«So you learn primarily by mentorship?» guessed Zorian. «I’m surprised you can convince mages to teach you in less than a month. Don’t they all require apprenticeships lasting for several years before they’ll agree to teach you anything useful?»
«Well, usually,» said Zach. «But I’m the last Noveda, don’t you know? I had highly respectable mages tripping over themselves to teach me my whole life. Usually I just have to show up and tell them who I am and they’re all too happy to help me out.»
Zorian suppressed a wave of jealousy that washed over him. Zach was just making the most of his unique situation, just like Zorian would have in his place. It still bothered him, though, reminding him of how Daimen and Fortov could ask and get all sorts of help and concessions from their teachers, only for Zorian to fail in securing the same for himself. His parents had lectured him endlessly that the difference was in their attitudes — that if only Zorian was more sociable, more polite, more everything… he too could enjoy the same benefits. To Zorian, it always seemed like his brothers had some sort of invisible tattoo on their foreheads that only mages could see, and which marked them as somehow more special than him.
Zach wasn’t his brothers, though, and didn’t deserve to be the target for Zorian’s personal frustrations.
«Convenient,» said Zorian out loud, giving his fellow time traveler a smile that was somewhat forced. Zach didn’t appear to notice.
His jealousy aside, he was really starting to wonder if his assumption about Zach being an accidental stowaway like him had any merit at all. Zach had ridiculously huge mana reserves, probably the largest of any student currently attending the academy. He was the last member of a famous Noble House, enjoying all the prestige that comes from that without having to deal with nosy parents who might be freaked out by Zach’s sudden transformation. In addition to the power inherent in his name, the boy was also fairly charming and outgoing, further improving his chances of getting help from otherwise unapproachable high-circle mages. He was not your average spoiled prince, by any means — there was a lot of potential in the boy, if only he would get enough time to bring it out. Time that Zach now had. It was… convenient. A bit too convenient, in Zorian’s opinion.
That is why, despite Zach’s seeming friendliness, Zorian just didn’t feel at ease with the boy. Not enough to reveal himself as a stowaway, in any case. Right now, his main advantage was that he was an outside element in this game Zach was playing. An unaccounted variable. He intended to use and abuse that advantage for all it was worth.
Whatever force was behind Zach, Zorian had no intention of revealing himself to it any time soon.
«Take a seat, mister Kazinski,» Ilsa said. «I sort of suspected I’d be seeing you soon.»
«You did?» asked Zorian.
«Oh yes,» Ilsa said. «Usually students come knocking at my door immediately after a single session with Xvim. You actually waited until the second one, so points for patience.»
«Right,» said Zorian sourly.
«I can’t transfer you to another mentor at this time, though, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to bear with him for now,» she said.
«I sort of expected that,» Zorian said. Why should her answer be any different than it was the last time he asked her? «It’s not what I’m here for.»
«No?» asked Ilsa, raising an eyebrow.
«No,» confirmed Zorian. «Since everything I’ve heard and experienced about Xvim suggests we’ll never progress beyond the basic three, I’ve decided to be proactive about self study. I’ve been hoping for some pointers from you — where I should start, what I should watch out for, that sort of thing.»
Ilsa sighed heavily. «It’s hard to give that sort of advice, mister Kazinski. That’s why the academy gives students mentors — because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I suppose I could give you advice about my own subject, though. How good are you at the basic three?»
«Depends who you ask,» said Zorian. «Most of the teachers from my second year told me I had them mastered. Xvim says I’m a shame to mages everywhere.»
She snorted and handed him a pen. Actually handed it to him, not threw it at him like Xvim would have. Ah, the joy of interacting with sane teachers…
«Levitate that,» Ilsa said.
She wasn’t even finished talking and the pen was already spinning above his outstretched palm.
«Oh, so you can already spin the levitated object?» Ilsa said, sounding pleased. «I bet Xvim was very happy with that.» No, not really. «Do you know any other variation?»
«No,» said Zorian. «Don’t tell me learning those is standard procedure?»
«Not like Xvim is teaching them,» Ilsa said. «But yes, most mentors will give students variations of the basic three to improve their shaping skills.»
«And how many of those variations are there?» asked Zorian.
«Oh, thousands,» said Ilsa, confirming Zorian’s suspicions. «But most students only learn 6 or so by the end of their third year. Here.»
She pushed a rather heavy book into his hands, patiently waiting for him to leaf through it. It was apparently a book describing 15 ‘particularly interesting’ variations of the basic three, 5 for each exercise.
«Let me guess: you want me to learn everything inside this book,» Zorian sighed.
«That would be a pretty neat trick,» Ilsa snorted. «Didn’t you hear what I said? Most people learn 6 or less… in a year. You’ll probably be finished with the academy by the time you’ve learned everything inside that book. Assuming you want to, of course — I’m not making you do anything.»
«6 in a year, huh?» asked Zorian carefully, an idea forming in his mind.
«That’s right,» Ilsa confirmed.
«So what if I could master all 15 before this month is done?» asked Zorian.
Ilsa stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter. It took her a few seconds to calm down.
«My, aren’t you the confident one?» Ilsa said, chuckling softly. «If you were really that good, I’d fill out the transfer forms right now, regulations be damned, and take you as my apprentice. I’d never pass up an opportunity to teach such a legend in the making. Not that I think you could do it, mind you.»
Zorian just gave her a wicked smile.
Of course, there was absolutely no chance for Zorian to master all 15 exercises in this particular restart, but that was beside the point. Thanks to the wonder of the time loop, he had far more than a few measly weeks to learn the contents of the book. It was even available in the academy library, so he didn’t have to go to Ilsa in the next restart to acquire it. And who knew, maybe if he learned those he could get Xvim to cut him some slack too. A man could dream.
Besides, the book was actually fairly interesting. Not only did it explain how to perform each variation in great detail, it also explained the reasons for including each particular exercise, as well as providing a background for understanding why the basic three were being taught to students in the first place. Zorian briefly familiarized himself with each of the variations before starting to read earnestly from the start.
Making an object glow, levitating it, or setting it aflame… these were very simple effects, requiring only rudimentary shaping skills. The levitation exercise, for instance, was just repelling force emanating from the mage’s palm. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. There were actually a lot of these simple effects, certainly more than the three they were taught, but these three were deemed a priority. Production of light, heat, or kinetic force were common components of many spells, giving the basic three the sort of general usefulness that most other simple exercises lacked.