A Cut Above

{Eulyphis Lecture Hall, Clock Tower, London. 2004}

"-so while the ether clump is a suitable substance for distillation of spiritual essences, higher beastial Mysteries - such as the essence of a phantasmal species - pose too much of a hazard to the base ritual's structure." Fiore pointed at the table in front of her.

There sat an open scroll of parchment with a magic circle inscribed in blood ink. On top of that was a transparent slime-like substance in the shape of a chalice. Inside that, was a marble of glass.

With a snap of thought to direct her magical energy, the jackalope essence started to flow through the chalice and into the marble. The transparent chalice's form wobbled and small cracks started to appear on the marble's glass surface. A moment of infusion later, and the ether clump collapsed on the scroll with a *plop*, and the marble split into pieces.

Another snap, the clump deposited the broken glass next to it and formed once again into a chalice. Luckily, this was nowhere near enough prana expenditure to strain her circuits, so the pain in her legs was nothing but the constant ache it usually was.

She heard a few noises of acknowledgement and note scribbling within the lecture hall, and continued on with her semester's final project.

"As such, the bottom line function of this spell series is to establish a foundation." This statement grabbed the attention of those who weren't listening much in the first place. "Beginners of several fields could use this as a control exercise or a base for larger scaled rituals. Storage and transference of energy, bounded field creation, and familiar creation are the fields which would evidently benefit from this."

She took a glance at the clock, signalling a minute past the supposed presentation limit, then smiled politely to her audience of classmates, "More indepth details can be reviewed in the "Common Etherious Apparitions" thesis published in the Mystile department library. Thank you for your time."

A light round of applause surged through the classroom, and Fiore inwardly sighed in relief. Her semester was pretty much done at this point, so she didn't have to worry about deadlines for the next month. Well, academic deadlines at least. She still had some scheduled transactions to make over the week if she wanted to get resources for the delicate spells and mystic codes she was developing.

"Stellar work, Ms. Forvedge! I'll be sure to check this thesis in some time as well. I'll admit, I'm also curious about the choice of structure for the ritual. While I'm aware the chalice's form can interface with Mysteries of purification, offerings, and biblical worship, are there any other...inspirations for it? If you do not mind expounding, that is." Professor Connor asked - a middle aged magus with perpetual bedhead and an arm covered in dark green scales.

She expected the question to pop up, and answered what she and Caules rehearsed, "I don't mind, sir. The imagery was quite obvious, but I would like to start this with a question. Permission to extend the presentation, sir?"

"Granted, Ms. Forvedge."

"Is anyone here unfamiliar with the subject of Subcategory Grail Wars? Please raise your hand." She asked her classmates.

No one raised their hands.

They were in Eulyphis - the department of spiritual evocation - after all. What kind of students were they, if they didn't know about the trendsetting summoning ritual that rose in popularity 30 or so years ago? The ability to summon legendary figures from ages past was not something magi tend to just overlook. Unless they were new, incompetent, or live under a rock.

Then again, most magi were reclusive, so she wouldn't be too surprised if it happened.

"Alright, since everyone is in the know..." She pointed at the chalice. "This is a Grail which invokes evocation, anthroplogy, and containment, indicating my assumptions for what the core of the Wars' rituals may contain."

At that, varying faces of disbelief and epiphany struck the people within the hall, even the professor. It would be different if she was simply talking about the subject, but here?

She just gave a 9 minute presentation, complete with a small scale demonstration on the spellwork, that it was indeed a ritual with possible connection to subcategory Holy Grails. Secrets like this were what magi risked their lives for. And she just gave it away.

Well, whoever DID follow her assumptions would only be partially correct and partially wrong. This was an offshoot of an offshoot, going into a different direction of magic altogether. It wasn't a miniature wish granting chalice as they assumed it was, but it was definitely a help for beginner magi for educational purposes.

Basically, she just gave a bicycle with training wheels when they thought it was a 5 gear mountain bike; a great help for beginners, but redundant for experts. They didn't know that though, and it'll probably take weeks, if not a few months, for other evokers of her caliber to realize that. So in the end, the clout she'll receive from this will hopefully jumpstart the fame of an efficient prana control exercise for budding talents in Eulyphis. It would help establish a basic foundation of skill, and thus reduce avoidable accidents.

Caules called it being "deviously helpful".

Fiore called it "pounding common sense and better professional practices into her peers".

See? She could be ruthless if she wanted. Caules was wrong. It may be helpful, but it wasn't devious! Not at all! There was nothing wrong with upending unsafe magical practices to ensure longer life expectancy.

It was tradition that was being devious, not her!

"I see that I've said enough to get your minds going. If that is all, sir?" She turned to her professor.

"Yes, Ms. Forvedge. Y-you may go back to your seat." Orsten Connor responded, his expression frantic yet amazed.

Mechanical whirring ensued as she walked back to her seat, the exoskeleton mystic code attached to her lower body responding to her thoughts - one step at a time.

With an exhale, she arranged her backpack of notes, and subtly exorcised a surveillance spell on the bag's zipper.

The rest of the class' presentations showed nothing she didn't already know, and the many momentary glances she received for the rest of class were a bit uncomfortable.

...She'll have to double up her counter spells, didn't she?

Fiore couldn't wait till her brother came back with news of Baldimor. Who else was she supposed to purchase phantasmal apparitions from? Glascheit? Hopefully Mr. Sulfrum was still alive from whatever magecraft he pulled off.

She hummed, idly thinking about improving the Exoframe mystic code attached to her legs. It needed a bit more modularity so it could be carried around. Maybe tweak it to fold into a band-like shape around her hip?

She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"You know you're probably going into a watchlist for that, right?" Pemetrekis, her classmate and one of her few actual friends, claimed more than asked.

"I know." Fiore sighed.

What a dangerous start for her spring break.

-0-0-0-

AN: Why yes, I am just making up random funky names for mages in this fic(Pemetrekis not withstanding, she's actually a character in the manga). How could you tell?

Also, WOW another upload. Muse-chan really wants me to get on with the plot huh? Too bad I needed a world building interlude. Don't worry, we'll be getting to the Mega Ghost Deathathon soon enough.