Illusions class day two

You and Lee enter the classroom and take your seats, waiting for the bell to toll. Professor Sloss is again sitting at his desk reading, paying little attention to the students coming in.

"Man, I kind of want to go first and knock his socks off but I also think it might be better to save the best for last." Lee whispers.

"I think you should try and be last. Get his expectations up before you drop the surprise on him." You offer your opinion.

The now-familiar deep ringing of the bell signals the beginning of class and Professor Sloss stands to address the class. "Welcome back students. I hope..." His words are interrupted by a boy wearing a House Cerberus pin rushing in the door.

"Sorry." He says as he quickly takes the only empty seat directly behind Lee.

"As this is only the second day of class, I will overlook your tardiness this time Mr. Becker but don't let it happen again." Professor Sloss scolds.

"Yes, sir." The cerberus boy says.

"As I was saying, I hope you all finished your assigned reading and practiced casting your first illusions. Today we will begin by jumping right in. I will call you up, one at a time, and you will show the class your best illusion and hold it for as long as you can manage. This will allow me to gauge your abilities before we move forward." The professor declares. "Mr. Becker, seeing as you were late, practicing until the last minute no doubt, why don't you grace us with your demonstration first."

The cerberus boy stands up. "Of course sir." And moves to the front of the class without appearing too disheartened for being made the first volunteer. He stands there for a moment before tracing his rune and saying the spell words. The next moment a bearskin rug appears on the floor, its maw twisted into a snarl. It looks real enough, as far as you can tell.

Professor Sloss regards it coolly, his face giving no sign of his impression of the boy's work. "Not bad. Good detail." Then his eyes narrow. After about a minute, the rug begins to fade before disappearing.

"What?" The cerberus boy is shocked. "I was able to maintain that for a solid five minutes in my room last night. And again this morning." He tries to explain to the professor before being sent back to his seat. It appears Harmony was correct, Professor Sloss was going to prove the point that illusions will fade under close examination by an experienced illusionist.

One by one, students are called to the front of the class to demonstrate. They display their talents making all manner of objects: a door, a few tables, a sconce, one girl even manages to make a small water fountain with animated water. A couple of the students' images are blurry and one even fades almost immediately after being created. At least you know your not the worst student in the class. However, after closer examination by Professor Sloss, they all faded before the two-minute mark.

Your turn comes and, like the rest, you take position in front of the classroom. You trace your rune as Harmony had shown you and her reminder to use light strokes when forming your illusion repeat in your mind. As you had practiced, the image of the illusionist's tome appeared. Thankfully it was one of the most accurate and clear images you had managed.

"Hmm." Professor Sloss grumbles. "While I can appreciate the subject of your illusion, I honestly anticipated more from you. Both Professor Schwartz and Kiehn spoke highly of your talents. I suppose even someone with your level of magical ability can't be expected to excel at everything. A satisfactory illusion." He judges your performance as the image of the book fades.

"I'll keep trying sir." You tell him before taking your seat.

A few more students take their turns. A small bush, a delicious looking ham, and one boy even creates the illusion of a hat on his own head but still, no one has passed the two minutes required for the test exemption. Somehow Lee has managed to lay low until the end. When Professor Sloss calls him up, he looks determined as he marches to the front of the class. Lee stands there and nods to the professor before tracing his rune, his eyes narrow with focus. You watch a three-foot-wide image of the sun itself slowly materializes to float between Lee and Professor Sloss, it's light bright and hard to look at.

"Impressive Mr. Hanagan." The professor says squinting as he examines Lee's work. A minute passes and a few students turn away, the illusion troublesome to look at for long. Professor Sloss holds up a hand to slightly shield his eyes as he continues his examination. You look to Lee who is standing with his arms behind his back and notice one finger repeatedly tracing the casting rune where the professor cant see. Professor Sloss now cocks an eyebrow in curiosity and begins to circle the image regarding it with curiosity, his attention still not falling on Lee himself. Another minute passes and you are both shocked and proud your friend has pulled it off. "Very impressive." The professor says before snapping his fingers and waving his hand in a flat palm down motion. Lee's illusion flickers and slowly fades away while giving off a couple of final pulses of light. "It appears there is at least one of you who will be exempt from next week's test." The professor turns to Lee to shake his hand in congratulations. "You may rest easy for now Mr. Hanagan but know that you have just set the bar rather high for yourself." He says before indicating to Lee to take his seat.

As Lee approaches, you hold out your hand and give him a fist bump. "Hell yeah. That was amazing." You whisper. Taking his seat, Lee appears rather proud of his work.

"Some of you may be surprised your illusions didn't last as long as you had wished. Some of you, if you did your reading, may have already figured it out." Professor Sloss addresses the class. "Can anyone tell me why this is?"

A couple of students raise their hands as do you. Professor Sloss looks around before calling on a girl sitting close to the front. "Because illusions can be undone by another illusionist?" She presumes.

"Exactly." The professor says. "Your illusions are only as good as you craft them. Like a badly knitted sweater, they can be unraveled with the pull of a single thread. Or they can be durable to withstand the harshest conditions. As illusionists, we weave light to create art. We do not want loose ends, weak corners, or sloppy tangles. As you practice more, you will come to understand what I mean." He alludes. "We are almost out of time so we will call it a day. I want you all to read chapters four through six and practice your casting. I want to see some improvements. Those of you who managed simple illusions, push yourselves for something a little more complex. Those who struggled, keep at it. Mr. Hanagan, Mrs. Eldric good work today." He addresses Lee and the girl who crafted the animated water fountain.

The deep toll of the bell indicates the end of class and everyone begins gathering their things. "Congrats again Lee. You really earned that exemption." You praise your friend.

"Nice touch creating something so bright and difficult to look at." A voice calls out to Lee. You both look up to see the girl with bronze skin, curly dark brown hair that hangs just above her shoulders, and eyes so dark brown they were almost black. Dressed in the standard school uniform, while opting not to wear the sweater, a House Wyvern pin on her collar. The white shirt slightly unbuttoned to reveal her modest but perky cleavage. "I wish I had thought of it." She smiles at Lee extending her hand. "Rhoslyn Eldric."

Lee takes her hand with a smile. "Lee Hanagan. Pleased to meet you."

"I just wanted to say, that was a clever demonstration earlier." She says with confidence.

"Yeah, thanks..." Lee hangs on his words, distracted by her beauty. "Maybe we could practice together sometime?"

You laugh under your breath where the two can't hear and hope you don't look quite so silly talking with girls. "I need to get to alchemy class. It was nice to meet you Rhoslyn." You excuse yourself to give them a moment. "Later Lee. Remember, Delmorgan after class." You say before turning to head out into the hallway.