Control Comes from Within

To my relief, lunch was a peaceful affair, with no surprises or unexpected revelations crashing into me out of nowhere. Both food and company distracted me from the newfound diagnosis of my mysterious soul affliction.

I had just entered the cafeteria when I noticed a pair of twins eating at one of the tables, a couple other people seated beside them. One of the twins made eye contact with me, and promptly waved me over. I picked some food off the counters in the back and loaded it onto my tray, and walked towards them, eager for a distraction.

The twins were the same ones from my general combat class, Riddis and Orddis. Even when I was staring right at them, the differences were trivial enough that it was hard to tell them apart, so I went off their clothes, as one was very obviously wearing some kind of skirt. That was probably Riddis.

At least I hoped it was.

Once I arrived at their table, I was immediately inducted into their friend group. The two were children of some count in the far west, but they placed less importance on status than other nobles would. The other students in their friend group were in similar situations, as they were mostly the younger children of lower nobles with a few commoners as well. To my surprise, the shy ‘heart’ girl from my healing class was there too, whose name I learned was Venaca, third daughter of a baronet.

Once all the niceties of formal introductions were over, which included the expected exaggerated reactions once everyone learned my name, there was barely any time left before the next class started. The twins told everyone they would host a small gathering, consisting only of the people at the table, on the first weekend, just so everyone could get to know each other better.

The lunch break helped take my mind off of the bizarre events of that day, as I proceeded to my next class: nature magic.

The mini-map on my student card eventually led me to a medium-sized garden outside the main administration building, where a large group made up mostly of girls was admiring the vibrantly colorful flowers in the plots of soil and ignoring the less aesthetically pleasing plants like the climbing vines supported on upright poles, or the small yellowish weeds with ridged edges.

“Does anyone know where the professor is?” one of the male students in the back asked. “Yup, class just officially started.”

“I mean, it’s not our fault they didn’t show up yet. What else can we do besides wait here and admire these lovely flowers blooming before us? The plants aren’t that bad either, I suppose.”

“Ugh, just…control yourself, Digsby. Don’t forget about your betrothed back home.”

Great. So the class is split between vapid girls who are entranced by flowers and young horny noble heirs and sycophants. And people wonder why I have so few friends.

Thankfully, my self-deprecation ended when the professor made themself known in a rather flashy method…by tunnelling up out of the ground and shooting a good fifty feet in the air before slowly descending to the ground.

“Good afternoon, everyone! I’m Professor Rhubadesh, and as you can see, I am a…” With a flourish of the short cape she wore, she proceeded, “Nature mage!” Her hands were outstretched above her head in an odd pose, as she laughed maniacally, her magenta hair and rosy complexion tying in with her muddy and dirtied clothing to give off a feeling of a vibrant flower nurtured by the earth and vividly living according to its nature.

“So! You all have to sit through some boring lectures later on, blah blah blah, and yeah that sucks, “ the professor said, her joy momentarily shriveling before blazing forth again, “but, I figured, today is such a lovely day, and we have an entire year to do all that boring stuff, so why not come outside and see what real nature magic is like?”

The medium-statured woman was so enthusiastic, it was almost infectious. The girls who were captivated by the flowers barraged her with questions about specific flowers or possible spells to make plants grow quicker, while the boys focused more on the tunnel-launch-jump she performed before and asked about that.

“Alright, alright, I can see you’re all just as excited as I am, so let me do the fun things first, then if there’s still time, I’ll try and go over some of the boring things at the end.”

Shooing away the pack of girls who surrounded her, she crouched down near the garden and quite literally stopped and smelled the roses, which took a good five minutes on its own, before she moved on and examined one of the yellowish weeds, firmly uprooting a bunch of them, before turning around and presenting them to the class.

“Now, first question, do any of you know what this is?” she asked the class in general.

One of the girls practically bounced up and down as she responded, “Ooh! Ooh! I know! It’s the Victim’s Tongue!”

“Excellent, dear! And I assume you know what it does as well?” the professor’s exuberance matching the student’s.

With a nod of her head, she said, “Before it’s mature, it kills any bugs or tiny pests that bite into it, but once it completely develops, it can be used as a paralytic. I know it can be made into a tincture and paste, but I think…I think it needs something else before it can be used in a potion?” she asked questioningly.

“You’re correct on all counts, dear! Wonderful! Yes, Victim’s Tongue is a common weed that grows all over the eastern half of our kingdom, and to answer your question dearie, its complementary ingredient in alchemy is ashbell roots. Without the roots, using this weed in alchemy will likely cause the end product to have caustic properties, a dangerous proposition at best. You can all take this as your first lesson. If you see bright colors in nature, be extremely wary. Plants, animals, mushrooms, anything that is obviously drawing attention to itself is likely toxic, and those bright and beautiful colors signal to predators that eating them is not worth it.”

“Excuse me, professor?” one of the boys raised his hand in doubt.

“Yes, darling?”

“I don’t mean to offend, but what exactly does nature magic do? It’s just, I only heard about it when I was taking the affinity test, and I’m still not sure what it’s capable of, besides affecting plants,” he apprehensively finished.

“It’s no bother at all, think nothing of it!” the professor said, waving away any perceived offense, “You’re all here to learn, and what point would there be in learning if you already knew everything?”

“But, to answer your question, nature magic is easy to explain. Like many other branches of magic, nature magic allows one to interact with and manipulate nature. In fact, some suggest that nature magic is the first magic, and all others were derived from it. Here, I’ll show you an example,” she said, as she magically incinerated the weeds in her hand, and wiped the ashes off her hands.

“Now, nature magic is capable of doing many things, the most famous of which is affecting plants,” she said, gesturing to the garden and the numerous flowers and other plants within. As she held her palm to the flowers, one of them grew higher and larger, first by inches as its petals curled outward and expanded in size, then by feet as the stem poked further up and started reaching the height of the students’ waists, until finally its original form could no longer be determined, as a gigantic monstrosity loomed over them, towering over even the adjacent building’s full height. The flower looked menacing in its current state, as the roots jutted out of the ground, displacing all the other flowers, and the thorns were a dangerous combination of thin, sharp, and long.

All the students were startled by the flower’s growth, as they were in various states of shock, but by then, the professor gestured once more, and the flower winded itself downward, slowly spiralling in the soil as it shrunk, the thorns withdrawing into the stem, and the petals withering to their original size, as once more the flower regained its initial form. At least until the flower slowly withered and died, tilting sideways before losing its color and drooping onto the soil, a dried out husk compared to its former self.

“That is but the most basic form of nature magic, affecting plants. With enough knowledge, you can do much more complex things. Changing size is only one aspect of plant manipulation. Does anyone know of other aspects of nature magic?”

A few seconds of silence passed before I offered, “Taming?”

“Correct, well done darling!” She looked inordinately pleased at my answer, though that was likely her being glad the silence was cut off. “Taming creates a bond between the mage and the animal, though depending on the method used, the nature of the bond will differ.”

At those words, I asked, “Would you mind explaining the different methods, professor?”

“Of course, dear! Technically, the mundane methods of taming can be attempted on any entity, feeding them their favorite foods, or spending time with them, but the bonds will likely end up fragile and without near-constant vigilance on the tamer’s part, the bond will break down fairly quickly. There are multiple types of magical bonds that you can attempt to forge, but I’d suggest choosing the one most suited to your personality. The bond of equals ensures neither party is above the other. Both listen to each other, and both respect the other’s wishes. If the tamer wishes for the animal to do something, it may or may not comply. Likewise for the animal.”

“The bond of domination is one of subservience, where the tamer is in full control of the tamed. The tamed has no say in their actions, and follows any and all orders given to it. I would caution against forming this type of bond, as a domination bond is difficult to break, but short-lived. If any of you have dreams of dominating a dragon and riding it for the rest of your life, think again!” She snorted and cackled at the thought, as some students no doubt had their idle daydreams shattered at her words. She wiped a tear away from her eye as she pressed on, “We only have a few minutes left, so I’ll finish this up and we can continue next class.”

“Besides those two, nature magic can also be used for two other areas, broadly speaking: terrain manipulation, and weather control. Like with any other subject, the scope is limited at first, but expands as your mastery and control improve over time and with experience.”

“Alright, everyone, that’s it for today, we’ll continue next class.” Professor Rhubadesh had dismissed the class so abruptly, some of the students were still nodding along to what she was saying. It took a few tries but she finally got everyone to move on to their next class. As I was one of the first to leave, while I walked away from the upturned garden, I heard from behind me a female voice screaming in a shrill tone, “ARE YOU DEAF? MOVE ON YOU LOUTS!”

I chuckled as I headed to my first taming class, looking at the trees that crossed over the marble walkways and wondering what they were capable of with the aid of nature magic.

Oddly enough, my taming class had less students than any of my other classes, a mere five people, me included. The professor, a lithe and tan-skinned man who wrote, ‘Professor Imin Vanyriel’ on the chalkboard, was unperturbed at the sight of so few prospective students, but I noticed a slight twitch of his eye that hinted at repressed anger.

Unfortunately, that repressed anger expressed itself immediately as he gathered a stack of books from his desk and practically threw them on each of our desks before running out the door, only stopping to look back and shout once, “Read those guides while I’m gone! And don’t forget to introduce yourselves!”

After a few minutes of silence passed, it was obvious nobody there was one of the posh nobles, as nobody took charge or demanded obeisance, or made some ridiculous demand of the others.

“Should, should we do introductions first, and then read, or…” one girl asked.

I shrugged, my apathy in full control. Despite the ‘coldness’ of it, ironically, it felt like a warm blanket to me. Comfortable, familiar, dependable.

“Might as well,” a blue-haired girl said. “I’m Marsha Mystour, but you can call me Marsha.” The girl, Marsha, looked at the first girl who’d spoken and nodded in her direction, gesturing for her to speak next.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m, I’m Clora,” she said quietly, almost whispering. Luckily the room was small and there weren’t many of us, so her voice was audible.

The introductions went on organically.

“Tyrithen, of Clouded Meadow.” A golden-haired and light-skinned boy said.

“Jissa Layn, eighth daughter of Earl Layn of the Ismet Archipelago.” She had her auburn hair braided in an intricate hairstyle which ended just below her shoulders.

“Rhaaj, of Khobadaar City,” I politely introduced myself. To my surprise, nobody laughed or even blinked at my name. There was no quivering of the lip or deep gasp or a cough covering up a snort. I guess these people had better manners than I expected.

“Well, now that we all know each other, we might as well start reading. Unless any of you have a better idea?” Marsha asked.

After a round of looking at each other and shrugging or shaking our heads, we all turned to the book in front of us: A Tamer’s Field Guide to the Most Common Companions of the Human Kingdom by Lehem Swillion.

The rest of the hour was mind-numbingly tedious. Although I had a veritable encyclopedia of potential animal companions to peruse, the author was such a failure of a writer that he only gave a general overview of each animal or beast, while most of the book used hyperbolized poetry to describe each animal’s habitat, or he endlessly praised his ancestors for the knowledge they passed down to him, and venerating his noble house as the preeminent authority on taming.

By the time I read ‘the illustrious House of Swillion has no equal in the field of taming’ for the fifth time, I jerked my head up and asked, “Is House Swillion actually well-known for taming?”

“Pfft, hahaha! No, it’s not. In fact, there is no House Swillion anymore.” Marsha said, as she composed herself from her outburst.

Jissa continued on with a small smirk on her face, “It’s something of a joke among the older and more established nobles, but this book was the House’s last attempt to gain some measure of respect after it was discovered they were engaged in tax fraud, smuggling beasts from the beastfolk tribes, and plenty of other crimes.”

“This all happened hundreds of years ago, and the King of that time had much less tolerance than our current ruler, so once he was made aware of the house’s crimes, he deployed soldiers to take them into custody so they could stand trial.”

“Ooh, I love this part, do you mind if I…?” Marsha asked Jissa questioningly.

Sighing, Jissa just gestured with her hand for Marsha to proceed. Taking that as her cue, Marsha told the tale of how the king’s soldiers, once they reached the domain of the Swillions, found an outbreak of all manner of animals, creatures, and beasts attacking the humans they were bonded to. Apparently, the Swillions had sold the smuggled beasts and animals as bribes to their subordinates, not realizing there was a group of Shifters among them.

“Wait, what are Shifters?” Tyrithen asked curiously, engrossed in the story.

“Oh, right, sorry. Shifters are beastfolk who can transform into the appearance of their bestial ancestor while retaining their sapience and intelligence,” Marsha said, ignoring how Tyrithen, Clora, and I all visibly reacted to that, “Supposedly, only elder beastfolk are capable of doing it, but all I know is that it’s an advanced technique and the details are impossible to find out for any non-beastfolk. So, where was I…Oh, right, the shifters! So, the shifters had allowed themselves to be captured along with the other smuggled beasts, and once they arrived in the Swillion’s territory, they somehow communicated to all the other captured beasts to break their tamer bonds at the same time, then they retaliated. Hard.” Marsha finished.

Jissa continued on, “By the time the king’s soldiers arrived, the shifters had killed everyone responsible. And I assume you can all guess what happened next,” she ended morosely, her tone indicating the story did not have a happy ending.

Anyone could figure out what happened next: they were hit by voranders. By the look on everyone’s faces, they had worked it out as well.

“And then?” Clora asked, both fascinated and frightened.

“Then the surviving shifters demanded reparations from the King, who eventually compensated them for their losses in order to avoid war, and razed the remnants of House Swillion to the ground…not that there was much left.”

A heavy silence hung over the small room, as everyone contemplated the well-deserved fall of House Swillion.

“So…why is the book a joke?” I asked, unable to see the humor.

“Oh, well, the idiot who wrote it barely paid any attention to the animals he was meant to be studying, and in the end he died because of it. It’s just ironic, if a bit…bleak.” Marsha said.

“But if this book is such trash, then why are we even reading it?” I followed up.

Nobody could give a satisfactory answer before class ended, not even the professor, who sprinted in by the end of the class and held the door frame to stop himself from collapsing, as he heaved and panted for breath, his face ruddy from exertion.

To my, and probably my fellows’, exasperation, he was too blinded by his anger to notice the covers for the books he meant to hand out were the same color as the useless trash we had wasted an hour reading.

What a fitting end for my first day.