Of course, nobody knew what he really looked like. Not even Eva. She hadn’t asked and he hadn’t appeared anywhere outside his human form to the best of her knowledge. To her sense of demons, he was somewhat wispy and insubstantial. Not in the same vacuous manner of Vektul, but just lacking a firm presence.
But knowing that he was disguising himself didn’t stop half of Eva’s warding class from gathering around him.
There were two types of human students around the school. Some were fearful. It was easy to tell who fit into that category as they often ran around with their heads down, trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Why they still attended Brakket was anyone’s guess. Maybe they had no other choices either because of family and monetary issues or perhaps their family just didn’t see demons as a big deal.
Or they were first generation mages and had nowhere else to go.
The second category were the ones who were desperately overeager to interact with the demons. People who tried to crowd around the demons during meals, classes, or even between classes in the hallways. They would badger the demons with questions and comments in a manner that Eva would have expressly discouraged in the diablery class.
There were very few people in between the two groups. Her friends, including Irene and Shelby, were somewhat subdued about the whole thing. Most of the students who had participated in the diablery class were as well—which was nice to see. Just about everyone else fit in one category or another.
Amusingly enough, most of the demons seemed to prefer the company of the fearful group of students. Something that didn’t surprise Eva all that much. She wouldn’t want to be pestered with incessant questions about Hell or what she really looked like. A few demons reveled in the attention. The succubus that Juliana had met with chief among them. But the majority either kept to themselves or drifted towards the quieter half of the student body.
Unfortunately, her current class fit into the latter category.
Really, she wished that they would stop.
Chelsea Lepus was the warding professor for Brakket Academy, one of the electives that Eva had decided would be good to take. It had a vague relation to shackles that gave her a familiar enough grounding while still being something new. So far, it actually had very little to do with her blood wards. Those were constructed and acted entirely differently from thaumaturgical wards.
A good teacher, but she was strict.
Every time she stopped to address any disruptions, time just seemed to drag on.
Eva watched the clock, wondering if it had always been so slow. Each tick seemed to take longer than the previous.
“As I’m sure you’ve learned in your theory classes,” she said as the giggling died down. “Circles are an excellent basis for magical effects. They contain the magic put into them, allowing it to be used to power whatever you’re trying to do.
“In rituals, we draw a circle and define a height in the pattern itself. This contains the magical effect to a limited area. Were you to leave this part out, the magic would disperse upwards and downwards, still within the circle though too thin to work with in most cases.”
Professor Lepus drew a somewhat lopsided circle on the board and filled it with what Eva was almost certain were nonsensical scribbles until there was very little of the whiteboard visible.
“However, we are not learning how to create ritual circles. Thaumaturgy is all about phasing out such tiresome and cumbersome work used in the ways of old magics, replacing physical drawings with mental thought patterns. However, with only thought patterns things become both simpler and more complex.
“Some of you may be able to look at this and memorize all the intricate details contained within so thoroughly that you can form a perfect picture of the circle within your mind’s eye. And that will work for spell casting. But memory is prone to error. Sometimes a catastrophic error. Dangerous to cast and if I catch anyone doing so, you’ll be out of this class instantly.”
Pacing at the front of the classroom with her hands clasped behind her back, Professor Lepus stared out over the class as if daring them to go ahead and try.
After a few moments of staring, she took the eraser and wiped out a sizable portion of the circle.
“I just erased the spatial limiting portion of the circle. There is still a lot left, but it is far easier to memorize now, wouldn’t you say?”
“Won’t the magic just leak out the tops and bottoms now?” someone from the back of the class called out.
“Raise your hand before speaking Ana, but yes. Were you to attempt to power the circle as is, the magic would disperse. However, outside the physical space and with the power of thought, we can contain the magic elsewise. Can anyone think of how?”
The class fell silent for a moment. Even the people in the very back of the room were paying attention.
Eva had a feeling that she knew the answer, it was really quite obvious. But she didn’t want to get it wrong. With her distinctive appearance, she often felt that other people noticed her more often than they noticed others. And she really didn’t want to give demons a bad name by failing what was probably an extremely simple question.
At Eva’s side, Irene raised a hand into the air, saving Eva from having to answer. When called upon, she cleared her throat before speaking. “Think of a sphere.”
“Very good, Irene. In the physical world, drawing a sphere isn’t the easiest thing,” she said with a chuckle. Pointing a finger at the blank spot on the board, she continued. “But a simple object like a sphere can take the place of a portion of the circle. In this class, we’ll learn how to take more away from the ritual circle until all that remains is an easily memorizable spell. Casting it won’t be as quick and easy as your lightnings and fireballs, but it will be much faster than drawing it all out. Not to mention the lack of back problems from being hunched over the floor for hours on end.”
Looking around the classroom, Professor Lepus gave a firm nod of her head. “That will be class for the day. There will be no extracurricular work, though try to think up ways to simplify ritual circles with the power of thought.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the chime rang, signaling the end of class. Perfectly timed as always. No matter the disruptions, her lessons so far all had ended just as the bell was ringing.
Almost as if she planned for the disruptions.
Standing up, Eva arched her back, listening to the light pops going up her spine. Sitting in one spot for too long really put a crick in her back.
But at least she felt like she was learning something. Without all the excitement and danger going on, she actually had time to pay attention to the lessons. They were finally going more in-depth on the order and chaos side of thaumaturgy.
“I can’t believe you guys visited some demons without me.”
“I thought you would be showing up,” Irene said with a sigh. “Juliana said you might be coming.”
“Yeah, she didn’t tell me about it until after. Though not wanting them to be focused on me was a decent reason, it would have been nice to at least have been told.”
“Well, it was a strange experience. I had to keep reminding myself that we were meeting with demons and not some random student. Catherine is much more… obvious once you know what to look for.”
“They would definitely blend in a whole lot better if nobody knew that they were demons beforehand,” Eva said, glancing over her shoulder towards the demon in their class.
Srey was staring right at her. All the students around him were packing their bags or otherwise getting ready to go on to their next class. He just sat and stared.