Chapter 3.1 Clan training
As the old man said, a week later, my schedule was changed in the direction of adding more lessons, but my rest was cut down significantly, completely eliminating the concept of "free time". When I saw the paper with the detailed schedule for the first time, I didn't believe it at first. But very quickly I realized the depth of the pit I had been thrown into.
It is worth admitting that there were no useless classes, and those that seemed so revealed another facet of my ignorance over time. Gymnastics turned into martial arts: hand-to-hand combat and sword-fighting — kenjutsu. Calligraphy unexpectedly came in handy in magic classes, as the Miyazaki clan turned out to be hereditary wizards, onmyouji.
Most family magic focuses on communication with spirits (summoning, banishing, resting, divination), healing techniques (medicines, poisons), and the creation of magical charms, amulets, and protective barrier systems. It also includes the creation of shikigami — the infusion of a spirit into a ritual object and the use of the incarnated essence.
Amulets, seals, ritual objects — all this was covered with ancient symbols and modern hieroglyphs (this is when the thing was obviously made weak, not designed for long work), and here the science of marking the quackery helped a lot. I remembered from the anime how the characters used paper strips with drawings and inscriptions. So this is exactly the science I was taught.
Now a little more detail on the list. Each of these talismans can look like anything, be made in a variety of ways, and have any function. I read somewhere that for certain magic you need certain materials, like different kinds of wood, herbs collected at the right time (midnight of such and such a month, after rain, or something like that), or stones and minerals related to the desired strength.
During my studies I was enlightened that this is true, but not always. If you want to create a spiritual weapon, there are several ways to do it, and they also depend on a number of variables, such as: what the weapon is for, when it is needed, how much money you have to create it, the availability of materials, etc.
The easiest thing to do is to make a spear in advance that will last you a few years in active combat. Or you can use a universal talisman in a battle, with the help of which and your own power you can create a weapon for a few minutes, after which it disappears. Or you can create a super spear, but it will cost you a lot of gold, rare materials, and time. Something like that.
I think it all makes sense. And interesting. I was very interested in this: create a super sword, learn how to use it (or in some other order), and become Conan. And what's even more interesting is that paper talismans, namely universal talismans, can be programmed with prayer phrases right in the action, causing exactly the effect that's needed right now.
When I first saw two talisman papers, absolutely identical in all respects, being used to produce a stream of water from one and fire from the other, I was amazed. The shitty grandmother teacher, a very disgusting person not only in appearance but also in behavior, wasted no time in speaking rather rude words to me because I was shocked by the effect.
Honestly, even if I were really as old as my body, I would have stopped wanting to learn this magic at that moment. But I quickly overcame the outburst of resentment and anger — it was not for nothing that he studied spiritual techniques and meditation to better control the mind. But I promised myself that I would repay the witch as harshly as possible.
Looking back, I will say that it was this grandmother who was in charge of my magic training for all the following years, and she took all my successes personally. Why, it was SHE who taught this mediocrity, and not he who spent hours of sleep trying to understand the stream of theory filtered through the contemptuous tone of a fossil.
My hatred was cold, and revenge for her words and antics reached the level of torture before a ritual sacrifice after the first year. The clan elder herself, by the way, gave material on the level of "standard methods of Onmyouji Templars"; there was no talk of clan knowledge. I was glad that the local analog of artifacts is not hidden guild or clan information (most of it).
Further. The history of Japan began in ancient times, and although it was a difficult subject to study, it was quite fascinating. The teacher was not as much of an ass as the grandmother, even though he liked to make faces, but he told interesting stories. It was quite interesting to hear and read about the events in the big world, which were influenced from the shadows, and sometimes not, by wizards and magical creatures.