Last Preparations

In the final week before the beginning of the graduation trial, every grad student preparing to enter the Wandering Halls was given a chance for three one-on-one training and learning sessions with any of the Archmagi of the Coltriss Academy. A student could select a different teacher each time, or the same for multiple sessions, but with only three sessions and nine different schools of magic to train in, each student was forced to select only those they were certain would be of the most benefit to their chances in the upcoming trial.

Eleanor, for her part, knew for certain that the first two of her three sessions would be Evocation and Restoration. Evocation spells, particularly those focused around fire, had always been particularly easy and powerful for her. If she was honest with herself, this was almost certainly a byproduct of her Infernal blood, but she would never give anyone else the satisfaction of hearing her admit that out loud. Restoration made sense for the simple fact that she would be alone in a dangerous place, and the ability to mend her own injuries would be substantially important if she intended to last a long time. There was also some appeal in the thought of serving as a healer once outside of the Academy, so any additional tricks and spells she took away from her session, all the better.

The third lesson, however, she could not decide on what to take.

The remaining schools she could learn from were Abjuration, Conjuration, Illusion, Enchantment, Necromancy, Divination, and Transmutation.

Abjuration focused on bans, wards, resistances, protections, shields, and any and all other kinds of protective and preventative magic.

Conjuration focused on the creation of objects or materials, the summoning of entities, and other similar types of actions.

Illusion was as its name implied. It specialized in the deception of the senses, or the bending of the appearance or characteristics of reality as perceived by others.

Enchantment focused on the bettering of oneself, others, items, and the environment, typical through improving their quality or abilities, or in the psychological manipulation of others, whether positive or negative.

Necromancy focused around the manipulation of lifeforce, including the reanimation of the dead, communing with spirits, and other such functions.

Divination focused on the revelation of things unknown, including scrying, fortune reading, prediction, and identification.

Transmutation focused on the changing of the fundamental qualities or attributes of a creature or object, including size, weight, composition, species, or abilities. It was the school of magic used to convert lead into gold, and a man into a monster.

Weighing all of these options, it seemed to her the most useful next options would be either Abjuration, Conjuration, or Transmutation.

She had never been interested in Necromancy, to the point of actively neglecting it in her studies. There was something about that particular school that just didn't sit right with her. The fact that every single Necromancy specialist she'd met in the Academy was unbearably creepy definitely didn't help.

Enchantment, while useful in theory, didn't have many applications unless she either wanted to delve in to item crafting, which she didn't, or in the psychological manipulation of others, which did not interest her, mcuh for the same reason Necromancy did not interest her.

Illusion spells were used only by adventurers, or by mages hired by performance acts to add lights, sounds, and images to their set, and any decent mage could see through most illusions just by paying close attention.

And Divination... well, Divination would be almost entirely useless inside the challenge, so she wsn't even seriously considering it.