Dog of the Military (Apprentice Mysticism)||Self Mod

[Hsin]

First of the Month of Immanis in the Season of Spring, of Era II of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern)
Era XI Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening, the Mageocracy of Julos the Mad

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Some kind soul had carefully prepared the grandiose interior of Room Nine for the day’s lessons with tender, loving care. He (or perhaps her) had encased heavy bookshelves bearing a lifetime’s worth of knowledge with plywood. A cheap, unvarnished table sat in the center of the room, a pale imitation of the expensive desk most rooms usually contained. On the other hand, the ornate, high backed chairs preferred by many of the older masters had disappeared completely. Glass windows were boarded up as if in preparation for a coming hurricane, though an overhead skylight provided more than adequate illumination. Hsin Nasial-Alque slowly turned in a complete circle as he tried to discern some greater purpose in the seemingly unnecessary preparations. Lady Andyulmen had arranged for the furtherance of his arcanic education at the Academy of Mind and Fire. So why did the room seem prepared for a bar fight? With a shrug, the young man unwrapped the shroud of ragged cloth around the bleach leather sheath covering the blade of his naginata. His next instructor in the sphere of Mysticism seemed to have run into some hurdles preventing his (or her) prompt appearance. He certainly could not waggle his fingers and make a master magically appear, but neither did he intend to waste time dilly-dallying. Inhaling slowly, the young man gripped the leather-wrapped shaft of his naginata and assumed the stance for the first attack in the Gentle Stream kata. Overhead slash. Left diagonal slash. Right diagonal slash. Left horizontal slash. Right horizontal slash. Left leg sweep. Right leg sweep. Thrust at the chest. For nearly three candlemarks Hsin repeated these attacks, drilling and preparing himself for the chaos of combat. Finally, with his patience nearly gone, he pulled a short note out of his pocket. Perhaps he had misread.

Hsin Nasial-Alque~

Report to Room 9 in the Academy by the eighth candlemark of the first day of Immanis. As befitting a member of the military, come armed and armored. It would be a shame if you received undue injury on your first day of classes.

~El’kara

”Sorry, sorry Hsin. You read the note right, but I overslept.” said the undersigned without the slightest hint of regret in her cheerful voice. The sound of paper crumbling in Hsin’s fist lingered in the air as the five and a half foot tall elf closed the door and ambled on toward the wooden desk. For certain, El’kara did not look like she had just woken. Her long, straight red hair gleamed in the morning light as it fell down her back without so much as a stray strand—hardly a natural occurrence. She wore a light white dress of indeterminate material that conformed to the generally conservative dress code for the faculty while still somehow seeming somewhat risqué. Soft hazelnut-brown eyes seemed to regard the short naginata-wielding student with cheerful interest. All things considered, she looked like a noblewoman playing teacher. She placed a packaged wrapped in brown butcher’s paper on the desk and covered it with her satin cloak before turning to address her student. ”Now, where shall we start? Ah yes, introductions will do nicely. My name, as you may have gathered, is El’kara. I’m the newest addition to the Department of Mysticism, so they’ve given me the task of training military mages. And you are Hsin. Bank clerk, principle clerk, negotiator, diplomat, fugitive, and now soldier.”

El’kara smiled as Hsin fought to keep his face from contorting. He would first feel rage and confusion because someone had somehow discovered his history. Than, after his mind caught up to his emotions, Hsin would realize he had come to become an apprentice in the art of Mysticism. Like many of his fellow mages, the young man still had an ethical objection to tampering with the memories of a stranger. This, consequently, would most likely lead him to feel moral indignation. How predictable. ”Now, with a normal student, I would go through a rather lengthy list of philosophical questions. I’d ask about their perception of power. I’d test their morality. Than, after I was satisfied they weren’t psychopaths or tyrants in the making, I would test their skills as an initiate.” At this point, she stopped talking long enough to nibble on the tip of a piece of licorice she had pulled out of a pocket. ”Where was I? Ah yes. Testing. However, I strongly doubt you are a…normal…apprentice who finish training to find you no longer wish to wield magic. So let us take a different approach to training. You, at the moment, are a military man and not a diplomat. More than likely, you will use your spells in an environment where the slightest misstep will cost you your head…or certain other important parts of your body.” Hsin tried to comprehend the subtler points of this joke as El’kara giggled and undid the twine wrapping on her package. The contents were obscured from Hsin, but the Kemite could see her fiddling with some small object. For the first time since her arrival, she looked directly into Hsin’s eyes. Her voice had exchanged some of its earlier cheer for a hint of steel. ”Let us establish one thing Hsin. Lady Andyulmen has given me temporary command over a certain Hatchling. You will obey as if I were the Black Fist himself. Now put that oversized butter knife of yours to work and kill me.”

Hsin stood stock-still as he listened to the elf’s frankly ridiculous attempt at suicide. Somehow, he suspected she had some sort of trick up her sleeve. Best to stall for time than. Feigning a great deal more confusion than he felt, the Kemite assumed the first position in the Grand Stream kata. ”Are you sur…”

Any attempts at diplomacy were prematurely aborted when El’kara hit Hsin squarely in the middle of his forehead with a magnificent toss of a small rock. Shaking her finger in disapproval, the master scolded Hsin in a vaguely amused voice. ”Now look what you’ve made me do. If you were in clara, I just took away your magical advantage. Never hesitate. I could have ended your miserable life while you were thinking.”

While he certainly did not think of himself as a very angry person, Hsin had never really addressed the matter of his temper. He had never experienced an explosion of rage before, in spite of the coordinated efforts of a number of Tirisfal’s more disagreeable merchants. On the other hand, his anger had a tendency to gather and ferment in the deeper and darker parts of his mind. Hsin did not get angry very often, but the young man did enjoy brooding over real (and even a few imagined) wrongs. Still, he did not suffer insults and stupidity lightly. Perhaps he should mention El’kara’s general state of vulnerability when she entered the room? If one human being truly wanted another dead, would they really care about light conversations on arcanic education? Inhaling sharply, Hsin sprinted toward the master and brought up his naginata in preparation for a powerful overhead strike. Mage or not, the elvish steel blade of his weapon would make a significant dent in El’kara’s skull. At the last moment, the young man intended to change the angle of the blow to smash into the table and not the elf. Without warning, the red-haired elf pulled a strange amalgamation of wood and chains out of the brown package. Hsin’s mind barely registered the presence of the three sectioned staff before El’kara grasped a section in each hand and swung the last rod into Hsin’s exposed side. With a soft thud, the Kemite landed hard on the floor. His naginata clattered to the ground a few feet away.

”Hrmph. What did I tell you about hesitating dear Hsin? Now pick yourself up and try again. It will just get harder each time,” El’kara comment while she twirled the free end of her strange weapon and slowly circled her slowly recovering pre…er…student. The Kemite in question had picked himself up into a kneeling position, and seemed to gasp for breath. He carefully waited for the elf to enter his peripheral vision before suddenly seizing the leather shaft of his naginata, leaping to his feet, and slashing horizontally at the master’s midsection. There was no doubt in the intention of the blow this time—the young man could not stop his attack without a disastrous trip up. His opponent gripped the right section near the joint and ducked inside the arc of the blade. While she managed to stop the weapon, she still staggered under the force of the blow. Hsin’s right boot lashed out and smashed into the side of her leg as the young man desperately tried to back peddle. The sensation of pain did not seem to faze his teacher the slightest. Instead of wincing or backing off, she swung the free end of the staff at Hsin’s head. Hard. Any thoughts of flight fled as the young man crumpled to the floor. His mind screamed for him to stand and grab his weapon, but his limbs and body felt as if heavy iron chains were binding him to the cold floor. Had she cast a spell on him? What was she doing? Such questions disappeared as the spell sent Hsin into a deep sleep.

El’kara dropped the three sectioned staff to the floor as she walked over to the prone Kemite. His body still occasionally twitched and trembled as the young man’s mind refused to accept defeat. Such a pity. She would fix that soon enough. With a good four inch advantage over Hsin, it did not take a great deal of effort to pin Hsin to the ground by placing her left leg on his corresponding shoulder and pressing with her right hand on his right shoulder. The right knee brushed Hsin’s Adam’s apple for a moment before slowly and inexorably applying pressure. The master did not merely want her student asleep—she wanted him unconscious. Carefully remaining aware of Hsin’s condition with a Reveal spell, she methodologically removed the nearly two-dozen sharp, pointy objects Hsin had hidden on various parts of his body. It would not do for him to wake up and become overly violent. Finally, satisfied she would not be on the receiving end of any unpleasant surprises, she returned to her prone student. Quickly entering a state of clara, she touched her hand to Hsin’s head and Promoted him to Apprentice. Yes, this confused little Kemite would make an interesting student. Pulling another stick of liquorish out of her pocket, she perched on her table and waited for Hsin to awake.

OOC: Self-modded with permission of GM Selene

[Minerva]

An unblemished scenery all of purest white greeted the Kemite’s eyes upon his awakening to the real world once more…or did it? There was an insubstantiality about this place, a distant wavering of its form that suggested that it would not stay in one place for long. At the merest drop of a pin, it seemed as though this world would shimmer and ripple like waves of a pond, before flashing back out of existence in a blink of an eye. A demure village, swathed in white blankets of snow; a cosy looking locale that would normally fill any traveller’s heart with warmth, now it was merely a lifeless canvas, a pale imitation of vivacity when compared with other such places of its ilk.

“Hsin…”

From out of the corner of his eyes, the kemite would be able to see a slight form approach, apparently female in nature, and without the vagueness and ambiguity that the man might have come to expect from her. Hana…the man would certainly be able to recognise the figure as her, despite the fact that she was considerably less ghostly in appearance when compared to their previous encounters. Her skin was solid enough, the fact that she was very much alive accentuated by the healthy tan distinguished against the otherwise white of the scenery that engulfed her.

Dark hair tied loosely back, a few stray strands nonetheless worked their way across the front of her face, fleetingly covering wide, night-dark eyes, before being driven away by the weak pushings of an invisible wind once more. This brightening, she was dressed in garments of pale red and pinkish hues, as befitted a sweet looking individual such as herself. A pretty little girl, when not adorned with the somewhat ghastly look of having no solid form to speak of, and eyes that were but blood-rimmed hollows. Walking slowly, purposefully, towards the man, the girl never once took her gaze from that of Hsin’s, never wavered in her silent inspection of him. Once she deemed herself to be close enough, the young woman then stopped before him, looking up into his face through slightly tilted eyes as she made to speak.

“Have you forgotten about me, Hsin? About your promise to me? You’ve kept me waiting for so long…and Mishin still needs to be brought to the light.”

A deep frown began to mar the once smooth features of her face as the land turned to black, the village darkening to an almost violent degree as it did so. In the background, the unmistakable sounds of metal clashing against metal could be heard, that bittersweet cacophony rising in volume and fervour with each passing second of their being. Shouts and grunts of pain and anger rose in partnership with the clanging of swords that accompanied them, and it would not take much thought on Hsin’s part to figure out who they belonged to. Meanwhile, Hana had somehow forgone her state of relative normality, in favour of the guise that Hsin had first met her in. Tendrils of greyish smoke and eyes that reduced to deep hollows marked Hana for what she truly was; a ghost.

“I’ve been busy whilst you engaged yourself in matters less important to me. I’ve broadened my horizons, travelled across this world of yours. You should go to the village called High Peak, and from there journey to Yamamoto. I will be waiting for you there.”

The landscape continued to swell into darkness, even as Hana continued to speak, her voice commanding, authoritative.

“Now, go…Wake up.”

As the blackness engulfed him, it seemed Hana’s voice was the only thing that remained, the only thing that linked him to the dream - was it truly a dream..? – and then even that wanted to push him back into the Plane of the Material once more.

“Wake up, Hsin.”

Did the voice truly belong to her, or to his instructor? With the sudden numbness of his mind came confusion, an inability to distinguish between the two. Not that it mattered much anymore, anyway, seeing as he was now hurtling rapidly back into the waking world, until the familiar scenery of his classroom once again…

[Hsin]

Light.

Hsin groaned and rolled onto his left side in a desperate attempt to escape the blinding glare of the skylight. His head felt like a hoard of disgruntled saurids had stampeded around a track running the circumference of his skull. He could vaguely remember listening to El’kara’s description of an normal interview, followed by a brief recollection of a fight. It seems he had taken quite a beating, but the details seemed fuzzy at the very best. Had he fallen and hit his head on the marble floor? Or had the master mystic knocked him out of commission with that strange weapon she had wielded? Everything seemed disjointed and chaotic. He remembered Hana, the sight of a village long destroyed, and the name of a town: High Peak. The taste of bile was evident in his tongue, threatening to bring up the contents of his stomach. Something strange had happened after he had slipped into unconsciousness. He felt somehow more alive, more aware of his surroundings. With supreme effort, the young man managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Some minor re-arrangement of the classroom had obviously occurred during his little nap. A simple chair had appeared beside the table. The sharp smell of freshly brewed tea waffled through the air. El’kara stood in front of a window, flipping through a thick book and occasionally making monosyllabic sounds of interest. Hearing her student stir, she closed the book and poured two cups of tea. ”Good morning, sleepyhead. I apologize for your wooziness. It’s a spell I use after a long night of drinking. Stops the pain and temporarily blocks out any particularly unpleasant memories of the night. You’ll remember everything in by tomorrow. I’m sure you can relate. Now, let’s get a cup of tea in you and start your lesson.”

Hsin had never experienced anything remotely similar to a long night of drinking, but, if this was anything remotely like a hangover, he really had no desire to in the future. Sipping the tea gratefully, then young man tried to re-organize his thoughts. ”Should I cast a spell for you? To demonstrate my competency?”

El’kara chuckled softly. ”My, my Hsin. You don’t give me enough credit. If I thought you incompetent, you would have never entered this room. I do have a great deal of experience in such matters. Now, let me summarize your education as an Initiate. You experienced your very first taste of the power of arcane. Perhaps your teacher explained a bit of the theory behind meditation, focusing, ara, [/i]vis[/i], clara and everything else. But it was only an introduction. At the very best, it will take you five minutes of peaceful contemplation to enter clara. An inexperienced recruit wouldn’t need more than a minute to kill you.” This rather blunt statement was not accompanied by any suitable shift in expression. Indeed, El’kara seemed almost bored with the whole thing. ”Now. Enough discussion of the past. As an apprentice, you will learn about the actual structure of a spell. You will learn how to modify the spells you’ve learned, as well as learning more advanced spells.” Placing her drained teacup on the table, she stood and walked over to where Hsin sat. Closing the book with a resounding thump, she handed the book to the Kemite. ”The Tome of Eternity. Also called the Encyclopedia Arcanica. It lists the spells from the eight major spheres along with some academic papers. Dry reading, I assure you, but necessary.” Hsin reached for the book eagerly, only to have his teacher keep the book out of reach. ”Eh. Books are expensive. Two hundred fifty crowns, if you please. Than we’ll start your lesson for today.”

It seemed, even in the academic world, everything revolved around the crowns. He fished around in his pocket for two hundred banknote crowns and a fifty banknote crown. How bothersome. El’kara stowed the crowns away in a pocket and handed Hsin the book. As she returned to her chair and poured herself another cup of tea, Hsin opened a blank paper book and prepared to take notes. ”Now, Lady Laria taught you how to cast, but her terminology leaves a great deal to be desired. Ara is the disorganized and chaotic energy in the world. Vis is simply the ara possessed by a person or an object. Obviously, we cannot see or sense ara or vis normally. Meditation simply allows you to sense the ara in the world around you. Don’t even think about falling asleep, Hsin because there will be a test on this later.” She grinned widely. ”Once you’ve meditated, your mind pulls in the ara surrounding it to form a nexus—a temporary interface between you and the astral plane. Now we can move on to the second step in casting. Focusing involves immersing your vis in the essence of your sphere—in your case the essence of the mind. A sorcerer taps into the essence of life, a druid taps into the essence of nature, and so on and so forth. After you Focus, you Channel raw energy, or ara from the essence plane into your physical body. This energy is what we refer to as mana.”

As El’kara stopped to chew on another piece of licorice, Hsin stretched and reviewed the notes he had written. So far, so good. ”And now that you have mana, what do you do with it? You already learned to shape mana as an Initiate. You will not be able to create your own spell until you become a Journeyman, but Reshape Mana allows you to deconstruct a spell you know and modify it for its own purposes. And now, on to the five methods of mana reshaping. Abjuration describes the motion of energy. Alteration allows you to change the shape, texture, volume, or density of energy. Conjuration is the construction of energy. Divination is the communication of energy. Evocation effects the rate energy moves. I trust you are a readily competent individual, so you can discover how to use each one. If you want more details, read the book you just bought.” She stopped speaking and rose to her feet, picking up her three sectioned staff and began to circle Hsin. ”If you haven’t guessed already, I do enjoy rewarding my students when they succeed. I want you to modify Enfeeblment in whatever way you wish and cast it on me. If you succeed, I’ll reward you by not giving you a nasty bruise.”

Just great. thought Hsin as he set aside the book and skedaddled several feet to the left. He had no desire to see his expensive books and writing material ruined in some unfortunate arcane experiment. How long would it take for him to enter clara? With all the chaotic events of the day, the young man fully expected to spend over ten minutes meditating.

”Don’t forget I’m a mystic, Hsin.” murmured El’kara as she began to swing the staff above Hsin’s head. ”Start meditating, unless you want another headache very soon.”

With a long sigh, Hsin closed his eyes and began to clear his mind of the emotions and thoughts competing for his attention. His breathing began to slow as the young Kemite settled into the pattern he now associated with meditation. Ten seconds of slow inhalation. Hold for ten seconds. Exhale for ten seconds. While fate him had not dealt him a particularly harsh hand, worries and concerns still clambered for his attention. The Kemite reached out with his will, ruthlessly smothering each distraction. As he concentrated, his physical senses seemed to dull and the strange and colorful sensations of the Astral Plane began to manifest. How long had he been meditating? Hsin ventured to guess only a matter of minutes, but he quickly pushed that estimation to a back corner of his mind as well. He had practiced casting ever since completing his training as an initiate, but the young man would never grow used to the feelings of power and freedom he experiences when he achieved clara. Once again, he took note of the dull grey essence of Earth representing the walls as well as the green aura of nature leaking through the windows. El’kara exhibited the bright but strangely colorless light of psionic energy. Her arcanic “signature” seemed far more focused and powerful than even Lady Laria, his last teacher. What did that say about…

The metal cap on one end of El’kara’s staff smashed into Hsin’s side, knocking the breath out of the Kemite and the Kemite out of clara. As the Kemite slowly picked himself off the floor, the elvish mage fumed, ”You idiot, Hsin. I told you to cast, not dawdle and enjoy the sights. Try again, and this time you’d better hurry unless you want me to bonkle you again.”

Hsin had no idea whatsoever what the word “bonkle” encompassed, but he was fairly sure it involved a great deal of pain and some sort of unpleasant contact between his body and the staff. Fighting waves of pain with each breath, the Kemite sat up straight and closed his eyes. Strangely, the young man found meditation harder and easier at the strange time. Many of the inconsequential questions had evaporated in the face of physical danger. His anger and rage at his teacher gave his already formidable will an extra edge. However, the blow had stirred up a host of fears he didn’t even know existed. He was afraid of failing, afraid of having his ribs broken from another blow, afraid of having his painless little world disrupted. It must have taken slightly longer to enter a state of clara, but Hsin did not dilly-dally this time. He allowed his vis to gravitate toward the psionic essence, the plane of the mind that leant powers to the spells of mystics of Telath. Purposely ignoring the nearly physical rush of exhilaration he felt as he channeled the raw, chaotic ara of the essence plane into the vis of his physical body. As he molded the mana into the ball of disorienting energy that was the Enfeeblement spell, the young Kemite marveled at the increased speed and ease at which he could now cast. However, even in his exaltation, Hsin did not loose sight to his goal. First, he used the principle of evocation to imbue the spell with more mana and, by consequence, more strength. Deciding to push the limits, the young man attempted a second change. The principle of conjuring allowed the Kemite to add in a strong predisposition toward dizziness and loss of balance.

A fraction of a second before Hsin directed the modified Enfeeblement spell at El’kara, the elf began to swing her staff at Hsin’s other side. Suddenly, she visibly stumbled and brought her free hand up to her mouth, as if in preparation for vomiting. As Hsin left a state of clara to see the effects of handywork, his master stumbled to the table and swallowed several gulps of tea. ”Very good job Hsin. I really do hate the taste of my own bile.” said the red-headed elf as she grimaced slightly. ”Though I will warn you I did not even attempt to dispel. It certainly won’t work as well in real life. Now that you’ve had your fun, its time to practice. I won’t keep swinging my staff at you, but if you don’t reshape fast enough you’ll earn a pebble in the knee or something.” This rough-and-tumble practice continued for many hours, with Hsin failing more and more often as the day wore on. El’kara had slowly begun to force him to enter clara and cast in shorter and shorter amounts of times. He learned, to a very small extent, to ignore pain and physical discomfort during casting. By mid-afternoon, the Kemite had grown comfortable enough with his newfound power to reshape while slowly walking in a circle. A small step, perhaps, but a necessary one.

[Hsin]

In an immensely thoughtful gesture of absolute benevolence, El’kara gave her newest object of intense interest (also known as a student) five minutes to rest and relax. Two candlemarks had passed since the triple suns of Telath had reached the highest point in the sky, and the energetic elvish master showed no sign of slacking. She seemed to have an near-infinite supply of small things capable of knocking the Kemite straight out of clara, and she seemed perfectly content to use all of them. Hsin tried desperately to ignore the aches and pain shooting up and down the length of his spring body. When he had taught himself the art of wielding his naginata and received a particularly bad beating on the training grounds, at least he could extract some measure of revenge by pounding his foe. Learning to cast even when experiencing discomfort and pain certainly would come in useful in the future, but Hsin wished it would, well, hurt less. Oh bother. Druids and bards could heal themselves. Even elementalist could pull ice packs out of the Astral Plane. He hadn’t quite figured out how to dispel a headache, so the poor Kemite would just have to grit his teeth and bear it. Poor Ikomancers, on the other hand, would just have to suffer. It always helped to remember there’s always someone better off. Even if said person was being slowly roasted over a pit in the deepest regions of the Aeternia. ”What are we going to do next, Lady El’kara?” he asked in a quite and slightly subdued voice. No point in aggravating his tormenter any further.

”On, drop that lady nonsense.” muttered El’kara as scratched behind the ears of a small brown puppy. Somehow, the dog had found the personal courage to climb a rather prickly evergreen and squeeze through a half opened window nearly a candlemark before. While certainly no master of canine lore, Hsin somehow doubted it had weaseled its way into this particular debacle without some outside persuasion. Whatever skill El’kara possessed as a mystic did not seem to have any impact whatsoever on her skills at a conspirator. With a barely suppressed giggle, she picked up one of his paws and waved at her exhausted student. ”Have you met Honeymuffin yet? Say hello to Hsinney!” Never mind the fact she had introduced the diminutive mutt three or four times already. ”Now that you’re well on your way to mastering Mana Reshaping, I think its high time to teach you some more spells. I’m afraid Honeymuffin will be taking a strong disliking to your smell in a few minutes, so I trust you’ll pay close attention. He’ll only nibble on you for a little bit before losing interest, but a nibble is a nibble. Energetic little thing, isn’t he? Anyways, the Alliance spell lets you instill happy thoughts of peace, flowers, and joy in a hostile—or not particularly hostile—target for a brief period of time. Now, off to meditate you go.”

It did not take a genius to guess El’kara had intended to introduce her student to applications of energy manipulation the hard way. Divination obviously leaped out as an obvious means to accomplish the task at hand, but somehow the Kemite doubted the answer was all that simple. A simple Suggestion spell would have done the trick. She must be expecting something else. As he began to meditate and regulate his breathing, the Kemite stumbled on a possible solution: as an Apprentice, he would certainly be able to siphon more energy into the spell. Evocation would do the trick nicely. Ignoring the pitter-patter of paws and the click of claws as the accursed Honeymuffin scampered in circles around its target, the young man began to clear his minds of emotions and rather graphic pictures of a puppy munching on his leg. The sensations of the physical world slowly began to fade as the colored auras of the Astral Plane began to bleed into his field of vision. He would need to move quickly, particularly if he wished to avoid becoming a chewing toy. Time seemed to slow to a trickle as the Kemite felt his conscious thrust into the swirling, chaotic energy of the Astral plane. With a soft sigh and a concerted effort to ignore the canine of death, Hsin allowed his vis to become soaked with the raw essence of the psionic plane.

As he fought a valiant attempt not to pay attention to the low growling of the pooch, Hsin began to channel the energy of the mind into his physical body. Under ideal circumstances, the young man would be able to shape mana in relative peace and quite. But the real world did not offer such concessions. In combat, he would need to learn to shape and cast while under the threat of pain and death. Or, in this case, a serious munching. Casting aside such distracting thoughts, Hsin formed a bit of mana into a small ball. Using the principle of Evocation, the apprentice channeled the remaining portion of mana he had collected into the spell. Hopefully, this would push this particular spell beyond the realm of a simple Suggestion. Once again employing his formidable will, he concentrated on soaking the ball of mana with thoughts of peaceful co-existence and non-aggression. The principle of Divination. Acutely aware of the rather quick and slipshod casting process, Hsin propelled the completed construct of the Alliance at Honeymuffin and quickly fled the state of clara with a shake of his head. Honeymuffin had taken a liking to his right leg, rubbing his silky fur against the Kemite’s pant leg.

”Very good, Hsin. You certainly cast fast enough, though your spell was a tad bit messy.” Honeymuffin trotted to her side with a wave of her hand, and began to eye the Kemite with suspicion once again. ”Now, once again. This time the poor puppy is getting a tad bit ravenous. Best of luck!”

[Hsin]

Perhaps as a consequence of his promotion, or simply as a result of having two radically different levels of spells, Hsin had begun to develop a rough estimate of the rate at which spells consumed his stores vis. Casting initiate level spells seemed to only siphon away small portions, while apprentice level spells seemed to take a much larger bite. During the three cycles he had spent training himself to wield the naginata, the Kemite had grown accustomed to physical exhaustion. He could still recall the feeling of sore muscles and tired joints when he awoke after a long day of training. It seemed there was a similar feeling of mental exhaustion associated with arcane, and El’kara intended to introduce him to it on the first day of classes. Honeybumpkin undoubtedly must have felt a tad bit confused after charging the short Kemite for what seemed like the tenth time, only to find himself overcome with an overwhelming desire to simply be happy. Indeed, the mutt seemed to find the entire situation rather amusing. Hsin, on the other hand, did not share the same sentiment. The thought of being repeatedly mauled by a small canine did not particularly appeal to the young man’s idea of fun, so perhaps his reluctance could be excused. However, as with most things in life, continued practice lead to continued improvement. The Kemite noticed a slow but steady improvement in the quality of spells as the day wore on. As he stretched his tired shoulders, the young man ventured to ask, ”Erm, excuse me Master El’kara, but how did Honeybumpkin get his name? My sisters threatened to name my alicat that a while ago, but they were just joking. Its seems…well…kind of silly.”

”El’kara. Its really not all that difficult, Hsin. El’kara. Not Master, Lady, Mistress, or Leftenant El’kara. Just El’kara will do.” she said with a sigh as she propped the heavy door open with a chair. ”You have to learn to relax sometime Hsin. It makes talking so much easier. And I don’t own Honeybumpkin. He just wandered by the window, so I borrowed him for a little bit. Don’t worry, I’ll let him out the front door when we’re done. No point in taking another person’s pet. Anyways, I’m allergic to dogs.” She sneezed at this point to prove her point. ”And yes, Honeybumpkin is a sickeningly cute name. But a perfectly good name nonetheless. Now, let us continue on to the next spell. I’m afraid all this running around has spooked Honeybumpkin. And, being the prim and proper lady I am, I can only hold on to the little thing for so long. Mind Shackle allows you to restrain an opponent and stop him from fleeing, though it certainly does not stop their movements. Now, use that wonderfully large brain of yours and start casting before Honeybumpkin makes a dash for the door. Because, I assure you, if he does get loose you will be the one chasing him down the hall.”

Call it intuition or simple logic, but the Kemite somehow doubted the dog had suddenly decided to run on its own. Her appropriating of the poor creature for the lesson hinted rather heavily at her rather indiscriminate use of her spells. However, discerning the methods of his teacher would not help keep Honeybumpkin in the room. Having no desire whatsoever to train in basic dog catching, the Kemite closed his eyes and began to clear his mind of emotions and thoughts. Almost as a reflex, his breathing slowed until it settled into the comfortable and familiar rhythm: inhale for ten seconds, hold for ten seconds, and exhale for ten seconds. Keeping in mind the rather delicate demands of timing, the young mage did not spend nearly as much time becoming acclimated to the colorful auras of the Astral Plane. As soon as he reached a state of clara, he allowed his vis to gravitate toward the essence plain from which all mystics drew their energy. Acutely aware that excessive worry could quite possibly nock him out of clara, Hsin carefully suppressed the emotions and thoughts crowding the borders of his mind. Finally, having created a nexus between the desired Essence Plane and the Plane of Material, the Kemite began to channel the chaotic, unstable ara of psionic power into his physical body.

His efforts had already yielded a good sized amorphous blob of mana for the young man to mold to his purposes. Rather than accomplish the task by brute force, the Kemite decided to take a much more subtle approach. Employing the principles of Alteration and his imagination, the Kemite fashioned the mana into the rough shape of a net. The thin strands of mana would hopefully be enough to keep the target from moving too much, but would certainly not stop an attack by the target. Such a shame. For the second time, Hsin used the principle of Divination to imbue the net of mana with two complimentary purposes: paralysis and entanglement. Hearing the soft pitter patter of claws on the marble floor, Hsin gather his will once more to cast Mind Shackle on the poor dog. In his state of clara, the young man watched with interest as the construct of mana flew toward the weak psionic signature of the dog and seemed to wrap around its mind. As he slowly opened his eyes, the Kemite was greeted with the view of a rather confused Honeybumpkin who, despite his best efforts, just could not seem to move more than two or three feet away from the place he had been when affected by the Apprentice’s spell.

”Good job again, Hsin.” said El’kara with obvious happiness as she dispelled the Mind Shackle and gathered Honeybumpkin up in her arms. ”Now, start over. Unless, of course, you want to practice sprinting in a crowd.”

[Hsin]

lAfter a day of being constantly manipulated by the subtle magic of a mystic master and the much-less-subtle apprentice, Hsin somehow doubted the dog known for the moment by the name Honeybumpkin probably would never recover from the emotional and mental scars. But, while he had once been unable to bring himself to tamper with N’malise, the Kemite felt nothing even closely resembling guilt, sadness, or regret. On one hand, the act of meditation by nature involved the suppression of emotion. Combined with the constant irritations caused by El’kara’s erratic personality, it could certainly explain his reaction. However, while certainly an expedient excuse for the masses, Hsin could not condone such a flimsy excuse for his actions. As much as he liked to avoid the troublesome concept responsibility, there was no point in lying to oneself. He felt bad for the puppy, but in the end it was simply another object to be used and discarded. Honeybumpkin had feelings and intelligence, but in the end he or she was just a dog. At the end of the day, Hsin would probably buy the poor creature a steak to make amends. Hsin could be a cold hearted little bastard at times, but at the end of the day he still caved in to his conscience. Wiping away the sweat that had collected upon his brow, Hsin steadied himself by gripping the edge of the rough table. He was rapidly approaching the limits of his ability, a feeling he was well acquainted with. After all, no one achieved anything without pushing their boundaries. ”Completely out of curiosity, what happens if you use too much vis El’kara?” asked Hsin in a soft voice.

El’kara shrugged as she gently stroked the puppy’s shiny fur coat. ”Most of the time, you simply run out of vis and cannot cast. You might feel nauseous and tired if you overexert yourself. Do have a cup of tea while I explain the next spell. It’s a virtual given you’ll feel tired for the first few days. After all, your mind is still getting used your promotion. Get some sleep tonight—I guarantee you’ll feel as right as rain tomorrow. As long as you get proper amounts of rest, of course. Now, we’ll practice one more spell before we leave for the day. Mesmerize will stop a single person from moving or attacking. Its quite amusing, really, especially when you meet some over-confident soldier with half a brain cell. A word of caution—if you yourself attack the target, the spell will be broken. Still, if it gives you a good swing at his neck…” She dismissed the thought with a shrug. ”Really, I’m getting rather tired as well. I’ll have to remember to go to bed earlier tonight. Now, Honeybumpkin is going to run off to his home in a little bit. Aren’t you, you cute little thing?” Honeybumpkin evidently had a very similar idea in mind. The moment the she set him on the floor, the dog began to skitter across the floor, looking for an exit. ”Now hurry up and Mesmerize the poor thing.”

The specter of exhaustion and the random chaotic clicking of claws on the marble floor both conspired to keep the Kemite from attaining a state of clara in any reasonable amount of time. After several failed attempts, the purpose behind his torment became vaguely apparent. At some point in his life, the Kemite would assuredly need to cast while experiencing a great deal of physical duress. What better way than to exhaust a student and then drive him half mad? This time, the process of clearing the mind of extraneous thoughts and emotions was grueling process. When everything seemed in preparation for meditation, some small concern would always creep in and upset the carefully crafted balance. Several times, the young man entertained the notion of giving up and calling it quits for the day. However, the unwillingness to undergo El’kara’s scathing criticism combined with the knowledge that, one day, a single spell cast while on the brink of exhaustion just might save him drove the Kemite on. After what seemed like a short eternity, the young apprentice felt the sensations of the physical world dim. The endless clicking of the dog slowly faded away, but the feeling of mental exhaustion continued. Careful so as to not to accidentally knock himself out of clara, Hsin immersed his vis in the endless energy of the psionic plane and channeled the resulting mixture into his physical body.

Rather than rush to complete the spell, Hsin decided to take his time in developing the spell. Drawing from the rather descriptive name for the spell, Hsin shaped the mana into a hollow sphere large enough to encompass the head of most sentient races and a good deal of potentially hostile animals as well. His intention was to create a miniature theater of sorts for the target. After a few moments of planning, the Kemite instilled the inner surface of the sphere with a variety of distracting sensations and images. At the same time, he imprinted a much more subtle message in the rest of the sphere. While the target was distracted by the images, the rest of the shell would infiltrate the mind with tendrils intended to prevent them from moving. Obviously, any sort of physical impact would quickly render the spell useless. With one final expenditure of mental strength, the Kemite willed the sphere toward the faint signature of Honeybumpkin before finally slipping out of clara. Honeybumpkin came to a complete stop in mid-step, enraptured by shifting images while the spell paralyzed his body. Hsin stumbled as he tried to step toward the nearest source of support. In less than a moment, he found himself sprawled upon the floor.

”I’ll call in the master of Druidism to heal you, Hsin. You’ve exhausted yourself today. Get some rest tonight, and come back to the room at the same time tomorrow.” El’kara seemed vaguely pleased with her student, but her attention was largely focused on the dog.

[Hsin]

On general principle, Hsin Nasial-Alque always assumed the worst of people. He meant no offence or insult, but five months of experience with the underbelly of society had left him just a tad bit cynical. As an unintended side effect, the Kemite found himself happily surprised when his prophecies of doom and gloom did not come to pass. He had fully expected to find a cold and empty room as he marched through the silent halls of the Academy of Mind and Fire. After all, El’kara had arrived nearly three candlemarks late the day before. Why should she bother waking early for him now? Silently chiding himself for entertaining such grumpy thoughts, the Kemite shifted the hilt of his naginata to his left hand and pushed open the door. His first clue that everything was not as it seemed came from a pair of candlesticks flickering in the pre-dawn haze. El’kara had procured a decently comfortable chair from another room and sat at the rough table. Her long, red hair brushed the brown parchment of a book as she bent over its pages. The position itself seemed ill-suited for an esteemed member of the facility, besides being positively uncomfortable for one’s back. Unsure as to what to do, Hsin quietly leaned his naginata against the wall and began to unbutton his long cloak. Spring had brought with it warmer air, and the young apprentice was more than willing to dispose of the heavy garment. The sound of clothing rustling must have alerted El’kara to his presence, or perhaps she enjoyed toying with her acquaintances. She lazily rolled her head toward her student, revealing a pair of soft brown eyes framed by a pair of spectacles. ”A good morning to you as well, Hsin. It’s generally polite to announce your presence. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you’re a stalker.”

”I’m sorry.” muttered Hsin as he opened his backpack and pulled out his writing implements. She was obviously enjoying her teasing, as evidenced by her lolling grin and sparkling eyes. Some things didn’t require a Suggestion to discover. The Kemite was not entirely sure how to approach his teacher. Memories of being smacked around the previous day had lead to some rather virulent feelings of anger and disappointment. ”Will we be learning more spells today?”

”Tut, tut. My, aren’t you an impatient one today?” The elf glared at Hsin like a stern schoolmistress for a few moments before bursting into giggles. Her spectacle had slid down toward the tip of her nose, lending a great deal of weight to her masquerade. ”We’ll start the day with a rather useful technique before casting a few more spells. The head of the university was rather displeased about the reports of your collapse, however, so we’ll need to cut back on the theatrics a bit. I’m sorry.” She did seem genuinely disappointed for a moment before shifting back to her happy teaching persona. ”The Circle of Magic is not a spell, but rather a technique like Reshaping Mana. Now, as you climb higher in your arcane education, you’ll learn that a circle has some interesting properties. But for now we will focus on the duality of a circle.” The elf paused to pick a piece of chalk from the table and drew a small circle on the ground. ”It isolates the area inside from the world outside. A Circle of Magic can stop energy and matter from the outside coming in. On the other hand, a circle isolates the world from the area inside. In the same way, the Circle of Magic can stop energy and matter from leaving the circle. It’s a rather useful defense, and useful for controlled testing of a spell. Now stand up, and I’ll explain how to cast.”

Hsin rose and accepted a piece of chalk before she continued. ”The arcanomechanics of the Circle of Magic involves the evocation of pure ara. First, you need to draw a small circle. The size and duration of a circle will increase as you progress. Now, forget about the whole troublesome process of meditating, focusing, channeling, et cetera. Simply focus on generic Ara—untainted by essences. Focus on this ara and force it into the circle. Now, once you have formed a circle of ara command it to either allow nothing in, or allow nothing out. It’s really not a question of subtly so much as brute force. In time, the circle will eventually evaporate and loose it’s effect. Or you can speed along the process and dispel the thing. Now that I’ve positively winded myself, it's time for you to give it a try. On to the floor with you! Stay in clara after you cast, please.”

As Hsin slowly drew a circle on the marble floor, the Kemite tried to reason out the method behind the madness. Ara was, in its basest form, disorganized and chaotic energy, and certainly did not lend itself to manipulation. Mana was the result of a merging of the ara of the essence plain and a mage’s vis. It was organized energy, and could therefore be molded to fit his purposes. Stripping away these question, El’kara had asked him to perform an action rather similar to Evocations. At any rate, it would be far easier to evoke ara than divinations. After checking for breaks in his circle, the Kemite stepped into the circle and closed his eyes and began to clear his minds of emotions and bothersome thoughts. The physical senses dulled as the colorful auras of the astral plane began to bleed into his vision. Satisfied that he had entered clara, the Kemite reached out and sought the pure and untainted energy of the world around him. Focusing his will upon the unruly ara, he began to fill in the chalk circle with a shield of ara. It seemed much easier than molding mana into a proper spell, but a great deal more unwieldy. Concentrating upon the circle, Hsin commanded it to shield the interior from the energy and physical objects from the outside. When he finished, the ara seemed to quake and quiver before convalescing into a pillar of energy around the Kemite. It did register as a color, but rather as a strange haze not unlike heat coming off a hot stove.

”Good job, Hsin.” enthused El’kara as she stood and abruptly threw a lit candlestick at her student. Hsin did not perceive the blunt brass object flying through the air, but he could hardly have missed the flare of energy as it bounced off the Circle of Magic. After a few seconds delay, the Kemite watched with a growing sense of unease as his instructor built a ball of pure psionic energy an launched it at the shield. Once again, the Circle of Magic flared brilliantly as the spell expended it’s energy harmlessly on the protective barrier. ”And now you see why this technique is so useful. If the Circle had failed, I would probably have reduced a good portion of your mind to mush.” She flashed Hsin a brilliant smile that politely informed her student that, for all she cared, the headmaster of the Academy could shove it. ”Several other Spheres of Arcana have spells that involve summoning creatures. Elementalists summon elementals, thaumaturgists summon pixies and angels, necromancers summon zombies and demons. Circles of Magic are rather useful for confining these creatures until they can be properly dealt with. We mystics also have a similar spell. Animation creates a being of psionic energy from your imagination. For a short time, it will be able to function like a summoned being—attack, pursue, etcetera. Eventually its energy dissipates until it becomes a mere illusion. Then it fades into nothingness.”

As she spoke, the thin half elf put a rather ugly vase on the floor and drew a circle on the ground around it. ”It’s a rather sad parallel our lives, isn’t it Hsin? We spend our days seeking power. After we die, our friends and family remember us for a little while longer. And what then? Our memories die and fade away into the wind.” She grinned as a look of slight confusion crossed Hsin’s face. ”Why do you look so surprised? I can be tender and philosophical too. Now back to business. When you cast the spell, conjure up your hellbeast in my circle and make it destroy the vase.”

Much to his parent’s annoyance, their firstborn child seemed blessed (or cursed?) to be an overactive dreamer. During the first few patterns of his life, Hsin had experienced more than his fair share of dreams and nightmares. There was plenty of material handy for his first Alteration. Unlike the Circle of Magic, this spell would require quite a bit of subtle manipulation. The principle of Conjuration would allow him to turn his memories into a more-or-less physical being. As befitting a mystic, Hsin would also need to use Divination to shape and mold the physical shell. Everything seemed so simple in theory—how well would it work in practice? Hsin forced himself to cast such doubts aside as he cleared his conscious and meditated. Nearly two minutes passed before the Kemite managed achieve a state of attunement to the Astral Plane--clara. Ignoring the auras of the various manifested essences, he immediately Focused upon the Psionic Plane and allowed his Vis to immerse itself in the power of the mind. Channeling this energetic mixture into his body created a great deal of mana. If his predictions proved correct, this would require a good deal more mana than any of his other spells to date. He called forth the memory of a creeping darkness from the deepest recesses of its mind. This imaginary creature possessed no physical body, but rather manifested as a floating cloud of darkness and malevolence. In his dreams, it had enveloped everything in its path and pierced their bodies with invisible spears. Yes, this would do perfectly.

Conjuring up a physical shell for his nightmare took a great deal of effort. It needed to flow and envelop its prey, while remaining dark and fluid. The trickiest part of the spell involved turning mental energy into physical energy. Rather than oversee the particulars, Hsin created a being with the sole capacity to hunt and crush. Remembering the principle of Divination, Hsin imprinted the memory of his nightmarish creature on the conjured being. He even gave the being a name: the Creeping Darkness. Gathering his will, the Kemite put the final touches on his mana weave and cast it inside his teacher’s Circle of Magic. Darkness and shadow seemed to condense inside the pillar of energy as the Alteration took shape. El’kara involuntary shivered as the feeling of fear the Kemite had involuntary imparted. This was rather obviously the product of a fairly bad nightmare. It seemed to shift back and forth as if searching for prey before its casters sent it a rather simple command: destroy the vase. In a flash, the Creeping Darkness bunched up and enveloped the vase. Several loud crashes were heard through the room before a final crash marked the destruction of the vase. El’kara waited until the sound of pottery falling faded into silence before using a foot to break the chalk of the Circle of Magic. Hsin almost shouted as he tried to restrain his creation, only to find himself knocked out of clara. He watched with growing horror as the Creeping Darkness obeyed it’s only instinct and rushed his master. In its eagerness to destroy, it crossed his teacher’s Spell Nullify and disappeared into nothingness. The shattered remains of the vase sat in the center of the circle. The Alteration had pierced it several times before crushing its remains into small pieces.

”How cute,” was El’kara’s only comment as she produced a broom and swept up the pieces.

[Hsin]

Freshly washed black marble glistened in the sunlight as Hsin wiped away the last traces of chalk dust from his first introduction to the venerable and rather useful Circle of Magic. El’kara had insisted that they leave the classroom the same way they found it. As he wrung the water out of an old rag, Hsin reflected upon the method behind his teacher’s rather considerable madness. Her job had consisted entirely of tossing the larger shards of the pot out the window, while her pupil had to find a bucket, draw water, find a rag, and wash the floor. With rank and stature comes privilege, and she seemed intent on exercising that privilege whenever possible. Hsin did not begrudge her that right as he dumped the contents of the bucket into the bushes outside, but would have appreciated it if she had leant a hand. All things considered, the young man knew very little about his Master. From the sound of it, she was a relatively new arrival to the facility. Why else would the headmaster have censured her for her teaching methods? Still, while he could not claim to enjoy the beating, the Kemite could certainly appreciate her fresh perspective on the source material. In all due honesty, Hsin had found Lady Lara a slight bit boring. El’kara’s tendency to work a good bit of danger into his training helped to impress the seriousness of his studies—and the need to practice. ”If you don’t mind me asking, El’kara, where do you come from? I don’t recall seeing you in the Academy when I was studying as an Initiate. Though, I must confess, I did not spend a great deal in the Academy. Perhaps a cycle or two at the most. Are you new to the island?”

”If it satisfies your curiosity, I came over the summer. There was an opening in the facility and I took it. I’ve spent most of my time teaching initiates, so it’s nice to have a change of pace. The beaches here are positively splendid, but the weather seems slightly odd. I prefer a moderately temperate climate—my hometown was Silrosia. Mayhap I’ll bug one of the Elemental Masters about it sometime.” As she spoke, she pulled her well-use tri-section staff out of her bag. ”Run and grab your naginata like a good little boy, Hsin. The headmaster has forbade me from battering around my student, but he said nothing about gently batting them around. We’ll do two more spells today before I let you go. I’ve got more students to attend to, sadly, and I’m sure you’ve got your own duties.” Remembering her skill with the blunt but certainly painful weapon, the Kemite quickly grabbed the weapon and assumed a neutral stance with the blade pointed at his teacher. El’kara smiled as she alternately swung different thirds of her weapon. ”Now than, let’s try our next spell in a situation a great deal closer to combat than a classroom. Psionic Shock is a more powerful cousin of the Psionic Orb you learned as an initiate. It deals a moderate amount of damage, and causes the target to go into spasms. As far as I’ve been able to gather, the spasm’s the results from the damage to the mind and not from any Divinations. Well, enough pondering. I’ll wait until you enter clara before I start making a few attacks, nice and slowly. Try to block them as you cast. It’ll knock you out of clara the first few times, but it’ll do wonders in the real world.”

Hsin adjusted the grip on his weapon as he widened his stance slightly in preparation for parrying. Keeping his eyes on the ends of his master’s weapons, the Kemite slowly began to clear away the thoughts clamoring for his attention. His emotions seemed a great deal more subdued, perhaps due to his eagerness to employ his skills with the naginata. As his physical senses dulled and the colored auras of the Astral Plane began to manifest, he noticed the right edge of the master’s weapons swing toward his body in a slow arc. Carefully honed reflexes allowed the Kemite to move his blade into position to intersect with the swing. Predictably, metal crashed against wood as the little Kemite flew out of clara. Remembering El’kara’s instruction, the young apprentice tried once more. Several hours must have passed before Hsin managed to achieve balance with the Astral Plane in spite of his teacher’s constant irritations. True, it took almost three or four minutes longer, but anything was better than nothing. Rather than risk loosing this precious state by dawdling, the Kemite immediately began to immerse his vis in the raw and unbridled energy of the Psionic Plane. Strangely, El’kara had ceased her almost constant nagging. Perhaps it was still beyond his grasp to fight and mold mana at the same time? At any rate, Hsin channeled as much of the vis/essence mixture into his physical body as he dared. In contrast to the other spells he had cast, Psionic Shock seemed like a much more straightforward shells. Evokation governed the movement of energy, and Hsin intended to move a great deal of it. After forming the mana into a raging ball of psionic dissonance, the Kemite hurled the completed spell at his master.

El’kara, it seemed, had a great liking for Spell Nullify. Or at least some similar spell. The pulsing ball of energy came within a few feet before the dangerous mana construct dissolved into chaotic, largely harmless energy. ”Congratulations, Hsin. Now you see why mages and combat don’t mix. It’s dreadfully hard to maintain clara while someone’s taking swipes at you. Never mind the delicate manner of molding the manner into a useful construct. Really, until you become a master, you won’t have many useful spells for hand to hand combat. Do everyone a favor and try to keep alive, will you? It would be a dreadful waste of effort and talent if you ended up moldering in a lonely grave.” Finally finished with her positively cheery pronouncement, she looked at Hsin for some kind of reaction. Hsin, on the other hand, looked positively indifferent. ”You’ve really got to learn to lighten up Hsin. Go into town, get drunk, meet a pretty girl and sweep her off her feet. There’s no point in stressing out endlessly over nothing. You do your best thinking when you’re loosed and relaxed—not when you’re tense. I see you’ve done some acting in the past. For the love of Ioannes, at least act like you’re relaxed. At least the person you’re talking to can feel happy. I swear, you’ll be the death of me.”

Having imparted a measure of motherly wisdom, El’kara took a bit of time to nibble upon a piece of liquorish. ”Well, enough off topic rambling. Let’s get back to your lesson. For the sake of practice, we’ll do the same thing over. I’d highly recommend you finding a friend to practice with, or rig up some contraption. Now, let us try another spell. Regress slows down the thoughts of a creature’s mind. They become rather clumsy, uncoordinated, and all around slow. In other words, this spell makes your target an idiot. There’s nothing in the world quite like watching a giant trip over his own feet. Still, it was a good deal of trouble putting the poor thing to rest for good. Nasty dagger work, if I remember correctly. And tying down the beast took forever. Ah, I do miss the good old days of living as a freewill adventurer. I’m sure you’ll give it a try at some point in the future. Anyways, let’s get to work. Get your naginata up! I’ll stop trying to give you a bump after you reach clara, but I reserve the right to make your life miserable in general. Right—start meditating you.”

Hsin eyed the heavy blunt ends of El’kara’s three sectioned staff with a good deal of trepidation as he shifted into a defensive position. Forming a Psionic Orb on the fly did not take too much effort, especially since it was a rather simple spell by nature. Slowing down the thought patterns of a sentient being was an entirely different matter, especially when being constantly harassed by a rather abrasive elf. Thirty minutes of balancing meditation and physical well being eventually resulted in Hsin entering a state of clara A rather painful series of trials and error lead the Kemite to discover a conservation of physical movement greatly facilitated the meditation of the mind. Forcing himself to ignore the taunts and jeers of the red-haired elf, the Kemite hurriedly immersed his vis in the chaotic energy of the Psionic Plane. Focusing took a good deal longer that Hsin would have liked, but learning to cast under pressure was a slow and frustrating process. While keeping his emotions and thoughts in careful checks, the would be apprentice began to Channel the volatile mixture of pure, chaotic energy and the ordered energy of his own vis into his physical body. Concentrating on the resulting mana, the young man slowly began to craft his newest spell. To the best of his knowledge, the only principle he intended to use was Divination. However, the added power resulting from his promotion to Apprentice would make the difference.

Shrugging off the effects of a silver spoon impacting his knee, Hsin shaped the available mana into a rough blob. Shape would not have as much of an effect as the communication of ideas. Hsin furled his brows as he gathered his will to imprint three different ideas upon the amorphous blob of mana. First, he imprinted the idea of slow reaction and reflexes. This didn’t require a great deal of imagination—he often felt these feelings after waking in the morning. Secondly, he called upon his memories of the dark, sleepless days of Tirisfal for inspiration to instill thoughts slowing the speed of the mind. Lastly, he imprinted thoughts that would cause his target to become clumsy and but