Mother of Learning. Arc 3 Incomplete

«Can you drop the compulsion spell now?» Zorian sighed. «I don’t think I’ll be able to pay attention to you with this constantly hanging over my head all the time.»

«Oh. Right,» said Haslush, snapping his fingers. Zorian’s head cleared immediately and the desire to bolt out of the tavern evaporated.

«So what exactly was the point of that?» Zorian asked.

«I wanted to see where your observation skills stand,» Haslush said, taking a sip from his glass. «‘Divination is one of the trickier magical disciplines, because failure is not obvious. You could perform a divination flawlessly and still get nothing out of it. You could mess it up totally and not even realize you did something wrong. Ask the wrong question, interpret the results incorrectly, or fail to take an important variable into account and it’s all just wasted effort. Experience can help you minimize those kind of issues, but it helps to be naturally perceptive.»

«I guess getting it right immediately means I scored really well?» Zorian tried.

«It means you’re off to a good start,» Haslush said. «We’re not done yet.»

And with that, Haslush reached out across the table and caught him by his wrist before he could pull him arm away. All sights and sounds around Zorian instantly disappeared, his surroundings replaced by an inky silent void. The only things he could still see and hear was his own body and Haslush, who seemed to be sitting on thin air, what with his chair being replaced by the same darkness that consumed everything else.

«Don’t,» Haslush warned when Zorian tried to wrench his hand free of Haslush’s grasp. «It’s a harmless spell, and it will disappear the moment we break skin contact. If it makes you feel any better, I’m suffering the same effects while it lasts.»

«What’s the point of this, then?» asked Zorian.

«How many people were present in the tavern when I used this spell on you?» Haslush said.

«What?» Zorian tried to look around him and immediately realized what the darkness was supposed to accomplish. «Oh. You want to see how much I noticed about the state of the tavern.»

«How many people?» repeated Haslush.

Zorian wracked his brains for a moment. He did get a pretty good look at the patrons of the tavern when he was scanning them, trying to spot Haslush, but he never actually counted them. And it’s possible someone left the tavern while he was talking to Haslush without him noticing it.

«Twenty… three?» he tried.

«Close. How many trophies are lined up on the wall next to our table?»

Unfortunately, while Zorian had noticed the trophies he didn’t give them more than a single glance. 15 more questions from Haslush in that vein, and Zorian was no longer feeling so confident about this. Haslush finally let go of his hand and the rest of the tavern immediately appeared again.

«Oh don’t feel so down,» Haslush said. «You’re not half-bad, really. And honestly, I wouldn’t have canceled our lessons just because you did badly in something like this. How are you standing with divination, anyway? Standard second year graduate or do you have something extra?»

«I know a bunch of library divinations and I have mastered the north finding shaping exercise,» Zorian said.

«What, north finding exercise already?» asked Haslush in surprise. Personally, Zorian felt that exercise was very easy. «Well, there goes the homework I intended to give you after today’s session. Anyway, today I’ll teach you how to analyze objects.»

He reached into the pockets of his long coat and placed a number of objects on the table in front of them: a sealed envelope, an old pocket watch, a locked box, some kind of giant nut, a spell rod, and a fancy-looking glove.

«Analyzing objects is something I do a lot, so I figure it’s a good thing to start with. Identifying what the object does, finding out who handled it last, what kind of magics and protections are placed on it… you could make an entire career out it, and some do,» Haslush said. «I hear you’re interested in a job at the spell forges so this is bound to be rather useful for you.»

«So what do I do?» asked Zorian.

«Now I teach you the spells you’ll need and you practice on these,» Haslush said, pointing at the various objects on the table.

It was a very productive session after that, and it got Zorian thinking. Based on the man’s various comments, Haslush was clearly somewhat high in Cyoria’s police hierarchy. Maybe he could do something useful with the information about the invasion without tipping off the organizers? It might be worth dying once or twice to find out.

«I really must thank you, Mister Ikzeteri,» Zorian said. «You are a lot better at this than I initially gave you credit for.»

«It’s fine,» Haslush said. «I actively cultivate a somewhat unflattering façade. It helps people relax around me. So what are you trying to butter me up for, anyway?»

Zorian sighed. How should he put this then?

«Could you put up some privacy wards first?» Zorian asked.