Chương 64: Chapter 65 - Foundations

Nobody had a chance to respond to Arien's fabricated story. At the front of the room, Master Terynheim rose from her desk and cleared her throat. Every conversation died instantly.

"During Introduction to the System, we'll discuss Attributes, Skills, how they interact, and some of the mistakes that can damage your future development. The first misconception I intend to remove is also one of the most widespread." She looked across the room.

"Your level is not a measure of your strength." A few students shifted.

"Poor Attribute allocation and careless Skill choices are among the most common reasons people eventually become stuck. Too many chase levels simply because each one offers easy Attribute points. Too many assign the first useful Skill they discover rather than waiting for one that properly supports the path they intend to follow."

"That is a mistake. Which is why the Academy advises newly awakened students to leave their free Attribute points untouched until they have spoken with their supervising Master." Arien kept his face neutral while several students suddenly found their desks and notebooks unusually interesting. His circumstances had been different, or at least that was what he told himself.

"Today we begin with the fundamentals: what the System does, how Skills work, how Attributes function, and which common beliefs about them are wrong." The next half hour passed quickly. Sonnia covered levels, experience, Skill assignment, free Attribute points, and several other basic functions of the System. Most of it was familiar to Arien, but this time he took notes. Then Sonnia moved on.

"Attributes." Arien straightened slightly.

"Let us begin with the simplest. Strength. Who can explain what it does?" Silence lasted only a few seconds. Reyna raised her hand.

"It amplifies the natural physical strength of a person or creature."

"Correct, Miss Voltorey." Sonnia turned toward the rest of the class.

"The word natural is important. Thirty points of Strength do not make everybody equally strong. A ten-year-old child with thirty Strength may still be physically weaker than a fully grown laborer with ten. Sonnia paused.

"Is there an upper limit? Could someone with sufficient Strength lift an ocean-going ship?" Nobody volunteered an answer. Arien certainly wasn't going to be first. Sonnia apparently decided not to wait.

"In principle, yes." Several heads rose.

"No absolute limit to Strength has ever been confirmed. But that does not mean that an adult with two hundred Strength could simply walk to a harbor and pick up a ship." A boy in the front row raised his hand.

"Why not, Master? If there's no limit—""Because Strength is not the only Attribute involved." Sonnia's eyes settled on him.

"Mr. Maserlise. Imagine the ship resting on your shoulders. What happens to your body?" The boy hesitated.

"The weight… presses down on me?"

"Exactly." Sonnia nodded once.

"Your Strength may be sufficient to overcome the weight. Your bones, joints, muscles, and other tissues must still withstand the forces involved." She wrote a single word across the board. ENDURANCE"Endurance increases how long the body can sustain physical effort and improves its resistance to strain, impacts, and injury. It also allows you to make greater use of Skills that consume Stamina." She turned back toward them.

"This is why Attributes cannot be considered in isolation." Now Arien was writing faster.

"A warrior may possess enough Strength to deliver a devastating blow. If their Endurance is inadequate, however, the same blow may tear muscles, damage joints, or break their own bones." A few students winced.

"The Academy infirmary receives members of the House of the Sword suffering from precisely this problem with depressing regularity." Laughter rippled through the classroom. For some reason, Arien immediately thought of Will.

"That was not intended as a joke," Sonnia said.

"You will encounter the same problem yourselves. Whenever your Attributes change significantly, your perception of what your body is capable of changes with them. Adaptation takes time." She looked around the room.

"Students of the House of Magic frequently experience headaches and dizziness during that process. Neither is an acceptable excuse for missing class." Of course it wasn't.

"Later in your studies, particularly from the fifth year onward, you will begin working with Third- and Fourth-Circle spells. The strain increases considerably at that point, and even rest and mana elixirs will not always let you recover quickly enough.

"Push yourself too far and you may faint. More serious cases involve bleeding from the eyes or ears. In extreme cases, repeated overuse can permanently damage the mana channels.

"Keep that in mind when your instructors begin setting limits you believe are too cautious. Now, perhaps we can discuss an Attribute you are all more interested in." Arien was beginning to understand why Malbek had never described the Academy as a place where students could simply practice magic however they pleased. It sounded more like a place designed to grind every bit of progress out of them without quite pushing them past the point of collapse. Master wrote another word. INTELLECT"Who would like to begin?"

Gilly's hand rose.

"It governs our mana reserves and improves our ability to manipulate mana."

"Very good, Miss Sunderhall. I see Kevin has taken care of your education." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Gilly smiled.

"For a mage, Intellect and Perception are usually the two most important Attributes. Intellect expands your available mana and improves your ability to work with it." Sonnia tapped the board with one finger.

"But do not confuse greater capacity with greater skill." Arien stopped writing.

"A mage with a larger mana pool may cast more spells. A mage with greater precision may accomplish the same task using considerably less mana." She paused.

"That precision comes from practice." Another pause.

"A student with more points in Intellect can still produce weaker, less efficient spells than someone with poorer Attributes who has spent hundreds of additional hours mastering Mana Manipulation.

"High Attributes help. Talent helps. Neither replaces practice." Sonnia looked across the room.

"You are here because you have the ability to use magic. The Academy expects you to work hard enough to justify the opportunity.

"To waste such an opportunity through laziness is inexcusable. That is why the Academy's standards are high. Particularly in the House of Magic. You have the potential to become part of the elite of this kingdom." A hand rose near the front.

"Yes, Mr. Vorlay?"

"You said talent matters less than consistent training." The boy hesitated before continuing.

"But if some people already have an Aspect, aren't they just ahead of everyone else? How are we supposed to catch up?" Murmurs spread through the room.

"A fair question, Mr. Vorlay." Sonnia waited until the whispers died.

"And yes. Students who enter the Academy with an Aspect already developed possess an advantage.

"Some of you awakened earlier. Some received private tutors. Some grew up surrounded by mages. Others had never consciously sensed mana before yesterday." Her expression remained stern.

"What the Academy can do is ensure that none of those advantages is insurmountable." Several students straightened.

"During Aspect Discovery, you will train under conditions specifically designed to increase your chances of discovering an Aspect. Most students who are capable of doing so will discover at least one during their first years here." She raised one finger.

"But do not make the mistake of assuming that possessing an Aspect automatically makes someone a better mage." Now Arien looked up.

"An Aspect must be studied. Practiced. Understood. Otherwise, it occupies a Skill slot while providing only a fraction of its potential value." Sonnia turned toward Mr. Vorlay.

"A student who spends five hundred hours developing Fire has spent five hundred hours that another student may have devoted to Mana Manipulation, spell structure, or Aspectless Magic." She looked around the room.

"The time spent developing one area is time you are not spending on another." That seemed to reassure most of the class. Arien was less convinced. Sonnia's explanation made sense, but he still thought she was understating the advantage. His own Aspects had opened entirely new directions for experimentation. Fire, Life, and Lightning had forced him to manipulate mana in ways he might never have attempted otherwise. His Mana Sense and Mana Manipulation had grown alongside them.

The advantage wasn't as simple as Aspect equals stronger spells. But it was still an advantage. Maybe Sonnia was simplifying things for first-years. Arien wasn't sure.

"Now," she said, "the remaining Attributes." She moved through the next two quickly. Agility followed much the same principle as Strength, improving speed, coordination, and the body's ability to execute rapid movement. Wisdom was considerably broader. It affected learning, information processing, and several forms of complex reasoning. Sonnia described it as particularly valuable to the House of the Quill, although useful to virtually every Profession. Then she reached Vitality.

"Vitality primarily affects health recovery, mana regeneration, and longevity." Reyna's hand rose almost immediately.

"Yes, Miss Voltorey?"

"You said Intellect and Perception are usually the most important Attributes for mages. Why not Vitality, if it increases mana regeneration?" Sonnia turned toward the board.

"There are two reasons." She tapped Vitality.

"At your level, Intellect usually gives more immediate value," Sonnia said.

"Vitality does improve regeneration, but it takes a much larger investment before the difference becomes important." Another tap.

"Second, most of you will not initially know spells demanding enough to exhaust a properly developed mana pool faster than you can recover through rest and Meditation.

"Battle mages and other specialists often invest far more heavily in Vitality later, once mana consumption becomes a genuine limiting factor. At your stage, however, Intellect generally provides greater immediate value." Arien raised his hand and regretted it almost immediately when half the classroom turned toward him.

"Yes, Mr. Terryson?"

"Uh…" Too late now.

"I've heard that Vitality also affects aging. Does that mean someone with unusually high Vitality also… grows up more slowly?" Sonnia's eyebrows rose.

"An interesting question." A faint smile almost appeared.

"Usually one of the girls asks it." Quiet laughter rippled through the classroom. Arien prayed his face wasn't turning red.

"Fortunately, no. Vitality affects aging, not growing. A child with unusually high Vitality will still develop normally." Arien's shoulders relaxed.

"And, yes, before someone will ask: Vitality is sometimes jokingly called the Attribute of Vanity as high Vitality can gradually improve several qualities commonly associated with physical attractiveness. Healthier skin. Better teeth and hair. Fewer imperfections caused by illness, poor nutrition, or age." Sonnia's expression hardened again.

"Anyone foolish enough to allocate Attributes primarily for vanity will eventually discover that looking pleasant is poor compensation for crippling their progression." Arien breathed a silent sigh of relief. He had already started to imagine his unusually high Vitality condemning him to several extra years in a child's body. More importantly, nothing Sonnia had said made him regret investing in Vitality.

His higher regeneration had given him more time to practice, which improved his Skills and helped him level faster. In turn, those levels gave him more Attributes.

"Finally, Perception. Useful to almost every Profession. Essential to many combatants, mages, and craftsmen." Sonnia paced slowly in front of the board.

"For mages, Perception becomes increasingly important as spell structures grow more complex and you begin studying finer layers of mana." She paused.

"It is also the Attribute most strongly associated with discovering Aspects." Arien's pen paused. Interesting. His Perception had always been unusually high, so perhaps it had helped. Still, considering what he already knew about his Trait, he doubted that was the whole explanation.

"Do not be surprised if your supervising Masters recommend placing a substantial portion of your unspent Attributes into Perception." She glanced around the room.

"Those of you who followed Academy instructions and still possess most of your free points may struggle during some of this week's practical lessons." A few students looked alarmed.

"That is intentional.

"Your first practical classes are partly diagnostic. Your instructors need to see what you can already do before your supervising Master helps determine where your Attributes will be most useful." A few students looked alarmed, and Sonnia continued before anyone could interrupt.

"Do not panic. Once you meet your Master and begin allocating Attributes properly, the difference should become obvious." Sonnia closed her notebook.

"That will be all for today." Arien left the classroom with several pages of notes and barely enough time to reach his next lesson. By the time the day finally ended, his head hurt. The System class alone had given names and explanations to several things he had spent years figuring out by trial and error. The three classes that followed, Magical Ethics, Wyndorian Law, and History, were considerably less exciting, but Arien still took notes and did his best to stay focused.

Even the duller material might prove useful eventually. By the time he returned to the dormitory, his first day at the Academy was finally behind him. Only ten years to go.