[Flashback] I Used to Lie (Solo)

[Rayage]

Dayle Halse's Office- Head of the Department of Alchemy
OOC Note: Continued from I Used to Teach
Summer 15, 404 AV

”So, lets go over this again.” he said, leaning back in his chair. His voice was full of authority and power, even more so than Rays, ”Can you explain again what exactly compelled you to leave such a dangerous experiment alone in plain sight?”

Ray had been asked the same exact question four times already. It was obvious what the Head was trying to do. He was looking for a fault, a slight difference in Rays story, some sign that he was being untruthful. So far, he had got none, and was unsatisfied with that answer. He would go as far as accusing this person to be a little slow. ”Dare I inquire the reason Im repeating myself for the forth time is that you cannot accept the plain, undeniable truth?” it was obvious the nuit was a little frustrated with the whole situation at hand, ”Your son obviously stole from me.” The voice was as calm and as calculated as ever.

”We are not discussing the unfortunate actions of my son right now. We are discussing your irresponsibility.” He said, it was obvious the Head was getting tired of this, not getting the ‘truth’ which he so desired. ”Now, answer my question” This wasn’t going to be a two sided argument.

Sighing somewhat the nuit nodded, ”I understand, but if we must go over the days occurrence’s again perhaps you can be a little open minded to what happened.”

”Open minded?” the Head laughed, ”I have been plenty open to your ideas thus far….”

”Just there is no way that your son could have stolen from me?” the nuit asked, cutting Dayle off. ”If you have seen the way he conducts himself in my class then you wouldn’t be far stretched to think he would steal from me in an act of vengeance.” He stated

”I taught my son Alchemy myself…”

”No wonder he is failing my class then.” Ray stated boldly. He had lost his patience with the man ages ago, the same story again and again ”A mediocre alchemist teaches mediocre alchemy.”

”Are you questioning my abilities?”

Ray laughed, ”No, sir” he stated, ”Im just making an observation.” he said. ”The student resembles the teacher.”

Dayle looked furious, ”Well by your records no one is passing your class. If the student resembles the teacher then what does that say about you?” he had thought he won, but Ray was prepared.

”They are disappointments. You said they were excellent alchemists, but all they know is basic theory, if that. They have not even mastered the concepts…”

This time Ray was cut off, ”No, Ive heard stories of how you teach. They just cannot answer the questions as quick as you believe they should be able. Drilling is not teaching, Rayage.”

”What you do is not teaching either. You claim my students are advanced, I only see failure. Who is right? The teacher obviously. You do not observe these students every class period. I know what they are capable of and some even have potential, but I say to all those who claim to be ‘advanced’ are liars and full of themselves.”

”Indeed.” Dayle said, ”You certainly are full of yourself. Now, if we can move past this answer my question and restate your story”

[Rayage]

Ray nodded, they were getting nowhere with this idle banter. ”Alright.” he agreed, not bothering to make himself more comfortable, he wanted to be out of here as fast as possible, but this initial meeting has already taken so long. Bells if he was not mistaken, and it was getting quite old though he did not let this bother him. He had all the time in the world and this mortal was wasting his precious life wanting to hear the same story over and over. ”All of it again?” he asked, as if he needed clarification. He knew he was going to have to repeat himself and recount his story up till now.

”Yes, as from the times before, you are to recount your actions from the time of your class on the eleventh up to our meeting now. You are not afraid to clarify again, are you?” he asked in a smug confidence that Ray will slip, and in reality Ray had been fibbing all this time, but the teacher was not going to get caught. He did not know what would befall him if they University found out he knew of the kind of things the Archives hold.

”Very well.” The Alchemist told the Head, nodding as he recounted the events of class, rearranging the order of things just a little bit and even included the part where Dayle’s son messed up the experiment and what happened therein. The whole recounting of events was not making the Head any happier than he already was. It just seemed Rays story was not good enough. Of course the Alchmist was telling the truth, well, most of it anyways, and that is what counted in the Nuits mind. He had no obligation to the man, but to the University. He saw them as separate beings incapable of even being in the same league. The Head of the Department of Alchemy will never be the University of Zeltiva. To the University he held loyalties, until it suited him to leave, not to this one man.

”Wait, you threatened my son?!”

Ray was a little annoyed that he was interrupted to have been asked such a stupid question. Yes, he did threaten his son, ”Yes, I told you before I lost my edge and threatened to turn him into the next experiment if he did not leave.” Ray clarified for the Dayle’s sake. Or so he would pretend the Head of the Department was a complete idiot and finish his recounting of events until the class ended.

”Then, papers were turned in and promptly graded.” he smiled, ”All their work was below expectation.” he reported, ”It would seem the esteemed University has low standards when it comes to Alchemy. No wonder there hasn’t been a great alchemist since the Rupert Pycon” he said, sounding quite bored with his report. There was nothing like recounting your story a thousand times over to bore the mind more than being unable to perform Alchemy.

[Rayage]

It had been just last night when the Nuit successfully broke into the Archives building and stole the parchment. Unwilling to waste precious candle light the alchemist patiently waited for dawns first light. In that haze, barely any light, darkness still hanging like a fog around every corner he began to work. He began to examine and look over the dialect which this obviously old paper was written in. He grinned recognizing it as the Nadar-Canoch, the ancient tongue which now is known for dominating most magical research. Interesting indeed, ”What secrets can you whisper to me?” he asked his hand gingerly running down the old, worn page.

The paper itself was falling apart, too old to be given an exact date. ”You are an old baby, aren’t you?” he asked, slowly unrolling the paper, and he then made his first discovery; it was not one page, but three. He thought it was a little thick, but with parchment it was hard to tell for there are many ways to make such a thing. Three, what a good number. He wondered if there were pages missing, but he dismissed such thoughts, assuming he had the whole document. It would be unfortunate to doubt the sanctity of the papers before even reading them.

Taking a seat at the small, quite broken down wooden desk, it was nothing like the one in his office, he sighed and began translating. Grabbing some left over parchment, a quill, and some ink he began writing his own translation of the document at hand, of course adding a word or two here and there to make it flow better in Common.

The portal to Truth lies sealed behind doors of iron and steel, deep within the Heart of Everything. Lions maw devours the Taint, exposing darkness and showing the light. Left and Right, Up and down, every direction spins Trusting the hand of fate. Silent Helpings move twine of consequence showing the world what their actions can cause. …

Stopping there Ray looked at it and laughed. What rubbish. Did he really risk his life for such a useless document? It sounded nothing like what he had expected. ”Lions maw devours the Taint…” the Alchemist had never heard anything as stupid as that before. What taint? And why the emphasis on some of the words? It all made no sense. It was then he decided he was going to need extra help on this project of his, but who could he trust? Having been a teacher in the University for years now he had grown to know some people, but he could not go to the University with this.. this important discovery.

It was kind of obvious the reason this document was hidden away, or at least to the Alchemist. It had some importance, some hidden message, something of value. Why else would it have been so highly guarded? The University must not have figured out the significance of the document either. Why else would they hold onto it?

[Rayage]

Ray continued to explain the events of the days leading up to the investigation which the head was conducting.

”Now class,” he again was hosting class in the golden room. He really despised the color but it seemed that this was the only lab he was getting. The bright colors seemed to clash against the myriad of color the nuit wore, his cloak twisting as he walked, the many patches which now seemed to be the majority of the cloak could have anyone guess its age. It used to be black, and sure there were black specks. The original material shining through, but now the dark black was faded and worn by time, and now the black was just specks here and there, the other colors, the patches have long taken over the cloak like some kind of illness. The multitude of colors of different shades and hues slowly spread over years of wear, and now it kept the cloak together. The cloak, like Ray, had changed over time, and while one grew more colorful the other grew less, and colder to the world.

”Lets see if we can help you improve your Alchemy skills.” he said, still pacing around looking at each and every student who bothered to show up. This class was significantly bigger for this class didn’t have any materials which the people had to pay for and so it was open to all of his students, ”One can be a truly great alchemist if they know alchemy alone.” he said taking the chalk and writing ‘Alchemy’ on the board. Then he drew a line under it, ”But, there is a magic which can complement Alchemy. Does anyone know what name of this magic is?” he asked looking over the class. Blank stares. Sighing after a moment of lifelessness, ”The magic is called Glyphing.” he said writing glyping on the right side of the board and again he put a line under it. He then drew a line from glyphing to Alchemy, the end points pointing at both magical disciplines. ”Though there is another magic that every Alchemist should know.” he said facing the board as he wrote another name on the board. Stepping away he showed the class what he wrote, a single word on the left side of the board. It read: Shielding.

”Shielding.” he announced the name to the class aloud. ”Now, lucky for you, class, both of these disciplines are easy to learn if you have persistence, and both of these disciplines will help you become a better alchemist. If you take nothing away from this class period but one thing, please remember that fact: Shielding and Glyphing will make you a better Alchemist.” He paused to look over his class, zombies, all of them. It irritated him when he got glossy stares, ”Does anyone know anything about the disciplines listed?” he asked looking around. Even the teacher only knew the basics but that wasn’t going to stop him from teaching what he knew, to pass down knowledge, to make them a better alchemist. That was his goal here.

”Shielding is the art of creating walls, barriers, prisms and other three dimensional objects in order to protect against Djed.” he stated writing a dash under Shielding and putting by the dash ‘Protect against Djed’, ”That is the shields primary and first, and probably most useful trait. Does anyone know why this magic would be good for budding alchemists?” he asked feeling slightly that he was advertising other classes the university offered. It almost made him sick, though that was his job.

This time a student answered, ”To block the Djed Radiation from the Alchemical force, to shield the laboratory from loose alchemy streams, and to protect the sanctity of other objects within the room. We don’t want them warped by the Djed Radiation given off by ones own Alchemy.”

”Very good.” Ray clapped, ”Are you perhaps familiar with shielding?” he asked only to be answered with a ‘yes sir’ and a nod. Ray laughed, ”See class? This one is already on her way to becoming a great alchemist.” he nodded writing down more notes about shielding under shielding.

”Now Shielding can be self-discovered.” he said, ”What do I mean by that? Unlike other magical disciplines it can be learned by just doing and attempting it. Though, obviously, if one had a teacher the process would be easier and understanding would be more precise.” he said writing down more key points on the board. ”Beyond that,” he added one more point on the board, ”Shielding is hard to overgive in. A great comfort to all of us. Gods help us if a shielder went mad.” he jested planting the thought in his students mind, an amusing thought indeed.

Feeling that he has had enough notes on Shielding, and with a little prompting he was sure his whole class would go sign up for a Shielding 101 class. Which was good. He wasn’t going to leave a legacy of students who are worthless when it comes to Alchemy. No he wanted to be remembered, it to be said, that Rayage’s students would go on for greatness. Wasn’t that the point of teaching? In hopes that they would do better than the teacher? Little did they know, however, none of them could surpass Ray. Not while Ray was still alive.

”Glyphing.” he used the name to change the subject, pointing with the chalk in his hand at the bare space under the written word, ”Glyphing,” he repeated, ”You will find ever useful not only in Alchemy but in other magical pursuits as well. I believe you will like glyphing the best in that the possibilities in its application are limited to your imagination.” he said, ”Unfortunate for some of you, he said looking at a couple members of his class specifically, “but useful for most.” he ended seeing some lights flick on in some of their eyes.

[Rayage]

”Now that I have your attention” he said, ”Lets discuss Glyphing.” he said, and he could almost hear the class groaning, or some of them at least. They were not interested in the specifics, but the fact that it could help them in alchemy should have been enough for them to be interested. Though it seemed this was not the case. This slightly disappointed Ray. He tried not to let it show and just move on with the lesson.

He started by drawing a complete glyph under the word Glyping. This was accompanied by a silence as the class looked on; the dash dash of the chalk hitting the board could be heard as the nuit continued to draw the glyph. The center of the creation had a figure eight looking thing, with wavy branched going off both ends and branching off even more, resembling tree roots. Connecting both ends of the horizontal eight was a circle, which the branches branched out of. Around the entire thing he drew more glyphs in a circle pattern, the glyphs each connecting together like some form of cursive, and eventually it blocked in the glyph he drew earlier. As he was drawing he explained, ”Now, not all glyphs will look the same, every glyph will be different and there is no right way nor is there a wrong way to draw a glyph. Likewise there is no way of telling what a sigil of another mage could do just by looking at it. Though a good guess could be gleamed with the magical art of Auristics.” he said finishing the glyph. Up in the right corner he drew another glyph to the side.

Stepping away from the board he looked at his handiwork and continued to explain, ”Glyphs are powerful images, but have no power initially. By themselves glyphs are useless, and so they are only given the power the mage gives it.” he tried to explain. ”Glyphs have the power to manipulate Djed, store Djed, split and combine the effects of magic, restrict and even channel magic into an area, and even stabilize wild magic.” he listed the uses of glyphs, ”With a little imagination one can do truly amazing things with glyphs, but they always compliment other magic. Glyphing is not a stand along discipline” he said again trying to drill that point home, ”Glyphs can be drawn with and on nearly any medium that you can think of. If its carved, painted, written in chalk, it matters not. No one way is more efficient than another, but some methods are less time consuming.”

”Its good to know that once a glyph is used that it disappears, or becomes otherwise broken.” he said, ”Now a sigil,” he pointed to his drawing, ”Is a collection of glyphs that produce the desired results. This sigil might be found on a scroll.” he said, ”Now lets break this sigil down. It has all the components used to store a bit of magic in it.” Drawing a line to the circle of cursive like glyphs which, ”This is called a barrier.” he stated simply, ”This is just a series of glyphs arranged in a circle around the Focus,” he pointed to the glyph in the center, ”and the barrier acts to restrict and control the magic inside. This kind of set up is key if you want to make a sigil worth anyone’s while.” he said.

”This” he pointed again to the focus, ”As I briefly touched upon is the component in the sigil called the focus. It allows the actual storing of magic.” having learned the basics himself he could at least pass on what he knew, ”Things are always equal.” he said, ”You get out of the focus, when it is activated, what you put in, exactly. Exactly what you put in you will get out. No matter what. Anything can be stored within a focus as long as it is magical. Anything from Reimancy spells to Alchemical items can be stored for later use.”

Drawing a line to the Focus of the Sigil he wrote the word ‘Focus’ and moved on pointing to the smaller glyph drawn to the side, ”This is called the Trigger.” he said ”The trigger works specifying a condition to which it will activate. The activation of the trigger usually deactivates the barrier around the focus allowing the release of the magic stored in the focus. A condition can be anything from touching the glyph to saying a verbal phrase. Do you see where your imagination can come into this?” He certainly hoped so.

”By using these basic components in different and imaginative ways one can really add to their own power and experiment in different ways. This magic broadens any other magic it comes into contact with, and really the possibilities are endless.” he ended his little lector on glyphs.

”Now, how does all of this come into play?” he asked, ”Why would I bother telling you so much about glyphs? Well, the answer is simple. You are going to be working with them today.” he said with a smile, ”Not only will you be preparing by yourself an alchemical experiment of your own creation, writing down the formula, and the process you used, but I want you to incorporate glyphs into your alchemy circles.” he stated, ”A simple application of this is to draw focus glyphs in the fount and filter slots of your circle.” he suggested, ”But I expect you will find more creative ways to use the knowledge Ive given you” he said. He looked out to the class, ”And since there are so many of you and not enough Alchemy circles, the circles will be used by those who finish the paperwork fist.” he stated.

”What do I expect before you are allowed to use the alchemy circle? I expect the entire experiment you are going to preform to be written out, step by step. I expect a list of items which you are going to use in your experiment. I expect an explanation of what kind of glyphs you are going to use in your experiment and how you wish for the glyphs to affect your circle. I expect you to conclude with what you hope your final product will be along with alchemical formulas to go along with each step. Of course, in this experiment I expect you to go through at least three different doors, and have a different set of glyphs each time. This means three, if not more, different alchemic formulas.” he slowly looked at each one of his students.

”Once you have that then you may use the alchemy circle. Although your paperwork must be shown to me first, and approved.” he said, ”If it is less than satisfactory then I will send you back to your desk to re-evaluate your work. I will not point out your flaws or hold your hand on any of this. You are alchemists.” he said, ”You are training to be professionals, act like it.” he paced a little, ”Think of it as a test of what you should have learned by now.” he liked that.

”After you have used the alchemy circle, got your final result,” he started, ”record your observations. I want details, people, details.” he tried to drill that into their mind, ”Did everything go as planned? If not, why? What happened to the materials in every step. Include the fount and filter. I want to know if you thought your choice, your selection, in those chargers was sound or not. Support your argument, either way. There is no right and wrong answer.” he told them, ”There is only my opinion, and in the end that is what counts the most. After you have recorded the last of your notes please turn in all your paperwork along with your alchemical creation.”

”Now, this is a lot of work if done right. I will not accept half-done products. I will not accept late work. If you do not get your project done by the end of this class period you will fail the assignment. I am under no obligation to keep failures in my class.” he said his eyes now that of a hawks, staring at each and every one of his students, ”And I can remove you if you do not perform as expected.” All of them knew he was serious, dead serious. He had, within the first quarter of a season, when he first started teaching for the university cut his class size in half. After that the numbers slowly dwindled. Either Ray asked for students to be taken out, or they just quit because they couldn’t put up with the nuits teaching style. Ray however was unaffected by this fact. The fifteen people who have stayed thus far should count themselves quite lucky or maybe they should pray to their gods thanks that they have at least some talent keeping them in the class. Ray was determined to teach only the best, and those who he saw had potential. The teaching style of this nuit is harsh and unforgiving.

[Rayage]

With that he released the class to their own devices. He would take a table of his own, this would be central command, and a spot where he would watch over the class as they worked, answer any questions that might come up, and just pass the time away. Taking a seat, he looked over the class. All of them were busily at work. Good, that was how he liked it. Although there was some chit chat, talk, most of his students realized participating in idol conversation in his class was wasting precious time in which they could be doing their project. It was sort of a race to see who out of them could get Rays permission first. They all knew the first one who obtained the ok usually finished the project on time, and the more and more people who got Oks before you, well, that just slimmed the chance of you ever getting to work your alchemy today. It was a harsh environment, cold and unforgiving, but it oddly worked… for some.

Sitting there he waited for a student or two to ask any number of dumb questions, yes, they do exist. Which in reply he would give the answer in his little Ray way to belittle them and in such a way to leave the student questioning their intelligence, yes, the nuit had no patience for questions it seemed. He would expect the same if someone was teaching him. You nod, you understand, you get to work. It was that simple. Use the knowledge presented to you for your own good. Then, if you fail, you will get clarification because then, and only then, would he know where you, not him the teacher, went wrong. Questions were a waste of time most of the time. That was that.

He waited some more as he looked over the notes he wrote on the board for them about both disciplines. He skipped major parts in Shielding, but he wasn’t teaching them shielding, no, he was teaching them alchemy. All they needed to know was the basic concept of it and that what they got. If they had any further ambition to study it then they would sign up for a shielding class. They were all lucky he gave such an in depth view of glyphing, but he skipped two components of the magic, he was sure they would not need them. The last two things were highly optional were as what he taught them was how to make a working sigil out of glyphs. Yes the barrier and the switch could be left for other times indeed.

Although he would like to have the class use the concepts he presented to him in ways that he would not even think of, he knew that this was not going to happen. He knew, deep down inside him, that at least one person, if not more, will use the example he gave with glyphing in their alchemy circle. Who wouldn’t? It was the easiest to muster. Though right now, he could think of a couple ways to use glyphs to enhance the circle himself. They could use it from enhancing the alchemical flow, making it go faster, slower, to even remotely starting and controlling the circle from a distance. Anything was possible with glyphing and enough skill.

While he waited the teacher got a little inspired. Grabbing a sheet of parchment, a quill, and some ink he got busy on a project all his own. Glyphs, even he was new to using the concepts, but being a nuit, he thought he had the advantage. Having a more complex thought pattern than any of these mortals can hope to have, he could think of using glyphs in more complex ways than they could ever imagine. He started brainstorming with himself as he dipped the quill in ink and started to practice drawing the mystical runes.

Really there was no reason to practice drawing them other than getting good at the setup. Each glyph would turn out unique anyways, they always did. Though practice made perfect. His eyes drifted over the class, there was some chit chatter with some students, most likely brainstorming among themselves, or so he hopped. He would hate to have to break up an ever so insightful conversation about the upcoming ball or whatnot. He knew that it was a hot topic nowadays.

The ink slid and was brushed over the paper in front of him, circles and triangles were meshed together to eventually turn our something like:



It had everything. He observed it, except for a trigger, which he added in last as a little squiggly thing on the side. There. He admired his work, and although it took him sometime to draw it, the contemplation of exactly how to form it and whatnot, it was complete. It had a trigger, a barrier, and a focus. Simple, right? Satisfied he let the ink dry there. Nothing was quite like the feeling one got when he draws an exceptional rune, or at least has fun with it and goes a little wild. Yes, he had a blast with it. Runes, glyphs, and sigils were the nuits way of expressing himself. It was a different medium than alchemy and allowed for a different kind of expression. He liked that.

[Rayage]

"So you were doodling glyphs?" he asked as if he had caught Ray doing something he should not have, interrupting his story. What were these glyphs intended to do and why were you not attending to your students. You know, I could have you fired for neglect."

To that Ray laughed, "You would have me waste my time watching my students work? I think not. Your threats do not bother me." he told him, 'Because I'll always be the better alchemist." he planted that thought into his head, "Now are you going to let me continue or are you bored of hearing the same story for the fourth time? Perhaps you will stop commenting on useless sections of my story and focus on how I deal with the students incompetence?" he asked. The nuit had practiced what he was going to tell the Head far in advance.

The Head nodded.

"It was quite some time, but after a while papers starting coming up. By then Ive drawn like six or seven passable glyphs" he smirked, "Need to practice, you know? The papers were of surprising quality, and so they passed. Then I got an interesting question." he stopped looking the Head of the Department in the eye, "A student of mine asked about Homunculi." he stated.

The Head seemed alarmed at what was said, as if he hadnt heard it four times already, "And what happened then?" he asked expecting the story to change.

"Let me tell you" He smiled...

OOCThis next part will be broken into two parts. The story will be told twice, once for what Ray tells Dayle and the one is what really happens. The next part is Rays fabricated story. The part after that will be what really happens

---

The nuit sat at his desk, quill moving over paper some more. Occupying himself he drew another line, and another line, and they met at one end at a ninety degree angle, forming a backwards 'L'. From the top he drew another line, opposite of the line at the bottom forming a pair of parallel lines. He would then draw another line up, and at the end point he would start forming a circle stopping half-way through making a semi-circle. Connecting both ends of the half-circle with a straight line he was well on his way with this glyph.

He stopped though, dropping his quill, upon seeing a student approach him. Looking up and accepted the paper which was handed out to him.

[Rayage]

Rays eyes glossed over the page presented to him before he stopped and looked at the young student, ”You want to preform Alchemy on a cat?” he asked, sounding disapproving, ”This is unacceptable.” he said handing the paper back, ”rework your experiment.” with that he expected the other to just leave, but he stood there and retaliated ”But, sir. Rupert Pycon created the Pycon race.” he said, ”It was his experimenting with life which made him legendary. Where do you think he started? One does not simply say they are going to create life. They need background knowledge. Im sure this is how…”

The student was cut off with a look, stopping as Ray just stared at him, ”Foolish child.” he cut him off, ”Do you know the price Pycon paid?” he asked, ”Humanity. That was the price of his fame, of his legacy. The price of creating a homunculus is one which too high to even consider.” he said, his voice growing in an angry tone, ”Once you see the truth, the horrors behind the research, you will cry. You will realize that life isn’t a thing to play with. You will change your experiment. Rupert Pycon was a mad man.” he ended. Usually he let his students do whatever they wanted, but this, no, this was unacceptable.

With that he let go of the paper which outlined such a horror and the student resigned to his seat to rethink the experiment.

---

OOCWhat REALLY happened

The nuit sat at his desk, quill moving over paper some more. Occupying himself he drew another line, and another line, and they met at one end at a ninety degree angle, forming a backwards 'L'. From the top he drew another line, opposite of the line at the bottom forming a pair of parallel lines. He would then draw another line up, and at the end point he would start forming a circle stopping half-way through making a semi-circle. Connecting both ends of the half-circle with a straight line he was well on his way with this glyph.

He stopped though, dropping his quill, upon seeing a student approach him. Looking up and accepted the paper which was handed out to him.

Rays eyes glossed over the page presented to him before he stopped and looked at the young student, ”You want to preform Alchemy on a cat?” he asked looking at the student, ”Not in this university you are not.” he said getting up and placing a hand on the students shoulder before walking him out of the room. Closing the door behind him he looked, nobody was around. ”What is this?” He asked putting the paper in front of the humans face.

”Its my experiment, sir.” the kid answered like it was the most common thing in the world.

Rays eyes again traced the paper, reading the words, it did not describe using Alchemy on a cat but on fellow students ”No,” he said, ”Its more than that. You realize that this kind of Alchemy is forbidden in Zeltiva.” he said, ”This could get you expelled, especially when you mention using fellow students.”

”Your instructions were not very clear. I did the assignment didn’t I?”

”You did, but you cannot perform this…”

”That is where you are wrong. I could perform this transmutation. It would just take a couple lives.”

”Fool. One does not study the subject of life in Alchemy.” he told him, ”No, that is a dark path. Bring you more trouble than good.” he said, ”But… if you want to perform this.” he handed the paper back, ”We will need to make some preperations.” he said, ”Oh, and we are not using Alric.” he had another student in mind.

The student looked dumbstruck. What did Professor Ray tell him? He could do it but not use Alric, but then who? Taking the paper the student looked at it, ”I would not write such dark things down.” he warned him, handing the paper back, ”In fact… If you use the student I have in mind then Ill make sure you pass my class. How does that sound?” he asked extending his hand for the student to shake.

They shook hands.

[Rayage]

The nuit examined the paper more. Was there a message encrypted in the words? No, there was something off about the paper. It was old, but it felt more than that. There was almost a pulsing to it. Magical energy surged through it, perhaps that is how this page survived? If that is so, where are the other pages, are there other pages? He could only make assumptions based on the feeling of the paper. To get a closer look would require magic. Luckily he had the magic needed to take an even closer look at anything he really wanted.

Setting the paper down on the table before him, he raised a hand and placed it ever so gently on the parchment. Rushing djed through his hand he began to mentally go inward, concentrating on the aura of the document. Deeper and deeper he went, closing his eyes, he allowed himself just to feel and to get a feel for the information that it offered. Yes, this was magic on the page. This particular magic he felt was very familiar to him, but it was old and ancient. It was impressive, once powerful, but now the effects have all but withered away with the passing of time. The magic on the page was none other than his art, his magical discipline of choice, alchemy.

This new fact excited him as he took his hand off the paper and opened his eyes again. ”What are you really?” he asked the seemingly ordinary looking piece of old parchment. He wondered what sort of things the alchemists of old made the paper out of. Whatever it was, it survived the valterrain. Impressive indeed. He must applaud this unknown alchemists work for making the parchment as durable as it was. Now however the magic was barely there, faded with time. A disappointment, but it also added to the value of this piece. Is surely held some sort of secret.

Picking up the document again, he held it closer to the candle light to get a better view of it, but stopped as it moved in front of the candle. There seemed to be something on it. Setting it on the table he looked for the mark again, but it was gone. Strange. Placing it in front of the candle again, the mark appeared again. A small box. It didn’t seem to be in any specific place, and the words it crossed seemed to have no place. It was just a box only visible when placed in front of a light. A hidden message?

Moving different parts of the parchment to the firelight, he examined it. Another box in the left hand corner. Another box slightly off center of the page. They were not circling or outlining any particular word. What did they mean? They were there for a reason, hidden from regular sight… Yes, that was it. Djed rushing to his eyes he once again concentrated on the paper. The more and more he zoned into the manuscript, the more he concentrated on it, the more clearer things became. There were lines.. Yes, lines within the aura. They connected the boxes, and within the boundary outlined by the boxes were more lines. Closer examination would reveal that it was a map of sorts. Lines were embedded into the document, magical lines, that must have been what the alchemy was for. Though the map wasn’t complete. It was flawed and it seemed to be missing pieces. Incomplete was one word to describe it. Frowning at it, he continued to look at it close. There was one building marked, the city library also known as the Archives building. Great. Thank the gods that someone was smart enough to label that square. Now he had a perspective of what he was looking at. He began to recognize the university and the buildings surrounding, but there were lines that didn’t quite match up to what he knew of Zeltiva from straight memory. Especially this, his hand rand over a dense and thick block of the ‘invisible ink’, perhaps he should go investigate this for himself.

[Rayage]

”So, a student of yours wanted to do transmutations on living things?’ the head of the department sounded amused.

The nuit nodded. He had repeated his story, and this was the end of what he had to tell the Head of the Department of Alchemy, ”Yes, sir.” he said, a bit of irony in the way he said ‘sir’.

”Fine, I have no further questions.”

Finally, Ray thought, ”Then I will take my leave.” he said, getting up from the chair, ”This was a nice little chat we had.” he said before turning to leave. Just before he got to the door he heard the voice behind him say one last thing…

”I know you are a nuit”

To be continued…