Day 1: Class is now in Session

Out of everyone in the room, Ade felt like she looked the least excited. That may have had something to do with her not putting on her usual smirk, which intimidated people and made them think she took nothing seriously. She was in this class to learn, and that meant taking it as seriously as possible. By now, she should have known more magic than she was born with, yet she focused so much on technology she fell behind in her studies. How stupid of her. It should not take her long to catch up, however. As an oricenta, she had an easy time absorbing and storing away information. It was practically food to her, and as necessary to her mental health as eating and cleaning herself was to her physical health.

Unconventional Magic sounded like her type of study anyway. A wand, staff, or any other accessory did not fit her personality, but using enchantments, rituals, and runes might as well have been made for her. Seeing the teacher display the magic to the class only heightened her excitement, but as usual, she played it off, only looking mildly impressed. The display was not what she wanted to learn, but she was already coming up with ways it could be helpful. Being able to teleport items closer and changing the form of items would no doubt have their uses in her daily life.

It was about time Ade spoke up now. Any longer and she felt she would have come off as unattentive and bored. "How soon until we actually start practicing different types of Unconventional Magic? Don't wanna rush, just want a quick overview of how long this introduction lasts and we need to be prepared to start putting what you showed us in practice." Some classes gave an overview before the students came in, but Ade wanted to know if there was anything she missed or if Mr. Asthenthal has a more detailed explanation to give them. There was nothing wrong with covering all her bases, after all.

Listening to the explanations, the two Hel'Saries had different reactions. Lorencia was a bit skeptical, but was still listening intently at the explanation, her jaw resting on her hands as she leaned forward with eyes full of wonder. Devias on the other hand immediately saw the potential, yet all these things were already done in the void, however on this world such magic was not easy to use as this world was not as rich with magic.

Though he did have to consider if the magic here would respond well to his null-charged blood. Mixing two worlds' magic might serve for a great experiment. It had been done before on different dimensions and worlds, but there was always a chance something will be different.

Once the teacher was done explaining, Devias raised his hand. "Will this react well with energies that absorb magic?"

Lysander

Frowning in thought, Lysander wrote down the teacher's answer, such as it was. It didn't seem very specific, but that was to be expected from such a broad category of magic. Still, he wondered what uses this class would cover. The fact that it could be applied on a day-to-day basis seemed like it might be a promising field if he looked into it, but if the whole class was general, it might not be a help at all.

The oricenta - he still wasn't sure what she was - asked a good question about when they'd actually get to practice. But he still wasn't entirely sure what it was they would be practicing. The methods he was sure Professor Xandiel would have to teach before they could do anything, so he didn't bother asking about that. But he did want to know what exactly they'd be learning to do.

"You've told us some general things we can use unconventional magic for, but I suspect the field is too broad for one class to cover it. Would we be taught more specific things in this class or is it just an overview?"

—

Gernet

Gernet grinned as the teacher unintentionally called conventional magic users fools. He supposed his own glamour counted as that though it had been severely weakened, but it was even more true of the lamias. And what he was learning at the school - chaos magic as well as this class - most certainly wasn't. He wasn't bothered by the magic not being considered aggressive. For a naga, he was low-key in his violence - the treacherous snake, the infiltrator. And magic that defeated other magic seemed a lot more useful than flash, especially in this place.

He was also relieved that the professor seemed to prefer talking to writing. The list had been no help to him, but the teacher seemed to have covered what had been written down in his speech. Gernet hoped he'd be able to get through the whole class just listening, and of course actually doing magic. The rest of the class was making up for him not being comfortable asking questions in public too. Very good. For now, he could just sit back and watch, remembering as much as possible.

Oh? Magic that wasn't your own? This description made Devias think that it was either fueled by ambient magic or a battery of some kind. But still, that didn't answer the question her cousin had raised, though she was satisfied with it, it seemed. He'll just have to see this in action.

Once the instructor had answered all the questions thrown at him, he went ahead and told everyone about items in the drawers in their desks, which Devias and Lorencia took out. He took the items and laid them out neatly, while she practically dumped the contents onto her desk, and then separated the pieces from each other.

Both the Hel'Saries studied the pattern of the circle on the piece of paper, though one was merely admiring it while the other scrutinized the lines for a clue as to what it meant.

"Are we supposed to filter arcana into this circle, or use it as a conduit to draw arcana in?"

A bit too eager to give it a try, Lorencia was stacking up the pieces onto the paper while Devias inquired. Then she would touch the center of the circle with two fingers, and lo and behold, the paper caught on fire, and in a quick flash of flames, all that was left were the mug pieces and ashes.

"Oops..."

—
Lysander

In one sense, Lysander was an independent man who had lived happily on his own for over 800 years. He went for what he wanted. But he was also a soldier, used to taking orders. He didn't usually do things with no direction at all. And right now he had no clue how to proceed. He'd been paying attention, but other than his natural magic, which was mostly passive anyways, he really had no experience with magic.

He took out the paper, pieces, and photo, laying them out and examining each one. All he had seen the teacher do to manipulate the chalk was placing their hand next to what he assumed was a spell circle. Lysander guessed there was probably some concentration involved, but other than that he was at a loss.

Instead of rushing ahead blindly, the half-demon decided to watch the other students and see how they reacted. It was possible some of them might have seen something he missed or maybe would have more knowledge of how to do this already. He didn't see much that helped him, but he made a note that the girl whose paper had gone up in flames had touched the inside of the circle.

Seeing that, Lysander decided to wait a bit longer before trying to do something on his own. He hoped maybe the teacher would offer some more explanation.
—-
Gernet

The naga grinned at the word experiment. He kind of liked the idea of just throwing the students straight into practice. Experience was a great teacher. And as far as lessons went, he was pretty sure failing at getting this right away wouldn't kill him, which was more than could be said for some things he'd had to learn.

Gernet still watched everyone carefully as he took the items out of his desk and spread them out on top. It couldn't hurt to see what the other students tried. And even if it didn't end up helping him, he'd still be able to gauge the others' level of experience - possibly.

The circle was the first thing he examined, tracing it with a finger. The naga hadn't thought to bring anything to write with since he'd expected to have to rely on memory, but now he was wishing he had. But it wasn't much of a problem - symbols were something he was good at remembering.

As he placed the pieces of the mug next to the circle, Gernet wondered if the setup was of any importance. He didn't know anything about this unconventional magic yet, and the spell circle was already drawn, but he knew a state of mind was needed for chaos magic.

Usually, Gernet would not have attempted something he was unsure of in front of others, but he figured, in this case, an attempt was expected, even an unsuccessful one. Picking up the photo in one hand, he placed his palm beside the spell circle as he had seen the professor do, and concentrated on the pieces. They did move, but only to make a small pile of broken mug shards.

Lorencia chuckled as the teacher approached them, giving them a little praise. Devias was more concerned with what their teacher said. He lost an arm due to his first try? In that case, he could count his cousin fortunate. Though, the teacher might have mistaken Lorencia's attempt and his scrutiny of the circle as a joint attempt, as he hadn't yet bothered with trying out the circle.

However, he had an idea what not to do. He watched the circle as it overloaded, and compared Lorencia's approach to the teacher's. There was an easily-missable detail he noticed. The placement of the hand in relation to the circle.

As the teacher moved to the other students, Devias placed the items side-by-side.

Lorencia leaned in closer, eyes wide. "Have you cracked it?! she'd ask in a hush.

"Possibly." That was his simple reply before he put his hand beside the circle, using different 'frequencies' of the arcane to get the circle to respond. There was a flash and a momentary crackle of energy.

"You did it?!" Lorencia squeaked excitedly as the mug sat whole.

Devias tried to pick it up, and found that he couldn't without budging the desk. "It's fused with the desk. Where did that go wrong..."