Chapter 106: A Scholarly Week
Sitting down in the lecture hall dedicated for the Mors department, Cyrus idly thought about his gains the previous day as students began to slowly file in.
"It is a shame that I only managed to reach my right arm yesterday, but it is still a start. A few more sessions and I will have managed to master this spell…I wonder what I should call it. Maybe it needs more work before I can instill it a fancy name, as all it does now is essentially preplant a spell inside one's body at a higher cost of will. The advantage is that it can be used more than once and called upon when in the heat of battle on a moment's notice, the obvious con is the output always being exactly the same and decided upon before the situation that requires the spell occurs… also the aforementioned higher will cost."
Ceasing his thoughts, as the room was now as full as it would get with the overall low amount of Mors department students. As he had half expected, the eccentric Caligo revealed himself the moment the last student had sat down.
"Perhaps he enjoys lauding the fact of his magical superiority over others, or perhaps it is a habit born from the battlefield…to constantly keep himself hidden at any and all times."
Clapping once to get the attention of all, Caligo's eyes shined with a silver luster as his usually unfocused orbs became razor sharp in attention as it inspected each and every student.
"It seems that most of you did not gain much from the Labyrinth, as expected I guess. I am the one who will be awarding the few who actually managed to gain something from the descent, although as your professor I am most displeased but I hope with all my heart and soul that you will take to my lessons to heart and succeed….NOT" ended Caligo as his face twisted in a sudden cold wrath, each and every student being buffeted by the full pressure of a Master Magus. Curiously enough it was just enough to bring each individual student to their limits of tolerance but not enough to render them unconscious. Instead they were constantly brought just beyond their limit and then back down again before they could be freed from their sufferings.
Sighing whilst snapping his fingers, summoning one of his lackeys from a hidden room, he sat down on them like a chair and finally released the pressure.
"I suppose a lot of you have some excuses such as, "Oh there was too much sun waah waah, how could I make use of my domain in such conditions wah wah" said Caligo as he began to prepare a spell.
"What useless thinking indeed, after all, what is a shadow in the first place? What makes up a shadow, what is a shadow if not just a mass of various essence just like everything else? If you lack something then simply create it, did the display of the headmaster teach you nothing? We do not just adjust the world around us to suit our purposes, or move essence from point A to point B but we can also create what we require for our own needs for whatever task we have at hand. Not only that, but the Mors domain is so much more than just for skulking in the shadows at night…so naïve, so foolish" ended Caligo as he created a shadow right under the light he was seated under, turning the lighted area into a place as black as night.
"Whatever…I suppose that is too advanced for the current hopeless lot that you are. Before I begin the actual lesson allow me to announce the rewards for those who actually managed to not be wiped out on the first day…although it should be no surprise that the two wastelanders managed to survive in the wasteland"
Caligo flicked a ring that was on his middle finger, producing the reward for both Caliban and Cyrus.
"Two simple writs for surviving the horrors of the desert, although for you two it was perhaps just another day of living. Each one awards you with twenty Fidem for your trouble as well as the ability to head down to the Labyrinth for a training excursion two times over. Now before you think that touring your homeland is useless, you should know that we can create several more environments that mimic different parts of the Empire as well as the land that extends past our borders. I do not think I have to explain the possible benefits that could bring you, such valuable firsthand experience in a controlled environment" explained Caligo as he threw the two tied together writs, one set for Caliban and one set for Cyrus.
"As the schedule says" began Caligo, now addressing everyone in the room, "the lectures are done over the course of two days with each day being different than the other in what they cover. Day one, which would be today, is the day where each professor teaches a general principle of magic that is not specifically linked to any single domain. The second will focus on the domains themselves, repeating twice a day for those who are not focused on just a single domain. Now…for today's lesson…."
Once more a pressure descended upon all the students, except this time it was a paltry breeze compared to what Caligo had unleashed in his earlier fury.
"The most important skill for any mage is their ability to be able to cast spells, under any circumstance. Whether you are facing psychological pressure, physical strain from the environment or the weakness of the flesh, or even pressure being emanated from another magically attuned individual who is making use of their sense to do what I am doing now. No matter the condition, you are required to be able to still cast a spell. If you are unable to, well, then aren't you just useless then? How can you be a mage who cannot cast a spell due to a little bit of pressure…should you not just wash your neck and present it to your enemy without the struggle, as the end would be the same no matter how much useless effort you put in" spat Caligo.
"Experiencing it firsthand is better than any explanation of course, something theory filled fools would never understand. Cast the most basic of spells, simple activation of the domain. Let us work with shadow essence, as it would not look too good on my record if a bunch of my students killed themselves on accident… I will go row by row and slowly pressure you until you can no longer do even the most basic of activation, so as to let you understand how trash you lot are."
Then he did just that, as he stood up from his lackey chair and began to walk towards the front row. Upon arriving he gestured with his chin for the students to begin. One by one the students activated their domains, causing the shadows around them to tremble ever so slightly as they each altered the essence in each one ever so slightly. One by one the students rather relaxed faces became taut, eventually even beads of sweat began to appear as their faces reddened by the exertion. One by one they each lost control of their extremely basic application of the domain, causing a minor backlash that when combined with the pressure they were under caused their faces to go white and their breathing to be disordered.
Eventually all the students had been defeated, only a few dozen moments after they had begun, with the only exception being Caliban who looked as if he were unmoved. A look of interest was shown on Caligo's face as he walked over into the row of seats, past all the other students, and stood directly next to Caliban focusing his full attention on him. He event went so far as to kick the seat that Caliban was sitting on so as to turn and face him towards Caligo, revealing the face of Caliban to where Cyrus was sitting as well. The seconds turned into minutes, as Caliban slowly began to show signs of defeat. As his focus was clearly about to slip, as shown by the twitching of his limbs and the fountain of sweat pouring down his face, he opened his eyes and a hot fury was unleashed from within him rebuffing the pressure in its entirety. The heat quickly turned into an icy cold, allowing him to easily withstand the level of pressure that Caligo had applied until then.
A pleased look could be seen on Caligo's face for but a split second before a mischievous smirk replaced it as he leaned in and whispered something into Caliban's ear.
So quiet was whatever was said that even Cyrus' enhanced hearing thanks to his curious heritage could only pick up pieces of the sentence:
"Family…. like sheep…pointless…"
The reaction from Caliban was intense, his eyes widening in shock causing his focus to break completely for a moment allowing the built up pressure to overcome him knocking him back in his seat and turning his face whiter than the full moon.
"It seems that your time in the wasteland has made you quite good at resisting such a simple pressure, but you have far more glaring weaknesses. How could a mage loose his cool with just a few words? Hahaha, even the top have their pathetic sides to them it seems" mocked Caligo in between chuckles, which was mirrored by the other more vain students who took the chance to relieve some stress.
Caliban had recovered slightly by now, but still visibly shaken by whatever had been said to him as his eyes were unfocused and his hand continued to clench and unclench again and again.
His next action, however, surprised everyone completely ceasing all the mocking laughter that rang out around him as he produced a long dagger from a hidden pocket and thrust it towards the heart of Caligo without the slightest hesitation. What shocked the students even more was the fact that Caligo made absolutely no moves to avoid the peril that he found himself in, so much as to even continue his walking away with his back completely turned towards the next row.
The moment the dagger threatened to pierce the robes of its target, four long blade like shadows appeared under Caligo with two of them bending to slice the dagger into two pieces. The last two wrapped around the arm of the assailant and forced him to sit back down.
"What the...how did he do that? I can't even begin to understand the spell that Caligo used" thought Cyrus, a sentiment that was no doubt shared by each and every student in the room.
"I suppose you have guts kid, but not exactly the brightest mind when wrath overtakes you. I could smash a hundred of you into the ground like the dregs that you are, not to mention just a single you. Sit down and learn, maybe one day when you master that temper of yours and hone your skills you could have a chance to best me" chided Caligo as he went up to the next row, and repeated the same process several times but with nothing as exciting as what happened in the first row repeating itself.
This continued until he reached the row that Cyrus was sitting, where he finally got to experience firsthand what everyone else had.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone