~~~ Chapter 7: Tools of the Trade ~~~

Shing Jea Monastery, Shing Jea Island, Cantha
1576 (Canthan Calendar), Season of the Colossus

"A mage's weapon is more than merely an instrument of destruction. It is her companion, her protector, the one friend on which she can rely when all others have forsaken her. It is the mark of her authority, of her mastery over the arcane arts." Artificer Hiroyuki paused. "And when all else fails, you can bash someone over the head with it."

There were titters from the assembled students, and the artificer waited for the class to quiet before continuing his lecture. "Each of you in your studies has learned the basics of magic and the tenets of your respective professions. You have sensed magic, shaped it, channeled it, forged it through discipline and strength of will. Today, you will learn to wield the tools of my craft, and through them to amplify the strength and precision of your spells.

"There are three traditional weapons a mage can wield to empower his or her own abilities. The simplest of these, and the one with which you will learn attunement today, is the wand or scepter. To the uninitiated, a simple wand can appear as little more than a branch, a cudgel, or piece of driftwood. To a practitioner of magic, however, it is an invaluable asset. As you will discover, an attuned wand grants its user a marked increase in his or her control over arcane energies. Simply put, a mage bearing a wand, and channeling his or her spells through that implement, can cast spells with a far greater precision, both in the specificity of the result and the complexity of the effect created. In the creation of subtle or precise magics, a wand is a mage's greatest ally.

"For all but the most delicate work, a wand is typically paired with a focus. These are typically held in a mage's off hand, and can be crafted from wood, from bone, from stone, or from virtually any material depending on the desired magical affinities. As a wand grants its user precision, a focus enhances its wielder's raw power. There is, as in all things, a trade-off between these two virtues. A mage with a focus alone can channel more sheer energy, but rarely with sufficient control to be useful. A scepter and focus together will grant a mage a balanced increase in both power and precision, with a matched set minimising the impedance between the two tools."

The artificer gestured toward the racks of waiting scepters at the side of the class hall. "Today, you will practice attuning to these simple wands, and using them to channel the raw energies of your respective disciplines. Until you have mastered their use, you will not be issued foci, in order to minimise the danger to yourselves and to each other. Even for the most astute students among you, that will not be this session, or this week. For today, successfully channeling energy through your practice wand will be an achievement."

A student rose and bowed to the artificer. "Respected instructor, you mentioned three weapons. Would the third weapon be a mage's staff?"

Artificer Hiroyuki nodded. "That is correct. Where a scepter grants precision, and a focus grants power, a mage wielding a staff gains power of a different sort. Magic cast through a properly attuned staff can take effect in a wider area, last for significantly longer, and so on. Comparing a staff and a focus, one could say that the former augments the scale of your magic, and the latter the intensity of your spells."

Another student rose and bowed. "Instructor, if that is true, why do not all mages carry staves?"

The artificer looked about the room for a moment. "That is an excellent question. Do any of you know the answer?"

A student rose, her novice robes emblazoned with the viridian skull of a necromancer. She bowed deeply. "A staff is large and unwieldy. Not everyone has need of its strength."

"Very good. Anyone else?"

A novice monk stood. "In healing, too much of a beneficial force can be just as harmful as the disease or injury." She paused, and the artificer raised an eyebrow. "Er, that is to say. Too much strength isn't always helpful."

"Correct." The young monk sat hastily. "Anyone else?"

The class was silent for a long moment, then a young elementalist stood. "Forgive me, master, but I do not understand. In battle, does not the stronger mage prevail?"

Kasumi nodded to herself, slightly, but the artificer shook his head. "This is not the place for a discussion of tactics; suffice it to say, for now, that strength is but one path to victory. Consider this, however. In a mixed company, the wielders of magic are sheltered by the bearers of steel. I suggest you think carefully on how long an armored warrior will continue to hold back your enemies while your bursts of stone or eruptions of flame are falling around him."

The chastened elementalist sat, wordless, and the artificer smiled. "In one sense, however, you are right. The choice to bear a staff has its advantages, as well as limitations." The artificer extended a hand before him and raised it toward the ceiling. "The staff possesses the virtue of strength." He turned his arm downward and to the left. "The scepter grants the virtue of precision." His arm stayed low and shifted to the right. "The focus bestows upon its wielder the virtue of power."

The artificer finished the circle, then returned his arm to his side. "Each spellcaster possesses a differing balance of these three virtues. Some will choose a weapon that augments their strengths. Others will choose a weapon to balance out their limitations. And, of course, different situations will call for different responses. If any of these weapons was always superior to the others, there would be no need to make this choice at all."

"Today, of course, there is no choice to be made. We will begin with wands, both because they are the simplest to master and because they are the least dangerous during the learning process. All stand." There was a loud rustling as the class got to its collective feet. "In class order, take a scepter from the weapons rack and proceed to the practice field. There is no need to deliberate over which to select; all are simple carved wood, with no affinities for profession or discipline."

Kasumi dutifully walked to her place near the front of the line and looked skeptically at the rows of wooden scepters. She supposed she understood the logic of starting with the simpler weapons, especially for the more average students, but she felt a tinge of frustration at wasting time on lesser tools instead of starting directly with a proper staff. At least she would not have long to wait; only three students stood ahead of her in the class order: an exceptionally gifted novice monk, a bookish necromancer, and of course the class lead, a mesmer autodidact that put her (her!) to shame.

In the corner of her eye she could see Mai take her own place just ahead of the line's midpoint, and frowned. She wasn't sure her tutoring was doing the other girl any good; not, granted, that there was overmuch a ritualist could explain about elementalism. Still, based on her raw power alone the other novice should have been far higher in her ranking, perhaps even right behind Kasumi herself.

Of course, power meant nothing without the will to use it.

It was her turn to select a wand, and despite the artificer's warning she took a moment to consider the assortment on the racks before her. A series of lumpy, misshapen lengths of wood, roughly equal in dimension and general unsightliness. Hardly the elegant weapon of a cultured ritualist. Still, Kasumi supposed even she had to start somewhere. She picked up a scepter that looked less uneven than most and followed the others out of the artificer's workshop and into the monastery's central courtyard.

Even after half a year's study, the monastery was an impressive sight. Lecture halls, classrooms, and workshops lined the sides of the courtyard, built in the traditional island style, with curved-up roofs tiled in smoky green ceramic and supported by wooden beams painted a brilliant cinnabar said to bring good fortune to those living within. Looming above were the walls of the monastery vale, great bastions of forbidding stone, their summits streaked with white snow.

Some of the other students were shivering in the cold, and Kasumi smiled. Compared to her family's estate in the bluffs above Seiting harbor, the monastery was practically balmy.

Fortunately for her fellows, the practice field was close to the artificer's workshops; unfortunately for them, it was also outdoors, and near to the great precipice that fell towards the bay below. Lacking the surrounding shelter of the vale walls, subject to powerful and unpredictable winds blowing off the Sea of Cantha, winter practice was a mental and physical trial in more ways than one. Despite herself, Kasumi shivered slightly, and scowled at her body's betrayal. It wouldn't to do show such obvious signs of weakness in front of the instructor, let alone her fellow students.

There was a class of warrior students already at the field, sparring with wooden practice swords and wearing chain armor; despite the cold, she could see wisps of steam rising from the intensity of their efforts. For a moment Kasumi felt a touch of envy. Warriors often worked as sell-swords and bodyguards, fighting assassins and brigands on the front line against the forces of disorder and disharmony. A professional ritualist, on the other hand-

She shook her head, clearing the errant thought from her mind. Exciting lives, yes, but all too often short ones as well, and while she was ready to lay her life down for the Empire she wasn't in any particular hurry. No, better to let herself enjoy the quiet life of a travelling merchant and scholar. She was sure to find a little excitement of her own along the way.

Kasumi adjusted her grip on the scepter once more as the row of students ahead of her bowed in unison to the instructor and began to file past. Every spellcaster who graduated from the monastery had mastered the weapon's use; for that matter, virtually every half-competent hedge mage and conjurer had managed the same without the same benefits of formal tutelage. It couldn't be that difficult. And yet, perhaps one or two students from each cohort had so far managed to coax any energy whatsoever from their wands. She wasn't concerned, of course, but this was a gold-gilded opportunity to set herself apart from the other students, and she had no intention of letting it go to waste.

"Next row, step forward." The instructor was waiting off to the side, although given her classmates' dismal record Kasumi thought the precaution was likely unnecessary. "Scepters at your sides. At my command, you will raise the wands and aim them straight ahead, but do not attempt to channel magic." He waited a few moments for the students' acknowledgement. "Scepters ready. You should begin to concentrate now. Clear your mind of distractions. Feel the scepter in your hand, its resonance with your magic. Make it an extension of your arm."

Kasumi raised her wand to chest height and began to focus her inner eye, to feel her connection to the spirit world and siphon from it the raw magical energy she would loose through the scepter. She could feel the scepter in her hand, the chill wind slicing through her robes, the gathered energy tingling in her arm like a crouching tiger waiting to spring onto its unsuspecting prey. "Cast!", the instructor called out, and Kasumi released that energy through the pathway between her inner eye and her weapon-

Nothing happened. Kasumi stood silently for a long moment, feeling her gathered energy dissipate back into the ether, and wondered what she could have gotten wrong. At least, she thought bitterly, none of the other students in her group had any more success. Abruptly there was a flash of light and a report like a tree bursting in a freeze, and Kasumi looked over to see Kisai drop her scepter as if it were suddenly a venomous serpent. "Good, but remember to control the amount of energy you use. Too much magic can be dangerous, both to the caster and to his or her allies."

She caught up with Kisai as the class was filing out of the workshop once more. "Hey," Kasumi said softly as if half afraid how the other girl would respond.

Kisai turned, flashing a bright smile. "Kasumi!" Her smile began to fade at Kasumi's serious expression. "Oh. You are still mad at us, then?" Kasumi blinked. "I heard about your fight with Mai. She didn't hurt you, did she? I know she can be really intense." Kisai's face abruptly flushed, and Kasumi smiled.

"No, nothing like that. We just had an argument."

"But you've been avoiding us these last couple of weeks. Hurrying away from classes, hiding away in your room."

Kasumi reached out and took the other girl's hand. "No, nothing like that. I've just been busy. Studying." Judging by her skeptical expression, Kisai seemed less than entirely convinced, but she smiled again, apparently willing to let the matter rest. "So tell me. Did you get your scepter to work?"

Kisai flushed again. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to use so much magic. It just sort of came out."

Kasumi petted her hand reassuringly. "It's okay, really. You did really well. Most people couldn't use the scepters at all." Kisai smiled again, shyly, and Kasumi paused to hide a grimace. She knew what she had to say, but even spoken to her friend the words tasted like ashes. "Actually...do you think you could show me?"