Deer College · Wing D (Basement Level 2)
Esoteric Studies Group Classroom—Room 08
Thaumaturgy Overview.
"You all know the weaving method for [Fireball] now. If you looked carefully, you should have noticed the parentheses in the timbre field, with 'ruby' written inside."
At the front of the tiered lecture hall, an elderly man with a goatee and an old-fashioned robe smiled kindly as he taught the first-year fawns.
This elderly gentleman was Professor Byron, who taught Thaumaturgy Overview to the first-year students.
Professor Byron's teaching style differed from Professor Laugen's. He liked using thaumaturgy to control chalk and write on the blackboard, rather than teaching through interface projections as Professor Laugen did.
Nor did Professor Byron have Professor Laugen's oppressive presence. Everything about him seemed kindly.
"Timbre determines its properties. Different thaumaturgical weaving methods correspond to different timbres. Timbre also determines affinity. Once you understand and master basic thaumaturgy, you'll be able to discover which kinds you have an affinity for."
"Today, however, we won't be discussing personal affinity, but non-spiritual casting and gemology."
[Non-spiritual casting: A special form of casting that requires no manipulation of EVE particles to alter timbre, nor any assimilation of EVE particles. The thaumaturgy cast seems to appear out of thin air.]
The chalk swiftly wrote the definition on the blackboard.
Professor Byron spread his hands and slowly explained to the students:
"As newly minted thaumaturgists, you'll find controlling your Lineage's timbre very difficult. It's hard to adjust the timbre into the form you need-that requires talent and prolonged practice."
"But there is something that can let you skip those tedious thaumaturgical exercises altogether. It allows you to cast quickly, and that something is-gemstones." Byron waved a hand, and rubies appeared out of thin air before flying toward each student present.
Sitting in the back row, Xia Xiu casually caught the ruby flying toward him, then bounced it in his palm.
Quite a hefty one. Enough for ten non-spiritual casts. One for every student-the professor really is loaded.
So Xia Xiu thought.
"The renowned alchemist Heraclitus mentioned four primary colors in his work, The Construction of Four-Colored Gemstone Fields and the Principles of Instantaneous Timbre Formation: black, white, yellow, and red."
"Thaumaturgists of ancient times discovered that gemstones of different colors could release specific thaumaturgies, as well as instantly adjust timbre. Different gemstone colors corresponded to different thaumaturgical weaving methods.
"If we describe the difficulty of casting thaumaturgy on a scale of one to ten, a beginner who only knows the weaving method faces a difficulty of ten. But for a beginner holding a gemstone of the corresponding color, that difficulty becomes four.
"If you hold the most famous non-spiritual casting tool, the Gem Sword Zelretch, then the casting difficulty is one."
"When thaumaturgists first begin constructing a thaumaturgy, they hold the corresponding gemstone to get a feel for its timbre beforehand."
"So I've given each of you a ruby. Your next task is to carefully sense the structure of [Fireball]."
Professor Byron then explained the basic thaumaturgical weaving methods to the students before dismissing class.
After Thaumaturgy Overview, Xia Xiu still had two and a half hours of Ancient Terra History and Numbers and Science.
As for specialized courses, those would have to wait a while. At the very least, the fawns needed to learn basic thaumaturgical weaving methods before those classes could begin.
18:00
With keen interest, Xia Xiu finished the class assignment set by Dylan, the professor teaching Numbers and Science, then raised his hand to indicate he was done.
Professor Dylan examined Xia Xiu's work through the interface template. After reading his concise mathematical formulas and solutions, he smiled in satisfaction.
"You're dismissed."
Xia Xiu strolled down through the classroom. As he passed Ushas and Camille, he gave them an encouraging look, then headed straight out.
All three of Ushas's eyes had turned into mosquito-coil spirals, while Camille kept pushing up her glasses and murmuring numbers to herself as she struggled with Professor Dylan's math problems.
The other students watched Xia Xiu's carefree departure with envy written all over their faces.
"What are you staring at? You're the worst class I've ever taught."
"With your Lineage's Algorithmic Resources switched off, you can't even solve thaumaturgical math problems involving concentric structures?!"
"At this rate, how are you going to survive once you leave Deer College and enter the man-eating land of Terra? People out there have all sorts of ways to suppress EVE Particles fields and Lineage Books. Never mind those rare [Untouchables]."
"Just take the Silent Nuns and Mute Ones of the Heaven Lineage. Once they activate their suppression fields, you won't even be able to summon your Lineage Books. If you can't construct a spell without a Lineage Book, you'll be the easiest ones to cut down." Dylan spoke with exasperation at their failure to live up to his expectations.
"Professor, if we run into Heaven's Silent Nuns and Mute Ones, we might not even be able to manipulate EVE particles. Even if we can cast without a Lineage Book, we'll still get cut down..." one student said timidly.
"Can't you run?!"
"If you can't solve the problems I gave you today, none of you are leaving!"
Anderson Dormitory-Room 404.
"Achoo-"
After dinner, Xia Xiu was lying on the sofa browsing the forums when he suddenly sneezed.
Why does it feel like someone's bad-mouthing me?
Xia Xiu rubbed his nose. Just as he was about to change positions and keep browsing, the Red Book suddenly popped out and floated in front of him.
[Ding-] [You have a directive notification from Eden!]
Seeing the message, Xia Xiu straightened up in his seat.
A wide-area notification... It should be regional. Are there cultists somewhere near Fog City?
Curious, Xia Xiu opened the notice.
[Directive: Apprehend followers of the Lord of Flesh?] ==Access requires [Holy Spirit · Angel]-level clearance== [Mission ID: 4-331] [Mission directive: Yellow (Yellow directives concern anomalies or anomalous phenomena that require more resources for full containment or elimination, or for which containment or elimination is unreliable.)] [Mission type: Containment.] Responsible party/organization: Burial Agency-[White Gloves] [Description: On December 12, 1588, by the Terra calendar, Level 2 Researcher-09 (hereafter designated 09), affiliated with the [Central Containment Room] in the Orléans region, removed contained object No. 4-331 from its containment room without authorization. During his escape, he used 4-331 to kill three Level 1 researchers, then destroyed four guard-type Mechanical Golems. According to Eden's calculations, the target has fled into the Fog City region. Eden has now placed him on the gray list (dangerous personnel: wanted, with lethal force or capture authorized) and specially dispatched [White Gloves] to recover 4-331.] [Capture 09 alive if possible.] Reference material: [4-331] [Environmental distortion: 75-80 (Environmental distortion is inversely proportional to individual distortion. Environmental distortion below 100 is collectively termed a distortion phenomenon.)] [Description: This is the product of a group of cultists sacrificing themselves to please the Lord of Flesh. 4-331 takes the form of a constantly writhing lump of flesh, and its volume continually increases. It can only be reduced to a minimum of 12.222 centimeters. Once it reaches that value, conventional means cannot destroy it. Containment method: Place it in a sealed, three-dimensional, high-temperature box measuring 5 × 5 × 5 and incinerate it continuously.] [Number of researcher experiments: 21.] [Last retrieved by 09.] [Other comrades of the Heaven Lineage in this region are requested to assist with or independently complete this directive.] [Mission reward: Equivalent compensation upon verification by Eden.]
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