Chapter 324

  Magic Resonance Class

  (Valeria)

  “So, I am going to apologize in advance. Today I do not expect to do too much actual training for classes,” Dr. Spiritlight spoke confidentially to Valeria.

  Hearing her speak, Valeria felt a part of the hope that had been welling up within her diminish slightly. Then the words and phrases that everyone around her spoke with conviction came back to her.

  “Pixies are ephemeral and mythical creatures.”

  “Pixies get distracted easily and need to be constantly refocused to stay on task.”

  “If you want to keep the Doctor’s interest, you need to constantly prove yourself to her.”

  Then of course there was also the statement that really threw Valeria for a loop.

  “While she might meet the classical definition of a lolli, that being a playful grandmother, she isn’t as she is just fifteen, even though she does have her own grandchild here, in addition to two children.”

  That last one came from one of the statisticians who crunched numbers and proved the Pixie was worth ten times the stress she caused others.

  Honestly, Valeria didn’t know exactly what to expect with her first true magic class. Dr. Spiritlight herself had just gotten back from wherever she was held prisoner, then she made a quick trip out, and now everyone was forcing her to teach magic, without really giving her a chance to breathe.

  The entire process seemed too much.

  Valeria knew that she herself couldn’t put up with it if she was in the Doctor’s shoes. That was why when Dr. Spiritlight said she wasn’t going to offer much in the way of training, the announcement came as somewhat of a relief.

  Others might not have seen the cracks, heck Valeria couldn’t even see the cracks, but they had to be there.

  “That’s good, you deserve some rest,” Valeria replied.

  At that, the normally distracted Doctor paused.

  Then Valeria swore she could feel an immense weight descend upon her as the Pixie turned her head and had her two cosmic purple eyes lock onto her.

  Shiver.

  It was an unsettling feeling, an immense weight that seemed to pierce through her very existence.

  Then it was gone.

  Immense weight one second, only to then be replaced by what could only be described as the bright warmth of a morning sun after a particularly cold winter.

  “Thank you,” Dr. Spiritlight stated, and it was clear from the real smile on her face that she meant it.

  Then for a moment she seemed to think to herself, before nodding her head in agreement at something she had apparently been debating with herself.

  “You know what, for that I will give a live demonstration in my favorite class, just for you.” The Doctor added.

  At that moment, Valeria paused as she didn’t know exactly what she had unleashed.

  Once again, the words of wisdom by the different people she met with all rolled through her head. But it seemed that no one truly knew how to deal with or take the pixie.

  This was when Valeria felt her own thoughts about the pixie come to her mind. As she thought them, she felt that they were just beginning to form. The germination of an idea, one that tingled and seemed to hold weight.

  Just thinking about this thought, Valeria knew it was one that she had to nurture. It wasn’t just a thought, but a profound concept.

  As she thought, she could feel the concept form and ignite within her mind. Then she had a loose collection of her own words that she felt were close but were not quite there.

  Concept: “Everyone’s interaction with the pixie will be unique as everyone can gain something profound and personal, but they need to work at it themselves to gain true value from that interaction.”

  The essence of what she was thinking about was there within that very quote. But it was still missing something.

  Then as if to both encourage her, and show her just how far off she was, the system spoke.

  There it was, a quest given by the system, just reading the quest itself caused a slight shiver to run down Valeria’s spine.

  Tingle.

  She could even feel the weight of the quest bearing down on her. As the First Apprentice, this would be a task she needed to accomplish. Worse, she had to do so in secret. But how?

  Dr. Spiritlight was all seeing, easily able to read anything and everything within hundreds of meters of her. If rumors would be believed, then the range would likely be further still.

  Yet, Valeria had to hide something like a Doctrine from her until it was completed?

  Then Valeria understood what was being asked. She needed to compose everything in her mind. All these quotes, all these experiences. She had to gather them all and condense them down to something that would be digestible for others.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Chime.

  With that thought, she felt the quest click to life within her mind, revealing that it was not just a singular quest, but an entire series of quests that were all linked. Meaning, the moment she finished this thought, she would be rewarded and then have to proceed to the next step of a Doctrine.

  “Come on, let’s begin this cluster before the natives get restless,” Dr. Spiritlight stated, pulling Valeria from her own mental musings as she followed behind the Doctor and saw a much more crowded classroom.

  Looking around, Valeria found a number of familiar faces. Up in the front row was Penelope, who looked bright eyed and bushy tailed for this class. There were a few others that Valeria also recognized, but she didn’t think they were part of this class.

  As her mind wondered exactly what happened, the Doctor spoke and shed light on why the classroom was suddenly so packed.

  “Let me guess, you all were asleep when the additional optional quests popped up for more class curriculums?” Dr. Spiritlight asked.

  With that a few students looked sheepish before nodding.

  “Fair enough,” the Doctor began as she floated to the center of the open amphitheater area. An amphitheater that had been doubled in size during the month that Dr. Spiritlight was gone.

  While the Doctor didn’t say anything about the drastically larger theater, Valeria was certain that this increase in size did not get past her keen senses. Still, she was a consummate professional and quickly adapted.

  “Today, I had been planning on giving you all a brief introduction letting you know that the class had started for the new semester. I would have given you a brief tutorial about your glyphs that came with class. How I expect you to have completed your glyph practices each night while you are away from here. That if you ever wanted to ask me a question in this class, then your glyph counter must be completed for the set number of days that this class has been active.”

  As she spoke, the students all looked concerned.

  “I was going to tell you that, and then send you on your merry ways. First day, no use listening to me prattle on about what is expected of you in class.” The Doctor then paused as she turned and then pointed her finger at Valeria. “I was going to do that, until my Apprentice here reminded me of the fact that this class is my favorite of the four disciplines being taught here.”

  Gasps.

  No one spoke, no one would dare speak while the Doctor was giving her lecture. By now the lines of people who would fight their own mothers to get a spot here were well documented. In fact, at least ten such cases happened during the open tryouts earlier. According to the results, only one of those twenty applicants made it in, a mother ironically enough. Still, it was a sentiment that this was indeed important.

  Now that she had more time to check the room, and its students, Valeria felt a chill run down her spine as she saw not one but four ghosts all staring intently at the professor. Well, one apparently felt Valeria’s gaze and locked gazes with Valeria for a moment, before turning her attention back to Dr. Spiritlight.

  “That’s right, Magical Resonance is my favorite class being taught here, but can anyone guess as to why?” The Doctor began.

  There was silence at first, as no one dared to break the magical spell that was the Doctor’s lecture.

  Fortunately, Penelope was there to raise her hand and answer, “because it is the most versatile of the classes offered?”

  “Close,” Dr. Spiritligth responded, not shooting down the attempted answer, but her face showed it was nowhere near the answer she wanted.

  At that a few more students made attempts to answer this odd question.

  Valeria herself thought about the question, why would Dr. Spiritlight appreciate this class over the others?

  Everyone then proceeded to get more profound in their answers.

  “Because it is the building block of the universe?”

  “Sort of, but not why I like it.”

  “Because it can teach you to change the world to your whims?”

  “It can, but again not why I like it.”

  Then finally, the Doctor took all of those answers and realizing that they were over thinking everything raised her hands to quiet down any future comments.

  Silence.

  Again, everyone here was a professional magician. They were all designated as full-time students, meaning their traditional role or occupation, whatever it was before had been replaced within the guild. Ever since the surge of immigrants and refugees, this designation became easier. No more double time, or secondary shifts after classes to do a real job.

  For the moment, everyone here is a full-time student.

  Yet, another example of how the Midnight Hunters were thriving from this war. Before they had been at the minimal manning for everything. Now though, now they were oversaturated with talent and people to find positions for. Thus, the statement that if you got into SVC, your status would be that of a full-time student.

  This was why so many of the older students practiced and created study groups on their own during that month long lull. None of the students wanted to be left behind when the Doctor came back.

  The fact that she would come back was never in any doubt, apparently.

  “Hearing all of your answers, makes me wish there was more to my answer, but unfortunately I am just a simple person.” The Doctor began, humility filling her words as she seemed to speak from the heart.

  “But the real reason why I like this class the most is that it allows me, and now you all to add color to the world.” The Doctor began.

  SWOOSH!

  Then with the wave of her hand the world blinked for a moment and everything changed. The world that had shown students in different clothing, a lush green grass to sit on, but would somehow never stain your clothing, and even walls of the room all changed.

  For a moment, Valeria felt like her senses were momentarily underwater.

  As the world seemed to change. But in a great way.

  Suddenly the world glowed brightly with colors and textures that were bright and vibrant.

  Looking around, Valeria could see the different magical power levels of people just by glancing at them. Even the ghost people all but radiated power, but in a different way.

  “This is what Angel’s Sight looks like. Looking around you can see the impact of what constant applications of magic have done to improve this area. Looking around, you can see the impact that we all have had, coming here each day, casting our spells, doing our Qi stretches and leaving behind a part of ourselves to help nourish the planet.”

  Then with another wave of her hand, the world went sterile, as all the color faded.

  Gasps.

  “Don’t worry, this is just for demonstration purposes. But this is what a world barren of magic and life looks like.”

  At that the students all turned to look at the people next to them, only to see that they were clear outlines of what a person should be, but nothing.

  For a moment Valeria thought she saw the flicker of something horrific on the Doctor’s face. Maybe the recognition of some type of deep seeded fear, but it was quickly gone. Replaced by her normally unflappable demeanor.

  “Now, to show you what this class is all about, we are going to create art.” The Doctor began.

  “Art?” Valeria found herself asking reflexively.

  “Yes, look around, this world is drab, lets fill it with colors and images. Everyone, I want you to imagine any nondestructive spell. Imagine it, begin to summon mana to it, and then hold it.” The Doctor stated.

  With that many of the students cast a glowing light ball, one that floated freely above the palm of their hand. While others cast different spells.

  “No, dismiss those summoned spells and only begin the initial casting of the spell.” The Professor said dismissively as she waved her hand and quickly Dispelled all the spells that had been fully cast.

  “Good,” the Doctor called out to Penelope who had a spell that she was trying to manifest but not fully cast. With the pointing of her finger, the Doctor seemed to capture a three-dimensional image of the spell. One that was complete with the outline of the spell, the shading and coloring of the magic used to create the spell, and then how full the spell was and how much mana extended beyond the lines of the spell.

  “Now that you have your baseline, just wait.”

  And like that, the Doctor began creating and rendering three-dimensional models of all the spells being cast and held by the students.

  “Here it is, your art that you have added to this world,” the Doctor exclaimed.

  “This is a first step, and not to belittle you all, but to put it into perspective. This is the equivalent of having colored in an image of a coloring book. If you look, the spell that the system gave you is in partial black, allowing you to peer through its form into it at the mana you cast.

  “Take this with you. If you want to pass this class, you will need to have this with you at the final exam, where you will cast this same spell, using a different color. That’s right, we will learn to use different colored crayons, or in this case different fields of magic to cast that same spell form. This is what Magic Resonance is, at its very core, it is the ability to transmute the world with color and forms.

  “This is the first step in becoming what I consider to be a true magician, for once you realize you can cast the same spell shape with different Magical Resonances is the first step needed to become a true scientist of magic.

  “That’s right, this is a science. Think about that. Let that one concept sink in. This magic is a science. By changing a variable we will get different results, but what are those results?”

  Then turning to one of the students she pointed, “if you change the variable of this spell, filling it with purple mana, rather than the yellow mana that now laces it, what will happen?”

  With that the three-dimensional image before the mage changed slightly, as it began to glow purple. The exact image, the exact same shading was filled, even with a noted excess of mana outside the form of the spell. Mana that had clearly gone to waste and caused a clear drop in effectiveness of the spell.

  At least, that is what Valeria took from that image. The way the excess mana coated the outside wouldn’t do much for the overall effectiveness of the spell, would it?

  “I don’t know?” The student finally asked.

  “Good answer, so I will ask you this, what type of mana is purple mana? Or rather what does that shade of purple you are now seeing mean? What can we expect from that shading?”

  The student just shook his head.

  “Anyone?” The Doctor called out.

  Everyone just shook their heads.

  “Well, that is a shame. That spell form is holy light, something that would create a bastion of light in one of the darkest of spirit realms, right?”

  With that the male student just nodded.

  “Now, what if I told you, that purple, or rather that particular shade of purple is for spirit magic. Making it so that the same spell you used and created would now be able to do the same thing but cause a beacon of light that provided sight for spirits.” With that Dr. Spiritlight gestured to the ghostly elven spirits who had originally looked aghast by the divine spell but now seemed to relax at the idea of a spirit-oriented spell.

  “This is the beauty of magic, that same spell form and shape, it hasn’t changed, the only thing that has changed is what we put into that spell form. The Magical Resonance has changed, taking the spell that would normally be poisonous to spirits, and now can serve the same purpose. That of giving light, but will now also help the spirits here, rather than hinder them.

  “That is the beauty of magic. That is why this is my favorite class being taught. For everyone here, you are all now, whether you want the title or not, Magical Scientists. Never forget that, and know that because you are all here, I will push you all just a little harder than your peer classes, because I want to see more magical scientists out and about. I want to see more color in this world. More innovation, and I want to see what your creativity can ultimately inspire in this world.”

  Silence.

  Everyone was in a hushed silence after the passion-filled speech. Even Valeria found herself chilled by the passion that the doctor seemed to have for this very subject.

  Then perhaps seeing the tension and attempting to add a bit of levity to the situation, Dr. Spiritlight paused for a moment, before continuing.

  “Okay, so again welcome to class. Do your glyphs, take your first day casting molds with you, and I can’t wait to see you all tomorrow.”

  Poof.

  The Doctor then disappeared, leaving behind a classroom filled with awestruck students. Students who could only now begin to comprehend exactly what just happened.

  Then a moment later, the bright vibrant spell that had muted every color except those generated by magic faded away, revealing a world that was simultaneously more colorful, while feeling less vibrant and cheerful.