The tall elven smith walked to the crystalline globe. Von watched as the Oren examined the demon core, he reached out with a silver metallic aura trying to sense what metal it was most likely to meld with. Due to its size, he knew it was unlikely to require any metal, but to be safe, he wanted to know. After a few moments, sweat beaded on his forehead and he eventually retracted his aura from the sphere. "What shape would you like the helm to be?"
Thinking for a moment, he remembered the tapestries showing wizard-knights decked out in the resplendent armor of their occupation. "I want the helm to look like that of the wizard-knights from the tapestries in Blackstone." He sent an image with his mind of the two wall hangings of the ancient wizard-knights fighting against the Fell horde which stood in the grand hall of Blackstone keep.
Receiving these thoughts, Oren was curious. The armor worn by the knights appeared to be an evolution of the suits they were designing now for the same purpose. Of course, being many centuries removed from Yendora, the armor they were making had likely evolved into something exactly like the image the boy sent to him. "It will take a day or two to create the patterns. Then I can begin the work proper. I will also need a few more wizards to assist in creating the focus, but they are readily available here. Would you mind waiting a few days before you receive it?" Normally, a great helm would take a day or two to create, but this was a new masterpiece and much more preparation was needed before he could think about melting the heart, let alone shaping it into the helmet.
"I still have much to learn anyway. Though, I would like to learn how to make a storage bag, or ring, or space first. I may have a number of things I want to take with us when we return to our Marsgate. Archmage Alendoria, can you help me learn these things?"
Hearing her name, the lovely elven woman smiled as she made her way to the youth. "Honestly, master Von, I would be honored. Anyone here would be honored to be known as the instructor to someone who single handedly vanquished a demon lord. Allowing me to be your first teacher is a great honor!"
"Second instructor," came a voice from behind. "I was his first. I spent several days aiding the boy to open his skills in chronomancy, but I think your skills may be of more immediate use during his travels." Poralis beamed with delight at the gain his reputation would get if it became known his student destroyed a demon lord even if he didn't use any of the skills learned from him in the process.
Alendoria laughed at their rivalry. Time magic and spatial magics were similar in many ways and the effect were often indistinguishable from one another. Moving significantly faster than time and teleportation looked identical to the uninitiated. Spatial invisibility and temporal camouflage again appeared to have the same effect. Blinking through objects and temporal bypass both allowed one to appear to move through object. One by compressing the space between the two sides, the other by shifting either the object or oneself to a time when it wasn't present. May of the effects seemed the same, but the amount of magical power they took could vary significantly between the two methods. Each school had their own specialties unmatched by the other, and these were what made them both viable magics.
"Alright, second instructor, but definitely the better looking one." She winked at the boy, before continuing. "Tomorrow after lunch, I have time to spare. I will help you learn about dimensional pockets, help you to actively learn about spatial telekinesis, then, we can combine our time and help you learn to better control your time fields. The schools together can more easily create an effect called spatial time paralysis by weaving the two forces together, it becomes stronger than either alone."
"Well, if you won't have time until the afternoon, I will happily fill in some of the grand hatchling's time in the morning. Yours too, Monica." The ancient tortoise said hoping he would take him up on the matter. "After you battle yesterday, I believe you two could use a bit of apotropaic magics in your repertories. Protective magics are important in any battle and the basics can be learned by almost anyone with a bit of skill. You should both be able to learn a shielding spell and a thought shield. I will also attempt to help you learn an anti-possession rune as well."
"Those would all be nice, Master Alden." Monica beamed with joy. "Just think, if you knew how to do those yesterday, you might have still been standing, V."
Thinking along those same lines, Von repeated her sentiment. "We will be there in the morning, Master Alden."
Stephan, the man with the spiked green hair, wandered through the door. Passing the group, he stood before Von kneeling to chat with him at eye level. "Von, I want to thank you for saving Mistress Trapper. Since she's not awake to reward you herself, I brought you a few small tokens of the gratitude of the other instructors. With the exception of a temporal and earth focus, we know you didn't have any despite your affinities ranging to every affinity we can test in a being at the testing arena."
"Honestly, until recently, I didn't know anything about focuses. I discovered them through Archmage Poralis, then Daegal at the refectory explained a little more about them and I discovered I could attune to more than one."
"Well, I know you had a common tier geomancy focus, and a pretty large chronomancy focus. As a reward, I scoured the colleges throughout the academy to find unused foci and acquired some for you. From my school, I brought you an apprentice level focus called a thought shield." He handed Von a small mirror shield hung between two pieces of swamp wood like a mirror one might find in a bedroom but capable of fitting in the palm of their hand. Looking at the small shield, he could see a number of carvings on the back of the where the enarmes or straps on the inside of the shield were located. Even the tiny leather straps had sigils carved into them.
Still not hearing from his system, his worry deepened. He was waiting for it to ask if he wanted to attune or absorb it, but still no words came into his mind. Using chronomancy to dilate time in his area only, he began the process of centering his mind. Focusing his breathing he removed all mundane thoughts to ensure his mind was cleared any distractions. With the shield before him, he slipped his pinky finger through the enarmes while envisioning his aura enveloping the new focus.
Closing his eyes, he felt the subtle yet palpable sensation of energy enveloping his hand as he made mental contact with the shield. He felt an ethereal connection was forming between his own mental energies and those residing within the shield as he experienced vivid visual impresses associated with aspects of his mind.
Continuing, a barely perceptible hum, or perhaps he should call it a murmur filled his mind as if the focus was whispering its secrets directly into his mind. Feeling this and remembering the attack by the demon, anxiety and doubt began to fill his mind. Quickly, the energy from the shield could be felt trying to force back these feelings of uncertainty filling him with a deep emotional serenity removing the negative feelings and leaving behind a profound stillness. This new emotional calmness created by the connection became a foundation upon which the attunement process unfolded, allowing for better focus and connection, almost as if the shield wanted to become a part of him.
During this state of peace, his perception began to extend well beyond his body taking note of each mind within the room. Focusing slightly on each one, he was easily able to recognize Monica nearby and others he had become familiar with simply by focusing on their minds. While he didn't dare intrude on their thoughts, he could feel each mind as belonging to a unique individual. What surprised him was he could feel the birds on the balcony and distinguish their minds as well as those within the room.
As the attunement progressed, he felt a growing sense of unity with the thought shield. The shield somehow felt less like an inanimate object; it was transforming into a responsive ally, attuned to his thoughts and intentions, almost as if it too had a mind. During this transformation gentle pulses of energy coursing could be felt through his being, synchronizing him with the shield. These pulses seemed to serve as markers of progress, indicating the successful integration of their mental energies with the protective essence of the thought shield. The longer his mind and aura mingled and intertwined with the shield, the more harmonious the alignment became as their intentions bonded becoming one.
As the attunement neared completion, Von felt a sense of accomplishment and assurance. He intuitively recognized the thought Shield was attuned to him, he discovered its primary purpose was to provide protection against mental and psychic attacks reflecting these harmful intrusions back to the sender. Now that the two were attuned to each other, he felt an excitement as the shield was ready to serve as a guardian against psychic intrusions.
Removing the time dilation effect surrounding him, he smiled as he slowed. "I have attuned to the shield. I now truly wish I had it yesterday. Thank you, Stephan!"