Liverpool Institute of Domain Education

  September 2004

  First day of classes

  Bright and early in the morning, and the lecture hall was already full to the brim with eager students. Passionate, eager discussion broke out among the crowd, gossiping on any and all subjects from mundane networking to what the exact topic of their first lesson might cover.

  The tiered seating was abuzz with a positive air. After all, every single one of those students truly believed they had made it. They’d all been granted attendance to the premier university in the United Kingdom – and some might argue, the world – for turning today’s nobodies into the next generation’s heavy hitters. Magic was in the air, so to speak, and the bubbling excitement of this year’s group of freshmen had picked up on that electric feeling with the fervor only the young and excitable truly possessed.

  It made him want to vomit.

  The professor peered into the vast auditorium from one of the back entrances, gauging the crowd. Mentally preparing himself for the inevitable exhaustion to follow.

  To all of them in there, he was expected to be a guiding light that would set them on the first steps of the path to learning a Domain of magic. Their professor. A role laden in enough hollow praise and generous stipends to almost keep you company through the many days of self loathing. Almost enough.

  Many years ago, he’d signed up for the venerated position with one ideal in mind. When the offer to teach arrived at his door, he’d thought of it as a way to help push mankind to yet further heights, beyond what had been thought possible before! To better share this gift himself and the other original mages had released to the world, and run with it as far as they could!

  But, in the end, those high hopes had only set him up for disappointment, and he only had himself to blame.

  He thought he remembered a time when he’d been as delighted about the subject as they were. Before nearly twenty years of being relegated to a glorified campus spokesperson had ground him into the dust. Nowadays, he just couldn’t bring himself to care about… anything, really.

  When he’d looked at himself in the mirror this morning, his hair had been thinning up top, balding to a crisp, snowy white. To match, there’d also been a scruffy beard drooping off of his chin that he hadn’t even bothered to shave. His face had appeared gaunt, with heavy rings under his eyes only worsening the ghastly visage. Despite how awful he’d thought he looked, he’d walked away from the mirror all the same.

  Why bother. He was tenured, and half of what he’d be saying today was liable to go in one ear and out the other. Let the ones who were actually worth teaching come to him later on their own time, after his hangover subsided.

  With a deep breath and a pounding headache, the professor slammed open the door and strode confidently towards the central podium. The room immediately fell silent, all eyes on him as he carried a briefcase to the stand.

  He turned rigidly, leaning heavily onto the podium and squeezing his eyes shut as the pain in his temple flared. The damn lights were always too bright on the first day. He’d need to go back into the AV room later and adjust them properly. Like always. For now, though, the controls on the underside of the podium would have to suffice.

  He clumsily thumbed the plastic panel, and the lights finally dimmed enough for him to open his eyes. A quick glance was all he needed to notice that – as usual – hushed conversations had broken out between close peers in the crowd. Great. Because the last thing he needed right now was inattentive students.

  His briefcase dropped from his hand with a resounding thud, startling the audience in an acceptable fashion and ensuring all eyes were on him.

  “Good morning,” he began more politely than he felt was deserved. “Welcome to Introduction to Domain History 100. You lot are all here because you have chosen – or were chosen – to follow along in the great dream of becoming a mage. Whether you had talent to begin with, or you’re looking to claim some for your own, it doesn’t matter. There is one, very important lesson that you need to hear first and foremost.”

  The students practically leaned in closer, fully ready to cling onto every last word he said. He stifled the urge to groan, and continued.

  “As you may have noticed, I’ve been at this for some time. I’ve seen plenty of students come and go, and there is one, highly prominent, highly infuriating pattern I see every time a new batch of you bug-eyed, snot-dribbling numskulls comes through that door.”

  A low wave of confusion rippled through the room, interspersed with a fair amount of indignation and gritted teeth. Whatever. Let them pound sand about it, if they felt so insulted. There’d be plenty more where that came from, and worse, from future professors.

  “Nearly every last one of you comes here expecting that you’re, in some way, special. That, because you had the luck to be able to practice magic on your own, or the grit to push on through the rigorous entrance exam, that somehow you’re just destined to be the next greatest talent the world has ever seen. This…”

  He paused for emphasis, singling out as many students as he could with stern looks before the pace dictated he continue.

  “Is the mindset that will see more than half of you fail in your first year.”

  A murmur rose throughout the crowd at his words, only to be instantly silenced by a piercing shush from the professor.

  “I know what you’re thinking. ‘Oh, not me. Plenty of others will probably have it happen to them, but there’s no way I’d be one of them!’ Sure. Keep up that attitude. See where it gets you. Now, if there’s any of you left who are still interested in learning some proper foundations…”

  Frantically, packs were unzipped and textbooks were removed from within, anticipating that this was the start of the lecture proper. Typical. Always jumping to conclusions.

  With a thought, glowing white glyphs encircled the professors wrist as he made a stirring motion with his pointer finger. Those who had presumed this would be a normal lecture swiftly found books that had been a significant investment on their part to acquire jerking out of their grip and floating towards the center of the room.

  “I wasn’t finished talking, you ingrates.”, he glowered. “This should have gone without saying, but I’ll repeat it for those of you a bit more thick in the head. You understand absolutely nothing about how Domains function. As such-”

  With a snap of his fingers, the various textbooks circling around in the air above him burst into flame, each one pierced by a glowing orange beam of light originating from his palm. The audience stared on in shock as several thousand pounds of collective spending power between them, quite literally, went up in smoke.

  “I believe in doing things with a more hands-on approach. Let’s begin.”

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  “First,” another wave of his hand, and a blackboard levitated down from above to rest behind him. “Can any of you tell me when the first Domains were discovered?”

  Several raised their hands, but he ignored the ones who did. “You,” he pointed towards one particular inattentive student in the back that he’d profiled earlier. “State your name and your answer.”

  The student in question looked around befuddled, checking to see if he was pointing to someone behind him. “...Me?”, he asked in a confused voice.

  “Not anymore. Wrong answer. You get no points for today.”

  The mood of the room immediately turned to ice as they realized their grade point averages were on the line off the rip. The student who’d been made an example of tried to figuratively melt into his seat, for all the good it did him now.

  “You,” he pointed to another student who had slacked off similarly and gave the same directive. “State your name and your answer.”

  “T-Thomas Melchett. The first Domains became public knowledge in 1986…”

  The professor’s scowl deepened as the next one trailed off. “And?”

  “W-what do you mean? I answered correctly, didn’t I?”

  An exasperated groan escaped his lips. “In the barest sense of the word ‘answer’, yes. You did. Congratulations. You’ve offered the least enlightening response possible, but it is, indeed, an answer. 20% points for you.”

  Thomas wasn’t sure whether to be happy he got any points to begin with, or upset that he’d been given a failing grade for the day. Just like every other second response he’d gotten for the past five years.

  Such a shame. Even if more students came in these days with talents, it seemed that less and less of them arrived with talent.

  “You,” shifting attention to another student seemingly at random. “You know the drill. Get on with it.”

  The freshman girl gulped nervously, but nodded. “Eliza Burton. The first Domains were revealed… October 15th- no, 16th- of 1986, those Domains being the Fire, Water, Earth and Air Domains.”

  “Impressive, you seem to have the barest grasp of the concept of paying attention. 75% points.”

  “W-what?!”

  “Hm. Seems I spoke too soon. A 5% deduction on that for talking out of turn, on top of the 25% for being momentarily mistaken. Next question.”

  He moved along at a brisk pace, and all the girl could do was hang her head in silence.

  The professor mentally tabulated the grades for the day as he continued from student to student. With an amphitheater packed to a capacity of hundreds, there would be more than enough trivia to sling around something to each and every one of them.

  With any luck, he’d know the cream from the dregs by day’s end.

  “You. What are the Ten Domains?”

  “Eugene Wallace. The names of each Domain are Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Flora, Fauna, Tech, Law, Day and Night.”

  “I asked what they are, not for their names. 25 percent. Next.”

  “Sarah… Woods. Domains are the application of raw mana through the use of a medium or focus. Traditionally, this is done actively by a mage channeling their abilities to create the desired effect, or indirectly through enchantments or inscriptions that have been provided the requisite charged mana crystal aligned with the necessary Domain.”

  “And where does raw mana come from?”

  “I- I don’t know, professor.”

  “Tsk. So close. But, at least you’re honest. 80 percent. Next.”

  “Martin Palmer. Raw mana is a random phenomenon that seemingly occurs naturally in the vicinity of living beings.”

  “Don’t think I don’t see that cheat sheet you’re using back there. 95 percent for answering efficiently, minus 10 percent for making it so easy to be caught. You. When did the Soviet Union collapse?”

  “That’s nothing to do with Do… Reece Martin. The Soviet Union collapsed in December of 1991, due to sociopolitical failures within the nation and amid a slew of failed reforms.”

  “Almost bungled it, there. 50 percent, if only because your recovery was decent. You. How has magic affected technological development?”

  “Rebecca Atkinson. The ramifications of magic, while many, have primarily allowed for the refinement of existing machinery and products without the need for excessive… uh… miniaturization? It’s why they stopped trying to make computers smaller than a desk, I think.”

  “...You think? 40 percent.”

  By now, those who had yet to be called were probably hoping he’d run out of questions before he reached them. They were to be sorely disappointed.

  < -|- -|- >

  “What are the three subcategories of Domains?”

  “Amelie Ross. Domains are organized into the Elemental, Life, and Aspect. Fire, Water, Air and Earth belong to the first. Fauna, Flora, Day and Night the second, and Law and Tech the third.”

  “Almost. Swap Day and Night with Tech and you would have been correct. Next.”

  “What is a mana-charged phenomenon?”

  “You mean Ghost of Tolkien? Er, Nathan Gallagher. Mana-charged phenomenon are astronomically unlikely events resulting from newly formed mana particles intersecting with living tissue, though it hasn’t been recorded in any non-humanoid species so far. Even apes seem removed from being affected by it, as far as studies can reasonably indicate, leading to the current belief that sapience is a prerequisite to becoming a mage.”

  “Someone’s done there required reading I see. 90 percent. While it’s impressive that you can memorize the textbook and repeat it verbatim, you’re still just giving someone else’s answer. Last question.”

  There was now only one student left to answer, out of all the rest. All eyes fell on her the moment he spoke with an air of finality.

  “How are mages made?”

  The girl seemed the nervous, bookish type. The professor had flagged her early on as one of the most eager to raise their hand at first, making her the perfect target to ignore until the very end where the lack of attention would do the most to wear down her self-esteem. It was a practice that he didn’t often get the chance to employ… but every so often, there did seem to be a bright spark in the crowd that needed proper tempering. As harsh as the administrative board considered his methods for first-years, they couldn’t deny the results they got.

  The girl licked her lips nervously, and began to speak at last.

  “Lucy Wright… while there are differing opinions on how Domain aptitude is determined, there are… a few recurring schools of thought. Most prominently…”

  She nervously trailed off, but had been headed in the right direction. He needed to keep up appearances, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t nudge her back on track of where she’d been going anyways.

  “Take your time. I’m sure the rest of your peers can wait for you, specifically.” His voice dripped with sarcasm, but the offer stood nonetheless.

  And like clockwork, she rallied her efforts. “Most prominently…! It’s, ah, believed that a mage’s strength after gaining their power is correlated with their overall aptitude. It’s a snowball effect, too. Higher aptitude makes it more likely to develop an affinity with one or even multiple Domains, as well as indicate how much potential the mage has to strengthen their newfound abilities further.”

  “And the biggest indicator of aptitude that has so far been determined…?”

  “Well, that’s a bit hazy… but… there is a statistically significant pattern in the data that indicates that psychological markers associated with wisdom are at play. Lived experience, sense of self, a desire to explore or find answers… to name a few.”

  That was actually an impressive answer. Clear to the point, and indicating that she was pulling from her own personal findings.

  A diamond in the rough. A drop of real talent, for once in this blasted institute’s life.

  But she didn’t quite answer the question directly, either.

  “See me during my office hours, later today.”

  Her face went pale, but she nodded.

  A false assumption, while usually best avoided, could occasionally lead to better results in the long term if applied with a bit of finesse, he found.

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