Chương 142: Tal

Damion's final class of the day was Thaumaturgy with Professor Miles Holden. This class was a look at the practical applications of magic. What that meant, he was not sure. Was it the daily uses of magic items? How such devices made everyone's lives easier? Virtually everything on Nerotath ran on magic, in one form or another. Most devices pulled a small amount of mana from their surroundings to power themselves.

But some devices, like ground cars or the teleportation platform, required large amounts of mana and had mana batteries that people had to charge for the devices to function. While Damion continued to try to figure out what the class would cover Professor Holden began to speak.

"Magic is everywhere in the world. In every breath you take in and every bite of food even in the dirt beneath your feet. Most people, mages, knights and ordinary people alike, think of magic only in terms of combat. How big of an explosion it can make, how easily it can be used to kill.

"This is a narrow view of not only magic, but of life. Since magic is an intrinsical part of everything it is important to see the magic in everything. When you realize that magic is a basic part of all things then you will understand that magic is not reliant on glyphs or seals. We merely rely on those things to express the magic.

"Who would like to provide examples of magic in everyday life, just shout them out," Professor Holden said looking around the classroom.

"Ground cars," a girl a few seats from Damion called out.

"Good. What else?"

"Communication tablets," another student offered.

"Yes. Think more basic. Things we humans have not created." The class was silent for as they tried to think of something magical that humans had not created.

"A butterfly," someone in the back of the class called out.

"Good. A butterfly's transformation from a caterpillar is an act of biology, but since magic is in all things that transformation is magical as well. What else?"

"Love."

"Very good. Love is magical in many ways," Professor Holden said looking pleased.

"Remember though, magic is a part of everything and not all things in the world are pleasant. Does anyone else have suggestions?" The last suggestion left Damion lost in thought and was only half listening to Professor Holden when he asked for more suggestions. When Damion spoke, it was softly with tears in his eyes as he remembered his sister.

"A child's laughter." The entire class went silent after Damion spoke. Professor Holden had asked the class to consider negative things and here Damion was suggesting children's laughter. Professor Holden looked at Damion closely for a moment, but in the end said nothing. He knew that Damion was thinking of his sister, but he saw no reason to further expose the young man's scars to the rest of the class.

"Now that we have established that everything contains magic, let us move on to the uses of that everyday magic." Stolen story; please report.

"Do such things have uses? Aren't they just there?" one of the students asked.

"Just as everything has magic, everything has purpose. We do not always understand the purpose, but with careful study it is possible to begin to understand their effects. Cause and effect are powerful forces. The smallest of actions or even the weakest person, can set in motion great events that can change the world."

"Professor, aren't we talking more about philosophy than magic? Even if magic is in everything, how does that help us in our everyday lives? How does it help us fight the Demonic Beasts?"

"Magic is in philosophy too, you know," Professor Holden joked.

"Before you can truly appreciate the magic in things like your ground cars or communication tablets you need to understand the magic in actions and reactions. If you can not appreciate that, then all other magic will be lost to you, no matter how high Rank." After Professor Holden's lecture ended and class was dismissed, Damion headed to the patch of grass by his dormitory to practice his spell casting. Since Ice Shard had already reached the next Rank he focused on Ice Breath and Ice Shield.

Elicia would cast Wind Slash at Damion from different angles and he would block with Ice Shield. In between Elicia's Wind Slashes Damion would cast Ice Breath, trying to keep the spell active for as long as he could. His goal was to get all his spells to E Rank, which was a difficult prospect. When Damion and Elicia started their practice a few elite students stopped to watch, but after seeing the two ignore everyone else, the elite students headed to their own dormitories to work on their homework.

Once Elicia started to run low on mana, Damion ended their practice and headed to his dormitory to start work on his homework. The reading assignments took the longest for Damion to complete, but he was still done in time for dinner and was able to relax for a while before heading to bed. While relaxing in bed trying to fall asleep, Damion could hear Elicia speaking to someone in her bedroom. Considering that he could not hear the other person's voice, he suspected she was using a communication tablet.

What surprised him though, was that he could not understand what she was saying. It took Damion a few moments before he realized she was speaking a different language. Ding {New Quest Available} [Quest: Learn a new language] [Description: Your attendant has been speaking with an unknown person in an unfamiliar tongue. It is time for you to learn Tal, the language of those who call themselves noble.] [Reward: 100 Experience, 10 Store Credit] When the Magic System quest notification popped up, Damion was intrigued.

He never knew there were other languages on Nerotath, everyone always spoke Otash and aside from the Ancient Language, no one ever mentioned another language. This left him with the feeling that Tal, was quite unusual and Damion could not help but wonder if he was even supposed to know about it. While Damion pondered the revelation of a secret language known only to the nobles, Elicia's conversation was quickly turning into an argument.

"I don't want any more excuses. You have had plenty of time with the boy. I want to start seeing some results," Headmaster Sorin said.

"Do you want him manipulated, where he will one day realize what I've done and leave the family, or even try and hurt us in retaliation? Or do you want him to fall in love?"

"Teft is watching you closely. With her around I doubt she would let the boy join any of the families, let alone ours. Her past encounters with certain noble families have left her somewhat untrusting of nobles. And I have butted heads too many times in the past with her for her to silently let the boy join us. But if you were to become pregnant with his child I will ensure the elders let you raise the child and that you are free to make any future romantic attachments you want."

"Damion has started to trust me. But still, if I push too hard too fast, he will pull away."

"I told you; I don't want to hear excuses. If you can't do this, we will find someone else who can."

"I can do this grandfather. This is just the first day of the term. Now that school has started he will be relying on me even more. Just let me do this at my own pace."

"I will let you continue on for now. But know your time is limited. Do not disappoint me." Headmaster Sorin cut off the communication leaving Elicia to lay back on her bed with tears in her eyes. She knew she was running out of time to show her grandfather she could seduce Damion. What was worse was that if she failed to, he would send a cousin or perhaps even her own sister to take up the task.