Magic Under Construction: TOMU V2 #5

[alexandraerin]

Started: 4/12/2011, 5:00 PM
Status: In progress.
Last Update: 4/13/2011, 2:30
Word Count: ~3900
Hours Writing: 2.5




[2.5 hours in. Chapter basically finished. What remains to be done? More detail of *Mackenzie*'s actual classwork, her results with the wand, etc. And possibly some other interruption by the douchebag who thinks he's above all this.]

The room where my spellbinding class was held was set up something like an amphitheater, with a semicircular series of tiered steps down towards the center. On each of the levels were several workstations with chairs facing the instructor's area. I was glad to see there was only one chair per desk... I really preferred not having to share work space with a random person.

I took a seat near the center of the second row from the front and checked out the facilities. In the far left corner of the desk there was a slightly concave stone plate inscribed with a pentacle, the lines of which were impregnated with big, rough salt crystals. The broad tabletop was covered with runes linked in patterns, some designed to encourage the flow of energy and others intended to bolster stability or help promulgate more specific effects. Each group of runes formed a different work space that could be used depending on the desired end.

As I was examining my work area, there came that odd combination of a hush and a commotion that happens when people who were talking fall silent and people who had been quiet suddenly made a noise. It usually means that you're the last one in the room to notice something. I looked up and saw that an elven woman... of the surface kind, and likely full-blooded, or nearly so... had taken the stage and was now sitting on the edge of the instructor's work table.

She was wearing a navy blue suit that was obviously tailored to suit what curves she had. Her hair was in a short pixie cut and colored black, almost certainly artificially... not just because it would be very unusual to see a surface elf with dark hair, but because it was the most flat and listless hair color I'd seen on any elf. Even Dee's stark white hair was shiny.

An elven professor. That was... interesting. I had been expecting a Professor Patrice Leclerc. My impression had been that "Patrice" was a man's name, and the last time a professor with a human-style name... i.e., first name and family name... had turned out to be an elf, it had been my history professor Ariadne Einhorn. She'd shown a strong dislike to me almost right off the bat, which had not successfully masked a deep-seated hatred for half-demons.

"Hello," she said. She paused as if gathering her thoughts. I had a moment of wondering if she expected a response from the class, but it turned out to be more like the calm before the storm.

"My name is Acantha," she continued, her voice taking on a breathless staccato beat. "Just Acantha. No title. No other form of address. I'm sorry that Professor Leclerc isn't here as you expected. He is taking a little sabbatical due to a family emergency, and as a result I'm taking over this section. To my current yet sadly incomplete knowledge, I am to be your instructor in this class for the whole semester. I will keep you posted if that appears likely to change at any point, and will do my best to ensure a smooth transition in the event that the professor is able to return. Before we begin the class... and bearing in mind that I have no ability to relate any of the circumstances regarding Professor Stein's departure... are there any questions about this state of affairs in which we find ourselves?"

I heard a seat push back behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to see a young man getting to his feet with his hand in the air and a slightly supercilious grin.

If you're not sure what the word "supercilious" really signifies even after seeing it defined somewhere, all I can say is that the most instructive thing in the world is to see someone grinning that way. Some people aren't just smug, they are so smug that they need five syllables and a prefix like "super" to encompass their smugness. Once you've seen someone like this, you'll never fail to grasp the word again.

"I registered for a class taught by a university professor with advanced degrees in spellbinding and enchantment," he said. "What exactly are your qualifications, 'Just Acantha'?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Qualifications. First, let me start by answering your question..."

"I should hope so," he said. There were some giggles... more nervous than approving, I thought, or hoped... from scattered parts of the room.

"You have been called on and your question has been both stated and recognized so you should now in fact be sitting down," Acantha said.

She paused again, this time remaining absolutely statue-still the way only an elf can... not blinking, possibly not even breathing... until the asshole sat down.

"To answer your question," she continued, "I taught spellbinding to the woman who taught the human who was the dean of wizardry at the school where your university professor earned his advanced degrees. That is the first thing I wish to convey to you. The second is that when I tell you that I am Acantha, just Acantha, no other form of address, what I mean is that you are to address me as just open-quote-Acantha-close-quote. The only other thing you may choose to address me with should you do so is a modicum of respect."

I almost felt sorry for the guy... almost. My sympathetic embarrassment reflex was kicking in, but I couldn't imagine he felt embarrassed. Probably more like seething resentment. On a rational level, I knew Acantha probably deserved my sympathy more. She had done nothing more to earn the guy's scorn than show up for work. Whether it was because he'd been expecting a man, or a human, or because he saw an opportunity to try to establish some kind of power dynamic with someone who wasn't a "real" professor didn't matter... she probably caught more than her share of shit for any and all of those things.

"With no disrespect intended to the worthy Professor Leclerc, those of you who are willing to accept my tutelage will receive a rare opportunity," Acatha continued. "I do not often give instruction. Obviously in the course of a single semester we will cover only a tiny fraction of what I know of the subject of spellbinding, and it will of course be largely bounded by the scope of this single class. But I do not doubt that if you are apt pupils, you shall find in me an able teacher.

"Elves invented the art of spellcraft as humanity knows it, some time in the dim and twilight ages after the fall of Athanasia. Humans, being a race of innovators much less bound by the disapproval of their ancestors and often less fearful of the consequences of bold experimentation, were able to greatly improve on our arts. I have spent almost two hundred years teaching individual apprentices... mostly human... the secrets of weaving and binding spells, and in doing so I learned much from them. Lest you fear that my skills are antiquated, I will tell you that I earn my gold these days primarily as a consultant to major corporations whose names you would recognize if I could share them. My knowledge is current because it is my currency."

This was interesting. Acantha could have all kinds of useful contacts in corporate Magisteria, and knowledge of the inner workings of the industry. I had absolutely no idea how to go about cultivating her acquaintance in order to take advantage of those things, but it kind of seemed like a no-brainer to not deliberately piss her off by making fun of her name or questioning her credentials.

"We will now go over the required tools for the course," she said. "You must have in your possession a wand of wood, metal, or stone, in its natural and empty, i.e., unenchanted and uncharged state. You may opt to use more than one such wand for your coursework if you do not desire to discharge it between projects. To put it simply and plainly, never come to class without an empty wand unless told otherwise."

I had several wands ready, having spent some of my free time over the summer gathering suitable branches, stripping them of bark, and sanding them down until they were smooth. Pre-made wand forms were available in the bookstore, but given how easy they were to prepare and the added benefit of personal affinity from something even slightly hand-crafted, it just made sense to gather my own.

"You must have a crystal, stone, mirror, or other object of a reasonably clear or reflective character, reasonably free of defects," she said. "The last qualifier is important because we will be imbuing these objects with a substantial amount of energy and any significant defect greatly increases the risk of catastrophic failure, which is to say a rather energetic explosion. I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a crystal that has been professionally graded for this purpose rather than relying on some stone you found lying in a field."

I was covered there, too. While I'd kept my eye out for a hunk of quartz or something else that could serve cheaply, I'd ended up buying a great big roundish hunk of silvery hematite. The direness of her warnings notwithstanding, a powerstone made out of a semiprecious stone and charged up to its breaking point by a rank novice wouldn't do much damage when it blew... but the magic-infused shards would be able to penetrate my skin as if it were nothing but ordinary mortal human flesh, and I wasn't looking forward to any more trips to the healing center.

"Thirdly, you must have two notebooks or other devices for the storing of words, to serve as a workbook and a grimoire," Acantha said. "Any spells you are working on will go in your workbook. Only spells that are finished will be inscribed in your grimoire. I recommend a pencil or erasable ink for the notebook, for reasons of convenience, but the use of a permanent medium in your grimoire will lend strength to your bindings."

"Today, we are going to be focusing on several basic procedures that you will be using throughout the semester," Acantha said. "This may be the most boring session of the semester, but it is important as everything we do in the future

The first is powerstone handling. Here is the first and most important rule regarding powerstones: unless you are actively engaging in the act of charging the stone, always pick it up with your receptive hand. Not your projective hand. For most of you, that means your left hand. Is anyone here left-handed?"

I heard some movement behind me, but I didn't turn around to see. I wasn't that curious about who in my class used what hand.

"You people in particular will want to be wary of making assumptions regarding your personal polarity," she said. "Most human practitioners naturally project with their right hands and receive with their left hands. For left-handed persons, this may be reversed. For folks who have a naturally passive or receptive personality, this may be reversed. For the truly ambidextrous individual or the rare naturally-gifted wizard who does not involve his or her hands in his or her workings as an automatic matter of course, neither hand may be particularly predisposed in either direction. If you do not know your polarity, you will discover it in the course of the next few exercises.

"The second rule for handling powerstones: always put on a protective eyeshield when handling a powerstone. In my class, you will receive a substantial penalty to your grade if I see you pick up a powerstone without your eyeshield. Outside of class, I can do nothing but hope you will wear them. I have watched young humans grow cockier as the state of the art of healing grows by leaps and bounds, but there are three things to remember.

"First, eyes are expensive to generate, and just because you get your healing for free don't make the mistake of thinking no one has to pay for them. Second, losing an eye is a traumatic and disorienting experience and you will be blind or partially blind for the period of time it takes a replacement or replacements to be grown. There's no reason to go through that if it can be avoided. Three, when a powerstone explodes, portions of it are vaporized into a very fine powder and propelled with a considerable amount of impetus. If they can get into your eyes, they can get into your brain... an organ I am told that most races require to live. Whether you believe it or not there are limits to what sort of healing your student ID will get you.

"So, what you will all do now is to put on your eyeshields, take out or pick up your powerstone-to-be with what you believe is most likely to be your receptive hand, and put it on the grounding plate in the corner of your desk. If you are right-receptive, you may move the plate to the right corner before you perform this operation. This is the third rule for handling powerstones. Any time your powerstone is charged and unsealed, it is either in your hand or it is on the grounding plate. When you take the stone off the grounding plate at the end of the session, you will either seal it or drain it completely before putting it back in your bag or... I shudder to imagine... your pocket."

In more time than it takes to tell it, she guided us through the process of picking up our powerstone, transferring them to our projective hands, very gingerly pushing a very small amount of energy into it, and then forming a "seal" on that energy to keep it from dissipating.

The seal was the most complex part, and the fact that it took us most of half an hour to get through it couldn't be chalked up entirely to Acantha's somewhat drawn-out and circuitous instructions. It wasn't a literal seal... it was a sort of layered enhancement effect where we enhanced the stone's tendency to retain energy put into it as high as we could, and then that effect to be powered by the energy that went into the stone. Even that wouldn't necessarily last, Acantha told us, because maintaining the enhancement would drain the energy from the stone.

"The key is that the stones we are using are naturally mana-porous," Acantha said. "When you enhance that trait, they take in more background energy from the world. If you are efficient enough in forming that enhancement and crafting your seal enchantment, then your stone will take in slightly more energy than it uses, meaning that while the seal is in place it will slowly recharge itself. Few of you will manage this feat before the end of the semester, but all that is really necessary is for you to make a stone that loses the energy you put into it very slowly. The point of this exercise, of course, is that this class will involve repeated casting of spells. If you had to rely on your own natural reserves of energy to see you through your exercises here, you would be out of luck. And out of power."

It was tricky to get right, but it was easy to tell when I did because the hematite chunk wouldn't hold power for long without it. I could feel the power flowing right back out of it without the seal, and I could feel the energy within it ebbing as my first clumsy attempts to make the seal self-sustaining drained its meager charge.

"Put only a very small amount of power into your stone," Acantha counseled the class while making a circuit of the room, checking students' work, and offering additional advice to people who were having difficulties. "You may have to repeat this exercise multiple times before you can form an effective seal. Once you have a sealed stone, you can add more power to the stone at any point, but you should stop the moment you feel any resistance... any 'push-back'... from your stone. At that point it is at approximately half of its theoretical maximum energy capacity, but safely charging it beyond that point requires considerable more care, experience, and familiarity with the particular stone and its quirks than you are likely to have any time soon.

"If you have high energy reserves, a natural talent for energy channeling, or are menstruating, you will need to exercise particular caution as you approach your stone's threshold as you may be projecting more power than you expect."

That was good to know. My potion regimen took care of the menstruation bit, fortunately, but my demon blood did give me an above-average energy reserve. I hadn't considered that there might be some drawbacks, too. I decided not to push the limits of my ability to charge up the hematite right that moment... I wouldn't need to draw stored energy out of a stone as often as most of my classmates in the first place, and we were just going over procedures, anyway. I left the seal spell in place and set the stone down on the grounding plate.

I was really kind of oddly excited about the seal. It was my first self-sustaining spell... not quite the same thing as a truly permanent one, but in theory the powerstone could go untouched for hundreds of years and the spell would remain intact. If I could incorporate a small power reservoir into my blank staff or my winter coat, I could make the enhancements I put on them self-sustaining.

"Next, we're going to be dealing with procedures for spells," Acantha said. "As this is a spellbinding class, you will in the ordinary course of things be constructing or at least perfecting your own spells. for the purposes of our first exercise, we will be using a very simple stock spell which you will begin by copying into your workbook. We will be working with a more complex and comprehensive form of this spell in our next session, but for the purposes of learning standard procedures we will use a standard spell."

She flipped around the markerboard behind her desk revealing what was a very simple formula that would impel a small puff of air forward, extracting a bit of thunder and lightning from it to make a pop and flash.

Stock spells would rarely have much more effect than that... they were written according to methods that would work for just about anyone with any magical talent and power, but everyone responded best to different methods and it was a rare person who would be able to command bolts of lightning and balls of fire using spells written by someone else. This was one reason why wizards had been so rare in ages past... only one apprentice candidate out of thousands would be able to produce real results following a given master's spell.

This spell in particular wouldn't do more than a loud bang even if someone in the class had a personal style that aligned closely to it. I'd seen really similar spells called "sparks", "snaps", orother things before. It was the sort of thing that the companies that had advertised in the back of old comic books would teach you if you sent in their form to "learn how to throw real lightning bolts!"

There were a few crackles and pops from around the room, and one surprised yelp of pain.

"If you must test the spell, direct it towards a circle of negation, please," Acantha said. "And well away from your powerstone. Has everyone copied the spell? Spellbinding is a meticulous practice, and serious enchantment requires great efficiency. Never try to put a spell into a wand or other item extemporaneously. You should always be working from a written copy. To ensure that everyone is working from his or her workbook, I will erase the board before we proceed, so make certain you have the spell copied down."

She waited a few seconds while a few people hastily scrawled the formula out, then she wiped the board clean.

"Now for the matter of charged wands," Acantha said. "Again, you will pick up, hold, and inspect a wand only with your receptive hand. Only when you are charging or imbuing a wand with a spell, or using its charge, will you hold it in your projective hand. Unless otherwise specifically directed, you will discharge all spells from the wand directly into the center of one of the three circles of negation inscribed on your table. If your powerstone is out, use the circle that is farthest from it. If you for any reason believe the spell will be too powerful for the circle, seal your powerstone, put it away, and place the grounding plate in the middle of the circle. We will now go through the procedure for preparing a wand, charging it with a spell, and discharging that spell, using the spell you have copied into your workbook."

Even though it was an entirely different sort of "charging"... attaching a use of a spell to the wand rather than pumping it full of energy... this proved to be remarkable similar to the process of charging up a powerstone. We started by enhancing the receptivity of the wand to hold spells. Technically any object could have a spell stored in it, but as a natural wizard's implement the wands gave us more to work with. A bit of energy light seal made that self-sustaining, and then the form of the spell was layered around that seal in such a way that it would use the sealed-in energy when discharged.

"To trigger a spell stored in this fashion, it is only necessary to give a slight nudge to the seal," Acantha said. "More complex workings can, of course, give a wand's stored spells other triggers, but the focus of this class is on the act of spellbinding rather than advanced wandmaking techniques. Still, in the course of this class, you can expect to learn a bit about such things as how to attach multiple spells to a wand as a serial or parallel sequence, and how to layer spells independently of the energy seal so that they may all draw from a common pool of charges and even remain inert when all the energy has been discharged."

She made sure that everyone could successfully attach the spark spell to their wand and discharge it. We were a few minutes past the end of class by that point, but before dismissing us she directed everyone to try discharging their wands into the protective rune circles once more and to check the seal on our stones before putting them away.

"For Wednesday, read the first twelve pages of section one and familiarize yourself with the techniques," she said. "You're going to be using them to construct your own version of this spell. Grading will be as follows: a C will be awarded for adequately recreating it in a form you can stably affix to the wand. A B will be awarded for noticeably improving it or otherwise personalizing in at least one area. An A for improving it in two areas or more. Class is dismissed."

[2 hours in. While I expect the workings of magic will be really interesting to some readers, I need to emphasize that the entire semester won't just be "Here are procedures, do them." The rote instructions Acantha is giving the class doesn't speak well of the experience and insight she's bringing to the room.]

The room where my spellbinding class was held was set up something like an amphitheater, with a semicircular series of tiered steps down towards the center. On each of the levels were several workstations with chairs facing the instructor's area. I was glad to see there was only one chair per desk... I really preferred not having to share work space with a random person.

I took a seat near the center of the second row from the front and checked out the facilities. In the far left corner of the desk there was a slightly concave stone plate inscribed with a pentacle, the lines of which were impregnated with big, rough salt crystals. The broad tabletop was covered with runes linked in patterns, some designed to encourage the flow of energy and others intended to bolster stability or help promulgate more specific effects. Each group of runes formed a different work space that could be used depending on the desired end.

As I was examining my work area, there came that odd combination of a hush and a commotion that happens when people who were talking fall silent and people who had been quiet suddenly made a noise. It usually means that you're the last one in the room to notice something. I looked up and saw that an elven woman... of the surface kind, and likely full-blooded, or nearly so... had taken the stage and was now sitting on the edge of the instructor's work table.

She was wearing a navy blue suit that was obviously tailored to suit what curves she had. Her hair was in a short pixie cut and colored black, almost certainly artificially... not just because it would be very unusual to see a surface elf with dark hair, but because it was the most flat and listless hair color I'd seen on any elf. Even Dee's stark white hair was shiny.

An elven professor. That was... interesting. I had been expecting a Professor Patrice Leclerc. My impression had been that "Patrice" was a man's name, and the last time a professor with a human-style name... i.e., first name and family name... had turned out to be an elf, it had been my history professor Ariadne Einhorn. She'd shown a strong dislike to me almost right off the bat, which had not successfully masked a deep-seated hatred for half-demons.

"Hello," she said. She paused as if gathering her thoughts. I had a moment of wondering if she expected a response from the class, but it turned out to be more like the calm before the storm.

"My name is Acantha," she continued, her voice taking on a breathless staccato beat. "Just Acantha. No title. No other form of address. I'm sorry that Professor Leclerc isn't here as you expected. He is taking a little sabbatical due to a family emergency, and as a result I'm taking over this section. To my current yet sadly incomplete knowledge, I am to be your instructor in this class for the whole semester. I will keep you posted if that appears likely to change at any point, and will do my best to ensure a smooth transition in the event that the professor is able to return. Before we begin the class... and bearing in mind that I have no ability to relate any of the circumstances regarding Professor Stein's departure... are there any questions about this state of affairs in which we find ourselves?"

I heard a seat push back behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to see a young man getting to his feet with his hand in the air and a slightly supercilious grin.

If you're not sure what the word "supercilious" really signifies even after seeing it defined somewhere, all I can say is that the most instructive thing in the world is to see someone grinning that way. Some people aren't just smug, they are so smug that they need five syllables and a prefix like "super" to encompass their smugness. Once you've seen someone like this, you'll never fail to grasp the word again.

"I registered for a class taught by a university professor with advanced degrees in spellbinding and enchantment," he said. "What exactly are your qualifications, 'Just Acantha'?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Qualifications. First, let me start by answering your question..."

"I should hope so," he said. There were some giggles... more nervous than approving, I thought, or hoped... from scattered parts of the room.

"You have been called on and your question has been both stated and recognized so you should now in fact be sitting down," Acantha said.

She paused again, this time remaining absolutely statue-still the way only an elf can... not blinking, possibly not even breathing... until the asshole sat down.

"To answer your question," she continued, "I taught spellbinding to the woman who taught the human who was the dean of wizardry at the school where your university professor earned his advanced degrees. That is the first thing I wish to convey to you. The second is that when I tell you that I am Acantha, just Acantha, no other form of address, what I mean is that you are to address me as just open-quote-Acantha-close-quote. The only other thing you may choose to address me with should you do so is a modicum of respect."

I almost felt sorry for the guy... almost. My sympathetic embarrassment reflex was kicking in, but I couldn't imagine he felt embarrassed. Probably more like seething resentment. On a rational level, I knew Acantha probably deserved my sympathy more. She had done nothing more to earn the guy's scorn than show up for work. Whether it was because he'd been expecting a man, or a human, or because he saw an opportunity to try to establish some kind of power dynamic with someone who wasn't a "real" professor didn't matter... she probably caught more than her share of shit for any and all of those things.

"With no disrespect intended to the worthy Professor Leclerc, those of you who are willing to accept my tutelage will receive a rare opportunity," Acatha continued. "I do not often give instruction. Obviously in the course of a single semester we will cover only a tiny fraction of what I know of the subject of spellbinding, and it will of course be largely bounded by the scope of this single class. But I do not doubt that if you are apt pupils, you shall find in me an able teacher.

"Elves invented the art of spellcraft as humanity knows it, some time in the dim and twilight ages after the fall of Athanasia. Humans, being a race of innovators much less bound by the disapproval of their ancestors and often less fearful of the consequences of bold experimentation, were able to greatly improve on our arts. I have spent almost two hundred years teaching individual apprentices... mostly human... the secrets of weaving and binding spells, and in doing so I learned much from them. Lest you fear that my skills are antiquated, I will tell you that I earn my gold these days primarily as a consultant to major corporations whose names you would recognize if I could share them. My knowledge is current because it is my currency."

This was interesting. Acantha could have all kinds of useful contacts in corporate Magisteria, and knowledge of the inner workings of the industry. I had absolutely no idea how to go about cultivating her acquaintance in order to take advantage of those things, but it kind of seemed like a no-brainer to not deliberately piss her off by making fun of her name or questioning her credentials.

"We will now go over the required tools for the course," she said. "You must have in your possession a wand of wood, metal, or stone, in its natural and empty, i.e., unenchanted and uncharged state. You may opt to use more than one such wand for your coursework if you do not desire to discharge it between projects. To put it simply and plainly, never come to class without an empty wand unless told otherwise."

I had several wands ready, having spent some of my free time over the summer gathering suitable branches, stripping them of bark, and sanding them down until they were smooth. Pre-made wand forms were available in the bookstore, but given how easy they were to prepare and the added benefit of personal affinity from something even slightly hand-crafted, it just made sense to gather my own.

"You must have a crystal, stone, mirror, or other object of a reasonably clear or reflective character, reasonably free of defects," she said. "The last qualifier is important because we will be imbuing these objects with a substantial amount of energy and any significant defect greatly increases the risk of catastrophic failure, which is to say a rather energetic explosion. I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a crystal that has been professionally graded for this purpose rather than relying on some stone you found lying in a field."

I was covered there, too. While I'd kept my eye out for a hunk of quartz or something else that could serve cheaply, I'd ended up buying a great big roundish hunk of silvery hematite. The direness of her warnings notwithstanding, a powerstone made out of a semiprecious stone and charged up to its breaking point by a rank novice wouldn't do much damage when it blew... but the magic-infused shards would be able to penetrate my skin as if it were nothing but ordinary mortal human flesh, and I wasn't looking forward to any more trips to the healing center.

"Thirdly, you must have two notebooks or other devices for the storing of words, to serve as a workbook and a grimoire," Acantha said. "Any spells you are working on will go in your workbook. Only spells that are finished will be inscribed in your grimoire. I recommend a pencil or erasable ink for the notebook, for reasons of convenience, but the use of a permanent medium in your grimoire will lend strength to your bindings."

"Today, we are going to be focusing on several basic procedures that you will be using throughout the semester," Acantha said. "This may be the most boring session of the semester, but it is important as everything we do in the future

The first is powerstone handling. Here is the first and most important rule regarding powerstones: unless you are actively engaging in the act of charging the stone, always pick it up with your receptive hand. Not your projective hand. For most of you, that means your left hand. Is anyone here left-handed?"

I heard some movement behind me, but I didn't turn around to see. I wasn't that curious about who in my class used what hand.

"You people in particular will want to be wary of making assumptions regarding your personal polarity," she said. "Most human practitioners naturally project with their right hands and receive with their left hands. For left-handed persons, this may be reversed. For folks who have a naturally passive or receptive personality, this may be reversed. For the truly ambidextrous individual or the rare naturally-gifted wizard who does not involve his or her hands in his or her workings as an automatic matter of course, neither hand may be particularly predisposed in either direction. If you do not know your polarity, you will discover it in the course of the next few exercises.

"The second rule for handling powerstones: always put on a protective eyeshield when handling a powerstone. In my class, you will receive a substantial penalty to your grade if I see you pick up a powerstone without your eyeshield. Outside of class, I can do nothing but hope you will wear them. I have watched young humans grow cockier as the state of the art of healing grows by leaps and bounds, but there are three things to remember.

"First, eyes are expensive to generate, and just because you get your healing for free don't make the mistake of thinking no one has to pay for them. Second, losing an eye is a traumatic and disorienting experience and you will be blind or partially blind for the period of time it takes a replacement or replacements to be grown. There's no reason to go through that if it can be avoided. Three, when a powerstone explodes, portions of it are vaporized into a very fine powder and propelled with a considerable amount of impetus. If they can get into your eyes, they can get into your brain... an organ I am told that most races require to live. Whether you believe it or not there are limits to what sort of healing your student ID will get you.

"So, what you will all do now is to put on your eyeshields, take out or pick up your powerstone-to-be with what you believe is most likely to be your receptive hand, and put it on the grounding plate in the corner of your desk. If you are right-receptive, you may move the plate to the right corner before you perform this operation. This is the third rule for handling powerstones. Any time your powerstone is charged and unsealed, it is either in your hand or it is on the grounding plate. When you take the stone off the grounding plate at the end of the session, you will either seal it or drain it completely before putting it back in your bag or... I shudder to imagine... your pocket."

In more time than it takes to tell it, she guided us through the process of picking up our powerstone, transferring them to our projective hands, very gingerly pushing a very small amount of energy into it, and then forming a "seal" on that energy to keep it from dissipating.

The seal was the most complex part, and the fact that it took us most of half an hour to get through it couldn't be chalked up entirely to Acantha's somewhat drawn-out and circuitous instructions. It wasn't a literal seal... it was a sort of layered enhancement effect where we enhanced the stone's tendency to retain energy put into it as high as we could, and then that effect to be powered by the energy that went into the stone. Even that wouldn't necessarily last, Acantha told us, because maintaining the enhancement would drain the energy from the stone.

"The key is that the stones we are using are naturally mana-porous," Acantha said. "When you enhance that trait, they take in more background energy from the world. If you are efficient enough in forming that enhancement and crafting your seal enchantment, then your stone will take in slightly more energy than it uses, meaning that while the seal is in place it will slowly recharge itself. Few of you will manage this feat before the end of the semester, but all that is really necessary is for you to make a stone that loses the energy you put into it very slowly. The point of this exercise, of course, is that this class will involve repeated casting of spells. If you had to rely on your own natural reserves of energy to see you through your exercises here, you would be out of luck. And out of power."

It was tricky to get right, but it was easy to tell when I did because the hematite chunk wouldn't hold power for long without it. I could feel the power flowing right back out of it without the seal, and I could feel the energy within it ebbing as my first clumsy attempts to make the seal self-sustaining drained its meager charge.

"Put only a very small amount of power into your stone," Acantha counseled the class while making a circuit of the room, checking students' work, and offering additional advice to people who were having difficulties. "You may have to repeat this exercise multiple times before you can form an effective seal. Once you have a sealed stone, you can add more power to the stone at any point, but you should stop the moment you feel any resistance... any 'push-back'... from your stone. At that point it is at approximately half of its theoretical maximum energy capacity, but safely charging it beyond that point requires considerable more care, experience, and familiarity with the particular stone and its quirks than you are likely to have any time soon.

"If you have high energy reserves, a natural talent for energy channeling, or are menstruating, you will need to exercise particular caution as you approach your stone's threshold as you may be projecting more power than you expect."

That was good to know. My potion regimen took care of the menstruation bit, fortunately, but my demon blood did give me an above-average energy reserve. I hadn't considered that there might be some drawbacks, too. I decided not to push the limits of my ability to charge up the hematite right that moment... I wouldn't need to draw stored energy out of a stone as often as most of my classmates in the first place, and we were just going over procedures, anyway. I left the seal spell in place and set the stone down on the grounding plate.

I was really kind of oddly excited about the seal. It was my first self-sustaining spell... not quite the same thing as a truly permanent one, but in theory the powerstone could go untouched for hundreds of years and the spell would remain intact. If I could incorporate a small power reservoir into my blank staff or my winter coat, I could make the enhancements I put on them self-sustaining.

[]Grimoire/spell stuff needs to go here.[]

"Now for the matter of charged wands," Acantha said. "Again, you will pick up, hold, and inspect a wand only with your receptive hand. Only when you are charging or imbuing a wand with a spell, or using its charge, will you hold it in your projective hand. Unless otherwise specifically directed, you will discharge all spells from the wand directly into the center of one of the three circles of negation inscribed on your table. If your powerstone is out, use the circle that is farthest from it. If you for any reason believe the spell will be too powerful for the circle, seal your powerstone, put it away, and place the grounding plate in the middle of the circle. We will now go through the procedure for preparing a wand, charging it with a spell, and discharging that spell."

[1.5 hours in. Really sailing along. For purposes of tracking productivity, I need to note that 1400 words of this were from yesterday; 1100 words are new.]

The room where my spellbinding class was held was set up something like an amphitheater, with a semicircular series of tiered steps down towards the center. On each of the levels were several workstations with chairs facing the instructor's area. I was glad to see there was only one chair per desk... I really preferred not having to share work space with a random person.

I took a seat near the center of the second row from the front and checked out the facilities. In the far left corner of the desk there was a slightly concave stone plate inscribed with a pentacle, the lines of which were impregnated with big, rough salt crystals. The broad tabletop was covered with runes linked in patterns, some designed to encourage the flow of energy and others intended to bolster stability or help promulgate more specific effects. Each group of runes formed a different work space that could be used depending on the desired end.

As I was examining my work area, there came that odd combination of a hush and a commotion that happens when people who were talking fall silent and people who had been quiet suddenly made a noise. It usually means that you're the last one in the room to notice something. I looked up and saw that an elven woman... of the surface kind, and likely full-blooded, or nearly so... had taken the stage and was now sitting on the edge of the instructor's work table.

She was wearing a navy blue suit that was obviously tailored to suit what curves she had. Her hair was in a short pixie cut and colored black, almost certainly artificially... not just because it would be very unusual to see a surface elf with dark hair, but because it was the most flat and listless hair color I'd seen on any elf. Even Dee's stark white hair was shiny.

An elven professor. That was... interesting. I had been expecting a Professor Patrice Leclerc. My impression had been that "Patrice" was a man's name, and the last time a professor with a human-style name... i.e., first name and family name... had turned out to be an elf, it had been my history professor Ariadne Einhorn. She'd shown a strong dislike to me almost right off the bat, which had not successfully masked a deep-seated hatred for half-demons.

"Hello," she said. She paused as if gathering her thoughts. I had a moment of wondering if she expected a response from the class, but it turned out to be more like the calm before the storm.

"My name is Acantha," she continued, her voice taking on a breathless staccato beat. "Just Acantha. No title. No other form of address. I'm sorry that Professor Leclerc isn't here as you expected. He is taking a little sabbatical due to a family emergency, and as a result I'm taking over this section. To my current yet sadly incomplete knowledge, I am to be your instructor in this class for the whole semester. I will keep you posted if that appears likely to change at any point, and will do my best to ensure a smooth transition in the event that the professor is able to return. Before we begin the class... and bearing in mind that I have no ability to relate any of the circumstances regarding Professor Stein's departure... are there any questions about this state of affairs in which we find ourselves?"

I heard a seat push back behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to see a young man getting to his feet with his hand in the air and a slightly supercilious grin.

If you're not sure what the word "supercilious" really signifies even after seeing it defined somewhere, all I can say is that the most instructive thing in the world is to see someone grinning that way. Some people aren't just smug, they are so smug that they need five syllables and a prefix like "super" to encompass their smugness. Once you've seen someone like this, you'll never fail to grasp the word again.

"I registered for a class taught by a university professor with advanced degrees in spellbinding and enchantment," he said. "What exactly are your qualifications, 'Just Acantha'?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Qualifications. First, let me start by answering your question..."

"I should hope so," he said. There were some giggles... more nervous than approving, I thought, or hoped... from scattered parts of the room.

"You have been called on and your question has been both stated and recognized so you should now in fact be sitting down," Acantha said.

She paused again, this time remaining absolutely statue-still the way only an elf can... not blinking, possibly not even breathing... until the asshole sat down.

"To answer your question," she continued, "I taught spellbinding to the woman who taught the human who was the dean of wizardry at the school where your university professor earned his advanced degrees. That is the first thing I wish to convey to you. The second is that when I tell you that I am Acantha, just Acantha, no other form of address, what I mean is that you are to address me as just open-quote-Acantha-close-quote. The only other thing you may choose to address me with should you do so is a modicum of respect."

I almost felt sorry for the guy... almost. My sympathetic embarrassment reflex was kicking in, but I couldn't imagine he felt embarrassed. Probably more like seething resentment. On a rational level, I knew Acantha probably deserved my sympathy more. She had done nothing more to earn the guy's scorn than show up for work. Whether it was because he'd been expecting a man, or a human, or because he saw an opportunity to try to establish some kind of power dynamic with someone who wasn't a "real" professor didn't matter... she probably caught more than her share of shit for any and all of those things.

"With no disrespect intended to the worthy Professor Leclerc, those of you who are willing to accept my tutelage will receive a rare opportunity," Acatha continued. "I do not often give instruction. Obviously in the course of a single semester we will cover only a tiny fraction of what I know of the subject of spellbinding, and it will of course be largely bounded by the scope of this single class. But I do not doubt that if you are apt pupils, you shall find in me an able teacher.

"Elves invented the art of spellcraft as humanity knows it, some time in the dim and twilight ages after the fall of Athanasia. Humans, being a race of innovators much less bound by the disapproval of their ancestors and often less fearful of the consequences of bold experimentation, were able to greatly improve on our arts. I have spent almost two hundred years teaching individual apprentices... mostly human... the secrets of weaving and binding spells, and in doing so I learned much from them. Lest you fear that my skills are antiquated, I will tell you that I earn my gold these days primarily as a consultant to major corporations whose names you would recognize if I could share them. My knowledge is current because it is my currency."

This was interesting. Acantha could have all kinds of useful contacts in corporate Magisteria, and knowledge of the inner workings of the industry. I had absolutely no idea how to go about cultivating her acquaintance in order to take advantage of those things, but it kind of seemed like a no-brainer to not deliberately piss her off by making fun of her name or questioning her credentials.

"We will now go over the required tools for the course," she said. "You must have in your possession a wand of wood, metal, or stone, in its natural and empty, i.e., unenchanted and uncharged state. You may opt to use more than one such wand for your coursework if you do not desire to discharge it between projects. To put it simply and plainly, never come to class without an empty wand unless told otherwise."

I had several wands ready, having spent some of my free time over the summer gathering suitable branches, stripping them of bark, and sanding them down until they were smooth. Pre-made wand forms were available in the bookstore, but given how easy they were to prepare and the added benefit of personal affinity from something even slightly hand-crafted, it just made sense to gather my own.

"You must have a crystal, stone, mirror, or other object of a reasonably clear or reflective character, reasonably free of defects," she said. "The last qualifier is important because we will be imbuing these objects with a substantial amount of energy and any significant defect greatly increases the risk of catastrophic failure, which is to say a rather energetic explosion. I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a crystal that has been professionally graded for this purpose rather than relying on some stone you found lying in a field."

I was covered there, too. While I'd kept my eye out for a hunk of quartz or something else that could serve cheaply, I'd ended up buying a great big roundish hunk of silvery hematite. The direness of her warnings notwithstanding, a powerstone made out of a semiprecious stone and charged up to its breaking point by a rank novice wouldn't do much damage when it blew... but the magic-infused shards would be able to penetrate my skin as if it were nothing but ordinary mortal human flesh, and I wasn't looking forward to any more trips to the healing center.

"Today, we are going to be focusing on several basic procedures that you will be using throughout the semester," Acantha said. "The first is powerstone handling. Here is the first and most important rule regarding powerstones: unless you are actively engaging in the act of charging the stone, always pick it up with your receptive hand. Not your projective hand. For most of you, that means your left hand. Is anyone here left-handed?"

I heard some movement behind me, but I didn't turn around to see. I wasn't that curious about who in my class used what hand.

"You folks in particular will want to be wary of making assumptions regarding your personal polarity," she said. "Most human practitioners naturally project with their right hands and receive with their left hands. For left-handed folks, this may be reversed. For folks who have a naturally passive or receptive personality, this may be reversed. For the rare naturally gifted wizard who does not involve her hands in her workings as an automatic matter, neither hand may be particularly predisposed in either direction. If you do not know your polarity, you will discover it in the course of the next few exercises.

"The second rule for handling powerstones: always put on a protective eyeshield when handling a powerstone. In my class, you will receive a substantial penalty if I see you pick up a powerstone without your eyeshield. Outside of class, I can do nothing but hope you will wear them. I have watched young humans grow cockier as the state of the art of healing grows by leaps and bounds, but there are three things to remember. First, eyes are expensive to generate, and just because you get your healing for free don't make the mistake of thinking no one has to pay for them. Second, losing an eye is a traumatic and disorienting experience and you will be blind or partially blind for the period of time it takes a replacement or replacements to be grown. There's no reason to go through that if it can be avoided. Three, when a powerstone explodes, portions of it are vaporized into a very fine powder and propelled with a considerable amount of impetus. If they can get into your eyes, they can get into your brain... an organ I am told that most races require to live. Whether you believe it or not there are limits to what sort of healing your student ID will get you.

"So, what you will all do now is to put on your eyeshields, take out or pick up your powerstone-to-be with what you believe is most likely to be your receptive hand, and put it on the grounding plate in the corner of your desk. If you are right-receptive, you may move the plate to the right corner before you perform this operation. This is the third rule for handling powerstones. Any time your powerstone is charged and unsealed, it is either in your hand or it is on the grounding plate. When you take the stone off the grounding plate at the end of the session, you will seal it or drain it completely before putting it back in your bag or... I shudder to imagine... your pocket."

In more time than it takes to tell it, she guided us through the process of picking up our powerstone, transferring them to our projective hands, very gingerly pushing a very small amount of energy into it, and then forming a "seal" on that energy to keep it from dissipating.

The seal was the most complex part, and the fact that it took us most of half an hour to get through it couldn't be chalked up entirely to Acantha's somewhat drawn-out instructions. It wasn't a literal seal... it was a sort of layered enhancement effect where we enhanced the stone's tendency to retain energy put into it as high as we could, and then that effect to be powered by the energy that went into the stone. Even that wouldn't necessarily last, Acantha told us, because maintaining the enhancement would drain the energy from the stone.

"The key is that the stones we are using are naturally mana-porous," Acantha said. "When you enhance that, they take in more background energy from the world. If you are efficient enough in crafting your seal enchantment, then your stone will take in slightly more energy than it uses, meaning that while the seal is in place it will slowly recharge itself. Few of you will manage this feat before the end of the semester, but all that is really necessary is for you to make a stone that loses the energy you put into it very slowly. The point of this exercise, of course, is that this class will involve repeated casting of spells. If you had to rely on your own natural reserves of energy to see you through your exercises here, you would be out of luck. And out of power."

It was tricky to get right, but it was easy to tell when I did because the hematite chunk wouldn't hold power for long without it.


[1 hour in. This should be good.]

"Hello," she said. "My name is Acantha. Just Acantha. No title. No other form of address. I'm sorry that Professor Stein isn't here as you expected. He is taking a little sabbatical due to a family emergency, and as a result I'm taking over this section. To my current yet sadly incomplete knowledge, I am to be your instructor in this class for the whole semester. I will keep you posted if that appears likely to change at any point, and will do my best to ensure a smooth transition in the event that the professor is able to return. Before we begin the class... and bearing in mind that I have no ability to relate any of the circumstances regarding Professor Stein's departure... are there any questions about this state of affairs?"

I heard a seat push back behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to see a young man getting to his feet with his hand in the air and a slightly supercilious grin.

If you're not sure what the word "supercilious" really signifies even after seeing it defined somewhere, all I can say is that the most instructive thing in the world is to see someone grinning that way. Some people aren't just smug, they are so smug that they need five syllables and a prefix like "super" to encompass their smugness. You'll never fail to grasp the word again.

"I registered for a class taught by a univesity professor with advanced degrees in spellbinding and enchantment," he said. "What exactly are your qualifications, 'Just Acantha'?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Qualifications. Let me start by answering your question..."

"I should hope so," he said.

"You have been called on and your question has been both stated and recognized so you should now in fact be sitting down," she said. "To answer your question, Mr. [], I taught spellbinding to the woman who taught the human who was the dean of wizardry at the school where your university professor earned his advanced degrees. That is the first thing I wish to convey to you. The second is that when I tell you that I am Acantha, just Acantha, no other form of address, what I mean is that you are to address me as just open-quote-Acantha-close-quote. The only other thing you may choose to address me with is a modicum of respect."

I almost felt sorry for him. []

"With no disrespect intended to the worthy Professor Stein, those of you who are willing to accept my tutelage will receive a rare opportunity," she said. "I do not often give instruction. Obviously in the course of a single semester we will cover only a tiny fraction of what I know of the subject of spellbinding, and it will of course be largely bounded by the scope of this single class. But I do not doubt that if you are apt pupils, you shall find in me an able teacher.

[]

"Elves invented the art of spellcraft as humanity knows it, some time in the dim and twilight ages after the fall of Athanasia," she continued. "Humans, being a race of innovators much less bound by the disapproval of their ancestors and often less fearful of the consequences of bold experimentation, were able to greatly improve on our arts. I spent twelve hundred years teaching individual apprentices... mostly human... the secrets of weaving and binding spells, and in doing so I learned much from them. Lest you fear that my skills are antiquated, I will tell you that I earn my gold these days primarily as a consultant to major corporations whose names you would recognize if I could share them. My knowledge is current because it is my currency."

[]

"We will go over the required tools for the course," she said. "You must have in your possession a wand of wood, metal, or stone, in its natural and empty, i.e., unenchanted and uncharged state. You may opt to use more than one such wand for your coursework if you do not desire to discharge it between projects. To put it simply and plainly, never come to class without an empty wand unless told otherwise."

I had several wands ready, having spent some of my free time over the summer gathering suitable branches, stripping them of bark, and sanding them down until they were smooth. Pre-made wand forms were available in the bookstore, but given how easy they were to prepare and the added benefit of personal affinity from something even slightly hand-crafted, it just made sense to gather my own.

"You must have a crystal, stone, mirror, or other object of a reasonably clear or reflective character, reasonably free of defects," she said. "The last qualifier is important because we will be imbuing these objects with a substantial amount of energy and any significant defect greatly increases the risk of explosion. I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a crystal that has been professionally graded for this purpose rather than relying on some stone you found lying in a field."

I was covered there, too. While I'd kept my eye out for a hunk of quartz or something else that could serve cheaply, I'd ended up buying a great big roundish hunk of silvery hematite. Despite her dire warnings, a powerstone made out of a semiprecious stone and charged up to its breaking point by a rank novice wouldn't do much damage when it blew... but the magic-infused shards would be able to penetrate my skin as if it were nothing but ordinary mortal human flesh, and I wasn't looking forward to any more trips to the healing center.

"Today, we are going to be focusing on several basic procedures that you will be using throughout the semester," Acantha said. "The first is powerstone handling. Here is the first and most important rule regarding powerstones: unless you are actively engaging in the act of charging the stone, always pick it up with your receptive hand. Not your projective hand. For most of you, that means your left hand. Is anyone here left-handed?"

I heard some movement behind me, but I didn't turn around to see. I wasn't that curious about who in my class used what hand.

"You folks in particular will want to be wary of making assumptions regarding your personal polarity," she said. "Most human practitioners naturally project with their right hands and receive with their left hands. For left-handed folks, this may be reversed. For folks who have a naturally passive or receptive personality, this may be reversed. For the rare naturally gifted wizard who does not involve her hands in her workings as an automatic matter, neither hand may be particularly predisposed in either direction. If you do not know your polarity, you will discover it in the course of the next few exercises.

"The second rule for handling powerstones: always put on a protective eyeshield when handling a powerstone. In my class, you will receive a substantial penalty if I see you pick up a powerstone without your eyeshield. Outside of class, I can do nothing but hope you will wear them. I have watched young humans grow cockier as the state of the art of healing grows by leaps and bounds, but there are three things to remember. First, eyes are expensive to generate, and just because you get your healing for free don't make the mistake of thinking no one has to pay for them. Second, losing an eye is a traumatic and disorienting experience. There's no reason to go through it if it can be avoided. Three, when a powerstone explodes, portions of it are vaporized into a very fine powder and propelled with a considerable amount of impetus. If they can get into your eyes, they can get into your brain... an organ I am told that most races require to live. Whether you believe it or not there are limits to what sort of healing your student ID will get you.

"So, what you will all do now is to put on your eyeshields, take out or pick up your powerstone-to-be with what you believe is most likely to be your receptive hand, and put it on the grounding plate in the corner of your desk. If you are right-receptive, you may move the plate to the right corner before you perform this operation."


[0.5 hours in. Acantha is one of my favorite characters already, and this is the class I'm looking most forward to, so the writing is a breeze so far.]

"Hello," she said. "My name is Acantha. Just Acantha. No title. No other form of address. I'm sorry that Professor Stein isn't here as you expected. He is taking a little sabbatical due to a family emergency, and as a result I'm taking over this section. To my current yet sadly incomplete knowledge, I am to be your instructor in this class for the whole semester. I will keep you posted if that appears likely to change at any point, and will do my best to ensure a smooth transition in the event that the professor is able to return. Before we begin the class... and bearing in mind that I have no ability to relate any of the circumstances regarding Professor Stein's departure... are there any questions about this state of affairs?"

I heard a seat push back behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to see a young man getting to his feet with his hand in the air and a slightly supercilious grin.

If you're not sure what the word "supercilious" really signifies even after seeing it defined somewhere, all I can say is that the most instructive thing in the world is to see someone grinning that way. Some people aren't just smug, they are so smug that they need five syllables and a prefix like "super" to encompass their smugness. You'll never fail to grasp the word again.

"I registered for a class taught by a univesity professor with advanced degrees in spellbinding and enchantment," he said. "What exactly are your qualifications, 'Just Acantha'?"

"Ah, yes," she said. "Qualifications. Let me start by answering your question..."

"I should hope so," he said.

"You have been called on and your question has been both stated and recognized so you should now in fact be sitting down," she said. "To answer your question, Mr. [], I taught spellbinding to the woman who taught the human who was the dean of wizardry at the school where your university professor earned his advanced degrees. That is the first thing I wish to convey to you. The second is that when I tell you that I am Acantha, just Acantha, no other form of address, what I mean is that you are to address me as just open-quote-Acantha-close-quote. The only other thing you may choose to address me with is a modicum of respect."

I almost felt sorry for him. []

"With no disrespect intended to the worthy Professor Stein, those of you who are willing to accept my tutelage will receive a rare opportunity," she said. "I do not often give instruction. Obviously in the course of a single semester we will cover only a tiny fraction of what I know of the subject of spellbinding, and it will of course be largely bounded by the scope of this single class. But I do not doubt that if you are apt pupils, you shall find in me an able teacher.

[]

"Elves invented the art of spellcraft as humanity knows it, some time in the dim and twilight ages after the fall of Athanasia," she continued. "Humans, being a race of innovators much less bound by the disapproval of their ancestors and often less fearful of the consequences of bold experimentation, were able to greatly improve on our arts. I spent twelve hundred years teaching individual apprentices... mostly human... the secrets of weaving and binding spells, and in doing so I learned much from them. Lest you fear that my skills are antiquated, I will tell you that I earn my gold these days primarily as a consultant to major corporations whose names you would recognize if I could share them. My knowledge is current because it is my currency."

[]

"We will go over the required tools for the course," she said. "You must have in your possession a wand of wood, metal, or stone, in its natural and empty, i.e., unenchanted and uncharged state. You may opt to use more than one such wand for your coursework if you do not desire to discharge it between projects. To put it simply and plainly, never come to class without an empty wand unless told otherwise."

I had several wands ready, having spent some of my free time over the summer gathering suitable branches, stripping them of bark, and sanding them down until they were smooth. Pre-made wand forms were available in the bookstore, but given how easy they were to prepare and the added benefit of personal affinity from something even slightly hand-crafted, it just made sense to gather my own.

"You must have a crystal, stone, mirror, or other object of a reasonably clear or reflective character, reasonably free of defects," she said. "The last qualifier is important because we will be imbuing these objects with a substantial amount of energy and any significant defect greatly increases the risk of explosion. I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing a crystal that has been professionally graded for this purpose rather than relying on some stone you found lying in a field."

I was covered there, too. While I'd kept my eye out for a hunk of quartz or something else that could serve cheaply, I'd ended up buying a great big roundish hunk of silvery hematite.