Save Scumming Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Seven - Magical Theories (Ac

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Seven - Magical Theories (According to a Moronic Gay Girl)

Fran didn't study magic in her apartnt. I an, maybe she did, when studying ant like, carving a new spell, or reading a little, or watching a docuntary or video, but the actual study, with a proper teacher, wasn't done at her place.

The reasoning seed simple enough. For all that magic could do great things, and even just things that were convenient, it was human nature to focus on the destructive aspects first.

Could soone with a bit of training figure out a spell to warm up water for tea? Yes. And they probably would for the sheer convenience.

Was that sa person more likely to spend that sa effort trying to discover a spell for boiling a person alive? Yes.

I think that a lot of the more convenient spells that existed were an offshoot of weaponized magic, and by that sa token, a lot of weaponized magic was an offshoot of magic designed for convenience.

At least, that was my going theory for how magic was invented.

Anyway, Fran's magical education was mostly held at the Fortress ENE Institute for the Magical Arts. A rather plain na for a governnt-funded institution that occupied half of a large building not too far from the centre of the city.

On arriving, I instantly knew that the 'governnt-funded' part was so sort of bullshit. Not that this place didn't spend my and everyone else's hard-earned tax dollars, it's just that the words 'governnt-funded' tended to imply that sothing was made for the public.

The types of people I saw slipping in and out of the institute were not Joe Public. Fran's luxury SUV with driver and guard wasn't the only one parked out front. The open-air parking across the street had a dozen Italian sports cars that probably cost more than a house just in the first row.

"Nice place," I muttered as I looked around.

"It's decent enough," Fran replied. She straightened, tugged on the lapels of her cute corpo blazer, then started towards the entrance, one of her guards peeling off to keep pace with us.

The insides of the institute were clean and slled... like a school really. Cleaning products and paper and a faint tinge of too-strong perfus. It reminded of college a little.

We passed through security, where I didn't have a choice but to surrender the handgun I had as well as the knife in my boot, then continued on deeper.

Fran had private lessons. They were with a teacher who was himself a D-ranker who had full accreditation as a teacher. We t him just outside of the classroom. He greeted Fran, shook my hand, then listened to her explanation for what I needed.

After a few minutes of rubbing his chin, he nodded, then suggested that we bring in one of his colleagues.

It took a while for Fran to arrange things from there. Mostly, she had to pay up. Additional tutoring was available, for a price. Bringing in a second student cost sothing. Bringing in a second teacher cost more.

If I had asked for half of what she was asking for at any of the schools I'd been to, the best I might have gotten was a 'we'll think about it' and a polite refusal by mail a week later. Instead, within twenty minutes a second professor had joined us. A little younger, with nice clothes that hadn't been washed well and slightly ssy hair. More greetings happened, then we were ushered into the class.

I had expected... well, a classroom. Moderately sized space, with desks and a big screen on one wall.

Instead, the room looked like a cross between an insane asylum and a gymnasium. There was a space in the back behind a half-wall that hid different sorts of training equipnt, a small locker room and changing space, and then a lot of nothing. Just padded floors and walls and a few extra gym mats.

"So, what exactly are we looking for, here?" the newer professor, Sawyer, asked. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked like he wasn't far from needing to take a nap or sothing.

I glanced at Fran, but she just gave a little 'go ahead' gesture, so I figured that this one was on . Clearing my throat, I addressed the two professors. "I'm going to be fighting soone soon. A light-magic using mage. I need to be able to beat him."

"And you're a Dark mage?" Sawyer asked.

"I am, yeah."

He nodded. "Could feel it. Tricky. Light's on the opposite end of the spectrum."

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"So I'm particularly weak to it?" I asked.

"And vice-versa," he replied. "It's more complicated. This isn't a children's ga."

"Right, okay," I said. Dude was a little testy, but that was fine as long as he knew what he was on about. "Do you know anything about his repertoire?"

"I know his favourite opening spell," I said. Fran and I had looked it up. It wasn't in any of the more public lists I had access to, but Fran, being a Light mage herself, had bought access to so pretty top-end spell catalogues, with videos and spell breakdowns and everything. "It's called Brilliant Tri-Helix."

Sawyer nodded. "Good opening. That'll punch through most low-level Dark shields. That's a pretty strong spell. Third level at least. Is this person you're fighting an experienced D-ranker?"

"Uh," I said. "Yeah, you could say that."

I think the professor had jumped to the assumption that we were fighting in sothing like a duel. Those were relatively popular, though it had never taken off that hard. Magic duelling tended to be crazy technical and had a million rules. It was like fencing, but flashier. It didn't make for good viewing. Sure, magic was cool, but most of the ti, the sport lacked the spectacle of team gas, and the story of stuff like MMA or wrestling.

"Well, there are so specialized shields that can be layered. A triple-layered Dark Shade Shield would--"

I raised a hand, and Sawyer stopped. "No, see... I can't learn any new spells for this. Uh, consider it a weird stipulation. I can only use the spells I know already."

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Hey, I regret not learning more spells before this too, but it is what it is."

He shook his head. "Okay then. What do you know?"

"For Dark spells? See Darkness, Exhaust Senses, and Shadow Bolt."

He nodded along. "Decent beginning spells, and what else?"

"That's it."

Sawyer stared at . "That's it? That's two real spells, weak ones, and a cantrip. Brilliant Tri-Helix is a third level spell. It's significantly more complex. It's designed for speed of casting and hard-penetration, and its form makes it a tough spell to work around."

"It's a duelling spell?" I asked.

"Yes? Obviously," Sawyer replied.

"My friend here needs assistance defeating her rival, solely with the spells at her disposal. Can it be done?" Fran asked.

Sawyer shook his head, then paused. "No? But maybe. When is this match, exactly?"

Ah, he was really taken with the idea that this was for a competition of so sort. Who was I to dissuade him from being wrong? "Assu that it's in... call it six months. But I can't use any spells other than the ones I ntioned, and I can't recarve those spells. Yes, I know that doesn't make sense, just roll with it."

The professor reached up and rubbed at his chin. "It's impossible. You'd need to... I don't know, modify the spells post-cast to do anything."

"You can do that?" I asked.

"With a complex spell? No. Not unless your native skill allows for it."

Like Becky's own ability to cast electrical spells with little to no effort when it ca to carving the spells out? "Yeah, but Shadow Bolt and Exhaust Senses aren't exactly complex spells, are they?" I asked.

Sawyer worked his jaw. "Okay. It could be possible to modify them. Now, how well do you know your adversary's repertoire?"

"You could say that I have personal experience with it," I replied. "But for now, I want to learn how to counter his one spell."

"Okay. In theory, with dual... no, triple casting, you could interpose a Shadow Bolt into the path of his Brilliant Tri-Helix and have the spell go off prematurely. It would require a lot of precision."

"What's dual casting?" I asked.

Sawyer groaned. "No, this is impossible."

"I'll quintuple your hourly rate," Fran said.

"It may be possible if we try very hard," Sawyer replied.

Damn, people really did fold when cash was on the table. Also, Fran throwing her weight around like that was hot, but I was tapped out for the mont. "Perfect!" I said. "In that case, where do we start?"

The next week was going to suck, and I was pretty sure that a week wasn't going to be enough, even if I spent every waking hour practicing. Still... it might be possible, and the look on that asshole's face would be worth it.

That, and learning to cast faster wasn't going to hurt.

***