Mother of Learning. Arc 3 Incomplete

«And you know how to produce something other than white light,» Ilsa noted. «Impressive. I guess this should be easy for you, then.»

She handed him a very familiar scroll, and Zorian was just about to flood it with mana to break the seal when he realized something was wrong. Ilsa was studying him like a hawk, expectant and alert. She had never shown this much interest in his scroll-opening before, so what made this one special? He stared at the scroll for a couple of seconds, unable to see any difference from the scroll he was used to. Even the symbols on the seal were the same. Wait…

A few moments later he remembered where he saw the symbols inscribed on the seal and promptly felt like banging his head against the wall or something. How… why… those sneaky little…

He had been doing it wrong! All this time he had been simply pouring mana into the seal to break it, when instead he had to channel mana into it in very specific ways so he could peel it off intact! It said so, right at the god damn seal! It required more mana control than simply flooding the seal with mana, but it was nothing he hadn’t already been capable of, even before the time loop. All this time he had thought the symbols on the seal were purely ornamental in nature, but no, they were instructions. Instructions written in a somewhat obscure form, but still. How could he have missed that?

He directed his mana to flow along the sides of the seal, causing it to pop off without resistance.

«Well done,» Ilsa said with a smile. «Not many students have such a firm grasp on their magic at this stage. I see someone is continuing in Daimen’s footsteps.»

Zorian smiled back politely. He mustn’t scowl, he mustn’t scowl…

«Unfortunately, I’m in a bit of a hurry so we’ll have to continue this conversation later,» Ilsa said. «Visit me in my office when you get to Cyoria. Now about your electives…»

Ilsa stared at him. He stared back. She glanced towards the two completely filled out tests on her desk and then returned her gaze towards him, this time with a speculative look. Zorian remained silent.

It actually felt good to baffle someone like this, Zorian decided. Apparently Ilsa wasn’t as cold-blooded about improbable skills as Xvim was.

«I must admit, I didn’t quite expect this level of knowledge and shaping skill when I told you to come and see me,» Ilsa said thoughtfully. «That second exam I gave you is the one I give to students at the end of their third year, and you only got 2 of the questions wrong. On top of that, you know 10 different variations of the basic three, which is astronomical for a 3rd year student.»

She tapped her pen against the table, lost in thought.

«You may be a bit too advanced for what I intend to teach your group this year,» Ilsa finally admitted. «My class is mostly there to make sure the students don’t have any obvious holes in their shaping skills and theoretical knowledge, and to teach them a few miscellaneous spells that are of general utility to most mages. You’re way beyond that. What am I going to do with you?»

«Transfer me away from Xvim so you could teach such a promising student?» Zorian tried.

She laughed at him.

«Sorry,» she said. «You’re good, but not that good. Besides… you should have it easier than most of Xvim’s vi- err, charges. What with your amazing shaping skills and all.»

«You’d be surprised how little difference that makes to him,» Zorian sighed.

«Oh come on, mister Kazinski, you didn’t even have a single session with him,» Ilsa chided. «I’m sure that whatever rumors you heard were greatly exaggerated.»

«Right,» said Zorian, unable to keep himself from rolling his eyes. «Can you at least give me a written permit to skip your lectures? You said yourself I have nothing to learn there, anyway.»

That wasn’t quite what Zorian was after, but he supposed it was better than nothing. It would give him a bunch of free periods throughout the week, which wasn’t terribly useful while he was inside the time loop (where he could just skip classes if he needed more free time) but would come in handy when and if he got out of it. And besides, a written permit would cut down on Akoja’s whining, if nothing else.

«No,» Ilsa said. «I need you in class, if only to motivate the rest of your classmates to try harder. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re not bored during class.»

Crap. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked her that…

«In the meantime, I’m going to do you a favor,» Ilsa continued. «While I am personally too busy to teach you, I will see if I can find a teacher willing to give you some private instruction. Do you have an area of magic you’re particularly interested in? Personally, I would recommend you look into either divination or alteration, but it’s your choice.»

«Spell formulas,» Zorian said firmly.

«Oh? Ambitious,» noted Ilsa. «It’s a hard subject. Not something your shaping skills can help you with, either.»