62 First spell

In the imperial school in Bêtéclair, sometime after the new year, Emp was listening to a lesson about magic.

This wasn't like the usual and ordinary lesson he received until now, this was the very first specialized lesson he received.

He had studied the basics hard and even used the time he spent in Willow's house to absorb the words and knowledge of the book and now, Heinrich had deemed him ready for the next step.

He was the fifth in class that managed to get himself out of the basics. The other four were Penny of course, Gytha, Zoran and Norval.

Today, Emp had a book about earth elemental magic in his hands. With how many affinities he had, he could have chosen almost any books but wind, earth and water were the most prominent so it was best to pick one of those.

Of the three, earth was the most enticing to his current mindset. It was renowned for its defensive abilities after all. He felt like learning this might be a faster and easier way to protect everyone.

The book in his hands was heavy and counted a large amount of pages. It's content was aimed at beginners so a good half of the book was dedicated on how to handle earth-related magu and what kind of ingredients, gestures and voice could be used to influence it.

The second half of the book contained many simple spells and many more variations of them. All of them were related to earth and rocks in some way and all of them could be considered relatively safe.

Even though he had perfectly memorized all the basics and he had high affinity for this element, Emp felt completely lost as he looked troughs its content.

There were just too many variations and too many possibilities. Any small difference in the type or quantity of any components could change the spell completely. Looking at that one book, it was easy to understand why mages usually kept using the same spells they already knew rather than learning a wide array of them.

The sheer amount of information contained in those pages was dizzying and those were only for the beginners, used to cast the most simple of all spells.

Higher ranked spells must be exceedingly complicated, books including those must have been enormous and complex. Emp pitied the poor man who had to transcribe all this onto a new book. The task must have been tedious beyond belief.

Maybe it explained why more advanced magic books were hard to find, they only made you a copy if you requested it specifically. Else, no one would want to harness the task of copying them.

Emp tried to ignore most of the book and only paid attention to one very specific spell. It was the teacher that had chosen it for him, it was the most simple of them all and he had to learn it first.

He was asked to memorize everything about it and once he felt confident about his knowledge, seek out the teacher to try using it.

The spell itself was meant to ask a small amount of soil to keep its current shape. It was called 'solidify'. It seemed like a pointless thing to do but many other magic of the earth element used it as part of their own. Erecting a wall of dirt for example was pointless if it crumbled instantly.

By perfecting the use of this spell, most of the other spells would become easier to learn in the future as a part of them would already be familiar to him.

It would not be used in all of them but it was definitely worth the effort. As for those in which it wouldn't be used, some weren't even properly related to the earth. There were those sharing more than one element and those that seemed to be classified into earth just because of something mildly linked with it. For example, lifting and throwing a boulder across the plains like a catapult was a earth spell but aside from the boulder itself, it had nothing to do at all with this element.

It took him about two classes worth of time to memorize everything perfectly. Then, he practiced saying the words composing the spell aloud for a long time. From what he understood, they meant nothing. It was just a jumble of sounds that supposedly made words but he couldn't make out any of them. Celtine told him that when he was saying those words aloud, what she heard was "hold together solid."

Emp guessed it was because she heard the meaning of the words rather than the words themselves. Her ability was interesting and the meaning of the words did make sense with what he wanted to accomplish but, knowing what they really meant didn't really help him in any way.(1)

The only thing he really got out of the information was that the sentence wasn't built properly. When he asked the teacher about it, he was told that most of the simplest spell were like that. They were all as simple as possible to limit the possibilities of the meaning changing too much. Three words were almost as simple as it could go. Emp heard that the simplest fire spell was actually just the word 'burn'.

The more complex and advanced spells used complete sentences with proper structure, often many of them too. Emp wondered if Celtine would be able to pick up the words like "the" too when she heard an advanced spell or if there wasn't enough meaning behind that kind of word for her to understand it clearly.

Her strange ability was truly interesting.

In any case, now that he had properly learned everything there was to know about that simple three word spell, it was time to try it out, in the classroom, in front of everyone.

Heinrich was standing in front of Emp's desk, ready to test his ability. In one of his hands, he held an ordinary clay pot and in his other hand, he held an even more ordinary rock. The teacher quickly explained to him what he was meant to do.

"This is a clay pot full of dirt. If I place it upside down and I remove it, the dirt should lose the shape of the pot and crumble on the desk. So, you will use this rock as a catalyst and cast the basic earth 'solidify' spell on the dirt under the pot before I remove it. Once the pot is removed, your task will be to keep the dirt in its shape for as long as you can, provided of course that the spell is a success. Many spells of the earth element rely on the caster keeping part of his attention on them in order to sustain the effect. After all, the spell isn't meant to fuse all that dirt together, you are only asking it to stay as it is."

That seemed like an important point. It was meaningless to form anything with a earth spell if it was to crumble right away.

"How do I maintain the spell?"

"You need to keep your focus on it. The moment you stop thinking about it, the whole thing will cease to work. Proper mages can do many things at once and maintain many spells together but for a novice like you, being able to hold it for more than a breath would be very good already."

"Is it that hard to do?" Emp was surprised to hear that such a basic thing was considered so hard.

"No, it's the opposite. Maintaining a spell is way too simple."

Emp kept staring blankly, trying to understand what that was supposed to even mean.

"Your attention needs to remain on it for it to keep working but, since it doesn't really use your own power as fuel, the difficulty of actually doing it is about equal to breathing. You just start doing it and you forget about it."

Emp couldn't comment on that, not long ago, he still kept forgetting to breathe when anything unexpected happened.

"The moment you forget, the spell fails. Most people's mind start to wander after a moment and the thought of the spell drift away until it completely disappear. They might think of their next move in a fight or simply about what they would like to eat for dinner, in any case, such thoughts put an end to the spell almost every time. It takes a tremendous control over one own thoughts to be able to consciously think about something while simultaneously doing other things. Because of this, the majority of mages stick to spell without a need for active maintenance."

Emp was a bit disappointed to hear all that. He had so many affinities, why did he have to chose to start with the one element requiring the hardest thing out of him. If he had known all that to begin with, he would have chosen something else.

The teacher wasn't in the least disturbed by the air of regret surrounding Emp and slammed the pot upside down on the stone desk. It made a sharp ceramic "Thuc" sound and not a piece of dirt escaped it. Following that, he extended the small grey rock towards Emp.

"Take it and cast the spell once you are ready. If you fail, we'll try again until you can do it."

Emp nodded with a sigh and picked up the rock. He knew there were different types of rocks but he had no idea what this one was, it was just grey and ordinary. From what he understood, the spell could be improved if one used a "better" rock but since he knew nothing about rocks, he had no idea what made for a better rock.

As he prepared for his first attempt at casting a spell, the other students pretended to continue on with their own tasks while they observed his try with great attention.

Emp focused, did all the things the book said and said recited the incantation. The teacher didn't remove the pot from the table and looked perfectly indifferent to his attempt.

"You failed, your fingers aren't positioned correctly, the dirt under the pot will be unaffected. Look, they are too far apart. Start over."

A single sound of stifled laughter similar to a sneeze made itself heard from somewhere behind him. Emp turned around to look at Kenneth.

"I mean, the way he said it... he didn't even need to lift the pot to know, isn't that funny?"

"Emp, I won't waste all my afternoon holding a clay pot, stop talking nonsense to your classmates and focus on the task. Give the spell a proper go. Remember to think about the expected outcome and this time, follow the instructions properly."

Emp was a bit miffed to have been scolded for talking even though he had not opened his mouth at all but still turned back towards the pot.

After four more tries, Emp felt something different. It wasn't a tingling sensation or any physical reaction. It just felt right, the same kind of feeling he would sometimes get when doing tasks for Marcy. He knew this time, he had done it right, he tried to engrave this attempt in his memory. The mage found his performance suitable as well and lifted the pot. The dirt spilled all over the desk to Emp's great disappointment.

"You thought of something else and forgot to maintain the spell... Put back the dirt into that clay pot and try again. Do the exact same you just did but this time, don't get distracted by your own success."

How did he get distracted? He didn't think of anything.

Helped by Celtine, he slid the dirt over the desk surface and back into the pot. The mage took it back, flipped it and placed it back on the desk.

The second attempt ended in the exact same way and the third as well.

"Stop thinking about the pot when I remove it. Every time I do you think about me removing the pot instead of the spell and the dirt under the pot. Try again."

Was he really doing that? How did Heinrich know?

"These are amongst the most common mistakes made by beginners." He explained.

Further attempts proved just as difficult. He really wanted to achieve it and he did listen to Heinrich but he just couldn't do it. The novelty of the situation swiftly faded and everyone around him returned to their own things.

After many attempts, the teacher concluded that he at least knew how to cast it properly and left Celtine in charge of lifting the pot for each attempts. If he managed to do it, the result would be obvious and so he didn't need to be there. Instead of supervising Emp, he went back to help the others in their various studies.

It took him two full classes, excluding the one he first tried, in order to see the dirt hold itself together for a split second before it crumbled.

Thinking about nothing but this was ridiculously hard to do. Maybe he needed to know it better? Thinking about it as just the dirt under the pot was too hard. If he could know more about it, maybe he would be able to keep thinking about it longer?

He held up a handful of dirt up to his eyes and looked at it seriously.

Really, it had nothing special, it was brown and dry, it was almost sand at this point. It didn't smell anything in particular and its texture wasn't different than the dirt he would pick up on the road side. It was probably where the mage got it in the first place, on the path of the school courtyard.

Cyril Lowfield came from a village right? He even had "field" in his name, maybe he knew a bit more about dirt?

"Cyril, did you have fields in your village?"

The teen turned around to look his way, a puzzled frown on his face.

"We only had some small gardens, what is it you want exactly?"

"I thought you would know a lot about dirt."

"..."

A uncomfortable silence spread across the room. Why was everyone staring? Heida and Gervaise snickered while Mable looked around with a air just as confused as his own. Clearly she didn't understand either. Cyril had the worst reaction of them all.

Cyril was a earnest man and a good friend but for some reason, he seemed to really badly take his question. His face turned green than red, he slapped his book against his desk and rose to his feet as he pointed angrily at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked loudly.

Emp felt dazed by his anger and couldn't wrap his mind around the situation. Meanwhile, the teacher completely ignored them and just reminded Penny, who he was currently supervising, to keep her focus on her task. Heinrich was the kind of man who didn't really care about what happened around him. Was it because he practiced a lot about holding spells together?

Kenneth intervened before things could get worse.

"Calm down Cyril. I did the same mistake at the entrance ceremony. We're talking about Emp here, I'm sure there is an explanation."

"Yeah, look at his face, he clearly doesn't understand what he just did. It's not like he his secretly an expert in underhanded insults." Added Aglaya.

What underhanded insult? Emp couldn't follow, he just asked if he knew about dirt.

Cyril calmed down a bit and agreed. It was unlike him to get so worked up anyway.

"Alright then, Emp, what did you mean."

Emp felt stressed about what to answer. He didn't understand what had caused this in the first place so he didn't know how to avoid repeating the mistake. He decided to explain his thoughts fully.

"I was practicing that earth spell but I can't keep thinking about it. I felt that if I knew more about that dirt I might be able to focus on it longer. I couldn't find anything about it just by looking so I felt that someone working closely with the earth might know more than me. The only persons I know that work with dirt are farmers and gardeners but I don't know any. Then, I remembered that your name was Lowfield and that you came from a village. And wanted to ask for your help into understanding that dirt but if you have no fields there, it's pointless."

Everyone starred again, this time, more amused and dispirited than shocked. Cyril was making the face of someone who discovered that the letter he was waiting for would not arrive this week. (2)

"What is happening? Why is everyone acting so weird?" Mable voiced her, and his, thoughts.

He took a quick look to his left and saw that Celtine wasn't clear on what was happening either. This meant that it wasn't just some basic behavioral rule he didn't understand but something that came from the humans, something Celtine was learning along with him.

"It's because the way he says it could be seen as him looking down on Cyril and comparing him to mud, or at least someone only good at playing in the dirt. If none of us knew Emp, his words would be seen as an attack against Cyril background. It would be a devastating blow if said in public, and a very disgraceful attack as well." Aglaya told her.

"Heh?"

"What he said could be very offensive when taken out of context." She explained again, more simply.

"The funniest part is that he doesn't get why it's like that at all. Mable didn't see it at all either but that's because she can't picture Emp saying that sort of thing at all."

Well, Ivar was right, he didn't get it at all. Even now that Aglaya explained, he didn't understand why it was so offensive at all.

"I'm sorry, even with all of that, I don't understand how my question could be misconstrued like that."

"Have you not listened to Blackbull's class at all?"

He did, but he couldn't remember a class about this kind of thing. He turned to Celtine for help and she wrote him a short overview of the problem.

< The man tribes make distinctions between ruling families and those that aren't. He aims to reach a position of knight which is considered part of the nobility despite being born in a village. He is sensitive over the matter because he thinks that other nobles will look down on him because of his origin. Dirt is often compared to something lowly and worthless so asking for knowledge about it and implying he is an expert in it because of his birthplace is almost comparing him to the dirt itself or at least, that his place is with it. >

"Huh, thank you Celtine for the explanation."

That was a very precise way to explain what had happened to him.

"I didn't mean to imply anything, I was just wondering if you would be able to help with my problem. That dirt has been defeating me for days now. I apologize for the way I asked, I will ask miss Blackbull about it later."

Cyril calmed down a lot and sat back down.

"I understand, I forgive you, I may have overreacted. I was offended for nothing, I know you more than that."

"I do not understand why you were offended though."

"What?"

"Didn't we just go through that?" Asked Kenneth, stunned by how Emp was still confused about it.

"I understand what you were offended about but not why you were offended about it." Emp said again to Cyril.

He frowned again, trying to understand what Emp meant to tell him. He didn't talk to Emp often because he took his time in class very seriously but the last time he had this kind of talk with him, it completely changed his view about the two slaves following him. He wanted to hear what Emp had to say.

"Why should I not?"

"There are two things I am not sure I understand about it. First, I do not understand why having more knowledge about something, even if it is only dirt, would be bad. I was told that all knowledge is good, the more you have the better you are. I do not think there is such a thing as a valueless knowledge."

"Well, even if that's the case, I don't have that knowledge."

"If you did, it would not have been a bad thing, at least I think. The other thing I don't understand is about your village."

"What about my village?"

"I think I remember you saying you are doing all this to help them."

"Yes, I am."

"But, if you are offended when someone say that you are from there, why are you helping them?"

There was silence once again in the room. No one seemed to really understand what Emp was trying to say.

"Miss Penny, stop looking over there and examine the diagram seriously." Heinrich said from a bit further in the room.

Emp asked some more in an attempt to understand his reaction.

"Do you not love them?"

"I do love them!" Reacted Cyril.

"Are they not good people?"

"They are!"

"Then, should you not be proud of coming from there? If it is true that you come from there and those living there are good people that you love, why did you get angry when I said you came from there?"

Cyril was stunned. His gaze grew distant and his eyes unfocused. The others raised their eyebrows. When did Emp start being like that? Did he suddenly turn into an old man?

Emp waited for his answer with interest. He was wondering if perhaps someone could insult him without him noticing a thing if he didn't know about this. Being insulted and not understanding it would be shameful no? Miss Blackbull would panic.

After a long time of everyone watching his face, Cyril rose to his feet again and walked up to Emp. He made a resolute looking smile and extended his hand for a shake.

"You are absolutely right Emp. Denying my birthplace would defeat the purpose of this whole thing. I felt that my birthplace was my weakness but it was my strength instead. They gave their all to allow me to come here, they are nothing to be ashamed about, they made me who I am. If they are dirt than I should be glad to be covered in it. However far I reach in the future, I will remember this. Noble may snicker in my back in the future and call me lowborn but I don't mind. They would be the ones worthy of mockery to disregard the heart and benevolence that inhabit my village. Those they will call dirt will be thousands of times more worthy of respect than them. How do you call those that are bellow even dirt? They would not be worthy of my anger. I am the pride of my village and they are my pride. Thank you Emp for making me understand that."

Emp shook his hand because he insisted but he had no idea how he came up with all that. He just wanted to understand why mentioning his birthplace could be seen as an insult. Cyril seemed very happy but in the end, Emp's question fell into nothingness. He was glad to have helped but it had been entirely accidental, his question had not been answered and the dirt remained a mystery. He felt depressed and happy at the same time, what a strange feeling.

After that, he continued to attempt to solidify the dirt under the pot. He gave all his efforts to stay focused but always ended up doing something wrong.

"Are you sure that trick will help you beat me?" Asked him Brenia, a few days later, unimpressed.

She wasn't trying to mock him, she just felt that after all his talk about magic being useful, seeing him trying to harden a pile of dirt was a bit disappointing.

Emp too was pretty convinced that hardening dirt wouldn't help in fights any time soon. If he knew a better spell, and was able to cast it of course, it might have played a role in their approaching spar but he knew the current one was pointless for this.

"No but I need to learn it anyway."

He would have talked about the upcoming fights with her some more but doing so in the middle of the magic class wasn't the time. More so since he needed to keep his mind solely focused on the dirt.

Seing that he wasn't up to talk, Brenia went back to idle at her desk and Emp resumed his attempts.

After days of practice, he was getting pretty frustrated, he was always making a mistakes.

He saw the dirt hold itself together, smiled, and the whole thing crumbled.

His nose itched, he failed to hold the spell.

He thought about what Harriett would make for dinner, he failed to hold the spell.

Someone spoke in the classroom, the dirt crumbled.

He couldn't help but think about things happening around him. He didn't know how to fix this problem. Was it really just about trying and trying until it worked?

He did manage to keep it together once for a bit longer but that one time, Mable said "Look, Emp did it." And it all fell back down.

Since he couldn't do it for now, this whole thing would have to wait for after the spars. Winfred had spoken, they were now knowledgeable enough to spar relatively safely. The other group would come challenge them in a matter of days.

Emp was much more confident about the spars than he was about the spell.

***

"So, how did you feel about the display of my powers?"

...

"I am glad to hear it, I am widely renowned for this after all."

...

"This is true as well but this school might not be such a bad place after all. You never know what life has in reserve for you. Is something bothering you?"

...

"Is that so? Well, if you change your mind or maybe if you just want to talk with a friend, I will be here."

***

(1) It would be another matter entirely if he was advance enough in magic to build his own spells. Placing the right words in the right places makes up most of the work.

(2) Emp doesn't have many example of disappointed and annoyed faces.