A sense of eagerness permeated the air as students ventured into their respective clubs for the first time. Kendell, alongside a wave of freshmen headed to their respective club rooms.
He waved bye to Coli as he split off to go into the Fey Club classroom. As he walked in he heard people yell Coli's name in excitement, it was clear Coli had found a good group to learn from.
Kendell continued walking till he found the Ritualist Club, each step filled with anticipation. He was hoping there was going to be easy access to a large variety of unique rituals.
As he entered the club room, Kendell's eyes widened at the sight.
The room was a chaotic mixture of a traditional classroom and a magician's lair, adorned with shelves of ancient books, artifacts, and numerous ritual circles etched into different sections of the floor.
The walls were lined with blackboards that detailed diagrams of various rituals, and the air hummed with a palpable sense of magical energy.
The club president, a senior named Marissa, greeted them with a warm smile. "Welcome to the Ritualist Club! Here, we delve deep into the art of rituals, learning not just to perform them but to understand and counter them as well. Come in come in! Once all the freshmen are here we will get started."
There was already a freshman sitting near the door, clearly nervous about not knowing anyone else in the room.
With a small small Kendell sat down next to them and waited for the rest to show up.
Then the door opened and a tall kid with flaming red hair walked into the room.
"Leon Tilanaz! Welcome welcome, please have a seat with the other freshmen and after one more student gets here we will get started."
'Holy shit Leo is in this club too? Why the hell is he here, shouldn't he be in the duelist club like Celia or some similarly competitive club?'
As Leo looked over at them he glared at Kendell and sat down in the seat furthest away.
Once the final student arrived and sat down the session began.
They started off with introductions, where each member, new and old, shared their names and interests in ritualism.
The president stood and explained how this would work, "Ok so freshmen you're up first, please say your name and what path you are thinking about. Then explain why you want to be part of our club!"
Kendell took the initiative and stood up, "Hi my name is Kendell and I am interested in becoming a Devil Contractor. I am very new to the world of rituals, but am very interested in learning unique rituals to gain a higher understanding of how they work so I can make my own powerful rituals."
Then before anyone could react to Kendell's statement, Leo stood up forcefully. Clearly determined to not be outdone by this kid who took the apprenticeship that should have been his not only by his talent but by birthright as well.
"My name is Leon Tilanaz, I am already on the path to become a Fey Contractor, but I want to separate from my family and find a unique Fey to bond with, and to do that I hope that ancient rituals will point me in the right direction."
His statement got a few murmurs of appreciation from the senior members.
After the murmurs died down Aiden and Elara, who expressed their fascination with devil and fey rituals respectively, introduced themselves as well.
The two were actually twins! However, they were incredibly different in terms of personality and looks.
One was a shy, brunette who was determined to learn more about devils and their power in spell rituals. However, the other was a punk looking, red haired girl who wanted to summon pixies and learn the secrets to Fey Summoning.
After they went, the remaining members all discussed their current paths and goals with the club. Roughly fifteen of the twenty other members were in there for initiation and they all explained some of the things they have done to help further the club.
Marissa then announced the initiation for the new members. "In the Ritualist Club, we believe in learning through experience. So, for your initiation, we will teach you a small ritual we just recently decoded from an ancient book."
Kendell's turn came, and he stepped forward to get enveloped with a gentle, blue light. As the energy enveloped him, he felt a surge of calmness and clarity.
"This ritual will enhance your focus for learning the ritual," The president explained, "Now attempt to draw the diagram we gave you."
Kendell focused and drew the ritual in the air, as he drew it he tried to decipher how the flow of energy was supposed to go so he could direct the ritual energy properly.
As he tried to understand it he felt it was easier compared to anytime he has tried to decipher it before. This concentration ritual was clearly very powerful.
Once he finished the ritual circle, he pushed the ritual energy into the circle accordingly and a small map of the surrounding 30 meters appeared glowing in front of him. It was a three dimensional model of the surrounding space!
Seeing his impressed reaction, Marissa smugly explained, "This allows us to see a map of places near us, it's especially good for infiltration. Current rituals perform much better for detecting people nearby, but the art of showing the space nearby was lost. We are hoping that with this, we can combine it with current ritual magic to gain an understanding of not just a map or the people nearby- but their locations in that space."
Kendell's eyes went wide, this club was even better than he thought! The ability to learn how to craft rituals and find lost ritual knowledge was huge, and with his system maybe he can abuse this fusion feature since he can instantly understand the ancient rituals.
After the initiation, Marissa led them on a tour of the club room, explaining the purpose of each section. "We have areas dedicated to studying, practical application, and even mock duels. Our club's strength does not just lie in our ability to learn the rituals of the past, but to adapt and counter any ritual we come across from our immense ritual knowledge."
"Speaking of, I will allow our senior members to demonstrate our clubs prowess," With a nod two senior members stood up.
The duel would be between the two senior members who stood up, Tanya and Marcus. Tanya was known for her mastery of enhancement rituals, while Marcus specialized in illusion-based counters.
The duel captured the entire room's attention, setting an electrifying stage for what was to be an exemplary display of ritual combat prowess. This was the first time any of the freshmen would witness a real duel between seniors!
Tanya, known for her formidable enhancement rituals, began by invoking a ritual that shimmered around her, a spectacle of light that seemed to weave into her very muscles and sinews. Her body glowed with a faint white light, and small curling horns appeared on the side of her head.
Her physical form visibly augmented, she exuded an aura of raw power and speed. Each movement was a blur, demonstrating her enhanced reflexes and agility. She proceeded to cast two more rituals at light speed and her hands began glowing different colors.
A flaming red and orange aura covered her left hand while a sinister green aura enveloped her right.
On the other hand, Marcus, an adept of illusion-based rituals, created a serene contrast. He began his ritual with a series of intricate hand gestures, and slowly, multiple images of himself started to materialize around the arena. These copies were so lifelike and synchronized with Marcus's movements that it became nearly impossible to distinguish the real one from the illusions.
Each different form then began casting a different ritual circle as the duel began.
The duel commenced with Tanya's swift advance. She lunged towards one of Marcus's copies, her green fist trailing a gust of wind, only to phase through it, realizing it was an illusion.
Marcus, using this opportunity, manipulated another copy to flank her, forcing Tanya to quickly pivot and parry an imaginary strike.
Marcus's strategy was clear – to disorient and exhaust Tanya, using his illusions to keep her constantly on the defensive.
As soon as one copy went down another took its place.
He maneuvered his copies with a maestro's precision, each one mirroring his movements but also seemingly acting independently, adding layers to the complexity of his deception.
Tanya, undeterred, adapted her strategy. She closed her eyes for a moment, centering herself amid the chaos of Marcus's illusions. When she opened them again, her eyes gleamed with a new intensity, a sign she was tapping deeper into her enhancement ritual, probably heightening her other senses to compensate for the visual trickery.
She launched into a series of high-speed attacks, her movements becoming a whirlwind of strikes, each punctuated with bursts of enhanced strength. Her fists trailing flames and wind, which seemed to enhance each others power.
Each flaming strike that was followed by a wind strike would fan the flames into a bright column of flaming energy.
As she engaged Marcus's copies, she began to pick up on subtle discrepancies – a slight delay in a copy's reaction, a minor deviation in movement – using these cues to hone in on the real Marcus.
Marcus, realizing his illusions were becoming less effective, finally finished the ritual he had been preparing while Tanya was distracted.
He suddenly dispelled all his copies, enveloping the arena in a brief moment of disorienting darkness. When the light returned, Tanya found herself surrounded both above and below by circles of arcane symbols – a trap laid by Marcus.
The floor began to grow with otherworldly energy and above Tanya's head the circle opened and the large maw of a demon appeared.
Its fangs barred withing its gaping mouth as it descended through the sky towards her head while the circle she stood on began to weave chains across it to hold her in place.
But Tanya was quick to react and the trap did not have enough time to fully form. She channeled her ritual energy into a burst of speed, breaking free from the encirclement just as the chains approached her, creating a shockwave that rippled across the arena.
In the final exchange, as Marcus reappeared, poised to strike with a mock spell, Tanya, now anticipating his move, countered with a swift uppercut of fire that caught him off-guard, halting his spellcasting.
The duel ended with both standing in the center of the arena, breathing heavily, a mutual respect evident in their eyes.
Tanya's hand lay directly in front of Marcus' face while Tanya appeared to be in yet another trap circle.
Marcus extended his hand, "Impressive, Tanya. Your ability to adapt and overcome illusions is remarkable. If you were just a tad slower you would've been eaten haha."
Tanya shook his hand, smiling. "And your illusions, Marcus, they're more than just deception. They're an art. Just not as beautiful as my rituals," she grinned widely.
Clearly these two had tested their abilities against each other often.
The club erupted into applause at the clever display, impressed by Marcus's ability to counter a seemingly overpowering enhancement ritual with his chains and confusion.
The display allowed Kendell to gain more ideas about the strength of high level rituals, as well as ways to utilize his own illusion powers. This club will clearly be incredibly helpful in all forms of his growth.
The other freshmen were equally shocked and excited by the duel. They were looking in aw at their seniors and their abilities.
The club president and turned to face them, "Now, feel free to talk to any of us about what we do or get started helping us with dissecting some rituals!"
"To stay a part of the club you must contribute something meaningful by the end of each midterm. As freshmen you do not have to do this for your first midterm here, but for your second we do expect you to contribute something. Now explore! I hope you enjoy your time here and learn with us."