A Bright and Shiny Life

The central imperial academy is famed for its rigorous entrance exams and standards of teaching. It has a focus on training knights and mages in their magic, especially for war, but also values mundane knowledge.

A mundane with an excellent grasp of a valued field might get in while an advanced but ignorant mage might not. However, the latter is rare, and the former a minority. Displaying magic significantly harder than their peers (almost all fourteen years old) is typically enough for entrance. A mediocre mage will have to rely on their other areas of knowledge to push them through.

Spells can be divided into broad difficulties. The ones I have a chance of learning in time could be described in order as: cantrip, basic, field, intermediate, and advanced– with field being the minimum to rely on in combat or achieve a significant result in other areas. Most entrants to the academy will have field magic. Intermediates have a good chance, and anyone that demonstrates an advanced spell will almost certainly make it.

The only intermediate spell I know is concealment, which would likely get me in since it’s works in an unusual way. However, I have used it a lot for the resistance so knowing it might be suspicious. Besides, it’s from the Biblio and I would like to keep that I know it a secret both for the connection and because it’s more useful if people don’t know about it.

I also know some advanced rituals from the Biblio, including using blood runes to enchant objects, but they all require human blood and would instantly get me arrested.

My field spells are firestream, personal shield, and mental whisper. I also know a basic version of firestream that produces a shorter less intense result, and a cantrip for lighting the nearest or targeted candle. Plus a few more cantrips that are never useful enough to think about.

The mental whisper might put me ahead since mental magic is sought after and any spell that doesn’t require external casting is unusual. However, it’s also from the Biblio and is more effective when others don’t know I have it.

That leaves firestream and personal shield, which are frankly the bare minimum one would expect from a combat mage and would put me at the back of the pack if I tried getting in with just them.

The only other magical effect I can share is the crystal pendulum divination. It’s hard to compare divinations to other spells, but I would put it at basic. However, I do have significant experience in using it in combat which might be something depending on how they test it.

My magical abilities looking lacklustre I’ll have to rely on mundane knowledge to supplement it.

My greatest knowledge is in anatomy and medical herbalism, which I would say I have a working proficiency of. The anatomy is focused on blood rituals, but there are a few diagrams in the herbalism book for medical use.

I have a good grasp of mathematics for my age which I use in magic and divinations, but so will every mage applying. Likewise, I have astronomic knowledge related to divinations and blood rituals. I would rate my history as better than average, but superficial from only having read one general book on the subject.

Finally, I have significant knowledge of the major deities, their oaths and boons, with extensive theory on fighting against them– though I doubt that last part will be on the exam.

I’m largely ignorant of any other field.

The anatomy and medicine knowledge combined with my bare minimum combat spells might be enough. I don’t know how much they value those fields, but I doubt they’ll dismiss it.

However, even if I’m being generous, I wouldn’t say my knowledge is anything special compared to others my age who study them extensively. At most I’d give my combination of abilities (that I’m willing to share) no more than fifty-fifty for getting in.

So, I’ll need to learn something else.

I have a number of spells that I’ve made progress in. It’s the nature of magic that you learn quicker if you divide your attention on multiple spells since figuring out something in one might help you progress in another. However, now would be the time to focus on those useful for getting in.

The most advanced spells I’ve been trying to learn are from the Biblio Anar, since his boons also makes it easier to learn and cast his affiliated spells. Some of them are very powerful so I’ve been keen on learning them, but the set has a focused utility on things that make hiding a cult or subduing sacrifices easier.

I will no doubt learn them one day, but they aren’t the best choice for passing the entrance exam despite their higher difficulty for non-cultists. Besides being innately suspicious for their Anar association, all the intermediate and advanced spells I might learn in time are either suspicious on their own right, or something that’s more useful if kept secret.

For instance, an advanced high-powered short-range combat spell emits a beam that liquefies whatever it hits. Very impressive as it can kill even knights in magic armour if you can hit, and so would almost guarantee entrance. However, given the range, the most useful aspect of it is body removal. But if everybody knows you can liquefy bodies, then you become suspect number one when people go missing.

Ditto for high level mental and stealth spells. There’s a field level cleansing spell that I very much want for cleaning blood, but even that will earn me extra scrutiny if people know about it.

So, nothing from the Biblio will work, that leaves the stolen grimoire.

Starting with combat spells. I could probably spend all my time learning one impressive intermediate spell, or divide my focus learning a field spell that has different advantages to firestream as well as something non-combat related.

The tricky thing about learning combat spells is you’re expected to have them, so even an intermediate spell isn’t going to stand out. However, having too little combat ability might make you stand out in a bad way.

Having only a single field attack and defence spells will likely make me stand out in the second way. So, if I can’t stand out in a good way then I should learn interesting non-combat spells.

An intermediate non-combat would stand out very well. While there will be others of that level, non-combat spells are more varied than combat, so there won’t be as much overlap from others.

The problem is that I’m not close to learning a non-combat spell of that level. I might be able to power through, but I’m not confident. On the other hand, if I learn the intermediate combat spell I have been learning, then I will likely have time to learn one basic spell of another type.

Okay, lets break this down. Combat spells can be said to have three basic attributes: range, damage, and area. Also casting speed, but most spells of the same level have about the same speed, with a few exceptions whose whole advantage is speed or that sacrifices it for a boost in the other areas. For this reason, basic and field combat spells will always be useful since I can cast firestream on the run, and the basic version potentially even in melee.

Firestream is a good all-rounder spell. Mid damage, some area, and… well not mid-range, but not short either. Far enough for most circumstances, especially with a concealment spell. About twenty yards, more when empowered.

The intermediate spell I would be learning would emit a bolt of lightning from my hand. High range, high damage, single target. Has an added benefit of being more effective against people wearing metal, very good against magic shields, and starting fires at range.

If I want to only learn a field combat spell with different uses to firestream, then I’ll have to sacrifice one of its attributes.

Sacrificing damage while keeping area doesn’t make sense, as mid damage is the lowest that will reliably incapacitate an enemy in armour. Anything that’s low damage would have to be precise, and preferably armour piercing. Even if you get range, a low damage area spell will just be a hinderance at best.

Sacrificing area for damage only makes sense if you get range as well. If not, then the only use case for it would be against knights in magic armour or shielded mages, and being that close means they might kill you even after you hit them unless the damage is extreme. However, getting range and damage requires an intermediate spell.

Sacrificing range for anything would be dumb since firestream’s range is already the shortest I’d want to get while casting.

So, the biggest thing I need is range. Area at range won’t be useful with a field spell, so I need something precise, and preferably armour piercing.

The spell I’m thinking of is missile guidance. Casting it on a person will cause them to glow (barely visible unless the caster wishes it) with no line of effect. The caster will automatically adjust their body so that projectiles they throw or shoot will always hit precisely where they intend on the target’s body (even if they can no longer see them, provided a reasonable trajectory), and the projectiles will adjust itself mid-flight to some degree to account for wind bursts and the target moving. Because of how angles work, it’s actually more accurate at longer distances when against moving targets.

The basic version of the spell just guides the missiles. There are two field versions. The first guides projectiles shot or thrown by the caster’s allies and can target multiple enemies at once. The other enhances the power of the caster’s guided projectiles. Intermediate does both, focuses on even more power or splits off into weird uses.

Effectiveness is dependent on the projectile and the force the caster can put into it with their own muscles– making it very useful for someone like me with enhanced strength. Using an enchanted weapon would stack the effectiveness even more.

Using my unenchanted sling without an active boon as a base, the basic spell could be said to have low damage (mid to high armour piercing), high range, and single target. The field version would have extreme range, low damage (hight to extreme piercing), and single target.

The damage doesn’t really increase much since more power doesn’t do anything after the bullet penetrates and exits out the other side. Though I suppose it might go through and hit the person behind them

When focusing solely on power at advanced level, the grimoire mentions that an otherwise not magically aided projectile can hit targets far over the horizon. It makes no claim about how far field or intermediate can hit with stacking magic.

I’ve already started learning the basic spell,and might be able to figure it out by the time I leave Caethlon if I focus on nothing else.

The other spells I’ve been learning that aren’t Biblio related or too useful to reveal are remote sensing, healing, plant grower, and animal communication.

I should also learn another divination method that’s either more powerful than the pendulum, or deals with more abstract concepts. Since, I think my combat divination experience is one of my best assets, but my only potent method is anthropomancy which would get me arrested.

Divination is easier to learn, but hard to master. I think I might be able to learn four basic spells if one is divination. Two basics could be exchanged for a field, and two fields possibly for an intermediate.

The remote sensing spell works by touching an object as small as a coin and imparting a sense to it (you still have your regular senses). After that it can be moved to any distance and you would sense around it as if you were there, so long as you maintain the link. It also comes with an enchantment that allows you to break the link and reestablish it at will, that requires engraving a symbol on the object and filling it with silver. If the object is made of silver, then only engraving is required.

A second object can also be enchanted that allows people other than the caster to check in on it, even non-mages.

At basic, the spell only conveys sound. At field it also gives sight. Higher levels either allows for things like touch or seeing outside of normal human spectrum, or allows you to move the senses away from the imparted object.

The enchanted field version would be extremely useful for security. You can place it at a safe house or cache and make sure it hasn’t been compromised before going there. You can also give it to someone and watch them remotely, either with or without consent. The noble imposter was likely given something like this for the ambush.

Theoretically, it could also be used with the missile guidance spell. Since there is no line of effect for that one, and the enemy clearly used something to guide the cascade orb onto the carriage.

The healing spell is just a basic wound closer. It would have been useful in the cell, but is less useful on my own as my residual healing can take care of most things, albeit slower. However, I’m still considering it as knowledge of anatomy has synergy with higher spells, and healing herbs can also be used to augment it.

Also, it might be a good cover for why I heal so fast.

The plant grower grows plants at an accelerated rate. At basic it can grow a single seasonal plant from a seed to maturation/ fruit bearing in a few hours of concentrated effort. It can be stopped and started again at will, or target a mature plant to just grow its fruit with much less required time. Higher levels either increase speed or area. The grimoire also speaks of endowing plants with magical properties, but does not contain those advanced versions of the spell.

The idea was to grow rare medical herbs when needed. At higher levels it would be less time consuming than using divination to find them, and even at lower it can grow them in environments they’re normally not found. I’ve been keeping seeds from plants I’ve harvested in anticipation of learning this spell for some time.

This will have good synergy with my herbalism knowledge, which may look impressive on the exam.

At basic levels the animal communication spell conveys emotions to and from a targeted animal. At field the mental concepts are translated into words. At intermediate, it also functions as a remote sensing spell, or can enhance the creature to be able to understand advanced concepts. A collar or other object can be enchanted to reactivate the spell at any distance like with the remote sensing spell.

The first obvious use is security. The animal is not inherently friendly, but most are willing to negotiate for food and protection. Maybe convince a bird to watch a location and find you if something is going on.

Another idea might be to coat a domestic animal’s fur in contact poison, and convince them to go up to enemy soldiers for pettings.

Even at basic levels it’s useful, since you can use it to convey negative or positive emotions to those you want attacked on sight or protected. For instance, conveying to venomous snakes they should attack any soldiers they see.

The most interesting use would be to use it in combination with the missile guidance and remote sensing. Have a bird drop the sensor on a location, and then lob stones on the enemy from out of line of sight. However, that would require taking it and the sensing spell up to field, and so I wouldn’t have time to learn the full combo, and likewise couldn’t learn a divination.

Divinations work different than spells. They typically involve a physical medium or tool that you interpret, and learning one tool doesn’t lead to learning others.

Tools can be categorized by eight criteria. The first three are potency, precision, and variety of physical subjects/techniques. The next three are the same but with abstract. For instance, the crystal pendulum can find herbs, but not true love or make sound business advice. The seventh category is medium availability/portability. The eighth is ritual complexity/time.

It will likely be years or decades before I learn a divination medium as potent and diverse, with such a high availability, as anthropomancy. It’s potent, capable of overwhelming lesser readings, can be used for almost any physical or abstract subject you can think of, and the medium is everywhere. In theory, you could even use your own organs– though you’ll have to be quick and have regeneration or healing magic. It’s not very precise in some ways, but it can be supplemented by other tools.

If it was safe to use outside a war, then it would be a great incentive to use healing magic. You could convince someone to be your medium, then put everything back and heal them up. But for some reason anthropomancy is outlawed by nearly every government. Maybe if I gain enough prestige, I could convince them to let me use it if I promise not to kill the medium. For now though, I’ll have to pretend I don’t know it.

So, I’ll have to rely on the crystal pendulum until I learn something else. Its potency is weak, and easily countered. But it has a good physical precision and variety, some of which I haven’t learned. It’s an easily available and portable tool, and the rituals are simple. However, it has no abstract capabilities on its own and might not work very well on boats or other moving objects. It’s also limited in only being able to direct you in straight lines, and so has to be repeatedly rechecked.

The grimoire has the basic methods for several basic, a few field, and one intermediate divination tool. I’m tempted to ignore everything and just go for the last one, but even though I’ll likely be able to learn it, it will take years to fully understand its outcomes.

The grimoire also has interpretations for common outcomes for each of these, but I would have to buy a dedicated book on divinations to reliably interpret them. The more complex mediums would likely require a book dedicated to just that tool.

So, the abstract method that utilizes a custom-made deck of cards with 10 to the something unique outcomes is off the table. Besides, the grimoire doesn’t actually tell you how to make the deck, just how to use them.

In general, anything solely abstract doesn’t interest me. The method should probably have some abstract utility, but I’m trying to showcase my experience in physical divinations, and that won’t directly translate.

If I want to have both physical and abstract divinations, then it will need to sacrifice other criteria.

… all right. I’ll try to find something that can be the basis for the hardest to find and complex tool with the most versatility, power, and precision in the book– a thin silver rod with symbols and ratio measurements with other supplementary objects. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go with one of the methods that involves fire with loss of precision. The rod is a field divination while the others are basics. I’ll also need paper and ink. I already have a fine art brush, but I should probably get another so I don’t mix my blood brush with my ink brush.

For now, I’ll practice the missile guidance, and decide on one or two others… healing and plant growth are the most useful at basic, while the other two would be more useful at field.

So, if I get the field tool I’ll learn… probably healing. Plant growth is good, but its greatest synergy is with a form of basic divination that burns specific plants, or to grow medicine that healing magic covers. Though growing poison on demand would be nice, as would food if I had to flee into the woods.

If I don’t get the tool, then I’ll learn animal communication. It’s better at the security role than remote sensing, and befriending animals might open up boons from animal deities– who are hard to please but are some of the only gods on neutral terms with Anar.

Everything decided, I practice the three potential spells to the sound of the raging storm late into the night.