Sora hated getting up in front of people, even ones he knew. The certain knowledge that all attention was on him, that he was the one they were waiting on, hoping on, always unnerved him. The fact that 'they' were his fellow student, sat waiting with pens poised to take notes, only made it worse. His only consolation would be that if his work was good, so too would theirs.
"The theory of magic is simple," he began, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt "Energy in all its forms exists, neither created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. Magic itself is a form of energy, and so the act of doing magic is simply the act of changing the raw energy of magic into the alternative forms of energy required to achieve the desired effect.
"Some realms of magic pursue more obscure forms of energy, or even appear to have no energy used at all, such as the realm of Mind magic, or Creation which makes use of the knowledge that all things are simply matter, which is itself energy marshalled into a physical form. Regardless of the types of energy involved and how obvious their apparent relation and need may be, they are present all the same.
"But while the act of casting a spell is a simple conversion, the spell itself is not so simple. In order to achieve anything it is vital that the caster fully understand what it is they are trying to achieve, as without understanding you cannot know what forms of energy are required, and what balance must be made between them in order to make them work."
Sora glanced down at his essay and notes, concealing a look at Professor Nolan, who as usual sat in his broad armchair, fingers steepled, his bespectacled expression a mystery. There was no way of telling what he thought so far, though probably he had heard this from so many different students in so many different ways that few performances stood out for him.
"Once we understand the nature of the magic we intend to perform, we turn to the runes of the Arcane language, a collection of runes that while never complete, are extensive enough to achieve almost any desired effect between them, constantly being added to as new ones are created. The living language grows as we extend the boundaries of magic ever further, as new ones are created and older ones fall into disuse.
"Thus with these in hand and the understanding of what we intend to do, it remains only a matter of determining the correct runes and their ordering, then using the most basic magic of them all to draw them, weaving them in the otherwise empty air, or for some spells, even other mediums, where upon completion will simply await in the palm of the caster's hand, a bundle of energies waiting to be unleashed by word or gesture."
"And what happens, Sora, if one were to miscalculate the balance of energy, or to draw a rune inaccurately?" Nolan prompted.
After a moment's thought he answered, "On most spells, it'll either fail or turn unpredictable depending on the complexity of the spell and what the intended effects were, but it depends also on if the fail-safe rune is present which automatically nullifies the spell as it's cast to prevent a miscasting, including any harm to the caster or those present – but with the safety of the rune, it's harder to tell where the mistake was that triggered the rune, so not all magic users cast with it."
"An accurate summation," Nolan noted. "But I have one query for you. How is it that even after being recognised as a leading student in Wind magic and understanding how the magic works, you still find yourself incapable of the transportation spell so widely used? Surely you understand the theory as well as any other and know the runes necessary."
Again Sora paused before he answered. It was the reason why he'd never mastered the spell, and inevitably if he explained there would be someone who would insist on answers – one in particular.
"There's a flaw in the spell," he said at last. "The magic only works if you don't know of it. You can know of its existence, but up until the point you discover it, it'll work just fine."
"The spell is several centuries old and has been studied and improved many times. How is it that only you have discovered this?"
"I don't think I am, Professor. Many Mages and even Archmages apparently choose not to use the spell for a variety of reasons. I think some of them know of the flaw, and that's the real reason why. But they don't want to advertise it for the same reason I don't – people always ask about it, and that just makes them unable to use it."
"If that is so, why is there no solution presented?"
"Because there isn't one," he replied with a shrug. "To cast a spell we require knowledge. We're all told to study the spells extensively so we can better understand them, but when it come to that one most people just learn to do it and don't look back. Once an Apprentice learns it, the spell is never touched on ever again. I think it's known about, and the reason it's not mentioned more than once is because of the flaw. Anyone who learns too much finds it, and then..." he trailed off, shrugging again. Sora waited at the lecturn; Nolan never let anyone step down until he was satisfied they were done.
"You seem thoughtful," Nolan noted after a time. "Perhaps you would share those thoughts?"
Sora thought of the possible reaction to revealing all his thoughts, and the consequences of telling them of the Dark Child, but easily thought better of it.
"We're told never to mix Shadow magic with other forms of magic," Sora said after a time. "Usually because it's too dangerous to add it to the other elements. Mixing the other elements into a Shadow spell is safe, but that's just the other way – it's only putting Shadow into others we're warned against."
"Maybe because Shadow is just Dark magic under a more acceptable name?" one of his fellow students suggested.
"Don't knock it just because of its name," Sora rebuked them. "It might be Dark magic, but it's not evil itself. It's what you do with it that defines that, I can tell that much even only part way through my Apprentice level study in it."
"Putting that aside however," Nolan said over several quick responses. "Just what are you getting at Sora?"
"I think if a bit of Shadow magic was introduced to the transport spell, it wouldn't remove the flaw, but it would make it irrelevant. Shadow by itself has a means of using the shadows to travel short distances-"
"That's a Mage level spell though," someone interrupted.
"I know that, I don't know the spell myself, I just know of it," Sora retorted. "That spell is limited because it uses the shadows, but I think if you combined it with the standard transport spell that limit wouldn't be there any more. You'd be able to go anywhere with it."
"An interesting conjecture," Nolan said. "But alas forbidden. You will all forget mention of this dangerous notion and put it from your mind. The spell is not flawed, and there is no need to introduce such risk. You may return to your place, Sora."
"The spell is flawed," Sora shrugged again. "You can't make it go away just by telling people to forget about it. I already finished working out the sequence of runes for the Shadow enhanced spell too. Haven't tested them yet though," he added as an afterthought.
"You should destroy all notes on those runes."
Sora didn't answer back. It was foolishly rebellious, but he had no intentions of doing anything of the sort. The only reason he hadn't tested it yet was because everyone knew he couldn't transport himself, and if he suddenly became capable again it would be investigated. It was one of the keys that had prompted him to look into the spell in more detail.
He managed to keep enough of his attention on the students who still had to give their own presentations, jotting down the various key points as notes for later, but he noticed he was not the only one distracted. Nolan normally kept his eyes on whoever was at the lecturn, giving them his full attention, but now he was keeping a watchful eye on him too.
Maybe it hadn't been the right thing to do, revealing the flaw and the fix he'd devised. It would only draw attention to him, and right now that was the last thing he wanted. He'd been an ordinary student before the Dark Child, if gifted in some disciplines, that was what he wanted to keep up the appearance of.
He knew it couldn't last, not after the past day. The Nighthunters rumoured to have a lead on last night's murder, and no doubt by now someone would have discovered the bolt spell he'd managed to get into the bullies before their murders. He'd survived its last twelve kills without getting caught, though there had been some close calls, and each one had seemed closer than the last. Sooner or later he was going to slip up and there'd be no way back from it.
What then, he asked himself. Turn himself in and resign himself to being locked up?
"There's another way you know," a voice said, just beside him. Sora flinched back, recognising the voice, then quickly covered the movement, glancing up to Nolan – still watching the current nerve-wracked student give his presentation on the details of magically created defences and wards.
"I'm not listening to you," Sora breathed, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the paper before him and the notes he was taking.
"You can't shut me out," the Dark Child said, coming around Sora's desk to stand in front of it. "I'm in you. I know you. You've interested me since I first saw you. I felt your magic – the so-called Shadow magic you've used. It's left a mark on you."
"Shadow magic always does," Sora replied, keeping his voice as low as he could.
"You're curious. You want to know more – but look where that led you," he said, moving aside to point to the unknowing Nolan, who was back to watching Sora again. "You said what no other would dare to. Using Dark magic in other spells. He'll tell the University's authorities, you know."
"They can't take the knowledge away from me. I know the runes. I can cast the spell any time."
"Unless they know about it. Peramba's antimagic would stop you – unless I intervened. Knowledge is power, Sora. Your curiosity leads you down the darker paths others fear to travel and brings you the rewards due to those who guard that knowledge wisely."
"It doesn't help me. I try to learn about you, and nothing helps me there."
"Why be rid of me? Look at how I've helped you. I could have killed you, or left you to be hurt or killed, but instead I killed them. There's always another way Sora."
"Why tell me now? Why suddenly start talking to me again?"
"Because you're trying to figure out what to do once they catch on," he shrugged, smiling his cruel smile again. "You know if they cage you up I'll just get you out. And if they try to kill you to destroy me, they'll only have made their problem worse. You can't destroy me that easily."
Sora said nothing, waiting for Nolan's penetrating glare to pass by. Nolan had probably seen him talking apparently to himself and was no doubt curious by now. He didn't want to give him any more reason to wonder, or he'd try to make him stay behind after the lesson was over. Once his gaze was safely elsewhere, Sora finally spoke to the patiently waiting Dark Child again.
"Alright, so what's this other way?" he asked. "I'm not asking because I'm going to do it, you realize. I'm just-"
"Curious," he laughed. "I know. I know you Sora. And knowledge is power. You know how to insert Dark magic into any spell."
"One spell," Sora corrected.
"Don't insult my intelligence," the Dark Child told him in a tone that sent chills down his spine. "You know as well as I do that if you figure it out for one spell, you have it for the rest. Use that, Sora. The Nighthunters spend too much time fighting nonhumans to be any good at countering their own magic. When they come for you, use your magic. Use the Dark magic."
"And run away?"
"Oh, maybe," he said, his tones now more honeyed. "But just think. You're already one step ahead. They have to figure out what you're doing. How to stop you. But you already know. You could go anywhere. Do anything. All the things you can't do now, there waiting for you. They'd never know where you'd go next, what you'd do next. What magic you'll bring the darkness to next."
"And maybe-" Sora started, but stopped as the door was banged open and a number of people came through – all in uniforms.
"Police!" one of them yelled. "Nobody move!"
