Lessons Learned

[Samantha Slate]

7th of Fall, 512 A.V. As they walked through the University grounds towards Samantha's room, the wizard had to stifle a loud yawn. Staying up late was a common occurrence in Samantha's life; she often spent the night hours studying or performing experiments that would have otherwise kept her mind too occupied for sleep. Tonight, however, the adrenaline that had pumped through her veins while she was being assaulted by a drunken sailer had worn off, leaving her feeling drained and bone-weary. The wizard picked up her pace as they drew near the block where Samantha made her home; the sooner she was off of her feet, the better. Samantha led Ignotus into her room, feeling a bit self-conscious and uncomfortable. She made it a habit never to allow people into her private space; it just let people know where to find her when she was most vulnerable. Still, there was just something about Ignotus that made her want to trust him. The wizard decided not to pursue that train of thought just yet. She was too tired; all she just wanted to do was get to bed. She had to give Ignotus a bit of information first, though. He had to know that she was willing to carry through with her part of the bargain. "Welcome to my home," Samantha said, a ghost of a smirk on her lips, "Plain though it is." She gestured around herself to indicate the room, its plain furnishings fitting in with the spartan way she decorated. The room contained nothing but a lumpy bed, a stool, and a desk, with a splintery door leading into the washroom. The only illumination came filtering in through the window that overlooked the block's courtyard, the pale moonlight giving everything an eerie pallor. "What do you think?" The woman asked, her smirk widening into a genial smile. She wanted him to think she was comfortable; weakness was something she never let show if she could help it. "Please have a seat," Samantha began with a gesture towards her bed, seating herself on the stool by the desk, "Which one of us should go first?" Ordinarily, the wizard would have taken the bed for herself; she preferred to do most of her work seated on the bed. It was more comfortable and Samantha was loath to give up comfort in her exhausted state, though she'd learned long ago that common courtesy went a long way when dealing with wizards. They were a proud lot, and even the slightest breach of protocol could, in some eyes, seem a grave insult.

[Ignotus Everto]

"It's just fine! My home isn't any better." Ignotus said with a grandfatherly smile, gesturing languidly to the bed. "But please, don't make yourself uncomfortable for my sake. Take the bed! You must be exhausted." It never hurt to endear oneself a little more to treasure troves.

In response to Samantha's question, Ignotus tapped his chin for a couple seconds, before saying, "Glyphing will enhance your Shielding, so let's start with that, shall we? If you've got any chalk or paint, we can start right away!"

[Samantha Slate]

7th of Fall, 512 A.V. "It's just fine! My home isn't any better." Ignotus said with a smile, "But please, don't make yourself uncomfortable for my sake. Take the bed! You must be exhausted." Normally, Samantha would argue with the offer, not wanting to put herself in an even more comfortable position, but she was far too tired to care about such trivialities tonight. The wizard nodded and transferred herself to her bed, sitting on it with her back against the wall and her side against the headboard. She sighed in relief, glad to be able to avoid sitting with a straight posture for the next however long Ignotus would be in her room. "Glyphing will enhance your Shielding, so let's start with that, shall we? If you've got any chalk or paint, we can start right away!" The man's words surprised Samantha; she'd been counting on teaching first. The wizard didn't have anything to write with, as she never kept notes on what she studied. Her eyes had a slight tinge of pink to signify her embarrassment about the situation as she looked about, making a mock-attempt at finding something to write with. Samantha enjoyed being prepared for everything, and being caught off-guard had made her feel foolish. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to write with, Ignotus," Samantha said, the embarrassment in her eyes brightening and sending a small splash of color through her cheeks as well, "We'll have to start with your lesson, if that's all right." The wizard forced herself to put aside her embarrassment; she was too tired to learn much, anyway. She'd likely forget anything Ignotus told her as soon as she closed her eyes.

[Ignotus Everto]

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." Ignotus said reassuringly with another soft smile. The pet name wasn't meant to have any connotations other than that of platonic affection. The sort a man would have for his niece or granddaughter. A faint tinge of Djed woven into the words made sure that she didn't infer anything else.

"I'll find something tomorrow perhaps, if I'm still here. I've been rather irresponsible lately when it comes to traveling with the Knights...

'In the meantime, let's begin!"

[Samantha Slate]

7th of Fall, 512 A.V. "Don't worry about it, sweetie," Ignotus reassured Samantha, giving her another of his fond smiles. Samantha found it a bit grating, someone speaking to her like that. It was as if he had some natural authority over her. Ordinarily, anyone who called Samantha by anything but her given name would receive a glare and a scathing retort. Unfortunately, the wizard couldn't afford that luxury with Ignotus. He had (probably) decades of magical experience and knew more about two branches of magic than she would likely be able to learn from any book. Besides, she kind of liked him. It would be a shame to cut short a potential friendship because of his over familiarity. "I won't," The woman replied curtly, her former embarrassment replaced with a mild irritation. Similarly, her eyes morphed to a duller blue that mirrored her feelings; her mind was far too dull in her present state to retain any strong emotion for long. "'I'll show you what I can," She continued, "But Shielding isn't an easy thing to teach. It's a mental discipline, and it requires clarity of mind for any success." Samantha hesitated for a few moments, thoughtful. She'd never really tried her hand at teaching. How did one explain something like Shielding? To Samantha, it was like trying to communicate the feeling of a heartbeat to someone who had never experienced the sensation. "You...need to understand how Shielding works before it will do you any good," Samantha began, "A Shielder pushes Djed from their body out into the world and then forms it into a shield over something." The wizard paused for short while in consideration of her next words. "It's different for everyone; some people will weave it like thread, and others push it around like clay. I push my Djed out of me like smoke and," Again she paused, trying her hardest to communicate the idea, "It's best described as 'thickening'. I thicken the smoke where I want it, and it stays there." "Any questions so far?" The woman sighed; on the best of days, teaching would have been difficult. Now, her mind felt like it was full of syrup. Samantha was grateful that she wasn't teaching Reimancy. For all she knew, her words were making no sense at all.

[Ignotus Everto]

While Samantha's explanation was less than exhaustive, Ignotus was not one to give up because of a minor roadblock like a lack of communication. No sir, he would shield something, no matter how much of a headache he gave himself. That being said, it wasn't a particularly easy task. Though the discipline was quite similar to Reimancy in many ways, that served more to complicate matters than to simplify them. The object Ignotus decided to Shield was a simple, rusty old dagger he kept on his belt.

Twice he wound up producing Res instead of the proper material Shields were made of, and the third time wasn't much better. He started as he did with all personal magic, except perhaps Hypnotism: focusing on the sizable store of Djed in his stomach. Once he drew it to his skin, however, was where the complications arose. His mind had long gotten used to the habit of translating such a movement to mean Res production, and attempting to produce a material he wasn't particularly intimate with was turning out to be very difficult indeed.

The fourth time, he decided to attempt to use the method he used to guide Djed in Animation instead of his usual methods when he produced Res, to minimal results. That is, nothing happened. Clearly, he needed to push the Djed out of his body somehow before he could mold it. The question was how to make sure it didn't come out as Res. Eventually, a reverse of the compression used to create a Soulcore did the trick.

While the material was wispy and insubstantial, it existed, and that in and of itself was a small miracle. After that, decades of experience shaping Djed in manifold ways showed themselves as Ignotus spent little time puzzling out how to create a minor, crystalline Shield over his dagger not unlike ice forming using principles borrowed from Animation and Reimancy. Of course, said Shield had no tasking, but that didn't matter much.
"How's this?" the Nuit asked eagerly, a grin stretching across his clammy face.