[East Wing] Learning to See (Solo)

[Fiera]

20 Spring 512 She arrived a little early to class. It wasn’t that Fiera cared if she was late; she had found that most lessons begun in earnest only after the professor gave his ‘prep talk’ (which was both boring and useless) introducing what they would be doing. Instead, she had been so prompt in her arrival due to her inability to deal with the noise inside the dormitories. The spring storm brought along with it a spell of wet weather from which students could only hide. So, Fiera sat alone in the classroom, at the front. A book of notes lay open in front of her, displaying the essay she had written for homework, titled ‘My Personal Interpretation of Sentient Auras’ in a flowing script. She was confident that Professor Stonemiller would be satisfied with her efforts. She had spent almost three nights reading the notes of famous post-Valterrian Aurists so that she could present more than one perspective on the topic, despite it not being in the requirements. Fiera tapped her dry quill on the table as she reread her essay. *** Each Aurist perceives auras in a different way. Some recognise colours first; others manage to glean feelings or impressions. Smells and sounds are less common but still possible to interpret. Usually, the more advanced the Aurist is, the more senses can be invoked in deciphering the aura in question. I have only managed to unlock one sense; sight. In my earlier attempts of sentient Auristics, I could only see in tones; black and white distributed around the body. Quite recently, after much practice, I found myself also observing colours; very faint, and easy to miss. Now I no longer see pure white – it has dissolved into a multitude of different colours but black remains as impenetrable as ever. *** She paused here, dipping the quill into her ink pot, scratching out the word ‘impenetrable’ and replacing it with ‘solid’. It seemed more fitting to her. In the hallway outside, approaching footsteps echoed.

[Fiera]

If he was surprised to see Fiera sitting there, Professor Stonemiller didn’t show it. He gave his warm smile and sat down at the teachers table, distributing on it the books he had carried inside. Both of them sat contently in the silence as Fiera finished editing her essay. Having nothing more to do, she drifted off into her private thoughts. First, she thought more about sentient auras; how they appeared to others and whether sight was the most common sense in this aspect. Then, she thought about how auras change with age and if they can grow in size. This brought her to the divine, since it had been told to her once that they had immensely large auras. Are divine beings able to see auras? The question occurred to her, logically, they should, since they were …. Well, divine, and thus, all powerful. There was no way to test her theory as she was not in the immediate presence of a god or goddess but some ponderings of hers could be tested on the spot. Would the Professor notice, though? Probably not; he seemed too engrossed in whatever he was writing. Her excitement at the possibility of an answer disbanded her concentration almost immediately. Fiera couldn’t reach her source of djed, or even sense it, for that matter. For a moment, she even wondered if she had died. It took her a comically long time to realise that she would need to calm down first. ‘Calming down’ was what Fiera called meditation, as she could never remember the word. The end result was a blissful moment where her mind was entirely empty of both thoughts and feelings. The process begun with a few slow, deep breaths through the nose and out of the mouth, in an attempt to relax her body. Then, she would run her fingertips along a textured surface; this time, it was the grained wood surface of her table. That focused her thoughts on one thing and from there, it was easier to clear her mind. In the peace, Fiera initiated her first thought all too formally for one’s own mind. It was time to find out how an aura changes with age. The djed pool was right there, in front of her mind’s eye. She didn’t need to waste energy summoning it now. Glancing at the still focused professor, Fiera felt a little doubtful. The distance was questionable; she had never extended her consciousness that far before, and wasn’t sure if she could do it now. She pulled out a nice long strand of djed anyway and continued on. To no surprise, it was difficult to control the direction of the golden strand and required willpower Fiera never thought she had.

[Fiera]

An unfruitful minute later, droplets of sweat started forming on the Kelvics brow. She sat with her elbows on the table, palms clenched over her ears and head bowed. Why did it have to be so hard? She had been falling behind in the class from the very beginning in the practical aspect. And she had always tried the hardest; practising in the common room of her dormitory at night, and in the library and at the bar. Any spare moment she had, Fiera would practice. But no! Tears of frustration slid down her face and gathered at the tip of her nose, she brushed them off and scowled. Fiera never let herself cry; a sign of weakness, her mother had always said. And stupid, too. In that moment of lost concentration, her strand of djed had retracted back about five feet. Perhaps she wasn’t using the right method, or looking in the right direction, or thinking about the right thing. She was definitely entering a state of overgiving now. The connection between Fiera and her djed was so strong now, that she could feel it dwindling down until there was hardly any left. Forward, forward, forward. If she strained her mind, Fiera could feel the thread glide towards the professor a few inches. She focused on that feeling of complete emptiness, leaving every other thought behind her. The strange, hollow feeling wasn’t enough to distract her. With a sudden and singular burst of energy, the golden line connected with her professor’s aura; which was at least a foot around his body. So, the aura did expand with age. Or perhaps with power. Or knowledge. Who knew? Calm power flooded through her. With a shock, Fiera realised she was still projecting her djed outward. She pulled back on it and slumped heavily to the desk, causing her quill to fall to the floor. She remained asleep while the students filed in through the door, and all throughout the little prep talk that Professor Stonemiller always gave. Twice he snapped at her to stay awake in class, but Fiera quickly dropped her head in exhaustion. The third time, he must have gotten really angry because he started shouting. “Miss Aeriem! Must I raise my voice?” “Sorry sir, what did you say?” she winced at how slurred her voice sounded. “I said,” he sounded dangerous now, “what is anti-magic material and how does it affect Auristics?” It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She spoke before thinking, hoping he would leave soon so she could sleep, “Good question sir…. I don’t know” The sound of laughter registered in her consciousness but Fiera couldn’t tell if they were laughting at her or with her. Not that she was laughing, of course. She could hardly keep her eyelids up. Fiera stayed awake long enough to hear Stonemiller hiss at her, “Well, Miss Aeriem, I will be testing you next lesson and if you fail, I will have you out of the class! Let’s hope you won’t decide to sleep then.” THE END

[Cascade]

Adventurer's Loot Fiera's Loot : Fiera Skill XP Reward Meditation +1 Auristics +2 Lore: Auristics: Calmness of The Mind Professor Stonemiller's Aura Sleeping in Class A short but wonderful thread. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!