Inept or Adept? (Journeyman Mysticism, Selene)

[Odyleon]

Second cycle of Kalendryas, Winter of Era XI in the Age of the Darkening

Odyleon Q. Meiers blew his nose. Demios had made the shortcomings of his body painfully evident, and there was very little he could do about it, except maybe grit his teeth through it all, pretend he was in perfect shape and ignore the biting cold weather around. The island was a cruel place to spend the Winter, but Ody had not been given a choice... it would have been unwise to stay in Vers, or anywhere in the Sherian for that matter, seeing as he was actively plotting against the local Thane. He knew little about the rest of the Empire, with the exception of Demios and, marginally, Tirisfal, and Demios offered the one thing he was interested in. Mysticism.

He barely suppressed a sneeze. Not only did the cold Demiosian weather evidence his physical frailty, but his Arcanic flaws as well. At first, he had blamed it all on himself and his lack of skill in the art, even starting to question his supposed talent within the realm of the mind. The miscast in the snow had been terribly embarrassing not to mention dangerous, and his Vis reserves had been depleted faster than he expected. It had taken him a while to admit that Arcana was indeed a difficult pursuit, and he was only human. A young Human with too much ambition for his own good, a Human who longed for challenges far above his ability to handle. The Lady du'Galle had spoken a terrible truth, telling him that while many attempted to rise above Apprenticeship, few actually succeeded. But then again, another part of him replied, casting in a hostile environment was far harder than doing the same in a warm, cozy, silent interior. And that was precisely why he needed to take the next step in Demios. The time for playful, idle experimentation with the forces of Arcana was well over. Soon enough, his quest for the Truth would require much of him, bringing him real opponents and obstacles to be faced. Sacrifices must be made. He would master the secrets of the Adept amidst the frigid snows of Demios if that would render him able to protect his dreams.

He nurtured no illusions in his mind while he made his way through the halls of the Academy, looking for the one door he had been instructed to open. Minutes passed, and he eventually chanced upon his destination. It was going to be extremely taxing, by far the most difficult task he had ever set his mind upon, but he felt up to the challenge. He had rehearsed all of his spells on the previous brightenings, and was ready to demonstrate his prowess to the Master, or Mistress, if requested to. Or even Masters, since his Apprentice teacher, Mistress Risa Galilie, had informed him that three Masters would be required to elevate an Apprentice to Journeyman, a symbol of the student's growing affinity to the Arcane. He had no idea what he would do if he missed this opportunity. Ody shook his head forcefully – the negative thoughts must be pushed aside, lest they influenced his performance. The fact that he did not know his teacher made the situation even more uncertain.

'Stand on your feet and think with your head' he told himself. 'This is the mark of the Adept – to be able to thrive without depending on others for everything. If you understand it, then you can become it'. He nodded to give himself strenght before finally knocking on the door and entering the room where the teacher was supposedly waiting for him. He had felt this emotion before... the brightening of his Unbinding. The same sensation of unknown immensity lying before him, the fear of failing and at the same time inexplicable euphoria. If he succeeded, destiny would open him avenues previously undreamed of; and if he failed, the doors would be shut before him. No matter the outcome, that seemingly anonymous Demiosian brightening would prove to be a turning point in the life of the clumsy Problem Solver. The opportunity was there – now it was merely a matter of seizing it.

[Minerva]

The winters in Demios were freezing at best, the crisp snows that had fallen that morning deep enough to bury an imprudent leg ‘til halfway up the calf if one was not careful enough. Soft white blankets that were illuminated a pale shade of blue under the languid light of the suns were ridden with the footprints of those who had come before, with larger, more chaotic imprints suggesting places where one had managed to loose their footing along that icy path. Inside, things were not much better, the cold somehow still managing to permeate its way through thick walls in a bid to inflict its chill upon those in the Universitas proper.

A knock on the door once the man had found the room designated to his lessons was responded to with a mottled ‘Come in!’ A woman’s voice, clearly, and a rather pleasant one, given the affable tones in which it was put to use. A simple turn of the door handle would permit the human to enter the room proper, and to see what lay beyond.

The classroom Odyleon had been instructed to enter was large, large enough to hold, say…four people quite comfortably. Certainly, and perhaps blessedly, large enough to hold a fireplace, a hearth that housed the cheery flickering lights of a warm fire. Despite the presence of those dancing flames, however, the room still remained, for the most part, relatively cold. This was mostly due to the fact that the walls were of black rock, a pitch that was only intermittently veined with a hint of red. The overall darkness of the chamber absorbed and swallowed up a great deal of the heat emanated from the fireplace, indicating a slight floor in the architecture of the building itself. That aside, however, the classroom itself hardly looked as though it warranted the name. There were no tables or desks here, and only a few comfy looking chairs that verified the notion that the room was kept in good use.

“You must be my new student, mister…Meiers, was it? I’ll be your teacher- my name is Laria.”

Seated upon one of those chairs was a woman garbed in what appeared to be a vast assortment of shawls and scarves. Lowering a file that had been put to good use prior to Odyleon’s entry, the woman raised her left hand to inspect her nails through wide green eyes, before murmuring an mmm… of what seemed to be approval before deigning to focus her attentions on her new student instead.

“I’ll be asking you to demonstrate a few spells to me later on, once the others get here- you know all that fiddle-faddle about being Promoted, don’t you? How it needs three Masters to do, and so forth? Anyway, before we go through all of that, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself? Why do you deserve to be trained up to the rank of journeyman?”

Waving one well-manicured hand vaguely in the air besides her to gesture for the man to sit, before waiting for him to voice his answer, a patient smile masking her bland features as she did so.

[Odyleon]

Well, the classroom did not look like the place he had pictured in his mind, and it did not even look like a classroom, truth be told. Accustomed to the Versian style, where large, utilitarian rooms and small, square 'cubicles' without a roof made the primary places for learning the magical arts, Ody did not expect a rather dark and not properly warm location like that to be the chosen setting for his Journeyman classes. It took him a couple of seconds to recover from mild surprise and acknowledge the presence of his new teacher, Mistress Laria, appropriately garbed in thick clothes; much unlike her student, whose physical ailments were mostly caused by his lack of both foresight and convenient clothes, his tunic and cloak sufficient in the Sherian, but far from adequate in the Northern lands of the Empire.

"Serale, Mistress Laria. Yes, I am Odyleon Meiers, your new student" he confirmed with a nod. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." For some reason he felt more comfortable with female teachers, but then again the only male teacher he had studied under didn't exactly do justice to the whole category. The aspiring Journeyman seated himself where the Mistress' hand had indicated, adjusting his patched tunic on his shoulders as he did so, also to give himself a few more seconds to come up with a suitable answer to her question.

"Yes, Mistress." he answered, measuring each word carefully. Despite his very untidy appearance, the young Apprentice could still display reverence and respect when he wanted to – which was, unfortunately, a rare occurrence. "I should probably start by mentioning my peculiar choice of profession – I think of myself as a Problem Solver." The most difficult thing about describing a Problem Solver's job was that even Ody himself, supposedly the inventor of such a profession, could not pinpoint exactly what a Problem Solver was. "Basically, I let my curiosity drive me into a mystery, a crime or a riddle, or anything else strange and unusual that afflicts our world, and then try to figure it out with the mere power of my intellect. This is more of a lifestyle than a job... it is a way to improve myself and my knowledge through a challenge as well as help those in need. When I embarked in this quest, I soon realized that there is much more to this world than meets the eye; most of what we experience in our lives has hidden roots, and most of these roots are lies. In order to liberate the Truth from the lies, one must acquire knowledge about both."

Ody drew a long breath before continuing. "Indeed, one might say that I've devoted my life to pursuing the Truth. Through Mysticism I have learned how to craft lies of stunning perfection and how to destroy them so as to make the truth shine through. And using my other passion, Alchemy, I am trying to further my research on the Ultimate Truths of this world, broadening my horizons and learning more about the Multiverse, its laws and its hidden perfection. As you can see, I am a bit of a boring applied philosopher." he smiled warmly, seeking some sympathy on Laria's visage. His voice was still rather nasal, betraying a very recent illness.

"As for why I deserve to be Promoted to the rank of Journeyman" he continued, trying to come up with words not too modest and not too arrogant "Well, I believe I can now stand on my feet firmly enough to be granted such a benefit; an Apprentice's duty is to apprehend, capture, knowledge from his or her Master. Adept, on the other hand, means able. Able to think and act and improve and grow from my mistakes. Able to invent, experiment, test and discover. This is the opportunity I would like to be granted, Mistress. This is what I wish to be."

OOC: Thanks again for modding this.

[Minerva]

Despite the fact that his words were pronounced with a certain degree of stuffiness- the aftermath of some form of cold, most likely- the woman could find nothing wrong in the reasonings he gave her in response to the questions she had asked. Compared to those others she had had the good fortune to teach in the past, this man had certainly cared to elaborate a good deal more on his incentive to become an Adept spell caster. He received the look of sympathy at the appropriate time he had sought it, and Laria’s visage maintained the warm hint of a genial smile throughout the enlightenment of his words.

When he had finished speaking, the Master mystic adjusted her shawls in such a way that they would sit more closely about her shoulders, before resting her hands on her lap as she began to speak in response to what the man had just told her.

“Well, Odyleon, that all sounds fine to me. I’d be honoured to have you as my student here at the Universitas. The lessons you’ll have to learn will be hard, but I’m sure you-”

Tap tap tap

“Oh. Come in!”

A head poked through the doorway, a disconnected thing that was soon followed by a body. Another woman, this one more stern-looking than Laria, with a cool expression on her face that suggested that this woman would not tolerate any nonsense. Mistress Domenique had taught at the universitas a little longer than Laria had, although such a feat was not overly apparent from simply looking at overall appearances. Nodding once towards her fellow tutor, and acknowledging Odyleon with little more than a tight smile, the woman then moved to drag one of the randomly places chairs in the room closer towards where the other two were seated. Brushing the folds of her skirts down almost absent-mindedly

“Odyleon, this is Domenique. She’s here for your Promotion. Now we just have to wait for Master Malin, although seeing as he’s always characteristically late, I don’t expect he’ll be turning up for a while longer. In the meantime, I’d like you to give a demonstration of your skills as a mystic. Show us the spell of…Animation. Yes, that would give us a good idea of how imaginative you can be as well, through what you have your animation do. Once you’ve done that, dispel it, and cast the spell of Illusion in its place. If Malin hasn’t arrived by then, well…We’ll just have to hope that he’ll have arrived by then.”

Domenique remained impassively silent throughout her colleague’s words, shifting her gaze from one to the other at intermittent moments as she followed the other woman’s instructions through. Odyleon was to be Laria’s pupil, he had already been assigned to her, and she had no wish to interrupt this little exchange with her own thoughts on the matter.

“The opportunity you wish for will be granted you, Odyleon. Showing me your level of proficiency in these two spells will simply give me an idea of how much raw talent you have, and how best to teach you when our lessons begin.”

Laria sat back in her seat, the focus of her gaze never leaving that of her student’s as she did so. This would, in essence, be the man’s last test before he was promoted to the level of journeyman, before a greater level of vis was made available to him in preparation for the more trying spells he would have to learn. Widening her smile by a smidgen, the woman nodded once to the man seated besides her in a gesture of expectation, before addressing her one last time.

“In your own time, now.”

[Odyleon]

Fortunately, it looked like the Mistress was satisfied with the answers coming from her brief interview, which Ody considered as the more difficult half of his test. He could usually hold his ground while in Clara and had done so on multiple life-threatening occasions, but sharing his views with other people, more often than not, made him nervous. Magic was unpredictable at times, but most of the time its unreliability stemmed from a human mistake, a fault on the user's part. People, on the other hand, had no arcanomechanical rules regulating their reactions, and no matter how good-willed and well-mattered the speaker, it was still possible for the listener to get offended by his words. Thankfully, Laria seemed happy with the explanation, and a relieved Ody drew a matephorical sigh. It was then that the second Mistress, Domenique, stepped into the improvised classroom.

"Serale, Mistress Domenique" he greeted the second Mage, noticing her stern appearance. Every little detail had to be taken into account in preparation for the practical demonstration; even if Domenique would not be the one teaching him, making a good first impression on the Demiosian Magi, all of them, was among his prorities. The third Master, Malin, had not showed up yet, and seeing as his presence was absolutely necessary for a successful Promotion, Ody could only hope that he would join his colleagues as soon as possible, though the student's demonstration could begin even in his absence. Most of the tension had dissipated upon hearing that he would be accepted no matter his actual performance with the spells, but the young Sherianite kept himself focused on the task at hand. While Arcana may involve relaxation in order to attain Clara, it was always attentive, aware relaxation; even more so for the Mystics, who prided themselves of exceptional mental insight.

"Very well, I am ready to begin" he confirmed with a nod, pitch black eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they moved from Laria to Domenique and then Laria again. The two spells of choice, Animation and Illusion, resembled each other in both effects and casting method, but then again most other Apprentice spells involved violating one's mind in unseen ways, and none of the Masters would be eager to serve as a test subject; not to mention that such spells were rather difficult to evaluate, given their intangible nature. This played to Ody's advantage, though, seeing as the Mistress had opted for his favorite Apprentice spells. Not difficult spells per se, but requiring a lot of attention to details.

The Apprentice closed his eyes, seeking the peace of Meditation, which would hopefully arrive after a minute or so. Once able to perceive the Astral Plane, his mind would then Focus on the one Essence he had been taught to use, Psionics, capturing a portion of it through his personal Vis. The resulting entity would be further enriched by mixing it with the external Ara, ready to be Channeled back into the Material Plane as Mana. Returning to the Material always caused a mental backlash of sorts, but given the student's previous training and experience, this was hardly noticeable by now. The last step was what determined the effects of the spell itself – shaping. Animation involved Altering Mana into a field shaped like the mirage to be created, and then Conjuring it to change its nature, from Mana to flexible, illusionary matter (he favored this casting method over Divination because it seemed to bring more tangible, if a bit less detailed, illusions). Two mana shaping techniques for an Apprentice spell. The study of magic in Vers was very technical and rigorous, the techniques introduced very early into Initiate courses. Magi were taught to employ these tools in rational, conscious ways and from the very beginning of their careers rather than intuitively, which was considered a bad teaching method. Ody's innate fantasy, far from weakened by these technicalities, had instead built upon them to find new potential for expression.

He focused on the form of his Animation. His past experiences had taught him that imitating the features of an existing person was more prone to mistakes than coming up with something new, so he opted for a creatuure of his own fantasy, since he could conjure basically anything so long as it did not surpass the average humanoid in size and mass. But nothing too extravagant – Mistress Domenique might not appreciate a breakdancing Dwarf. Very well, a Lutran would do, then. A small, furry, brown-colored Lutran with lighter streaks on his back. Loosely modeled after Deputy Looie in the Legion of Justice. Once the creature was Conjured, causing it to move was merely a matter of reshaping the Mana field in a consistent way, through the sheer power of one's imagination. Again, nothing too strange – making it walk in circles around the two teachers would suffice, the Lutran pacing back and forth with short, rapid and a bit irregular steps, as was typical of the hyperactive race.

After demonstrating Animation thoroughly, he would re-enter Clara and then tear the Arcanic weave apart, effectively Dispelling it. While he had access to the Astral, he would once again go about Focusing and Channeling, bringing Mana to the Material Plane for his second spell, Illusion. The concept was pretty much the same, Altering and Conjuring Mana all over his body to create a different, realistic form. Being linked to his physical form, reshaping the field was not necessary if one were to move, and the concentration could be better spent trying to maintain the effect for a longer time.

As for the form of his choice, well, he had performed that very spell just a few brightenings earlier, in the middle of a snowstorm. If he had succeeded once, then why should he fail now? It was a shape he had managed to imitate before, much to the chagrin of the original person. Thankfully, Jaali was not there to watch the Problem Solver take her appearance one more time, but yes, Fake-Jaali would make another appearance on the stage for a number of reasons. Because he knew that form? Because it was easy to imitate? Because he liked it? It was still difficult to say. Anyway, so it was that the field would assume the form of a young Half-elven female, rather short and with almond-shaped violet eyes, a visage framed by auburn hair kept in braids. She was garbed in traveler's clothes and... violet boots. The student would be quite tired by now, but knowing that the Promotion process would magnify his Vis at least three-fold, this exhaustion would become a very minor feeling if he was accepted as a Journeyman...

[Minerva]

Fortunately for him, both spells were cast and went off without so much as a glitch. Soon, the two features were finding themselves circled by the seemingly rather erratic animation of a lutran, the imitation creature pacing about them in a reasonably lifelike and characteristic manner. Laria evidently found this illusion a very wonderful one indeed, her eyes lighting up like that of an excited child's and the smile on her face growing more and more enthused with each passing moment. It would not take much brainpower to discern the fact that she was more than happy with how the spell had been cast, and its result. Domenique, on the other hand, was proving to be a harder crowd to please. Perhaps it was simply due to the fact that she disliked the little creatures, or that she had simply had bad dealings with them in the past, but, subsequent to raising one brow in idle contempt, the woman simply ignored the apparition circling around her, and instead reverted to inspecting the state of her nails.

If this spell had not piqued her interest and approval, however, Odyleon's next practical demonstration almost affronted her to the point of causing her cheeks to redden in subdued distaste. Why a man should choose to take on the form of a female under the influence of this spell was quite beyond her, and simply led her trail of thoughts astray towards particularly questionable questions concerning his state of mind. Of course, it was not up to her whether or not the man deserved to be elevated to the rank of journeyman- that fate had already been decided for him by Mistress Laria. Whether or not she completely approved would not matter overly much in the long run.

“Good, good...I can see that our lessons together will be very interesting indeed. Now, all we need is for Malin to turn up and-”

“Missus Laria, missus Domenique?? So...So sorry! I didn't mean to be late, really I didn't!”

Another raised eyebrow from Domenique, and a more sympathetic look from Laria, and the gnome who had just entered the room was launching into an energetic explanation of his reasons for being so tardy, one which seemed to involve the innocent sheets of snow outside, several black mountain drakes spitting poison, a bunch of angry dwarves, with even a few dragons chucked in for good measure. A lot of nonsense, certainly, especially for one who was situated within a room containing people able to read his mind and see the truth for what it was; he had simply forgotten his appointment here this brightening.

Not wishing to dwell on Malin's delay for longer than necessary, however, Laria reasserted her gaze on that of her student's, before deigning him with a benign smile as she then gave him her next set of instructions.

“Well then, now that we're all here, we'll begin the process of Promotion. This will give you access to the vis you need in order to start dabbling in the spells and techniques available to you as a mystic. You remember your promotion from Initiate to Apprentice? Well, this procedure will be basically the same, so there is no need for you to worry or be afraid. First, I would like you to enter a state of clara, relax your mind, free it of all extraneous thoughts...”

The Master Mystics would wait for Odyleon to do just that before beginning to work on the method of Promoting him.

[Odyleon]

Unfortunately, it turned out that the student's notion of 'extravagance' did not match that of Mistress Domenique, and Ody felt a disapproving pair of eyes looking down on him as he performed the spells, and especially when his physical form changed into that of a woman. Thankfully, the one in charge of his training was Mistress Laria, and judging by her amused reaction, it seemed that her views on the more frivolous uses of Mysticism equalled his own. Like most other spheres – possibly even Thaumaturgy and Necromancy – the art of Psionics had a neutral nature, lending itself to good or evil according to the user's inclinations. Even though Mystics were often frowned upon for their ability to tamper, unseen, with the privacy of one's mind, and Ody himself had questioned his ability to keep his selfish instincts in check, time and experience had shown him that even a seemingly ambiguous sphere like Mysticism could be used for good, and lies could indeed bring one closer to the truth.

Had he been trying to fully impersonate Jaali, he would have answered Domenique's displeased facial expression by shaking a fist and exclaiming something along the lines of 'What's wrong with ye? Have ye bitten yer tongue?' But at the present time, Ody was far too focused on the test and the ensuing Promotion process to even consider disrespecting the Mistress, even more so since she was an essential part of it. The illusionary female merely smiled at both teachers, who became three teachers when Malin, a gnomish Master, rushed into the room without warning and provided very peculiar excuses for being late. Being a person of humor himself, albeit a very unique kind of humor, Ody accepted the explanation and simply extended his female smile to the newcomer while he listened to Laria's next instructions.

He nodded slowly, having gone through the entire procedure once. Promotion merely breached a barrier, every mortal coming into this world with five of these. Unbinding shattered the first, and each level loosened the constraints upon the mind, which now had sufficient experience to handle a heavier load of Vis. As Laria said, the procedure was always the same, only the increase in power and the number of Masters differed from his first promotion.

Obeying Laria's command, Ody closed his eyes and cleared his mind of all thoughts, seeking the peace of Meditation. While he was at it, he quickly Dispelled the Illusion, so that all the teachers – and especially Domenique – could see his real form rather than being distracted by illusionary violet eyes and matching boots, as strangely interesting as the combination may be. Once this last task was dealt with, he just lingered in a state of Clara, untouched by thoughts and emotions, waiting for the three Arcanists to work their magic, quite literally indeed.

[Minerva]

No sooner had Odyleon entered a state of clara then the three masters began their work. Gathering their individual strengths together into one directed whole, the trio of mystics were soon toiling to breach the third of the barriers constraining the human’s well of vis from reaching its full potential. A sense of familiarity began to kick in; Odyleon had experienced this process before, from when he had been promoted from Initiate to the level he was at now, the level which would soon be advanced once again. First a trickle, and then a flood…An awareness of the power flowing through him accompanied the process, a new spring of vis that he had not been able to sense before. With this enhanced state of magical energy came the promise of new powers, of new spells and techniques to be learnt, things much more effectual than any that had come before…

“Journeyman in mind, but not in skill, not yet. Open your eyes, Odyleon.”

Laria’s voice was soft, soothing, a sharp contrast to the pinched look that yet remained adverse across her features. No doubt she was still disapproving about him from before, and it did not look as though Odyleon would be able to change that fact any time soon. Something that might have come as a consolation to the man, however, was the fact that she bore Malin the same judgmental look every time she pressed herself to look at him. From the look of things, perhaps she just had a very wavy and unsteady relationship with those of the male species. Who could know?

“Anyway, let’s not waste any more time, shall we? I’m sure you want to plunge right in to all the fun stuff, now that you‘ve been Promoted and all. I was the same, way back when I was a newly promoted journeyman.”

A knowing smile for Odyleon, and then a marginally more detached one for Malin and Domenique, preceded the Master Mystic addressing her peers, her tone assuming one of professionalism and contrived formality as she made to speak to the both of them next.

”You can leave us now. Unless you want to stay and watch?”

In answer, a hurried scraping of a chair on hard stone floor sounded clearly, almost painfully, in everyone’s ears, as Domenique rose to her feet in a frenzied cross between elegance and impetuosity. Malin’s standing was slower in coming, and much more composed in contrast.

“The offer is appreciated, Laria, but I have better things to do with my time. Good day to you.”

With that, the insensitive mystic left, followed shortly by the male. Watching them until they were gone, closing the door to the room behind him, Laria then inclined her head to behold her student, a warm smile stretched across her kind features as she chose to address him once more.

“Just something simple to start off with, Odyleon, so that you can test the limits of your new powers. I had you perform the Illusion spell just now, did I not? You did a good job of it, even if Domenique did look as though she had bitten into a lemon for the first time. You should know that the spell can only work for illusions around the same size as yourself, correct? Well, with your new level of vis comes a more powerful variation of the spell. Greater Illusion will allow you to assume a form much larger than your own, and is performed in the same way as its simpler counterpart.”

Allowing a few moments to let that information sink in, the woman narrowed her eyes a smidgen as though worried she had managed to prattle on at some point during her speech. The look was only fleeting, however, before it was gone, replaced by a broad and open smile, and more words.

“Try casting the spell, Odyleon. Make the illusion as large as you can; try to fill the rest of the room if you feel up to it. An illusion of your choice, whenever you’re ready.”

Stopping there, the woman then waited for the human to do as he was told, to begin the casting the more powerful variant of the spell he had known from before.

[Odyleon]

Unlike far too many other aspiring Arcanists all over the Empire, Ody did not seek power for power's sake. Power was the means, not the end; and even a discipline that was becoming second nature to him had not managed to enslave him with promises of unlimited power. At any given time, it was he that dominated his magic, and not the other way around, and the normally very immature Human was, in this particular respect, surprisingly firm and, some would say, even wise. He channeled the potential of his art into the fulfilment of a goal, the goal of a lifetime – the brightening when the gates of the Planar realms would finally open to him, letting him enter the Plane of Sonos, the kingdom of Aslan where all the Truths of the world awaited. Unfortunately, being such an ambitious (or foolish) dream, he would require a tremendous amount of power to even stand a chance of making it come true. Everything else – plotting against the crazed Thane of Vers, solving problems and helping others – was like training in preparation for the real game. The people of Telath deserved nothing less than the Truth, and someone would have to go and claim it from the Celestial realm itself.

That brightening, however, was still far, far away, assuming it would ever come at all. For now, Ody had much more mundane and less impressive problems to solve; recover completely from his illness, decide what he wanted to do with his life, choose between cake and mousse for rosyun, in no particular order. The Truth never changed – it could as well wait some more. And it was written there, in the scrolls of Sonos, that it was Ody's destiny to become a Journeyman, with the powers and responsibilities that came with it. Shattering one of nature's barriers invariably brought over feelings of mirth and might into the Promoted Magi, and Mr. Meiers was no exception, his expanded Vis filling every corner of his mind, sweeping away any sign of exhaustion for the spells he had previously cast. He was now only one step far from his Mistress, and the next promotion would make him her peer. With talent and willpower, even clumsy and inept young men could grow more powerful than anyone would give them credit for. If only his family could see him now... living without a job and learning powerful magic on top of that! Serves'em well...

Ody watched as Domenique and Malin took their leave immediately after the Promotion. He could really do nothing about Domenique's opinion of him, and now that she had completed her duty, there was no reason to. They would probably never meet ever again in their lives, and both would probably thank Aetheria for that. Right now, the novel Journeyman was far more concerned with exploring the new boundaries of his mind, like a child eagerly unwrapping the latest gift and making wild guesses as to its content. Apparently, Mistress Laria wished to begin the session with some hands-on experience, which the student was extremely grateful for, and she had wisely picked one of the incantations that the Problem Solver called 'more-of-the-same' spells... Illusion Greater.

Impersonation being one of Ody's primary foci, the student could not help but shiver with anticipation as Laria introduced the first spell. He nodded to acknowledge her explanation, and confirmed the movement with a few brief words. "Very well, I'll try to fill this room". His Apprentice lessons had been very quiet ones, very few words exchanged between teacher and student, but that was mainly due to Mistress Risa's detached personality. Laria made him feel much more at ease, and of course being taught by one of his own race instead of an aloof (even if very competent) Elf had its importance, as well. He would try something new to surprise her... fill the room. It still sounded impossible, crafting simple Illusions roughly his size straining him significantly – but now, hopefully, things would be different. The Journeyman delved into a state of Meditation, eager to test the effects of Promotion on his acquisition time, and then created Mana by the usual processing of Focusing on the Essence of Psionics and then Channeling it for use. This time he Channeled more Mana than ever before, the amount he could now draw far surpassing that of an Apprentice.

He wished to impress the Mistress and he had an appropriate form in mind for that very purpose. Demios was rumored to house the legendary scaly creatures of old, Dragons, and a Dragon he would become to test his newest spell. A miniature Dragon, large enough to fill the room as Laria had commanded. A Golden Dragon, complete with scales, claws, a tail and a small cloud of smoke rising from its closed jaws. He Altered the Mana around himself and all over the room to form a field shaped like the form to be taken, then Conjured it to bring the Illusion to reality. Finally, wishing to try out yet another perk of being a Journeyman – that is, using three Mana shaping techniques in a single spell – he also Divined the Mana to further improve the quality, detail and realism of the, hopefully successful, Illusion Greater. Posing as a Dragon was not something every mortal could brag about. This was guaranteed to heat up any party.

[Minerva]

If anyone not well versed in the vagaries of arcana had chosen to walk into the room at that instance, then it was safe to say that they would have darted out again, screaming for their lives, as soon as they had set eyes on the great form of what appeared to be a golden dragon in miniature. In reality, of course, it was really nothing of the sort, being merely the assumed, illusionary form of a fledgling journeyman practicing the first of the spells he had learnt at this level. Small and replicated as it was, however, the overall effect was nonetheless striking. Almost filling up the entire space of the generously sized room in which they both resided now, a delighted Laria had soon found herself stood face to muzzle with an admirable imitation of one of Telath’s great and more ancient races.

Shimmering scales of an untarnished gold hue littered the dragon’s body in a regular pattern from head to clawed foot, and its wing span alone seemed enough to engulf the room in its articulated radiance. The lighter shades of the mock-dragon’s scales were set off nicely against the much darker backdrop of the chamber that encircled it, the perfect contrast, from an artist’s point of view. Of course, the creature was to Odyleon’s design, having been formed from the recesses of his own mind, and as such could not have been completely on par with the real thing, but still, the illusion had worked, and so marked the man’s first attempt at the spell to be a success. Laria certainly seemed to think as much, and her reactions to her student’s triumph was enthused at best.

“That was splendid, Odyleon! Simply splendid! I hadn’t expected you to choose a dragon, you know. My other students have tended to be much less…inspired. Good job.”

Clapping her hands together in a brief semblance of applause, Laria then waited for the dragon’s form to dwindle and diminish into the much less extraordinary form of her student once more, before giving him some time to recover and moving on to what they would be learning next this brightening.

“Alright then, I’ll be elaborating a little more on the techniques available to you as a journeyman in a moment, but first I’d like you to try one more spell, OK?”

Of course, there was much more to being a spell caster than merely learning the spells and getting them to work. There were techniques to run over as well, and, at journeyman level, there was the task set upon the student of learning about creating ones own spells, of thinking up something original, an embodiment of magic which could be used as their ‘Masterpiece.’ Following that, the masterpiece would have to be something notable enough to impress a body of Masters into allowing that journeyman to progress to the same level as they. For now, though, such matters should not have been on Odyleon’s mind, as Laria opened her mouth once more in order to speak.

“Alright then. This spell is called Alacrity. This spell will probably strike you as being quite similar to those you have learnt before at Initiate and Apprentice level. All that it does is to strengthen the neural links between the mind and body, allowing them to communicate with each other much faster. More rapid communication leads to faster reaction times, and both greater dexterity and speed whilst in combat. Sounds like it could be very useful, eh?”

A smile, followed by an enignatic wink, would give Odyleon the time needed for him to take in Laria's words, to process the information that had been given him. After that, the woman would resume her somewhat colloquial lecturing.

“I don’t think anyone who seems to be as clever as you are should have any problems in figuring out how to go about the creation of this spell, especially with your past experiences from Initiate and Apprentice classes. So, when you’re ready, try casting the spell.”

[Odyleon]

It was amazing, nothing short of amazing – by far the most spectacular display of Arcana he had ever been capable of producing. Everything about the spell had run smoothly and without interference, and the Mage now felt much faster, more efficient, more focused, more handsome... no, that one was merely wishful thinking. While this Golden Dragon's mass and size were significantly smaller than the real thing, and its scales would not cure a cold, the massive leap in power and effectiveness had left him speechless. Such was Arcana; a road getting steeper and steeper, and leading to heights undreamed of. Laria had probably realized by now, if she had been paying attention to the theoretical rigor with which he cast his magic, that Ody had higher ambitions in the world of the Arcane, and while he usually preferred not to name the rank he hoped to achieve, it was the rank that overshadowed the remaining four. Most would deem it idle daydreaming, but wasn't Kaimelea, the Planetar of Dreams, the very patron of so many colleagues of his?

"Thank you, Mistress" he replied heartily. Compliments were such a rarity for the often mistreated Human; and receiving one from his direct superior could not help but fill him with short-lived but very rewarding pride. "I have always been fascinated by Dragons and the other races of the sky." To him, those who could look at the world from above were in a way closer to the Truth, and he envied those born with wings to soar the ether. On the other hand, Ody was born Human, meaning that all he had was Orod's ingenuity and craft, with which to overcome the gaps that separated humankind from the other creatures of Telath.

He nodded as Laria mentioned that they would be covering the techniques of the Journeyman very soon. The student knew about the spellcrafting abilities that his new status would let him explore, and his hyperactive fantasy had been concocting ideas and sketches for new spells since he was a mere Initiate. He had heard little about the other techniques, though he knew that one of those had something to do with magical items. Right now, though, the Mistress certainly knew what was best for him, and if she believed that he needed some more casting experience with the easier spells before tackling the techniques, then it must be true – and there was nothing about Arcana that he could possibly find boring. Narrowing and widening his dusky eyes at regular intervals, a quirk of his that meant total interest and attention, he drank the words from Laria's lips as she explained his next task.

It did not sound difficult, that Alacrity spell. Indeed, he had performed similar things as an Initiate and an Apprentice, though most of those spells, such as Enfeeblement and Regress, targetted hostile presences rather than the caster. While Alacrity did not sound like something that would require a Journeyman to cast, Ody knew that in the Arcanic sciences, building was far more difficult than destroying. The advantage it brought was apparent – even if Ody replaced 'whilst in combat' with 'whilst hastily retreating towards more defendible positions' or 'whilst disengaging from the enemy'. He was, decidedly, not the physical type, and his mystical arts were usually employed with much more subtlety than just tossing spells around in a battle, unless the situation ruled out any other choice.

For the second time in his Journeyman career, he entered Meditation and Focused on his Essence through a strand of his Vis. He mixed it with the Ara and Channeled Mana. Just like the majority of Mysticism, Divination into his mind was an essential component to this spell, with the addition of Alteration to spread the eff