It took another two weeks for the infirmary to let me go, and break had already started. Devin and Laura stayed at the school and my parents were living in my tree, we had a real birthday party for Laura and me, and then break ended unceremoniously. It was time for the second benchmark, I had been studying ever since I could lift a book above my head in the infirmary.
I scored:
Eneruology III: B+
Imbuement: A (Top Student)
Runic Language III: A
Alchemy: A (Top Student, Shared)
Dueling: A-
Life Preparation: C
Expanded Casting Types: D
Aptitude: Second Stage 33% (Top Student)
"Aww, man! I really got a D?! I haven't gotten one of those in a while."
"Crazy, what did you get it in?" Devin asked
"Expanded Casting. I thought I knew what I was talking about with Blood Glyphs, but they are completely different than runes, the only reason I didn't get an F was because of Flow Manipulation."
"I got a C in Expanded Casting, but that's only because of Flow Manipulation, I bombed that one."
"What's with all the jargon? Explain so I know what you're talking about." Laura was listening but had no idea what was going on.
"Flow Manipulation is an evolution of Intuitive Manipulation, and Blood Glyphs are like better runes that hurt because they're drawn in blood."
"I probably should've studied those, I just figured I would just use runes."
"Runes and Intuitive Manipulation are the bare minimum, to really use Eneru you need more."
"At least I'm the top student in Dueling and... Alchemy? I hadn't even touched an alchemy set before this, I just thought the book on it was cool."
"Sounds to me like the spark of passion! It's just like the first time I designed an engine!"
"What's an engine?"
'Shit, wrong life! I gotta make an engine now!'
"Just something I'm working on for graduation."
"Cool, what does it do?"
Devin interjected "What am I? A third wheel?"
'Nice save.'
"Nah, what did you get top student in?"
"Eneruology III and Runic Language."
"Let's go study, I need to memorize the blood glyphs," I said
And we did.
"There are only six glyphs, but they are complicated, all but one represent a god. there is Truth, Order, Knowledge, Mercy, Beast, and the last one is your name. When using Eneru, there is always some way to cast using your name. the method to name-cast Intuitive Manipulation has yet to be discovered, but with Flow Manipulation, you have to run the flow of world energy through your core."
"The thing about name casting was that it was completely dependent on how much of a conceited jerk you are, the more you believe you are powerful, the more power you get. Plus, if you cast with your name too much, you can deteriorate your name and if you do that too much then you will lose your sense of self and become a vegetable."
"No big deal right, just completely lose yourself." Devin joked, then gave the signal that he just made a reference from another world.
I gave a fake chuckle and moved on.
"The table of contents says that we will learn Flow Manipulation, Blood Glyphs, Short-Imbuement, and Verbal Empowerment."
"Alright, give us a rundown of each of those."
"Flow Manipulation allows the user to directly affect the World Energy in their spells allowing them to give extra effects to their spells."
"So it's a modifier for other spells?" Devin asked
"Not only that, but it allows for personal flight without a glider and other creative uses. Up next is Blood Glyphs, each one of your glyphs can hold one runic spell and will empower it when you cast it using a glyph depending on how well you connect to the god of that glyph."
"So it can be used for quick, powerful casting. Right?" Devin said, excited
"Yes, but using it too much will cause blood-loss and all of the disadvantages that come with that. Next is Short-Imbuement, in this branch, you extend your spirit's form to an object, imbuing it with your affinity. For Laura it would catch fire with flames that don't harm anything she doesn't want them to, Devin, plants that he can control without using Eneru would form, and for me, I have no idea."
"That seems useful for us partially martial mages." Laura said
"Very. Last up is Verbal Empowerment, this branch is very simple, just say the name of the rune out loud and it will empower it. Its downside is that it costs double the Eneru to cast the rune."
"That sounds like the kind of thing you would use for large units of mages."
"Yes, exactly what I was thinking, lets quiz each other on what we just learned."
After a lot of studying, I tried to get into my workshop for some experiments with engines, but I found a paper at the door.
Dear Ingen,
I've locked your workshop with an array, you need to stop spending so much time in there and start socializing, people are starting to think of you as the weird recluse.
Love, Your father, Ernest.
I tried opening the door but it did as advertised and wouldn't open.
'Spirit, can you open it?'
'No, he is using a different energy signature.'
"It can't be helped, I guess I'm on mandated vacation." I turned around and started towards the common room I had never bothered to go into.
When I entered I heard a lot of whispering and caught many glances.
'Your dad was right, basically, everyone in here is talking about how weird you are.'
'Remind me why I should socialize with a bunch of jerks who judge me without knowing a thing about me?'
'So they know you and won't judge you.'
I reached a chair next to an enchanted Item that could play music and called Orin out of my spirit core and onto my lap. I turned on the 'radio' and started to relax. After a while, people warmed up to my presence and started to come over and play with Orin, then me, and soon I was playing Cest, a game where you had to hit a ball at a net with a racket with a bunch of first-years.
'This isn't so bad.'
'Don't lie to yourself, you would kill to be in your workshop.'