^^ Besan's Barrier Magic ^^

— Alice —

Classes, I learned, ranged from basic, (geology, geometry, geography, Court Manners, etc.,) to Apprentice, (physics, psychology, Fencing,...,) to Advanced, (Psionic Resistance, Emotion Magic Resistance, Dragon Slaying,) and even the Elusive 'Expert' Classes, which I was not given a list of, -these apparently were only available with a Mentor, but I was informed that Spatial Magic was one of them.

Each of these had some affect on being a Knight, but there were also the Magical Classes, which, -though you had to have taken the basics courses to be caught up,- were unquestionably superior in terms of learning opportunities.

I ended up taking several written exams of varying difficulties, and using those scores to qualify for higher-level classes, mostly the Magic and Science Classes, which I honestly thought belonged together in the first place.

Fencing was a required course, as was Basic War Magic, along with Basic Healing, which was a non-magical trauma medicine and herbology class which would've been useful if I didn't already know everything in it.

I had an idea, however, after remembering that Zara knew everything I knew, as I knew it. On a whim or spark of genius, I don't know which, I memorized where each and every class I was interested in was located, first. Then, I spent all night creating a Scrying Eye, a small glass Golem in the shape of a clear sphere, -enchanted with my flying technique,- that was capable of recording and then displaying lengths of video for me.

The logistics of the display and recording were tricky, but I'd managed it before midnight, with my previous knowledge of video cameras and how to record images; the crystal inside the ball was liquid, and would record each scrap of light that touched it, in frames of about 22,000 a second, -22 times that of a human eye, which would allow me to see the intricacies of the movements of the mages and advanced fencers, whom I could not see very well at all, when they moved at speed,- then recap them from its memory bank, which was a small core made of solid crystal that was carefully created to hold the spirit who possessed it, and feed the images to it with perfect clarity, and recall them with that same perfect result.

They could see into every spectrum, and hear everything from 1 decibel up to 200 decibels of noise, the testing of which made at least two dogs howl, and Zara covered her ears and complained at me, which was good to know. My ears had been plugged, but I hadn't considered hers, so I apologized properly and pet her until she felt better. I also included in them a tremorsense, echolocation, and thermal-vision, which would measure movements in the air, the return of sound, and latent body heat, all in concert, to pinpoint the location of anyone, even invisible someone's.

To facilitate this, there was a thin layer of very sensitive gelatinous crystal on the outside of the shell, which was so sensitive that all of these things could have been recorded even without the added steps, but I wanted the security of back-up methods. The last main feature for them was that the gelatinous shell would occlude it's own light, so it would be effectively invisible. Magic would reveal it, I was sure, but not the naked eye.

Once I'd gotten them developed, I created enough crystal for 601 of them in bulk, and then added one truly final feature; it was one spirit inhabiting the Golem, and then the Golem separated into all 601 copies, all controlled by a single consciousness. This would allow them all to coordinate perfectly, and share information with me at all times, as one of them, the main body, would become a replacement for my sunglasses, which I had on me at all times.

That set, and all of them formed and working properly, I sent them off into the school. There were about 100 classrooms, some with the same class by different teachers because of the sizes of the classes, so I placed one of them into the four top corners of those square rooms, so that they could compile a 3D rendering of the class for me to semi-participate in and learn from, at my own pace. The remaining 200 were placed throughout and around the castle, keeping an 'eye' out for anything untoward.

"Ha! Get it?" I asked Zara, grinning.

She opened one eye slowly at me, then snorted lightning at me chidingly, like a cat and a squirt bottle. "Bad human. Bad Puns. Let Zara Sleep." She grumbled.

"Humph. Some people are irredeemable." I shook my head, and finished the journal entry, looking up as the sun came through my window, and someone knocked on the main door. "And there goes my beauty sleep..."

Adrian and Victor let themselves in, after I acknowledged them, and I hummed at the Scrying Eye in Victor's hand. "That was quick..."

"Your work then? I assumed, as it is a Golem, and that is your purported speciality." Victor sighed.

"Yes, it is an attempt to record the lessons I miss or do not attend, so that I can watch them later, and in greater detail. They have no combat abilities, and not very many would be able to notice them, so there's no issue with them being disruptive, is there?" I asked, retrieving the one from his hand, which looked mildly damaged from his capturing method, whatever it was.

"So it's a Recorder for Lessons that you haven't signed up for yet, so that when you do, you'll be more prepared than anyone else." Adrian raised an eyebrow, apparently understanding the point.

"Correct." I nodded. "I also plan on writing textbooks, considering the classes here do not have any. That seems a severe oversight."

"More of an attempt to not inadvertently share magical knowledge with people who aren't members of the Academy. People who don't attend the academies are generally troublemakers; not exactly criminals, but very disruptive, and most of the time they're irritating little shits. Giving them more magical knowledge could lead to bad situations." Adrian shrugged, sitting down on my desk.

A whip made of air cracked his hip instantly, and he raised an eyebrow, unaffected. "Get off my desk! Tables are not for sitting upon! Use a chair, it's not like there's a shortage of them!" I raised an eyebrow back sarcastically.

He chuckled and obediently moved to a chair, then looked at the little whip I'd made as it dissolved. "Interesting use of Elemental Swordsmanship... directly interacting with the element, instead of using a medium... that's usually a very high-Level technique... are you usually so advanced?"

"I am generally more advanced in theory than my peers, yes. In practical uses of magic, my knowledge of most magic -other than nature magic- is quite limited. And this is Draconic Magic, not Elemental Swordsmanship... I think?" I hummed, doing it again, and traced the ability I used back to the Magic Swordsman portion of my Class. "Huh. Color me surprised..."

"Right, then let's begin with a spar, see what you're capable of. I find that actual combat experience is completely invaluable in the training of combatants, which should be obvious, but certain people are still pushing back on that, after almost forty years of success from my methods." He cleared his throat, and Victor whacked his head with his staff calmly.

"Regardless... move on." Victor frowned at him dangerously.

"Fine, Fine... now, show me what you've got." He stood in the center of the room, looking up at me.

I nodded slowly. "Does your weapon hold any sentimental significance?"

He glanced at it, then back at me. "Yes?"

"Don't use it, then. It'll just get broken." I smiled, and drew my rapier, cladding it in a thick bolt of lightning that soon created plasma, and that plasma swirled around the blade nearly three times the speed of sound, emulating a chainsaw made of of diamond-cutting plasma teeth, though mostly invisible.

"Oh? That's fancy... you developed that one yourself? What's it do?" He asked, unconcerned.

"I used it to carve a Bulette's hide, but I haven't used it on a human yet, so who knows? You're probably the best test dummy to ever live, so I figured, why the hell not?" I smiled wickedly, and Zara bit his ankle, her jaws also filled with the plasma cutter technique.

He growled in pain as she took a bite out of his ankle, but she'd barely managed to do more than bleed him, so he ignored her, turning back to me. That was more than enough.

He fell to his knees, a confused look on his face, as she drank his blood and left him with just enough to survive. The rush of power made my blade spin even faster, making the air hum softly, and I smiled at the lightsaber vibe, sending an illusory copy of myself leaping down to stand next to him. "No matter how powerful you are, you should never let your guard down. But, I gained some valuable knowledge; plasma cutters don't work on you as well as they do on diamonds... what's your Spirit?" I asked curiously.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his neck, and a pair of massive Koi began to circle the room, occasionally dipping their eyes in and then returning to circling. "That was a proper slap to my face for the arrogance, I'll give you that, but shouldn't you follow your own advice?" He asked, and the pommel of his sword whacked the illusion-me's forehead, turning her to smoke. He blinked slowly, confused, as she reformed.

"Who says I don't? I'm always careful. Arrogance is something I struggle with, but I'm aware of it and attempting on a daily basis to overcome it." The illusion me shrugged.

"Impressive trick... it's a Vampire thing, right? The mist?" He asked, glancing at Victor.

"No, that's an Illusion Mage Thing." Victor shook his head dryly. "She was never there, so you could never have harmed her; she was being cautious the whole time. I approve."

"Hmph... I suppose I do as well, that is very smart. Where is- oh, there she is. Well done, Lady Taurus, but perhaps you shouldn't have revealed yourself?" He glanced up at me.

"Who says I have?" I smiled, and the Illusion me kicked him in the chest, using one of my air platforms to simulate the impact of one of my kicks perfectly.

He stepped one foot back for balance, but was unmoved for the most part, beyond being terribly confused. "What? I thought... Victor?" He asked, scratching his head.

Victor laughed softly, covering his mouth, and took a seat. "You're on your own, Adrian, you started it."

The illusion swept low and destroyed his roots with another blast of air, this one as powerful as I could possibly make it, and he left the ground, tilting sideways while still looking confused, and my knee found his face, sending him ass over end into the wall, where he sat for a moment, staring in awe at the trickle of blood coming from his nose, though he didn't look very wounded at all.

"You're very sturdy... I don't understand how, though. Even with those spirits, plasma cutters should go right through you. Also, I just sucked all the blood out of you, so you shouldn't have enough to bleed from a high knee to the nose." I asked, letting the first illusion dissipate and sheathing my sword with the second. My real body was still standing on the landing, leaning against the rail and watching, controlling the illusions from above.

He grinned and stood, cracking his neck. "Well, there are two separate answers to that question; 1: Barrier Magic, and 2: Healing Magic. I have a pretty decent Barrier Spell inside my skin, like most knights who don't wear armor. Next, I have Healing Magic, as a Hero, so I essentially automatically heal, so long as I have Mana to trade, and I have a metric crap-ton of Mana."

I nodded slowly. "I see... well,-"

He punched forward and scruffed the illusion, only for it to turn to smoke, and then look exactly like him. He flinched back as it used a copy of his sword in a calm batto, slashing the front of his kimono with a vibrating crescent of air.

"Perhaps you should give up while you're behind?" I asked, and he flinched again at his body using a different voice.

He grinned slowly, and drew his sword in a smooth arch, leveling it at the illusion. "Nah, I think I'm good... try not to get hurt, okay?"

My Scrying Eyes focused in on him, speeding up their fps to accommodate whatever he was about to do, and the illusory me turned back into me, raising the rapier into an En Garde. "Says the man who I've bled twice?" I raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Victor snorted, covering his mouth, and cleared his throat when Adrian frowned at him. "Sorry, please continue."

I gave the illusion substance, with little walls of air on the skin which would give, just before turning the illusion to smoke and reforming after the blade passed through, so he would think I was simply faster than him at turning to smoke or parrying or counterattacking, but there would be slow wear and tear on my clothes, and a few small cuts where he'd struck; this would entice him to go even faster, and I wanted to see his form when he wasn't holding back.

I quickly couldn't see what he was doing, but the illusion was properly programmed with all of my fencing knowledge, and her reaction time wasn't losing out to his speed at all, due to its magical nature. Victor glanced up at the balcony and smiled at me, apparently amused by the deception.

After about ten minutes, he stopped, and laughed softly. "You're either a genius or a liar, one of the two... a genius who was blessed by the god of war and magic, or a liar who is much, much older than she looks."

"I am quite clearly both of those things, but I'd like to know why you think so? Also, it's rude to talk about a Lady's Age." I admonished him, before letting the illusion dissolve in front of his stunned expression.

He laughed again, shaking his head and sheathing his sword. "You're right, of course... well, I imagine you learned a lot, there, so I'll turn the rest of our time here over to Victor... he has something special planned, I think."

"Indeed... my Apprentice, Besan, is quite adept at Barrier Magic and Spatial Magic. He and Jade will tutor you when we cannot be here due to our heavy schedules. Today, however, I will be teaching you both." He explained, and snapped his fingers, creating a magic circle on the ground, from which appeared a young man in mages robes, looking around curiously.

"Master? Where am I now?" Besan asked, and found Adrian. "Ah, hello, Sir Fong! Did you wish to test your sword against my Barriers again?!?" He grinned happily.

Adrian chuckled. "No, not today. We're introducing you to your first student; Duchess Alice Taurus, Demon Queen and Heroic Dragoon. She has a shockingly good grasp of offensive illusion magic, and just managed to use a smoke clone to battle me for almost ten minutes, and at my full speed, too."

His eyes widened, looking up at me. "Oh! That's impressive, Lady Taurus! Are you an Elf, perchance?"

I blinked slowly, processing that question. "Why would you think I'm an elf?" I asked slowly.

He cocked his head, and poked one of his own ears. "Uhm... the ears, for starters... and the mastery of Illusion Magic? And the SoulBond with a Dragon?"

I touched one of my ears, and hummed at the definitive point they now had, which I hadn't noticed. "I suppose all those factors together might lead to that conclusion. Does the answer have any bearing on your training?" I asked calmly.

"Not really. So I'm supposed to teach her what, Master? Which subject?" He asked Victor.

"Spatial and Barrier Magic's, to start. When she's mastered those, we'll move on to more advanced topics. You're here for when we cannot be, as we are too busy for classes with a fresh Apprentice every day." Victor shrugged.

He nodded slowly, his earring (in the shape of a magic circle I didn't recognize,) shimmering in the light. "Understood, Master. Shall I start, then?"

"Please do."

The younger man bowed and then gestured to me to come closer, before Summoning with a snap several green squares with magic Sigils at each corner of them, giving them a very powerful structure, just from an engineering standpoint. They layered over each other and began connecting, shifting the geometry to nearly fourth-dimensional, as Time became a portion of the equation.

"Whoa..." I nodded, and stabbed one of them with my plasma blade. It halted, and I pressed on it, slowly grinding away bits of the green energy, making a very, very tiny dent. "Alright, that's legitimately amazing. I like it." I nodded, and sheathed the blade again as the shield healed itself.

"Adrian's first instinct was to stab it as well. How quaint." Besan raised an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry." I grinned guiltily, and then went back to examining the geometry. "Actually... this is an interesting point; breaking these wouldn't be that difficult, with a targeted attack that used Spatial Magic... I imagine that because they're fourth dimensional, an attack using all eleven dimensions would pass right through it, but using four large dimensions and one small would directly interact with it, and could therefore shatter its structure from the inside..." I hummed, intrigued by the concept of multi-dimensional shields.

He stared at me for a few moments, his eyes hazy as he thought deeply about what I'd said, and then he looked at Victor. "I'm teaching her, Master?" He asked incredulously.

"She is a master of the Science behind it, and the Theory, as well as possessing a great Intellect, but she cannot use the magic yet, despite her class allowing her to. You will guide her through the practical application of the Theory." He replied calmly.

"Oh... right, Okay. I can do that... so, to start, you'll need to visualize-"