The Center of the Spiral
So I may or may not have a hyperfixation on specific elements of wizard101..
Also to be clear. Wizard101 fanfiction. Wasn't sure where to post this onsite, and I got directed here, so here I am. Hi guys.
This is not exact to wizard101 canon or anything. It has my variant to it, but a lot of it is rooted in early game arc lore. Oh and uh... it may contain game spoilers so do be mindful of that when you read on.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
Also to be clear. Wizard101 fanfiction. Wasn't sure where to post this onsite, and I got directed here, so here I am. Hi guys.
This is not exact to wizard101 canon or anything. It has my variant to it, but a lot of it is rooted in early game arc lore. Oh and uh... it may contain game spoilers so do be mindful of that when you read on.
Last edited by Vladislav Liam Gunther on 27 Jan 2026, 19:05, edited 3 times in total.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
Ch. 1 | The Orientation
He stood at the gates that led into the entry of Ravenwood Academy. His eyes pingponged from left to right, top to bottom as he watched students arrive via summoned teleportation, the method that was used to teleport fresh wizards from their home to their new homeland, their school and everything far and in between.
It was a spell that they would learn later on, but not now. He had to teach them a brief moment, introduce them to all the professors. Of course, this was after the whole thing with Malistaire, and so Ravenwood promptly got put back together, excluding the Balance School, of course.
He waved at them with a welcoming smile on his face. “Come on, don’t be scared!” He said playfully, though knowing that none of them were children because of the dangers that still lurked in the Spiral, and the Headmaster did not want them to die a minor but rather as an adult if they had to die.
There was currently a gap in the position of Headmaster of Ravenwood Academy and for the Death School Professor, and so other professors have been needing to fill in the gaps where they could and pitch in.
The students finally came closer. “Great!” He exclaimed, his tone spiked. “I’m Phoenix ShadowTalon. I was hired to be the Resource Instructor. Technically, I’m doing the job of the Headmaster and of the people that he often asked to mingle with new folks like you. However, as I’m sure you’ve heard, we are down two people on our Faculty Team, I’m the newest member.” Some had awestruck looks, others looked plain bored.
“Right, well.” He started, turning his fingers over to the fairground. “That place over there is known to help wizards feel energized with their arcane half of them. In other words, it replenishes what we call Mana. It’s a funny word, and I understand this very well, however, every spell you will cast, except for a rare few that you will learn at some point during your time here at Ravenwood Academy, will drain your mana and make you feel like you can’t actually cast any spells like you’re weak. You have to replenish this otherwise you might not be able to cast again.”
He moved his finger over to the pond in front of the Headmaster’s Castle. “Do you see that stork over there? He’s our fisherman. He will teach you fishing spells, but not the strong ones, not yet.” He then walked backwards into the black wall behind him and with a quick zap, it was like he vanished into thin air. Nothing happened to him really, it just served as a barrier to keep non-wizards out, if they ever managed to make their way into Wizard City or any of the adjacent worlds.
His words were definitely going to be audible, it was nothing more than what could be considered a magical curtain obscuring the path. “Come on, walk through the wall. It won’t hurt you.” He backed up enough to watch students after students walk through and those who didn’t have a look of enjoyment on their face originally now at the bare minimum did.
Around him were the 6 people that were to be providing instructions as much as they could for their subjects. The one he worried a bit about was that student he asked to help teach Death School spells and subjects to newer members equal to or lower his rank or knowledge. Now, granted, he asked that student to teach the others again like Merle did in the past, but never did enrich his own knowledge any further. He felt a bit bad about that but the student seemed so enthusiastic to help regardless.
One new wizard called out, asking him a question. “Mister ShadowTalon? What is this place?”
With a shiny glint in his eyes, he opened his arms out elaborately, as if to embrace the sky, “This is Ravenwood Academy!” He boasted. Just per coincidence, or maybe not one, the Tree that rested besides the School of Storm shot a lightning bolt towards the questioning student.
“Torrence!” Phoenix reprimanded almost instantly at hearing the electrical jolting from the spell. “Don’t shock our students yet! I haven’t even told them you were alive!” Phoenix grinned while some students looked back at him with horror and shock on their face. “They’re not all that bad, don’t worry.” Torrence only scoffed and turned back to the wet grassblade he was staring at.
“I’m going to let each of the professors introduce themselves.” He said, taking a step back so that they could do so.
The first to move forward was, at least to Phoenix, unsurprisingly, Professor Lydia Greyrose. Her blue outfit rippled as she glided forward with the same gentle grace that Phoenix knew she always carried. “Welcome dears,” Her voice soft as she chimed. “I am Professor Greyrose and I teach Thaumaturgy, the magic of Ice. If you ever feel overwhelmed, my door is always open.” She turned towards Phoenix and smiled before regaining her previous position in the small line of Professors.
Next up, Professor Falmea walked forward, and Phoenix realized at that very moment that with her fiery hair and slim orange outfit, she kind of looked like a candle! “Name’s Dalia Falmea,” She stated cooly with her hands on her hips. “I teach Pyromancy, also known as Fire magic.” She turned back to stand next to Greyrose.
A few students straightened up, as if they were suddenly very aware of their slacking posture. A toad in a purple suit and top hat bounced forward, introducing himself. “Greeting young wizards!” He announced. “I am Professor Balestrom, the master of Storm magic!” He had a powerful glint shine across his face.
He bounded back as a walking cow in a green tunic stepped forward. “I am Moolinda Wu, and I teach Theurgy. That is the magic of what, my dear students?” She asked, waiting on a response. One raised their hand. “L..Life?” A young woman answered quizzically. “Precisely! Great job. I teach the magic of Life! I teach you a few attack spells but mostly I try to teach you how to keep others alive especially when they make… bold choices.” Phoenix coughed. “Storm students, she means Storm Students.” A ripple of laughter passed through the group while Balestrom turned to face him with a look that told him that he better shut up, but in a playful manner.
As the laughter died down, a man with a sour look on his face, stepped forward as his yellow robes billowed dramatically. “I,” Cyrus announced, “am Professor Drake. I teach Conjuration, or alternatively Myth Magic. Conjuration does not mean myth, in case you’re too stupid to realize it.” He said sharply, a tone of despair and hate directed towards the crowd. He allowed the students to feel uncomfortable before speaking. “In my class, you will learn to conjure creatures, and if you are very lucky, you will avoid being flattened by them.”
Phoenix leaned in to try and relieve the discomfort. “Minotaurs. He means minotaurs, lots and lots of minotaurs. Minotaurs for days.” Cyrus abruptly shot him a glare that was practically sharp enough to cut stone and then swept back into the line with a huff.
A 19 year old man with a black robe walked forward towards the crowd. “I am Malorn Ashthorn, I will be teaching you the basics of Necromancy. For now.” A few students blinked in surprise, he was practically their age. Malorn only cleared his throat and tried to speak again before Phoenix interrupted and sent him back. “Malorn is filling in until we find a permanent Death professor. He’s one of the most dedicated students I’ve ever met, and you’ll be in good hands.”
And then he spread his arms as if he were presenting himself on a stage. “And that leaves.. Well.. me!” A few students tilted their heads, confused. “You may have noticed, “ Phoenix continued, “that there is no Balance school building here in Ravenwood. This is a long story but to cut it short, the building is in Kroktopia because of a very opinionated tree,” He coughed, “Niles”.
A couple of students laughed. Wow. A dead crowd then. “I am Professor ShadowTalon,” He paused. “Again. I am your Resource Instructor and your Balance Professor. I will be teaching you pretty much everything you need to know about how magic works and how to cast Balance spells. Consider me your Resource Instructor.” He teased.
Phoenix clapped his hands together, allowing the sound to echo lightly through the courtyard. “Alright everyone, it’s time to meet the trees. They’re the real backbone of Ravenwood. Well, most of them.” The other professors walked back into their classroom as the group gathered to follow behind Phoenix.
He started walking towards the gates in front of where they stood, barricading as a fence around the giant tree. “Now, before we get to the big guy,” He said as he pointed at Bartleby’s massive trunk, “we should talk about the Balance tree, the one who thought he was too good for Wizard City.” A few students looked confused. With a dramatic sigh, Phoenix spoke, “Niles. The Balance Tree, he lives in Kroktopia and refuses to move. He claims that the desert winds speak to him, but personally I think he just likes bossing the Manders around.” A couple of students snorted.
“Anyways, since he’s not here, I’ll be speaking on his behalf, which is probably for the best as Niles as the personality of a sun baked brick and the patience of a scorpion.” As if putting on an elaborate role, he cleared his throat and straightened his posture as if to adopt a stiff and overly formal tone. “Greetings, young wizards,” he said, mimicking NIle’s voice. “I am Niles, the Balance Tree. I would teach you spells but I cannot leave my post. The sands require my wisdom.” The students burst into laughter and Phoenix dropped the impression. “See, you’re not missing much!”
He leaned in slightly. “Now, don’t tell him I said that, he’ll have me listening to a lecture for a week!”
He, again, clapped his hands. “You’ll meet him eventually, and when you do, please pretend I introduced him with dignity. I’m trying to stay on his good side! Alright, enough about the desert Diva. Let’s move on to the trees that actually live here!” He gestured towards the nearest one, the pink leafed tree. “This is Blossom, she is our Life tree. She’s sweet, and supportive and has been the only one who remembers to ask if I’ve eaten breakfast.” Phoenix paused to allow her to talk.
Blossom’s leaves fluttered softly in an almost magical rustle, “Welcome little sprouts,” she spoke. “I am Blossom, as Professor ShadowTalon said, and I am so very happy to see new faces in Ravenwood again. If you ever feel tired or overwhelmed or just need a moment of peace, you are always welcome to rest beneath my branches.” A few students seemed to be visually relaxed at the sound of her voice.
“See, sweetest tree in the Spiral. If she could knit scarves, I’m sure she would.” Phoenix said, walking towards the Myth tree, Ivan. His expression was stern but not unkind. “This is Ivan. He’s the one who somehow helps Professor Drake keep all those conjured creatures from running wild.” Ivan’s eyes opened slowly and his voice rumbled like distant thunder. “Greeting, young conjurers,” Ivan said, “Myth is the school of imagination and discipline. Should you choose this path, I will guide your hands as you shape your summons. Treat your creations with respect and they will serve you well.”
Phoenix leaned towards the students. “He’s the calm one, which is impressive considering that he works with Cyrus. Ivan’s branches shook as if he were chuckling. He moved on towards the Death Tree, with dark twisted branches and an eerie vibe from being his presence. “Mortis, that is the Death’s Tree’s name. Say hi, Mortis! Come to life! Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!” Phoenix said, jabbing at his bark lightly and repeatedly.
Mortis opened his eyes and whispered, his voice as gravely and as soft as a breeze through a crypt. “Greetings. Do not fear the shadows. Should you walk this path, I will guide you.” There were little to no reactions to Mortis and Mortis just closed his eyes again, so with that cue, Phoenix walked towards the blazing hot tree with bright red leaves. “This fiery fellow is Bernie,” Phoenix said. Our Fire tree. He’s.. uhh.. Enthusiastic.” Bernie’s eyes snapped open and it appeared his eyes were glowing embers, his voice crackled. “WELCOME NEW WIZARDS!” He boomed. “FIRE IS PASSION! FIRE IS POWER! FIRE IS..” Phoenix quickly stepped in front and intervened. “Fire is loud. Very loud. Thank you, Bernie.” Bernie simmered down, though a few sparks still popped from his branches.
Professor ShadowTalon walked towards a tree coated in icicles and frost. The air was, in contrast to the the temperature around Bernie and the Fire school, colder. “This is Kelvin,” Phoenix said as he dramatically rubbed his arms. “He’s our Ice tree. He’s been around longer than most of us, I’ve always wondered how the ice around Kelvin doesn’t melt when he’s right next to Bernie.”
Kelvin’s eyes blinked open and as if like winter wind, his voice was crisp and cool. “Welcome to Ravenwood. If you seek a clarity of mind, Thaumaturgy may be your calling.” Phoenix nodded. “Aslo, if you leave your lunch too close to his roots, he freezes it.” He looks into Kelvin’s eyes playfully. “Because you hate me, don’t you?” Kelvin huffed as a tiny flurry of snowflakes drifted from his branches.
Phoenix walked on towards the final normal sized tree in Ravenwood. There was a downpour actively over the leaves of the tree’s head. Torrence was actively glaring at the group as if daring someone to annoy him. Phoenix gestured cautiously. “Now, you’ve already met Torrence. He is our Storm tree. He’s.. well.. I don’t have anything nice to say Torrence! Stop zapping me in the butt every time I walk by and I might have something nice to say.”
Torrence warned, “Don’t touch my roots. Or my branches. Or my grass. Or anything near me.” Torrence patted his trunk lightly. “He’s friendly once you get to know him. Kind of. Hey! Look at that I said something nice!” A few students weren’t convinced.
Last, they were back to where they started, between Torrence and Blossom. Finally, to talk about the giant tree in the room, Phoenix started humming dramatically as if like a fanfare. He turned towards Bartleby. He was a towering and ancient being, the branches towering and stretching so high up towards the sky.
He let the students take in the sheer scale of the tree before them and dropped the humming. “Alright. This is the big one, the oldest being in Wizard City and the heart of Ravenwood. He is the reason any of us can travel beyond this place.” Bartleby’s massive trunk shifted, the ancient bark creaked roughly. There was a hush that befell the students as they watched him begin to address the group. “Greetings, young wizards…” Bartleby’s voice was soft, deep and yet it still sounded so impossibly old.
“You stand in the shade of my branches, as countless before you have. I am Bartleby, the World Tree. I have watched over Ravenwood since its first stone was laid and yet long, long before. Within me lies the Spiral Door, which serves as a gateway to the worlds beyond Wizard City. In time, when you have learned and grown and have proven your hearts steady, you will walk through that door and will see wonders.” Phoenix only nodded.
Bartleby’s branches rustled. “Remember, young ones. Magic is not merely power, it is your responsibility and it is an import responsibility. Treat the Spiral with respect and it will open its paths to you.” Phoenix stepped forward again, smiling up at the ancient tree. “Bartelby doesn’t talk often so consider yourselves lucky as he only saves his wisdom for special occasions or when I’ve done something stupid.” Bartleby’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “You do many things… impulsively, Phoenix ShadowTalon.”
The students snickered and Phoenix pressed a hand to his chest as if taking offense. “See? Even the world’s oldest tree bullies me.”
Phoenix cut the act and turned back towards the group, clapping his hands once more. “And that, everyone, is the Ravenwood family. The professors, the trees, the magic, the chaos. This is everything that you will be calling home for the foreseeable future.”
He gestured broadly to the circle of schools. “Welcome to Ravenwood Academy, your journey starts now. Remember, I am still the teacher you will need to see for resources and for review on things that might be new to you, like a more in depth explanation about spells, spell decks, mana, gear and more! It’s all confusing at first, especially when you realize that the way that wizards really are do not fit the mythological fables that were told to you.” He nodded pensively.
He had an assignment for them. It was their sorting.
“Your first assignment is..” He picked up the briefcase he left along the edge of Bartleby’s large roots and opened it up, pulling out worn looking parchment specifically enchanted for a special purpose. He also pulled out quills freshly dipped in ink and distributed it alongside the papers. “To fill out those forms. There are no wrong answers, so please do not think that cheating is the best course of action as it is only going to result in a product that will make you unhappy. You may begin.”
As the students work on the papers, they would see questions asking about their favorite season, favorite pet (out of what the questions ask), favorite gemstone, favorite time of day, favorite weather, favorite activity, favorite magical creature yet only a few of these questions were to determine their school! The rest were just fillers.
“Don’t forget,” Phoenix proclaimed, watching them finish up but not sign the bottom. “Please sign the bottom. Your first and last name, please.” As they did so, their eyes grew wide in wonder as they saw the page shift. There were a few disappointed looks as they looked over in the direction of the Myth School. He knew they got Cyrus.
“Hey, if you aren’t happy with the results, just remember you were sorted there based on the answers you put down and you signed the paper saying that you accept the result that was given to you. You will not be able to change your primary school. The good thing is, and I will explain this later on when your classes actually begin, and when you get all of your material, you will be able to learn spells from other schools so long as you meet the qualifications that each Professor are expected to maintain when handing out spells.” As everyone finished up, he walked around and took up the completed results. “If you would like a copy, please go see registrar or our librarian. They will provide you with a copy of any academic papers that you need, sometimes with a small fee. Anyways. It is time to show you to your dorms so you know where to go after you do my second assignment for the day.”
Phoenix walked towards the tall tower that stood besides Terrence and next to the gate into Wizard City. “This is the Boys Dormitory. Only boys are allowed inside. If you are a girl, you will not be permitted inside at any cost.” He walked over to the other side, also besides the gate but instead of being on the other side of Terrence, the other tower was on the other side of Blossom. “And this is the Girls Dormitory. Same concept. As for both dormitories, you start off with nothing but a base bed with a red sheet covering the mattress and a short headboard and baseboard to the bedframe. The final four items in your room are two small planters, a chest and a bedside table with two drawers. You will need these. But also, over time, you will obtain things or buy things that will be needed to or simply are just desired, to add to your room. You are free to do so. We only ask that you do not bring anything that violates our rules here at Ravenwood Academy over. Thank you, now go see your professors for your first lesson and have a good day.”
He quietly sighed inside. He had to give his first lecture of the day after a long orientation moment, but yet, that still wasn’t all for the day. He walked back to the spot in front of Bartleby and held his briefcase. “Balance Students, this is where you will meet me for all the lectures.” He stated, then started to call them over as it was time to meet. Only a small handful of the group, perhaps like five percent of the group walked towards him and he nodded. This sounded right, of course Balance would have fewer students. It was probably considered the most boring of all, if anything. But yet, Balance was best for supporting other players in combat, even if it wasn’t good for supporting yourself and winning the combat.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
He stood at the gates that led into the entry of Ravenwood Academy. His eyes pingponged from left to right, top to bottom as he watched students arrive via summoned teleportation, the method that was used to teleport fresh wizards from their home to their new homeland, their school and everything far and in between.
It was a spell that they would learn later on, but not now. He had to teach them a brief moment, introduce them to all the professors. Of course, this was after the whole thing with Malistaire, and so Ravenwood promptly got put back together, excluding the Balance School, of course.
He waved at them with a welcoming smile on his face. “Come on, don’t be scared!” He said playfully, though knowing that none of them were children because of the dangers that still lurked in the Spiral, and the Headmaster did not want them to die a minor but rather as an adult if they had to die.
There was currently a gap in the position of Headmaster of Ravenwood Academy and for the Death School Professor, and so other professors have been needing to fill in the gaps where they could and pitch in.
The students finally came closer. “Great!” He exclaimed, his tone spiked. “I’m Phoenix ShadowTalon. I was hired to be the Resource Instructor. Technically, I’m doing the job of the Headmaster and of the people that he often asked to mingle with new folks like you. However, as I’m sure you’ve heard, we are down two people on our Faculty Team, I’m the newest member.” Some had awestruck looks, others looked plain bored.
“Right, well.” He started, turning his fingers over to the fairground. “That place over there is known to help wizards feel energized with their arcane half of them. In other words, it replenishes what we call Mana. It’s a funny word, and I understand this very well, however, every spell you will cast, except for a rare few that you will learn at some point during your time here at Ravenwood Academy, will drain your mana and make you feel like you can’t actually cast any spells like you’re weak. You have to replenish this otherwise you might not be able to cast again.”
He moved his finger over to the pond in front of the Headmaster’s Castle. “Do you see that stork over there? He’s our fisherman. He will teach you fishing spells, but not the strong ones, not yet.” He then walked backwards into the black wall behind him and with a quick zap, it was like he vanished into thin air. Nothing happened to him really, it just served as a barrier to keep non-wizards out, if they ever managed to make their way into Wizard City or any of the adjacent worlds.
His words were definitely going to be audible, it was nothing more than what could be considered a magical curtain obscuring the path. “Come on, walk through the wall. It won’t hurt you.” He backed up enough to watch students after students walk through and those who didn’t have a look of enjoyment on their face originally now at the bare minimum did.
Around him were the 6 people that were to be providing instructions as much as they could for their subjects. The one he worried a bit about was that student he asked to help teach Death School spells and subjects to newer members equal to or lower his rank or knowledge. Now, granted, he asked that student to teach the others again like Merle did in the past, but never did enrich his own knowledge any further. He felt a bit bad about that but the student seemed so enthusiastic to help regardless.
One new wizard called out, asking him a question. “Mister ShadowTalon? What is this place?”
With a shiny glint in his eyes, he opened his arms out elaborately, as if to embrace the sky, “This is Ravenwood Academy!” He boasted. Just per coincidence, or maybe not one, the Tree that rested besides the School of Storm shot a lightning bolt towards the questioning student.
“Torrence!” Phoenix reprimanded almost instantly at hearing the electrical jolting from the spell. “Don’t shock our students yet! I haven’t even told them you were alive!” Phoenix grinned while some students looked back at him with horror and shock on their face. “They’re not all that bad, don’t worry.” Torrence only scoffed and turned back to the wet grassblade he was staring at.
“I’m going to let each of the professors introduce themselves.” He said, taking a step back so that they could do so.
The first to move forward was, at least to Phoenix, unsurprisingly, Professor Lydia Greyrose. Her blue outfit rippled as she glided forward with the same gentle grace that Phoenix knew she always carried. “Welcome dears,” Her voice soft as she chimed. “I am Professor Greyrose and I teach Thaumaturgy, the magic of Ice. If you ever feel overwhelmed, my door is always open.” She turned towards Phoenix and smiled before regaining her previous position in the small line of Professors.
Next up, Professor Falmea walked forward, and Phoenix realized at that very moment that with her fiery hair and slim orange outfit, she kind of looked like a candle! “Name’s Dalia Falmea,” She stated cooly with her hands on her hips. “I teach Pyromancy, also known as Fire magic.” She turned back to stand next to Greyrose.
A few students straightened up, as if they were suddenly very aware of their slacking posture. A toad in a purple suit and top hat bounced forward, introducing himself. “Greeting young wizards!” He announced. “I am Professor Balestrom, the master of Storm magic!” He had a powerful glint shine across his face.
He bounded back as a walking cow in a green tunic stepped forward. “I am Moolinda Wu, and I teach Theurgy. That is the magic of what, my dear students?” She asked, waiting on a response. One raised their hand. “L..Life?” A young woman answered quizzically. “Precisely! Great job. I teach the magic of Life! I teach you a few attack spells but mostly I try to teach you how to keep others alive especially when they make… bold choices.” Phoenix coughed. “Storm students, she means Storm Students.” A ripple of laughter passed through the group while Balestrom turned to face him with a look that told him that he better shut up, but in a playful manner.
As the laughter died down, a man with a sour look on his face, stepped forward as his yellow robes billowed dramatically. “I,” Cyrus announced, “am Professor Drake. I teach Conjuration, or alternatively Myth Magic. Conjuration does not mean myth, in case you’re too stupid to realize it.” He said sharply, a tone of despair and hate directed towards the crowd. He allowed the students to feel uncomfortable before speaking. “In my class, you will learn to conjure creatures, and if you are very lucky, you will avoid being flattened by them.”
Phoenix leaned in to try and relieve the discomfort. “Minotaurs. He means minotaurs, lots and lots of minotaurs. Minotaurs for days.” Cyrus abruptly shot him a glare that was practically sharp enough to cut stone and then swept back into the line with a huff.
A 19 year old man with a black robe walked forward towards the crowd. “I am Malorn Ashthorn, I will be teaching you the basics of Necromancy. For now.” A few students blinked in surprise, he was practically their age. Malorn only cleared his throat and tried to speak again before Phoenix interrupted and sent him back. “Malorn is filling in until we find a permanent Death professor. He’s one of the most dedicated students I’ve ever met, and you’ll be in good hands.”
And then he spread his arms as if he were presenting himself on a stage. “And that leaves.. Well.. me!” A few students tilted their heads, confused. “You may have noticed, “ Phoenix continued, “that there is no Balance school building here in Ravenwood. This is a long story but to cut it short, the building is in Kroktopia because of a very opinionated tree,” He coughed, “Niles”.
A couple of students laughed. Wow. A dead crowd then. “I am Professor ShadowTalon,” He paused. “Again. I am your Resource Instructor and your Balance Professor. I will be teaching you pretty much everything you need to know about how magic works and how to cast Balance spells. Consider me your Resource Instructor.” He teased.
Phoenix clapped his hands together, allowing the sound to echo lightly through the courtyard. “Alright everyone, it’s time to meet the trees. They’re the real backbone of Ravenwood. Well, most of them.” The other professors walked back into their classroom as the group gathered to follow behind Phoenix.
He started walking towards the gates in front of where they stood, barricading as a fence around the giant tree. “Now, before we get to the big guy,” He said as he pointed at Bartleby’s massive trunk, “we should talk about the Balance tree, the one who thought he was too good for Wizard City.” A few students looked confused. With a dramatic sigh, Phoenix spoke, “Niles. The Balance Tree, he lives in Kroktopia and refuses to move. He claims that the desert winds speak to him, but personally I think he just likes bossing the Manders around.” A couple of students snorted.
“Anyways, since he’s not here, I’ll be speaking on his behalf, which is probably for the best as Niles as the personality of a sun baked brick and the patience of a scorpion.” As if putting on an elaborate role, he cleared his throat and straightened his posture as if to adopt a stiff and overly formal tone. “Greetings, young wizards,” he said, mimicking NIle’s voice. “I am Niles, the Balance Tree. I would teach you spells but I cannot leave my post. The sands require my wisdom.” The students burst into laughter and Phoenix dropped the impression. “See, you’re not missing much!”
He leaned in slightly. “Now, don’t tell him I said that, he’ll have me listening to a lecture for a week!”
He, again, clapped his hands. “You’ll meet him eventually, and when you do, please pretend I introduced him with dignity. I’m trying to stay on his good side! Alright, enough about the desert Diva. Let’s move on to the trees that actually live here!” He gestured towards the nearest one, the pink leafed tree. “This is Blossom, she is our Life tree. She’s sweet, and supportive and has been the only one who remembers to ask if I’ve eaten breakfast.” Phoenix paused to allow her to talk.
Blossom’s leaves fluttered softly in an almost magical rustle, “Welcome little sprouts,” she spoke. “I am Blossom, as Professor ShadowTalon said, and I am so very happy to see new faces in Ravenwood again. If you ever feel tired or overwhelmed or just need a moment of peace, you are always welcome to rest beneath my branches.” A few students seemed to be visually relaxed at the sound of her voice.
“See, sweetest tree in the Spiral. If she could knit scarves, I’m sure she would.” Phoenix said, walking towards the Myth tree, Ivan. His expression was stern but not unkind. “This is Ivan. He’s the one who somehow helps Professor Drake keep all those conjured creatures from running wild.” Ivan’s eyes opened slowly and his voice rumbled like distant thunder. “Greeting, young conjurers,” Ivan said, “Myth is the school of imagination and discipline. Should you choose this path, I will guide your hands as you shape your summons. Treat your creations with respect and they will serve you well.”
Phoenix leaned towards the students. “He’s the calm one, which is impressive considering that he works with Cyrus. Ivan’s branches shook as if he were chuckling. He moved on towards the Death Tree, with dark twisted branches and an eerie vibe from being his presence. “Mortis, that is the Death’s Tree’s name. Say hi, Mortis! Come to life! Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!” Phoenix said, jabbing at his bark lightly and repeatedly.
Mortis opened his eyes and whispered, his voice as gravely and as soft as a breeze through a crypt. “Greetings. Do not fear the shadows. Should you walk this path, I will guide you.” There were little to no reactions to Mortis and Mortis just closed his eyes again, so with that cue, Phoenix walked towards the blazing hot tree with bright red leaves. “This fiery fellow is Bernie,” Phoenix said. Our Fire tree. He’s.. uhh.. Enthusiastic.” Bernie’s eyes snapped open and it appeared his eyes were glowing embers, his voice crackled. “WELCOME NEW WIZARDS!” He boomed. “FIRE IS PASSION! FIRE IS POWER! FIRE IS..” Phoenix quickly stepped in front and intervened. “Fire is loud. Very loud. Thank you, Bernie.” Bernie simmered down, though a few sparks still popped from his branches.
Professor ShadowTalon walked towards a tree coated in icicles and frost. The air was, in contrast to the the temperature around Bernie and the Fire school, colder. “This is Kelvin,” Phoenix said as he dramatically rubbed his arms. “He’s our Ice tree. He’s been around longer than most of us, I’ve always wondered how the ice around Kelvin doesn’t melt when he’s right next to Bernie.”
Kelvin’s eyes blinked open and as if like winter wind, his voice was crisp and cool. “Welcome to Ravenwood. If you seek a clarity of mind, Thaumaturgy may be your calling.” Phoenix nodded. “Aslo, if you leave your lunch too close to his roots, he freezes it.” He looks into Kelvin’s eyes playfully. “Because you hate me, don’t you?” Kelvin huffed as a tiny flurry of snowflakes drifted from his branches.
Phoenix walked on towards the final normal sized tree in Ravenwood. There was a downpour actively over the leaves of the tree’s head. Torrence was actively glaring at the group as if daring someone to annoy him. Phoenix gestured cautiously. “Now, you’ve already met Torrence. He is our Storm tree. He’s.. well.. I don’t have anything nice to say Torrence! Stop zapping me in the butt every time I walk by and I might have something nice to say.”
Torrence warned, “Don’t touch my roots. Or my branches. Or my grass. Or anything near me.” Torrence patted his trunk lightly. “He’s friendly once you get to know him. Kind of. Hey! Look at that I said something nice!” A few students weren’t convinced.
Last, they were back to where they started, between Torrence and Blossom. Finally, to talk about the giant tree in the room, Phoenix started humming dramatically as if like a fanfare. He turned towards Bartleby. He was a towering and ancient being, the branches towering and stretching so high up towards the sky.
He let the students take in the sheer scale of the tree before them and dropped the humming. “Alright. This is the big one, the oldest being in Wizard City and the heart of Ravenwood. He is the reason any of us can travel beyond this place.” Bartleby’s massive trunk shifted, the ancient bark creaked roughly. There was a hush that befell the students as they watched him begin to address the group. “Greetings, young wizards…” Bartleby’s voice was soft, deep and yet it still sounded so impossibly old.
“You stand in the shade of my branches, as countless before you have. I am Bartleby, the World Tree. I have watched over Ravenwood since its first stone was laid and yet long, long before. Within me lies the Spiral Door, which serves as a gateway to the worlds beyond Wizard City. In time, when you have learned and grown and have proven your hearts steady, you will walk through that door and will see wonders.” Phoenix only nodded.
Bartleby’s branches rustled. “Remember, young ones. Magic is not merely power, it is your responsibility and it is an import responsibility. Treat the Spiral with respect and it will open its paths to you.” Phoenix stepped forward again, smiling up at the ancient tree. “Bartelby doesn’t talk often so consider yourselves lucky as he only saves his wisdom for special occasions or when I’ve done something stupid.” Bartleby’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “You do many things… impulsively, Phoenix ShadowTalon.”
The students snickered and Phoenix pressed a hand to his chest as if taking offense. “See? Even the world’s oldest tree bullies me.”
Phoenix cut the act and turned back towards the group, clapping his hands once more. “And that, everyone, is the Ravenwood family. The professors, the trees, the magic, the chaos. This is everything that you will be calling home for the foreseeable future.”
He gestured broadly to the circle of schools. “Welcome to Ravenwood Academy, your journey starts now. Remember, I am still the teacher you will need to see for resources and for review on things that might be new to you, like a more in depth explanation about spells, spell decks, mana, gear and more! It’s all confusing at first, especially when you realize that the way that wizards really are do not fit the mythological fables that were told to you.” He nodded pensively.
He had an assignment for them. It was their sorting.
“Your first assignment is..” He picked up the briefcase he left along the edge of Bartleby’s large roots and opened it up, pulling out worn looking parchment specifically enchanted for a special purpose. He also pulled out quills freshly dipped in ink and distributed it alongside the papers. “To fill out those forms. There are no wrong answers, so please do not think that cheating is the best course of action as it is only going to result in a product that will make you unhappy. You may begin.”
As the students work on the papers, they would see questions asking about their favorite season, favorite pet (out of what the questions ask), favorite gemstone, favorite time of day, favorite weather, favorite activity, favorite magical creature yet only a few of these questions were to determine their school! The rest were just fillers.
“Don’t forget,” Phoenix proclaimed, watching them finish up but not sign the bottom. “Please sign the bottom. Your first and last name, please.” As they did so, their eyes grew wide in wonder as they saw the page shift. There were a few disappointed looks as they looked over in the direction of the Myth School. He knew they got Cyrus.
“Hey, if you aren’t happy with the results, just remember you were sorted there based on the answers you put down and you signed the paper saying that you accept the result that was given to you. You will not be able to change your primary school. The good thing is, and I will explain this later on when your classes actually begin, and when you get all of your material, you will be able to learn spells from other schools so long as you meet the qualifications that each Professor are expected to maintain when handing out spells.” As everyone finished up, he walked around and took up the completed results. “If you would like a copy, please go see registrar or our librarian. They will provide you with a copy of any academic papers that you need, sometimes with a small fee. Anyways. It is time to show you to your dorms so you know where to go after you do my second assignment for the day.”
Phoenix walked towards the tall tower that stood besides Terrence and next to the gate into Wizard City. “This is the Boys Dormitory. Only boys are allowed inside. If you are a girl, you will not be permitted inside at any cost.” He walked over to the other side, also besides the gate but instead of being on the other side of Terrence, the other tower was on the other side of Blossom. “And this is the Girls Dormitory. Same concept. As for both dormitories, you start off with nothing but a base bed with a red sheet covering the mattress and a short headboard and baseboard to the bedframe. The final four items in your room are two small planters, a chest and a bedside table with two drawers. You will need these. But also, over time, you will obtain things or buy things that will be needed to or simply are just desired, to add to your room. You are free to do so. We only ask that you do not bring anything that violates our rules here at Ravenwood Academy over. Thank you, now go see your professors for your first lesson and have a good day.”
He quietly sighed inside. He had to give his first lecture of the day after a long orientation moment, but yet, that still wasn’t all for the day. He walked back to the spot in front of Bartleby and held his briefcase. “Balance Students, this is where you will meet me for all the lectures.” He stated, then started to call them over as it was time to meet. Only a small handful of the group, perhaps like five percent of the group walked towards him and he nodded. This sounded right, of course Balance would have fewer students. It was probably considered the most boring of all, if anything. But yet, Balance was best for supporting other players in combat, even if it wasn’t good for supporting yourself and winning the combat.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
Ch. 2 | The First Lesson
Phoenix, the Balance School teacher and the Resource Instructor, looked at the students quizzically and had a bit of a menacing smile on his face. Again, he had so few students as so few were actually put into a support role and a lot seemed to be attracted to the violence. Alas, that wasn’t his business, judging them.
Phoenix whipped out a spell card to show them; It was gray, really, with a picture of the creature they’d summon, a giant scarab beetle, brown in color. This distinction was important, mostly because there were other schools that had variants of the beetles, like the Ice School with the Frost Beetle.
“Who can tell me what this is?” He asked, the three students he had standing in front of him were confused. One raised his hand. “A bug? Why are you showing us a bug?”
Phoenix smiled. “No, not necessarily. This is a Scarab, this is the first spell I am teaching you. Now, you can cast this but it is much easier with a wand to direct the focus. He looked at them, wondering which one looked the strongest.
He realized they all had just about the same durability, the same strength. The same health. Ah, well this is something he would need to explain in another class wouldn’t he? The matters of Health and Mana and Pip?
Soon. Not now.
ShadowTalon looked at the boy who answered his question. “Hmm. Well, let me show you why I was showing this to you. Mister Phelom, would you mind backing up, let’s move over here in front of the gate.”
They both moved forward, the other two students turning around to face them. “Alright. I’m going to cast this spell on you, you won’t go down but you’ll feel hurt quite significantly. Prepare yourself.” That being said, he began the combat and it was almost as if the rings came out of nowhere, the triangle turning to point at ShadowTalon first. “I’ll show you a failed cast first.” He said, drawing scales in front of him with the tip of his wand. However, he lacked concentration, so as he promised, the spell failed. It appeared to display brownish yet tan particles raining down towards the ground only briefly.
The triangle spun to the boy and the boy stood there unsure what he was to do. After waiting a bit, the triangle spun back to Phoenix. “Now, to show a successful cast.”
He concentrated this time, made the same wand movement of the scales in front of him and as if it spawned out of nowhere, crawling out of the sand that surrounded the circle they were in, the scarab beetle rushed towards the boy and pierced him with its mandible before vanishing.
The boy crashed to the ground holding his stomach as if he were in pain. “I said this’d hurt a little bit at your rank so far here. Does anyone listen?” He asked, not serious at all.
Phoenix drew out his spelldeck and pulled out two different looking Scarab cards. One was golden, the other was just gray.
“So, Class. What is different? Mister Phelom, you may come back up here and join your classmates. I’ll explain more later about that little phenomenon called health.” No one had an answer. Honestly, it was blatantly obvious! One card was golden and the other was gray, the same card he showed earlier. To confuse them further, he also quickly whipped out a bluish purple card featuring the same thing.
“Well…” He feigned disappointment. “No one knows anything, guess class is over. No one gets the spells.” He dimmed his expression and pretended to stuff the cards back into the deck he had.
Phelom seemed to dislike that idea, even if it was a facade. “No sir, please teach us! They’re.. different colors, the cards! And I think I saw the numbers on there were different too! I don’t know what that means but I think it was different!”
And he was right. Phoenix perked back up, holding the cards back in the air. “Great! That’s all I wanted to hear!”
He tapped a button on his briefcase and it flattened itself, growing mechanical legs as if to form a small table. With that, he placed down all three cards in front of the students. “Once you understand how things work here as wizards, and use these spells more often, you will understand what all of this means. Let’s start with defining the parts of a spell card first.”
Phoenix’s finger tapped the top section of the spell cards, both gold and gray. “This is the name of the spell. You will not ever need to speak them as an incantation unless for some reason it is ever required. I promise you, the chances of that happening are going to be slim. But, this is important, so you know what your spells are and the name of them if you’re going to do something with them, like be in combat.”
He moved down to the small triangle right below the name of the spell with a digit in it. “This is the spell cost. As I told you earlier, the fairground gives you mana if you’re ever running low and the number where the spell cost triangle is, is how much will be taken away from your mana and your pips while in combat.”
“Professor ShadowTalon, what are pips?” A girl asked, and Phoenix wanted to tell her but it would be much too soon and would likely overwhelm his students. “I’ll tell you guys later, let’s finish our class for today?” He offered, the girl nodding.
“Great, well. Let’s move over to the next part of the card, on the right side of the card also right below the name just like the cost was, is a symbol. You might be very confused what this means but don’t be. Each symbol is a representation of the school or element that the spell belongs to. For example, if you’re going to cast, and this is a death spell, Dark Fairy, it will have a skull in the same place where we have a scale. This just says that the spell is a death spell. The scarab spell is simply a balance spell.” He said, looking at the students and it seemed they understood it so far. “Great! I knew this would be easy!”
He, Phoenix, as a young wizard starting off in Wizard City years ago, used to struggle understanding specific concepts of the cards, and the hardest one for him was the accuracy portion. He moved his fingers to point at the bullseye icon used with a percentage on it. “Now, remember how I said concentration was important? Well, it is. It’s very important, but even with concentration, you still run the risk of failing your cast. This is the accuracy section of a spell card. This is your chance of successfully casting a spell assuming your concentration was on par. I wouldn’t worry about an 80 to 90 percent on your cards because storm school students start off with spells that only work 70 percent of the time yet are highly volatile.” He watched Phelom’s mouth gape open.
That boy spoke. “Excuse me? You mean they can hurt us?” Phoenix shook his head. “If they join you as an ally in a combat, which is very likely to happen, they will not hurt you. Even if they fail that casting, remember the failed casting I demonstrated earlier? That’s what would happen. Now, we do host some fun events here in Wizard City and if it is one of those events where you will be put in a battle with another caster, yeah, they will hurt you but never when they’re fighting alongside you. Our magic seems to be enough to debuff the damage to one another unless we were fighting each other intentionally. Does that make sense?” The nonspeaking student nodded, Phelom shook his head and the girl shook hers.
Well, he confused them both. Great. “Listen, we’ll talk more about this later, I need to finish this, please.” And finally, the two shakers nodded their heads.
“The fourth icon, as you can see, is of a fist. This one is actually pretty obvious, it’s your spell type. A fist represents a damage spell. There are five spell types, and more subspell types that aren’t necessarily shown directly in the icons of the cards. The first is Damage, the second is Healing, such as Fairy, has a heart as its icon. Fishing spells have a fish icon, such as for the Common Harmony Lure. Enchantment spells, such as Primordal, have a little four pointed star icon. Charm spells, such as Aegis Iceblade, have a four leaf clover as its icon. Minion spells, such as Animate, have an open hand as its icon. Aura spells, such as Infallible, have what looks like a yellow ball with two circle rings around it.” He knew there were more, but alas, he couldn’t think of more spell examples to pair with them for students who would like to connect the dots.
He just moved on, shutting his mouth about the spell type. He moved his fingers to the bottommost part of the spell cards, where it featured two sets of numbers as if like a range and, on the Scarab spell card, two icons right next to them. “To translate, this means that you will deal that much damage and the damage is of a specific type. For the normal spell card, it deals anywhere from 65 to 105 balance damage. For the gold card, which is called a Treasure Spell Card, by the way, it deals between 80 to 120 balance damage.”
The last part of the spell card, he moved his fingers up to the image. “As I was showing you earlier, this shows you what it is you’re casting, or what is being cast with the spell. In this case, a giant scarab beetle is shown. As you can see, this is easy peasy once you get the gist of it, but we’re not done yet.”
Phoenix took a breath then picked up the golden card. “This is a Treasure Card, or also known as a Treasure Spell Card, and it is often used in exclusive moments or rare moments that might need it. We encourage you not to use it when you combat normally outside of an event that we host because not all creatures drop treasure cards, much less any useful ones. Why do we restrict or tell you not to use it? Do you guys know?”
None of them responded. “Well, the answer is simple, once you use the treasure card, it is gone. It vanishes into thin air, poof. You don’t get the exact card you just used back. You will have to obtain a copy another way, whether by buying it or trading, or by getting it as a drop. This is different from normal spells in where you don’t lose your copy of the spells, they will always be with you, so long as you have them equipped.”
Last card to display. “Now, this bluish purple card is called an item card. It is automatically equipped to your spell deck and do not count towards your main spell deck, but they do count towards the spell’s bonus spells. You get item cards from actively using specific gears that do give out item cards. Your wands are the most common things to give item cards, and it will just allow you to cast those spells as if they were normal spells, and not just as if they were attached. Now, there are also pets that give you item cards, these are called Will Cast pets and casting spells often take away their own happiness and May Cast pets don’t always give you spell cards but they may cast a spell randomly during a fight to heal you or to attack someone or to summon a blade, ward or charm to protect you or increase your attack against someone. In other words, treasure cards come from drops with the main enemies of our worlds, but they may be crafted or purchased as well. Item Cards come with the items that you are actively using but not all items have item cards. And spell cards come from those who teach spells.”
Now, for the more confusing part. “I said equipped earlier, so does anyone know what I mean by that?” The nonspeaking student finally spoke up. “Yes sir. I read about it before I came here. We get spell decks and.. and.. this is where we put the spell cards that we are to be using in combat. Otherwise we can’t cast the spells.”
He nodded. “Great job! What’s your name again? Yaccaht? What? Okay, interesting name. I’ll try to remember it and try to spell it correctly. Yaccaht, you are correct, but the biggest problem that new students often forget to mediate is to ensure that their spell decks are stocked to the most it can allow. Most spell decks have a maximum amount of copies of one spell that you can put into the spell deck, some have a max copy of spells that belong to a specific school that may differ from the max amount of copies a spell belonging to a different school would be expected to follow. Some, like one of the events we host here is called a Decklathon, a Decklathon spell deck will often not allow you to fill it or equip it with normal spells, they will only take treasure spells and nothing else. There is still a matter of a maximum of treasure cards and copies, of course but that is the difference.” He popped open the briefcase and allowed the students to wonder what was inside.
“Now, last thing before I show you anything. I feel this is very important for you to know. If you cast a spell, whether normal or treasure, and it was a successful cast, you cannot cast that exact copy again in the spelldeck. The treasure card will vanish forever, and the normal card will simply go into the “used” section of the spelldeck. I’ll tell you a secret, we get a spell to reshuffle these cards back in later on, however until then, you cannot use any exact copies that you had used if they were a successful cast. If they fail, they get reshuffled back into the deck without a penalty. So, if you have three scarab spells and you successfully cast one, you have two scarab spells left. It’s that simple!” Phoenix proclaimed, now pulling out the starter gear that he had specifically bought for each students. The professors were given a budget to spend on student equipment and oftentimes, they spent it on basic gear until the student could obtain new ones or prove they have the expertise and experience needed to get a better outfit and gear.
He pulled out the boots first. The outfit would all match, but he handed the shoes out, the men would get the shoes that were balance school colored, which really were simply a base color of beigeish tan while the trim was maroon. The hat and robe, both the same colors for the men. As for the lady of the class, she had the same items but the colors were swapped; the base was maroon while the trim was beigeish tan.
They each also got handed a Wand of the Novice, which reflected a stage magicican's black wand with a white tip. That wasn't all that would come with the wand, they would also get seven item cards to go with it.
"Now, I have two more things to give you, but I want to let you know that from now on, you are not to be wearing casual clothes. You must be wearing wizard garment to represent Ravenwood Academy." The students nodded, and he handed them the Starter Deck, which really was just two small brown leather belts that would wrap around their cards that they want to use in a combat.
Finally, he handed them the gray spell card of the Scarab. Now each students have (1) learned about spell cards, (2) got their gear, (3) learned their first spell, and (4) also got seven item cards; 1 firecat, 1 frost beetle, 1 thunder snake, 1 dark sprite, 1 imp, 1 blood bat, and 1 scarab.
"Now, shoo! I'll see you tomorrow to talk about pips, health, mana and combat."
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
Phoenix, the Balance School teacher and the Resource Instructor, looked at the students quizzically and had a bit of a menacing smile on his face. Again, he had so few students as so few were actually put into a support role and a lot seemed to be attracted to the violence. Alas, that wasn’t his business, judging them.
Phoenix whipped out a spell card to show them; It was gray, really, with a picture of the creature they’d summon, a giant scarab beetle, brown in color. This distinction was important, mostly because there were other schools that had variants of the beetles, like the Ice School with the Frost Beetle.
“Who can tell me what this is?” He asked, the three students he had standing in front of him were confused. One raised his hand. “A bug? Why are you showing us a bug?”
Phoenix smiled. “No, not necessarily. This is a Scarab, this is the first spell I am teaching you. Now, you can cast this but it is much easier with a wand to direct the focus. He looked at them, wondering which one looked the strongest.
He realized they all had just about the same durability, the same strength. The same health. Ah, well this is something he would need to explain in another class wouldn’t he? The matters of Health and Mana and Pip?
Soon. Not now.
ShadowTalon looked at the boy who answered his question. “Hmm. Well, let me show you why I was showing this to you. Mister Phelom, would you mind backing up, let’s move over here in front of the gate.”
They both moved forward, the other two students turning around to face them. “Alright. I’m going to cast this spell on you, you won’t go down but you’ll feel hurt quite significantly. Prepare yourself.” That being said, he began the combat and it was almost as if the rings came out of nowhere, the triangle turning to point at ShadowTalon first. “I’ll show you a failed cast first.” He said, drawing scales in front of him with the tip of his wand. However, he lacked concentration, so as he promised, the spell failed. It appeared to display brownish yet tan particles raining down towards the ground only briefly.
The triangle spun to the boy and the boy stood there unsure what he was to do. After waiting a bit, the triangle spun back to Phoenix. “Now, to show a successful cast.”
He concentrated this time, made the same wand movement of the scales in front of him and as if it spawned out of nowhere, crawling out of the sand that surrounded the circle they were in, the scarab beetle rushed towards the boy and pierced him with its mandible before vanishing.
The boy crashed to the ground holding his stomach as if he were in pain. “I said this’d hurt a little bit at your rank so far here. Does anyone listen?” He asked, not serious at all.
Phoenix drew out his spelldeck and pulled out two different looking Scarab cards. One was golden, the other was just gray.
“So, Class. What is different? Mister Phelom, you may come back up here and join your classmates. I’ll explain more later about that little phenomenon called health.” No one had an answer. Honestly, it was blatantly obvious! One card was golden and the other was gray, the same card he showed earlier. To confuse them further, he also quickly whipped out a bluish purple card featuring the same thing.
“Well…” He feigned disappointment. “No one knows anything, guess class is over. No one gets the spells.” He dimmed his expression and pretended to stuff the cards back into the deck he had.
Phelom seemed to dislike that idea, even if it was a facade. “No sir, please teach us! They’re.. different colors, the cards! And I think I saw the numbers on there were different too! I don’t know what that means but I think it was different!”
And he was right. Phoenix perked back up, holding the cards back in the air. “Great! That’s all I wanted to hear!”
He tapped a button on his briefcase and it flattened itself, growing mechanical legs as if to form a small table. With that, he placed down all three cards in front of the students. “Once you understand how things work here as wizards, and use these spells more often, you will understand what all of this means. Let’s start with defining the parts of a spell card first.”
Phoenix’s finger tapped the top section of the spell cards, both gold and gray. “This is the name of the spell. You will not ever need to speak them as an incantation unless for some reason it is ever required. I promise you, the chances of that happening are going to be slim. But, this is important, so you know what your spells are and the name of them if you’re going to do something with them, like be in combat.”
He moved down to the small triangle right below the name of the spell with a digit in it. “This is the spell cost. As I told you earlier, the fairground gives you mana if you’re ever running low and the number where the spell cost triangle is, is how much will be taken away from your mana and your pips while in combat.”
“Professor ShadowTalon, what are pips?” A girl asked, and Phoenix wanted to tell her but it would be much too soon and would likely overwhelm his students. “I’ll tell you guys later, let’s finish our class for today?” He offered, the girl nodding.
“Great, well. Let’s move over to the next part of the card, on the right side of the card also right below the name just like the cost was, is a symbol. You might be very confused what this means but don’t be. Each symbol is a representation of the school or element that the spell belongs to. For example, if you’re going to cast, and this is a death spell, Dark Fairy, it will have a skull in the same place where we have a scale. This just says that the spell is a death spell. The scarab spell is simply a balance spell.” He said, looking at the students and it seemed they understood it so far. “Great! I knew this would be easy!”
He, Phoenix, as a young wizard starting off in Wizard City years ago, used to struggle understanding specific concepts of the cards, and the hardest one for him was the accuracy portion. He moved his fingers to point at the bullseye icon used with a percentage on it. “Now, remember how I said concentration was important? Well, it is. It’s very important, but even with concentration, you still run the risk of failing your cast. This is the accuracy section of a spell card. This is your chance of successfully casting a spell assuming your concentration was on par. I wouldn’t worry about an 80 to 90 percent on your cards because storm school students start off with spells that only work 70 percent of the time yet are highly volatile.” He watched Phelom’s mouth gape open.
That boy spoke. “Excuse me? You mean they can hurt us?” Phoenix shook his head. “If they join you as an ally in a combat, which is very likely to happen, they will not hurt you. Even if they fail that casting, remember the failed casting I demonstrated earlier? That’s what would happen. Now, we do host some fun events here in Wizard City and if it is one of those events where you will be put in a battle with another caster, yeah, they will hurt you but never when they’re fighting alongside you. Our magic seems to be enough to debuff the damage to one another unless we were fighting each other intentionally. Does that make sense?” The nonspeaking student nodded, Phelom shook his head and the girl shook hers.
Well, he confused them both. Great. “Listen, we’ll talk more about this later, I need to finish this, please.” And finally, the two shakers nodded their heads.
“The fourth icon, as you can see, is of a fist. This one is actually pretty obvious, it’s your spell type. A fist represents a damage spell. There are five spell types, and more subspell types that aren’t necessarily shown directly in the icons of the cards. The first is Damage, the second is Healing, such as Fairy, has a heart as its icon. Fishing spells have a fish icon, such as for the Common Harmony Lure. Enchantment spells, such as Primordal, have a little four pointed star icon. Charm spells, such as Aegis Iceblade, have a four leaf clover as its icon. Minion spells, such as Animate, have an open hand as its icon. Aura spells, such as Infallible, have what looks like a yellow ball with two circle rings around it.” He knew there were more, but alas, he couldn’t think of more spell examples to pair with them for students who would like to connect the dots.
He just moved on, shutting his mouth about the spell type. He moved his fingers to the bottommost part of the spell cards, where it featured two sets of numbers as if like a range and, on the Scarab spell card, two icons right next to them. “To translate, this means that you will deal that much damage and the damage is of a specific type. For the normal spell card, it deals anywhere from 65 to 105 balance damage. For the gold card, which is called a Treasure Spell Card, by the way, it deals between 80 to 120 balance damage.”
The last part of the spell card, he moved his fingers up to the image. “As I was showing you earlier, this shows you what it is you’re casting, or what is being cast with the spell. In this case, a giant scarab beetle is shown. As you can see, this is easy peasy once you get the gist of it, but we’re not done yet.”
Phoenix took a breath then picked up the golden card. “This is a Treasure Card, or also known as a Treasure Spell Card, and it is often used in exclusive moments or rare moments that might need it. We encourage you not to use it when you combat normally outside of an event that we host because not all creatures drop treasure cards, much less any useful ones. Why do we restrict or tell you not to use it? Do you guys know?”
None of them responded. “Well, the answer is simple, once you use the treasure card, it is gone. It vanishes into thin air, poof. You don’t get the exact card you just used back. You will have to obtain a copy another way, whether by buying it or trading, or by getting it as a drop. This is different from normal spells in where you don’t lose your copy of the spells, they will always be with you, so long as you have them equipped.”
Last card to display. “Now, this bluish purple card is called an item card. It is automatically equipped to your spell deck and do not count towards your main spell deck, but they do count towards the spell’s bonus spells. You get item cards from actively using specific gears that do give out item cards. Your wands are the most common things to give item cards, and it will just allow you to cast those spells as if they were normal spells, and not just as if they were attached. Now, there are also pets that give you item cards, these are called Will Cast pets and casting spells often take away their own happiness and May Cast pets don’t always give you spell cards but they may cast a spell randomly during a fight to heal you or to attack someone or to summon a blade, ward or charm to protect you or increase your attack against someone. In other words, treasure cards come from drops with the main enemies of our worlds, but they may be crafted or purchased as well. Item Cards come with the items that you are actively using but not all items have item cards. And spell cards come from those who teach spells.”
Now, for the more confusing part. “I said equipped earlier, so does anyone know what I mean by that?” The nonspeaking student finally spoke up. “Yes sir. I read about it before I came here. We get spell decks and.. and.. this is where we put the spell cards that we are to be using in combat. Otherwise we can’t cast the spells.”
He nodded. “Great job! What’s your name again? Yaccaht? What? Okay, interesting name. I’ll try to remember it and try to spell it correctly. Yaccaht, you are correct, but the biggest problem that new students often forget to mediate is to ensure that their spell decks are stocked to the most it can allow. Most spell decks have a maximum amount of copies of one spell that you can put into the spell deck, some have a max copy of spells that belong to a specific school that may differ from the max amount of copies a spell belonging to a different school would be expected to follow. Some, like one of the events we host here is called a Decklathon, a Decklathon spell deck will often not allow you to fill it or equip it with normal spells, they will only take treasure spells and nothing else. There is still a matter of a maximum of treasure cards and copies, of course but that is the difference.” He popped open the briefcase and allowed the students to wonder what was inside.
“Now, last thing before I show you anything. I feel this is very important for you to know. If you cast a spell, whether normal or treasure, and it was a successful cast, you cannot cast that exact copy again in the spelldeck. The treasure card will vanish forever, and the normal card will simply go into the “used” section of the spelldeck. I’ll tell you a secret, we get a spell to reshuffle these cards back in later on, however until then, you cannot use any exact copies that you had used if they were a successful cast. If they fail, they get reshuffled back into the deck without a penalty. So, if you have three scarab spells and you successfully cast one, you have two scarab spells left. It’s that simple!” Phoenix proclaimed, now pulling out the starter gear that he had specifically bought for each students. The professors were given a budget to spend on student equipment and oftentimes, they spent it on basic gear until the student could obtain new ones or prove they have the expertise and experience needed to get a better outfit and gear.
He pulled out the boots first. The outfit would all match, but he handed the shoes out, the men would get the shoes that were balance school colored, which really were simply a base color of beigeish tan while the trim was maroon. The hat and robe, both the same colors for the men. As for the lady of the class, she had the same items but the colors were swapped; the base was maroon while the trim was beigeish tan.
They each also got handed a Wand of the Novice, which reflected a stage magicican's black wand with a white tip. That wasn't all that would come with the wand, they would also get seven item cards to go with it.
"Now, I have two more things to give you, but I want to let you know that from now on, you are not to be wearing casual clothes. You must be wearing wizard garment to represent Ravenwood Academy." The students nodded, and he handed them the Starter Deck, which really was just two small brown leather belts that would wrap around their cards that they want to use in a combat.
Finally, he handed them the gray spell card of the Scarab. Now each students have (1) learned about spell cards, (2) got their gear, (3) learned their first spell, and (4) also got seven item cards; 1 firecat, 1 frost beetle, 1 thunder snake, 1 dark sprite, 1 imp, 1 blood bat, and 1 scarab.
"Now, shoo! I'll see you tomorrow to talk about pips, health, mana and combat."
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
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In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
The Center of the Spiral
placeholder
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ok here's 10 posts reserved, feel free to comment below (not required, it won't bother me if you do or don't.). Saw y'all can chat in people's things.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark
--
ok here's 10 posts reserved, feel free to comment below (not required, it won't bother me if you do or don't.). Saw y'all can chat in people's things.
In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far. (Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles)
Clark