Chapter 4 - The Professor

Hey guys, here is chapter 4. As the title suggests, this chapter focuses heavily on information and the mechanics of how a spell is cast. Not much else to say about it... Oh yeah, your reviews.

Erdrick117 - Mikhail is trying to emulate a Pawn but will slip up at times. Without spoiling too much, due to the mechanics of the Sacrificial Bolt, no he will not be able to use it... for now

drmonicblood - yes that is what happens

Ddragon21 - yes Louise will be able to cast SOME of the Arisen's spells later on

For the spells used in this chapter:

Magick Bolt cannot be classified in FoZ terms due to it being non-elemental by default. When it is enchanted like with the fire affinity, then it is just a Dot-level spell. Same thing with the Focused Bolt.

Have a read, review, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero.

Louise's Room

"Master, it is morning. Please awaken."

"Mmm..."

"Do you not have classes today Master?"

"Nooo... it's the Day of the Void, we have an off today," replied the sleepy pink haired girl.

"Very well. Do you wish to sleep longer or shall we commence work on your spellwork?" asked the white haired man.

That simple question woke Louise up immediately. She quickly got out of bed, put on her uniform, grabbed her wand, and stood in front of Mikhail as if she was a soldier the man was a drill sergeant. Louise looked out the window and noticed that the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Louise stifled a yawn and then began to walk out her room. The Pawn followed and eventually they entered the Alviss Hall. Louise went over to her usual spot and plopped down, contented that nobody tried to ridicule her. The Pawn took up his usual spot behind his Master and a little to the left. A maid laid out some breakfast in front of Louise, bowed and then left.

Louise finished her breakfast set off with her familiar.

"Master, where are we going today?" asked Mikhail.

"We are going to the courtyard so that you can help me cast. Did you already forget?"

"No, Master. Lead the way."

Both Master and Pawn walked around for a while until they reached an empty courtyard. Louise turned around and asked, "So, how are you going to help me?"

Inspecting the empty lot, the Pawn worked out the schedule of teaching his little Master. "Hmmm, I think that this area should be adequate for the theoretical aspect of your learning, but we should find a better place when you practice as to not disturb anyone Master."

"Why do I need to learn about magic? I already know all about it, I just can't do it!" Louise was frustrated. She was the best in her class at magical theories. Surely there was no point in trying to learn what she already knew.

"Master, please understand. I do not mean to insult you but you do not have the necessary knowledge of the magical arts. This is evidenced by the class that I sat in yesterday. The professor speaks as if magic is limited to only the elements when in fact the is much more. Magic is limitless. By learning more about magic, you will be better at the manipulation of it." At this, Mikhail activated his Rift Crystal and pulled out a table; complete with a quill, inkwell, and a blank book. He set the table in the center of the courtyard and gestures to Louise, "Please take a seat Master."

Louise looked at the man, shocked at him nonchalantly pulling a table out of no where as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "H-how did you do that? I've never seen somebody do that before, even with magic. You just pulled it out of no where!"

"Ah yes, I never told you about this," Mikhail said while holding out a purple orb about the size of a door knob, "This is a Rift Crystal. It is connected to my treasury in the Rift that holds all of my belongings. By using this, it allows me to retrieve any of my items at any time I wish."

"And you have a table? In your treasury?"

The man looked back at Louise and nodded, "I've been meaning to get rid of it but due to reasons, I never got around to it."

Sighing at the absurdity of having a simple wooden table in a treasury, Louise walked over to the table and sat down on the ground after Mikhail laid down a cloth. She picked up the quill, dipped it into the inkwell and prepared to write at the already opened book. Before Mikhail could start the lesson, a busty red haired girl and a short blue haired girl walked by. They noticed Louise sitting in the courtyard and wondered over, intent on finding out what she is doing. The blue haired girl was reading a book while following the red haired girl, seeming to have been dragged along instead of following.

"Hey Louise, what are you doing out here?" asked the busty girl.

"What do you want Zerbst? And good morning Tabitha." Louise felt like she had to at least acknowledge the bookworm. Tabitha briefly tore her eyes away from her book to nod at Louise.

Mikhail chose that time to pull out an ancient looking book, ignoring the bickering that resulted from Louise and Kirche, and crack it open. Tabitha's eyes darted towards the book that Mikhail held in his hands, wondering how the book seemed to have simply appeared in his hands. Because of her short stature, she had a clear view of the cover, but sadly, the blue haired girl could not read it. An unknown language. The characters looked vaguely familiar but were too different for her to comprehend. The book was then promptly snapped shut and then disappeared. Her eyes traveled up and found that the man was also looking at her, studying and analyzing her. She locked eyes with the man and a staring contest ensued.

"Mikhail! Ignore them and let's begin already!" Louise had decided to call her familiar by name after all of yesterday's events.

"Master, I would like for this one," the white haired man gestured to Tabitha, "to sit in on our lesson. She seems to be the intellectual type and may provide some insightful advice on helping you."

"If Tabitha joins you, then I will too." Kirche walked over to the table and sat to the right of Louise and in close proximity to Louise to annoy her. Tabitha looked up at the man. She then also walked over to the table and sat down to the right of Kirche, her crooked staff to her right. Mikhail produced two more sets of writing material and set them before each of them.

"Feel free to take notes if you wish," he said to the two girls. "Now then, from what I heard yesterday, the magic in this land is divided into five elements and by using a combination of those five, one can produce more spectacular effects. Is that correct Master?"

Louise nodded and said, "That's a very simplified version but yes, that is correct."

"Alright. Now who created this system of magic?"

Kirche's hand shot up and she waved it around like a child desperately wanting to be called on in class. Mikhail, feeling like an actual teacher, pointed at the girl.

"The Founder Brimir created it about 6000 years ago. He is also the first and only user of the lost element Void," explained Kirche.

"6000 years? That's quite a long time. And nothing changed from then until now, is that correct?"

Tabitha, who is still reading her book, nodded. With a deep exhale, Mikhail's mental schedule for teaching Louise just got longer.

"Ok then, I guess we'll just skip the introduction and move right to the casting theory if we want to get in any practical trials. Miss... Sorry, I never caught your name," Mikhail asked the blue haired girl.

"Oh yeah, this is my friend Tabitha," explained Kirche. Tabitha nodded at that while continuing to read. Mikhail also nodded at that and continued where he left off.

"Miss Tabitha, if you could please cast a simple spell," the Pawn then pulled out a rusted shield and stuck it into the ground ten yards from the table, "at this. I would like to observe the moment a spell is released from the foci."

Tabitha closed her book and stood up. She positioned herself in front of the shield and then casted a small icicle, shooting it from the tip of her wand into the shield. Upon impact, the shield flipped and bounced off the ground, flying five yards away. Mikhail watched intently from start to finish. When the blue haired girl was done, she went back to her seat and pulled out her book and resumed reading.

"Hmm, the casting is similar but there seems to be something that makes it more dangerous to the caster. Please explain how you would normally cast to me Master."

Louise, who had remained silent until now explained, "We gather our willpower into the foci and then release it in the form that we desire. Usually, the magic takes the form of our elemental affinity because it is dramatically easier to cast that than another element. Tabitha combined water and wind magic to produce ice."

"Willpower? And how long does it take for one to recover if the deplete their willpower?"

"If one totally depletes their willpower reserves, it will take from a week to several months to recover their willpower, depending on the mage. Sometimes, total depletion of willpower can cause death," said Louise.

"Ah, now I get it. This 'willpower' that you use is actually something similar to your life force. That is why death can be a result and why it takes so long to recover. Actually, this might also be why the mages here have a difficult time casting different elements. Each person's life force is different after all."

Mikhail frowned. He always knew that the arcane arts was dangerous if not used correctly, but whoever this Brimir was, he had made an extremely dangerous system of magic mainstream. "Please refrain from using this type of casting from now on Master. It is too dangerous. Instead, I will teach you a much safer way to cast."

The girls, including Tabitha, was surprised to have learned that. To have been using one's own life force to fuel spells did sound like a bad idea. Mikhail walked towards the shield placed back where it used to be, a little deeper into the ground this time so it won't be sent flying again. He then walked back towards the girls before he summoned his archistaff. "I will now be showing you a very simple spell Master. Because of its simplicity, it does not have an incantation."

The Sorcerer pointed his archistaff towards the shield and fired a small orb of pure magick. "This spell is called the Magick Bolt. Unless enchanted, this spell does not have an element attached to it. In other words, it is a non-elemental spell. To cast it, one simply has to charge their foci with magic and then release it. To cast any spell, gather the ambient magic in the air, also known as the eiss, into the tip of the foci using one's inner magic, commonly referred to as mana, while saying an incantation. By focusing one's mana into the tip of a foci, it attracts the eiss, allowing for the foci to absorb it. The mana and eiss then mix and produce a spell accordingly to the caster's incantation. This means that the caster is only using a small portion of their own mana and relying more on the eiss. The more mana used, the faster a spell is casted. However, this also means that one's reserves are used up at a faster rate. If the caster is in an eiss-deprived area, they can use purely mana to power their spells." Mikhail had somehow gotten hold of a chalkboard and started drawing pictures to further explain the lesson.

"Mana is very dangerous when it exits the body," he continued. "If a person overloads their foci with mana, a backlash occurs. The mana rushes back into the caster's body, causing tremendous amounts of pain. Hmm, imagine the pain when you gulp down just a bit too much water at once. Now multiply that pain by a thousand and you will know how it feels like. If one is not careful, eiss might also be forced into the body as well. Like air, it sustains life when in moderation but poisons when in excess.

Unlike willpower, mana is linked to one's physical stamina. That link actually makes it really easy to increase one's mana reserves; all that one has to do is to physically train. The amount of mana a person has is directly proportional to their physical fitness. A healthier person will have a larger reserve.

Because mana is not linked to one's life like willpower is, upon depletion the user is only left physically exhausted and will recover within a few minutes to an hour given rest. Eiss is absorbed into the body by breathing and is then gradually converted into mana while inside your body. I hypothesize that due to the denser amounts of eiss here, a caster will be able to recover even faster than what I am use to. If one does not let their mana reserves recover, then they will be unable to cast any spells unless they use their willpower. Now then, please give the Magick Bolt a try Master."

Louise, who had been jotting down some notes hastily stood up to give it a try. When she got into position, she pointed her wand at the shield. Then she realized something.

"Umm, how do I actually use this 'mana'? You never explained how," asked the pink haired girl.

If Mikhail was not trying to act like a proper Pawn, he would have hit himself on the forehead. 'Of course, how could I forget that,' he thought.

"To tap into your mana reserves for the first time, you must get a feel for it inside your body. The best way to feel it is to get physically exhausted. Let's move this lesson to a different area. Please keep up with me." Mikhail then grabbed the table, shield, and chalkboard and returned them to his treasury. The girls picked up their materials and followed the Pawn-turned-professor.

.

.

The group had jogged out of the courtyard and moved closer to the forest that surrounded the academy. By the time that they stopped, both Louise and Kirche were out of breath. Tabitha did not even break a sweat; she had also continued to read all the time they were jogging. Mikhail only took out the rusted shield this time and forcefully embedded it into a tree.

"Now that you are properly exhausted, try to feel the eiss entering your body. The eiss will have a slight healing effect on your body as it is converted into mana. There should be a slight prickly feeling throughout your body. That is the mana. It will feel more dense closer to the center of your body. That is where your mana is pooling up. Do you feel it Master?"

With deep breaths, Louise closed her eyes and focused on feeling her mana. When she did, she was surprised to find that her entire torso and some of her appendages felt dense with mana. Finally having a feel for it, Louise nodded.

"Whoa! This feels so weird," exclaimed Kirche. She had also paid attention to Mikhail's lecture and decided to give it a try. Tabitha, who also gave it a try, nodded in agreement.

The blue haired girl, despite constantly looking at her book, had paid extra close attention to the lecture of the Pawn. At first it was only to determine the true character of this strange mage, but she soon found herself taking mental notes on the foreign magical theories. By the ways that the white haired mage had described it, his method of casting was actually quite similar to the widely used method of casting. This means that anything currently done by the usual method could also be done with this new method and with less costs. Quite intriguing.

Mikhail responded, "Yes, it will feel weird or even uncomfortable at first but it will eventually feel normal. To cast, imagine that your mana is water inside of a container, your body. Slowly guide it towards your foci and let it pool there. Remember to not let too much gather there though. Keep imagining that your mana is water. You will start to notice something mixing in with it. That is the eiss being absorbed by your foci. When the spell is ready to be cast, you will feel the 'water' start to 'boil'. Release it then and you will cast a spell. The type of spell that is casted and the casting time is dependent on the incantation. Stronger spells require a longer incantation and a longer casting time. If you can control it, you can also keep the spell primed in your foci instead of casting it right away. Now then, Miss Kirche, if you would, please cast a spell at the shield using the mana casting method."

Kirche reached into her bosom and pulled out her wand. She then chanted a simple fire spell and sent a fireball flying towards the shield. Kirche was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to cast using this mana method. "Well, looks like I will be using this method more often."

Louise, feeling encouraged at the remarks of Kirche at how easy it was, positioned herself in front of the rusted, now burnt shield. She pointed her wand at the shield and followed all the necessary steps to cast a simple fire spell using the new method.

The shield exploded.

Louise felt extremely disappointed. Then in a surge of rage, she turned towards the white haired Pawn and screamed, "I thought you said that I could cast using this method! Look! It just exploded like usual! I could already do this without your special 'mana' and 'eiss'!"

Instead of being put off by his Master's sudden rage, Mikhail simply formulated a new hypothesis. "Hmm, you tried to cast a fire spell, correct? Try to cast a Magick Bolt instead."

Louise, still feeling like she was lied to, decided to try one of her familiar's spells instead. She felt her mana reserves in her body and guided it just like how her familiar had explained it. She quickly felt the spell become ready and then released it.

Another explosion.

"Oh come on! I did it just like how you taught it and yet another explosion. Your stupid mana method is not working!" exclaimed the Zero. She was beyond frustrated at this point. She just wanted to quit for today and head to bed early, wishing for the day to be over. It wasn't even noon yet!

Despite all of this, Mikhail added the new information gained from observing his Master cast to his experiment. Finally, the Sorcerer acted. He walked up to Louise and took her wand out of her hand. He inspected it, noting the plainness of it before handing it back. He then placed his palm onto her forehead.

"What are you doing stupid familiar?! Are you even listening?!"

"I am trying to help you cast Master. Please cast one more time for me and I will be able to discover the reason as to why you can't cast. With that knowledge, I will then be able to remedy this problem," explained Mikhail. Mikhail then released a minuscule amount of his own mana into Louise, so little that even an expert at the magical arts wouldn't be able to detect the foreign magic entering their body. Louise heaved a great sigh and gave it one more go, already expecting another explosion. And another explosion resulted.

"Great news Master! I have uncovered the reason to your inability at casting magic!" reported the man.

"Really? You're not lying to me now are you?" inquired the pink haired girl.

"Hah! You really think that the Zero could cast magic properly? She has tried to do it for the past six years to no avail and now you're saying you can fix that? I'll believe it when I see it," snorted Kirche.

Tabitha, ever the quiet one simply narrowed her eyes at the white haired mage's remark. To others, this might have seemed like a sign of aggression or annoyance, but to the red headed girl, this meant that Tabitha was truly curious as to whether or not it could be true.

Mikhail took out his Rift Crystal, activated it, and then a long thin staff appeared. The staff was as long as Mikhail was tall and made of an exquisite type of wood. At the top, the staff was visibly layered with two protrusions curving downwards for a short distance. It looked like a slim anchor.

"This magick staff is called the Anchor to Heaven. It is great for focusing magickal power. After a series of tests, I have discovered that you have an unprecedented large amount of raw mana for one your age. Your reserves are so huge that they are most likely one of if not the largest in this entire country. Usually, mana reserves are proportional to physical stamina, but you are an anomaly. Because of your huge reserves, you are unable to contain your mana. At the very last second, right before you release the spell, extra mana rushes through your foci and causes the spell to destabilize. This causes a magickal overload and an explosion ensues. I will need to do more research into this in order to find out why you have such huge mana reserves. Anyways, with this magick staff, you will be able cast any spell that you are currently capable of."

Mikhail walked over to Louise and handed her the staff. Louise, unused to the long staff held it awkwardly and tried to cast a Magick Bolt. Her mana was gathered at the tip of the staff and then released. Mana surged through the staff, the special wood easily conducting the mana from Louise's hand towards the tip, intending on being released as well but was held back by the enchantments of the Anchor to Heaven. A small orb of pure magick was released from the tip of the staff and flew towards the shield; however, it missed by a wide margin.

Louise didn't care that she missed. She had just casted her very first successful spell! She repeated the steps and chanted a simple fire spell. From the tip of the staff emerged a small ball of fire, flying towards the shield, again missing by a wide margin. Louise giggled. Louise laughed. Louise cackled! Magic! Louise, the Zero, did magic!

Meanwhile, Kirche was stunned. Louise had actually successfully casted a spell. She then let a smile break out across her face. 'Looks like she is no longer the Zero. Heh no more teasing about that I guess.'

Tabitha was surprised. This white haired mage, in just two days, had accomplished what professors and tutors had failed to do for years. Help Louise cast a spell. Well, Tabitha wasn't too surprised. The man had sensed her spying on him during the first night and had displayed an overwhelming amount of power when he dueled Guiche. It was clear to any adequate mage that the man had held back severely when he fought against the playboy.

While rejoicing in the fact that she could cast now, Louise tripped and fell over. "Oww..."

"Perhaps the Anchor to Heaven is a tad too big for you Master," Mikhail said as he tried to take away the staff. Louise, however, held onto the staff for dear life. She would not let her only way to cast properly slip away now if she could help it. With some effort, Mikhail managed to pry the staff away from Louise and she put on a depressed face. "Master, if you could take me to one who makes wands, I could provide them with the wood of the Gransys Oak, the same that is used for the Anchor to Heaven, and instruct them on the how to engrave the enchantments. This way, you could have a wand with the same capabilities as this staff."

Louise's face brightened once more and grabbed Mikhail by the wrist, pulling him towards the stables.

"Let's go! Let's go to the best wand maker in all of Tristain!" Louise said, practically radiating joy. When they reached the stables, Louise finally let go of Mikhail's wrist.

'For such a petite girl, she sure has a strong grip,' he thought as he massaged his wrist. Louise, followed by two horses approached Mikhail.

"Come on, I'll lead the way to Tristania, the capitol of Tristain!"

And so the two of them departed, with Mikhail having difficulty riding the horse, or "four-legged demon" according to Mikhail. Kirche and Tabitha secretly tagged along.