It is a bright and sunny morning in the town of Nogreni. Birds are flying through the sky, children are preparing for school and adults are getting ready for work. There are some even some people whose days have already begun. Which brings us to Opin Park, home of the ever unpopular tourist attraction, Lake Opin.
Not many people visit this park in general let alone in the morning. However, there is one person that has made it part of her daily schedule to visit the lake. It is a girl around 16 years of age.
She has fair, white skin and long pink hair tied into a princess braid. She has a pair of black spectacles of which enhance her cold, violet eyes. She wore a white blouse with a thin red ribbon tied to it. She also had a tan skirt that fell just below her knees.
Though the most noticeable thing about her clothing was the open pink robe that she wore.
That very girl is Alix Deminal and she sits next to the lake at the same time each day. This is to be able to sit under the wonderful light of Blaze and work on her personal projects in private. Not that many people come here if that wasn't obvious enough already.
"If these two lines are written like this they contradict each other. But if I remove one of them the sequence is left incomplete so the mana wouldn't be able to flow to the end of the process. I'll need to change the path so that each separate group can be activated without disturbing the mana path." Alix writes in her notebook completely focused. She is a sorceress
There is a certain joke about the sorcerers of this world.
"Sorcerers are the most selfish type of spellcaster." It sounds like a strange stereotype but there is a reason for it. You see, sorcery comes with the stipulation that only the maker of the spell can use the spell. It is quite simple and seems like something that would be true about every type of spellcasting but it is different with sorcerers for two specific reasons.
First, sorcery spells are written onto a catalyst so the spells seem like something anyone would be able to use. This belief is false however as the spell is directly associated the the sorcerers Lis, basically aura, signature.
Which leads the second point being that due to it being directly corelated with the Lis signature of the user each sorcerer must make and use their own completely original spells.
It is honestly an uncommon form of spellcasting since it is impossible to teach someone your sorcery as they would be unable to use it anyway. Though, few sorcerers choose the spellcasting type themselves and instead end up with the magic being the only type that they can use. Alix is one of those such people. Though she does love magic with all of her heart so it doesn't bother her.
And so she sits lost in her work...
That is until a splash of water hits her pulling her attention away from her work.
"Stop doing that, Mo. You know that this is important." The girl looked to the lake where she met eyes with the one that splashed her. It was a small and surprisingly round pink fish that she had named Mo. This fish was another reason for the girl to visit the lake as it was her only friend. I know, sounds sad.
The fish stared at the girl dissatisfied. It was as if the fish were saying, "You come all the way to the lake and don't even say hi to your bestest and closest friend. Unbelievable!" Of course, it did not actually say that because fish can not talk. Alix, however, did fully understand her scaled friend's intentions.
"How is that my fault? You were late. How were you late when you have nowhere else to go?" Alix calmly responded to the fish and her statement clearly left the fish feeling uncomfortable as he slowly sank into the water.
The girl sighed, "I apologize. I know that you must have a very strict morning routine. I will try to compensate for that from now on." The fish was satisfied by the apology as it jumped into the air and fully revealed itself again.
At that moment, she saw it. A pink, ethereal string flowing out of her chest. This wasn't her first time seeing it and in fact, she sees it just about every time she has interacted with Mo during the recent weeks. She does not know what this string is which is very shocking to the girl as she is quite well versed in all things magic which could only mean that this string wasn't magic. But, if not magic what was it? She looked to the timepiece on her wrist and realized that it was time for her to leave.
"It seems that our time together was brief today, Mo. I will be back after school." The girl stood up gathering her items and placing them in a bag that she had to her side. The fish seemed to have understood the girl's intentions but still looked sadly at her. It was like he was saying, "It was my fault that we weren't able to hang out at all today. I'm sorry." Alix shook her head and smiled at the fish.
"You really are the cutest little thing, Mo. I'll be back later so you do not have to worry. Goodbye for now." She waved to the fish and headed in the direction of the school she attends.
The Undine School of Mages. The only magic school that you need because it is the only one in Nogreni. Alix has been going to this school for around 3 years now so she should be firmly comfortable with attending it. Of course, there is one major problem. Alix is still being made to take the beginner classes.
'Why is that?' I bet you are wondering. Well it is in the school's name. It is a school of Mages. The only magic that they teach there is Magecraft, which is no fault to the school itself. Magecraft is the easiest spellcasting type that one can be taught, thus making Mages the most common type of spellcaster.
The only problem is that if you can not wield Magecraft you cannot progress in the school at the average pace. It is a very unfortunate situation for the young sorceress, but there was nothing she could do about it but continue her own research. Luckily, she is not only in classes with those younger than her because she has great knowledge on magic and the school understood that enough to allow her to continue to a few more advanced subjects that she may still be able to benefit from.
Bringing her to her first class of the day, Magic Theory. She entered the classroom and sat in her seat at the back of the room. She pulled out her spell book and a pen while continuing to try to work on the spell from earlier, whilst the other students engaged in the process known as socializing. A very disliked form of passing time, or at least disliked by Alix.
"I can't believe that this is the first class today." a disappointed girl said.
"Look on the bright side. We can get this out of the way now and enjoy all of the other classes today." The girl's enthusiastic friend responded.
"You always manage to see the bright side of things. I'm sure you could even find brightness in the Abyss." The disappointed girl sighed.
At that moment the teacher entered the classroom with a big smile on her face. "Alright, young mages please take your seats. Class is in session." The room slowly came to a standstill as all eyes were on the teacher. All eyes except for Alix's of course. "Today we will be starting our lesson on the Imaginarium. I am Mystic Hinkley and I will be the instructor for today's class."
"Madame Mystic, you are always this classes instructor. You don't need to introduce yourself every class." A male student in the front had spoken up prompting a groan in agreeance. This was clearly a usual topic of conversation for them.
"Starting a conversation with anything but an introduction is rude and as spellcasters we have a certain way we must carry ourselves. You would find it useful to pick up this practice yourself, Benjamin." Benjamin rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever."
"Back to today's topic. Do any of you know what the Imaginarium is?" Silence filled the room answering the teacher's question for her. "Well that's no good! You lot are mages so you should know at least the basics of the concept." All of the students had their eyes downcast.
None of them had the courage to look the disappointed teacher in the eyes.
Hinkly sighed before continuing. "I suppose it is a teachers job to help the youth learn. The Imaginarium is the name of the space of which mages form their spells before casting them. You've all been using it for years now without even knowing it. Well, not all of you." Mystic Hinkley turned her gaze to the one student that still wouldn't look at her, Alix. Clearly talking about her being a sorceress.
Alix could not be bothered to acknowledge the woman as she did this often. Trying to make Alix feel like an outcast seemed to be the woman's favorite pass time. Very immature for a teacher but some people simply never grow up.
The class continued for a few minutes while Alix remained enthralled in her own work. While working tirelessly, she had made a breakthrough. "If I overlap the two contradicting passages instead of separating them it manages to form a unique path for the mana to flow. How fascinating. It is as if the contradictions have always been meant to compensate for the others weakness." Alix, completely entranced, pours her Lis into the now completed spell to begin the final process. Setting the spell into a dormant state so that she can activate it at a later time.
All spells used by sorcerers must be prepared in advance, though they do have a time limit for how long that can be remain dormant. Though that depends on the skill of the user. Alix begins to sweat as she begins to slowly gather the mana around her and guide it through the pathways. It was this process that mattered the most and had to be preformed carefully for even the most minor mistake could lead to-
BOOOM!
The class turned to face the source of the explosion. The source being Alix Deminal's desk as white smoke poured out of it. Alix sat their in bewildered. What the hell happened? Every part of the spell was perfect and she was confident that she didn't misguide the mana. So why did the spell blow up in her face? She snapped out of her thinking process as she noticed that she was now the focal point of the entire class's gaze.
"Ms. Deminal, I feel it pertinent to remind you that this is a classroom. It is not your own personal spell crafting chamber." The class chuckled at the Mystic's words to the girl. "I remember where I am. In the room of a washed up mage that failed to make it pass the third grade of Magecraft and thus became a teacher to a bunch of imbeciles that don't know the most basic traits of their spellcasting type."
The class grumbled. "There she goes again." One boy said.
"She never changes." Another girl responded
"Always acting like she's so much better than us when she's still taking beginner classes."
"Well that's how she got her nickname right?" The students all agreed. Her personality had earn Alix quite the reputation at the school and thus a nickname had generated amongst the student body. The name...
Alix the Insolent.