Throne of Time - Chapter 71: New Angles, New Courses (Patreon)

Author's note up top since you probably saw the image.

This is a new cover, not because it's better, but because it's different. Conventional RR wisdom is that once you've had a cover for a while, readers stop seeing it, so changing your cover might encourage readers to give your story a second look. Since everyone's enthusiasm is keeping this story high in the lists, I decided it was irresponsible not to follow this advice and commissioned an alternate. I may change it up some more in the hope of perhaps finding more new readers.

And speaking of RR, this is coincidental, but a long-running popular story has just stubbed, bumping Throne of Time up to #2 overall. If you haven't already, please consider rating or reviewing to see if we can't reach #1!

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The term began without anything dramatic happening or Maut-mai causing any trouble, especially because they had handled all of their business early. Suria spent most of her time reading, first at the library - making sure to introduce herself to Orinyan - and then in her room. She wasn't sure what to expect from this Mental Structure for Mages class, but the professor seemed to have assigned multiple books ahead of time.

Foundations was the same as usual, so Suria skipped it and claimed to Maut-mai that they were in different class periods. She had no such excuse for Introduction to Glyphic Combat, so the two of them headed off to the Skypiercer together. Since Maut-mai had softened a little during the early days, that wasn't so bad, and at least it would shake things up.

Suria hadn't spent as much time training her runic capacity as in some loops, yet she had still leapt up to a runic capacity of eleven in surprisingly short order. Along the way she realized that it would probably have been more impressive to reach the break point of twelve in order to cast a runic square with four augments, but she wasn't really out to impress anyone. The professor's impression of her would be wiped away soon enough, so her only goal was to acquire everything she could from the class.

When they arrived in the tower Maut-mai looked confused at first, but Suria hooked her arm and led her to the floating discs, taking them directly up to the class's level. It was the same room she remembered from the past: a massive chamber with one wall opening over the forest.

As they waited for the class to start, Suria looked over the trees, trying to find where Woodward Hall was located. She thought there was no indication of it above the canopy, though she couldn't be sure. It was actually hard to tell where the forest ended, giving the impression that the northern side of campus just continued forever. That was something else she'd have to explore... another loop.

Soon enough the professor arrived, and it was the same scarred woman from the first time. Suria considered her from a different angle, noting that the woman displayed four ranked seals, though not their fields. Did that make her a battlemage? Some might have said that rank required five seals, but given her obvious personal experience in combat, Suria was willing to bet on her.

"This is Introduction to Glyphic Combat," the scarred woman began. "This isn't like some classes that have highly regimented studies and books and all of that. Our goal is to prepare every mage attending Darkmoon. No matter your current level of strength and skill, you should be able to take something from this course."

That was almost exactly the introduction from the first loop, so Suria's mind wandered and she contemplating just how true that really was. Surely she couldn't take the class over and over, getting something new from it each time. Yet based on the remainder of the introductory speech, the class was a prerequisite for many of the higher Evocation classes.

Suria really wanted to get into those classes, especially if they meant working directly with Professor Milirent. Unless the loop extended to new terms, which wasn't guaranteed, how was she going to get into them? Would it be possible to somehow impress the proctors enough at her interview that she got into higher courses? Would she need to copy a slate out of Jeilin's runebook and go to other universities? Except she couldn't possibly afford them and it didn't seem likely that she could get another scholarship on short notice...

Once the introductory lecture was over, the professor brought out the measuring obelisks again and everyone got in line to display their skills. Suria realized that she actually hadn't inscribed any new spells in her runebook that really showed off her abilities, since she'd been focused on her usual utility spells.

After considering and rejecting the idea of a runic pentagon, Suria started with a conventional square, then added three augment triangles to it. If she was limited to this... instead of painting a conventional fire inscription, she used one of the advanced fire inscriptions she'd learned from past loops. One augment to increase heat, one for timing, and one for shaping. It wouldn't be the most powerful of spells, but it wouldn't be an amateur's work either.

She realized that she probably shouldn't have made a glyph like this directly in her runebook - new slates were expensive and Maut-mai was running her out of funds this cycle. Well, she had a decent number of pages and she could always rework this one with a fourth augment later.

When it was their turn, Suria gestured for Maut-mai to go first. The other woman nervously raised a talisman set in a golden chain and cast a spell Suria hadn't seen before: shards of ice cascaded out over the forest before shattering into a shimmering dust.

With her perception spell, Suria immediately guessed that the glyph had been a runic square, with a pair of shaping augments and likely two intensifiers. The obelisk lit up with twelve lights, proving her right about the runic capacity, and she'd have to ask Maut-mai about the glyphic details later.

For her part, Suria took a deep breath and then cast the spell as precisely as she could. Instead of a stream of flame, she tossed a sphere of it out over the forest, where it drifted almost peacefully. Just as a few students started to jeer, the timing augment completed its count and the sphere exploded into the visage of a massive dragon that burned to embers in the air. That got a few gasps and Maut-mai seemed strangely proud of her as they returned to their place.

"Alright, that's enough," the professor said not long after. "You can all practice spellcraft while I go through your results individually. Don't hit anybody else... oh, and I always say this: if anyone decides to become rivals and try to sabotage one another in class, I swear I will throw you out the window."

This time Suria wasn't alone, because it was obvious she'd pair off with Maut-mai. They traded throwing little force spells against one another, more for the sake of practicing shielding than anything. Suria realized that Maut-mai had what appeared to be quite a powerful shielding spell, its talisman embedded in one of her bracelets.

It used a full runic capacity of twelve, so it was stronger than any of Suria's defenses, yet it wouldn't be enough. Maut-mai had clearly practiced casting the spell, since it activated quickly enough, but she was unskilled with shaping or moving it. Instead of embarrassing the other woman by slipping spells around the edges, Suria just pushed her limits, forcing her to figure out how to use it properly.

Before too long the scarred woman came by, first drawing aside Maut-mai for a conversation, then turning to Suria. "Interesting choice," she said. "Was that some kind of festival glyph someone else made?"

"I inscribed it just now," Suria told her.

"What I find curious is that you didn't use four augments, but those were hardly beginner inscriptions. Decent control and unusually high efficiency, too. If it isn't too rude to ask, how much has your runic capacity been boosted by potions and rituals?"

"Just one. I know my runic capacity limits me, but I'm working on it."

"I thought as much. Home grown talent." The professor smiled at her and the expression twisted the scars across her face. "Frankly, I don't expect you to fail the examinations, so the question is what you want to get from this class. There are several directions you could go here, from new inscriptions to capacity exercises."

"I know a few exercises," Suria said. She considered explaining about all the ones she'd discovered, but decided that monopolizing the professor's time on the first day of class would reflect poorly on her. "I'm trying to find more. Is there a difference between those that work quickly and those that have more long term potential?"

"That's a funny way to think about it. Most people just try everything they can, or everything that's suited to them. But no... the main thing with runic capacity is that there's overlap. Working on a fast exercise isn't going to limit you, it's just going to make the slow exercises slower."

"Then would it be possible for you to teach me some of the most efficient ones? I'm needing more capacity for some of my classes."

"Usually I don't take requests that specific, but..." The professor grinned at her again. "What the hell, there's a lesson on runic capacity anyway. I'll see if I can't add some interesting things to it for you."

That was all they had time for in the first class session, but it elevated Suria's mood more than she expected. Even this introductory class could still contain new things for her, if she approached them from the appropriate angle. All the way back to their room, Maut-mai chattered about the experiment and the sparring, and Suria found that she didn't mind at all.