Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 23 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 23

Professor Sunmane tapped the stack of papers on the desk to straighten it, before looking around the class. 

“Alright. With this, there will be no further tests for the remainder of the semester,” He announced.

The combined sighs of relief were audible. The importance of these mini-tests to our final grades wasn’t as much as the usual term exams we went through in previous years, so there wasn’t too much at stake for failing them. But taking them was still stressful nonetheless.

“Do use this time to prepare for your project presentations,” The leonin advised, “By now, most of you should be on the final stretch, so…” His mane’s glow suddenly brightened. “I wish all of you the best of luck.”

Before the professor left, he called one of the students to meet him in his office afterwards, though from the impression I got, it was for project review and not for performance improvement counseling.

I didn’t have anything after this class, so I idled at my desk for a while, spinning one of my green metal balls in my palm. More than that, I just didn’t feel like doing anything at all.

In my opinion, I had polished my project presentation to the utmost that I could at the moment, backing up my conclusions with hard, legitimate data. The report itself had been rewritten several times, based on feedback from my guidance counselors and even Dean Shaile herself, drawing on word magic to substantiate my arguments. I even had a list of possible questions to expect when the time came for me to defend my dissertation.

In other words, I was ready. Just that the presentation itself was still over a week away.

So what now? Rehearsal? I’ve done that several times already… Mage duels? Nah, not in the mood for it. Just go to sleep? The way I am now, I’ll just lie awake in bed…

A snatch of conversation reached my ears from the corridor outside.

“Aw man, I’m stiff from studying for so long…”

“How about joining me at the Dramarium for some exercise then? Get your blood pumping…”

The speakers moved out of my hearing, but that last statement made me sit up. I had forgotten about that facility because I usually made use of the ones in central campus rather than deal with the awkwardness of being a non-Silverquill student there, but this one had services that made it special. 

Plus with my mood now, I’m not really gonna care about standing out. I stowed my books into my bag and left the classroom.

While Silverquill might place a lot of focus on words and speech, the college did have some overlap with Prismari on performance arts. For those students who majored in physical performance, their classes were held at The Dramarium. Gyms for those who wanted to hone their fitness, like strengthening their lungs for their vocal performances. Dance studios for the Silverquill dancers, to save them the trouble of traveling all the way to Prismari. Even martial art dojos, with several different styles to choose from. 

One didn’t have to be a Silverquill student to make use of those facilities outside of class times, so I made my way to the west side of the campus. The large-sized facility loomed over me, its walls colored orange by the sunlight. I joined the small number of students climbing the steps, going against the crowd that was leaving the place. Once I was inside, I headed down a lesser-traveled corridor, heading for the place where other services were offered.

“Hi sir, care to try our new facial treatment? It’s half off for first-timers! There’s also a discount if you sign up for a package!”

“Fancy a new hairstyle? Our stylists can come up with one that’s perfect for you! We’ll even include a free dye treatment~” The girl swung her head, letting her glowing silver hair fan out behind her.

I guess it makes sense why the Silverquill students always look so good. I shook my head as I walked past. “Sorry, not interested. Thanks for the offer.”

The shops I just passed were part of a chain of rooms called the Grey Room. It was probably called that because both Radiance and Shadow students made equal use of it, but its main purpose was to get one into the best mindset before appearing on the stage. Aside from the salons, there were smaller booths and rooms; quiet spaces for voice rehearsals and mirrored spaces to scrutinize one’s dance moves. 

Hmm, maybe I should try one of those booths, to see how it’s like to sing the songs in my memories. Just not now.

I finally arrived at my destination, pushing open the doors and heading up to the counter.

“Good evening!” The male receptionist greeted me, “Are you a member here?”

“No.” I studied the board displaying the prices. “It’s my first time here.”

“Would you like to sign up for a membership? You will get a member discount on all services.” Like with the other shops, the staff member tried to sell to me.

I hummed thoughtfully. “Mmm… not this time.” Perhaps if it’s nice. But then again, I’m on my last year here…

One of the things I recalled enjoying in my past life memories was soaking in hot baths, and I had been meaning to come to this recently opened place after finding out it had several large pools for guests to enjoy. Except I had been so busy with my project work that I couldn’t. But now…

Better late than never, I guess.

The staff member quickly explained the rules to me, which were pretty commonsensical in behaving courteously, though there was one rule that forbade the use of inkomancy in the bathing area. He handed me towels and directed me to the changing room, where I could leave my staff and bag in the lockers provided. It was nice to see how much this place matched my past memories of such places.

When I entered the bathing area, I was taken aback by the size. I could count at least ten different pools, varying in size and function. Aside from the typical hot and cold baths, there were big-sized ones for the larger-sized users, a salt one for aquatic beings like tritons (with a pair currently using it), bubble baths meant to soothe sore muscles, a medicinal bath supposed to help the skin, and others I couldn’t identify at first glance. In several locations between those baths were washing areas, so one could rinse off the bathwater to prevent mixing in water from a different bath. Needless to say, I wasted no time in washing my body, and going about trying each pool.

A bit further in were saunas and steam rooms, and I naturally tried those as well. It really felt good going from hot to cold and back to hot, and I was feeling increasingly inclined to buy a membership the longer I spent here.

As for the other patrons using the baths, I didn’t interact with them… or at least until one of them interacted with me first.

“What a coincidence meeting you here, Roy,” A familiar voice jerked me out of the dozing stupor I had fallen into.

I wiped the water out of my eyes. “P-P-Professor?!”

“None of that here,” The leonin slid into the water next to me, “We’re just two beings sharing a bath. Just call me Helioz.”

“Right…” I think this is the first time I’ve seen a leonin wet. 

Helioz’s fur was a soggy brown, but his mane was still giving off a faint light, stuck to his body instead of fluffed out like I always saw it.

“If there’s anything troubling you, I’m willing to hear you out,” He remarked.

His words made me recall the sudden ennui that had grasped me. “Mmm… I… don’t know how I should say it…”

“It’s fine. As long as you don’t stop trying, you will eventually find the words.” He sank deeper up to his neck, letting his mane spread out in the water. “When you do, you will be able to express the light within you, and it will dispel the doubts shadowing your heart.”

“Was it really that obvious to other people?” I asked, looking at his head sticking out of the water. Kinda looks like a luminous jellyfish…

“My experience with lumimancy makes me more sensitive to the light of others,” Helioz explained, “And you’re not the first, nor will you be the last, student to have suffered a sudden darkening in mood before the project presentation.”

I hummed noncommittedly. “Well…”

Slowly, I tried my best to explain how I felt, that despite everything going well for my project, the motivation I had was just not being channeled into my activities. The leonin just listened, nodding in acknowledgment once in a while. 

“I believe I have an idea as to the reason.” Helioz opened his eyes, which shone with a peaceful light as he looked at me.

“What is it?”

“Your period of study at Strixhaven is coming to an end, and you’re loath to see that happen. That emotion has spread to your project, and because you’ve focused so much on it, it has spilled over into other parts of your daily life as well.”

“That’s…” So this was just… me rejecting the inevitable end?

“You recognize it now,” The leonin closed his eyes again. “And with that recognition, you now know where to focus your light. Don’t let the shadows sway your path, Roy.”

I looked down at myself, seeing my body glowing slightly with the light of his word magic. Huh… so that’s what it was. It was so small and insidious, but now that he pointed it out… I suddenly don’t feel that doubt anymore.

“Thanks… Helioz.” 

“You’re welcome. Also, I think this bath is too hot for me. I’ll be moving to a cooler one.” 

He rose out of the water, and shook himself off, scattering droplets around, which included onto me. Wiping off my face, I stared at the leonin with a deadpan expression. I felt like retaliating, but he did help me out quite a bit with that, so I chose to let it pass. Instead, I decided to get out as well, having soaked in long enough. Helioz nodded to me when I thanked him on my way out, wishing me good luck once more.

Back in my dorm, I picked up the restricted book I had been meaning to read, and opened it with a strong feeling of anticipation. I might not have enough mana to pull it off just yet, but it was only a matter of time.

‘Performing a Leyline Invocation’.

…

All too soon, the appointed date for my presentation arrived. All over Strixhaven’s colleges, fourth-year students waited their turn to present the fruits of their efforts to a panel of professors who would grade their work. Said grading was done against the professors’ expert standards, and the students only found out which professors would be on the panel two days beforehand. 

Imagine trying to redo the whole presentation to target those professors within that time… Then again, if other people were in my position, I’m sure they would have taken the risk. I smiled politely at the trio of professors sitting behind the table.

Since my project involved a combination of techniques from three different colleges, my panel’s professors naturally would be a mix of all three. However, I hadn’t been expecting the personages who had shown up instead. I had requested for Helioz, Ruxa, and Osgir, and instead I got the three Deans, Dean Shaile Talonbrook, Dean Kianne, and Dean Augusta Tullus. All three of them were giving me looks of professional interest, even Dean Augusta, despite me not taking her class. In contrast to that…

Please stop giving me those looks of pity, I thought at the student audience sitting in the back.

“Alright, you may begin your presentation,” Dean Shaile spoke out, causing the muttering in the room to fade.

I nodded. “Good afternoon, esteemed professors. My project is on a new spell I developed, which helps in strengthening the physical body of the caster…”

I had gone through several versions of the presentation with my guidance counselors, and I was armed with the confidence of knowing I polished it the best I could. With a smoothness honed through repeated rehearsals, I presented the fruits of my effort over this entire semester. Conceiving the idea, the research I did to prove it was doable, my choice of spell components to construct it, how I worked to make it function, further experiments to fine-tune its workings, analysis of the various approaches to making use of it, and finally, the outcome of making diligent use of this body-tempering method. 

At this point of time, my body resembled that of a fairly fit person, but the amount of force I could exert was that of an orc who spent a decade training in martial arts. I could see the audience react to that with great interest, but I made sure to inform everyone that they couldn’t expect to see the same results if they made use of it. In terms of physical endurance, the self-cast five-stacked Earth element that would have instantly killed me only left a bruise that went away in a few hours. 

Not that I was going to tell them that I actually tried killing myself that way as a test of my boosted endurance.

“That’s the end of my presentation. I will be taking questions now.” I readied myself for the incoming interrogation about my dissertation.

Dean Shaile was the first to speak. “I can see you’ve put in an extraordinary amount of effort into this, Roy. My first question is this, you said that the amount of pressure it put was extremely tough, making you consider reducing its difficulty for others to use. However, in the end you decided not to. Why is that?”

Good, that’s one of those I expected. “When I reduced the difficulty, the amount of growth experienced was more than initially assumed. It is the force that gives the ordeal its meaning, and without it, it becomes less of an ordeal, thus granting far less growth.”

Dean Kianne raised her hand, and the owlin graciously let her ask her question next. “I can see how you applied mathematical concepts towards the spell’s construction, but have you considered possible negative side effects of doing so?”

I nodded to her. “Yes, I have. If my calculations had been wrong, the force might have been too much, or the tempering process might have gone wrong, resulting in… undesired outcomes. However, I did test the early components in controlled settings, thus mitigating such risks.”

“Did you feel that there were some parts where you could have incorporated more of it, or parts where you could have included less?”

“There may have been some,” I conceded, which was admitting a bit of vulnerability in my project, “But my experiments with modifying those steps ended up destabilizing the spell matrix. I concluded that this version is the most stable.”

Could I have discovered a better version? Maybe, but it would have cost me too much time to research it.

Then it was Dean Tullus’s turn, with her raising a glowing finger to indicate her desire to speak.

“I understand your choice to use the form of poetry, as it is easier to include the magical maths of my colleague,” The Dean of Order began, “And why you chose paladins instead of other famous figures as legends to draw upon. My question is this: why this order of paladins over the others?”

Nice, another easy question that I have the answer to, just that I had to edit it out of the presentation. “There were some paladin orders that practiced self-flagellation, or were more well-known for defeating fearsome monsters, yes. However, my lumimancy lessons taught me more about the conceptual nature of light. Justice, integrity, courage… Just like before, I had to weigh the factors to find one that worked best with the other parts of the spell, which was why I chose that order out of many others.”

“And why is that?” The slight smile on her face showed her approval for my actions, which were in line with the Order philosophy of Lorehold.

“Inspiration,” I announced confidently, “The virtues they embodied with their actions help to inspire others to follow their example, and that sort of enshrined history adds more weight to the light generated by the spell.”

Learning how to pull on that was quite hard, but once I figured out the trick to doing so, it was really just plug and play.

The deans and some of the other professors threw out several more questions, and I was able to answer most of them, admitting my limitations for those I couldn’t. There were several parts that I could research into more, like the internal framework that I only lucked into thanks to the dungeon staff, or the effect of using strengthening potions with it. What constraints I faced that prevented me from fully completing this research, and so on…

The questions slowed, and after Dean Shaile waited half a minute with no one else wanting to ask anything, she called an end to the presentation.

“Since no one else has any further questions to ask, I believe this is the end of Roy’s presentation. Thank you, Roy.” She paused as the rest of the audience applauded. “That was excellently done.”

At my side, I felt Lyric nudge me in an act of quiet praise.

“Very admirable, seeing what you were able to create through this combination.” The Lorehold Dean agreed, still applauding. “I truly wished you had chosen Lorehold.”

“Ah, but it was Quandrix who provided most of the foundation,” Dean Kianne pointed out.

As the two of them bickered good-naturedly over my choice of college in the past, Dean Shaile came around the table and patted me on the shoulder with a clawed hand.

“Stand proud, Roy.” She told me with her usual owlin smile, “You’ve come up with something new, and not many can say that.”

Despite knowing that it wasn’t entirely true, I accepted that praise, giving her a little bow to show my gratitude and respect.

Now… gotta go attend my friends’ presentations.

Afterword: Wow, this chapter was really tough to write. Researching for project work stuff, dealing with RL and work troubles… then trying to find the right words to phrase things, it was just a headache trying to get my muse to cooperate. Hope my readers didn’t find it too boring with all this academia stuff.