more d100s!
321------------------------------------------
322>>391196
323>>391199
324>>391207
325> Result: 98 - Extreme Success!
326> As a savant, while you aren't good at analytical work, you're extremely good at taking ideas and putting them into practice. The Artificial Star Projector is one of these ideas!
327
328>>391240
329>>391247
330>It's a disgusting fetish, but I... just can't stop.
331>Also, I use the average of three, average of highest two out of three, and highest of three as different 'tiers' of skill for the MC. So if you were trying to, say, climb a rope? That would be average of three. Do a bunch of mathematical calculations? Average of three. Do something that requires you to be very tiny? That's an easy highest-of-three.
332
333An extremely wary Rathod carefully makes his way into the Experimental Metamagics building. Your personal focus, especially with your normally-extreme mods for your Implement, and it only takes him a little while to get to your specific test chamber. You always use Chamber B6, after all.
334
335Carefully, ignoring the 'in use' display on the door, he knocks.
336
337You pull the door open, cackling like a madwoman. Stars dance around your arm, constantly in motion.
338
339And a shining circle of runes sit on the ground, hermetic magic completely active.
340
341"It works." You say, beaming, as the Implement pulls more and more and more mana from you, draining your reserves of energy. It's exhausting, and the moment you let go of the spell the hermetic magic fails... But you can get it working for a few seconds. Long enough for a ritual or two.
342
343A pity you made that deal- you didn't even need Brun's rituals, in the end, though they make good tests.
344
345Maybe now you can figure out Summoning.
346
347"It works!" You crow, cackling. The other late-night experimenters give you strange looks, so you pull Thod into the room (Well, you tug on him, and he obliges- no way you're getting him to move if he doesn't want to) and slam the door shut.
348
349"Er, what just happened?" He asks.
350
351You beam at him in response.
352
353"Jasmine? You're scaring me."
354
355>?
356------------------------------------------
357You cackle, long and hard.
358"It works! I'm a genius! I'm a bona-fide Hermetic mage now!"
359
360"Wait, what?"
361
362"I can make it WORK again!"
363
364You're still laughing, as you feel the very last dregs of mana well up within you, and a wave of exhaustion hits you.
365
366Oh, right. You're out of Mana, and now your soul is shutting down to keep from dying. That's kind of important.
367
368Your vision swims, and Thod just sighs.
369
370"Up you go. I'll take you to your room."
371
372With a single hand, he scoops you up and drapes you over his shoulder. You angrily beat a fist against his shoulder- he should carry you *properly* but you can't put in the energy to argue.
373
374===
375
376The next morning, you find yourself ignoring your Etherobiology lecture on the various parts of the soul, poring over your Implement. You have the summoning ritual right here, you have the information. The circle you need to draw, even with minor changes in the chant required the location you intend to summon the target toward. It'll take some work, and some modifications to your Implement, but you should be able to transfer it to an Analytical form.
377
378"Tss!"
379
380The only problem is that your Star spell only works in a small radius around you. Hermetic magic only works around you for that time. Any larger, and it would exhaust you. So while you could summon anything within three meters, anything further away from that isn't a possibility. That's what you get from taking shortcuts, you suppose.
381
382"Hey!"
383
384Maybe you could wrap the spell in a Dweomer. The free-floating spells are designed to last a long time, but you could maybe have it wait for a signal, activate the Star spell for the fraction of a second it takes the spell to work... But that would take twice as much energy. You'd end up having to cast Star on two seperate locations at once... You might have to experiment if you can turn it into a Sending spell instead. You might only need to 'Star' one side...
385
386"Hey, Jaz!" 
387
388You finally notice the dark, purple-haired girl hissing and poking you in the rib. She's only a little bit taller than you, thankfully, but that still puts her firmly in the 'Tall' catagory. Like everyone over the age of twelve.
389
390"Kally." You respond. She beams. 
391
392"What are you working on?"
393
394"My thesis." You say.
395
396"You got it working?"
397
398"... Almost." You say. 
399
400"Good!" She whisper-yells. Somehow. You're not sure how, but it's Kally after all. "You wanna talk about it after class?"
401
402You tilt your head, thinking. Kally was the one who taught you how to mess with your Implement in the first place. She might have some idea on how to turn hermetic components into runes, so maybe she has some ideas...
403
404But on the other hand, you haven't known her for more than a year or two. You're not sure how much to trust her.
405
406>?
407------------------------------------------
408>>391426
409>I love you, anon. And also I hate you.
410
411>It's a very complex feeling.
412
413"Well... I kind of want to play the sneaky wizard and not blab, but I could pick your brain." You say, walking out of the hall. Kally gets up and follows you- and wow, she's a bit taller than you remember.
414
415She grins. "So you're just going to use me for your own nefarious deeds?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
416
417You shrug. "Pretty much."
418
419"Alright! What do you want to know?"
420
421"Well, you know that little trick you taught me way back when? During that one Expert Runics project?"
422
423"How to hack Implements? Yeah?"
424
425"I'm trying to figure out how to get hermetic components working. Ideally, use a component as a new rune."
426
427She rolls her eyes. "That depends on working hermetic components period." She says. "But there's that crazy axe girl who has a bunch of working spells, so I guess hermetic components aren't impossible. Why, what kind of components do you need?"
428
429"... Let's say maple ash." You say. Might as well start with something simple, testable, and yet irrevelant. "Or incanted words."
430
431Kally makes a long, wordless noise for a few seconds. "The chanting is easy. You just need to make it say what you need it to say, and fill the words with your magic. You don't even need custom runes for that, just have it record your voice You could probably even speed it all up. I mean, does the chanting need to be done in sequence, or can you just layer all the sounds on top of eachother? Have your implement chant an entire paragraph in a second or whatever."
432
433You're not sure it works that way, but you can figure that out.
434
435"For physical components, that seems a bit harder." She says. "You might need to add an entire new part of your implement. Might be pretty expensive, but..."
436
437For the next half hour, you and Kally wander across campus while she designs and rambles an entire new part, specifically designed to integrate certain components into the Implement. Once that's done, you could just do the same thing you did with Brun's axe, only with ash instead of silver.
438
439"How much might that run me?"
440
441"I dunno." She says. "A good hundred, two hundred ecu?"
442
443Yeesh. That's the price of a good smartphone, and maybe half your savings.
444
445"How much would I owe you for making it?"
446
447"... Hmmm... You could say good things about me to Rathod? Something about how cute I am? Or you could give me his number."
448
449>?
450------------------------------------------
451>>391525
452>It's more that archmage apprentices are RARE. Most archmages either release their magic to the world, or hide it from everybody.
453>Archmages are essentially wizards who've figured out a magic so impressive or world-shattering that the government literally made it legal for them to do whatever the hell they want with that magic. The alternative would have the police trying to arrest... well, a walking god.
454>Rathod's Master is an ancient archmage known as Haron. Haron invented golemancy, and only his apprentices are learning how to use it. His arm is his own creation, and also his own Implement. It makes him a bit more valuable to the ladies- especially the wizard ladies.
455
456>>391540
457>Sadly, clones are soulless. Without souls, they don't have sentience or magical ability.
458
459"Give?" You ask. "Rathod and I have been friends forever. That would be a huge breach of trust."
460
461"Right..." She says, frowning.
462
463"But it would appear..." You say, quickly scribbling out a number. "That I've misplaced this note that I had it written on."
464
465"Right!" She says, perking up. You hand her the note. "I'll get the addon done in a few days! Hell, I'll even add in the programming myself."
466
467"Thanks, Kally." 
468
469She perks up, beaming. "You're welcome! Don't forget to tell Thod that I was particularly pretty today."
470
471You roll your eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're lucky. He's into women with dark hair."
472
473She squeaks, and cheers.
474
475"Here's the money for the parts," You tell her. This isn't the first time you've had Kally make things for you, after all.
476
477You hand her the ecu, and she makes her way down to Fabrication. Apparently she's going to go work on it right now, unless she has her own studies.
478
479Regardless, you still know what you need to do now. Figure out how to get the Summoning spell working. You'll have to make do without your Implement until Kally gets back to you, but until then...
480
481You have three ideas that pop out at you. You could try and convert the ritual into a Sending, instead, to send you or objects near you elsewhere. Or you could spend twice as much energy so that hermetic magic works at both the target's location and your own. Now that you know how the Summoning Ritual works it shouldn't exhaust you as much...
482Or maybe you could try tweaking with the Star spell itself. Make it larger, or maybe try and link it to the Hermetic spell more intimately. If you can link it to the spell itself, then the spell would work no matter how far away it is.
483
484>?
485------------------------------------------
486>>391579
487>Ley lines are not a thing. Mana, the power of magic, is a both what makes up, and what powers a living soul. Every person, wizard or not, generates mana over time- more than they need, and wizards use that surplus energy for magic. Overusing magic isn't usually dangerous, because when you use up too much you just plain pass out... But it's better to be safe.
488
489>>391582
490>Your implement is a bracer that you wear on your left arm, pip-boy style. It's also your all-in-one electronic device. You don't even need a charger- you have a spell that does that with your mana.
491------------------------------------------
492>>391606
493>>391605
494>>abusable
495> The good thing about the Living Soul is that it's impossible to wrest that kind of power from the unwilling or unprepared. To even use an implement you need to undergo training that lets you consciously feed energy into it.
496>>391609
497>Communal spells are a thing that's possible, but it's strictly regulated. There have been a loooot of magical explosions from spells not designed for too much mana.
498------------------------------------------
499>>391658
500>Corpses don't have souls, silly.
501
502Rathod and Lunch finds you poring over your rune array in Testing Chamber B6, as always, carefully tweaking thaumaturgic mana relays. Implements don't like using variables, in the programming sense, but it's possible if you tweak it right. It's a complicated set of 'If/then' analog mana pathways, scaling up and down as you need. Logic Arrays are annoying, and everybody hates them. Scholar, most Implements even have a built-in Logic Array designed in their operating system. Even those don't help.
503
504If you want to make the 'star' spell work with any hermetic spell, you'll need to use thaumaturgy. Create a thaumaturgic echo of the ritual itself, link it up with the Star spell, and invoke the star spell and ritual at the same time... It's a pretty simple idea, but... Well, the goal is to compress the entire Star spell into a rune. And for that, you need to make it universal, so that you can plug it into any kind of Array you want.
505
506"Jaz?" Thod asks. "You okay?"
507
508"Grump." You say, and punch him in the chest. 
509
510"What?"
511
512"Grump grump grump." You say. "I hate this variable stuff."
513
514He looks down at your array. "You're trying to make your own rune? That thing looks really complicated."
515
516"It is, and I'm shit at it." You grumble. "Scholar, this thing is annoying."
517
518He sighs. "I can try and help you with it."
519
520"Would you?" You ask. He's a lot more mechanically-minded than you are. That is, after all, why his Master chose him in the first place.
521
522"As long as you stop giving me those puppy dog eyes. I know you're not *that* pitiful."
523
524>Continued!
525------------------------------------------
526>>391694
527
528Together, the two of you puzzle through the array. Thod mentions, offhandedly, that he has a few techniques that would make things a lot easier, but he's not allowed to use them outside of golemancy. 
529
530But as the hours stretch, lunch runs low, and the two of you continue bonking heads together in order to figure it out. It's not easy, not by any means, but it's something you can do.
531
532Hopefully.
533
534With enough time.
535
536It ... might take a few days. Or weeks. 
537
538Weeks which you might not have. Probably don't, in fact, according to your Counselor.
539
540If your sponsors- the Board of Governors- ask how your progress is, you don't really have anything to show them. Getting hermetic spells working is more than worth the title of Magus, but...
541
542You're set on teleportation. More set on it than you admit, even to Rathod. Your sponsors would just make you change to hermetic magic, and you don't want that.
543
544If you can get this working, your family won't be a joke anymore.
545
546Thod's phone rings, and he picks it up.
547
548"Hey, Jaz?" He asks. "Do you know a Kaliel?"
549
550"Yep! She's very pretty, I'm supposed to say."
551
552He sighs. "Did you give away my number again?"
553
554You give him a grin. "I wrote it on a note for some reason, and then dropped it. But hey! She's in Fabrication. That's your specialty too, right? Lucky thing she's the one who found it, huh."
555
556He sighs again, and puts it up to his ear.
557
558You look down to the half-completed Array. If you just keep butting your head up against it, you won't get it done in time. Even Rathod- whose Master's magic specializes in logic arrays- can't help you without his master's permission. You need to find some kind of shortcut...
559
560>?
561------------------------------------------
562>>391729
563>Because it's the easy half that's completed!
564
565>>391734
566>You've been trying, ever since he got that arm.
567
568You sigh, taking another look at the Array. You snap a picture of it, just in case, and start packing up. Thod will probably be talking with Kally for a while- he's actually pretty good about being set up like this. He trusts your judgement, apparently. But you can't talk with him about contacting his Master until he's done.
569
570So instead, you do the only thing you can. The one thing you dread, beyond most things- including having to fight monsters in Combat Evocation- and that's the Library.
571
572It hates you. It doesn't have a soul, or a mind, or an enchantment, and you don't think even the architects knew you existed when they built it... but it hates you.
573
574First things first. Shopping list. You scrawl down exactly what you need- Guides on spell arrays, of course. And even though Rathod can't tell you any of his secret techniques from golemancy, that doesn't mean you can't look up theory books on how Golemancy might work; They might give you some inspiration. As an afterthought, you decide to look up Hermetic spells, too. They're not your main priority, but they'll come in handy.
575
576Carefully, you creep into the library, peering around. The shelves look stable. There's nothing dangling off of high shelves- You don't think anything will fall on you this time. You have a spell prepared in your Implement that will create a platform for you to stand on, or grab high-up books. You won't have problems reaching anything. You have a dagger on your hip, and a force projection enchantment linked up to it. Just in case of a wild animal somehow got in when nobody was looking.
577
578Alright.
579
580You take a deep breath.
581
582"Oh heeeey, it's Angwaz!"
583
584God DAMN it.
585
586You whirl around. Behind you is standing a tall, blonde bimbo. She's smiling politely down at you.
587
588"How's your research into teleportation going along?" She asks. "Going to candyland like your ancestors? You should totally pick me up some ice cream while you're there."
589
590"Fuck off, Cera." You say.
591
592She titters.
593
594"That's not polite. We're friends, aren't we? Are you going to want some help? I mean, those are awfully high shelves. You might not be able to reach. And there are stairs, too. Are your legs even long enough to use them?"
595
596>?
597------------------------------------------
598"Are you here simply to flaunt your flesh-stilts at me, or are you interrupting a masterwork in process for an actual reason?" You ask. "Coming to prostrate yourself before my superiority in advance?"
599
600"Sorry, I don't think I can kneel low enough to prostrate myself before you. But maybe then we could talk face-to-face."
601
602You sigh.
603
604"Your concern is simply touching, but I'm afraid you wouldn't be much help even should I need it. After all, in a library, any assistant would need to be literate. Are you here to look up your ABCs?"
605
606She snorts.
607
608"I'm here dropping off books from my family estate. My father tends to collect a lot of magical texts. Archmages are like that, you know."
609
610"No, you're probably here to look at the pretty pictures. I think you need multiple brain cells for letters." You respond.
611
612"Speaking of books, look what I found!" She says, holding up an aged tome. "It's one of the first copies. Take it, it's a gift for you!"
613
614'The Amazing Journals of Krital Angwaz, Archmagus in Training' stares up at you.
615
616Of fucking course, she found this thing.
617
618"I already have a copy." You say. 
619
620"Okay, that's fine! Then I'll just..." She twitches a hand, keying her Implement, and the book simply dissolves into nothingness. "It's probably much more useful as my mana, after all. The ramblings of madmen aren't very valuable." 
621
622She titters.
623
624And with that, she steps straight past you, strutting up the stairs into the library. 
625
626God, what a whore.
627
628===
629
630Thankfully, the moment Cera left your sight, the Library took pity on you. Must be Karma or something. On top of a few compiled books on non-functional hermetic spells, You find a few books on logic arrays that might be useful. You even find a text on golemancy theories that... Well, you're pretty sure they're not right, but it does have a chapter on advanced logic arrays. It might help, but your mood is pretty ruined right now. You could bash your head against it some more, try to come at the summoning spell from a different angle... Or hell, call up a friend and hang out with them for a while. Maybe hang out with all of them.
631
632>?
633------------------------------------------
634>>391860
635>Not really. A few acquaintances, but nobody you're really close to. Rathod you've known since the two of you were little kids, you met-and-hung-out with Kaliel quite a bit since you met in class, and... well, you met Brun just yesterday, and the two of you hit it off.
636------------------------------------------
637>>391869
638>It does not have to be summon-type. Your family copy (Well, it's actually the original) of Krital's Amazing Journals has, written in the margins, a hermetic summoning ritual. That's what you're using as a basis, so you can try modifying it.
639
640>>391873
641>There is not. Space is space, and if you compress stuff, it just gets smushed and damaged.
642
643>>391876
644>Don't worry, everyone calls her Kally.
645------------------------------------------
646For a while, you try bashing your head against the array some more. The star spell is pretty complicated. Not only does it have to remember both the current constellations and the old constellations, you've hacked in some... somewhat illegal thaumaturgy to get hermetic magic working.
647
648The hardest part is the thaumaturgy. You have it affecting the space around you, relative to the Implement. The problem is that, instead of relative to the Implement, you want it to affect the hermetic spell itself, as opposed to the space around the spell.
649
650You sigh. Boiled down, it's a lot of complicated math. You can do it, it's just taking forever.
651
652And that's when your phone rings. You look at it- and it's Rathod.
653
654"Yeah? What's up?"
655
656"Uh..." He says. "My master wants to speak with you."
657
658"What?"
659
660"I kind of mentioned your work. Not the specifics, I didn't spoil anything. I just mentioned the logic arrays we're having trouble with. And he wants to meet with you. His estate will open up if you want to come by."
661
662You take a deep breath. Meeting with an archmage. That's a thing that doesn't happen everyday. Except for Cera, the bitch, but that's because she's the bratty daughter of one.
663
664That said... He might actually help. Or he might try and buy your magic from you. Or he might murder you and hide the body for asking his apprentice for help with something that's ... technically close to his Magic. You're not sure. You've never met Haron before.
665
666>?
667------------------------------------------
668"He's not going to try to murder me and steal my work, right?" You ask.
669
670He chuckles, and relays your question. You hear a deep voice saying something...
671
672"He uh, says that depends on how amazing your work is. But I think he was joking? Were you joking, Master?"
673
674A moment later.
675
676"... He's not giving me an answer. Just laughing at me. I think it'll be fine."
677
678"Alright, I'll be there later today." You say, and start piling up your work. You just need to put it into your hidden stash so nobody finds it...
679
680===
681
682You're sitting in a large carriage. A horse-shaped golem pulling it along, everything gilded with orichalium. It'd been waiting for you when you came out to the bus stop, and the horse kept whinnying at you until you climbed up. It makes you look somewhat conspicuous compared to the simple gas-guzzling cars screaming across the road, but on the other hand... 
683
684It makes you feel tall, looking down at the tops of cars like this. 
685
686Eventually, it pulls itself down a long, winding road, and Haron's mansion comes into view.
687
688Archmage Haron's estate is huge. It's a mansion, honestly, with enameled golems maintaining and guarding the place. The man's a recluse, and nobody's ever really seen him in person before. For the most part, he sends out his proxies, puppeting them through magic nobody understands. Rathod might learn some of it, but the archmage that gives away all of their secrets is rare enough to call them unique.
689
690The guards- both more golems, both gilded with orichalium, step aside as the horse happily trots through the main gate into his estate.
691
692Inside, both the archmage and your childhood friend await.
693
694>End of thread one!
695>I'm pretty damn excited about this!
696>My twitter is @futureexabyte , and I'm basically constantly on various IRC channels- most notably, #Exabyte on Rizon.
697>I'll be hanging around for a while to answer questions, and I'll probably revive this thread tomorrow when I run some more (If it's still here)
698>Still, I'm having a lot of fun with this. I'm glad to be back.
699------------------------------------------
700>>391970
701>>391967
702The setting is a cyber-fantasy. We've got roughly modern-level technology, alongside monsters- animals with souls and thus arcane powers- and wizards, who use anywhere from primitive to technologically-advanced magics.
703It's got a unique geography, and before you ask, I don't have a map for it. 
704
705I'm having a lot of fun with the MC, too. I found myself changing the way I was narrating since we're looking from her perspective, and you guys' write-ins are helping a lot.
706
707>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qY2MOe8j2M
708Also, in case you guys aren't aware: She is very short. Also not japanese, since Japan doesn't exist here, but oh well.
709------------------------------------------
710>>392111
711This is one of those points where her female sense of attraction and her wizard sense of attraction wrestle with one another.
712
713>>392113
714It is extremely cute. And now I need to come up with a good reason why Jaz doesn't hate it.
715------------------------------------------
716-omitted one small post.
717Hey, folks who are still around, I've got a question for you.
718
719The clothing styles around are... well, pretty erratic. You've got the same sort of modern styles that are around today, like jeans and a jacket (And a golem arm prosthetic, but who cares), or a cute tartan skirt and blouse, for example.
720
721But, well, in today's world, Wizards tend to promote their individuality. It gives you a symbol, something people will recognize when they're looking to hire you. There are even clothiers who specifically tailor clothes to design for you, and it's not out of the ordinary to make full use of them.
722
723There's one Adept running around with a battleaxe and monster fur and scale, or a heartless bitch who wears a slinky silken robe specifically tailored to show off her curves because she's a huge jerk. 
724
725What kind of clothing does Jasmine tend to wear? I mean, you've got a smaller-than average young woman. Stark white hair, modest assets, a strange mix of cool confidence and manic inspiration...
726------------------------------------------
727-omitted one small post.
728>I'm reusing this thread, mostly since it's still alive. I guess I'll have to count these as 'sessions' instead of threads.
729>Regardless, welcome to Session 2 of Samsara Quest.
730
731The archmage Haron's mansion is enormous, manned by colossal golems and strange floating eyes. You almost expected more dweomers illuminating the place, but instead you just see electronic lights around. The building is rather modern, in fact, with minimalist rooms and glass walls showing you the expertly-trimmed fields outside. It doesn't look quite as... rustic as you'd expected.
732
733A gleaming, floating golem - one that has no moving parts, instead just a floating sphere- chirps at you, evidently wanting you to follow it. You shrug, and let it lead the way through the archmage's mansion.
734
735Eventually, you find yourself in what looks like a living room. Hell, there's even a widescreen HD television on one wall. Weren't archmages supposed to be primitive and disdainful of technology?
736
737Rathod, your childhood friend and current apprentice of the archmage, sits in one seat.
738
739Sitting in a large, soft seat, is the archmage himself. In one moment, you realize why he's a recluse.
740
741His face is a sheer flat mask, orichalium gilding across his featureless mask. Gears tick and twirl beneath his armor plating, and an enormous spellcrystal- one you're not sure how they can even make- is jutting out of the back of where the archmage's skull should be. You don't see anything biological, anything that belies an organic living being.
742
743But Haron appraises you anyway. You feel somewhat sheepish, as you get the strong feeling that the eyeless mask is looking you up and down.
744
745"Jasmine Angwaz." a tinny, mechanical voice says, and Haron waves you over. It's just imperfect enough to have emotion in it. You're not sure if it's a man or woman. Then again, did a golem even have gender?
746
747"Archmage Haron." You respond, and the golem nods. "Rathod called me and said that you requested my presence."
748
749"I did indeed." He says. "He told me of your current... problems with a particular rune you intend on writing. You are aware that modifying an Implement's programming is illegal, correct? A custom rune falls inside that area of the law."
750
751"It's only theoretical." You respond. "All done on paper." You hadn't, after all, finished the array yet. No reason to program it in when it's not done. That was the first rule Kally gave you... and it did give you a legal out. Nobody could legally check your Implement's spellcrystal for modification, after all.
752
753"Oh, of course, of course." He says, humor evident in his voice. "If you'd like, could you tell me about your project? Some things I heard about it make me rather curious. Extremely curious, in fact."
754
755>?
756------------------------------------------
757>>393254
758>That's only two precepts he has permission to use. Rathod knows dozens of them, and the archmage himself has hundreds.
759
760"Thank you so much," You say, as your paranoia begins to well up, "But the catch?"
761
762The archmage chuckles again.
763
764"The catch is simple. I promote magic, on a philosophical level. I encourage the growth and development for magic. When I see something this intruiguing, I see no reason not to help."
765
766You frown at him. "What will this cost me?" You ask.
767
768He chuckles. "So you're one of those who doesn't like holding debts, eh?"
769
770"I guess you could say that." You say.
771
772"Very well. Perhaps, when I need assistance, you will give it to me. Let's say... one major act, such as saving the life of myself or others, or three minor ones, such as teleporting shipments of resources for me. How does that sound?"
773
774That's damn generous. Not only will you be able to finish your array- today- but all you need to do is cast the spell for him a few times.
775
776>?
777------------------------------------------
778>>393280
779>He's supposedly over two hundred years old, but most people assume that's just his apprentice taking his place and taking their own apprentice. Then again, the immortality might actually be a thing...
780
781>>393285
782>You could probably pay off Brun with a really simple, mana-hungry version of the star spell.
783
784"Agreed." You say. You don't hesitate. Now that you know the catch, it's all you can do to try and grab this opportunity as tightly as possible.
785
786Haron laughs at your expression, and he draws out a long, complicated logic array. He marks out a few locations, and then recreates the 'star' array you'd given him wrapped around it. He does it casually, without any effort, and he even scrawls a winky-face next to one of the 'secret' runes. A few minutes later, he hands it back to you. You don't understand the more complicated parts, and a bunch of stuff about 'vectors', and the knots of manalinks too compressed for you to make sense of. It's the little pictures of chibi-Haron poking certain parts of the array, with little mathematic symbols explaining what they mean, that allows you to figure the array out at all.
787
788He's a surprisingly good artist.
789
790"If you run into any difficulty making use of this, please call me. Do you have any questions?"
791
792"Uh... No." You say. "I think this is exactly what I need."
793
794He claps once. "Wonderful! Please, do tell me when you get your magic completed. Or tell Rathod. I'd love to hear about it regardless."
795
796"Thank you, Haron." You say. He just nods graciously.
797
798"You're very welcome. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss, or would you like a ride back to the academy?"
799------------------------------------------
800"Well, I do have a question." You say.
801
802"Oh?"
803
804"Why did you select Rathod as your apprentice?"
805
806The golem chuckles, and for a moment, Rathod looks really, really uncomfortable.
807
808"He sent me a letter, as brazen as you please, asking to become my apprentice." He says. "I did my research, heard about his... situation, and took a good measure of his character. He's the exact kind of apprentice I was looking for."
809
810"Was this, er..."
811
812"I sent it before the attack." Rathod says. "I still, er, had both arms then."
813
814You nod, ignoring the coils of guilt tightening in your stomach, wishing yet again that you'd been there.
815
816"I see." You say. You carefully get to your feet, brushing yourself off. "Am I allowed to visit again?"
817
818"Oh, certainly." Haron says. "I am... rather starved for human contact, some days. I like a pleasant chat now and again."
819
820You give him a smile. "Then I'll make full use of that."
821
822He smiles, and nods. "Rathod, show her out, shall you?"
823
824"Sure thing, Master." Thod says, and the two of you make your way out of the mansion. 
825
826"So. What did you think?" He asks, as the two of you climb on top of the carriage.
827
828>?
829------------------------------------------
830"He seems to be one of the good guys." You say. "I was honestly expecting a crooked old mage surrounded by dust and his own beard. His work is nothing short of brilliant."
831
832"I had the same kind of image, until I met him. I guess the hat and beard cliche comes to everyone's mind when they think archmage."
833
834"Also, after seeing him drawing that complex rune in that short a time, I guess, I can look up to you in more than one way for catching him as a Master. Good job, Thod!"
835
836He chuckles, cheeks going red, and he relaxes back in the carriage. A moment later, as if realizing something, he turns to you.
837
838"What else do you look up to me for?" He asks.
839
840You blink at him. You were making a joke about his height.
841 
842"Because to be honest, I pretty much constantly feel like you're leaving me in the dust," He says, "I don't think there's much about me to look up to for."
843
844"I was making a joke," You say, "You're tall. Thus I have to look up at you."
845
846"Don't you mean it's you being short?" He teases, and you shoot him a glare.
847
848He just laughs, and the two of you ride back to the Academy.
849
850The moment the two of you climb off, a dark blur makes its way toward you.
851
852"Jaz! Jaz!" Kally calls, screeching to a stop in front of you. Her haste spell is making her vibrate in place, but it stops a few seconds after she does.
853
854"What's up?"
855
856"It's doooone," She says, drawing out a long, complicated component. It's got multitudes of little chamber, enough for a pinch of each material, and there's even a spell crystal set into the rear. "I've even programmed it so that you can invoke any material you want! See, if you put something in this first socket, then you can invoke that component for a spell by putting in a 'component one' rune! It's perfect! I might license this thing."
857
858The only way it could be more perfect, you think, is if you didn't have to spend half your cash for the supplies.
859
860"OH! Hello! Rathod, right?" Kally's peppy as ever- you're surprised she doesn't have that haste spell active constantly.
861
862"Kally." Your friend responds. He looks a bit nervous. You could probably leave him to the wolves... She-wolf, in this case, and go get your spell done, or the three of you could go do something for fun. It's been a while since you've had time to relax, after all.
863
864>?
865------------------------------------------
866"This is the cute and capable Kally I told you about, Rathod."
867
868"I know. She sent me a picture." He says, nodding deeply to her. "I'm Rathod. It's nice to meet you in person."
869
870"Nice to meet you too!" She beams.
871
872"Oh, Kally, thanks for the Implement improvement. I'm honestly impressed you did it so quickly!"
873
874"Yes! Praise me more! I'm amazing!" She says, clenching a fist into the air. Then she whirls over to Rathod, and gives him a smirk. "But no autographs, please."
875
876"I suppose I'll have to leave a huge empty space where your name was supposed to be in my autograph book, then." He drawls, putting his hand - his golemic one- over his heart.
877
878"Well. I'm never going to make Magus if I sit around here with you two, though." You say. "I've got to go get to work."
879
880"Really? How's it going?" Kally asks.
881
882You give her a big, brilliant grin.
883
884"I should be done with it by today."
885
886===
887
888Testing Chamber B6 is darkly lit, your implement the only source of light in the room. In front of you, your family copy of Krital's Journal sitting in your lap, the darkness spell making its words invisible to all but you. Inside it, hand-written scrawls of a ritual sits in front of you. Teleportation. A hermetic spell, invented and written by your ancestor hundreds of years ago.
889
890Human blood in one component. A bird's feather in another. Ash from three, foriegn trees. A flower picked at the full moon. These things, and more, are contained within your implement, Kally's new component working as designed. This spell, a summoning spell, should be able to bring forth any object you desire. Let's go with... Hmmm...
891
892You key the Implement, and stars dance around you, a false constellation forcing Hermetic magic to work. Your implement whistles, a loud and high sound made up from your own voice, recorded and sped up.
893
894A second passes, and a sphere of blackness appears in front of you, absorbing all light it touches. A moment later, it's gone.
895
896A single ring lands in front of you, bouncing against the concrete floor. 
897
898You'd left it in your room this morning.
899
900The testing chamber's sensor buzzes loudly about unknown phenomena... but your laugh- your cackle- is louder.
901
902Which is precisely when your phone buzzes. You look down at it.
903
904[Adept Angwaz, I'm afraid to say that you should meet me in my office as soon as possible. I'll keep my doors open until 10 PM tonight.] 
905
906You stare. It's the weevil, your counselor. The same one who'd been trying to talk you into changing your thesis a few days ago.
907
908You fight off the giggles for a little bit longer- and then you break up into cackles again.
909
910You're a fucking genius.
911
912>?
913------------------------------------------
914>>393562
915>It takes barely any for small objects, but you're sure it would take a lot more the larger the object you intend on moving.
916
917"I've done what I can." The weevil says, a (probably practiced) apologetic expression on his face. It's a red dweomer tonight, much simpler. This one you could believe he'd made himself. "But the Board caught wind of things. I'm afraid that they are very... concerned about your choice of thesis."
918
919"Of course they are." You say. His smug ass can't wipe the grin on your face.
920
921"Mister Sirius seems to be very concerned." And there goes your grin, for a little while. "He says that if the media catches wind of your plan, they could easily spin it out to where the Academy is producing charlatans. Or... madmen. It's... very politically sensitive, with the northern coalition insisting on using the apprentice/master scheme for training new Adepts. The Academy is very experimental, you have to understand, and without funding from the government... Well, the board would prefer to let go of a single student than the entire school."
922
923You meet his eyes.
924
925"And what does that mean?" You ask, the corner of your mouth pulling up into a smirk. "How's my scholarship? Do I have to move out tomorrow morning?"
926
927You don't need this place anymore, after all. The lack of funding and testing infrastructure might be a problem... but you'll teleport past that bridge when you get to it.
928
929"Oh, no no," He says, "I talked them into evaluating your thesis. I'm confident in your skill, so I know you have something to show. You'll be able to show them the work you have so far, and they can decide what to do then."
930
931Oh. Well, that's good news. The only questionable part is Sirius. Specifically, Archmage Sirius, head of the board of governors, inventor of matter creation/destruction magic the ones who fund the school... And Cera's doting father. You can deal with him, but...
932
933"Though I think it won't be the full board. Only a three-seat tribunal." He says. "I hear that Mister Sirius himself might be absent, too. Though sometimes, his daughter and apprentice takes his s-"
934
935"Fuck." You snarl.
936
937"Excuse me?" He asks.
938
939Three seats. They'll probably vote on it. And one vote is obviously an expulsion, if that bitch is there.
940
941Unless she's trying to be clever and do something even worse, somehow.
942
943>?
944------------------------------------------
945"If his daughter takes his seat, she's going to vote for expulsion even if I teleport something directly into her hand. It's no question that his daughter and I do not get along, at all."
946
947He grimaces.
948
949"I can't do anything about that." He says.
950
951"Surely she could be considered too biased with regards to my case..."
952
953He raises a hand. "Even IF she's biased, Sirius has directly named her as his apprentice and given her permission to take his seat. She has his trust, and it's not in anybody's favor to question if his trust has been misplaced. He's a very powerful man, after all."
954
955"I want a public tribunal! Very, very public."
956
957"I... I'm not sure I can do that." He says. "Nobody wants to make this into a media circus. The very reason they're questioning your thesis is because they don't want it known that you're trying something disregarded and mocked as... well, to be blunt, a pipe dream for idiots."
958
959The weevil thinks for a few moments.
960
961"Here's what I can do." He says. "I can come with you, to support you, and if I see anything going wrong, I can speak up. Lodge a formal complaint, and the full board, not just the tribunal, will be obliged evaluate Miss Sirius's word and deed."
962
963>?
964------------------------------------------
965"Thank you." You say. 
966
967"I'm supposed to be on your side, Adept." He says, smiling politely. "That's my job, after all."
968
969"Is there any way we can request the Archmage Haron as a seat on the tribunal?"
970
971He frowns. "The archmage is very reclusive, and... he's not even a member of the board. He has no interaction with the academy anymore, other than that his Apprentice also goes here. I'm afraid he doesn't have a place at the Tribunal."
972
973"I thought so." You say. "But I'd hoped..."
974
975"I'm sorry." He says.
976
977"May I at least bring some observers with me? Some of my classmates have helped me a great deal with my thesis, and my good friend Rathod will want to support me."
978
979"I'm sure I can manage that." He says, making sure to jot it down. "Do you have any other concerns? I'm doing what I can, but it isn't much."
980------------------------------------------
981-omitted one small post.
982"When will the tribunal be?" You ask.
983
984"You don't have very long, I'm afraid." He says. "They've altered their schedules to open up a spot tomorrow, at 2 PM."
985
986"What kind of questions are they allowed to ask?"
987
988"Anything they want. Of course, you're not obliged to answer them if they, for example, involve family magics, or simply if you don't want to. But every time you refuse to answer, that gives them more ammunition."
989
990"Of course." You say. "How will this work, precisely?"
991
992"The way these evaluations tend to work are rather simple. They'll have you come in, and explain the basis behind your magic. If it's not analytical magic, they may ask you to explain the basis behind whatever foriegn variety of magic you're using, whether it's Hermetic, Thaumaturgic, Astral, even Shamanic. You should study up on that so that you can explain it properly. Then if they have further questions, you'll need to answer them to your best ability. In some rare cases, they allow for demonstrations to be made."
993
994"I see." You say, already your day Brush up on your hermetic, figure out how to word your explanations...
995
996At least you were right- you didn't have very long.
997
998>You don't have long... What do you plan on doing before the Tribunal?
999>?
1000------------------------------------------
1001-omitted one small post.
1002"I do have one more question, sir." You say.
1003
1004"Hm?"
1005
1006"Can I invite the Archmage Haron as an observer? He did give me some assistance with my thesis as well."
1007
1008"Certainly." He says. "I strongly doubt he will show up, but you can attempt it."
1009
1010You can't think of anything else, so...
1011
1012"Thank you for your help." You tell him.
1013
1014"It's not a problem." He responds, and nods.
1015
1016You make your way back out of his office, and immediately get to work.
1017
1018You send out a few calls to people who've helped you: Brun, Kally, Rathor- hell, even the Archmage Haron. While you get an 'of course' from Rathor and Brun, Kally tells you that she can't make it- she has family business then- and the Archmage doesn't even respond to the message you leave on his machine. 
1019
1020You hide a bucket full of water in your room, making sure to mark down its exact location so that you can summon it later- hopefully, over that bitches' head. Just in case.
1021
1022First, you look into your explanation. How does your magic work?
1023
1024The most complicated and problematic is to tell the whole truth: That you're using thaumaturgy and analytical magic- complete with a heaping pile of Haron's precepts- in order to artificially emulate the universe in a state where hermetic magic works, and get a Hermetic ritual working outside of its normal bounds. You can use the summoning spell for any kind of teleportation, with the Precept-enhanced version of the Star rune. Just put the 'source' of the summoning at your destination, and summon anything or anyone there.
1025 
1026But the problem with that explanation is that your ability to get Hermetic rituals working is going to overshadow everything. That's not something you want known, not right now.
1027
1028But Brun's family has hermetic magic that they've altered to work, after all. Perhaps you could simply shorten it down. You've a family magic that involves teleportation, and with Brun's help, you've invented a spell that uses Analytical magic to set source and destinations for each teleportation.
1029
1030That works. Something feels wrong about it, though. Like you've a weak point, something that could be questioned...
1031
1032>?
1033------------------------------------------
1034You pace through your room, carefully analyzing everything you can think of, going over it again and again...
1035
1036The stars are simple. They happen at the same time as the teleportation, so of course it's part the spell.
1037
1038And it clicks.
1039
1040Your Implement. You've made so many additions and so many changes to it over the years, you're sure that it counts as illegally modded. 
1041
1042You make your way through your collection of books- some of which are from the library and may become overdue soon- and you finally find one on major wizard pitfalls. Somewhere in here are the laws behind Implements and their usage and modification.
1043
1044The core programming crystal of the Implement had been refined down, and made perfectly safe to channel magic. But the problem with a non-modded core is that it only has a few, extremely basic runes, and allows only for two or three additional components. Without more advanced features, an Analytical mage needs to tangle the runes together to create more advanced effects. But by modding your Implement, you can greatly simplify your work. Instead of having to recreate an entire array every time you need it, you can shorten it down into a custom rune, and make use of that for multiple spells. 
1045
1046But you're not a genius for nothing. With a few movements, a swipe across your teleportation array, and a gesture- you are consumed by a black, looming sphere.
1047
1048After a long, long second in nothingness, you land on the ground, the air fresher than you recall, your ears popping from the pressure differential.
1049
1050You'd summoned yourself into your room back home. Sitting a shelf is your old Implement, made out of brass and carefully taken care of for years. It even has your name drawn on it in black marker. 
1051
1052This one... hasn't been modded at all. You just need to put Kalee's component on there, and... well, plug everything in the complicated stupid... yet legal way.
1053
1054You rest for a minute or two, and teleport back to the dorm.
1055
1056You've got a looong night ahead of you, dissecting all of the illegal runes you'd made over the years and recreating them. This should be fun.
1057
1058No sleep for you. Again.
1059
1060===
1061
1062The morning greets you when someone shakes you, hard. You pull yourself away from the desk you'd been snoring on, rubbing your cheeks, and look blearily up at Rathod.
1063
1064"Jasmine, we have to go." 
1065
1066"Bwuh?"
1067
1068"Your tribunal." He says. "It's starting in like, twenty minutes. We have to go."
1069
1070You blink, trying to wake up.
1071
1072"Come on!"
1073
1074You feel a bit slow, a bit sluggish, as Thod pulls you along. Fortunately, you're smart enough to grab your legal implement, and stuff your other one into Thod's arms.
1075
1076"Hide that," You say, tugging at the clasp of your old Implement. It's too small, so you have to loosen it some, "I'll find it later."
1077
1078"Uh, right." He says, stuffing it into his bag. You grab your papers, the ones with your research on it- and with a spell, you set it ablaze.
1079
1080No reason to keep your research anywhere but your own mind, after all.
1081
1082>Continued!
1083------------------------------------------
1084You'd expected a simple meeting. You know, a square room, a large table, everyone with terrible plastic chairs surrounding the table...
1085
1086Instead, it's a large, circular room- an auditorium, almost- with seven huge thrones sitting along one end of the room. On the other, at the very lowest section of the room, a single wooden chair is sitting.
1087
1088It's obviously yours.
1089
1090The Weevil strides over to you.
1091
1092"Good, you made it." He says. "The members of the tribunal haven't arrived yet. Rathod, can you come sit over here next to miss Dalheim, along the side?"
1093
1094"Uh, sure thing." Rathod says. He turns to you, and pats your head a few times. "Good luck, Jaz."
1095
1096"Thanks." You say, cheeks red.
1097
1098"Do you have everything planned?" Your counselor asks, and his practiced smile greets your nod. "Good, good. I'll just leave you to it, okay?"
1099
1100"Okay."
1101
1102===
1103
1104Cera, of course, is head bitch of the Tribunal. She sits in the center throne, the tallest one. One side of her, a gentrified, grumpy man sits. On the other, a plump smiling woman.
1105
1106"You may begin the formal recording, Magus." She says politely to the Weevil, and he presses a button. "For the record, the date is the seventh of Plantfall. The time is One-fifty-six PM. Speaking is Cerulean Sirius, in the place of the Archmagus Alphonse Sirius. Next to me is the Magus Helga Venus, and the Magus Kaleid. We are here to evaluate the thesis of one Adept Jasmine Angwaz. Her thesis is... Practical teleportation of physical objects and people. Is that correct, Miss Angwaz?"
1107
1108She hasn't said anything wrong yet, but her brilliant smile pisses you off. You push that away- she's acting as a member of the Tribunal, so you can't insult her- and you speak loud enough for the record. "That is correct."
1109
1110"Wonderful." The woman- Helga Venus, apparently- says. "Please, do explain your magic. Have you made any progress? I'm very curious."
1111
1112>?
1113------------------------------------------
1114"I have made a great deal of progress." You state. "My family holds within our vaults several family magics, hermetic in nature, that once teleported objects from one place to another. My work is about... overcoming circumstances that prevents Hermetic magic from working."
1115
1116"I see." Venus says. "And progress?"
1117
1118"With the help of a colleague-" You turn to Brun and nod to her. She gives you two thumbs up. "Brun Dalheim- I have made minor modifications to the hermetic ritual that allows it to work. I successfully conjured a small object- a ring- from my dorm room into the testing chamber."
1119
1120At that, you pull out a small sheet of paper- the sensor readouts. "The testing chamber's sensor recognized an unknown energy field, as well as unknown phenomena. I have several copies of the readouts."
1121
1122The weevil comes by and hands out the copies to the tribunal, and all three of them look it over. Cera scowls, slightly, but schools her expression after a few seconds.
1123
1124"Very good." The woman says. "Magus Kaleid, what do you think?"
1125
1126The man clears his throat, and in a wheezing, droning voice, speaks. "I've read the journal written by one of your ancestors, Adept. To be entirely honest, it's nothing but fictional drivel. There is no such thing as other realms, or sentient non-human species. I think you should focus on more grounded projects instead of chasing this star."
1127
1128"That journal has nothing to do with my thesis, Magus." You say.
1129
1130"I agree with Miss Jasmine." Cera says. "Frankly, Magus Kaleid, there's no relevance between that book and the thesis we're evaluating, other than subject matter. If she has already attempted and succeeded her magic, there is no reason to think it's fictional." 
1131
1132She turns to you.
1133
1134"Perhaps we can have a demonstration?" Cera asks. She's smiling at you, obviously pleased with something.
1135
1136"Trickery is easy." Kaleid says. "I've seen a man use light illusions to make it appear as if he'd moved from one place to another. Or another who used trapdoors and a well-placed haste spell."
1137
1138"I'm sure that the three of us are knowledgable to make sure things are fair." Cera says. "After all, my father's magic- for which he became an Archmage- allows him to analyze and create objects freely. I know enough of it to create a purely one of a kind object, analyze it during the... transfer... and make sure there are no deceptions."
1139
1140The old man rolls his eyes. "I suppose that may work."
1141
1142"I agree." Venus says. "I'd love to see a demonstration.
1143
1144"This is a very important moment." Cera says. "My father got to where he is by attempting teleportation magic, after all."
1145
1146Then she turns to you. Her grin is a little bit bigger, almost triumphant.
1147
1148"How do you feel about giving us a demonstration, Adept?"
1149
1150Your gut coils- you're not sure why.
1151
1152>?
1153------------------------------------------
1154>>394238
1155>You need to know and calculate exact coordinates in order to get it working properly. You can gauge that with your implement, though, and 'mark' locations.
1156
1157"I'm wary of allowing anyone to analyze this process in so much detail." You say. "This is, after all, a long-held family magic, important to me and my ancestors."
1158
1159"I fully understand." Cera says. "I shall only analyze it before and after the process, to make certain it is the same item and not a replication or falsehood."
1160
1161"I haven't tested it on magically-created items, either."
1162
1163"No worries." Cera continues. "The matter creation magic creates true matter. It acts like any other material in the world, and will continue to exist. We just have a very good reason to make sure the item is one-of-a-kind. A certain Adept went through a teleportation evaluation and had hidden an object under invisibility. Then he had an identical object.. and with a quick spell, moved the invisibility from one to the other."
1164
1165You take a deep breath.
1166
1167"May I inspect the object first?"
1168
1169"Enough buying time." The old man snaps. "Just give her something to use her magic on and be done with it. I want to see this with my own eyes."
1170
1171There's no reason you can think of to avoid Cera's suggestion. You could deny the demonstration entirely... But that way...
1172
1173Cera gives you a polite smile. "Adept?" She asks.
1174
1175>Roll me a 1d100!
1176>Also, what do you plan on doing? You can demonstrate it on Cera's created item, on a living person, or deny the demonstration entirely.
1177------------------------------------------
1178>Result: 47 - Near Success!
1179
1180You smile and nod. "Very well. But how about we make it so that nobody can deny the result? Let's make this a bit more impressive, shall we?"
1181
1182Cera's eyebrows meet.
1183
1184"Have you analyzed everything in the room, Miss Sirius?"
1185
1186"I have." She responds. "I needed to make sure there's no trickery going on, after all."
1187
1188"Very well."
1189
1190You wave your arm, your Implement's coordinates locked onto her chair...
1191
1192And nothing happens. Your Implement makes a long, loud squeal, as it recites the chant in less than a second, but no spell effects trigger.
1193
1194You look down at it, examining it...
1195
1196And the Spell Crystal inside is cracked, a small crater of it simply missing.
1197
1198Cera's smile is in full force, now.
1199
1200"Adept? Are you going to give us a demonstration?" She asks. "I would not mind if you used even a personal object of mine for your demonstration."
1201
1202Your implement is damaged.
1203
1204That's her plan. Not to act like you're cheating, but to act like your spell simply doesn't work.
1205
1206>?
1207------------------------------------------
1208>>394314
1209>>Do it without it if possible
1210>You actually need an implement to use the 'star' spell that allows hermetic magic to work. But if the star spell is active, you could do the ritual the hard way- with runes, chants, and components.
1211------------------------------------------
1212"It seems like my spell crystal has been damaged somehow." You say.
1213
1214"Oh dear, is your spell that dangerous, that it would damage a crystal?" Cera asks. "Perhaps it's best you work on something simpler, and less damaging... We don't want to spend our funding on something that destructive, after all."
1215
1216"No, it must have been damaged some other way." You say. Your mind is working on overdrive- it's all you can do to keep your composure. "I am very clumsy, after all." Thankfully, I have a backup Implement for precisely this situation. Thod?"
1217
1218He hands you your implement, and without any hesitation, you plug Kally's component into it, and brandish it, casting twice in quick succession.
1219
1220A black hole looms. A dance of stars swirl around you.
1221
1222And then you're sitting on Cera's chair, and she's sitting on yours.
1223
1224Everyone is silent for a moment.
1225
1226"Very impressive."
1227
1228"Adept Sirius, can you confirm that that... truly happened?" The old man says. He actually looks awake. Venus's eyes are wide.
1229
1230"... I can." Cera says, reluctantly. "Your magic is very impressive! I'm impressed, Adept Angwaz."
1231
1232You take a deep breath, and relax. 
1233
1234"That is the result of my research." You say.
1235
1236"I think we can agree that you should continue your research, then." Vanus says. "I could even say that might be Archmage material!"
1237
1238"What? Archmage?" Cera snapped. She took a breath. "I'm sorry, I was out of place. Regardless, I agree. You should be lauded, Adept."
1239
1240"Indeed." Is all Kaleid says. "I think we can call this Tribunal to an end, then. I suppose it wasn't as much a waste of time as I thought."
1241
1242"Only one last thing." Cera says, and her expression suddenly becomes... beautific. "I have reason to believe that your Implement may be... nonstandard. That may be the reason for the damage, after all. A damaged crystal can harm a great many people, after all."
1243
1244Something cold slithers through your gut.
1245------------------------------------------
1246"We'll just need to take a careful look at it. Some wizards like to modify their spellcrystals in unofficial ways." Cera continues. "And as we all know, that's highly illegal because of the danger. A detonating crystal can kill hundreds of people, if used in the wrong way."
1247
1248You stand up, and make your way over to hand her the damaged Implement so that she can examine it.
1249
1250"I think it's a better idea if I examine the other one." She says. "That one is still functional, after all."
1251
1252"I'm afraid that my implement contains some valuable secrets, both of my family and others. I cannot, in my right mind, permit anybody else to examine it closely." You say.
1253
1254"Not without legal reason." The Weevil chimes in, and Kaleid nods.
1255
1256"I do have a reason to request this examination." Cera says. "A classmate of mine recently confided in me that she's worried about you, Adept Angwaz. You've been customizing your tool in very dangerous ways."
1257
1258Then her smile grew cruel.
1259
1260"You even manipulated the poor girl into making you a new component for your tool," She says, "I will contact her, and let her make a formal complaint. What do you think, Magus Kaleid? Magus Venus?"
1261
1262"... I don't think this is important," Kaleid says "Hasn't killed us yet, and the magic still worked. Might even be essential to the magic. No reason to drag this out any longer."
1263
1264"The law is a law for a reason." Venus chimes in. "I concur with Cerulea- Miss Sirius. We should contact this poor student, and get this tool an examination."
1265
1266"Oh, her Implement is certainly modified." Someone says.
1267
1268"Excuse me? Who are you?" Venus asks.
1269
1270You turn toward the door... and Archmage Haron is striding in, gears whirring as he walks.
1271
1272"I am the Archmage Haron." He says, chuckling. "Jaz invited me."
1273
1274"While I'm honored to be able to meet your... proxy, Do you have any reason for being here?"
1275
1276"Certainly! The Implement is my personal handiwork, using multiple precepts and a unique Spell Crystal." He lies, smoothly. "She is a good friend of my apprentice, after all."
1277
1278Cera parts her lips- and the Golem speaks again before she can say anything.
1279
1280"And as we all know, due to my status as Archmage as well as the inventor of modern Implements, I have legal right to invent my own prototypes. I did so, and asked Jaz to test it out. She has done so."
1281
1282Rathod is perfectly silent, eyes wide.
1283
1284>?
1285------------------------------------------
1286"Indeed. The only reason I preferred not to use this Implement was because I didn't want to involve the Archmage unless absolutely necessary."
1287
1288The archmage nods, and everyone is quiet, almost confused.
1289
1290"I'm sorry you had to step in like this." You say. "It would have been fine, if my other implement hadn't had part of it spontaniously vanish. That has never happened before. I wonder if someone intentionally damaged it somehow... But that couldn't be the case."
1291
1292You can't help but smirk.
1293
1294"After all, who would have the knowledge and petty vindictiveness to that?"
1295
1296"Let me take a look at it." The archmage says. "Perhaps I could diagnose it for you."
1297
1298You obligingly hand the Implement to him, and he chuckles at the childish drawing on it. "Hmmm... It looks like something has sheared a smooth section out of this crystal. There's only one real magic that can do this kind of thing..."
1299
1300He glances at Cera.
1301
1302"But I have no desire to make enemies." He responds. "It sounds like your Tribunal went well, miss Angwaz. I'm sorry that I was almost late."
1303
1304"It's no problem." You say. "Thank you for coming by."
1305
1306"Enough theatrics." Kaleid says. "We shall call the Tribunal to a close. We've already voted that the Adept's magic is viable, and she has our full blessing. Now. I'm going home."
1307
1308With that, the old man limps up, and starts on his way out of the building. Cera bites her lip, and makes her own exit as well. Magus Venus, however... Flutters her eyelashes at the Archmage, and makes her way over.
1309
1310"I'm a big fan..." She starts. You roll your eyes, and make your way over to Brun and Rathod.
1311
1312"You actually-"
1313
1314"Shh." You shush Rathod. Carefully, you do the math in your head... tap a few runes...
1315
1316You hear a splash and a girly scream.
1317
1318"Sorry, continue." You say.
1319
1320"Uh... You actually got him out of his house." Rathod says. "I thought for sure that the only way to do that was forceful teleportation."
1321
1322"Isn't that a proxy?" Brun asks.
1323
1324>?
1325------------------------------------------
1326"Thod would know more about that than I would." You say. "He is the apprentice."
1327
1328"That's really him." Rathod says. "His soul's in that crystal."
1329
1330"What, like a lich?"
1331
1332"Yeah, except he actually exists." Thod says. He grins, and stretches. It's only because of the size of the room can he actually raise his arms all the way- in any normal building he'd hit his hands. Hell, in even large buildings he'd hit his arms.
1333
1334"So, you finished your magic?" Brun asks you. "You can actually teleport stuff around?"
1335
1336"Yep." You say. "Hell, I'll prove it to you. But first I need to thank Haron."
1337
1338She nods, and you make your way back to the Archmage.
1339
1340"Excuse me, but I wanted to thank you again for explaining the situation." You tell him.
1341
1342"It's not a problem, not a problem at all." He responds. "But we can talk about that later. For now, can you show me your spell again?"
1343
1344Then he chuckles.
1345
1346"Mostly by sending me back to my house? My favorite television show is on soon..."
1347
1348You sigh, chuckle, and send him away.
1349
1350You make your way back to Brun and Thod, scratching your head and taking deep breaths. Today was stressful, but you got through it. Your magic's done, you're amazing, and you didn't get arrested. All's good.
1351
1352Which is, of course, when your phone chirps at you. You look down at it- it's from your mother.
1353
1354[Jaz, you left a book in your room.]
1355
1356What? You never put a book in there.
1357
1358[You and these journals, I don't get it. I didn't even know there was a part two. But I asked you to take your books with you. We don't have the room for it all.]
1359
1360Wait.
1361
1362Part two? Your ancestor wrote a second book?
1363
1364>End of Session!
1365------------------------------------------
1366Your magic is amazing.
1367
1368It's not simple- you need to constantly and consistently readjust your array whenever you change how you're using it- but you find yourself bouncing around the city. Where you'd once needed to wait for a bus to take you down to get groceries, you can instead simply appear on a rooftop somewhere and slap on a slowfall spell to get to the ground.
1369
1370It's been a few weeks, since Cera's attempt at fucking you over, but you haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. Probably for the better- you'd send her into the monster-infested wilds if you were sure you'd get away with it.
1371
1372As for your mom... You asked her not to mail you the book. As important as it might be, the last thing you'd want is for her to send it and to get the caravan pillaged. 
1373
1374With your luck, a dragon hatchling would show up specifically to prevent you from getting your hands on it.
1375
1376Lately, you've been skipping a majority of your classes. It's not much of a problem; On one hand, you know most of that crap already, and on the other, you could make Magus anyday now.
1377
1378Once you finish your magic, that is.
1379
1380Teleportation is strange. It's not as simple as 'move object from point A to point B'. As far as you can tell, it's more like 'move object from point A, send it into Nothingness, pull object from Nothingness into point B'. You can't put a finger on any kind of mechanism behind it beyond 'Hermetic Bullshit'.
1381
1382You've gotten permission to send sensors and bring them back, but they don't register anything 'in-between'. Neither do you, or Rathod, when you take personal trips. 
1383
1384Moreover, you can't intersect items. When you try to teleport something where something already exists, it either pushes 'blocking' item aside, or the spell simply fails. Usually, if the transferring item is heavier and denser than the blocking item, it goes through. If not, it fails.
1385
1386You intentionally sent a sensor from your testing location into a wall. It went into Nothingness, then returned back to Point A.
1387
1388One thing you've been able to do is shorten the cast time of the ritual by a lot. It still takes time depending on how far away the trip is, but you can instantly 'blink' around. When you do that, you can't even recognize more than a fraction of a second of blackness. You made a macroinvocation specifically for 'blinking', meaning you can teleport instantly in short ranges. You don't even need to spend a moment to adjust the spell- just point and cast.
1389
1390On the other side of things, you ended up sending an object into Nothingness... and not have it return.
1391
1392That was a bit terrifying.
1393
1394But you're not sure where to go from here. Without understanding the mechanism behind teleportation, you can't make major changes. You can't become an archmage. Maybe if you knew something about other varieties of magic, such as Astral or Shamanism, that might help.
1395
1396You sigh, and loll your head back in your chair. You're lost. And that means you need to do something new.
1397
1398>?
1399------------------------------------------
1400-omitted one small post.
1401You suddenly jerk yourself back up again, and spring to your feet.
1402
1403You need a break.
1404
1405You leave a note on your door's whiteboard so that Thod'll know where you are, and then you turn back to your computer. You figure out your village's GPS coordinates, convert that into the silly measurement system the hermetic spell uses...
1406
1407You're not sure how that first time you teleported you just instinctively knew how to adjust it, but you don't want to waste all that mana just to get sent back here.
1408
1409You bump up the height quite a bit- your village is on a mountain- and apply a slowfall spell, just in case, and then cast the spell.
1410
1411Slowly, the black sphere consumes you, and then you're nowhere.
1412
1413Darkness surrounds you. There's no air for you to breathe, but neither is there a vacuum trying to pull your air out of you. It's not cold, nor warm...
1414
1415And then you're above your village, carefully sliding down the sky. The closer you get to the ground, the more mana your slowfall draws. Eventually your feet touch pavement, and you're off!
1416
1417Your gut coils nervously when you get to your house. Last time you were here you just came in and out to get your Implement- mostly because you didn't want to bother with your folks at the time... 
1418
1419You take a deep breath, and knock on the door.
1420
1421The door opens, and your mom frowns on the other side.
1422
1423"Jasmine?" She asks, frowning. "I didn't know there was a caravan in, and that means you were taking a small one."
1424
1425"Mom-"
1426
1427"You know I don't like it when you take the small ones. What if there's an attack while you're in the air? Or, Warrior forbid, on the road?"
1428
1429"Mom."
1430
1431"What, honey?"
1432
1433"I didn't take a caravan. I teleported here."
1434
1435There's a moment of silence.
1436
1437Your mom frowns.
1438
1439"Oh. That's good news." She says. It doesn't sound like she thinks so.
1440
1441Then again, she's hated magic since looong before you were born.
1442
1443"Oh my god!" Someone inside cries. "Jasmine!"
1444
1445A white-haired blur screams out of the doorway, shoving past your mother, and your little sister barrels into you.
1446
1447"Jasmine! Jasmine!"
1448
1449"What?"
1450
1451"Tell me how your academy is! Is Rathod fine? Did you make a lot of friends? Can you call down firestorms yet? Tell me EVERYTHING."
1452
1453>?
1454------------------------------------------
1455Thankfully, the rugrat still isn't bigger than you. It looks like she'll stay tiny and cute forever, which is exactly what you want.
1456
1457"Well..." You say, putting on the air of a genius older sister (which you are) and also amazing (which you also are), the two of you make your way into the kitchen. "I invented new sorts of magic that can change the face of the world, this one b- er, jerk tried to sabotage me, Rathod has a huge golem arm now and an even bigger list of girls who like him, and firestorms are boring!"
1458
1459She just wrinkles her nose. "You just can't do them, then. I thought you were gonna be a wizard. Real wizards can call down firestorms."
1460
1461You roll your eyes. "Wizards in the books can. I'm not from the books. Creating enough heat for a firestorm to be useful just takes way too much mana. I could make one, I'd just fall asleep right after."
1462
1463"Yeah, yeah." She sticks her tongue out at you. "So. What about this new magic? Are you allowed to tell me?"
1464
1465"Allowed?"
1466
1467"Yeah. Even I know that sometimes wizards can't tell people about their magic." She says, nodding to herself.
1468
1469"It's not that they can't. It's that they don't. That way other wizards can't steal their ideas. And second of all, you're family. Even archmages tell their family about their magic a lot of the time."
1470
1471".. Oh! I almost forgot! Wait here!" She squirrels away, running into the basement- her room. A few seconds later, she springs back, holding a small tablet. In the bottom is a spell crystal.
1472
1473"Do you know how to put mana into it yet?"
1474
1475"Well... No." She said. "But I kept pestering Mom, and she said I'd have to buy it myself, and I did!"
1476
1477"Really? How'd you get the money?"
1478
1479"I tutored a bunch of kids." She says, crossing her arms and putting on the air of a genius little sister, and also amazing.
1480
1481Which she is.
1482
1483>?
1484------------------------------------------
1485>>396548
1486>Not yet. You aren't a magus yet, and the Star Rune/array isn't in it's final state. It's still in alpha, so to speak.
1487
1488"So, how is your tutoring going?" You ask, taking your little sister's Implement. You start tapping around. It's pretty limited, since she's not an adult yet, but it's enough to teach her the basics- and to serve as self-defense.
1489
1490"It's going really well." She says. "I'm getting the very best marks, and then John was like 'I wish I was as smart as you' and then I started teaching him. Then when he started doing better, his mom paid me! Then she told everybody else's moms about me and next thing I knew I was teaching everybody after school. I have like, fifty ecu now."
1491
1492"Really?" You ask. "You're getting top marks, too?"
1493
1494She crosses her arms, and gives you the biggest, smuggest smirk you've ever seen.
1495
1496"I beat your score in the ESTA. Highest in the village. Ever."
1497
1498"What." You say, putting a hand over your heart. You'd already beat everyone when you were twelve. Does the village have a new Testing Queen?!
1499
1500"I totally did." She says.
1501
1502"Good job!" You cry, mussing her hair. She wrestles with you a bit, but since you are older, taller, and thus physically superior, she can't stop you! Mwahahaha, now you're the tall one!
1503
1504Eventually, she stops fighting you, and sits there glaring while you push her hair in front of her eyes. Eventually...
1505
1506"Check this out." You say, showing her her implement. You've covered the display in runes.
1507
1508"What's that?"
1509
1510You push a bit of mana into the Implement, and in the center of the dining room table... a small, red-and-orange firestorm rains from the ceiling. It's not real fire, it's only light... But she asked for it.
1511
1512"Oh, wow!" She says.
1513
1514"So." you say. "Do you know what Hermetic magic is?"
1515
1516"Uh... I think so? It's the stuff that stopped working."
1517
1518"Well, I figured out how to use it again. I'm the only one who can."
1519
1520"Ooooh. Can you teach me? Maybe when I figure out how to use magic and get really good..."
1521
1522"Oh, and you know how I got here?"
1523
1524"Did you fly? Tell me you flew. Or did you tame a dragon?"
1525
1526"I teleported."
1527
1528"NO WAY." She says.
1529
1530You raise an eyebrow, and twitch your arm.
1531
1532A moment later, you're on the other side of the room.
1533
1534"NO WAY." She says again. "That's so cool! Can you go anywhere? Or do you have to have been there before? Can you go to other dimensions and meet aliens, like Krital?"
1535
1536>?
1537------------------------------------------
1538>>396617
1539>He's dead.
1540>Colony of dire wolves.
1541
1542>>396603
1543>You know all about Krital. He's the ancestor who wrote a journal, copied it a bunch, and made your family into laughingstocks because he's a bit of a dork.
1544
1545>>396640
1546>He's somewhere between 6'10 to 7 feet.
1547>You, meanwhile, barely scrape to 5. when you stretch.
1548------------------------------------------
1549>>396683
1550>Domestic pets aren't really common. As in, they don't exist.
1551>When any born creature can be born with a soul, and thus the power of magic and monsterdom and slaughter the breeders, people don't tend to like having animals around.
1552
1553>Shaman magic is all about manipulating monsters and animals, though, so shamans tend to have pets. You think Brun's family breeds wolves, too, but Brun's family is all made out of combat evocation monsters and carry around weapons. A baby frost wolf in a litter isn't a problem for them.
1554------------------------------------------
1555>>396709
1556>>396702
1557>There are groups that go out and gather supplies from mostly-wild herds here and there, but they tend to hire packs of monster hunters to come with them. The more hands-off they stay until it's milking/shearing time, the better.
1558
1559>Also, meat tends to come from monsters. Cooking becomes a problem when you've got fire-resistant monsters, but there are ovens designed for that.
1560------------------------------------------
1561"I haven't found anywhere I can't get to, even though I'm still working on it." You say. "But I haven't tried looking for other dimensions. A responsible mage cares about safety!"
1562
1563"Of course." She says, rolling her eyes.
1564
1565"Aren't you worried for your dear older sister?"
1566
1567"Naah." She says. "I know you're badass."
1568
1569You poke her in the ribs.
1570
1571"I'm also going to pick up that other journal Mom found today."
1572
1573"She found it in your room." She says. "There was this loud noise, and the ceiling creaked like there was someone up there."
1574
1575Then something dawns in her eyes. "Wait. Was that you? Did you teleport here?"
1576
1577"I was, uh, looking for my old Implement." You say. "I needed to defend my thesis on teleportation, and... Well, it's a long story."
1578
1579"You'll have to tell me about it someday."
1580
1581"Probably!" You say. You don't want to tell her that you'd modified your Implement. That kind of thing is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, and you don't want to inspire her. "But not today. Did you read any of it?"
1582
1583"Not yet." She says. "I've been trying to get my Implement working, but I just don't know how. I know I have to put mana in it, and I studied a lot about how to do that, but I still can't do it."
1584
1585"I'll go grab the book real quick, and I'll see if I can help."
1586
1587"Okay!"
1588
1589===
1590
1591You and your sister sit facing eachother.
1592
1593You're shit at this. You've always been shit at this.. Hell, every single human being in the world is shit at this... but it's your adorable sister you're going to help.
1594
1595You well up your inner mana, gathering as much of it as you can. The implements are on the table- nearby, but not too close as to disrupt anything.
1596
1597"Close your eyes." You say. "Hold out your hand."
1598
1599She holds her hand out, eyes closed. You carefully reach out, pushing your palm against hers. It's hard- vague, impossible- but you can very vaguely feel her presence, through that. 
1600
1601With your magic, with everything you are, you nudge Ishelda's soul with your own.
1602
1603She jumps back, eyes widening. "Wh-what?"
1604
1605"That was astral magic, squirt." You say. "What I just poked was your soul. You just have to remember that feeling, and you'll find your magic."
1606
1607She beams. "I think I can figure it out, then. I just need to remember how that feels, right?"
1608
1609"Yep!" You say.
1610
1611She nods, and grabs her Implement. From there, she closes her eyes, and focuses.
1612
1613You decide to pull out the journal and read. The front doesn't have the same title- instead it's 'The Amazing Krital Angwaz', but it's obviously his handwriting. You sigh, and decide to puzzle through it.
1614
1615>Continued!
1616------------------------------------------
1617>>396736
1618-
1619>For a moment, I wondered exactly how many nipples they had. Cats have six, right? But these people were humanoid. I wasn't sure. It immediately became my quest find that out; I didn't care about the captain's mission anymore!
1620-
1621>Then the part-human thanked me for my help, and we spent some lovely time together. Boy, were her ears ticklish!
1622-
1623>Don't worry, descendants! I didn't let her husband kill you before you exist! I threw sand in his eyes, and made a few loud barking sounds! That didn't scare him off, even though he's part cat, so I just ended up climbing a tree until he got board and went away.
1624-
1625
1626You roll your eyes. It's just more of the same. One thing you do notice is that there are particularly strange symbols on the back of some of the pages. Usually where your ancestor ends up in a new world or whatever. It would be particularly entertaining fiction if he was a better writer, but some parts were plainly illegible, and the plot was... meandering. In fact, some of the entries were bound into the book in the wrong order, making it hard to figure out what was when.
1627
1628You couldn't say otherwise or argue against it- your ancestor was a dork. A womanizing, monster hunting dork, but still.
1629
1630The few notes written in the margins were much more interesting, though of dubious...realism.
1631
1632>Through a great many tests and experiments, I have determined. Magic works everywhere. No matter the dimension and no matter the location, the stars stay true! I'd been very worried I might get stranded, when I first started. I'll become an archmage yet!
1633-
1634>I learned that you don't need to use a location rune if you have a bit of their blood. I don't know why, but maybe I should stop adding random fluids into my rituals.
1635-
1636>Note: Frost Wolf claw in the sunward rune location is bad. Very bad. Do not do. I don't think my hair's color will come back. Also my everything hurts.
1637-
1638>I wasn't sure how I'd be able to prove my story, so I decided on writing this thing would be proof enough! Who wouldn't believe me. I couldn't make some of this stuff up.
1639
1640You don't find anything like you did in the first part, which had a functional hermetic spell. A few tips and tricks, if you plan on tinkering more with hermetic magic... and some kind of hint about how the spell you'd found works. Mostly the mention of rune locations and changes made to those runes. Runes in hermetic magic was entirely different than analytical magic- Mostly, where Analytical magic used runes as symbols that gave instructions to the programming, and thus the magic in the spell crystal, Hermetic magic just used random symbols drawn on the ground with no particular rhyme or reason.
1641
1642Then again, 'with no particular rhyme or reason' was a rule for Hermetic magic.
1643
1644That's when you hear a sudden 'YES', and watch a rain of illusory fire pour on your head. You squint over at Ishelda, and she's beaming- the crystal glowing as she feeds mana into it.
1645
1646>?
1647------------------------------------------
1648>>396883
1649>>shipping ishelda
1650>She's twelve! Ewww.
1651>Also... didn't Cera mention something about Kally?
1652
1653>>396947
1654>Ishelda was using the spell you'd designed on her implement, not designing her own.
1655
1656"You dare attack an archmage in her own home?"
1657
1658"I dare!" She says, giggling. You tap your own Implement...
1659
1660And appear right behind her. She looks around, but you sway away, staying out of her field of view. A moment later... You attack! Her hair is a lot like yours- silky and smooth- but she keeps hers long and wild relatively wild, meaning that you can quickly blind her with her own hair.
1661
1662"Congratulations, sis!" You say. "That didn't take very long at all. As expected of the sister to this great Mage."
1663
1664She raises an eyebrow. "You're just a goal for me to jump over, Jaz. Remember that. Not like that would be hard with your stature.."
1665
1666"Hey!" You muss her hair again. "No short jokes! You're shorter than me! And where'd you learn the word stature anyway?"
1667
1668"Thod gave me that one." She says, beaming.
1669
1670You roll your eyes. "Alright. Here's what we're gonna do." You say. "Do you have a book on Analytic magic?"
1671
1672"Yep!" She says, holding up your old one. 
1673
1674"Kay, then..." You wipe the array on her implement. "Make me a Light spell. Like a flashlight."
1675
1676She huffs. "That sounds like homework."
1677
1678"It is!" You say. "Mostly because I want to read this some more."
1679
1680"Fiiine." She says, and pulls the book open.
1681
1682-
1683>But sadly, despite my great swordsmanship, I had to bow to the bigger man. Mostly because he threatened to stab me if I didn't, and he'd taken my sword somehow. Silly twisty sword trick. Anyway, I like having my body in one piece. Two, at maximum, but I aim for one.
1684-
1685>I couldn't stand her smug face! But I still had that fish, remember? So I hit her with it. She stood there for a second like she couldn't believe I did that, and the guards were in awe. 
1686-
1687>So here I am, in the coluseeum, the bear was huge and red and I think was breathing fire, everybody else jeering and laughing. A moment later, I've swapped myself and the vizier, and I just settled back, draped an arm over the princess, and watched the show. She tried to have me beheaded (again) later, but it was totally worth it. Didn't get a chance to cop a feel, though.
1688-
1689
1690More of the same, as always, but then you actually run into something useful.
1691
1692>Bam! Finished a summoning spell. It's pretty useful. With it, I can summon anything I want from afar. I just need this rune in the sunward location, a terra symbol right between the location rune and Moonward...
1693
1694You have the summoning spell, and he's scrawled out a cheat sheet about 'rune positions'. It's the basics for something useful... Maybe. If you figure it out. There are also the symbols on the back of every time he goes somewhere- as far as you can tell, it's like he's marking out how to get to each world. You start to get a little excited- maybe there's something to this.
1695
1696>?
1697------------------------------------------
1698>>397070
1699>It's nice to be back! I'm having a lot of fun. The 3000-character limit is really helping me, and I think my technique's improved.
1700
1701
1702You eventually put the book away, already planning to squeeze it for all the information you can find, and give Ishelda a biiig hug.
1703
1704"Lemme go, I'm trying to read." She says, poring over the Implement book. You hug her tighter and spin her around a little. She just holds her book and ignores you. What a trooper.
1705
1706"Fine, fine. I was just going to head back to the academy. I have some work to do."
1707
1708"Alright, be safe." She says, giving you a Serious Look. "Don't let monsters bite you. Or Thod. Thod can't bite you either."
1709
1710"Okay, I'll... try to avoid that." You say, trailing off.
1711
1712"Oh! Wait!" She says, putting the book aside for a second. "I know you're super busy right now and everything, but if you can teleport, you should take me over there sometime! I want to see the city."
1713
1714"You'll need mom's permission first."
1715
1716"Yeah, I know." She says, sighing. "I'll get it. She can't deny me because of caravans anymore, after all. I just need to stay strong!"
1717
1718"And make a flashlight spell."
1719
1720"Aaand make a flashlight spell." Then she's back to the book.
1721
1722You pat her head one last time.
1723
1724"Tell mom I love her when she gets home." You say.
1725
1726"I will."
1727
1728"I love you too, sis."
1729
1730She nods.
1731
1732"Mushy stuff, Jaz."
1733
1734You nod, and cast the spell.
1735
1736A long moment in Nothingness later, you're back in your dorm. Your ears pop, and your Mana's a bit low- teleporting both ways with only a few hours' rest between them is pretty tiring.
1737
1738You do have a large set of notes, now, that you can compare and contrast between. It's not hard work, but it's mind-numbing.
1739
1740But first... You need to talk to someone who might or might not be a friend. It was just an off-hand comment from Cera when she was trying to fuck you over, and you didn't have an opportunity to talk with her since, but... 
1741
1742Kally's the only one who might've told her anything.
1743
1744You spy Kally walking out of the Fabrication building, all the way across campus, and tweak your Blink spell just enough to get behind her. After a moment making sure nobody is looking there- you're not sure how public you want your teleportation to be, yet- you cast the spell.
1745
1746Now you just need to figure out what to say.
1747
1748>?
1749------------------------------------------
1750>It's very stormy right now, so there's always the possibility that my computer or internet will die. Just so you folks know. 
1751
1752>>397223
1753>How do you think that your ancestor got around the world? He named it the Angwaz Special. Then again, he also called it the Angwaz Special when he jumped out of the dark, or the mud, or camoflague to punch people in the nuts too. Or did it in the middle of a fight.
1754>He probably just named 'punch in the nuts' the Angwaz Special.
1755
1756You stuff your hands into the pockets of your jacket, and lean close to an unaware Kally.
1757
1758"Hey, sup!" You call. She jumps and whirls around, a small wand in her hand. 
1759
1760"Oh, it's only you." She says, and giggles. "I thought I was being attacked."
1761
1762"I'm sure I could arrange that if you wanted." You say, and she rolls her eyes. "So how've you been?"
1763
1764"Got my new implement done!" She says. She holds out the wand. You don't see a display, spell crystal, or anything.
1765
1766"I don't get it."
1767
1768"That's because this isn't my implement. It's just an aiming method for my implement." She gestures toward a tablet on her hip. "That way, in a duel, people try and get this little toy out of my hand. I have like three of them. Oh! And watch this!"
1769
1770She taps the implement on her hip- and suddenly, her wand becomes a blazing, flaming sword.
1771
1772"This thing's got a lotta heat and a lotta kinetic force. Shaped the edge to be perfect. Like, this thing can almost cut Orichalium. Almost."
1773
1774"That's pretty impressive." You say. Orichalium was the weakest of the three alchemical metals, but most things in the world- other than either clever wizards, overpowered monsters, or greater alchemical metals- couldn't damage it. "Hey, did you hear about that bullshit at my Tribunal?"
1775
1776Kally blinks. "No, I didn't hear anything. You stopped showing up to classes for a while, so I worried until Thod said you were just holed up."
1777
1778"Well, everything went great, but you know that Cera bitch? She took her pops' seat."
1779
1780"Shit. Did she try something?"
1781
1782"A few things. It was all bullshit, though." You say. "She ran away with her tail between her huge flesh-stilts and I haven't seen her since."
1783
1784"I've seen her a little bit, but not much." She says. "You think she's been going to classes under invisibility?"
1785
1786You shrug.
1787
1788"One thing that does have me worried about is something she tried." You say.
1789
1790"What is it?"
1791
1792"She knew about my Implement." You say. "Do you have any idea how she could have known?"
1793
1794You watch her closely, trying to look casual. and Kally's lips twitch, slightly.
1795
1796"I have no clue. You think she's been stalking you?" She asks. "That would be creepy. Maybe she watches you sleep. She could probably do that. Disintegrate a window, recreate it when she leaves? Eeugh."
1797------------------------------------------
1798-omitted one small post.
1799"Ah, don't try and give me nightmares please." You say, trying to shake the image of Cera climbing through your window out of your mind. "Besides, if she was already doing something like that, she'd have done something to me while I was asleep."
1800
1801"Yeah, that's a good point." Kally says, wrinkling her nose.
1802
1803"But don't worry, it's not gonna bother me. I think I've figured out how she found out."
1804
1805"Hm?" She asks, suddenly very still.
1806
1807"Did you tell her, Kally?"
1808
1809She's quiet for a moment.
1810
1811"Sorry, Jaz." She says, suddenly calm.
1812
1813You shoot her a withering glare, but she glosses right over it.
1814
1815"I'm working toward my future just like you are." She says. "We're friends, but... If I want to get noticed, I need contacts. Cera might be a bitch to you, but she's related to an archmage. My name's not infamous like yours or respected like hers, so I just need to grab someone's coattails and hang on."
1816
1817>?
1818------------------------------------------
1819>>397392
1820>I dropped Mind-eater Quest (which only had one thread), Subject Six, and Azure Quest. I'd finished, in order, Nearfuture Cyborg, Sorceress Quest, Space Cyborg Quest, Vale Quest, Ascent Quest, and FLATLINE. Harrumph Quest and Wizard Quest were one-shots, and also very silly.
1821
1822"Was it blackmail?"
1823
1824"I'm not going to lie." She says. "No, it wasn't blackmail."
1825
1826"So you thought a chance to make a contact was worth potentially fucking over my entire schooling?" You ask. "At least tell me she promised you a lot of bullshit for it."
1827
1828"She has me making her Implements for the next five years." Kally says. "She was already pretty pleased about my work, and you were... the cherry on the top. This isn't just a promise, or a good word. This is something visible. My work on an archmage's apprentice. On an archmage, even, if she's good enough. That's a huge fucking step up from being a nobody."
1829
1830"... Next time you're looking for someone to have your back, don't look to me." You snap. "I mean, CERA? She won't have your back either, and it was a stupid idea to think she would. She only cares about one person, and that's herself."
1831
1832"Cera's not like that to everybody. Or anybody except you." She says. "Sorry to say it, but she's the big girl on campus. Never heard a bad word about her until you came into the picture. I don't know what her beef with you is, I only used it for my own betterment."
1833
1834"You want coattails to ride?" You ask. "Think about your choices long and hard, because I'm about to get one hell of a jacket made."
1835
1836"With what? Hermetic magic?"
1837
1838With that, you blink away.
1839
1840>Continued!
1841------------------------------------------
1842>>397569
1843As it turns out, mindnumbing work is perfect if you don't want to think about certain traitorous bitches. You find yourself examining the summoning spell as best you can, with your ancestor's notes on one side and your own experiments on the other. Apparently, the experiment where you'd vanished an item into nothingness is what happens if you skip the 'location' glyph. And he'd made the summoning spell by adding certain glyphs to it, so if you want to see what he had before, you just need to remove those glyphs...
1844
1845The result, as you discover, impressive.
1846
1847Two whorls of energy sit at both locations in the Chamber marked A and B, quickly rotating. Just in case, you're sitting behind the blast shield, watching the whorls slowly form, and solidify into two planes.
1848
1849And then, it's like you're looking into a pair of mirrors. Looking into one whorl allows you to see out of the other.
1850
1851Portals.
1852
1853It's a lot less consuming than teleportation, but it's a lot more time-intensive. It takes over a minute to form a single pair, and you don't have the mana to see how many pairs you can make- it's over two, at least. Longer-ranged portals- tested by creating the other end of one pair in your dorm room- take almost two.
1854
1855The rear surface of them feels strange to your touch. They're soft, almost mushy, and when you put enough force on them, the portal seems to 'pop' out of existence. It's almost a weak spot.
1856
1857You don't have enough time for a full battery of tests before Rathod calls you.
1858
1859"What's going on?" You snap.
1860
1861"Woah, woah." Rathod says. "I was just calling to see what's wrong. All I got was a... very angry text message from you about Kally. What happened?"
1862
1863"Kaliel happened." You say, drawling out her name. "That's who told Cera about my Implement. That hypocritical cunt was the one who *taught* me-"
1864
1865"Jaz?"
1866
1867"What?"
1868
1869"Calm down. I'll take you out to dinner, and you can ramble at me then. That way you can calm down, get some real food in you. You've been pretty stressed lately. How does that sound?"
1870
1871>?
1872------------------------------------------
1873>>397627
1874>The 'current location' for the spell is actually set by wherever the spell is cast from. Your ancestor jokingly called it the 'home rune'. It's only by some real Analytical fuckery that you can make it cast 'from' elsewhere. There's no way to make it cast 'from' nowhere, though.
1875
1876"... Fine." You say, sighing. "If you know a place."
1877
1878"I do, in fact. My master gave me a voucher... gift card thing. It's supposedly a really expensive place, but he can't eat anyway, so he said I might as well enjoy it."
1879
1880"So you're not treating me, Haron is."
1881
1882"I guess you can consider it that."
1883
1884"Good. I'll dress up, even."
1885
1886Thod snorted. "Sure. As if you'll show up in anything but your jacket."
1887
1888"I can wear my jacket over a cute dress."
1889
1890"Do you even own a cute dress?"
1891
1892"... I used to?" You ask. "I think?"
1893
1894"That one's probably Ishelda's size by now." He responds. "So it probably still fits."
1895
1896"Just tell me where this place is so I can go there and hit you."
1897
1898===
1899
1900You set down next to the ritzy, classical restaurant... Wearing your jacket. As always.
1901
1902Then you plant a fist in Thod's rib, but he ignores it, as always.
1903
1904"Hey." He says. He hasn't dressed up either, but his arm's in the same exact style as all of Haron's golems, so of course they'll let him just waltz in. It's basically a badge. 
1905
1906"Hey." Then again, your white hair tends to be too, to people in the know.
1907
1908Regardless, the two of you eventually get a booth somewhere, and you order something exorbitantly expensive. You know what a Ramu is- a fire boar- but you've never had it as food before. You're not even sure how they'd cook it, but it's worth a try.
1909
1910"So. She told Ceru that you modded your Implement, even though she's basically guilty of it herself. Just to get ahead."
1911
1912"Basically." You say, miserably.
1913
1914"Tch." He says. "I hate people like that. People should get ahead on their own merit and genius. Or hard work, if they're short on genius. Not try to drag themselves forward by stomping on everybody else."
1915
1916>?
1917------------------------------------------
1918"It wouldn't even be so bad if she just had some integrity." You say. "I could see fucking over some random person. It's not good, but understandable. But fucking someone over when you have both a personal and business-relationship with? That's just rude."
1919
1920"Yep."
1921
1922"What did you order?"
1923
1924"Fire boar." He says. "I've got no clue how they'd cook it, since it's fire-immune, but I'm curious."
1925
1926"Anyway, the worst part is that I lost someone I thought I could call a friend. I don't have many of those."
1927
1928"Don't worry." He says. "You'll meet more friends. And Scholar, she didn't know you very well if she knew what she was missing."
1929
1930You frown at him.
1931
1932"Why can't you say something wrong so I can throw something at you?"
1933
1934"Uh..." He says, trailing off. "The sky is green?"
1935
1936"Thank you." You say, and throw a napkin at him. "Anyway. Let's change to happier things. I went back home for a bit, and Ishelda's picked up some magic now!"
1937
1938"That's good." He says. "Ishy's been missing you for a while. Did your mom actually buy her an Implement?"
1939
1940"No, she bought it with her own money. Made it by tutoring her classmates. Oh, and her test results are spectacular!"
1941
1942"How good?"
1943
1944"She did better than I did, when I was her age." You say.
1945
1946"You sound proud."
1947
1948"I *am* proud!" You say.
1949
1950"Then you should get her a gift of some kind." He says. "That's always good for positive reinforcement."
1951
1952Hmm, maybe... But what would you get her?
1953
1954>?
1955------------------------------------------
1956"I should." You say. "A cellphone, maybe?"
1957
1958"I'm not sure she'd really use a cellphone much, in the village." Rathod said. "The place is so small that you can basically yell and everyone will hear you."
1959
1960"Yeah, good point." You say. "I should get her something magic-y. Like a bracer for her Implement. But that might be a bit too expensive for me." You did take enough Fabrication to make it, if you get the materials...
1961
1962"If you want to get something really nice for her, I know how you can make some money. Might suck up all your mana, though."
1963
1964"How's that?" You ask.
1965
1966"Well, my master buys a lot of Orichalium and Mithril and stuff. Sometimes even Adamantine. Those shipments are serious business, but Archmage Kristoph's all the way in Tark, so my Master loses shipments in the ocean all the time. But if you can stretch a teleport that far, and give him a confirmed shipment once in a while. That way he doesn't need to finance an entire caravan or a few dozen Hunters."
1967
1968You frown. You're not sure if you can stretch a spell that far west.
1969
1970But that might be worth a lot of money, though you know Haron's good for it.
1971
1972>?
1973------------------------------------------
1974"Part of my deal with Haron is that I'll give him three small favors." You say. "He did mention moving some of his shipments around. At the very least, that's not going to be making me money until I've already done it a few times."
1975
1976He shrugs. "It's worth a try."
1977
1978"I do have a new trick I might be able to use. I'll need to test the limits before I can try, anyway."
1979
1980The meal arrives, both of you getting identical plates. As it turns out, how they cook it...
1981
1982"This is raw." Rathod says.
1983
1984You shrug, and try it out. It's very chewy, hot, but it also tastes pretty fresh. There's a certain unnatural spice to it too- You can almost taste the magic, and it makes you feel pretty warm for a while. 
1985
1986"You can just dig in like that, can't you?" Your friend asks. You just stare up at him like he's being silly.
1987
1988"It's not like there are any germs or diseases that can survive being in a Ramu." You say. The side dish is good too, though your mom's made better.
1989
1990Thod pokes at his meal a few times, and decides to give it a try. You just give him a thumbs up.
1991
1992"So, you have a new trick?" He asks.
1993
1994You wink. "Secret."
1995
1996"Ah, of course." He says.
1997
1998"So how have you been doing?" You ask.
1999
2000"Learning Precepts, designing a little assistant dweomer, talking with Kally... But I won't be doing the last anymore." He says with a frown.
2001
2002"Assistant dweomer?"
2003
2004"Kind of like a golem, except not physical. I'm trying to teach him voice recognition and the ability to speak. It's not very easy. There's a reason none of my master's golems do. But I'm close to cracking it, and he doesn't know yet. I want to surprise him."
2005
2006>?
2007------------------------------------------
2008"Sounds cool. I bet that would be easy to market and sell. Gonna make it your golem assistant to help with work, or?"
2009
2010You wiggle your eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
2011
2012Thod snorts.
2013"My master would kill me if I did that." He says, cheeks reddening. "... Well, to be honest, he'd probably congratulate me and ask for one of his own. That's ... actually worse."
2014
2015He shakes his head. "It's not really designed for anything. Just a proof of concept. If I can figure out how to make it talk and understand sounds, that's something even my Master hasn't gotten around to."
2016
2017"Cool stuff." You say. "I'm sure he'll be impressed."
2018
2019"I mean, imagine a voice-reactive implement." He says. "You just say a command and feed it mana, and it casts the spell."
2020
2021"I've already figured out a little bit of a macro for my teleporting." You say. "It's not audio-based, though. I activate it, point at the destination, and jerk my arm the right way."
2022
2023"See? Now imagine if you could just hold your arm out and cast? Or... I don't know, 'Implement go home.' and end up at your place." He says. "So that's my current project."
2024
2025"I'm tweaking different variants of my own magic." You say. "Figuring out a lot by dissecting my copy of my Ancestor's work, and I got actual portals working."
2026
2027"Portals? Like, wormholes?"
2028
2029"Throw something in one end, it comes out the other."
2030
2031"... Did you try putting one above-"
2032
2033"Yep. Terminal velocity. Though the ball kept tumbling out at an angle eventually."
2034
2035"Have you gone through one? What's at the edges and the back?"
2036
2037"The edges of the portal and the back are that same kind of... I don't know, dimensional foam. The same stuff the teleport sphere's made out of. If it can't push you away, it collapses and the spell fails."
2038
2039"What happens if you kill the spell when there's something inside?"
2040
2041You're... not sure, actually. You never thought to try it. When you shrug, he raises an eyebrow.
2042
2043> Do you guys want to keep talking with him, or just move on to elsewhen and do something? It's honestly up to you.
2044>?
2045------------------------------------------
2046"I don't know." You say. "Never tested that. Could be vented off into Nowhere- like, nonexistence, or could cut the item in half."
2047"Either of which is not good for the object inside."
2048
2049"I don't know, I could probably take a good nap."
2050
2051Rathod snorted, and the two of you finish up your meal. While Thod seems to be a bit picky, you go ahead and take his serving too- no reason to let it go to waste.
2052
2053After Thod pays via his voucher, the two of you head out, onto the street. The sun has fallen, and it's getting late.
2054
2055"So." You say. "Mind coming with me when I have cash to buy a present for Ishelda? I'm going to invite Brun, too."
2056
2057"Sure." He says. "Maybe I'll get her something, too. I was thinking I'd make a little guardian. She knows how to charge things with mana, right?"
2058
2059"Yeah. I taught her. You know, the hard way." You say. 
2060
2061"Ouch." He says, wincing. "You can actually do astral magic?"
2062
2063"Wasn't easy." You say. "but I was able to give her the spiritual equivalent of a boop on the nose."
2064
2065"Anyway, I could animate something for her. But I need something to animate in the first place. But I'll come."
2066
2067You nod, and stretch. "So. How's your love life?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.
2068
2069"Well, you know about Kally and Brun... And there's this one girl who keeps pestering me..." He says. "But I don't really have any kind of intentions that way. I suppose you could say that I'm focusing on my Apprenticeship more."
2070
2071Then he gives you a grin.
2072
2073"What about you? Meet any cute boys? Or girls? Or... well, you're more into books, aren't you."
2074
2075You stick your tongue out at him, and but he just laughs.
2076
2077It's been a busy day, and rather upsetting in parts... But hanging out with your best friend always cheers you up.
2078
2079>End of session!
2080>I'll stick around, as always, and you guys can ask questions about the setting or characters or such.
2081>You know, as long as the answers aren't spoilers.
2082------------------------------------------
2083>>398279
2084>Did Kally know Cera before the whole tribunal thing, or were they basically strangers?
2085They knew eachother. Cera knew basically everybody.
2086
2087>Are we ever gonna figure out Cera's beef with us?
2088There have been a few hints, and one person guessed a large part of it. 
2089Then there's also the fact that when the two of you met, you came from the middle of a podunk village from the middle of nowhere, and blew other adepts out of the water from your sheer quality. It seems like she hated you on sight.
2090
2091>>398284
2092>Astral magic
2093Astral magic is, quite simply, the art of doing stuff with your soul. Unlike thaumaturgy, where you need a 'lesser echo' to cause changes upon the greater, or Analytical magic that's all about energy manipulation, or Hermetic magic that's just kind of random, Astral Magic is about manipulating your mana to do things without aid.
2094Basically nobody is good at it. It's one of the most difficult, grueling things in the world to learn.
2095
2096>>398298
2097It's just a mythos thing. I like reusing names, and a lot of the time it's not really relevant. As for the title of the quest, Samsara, that's less about the buddhist cycle of rebirth, and more about the origin of the word. Wandering and World...
2098
2099Perfect for a quest about jumping around, huh?
2100------------------------------------------
2101>>398492
2102Technically speaking, all people are monsters. Mostly by virtue of having a soul. The only reason they don't go insane with destruction and anger is because they've got brainpower to back up their soulpower. Well, there's also the fact that monsters universally don't attack their 'parent species', but nobody's sure if that's why people are civilized.
2103
2104Unless you're talking about people with monster-like abilities, such as fire immunity, or the ability to fly without mechanical or magical assistance, that kind of thing. In which case, no, there's nobody like that.
2105
2106Unless you count Shamans, but that counts as magical assistance.
2107------------------------------------------
2108Also, just so you guys don't miss out on delicious setting info from people asking me questions in #Exabyte , here are some quick bullet points.
2109
2110>The world has around half the population of our own
2111
2112>The MC and her nation is called Romalia- a similarly modernized society is across the ocean to the west, called Tark.
2113
2114>Around half a million people die per year to monster attacks. This is after the caravan system was established.
2115
2116>A caravan is an extremely large undertaking- essentially, a small army of monster hunters guard an huge shipment of supplies and people. They're not only land-based- there are aerial caravans as well, which tend to be safer if there are no dragons around.
2117
2118>Dragons are aerial monsters, extremely territorial, and are usually born from birds or flying insects. Yes, that does mean there is a butterfly dragon. Yes, it's deadly. As a side-note, their wings make extremely pretty/fabulous clothing.
2119------------------------------------------
2120-omitted one small post.
2121>>399375
2122That's what dweomers- freestanding, longterm spells- are for. You could design one to cast X spell when supplied with enough mana.
2123
2124The only problem is that they all take mana, and there's no easy, automated way to generate mana. Only wizards can use it, though some adepts or wizards-in-training make a bit of cash by maintaining the dweomers of others. 
2125
2126That is, in fact, how you earned your savings. That and a very frugal lifestyle. By frugal, I mean that you mooched off of Rathod.
2127------------------------------------------
2128>>399566
2129You could, but you'd have to make sure to keep it topped off. If you spend a month or so away without charging it, and then try to activate it, the spell would just fail.
2130
2131As for other worlds... that would be spoilers.
2132------------------------------------------
2133>>399587
2134Ew, the congealed stuff is the worst. It's the part that sinks to the bottom and gets all sticky and clogs the drains.
2135
2136The nice fizzy foam on top is what I'm made of, obviously. You know, the part made out of waifus.
2137
2138Seriously though, I just have a lot of inspiration basically constantly. I've always got a hundred ideas on where to go and hoping for the players to take a path, any path, and when you guys jump somewhere I never, ever even expected? That's the best. The very, very best. I am fueled by such unexpected choices.
2139------------------------------------------
2140>>400335
2141I'd planned to run today, but sadly, I woke up and the internet was down. It'd been down for like, twelve hours, and now that it's up again I'm too tired to quest. Sorry about no session today.
2142------------------------------------------
2143-omitted one small post.
2144-omitted one small post.
2145>Aaand we're back! This session might/will probably be shorter than normally-timed ones. 
2146
2147Cars race past you, rain drizzling down from the sky. It's late, but it's bright enough here, downtown, that you know where exactly you're going.
2148
2149Eventually, you reach the Loading Dock. It's only after a moment of looking at your Adept Identification that the guards let you through, and you make your way up the stairs to the top of the dock. Two loyal umbrella dweomer circles you, diverting the water away when it would otherwise land on you. the second dweomer guards your notes just as zealously.
2150
2151It's a large, flat structure. Where normally a high-bulk quadrocopter would sit, accompanied by several magi, it's completely empty- except for two people, both of them taller than you.
2152
2153Then again, most of humanity is taller than you. Though neither of the two are entirely human. One with a golemic arm, and the other with a golemic... everything.
2154
2155Rathod and his master, Archmage Haron.
2156
2157"Ah! You're here." Haron says. "Not as quickly as I'd assumed, to be honest."
2158
2159You raise your eyebrows. "I had to take the bus."
2160
2161"Oh? I thought you were above any form of non-magical transformation by this point?" Rathod asks.
2162
2163You give him a Look. 
2164
2165"I'm not sure this will work." You say. "It might take too much mana for me."
2166
2167"If it does, you can still consider your debt cleared." Haron says, nodding to you.
2168
2169"Alright." You say, looking down at your notes and your Implement. "I need the exact coordinates of your destination, as well as height above sea level."
2170
2171Haron gives you the information- in a clinical, detached tone- and you nod.
2172
2173"Right." You say.
2174
2175You close your eyes and take a deep breath...
2176
2177Time to create your first cross-continental portal.
2178
2179>Roll me a 1d100!
2180------------------------------------------
2181>Result: 51! Mild Success!
2182
2183You tap on your Implement's display, carefully making sure things are exactly what you need them to be. Normally a miscast or two wouldn't be a problem, but this spell might drain you completely. A failed cast would drain you just as much, making you lose a day or two while you recover.
2184
2185Regardless, the numbers look right- and you push the destination's height up a few feet, just to be safe- and you begin to channel.
2186
2187In front of you, a whorl of energy slowly begins forming. Rathod and Haron both step back, examining it closely. They'd never seen anything like this before. Your implement is hungry for magic, eating it up just as much as you can exert it. It takes more and more, the whorl spinning faster and faster. You're not sure how long it'll take. Last time, just a short range experiment took a little over a minute. This might take an hour, maybe more. But the more you push, the less mana you have.
2188
2189Sweat beads on your forehead as both dweomers wink out. No reason to waste mana on them, after all. But the whorl doesn't seem to be speeding up anymore. It's doing nothing. Wasting mana.
2190
2191But still, you push on. At the rate the portal is progressing, it's not going to work. You'll run out of mana long before the spell completes. You take another deep breath, willing yourself onward.
2192
2193The whorl of energy flickers, once or twice, as if it's going to blink out entirely. You scrape the bottom of your usable mana supply- and eke out a few, wispy droplets.
2194
2195And then the whorl of energy becomes a one-dimensional plane, roughly ovalshaped, and you can see the sunset on the other side.
2196
2197You squeak and cover your eyes, falling back.
2198
2199Now your ass is wet. Wonderful.
2200
2201"How long will this last?" Haron asks.
2202
2203"I don't know." You say, breathing deeply. "But I've experimented with it, and it tends to last as long as I spent feeding it. Lasts even longer if I put more mana into it. If it closes the worst thing that'll happen is someone gets stranded. Should be good for... however long that took me."
2204
2205"Twenty minutes." Thod provides, helpfully.
2206
2207"Hello?!" Someone calls from through the portal.
2208
2209"Ah. Here's my contact." Haron says. "Come on through, Kristoph. The weather's fine!"
2210
2211"It is not. I can clearly see it's all wet and dour."
2212
2213"Are you a wizard or not?" Haron snaps.
2214
2215"Fine, fine."
2216
2217Someone bows their head, and climbs through the portal. He's wearing a long, red jacket. Black hair, smoothed back. He's younger than you expected.
2218
2219"Hello, hello." He says, nodding to both you and Rathod. He's got a clear Tarkan accent. "Archmagus Kristoph, at your service. Alchemical solutions for extremely expensive prices!"
2220
2221"They know who you are, Kris." Haron drawls. "Do you have my shipment?"
2222
2223"I do, I do. It's all set up on the other side."
2224
2225Several Golems- scrawny and wiry- each make their ways up and through the portal.
2226
2227Kristoph turns to you.
2228
2229"So you're the beautiful new prodigy, eh? Please, tell me about yourself."
2230
2231>?
2232------------------------------------------
2233"I'm just a future magus from a poor mountain village with a thesis on teleportation."
2234
2235"And it's turned out wonderfully!" He cries, gesturing toward the portal. "Direct manipulation of space! I've never seen the like- and I honestly don't know how the mechanism behind it works. With most magics, like my dear friend Harry's, I have a guess or two. But yours... Something new."
2236
2237"I'm still working on it, but it's mostly functional." You say. "I only need to refine it some more, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeves!"
2238
2239"We all do, don't we?" the Archmage says, wiggling his eyebrows. "We wizards are a sneaky and, er, long-sleeved lot."
2240
2241"That's why we wear the robes." Haron drawls, gesturing to the golems. They keep funneling back and forth through the portal, carrying wooden crates. "More space for tricks."
2242
2243"So." You say. "You're the archmage who made Orichalium?"
2244
2245"Ah... more like rediscovered it, truly." He says. "As well as Mithril and Adamantine. I never invented it. I had to wrest my secrets from the material itself!"
2246
2247"Really?" Rathod asks. "Then what was the first magical metal? The one from which you derived the rest?"
2248
2249"It wasn't a metal, but a monster." He says, raising his eyebrows to emphasise 'monster'. "The gallbladder of some species of dragon, I believe. I didn't hunt the beast, or see it with my own eyes. My master- great, great man- had simply asked me to research the material. We found no use for it at the time. But eventually I cracked it!"
2250
2251"You're rambling, Kris."
2252
2253"And you're a great boring paperweight, Harry."
2254
2255Kristoph tries to sling his arm over Haron's shoulder, but the golem neatly steps away.
2256
2257"It's Haron. Har-on. Of the great duchy of-"
2258
2259"Golemland!" Kristoph cheers. "In great duchy of golemland, Haron was born when his mommy plunked his crystal into his daddy's carefully crafted automaton..."
2260
2261Haron just sighs.
2262
2263"Is it just me, or are all archmages insane?" Rathod asks.
2264
2265Haron sighs louder.
2266
2267"Say." You say. "Do you know any juicy secrets about Hermetic rituals?"
2268
2269"Oh, you just come out and ask? You're very direct, young wizard. Most try to get close to me to get my secrets. It's refreshing just to have you ask! As for the answer... Why, are you seeking something? Does your teleportation perhaps, revolve around it?"
2270
2271He waggles his eyebrows.
2272
2273"I kid, I kid. In truth, I don't know much about Hermeticism. My master's own master researched it quite a bit! I still have his old notes somewhere in my laboratory."
2274
2275Then he steps back, examining you up and down. He spends a bit longer looking at your chest than you'd like, so you glare at him.
2276
2277"I may, indeed, make a copy for you." He says. "You have quite some potential, you know. You seem the eccentric sort, which means you're destined to be an archmage! If your friend's theory is correct, that is!"
2278
2279>?
2280------------------------------------------
2281>>403219
2282>Sometimes you wonder if the reason you stopped growing taller is because you started growing outwards...
2283>But you didn't grow outwards very much, sadly.
2284
2285"Of course it is!" You say. "There's too many people I need to prove wrong for me not to make archmage!"
2286
2287Kristoph looks at you for a long moment- and then starts to laugh.
2288
2289"Very well!" He says. "I respect your ambition, young Magus."
2290
2291"I'm still an adept." You say.
2292
2293He snorts.
2294
2295"I don't care about your silly Romalian tiers of learning. If you can make your own spells, you're a wizard. and if you're a wizard, you're a Magus."
2296
2297With that, he lifts his cane. The crystal in the top begins to gleam
2298
2299"Oh, Scholar, no." Haron says. There's a tink as he presses his hand against his faceplate.
2300
2301Then Kristoph slams his staff into the ground. It rumbles, slightly, and then something slowly raises out of the ground, distorting it.
2302
2303With his other hand, Kristoph tears it from the ground, holding it aloft.
2304
2305You watch as concrete sloughs off of it, and a pure, snow-white sword sits inside.
2306
2307"You know, Tark's first magic users were Seers." Kristoph says. "They studied the acts of divination, to see the future! I have a little of that gift myself."
2308
2309"No you don't." Haron chimes in.
2310
2311"And I foresee that you need this!" He says.
2312
2313"No, she doesn't." Haron says.
2314
2315"Perhaps she'll need the money from selling it. A mithril sword is very rare, after all. I would know. It can't be shaped without my direct assistance." Then he shakes his head. "Regardless! This is yours, future archmage!"
2316
2317You stare at it. Pure Mithril. Almost massless. Nearly indestructible. A perfect mana insulator.
2318
2319It seems too good to be true.
2320
2321>?
2322------------------------------------------
2323You give him a searching stare.
2324
2325"This feels like a setup." You say. "What's the catch?"
2326
2327"Oh, dear me. Why do you think this might be a set up of some kind?"
2328
2329"Mithril is the second most valuable substance in the entire world." You say. "And you're just giving me a sword made of it for free."
2330
2331"I can make Mithril out of dirt." He says.
2332
2333You squint at him some more, in the rain. It's quiet.
2334
2335"... Very well." He says. "I... "
2336
2337He lapses into silence. You raise an eyebrow, crossing your arms.
2338
2339"The color matches you perfectly, okay?" He grumbles. "Your coat and your hair and everything. The same Frost Wolf White. That's the catch. Are you part Frost Wolf?"
2340
2341"Jury's still out on that/Monsters cannot breed with humans." You and Haron say at the same time.
2342
2343A moment later, you shake your head and sigh.
2344
2345With the powers of matching colors on your side, you take the sword. It's light. Very light, in fact. You pull it out of the scabbard to feel the edge-
2346
2347"Don't cut yourself." Kristoph says. "It is very sharp. It needs to be- otherwise it would be as if made out of foam. A mithril bat is as useless as a balloon, but much more enjoyable to hit people with."
2348
2349"I feel sorry for everybody in your country." Haron chimes in.
2350
2351"Hey, Haron." You say. "Where do you keep your sword?"
2352
2353Kristoph chuckles. "His sword, eh? You may be more forward than I thought, miss."
2354
2355"I don't have a sword." Haron responds. "I prefer to use focused beams of light as a weapon, when I need to fight. That rarely happens."
2356
2357You frown, and turn back to Kristoph, handing him a scrap of paper. "Well, I may as well give you my phone number, Archmage." You say. "You may have some reason to contact me, after all sometimes people need a portal now and then."
2358
2359"Very well!" Kristoph says. "Perhaps that was my secret goal- to earn the celly-phone number of a beautiful young lady."
2360
2361You're not actually sure if the man's endearing or annoying.
2362
2363You look over to the portal. It's been maybe fifteen minutes, and the golems are done moving shipments over. You don't have a lot more time to talk, but if you had a few more questions, you probably have the time.
2364
2365>?
2366------------------------------------------
2367>>403402
2368>You're pretty sure you can't directly teleport it alone- you'd need to teleport an object attached to it, or have it on your person when you teleport.
2369>Moreover, you could ... I don't know, cut a portal with it and cause the spell to fail? It's not useful for magic other than to bind monsters or disrupt spells. Cera, for example, couldn't disintegrate it, and you could cut magic.
2370>Orichalium has the opposite effect, at the cost of being heavier and less indestructible. Mana-conductive, and Heron uses it to make his golems incredibly mana-efficient.
2371>Adamantine... Now, nobody's actually sure. Kristoph doesn't sell it. All you know is that it's an ugly red-black and literally cannot be damaged by any force.
2372
2373>>403427
2374>Mana is always the same for every living soul. They have the same shape, the same mana generation, the same capacity.
2375>Some astral mages can supposedly learn how to grow their reserves or mana generation, but astral magic is HARD. And possibly deadly if you do it wrong.
2376
2377>>403437
2378>You would actually want orichalium for that. But you could do it the 'hard way', by carving runes into the orichalium to make a portal archway. Keep that idea- it's a good one.
2379
2380"I have one more question, Kristoph."
2381
2382"Oh?"
2383
2384"Is there anything you'd like in return for those notes you mentioned?" You ask. "Teleportation may be my thesis and specialty, but I'm very interested in hermetic magic as well. 
2385
2386"I hope you know that none of the notes contain a working hermetic spell. Merely nonfunctional ones." He says. "As well as a great deal of academic speculation."
2387
2388"I know." You say. "Most hermetic magic doesn't work nowadays. Regardless, what would you like for it?"
2389
2390He considers something for a few moments...
2391
2392"I shall give you a quest, in a few days. It is your mission to do this quest. That shall be the cost."
2393
2394"A quest? Really?" You ask. It sounds like one of Krital's journal entries.
2395
2396"Indeed. I cannot tell you about it now, but in the future..."
2397
2398He grins.
2399
2400"Oh, and also, Archmage," You say. "As for my hair, My ancestor did an experiment with some Frost Wolf claws, and... inadvertently infused himself."
2401
2402"What kind of madman would be so... reckless?" He asks. "Who was this ancestor of yours?"
2403
2404"Krital Angwaz." You say.
2405
2406Haron turns quickly to you.
2407
2408"That mad old coot? What was he attempting?" Haron asks. "Because as far as I know, he never experimented with shamanism."
2409
2410"I don't think he knew." You say, shrugging. "Probably trying random things for the sake of trying them."
2411
2412"That does sound like him." Haron says.
2413
2414>?
2415------------------------------------------
2416"Wait. You're talking like you knew him." You say.
2417
2418"No, I've never met him." Haron says, turning away from you. "Read his journal, though, and my own master had... things to say. But I do not judge a person by their ancestors."
2419
2420Kristoph frowns.
2421
2422"I've never heard of this fellow."
2423
2424"He mostly rampaged around Romalia declaring he would be an Archmage and disrupting things for everybody. More a trickster than a mage. It's entirely possible he muddled in too much Astral Magic and went mad. He eventually vanished." Haron says. "Miss Jasmine here seems to have his ingenuity, but without his... reckless proclivities. Best of both worlds, I suppose."
2425
2426You take a deep breath, and then sigh.
2427
2428"I think the portal may close soon, Kristoph." You say.
2429
2430"Oh! Right!" He says. "I almost forgot I was in this dreary country. Oh well."
2431
2432He turns, steps into the portal, and looks back through it. "I shall meet you all again! Farewell, friends!"
2433
2434"And good riddance!" Haron calls.
2435
2436The portal begins to blur- and then it's gone, completely.
2437
2438"He was... interesting." Rathod says. 
2439
2440"... One visit every few years is enough for me." Haron says. "He's a friend, but he can get on my nerves sometimes."
2441
2442Then he turns to you and nods. "Thank you for your assistance. Arranging a caravan is a lengthy and expensive endeavour, and you've saved me a lot of money. Consider your debt void."
2443
2444>?
2445------------------------------------------
2446>>403605
2447>He also invented implements.
2448>Well, technically, he invented spellcrystals, which made modern digital implements actually usable- though spellcrystals are older than digital technology. Older implements were actually made from teensy tiny runes made out of gold or silver. You'd need to carve out a new implement for every new array you wanted to use.
2449
2450"It worked! And nothing terrible happened!"
2451
2452"You got to meet the Archmage Kristoph." Haron says. "That might be considered terrible in some circles. He wasn't joking about hitting people with a mithril bat, you know."
2453
2454Rathod just snorts.
2455
2456"Though the debt is void, you also helped me with the Tribunal-"
2457
2458"No need to owe me for that." He says. "That was just as much for my apprentice as it was for you."
2459
2460"What do you mean by that?"
2461
2462He doesn't respond, and Rathod turns away.
2463
2464"Regardless, if you feel you owe me something, you just need to lower your rates when I purchase your services next time." Haron says, chuckling. "Yes, Rathod told me about the idea he had to purchase portals from you. I think it's a wonderful idea. Though you'll have to wait some time until I need a new shipment."
2465
2466"Maybe, but I'll still drive a hard bargain."
2467
2468"Just as you deserve to."
2469
2470You take a deep breath, and push your fingers into your sternum. It doesn't help with the soul-ache. "Well, I'm pooped. That took a lot of mana out of me."
2471
2472"Don't worry, I will give both of you transportation." Haron says. "I successfully taught a golem to operate my VCR at the correct times, so I can be out a bit later."
2473
2474Instead of a horse-shaped golem pulling a carriage, like you'd expected, you come across a huge, orichalium structure. It's made of smooth, oblong parts, and also some spiked, arching components. It takes you a few seconds to recognize what it is.
2475
2476Haron apparently rides inside a giant, orichalium-made spider. The inside is plush, looks extremely comfy. Without any noticable gesture, he makes a dweomer- one which instantly dries you the moment you climb inside.
2477
2478"You travel in style." You say. "But isn't this too big to use the roads?"
2479
2480"As I've found out, over a long, long life..." Haron says, as you watch orichalium legs tear down the street. "It turns out that if you're wrapped in an indestructible material, people can't do anything to you even if they wanted to."
2481
2482Then the spider jerks, and you watch the front window... turn sideways?
2483
2484"Oh, and I'm also very skilled in gravity magic. We're currently traveling along the buildings."
2485
2486You look over to Haron, and he points both thumbs at himself.
2487
2488"Archmage." He says.
2489
2490Rathod just shakes his head.
2491
2492>?
2493------------------------------------------
2494"I can imagine how that would come in handy." You say. "How'd you teach a golem to program a VCR?"
2495
2496"Spritzed it with water when it did the wrong thing," He said. "Gave it treats when it did the right one."
2497
2498Right. That question was probably a bit too related to his magic.
2499
2500"Do you mind if I ask you about the projects you're working on?" You ask.
2501
2502"... Hmmm." He tilts his head. "Currently, I'm working on a... how would you say it. A processing crystal. Much like a computer... Except I will be able to link my soul to it, and think through it."
2503
2504"... And that will make you finish projects even faster." You say.
2505
2506"Precisely." He says.
2507
2508"He's been working on it for years." Rathod says. "At least longer than I've been alive."
2509
2510"As the years pass, you find that your number of projects increase, and your free time decreases."
2511
2512You nod, and settle back in your seat. Then something occurs to you.
2513
2514"Excuse me, but why does a man with metal for skin need a plush, comfy interior?"
2515
2516"If it was just a hollow metal machine, it wouldn't be complete!" He says. "And having something that fleshy types can ride in comes in handy, sometimes."
2517
2518Eventually, he stops near the academy, and Rathod and you climb out. Haron just waves, the door closes, and the spider springs off into the air, sailing, before the legs find purchase on the side of a building.
2519
2520"Rathod?"
2521
2522"Yeah?"
2523
2524"Your master's pretty cool."
2525
2526"Yeah."
2527
2528It's only after you seperate from Rathod and get back to your room that your phone buzzes.
2529
2530[YOUR QUEST IS THUS: Take a pen. Draw on Archmage Haron's face as he sleeps. Do not worry, he does sleep. Draw 'Kristoph wuz heer'. The worse grammar the better.]
2531
2532You sigh.
2533
2534You long for the days when archmages were people worthy of respect instead of incredibly powerful dorks.
2535
2536>End of session!
2537------------------------------------------
2538-omitted one small post.
2539>Here we go!
2540
2541You wake up feeling like absolute shit. A white-hot coal is lodged into your chest, right where your heart should be, and it's burning you out from the inside. This isn't the very worst soulburn you've had, but it's one of the bad ones.
2542
2543But there's not much you can do about it. It doesn't even slow your mana recovery or affect your use of it. It's just punishing you for using so much magic last night.
2544
2545You sit up, wash your face, get dressed, and then sit down at your desk with some icewater.
2546
2547Then you notice the Mithril sword leaning against your desk, complete with a sheathe made out of the same material.
2548
2549You stare at it for a few minutes. You're not sure what to do with it right now- you could sell it, or on the other hand, keep it. Swords are useful, especially for wizards who aren't combat evokers. You wouldn't even need a strength spell- only a haste- if something attacked you.
2550
2551In the end, you resolve to decide later and put it in your coat. Then you take a big drink, and get to work.
2552
2553Eventually, you collect all of your ancestor's hermetic-related notes in the two books, and compare them with your own notes. It's not as much work as you thought it would be- most of his notes are hints on how his spell works, or his experiments on it, though nothing you see seems useful.
2554
2555Eventually, though, you can put a name to the base summoning spell. Twelve glyphs. Six of them cannot be changed, or the spell refuses to work. The remainders are malleable, able to be changed in order to change the spell itself.
2556
2557The location glyph seems to be the most malleable. While normally you need to kludge together an analytical solution for the 'other end' of the portal through deliberate thaumaturgy to stretch the spell, it seems like certain runes or objects mark certain locations.
2558
2559Though your kludge is actually more useful, seeing as you can direct the spell to aim anywhere in the world.
2560
2561You're a bit wary of using the runes your ancestor had marked throughout the entirety of his journal. You're not sure why, but it feels like a step you shouldn't cross without ceremony.
2562
2563Eventually the burn in your chest begins to fade, thankfully. You take a few deep breaths, then look at the clock.
2564
2565Lucky you. You'll be walking into Astrobiology with a soulburn.
2566
2567It's another lecture, this time on the structure of a soul as it develops, complete with the mechanisms around using mana.
2568
2569You used to cram this class with Kally. But here she is, talking with a different student- one you don't know.
2570
2571But the student is whispering. You frown, and listen close.
2572
2573"I heard that she's taking her evaluation next week."
2574
2575"Who, Cera?"
2576
2577"Yeah. She finished her magic."
2578
2579"For the daughter of an archmage, it's got to be big. What is her thesis, anyway?"
2580
2581"I don't know. She's always secretive about it."
2582
2583"I guess we'll be able to see it later, won't we?"
2584
2585You frown.
2586
2587Everything's always about Cera. And unless you hurry, she'll make Magus before you do.
2588
2589>?
2590------------------------------------------
2591>>409564
2592>You still have mana. Soulburn is just a particular type of ache that comes after you've spent waaaay too much magic. Like the morning after a long jog and your legs are killing you.
2593
2594>>409570
2595>Never anything as bad as trying to destroy your future and sabotage your work.
2596
2597No.
2598
2599You'll be the better woman- the better Wizard- and ignore it. She doesn't matter.
2600
2601Instead, what's more important is understanding this. You don't know how this information would help, even if you were an astral or shamanic mage- both of which deal with astrobiology more than you- but you furiously take notes on it anyway. Soul development isn't important unless you're trying to raise monsters or something ridiculous. But it's more magical knowledge, which you always do your best to memorize.
2602
2603"I think I'm going to go ask her. It's been a mystery long enough."
2604
2605"Don't worry, we've all been planning on getting together to interrogate her. We're having a party tonight at the Dryad, and that's the perfect place to ambush her."
2606
2607"Yeah! She's been our friend for long enough. She knows we won't tell anybody, and it's only a week until her magic is revealed to everybody, right?"
2608
2609The two girls turned to Kally.
2610
2611"Hey, weren't you friends with Angwaz?"
2612
2613Nope. Not listening. You turn away, but that doesn't stop you from hearing.
2614
2615"... Not anymore." Kally says."
2616
2617"Good riddance. I'm not sure what you saw in that girl, anyway. I think she tried Astral Magic wrong and went insane."
2618
2619"I remember inviting her out to drinks and she completely blew me off. Does she even have any friends?"
2620
2621You grit your teeth, staring straight ahead, and focus on the lecture.
2622
2623Your chest burns... But you wonder how Cera would react if you showed up at the Dryad with all of her friends to ask her. Especially if you asked her directly... You did distort an invisibility spell to change your hair color, after all, and you're not sure any of those bitches would recognize you.
2624
2625>?
2626------------------------------------------
2627Well... it is only fair that you find out what magic she's developing. She found yours out forever ago.
2628
2629After the rest of your classes, you make your way back out of the room and begin to decide on a disguise. The different hair color should make you unrecognizable, but also your coat and your boots are pretty recognizable
2630
2631Instead, you decide to rely on Kally's help, once upon a time, and pull out the veritable pile of clothing she'd made you buy at the mall a few weeks back. You still haven't worn any of them, but you spend an hour or so picking through them.
2632
2633You wouldn't say that you're oblivious to fashion. You would charitably say that you don't particularly care about fashion most of the time. But today, you're planning to act like one of Cera's blind toadies, and that means you have to waste precious brainpower on looking cute rather than finishing your magic.
2634
2635Idiots. You're always cute, no matter what you wear. But you pick out a frilly red blouse and way-too-small jeans anyway. There is a skirt here, but... Let's just move on.
2636
2637Finally, you wrap your head in a light-distortion dweomer, turning it from white into an utterly forgettable brown- and pull your hair up in a ponytail, just in case. You don't have a scrunchy or anything, so you end up having to tie it up with some twine.
2638
2639You look at yourself in the mirror, examining yourself critically. You even put on a little bit of lipstick, and then nod.
2640
2641Perfect. You look utterly forgettable.
2642
2643It is a little fun, getting all gussied up to go out.
2644
2645When you make your way out of your dorm, you almost stumble over Rathod on his way to knock on your door. Well, to be more honest, he's the one stumbling over you. 
2646
2647"Er... Hello." He says, somewhat awkwardly.
2648
2649"Hello." You respond.
2650
2651"... Wait." He says. "Jaz? Is that you?"
2652
2653You cackle. If even Rathod can't recognize you at first, there's no way those bitches can.
2654
2655"I'm off!" You say, jumping onto your tippy-toes to tap him on the shoulder. "See you later!"
2656
2657"Uh, right. Have fun?"
2658
2659You shoot him a wink and throw on your favorite way of travel...
2660
2661And you vanish into a great black sphere.
2662
2663===
2664
2665The Dryad is part bar, part rave, and part Adept Hangout Spot. You've only been here a handful of times, and that was when you first showed up. The city was new to you at the time.
2666
2667Cera's clique is entirely crowding a corner of the building. There's easily a dozen of them- all girls, of course- and not a real wizard in sight. Just a bunch of syncophants. Of course, Cera is there in her slutty robe and chatting graciously, like a queen residing over her subjects.
2668
2669It pisses you off, but you buy a drink and start to plot.
2670
2671Now how to do this...
2672
2673>Not only do you need to figure out how to walk your way into the group, but you'll also need to roll me some 1d100s!
2674>?
2675------------------------------------------
2676>>409854
2677>That wasn't a proper defense- that was an evaluation, and a special situation. They were making sure you weren't planning on faking a new magic.
2678>You mostly need to finish your magic, declare that it's finished, and arrange to let other magi appraise it. If that's done and of a suitable quality, you'll be considered a Magus.
2679>Archmagery is a bit different, and you're not sure how it's decided.
2680
2681
2682>Result: 33. Straight-up Failure!
2683
2684Right. Be casual. Be relaxed. Don't make a big deal.
2685
2686You sip at your drink a bit, watching them carefully. Every new arrival incurs a loud screech, people greeting one another, and then the crowd gets a little big bigger and a little bit longer.
2687
2688You bite your lip, take a deep breath, and walk right in.
2689
2690"Who are you?" One of the girls ask, appraising you. Everyone gets a bit quiet, looking over at you.
2691
2692It's only due to your immense will that you don't panic.
2693
2694"Hey, Tara." You say, somewhat awkwardly. "I'm just, uh.."
2695
2696The girl- whose name is not Tara- sighs audibly.
2697
2698She stomps over, grabs your arm, and takes you away from the group. You wrestle a bit, but she doesn't seem to recognize you- and the sooner you get away from Cera and Kally, the better.
2699
2700"Listen." She says. "I know you're new to the Academy. And I know that you really want to meet Cerulean Sirius. But you can't just walk up on a private gathering like that."
2701
2702Not-Tara frowns.
2703
2704"If everybody got to meet her, she wouldn't have any time to herself, you know? I'm one of her best friends, and she already spends most of her time hanging out with people like you..."
2705
2706Oh god. She thinks you're a sycophant-in-training.
2707
2708Maybe you could roll with this, somehow...
2709
2710>?
2711------------------------------------------
2712>>409962
2713>Ideas are always good. Even if they're really bad ones, they might lead somewhere good.
2714>For example, while pretending to be Kristoph's daughter is questionable because he's too young to have a daughter your age and you don't have a Tark accent, pretending to be a different archmage's daughter might have worked.
2715
2716You frown. "I really understand how awful that must feel." You say. "Why, only recently, one of my friends abandoned me for some useless floozy. And I'm just some nobody!" You say.
2717
2718Not-tara nods.
2719
2720"I mean, Cera is something special- She must be really nice if she's so friendly to all the new and anonymous girls around here. But compared to the rest of us here, you're obviously more competant and loyal. Why's she spending so much of her valuable time with her hangers-on instead of her closer friends anyway?"
2721
2722Not-tara rolls her eyes.
2723"Probably because she needs that popularity. If she was a recluse, or spent all her time with her friends, then nobody's gonna know about her. It's a bit painful, but she's really got something going. She's going to be bigger than her father- she's already mastered his magic."
2724
2725"Wow, really?" You ask, playing the part of the star-struck freshman. "What's her thesis about, anyway? I'm still deciding on mine."
2726
2727"Even I don't know." The girl says. "She's kept it really secret. Only that she's taking her dad's magic further than he did."
2728
2729You nod. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just barge in like that." You say. "I don't want to get in the way between best friends! I just..."
2730
2731You trail off, and do the one thing that always, always got you out of trouble with your mom.
2732
2733You begin to tear up.
2734
2735"I don't know a lot of people here." You say. "I heard that this place is where a lot of adepts hang out, so I thought I'd meet people, and... people always praise Cera's kindness and personability, and..."
2736
2737Her face softens.
2738
2739"... This is supposed to be a celebration." She says. "No reason you can't hang out for a little while. Just try not to pester Cera too much, okay? You'll get to meet a lot of cool people."
2740
2741"Okay!" You say, emulating Ishelda's perfect ability to cheer up instantly.
2742
2743"My name's Jocelyn." She says, leading you back to the group. "Jocelyn Tarth."
2744
2745"... Tara." You say, finally. "Tara Dynean"
2746
2747"Nice to meet you! Do you have a specialty, or are you new to magic?"
2748
2749"I'm, er, pretty new to magic." You lie.
2750
2751She smiles and nods. "Well, then you'll get to meet a bunch of people who are all nearing Magus. That should be pretty exciting. Come on!"
2752
2753>Continued!
2754------------------------------------------
2755Jocelyn brings you back into the group, announcing that you're new to magic, and new to the city. Several people make jokes about 'another surrogate sister', and you do the bare minimum of communicating with others, acting bashful and shy. Everybody drinks more drinks, while you keep sipping at your watered down cup, and the party gets more raucous.
2756
2757Eventually, Jocelyn's friend- a tall, lanky girl by the name of Velvet, turns to Cera and asks:
2758
2759"So, Cera. You're getting evaluated next week."
2760
2761"I am!" She chirps. "I'm excited about it too."
2762
2763"... But I gotta know. What's your thesis?"
2764
2765Cera grins.
2766
2767"I've been working on transferring objects from one continent to the other. It relies a bunch on my father's research, but... I'm only giving you guys this one demonstration."
2768
2769She holds up a cup... and it falls apart, like it disintegrated. A moment later, the cup reassembles in her other hand.
2770
2771Everybody gasps.
2772
2773That bitch. That bitch that bitch that bitch that BITCH.
2774
2775She was sabotaging you so that she could use her own goddamned magic.
2776
2777>?
2778------------------------------------------
2779>>410053
2780>You're not wearing your boots, so you look even tinier.
2781
2782Your vision is red, and it's only getting redder, but a certain part of you begins to think and plan.
2783
2784"Does it work on people?" You call out.
2785
2786"It doesn't work on people, or anything with a soul, or any of Krisoph's work, but it works fine for everything else!" Cera says, smiling kindly at you.
2787
2788Kally jerks, slightly, when her eyes lock on yours. But she quickly looks away.
2789
2790You could try to get a presentation before her. Normally, you're limited to when a large number of magi convene. You could go right after her when the magi are convened, blow her out of the goddamned water with your superior teleportation. Make her look like a wet noodle.
2791
2792Maybe you could even go before her, if you can pull it off. Give her the sloppy, sub-par seconds.
2793
2794Or maybe you could buy another favor from Archmage Haron. Schedule a time for another presentation, but earlier than hers. If he shows up, you're sure a flock of Magi will.
2795
2796Or she could be bluffing. She has something to present, but it might not even be teleportation. It's not your teleportation she used, for sure. But she could be lying, or trying to trick you.
2797
2798So you have a third choice. Ignore her entirely. Present your magic on your own time. It's technically complete- it could hold up to a presentation- but you still don't understand the most basic mechanism behind it. And as quickly as you've been going lately, you won't finish it for a year, maybe longer.
2799
2800A lot of plans boil and bubble behind your eyes, while everybody goes back to partying.
2801
2802>?
2803------------------------------------------
2804No, you won't let her dictate your actions. Her magic is different than your own, but most of all, worse. Even if she does become a magus before you, she won't be able to move any of Kristoph's work- or any people. And that's what your magic is best at. 
2805
2806She can move the luggage. You'll deal with VIPs, as is right and proper.
2807
2808You just need to study more, and streamline the spell. If you can make it more efficient, you could make it into a communal spell. It's hard going, but it's yours.
2809
2810You say your goodbyes to your new 'friends', promising to call Jocelyn later when she pushes you on it.
2811
2812Instead, you delete her number, remove the dweomer, and teleport back to the school.
2813
2814From there, you call your Counselor and explain the situation.
2815
2816"... Well, if you're so certain that your magic is more capable than hers, then you can simply do what you're already planning. Discover how your magic works, first. It's not important if it works, it's the *how*. But... Miss Cera's magic will be the first that the outer world learns of teleportation. That means that she will get much more focus and attention. Even if your magics are extremely different, the common layman won't recognize the difference. They'll only see you as a copycat."
2817
2818He pauses for a minute.
2819
2820"If you wish, I could see what I could do about scheduling your presentation. I may not be able to get one sooner than Cera's, but I can do my best."
2821
2822>?
2823------------------------------------------
2824Right. The solution is simple.
2825
2826"I think I know the best option," You say.
2827
2828"Oh? do you mind elaborating?"
2829
2830"Simple. I'll stop being secretive with my teleportation. No reason I can't appear in front of a grocery store to get my eggs and milk."
2831
2832There's a pause- and then you hear the weevil laugh on the other end.
2833
2834"I have too much integrity to present my method unless I understand all of it," You say. "And that might be months off. But that doesn't mean I can't use it around town."
2835
2836"That's a clever idea, Adept." He says. "Most adepts are too worried about making sure their magic isn't stolen to reveal it before they've presented it."
2837
2838"I don't think anybody could steal it." You say. 
2839
2840After all, your method is so kludged together from different magic systems and simply confused that nobody could make heads or tails of it unless you were there to point things out.
2841
2842Even if they literally had your Implement and your notes. Especially because you memorized and burned the most important ones.
2843
2844And with that, you thank the Counselor, hang up, and grin. You throw your coat on over your outfit, slap on your boots, and make sure your hair looks fine.
2845
2846You're going back to the Dryad. All the Adepts and quite a few magi hang out there- not just Cera's clique. In fact, magi tend to show up a bit later.
2847
2848But first, you'll teleport around campus for a little while...
2849
2850===
2851
2852You knock on Rathod's dorm room. Someone in the hall is staring at you, having seen you simply appear from a strange black sphere, but you just shoot him a smile and a wink. He looks somewhat awed. Probably a freshman or something.
2853
2854Regardless, when Thod opens the door, he looks somewhat... out of it. His cheeks are red, and he looks like he's run a marathon. He's not even wearing his arm.
2855
2856"Hey, Jaz. I'm... er, a bit busy right now."
2857
2858"Oh! It's Jasmine!" Brun calls, leaning into the doorway. "Hello! What's up?"
2859
2860You stare at her.
2861
2862She's not wearing her furs or scale right now... and she's actually rather impressive beneath it. Apparently she's way bigger than you in more ways than one.
2863
2864Rathod puts his hand to his forehead, pressing against the bridge of his nose. "Brun, put some clothes on."
2865
2866"Fine, fine." She snaps, going back into the dorm.
2867
2868Well.
2869
2870This is awkward.
2871
2872"Is she joining in?" Brun calls.
2873
2874... Now this is more awkward.
2875
2876>?
2877------------------------------------------
2878>>410316
2879>The Archmage Sirius was asked that about his magic, back during his own presentation 30 years ago, and the answer he gave was a decided 'no'. It also doesn't work on monsters- the soul is apparently a buffer of protection. He could have been lying
2880
2881>>410307
2882>That's... probably not going to happen. Unless Cera's secretly a masochist.. generally be your slave.
2883>But no, not happening.
2884
2885"Uh... no." You say. "I, er, wanted to talk to you about something I found out, but... uh... Nice catch! Have fun."
2886
2887You take a step back, and then before Rathod closes the door, you give him a thumbs up and a grin.
2888
2889His face goes bright red, and then he closes the door.
2890
2891Good for him! Rathod needs more fun in his life.
2892
2893Regardless, you teleport back to your room. You were absolutely not expecting that. Rathod hasn't hooked up with anyone in quite a long time. Come to think of it, neither have you- but your magic is more important.
2894
2895But without Rathod, or Brun, and thus without the support of your friends, your trip back to the Dryad won't be nearly as fun. Oh well. You could do it anyway. Maybe work more on your notes.
2896
2897Or, hell, you could try the impossible and try to complete Kristoph's idiotic 'quest'. It's late enough by this point that if Haron does sleep, he'd be sleeping right now. The extra notes would be worth it- maybe enough to crack hermeticism.
2898
2899Or, as a fourth option, you could experiment with the teleportation circle, tweaking it much like your ancestor once did. Discover once and for all if those glyphs on the back of the journal pages are what you think they are.
2900
2901>?
2902------------------------------------------
2903>>410375
2904>Because it's all sensitive information. It's records of all of your experiments and studies on hermetic magic, as well as notes from your ancestor's journals- the notes that he kept out of every single other copy he made.
2905------------------------------------------
2906You nod to yourself. No reason not to show up to... well, everywhere.
2907
2908There are quite a few bars and stores around town, and you've got a map of the city on your phone. No reason not to show up at... well, every single one of them. It might get a bit expensive, but you have some savings and the opportunity to make a lot of money soon.
2909
2910You end up blinking all across town. On campus, you get a few looks. But in the wild? With crowds of pedestrians? They gasp, giving you space, and letting you buy whatever it is you're getting. For the most part, you decide to treat yourself. Your scholarship means you get free food in the mess hall, but it never has real chocolate.
2911
2912More than that, you decide to spiff yourself up some more. Now that you have a mithril sword, it's only one trip to a Hunter store to get a belt for it. The huge, burly man who mans the shop doesn't jump when you appear in front of it. He doesn't even twitch. He only asks you what you want.
2913
2914Of course, just like your coat, you get it made out of Frost Wolf leather. No reason to kill your color scheme... or lack thereof.
2915
2916The best thing about Frost Wolf leather is that it never gets dirty. You could spill anything on it, but it's nearly hydrophobic and easy enough to brush dust off of. Not to mention it keeps cool in the summer (after spending all night in the fridge) and hot in the winter. Not that this matters for a belt.
2917
2918With some of your money gleefully spent on treats and fashion accessories, you quite simply appear in the Dryad. You don't even go through the door- you appear in front of the entrance. The first cast fails- there must have been someone there- but the second one goes through fine, and you quite simply appear.
2919
2920If there's one thing you can say about the swelling black sphere that shows up at both the entrance and the exit of your teleportation- as well as the spinning sparks of light from the star rune- is that it's impressive.
2921
2922When the spell is complete, and you simply appear, dressed to the nines in the very best of Jasmine-original style, there's a long moment of silence.
2923
2924Then you grin, sidle up to the bar, and order a drink.
2925
2926If only your spell could've ended up with a record-scratch sound, that would've been perfect.
2927
2928"What are you doing here, Angwaz?" Velvet asks. Cera in the corner isn't even looking your way anymore- like she's trying to keep a scene from happening.
2929
2930"You know. Just perfected my magic. Teleporting around like it's going out of style."
2931
2932"That wasn't a teleport. That was just a bunch of special effects."
2933
2934You give her a long, smirk.
2935
2936"And the people down at Red-Edged who just saw me vanish five seconds ago probably think the same thing." You wink. "So did the folks at my tribunal."
2937
2938"Pf. I doubt it."
2939
2940"I heard about that." One of the other girls say. "My Auntie was there. She said that Archmage Haron showed up!"
2941
2942"What, that Haron? The golem one? Was it really him, or just a proxy?"
2943
2944"Angwaz's best friend is his apprentice, isn't he?"
2945
2946>?
2947------------------------------------------
2948"You could ask Cera." You say. "She was there, representing her master and father. I'm not sure if it was public record or not, but I don't think we were asked to keep it quiet. There's no reason we can't talk about it."
2949
2950You raise your voice. "Cera! Come over here!"
2951
2952Cera suddenly looks over- and then she recognizes you. You take Velvet's hand and approach her.
2953
2954The absolute best thing about her reputation is that she can't act like an absolute bitch to you. You just need to be civil.
2955
2956"You were there. Remember that tribunal I had the other day? You were sitting for your father?"
2957
2958"... I recall."
2959
2960"I remember it was to see if my thesis was just me being insane or not. Teleportation seems kind of silly, doesn't it?" You say. "Not very good for me, but I got through it."
2961
2962"You did?" One of the other girls ask. You're basking in the attention.
2963
2964"I did. I think it was three members of the board, and the vote was unanimous." You say. "I demonstrated it and everything. Even Cera said it was a true teleportation."
2965
2966"I personally can't talk about it." Cera says, reluctantly. She shoots you a glare. "The tribunal's records will be released when or if she makes magus."
2967
2968"Where'd you get the sword, Angwaz?"
2969
2970"Oh, this? Archmage Kristoph made it for me." You say. "I opened a portal up so he could bring a shipment here. Ended up with a bad soulburn, but he was so impressed, he gave me this sword."
2971
2972"You met Archmage Kristoph?" Jocelyn asks. You grin and nod.
2973
2974Quite suddenly, in what was supposed to be Cera's party, everyone's suddenly paying attention to you.
2975
2976"He's only like, in his mid-twenties. Really young, you know? But he and Archmage Haron know eachother, and..."
2977
2978Time passes. You don't drink much- or at all, when you can avoid it- because you're technically in enemy territory. But the night grows long, and more magi begin coming into the Dryad.
2979
2980It's... a good night.
2981
2982===
2983
2984The next morning, you wake up and your soul feels perfectly fine, and completely recovered. Nobody took advantage of you, and you were still mostly sober. You even had a mostly-invisible dweomer making sure nobody snuck anything in your drinks or pockets.
2985
2986You've got a dozen messages on your phone- mostly from members of Cera's clique who... might not actually be part of her clique anymore. Velvet and Jocelyn might still be on her side, but you're not a nobody anymore.
2987
2988Moreover, the most important text is one that Brun sent you.
2989
2990There's an article of you, online.
2991
2992You were seen all over the city last night, teleporting around- in multiple places at the same time, even.
2993
2994At the very top of the page is a huge picture of you, your coat flaring out around you and a half-crumbled black sphere around you.
2995
2996Your triumphant, fanged grin is exactly the same in the picture as the one you're wearing right now.
2997
2998It's the best thing you've ever seen in your entire life.
2999
3000You're the fucking queen of the world.
3001
3002But today's a new day, and you don't have any plans or classes.
3003
3004>?
3005------------------------------------------
3006You spend the first few hours of your day finishing up your notes. Your ancestor's notes don't tell you much more than you already figured out yesterday, but everything is helpful. But soon enough, you've finished everything you can. 
3007
3008You immediately teleport into the testing hall, and make your way down to your normal chamber. B6 isn't in use, so you walk in and quickly start scanning it for any kind of errant spells or left-behind items. You even scroll back in the sensor's logs, and nobody's used it since you left. Better to be safe than sorry. You don't normally do this, but after you made such a big deal of it last night, you need to be extra vigilant.
3009
3010You've even taken to sticking your notes inside the mithril scabbard. No way anybody's going to be able to read it, that way.
3011
3012That done, you seal the door and begin your research. Testing the spell at different ranges, with different masses. You've got a small shipment of equipment here- mostly weights of various sizes, and some sensors with stronger sensory capability. Time to get to work.
3013
3014The simplest thing you find out is what happens if the portal spell closes on an existing object. The answer is that the item is quite simply *forced* through one side of the portal. You're not sure how it determines which side it forces it through. Sometimes it's one side, sometimes it's the other- with no rhyme or reason.
3015
3016The more advanced experiments are things from your ancestor's notes, recreating his various spells. Summoning is different than Sending, though with your particular refined Star Rune that doesn't make a difference to you. 
3017
3018By tweaking the Terra rune, or strengthening it with more mana, you can change the size of the portal. The smaller it is, the less mana it takes and the shorter it takes to erect. The larger, the opposite effect happens.
3019
3020Eventually, there's only one thing left to do. One last experiment. You replace the location glyph with one of the strange, single symbols from your ancestor's journal.
3021
3022You close the air vents, lock the blast door, and completely isolate the testing chamber. 
3023
3024Then you begin the ritual.
3025
3026The portal opens after a good two hours. It doesn't take much mana, compared to the cross-continental portal, but the casting time takes so horrendously long that it feels like it'll never establish at all.
3027
3028Eventually, though, it establishes... And you see a brilliant white sun, long grassy fields, and some kind of strange domed structure in the distance. It's nowhere you've ever seen, or heard of. The trees are strange, with long vinelike branches, and a yowling, six-legged animal scurries off when it notices the portal.
3029
3030After less than a minute open, the portal collapses.
3031
3032Ice slithers through your gut.
3033
3034You're not sure this is what you think it is, but... you may have just opened a portal to another world.
3035
3036>?
3037------------------------------------------
3038Better to be safe than sorry. You check the sensors, layering the room in two grids of force projection. You also establish a few sensory dweomers- one for thermal, one for electronic, and one for minor air disturbances. Neither of them notice anything, and the sensors don't notice anything either. 
3039
3040You sigh, and flush the air. Best not fuck with other worlds until you know more about it. You're not Krital, who would happily jump through. You're not even sure how you'd get back home, other than having someone else try to summon you.
3041
3042But that's all the research you can think of. You'll need to draft a new series to work on next. According to the new and shinier sensors, they can tell that something's happening with space. The space inside the black spheres seem to not exist, and distort the air around it, while the portals freak the sensors out a lot- they tend to think that through the portal is more testing chamber.
3043
3044Instead, you begin to test the star rune with other hermetic spells. Most of the ones in the book can be easily replicated by analytical magic- basic force projection, or the creation of fire, or even a flight enchantment. The enchantment refuses to work on the targets you designate unless you adjust the star rune slightly to change the way your spell targeting works, but it does make an item weightless for a short time. It's nowhere near as efficient as a slowfall spell.
3045
3046Mostly, you're checking if the star rune works completely on various hermetic charms. It seems to work universally- but there's no much hermeticism you can do without the components- you need a small sample of each component you intend on using, to insert in your array.
3047
3048Finally, you make your way back out of the chamber, stomach growling. You went into the chamber after breakfast and now it's nearly dinner. You're starving."
3049
3050A well-dressed, professional man stands on the other side. You don't recognize him, and he reminds you instantly of the Weevil, only with more charisma. He isn't wearing an Implement, but your soul shivers in your chest. There's something about him...
3051
3052"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a... Jasmine Angwaz? She usually uses this chamber..."
3053
3054"Who is asking?" You ask. "Are you permitted in the Academy?"
3055
3056"I am. The Board gave me standing permission." He says. "My name is Jackal. No family name. I work for a digital magazine for arcanists. You might have heard of it; It's called Astral. Are you miss Angwaz?"
3057
3058Of course he already knows who you are- he's seen the picture, hasn't he?
3059
3060On the other hand, you have heard of Astral. It's not huge, but it's the biggest in the city. Jackal, though- you've never heard of him.
3061
3062>?
3063------------------------------------------
3064>>410882
3065>People with no family name isn't actually very odd. It's not even uncommon. Orphans, those who wish to seperate themselves from their past or ancestry, or even those born to people without family names. Kally doesn't have a family name, and neither does Rathod.
3066------------------------------------------
3067"Yes, I am Jasmine Angwaz." You say. "I'll hear you out."
3068
3069"Well, I trust you understand why I'd like to speak with you. Teleportation is a magic that hasn't been used since the age of hermeticism. There's no equivalent in any other kind of magic. In fact, there are even no monsters that have that capability."
3070
3071"Really? I thought the Shadow template allows certain monsters to teleport."
3072
3073He gives you a charismatic smile. "That's a common misconception. A Shaman successfully acquired a Shadow Rat. The power is nothing more than extreme enhanced speed and intangibility. Very disappointing, but useful."
3074
3075"Interesting. I must have missed that article."
3076
3077He smiles.
3078
3079"I would like to interview you." He says. "I understand that you're still an Adept, and your magic isn't complete. In fact, I understand if you don't want to say much about it. Wizards are notorious for their secrets. Which makes my job a bit difficult at times..."
3080
3081He just scratches his head. He's kind of endearing... Your soul shivers again, wiping the feeling away.
3082
3083"So. How about it? I know a lovely place, and you won't be forced to give up any secrets you don't want to."
3084
3085A slight amount of sweat beads on his forehead, like he's putting effort into something.
3086
3087No implement, putting effort into something, subtly interacting with your soul. It adds up. He's an Astral Mage.
3088
3089>?
3090------------------------------------------
3091>>410971
3092>This kind of manipulation is so rare as to not have laws against it simply because the law would never get used. Skeevy as fuck, though it's not strong enough to do what someone's not willing to do. Kind of like hypnotism. In fact, to even attempt this kind of thing, he's got to be a master at it. Better than you are with normal types of magic, in fact.
3093
3094"I don't think so." You say, pouring will in your own soul. You might not be good at this, and you might not have any finesse... But real soul magic takes emotion. And you've got a lot of that, repressed under your iron determination. "It's not ready to be discussed, anyway. Especially not if I'm being manipulated like this."
3095
3096"Being manipulated?"
3097
3098"I can feel the astral magic from here." You say. You're bad at Astral Magic, but you know enough. One last feeler emanates from him- and you jab, hard, in return to his probe, with all of your balled up spite.
3099
3100He winces, stumbling back. His eyes even go bloodshot. Then you teleport back to your dorm.
3101
3102Fuck that guy.
3103
3104The first thing you do is call campus security. You inform them that while they let in a journalist, the journalist is fucking using Astral magic on people. The gruff retired hunter- who you actually like, having met him on duty- says he'll take care of it personally, and then hangs up.
3105
3106You take a deep breath, and then pour into your books, looking up everything you can about Astral Magic. Most of the information is spotty, or barely there. Other than what you know, you don't find out anything new. 
3107
3108The only defense you can think of was if you encased yourself in mithril, and that would obviously cost an incomprehensible amount of money, as well as prevent you from using magic at all.
3109
3110Then you call Rathod.
3111
3112The phone's busy, or turned off. You can't get in contact with him.
3113
3114You take a deep breath, and push away the thought of Jackal's smile. You push away against the affection with your own revulsion and anger.
3115
3116Your soul quivers, and a moment later, the artificial feeling is gone. Fuck that guy, whoever he is. Because you just found Astral, and he's not in the list of writers at all.
3117
3118>?
3119------------------------------------------
3120You take another deep breath, and close your eyes.
3121
3122First, you have to meditate for a while. You delve inward, feeling your mana move throughout the soul. Your notes at hand, you look through the components of the soul. Gently, you pour mana into each part, feeling it out the only way you know how. Introspection at both the most oblique and the most direct.
3123
3124Command, the core of one's will. Robust, as always. It's a machine, made of gears and iron and steel, and it's your machine. You.
3125
3126Purity, the wellspring of power. Stable. Nothing different than last time.
3127
3128Sensuality, the center for... well, less savory things. Why they named the spiritual core that involves violence, sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll 'sensuality' never made much sense to you. Yours is normal, as it always is. Never much interaction here.
3129
3130Growth, the heart of learning. Even now, it's working, constantly in motion. You feel it absorb your mana, down and down, buzzes of your thoughts as it's constantly in motion. Your mental diagram of this part... Well, it looks nothing like it says in the books. Never has, but that's because you're a genius.
3131
3132Security, the bloom of strength. You're strong here too. Not always, and not all the time, but your father always said that you've got a core of iron.
3133
3134Devotion, the source of love. It's... wrong. Distorted. Shaken by others. You pour mana into it, willing it forward. Stronger, robust. Your mana doesn't do much, especially with how little you want to mess with it. But you remember what it used to look like. It was always a bit flimsy, always a bit weak. There was always a section of it that's particularly strong, a coursing river... But that's your nature. Never much compassion, never much tenderness. It's just not in you- not your nature, for anyone but Ishelda.
3135
3136Maybe someday...
3137
3138It takes you a long time to figure out what's wrong with it. Alien mana is stuck inside, twisting it wrong, and you carefully work it out. Don't want to break it and go insane. Eventually, it gets loose, and a stress you didn't know was there simply vanishes.
3139
3140You open your eyes. No point looking at the Self, the core of Consciousness. Mostly because that's what you were looking through, and it was apparently working properly. Otherwise you'd have no thought, no self-narrative. You'd be no better than an animal.
3141
3142>Continued!
3143------------------------------------------
3144You take a deep breath, and relax. You've already reported it to the official agencies- being the campus security due to extraterritoriality- and there's not much you can do.
3145
3146You send a picture you'd taken of the portal to another reality, texting it to Ishelda. she doesn't have a phone, but she does have a computer. She'll get the image next time she logs on.
3147
3148You lean back, tapping your chin.
3149
3150You could always learn more Astral Magic. But the worst part about learning it is that you need a test subject, since working on yourself blindly is idiotic. Working on other people could easily be murder. So you'd need a captive monster of some kind- something weak.
3151
3152You need to decide what you plan on doing, overall. You're stuck on hermeticism without any more notes, and you've got no clue how to figure out the mechanism behind your teleportation. The science just isn't there. You've got a good grasp of your teleportation- black sphere variety- and the portal spell, with the limitations and abilities of both.
3153
3154The star rune could use some more work, but that's mind-numbing. You've been working on it for a week and a few days, and all you're doing is making it incrementally more efficient. No matter how robust your Command spiritual core might be, you can't just do the same thing over and over again. That would just get boring.
3155
3156>?
3157------------------------------------------
3158>Fun fact- If you guys had voted on Invoker, then 'Purity' would have been wonky as fuck because he has an outrageous mana regeneration. If you guys had voted on Loremaster, 'Command' would have been wonky, and she'd have been very analytical.
3159
3160>>411267
3161>Also, notably, he died (and Rathod lost his arm) while the wolves were trying to get at your ma and Ishelda.
3162
3163Right. You need to do Kristoph's Quest, you decide. Your stomach begins to growl, and you quickly make something to eat. You'd just gone on a shopping trip, after all.
3164
3165You make a quick meal, and send Kristoph a text, asking if he was serious about the quest. When you get the response- [VERILY, YOUNG WIZARD. I WISH THEE LUCK!] - you begin to plot and plan.
3166
3167Well, mostly you shrug and decide to teleport right into the center of his mansion. He might have mithril between the walls, but you've already experimented with your sword. Mithril is no barrier to your magic.
3168
3169Your meal consumed (Three delicious omelets, a few nutrient bars, a fruity shake and a hamburger from yesterday for good measure) you begin casting dweomers, linking them to you and your possessions.
3170
3171One for invisibility. Bending light around you. You even tweaked it a bit- adding a second dweomer to keep any light distortion to a minimum.
3172One for heat. You might overheat eventually, but you have a water bottle you can stuff all the heat into and teleport away.
3173One to slow the motion of air when you move. Just to keep from tripping anything that might notice your movement.
3174
3175Finally, one overpowered slowfall dweomer. You won't be able to move physically, since lifting one leg would mean it'd keep going up, and up, and next thing you know you're bouncing off the ceiling, but you can always get around by Blinking. None of them are active right now- you'd customized them to begin the moment they sense the Star Rune- but they're there, dancing around you.
3176
3177It's a very stupid thing, to sneak into an Archmage's mansion, but you're not playing around.
3178
3179Well, considering the nature of your mission, and the huge black pen you have in hand, you kind of are.
3180
3181Now, if you have any other preparations, now's the time for them.
3182
3183>Are you ready? And do you have any other preparations?
3184>Regardless, I'll need some 1d100 rolls. Let's do this.
3185------------------------------------------
3186>Result: 47... Complete and utter failure, I mean it's an archmage's defenses you're trying to break through.
3187
3188You thumb through your Implement, counting out the steps you'd taken in order to get into the center of his living room, and marking out the exact coordinates. You'll need to make a program that saves your location at the tap of a button, eventually- that would make this so much easier- but then you figure out the exact center of his house.
3189
3190Then, carefully, you draw a mustache on your face. Well, actually, considering you're supposed to be Kristoph, you draw a goatee on your face to be exactly like his.
3191
3192With this, nobody could recognize you. You know, except for your coat, hair, sword, shoes... You know, your whole ensamble.
3193
3194finally, you prepare the spell- and then you cast.
3195
3196The wait in nothingness is scarily long- a full two seconds, and your heart is beating as hard as it possibly can as you appear. The room is dark, except with one beam of light coming from another room, and you can hear some noise you can't really understand. 
3197
3198Two gleaming blue crystals carefully patroll through the hallway, eye-like floating golems patrolling his house. You wait until they're all gone to Carefully blink over to the door- which is cracked open, and shining the light out...
3199
3200>Result: 47. Wait. It's actually Success?
3201
3202Haron's head is lolled back on the couch, sleeping, and he's watching some cartoon. On the screen, some girl wearing a frilly outfit is firing lasers at some colossal monster, yelling about her friends and comrades.
3203
3204You examine Haron's crystal carefully. It's darker than normal, very slowly pulsing. It's not reacting at all when you blink closer. He's asleep.
3205
3206Oh well.
3207
3208You scrawl the words on his faceplate, and take a photo with your phone.
3209
3210It makes a loud camera sound.
3211
3212Haron's crystal lights up in a second, his head twisting to look at you, and you instantly teleport back home.
3213
3214That was...
3215
3216Much easier than you'd thought, you think, as you send the photo to Kristoph.
3217
3218Somewhere, on some level, you think you can hear a very angry golem yelling an archmage's name.
3219
3220>End of session!
3221>I'll hang around a bit to answer questions and stuff, as always.
3222------------------------------------------
3223>>411373
3224>>411384
3225>isn't the most crazy-protective
3226He has golem eyebots patrolling his house, thin mithril plates in every wall and door, and he sleeps (when he actually plans to) in a coffin-like chamber that literally cannot be opened from the outside.
3227
3228You just caught him napping while he was watching 'the Animes'.
3229
3230>does the frost-wolf-friendlies idea have any merit
3231Not particularly. Genuine shamans actually steal portions of a monster's soul and integrate them into their own, gaining the monster's powers, but monsters of that species will still try to murder the shaman in question. There's no reason to believe that frost wolves might think she's a frost wolf. It miiiight work, but it's nowhere near confirmed.
3232>Does she know any shamans
3233Nope. She could try and meet someone, though. Or she could simply buy/find a monster that she can beat down and exhaust enough to bring into a chamber. But she'd need to make sure it's a kind that can't just turn intangible or break whatever chains she puts it in.
3234------------------------------------------
3235>>411426
3236>implying Haron's current body isn't actually cosplay
3237
3238In a hidden room somewhere, he may or may not have sets and sets of empty shells wearing cosplay. He also may or may not have been awarded three seperate awards under different names.
3239------------------------------------------
3240>>411941
3241It's more that Jaz is fully aware of how much she can drink. It's a lot more than you'd expect, what with her height and body weight. She also eats more than Rathod, most days. But she was too careful to let her guard down in 'enemy territory'. If Brun or Rathod were around, things would've been different.
3242------------------------------------------
3243-omitted one small post.
3244-omitted one small post.
3245>>412221
3246Yes, you can.
3247
3248It is completely, absolutely useless.
3249
3250Though if you try to create a portal where the portal already is, such that one end is also in the other end, the spell fails.
3251
3252>>412217
3253It does have the property of preventing you guys from creating indestructible shields by using the backsides of portals, creating the keenest guillotines known to mankind, or outright breaking physics. Or making me cry.
3254------------------------------------------
3255-omitted one small post.
3256>>412227
3257Black-sphere style completely halts momentum. It's the most uncomfortable feeling.
3258
3259Also, the problem with the portal trap is that, well, portals take time to establish and tend to last about the same length as they take to establish. If you spend ten minutes setting up a portal, you end up with a portal that lasts ten minutes.
3260
3261And unless the mass of the object is incredibly heavy, it's probably easier, both mana-and-time-wise to just plain belt out that much kinetic force through normal combat evocation.
3262------------------------------------------
3263>>412231
3264The Crushing Mage is one of those names you would not want to hang around.
3265
3266>>412232
3267Actually, mithril's teminal velocity is really slow. The stuff's kind of like styrofoam, if styrofoam was indestructible and impossibly rigid. The air friction slows it down a bit. Orichalium isn't very heavy either, but it's nowhere near as light as Mithril.
3268
3269Probably better just to drop boulders.
3270
3271But no, it can't fall through portals without being 'dragged'. It would just land on a portal and stop there unless an external force tried pushing on it.
3272
3273I should probably get to bed.
3274------------------------------------------
3275>>414324
3276She's done more than that. It's obviously not completely new and revolutionary, and relies on her father's magic, but she's refined it in a way that allows her to send things long distances, which is something her father hadn't been able to do.
3277
3278Also, I am currently considering running right now since I wasn't able to this morning. How many people are around?
3279------------------------------------------
3280>>414480
3281>A broadsword sounds right.
3282>Also, you do know how to use it. You learned from the village militia after the attack that had Rathod lose his arm.
3283
3284>>414484
3285>I'll just run until the thread dies! Mostly because I won't be running tomorrow.
3286------------------------------------------
3287The dawn comes much, much to early for you. You just don't have enough time.
3288
3289With deep bags under your eyes, a slightly sore soul, and a scrawled out pile of notes in front of you, you've done nothing but study. But since, of course, the Arcane Academy isn't a normal college, you didn't take an all-nighter to study for your classes.
3290
3291Instead, you've been poring over an email you'd received. One with photo after photo after photo taken of an old, yellowed book of notes on Hermetic Magic.
3292
3293The archmage Kristoph had come through for you. Only an hour after you sent him the picture of Haron, he returned with a large archive of pictures of his master's notes. Since that time, you'd been studying it.
3294
3295Most of the information isn't very useful. You do find a few new hermetic spells- nothing especially useful- and you find some inferences and speculations that might hold some water. Nothing that you can make use of instantly, but it's some you can test for, with your Star rune.
3296
3297You slap down a coffeemaker dweomer, and let it get to work while you gather up your notes. The completely free dweomer does all the hard work that a normally-50-ecu machine would otherwise do, while you take a shower. You can push past today, no matter how tired you are- you've always been pretty good about all-nighters.
3298
3299You come out of the shower, quaff as much coffee as you can, and rub your eyes. Time to wake up.
3300
3301You get a message from Ishelda. You check it- and she's finished her flashlight spell. She's got a picture of her showing it off. Which reminds you- you still need to get her a gift. There's another article about you, online, but it's mostly questioning the viability of teleportation magic rather than stroking your ego.
3302
3303Finally, just to get your body moving while you wake up, you stretch and go through a few of your sword forms. The old Lewin, back in your village, taught you how to use a sword sometime after Rathod lost his arm. The mithril sword is a lot longer than the one you'd used back then, and also a bit light. You decide to call it quits after you accidentally slice the bulb off of an old lamp.
3304
3305Eventually, you're feeling a lot better when your alarm begins going off. You're refreshed, reinvigorated, you've picked up all the glass off of the floor, and you left the dweomer going a bit too long and made way too much coffee. But that's never a bad thing.
3306
3307Finally, someone knocks on the door. You peer through the peephole, and Rathod is standing on the other end.
3308
3309"What's up?" You ask.
3310
3311"Everybody out there's talking about you," He says. "Apparently someone found out about your success."
3312
3313>?
3314------------------------------------------
3315>>414634
3316>>414628
3317>>414622
3318>Leafbladed, basket-hilted, and all frost-wolf white. Including the scabbard, because no normal scabbard would hold the blade properly.
3319>Honestly, the exact type of sword is up to you guys. Even if it's highly unusual- it can be a traditional Tark blade or something!
3320
3321"Good." You say, smug. "Wasn't really trying to keep it a secret. Went out and teleported around town as a proactive 'fuck-you' to Cera. What are they saying?"
3322
3323"Well, you apparently showed up in the Dryad and hung out with a bunch of people." He says. "Why did you need to give her a proactive fuck-you?"
3324
3325"Well... Turns out her thesis is on teleportation, and her presentation is in a week or so. I wanted it known that I figured it out first."
3326
3327"Of course, of course." He says. "So, uh, when you invited Brun and I.."
3328
3329"That's what I meant." You say. "I was gonna teleport all of us in there. But it's fine, we can do that next time. Want some coffee?"
3330
3331"Sure." He says. "You'll have to give me your array one of these days. I haven't found a dweomer that tastes better."
3332
3333You grin, pull out your only two cups, and hold it under your dweomer. It spits out the black deliciousness, and you hand one to Rathod.
3334
3335He meekly pours some milk and sugar in while you just down your mug.
3336
3337"Did you pull an all-nighter again?" He asks.
3338
3339You just grin at him. He sighs.
3340
3341"You've got to take care of yourself, Jaz." He says, shaking his head. "Do you have plans today?"
3342
3343>?
3344------------------------------------------
3345>>414674
3346>Dweomers are free-floating programmed spells that navigate through the world according to their instructions. They're usually meant for spells that aren't instantaneous. A light spell that follows you would be a dweomer. A spell that gathers water from the faucet, grinds beans into coffee grounds, and makes coffee for you would be a dweomer. A 'guardian' spell that deflects attacks against you would be one, that kind of thing. Their main strength is that they can stay dormant for hours if need be, using up very little mana, and you don't need to be there to control them directly. You can also recharge them with mana pretty easily.
3347
3348"I have plans! So many of them." You say. "I have to talk to a shaman, I have to do research on hermeticism, I have to make portals to strange places, I have to get a gift for Ishy, I have to find and wrangle a frost wolf, I have to duel with Brun..."
3349
3350"Wait, you're going to duel Brun?"
3351
3352"Test out my swordswomanship." You say. "Kristoph gave me this cool sword, so I've been going through the forms."
3353
3354Rathod snorts. "Yeah. I forgot about those."
3355
3356"Have you talked with Haron recently?" You ask.
3357
3358"Not at all." He says. "He called me this morning and told me not to come in. He sounded pretty upset at something. Why do you need to find a Frost Wolf?"
3359
3360"Any monster would work, really." You say. "I want to practice Astral Magic."
3361
3362"... That might work. It's not safe at all, but it might work."
3363
3364"It's more safe than practicing it on myself or others."
3365
3366"Well... I'm sure we could buy a monster. Or gear up and go on an expedition outside of the city for a bit. If we're careful, we could set up a chamber in the shaman pens..."
3367
3368>?
3369------------------------------------------
3370>>414735
3371>Pet hamsters don't have souls.
3372>Only monsters and people do. Thus, you need to practice on either a monster or a person.
3373
3374"Well, an expedition sounds fun." You say. "I might duel Brun first."
3375
3376"We could take her with us."
3377
3378"Sure! But before that, breakfast!"
3379
3380The two of you finish up your coffee and head down to the cafeteria. Brun is already there, eating what looks like an entire monster, while you and Rathod get your food.
3381
3382"Mm! Mmhm mhmhm." Brun says, chewing and waving with both arms at you. The two of you settle down next to her.
3383
3384"So, Jaz here wants to duel you." Is the first thing out of Rathod's mouth.
3385
3386Brun immediately swallows the food in her mouth.
3387
3388"Really? You think you can take me on?" She asks, raising her eyebrows. "I'm top of my class in combat evocations. I'm even a monster hunter."
3389
3390"Never know if I don't try." You say. "I'm just a bit rusty with the sword, and now that I have a new one I might as well get used to it."
3391
3392"We were also talking about going out to an expedition soon." Rathod says. "Jaz wants to go catch a monster."
3393
3394"Preferably a Frost Wolf." You say.
3395
3396"Hmm... That sounds pretty interesting. Tell you what. I'll join you guys if I get the meat and skins for whatever we don't capture. Girl needs to make bank." She says. "... And I've already got a monster pen registered with the school. It's secure and everything. You can use it if you want to. Deal?"
3397
3398>?
3399------------------------------------------
3400>>414824
3401>>414817
3402>I'm absolutely always for small girls using huge swords. I'm willing to bend realism in order to make this happen.
3403
3404"That sounds excellent." You say. "I might want to save a trinket for my sis, but that's a pretty good deal."
3405
3406"Perfect! A trinket isn't too big." She says. "Hurry and eat up, then. I want to win this duel, then we can go out and kill some things!"
3407
3408"Right, right." You say, and hurry up to finish your meal.
3409
3410==
3411
3412The dueling chamber is huge. It's a cacaophonous domed structure, dweomers and spell-crystals mounted on the walls above.
3413
3414"First things first." She says. "You need to keep your scabbard on for that thing. I'd like to not die."
3415
3416"Sure, sure." You say. At least you can still use it at all. "Any limits on magics?"
3417
3418"Not really. This place has some pretty serious safety dweomers. It won't work if you use your sword, but for everything else, it should work. I'll just count it my loss if you hit me at all with it."
3419
3420You raise your eyebrows. Is she really saying she can avoid a single hit from your sword? You might be rusty, but you're not bad- even if Lewin's forms focused on hunting monsters instead of people- you could probably hit her.
3421
3422Especially with your teleportation and a few attack dweomers.
3423
3424"Ready?" She asks.
3425
3426>Feel free to describe whatever tactics you'll plan on using. The better tactics, the lower the DC.
3427>Also, roll me a 1d100!
3428------------------------------------------
3429Result: 32! Failure!
3430
3431"Ready." You say, swiping a few runes onto your Implement.
3432
3433You tie your sword into the scabbard by the guard, just to make sure it doesn't fly off during combat, and get in the proper stance for the 'fiend' form.
3434
3435"Well.. Seems you know more than I thought." Brun says. "Let's do this."
3436
3437She calls out to Rathod, off to the side of the chamber. "Start it!"
3438
3439"Alright!" He calls back. He pushes his hand up to a crystal, filling it with mana, and the dweomers surrounding the room light up.
3440
3441A bell rings, above- a signal to fight.
3442
3443Brun immediately barrels toward you, axe in hand, while you shove out a handful of Dweomers. They spread out, peppering down light sparks at her. They glance off of her scales and fur, doing nothing visible, and she swings her axe down at you. She isn't even close enough to hit you, so of course you know what she's doing. 
3444
3445The shockwave of force projection tears toward you, edge just as sharp as her axe's, but it disperses the moment it touches your sword. When you lower your sword again, she's vibrating, moving faster than she should. 
3446
3447By the time you realize she has a haste spell going, she's already in your face, her axe whipping at you. She's swinging it around like it's made of Mithril, but it's quite obviously not- she just has the raw physical power for it.
3448
3449All you can do is blink away. You find yourself right behind her as she moves, and you jab your sword forward, using its superior length to get at her.
3450
3451But she twists in place, catching your wrist with the edge of her axe. There's a painful red light against your wrist, and you quite suddenly can't feel your hand anymore.
3452
3453If you weren't in the dueling chamber, it would have been sliced off. The sword goes skidding against the ground, and you blink over to it to grab it with your other hand.
3454
3455She's already on top of you, axe swinging, hasting around the chamber almost faster than you can see. You're pushing power through your Implement to blink around the room, but the moment you come out of Nothingness and the black sphere crumbles, she's basically already on top of you. She doesn't even care about your dweomers, so you cut them off and teleport once more- this time, in the very top of the dome, above the room.
3456
3457You immediately try to key an overpowered slowfall spell when you realize- You can't move your other hand to touch your implement. Instead you end up having to lick it.
3458
3459Brun whips her head around, jittering in place to change directons. She can't see you, up at the very top of the room. So you twirl your sword, and blink straight above her, sword pointed downward.
3460
3461Your sword slams down, going straight through her- her form wavers and disperses as the mithril cuts the illusion.
3462
3463Which is, of course, when a powerful blast knocks you off of your feet, and the bell rings again. Brun peels her own illusion off.
3464
3465"One problem with your teleporting." She says. "You're blind when it's going on."
3466
3467>?
3468------------------------------------------
3469>I'm sorry for posting so slowly, folks.
3470
3471"... That was educational." You say, massaging your wrist. It's a bit sore, and tingling now that you can feel it again. "Thanks for the spar, Brun."
3472
3473"Don't worry." She says. "You were pretty impressive for a Research kid. Just, you know, not impressive enough. More advice; Those dweomers are a waste of magic. They might sting a bit, but the most basic shield spell will stop them from doing anything."
3474
3475You tilt your head, thinking. You couldn't try to use a dweomer to let you see outside of Nothingness because any kind of external connection is cut. An illusion dweomer to make the sphere invisible wouldn't work either- the star rune needs to be visible to function. There's not much you can do about it right now.
3476
3477"You two fought well out there." Rathod says. "Pity you decided to duel Brun first, though. I don't know if she's ever lost."
3478
3479"I haven't." Brun says. "I'm a little bit of a badass."
3480
3481"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." You roll your eyes. "We heading out on the expedition soon?"
3482
3483"Yeah, let's." Brun says. "Are we taking the long and annoying way out, or the short way?"
3484
3485"Long and annoying." You say. "If we're going into the wilderness, we should probably sign out. But we can teleport straight into the wilderness from there."
3486
3487"Sweet." Brun says. You pull the two of them closer, untie your sword, and cast your spell.
3488
3489The three of you sit in darkness for a few seconds, and breach back into reality in the sun. The city gates sit in front of you. Golem guards carry heavy firearms, and you can see two or three people sitting on the wall, staff implements in their hands.
3490
3491"Woo, let's get this done." Brun says, obviously not very excited.
3492
3493The guards take a long time to process the three of you. Not only do you have to show off your identification and reason for leaving the gates, you also have to sign a few waivers. You know, so that it's not anybody else's fault if you get horribly mauled. A mere half-hour later, the three of you make your way out of the gates, a full hour and sixty feet later.
3494
3495"So." Brun says. "I know of a few good spots around here where monsters tend to gather. There's a wolf pack up north. They might not have any Frost wolves- those are a bit rarer- but they tend to work together. That gets pretty damn dangerous. Then over there-" She gestures eastward- "There's a lake. Lots of fish, and the few dragons that pop up aren't... you know, murderous dangerous ones. That's a bit safer. There's also a field somewhere southward that used to have a bunch of fiends, but we suppressed 'em. If we get lucky, you might find a single Fiend here or there. Those guys have no inherent magic, so we won't all die horribly even if we run into a colony."
3496
3497>?
3498------------------------------------------
3499"As much as I really, really want a Frost Wolf, it doesn't seem like the best idea." You say. "The fiends sound like they'd be the safest."
3500
3501"They tend to be." She says. "As long as they're suppressed. It's only when they've been active a few years that they get really, really damn dangerous."
3502
3503"I'm not up on monsters." Rathod says. "What are fiends?"
3504
3505"Humanoids. Usually born from insects." Brun says. "They're like primitive people, and learn over time. They only get dangerous when they learn how to mine and work metal."
3506
3507"Wait. Can they actually learn to talk?" Rathod asks. "I mean, if they can learn, and they're smart enough to learn how to work metal..."
3508
3509Brun rolls her eyes. "They can, but they're completely insane. Psycho. They don't hold any sort of human values at all. C'mon."
3510
3511She starts to walk, and you and Rathod follow. The big lug is a bit nervous, you can tell- he's not comfortable out of the city- but Brun is as casual as she can be.
3512
3513"We're relying on you to tell us when things go bad, Brun. Just say the word and we can pull out." You say. You quickly throw together an array to teleport all three of you, just in case.
3514
3515"Don't worry, I'll say when."
3516
3517"Do we do anything to draw them out, or is it better just to go stumble into one?"
3518
3519"If it was a colony, the best way to draw them out is to bring a cart full of supplies. But after the subjugation, they're too paranoid of people. I could try to illusion us as some fiends. They don't have any kind of magic sense. But I'm not perfect at that kind of thing. Or we can just wander around, hope we stumble into something."
3520
3521>?
3522------------------------------------------
3523-omitted one small post.
3524"Let's just wander." You say.
3525
3526"Fair enough." Brun says. "Is this your first time out hunting?"
3527
3528Rathod nods, but you shake your head.
3529
3530"There was a dire wolf pack." Is all you say.
3531
3532Rathod looks away.
3533
3534Brun appraises your expression. "... There's some history there? I mean, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but..."
3535
3536"They got past the walls." You say. "I'd tried to sneak out alone, and get revenge. Get rid of them before they hurt anybody else."
3537
3538Ishelda was too young to know what was going on, and your mother was too distraught. There weren't any mages in the village other than you, when your father passed, so you decided it was your job.
3539
3540"Alone? Against dire wolves?"
3541
3542"I know, it was dumb." You say. "Luckily, a few of the militia found me trying to sneak out... Turns out they were planning the same thing."
3543
3544"How did it turn out?"
3545
3546"Ended up with a new pelt on my wall." You say. "And a lot of pocket money."
3547
3548You don't mention the severe soulburn, but the den was a burned out wreck by the time you and the Militia were done there.
3549
3550"Shh." Brun says, suddenly. All of you stop moving. Brun twitches from side to side.
3551
3552"Tss." She says, gesturing toward the brush. "Smell that?"
3553
3554You sniff, twice. You smell smoke, and something burning.
3555
3556"Fire template?" You ask.
3557
3558"No. Not enough fire." She says. "I think it's fiends."
3559
3560The three of you creep into the brush, and eventually you come across a small circle of creatures, sitting in a circle around a campfire. They're ugly- twisted, misshapen forms, covered in carapace and small tufts of fur. Their heads remind you forcibly of an enormous beetle, pincers clicking as they tear strips of flesh off of whatever creature sits in the campfire. Knotted and burned flesh sits beneath and between their carapace.
3561
3562"Only three. Don't see any weapons." Brun hisses, voice low. "But these are beetles, so they'll be hard to kill."
3563
3564She turns to you, and gives you a grin.
3565
3566"What's the plan? This is your excursion, after all."
3567
3568>?
3569>I'll also need some d100 rolls!
3570------------------------------------------
3571>Result: 52! Mild success!
3572
3573"I'll juggle them." You say. "Pluck one away, drop it on something-"
3574"Dropping won't work." She says. "These guys might be able to fly."
3575
3576"... Right. Then what we'll do is teleport the first one into your pen for later. Then I'll take the second one here, and we'll take care of them individually."
3577
3578"Sounds like a plan." Brun says.
3579
3580You draw your sword off of your back, and then quickly teleport one of the three out into the pen, back at the academy. One test subject for you.
3581
3582The other two Fiends hiss, loudly, and spring to their feet. They're pacing around, their feelers twitching. It takes you a little bit to focus the spell on one of them- it's harder when they're moving- but in a second, a completely unaware Fiend appears right next to the three of you.
3583
3584Brun's first blow hits it before you or Rathod can even start to. The carapace cracks and it collapses. It starts to screech, but you silence it with your own greatsword.
3585
3586The third one, called by the sound, begins hissing and stumbling toward you. Alone, it's not very impressive. Especially when Brun knocks it to the ground, just like before.
3587
3588What's a lot more impressive is when you hear another screech, elsewhere in the brush. Then another screech, and a third- all from different directions.
3589
3590"... Shit." Brun says.
3591
3592Rathod stumbles backward as a few more fiends barrel out toward you. He holds his arm out, blasting a few of them with a simple force spell, sending them rolling. Brun swings her axe, hard, sending out waves of more force to keep them down. More and more begin pouring out of the wilderness, coming toward you.
3593
3594"Take us out!" Brun calls.
3595
3596You don't even hesitate- you pour mana into your Implement, and three identical spheres wrap around the three of you.
3597
3598A long moment in Nothingness later, you're back at the city gates. Brun has the two fiend corpses on her shoulder.
3599
3600You sit there a second, letting your heart calm down. You look around to make sure both Brun and Rathod are with you-
3601
3602Rathod is shaking, his body trembling, and sweat beads on his forehead. He's pale, breathing deeply, trying to keep control.
3603
3604>?
3605------------------------------------------
3606"You okay, Rathod?" You ask. "Do you need some more coffee?"
3607
3608"N- no. I'm fine." He says. He takes a deep breath or two, pushing his palms into his eyes. "... I just. Yeah. I.."
3609
3610You pat his shoulder, standing up on your tippy-toes.
3611
3612"It'll be fine, Thod." Brun says. "We're back to the wall, there's a shitton of guards here, they're all armed, and you're safe. You'll be fine."
3613
3614"Should we tell the guards about that?" You ask.
3615
3616"Yeah." She says. "I thought we'd suppressed the main colony a few months back, but they've already re-established themselves. They might have even tried luring us in by looking vulnerable."
3617
3618"... I just want to go home." Thod says.
3619"When I exchange these bodies, I'll tell them. I even know roughly where that was." Brun says. "You two can head back."
3620
3621"Alright." You say. "Thanks for the help, Brun."
3622
3623"Not a problem. I wanted some carapace anyway." She says.
3624
3625You guys go back through the gates. The guards are a lot more accepting when you're coming back into the city. A lot less reluctant- that's mostly why you'd spent time signing out in the first place. Brun pulls a guard aside and starts talking to him, but the two of you keep going into the city.
3626
3627Thod looks a bit better, but he's still not okay. You grab his hand, squeezing it. Just reminding him that you're there.
3628
3629"You weren't ready." You say. 
3630
3631"No. I wasn't. I was okay when there were... you know, just a few, but..."
3632
3633>?
3634------------------------------------------
3635"Come on, Thod." You say. You teleport the two of you into the dorm hall, and pull him into his room.
3636
3637As always, his room is covered in diagrams and small golem dolls- most of which aren't moving at all. He takes a deep breath, and pulls himself into his thod-sized chair. You drop a thod-sized blanket on his head. He pulls it off and gives you a Look. You just grin at him.
3638
3639"I'll grab you some cereal or something." You say. It's not his favorite food, but it's a bit of a comfort food for him.
3640
3641You didn't even consider it. Thod lost his arm and his parents to monsters. You'd dragged him out into the wilds specifically to fight them and capture one. It might have been fine, if there had only been the three of them. You hand him the cereal and snuggle up in your own thod-sized chair. The plush, fluffy thing almost consumes you when you sit down.
3642
3643You sit there in silence for a bit while he eats, trying to figure out what to say. He looks uncomfortable. You know that he doesn't want to talk about it- otherwise he would be.
3644
3645Knowing your best friend, you decide to take the absolute best option.
3646
3647"...So, did you know that Kristoph ended up giving me a book full of notes on Hermetic magic?"
3648
3649"Really?"
3650
3651"Yeah. His Master's Master tried an entire suite of experiments. None of them had results, but that's because he didn't have the Star Rune. I'm going to try it, and figure out what's going to happen. It might give me some more hints..."
3652
3653When in doubt, change the topic and ramble his ear off.
3654
3655Whatever you need to do for your friend, you'll do.
3656
3657>End of session!
3658------------------------------------------