September Event Log

[magicademymods]

September Event Log The Magicademy has a special treat for students this week: Combined Classes. The Curriculum-by-Curriculum education of the Magicademy lends itself to viewing each Curriculum on its own, not part of the greater whole that is magic. So in lieu of normal lessons this week, Professors are joint-teaching classes to show you what you can do by merging magic together. Profs. Porfsin & Kith: Making Modification Fantastic If Diatu students love anything, it's expressing their individuality by wearing unique clothing, particular ones similar to home in the case of the Sundered. Working together, the good Professors will teach you a basic and beloved trick of wizards everywhere: combining Modification and Fantastics to make a spell that provides you with clothes that are outstandingly fashionable and flamboyant on the outside, but fit perfectly and comfortably despite their flair. At last, the secret of how wizards can swoop around in dramatic capes and flowing robes without constantly tripping! Of course, the potential for mayhem is pretty high in practice. Shrinking clothes, accidentally creating a scarf 250 feet long... Professor Trammel has loaned them his familiar, a top hat named Decorum, so it is on hand to quickly deploy wide black censor bars in the event a mishap leaves you perhaps offering more in the way of an Anatomy of the Sundered class than you might expect. But if you work hard and give it your all, you might come out of this looking good indeed! Profs. Loshakle & Mala: Advanced Warding A lesson Professor Loshakle hammers home in his classes: the more broad the spell, the weaker its effect. A ward against fire specifically will repel so much more fire than a general ward, but of course the fire ward is entirely worthless against lightning. Today, these two Professors show one way to get the best of both world: a Predictive Ward. The theory is simple: Suspend an Intimation effect within the ward's construction, then make the ward manifold-responsive -- or in other terms, capable of shifting its focus from one danger to another. The Intimation spell predicts the damage and preemptively shifts the ward to full effect. Simple! Enjoy testing them. Since it involves hurling some things at each other. What better way to test a ward than practically? Profs. Trammel & King: Pocket Summoning One of the problems inherent to Discovery is the danger involved in creation. For example, if you desire a large quantity of water for whatever reason, you need to create it all at once -- you can't create it ahead of time without a way to transport it, for example. Sundering offers an intriguing possibility that actually is much safer than most of its uses: opening a portal into a small pocket dimension, where you can Discover and store whatever you might need, and release it later in small doses or full-tilt. Now, mess up the Sundering spell and you could end up discharging a large volume of water or stone or pudding out of midair at a terribly inopportune time. But don't worry! Several groundskeeping golems are on-hand to help with the inevitable messes. Also Professor Trammel knows how to clean clothing. You might need that help. Headmaster Camillah Birony: ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO ATTEND THIS CLASS This opportunity is unique. For all her flaws, Headmaster Birony is unquestionably a master wizard, who has developed an entire branch of magic hereto undiscovered by wizardkind. The art of working magic on magic, or as she calls it, "Metamagic". "And it will be the third Metacurriculum! Wizardkind everywhere will develop and master these powers that I have paved the way for! AND THEY CALLED ME MAD!" she yells to the sky, before flinging her hands wide and laughing maniacally. So! You get to start very basic: Modifying a spell to last longer. Pick your favorite spell, any spell, and cast it. While its magical energies still exist in the pattern your will has imposed on them, Modify them. A simple equation. Add 1 to them. Multiply them by 2. Whatever works for you. You don't get much more instruction than that, says the Headmaster, because you have to figure out how to make it work for yourself. More than most magic, this depends entirely on your will and your determination. Everything else is just trappings -- take what you want from the foci of Modification, that will help, but find your own path forward. And unlike every other lesson, this one is utterly safe. At the first sign of a spell getting out of control or going haywire, Headmaster Birony squelches it like a bug beneath her heel. Not even literally, for a pleasant change!

Comments

[mithrarin]

Well, only one way to find out. Dust took a step forward --

And the barrier moved right in time with him, pushing forward like an unstoppable force straight into Roxas. Dust winced and hurriedly scrambled backwards, a moment too late.

[twilightskey]

"Omph!"

Roxas takes that barrier head-on, and gets knocked back because of it. He sits up quickly, looking up at Dust.

"Oof... well, at least we know it works?"

[mithrarin]

"Yeah, just... not at all the way it's intended. It's only supposed to ward off things when I get attacked." Or something similar, and it's just supposed to repel the attack...

[twilightskey]

"Yeah. If you could figure out how to do this in a fight, it could be useful, but..." But yeah. This was a bit problematic.

"Any idea of how to get rid of it?"

[mithrarin]

"Well, I could try dispelling it." Dust drew one sword, pointed it at the barrier, and twitched the gesture as he said, "Dispel!"

The surface of the shield shimmered but didn't deform as the spell struck it, and then another kinetic blast rocked out of it to bowl him over.

[twilightskey]

Roxas had to dive out of the way to avoid the blast, but fortunately he wasn't hit by anything. He frowned at the barrier.

"That didn't work... do we have to try and destroy it, then?"

[mithrarin]

"I guess so. You'd better get back."

Dust, naturally, assumed he'd have to do it. After all, if Roxas stayed close, those shockwaves would rock his teeth out!

[twilightskey]

"Alright. Be careful."

He stepped back, half-behind a nearby pillar. He didn't know how Dust was going to destroy the barrier, but it didn't hurt to be prepared for the worst.

[mithrarin]

Honestly, Dust really only had one tool in his kit.

He drew his swords and fell into combat stance in the same motion, then lashed out with one and then the other in sweeping strikes. The barrier clanged four times -- which was all Dust could manage before the retaliatory pulses of energy rocked him backwards violently, sending him skidding down to the bottom of the shield -- which blasted him back up, knocking him around inside it like a pinball.

[twilightskey]

Oh boy, that doesn't look good.

"Dust!"

Roxas rushes forward as Dust goes pinball-ing around the inside of the barrier. This isn't good at all..! Going on instinct, he summons his Keyblades and tries to hit the barrier; maybe if he attacks it, the combined efforts of him and Dust will destroy it?

[mithrarin]

By now, Dust's 'efforts' amounted to 'hitting the sphere violently' -- but by luck, Roxas had exactly the right idea. Between the violence inside and outside, the magic had reached its limit. When Roxas struck it, rather than reverberating once again, it simply popped like a soap bubble, leaving Dust to fall to the ground heavily.

After a moment, he groaned. "At least I'm out...?"

[twilightskey]

Roxas lands once the bubble pops, and he dismisses his Keyblades once its gone. He hurries over to Dust, kneeling next to him.

"Are you alright?" He offers him a hand once he's a bit more stable.

[mithrarin]

Very slowly, Dust reached a hand up, grabbing Roxas's and trusting to the boy's strength to give him support enough to sit up.

"That... was not the best idea I've ever had"

[twilightskey]

"Yeah... but at least you're out now?"

And they knew a little bit about how not to cast that spell.

[mithrarin]

"I'd think that was pretty impressive... if I could actually turn it off. And if it didn't knock me around constantly." Dust tried to look on the bright side, but really, with how things had turned out, being out of the shield really was the best part of it.

[twilightskey]

"Maybe your spell just needs a bit of tweaking. Like, figuring out a way to not be knocked around like you were."

Because as strong as a barrier that was, it definitely had its faults.

[mithrarin]

"Except I can't attack through it either. That's... not something I like about it." To put it mildly. Dust never just protected himself, nor would he ever be content to.

[twilightskey]

"Maybe you... I dunno, put the wards on both sides? Maybe that's why it's not working?"

Roxas is just grasping at straws at this point. He never was good at barrier magic.

[mithrarin]

"It's more like I made a wall. Around myself. I guess... that's a thing you can do?"

Roxas was still better than Dust was.

[twilightskey]

"I guess? I'm not sure."

This seems like a complicated matter. He hums in thought, before perking up.

"If you want, I could ask one of my friends if they have any ideas, and get back to you on it?"

[mithrarin]

"I plan to ask a professor, myself." Though from beneath his hat he glanced over their way. "When they're in a... receptive mood. So I'd appreciate that."

[twilightskey]

"Sure thing. I'm sure we can figure this out before the end of the month."

Isa might have some knowledge about barriers, or maybe even Lea.

[mithrarin]

Dust heaved a sigh, his tail drooping low behind him. "I hope so. Things like this are not really encouraging, when it comes to learning magic."

[twilightskey]

"Did you know how to use magic before coming here?"

He knew some worlds had magic and some didn't.

[mithrarin]

Dust had to chuckle despite himself. "Not a scrap. I wouldn't have even guessed it was an option."