Conjuration Day 4

John was teleported into his first class of the day, conjuration with Professor Aarav. It was only Karen again today, and so he happily took his seat in the soft cushion nearest to her as the Professor began his lecture.

“Good morning, my daily pupils. Today we will continue yesterday’s lesson on warding one’s conjurations. As you know, when we met last we went over the conjuration of a ‘guarding’ ward, which still leaves us with the conjuration of a ‘healing’ ward.

“Do either of you know of any healing wards? If so, do you also know how to cast them?”

I have a healing spell, but it isn’t a ward.

The professor waited for a few seconds, presumably reading the answers out of Karen and John’s minds. He nodded sagely, and continued his lecture.

“As I thought, it is a more complex procedure than both simply healing a creature or warding it from harm. The simplest ‘healing’ ward is one often associated with clericy or deities of moderate to great power, though in reality it can be performed by anyone regardless of faith. Bless.”

Ding!

John lowered his gaze quickly, taking a peek at his new notification.

Status effect acquired: Bless
HP Regen Quadrupled within 10 meters of Aarav

He refocused on the Professor as the lecture continued.

“The spell, Bless, has a somatic component as well as a spiritual component. Without the words, as well as the intent, to guide your spiritual power, the spell will not work. It is not unheard of, though, for master Clerics to be able to cast Bless without its somatic component. It is a matter of mastery. Do either of you feel different?”

Karen looked confused, and patted herself up and down.

“Should I feel different, Professor?” was her response.

We’re healing at four times our body’s capacity, John thought to himself.

Aarav nodded at John, then explained the concept to Karen, who blushed at not being able to tell.

“I cast Bless at a higher level than I expect either of you to achieve anytime soon.” Aarav began to write in chalk on a blackboard as he finished up today’s lecture. “For your assignment today, you will recite this spell to cast Bless at its lowest and simplest level.”

restituatur sanitas tua, redeat spiritus tuus

John cast Observe on the clearly Latin phrase the Professor wrote on the board.

Bless, level 1
Learn spell?
yes no

John wavered for a bit, wanting to instantly learn the spell but also wary of his surroundings. He stared at the board as Karen summoned a small snake with scales seemingly made of precious jewels. She started to recite the Latin, though it didn’t seem to have an effect. He looked to the Professor, and Aarav nodded back to him.

“If you have any questions, ask away, Mister Newman.”

“Uh, yeah, so… how do we know when it works? Is it possible to double cast Bless on the same creature? Would the effects then be doubled or would they do more harm than good? Would there be any effect at all?”

Aarav chuckled as he held up a hand to halt John’s barrage of questions.

“Now, now. Let us explain the answer to your first question before diving into the theoretical. You should only feel a drain on your spiritual power if the spell is successful. If you finish reciting the spell and feel no drain, you will know the spell failed.”

John nodded, and the professor continued.

“It is not possible to Bless the same creature twice, at least, not while they are under the effect of the Bless spell. I know this raises the question of whether a creature can be given more than one ‘healing’ ward, and the quick answer to that question is yes.”

Aarav paused, ready to continue on some sort of tangent, but Karen gasped in excitement as her snake began to glow green. The Professor instead pivoted his focus towards her and started to give tips and tricks specific to her mental process for magic. While his back was turned, John tapped “yes” on the spell pop-up and learned Bless.

Alright. Let’s see if I actually need to chant in Latin for this, he thought as he cast Summon.

Two tiny handprints glowed orange on the floor of the classroom, then began to spin. As they spun, they left a trail of runes that made up Elora’s summoning circle. The hands met on the outer edge of the circle with a tiny clapping sound, then disappeared. Elora rose out of the center of the circle, saluting, while Aerial Squads Alpha and Beta rose out of the edges of the circle, evenly spaced and hovering on their sapphire hummingbird wings.

“Reporting for duty, Chief. Another routine test today?”

John nodded and then focused on the skill acquisition pop-up.

New Skill: Bless level 1
Bless: your mana becomes a spring of life within an ally, raising their natural hp regeneration by 10%
-25 mana per cast
Duration 10 minutes

I can cast this 6 times, almost 7. Though that would leave me with no mana to fight for myself so that’s out of the question in a real combat situation. Once for each summon would leave me with less than half my mana. I need to get stronger.

Arabella grumbled to herself as she powered through her morning routine. A stream of spanish expletives sprang from her mouth as a rough reggaeton beat pulsed through her apartment. She hated not having the structure of a schedule to keep her moving forward. Too much standing by idly made her irritable beyond measure. If she didn’t keep moving forward, the past would catch up with her, and it was a bad time for anyone close to her whenever the past caught up with her. She shook her head and turned the aggressive music up higher, doing her best to drown out the memories.

A different aggressive beat shook the windows of a run-down arcade, though it was much more upbeat in genre. EDM bumped from expensive speakers as a pink haired beauty danced to the energetic synth and bass. She was playing a dance rhythm game, hitting every beat and scoring an incredible combo while making the silly in-game dance moves actually look good. Two men sat at a table farther in, playing a game with an immense amount of figures and tokens involved. They had to shout to be heard over the music, but gave the impression that they would have been shouting at each other even if the arcade was silent. A third man lay under an arcane engine as it whirred, tinkering with its insides. The girl raised her hands in triumph as the song faded into a transition to the next, the screen boasting her perfect combo. She stepped away from the game and beamed at the arcade and knew this was where she belonged. Would it always be where she belonged? She didn’t really care. The Abyss was a violent world and anything could happen, everything could change in an instant. All that mattered was to keep moving forward and to stay positive. Now she was happy, and now was what mattered. She hopped back on the game, not really liking how philosophical she’d gotten. A new song flared to life, filling the arcade with a new energy.

John cast Bless on Elora and she began to glow with the tell-tale flaming orange of his aura. He expected his mouth to move on its own and **** him to recite the Latin phrase, but it didn’t.

“Test successful, Chief.”

To John’s surprise, the glow began to spread to the other pixies as well. It was faint but still discernible. The Aerial Squads were spinning and twirling playfully around John’s head, giggling and letting out “ooh”s and “aah”s as the spell reached them.

Huh, so if the creature I’m blessing has summons, the blessing extends to their summons as well. That’s good to know.

“Indeed, Mister Newman. That is a fine discovery to make,” the Professor interrupted his thoughts.

“What is?” came Karen’s inquisitive voice.

“If one is to bless a summoner, the blessing will spread to their summons as well. Have you noticed anything else, Mister Newman?”

“The blessing for their summons is weaker.”

“A very astute observation. Keep this in mind, my pupils, when blessing your allies.”

“Yes, Professor,” was Karen’s response.

John merely nodded.

“You both grasped the concept well in this lesson, tomorrow we will review the week’s lessons and see if you’ve retained it all. Class is dismissed.”