Hey FanFiction! Why the hell can't I use the "angle brackets"? Whenever I try to implement an arrow, the bracket part disappears with the next save! What the hell?!


15th Day of the Horsebow Moon,
Black Eagles classroom

"I guess we'll start with the fundamentals."

["Prelude" - Fire Emblem Awakening]

"Can I assume we all know that magic, in its most basic form, originates in the coalescence of a wielder's energy and realization?" Robin asked as he moved to the blackboard.

"Certainly," said Linhardt, "at least, that's how we were taught." Robin picked up a piece of chalk quickly scrawled:

Energy + Realization = Magic Power

"But, of course, raw magic is not true magic. Pure magic can not be wielded, so far as we know. So we have to resort to only parts of pure magic. This is where types of magic come in; wind, fire, thunder and so on. In order to utilize these magic types, the wielder needs both a specific realization of what he or she is conjuring, and an invokation, usually in the form of verbal spell or chant."

Magic Type = Specific Realization + Invokation

"Are we on the same page?"

"So far," said Edelgard.

"Indeed," added Dorothea, "you just repeated what we all learn on the first day of magic class." Except for tomes, apparently.

"So I can also assume that some of you have gone through some revelations as well?" said Robin, bracing himself for a chorus of:

"Some what?"

"Oh? None of you have?"

"Okay," Linhardt spoke up, "now we have no idea what you're talking about."

"Revelations," Robin began to explain, conjuring a tongue of fire in one of his palms, "by bearing witness to an element of magic, one attains the insight and understanding of said element." He extinguished the flame in his palm. "If one wants to cast fire, then one needs to experience and witness and thoroughly examine fire; both the magic and the element."

"But there's only so much magic one can preform," Ferdinand pointed out.

"That's right," Linhardt added, "after all: magic realization is highly dependent on personal cognition." Personal cognition? "Hence why some people can cast some spells, but are unable to cast others."

"Really?" said Robin, rubbing his chin, "how do you find out which spells you can cast then? Just shout out a bunch of random spells until one works?" One or two of the students chuckled again.

"Not quite like that," said Linhardt, "there's a sort of process to it."

"Could you explain- no, wait, better yet- would you outline the process up here?"

"What? Oh, of course." Linhardt made his way to the blackboard, accepting the offered piece of chalk, and began to chart-out the "process" while providing narration. "We first learn to manifest magic power. I guess you can compare it to meditation of sorts. Once we manifest magic, we then move on to learning the individual spells that we can preform. This is figured out based on what occurred during our manifestation exercises, and also with the help of personality tests, since spell use is heavily limited by personal cognition. Some also use the Four Humors, but I personally thought that was a misuse of a pointless test. After we find our spells, we then regularly practice in order to increase our magic endurance."

Manifest Magic {arrow right} Personal Spells {arrow right} Magic Endurance

That made enough sense, to Robin at least. So they were taught how to conjure and manipulate magic power, but they just skipped over the most useful aspect of-

"So how did you learn?" Linhardt asked, holding out the chalk.

"Well," Robin took back the chalk, "by the Ylissean method; upon learning how to conjure magic, what you call: manifesting, a young mage is then shown the basic spells. Student mages bear witness to Fire, Wind, Thunder and Heal, and even experience the effects (the heat of Fire, the weaving sensation of being Healed, etcetera). Via these exercises, mages attain a thorough understanding of the spells. This is what I meant by: Revelation. Once a mage gains revelation of a spell, then they can replicate said spell with little difficulty. Upon mastering these spells, mages then begin inscribing their own tomes."

Manifest Magic {arrow right} Witness Spell(s) {arrow right} Spell Revelation(s) {arrow right} Spell Mastery

"So... by studying individual spells, like how one would examine relics and crests, you can gain enough understanding to preform any spell?"

"Correct."

"That can't be right," Caspar said incredulously. "I know how wind and thunder work, but nothing happens when I try to cast them."

"Have you ever stayed awake to study a thunderstorm?" Robin asked. Caspar looked more puzzled than before.

"No... but, that's not the same thing as a thunder spell, is it?"

"You'd be surprised. And, while on the subject of thunder, one can never fully comprehend it without feeling the crack of thunder rattle your bones."

"Would..." Hubert raised a finger, "it be wrong to assume that students in your land purposefully hit each other with spells in order to... gain revelation?" Robin had to shrug.

"I don't recommend it. Pain tends to overwhelm the senses."

"By Macuil," Dorothea said, hand over her mouth, "your land has rather reckless mages." Robin couldn't tell if she was humored or appalled. Ferdinand, meanwhile, gave a little shudder.

"I don't know whether your people take magic seriously or are just thick-skinned."

"The people of the Halidom," Robin pondered, "no. But the khans of Ferox are definitely thick-skinned."

"Hold on Professor," Linhardt asserted, tapping Robin's shoulder, "back up. You said, after mastering a spell, a mage begins inscribing tomes, right?"

"Correct."

"So... you made these?" pointing at the stacks of tomes on the teacher's desk.

"Not these in particular, but yes, I have made my own." Linhardt now stood beside the desk, looking over the tomes with a hand on his chin.

"May I?"

"Of course, go ahead." Since none of you know how to use them yet. "The rest of you as well, come up here." The students eagerly complied as he began to spread out the tomes. "Most of these tomes were made in Ylisstol, two of them I purchased from elsewhere. Feel free to examine any of the-" he quickly slapped a hand down on a red-toned tome that Ferdinand was reaching for "-except for that one."

"Why not this one?"

"This one," said Robin, hefting the tome in question, "is a tome of Dying Blaze. It's also known as 'Martyr's Fire;' the effect of which, while effective, is nasty, brutish and short."

"By 'martyr' you mean...?"

"It will kill you if you use it; I never have."

"Obviously."

"So..." Edelgard ventured while scrutinizing a tome of Mjolnir, "you're saying that you can cast many different types of spells?" Robin glanced at her.

"Yes."

"Without help from these tomes?"

"Yes." Why did he sense a challenge?

"Then why use these tomes at all?" He heard a slight sense of superiority in tone, and there was some sort of glint in her eye; not threatening, but still. Robin held up his right hand and closed his eyes. Several moments later, arcs of lightning began to spark between his fingers. Seconds later, more sparks gathered together in his palm, glowing in a bright golden light. He flexed his fingers and the sparks vanished.

"Some spells do take longer than others. Time is precious in war, and the more time you spend focusing your magic is just wasted time. Why risk several seconds to summon lightning to save your friends from the enemy when you can just- well- throw the book at them?"

"That's actually a good point," said Hubert, flipping through the pages of a dark purple tome. "Which spell is this one?"

"Nosferatu."

"Oh."

"From weakest to strongest, by standard reckoning," Robin pointed to each tome in turn, "Elwind, Elfire, Elthunder, Arcfire, Ruin, two Bolganones, Thoron, Thoron and Thoron, Rexcalibur, and Mjolnir."

"And how strong is that Dying Blaze?"

"That one depends on the caster, not that it matters all that much since the caster dies regardless." Bernadetta mumbled something. "Yes Bernadetta?"

"Uh- n-no-nothing!"

"You don't have any healing tomes," Ferdinand pointed out.

"No, I don't," Robin admitted. "Healing magic is my weak point. The most I can manage is skin-level healing, and slow healing at that. In Archanea, most healers use specially made staves to better channel healing magic."

Edelgard turned the "Tome of Mjolnir" over in her hands. The intricate patterns on the cover actually tickling the skin of her fingers. As silly as the concept of storing magic within parchment is, she could swear she could feel power pulsing against her fingers. Mjolnir. She didn't know what the word meant, but since the book was yellow like the Thoron tomes, it was probably a lightning spell. She always wanted to use lightning, but was stuck using Fire-type Reason spells for the most part. She breathed in, imagining herself actually summoning a thunderbolt at Ludwig von Aegir's bald head from her seat on the imperial throne. She felt her crest, the other one, throb. A tingling sensation emerged beneath her left palm. Moving her hand to look at it, she saw, much to her shock, the tell-tell tiny branches of white light that proceeded a lightning spell. She winced, quickly dropping the tome on the teacher's desk as white hot sparks arced up, startling a few of the others.

"Ah... sorry..." she said, feeling the blood rush to her face. Professor Robin rolled his eyes.

"Do be careful at all times when dealing with matters of magic. Anyways," Robin continued, looking over the other students, "let's practice a bit before moving on."


Edelgard stretched her arms out upon leaving the classroom that afternoon. After lunch, Professor Robin had them all sit or stand in place while attempting to enact the basic spells; Fire, Wind, Thunder. Their new professor even tossed around the word: anima a few times. Either he knew a lot more than he was letting on, or he merely perceived the information in question as common sense (which was certainly a possibility).

"I have only been to three continents in my entire life. Tomes are common in both Archanea and Valm. This land, Fodlan, is the first place I've been to where that isn't the case, apparently."

So he had a hard time believing the circumstances himself. But wouldn't he have learned of this after setting foot on Fodlan's shores? Gah! Nevermind that! More importantly, her mind went back to when she had inadvertently invoked that "Moll-nyir" spell, lightning sparking from her palm. How does she use- on purpose- lightning magic?

"Are you suspicious of him, my lady?" Hubert inquired from her side. "You have a furrowed brow."

"No, no, not really."

"You expect me to believe that your mind is NOT occupied at this moment?"

"No, it is, quite so. I'm just thinking more about my magic than the professor. Although..." she sighed aloud, "I can't really think about one without considering the other, can I?"

"If you're wondering of my opinion, I believe this Professor Robin is earnest and intelligent, certainly not one to be concerned about." She looked at him.

"You actually think he's earnest?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"More than most. Mind you, no one is completely earnest."

"So he IS hiding something?"

"Everyone has something to hide my lady."

"Right..."

"As for what he is hiding, I suspect it's of little consequence."

"How can you say that?" she asked incredulously. "Can you not see his hair? He's clearly been through that!"

"Are you sure?"

"Why are you even asking? You of all people should know what happens to those who go through those-!" she shivered.

"My lady, it's as you say. However, he also appears to be older than you, in his early twenties at least. And he is a foreigner. Who's to say white hair is common in, where did he come from- Archanea."

"Perhaps..."

"You still find him suspicious?"

"Well... yes." Hubert chuckled.

"That is your decision, my lady."


Robin gathered the tomes together before leaving.

He had attempted to explain things as simply as possible, but the students were obviously having difficulties with the Archanean method. The basic foundations were the same at least. But how to help them with something so simple?

Well, he's their teacher, he's gonna have to figure out that all-important how.