It turned out that Kevan was right. When we arrived ten minutes early only about a quarter of the seats were filled. We went straight to the front and took up most of the row - only two others had decided to plant themselves so close to Reeves.
Nivordin Lecture Hall was a grander affair than the hall we had been in for the orientation, which was to be expected since it was named after one of the more famous lineages of Emperors and many in the Nivordin line were well-remembered by history. The hall had tiered seats arranged in a semi-circle that afforded everyone a clear view, and the seats were of a much more comfortable material. The foldable desk attached to the seats was made of a highly-polished, pleasant-smelling wood. A large space at bottom tier was reserved for the lecturer. and a massive blackboard (a little old-fashioned, I thought) dominated the wall, reaching almost to the ceiling, with silver glyphs running along the edges. A long, heavy oaken desk, elaborately carved, was placed at the exact middle of the stage. A closer look revealed that there were glyphs cleverly worked into the design.
Reeves was already seated there, crossed-legged, one elbow on the armest of the black leather chair while his other hand gently tapped out some sort of pattern on his knee. The desk was empty. He had no notes, no sheaves of paper, no writing implements. Instead of his ceremonial robes from last night, he was dressed in a plain long-sleeved navy-blue shirt (although he had opted to roll up the sleeves) and black trousers. As students entered, his eyes slid over their faces and he gave them a polite nod before seeming to retreat into his own thoughts.
There was little noise in the hall, even as it filled up. I leaned forward a little and saw Jerric frowning at Reeves' clothes. He caught my eye and shrugged, as if to say, 'Not the robes, then.'
'We're all here. Thank you for being punctual,' Reeves said suddenly as he got to his feet. I felt a strong need to stand myself, and to even stand at attention. Judging by the sudden shifting in the hall, I wasn't the only one. Devon, who was on my right, actually did stand up before he could stop himself.
'Huh?' He looked down at himself, then at the rest of us in confusion.
I turned around and saw that about a third of the people in the hall had also risen to their feet, all looking confused. Others who had stayed in their seats were now half-rising, looking around uncertainly.
Reeves smiled. 'There is no need to stand and greet me. We're a little less formal here in the Academy, despite the titles.'
'But I...' Devon sat back down, his brows furrowed. His confusion was mirrored in the faces of everyone else who had, it seems, involuntarily risen.
'And with that, welcome to our first lecture on the Principles of Advanced Arcanophany. Can anyone tell me what just happened?' Reeves continued, ignoring the widespread consternation, his smile widening.
'Mind-control,' someone from the back rows called out. An invisible hand quickly wrote her response on the blackboard behind Reeves, large enough for everyone to see. A few people gasped.
Reeves didn't say anything and simply gestured for more responses.
The hall filled with murmuring as people turned to those around them to discuss what was going on. After a few moments, some people started calling out responses.
'You used some sort of glyph sequence under specific seats to suggest that people stand.'
'Some sort of hypnotic suggestion using glyphs?'
'Glyph under the seats to shock people into standing.'
'You planted people to stand at a specific signal and act confused.'
Reeves chuckled a little at the last one. 'While I can respect a cynical nature and I admire the evidence of lateral thinking, I am looking for a response related to arcanophany.'
I stared at the responses that had written themselves out on the blackboard, word-for-word. They were all a different handwriting. Could it be...?
I cleared my throat. 'You used your aura to manipulate ours.'
And sure enough, my response wrote itself out on the board... in my own handwriting. How was that happening? Was it the blackboard or Reeves?
'Yes, I did,' Reeves said, nodding at me and turning to gesture at the blackboard. All the other responses were crossed out.
The girl who had responded first called out, 'Isn't that what mind control means?'
'No,' Reeves' reply was firm, but not curt. 'And Emilia's question brings us to the importance of terminology. In arcanophany, precision is important. Therefore, the language we use is important.'
I wondered if he had already learned all our names and faces, but there was no time to think about that.
Behind him, the words 'mind control' were uncrossed and a circle appeared around 'mind'. Several strokes branched out from it, linking it to the words 'thoughts', 'emotions', 'memories', 'subconscious', 'conscious'... and the branches continued, linking more and more words related to the mind, faster than anything anyone could hope to copy. The words got smaller and smaller as the number of branches increased until they became too small to read even if someone were to stand with their nose pressed up to the blackboard.
'How can one person hope to control all this?' Reeves asked simply, gesturing at the word which was now nestled in a web, each strand made up of tiny words.
I tried to simplify what was happening on the board into simple point-form notes.
'Aura control not mind control.'
'Arcanophany - precision impt. language impt.
'Mind is v. complex.'
On my left, Ambrose was similarly engaged in furious scribbling. On my right, Devon's hand was flying over his page and he seemed to be writing a detailed description of things. Beyond him, I saw Kevan simply staring with his mouth slightly open.
'If we use the misnomer 'mind control' and then attempt to do what I have just done to all of you, we will be attempting to wrestle with the chaos that is our minds. Progress may still be possible but as arcanists we do not have the luxury of infinite arcana and as human beings we do not have the luxury of infinite time. An arcanist must be efficient in their use of both.'
Reeves gestured again and this time my response grew larger while the rest shrank and moved off to the side of the blackboard.
'So here we have it - I used my aura to manipulate yours. That is the broad description, but it is still not precise. Would anyone like to add some clarity to this?'
Jerric raised a hand and Reeves nodded. 'You... somehow linked your aura with some people, then... formed an impulse to stand?' Jerric's answer scrawled itself across the blackboard, and this time somehow just looking at it conveyed his own hesitance and uncertainty even though it was just words.
'And how did I link my aura with some people?' Reeves pressed.
'Glyphs working sympathetically, planted under our seats?' This was added beneath his first reply.
'Well, check under your seats and you'll know, won't you?'
I didn't bother checking. Reeves seemed to be pushing at something else. Those who did check came up with nothing, which led to more whispered speculations.
'Caden,' Reeves said, looking directly at me. 'You're thinking hard. Care to refine your original response?'
I started thinking aloud, and the blackboard recorded my words. 'You didn't plant any glyphs... it can be done, but that'd take time. More time than you want to spend. It's not efficient for you to do that just to make this point. You didn't use your own auric arcana to connect directly with ours, because affecting a hundred of us takes too much of it. So you... connected your auric arcana to the ambient arcana, and used it as a channel to influence our own auric arcana?'
'Very good. Thank you for using the precise terms for auric and ambient arcana. Precision is important.' Reeves turned to look at my response on the board and he cleaned it up, completely erasing most parts, re-ordering some things, and adding others. In just two seconds, all that remained was a few simple lines.
'Planting glyphs is not always an efficient use of time.'
'Auric arcana alone is insufficient for most significant tasks.'
'Ambient arcana is both medium and power source.'
He turned to address the entire hall. 'Glyphs are important and have their place but we are studying the fundamentals in this class, and so we must go to the source - arcana itself. What we call 'aura' is our common shorthand for 'auric arcana', and we should remember that term because it reminds us that there is a commonality in the arcana inside us and the arcana outside us, even though we often think of them as separate, and that commonality can be utilised in specific ways. That brings us to the final point - ambient arcana can be used as a channel for your auric arcana as long as you exercise enough mental discipline and precision.'
Reeves walked around his massive desk to stand in front of it. 'In my lectures, you'll learn about the principles of arcanophany from the ground up. We'll delve into the leading theories about what arcana itself is, where it comes from, how it works. In our practicals, my colleagues and I will run you through a battery of exercises to help you with your fine control over both auric and ambient arcana. There are many things that can go wrong, so I expect everyone to maintain the highest standards of discipline and safety - you should all be familiar enough with the procedures since you've all made it through our enrollment tests.'
'And finally,' he leaned forward and the air seemed to grow heavier. His level of control over the ambient arcana was unbelievable. 'By the end of the semester, if any of you are still forced to stand against your will in my lectures, you will be expelled from the Academy.'
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