038 That's a Talisman?

"Where have I seen her before?" Nico thought as he examined Juliana.

She had high cheekbones, long black hair, and light blue eyes.

Nico was sure he never met her before.

"Who is that?"

"Juliana Pinaton."

"She's a Pinaton?"

Xavier nodded. "Isn't she from your hometown?"

"I've heard of her, but I've never seen her before."

Juo had reddish hair and dark eyes, but his facial features did bear some resemblance to Juliana.

Juliana walked toward her seats, ignoring all the other students as though they were non-existent.

"Oh my gosh, she looked at me!" One of the boys gasped.

"Pssh, yeah right, in your dream."

Hobin walked her to an empty seat, but she also paid little attention to him.

"She's really different from what I've heard," Nico commented. Juo had always called her a little brat, so Nico thought she would be a lot younger.

"She's the goddess of the academy," Xavier explained. "From the moment she entered the school, Lady Tessa wanted her as a student. Her spirit is a bow and arrow, so the Cultivation Branch had been trying to recruit her. The Magic Branch probably offered her a better deal."

It wasn't the first time Nico hearing about the rivalry between the two branches. "What's with the competition between the Magic and Cultivation Branch? Does it really matter? It's just the libraries that are restricted."

"There's more to it than that. A lot of the teachers belong to either the Magician Society or the Cultivator Society. They have a long history of fighting. Always trying to prove what method is the best."

"There's no in between?"

"After graduation, almost all practitioners become a hybrid of some sort, but still specializing in either magic and cultivation. The few that open both auras and meridians in equal amount are called Failed Practitioners because their level are very low and they can't compete on the same level as cultivators or magicians."

"But that means high level practitioners can use magic and cultivate?"

"It's usually a magician that have some meridians open to assist with their magic or cultivators with some auras to assist with cultivation techniques. Juliana can use strong magic, but uses a bow and arrow as a secondary weapon. She's a very good archer. She's already being recruited by the Kelseran Empire. Hobin is even more impressive. He's the magic swordsman, his Obsidian Edge sword is enhanced by his use of aura."

"You sure know a lot."

"I'm writing a book, so I need to do a lot of research. The Hunter Guild has a department that deals with intelligence gathering and regularly publish the top twenty Big Shots."

Xavier stopped talking as soon as Professor Wenlet looked at him.

"Professor! He's new, I am just explaining to him the previous lesson," Xavier explained.

Professor Wenlet presented the next lesson on Sigillogy.

Nico missed the first few lectures, so it was a bit confusing. Xavier explained some of the concepts in between the lessons.

"Talismans are important to learn, as it leads to a better understanding of Egos," Professor Wenlet orated.

"Egos are another form of mana?" Nico asked.

"Egos are basically man-made mana construct that performs a contain task," said Xavier. "Alchemy pills are made from Egos that enhance the body. There are also Egos that program crystals to perform a certain task such as voice and light manipulation. These are what you see powering the projector and speaker crystals."

"No wonder. Whoever came up with these are geniuses."

"All these knowledge are accumulated through centuries of research by magic scholars. In today research field, the most famous is probably Scholar Nil Eda. He is my idol. The projector and speaker crystals are both his invention. It was developed five years ago, but since they are extremely expensive, only wealthy clans, royalties and academies have them. "

"I see, so I guess you are planning to be a scholar?"

"Yep! Although cultivators and magicians are prized, scholars are also valued because it takes a full time scholar to understand and develop new Egos. Scholars often collaborate with magicians and cultivators to form new manacrystals."

Nico was learning something new everyday.

"Ah, so that's why mineralogy has its own field of study."

"Yeah, mineralogy is very difficult though."

Nico was still learning about the different minerals in the 101.

Nico turned his attention to the next portion of Professor's lecture, it was a topic he was familiar with, talismans.

"We will practice making talismans next class," said Wenlet. "You should by now have memorize all the 108 shadow symbols and at least 150 different personas symbols. These knowledge will allow you to create talismans. For a demonstration, Hobin, would you like to volunteer?"

Hobin nodded and stood up.

He walked up to the front and sat down before a desk lined with many different equipment.

"Before the demonstration, can anyone tell me the three equipment needed to make a Talisman?"

"Manapaper, mana-ink and a quill," said Xavier raising his hand.

"Correct," said Professor Wenlet. "We will attempt to create the Windbreeze Talisman. Hobin, start writing the persona symbol."

Hobin inked in the Windblade Talisman on the parchment. His stroke was slow and deliberate.

One stroke....

Two stroke...

Three stroke...

Why is it so slow? Nico was starting to fall asleep by how slow it was taking.

It took eighteen strokes to finish the persona symbol.

It's ugly, Nico thought.

"Beautiful!" Professor Wenlet praised and clapped. "Now add the four shadow symbols of pa, cu, vin, and min. Min is a seal based shadow symbol that is required to seal the magic in the talisman."

The process of adding the shadows took almost the entire class time. In the meanwhile, Professor Wenlet described the steps of adding each shadow symbols.

"Form the shadow symbols with your aura. For cultivators, using spirit force is possible, but it is twice as slow. For Hobin to be on par with a magician says a lot about his talent."

Finally, Hobin completed the Windblade Talisman.

"Good job," Professor Wenlet held up the finished talisman for everyone to see.

Wenlet pointed the talisman to the window and activated it. A light breeze opened the window.

That's a talisman? Nico thought.

"This Windblade Talisman usually takes an hour to make for apprentice talisman maker. Hobin did an excellent job for a beginner. I hope you will also succeed next lecture."

By the end of class, Nico had a better understanding of the magic used in this world.

"Thanks for explaining some things," Nico said as he walked out with Xavier. "Wanna go out for lunch? Anya, Jack and Vincent will be there as well."

"Sure!"

Nico brought Xavier along to Killo's Restaurant Inn.

"Xavier, heard you made it in the Academy!" Jack welcomed Xavier to their table.

"So you guys eat out here, no wonder why I don't see you guys during lunch."

"Cafeteria food sucks."

"It's not that bad on the 2nd floor," Ashe had been up there before.

"I've been trying to find you guys after I heard you all made it on the combat team shortlist," Xavier got out a notebook.

"Why?" Asked Jack.

"I have data on most people except for you guys. It's for research."

"Don't talk to me about it. I'm so nervous my stomach is killing me!" Anya complained. "This is even worst than the exam."

"How the hell did you make it on the list anyway? I've never seen you fight before," Jack wondered.

Anya gave him an ugly look. "Just because you haven't seen me fight, doesn't mean I'm not good!"

"Then are you good at fighting?"

"You'll see."

"You probably got in just because you hang out with us. Not a single dorm can brag that all the roommates are on the shortlist." Jack loved to brag about everything.

Pak!

Ashe whacked Jack in the back.

"Hey!"

Ashe ignored him and looked at Anya. "We've never asked you about your spiritual root," Ashe wondered if that may be the reason.

"It's a Light Mirror spiritual root."

Jack laughed. "Pssh! What can it do?"

"Want me to show you instead?" Anya asked.

"Hey, doesn't that sound like a challenge?"

"It can be. You're up for it?"

"You're on!"