Learning Defenses

After indulging in a filling breakfast, I decided to read a few books from Nosferat's personal collection. He wasn't really particular about keeping them hidden.

Instead, he displayed them proudly in his study, an amalgamation of his collected knowledge throughout the centuries. The books covered many niche aspects, mostly concerning magical beasts, their strengths and weaknesses.

In my personal opinion? These were a goldmine of information. Not only was his collection free of bias, but it was very well maintained.

I rummaged through the few books, until I found one that caught my interest.

Dusting off the front, I could faintly read a few letters that had been carved out of the leather cover.

"магические виды". It was etched in with a small chisel. However, it was a language I did not know. Opening the book, each page was filled to the brim with walls of text. Written in the same script as the cover. I ruffled through the pages, searching for anything I could recognize.

Halfway through the book, the pages illustrated beautiful sketches and painted images, ones also depicting beautiful women. However, something was peculiar, they had lush blonde hair, bright skin and even had somewhat of a mesmerizing aura. They looked starkly similar to Veelas.

In contrast, as I flipped the page, the first image showed an alternate depiction. Now with the body of a woman, but sharp and gruesome beaks like birds, their bodies deformed with scaled wings sprouting from their shoulders.

It was an odd image, brought to life with with its brilliant colors. I could almost believe that there really was a creature within this painted page.

I continued skimming through the pages, finally landing on an interesting find.

An image of a wraithlike wretch, gliding in unbounded darkness. It's thin fingers, stripped of flesh were the only thing not cloaked under its dark veil.

"A dementor..." I instantly had recognized this foul creature. It's appearance was exactly what I had expected.

This book was likely some sort of bestiary.

I ran through to the last few pages, but when I had finally looked at it, I was almost left stunned.

The page depicted a vivid green scaled serpent. It's serpentine eyes were bright yellow and its fangs laced with a deadly dark hue. However, most peculiar was its size. The serpent was shown to be a few meters tall, towering over its surroundings.

A name for this beast did pop into my head. Though its appearance slightly varied from the one I recall.

"Basilisk..." The king of serpents. A serpent of this species terrorized Hogwarts for many years, hiding in the chamber of secrets. I didn't need to understand the text to know what it said.

I was very well aware of a basilisks power. The power to kill with a look. Petrify with a glance. Terrifying...

Slamming the book close, I walked out of the study to go look for Ivan. It had been a few hours since our first lesson, but I felt refreshed enough to try again. Granted, I was a bit sadistic when it came to training. The feeling of gaining power..... frankly it was intoxicating.

They very fiber of my existence would be strengthened every time I grew stronger with magic, It was akin to pouring power into my core self.

Roaming around listlessly in the hallways, I looked through each room thoroughly. But there was no sign of him at all. Eventually, I had circled the whole place twice, but still couldn't find him....

"He couldn't have gone back....right?"

I creeped closer to one of the guest rooms, peeking through a slight gap in the door. My eyes darted around, trying to catch a glimpse of Ivan. It was then, I felt a strange stiff presence behind my back.

Fidgeting backwards, I stumbled right into the man seemingly amused as he saw me busy with my antics.

Ivan stood there behind me, with a snarky smirk plastered all over his face.

"Looking for someone?" He taunted.

"Yeah.... I was looking to train defenses like you suggested." I said, barely catching myself from a fall, as I pretended nothing had happened.

He shot me a curious glance, and then proceeded to lead me inside the room we had prepared for practice.

"Your dedication to train is admirable. Follow me."

Similar to this morning, the room still had an ivory white interior, this coating somehow helped prevent lasting damage to the structure of the place. Considering the fort itself was quite ancient, and enchanted to remain, the damage caused by fervent magic might prove too hectic to sustain.

Hence, we had taken such measures to ensure, no matter the practice, the room we were in would not be damaged.

Ivan conjured a chair for me to sit on as we practiced. Unlike previously, this time the aim was to systematically ensure I knew how to defend myself from attacks on an amateur level.

As I seated myself, the door swayed itself shut, and a privacy ward immediately illuminated around us. Ivan began a new lecture, demonstrating what he expected me to achieve by understanding these principals.

"The field of defense is often considered rudimentary. However, many great minds have managed to enhance this art, emboldening themselves to terrifying heights. Indeed, they have protected their minds from all dark influences, even the one's they desire most." His tone trailed to a somber whisper.

Protecting yourself from what you desire most? It was a wild concept I had never contemplated. To be fanatically obsessed with a desire, that you would restrain it using occlumency...It was surely possible, if one could lock out his own emotions, well then desires could be diminished.

"Occlumency is the culmination of brilliant minds, come together to safeguard their own knowledge, experiences and talent. There are many....persuasive circumstances, temptations. Wizards are not infallible to greed, we face the same demons of greed and gluttony. However, our own will can serve to suppress these weaknesses. That is the true essence of the defense arts."

"Protecting oneself not only from external influences, but also internal impulses." His eyes narrowed at the last words, hinting a deeper meaning towards me.

I could grasp the subtle inter-connected hints scattered throughout his lessons. Cautioning me from temptation and demons. Living under Nosferat's roof, I would face many temptations. I however, did not plan to idle or let them consume me.

Seeing as I understood his cryptic words, Ivan moved towards a slightly detailed explanation.

"The term defense, sprouts from the shields around your mind, that serve to protect you. Occlumency shields take many forms, each wizard has their own inspirations. However, do not let their form fool you. They are all merely visions of the beholder. At their core, they perform very well the same."

Ivan shared a record of shields he had tackled during his work. Ranging from sturdy walls, to deep ravines, submerged vaults and even lush forests. There were many strange and peculiar shields he had faced, resulting from the various inclinations of the person themselves.

"A shield, primarily serves as a distraction, a foil and an obstacle. Typically, Legillimans cannot look through shields without being detected. Those that can, often find themselves ensnared within the shields, unable to look beyond. Finally, those powerful and skillful enough to invade your mind undetected, can be hindered greatly using your shield, enabling you to counteract immediately"

His words emphasized the importance of shields. All in all, shields were the bread and butter of an Occlumens. Defending your mind, subconsciously. Of course, you could make an active effort to drive out any unwanted action.

However, a shield would ultimately be the safest option. As one did not have to continuously strain their minds to negate attacks.

"Today you will learn to craft a most basic shield for yourself. As we move further, you can develop it to your own liking." He informed me of some elementary forms I could choose. To try and consolidate my defenses.

There wasn't a huge catalogue to choose from. Hence, I picked one that seemed quite ordinary. A wall.

I wanted to shape my shield into a wall, that would block out any intruder. Easier said than done.

Ivan was not surprised at my choice, since many practitioners chose a wall, to learn and master the basics. It was quite literally, the embodiment of a shield against intruders.

The principal of a wall was simple. Envision a wall, between you and the enemy. A wall they could never surpass. Unbreakable, unsurmountable. There were many ways to surpass this fundamental shield, and many variations of this form that could only be considered impenetrable.

Hence, I too began trying to form one. Ivan guided me along the process, stating that it was important I realize the purpose of the wall was to keep others out.

I imagined a huge barricade of stone, as it enveloped around my mind. I continued to focus on this image, and burned this thought into my head.

However, as I finished branding this shield of mine. It simply broke down.

The barricade was indeed grand, but it was essentially hollow and weak. I had overstepped my ability trying to construct this shield.

"Your shields lack substance. The walls are thin and prone to crumble. Do not imagine a glamorous and towering structure. Instead, build your shields brick by brick. Lay its foundations slowly, and it will serve you well." Ivan advised.

Following his thoughts, I began to vividly imagine a brick. I pictured its substance, hard and sturdy rock. Its shape, a simple block.

It took me a while, but I could picture the exact brick I had imagined. A few minutes later, I managed to increase it to two bricks. Essentially, I was painting a picture with my own thoughts.

The minute I lost focus, the bricks would fade away. I started to pile the two bricks next to each other. It was only these two, but that had taken me around half an hour just to conjure these in my mind.

It couldn't just be fleeting thoughts, no. They had to be permanent in your mind, you had to believe their existence. Otherwise, they were just illusions of your own conscious.

I spent the next few hours, repeating this process. I would imagine a brick, and steadily lay it down next to the others. A gruesome training for the mind, and halfway through I could feel a dizzying spin as I exhausted the last of my mental capacity.

Feeling my thoughts fade away, I knew practicing any further was futile. Ivan too realized this and excused me for the rest of the day.

To rid myself of fatigue, I decided to partake in a cheerful lunch with Sophie, considering she had grown concerned of my long training hours. I had pretty much ignored her for the last two days.

Seeing me eager to converse, she was quite happy and we discussed about the changes our lives had gone through.

I could also sense a concern in her voice about the current situation in Romania. Soon, the chat took a light hearted turn as we discussed what I was learning in my lessons.

Needless to say, I obscured her from the gruesome details and gave a clean account of just the necessary aspects.

Hearing of my progress in the mind arts, she gushed about with joy. Complimenting me and also proceeded to lecture me about dedication and perseverance.

It was quite a long discussion and thankfully came to an abrupt end as Ephyl scurried in to deliver Sophie a few letters. Her personal correspondents.

I took that chance to slip away to my room, and pondered the next step towards crafting a solid defense. I was quite interested in this field, and wished to develop it to a reasonable extent.

Spending the rest of the day in contemplation, I gave this matter quite a lot of thought, and couldn't wait to test it out in the next lesson.

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