Chapter 84: Lessons

Thoroughly unsettled, he walked in, the receptionist sitting in the front of the room confirmed his card, to make sure that he was a student, as she had started the conversation by saying 

"Servant enters through the back door, so quietly go in and stand there."

She made a small scene by saying, "How are they making these barbarians into students nowadays?". Finally, shirou entered the classroom filled with students ranging from a few years younger than him to those who were older by a few. Looking at the bustling classroom, he walked in and went to the benches near the end, under the disgusted stare of some of the students.

He observed the golem servants bustling around their masters and the students of the class occupying the front seat. He doesn't realy need to be here as Waver`s recommendation could have allowed him to skip this but his lack of knowledge of magecraft made the situation complicated hence forcing him to attend these classes.

Today was the lecture of the famous Sir Dinburg, and students were nearly fainting in the hall. Finally, the wait ended as the man walked into the hall. With a tap of his gentle man`s cane, the students quietened down and he said 

"I presume you are well aware of the significance and meaning of attending this class, hence without wasting time let's begin today`s lecture."

"Today`s topic is ley lines. The basis of the basis of magecraft."

"As you all know mana is produced by the world, i.e. Gaia, but it is not evenly distributed across the world, rather some of it leaks into the air while the majority of it is concentrated in leylines or dragon veins as called by the spiral manor."

"These are considered as the planet`s breath, heartbeat or even its brain by different magi, but my personal opinion is calling it the planet`s breath is an apt expression."

"Like our breath leylines follow a cyclic pattern and are not infinite. You, me and most of the magi will need to depend on the leylines to perform certain magecrafts as our lesser sources are weak and the magecraft of our time is but a fraction of the sorcery in the age of gods."

"It is a necessary skill for a formal magus to utilise the greater source whenever possible and conserve their lesser source for when necessary. We currently are sitting upon one of the greatest leylines of the world."

As he proceeded, a blond girl in a frilly gown gracefully raised her hand and asked about the presence of the Carlan observatory on the leyline below the clock tower, and how they utilise it for their activities.

"Ah! Yes, the Carlan Observatory. It is a fascinating and notable example of the auxiliary usage of the leylines."

"As I have mentioned most magus supplement their craft by drawing magical energy from the greater source, which ultimately refers to the leylines. Hence, when you perform any magecraft traces are left in the leylines which the observatory detects, hence, this clever system is utilised to legally enforce the patents registered by mages."

"For most of you, identifying leylines will be an essential skill. First, you have to increase your skill at identifying mana."

He then went on to explain how mana sensing works and how you can find ley lines by observing the flow of ambient magical energy. He also explained how to visualise magical energy and the common phenomenon of synesthesia, how the magical energy sense combines with one of the five regular senses, and how it evokes imagery.

He gave examples of how this phenomenon can lead to the generation of music eyes in some cases. From this lecture, he understood a new avenue of training. He now had to focus on his sense of smell and learn to use it to maneuver himself. Finally, the introduction to ley lines ended, and the teacher continued.

"Now, let's move on to practical uses of the leylines."

"Regardless of your competency, all magi depend on the natural leylines to establish their workshop, hence spiritual lands are highly contested after."

"Using the natural magical energy of the planet you can save yourself from the expenses as well as nuances of magical furnaces. Also to establish ritual fields and perform grand magecraft and high thaumaturgy."

Then he went onto the possible uses of ley lines to create a theoretical apex of workshops, a temple, propelling the magus`s power into unseen heights inside it. He hypothesised that it might be easier to reach the root inside a territory temple.

(a/n: pls note that here the temple is a term referring to the pinnacle of workshop creating, like reality marbles are the pinnacle of bounded fields. examples of temples are the caster's territory in Fate Stay Night, the Hanging Garden of Babylon in Apocrypha and the apartment complex from KnK.)

Finally, he discussed the possibility of binding the magic crest to a particular leyline, thus binding the magus lineage to the land and preventing them from leaving it without suffering an agonising death. He discussed how a magus group in Nevada had tried to do so in exchange for a generous boost in magecraft, only to find the price too steep.

Referring to that American magus as a bunch of misguided fools putting the cart before the horse, he ended the lecture. After the class, some students stopped there to socialize and their servants began bustling, but remembering the disgust-filled looks that he received, shirou left the class. Walking away, he concluded that not bringing his sword and coming unarmed was a naive decision, when people are allowed to bring golems to class, hence bringing a sword would not be farfetched.

.

.

.

….

Time passed and the year was about to end, shirou had learnt a lot during this time but it realy only increased his knowledge, as he had sadly concluded that most of the basic magecraft taught in the class somehow turned out to be disgustingly hard for him and seeing other people mastering those easily only reinforced his conviction about being a third rate and lack of talent.

Still, he came to a radical decision that he was powerless and his rate of growth was not enough. Now his progress in swordsmanship has nearly stalled and instinctively he understood that he needs risk to stimulate his growth. He needed real combat experience for that, still, this decision was major because of the sense of dissonance he felt with his surroundings. He left like the world was grey most of the time and he didn't belong here among these egotistical and rude frantic scholars.

While Rin thrived in this environment, eagerly absorbing knowledge at an impressive pace, she persistently urged Waver to provide her with recommendation letters for the mineralogy and creation subjects and let her take the newly offered self-defence classes in the department.

Releasing a sigh, shirou walked into the building owned by the faculty of law in the clock tower, an organisation of heretical magi led by the strongest family and the owner of the sorcery trait blue blood, the Barthomeloi family. 

Walking into the hall, he met a woman in a violet Yukata standing in front of him, she had black hair along with a black framed reading glass perched on her nose. Looking at her, shirou felt some uncanny resemblance in feeling, while he was stuck staring at her, she just narrowed her eyes and instructed him to follow her.

As he followed her, he finally pointed out what was that resemblance, her presence resembled a snake, and shirou was very familiar with someone else with her demeanour invoking an imagery of a snake. While Medusa resembled an elegant serpent whose beauty hides the venom, this woman felt like a viper calculating to strike. A faint moist fishy smell tickled his nose, but he ignored that as he guessed it to be the mana signature of someone that had been here.

He followed that woman for some time and finally, they stopped in what appeared to be some form of sports court, but the presence of densely carved circuits on the walls stood out as peculiar. Standing in the middle, she turned around and looked at him and said 

"Mr. emiya, your request to join us as a sealing designation enforcer have been processed. But we only allow competent people to join us. An incompetent person is just a waste of resources for the association as well as a liability."

"Hence, I am here as a judge to evaluate you, a referee to ensure your life in case of peril."

He was quite shocked by this but quickly gathered his wits. He had discovered that joining the enforcers involved mainly paperwork and signing a geis of secrecy. Regarding competency, anyone incompetent won't last in this line of work, so death just weeds them out.

(A/N: sorry for the delay guys, but I will try to post another chapter this week.

.

.

.

.

THANKS FOR READING:)