Solo [The Laboratory] Shielding Syliras from Harm

[Matthew]

OOC :

Permission gained from Accolade to use NPC.
Thread continued from here.

"Incorrect." Matthew blinked, confused for two reasons. First of all, he hadn't actually said anything that could be responded to in that way. Second, he still hadn't actually seen the man. Glancing around a bit more carefully, he scanned every inch of the room. He still didn't see a thing. Was there some sort of magic that the person could be using? Or were they like that cursed Dhani who had some sort of tie to Ion-

"You are incorrect in that it is a good safety measure to have." The voice was suddenly traceable, and Matthew instinctively glanced upwards toward the direction it was coming from. He was met with an upside down Symenstra, wispy black hair and pale tight skin doing little to help fight the horror at the sudden surprise. Matthew yelped, stumbling backwards, the back of his boot hitting a stack of books and sending him tumbling haphazardly over. He landed hard on his rear, but didn't even really notice the pain. He was too busy staring at Devandil's arms. They were at least a dozen feet long, stretched high to hold tightly onto some ledges jutting out of the ceiling stone. The harlot opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Devandil merely raised an eyebrow, dropping to the floor. His arms started to crawl in, slowly creeping along the ground like snakes until they were back to a normal length. He didn't seem amused at Matthew's bumbling, nor at his shock. He merely crossed his arms and spoke again, in that soft and apathetic tone of his. It sounded oddly familar, but Matthew wasn't sure why. He felt like he heard it quite often though.

"For someone who is skilled in the art, maybe. Then Glyphing can be quite handy. But you are obviously not skilled, and would likely be more of a danger if you get confident that the Glyphs are protecting you." Matthew blinked again, but didn't say a word. Instead, he started to neatly restack the books he had knocked over. Devandil paused for a moment, coolly regarding Matthew's work. He wasn't used to someone accepting his criticism so readily. "What would be best then?" Matthew rose, wiping dust from his pants. Devandil rose an eyebrow, then approached from another angle. "Are you familiar with consciously moving Djed through your body or through another object?" The harlot noticed the vagueness of the question, and appreciated it. Devandil wasn't trying to figure out what sort of magic he was using, nor was he forcing the harlot to word it aloud. "Yes." The man nodded, crossing over to a pile of scrolls he had sitting on a desk. Rolling one open, he sat down and grabbed a nearby quill. Quickly drawing something that Matthew couldn't see, he began to speak. "Shielding would be my suggestion. Even at the lower levels you can surround small projects with a Shield, therefor protecting those around you from your experimentation." Matthew furrowed his brow, a bit put off. He wasn't worried about the others around him. He supposed it would best though, considering how Syliras was with their Knights and any sort of dangerous magic practice.

"Produce Djed, outside of yourself. Catch it in your hands." The harlot quietly nodded, and...

Did nothing.

He didn't know how to do that. How was he supposed to do that? All of his magic focused on inner Djed. "If you can't form it, come back after you can. It is a basic ski-" Devandil was interrupted by a loud crashing noise, his head slowly turning to locate the source. Matthew had instantly slammed his forehead down, smashing it against the cold stone floor, bruising his skin and bringing tears to his eyes. As the tears welled, he yanked at the Djed warmly harbored somewhere deep inside of his stomach. He spun it, sucking hard and willing it up through his veins to his eyes. His Auristics flickered briefly, but then died out as he willed the magic towards the sensation of the tears popping from his blue orbs. They fell, glittering brightly as strands of barely-visible Djed followed after. Matthew held his hands underneath the sparkling strings only him and Devandil could see, his brief mentor raising an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if he had countered people who manifested Djed from their eyes.

[Matthew]

"Now form it." Matthew nodded absentmindedly, staring at the shimmering web hanging from his fingers. He was so fascinated by the sudden manifestation of the stuff that he didn't even realize that he had no idea what Devandil was even talking about. How was he supposed to form anything? How had he even managed to form this? Was he going to have to make himself cry every time he tried to generate Djed outside of his own body? Was this what Reimancers had to do? "Form it. Weave it. Paint it. Form something that looks like a three-dimensional shield. Form it around one of those books."

Matthew glanced up to Devandil, who was staring right back at him. Everything the man said was very short and almost snappish. Not that the harlot was offended, it just seemed very... familiar to him. Refocusing back on the Djed in his hands, he squinted his eyes and summoned a bit more of the energy from his stomach. The outward Djed was hard to see, so he activated his Auristics, lighting the stuff in a soft glow. The strands became more visible, and now he was able to tell them each apart. They were an odd gray color, sparkling with energy yet somehow appearing rather dull at the very same time. Chewing his lip, he moved his fingers around a bit, letting the energy shift and weave. It moved like any other normal cloth would, though it seemed a bit lighter. Glancing to the pile of books he had almost rearranged, he focused his attentions on the one book left alone.

He reached forward and started to form the Djed around the book. When it left his fingers, it oddly suspended where he put it. It reminded him of playing with clay when he was a young child, and soon, the shimmering Djed was surrounding the book. He noticed that it wasn't as much "suspended" as it was clinging to the book, like a second skin of some sort. Remembering that it had to be completely three dimensional, he carefully flipped the book over to reveal the bare underside. Using careful brushes of his fingers, he applied the Djed coating to that as well. Soon it was all bundled up, sort of like a messy present. The layer of Djed was thick in some places, yet thin in others. Was this actually even a shield? He turned to Devandil, opening his mouth to ask questions. However, Devandil had no time for questions. He would happily teach ways to protect, but that is all he would do. Teach. He didn't have time for words, which could turn into hours of conversation. "When a shield is first made, it automatically can block other forms of Djed. It is woven, like a piece of armor. Obviously if the person is more skilled than you, than a djed bolt will break your shield. However, if they are not..."

A casual flick of his wrist, and suddenly another barrier had formed around a different book. Matthew stared at it in bewilderment, realizing that Devandil had made it himself, but having no idea how he had done it so fast and how he had done it from a distance. "Normally, you can't see shields from someone stronger than you." The harlot glanced back to Devandil, nodding, still trying to wrap his mind around the lesson and how quickly it was proceeding. He was familiar with this method of training. One of the teachers in a Zeltiva class had always made sure his students were actually competent enough to learn by throwing information at them and seeing if they could put together the pieces. Matthew had appreciated it.

"...then they will block the Djed. Tightly woven and condensed Djed will easily stop and disperse most other types of Djed, you see. Only if the impacting force has enough power to break through the weave does the shield actually fail. Some shields can absorb, some can do other things. It is all up to the user." Matthew nodded again, staring at his little shielded book. He was still trying his best to keep up. "Also, whenever you first make a shield, you can task it with something. Give it instructions, you could say. That'll give it the ability to block more than just simple Djed." But how...? Matthew opened his mouth to ask the question, but his words were waved away before he even got to them. Devandil turned back to his books, face blank, words now slightly irritated. "That should be enough to get you started. I doubt you can hurt yourself with it. Try shielding the rain, or the air. If you want full time lessons, then come back at a better time. We'll discuss pricing and times. I am busy, Matthew. So very busy."

The harlot's head snapped up, blue eyes suddenly quite sharp. He had never given his name. So the old magecrafter did know who he was. There was a short silence, and then Devandil spoke again, his voice softer. "You were named after the Bay, correct? Your mother was so very happy to find herself with child." Matthew spun, eyes like ice, knocking over the pile of books as he stepped quickly from the Laboratory. His voice reflected the coldness of his vacant stare as he escaped from the dark room and back into the Bazaar. "I appreciate your assistance, Devandil."

The magecrafter didn't respond, focusing intently on his scrolls.

[Perplexity]

Riddled With Rewards Matthew Experience Skill XP Earned Observation + 1 EXP Auristics + 2 EXP Shielding +2 EXP Socialization +1 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • Symenestra: The Spidery People • Manifesting Djed Outside The Body • Shielding: The Discipline of Protection • Shielding: Weaving, Painting, Forming • Shielding: Tasking A Shield • Auristics: Bearing Witness To A Shield Notes : Well done. PM me with comments, questions, or concerns.