NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37 - Hard Conversations
Chandrika
“I’ve told you before. I am not a princess,” growled Chandrika, trying to keep her focus.
The young sage was currently blindfolded, sitting under a raging waterfall, and in the process of being tormented by her mentor.
“Your grandmother is one of the most powerful witches in the world. Your mother is a queen. Your father is a warlord. Your siblings are all mostly known to be masters at their respective endeavors. Call yourself sage, princess, consul, whatever… the point stands: you’re more of a princess than several I know. Your privilege is a gift, but even privilege can be squandered!” Eudoria screamed, cackling over the raging waterfall.
Chandrika was desperately trying to tune out the old mage, but every word of hers succeeded at ruining her concentration- pushing her out of the headspace she required to effectively use [Great Sage].
Eudoria must have some sort of skill or spell for getting under her student's skin.
Chandrika was forbidden from using [Crown of Sage’s Insight] as part of this particular training. Chandrika had previously demonstrated the ability to use her bloodline skill to divine the contents of an iron lockbox, but the divination usually required her to be in a state of perfect peace and calm. Eudoria felt that this was woefully insufficient, and had devised the predicament that Rika currently found herself in.
She tried to find some comfort in the smooth, warm rock that she was sitting on, but the torrents of ice-cold water drained every iota of warmth from her the moment they lapped upon her cross-legged form.
“Just think about poor Giorgio! He’s likely going to fail this school year, you know.” The old woman taunted.
“You’re evil. Gio is one of the hardest workers I know. There’s no way that he would fail. He's at the top of the class.”
“Oh, but he may still fail! Unfortunately, each student needs to demonstrate a domain. Usually around the start of the second semester, we start inviting representatives from factions looking to sponsor young mages through the first major wall of their education.”
Eudoria’s mocking smile drooped, revealing a bit of her true feelings.
“It's… nearly impossible for a commoner to pass the first-year mid-terms without sponsorship. Domain spells are uniquely expensive, even at the lower tiers” she said, barely more audible than a whisper.
“That’s… stupid. You’re the headmaster, right?! Why don’t you just change that? I don’t understand why you seem so complacent about these issues. If it’s too difficult to demonstrate a domain this early, why not postpone that milestone? It feels like such an arbitrary decision.” Chandrika fumed, losing all of her concentration.
“Because I have less power than you think that I do. The school decides what the requirements are, largely. We get a voice… or a vote, rather- but the mortal faculty is not the only voice. The system and the spirits that govern its consciousness are the deciding voice… otherwise the school itself can rebel.” The headmaster said dourly.
“Well… Gio is doing well on his spell writing. Maybe he can-”
“Not with a domain. Domain spells are formed using a core sigil that has to be imbued with a specific, powerful intent. Such sigils are heavily guarded… the scavenged sigils he’s gotten his hands on thus far aren’t anything compared to a real empowered sigil… to make one he’d need to have access to- actually, what am I saying? You have training to do. Do you have any idea how many people your grandmother has killed?”
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Gio
Chandrika had repeated Headmaster Vespertine’s words to Gio as soon as she was able. The pair sat under the pink tree in the green expanse.
“I’m aware. Baphelus sat me down and told me about it. I… don’t know what I’m going to do about it yet. If I take a contract, I have to leave the school as soon as I graduate. My dream is to become an archmage… so that’s not really an option. Not unless I give up on that goal.” Gio replied.
“That’s… so awful. It's insane to me that they can’t just loan you a spell or something to demonstrate that you can cast a domain.” Chandrika said, deflating.
“Yeah… but I was warned about these policies before I enrolled. I’m not exactly flying blind here, I just figured that I might have more time. Baphelus also warned me about something called the “Copy Clause”- basically there’s this unwritten rule that If I grow my mirror magic to the point where I can copy the spells of nobility, there’s a pretty solid chance that someone will try to assassinate me. I guess that’s why there aren’t more mirror mages.” Gio continued.
“What?!” Chandrika gasped.
“Yep. Mirror magic is pretty well known for the ability to copy. I already kind of have a lot of the tools required for spell-stealing, to be honest with you. [Specular Mind] is a class skill that would let me imprint a spellform into my mind with the barest glance. It’s… like a plagiarist’s dream. There are outlawed spellforms specifically all about imprinting spells… as I said, I broke a few rules by copying Jean’s spell… even if he let me do it.”
“So… you don’t have any idea how you’re going to make a domain spell? Could you just… earn enough money and buy one? What would that take?” Chandrika asked.
“[Wizard’s Domain] is probably the most common entry-level domain, according to the bit of research I’ve done. Many students in this school will probably be using that spell to pass the mid-term. It costs about as much as both of my parents make in a year. Combined. 8000 bits… give or take. I worked all summer, and I took home about 200 bits. My cousins were absurdly kind to me, and they gave me 400 for me to buy my first spell. There’s absolutely no way that I could earn enough to scratch the surface.” Gio stated.
“Do you know what you would have to do to make one of those core sigils?”
“There’s a couple methods… but the one available to people without special equipment or a specific class would be to empower a sigil at some sort of mana nexus,” Gio replied.
“What about the library? The mana density in the Owl’s Respite is pretty high, right?”
“Not even close to the level that I’d need to scribe an empowered sigil. Any nexuses in the school are probably under strict control…”
“That… I’ll keep an ear out to see if I hear anything. I hate that I can’t help you with this.” Chandrika said.
“Rika… you’re too kind to me. I… don’t know that I’d feel comfortable accepting money from my friends, even if you could. I knew the odds stacked against me before I accepted the scholarship. It’s already a blessing enough that food is free here. I’ll figure something out.