[AM&F]Going Mental (Initiate Mysticism, Self-Mod)

[Michael Poe]

OOCSelf-modding this to make it easy on the mods, and approved by GM Whisper.

Sunsrise, Late in the Third Cycle of Melora, in the Season of Winter
Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era XV Post Fractum

"Uh...serale?" the man called out as the strode into the room. He'd been told to come to this lecture hall, to meet his instructor. Appearetly it was a guest master who was currently touring, named Master K'thannh. As he entered, he found himself quite surprised by what he found.

Michael, despite having seen all kinds of things in Demios, had never before laid eyes on a Relequis. Gazing at one now was very disconcerting. As the ratta turned to face Micheal, it beamed at him brilliantly.

Serale, serale! Please, please, do come in! Close the door, won't you? You must be Michael...Poe, is it?" The relequis, seeming quite chipper, glanced at the clipboard clutched in his furry little opposable thumbed hands.

"Uh...that's right, yeah. Master K'thannh?" The Relequis nodded at a rather quick rate, letting a slight chuckle sound escape, before speaking once more.

"Yes indeed indeed, but you can call me Lyrit. I despise formalities, really I do. So, tell me about yourself. Why do you wanna be a mystic, good sir?" Michael wasn't quite sure how to handle this rediculous level of energy the creature was giving off, but he took it into stride with a grin.

"To protect those important to me."

"Aaaaah protection...quite a common answer, you know...care to be more specific?" Michael simply shook his head. He couldn't truly explain what was going on. Not really. Not in a way they would understand.

"Very well...and how far do you intend to take your mysticism training?" Michael thought on that question for a long moment before eventually answering.

"I dunno. Hadn't really thought about it. At least Adept, I guess...if things go well enough maybe even Master." Lyrit nodded and made a quick note on his chart.

"Very well. So, why mysticism?" The human thought about this for a second before coming up with his answer.

"The person I intend to protect needs to be protected from another mage, I believe...and I need a sphere that can counter other magic. Mysticism is the best one for that." the Relequis debated this answer before nodding slowly, thinking it not a bad one, and asked a final question.

I see, I see...alright...now lastly, You are faced with a choice. You might lose your magic forever, but you are told if you do not you cannot protect the one most important to you, and that they will be killed. What do you do?" He seemed to watch Michael most intently on this question. The human thought it over for a very long few moments before giving his answer.

"I choose the third option." The Relequis blinked.

"I'm sorry...third? I offered only two." Mike nodded.

"And each one defeats the other. If I had any power at all and it was taken away, then it would detract from my ability to protect that person. If I chose to keep my magic and the person threatening me kills them, then I still lose my reason for taking up magic in the first place, making its acquisition pointless. So the only right answer is 'neither', try and find a third solution." He fell silent, gazing back at the ratta evenly, when the creature grinned.

"No answer on that one is correct, but very few grasp the concept of looking for a third option. It shows thinking outside the box...and something that many magi need, mystics especially. Though there was no correct answer, you still gave a good one." He scratched a few more things down and set the pad aside.

"Very well, I'll train you. We start with your unbinding so that you can access your magical energies at all. Now, close your eyes, this will be rather uncomfortable, and you might experience a rather strange and vivd dream afterwards as this has a tendency to knock the student unconscious, but do try to relax and let it all happen, yes? It's all perfectly normal, I assure you." Michael nodded and closed his eyes, and let the Relequis work his magic. He felt an enormous amount of pressure in his head, as though something was trying to batter it's way from inside his skull to somewhere deeper inside, and as if a set of floodgates were opening, he felt it beak through and with a rather unsatisfying 'pop', it happened. Had his eyes not been closed the world would have spun and then gone black, but as it was, his awareness simply faded into nothingness.

[Michael Poe]

As awareness came back to Michael, he noticed he was standing. He couldn't say where exactly, because there was no light. Not that everything was dark, he could see himself just fine, but it was as if he were standing in a room and everything sucked up light except him. Everything was pitch black, and he couldn't make out any surfaces, not even what he was standing on. He did, however, see a figure in the distance. He began moving towards it, but it seemed very far away. Of course, with nothing visible for an environment to compare it against, it was almost impossible to tell how far.

He started off walking, but it seemed he was making little to no progress, so he moved it up to running. As he ran towards the figure he knew he was getting closer, though it was slow going, and by observing it as carefully as he could, he could tell it was moving too...it was running towards him, just as he was it. As he drew closer, he began to make out more and more details about the figure. It was keeping a pace identical to his, not only in speed, but seemingly in identical movement.

Eventually, when the figure started to take definition, he felt a disconcerting knowledge that the figure was himself. After what felt like an eternity, as he slowed to be only a few steps away, he gazed at the figure. It was identical to him in every way. Moved the same way he did at the same time. It was as though he were gazing at a reflection of himself in a mirror.

"Alright, it's vivid, but it's not intense, just...weird. And even that's a stretch." Or at least it was, until his reflection spoke, looking up at him with malicious eyes.

"Ohh...forgetting about it all so soon, are we?" Mike looked back at the figure with surprise and alarm. "You told everyone back then you didn't know what happened...but you remember perfectly, don't you?" Mike stammered for an instant, caught off-guard. Was this one of the Relequis' tricks?

"I don't know what you're talking about." A cruel cackle came from the reflection.

"Come now. I'm you, friend. I know what you know. And you know that this is no lie. You remember those four eras perfectly, don't you? You just buried them deep inside your bruised little heart."

Four eras. For an instant he could feel his own heart beat as time seemed to stop.

"That's right. Four eras. 'Boo hoo! Daddy doesn't love me! He's not who I thought! Poor me!' Pathetic." As ludicrous was, he found himself arguing with this reflection of himself.

"I was fifteen! Freeport had no rules! I had no concept of anything! My parents were my one stabilizing source, and I found out one of them was a lie! I was lost and broken!" The mirror-Michael spoke with an angry vehemance in response.

"And you think that justifies what you did?! What WE did?!"

"No!" he argued back, "Nothing can justify that!"

"And that's why you came to the empire, isn't it? To get a fresh start...it's also why you never made any friends, and why you keep even your own emotions at arm's length! You fear the strength inside of you!"

"NO!" he replied to his mirror image, "That wasn't strength! That was weakness! That was darkness taking hold! That was me giving in!" The image sneered at him.

"And now you're here, living a happy little life. Michael Poe the Prefect. What kind of sick penance is that? Do you truly wish to torture yourself so fiercely?"

"I was doing good things."

"You were doing NOTHING. At first you did it with gusto, sure, but by the end you were pathetic. You saw it as a regular ho-hum job. You forgot why you took it in the first place...then you quit and when on your binge. What, pay back your debt to society so quickly?" Michael's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare. I sacrificed everything because of those four eras. My penance for my behavior then had been to do right by people."

"Bang up job you've been doing, really must say."

"I've spent two decades running from those four eras. I'm tired of running."

"Giving up then?" Mike smirked.

"No. Winning." The alter-Michael tilted his head to the side.

"How can you win against yourself?"

"I've changed." The image laughed uproariously.

"No you haven't! You've buried it! How's that changing?"

"It might not be much, and it might only be a little bit at a time, but I've changed. I am changing. I will continue to change."

"You've never once changed."

"Things are different now. I've found them. I've found Her. I've found Kyia. Together, a little bit at a time, we'll change. We'll better ourselves. And to do that..." He looked at the figure across from him, which recoiled.

"No..." Michael reached out and snatched the images wrist, pulling it towards him.

"You are me...you're the combined memories of those four eras I've been running from. And the only way to change is to accept myself. All of me. That includes the parts I'm not proud of." The alter image looked at him, and smirked.

"By the GODS that was cheesy...you really suck, you know that?" Mike smirked.

"Yup."


Michael Poe, unbound and tethered to the Plane of Thought, sat upright, coughing and hacking, and unbidden, the Relequis handed him a glass of water which he sucked at greedily.

He was unbound.

[Michael Poe]

The Relequis smiled pleasantly as Michael drank from the glass, waiting for him to be centered. After a long minute, Michael seemed to have regained his calm from the rather odd and slightly unsettling dream.

"Are you alright?" Lyrit asked, and Michael nodded.

"Peachy. So, let's get started." The Master Mystic grinned and nodded, sitting back, and began the first lesson.

Alright. So, a bit about Mysticism before we start. Psionic Magic, the Mystics employ subtlety and distraction to impose their will by commanding the Essence of Thought. Using their mental acuity to confuse, misdirect, and subdue their opponents, Mystics can bring order to an otherwise chaotic environment or unleash disorder by imposing a paralyzing state of fascination or filling heart with uncontrollable fear. Pretty simple, right?" Michael nodded, waiting to hear more lectures. "Now, I could continue to describe and bore you to tears, or we can get right to the important learning." This approach surprised Michael, and he nodded again once, now paying much more attention.

"Let's start with the techniques. Meditate, Focus, Channel, Cast, and Dispel. Essentially, the basic things you need to cast your spell and get rid of it when it's use is over if it hasn't naturally dispeled.

"First off, Meditate. he Power to Meditate enables a mage to completely clear his mind and reach a heightened trance and project his inner self into the outer limits. This takes time for the inexperienced, but through practice and purpose, a mage will be able to meditate as if second-nature. You do this to reach Clara, which is the meditative trance that makes looking at the magic of the world possible.

"The very first step that a mage takes is Meditation. It is a process when the mage tries to calm his mind and directs all his thoughts to a single goal – reaching Clara, otherwise known as Meditative Trance, the state of mind when he can see the world of arcana and interact with it. Meditation is not a complicated process, however while it is easy to understand, mages who just begin training in arcana have difficulties when trying to meditate and reach Clara. With practice mages are able to reach Clara faster, therefore an experienced Initiate may take five minutes, while a newly Unbound one--that means you, Michael--shall take up to ten minutes. After each Promotion, the mage’s mind gets linked further to the arcane world and therefore it becomes easier to reach Clara. However lack of practice can make even a high level mage struggle when meditating. On the other hand, lower level mages use calming and peaceful environments or even soothing drinks and relaxing perfumes of incense to ease the process. I've never been one for relying on unnecessary extras, myself.

"As for us, we're just going to sit here, quietly, and I want you to try and focus your mind as much as possible. The first time is always the hardest. It will take some getting used to. One most be centered...focused...calm. To be this, it helps to close your eyes, turn inside of yourself, and find a serene setting, something or someone or someplace in your mind that will allow you to calmly focus your energies. Your goal--probably best while seated--is to focus your energies completely on being calm, serene, and opening your mind to access the area of your mind that the Unbinding unlocked...sorry if that took longer to explain then you'd like, but it was kind of important." Michael, who simply nodded was already seated, so that wasn't a problem. Instead he nodded and bowed his head, closing his eyes.

Someplace to calmly focus my energies...

His mind began drifting through the various points in his life. When had he felt calm, focused, and serene? As his mind danced back through all the eras in his life, only one truly stood out...and it had happened two cycles prior.

On the beach, snow gently falling onto the sands, a firepit nearby crackling warmly, naked and spent under the blanket with Kyia falling asleep on his shoulder. He'd certainly never felt honestly calm during the chlidhood before that four-era stint, nor at any point after where he was running from it--and it went without saying that the four eras were in no way calming and tranquil. He'd always been restless in some fashion, even if he could never pin an understanding of why. But since Kyia...

Slowly his eyes opened as he felt his mind enter a funny state, not unlike what he'd felt during the unbinding, and for the first time he felt his mind humming with energy. Auras of energy and light surrounded everything, some clearly brighter and more important than others. The master sitting in front of him had an almost overhwelming energy and aura about him, for instance, that made him stick out like a sore thumb.

"I see," he commented, a note of amazement in his voice. He never knew magic would be like this...and this was just the first step to actually casting a spell.

"Clara, for a beginner, is hard to find and easy to lose." He pushed Michael's shoulder and suddenly the world faltered, and like a lense being snapped away from his eyes, it was all gone as his focus shattered.

"You'll get better at maintaining it with time and practice. For now, you should go home and get some rest...we'll pick this up next brightening." Michael frowned.

"What? But we only just started I-" Lyrit cut him off by motioning to the window, which he looked out of. The suns were setting. By Her...how the aeternia long was I out of it?" he asked in confused amazement.

"About eight candlemarks for the unbinding while your mind was tethering and your vis shifting, and about six for meditation. Don't worry, finding that spot the first time is the toughest...from here on out it should take a lot, lot less time...like, a fraction of a candlemark." Michael nodded, confused and stood, turning towards the door.

"Oh, and once you're at home, do try and practice a bit of meditation before bed, hmm?" Michael nodded and departed, still amazed at how much of the first brightening he'd lost to unbinding and his first meditation session alone.

[Michael Poe]

When he arrived and took his seat in the exact same place he had before, the Relequis looked over to him and grinned brightly.

"Serale! Did you practice like I said?" Michael nodded, smiling in reply.

"Sure did. You were right. Hard at first, but it's slowly getting easier. Takes quite a while--but not nearly as long as the first time, clearly." Lyrit nodded, beaming at his pupil's words.

"Oh, excellent, excellent! Truly excellent! Wonderful, that will make this much easier. Next we're going to learn the various steps one takes to construct a spell. We'll start with something simple. I want you to cast the Reveal spell on me. The idea behind Reveal is that it, essentially, is a mindreading spell. You use the psionic energy to divine the information from my mind." Michael blinked.

"You lost me, Master." Lyrit nodded slowly.

"Right. Let's start simpler. The three steps you're going to use are Focus, Channel, and Spell Shaping. Let's start with the text definition of Focus, but to learn about that you need to know what it is you see when you're in Clara.

"When the mage can see Arcana, he begins to interact with it in order to cast a spell. When mages are Unbound they are able to drag Ara, which is all around and visible, towards them to mix with their own Vis, which is inside of them. These two components, the mage’s personal power – Vis, and the power around – Ara, are essential when creating Mana. When Ara and Vis merge, an arcane reaction called Arcalysis occurs. During it the mage’s mind is taken to the Astral Plane, a place from which a mage retrieves the Essence of his Sphere. The mage loses all connection to the Material Plane and can no longer see it. While the mind is in the Astral Plane, it is believed that time stops and begins to move only when the mind is back in the Material Plane. Like with most things that are related to Arcana, the Astral Plane looks different to each mage, however to all it is seen as a place which occupies and holds all Essence Planes."

"So all those auras I saw...that was Ara?"

"Indeed, correct! Except for what you saw coming off of me. Living breathing creatures all have Vis. Ara is the energy in the world around you that occurs within nature that can be manipulated. Vis is a similar energy, but concentrated within the lifeform that possesses it. Because it belongs to another being, you cannot casually take another's Vis though in theory it's possible through a clever spell...but for regular spellcasting it's impossible. So roughly, Ara from all around you can be taken and used, but the Vis a creature contains cannot. Follow?" Michael stayed silent for a moment as he processed the information. It all seemed complex and difficult, but he grasped it well enough.

"Pretty much," he responded, his brain working to process it all. "Alright...so that being the case, what are these techniques you were talking about?" Lyrit beamed.

"Oh yes of course! Now that you grasp ara and vis and what they are, time to move on to discussing Focus.

"When the mage’s mind is freely flowing in the Astral Plane, he has to Focus on the Essence Plane which belongs to his chosen Sphere of Arcana. A druid would Focus on the Nature Plane, while a sorcerer would Focus on the Force Plane. We, as Mystics, focus on the Psionic Plane, which I have already tethered your mind to when you were being unbound. The mage can Focus – concentrate and reach out to the plane, just like he is able to reach out for Ara. Mages are able to accomplish that as easily and naturally as breathing or moving. Usually the mage is unable to Focus upon any other Essence Plane than his own. However, mages who train in two or more spheres can reach all planes they have been trained in. They are called hedgemagi--singularly, a hedgemage. You don't need to worry about that just yet, however, as this is your first sphere. With the time still unmoving, the mage can take a few seconds or much longer while Focusing. However not all mages succeed in accomplishing this or train for months to achieve it."

"So...lemme make sure I've got this," Michael said after a moment of consideration, "When I Focus, I'm combining my Ara and Vis to create an Arcalysis Reaction, which allows me in that instant to project my mind to the Psionic Plane, where time has no meaning and thus in that state of Focus, so long as I can maintain it, I can do whatever I want?" Lyrit nodded exuberantly.

"Quite right! be careful, though, if you try and maintain your Focus too long, you might lose it, and with it the change to reach out and grab the Psionic Essence, and your personal energy--your Vis--will have been wated for nothing." Michael frowned.

"Grab the Psionic Essence?" Lyrit laughed heartily, though given his rather excellerated rate of speaking it sounded more like it might were a someone to take a laugh and accellerate time for the duration. Cute and disturbing at the same time.

[Michael Poe]

"Right, right...I haven't gotten to that part yet, have I? This next stage is Channelling. When the mage has successfully completed Focusing, he needs to begin the final step to create mana, after which he can begin shaping it into a spell. When the mage has Focused on his Essence Plane, he begins Channeling Essence from that Plane. The portion of Essence that a mage can take out of the Planes is proportional to the amount of Vis and Ara that he has mixed. Therefore, the mage has to mix a lot of Ara with his Vis, before going to the Astral, to be able to Channel a lot of Essence and thus create a powerful or complicated spell. After Channeling a terminal amount of Essence, the connection to the Astral gets broken and his mind returns to the Material Plane. Upon the Material Plane Essence becomes Mana, which is tinged with the mage's Vis. Here the time begins moving again and the mage has to complete the final step towards casting a spell - Shaping that mana into a desired spell."

"So...once I've Focused my mind onto the Psionic Plane, I can Channel out of the Psionic Plane an equivilant amount of Psionic Essence to the amound of Vis and Ara I mixed to create the Acalysis Reaction?" Lyrit clapped his hands, emitting what the human had mentally dubbed his 'murder giggle'.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! you are a rare creature, Michael Poe! You are grasping these concepts with startling clarity!" Michael laughed quietly, the amusement clear in his expression.

"Believe me when I say after this past month, this is one of the simpler concepts I've had to wrap my brain around." Even though he didn't expound further about his interactions with Kyia, Sykodi, and Kaimelea and her Dream Realm, the Relequis emitted another murder giggle and bobbed his head in acquiescence.

"Fair enough. So, now, on to Shaping. You are an initiate, so an advanced grasp of arcanomechanics--the way in which magic works--is a bit beyond explaination for the time being...all the spell knowledge you have is equivilant to an Initiate of Mysticism. You have dormant knowledge of the various Initiate level spells that I planted into your mind...implanting that knowledge is called Imparting, and only Masters and Archmagi are capable of it. That knowledge allows you to have a grasp of how to cast certain spells to cast without actually knowing the specific workings behind it. One of those imparted spells was Reveal. Unless you achieve Adept, you can never create a spell of your own, so for now you're stuck with whatever spells are Imparted to you...for instance, I Imparted the standard Initiate spell list into your mind.

"When the mage has created Mana, the material that makes up a spell, he can begin Shaping it into a spell. There are five Mana Shaping techniques that a mage can use, however at once the mage is able to use only one as an Initiate, two as an Apprentice, three as an Adept, four as a Master and whole five as an Archmage. Some spells that are limited in power require two or more shaping techniques and for that reason can only be created by higher level mages or as a higher level spell. Lower level mages take more time when shaping a spell, whereas higher level mages can shape a low level spell really fast, however still take time to shape a spell of their level.

"Before the mage learns an Adept technique called Create Spell, he is unable to create spells of his own, only to replicate those that have been Imparted to him. Therefore Initiates and Apprentices are able to use Mana Shaping techniques only in a certain Imparted way, which creates only those certain spells. Though, the technique Reshape Mana gives a bit more freedom for Apprentices. For most mages Mana Shaping techniques are too hard to grasp and therefore they cannot advance to Master. Fortunately for Initiates and Apprentices--such as yourself--they do not need to understand how to use these techniques or how they work. The knowledge on how to shape certain spells is always Imparted to them by their Masters, like I just described doing to you. These mages shape the spells automatically and as a reflex, simply copying them from their mind, without full knowledge of how it really works. It is called Imparted Shaping. For instance, does knowledge come to your mind when I discuss using the Reveal spell?" Michael nodded.

"You don't have to know how you do what you can do, just that you can do it. The specifics won't come until Adept, though a basic grasp of the concept will come at Apprentice, if you decide to go to those various stages." Michael nodded slowly. It was complex, but he was still following it. He was good at following complex thought, it was part of why he'd made a good Prefect along with his ability to notice details.

"And, to finish it up, releasing the spell. When the mage successfully shapes mana into a desired spell, all he has to do is release it upon a target, be it an object, person or even environment. The spell instantly begins to take effect, whereas the mage loses a portion of his Vis, which recovers over time. Right after releasing the spell, the mage loses Clara and can no longer see or interact with the Arcana world. In order to create another spell, he has to meditate all over again. However Adepts and higher level mages are able to maintain Clara even after releasing the spell if they have the Staff of Arcana or, in the case of Archmagi, have Evolved." Confusing as Aeternia, but somehow, Michael was following it all. He nodded, waiting for his instructor to continue.

[Michael Poe]

"So, now that you know the various techniques used to create a spell, I want you to do so. Meditate, then Focus, Channel, and Shape to reflexively cast Reveal on me...tell me what I'm thinking." Michael nodded. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Just as he had done the brightening before he slowly let his thoughts focus. About fifteen minutes later he found the spot, having reached Clara.

He opened his eyes and saw the floating clouds of naturally occuring Ara about him in the world. He reached out with his mind and pulled some of it towards him, while tapping into the source of energy he felt inside of him. He pushed energy--his Vis--out while pulling the Ara in, and combined and Focused it to create an Arcalysis. As they combined, flinging his mind to the Astral, he marvelled.

Woah... Then again, for someone who could walk his own dreams and change into a Night Drake as he slept, not nearly as shocking as it might otherwise had been...but he could see where it might catch others off guard. It also meant that using his mind and Will to accomplish things wasn't quite old hat to him, but he wasn't unfamiliar with it, so he grasped the requirements rather quickly. He sensed, from the Psionic Plane the Essence floating all about him, and could feel almost like a sort of lifeline or tether was holding him anchored to his body while letting him float free in the Psionic Plane. He reached out with his mind to the Essence and began to Channel it back through his tether. As he felt the amount reach its critical point, he felt that tether snap taught and drag him back into the Material Plane. Time resumed and he held his Vis-tinged Mana--essence brought to Telath and made usable--and began to shape it as he focused his thoughts on the Reveal spell he knew in his mind.

Though he didn't know it at the time, he was reflexively taking part of it and tethering it to his mind, and ran the energy into the Relequis' mind, Divining the energy, so that it would allow information to pass from one mind into the other. As he did so, he released the energy, and immediately felt a psychic bridge form between himself and his Master, reading Lyrit's thoughts.

"You've done well to come this far," his mind said, "Now that you know how to successfully cast, it's time for the final technique. Dispel." Michael frowned as he heard that.

"There's something you didn't tell me?" Lyrit cackled and nodded.

"I was saving it for you to read from my mind. Listen about it. Mages can undo non-permanent effects of a spell by slowly Unweaving the spell’s components with a portion of their Vis or by hastily breaking the spell with a larger amount of their Vis to the spell which is being Dispelled. This technique usually only works on spells cast by mages of the same proficiency level or lower. Over time and with practice, mages can become gifted and attuned to advanced Dispel techniques and develop countercurses that are capable of undoing the work of spells that were seemingly permanent, but in actuality had just long-lasting effects. Dispelling a spell of the same sphere hastily costs as much as casting one of the same level, Dispelling it slowly costs only half as much. Dispelling a spell from a different sphere costs twice as much as Dispelling one of the same sphere. Follow?" Michael nodded.

"Good...then Dispel Your Reveal. I know you just cast it and since its your own spell you can simply choose to end it and let the energy disappate, but I want you to get some Dispel experience under your belt. Alright?" Michael nodded again, and after a few minutes reached Clara again

"Alright, good...now, find your strands of mana you used to cast the spell, and slowly pick them apart. As a whole, the strands form a 'weave', which is another name a cast spell is known by...an arcane weave. What I want you to do, all at once--so it'll take all your remaining energy-- is take that weave and very quickly tug at it, pulling it apart, and letting it disappate." Michael nodded and, gathering all his Vis, reached out to his spell and, wrapping his own energy around it, let it infiltrate the spell so he could manipulate its energies. As he finished, he gave it one quick yank and the spell shattered, forcibly disconnecting Lyrit's mind with Michael's. Michael fell back in his chair, panting, the sweat from his exhaustion beading on his forehead.

"Well done," Lyrit beamed proudly, "You learned all that, and very quickly too! I'm pleased. Go, rest for the brightening. Starting on the morrow, when you come back with your fully replenished Vis, we can start teaching you all the spells in the Initiate spell list. Sound good?" Michael nodded, feeling like he'd just run several miles, and stood up, feeling his body scream with exhaustion.

"I think it's naptime," He commented dryly on his way out the door. Lyrit said nothing, merely gave him one of his patented murder giggles.

[Michael Poe]

When Michael arrived the next brightening, he entered the room, closing it softly, and turned to face Master Lyrit. The Relequis beamed energetically at his student's arrival, and bounced a bit, happily.

"Oh Serale, serale! Do come in! Please, sit, sit! Time to learn some spells!"

"Wow. You seem in a rush to start this morning. Eager to teach?" As Michael entered, he took a seat in the offered chair as Lyrit nodded energetically.

"That I am! Alright. As you prepare for Meditation, I'll tell you about the next spell you'll be learning. The first one is Awareness. According to standard texts, the Mystic can focus his psionic energies to sharpen his senses and broaden the horizons of his perception of the immediate vicinity in order to sense any illusions near him, break the guise of any invisibility, and detect any metaphysical or magical occurrence. What this means, of course, is that you can use it to help find illusions and invisible people, as well as any other non-mundane thing nearby. In this room I've hidden an enchanted object. I want you to try and find it."

As Michael slowly sank into Clara he nodded, focusing his mind on the beach that brightening...the sense of contentment he'd felt, he let his mind slip deeper and deeper. He'd practiced his meditation the darkening previous, and he felt it come to him a bit quicker. As he began to cast once more, creating the Arcalysis, he pulled the essence from the Psionic Plane and as he emerged, began to shape it as mana. Once again he moved on autopilot, crafting the spell, and divined the mana, infusing into his own mind with an arcane awareness that would help in detecting extra-natural occurrences, including spells.

As he did this, he stood, looking about the room as he felt his very awareness of the world enhanced. Almost as though in a constant state of Clara, but different. He couldn't see normal ara or vis, but he could feel a tugging on his mind to recognize a spell at work. He moved across the room to the window. Upon the sill he could feel a small object and reached down, picking it up. His eyes saw nothing, but he felt the weight of the item in his hand.

"That is an item I imbued...it's a small piece of volcanic rock. Yesterday you ripped apart your spell with Dispel, today I want you to pick it apart meticulously. It'll take some time, but it should also only take one spell's worth of vis, which should leave you able to do one more spell today." Michael nodded and, after several minutes and retaking his seat, he found Clara. He reached out to the hidden object that rest in his palm and could see the weave of the spell. Pulling his own energy out of him, he infused his vis into the spell, so that in doing so he could have subtle influence over the spell's direction. Bit by bit he picked the invisibility apart, until at last he felt it destabilize, not cohesive enough to retain its structure, and it collapsed completely, revealing a moderately-sized lump of craggy, misshapen volcanic rock. Michael looked up to Lyrit, who chittered a Murder Giggle excitedly, and as his paw reached out, the student obediently placed it back within the palm of the Master Mystic.

"Very good! Very very good! You're doing quite well, I assure you. Now, try and reach Clara again. The next spell you'll be working on is the one you just now pulled apart: Inivisbility. Using the power to bend the rays of perception, a Mystic can cloak herself or her companion in a field that will render the target invisible to the naked eye. The idea isn't that you make yourself invisible, it's simply that you get those around you to no longer see you. Fashion a field of energy around yourself that, when people look into it, it influences what they see to make them think that they see nothing. It is, essentially, the most basic form of illusion, but this single spell has countless uses and is oftentimes still used frequently by Masters and Archmystics around the Empire to slip into and out of where they wish to go. Go ahead and try it." Michael nodded, once again finding Clara and crafting an Arcalysis. Once he had the mana, he began to shape the psionic energy around him, giving it the sensation that any who beheld it that whatever was within the field simply didn't exist, forcing other minds to simply 'glaze' over his existence and not recognize his presence. As he released the spell, he didn't feel any different. As the caster he was exempt from his own mechanations, but Lyrit clapped excitedly.

"Oh, wonderful job! Simply wonderful! Now, thusfar you've only Dispelled your own spells. This time I want you to take the spell, which you still maintain a level of control over, and simply loosen it and let it dissolve. Since it's your spell, letting it dissipate is far easier then Dispelling every little thing you do, and takes none of your energy, since it's simply a manipulation of the control you have over your own magic to let it break apart." As he willed his spell to dissolve, he saw Lyrit's eyes focus on him once again rather than looking through where he'd once been, and the excited Relequis bounced again happily. Michael, on the other hand, felt exhausted. In a matter of a candlemark he'd used up all his stored vis, and he felt about ready to collapse. As he rest for a second in a chair, chest heaving and sweat dripping off his face, he glanced up at his instructor.

"My, my, you're taking to this artform quickly! Well done, Michael! Go get some rest, and we'll start again on the forebright." The human nodded, and began to stagger off weakly. This casting class was taking a toll on him, but he would do what he had to. He had always been that way, and he always would. Any means to an end.

[Michael Poe]

When Michael arrived the next brightening, he eyed his instructor wearily. He'd gone back to the Manor and slept like a log all darkening. This was exhausting work, and thusfar he only had three spells down.

"Excuse me, Lyrit, but how many spells are left to learn before I've completed Initiate?" Lyrit looked up and smiled brightly.

"Ah! Michael! Do come in! I was just finishing a few notes for a thesis I've been working on. But yes, your arcana...you've learned three, so you have six left. One more basic illusional spell--incredibly similar to Invisibility, really--and after that
we'll start learning spells that require an active target rather than passive magic.

"Speaking of, the final illusion spell is Objectify. The Mystic can transform herself into a simple, inanimate, inorganic object of same or lesser mass. The illusion is a temporary one, whose duration increases with the caster's proficiency. Illusions generate the same sensations of touch, feel, smell, sight and sound that they are intended to emulate. Really, it's almost identical to Invisibility, only instead of tricking those who see you into not seeing you, you're tricking those who see you into seeing something else. Instead of 'fuzzing' over their sight of your presence, you're instead changing what it is that they see, building a bit on the foundation of illusions you learned with Invisibility. Give it a try."

Michael nodded and tried sinking into Clara again. He was still practicing every darkening, and so it was coming easier and easier to him. When at last he found it and created the Arcalysis, pulling the mana to shape, he did the same as before. He fashioned a field with it around himself, and the energy of that field would interact with the mind of those who saw it and alter what they saw. Instead of seeing the human, they would instead see a small potted sapling about four feet in height, with a slender trunk, but who's branches extended out about as far as Michael's arms could reach...it would likely guarantee a wide berth by any passing by.

"Very good! Dissipate that and we'll move on to the next one." Michael did as he was told, letting the spell vanish, and listened intently as Lyrit went on to describe the next spell in the list.

"Now, we begin with the active magics rather than the passive. The next spell is called Suggestion. This one is a personal favorite of mine. This spell will enable the Mystic to emplant a short, brief suggestion in the mind of the target. The suggestion is usually a one-word feeling, sensation or thought that will likely ellicit a natural reaction. For example, the suggestion of hot might cause an enemy to drop a weapon. I want you to implant an emotive response in me...anyone that you like. Make sure it's short, and something that tempts reflex and instinct to kick in are all prime candidates." Michael nodded to his instructor and once again created energy through Arcalysis, and when he divined the energy into Lyrit's mind and released the spell, he saw the Relequis wince and keel back, shielding his eyes with his forearm. He blinked after a second, seemingly surprised at his own reaction, before looking up at Michael with wide, blinking eyes.

"Very well done! You implanted 'bright', didn't you?" Michael nodded, grinning."An excellent choice! It gives your target a moment of hesitation and even an instant of not being able to see you...which can be crucial in a battle or a sticky situation, helping aid in escape." Michael nodded, breathing heavily. At first it had felt like he had run as fast as he could through a marathon non-stop, but as his body was getting used to the sensation of using up his vis, he could feel himself becoming more accustomed to it, not unlike one's body getting used to running on a regular basis. It starts off exhausting, but eventually feels normal and regular.

"The last spell of the brightening is Spell Nullify. The concept here is quite a bit more complex than the other ones. The Mystic is able to counter a spell that has yet been cast by creating a field of psionic energy that is imbued with the spirit of coherence, for this field will anticipate the type of spell to be cast, and shall counter it. This spell functions only for spells cast at the same level, or lower, of proficiency as the Mystic caster. Essentially, what you're going to do is make a field of charged mana that attempts to counter incoming spells...a pre-prepared Dispel[i], in essence, that allows you to not just negate effects, but entire spells being used by your opponent. This is the first tier of what I like to call 'Anti-Magic', where the focus is not on casting a spell for a desired effect, but casting a spell to counter your opponent's. Once you're done I'll try an attack on you that hopefully your spell should cancel out."

Michael nodded and pulled energy from the Astral to make mana once more, and then shaped it into a field that encompassed the area. Once the field was created, he simply charged it with preparedness, making it so that it would spring into action and attempt to counter any arcanic weave that appeared into place. As the spell took shape he released it, and felt it snap into existance around him as Clara was removed.

"Good, good," Lyrit responded, and in a matter of seconds he shaped a Psionic Orb and flung it at Michael. Before the orb could strike, however, Michael's Nullification sprang into place, pulling the spell apart the instant it coalesced, and it sputtered out of existence an instant later. Again he felt tired, but it wasn't the knock-down, drag-out tired he'd felt on the first brightenings...now it was simply more of a bone-weariness.

"Very effective...alright, we're done for the brightening. Once again we'll pick back up on the forebright, and you'll learn your last trio of spells, including the one I just tried to use on you, Psionic Orb." Michael nodded and departed, feeling the exhaustion within him but finally adjusting to its effects so that it didn't make him completely worthless the rest of the brightening. He still had things to do, after all.

[Michael Poe]

"The last three spells are the most aggressive, and can cause the worst problems if they go wrong," Lyrit began. As was requested Michael arrived the next brightening, ready to learn his final conglomeration of spells. And, as was usual, Lyrit had greeted him with an overabundance of energy. They had taken a few moments to do a recap of what was learned so far before Lyrit was launching into his explaination.

"So, because of that, I have brought someone with me...my apprentice Patsy. Show yourself, Patsy." As the illusion of Invisibility faded, a half-elven woman who had bright, green eyes and long flame-red hair stood before Michael. She looked very energetic, and like she had an attention deficit problem rather similar to Lyrit.

"Alright, Michael. Feel free to start off with Terrify. Activating the emotion of fear, the Mystic can implant a sensation of terror into the heart of her desired target. If the target responds, it shall panic and attempt to flee, though this sensation of terror only lasts for a brief period of time. This is quite similar to Suggestion, only with a much stronger connocation on negative emotion and panic. Give it a whirl." Michael nodded uncertainly before turning to face Patsy. She grinned and nodded, showing it was okay, and so he sighed, reaching for Clara A few moments later, when he had the mana, he began to shape the spell. He divined the energy and planted it in her mind, infusing it with the sensation of absolute terror and fright. Not the 'monsters under my bed' kind of scary. The 'blind panic that makes you run screaming and lose all sense of shame' scary. As he released the spell, letting the sensation flood her, He saw her eyes widen and her slender frame begin to shake. She wavered in absolute horror and turned to try and flee. She couldn't get very far, wound up going into the corner of the room and curling up into a ball.

Lyrit Dispelled the work, and as sensibilities returned to her, she realized what she was doing and stood up. She smoothed out her dress before moving forward, and standing before Michael once more. Oddly, she seemed completely unperturbed about what had just happened, and he wondered how often Lyrit used her for a guinea pig for his other students...and just how many of those there were.

"Very good. Now, on to the next spell, Enfeeblement. Mystic can instill a psionic inhibitor into the mind of a single opponent, effectively hindering that opponent's strength and dexterity, affecting endurance and making them appear sluggish, clumbsy and weak. This is great to use in concert with Alacrity, but that spell won't be learned until Adept-level. Anyway, this spell is different from Suggestion in that you aren't fooling their brain into working slower, you are actually making it happen. You're closing down the channelways of their mind and how it connects to their body, and in so doing you are putting a sort of 'stopgap' on it, making it not function as well as they want it to. They'll still be able to think clearly, their body just won't respond as properly as it should. Go ahead."

Yet again Michael nodded, and yet again he followed Lyrit's instructions, taking the mana he eventually created and divining it into the part of Patsy's mind that controlled motor functions, letting the psionic nature of the energy wreak havoc and make her unable to move her body properly. As the spell was completed and released he nodded to Patsy, who tried to move. Her movements were slow and ponderous, and she seemed weak and sluggish. Lyrit nodded.

"Very well done! Dissipate the spell and we'll move on!" Once he did so, Lyrit began his final bit of spellcrafting instruction.

"Last, and certainly the most dangerous, is Psionic Orb. You saw me try to use this on you yesterbright when your Spell Nullify cancelled it. Focusing her own neural energies, the Mystic can launch a small sphere of psychic shock in the form of a psionic orb. When the orb strikes an opponent at close range, it delivers a stun that deals both damage and immobilizes the creature. Essentially, you're evoking an orb of psionic essence, and letting that psionic energy, in it's purest form, essentially damage their mind and freezing up their neural pathways to immobilize them temporarily. Give it a try." Michael blinked and glanced at Patsy.

"Are you sure..." Patsy just nodded, smiling, and Michael sighed and shrugged, trying to slip once more back into Clara. Once he had the energy, he evoked it's raw power, then as he released the spell, launched it forward. It slammed into poor Patsy's head and she collapsed on the ground, twitching and writhing as her face curled in pain.

"Patsy!" Michael shouted, staggering forward, before Lyrit waved his hand.

"She'll be fine. She's been through a ton of those. Don't worry about her, one Psionic Orb won't kill. More importantly, your spell list is done. This is the fifth brightening of your training...you have another five. For the next five brightenings you will come in and practice your spells. Each brightening we will discuss two spells at a time and their various uses, and you'll get to practice them each again, but that's critical thinking. Your actual learning is done. You are now a full fledged Initiate Mystic, and once these next five brightenings are done, you will be able to cast as well--if not better--than any other one in the Empire." Michael nodded, proud, momentarily forgetting poor Patsy.

"Now...go home and get some rest. The next five brightenings will be much more languorous, so you don't need to worry about them as much...it's more practical use and arcana theory than anything else." Michael nodded and turned, departing proudly, though tiredly.

He...was a Mystic.

[Mystic]

Mr. Poe ... nice grasp of Arcana Fundamentals.

Thread Approved ... 2XP awarded