Nick hurried to his dorm room and got there at about 2 pm. He opened his new booklet of laws and took a close look at it. He was right before about it being barely readable. Valteese looks like a variation of Asian symbols but different somehow. He could make out a few of the symbols but as a whole it seemed like gibberish.
(More like rubbish...)
(Anyway, now that I have a book of laws that is supposed to be modifiable, I have focus my efforts on learning Valteese. After I finish reading the book on Valteese I should get a book on mindscapes to see how I would be able to alter the meditation technique that I got from the school.)
Nick looked at the meditation technique as well and the process looked simple enough. It only stated that one needed to study the words of the meditation which were all in Valteese and chant them while sitting quietly, taking deep breaths, and focusing on one's mind. The problem was...the words of the meditation also seemed like gibberish except that they were represented in English letters as opposed to Valteesian letters.
(Since the mindscape was so important, who in their right minds would chant these words without knowing what they mean? Well most of the people in my year are around my age and should probably be really excited to learn magic..still, I'm not going to use this meditation technique as it is, I'm going to try to change it to suit my needs.)
When Nick thought about all the work that was ahead of him, a vein became visible on his forehead.
(I have to do this in small steps, first things first, I have to learn thoroughly Valteese.)
With that thought, Nick took out the book on Valteese and started reading. When it became 6:30 pm he went to the cafeteria for food and returned to his dorm where he read one of his math texts for 3 hours. When it was about 10 pm, he went to bed.
On Tuesday morning Nick got up at 3 am, did his push ups and read his book on Valteese until 7 am, at which point he showered, got dressed, had a meal at the cafeteria and made his way to his next class.
(Today is combat simulation. The teacher will show us magic used in a combat scenario. Some of the students might even get to show off their own magic.)
On his way to the combat field where the class would be held, he actually saw some of his classmates hovering to class instead of walking.
"Some people can't help but show off their newly awakened powers."
Nick looked beside him to see a woman his age walking beside him. She was probably speaking out loud.
"Oh, was I thinking out loud again. My name is Cindy Reece and I think we are going to the same place. The people you see hovering probably just formed their mindscape, carved out their first laws, learnt a little spell and Bob's your uncle, they're using their magic."
"How do you know that they just formed their mindscape. They could have learnt that spell a long time ago and are just using it today?"
"Are you a pleb? Oh, sorry that was rude. Well...to answer your question, most families with Magicians usually forbid their relatives from forming their mindscape until they are within a magic academy. This is a practice supported by the government and other humanitarian groups so as not to harm children in their formative years. So most persons would be without a meditation technique to form their mindscape until the academy gave them one, after all if they wanted to improve their mindscape they could have their family send them a better meditation technique after they have gotten use to the feeling of controlling magic. Anyway, the meditation technique that the school gave us has a flaw, that is, magic processed from the basic mindscape that it produces gives off a certain feeling that is commonly known. As for the hover spell, you can easily recognize that it is the one from the academy's magical archives office because their is also a certain sensation that it gives off that's unmistakable. I even saw plenty of our classmates buying the spell when I visited the office yesterday."
Nick was confused.
"Why would the academy's techniques and spells be so easily identifiable? Also, what exactly is this sensation that they give off, how comes you are able to feel it but I cannot?"
"You really are a pleb, the academy purposely puts those flaws in their techniques and spells to either force its students to improve them or find or create their own. At least that's just how it is until we are third years, then the academy stops doing that because at that point we would probably be faced with life or death battles which would get very sticky if the opposing side knew what our tricks were. As for how I feel the sensation...."
Cindy shrugged her shoulders and said:
"I've already formed my mindscape but not with the academy's technique. When your mindscape is able to process magic, you will also have a certain sensitivity to the magical disturbances around you."
Nick looked at Cindy seriously and squinted his eyes.
"Is it fine for you to tell me all these things?"
Nick didn't know why but he felt suspicious about this woman's ramblings, they were helpful...too helpful.
Cindy shrugged her shoulders.
"Just making polite conversation old chap and its fine if I tell you about my mindscape. Probably most people you meet have already formed one, either due to preparation or excitement. Don't be so stiff"
She proceeded to pat Nick on the back thrice. Nick jumped away from her, staring almost menacingly.
"Don't ever touch me."
Cindy looked visible surprised.
"A little sensitive, are we? Fine, I'll be more mindful next time."
Nick loosened up and said:
"As long as you understand. Anyway, thank you for the information."
"No problem mister sensitive. See you in class."
With that, Cindy also started hovering her way to class. Nick reacted before to Cindy patting his back because he honestly didn't like when people touched him and he didn't like touching other people.
(Old wounds I guess.)
The combat field was actually just a slightly large gymnasium with fortified walls and a retractable roof. It was certainly spacious inside as 30 plus students stood there with what seemed like a national soccer field in front of them. A tall, burly man stood before the students staring down at them.
"My name is Thompson Varrow and I will be your combat instructor, you are to refer to me as Mr. Varrow at all times or else you and I will have problems."
Varrow said that with an expressionless but impactful face.
"For todays class, I will be showing you combat spells, so watch carefully. This one is called 'Earth Uprising'"
Varrow proceeded to lower himself quickly and punch the ground. A slab of stone fifteen feet away then violently rose out of the ground into the sky. If someone was standing there, they definitely would have probably been broken apart by the velocity and hardness of the impact.
"You will notice that during the entire process you saw no laws being written to produce the effect you just saw but laws are necessary in order to cast spells, the spells themselves are made of laws. The more complex a spell, the more laws it contains. Can someone tell me how I cast a spell without visibly carving laws."
A middle aged man in a tan jacket with a shaved ahead stood up and answered:
"Mr. Varrow, that's because you formed the laws temporarily in your mindscape, combined them into a coherent spell and projected them in an instant when you punched the ground ."
CLAP!
Varrow gave one loud clap and replied:
"Yes, that's correct. That is how most combat spells and even other spells work. No one would stand and watch you carve out your laws in the air or on the ground for them to take effect, so most spell casting is done by forming the laws within your mindscape and projecting them out onto reality in an instant. Normally you would only see people creating magic circles and inscriptions before casting spells in video games and TV shows, after all for those of us with unique laws if you have an especially astute opponent, showing him your laws might just give him the chance to copy or break them like how if a programmer showed a hacker their code, the hacker would have no problem breaking their program..."
Varrow lectured for about 30 minutes on battle tactics before using another spell. This one was a fire related spell that he used to inflame a grass puppet 20 feet away from us. It was spectacular in its own way. Near the end of class, Varrow shouted:
"Is there anyone that wants to try out one of their combat spells on this old man. I know that most of you are in some way new to magic. Don't be shy."
Varow smiled. It was the first time that Thompson Varrow had shown a smile since class began. Nick stood at the back observing the seen, guessing on what was about to happen.
"I will challenge you!"
The same middle aged man from before stood up and literally jumped towards the field to stand in front of Varrow. That jump was clearly done using magic.
"Wow...you got some skills, whats your name."
Varrow said with a sarcastic expression.
"Jean Raymond, Mr. Varrow"
"Okay Jean, these are the rules: cast any magic spell you want, If one of them hits me, you win. I won't use any defensive measures through out the match. Begin!"
With that Varrow took a few small steps forward. Jean then took ten steps back and clasped his hands, his eyes shone a little and a figure of light seemed to manifest right in front of him. This figure was ten feet tall, almost looked like Jean and was shining with a crimson light. Even Nick who had not formed his mindscape could feel the magic energy that the figure was radiating. Varrow stopped walking forward and squinted his eyes.
"You seem to have more than just 'some' skills. Please proceed."
Varrow said with a playful smile.
Jean look visibly strained while maintaining his spell but persevered. He shouted:
"You lose."
The figure of light in front of Jean opened its mouth and shot out a crimson ray of light towards Varrow. The air around us seemed to visibly heat up. Nick thought:
(With such a short distance between them there is no way that Varrow can dodge this. Considering the rules of the match, is he really going to lose?)
Just before the crimson light reached Varrow, however, Varrow ever so slightly flicked his wrist towards the figure of light and its attack. The attack and the figure of light then shattered like they were made of glass. In the next millisecond, Varrow disappeared and reappeared right in front of Jean; without giving Jean time to react, Varrow reached out his hand, grabbed Jean by the head and slammed his face into the ground. Varrow said slowly but loudly:
"You lose."
The match ended in eleven seconds. Everyone, including Nick stood there with mouth agape.