>>390600
>[] Savant: The archmages never got to where they are by playing along with the laws of magic. Neither will you. You're inspired, and there's nothing more dangerous than a mage with inspiration.

>>390600
>Savant: The archmages never got to where they are by playing along with the laws of magic. Neither will you. You're inspired, and there's nothing more dangerous than a mage with inspiration.

>>390600
>Oh, and I've noticed that I used both Counselor and Councilor. I meant Counselor there, whoops. I'm still a bit rusty.

>>390600
> Loremaster: You did expect this kind of reaction, but you've done your work; It's possible. Nobody else has studied the hermetic arts as much as you have, after all.

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>>390600
>>[] Savant: The archmages never got to where they are by playing along with the laws of magic. Neither will you. You're inspired, and there's nothing more dangerous than a mage with inspiration.

I have a good feeling about this.

>>390615
>>390617
>>390628
I'll follow this.

>>390600
>[] Invoker: You don't give a shit what anybody says- even if you get kicked out, you're going to finish your magic and shove it in their stupid faces.

>Heh. I'm surprised that image still exists.

>Savant: You're particularly good at inventing spells on the spot. In fact, you're amazing. You can cast spells without any preparation at all, as long as you understand the magic behind it and have an Implement of some kind.

"I... don't recommend that, Adept." The counselor says, frowning at you. "I'll do what I can, but... Teleportation? Instant transference of physical matter? It's... A pipe dream. Too many charlatans have tried and failed."

"I know." You say. "But I have a good feeling about it. I'll be fine."

The counselor sighs.

"Am I excused?" You ask. You're not sure you can stand the man much longer, after all.

"Yes, yes." He says. "For what little it's worth, good luck."

You smile politely at him, and make your way back out of the office.

Almost as an afterthought, you tap a few runes on your Implement. The electronic device chirps happily, draws on a bit of your mana, and the dweomer in the office winks out.

Your guidance counselor curses, and flicks on the light switch.

The old book that inspired you is still in your bag- It's full of hermetic magic, complete with a recipe for summoning magic. It doesn't work anymore, after all- most Hermetic magic began failing centuries ago... But you have a feeling it's related to the alignment of the constellations. All hermetic magic, that is. But if you could adjust it to work with the current night's sky...

It's a nice autumn morning. The wind is blowing, the slight scent of rain is on the wind, and the Arcanist's Academy looms behind you, stretching into the sky. The few trees on campus are rustling, leaves falling to the ground... It's a nice day.

"Hey, Jaz." Someone says. You turn to him- and then you also have to turn your head up, and up, so that you can meet his eyes. Rathod would be imposing, if you hadn't known him for years. The man's huge. Brown hair, a charming grin... But most noticeable is the golemic artifice crawling up his shoulder and covering his arm. It's a prosthetic, of course, but it's probably stronger than any other artifice you've ever seen.

"Thod." You respond. He grins. "How'd it go?"

"I should probably figure it out sooner than later. According to that weevil in there, I might get my scholarship revoked."

"That's not good." He says. "Any ideas?"

"Well, there's this hermetic-"

He sighs. Audibly.

"Listen! All I need to do is figure out the astronomy."

"Still on that constellation kick?" He asks. You glare at him.

"Fine, fine." He says. "Listen. I think I heard of a few things that might help with... all that."

"Really?"

"There's Brun, over in combat evocations." He says. "She has a solid grounding in Hermetic magic too. She could help. Or I guess you could always try the library."

"What about your Master?" You ask. An archmage's help would be invaluable, and Thod apprentices for one.

"I can get you in contact, but he's an ornery bastard. I won't be able to help you convince him."

>?

>>390687
Let's go see Brun.

>>390687
Yeah sure, Brun it is.

>>390687
>Brun
Brun first, a bit more research before we talk to a higher ranked mage.

>>390643
Let's see if we can get our hands on a star map that's a few Millennium old.

>The common magic used by wizards nowadays is known as 'Analytical Magic', based off of the thaumaturgy of western traditions and the few hermetic spells that still work nowadays. They use specially-designed electronic devices known as Implements, and rune arrays programmed in in order to cast spells. Modding an implement to add your own runes is technically illegal, but who really cares?

"Maybe I'll try your Master later," You say. Though you didn't need Thod's advice to check the library- you'll do that as a matter of course. "Can you tell me more about this Brun?"

"You don't know her?" He says.

"I don't remember her," You shrug.

"Red hair, freckles, She's uh, taller than you. Ring any bells?"

"Everybody's taller than me," You snap.

"Uses a battleaxe as her implement?" He tries

"Wait," You say. "Battleaxe? Couldn't you have mentioned that first?"

Thod looks a little sheepish, but you do remember seeing the crazy girl somewhere around campus.

"Her family's a bunch of monster hunters." He says. "Apparently they figured out how to get a few anti-monster charms working, so they leverage that for all it's worth."

"Do you know where she'd be?"

"Probably still in the Combat Evocations testing room." He says. "Working on some kind of force projection."

"Thanks, Thod!" You say. "I'll go talk to her."

===

Combat Evocations is pretty crowded, like always. All of these kids decide they want to be wizards so they can throw around fireballs and fight monsters to get rich. Nevermind that half of them will end up dead the moment they step into the wilderness. You push your way through, to the testing rooms, and look down the row. It reminds you of a bowling alley, almost, except with expensive magic sensors on the far end of the wall. A tall, muscled girl- almost as huge as Thod- is swinging her battleaxe like it's a toothpick. Each time she swings, a shockwave of distorted light jumps from her blade to the sensor.

It looks like it's actually dealing physical damage, but according to the way the girl keeps cussing and tapping runes on her Implement's display she might be having trouble with it.

"Brun?!" You call.

She turns to you, and squints.

"Who're you?" She asks.

"Jasmine." You say. "Jasmine Angwaz. Thod told me about you."

"Yeah? What's up?"

>?

>>390739
>You got any of that...Hermetic magic?
No but really, just explain we'd love to consult with her on something for our thesis. Play up her expertise on the topic, flattery might get us everywhere.

>>390739
Tell her you heard she's somewhat of an expert on hermetic magic and that you would like her help with your thesis. If she's unwilling to help for free, see if there's anything she wants.

>>390739
Maybe offer to try and help her with her problem in exchange for the same?

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>>390739
>>390747
>>390748
Backscratchers United Ltd.?

>>390757
We got backscratchin' sticks, we got backscratchin' gloves, hell we got backscratchin' blankets!

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>>390762

>>390739
"I heard from Thod that you're really good at Hermetic magic. I can make it worth your while to help me out a bit."

Did we make any progress in teleporting anything yet? Items, sand? nothing yet, but still believing?

>>390766
Anon please, there's nothing lewd about strachin' backs! No back left itchy, I always say.

>>390766
Already?

My idea for this Teleportation thing, if stars and constellations don't work out:
> copy item information in magic crystal
> magic-build item at target location after transporting the crystal there
> destroy original item
:)

>>390773
Of course of course.
>>390781
Two updates too late, I'd say.

>>390786
That might count as teleportation on a technicality but it doesn't sound terribly practical?
Also I'm not sure we know enough about the magic in this setting to come up with detailed ideas yet.

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>>390786
>not accounting for the metaphysical degradation resulting from the fact that the result would be a /copy/ and thus inherently inferior

Is OP waiting for further replies, writing, or dead?

>>390768
>Not at all. But there are records, out there, of people summoning items and objects from elsewhere. The only problem is it's one of those spells that don't work anymore, so most people figure the records were faked or illusion.

"Thod told me you're somewhat of an expert on Hermetic magic," You say, "and I'd love to consult with you on it for my thesis."

"Really," She drawls. "I'm not an expert. I don't think there is an expert anymore. Not since most of it stopped working."

"I'm sure you can help!" You chirp. "Anything would be better than the mostly-dead end I'm stuck on right now. And maybe I can help you with your spell in exchange."

Brun quirks her lips. "Sure. Let's see if you can help me first. If I can finish this damn array, I'll have the rest of my day free."

"What are you trying?" You ask, peering at the array on her axe. The runes look like a pretty simple force projection. She even has it keeping her axes' edge, and amplifying the force from her swing with magic. With a spell like this, she could fight monsters from afar.

"Trying to project silver." She says. You raise an eyebrow at her. "What? We've got werewolves around my estate. They'll just regenerate as it is. My axe is silver, but it's not"

You titter. This'll be easy.

"That's because a projection spell isn't actually force projection. It's not magically transferring all the force you put into your swing. It's using your swing as a guide. Give me your Implement."

Wordlessly, she hands it to you. You struggle to lift it, but then you lean it against the terminal of the testing room. You draw up your own Implement, and start delving into the programming.

"Uh..." She says. "You know we're not supposed to do that, right? I'd like to not die in an atomic fireball."

"It's fine." You say. "I'm just giving your axe a thaumaturgic reference to itself. Standard Implements don't have nearly enough runes programmed in. If you want to make the really esoteric stuff, you need to make a few changes."

You hand her back her Implement, and there's a new rune in the array- one you'd programmed in.

"Just link that rune to your 'force' rune and that should work. Use the Material bond.."

Brun warily glances at the array, but taps it a few times and nods.

"Step back."

You do so, and she swings- and the sensor chirps, giving her feedback on the 'silver force wavelength recieved'.

Brun whoops, and scoops you up for a second, twirling you around.

Then she sets you back down and pats your head.

"So." She says. "My day's free, now, and my dad'll be pleased. What do you need to know about Hermetic magic? Other than the basics, I mean."

"Well..." You say.

>?

>>390815
Never know with sexybytes.
Maybe the house's flooded again.

>>390815
I know Exa usually writes like the wind, but 25 minutes really isn't that long anon.

>>390819
>I mean...I know OF it...
I dunno how much Jaz knows but it doesn't sound like too much.

>>390819
So, what was our issue with our thesis? Something about stars?

>>390842
Ia Ia C'thulhu fthang

>>390819
I need to figure out the very basics of what makes Hermetic magic work! Or made I guess. I'm trying to get a recipe from my book working to help my thesis, and on the way I got kinda invested. My theory is it's related to the constellations, based mostly on my gut-feeling. But it's a real quality gut, I'll have you know!

>>390819
>>390842
Stopped being a lazy cunt and re-read previous posts.

Ask her if she knows anything about maintenance on these herma spells to align with the constant shifting of the stars and keeping the spells strong.

>>390842
>Every adept needs to submit a Thesis in order to become a full magus. It needs to be something new, or something marketable, or something amazing, in order for the existing magi to accept them into their ranks.
>You're attempting to figure out teleportation, which is mocked and disregarded as impossible. You know it's possible- you've found a book that has an actual, literal spell for summoning creatures from elsewhere in the world to your location. The only problem is that the spell is hermetic... And hermetic spells slowly stopped working over the past few centuries.

>Also, writing post now.

>>390859
>align with the constant shifting of the stars
Supporting that line of questioning. Also, we should move Brun to another location. For secrecy (and having Brun sitting makes for better eye contact because height)! Don't want other people to know how much progress we made and are making... people would kill to steal our ideas... :)

>>390819
Hermetic magic relies heavily on the stars, what if we can bypass or change this?

Our neck is going to be so stiff after this, stupid tall people.

>>390876
Perhaps our thesis should have been Platform Shoes. I mean, it's certainly marketable.

>>390876
We should find a stool or even table to stand on so we can see eye to eye.

>>390876
>Our neck is going to be so stiff after this, stupid tall people.
You get used to it.

>>390866
>full magus
Hope our protagonist doesn't get expelled for doing something stupid... or mistyping one of her custom runes and blowing everything up.

>new, marketable or amazing
>amazing
If nothing works, we'll offer an amazing tasting drink, which let's us mindcontrol our testers to give us full marks?

>>390876
>stars >bypass or change this
I see our artificial star projector in the future...

"Well... I know OF it." You say. "Come on, let's get somewhere private."

"Right, right," She says, and the two of you start talking. "First of all, it's not like analytical magic."

"Of course," You say. Analytical magic is your specialty. An enchanted crystal sits within your implement, shaping magic essence into whatever shapes the programmed runes desire. A fireball, for example, is just a shape that contains heat surrounding a shape that turns magic into heat, as well as the programming that allows the sphere to be sent onward.

The addition you'd made to Brun's axeplement wasn't Analytical magic.

That was Thaumaturgy. A completely different branch, that relies on a set of physical laws where a 'lesser' shape, if accurate enough, manipulates the 'greater' through magical energy, or vice-versa. What you'd done was programmed in a rune that automagically turned her force projection spell into a 'lesser' of Brun's axe.

"Hermetic magic, back in the stone ages or whatever, was just a bunch of cavemen waving sticks. They did it in the right order, said the right gobble-de-gook words, and magic happened. Nobody knew why, and eventually people streamlined various actions down to their basics. If you've got a hermetic spell that means you need to call your uncle a fat chicken, then people needed to figure out whether it was insulting your uncle that cast the spell. Or calling him fat. Or calling a relative a chicken."

"Did anyone figure out how they worked?"

"People had theories. Some people think it was a huge magic machine that watched over everything and shaped magic in response to esoteric commands, and it stopped working when the machine broke down. Some people think it was just self-hypnosis. If you believe an action will do something, and you stuff magic into it, you'll get a spell out. That one doesn't hold water, now that most of the spells don't work."

"I think it might be related to the constellations." You say. You do remember poring through journals around that era, talking about stars dying...

"That's a new one." She says. "But how can I help? I'm not good with the theoretical stuff."

"Thod said that you and your family had some hermetic spells that still worked..."

Brun sighs.

"Rathod's gotta learn to keep his mouth shut. Doesn't matter how cute he is if he's blabbing," She grumbles.

She meets your eyes. "Yeah, we have a few spells that work still. Gran'da figured it out. Ended up tweaking *his* gran'da's spells, and we ended up with a bunch of disease repellant wards. I don't know why they work, just that they do. They're not major or anything. It's not like it's teleportation or anything. But they work when they're tweaked right."

"How did he get it working?"

"Changed a few words, replaced the elm ash with maple ash... I think he was trying random stuff, to be honest."

Maybe if you could compare the old with the new...

>?

>>390924
Let's ask if we might be able to acquire copies of these spells, for study! I dunno how strictly guarded they might be, but if the help earlier wasn't enough I'm sure we can find some other way to make up for it.

>>390924
Any chance I could have a look at a few of these working wards?

>>390924
>do you think I can compare the old spells and the new ones?
Hmm, this is probably gonna be a tough cookie to crack.

>>390939
This, or at least ask to have a discussion with the "Grand'da" in question.

>>390943
>>390944
Supporting! We can visit her Gran'da. And we surely can help with some other spells they have problems with - see silver throwing super-axe improvement.

>>390924
>Brun and Rathod
they're a couple?

>constellations >Changed a few words >replaced the elm ash with maple ash
Are there demons we can summon ...and ask a thousand questions?

>>390965
>The only summoning spell you have works on creatures... but it's Hermetic magic.

"You think Thod's cute?" You ask, smirking at her.

Brun rolls her eyes. "Yeah. What, you don't?"

"I've known him since we were kids." You say. "Before he was even apprenticed. He's more like a brother to me."

"Lucky me, then."

You shake your head and change the subject.

"Is there, uh, any chance I could have a look at a few of the working wards? Plus the old ones. The old wards are just as important."

Brun gives you a careful look.

"This isn't just a library book you're asking to borrow, you know. This involves my family's livelihood. But you are trying to crack hermetic magic, aren't you?"

You suppose you are... Though that's not your main goal.

"I think I'll need something in trade for that information." She says. "You've already given me that silver rune, an' I can figure out how to replicate that for other spells, but... Let's see...."

She goes silent for a moment, and pulls out her cell for a few minutes, typing. You're curious what she's saying, but eventually she looks back to you.

"Tell you what. 'da said you can have both records of old and new spells, but if you end up cracking Hermetic magic, you give the solution to us. Even if you want to keep it secret from everybody else."

... It's not a bad deal, considering...

>?

>>390978
>Deal, BUT only after I finish my thesis.

>>390978
Supporting: >>390988
This is our livelihood on the line too you know.
Side note: I would love to meet her granddad.

>>390797
Who says a copy can't surpass the original?

>>390978
Sounds pretty fair to me!

>>390978
"How about after I finish my thesis, and only to you?"

>>390988
This, but:
>Scratch my back, and I'll gladly return the favour. I do hope you'll consult me when the time comes to enter the market however.

Assuming this is going to be marketable.

>>391018
That's a good idea too.

>>391005
Maybe we can haggle that bit in, no harm in trying.

>>390978
>cracking Hermetic magic, you give the solution to us
"It's a deal" we say smiling.

Sure, sure! Even if we don't intend to give up our secrets, a whole branch of magic alone for us, muahaha, the power, the possibilities!
>Brun, sister-in-law :)
Best friends now! Spend more time discussing magic... I mean being friendly with us!

"This is my livelihood on the line too, you know," You say. "Deal. but only after I finish my thesis, and only to you."

"Not only to me." She says. "Even if most of our wards don't work anymore, this is the Dalheim family magic we're giving you. So in trade, this information goes to... Let's say, the Dalheim family head, and we'll be passing it down from head to heir every generation. That way, we can update our wards as we need to."

You hesitate... But that's better terms than you'd expect, for an 'if'.

"Deal." You say. "I do hope you'll consult me when the time comes to enter the market, however."

She nods, and pulls out her cell again. She asks for your email, and your Implement chirps as it receives the information.

"You have your smartphone in there?" She asks.

You hold up your bracer, and grin.

"I've got everything in here. Even my ID card's somewhere in here. It was a hell of a time getting a magnetic projection spell so I can open my dorm, but... I figured it out." You shrug.

"How'd you keep it from breaking everything?" She asks. "Sometimes when I cast the wrong spell, the handle of my axe falls off when it shakes too much."

"Well..." You say, and you start to talk.

===

The night finds you poring over pages of hermetic rituals, scratching pen against paper as you compare and contrast the hermetic rituals. They do seem a bit silly at first, doing the same exact ritual repeatedly to find what's more and less effective, but it's somewhat a necessity. A 2:3 ratio of elm-to-maple ash works, but a 3:2 doesn't. If you mix in a few shavings of oak, it works with some extra effect, according to the extremely expensive sensor in the corner of the testing chamber, but you're not sure why.

She'd also sent you a bunch of other wards, none of which work, and no matter how much tweaking you do, you can't get those working.

You sigh, slamming your head against the table. This is all you can do. Brun had wandered off a few hours into the testing, but it's pretty safe to say that you made a new friend. She might not be the cleverest wizard, but she's pretty nice. Even though she's tall. Like the rest of those tall bastards in the world.

You grumble to yourself, and pull out the starmaps- one brand new, purchased this afternoon, and the other as old as you can find. The second was made back during the Tark occupation of Romalia, some five hundred years ago, and there are some pretty obvious differences between the two. Now it's up to you to figure out how to figure them out.

> Please roll me some 1d100s!
> Also of note, which I didn't fit into the OP, is that certain numbers on rolling- a natural 100, or a natural 1- will override the 'average of 3' as either a critical success or a critical failure. Good luck!

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>391101
Ahoy the criticals!

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>391101
Time to go full Monotreeme

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>391101
100 get

>>391119
Well...it'll do. Hopefully.

>>391119
At least we didn't fail hilariously!

>>391123
Math says average is just above 50.

ehhhhh....

>>391141
But that's just the average of one dice, not the average result of a best of three sadly.

>>391146
What would a calculation like that look like? just add the dice up, no division, against 300?

>>391112
>>391118
>>391119
>Average: 53 - Mild Success!

>>391169
>I add all three results together, and divide it by three. Then I round up.


You don't get much done. Well, you barely get anything done. You do end up mapping out the major astrological changes - Vekar Major is entirely separate from the Shadow constellation, which must be why the 'shu' syllable in the ritual chants had been replaced with 'vak'... Or so you guess.

You've essentially 'proved' your hypothesis that it's the changing of constellations that killed Hermetic magic, but you can't figure out how each hermetic component interacts with the stars at all.

It's hard to tell, without a good ability to analyze everything. You have the information, but no matter what you do, you can't really fit it together.

Your Implement begins to ring, and you pull your earbud up and out of it.

"Jaz here."

"It's me," Thod says. "Just calling to make sure that you're, well, doing alright. And that you're actually planning on sleeping. Are you?"

"This thing is kicking my ass. I've mapped out all the changes in constellations for the past, uh, five hundred years or so, and I think this might be it... It'll just be a lot of work. It's a bit beyond me."

You might just need to get hundreds of hermetic spells and figure out how to get them working before you can come up with a 'cure all'.

Suddenly-
>>390901
an idea hits you.

"Wait!" You say. "Call me later!"

"So you're *not* sleeping ton-"

Then you hang up on him, and quickly delve into your runes. If you use thaumaturgy on the night sky itself, making a miniature magical version of the night sky, and then shift it into the ancient sky, and use that as a major reference for hermetic magic...

This is the kind of modding that Implements weren't designed for... But you are one of the best, aren't you?

>Roll me some more d100s!

Rolled 17 (1d100)

>>391169
Nah, that wouldn't really work (and the average would naturally be 151.5 done that way) because that's sum of 3d100, not best of 3d100.

Some anons did the calculations a long time ago, I can't remember the exact result but it was in the 70s at least.

>>391188
Exa's method is unusual, and with that the average will be 50.5 yeah.

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>391188
ENCHANTMENT!

>>391188
>>Roll me some more d100s!
hoboy

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>391188
Something-good-something-good-something-good...

>>391196
Hmmm, turns out we might be one of the worst.

>>391199
Or not?

>>391207
Naaah we're pretty good.

Out of interest, what made you decide on average of rolls, Exa? You're not gonna get a lot of results outside the 40 - 60 range, and barely any outside ~25 - 75.

>>391221
Not exa, but safety net would be my guess. It would kind of be a shitty end if we blow ourselves up in what is essentially the introduction.

>>391235
I could buy that but then critfails seem a little out of place.

I mean, I love critfails but they seem pretty hated by the 'a single diceroll shouldn't fuck everything up!' crowd which I'd think would be the main proponents of a safety net like that.

>>391240
Exabyte just has a thing for big fat critties.

>>391247
I knew he was lewd.

>>391247
I can't blame him to be honest. Critties can be quite delish sometimes, or hilarious. I may be a newfag though.

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>>391247
Oh gods Sorceress Quest crits
I weep tears of liquid glory at the memory of them

>>391196
>>391199
>>391207
> Result: 98 - Extreme Success!
> As a savant, while you aren't good at analytical work, you're extremely good at taking ideas and putting them into practice. The Artificial Star Projector is one of these ideas!

>>391240
>>391247
>It's a disgusting fetish, but I... just can't stop.
>Also, I use the average of three, average of highest two out of three, and highest of three as different 'tiers' of skill for the MC. So if you were trying to, say, climb a rope? That would be average of three. Do a bunch of mathematical calculations? Average of three. Do something that requires you to be very tiny? That's an easy highest-of-three.

An extremely wary Rathod carefully makes his way into the Experimental Metamagics building. Your personal focus, especially with your normally-extreme mods for your Implement, and it only takes him a little while to get to your specific test chamber. You always use Chamber B6, after all.

Carefully, ignoring the 'in use' display on the door, he knocks.

You pull the door open, cackling like a madwoman. Stars dance around your arm, constantly in motion.

And a shining circle of runes sit on the ground, hermetic magic completely active.

"It works." You say, beaming, as the Implement pulls more and more and more mana from you, draining your reserves of energy. It's exhausting, and the moment you let go of the spell the hermetic magic fails... But you can get it working for a few seconds. Long enough for a ritual or two.

A pity you made that deal- you didn't even need Brun's rituals, in the end, though they make good tests.

Maybe now you can figure out Summoning.

"It works!" You crow, cackling. The other late-night experimenters give you strange looks, so you pull Thod into the room (Well, you tug on him, and he obliges- no way you're getting him to move if he doesn't want to) and slam the door shut.

"Er, what just happened?" He asks.

You beam at him in response.

"Jasmine? You're scaring me."

>?

>>391283
>Do something that requires you to be very tiny? That's an easy highest-of-three.
Wow, tone down the bully please.
>It works!

>>391283
I can make Hermetic magic WORK again!
Then fall dead asleep.

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>>391283
I AM
INVINCIBLE

>>391283
I'm a bona fide Hermetic mage now! You shoulda seen it!

Seconding sleep time. We can go to bed satisfied today.

>>391283
Well maybe they'll make good business partners anyway. It's not like we have a venue to sell this technology anyway.

As far as action? We may as well time-skip to the evaluation because we got this in the bag.

>>391318
Well, that wasn't our thesis anon. Just something we needed to get working for it.

>>391326
This new invention could be a subject of a thesis itself, but you are right, I/we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves I suppose.

>>391334
Hopefully good enough to secure our scholarship at least.

>>391318
>business
Implying the we don't want to be the sole user of this Ancient Magic and look down upon all those other noobs.

>>391359
I suppose you are right, we could just snub the family and their gran-pappy. Not sure how easy our device is to duplicate though, or if the nature of the thesis would reveal our method to the magus council or whatever. May be prudent to patent it, but I don't know how magic works works.

>>391373
I don't think we should go back on our word. Would be awkward with Brun as well as dishonest.

You cackle, long and hard.
"It works! I'm a genius! I'm a bona-fide Hermetic mage now!"

"Wait, what?"

"I can make it WORK again!"

You're still laughing, as you feel the very last dregs of mana well up within you, and a wave of exhaustion hits you.

Oh, right. You're out of Mana, and now your soul is shutting down to keep from dying. That's kind of important.

Your vision swims, and Thod just sighs.

"Up you go. I'll take you to your room."

With a single hand, he scoops you up and drapes you over his shoulder. You angrily beat a fist against his shoulder- he should carry you *properly* but you can't put in the energy to argue.

===

The next morning, you find yourself ignoring your Etherobiology lecture on the various parts of the soul, poring over your Implement. You have the summoning ritual right here, you have the information. The circle you need to draw, even with minor changes in the chant required the location you intend to summon the target toward. It'll take some work, and some modifications to your Implement, but you should be able to transfer it to an Analytical form.

"Tss!"

The only problem is that your Star spell only works in a small radius around you. Hermetic magic only works around you for that time. Any larger, and it would exhaust you. So while you could summon anything within three meters, anything further away from that isn't a possibility. That's what you get from taking shortcuts, you suppose.

"Hey!"

Maybe you could wrap the spell in a Dweomer. The free-floating spells are designed to last a long time, but you could maybe have it wait for a signal, activate the Star spell for the fraction of a second it takes the spell to work... But that would take twice as much energy. You'd end up having to cast Star on two seperate locations at once... You might have to experiment if you can turn it into a Sending spell instead. You might only need to 'Star' one side...

"Hey, Jaz!"

You finally notice the dark, purple-haired girl hissing and poking you in the rib. She's only a little bit taller than you, thankfully, but that still puts her firmly in the 'Tall' catagory. Like everyone over the age of twelve.

"Kally." You respond. She beams.

"What are you working on?"

"My thesis." You say.

"You got it working?"

"... Almost." You say.

"Good!" She whisper-yells. Somehow. You're not sure how, but it's Kally after all. "You wanna talk about it after class?"

You tilt your head, thinking. Kally was the one who taught you how to mess with your Implement in the first place. She might have some idea on how to turn hermetic components into runes, so maybe she has some ideas...

But on the other hand, you haven't known her for more than a year or two. You're not sure how much to trust her.

>?

>>391283
The next step is practicality. Draining or entire reserve for a 2 second ritual isn't going to cut it. We either need to get more personal mana reserves or an external supply of it to power this thing. The dweomer in the counselor's office was obviously powered by someone else so perhaps we can adapt those principals to our needs.

>>391399
Another shorty? Finally someone who can almost understand our plight.
>Sure!
Now see, we shouldn't volunteer our results ASAP. Pretend it's 24 hours ago and we didn't get it working yet - and feel her out for trustworthiness and info. We can always tell her more if it seems worthwhile (though no details that might give our secret away of course, just that we managed to do it).

>>391399
We can probably work this out on our own to be honest. Even a basic demonstration using two "star generators" in two locations would probably work.

>>391399
Alright but she better share details about her own thesis too.

>>391399
Let's be the careful and secretive Magus and not blab about our invention of the century immediately.
>>391414
We soo need our ivory tower made out of ivory when we're a full Magus :).

>>391373
>patent
Or leave out some important thing from our thesis, so noone else can replicate our successes.
Instead of completely snubbing them we can clarify it in a contract which we don't have with them yet :).

>>391399
I'm obliged to suggest
>Tongue in butt

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>>391426

>>391426
Anon pls restrain yourself.

>>391399
>Kally
Though, let's not scare off one of our few friends.

>>391426
>I love you, anon. And also I hate you.

>It's a very complex feeling.

"Well... I kind of want to play the sneaky wizard and not blab, but I could pick your brain." You say, walking out of the hall. Kally gets up and follows you- and wow, she's a bit taller than you remember.

She grins. "So you're just going to use me for your own nefarious deeds?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

You shrug. "Pretty much."

"Alright! What do you want to know?"

"Well, you know that little trick you taught me way back when? During that one Expert Runics project?"

"How to hack Implements? Yeah?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to get hermetic components working. Ideally, use a component as a new rune."

She rolls her eyes. "That depends on working hermetic components period." She says. "But there's that crazy axe girl who has a bunch of working spells, so I guess hermetic components aren't impossible. Why, what kind of components do you need?"

"... Let's say maple ash." You say. Might as well start with something simple, testable, and yet irrevelant. "Or incanted words."

Kally makes a long, wordless noise for a few seconds. "The chanting is easy. You just need to make it say what you need it to say, and fill the words with your magic. You don't even need custom runes for that, just have it record your voice You could probably even speed it all up. I mean, does the chanting need to be done in sequence, or can you just layer all the sounds on top of eachother? Have your implement chant an entire paragraph in a second or whatever."

You're not sure it works that way, but you can figure that out.

"For physical components, that seems a bit harder." She says. "You might need to add an entire new part of your implement. Might be pretty expensive, but..."

For the next half hour, you and Kally wander across campus while she designs and rambles an entire new part, specifically designed to integrate certain components into the Implement. Once that's done, you could just do the same thing you did with Brun's axe, only with ash instead of silver.

"How much might that run me?"

"I dunno." She says. "A good hundred, two hundred ecu?"

Yeesh. That's the price of a good smartphone, and maybe half your savings.

"How much would I owe you for making it?"

"... Hmmm... You could say good things about me to Rathod? Something about how cute I am? Or you could give me his number."

>?

>>391458
Give?
Such a breach of trust, what kind of do you think I am?
But it would appear I've misplaced the note I had it written on for some reason I've forgotten.

>>391458
>Deal
We're ruthless negotiators. And damn, Rathod a stud apparently. Good for him.

>>391458
>>391465
Anon is aware of the location of things. He knows where it's at.

>>391458
>>?
"Deal. You have a nice picture you can give me, so I can show it to Rathod? Like, 'ops, my skirt shrunk after the wash', or 'my bra slipped'?" :)
Make our Implement even better? Yes! Make us the sole Magus who can work real Hermetic Magic? Archmagus, when? :)

>>391519
What if Rathod is only interested in pure maidens?

>>391458
Deal
Thod is our manwhore, paid in magical knowledge. Better have our mothafuckin' trap full

>>391467
so true. It's an Academy full of old geezers (full Magus) and too few young male appentice types? (maybe Magic affinity in women is stronger, so more women than men?)

>>391458
Thod is worth half our savings apparently. It might be worth it to forget this whole magic thing and get started running an escort service.

>>391526
Eh, I don't think we can bet on THAT many eligible bachelorettes being into him. And it's not like we could charge them multiple times either.

>>391522
>Rathod's preferences
Protagonist should know as she knows him for forever.
>>391526
>worth half our savings
>escort service
Copy Thod. Sell these magic-clones for big dosh. Is our private-pictures-of-Rathod business to finance our science well and going already?

>>391540
There's probably some kinda law against that on ethical grounds.

Probably.

>>391525
>It's more that archmage apprentices are RARE. Most archmages either release their magic to the world, or hide it from everybody.
>Archmages are essentially wizards who've figured out a magic so impressive or world-shattering that the government literally made it legal for them to do whatever the hell they want with that magic. The alternative would have the police trying to arrest... well, a walking god.
>Rathod's Master is an ancient archmage known as Haron. Haron invented golemancy, and only his apprentices are learning how to use it. His arm is his own creation, and also his own Implement. It makes him a bit more valuable to the ladies- especially the wizard ladies.

>>391540
>Sadly, clones are soulless. Without souls, they don't have sentience or magical ability.

"Give?" You ask. "Rathod and I have been friends forever. That would be a huge breach of trust."

"Right..." She says, frowning.

"But it would appear..." You say, quickly scribbling out a number. "That I've misplaced this note that I had it written on."

"Right!" She says, perking up. You hand her the note. "I'll get the addon done in a few days! Hell, I'll even add in the programming myself."

"Thanks, Kally."

She perks up, beaming. "You're welcome! Don't forget to tell Thod that I was particularly pretty today."

You roll your eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're lucky. He's into women with dark hair."

She squeaks, and cheers.

"Here's the money for the parts," You tell her. This isn't the first time you've had Kally make things for you, after all.

You hand her the ecu, and she makes her way down to Fabrication. Apparently she's going to go work on it right now, unless she has her own studies.

Regardless, you still know what you need to do now. Figure out how to get the Summoning spell working. You'll have to make do without your Implement until Kally gets back to you, but until then...

You have three ideas that pop out at you. You could try and convert the ritual into a Sending, instead, to send you or objects near you elsewhere. Or you could spend twice as much energy so that hermetic magic works at both the target's location and your own. Now that you know how the Summoning Ritual works it shouldn't exhaust you as much...
Or maybe you could try tweaking with the Star spell itself. Make it larger, or maybe try and link it to the Hermetic spell more intimately. If you can link it to the spell itself, then the spell would work no matter how far away it is.

>?

>>391557
Let's try tinkering with the Star spell. Time for experimentation!

>>391557
Are ley lines a thing in this setting?

>>391557
>Tweak star spell
What's our implement anyway?

>>391582
Bracer I think? Might be misunderstanding >>391101

>>391579
>Ley lines are not a thing. Mana, the power of magic, is a both what makes up, and what powers a living soul. Every person, wizard or not, generates mana over time- more than they need, and wizards use that surplus energy for magic. Overusing magic isn't usually dangerous, because when you use up too much you just plain pass out... But it's better to be safe.

>>391582
>Your implement is a bracer that you wear on your left arm, pip-boy style. It's also your all-in-one electronic device. You don't even need a charger- you have a spell that does that with your mana.

>>391557
>Star

>>391596
Why can't the real world have implements, huh? Damn.

Also
>Every person, wizard or not, generates mana over time- more than they need
Sounds quite abusable by morally bankrupt spellcasters to me.

>>391596
>Mana, the power of magic, is a both what makes up, and what powers a living soul
So...
Could we engineer the spell to draw upon a small portion of the souls of many people to fuel itself? Like torrenting a file. Say we expand the range to a certain area, like a few square miles. Then, set it up to draw from the mana of everyone in that area. Could we do that?

>>391596
sounds to me like we need to create a cult that we can siphon mana from to power our rituals.

>>391605
>>391606
I like the way you think

>>391606
>>391605
>>abusable
> The good thing about the Living Soul is that it's impossible to wrest that kind of power from the unwilling or unprepared. To even use an implement you need to undergo training that lets you consciously feed energy into it.
>>391609
>Communal spells are a thing that's possible, but it's strictly regulated. There have been a loooot of magical explosions from spells not designed for too much mana.

>>391618
Awww- uh, I mean, good. Can't have any rogue wizards draining people all willy-nilly.

>>391619
That sounds like a class of magic that someone could be a magus for. Maybe we can swap out teleportation for draining the life out of people.

>>391632
Now, now, it's not Wizard Quest. Presumably we DO have a sense of right and wrong.

>>391557
>link
Linking it more closely together sounds fine and without disadvantage... or could we intensify our star spell exactly when needed, like in the half-second the Hermetic Magic needs juice? Sounds like something we can think about and write formulas - without our Implement.

>walking god
That's what we're aiming for! Explains Thod's attractiveness a lot!
>clones are soulless
Our second Thesis' subject: Artificial Souls :)

>>391606
same thought :), human mana factory, magic recharger crystals for cheap on the market...
>>391609
>cult
Yes, the everyone-who's-taller-than-me-is-stupid cult.
>>391618
>unwilling or unprepared
Mindcontrol to make them all willing?

>>391644
>right and wrong
But the ends justify the means. We're sooooo close to change the world with our Super Magic... why is it even so good that we want it, compared to other magic?

>>391648
We could use it to teleport on top of tall structures and finally look down on people!

>>391618
>the Living Soul
What about corpses?

>>391557
What about Daisy chaining a series of areas where hermetic magic works and teleporting between those in a kind of tele-dashing thingie?

Or looking into other kinds of Hermetic Magic Things? We just revived a branch if magic that was though to be dead, there's got to be a ton of stuff to do with it.

>>391618
>strictly regulated
Like those runes in our protagonist's Implement? :) Rules are there to be broken, for Science, for the Future, for the Betterment of All Mankind!

>>391557
>clones are soulless
and possible! All those wax figures in RL? Replaced by stuffed clones... dummies for crash tests, fireball resistance projects? Soulless clones!

>>391672
>other kinds of Hermetic Magic
besides Teleportation? Yes, totally worth investigating! We can do stuff, at least for a second or two (with our artifical star thing spell).

>>391658
>Corpses don't have souls, silly.

Rathod and Lunch finds you poring over your rune array in Testing Chamber B6, as always, carefully tweaking thaumaturgic mana relays. Implements don't like using variables, in the programming sense, but it's possible if you tweak it right. It's a complicated set of 'If/then' analog mana pathways, scaling up and down as you need. Logic Arrays are annoying, and everybody hates them. Scholar, most Implements even have a built-in Logic Array designed in their operating system. Even those don't help.

If you want to make the 'star' spell work with any hermetic spell, you'll need to use thaumaturgy. Create a thaumaturgic echo of the ritual itself, link it up with the Star spell, and invoke the star spell and ritual at the same time... It's a pretty simple idea, but... Well, the goal is to compress the entire Star spell into a rune. And for that, you need to make it universal, so that you can plug it into any kind of Array you want.

"Jaz?" Thod asks. "You okay?"

"Grump." You say, and punch him in the chest.

"What?"

"Grump grump grump." You say. "I hate this variable stuff."

He looks down at your array. "You're trying to make your own rune? That thing looks really complicated."

"It is, and I'm shit at it." You grumble. "Scholar, this thing is annoying."

He sighs. "I can try and help you with it."

"Would you?" You ask. He's a lot more mechanically-minded than you are. That is, after all, why his Master chose him in the first place.

"As long as you stop giving me those puppy dog eyes. I know you're not *that* pitiful."

>Continued!

It occurs to me that the solution could be the other direction, Instead of scaling up our mana reserves in order to fuel a massive recreation of the ancient sky, perhaps it would be smarter to figure out which constellations corresponded to individual hermetic spell components to make our artificial sky more efficient.

>>391694

Together, the two of you puzzle through the array. Thod mentions, offhandedly, that he has a few techniques that would make things a lot easier, but he's not allowed to use them outside of golemancy.

But as the hours stretch, lunch runs low, and the two of you continue bonking heads together in order to figure it out. It's not easy, not by any means, but it's something you can do.

Hopefully.

With enough time.

It ... might take a few days. Or weeks.

Weeks which you might not have. Probably don't, in fact, according to your Counselor.

If your sponsors- the Board of Governors- ask how your progress is, you don't really have anything to show them. Getting hermetic spells working is more than worth the title of Magus, but...

You're set on teleportation. More set on it than you admit, even to Rathod. Your sponsors would just make you change to hermetic magic, and you don't want that.

If you can get this working, your family won't be a joke anymore.

Thod's phone rings, and he picks it up.

"Hey, Jaz?" He asks. "Do you know a Kaliel?"

"Yep! She's very pretty, I'm supposed to say."

He sighs. "Did you give away my number again?"

You give him a grin. "I wrote it on a note for some reason, and then dropped it. But hey! She's in Fabrication. That's your specialty too, right? Lucky thing she's the one who found it, huh."

He sighs again, and puts it up to his ear.

You look down to the half-completed Array. If you just keep butting your head up against it, you won't get it done in time. Even Rathod- whose Master's magic specializes in logic arrays- can't help you without his master's permission. You need to find some kind of shortcut...

>?

>>391701
>Kaliel
Exa, pls don't reuse waifu names
We could always ask his actual master. Maybe?

>>391700
There's an idea. Maybe we could somehow toggle on/off different constellations? Also, we should take advantage of the current night sky as much as we can. Like, there are probably certain constellations which haven't changed all that drastically, so we probably wouldn't need to include them.

We should also look into other hermetic spells, since maybe there's a certain ritual among them which we could make use of.

>>391701
Uh. Go to the library and look up some books on it or something? I ain't no mage!

>>391701
>half-completed Array
half in a day. So, we're finished the next day! Why would we need a shortcut when we're so quick? :)
>>391710
>toggle on/off different constellations
Like that for energy efficiency.
>>391701
>"Did you give away my number again?"
MC did probably finance many many things with that number.

>>391701
We should incorporate Thor's phone into his hand so he can just make the phone-y symbol when he wants to use it.

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14 KB JPG

>>391701
Oh, and look into a bunch of other Hermetic spells. We might find something that might help.

>>391738
That's a good idea. Might as well explore all avenues.

>>391729
>Because it's the easy half that's completed!

>>391734
>You've been trying, ever since he got that arm.

You sigh, taking another look at the Array. You snap a picture of it, just in case, and start packing up. Thod will probably be talking with Kally for a while- he's actually pretty good about being set up like this. He trusts your judgement, apparently. But you can't talk with him about contacting his Master until he's done.

So instead, you do the only thing you can. The one thing you dread, beyond most things- including having to fight monsters in Combat Evocation- and that's the Library.

It hates you. It doesn't have a soul, or a mind, or an enchantment, and you don't think even the architects knew you existed when they built it... but it hates you.

First things first. Shopping list. You scrawl down exactly what you need- Guides on spell arrays, of course. And even though Rathod can't tell you any of his secret techniques from golemancy, that doesn't mean you can't look up theory books on how Golemancy might work; They might give you some inspiration. As an afterthought, you decide to look up Hermetic spells, too. They're not your main priority, but they'll come in handy.

Carefully, you creep into the library, peering around. The shelves look stable. There's nothing dangling off of high shelves- You don't think anything will fall on you this time. You have a spell prepared in your Implement that will create a platform for you to stand on, or grab high-up books. You won't have problems reaching anything. You have a dagger on your hip, and a force projection enchantment linked up to it. Just in case of a wild animal somehow got in when nobody was looking.

Alright.

You take a deep breath.

"Oh heeeey, it's Angwaz!"

God DAMN it.

You whirl around. Behind you is standing a tall, blonde bimbo. She's smiling politely down at you.

"How's your research into teleportation going along?" She asks. "Going to candyland like your ancestors? You should totally pick me up some ice cream while you're there."

"Fuck off, Cera." You say.

She titters.

"That's not polite. We're friends, aren't we? Are you going to want some help? I mean, those are awfully high shelves. You might not be able to reach. And there are stairs, too. Are your legs even long enough to use them?"

>?

>>391766
Best character is here
"Are you here simply to flaunt your flesh-stilts at me, or are you interrupting a masterwork in process for an actual reason? Coming to prostrate yourself before my superiority in advance?"

>>391766
Tell this bitch to lick our clit, there's fucking BOOKS to read.

>>391766
Slay this savage beast with your dagger.

>>391766
>"Your concern is simply touching, but I'm afraid you wouldn't be much help even should I need it. After all, in a library, any assistant would need to be literate. Are you here to look up your ABCs?"

>>391782
lewd

>>391779
Supporting! She's funny. And our nemesis will be someone more hateable. :)

>>391766
"Sorry, but I require my assistants to actually have multiple brain cells."

"Are you here simply to flaunt your flesh-stilts at me, or are you interrupting a masterwork in process for an actual reason?" You ask. "Coming to prostrate yourself before my superiority in advance?"

"Sorry, I don't think I can kneel low enough to prostrate myself before you. But maybe then we could talk face-to-face."

You sigh.

"Your concern is simply touching, but I'm afraid you wouldn't be much help even should I need it. After all, in a library, any assistant would need to be literate. Are you here to look up your ABCs?"

She snorts.

"I'm here dropping off books from my family estate. My father tends to collect a lot of magical texts. Archmages are like that, you know."

"No, you're probably here to look at the pretty pictures. I think you need multiple brain cells for letters." You respond.

"Speaking of books, look what I found!" She says, holding up an aged tome. "It's one of the first copies. Take it, it's a gift for you!"

'The Amazing Journals of Krital Angwaz, Archmagus in Training' stares up at you.

Of fucking course, she found this thing.

"I already have a copy." You say.

"Okay, that's fine! Then I'll just..." She twitches a hand, keying her Implement, and the book simply dissolves into nothingness. "It's probably much more useful as my mana, after all. The ramblings of madmen aren't very valuable."

She titters.

And with that, she steps straight past you, strutting up the stairs into the library.

God, what a whore.

===

Thankfully, the moment Cera left your sight, the Library took pity on you. Must be Karma or something. On top of a few compiled books on non-functional hermetic spells, You find a few books on logic arrays that might be useful. You even find a text on golemancy theories that... Well, you're pretty sure they're not right, but it does have a chapter on advanced logic arrays. It might help, but your mood is pretty ruined right now. You could bash your head against it some more, try to come at the summoning spell from a different angle... Or hell, call up a friend and hang out with them for a while. Maybe hang out with all of them.

>?

>>391844
Bash head more. We didn't come here to waste our time.

>>391844
Sounds like party time for me! Or lunch I guess. We got any more friends we've yet to meet?

Wait could we experiment with modifying the artificial star spell to see how it affects the rituals?

>>391844
Maybe we should contact Brun and hang out. Tell her of our progress and such.

>>391860
>Not really. A few acquaintances, but nobody you're really close to. Rathod you've known since the two of you were little kids, you met-and-hung-out with Kaliel quite a bit since you met in class, and... well, you met Brun just yesterday, and the two of you hit it off.

>>391844
So we're trying teleportation, but does it have to be a summon-type of teleportation?

Perhaps some sort of portal, held up at 2 ends by 2 individual people could be better. It'll probably need some specific "dialling" system to connect to each other, but it'll split the work-load of maintaining the set of spells, and it'll be easier to go long-distance.

>>391844
Here's a thought, is spatial compression a thing with the current magical model?

>>391868
So she is actually named Kaliel then? Ugh I'm not gonna get used to that.

>>391869
We could try experimenting to isolate each individual factor.

>>391869
I was considering this idea as well, although it seems like our real issue is the whole compression of the star chart.

Wait, Exabyte, have we actually tried to teleport anything in that three meter radius we supposedly have?

>>391887
Well, the compression of the star chart isn't an issue if the person on the other side does the same, right? Or am I misunderstanding what the start chart thing meant?

>>391869
>It does not have to be summon-type. Your family copy (Well, it's actually the original) of Krital's Amazing Journals has, written in the margins, a hermetic summoning ritual. That's what you're using as a basis, so you can try modifying it.

>>391873
>There is not. Space is space, and if you compress stuff, it just gets smushed and damaged.

>>391876
>Don't worry, everyone calls her Kally.

>>391890
We don't know if it is limited to 3 meters. We could a different work around like defining the teleport location within the spell itself.

>>391899
That's good, Kally won't make my brain confused.

>>391899
>so you can try modifying it.
I think that'll be worth spending time on. Tweak the spell so that its required circumstances are easier or more likely to get. If need be get one of our friends involved if we need a second person, for as I mentioned being on the end of the thing that gets summoned to you and keeping the magic working on that end..

For a while, you try bashing your head against the array some more. The star spell is pretty complicated. Not only does it have to remember both the current constellations and the old constellations, you've hacked in some... somewhat illegal thaumaturgy to get hermetic magic working.

The hardest part is the thaumaturgy. You have it affecting the space around you, relative to the Implement. The problem is that, instead of relative to the Implement, you want it to affect the hermetic spell itself, as opposed to the space around the spell.

You sigh. Boiled down, it's a lot of complicated math. You can do it, it's just taking forever.

And that's when your phone rings. You look at it- and it's Rathod.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Uh..." He says. "My master wants to speak with you."

"What?"

"I kind of mentioned your work. Not the specifics, I didn't spoil anything. I just mentioned the logic arrays we're having trouble with. And he wants to meet with you. His estate will open up if you want to come by."

You take a deep breath. Meeting with an archmage. That's a thing that doesn't happen everyday. Except for Cera, the bitch, but that's because she's the bratty daughter of one.

That said... He might actually help. Or he might try and buy your magic from you. Or he might murder you and hide the body for asking his apprentice for help with something that's ... technically close to his Magic. You're not sure. You've never met Haron before.

>?

>>391911
We could plug in different variables like trying to modify each constellation then seeing how it affects the rituals.

>>391917
No risk, no reward.
But, uh...let's not bring anything that he could swipe from us.

>>391917
"He's not going to try and murder me and steal my work right?"

try to pass it off as a joke. try not to let the anxiety get through.

Still, accept. This could be a huge help, but we should be wary of making any more deals.

>>391926
Pretty much sums it up. I hope the Archmage is no mind-reader.

>>391917
>You think I should take him up on that?

>>391917
Fuck yeah, but only so long as we have to suck his dick for advice.

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>>391949
>but only so long as we DON'T have to suck his dick for advice.

>>391952
>>391949
Hue hue.

>>391952
Suspicious, anon...

"He's not going to try to murder me and steal my work, right?" You ask.

He chuckles, and relays your question. You hear a deep voice saying something...

"He uh, says that depends on how amazing your work is. But I think he was joking? Were you joking, Master?"

A moment later.

"... He's not giving me an answer. Just laughing at me. I think it'll be fine."

"Alright, I'll be there later today." You say, and start piling up your work. You just need to put it into your hidden stash so nobody finds it...

===

You're sitting in a large carriage. A horse-shaped golem pulling it along, everything gilded with orichalium. It'd been waiting for you when you came out to the bus stop, and the horse kept whinnying at you until you climbed up. It makes you look somewhat conspicuous compared to the simple gas-guzzling cars screaming across the road, but on the other hand...

It makes you feel tall, looking down at the tops of cars like this.

Eventually, it pulls itself down a long, winding road, and Haron's mansion comes into view.

Archmage Haron's estate is huge. It's a mansion, honestly, with enameled golems maintaining and guarding the place. The man's a recluse, and nobody's ever really seen him in person before. For the most part, he sends out his proxies, puppeting them through magic nobody understands. Rathod might learn some of it, but the archmage that gives away all of their secrets is rare enough to call them unique.

The guards- both more golems, both gilded with orichalium, step aside as the horse happily trots through the main gate into his estate.

Inside, both the archmage and your childhood friend await.

>End of thread one!
>I'm pretty damn excited about this!
>My twitter is @futureexabyte , and I'm basically constantly on various IRC channels- most notably, #Exabyte on Rizon.
>I'll be hanging around for a while to answer questions, and I'll probably revive this thread tomorrow when I run some more (If it's still here)
>Still, I'm having a lot of fun with this. I'm glad to be back.

>>391959
Thanks for running, Exa!

>>391959
Nice! Good to see you back at it Exa. Lookin forward to you showing these /qst/ nubs whats up :D

>>391959
>I'm pretty damn excited about this!

You and me both OP. Good on you for creating an engaging setting and goal for the MC.

>>391959
Thanks for the thread.
Yeah it'll be around, quests last about 5 days from last post here at the moment. It'll probably be like page 4 maybe if nobody bumps it. Or even 3.

>>391959
Nice start for a quest, interested to see where this'll go after we got the teleport up and running.

Good to have you back too!

As for questions: The world seems to be some sort of alt-history modern day, or is it more a cyber-fantasy with a unique world? Well, for all intents and purposes, with the magic involved since the stone age, the whole thing is a unique world to begin with, but I mostly mean to ask if stuff is geographically similar to our world, and if so, where is it based?

>mfw I manage to "mistype" captcha when all I did was click a button to prove I'm no robot.

>>391970
Nice try, robot.

>>391959
Hey Exa are you archiving this on suptg?

>>391975
Damn, it, I'm exposed! I'm actually azure, haunting Exa from my quest-y internet grave.

No hard feelings... Daddy.

>>391970
>>391967
The setting is a cyber-fantasy. We've got roughly modern-level technology, alongside monsters- animals with souls and thus arcane powers- and wizards, who use anywhere from primitive to technologically-advanced magics.
It's got a unique geography, and before you ask, I don't have a map for it.

I'm having a lot of fun with the MC, too. I found myself changing the way I was narrating since we're looking from her perspective, and you guys' write-ins are helping a lot.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qY2MOe8j2M
Also, in case you guys aren't aware: She is very short. Also not japanese, since Japan doesn't exist here, but oh well.

>>392017
Often characters start writing themselves differently than we conceived them before, that's the fun thing with roleplay.

>>390819
>Brun whoops, and scoops you up for a second, twirling you around.
>Then she sets you back down and pats your head.

That is adorable.

>>390924
>Doesn't matter how cute he is if he's blabbing

I am not sure I understand female sense of attraction anymore.

>>392106
I'm afraid our protagonist probably does not share your enthusiasm about unrequited headpats.

Hell, for all we know, Cera does it to be condescending.

But we know it's actually cute, anon.

>>392111
This is one of those points where her female sense of attraction and her wizard sense of attraction wrestle with one another.

>>392113
It is extremely cute. And now I need to come up with a good reason why Jaz doesn't hate it.

>>392125
>It is extremely cute. And now I need to come up with a good reason why Jaz doesn't hate it.
You do hard work for a good cause

Are we still trying to read the star map and change the chants?

>>391694
So we finally know our childhood friend's type? Dawrves?

>>391701
>He sighs. "Did you give away my number again?"

Oh wow.

>>392145
His type is dark hair. He doesn't care if they're tall, short, lanky, busty... Just dark hair.

Jaz has stark-white platinum hair. It's a family thing.

Just read through all the quest, really enjoyed it. Following.

Hey, folks who are still around, I've got a question for you.

The clothing styles around are... well, pretty erratic. You've got the same sort of modern styles that are around today, like jeans and a jacket (And a golem arm prosthetic, but who cares), or a cute tartan skirt and blouse, for example.

But, well, in today's world, Wizards tend to promote their individuality. It gives you a symbol, something people will recognize when they're looking to hire you. There are even clothiers who specifically tailor clothes to design for you, and it's not out of the ordinary to make full use of them.

There's one Adept running around with a battleaxe and monster fur and scale, or a heartless bitch who wears a slinky silken robe specifically tailored to show off her curves because she's a huge jerk.

What kind of clothing does Jasmine tend to wear? I mean, you've got a smaller-than average young woman. Stark white hair, modest assets, a strange mix of cool confidence and manic inspiration...

>>392480
I'm just going to throw something out there.

Think bathrobe crossed with lab coat crossed with POCKETS, with three or four layers to hide things in and between.

>>392480
What's her haircut?

>>392496
That's up to you guys too.

>>392496
>>392501
>>392480
short and trimmed, the sort you'd see in a near-future corporate sci-fi.

Clothing should be a normalish shirt with an interesting coat, be it labcoat style to protect against burns and spells run amok, or something more fancy to show off status.

And HUGE boots. Because big stompy boots make you taller without making it look like you're trying hard with heels.

>>392510
lets go with this

>>392510
Sounds pretty alright

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>>392480
>>392510
and stompy-boots I guess?

>>392740
yes this is good
also y snt the arm bracher not called a pipboy?

>>392740
In dire need of a haircut.

And that dog looks rather... unmechanical

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>>392763

>>392766
I don't into homesmut, sorry.

All I'm saying is that if we have the option of a golemdog then we should take it.

>>391959
>feel tall
Always a plus, big plus!

>>391557
>the government
..is a Council of Archmages, right? I mean, leaving muggles to govern is just irresponsible!
>>391844
>Cera
Seems she wins these arguments... a lot.
> Amazing Journals of Krital Angwaz
So, she found one of the copies we made and distributed around campus to make the plebs realize the greatness of our ancestors?

>>392017
>cyber-fantasy
If the Archmages are relatively secret about their work, then that would explain people not having access to super-atomic-bomb-level spells (and limit the general power level) - people have to regain that knowledge each generation...
>>392125
>reason why Jaz doesn't hate it
Maybe her parents/family aren't big on love and feelings? So, she craves them from other people? But not enough to stop her from being selfish and the obsessive type (her Magic research)...

Thanks for writing the quest! I enjoyed reading it!

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>>392480
>white hair >symbol >clothing
I can imagine her wearing a labcoat and having short hair. Also apron/tabard? 'useful' but still 'chic' might be something she would wear (being from an old Magus family).
>>392769
>golemdog
Something that can carry stuff sounds more useful...
>>392510
>HUGE boots
might be something, our MC would do - very conscious about her height...

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>I'm reusing this thread, mostly since it's still alive. I guess I'll have to count these as 'sessions' instead of threads.
>Regardless, welcome to Session 2 of Samsara Quest.

The archmage Haron's mansion is enormous, manned by colossal golems and strange floating eyes. You almost expected more dweomers illuminating the place, but instead you just see electronic lights around. The building is rather modern, in fact, with minimalist rooms and glass walls showing you the expertly-trimmed fields outside. It doesn't look quite as... rustic as you'd expected.

A gleaming, floating golem - one that has no moving parts, instead just a floating sphere- chirps at you, evidently wanting you to follow it. You shrug, and let it lead the way through the archmage's mansion.

Eventually, you find yourself in what looks like a living room. Hell, there's even a widescreen HD television on one wall. Weren't archmages supposed to be primitive and disdainful of technology?

Rathod, your childhood friend and current apprentice of the archmage, sits in one seat.

Sitting in a large, soft seat, is the archmage himself. In one moment, you realize why he's a recluse.

His face is a sheer flat mask, orichalium gilding across his featureless mask. Gears tick and twirl beneath his armor plating, and an enormous spellcrystal- one you're not sure how they can even make- is jutting out of the back of where the archmage's skull should be. You don't see anything biological, anything that belies an organic living being.

But Haron appraises you anyway. You feel somewhat sheepish, as you get the strong feeling that the eyeless mask is looking you up and down.

"Jasmine Angwaz." a tinny, mechanical voice says, and Haron waves you over. It's just imperfect enough to have emotion in it. You're not sure if it's a man or woman. Then again, did a golem even have gender?

"Archmage Haron." You respond, and the golem nods. "Rathod called me and said that you requested my presence."

"I did indeed." He says. "He told me of your current... problems with a particular rune you intend on writing. You are aware that modifying an Implement's programming is illegal, correct? A custom rune falls inside that area of the law."

"It's only theoretical." You respond. "All done on paper." You hadn't, after all, finished the array yet. No reason to program it in when it's not done. That was the first rule Kally gave you... and it did give you a legal out. Nobody could legally check your Implement's spellcrystal for modification, after all.

"Oh, of course, of course." He says, humor evident in his voice. "If you'd like, could you tell me about your project? Some things I heard about it make me rather curious. Extremely curious, in fact."

>?

>>393152
Let's tell him the gist of what we want to do, but not give away our success with the Hermetic magics. Basically the theory and not the results. For now that is, we might divulge more after hearing his (its?) response.

>>393152
>>?
Well, we can tell him in broad strokes. No sense in not having him interested. Ask for his input. (he shouldn't be disinclined to wild experiments, seeing he's turned himself into a Golem)

>>393152
>I'm gonna make teleportation a reality!

>>393163
Did Thod already know? And I can't really imagine him keeping it from his Master.
>>393167
Bold saying to pique his interest :)!

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>>393152

>>393169
True. But Thod might not know/have told any details - he'd know we succeeded but not the how or why.

>>393152
I was endeavoring to make teleportation a reality. Using hermetic magic. I've confirmed that said magic is tied to the stars and results are promising, but I need the rune to further my research.

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>>392480
I figure you probably use this picture for something even if it doesn't really suit the character.

"Well..." You say, trying to keep your smirk off of your face. "Let's see how well I can explain this without giving away any secrets. Long story short, I'm making teleportation a reality."

For a moment, you're not sure how the archmage would respond. Was he going to laugh at you? Tell you to leave?

Instead, he simply nods. "Let's see this array you're having trouble with, then. Far be it from me to hold you back."

He simply nods, as you pull a notebook and pen out of your jacket, and begin scribbling. You write your 'star' array in longhand form, drawing circles around text-descriptions of the rune's purpose, as opposed to the shorthand used in proper spells. For the most part, you just write 'secret' in the most important, critical parts- like the astrology thaumaturgy, or a few technically-illegal custom runes, and you cut out what you can. When it's done, you slide it over to Haron.

The archmage sits forward, twisting joints in his arms and back contorting, and then he carefully picks it up, looking the paper up and down.

"... Very ambitious." He says. "I can see why my apprentice and you ran into some trouble here. If I'm assuming that these hidden runes are the key to your spell, then you need some particular way to select a location. Two locations, in fact, and you need external links here, and here... Is that the gist of it?"

You nod.

Haron chuckles. "Did you know that I asked my own apprentice for this information?"

Rathod, for a moment, looks extremely uncomfortable.

"I was wondering why you didn't already know..." You say.

"That's because he told me no." He says. "He did not try to change the subject, did not lie to me... He simply said that he wasn't going to give away secrets that aren't his."

You're not sure how to respond for a moment.

"I like that kind of integrity." He says. "Rathod. Do you trust miss Jasmine?"

"I do." He responds. Scholar, he didn't even hesitate.

"You have my permission to use the third and fifth precepts in not only your personal arrays, but in miss Jasmine's as well." The archmage says. "Miss Jasmine, if you allow, I would like to add a precept to your array."

"What's a precept?"

"The very heart and core of my magic. In truth, golemancy is little but movement and motion, which is simple enough with kinetic force. The difficult part is the intelligence, the programming. And from that is where my Magic was born."

"So you're basically a logic array genius." You say. "One who can basically solve all of my problems."

The golem laughs, a tinny chuckle.

"Precisely." He says.

>?

>>393230
Thank you so much!

>>393230
But the catch...?

>>393230
>And what would the cost of this be?

>>393230
>>?
Don't look that gift horse in the mouth! Get to solving it now! Talking with the Archmage further won't solve our problem!
>>393250
His apprentice is allowed to use his secret knowledge, let's kidnap him as long as that order stands and Thod can't hear his order withdrawal!

>>393254
He might steal our invention anon!

>>393230
I assume this will not be as simple as a free enhancement?

>>393230
>Rathod
>wasn't going to give away secrets that aren't his
>trust miss Jasmine
bff! He's our best and truest ally! Hope he becomes an Archmage too... :)

>>393256
>steal our invention anon!
B-But how? Unless he can take our notes, and blueprints, he can't, right?

>>393254
>That's only two precepts he has permission to use. Rathod knows dozens of them, and the archmage himself has hundreds.

"Thank you so much," You say, as your paranoia begins to well up, "But the catch?"

The archmage chuckles again.

"The catch is simple. I promote magic, on a philosophical level. I encourage the growth and development for magic. When I see something this intruiguing, I see no reason not to help."

You frown at him. "What will this cost me?" You ask.

He chuckles. "So you're one of those who doesn't like holding debts, eh?"

"I guess you could say that." You say.

"Very well. Perhaps, when I need assistance, you will give it to me. Let's say... one major act, such as saving the life of myself or others, or three minor ones, such as teleporting shipments of resources for me. How does that sound?"

That's damn generous. Not only will you be able to finish your array- today- but all you need to do is cast the spell for him a few times.

>?

>>393265
Mmmmmagic!

>>393270
Agreed.

>>393270
You got yourself a deal, mister!

>>393152
>featureless mask
Really no wonder he doesn't appear in public. Did he really transplant himself into a machine - or is there a brain somewhere? He probably gained immortality in the process... till he gets rusty and crumbles to dust.
Or is he just controling from the room next door?

>>393270
Yeah I suppose that's a good deal.

>>393270
>That's damn generous
Best deal! Take it now! Now we only have to avoid giving it all away to Brun's family...

>>393270
>teleporting shipments
Hopefully he doesn't deal in illegal drugs/items as a hobby...
>>393270
>finish your array- today-
Would we be able to immediately press the i-win button? :)

>>393280
>He's supposedly over two hundred years old, but most people assume that's just his apprentice taking his place and taking their own apprentice. Then again, the immortality might actually be a thing...

>>393285
>You could probably pay off Brun with a really simple, mana-hungry version of the star spell.

"Agreed." You say. You don't hesitate. Now that you know the catch, it's all you can do to try and grab this opportunity as tightly as possible.

Haron laughs at your expression, and he draws out a long, complicated logic array. He marks out a few locations, and then recreates the 'star' array you'd given him wrapped around it. He does it casually, without any effort, and he even scrawls a winky-face next to one of the 'secret' runes. A few minutes later, he hands it back to you. You don't understand the more complicated parts, and a bunch of stuff about 'vectors', and the knots of manalinks too compressed for you to make sense of. It's the little pictures of chibi-Haron poking certain parts of the array, with little mathematic symbols explaining what they mean, that allows you to figure the array out at all.

He's a surprisingly good artist.

"If you run into any difficulty making use of this, please call me. Do you have any questions?"

"Uh... No." You say. "I think this is exactly what I need."

He claps once. "Wonderful! Please, do tell me when you get your magic completed. Or tell Rathod. I'd love to hear about it regardless."

"Thank you, Haron." You say. He just nods graciously.

"You're very welcome. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss, or would you like a ride back to the academy?"

>>393313
Uh...I can't think of anything right now.

>>393313
Ask why he picked Rathod as his apprentice! Just out of curiosity of course.

>>393313
Ask him how picks his apprentices, if he's willing to tell us.

also, I don't think we are obligated to share this info with Brun's family, just the bit about the artificial stars.

>>393313
>ride back to the academy
"Am I allowed to visit again?"
Having access to the Archmage's vast wealth of knowledge would be superb. Back at the academy we have to get hacking this rune! Keeping the blueprint secret is a priority too though!

"Well, I do have a question." You say.

"Oh?"

"Why did you select Rathod as your apprentice?"

The golem chuckles, and for a moment, Rathod looks really, really uncomfortable.

"He sent me a letter, as brazen as you please, asking to become my apprentice." He says. "I did my research, heard about his... situation, and took a good measure of his character. He's the exact kind of apprentice I was looking for."

"Was this, er..."

"I sent it before the attack." Rathod says. "I still, er, had both arms then."

You nod, ignoring the coils of guilt tightening in your stomach, wishing yet again that you'd been there.

"I see." You say. You carefully get to your feet, brushing yourself off. "Am I allowed to visit again?"

"Oh, certainly." Haron says. "I am... rather starved for human contact, some days. I like a pleasant chat now and again."

You give him a smile. "Then I'll make full use of that."

He smiles, and nods. "Rathod, show her out, shall you?"

"Sure thing, Master." Thod says, and the two of you make your way out of the mansion.

"So. What did you think?" He asks, as the two of you climb on top of the carriage.

>?

>>393368
>"So. What did you think?"
"He seems to be one of the good guys. And after seeing him drawing that complex rune in that short a time, I guess, I can look up to you in more than one way - for catching him as a Master. Good job, Thod!"

>>393313
>over two hundred years old >most people assume that's just his apprentice taking his place
It's a good explanation to keep all the Mages away who would otherwise flood him with requests or try to force him to reveal his secrets... his guard golems help, I suppose :).

>>393368
>I was honestly expecting a crooked old mage surrounded by dust and his own beard.
>His work is nothing short of brilliant.
In short, mad respect.
Is him not being human strange?

>>393368
>his... situation
hm, was he accused of doing something nefarious once?
>attack
Monsters, evil demon worshippers?

>>393430
>not being human strange
At least he won't make his apprentice brew coffee or tea for himself:).

"He seems to be one of the good guys." You say. "I was honestly expecting a crooked old mage surrounded by dust and his own beard. His work is nothing short of brilliant."

"I had the same kind of image, until I met him. I guess the hat and beard cliche comes to everyone's mind when they think archmage."

"Also, after seeing him drawing that complex rune in that short a time, I guess, I can look up to you in more than one way for catching him as a Master. Good job, Thod!"

He chuckles, cheeks going red, and he relaxes back in the carriage. A moment later, as if realizing something, he turns to you.

"What else do you look up to me for?" He asks.

You blink at him. You were making a joke about his height.

"Because to be honest, I pretty much constantly feel like you're leaving me in the dust," He says, "I don't think there's much about me to look up to for."

"I was making a joke," You say, "You're tall. Thus I have to look up at you."

"Don't you mean it's you being short?" He teases, and you shoot him a glare.

He just laughs, and the two of you ride back to the Academy.

The moment the two of you climb off, a dark blur makes its way toward you.

"Jaz! Jaz!" Kally calls, screeching to a stop in front of you. Her haste spell is making her vibrate in place, but it stops a few seconds after she does.

"What's up?"

"It's doooone," She says, drawing out a long, complicated component. It's got multitudes of little chamber, enough for a pinch of each material, and there's even a spell crystal set into the rear. "I've even programmed it so that you can invoke any material you want! See, if you put something in this first socket, then you can invoke that component for a spell by putting in a 'component one' rune! It's perfect! I might license this thing."

The only way it could be more perfect, you think, is if you didn't have to spend half your cash for the supplies.

"OH! Hello! Rathod, right?" Kally's peppy as ever- you're surprised she doesn't have that haste spell active constantly.

"Kally." Your friend responds. He looks a bit nervous. You could probably leave him to the wolves... She-wolf, in this case, and go get your spell done, or the three of you could go do something for fun. It's been a while since you've had time to relax, after all.

>?

>>393448
>time to relax
No rest for the wicked! We have to get to work! Show the world what we're made of!

"Hello Kally, nice to see you again! Thank you for the Implement improvement, I'm honestly impressed that you did it so quickly! "
praise her a bit and then
"Sorry, but I need Thod for a project. See you later, I'll tell you a bit about an Archmage I visited!"
woosh, work! That should be nice enough.

>>393448
Hanging out is fine though I wouldn't know where to go, we can give Brun the info on the artificial stars before that, as per our agreement.

>>393489
I don't think we should tell people about Haron, he's reclusive for a reason.