Chapter IV.XVI (4.16) - Illusions A

  Kizu watched with amazement as Professor Ignis started their class. The man was unlike he’d ever seen before. Physically, he looked no different than ever, there were even still bags under his eyes. But he’d transformed from the Music F professor to the Illusions A professor. He spoke animatedly about the art of illusions and he praised them all for coming so far in the subject. And Kizu’ peers listened to him. They showed him deference and respect.

  “Everyone here is well versed in illusionary spellcraft,” Professor Ignis told them. With a wave of his hand, he created a miniature version of the academy across the classroom floor. A meticulous image with every detail accounted for. Kizu spotted the academy’s clock tower. Its face’s hands ticked with the passing seconds. “Each of you can accomplish a spell like this, albeit perhaps not on your first attempt. However, the A class is where we take the art into new directions and truly break you into new mediums.”

  The clock tower’s hands struck the hour and suddenly a dong sounded, identical to the one that signified the changing of classes. A few of the students looked around themselves, startled, but most understood what Professor Ignis was implying.

  “Auditory illusions,” a student whispered beside him. Kizu glanced and recognized her as Choko, the girl who’d attempted to recruit him and Faible into the Art Club. Now that she was no longer surrounded by first years, Kizu realized how small she looked. Not gnome sized, but definitely one of the smallest of the upperclassmen.

  Especially compared to Yon who sat two seats over from her. Kizu’s fifth year friend from Music F was lanky and already sported a bit of stubble on his chin, though it looked as if he’d trimmed it to be a bit less scraggly over the break. Yon intently listened to Ignis’ words, jotting down notes. Completely different to the aloof student Kizu had known before.

  “Correct,” Professor Ignis said. “You will be diverging from the standard, easily produced visual illusions and into auditory this quarter of the semester. The final quarter of the year you will devote to producing illusions of the other senses beyond sight and hearing.”

  That sent a murmur through the class. One of excitement and happiness. These were students ready and willing to learn more about the topic on hand.

  Ignis smiled at them and waved a hand. Scarves appeared around every student’s neck. Kizu reached up and touched the cloth. He flared his spellsense to examine it, but saw nothing particularly remarkable about the accessory. And yet, he heard more than one student groan slightly at their appearance.

  “Some of you may be familiar with these from last year and know the direction I am leading you in,” Professor Ignis continued. “My B students often use these blindfolds to replicate illusions while unable to see their results. You, however, will be using them as a means in which to expand beyond your eyes. Sight is simply a distraction at your level of skill. You need to move beyond that and focus entirely on breaking through into noise. Now, I believe you know the next step in the process.”

  The students pulled the scarves over their eyes.

  “Remember to tie them tight. Any light seeping through can distract you from your task.”

  Kizu raised the cloth and cut off his vision. He didn’t like it. Ever since bonding with Mort, vision had always been a few blinks away. Night, day, above ground, below. His golden eyes always reliably gifted him sight. Purposefully blinding himself with the scarf grated against his instincts. But it wasn’t as if he feared the embrace of darkness. It was simply…distasteful.

  “Good. Now your next step will be to listen. Not to what’s around you, but instead find a noise in your mind. Much as you might imagine an image before creating an illusion.”

  “That’s so much easier,” a student next to Kizu muttered.

  “Sounds are fleeting,” Professor Ignis agreed. “Always existing solely in the moment. But so too are physical objects. Nothing stays the same from moment to moment. There is always change present. It simply is a matter of perception. I recommend you focus on the noise you’re the most familiar with. Replicate it by channeling your magic into it.”

  Kizu decided to think about the birds canopying in the Hon Basin. Their familiar calls and songs that he used to fall asleep to every day. The thought left a pit of longing in his chest as he brought the noise to the front of his mind. He felt on the verge of success. Carefully, he tried to weave in his magic and replicate it. It worked. He felt the spell form.

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  Nothing.

  The only sounds were the breathing of students and the occasional quiet curse. Frustrated, Kizu ripped off his blindfold.

  He nearly fell off his seat at the sight. Half-formed people swayed about, ignoring the classroom furniture. Animals floated in the air. Some mundane, others with bizarre colors and designs. Kizu watched as an oddly proportioned purple spotted dog fizzed as it passed through the head of a sleeping old man. And there was also a minority of images of non-living things. Musical instruments and the breaking of the ocean waves and even the crack of lightning overhead. Then he spotted his own illusion, half a dozen parrots perched on the ground at his feet. They opened their mouths over and over again, mutely singing out their emotions.

  Despite the assault on his eyes, not a single illusion produced noise. They were all mute observers of their spellcasters.

  Kizu looked to Professor Ignis, the lecturer barely visible behind all the objects. The professor looked incredibly amused as he walked among all the different illusions in the room. Then he caught Kizu’s eye and raised an eyebrow.

  Taking a deep breath, Kizu slipped the blindfold back on and dismissed his current illusion. He went back to the drawing board. He needed to choose something that didn’t have a physical image. A noise that existed without an associated object. It took him a long time before he discovered a solution. It wasn’t perfect still, there were ways in which he could imagine a visual representation, but he tried instead to reach out to a more illusive form of the noise.

  Silence.

  Then…a faint whistle. The sound of wind rippling over them. He only heard it for a moment before it was covered up by students all around him muttering to themselves. Then the gasps of his peers.

  Grinning, Kizu once again removed his blindfold once again. Everyone was pointing around at the different illusions, quietly exclaiming.

  “Well done, Kaga Kizu,” Professor Ignis said. “It’s rare that someone manages to create an auditory illusion on the very first day. “Now, all of you, back to practicing. Let’s see if one or two more of you can match this success by the end of class.”

  While the rest of the students resumed their attempts, Ignis walked over to speak to Kizu.

  “A clever approach, replicating the sound of wind. Now if you’d already studied sensational illusions, that might have proved a bit more difficult since you feel the wind still even if it remains unseen. However, that’s a subject for later in the semester. You did exceptionally well with the tools in front of you.”

  “Thank you, professor.”

  “Remember though, this is only the foundation and you’re relying on crutches still. Go enter the music classroom next door where no one can hear you. The walls were recently re-enchanted to keep sound disturbances from leaking over into the academy. We can’t have your noises making distractions for the rest of your classmates. For the rest of the period I want you to focus on continuing this success. I’ll stop by at the end of class to check in and advise you further.”

  Kizu nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder. Choko peeked under her blindfold at him as he walked by. Everyone else ignored his footsteps as he walked past them.

  The music room’s instruments had all been switched out from last semester but it was still the same room. He sat cross-legged in the percussion area in the back of the room where he’d been placed last semester. Closing his eyes, he focused on recasting the illusion.

  He managed it seven more times before the academy bell sounded and released him from class. The longest continuous auditory illusion had been for nearly a minute. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten it much louder than his first success. And he still felt limited to the whistle of wind. Even when he tried to change the noise to something related, like the rustling of leaves, his magic would default to visual illusions.

  Professor Ignis didn’t seem too concerned when Kizu reported his progress. After a brief demonstration, the professor simply nodded his head and waved a hand, scratching a short note into a floating scroll.

  “Continue practicing that method. We’ll be rehearsing it in class for the next week. Then we’ll begin adding distractions and pressing you harder with pressure. You have the most solid foundation in the class, but you need to press on that advantage if you wish to stay ahead. Do not get lax.”

  “I understand.” And Kizu really did. He wanted to excel at this new method of spellcraft. Already he was considering how useful it would be. Especially combined with his divination studies. By the end of the semester he would be able to craft nearly indiscernible illusions.

  “Next, your piano check-in’s.” Ignis flipped the floating scroll over with another flick of his wrist. “Hm. I have you scheduled to meet with me next weekend, the start of the next quarter, and before the school tournament at the end of the semester. I’ll both evaluate and advise you in these sessions. Any questions?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Excellent. In that case your scrying orb will update with the new schedule. If that’s all, I need to prepare for my next class.”

  Without another word, Professor Ignis left the classroom, his eyes now locked onto a new scroll.

  Kizu sat there for a minute. Then closed his eyes. He could almost feel the breeze on his skin as the sound of wind passed by. He smiled, simply absorbing the moment of accomplishment.

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