Chapter 14: The Wizarding World of Community College

Back with Emilia, Faralda had just led her across the bridge to the College.

"Tell me, are you only interested in learning more about your Primal Magic?" Faralda asked, curious where Emilia's interest in Magic lay.

Emilia thought about it for a second. "Well… if I could, I would also be interested in trying out Universal Magic."

"Of course," the lady mage said. "We at the College encourage others to pursue any form of Magic they desire, so long as it is not harmful to one's self or others around you."

"Hence why no Soul Magic," Emilia said.

"I've heard claims that only Undead can safely use Soul Magic, given their Immortality." Faralda said.

"I seriously doubt that," the half-elf said. Subaru never showed signs of his Soul Magic being harmful to his body.

Faralda merely shrugged. "Perhaps. I've never been one to take words at face value, so I prefer to see the results for myself."

"I see…"

"How much do you know about Universal Magic?" Faralda asked Emilia.

"I know that it can be used by anyone, but it is weaker than Primal Magic. Oh, and it comes in five different categories!" Emilia explained what she knew. It was pretty shallow knowledge, but understandable given she only learned about it hours ago.

Faralda nodded at the summary. "That is a basic description of it, yes. Universal Magic revolves around knowledge. You already have everything you need to master all forms of it, you only need to know how to employ it. Primal Magic comes naturally to some, but Universal Magic must be learned and studied."

"So… I have to read a lot of books?" Faralda could see sweat starting to form on the half-elf's face, despite the cold weather.

"Spell Tomes to be precise, but yes. However, Spells can be learned by visual example as well."

"Visual examples, huh?" Through Emilia's inquiry, she was expressing relief.

"Indeed. Some of the students find it more helpful than the tomes," the high elf said.

"What spells can you do, exactly?" Emilia asked.

"I'm the teacher for the Destruction category of Universal Magic. Flames, Frost, and Sparks bend to my will, and in time, they can bend to yours as well," the high elf explained.

Emilia perked her head up. "Oh. Who are the other teachers?"

"You will meet them soon enough. First, I will introduce you to the Arch-mage."

"Arch-mage? Are they your boss?" Emilia asked.

"The overseer of the College, to be precise."

"Oh, and who are they, exactly?" she asked.

Before Faralda could answer, they had arrived at the gate, which seemed to open on its own.

Faralda merely looks a bit annoyed. "It appears that we will not be meeting the Arch Mage, it seems…"

Emilia looked confused for a few moments, but Faralda led her around the statue to see a woman and a high-elf in some sort of argument, before the high-elf left.

"Um… who are they?" the half-elf asked.

"Mirabelle Ervine, the greatest mage the College has ever produced, and the one who just stormed off was Ancano, an "advisor" to the Arch Mage." The Altmar woman explained.

"What was with the emphasis?" she asked.

"Many of us believe Ancano to be a spy for the Thalmor, and he has given little reason to doubt that claim," Faralda hissed.

Emilia looked a bit concerned. "Has he actively done anything evil?"

The half-elf's question was answered as Mirabelle walked up to the two. "Not at the moment, but who knows when that could change."

Emilia jumped at the suddenness of the newcomer. "You were listening in on us?!"

Mirabelle chuckled a bit. "I was ten feet away. It was inevitable."

Emilia blushed. "I suppose that is true…"

Mirabelle cleared her throat. "I suppose introductions are in order. I am Mirabelle Ervine, former student, now teacher at the College of Winterhold, and you might be?"

"I am Emilia, the newest Dragonborn."

"Dragonborn? My, my. This is most fortunate," Mirabelle said with a smile. "Well, if the stories are true, we would be honored to teach you."

Emilia bowed in response. "Thank you. I'll be in your care."

Mirabelle gestured for the half-elf to follow. "Please, follow me. We will conduct a meeting for what classes you want to take."

"Oh, okay! Sure!" Emilia followed behind them.

After the two walk up to the Arcadeum, or what Emilia found out was a fancy name for the Library, Mirabelle and Emilia sat down at a table.

"So, Ms. Emilia. What exactly brings you to the College?" Mirabelle asked.

" I want to master my Primal and learn how to use Universal Magic, mostly."

"That much is obvious, but you must be more specific. Why do you want to learn more about magic?" the brown-haired woman asked.

The silver-haired girl sighed. "When I was younger… I froze my home and everyone in it to a never-ending winter. I have to fix it some way."

"Never-ending winter? Hmm... You wouldn't happen to be referring to Elior Forest, would you?" Mirabelle asked the half-elf.

"Is it even famous out here?" That took Emilia by surprise.

"Of course. Many mages have long since attempted to study the phenomenon, but little results came up. And... you say you caused it one hundred years ago... as a child?" Mirabelle had to ask for confirmation.

"Yes. My body kept growing while I was asleep, frozen in the ice," Emilia answered, but Mirabelle shook her head at that.

"I'm more referring to that level of magical power, which is beyond what I know of Primal Magic to be capable of," the magical woman said.

"Oh… well, what about Universal Magic?"

Mirabelle shook her head. "Definitely not."

Emilia looked down a bit in dismay. "Oh… So… there's no hope for them?"

"I didn't say that," The Breton said.

Emilia looked confused. "But you said that…"

"I said that this is beyond what I know Primal or Universal Magic to be capable of, but I don't know everything. My knowledge is vast, yes, but not infinite," the brown-haired woman said.

"So… there's actually a chance?!" Emilia nearly screamed at the possibility.

"I know this. For every force in this world, there is an equal and an opposite. You said to have created this winter, so by that logic, it stands to reason that you are the only one that can undo it." Mirabelle explained, pointing at Emilia.

That caused Emilia to realize the immense burden she had placed on herself. She had been looking for a way to free the elves for years, and it turns out that she might have been the key all along. Now… the fates of everyone Elior Forest relied on her being able to master her Magic.

"Yay… no pressure," Emilia deadpanned.

"Worry not," Mirabelle said. "You will have all the time you need."

"Great… so, when do we start?" she asked.

"First, we need to know what exactly you intend to learn."

"Well, I want to get stronger overall, so everything I can learn, I want to learn," Emilia said with determination.

"I see... so you wish to learn all five categories of Universal Magic, as well as your strange Primal Magic affinity?" Mirabelle asked.

Emilia shrinked a bit. "Am… Am I asking too much?"

Mirabelle shook her head. "From us, not at all. There's nothing wrong with wanting to pursue all that you can, but you must take yourself into account. You are willing to learn, but the question is... are you able to?"

"Well… I won't know until I try," Emilia said.

Mirabelle smiled at the half-elf's drive, clapping her hands together. "Very well then. Let us begin."

After their talk, Mirabelle led Emilia to her room, allowing her to get acquainted with her new living space.

Mirabelle asked, "So, what shall you want to train in first. Your Primal Magic, or Universal Magic?"

"My Primal Magic, please," Emilia said.

"I see. You wield Fire Magic, correct?"

Emilia nodded. "Yes, but mostly the ice aspect."

Mirabelle hummed a bit. "Tell me, do you know the difference between Primal Water magic and the Ice of Fire magic? They may utilize the same spells, but they are not the same."

"If I remember correctly, it had something to do with temperature, right?" Emilia asked.

The mage nodded. "In a way. Primal Fire magic, at first glance, may appear to simply allow the user to conjure and manipulate flames, but in actuality, it is the manipulation of temperature. Meaning that if one is skillful enough, they can utilize both Fire and Ice for their own purposes."

Emilia smiled. "Ah, so I was on the right path!"

"Have you casted any Fire spells yourself?"

"Maybe one or two," she answered honestly.

"Follow me." Mirabelle gestured for the Half-Elf to follow her, leading Emilia out to the training grounds.

"This is the Training grounds, where mages can freely and safely practice their spells without repercussions. Now, try using a Goa spell."

Emilia nodded as she held her hands out. "All right… GOA!"

After a few seconds of charging, Emilia successfully fired off a fireball.

Emilia jumped in joy. "Yay! I did it!"

Mirabelle nodded at the attempt. "Not bad for a beginner, although your cast time was rather delayed."

"It was?"

"Normally, one can shoot a Goa spell immediately. Observe. Goa!" Mirabelle explained, using her own Goa spell, which fires off instantly.

"Oh, I see. How do I fix that?" Emilia asked.

"Simple. Keep practicing using the spell, over time, you'll become accustomed to using it, and you'll be able to shoot it immediately instead of needing a charge up," she answered.

Emilia nodded, shooting fireballs over and over again. "Got it! Goa! Goa! Goa! Goa!"

After about 30 minutes of firing off Goa spells, Mirabelle called a timer, and Emilia felt a bit exhausted.

Emilia layed down on the floor in exhaustion. "Oof… that was a lot of mana…"

"Here, drink this." Mirabelle hands Emilia a potion.

Emilia took a sniff. "Smells odd… what is it?"

"A mana potion. It will instantly restore your mana," she said. "And your electrolytes."

"Well, then… bottoms up!"

"Now, shall we move onto Universal Magic, or do you wish to continue with your Primal Magic training?" Mirabelle asked Emilia.

Finishing her drink, Emilia licked her lips, before saying, "Either one works for me."

"I believe it would be best to familiarize you with Universal Magic before we move onto more advanced spells for Primal Magic."

Emilia nodded. "Okay, then let's do that!"

"Alright, which category of Universal Magic do you wish to try?" she asked.

Emilia thought about it for a second, before announcing, "The one that can use fire, ice and sparks, please!"

Mirabelle nodded, understanding what the Half-Elf meant. "Destruction magic, I see."

"It's helpful in my line of work," the silver-haired Half-Elf said, grimly.

"Very well, but I recommend trying all categories of Universal Magic during your stay here." The mage suggested.

"Of course, I'm just picking this first," the amethyst-eyed woman said.

Mirabelle then started to walk away. "Then, I shall go speak to Faralda. Stay here."

After a few minutes, Mirabella fetched Faralda and came back to the Training Grounds.

"Mirabelle says you wish to learn Destruction Magic?" Faralda said.

Emilia nodded. "That's correct."

"Very well. There are three main elements for Destruction Magic. Flame, Frost, and Spark, and even some spells that allow you to combine two elements or even all three, but we shall focus on each individual one."

The news Dragonborn nodded in understanding. "I see…

"First, we shall focus on the first Frost spell most mages learn, "Frostbite". As you are most familiar with Ice, this might be the easiest one for you to learn," Faralda said.

Emilia followed the logic. "Makes sense to me."

"Frostbite acts as a stream of cold air that freezes instantly upon contact. Like so." Faralda explained as she used Frostbite, shooting out a continuous blast of icy air that creates small ice spikes on the ground.

"So, it's a mid-ranged spell," Emilia surmised.

Faralda nodded as she stopped the spell. "Indeed, Although it has minimal range and ability to harm initially, it can debilitate opponents if used overtime. Such as causing hypothermia or even frostbite itself"

Emilia nodded along. "Sounds useful in close combat."

"Now, you try. There is no incantation. Just imagine what you want to happen, and use your mana to will it so," the high elven woman said.

Emilia nodded, lifted her arms, and —

BOOM!

…gets blasted back from the force of her attempted spell.

SLAM!

"Ow, what the —?!"

Faralda let out a low whistle. "That was... unexpected."

Emilia meanwhile, rubbed her head in pain. "What happened?!"

Mirabelle had to think about it for a minute. "Even I'm rather perplexed. You didn't put too much mana into it, did you?"

Emilia had an uncertain look on her face. "I don't think so…?"

Faralda's mind clicked. "Wait a minute, how large is your mana pool?"

"Well, ever heard of Elior Forest?" the amethyst-eyed Half-Elf asked.

"Yes? What does that have to do with your issue?"

Emilia let out a weak chuckle. "I'm the one that caused the never-ending winter."

Faralda's eyes widened at the knowledge. "Oh... my…"

"Ah... that would explain what just happened," Mirabelle said, walking in.

Emilia looked confused. "How so?"

"You have too much mana to use, and you're too used to using Primal Magic, which is stronger than Universal Magic. As such, what seems like a normal amount of mana to use for a Primal spell, it's too much for a spell from Universal Magic." the brown-haired human explained.

"So… how do I remedy that?"

"You may need to take time away from Primal Magic to study how to properly use Universal Magic, it seems," Mirabelle sighed.

Emilia started to sweat a bit. "Study? As in read and stuff?"

"And practice limiting your mana output so you don't explode again."

"That sounds a bit harder to do," the silver-haired woman said.

"We can provide a tutor for you," Mirabelle said.

"Someone I haven't met yet?" Emilia knew when to spot a cliche now, thanks to Subaru.

And of course, Mirabelle nodded. "Yes. You could say he's in the same boat as you, trying to master Primal and Universal Magic."

"And they're a teacher here?" Emilia inquired further.

"Not exactly. A powerful third year student here at the college. His name is J'zargo, and I get the feeling you two will be quite the pair," Mirabelle said with a soft smile.

"Third year? Like, a senior?" Emilia asked, remembering something Subaru said.

"In a way. Here, let's go introduce you to him."

Emilia nodded vigorously. "Okay!"

Mirabelle led Emilia back to the dorms. In a certain room, they found a robed figure reading a book, but Emilia couldn't see their face.

Emilia cleared her throat. "I take it that's J'zargo?"

"You assume correctly." The hooded figure answered with a strange accent, without looking up from his book.

"J'zargo, this is Emilia. She's our newest student at the college," Mirabelle said.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. J'zargo."

"For what purpose do you come to J'zargo?" the hooded man asked.

Emilia squinted her eyes a bit at something. "Did you just use the third person?"

Mirabelle nodded. "Yes, it's very common among Khajiits."

Emilia's ears perked up at that. "Khajiits? Are they demi-humans?"

"Have you never heard of Khajiits before?" J'zargo asked, raising his head so Emilia can see that he was a... literal humanoid cat. Whiskers and all.

Despite that, Emilia remained calm. "Can't say I've even seen one before."

Mirabelle, meanwhile, got down to business right away. "Anyways, J'zargo, I was hoping you wouldn't mind tutoring Emilia. She has some trouble utilizing Universal Magic, and your training using both could be beneficial for her to learn from."

J'zargo stayed silent for a few seconds before humming. "Very well."

Emilia practically jumped in joy. "Yes! Thank you –"

"However…" Emilia was interrupted by the Khajiit. "J'zargo wishes for something in return. A fair trade, if you will."

Emilia calmed down a bit. "If it's within my power, then sure."

"J'zargo has dedicated his life to the mystic arts, but after learning all the spells and incantations J'zargo can... it has come to a point where J'zargo cannot find new spells to learn," the demi-human said. "At this point, J'zargo can only train to get stronger."

"I see…" Emilia could see where he was getting at.

"If you can find or show a spell J'zargo has never seen before, then J'zargo will gladly teach what knowledge is held."

Emilia thought about it for a bit. Subaru was adept in other kinds of magic, right? If J'zargo really wanted to, he could learn from him, right? Then again, maybe not. Still, it was worth asking.

"Hmm… while I may not be able show you anything, I do know someone who can."

J'zargo raised an eyebrow. "Go on?"

"He's a master of Soul Magic. Would that be a fair deal?" Emilia simply said.

J'zargo, unfortunately, sighed in minor frustration and shook his head. "J'zargo does not indulge in Soul Magic, not after all the slander Gwyn's acolytes put on J'zargo's people."

Yeah, she figured as much. This entire place was basically a "no Soul Magic" hotspot. If she wanted him to teach her, she needed something else. Something like…

Emilia decided to use her other card.

"Hmm… I might have something, but it's not something I can fully control."

That managed to intrigue J'zargo. "Oh? Go on."

"I can create these ice flowers that attach to a person, but they only manifest when I'm under extreme stress," the silver-haired Half-Elf explained.

That caught Mirabelle's attention. "Ice flowers? Even I've never heard of such a spell."

"It's of my own creation," Emilia said, enticing them further.

That did seem to catch J'zargo's interest. "Hmm... what do these "Ice Flowers" do, exactly?"

Emilia simply smiled, and said, "They drain the victim's blood."

"Is that so? Well, you have piqued J'zargo's interest," the demi-human smirked as he closed his book, and got off the chair. "A demonstration will be required, but if J'zargo finds it liking, then perhaps we can learn from each other."

Emilia bowed in gratitude. "I'll do my best."

"Very well, we'll hold a demonstration tomorrow. For now, let's get some rest."

J'zargo nodded at Mirabelle. "Very well, I look forward to seeing what you have to offer..."

Authors' Notes: How much college debt do you think students in Winterhold rack up? Does the place hand out scholarships? Eh, questions for the future.

So, J'zargo's here! Let's hear more about him, shall we? (For those that have played through the College of Winterhold storyline know, J'zargo is arguably the most memorable character who doesn't play a significant role in the story. J'zargo is eccentric, competitive, and eager to get stronger. So, aside from joining the Party, we decided to gift him with the Divine Protection of Sorcery, Roswaal's old Divine Protection Tappei got rid of. However, we nerfed it a bit to where J'zargo can only use Water, Earth, Fire, and Wind magic. We hope you enjoy his shenanigans.) And for those who've never heard his voice, you can pretend he sounds like Antonio Banderas! Now, the comments!

5queso: Expect more references to the real world coming soon. Anyways, yeah, all three versions of magic exist, but it's not really esetnail you know how they're all merged together. If there's anything the readers need to know about any of it, we'll let them know. If you think the Subaru Battle Royale idea was interesting, you should hear about all of the other ideas we've had over the years. If you're interested, that is…

Kifhjoofff: Yep, Emilia has made a friend! And while we really didn't touch on how everyone would react to a silver-haired woman being on campus, you can safely assume that they're either friendly or just don't care about her heritage.

And now, for the last bit of shilling…

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!

Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!

- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian