A Lesson For Louise 10

[center][font=Impact]Chapter 10:  Progress Made

<<<Louise>>>[/font][/center]

Arcane magic was a unique form of magic in the fact that it didn’t follow traditional arts; lacking a large collection of institutionalized spells or rituals. It had a few of them, however Arcane was largely about complete manipulation of the energy. Due to this unique nature, no two Arcanists were alike because each had a different method of using their magic.

They also had unique rituals to go along with the few institutionalized spells and rituals that were required for all Arcanists.

And after Louise had accepted that she found it not as daunting as before, oh it was still extremely difficult. A lot of it due to internal biases and personal beliefs but she was slowly chipping away at it. 

Besides, the Professor had shown her and the rest of the class so many fascinating applications for Arcane magic! And she had an affinity for it and it’d be foolish for her not to try and learn anything! Besides the thought of making her own spells unique to her and her alone definitely appealed to her.

It’d be even better if the existential dread of her knowledge making her a Heretic in the eyes of the church didn’t keep her awake some nights, that’d be great.

“One key aspect of Arcane is the power to summon things,” The professor stated, “Usually, this is one part of the process of making elementals, Arcane mixing with other elements, but an advanced usage is the summoning and binding of familiars. If you stay in my class long enough, you’ll learn how to do it too.”

Louise paused at that, thinking for a moment before raising her hand. “Ma’am, what if I already have a familiar?”

She shrugged before saying, “Then you’re either more advanced than I thought you were or your previous teachers knew at least a little bit of what they were doing.”

Louise didn’t mean to, but a snort escaped her and the entire class heard it.

The Professor’s brow raised at that, “Something amusing?” He asked, more curious than upset.

Louise wrestled with it for a few moments before deciding why not?

“In my previous schooling, I was called Louise the Zero for my lack of magical talent,” She said flatly.

“By other students or the teachers?” Professor Janice asked with a frown.

“Students mostly, but I’m sure most of the staff thought of me that way,” She said, “Pretty sure I had a teacher call me that once, but it was a very stressful day and I could’ve been projecting honestly.”

[size=1]“No wonder she’s so comfy with that elf. Crazy lady’s had a full nervous breakdown and just decided to embrace the crazy.”[/size]

Louise didn’t roll her eyes, but it was a very close thing.

“Well, you’ve soundly proved them wrong then,” She continued with a shrug, “Speaking of, have you managed to get your projectile spell working yet?”

“Yes actually,” Louise said, “Turns out I was forcing more magic than necessary. It’s a problem I’m slowly overcoming though.”

“Wonderful,” She said with a smile, “If control is an issue, perhaps a lighting spell would be wise? Summoning fire to yourself to light things up?”

“Well, whenever I tried any elemental spell I would get explosive results,” Louise admitted, “Fireball, explosion, Summon Water, fireball. Make an Earth Wall, explosion. It was the largest reason I was called Zero, Zero Potential. But well, who had the last laugh?” She added with a chuckle that wasn’t entirely bitter.

Only a little bitter.

“Yes, well, perhaps now you’ll manage it?” She suggested, “Otherwise, I have some material that may help you if you wish.”

“Why not?” Louise said, “What do you suggest I start with, Professor?”

The Professor smiled and started explaining, both for her and the rest of the class, “Well…”

[hr][/hr]

Druidism class proceeded apiece, though she’d been told off for lighting the garden on fire, and she found it rather akin to some of her lessons in Diplomacy while growing up but… also a lot more simple than those were too.

“Remember, you don’t always need to haggle with the spirits. If time is of the essence, sometimes it’s better to just give them what they want sooner rather than later.” The Professor said, “That being said if time isn’t of the essence it’s generally a good idea to negotiate. It allows you and the spirit both to assess each other. And of course there will always be spirits that will agree without negotiation, but these sorts of spirts tend to swing from the most common and sometimes weakest to the hellishly powerful and dangerous. So it’s wise to refine your senses and to assess a spirit before engaging in negotiations.”

Louise was rather curious and raised her hand, getting a nod from the professor, “Professor, have you negotiated with a ‘hellishly powerful and dangerous’ spirit?”

“Ah, yes…” He trailed off and looked nostalgic, “Well, Biznitch is a mischievous spirit prone to her own whims and whimsy really. She prefers to explore, but if I ever need her aid, she’ll always answer,” He said with a fond smile.

Louise just hummed as the lesson resumed after he answered her question.

“Wonder if I’ll ever have to deal with spirits like that?” It was entirely possible, but she wasn’t sure if she was interested, really.

Dealing with Rei was difficult enough, she didn’t need another powerful spirit driving her to distraction.

[hr][/hr]

Lunch was consistently interesting, it turned out that Hubbard had a lot of friends… and he wanted to introduce her to them so that Obsidia and Yang weren’t her only friends in the school.

He noted it wouldn’t be good for her mental health.

Louse understood and agreed with the sentiment, even if her pride stung, and maybe it would help the rest of the student body realize she wasn’t crazy just very socially awkward and desperate for companionship (which she only realized a few days ago when she overheard a student venting about her because of her relationship with Obsidia, though… it did put some things into perspective).

But still Louise had no problem meeting with Hubbard’s friends, and if anything she was looking forward to getting to know her roommate better. They hadn’t really spoken much beyond pleasantries and snark in the mornings.

“That’s James,” He pointed to another dwarf, “Malara,” a forest elf, “Juniper,” she made Louise blink, her stark pink hair was unusual for the world she’d found herself in but what really shocked her was the girl’s height. She can’t have been taller than three feet. “And Lotus. I’m not sure what they actually are and they refuse to say…”

Lotus was green, covered in leaves, had stark red hair, and smelled very strongly of honey. Her meal was water and a deer.

“A dryad, perhaps?” Louise mused but didn’t say, if she didn’t want to share it was her business.

“Tonight, do you want to see the stars with me?” Malara asked, head tilting. “No one else wants to…”

James snorted, “That’s because last time ended in a three day trek out of the woods because you, ‘peerless tracker Malara Hundre’, got us lost. Twice.” The elf blushed at that.

“T-that was because fate said we should wander around aimlessly! It’s not my fault!” She retorted, crossing her arms in a huff.

Juniper cleared her throat, “At least it made us miss the Worst Event of the Year?” A shudder collectively went through the group. “We really should try getting lost again this year, no one wants to hear any of us sing.”

“Ah, Worst Event?” Louise asked curiously.

“School Pride,” They all replied as one. Alongside several other tables nearby.

“I like the perfumes they sell…” Lotus said, voice painfully soft, “But I can do without all the noise…”

“... And what is School Pride exactly?” Louise asked, “I only joined the school this week…” Though sometimes it felt longer.

“A big event where the school administrators-” Malara was cut off by Hubbard, “The school donors more than the administrators like to see us paraded around as model students before they give any more money to the school. The professors need salaries and supplies to teach, the gardeners need their pay, lunch staff, and so on.”

“Huh…” Did they have something like that back at the Tristain academy? If so she didn’t believe she ever attended one.

Malara sighed, giving Hubbard a look before continuing, “Normally they have the students sing, sell some ‘home cooked’ food, some sporting events, and we show off some of what we learn in a little competition. Some people take it all way too seriously.”

Juniper nodded rapidly, “They don’t like seeing my handmade masterworks either!” She complained, “They always complain about them causing too many explosions, but they don’t say anything to the pyromancers!”

“... Yes they do, Juniper,” Lotus started, “All the time.”

“Ah, this sounds like the Familiar exhibit!” Where students show of their familiar capabilities and show off, though this Student Pride sounded so much more elaborate than what she was familiar with.

“Well they don’t complain enough. In front of me.” Juniper crossed her arms and pouted for a moment before looking at Louise and, very clearly, measured her up. “You look big enough, you want to try one of my Inventions?~”

She did not like the fact she could hear the capitalization.

However she was no coward… but she did have a sense of self-preservation.

That being said, she had to ask, “What… sort of Inventions?”

“Well, in this case it’s a jetpack!” Juniper proudly announced, “It will let you fly!”

“... isn’t that the one that lit me on fire a week ago?” Lotus asked after a moment, “When it half exploded?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t do that anymore! It’s just… too powerful for me,” The short girl coughed, “I’m too light for it. But Louise looks perfectly sized!”

Louise stared at her for a few moments before asking something she felt was pertinent, “Can I have Obsidia there to put me back together if it explodes?”

“It won’t!” Juniper complained, “But if it makes you feel any better then yes, your psychotic girlfriend can come too.”

Louise… honestly wanted to say something in the defense of her girlfriend, but having spent quite some time with her… she definitely fit the ‘psychotic’ designation from a human perspective. It certainly helped when she got curious about Obsidia’s culture beyond their food and started to ask her about it.

And Obsidia told her.

So… yes, her girlfriend’s culture was a large group of sadomasochistic hedonists with a mean streak bigger than her home country, and were so morally flexible a snake would be envious.

Not that Louise cared one bit for that, though if she ever visited Obsidia’s home she would have to be extra cautious and vigilant.

The fact that Obsidia agreed and praised her for deciding such just really cemented it in her mind.

“Then I’ll, uh, give it a shot?” Louise said, slightly worried.

“I’ll mourn you at your funeral,” James said, seriously. It did not make her worry any less.

The good news? Obsidia did in fact put her back together when it blew up.

The bad news? She lost an entire day of learning!

But… she got to cuddle with her girlfriend, so it evened out so Louise couldn’t really complain.

[hr][/hr]

Louise was fairly certain her wand didn’t like her, which made logical sense according to the professor for one simple reason: Emotional Imprinting. For years she stewed in jealousy, self-loathing, and envy of everyone who could use magic while she couldn’t. Of course those emotions would imprint on her wand, something she kept on her person for years and only separated from it when she slept or bathed.

The professor had offered her a chance to switch to another, but if Louise knew one thing about herself it was that she was stubborn. To a ridiculous degree.

Perhaps it was a sense of pride that made her stick to trying to bond with her wand. It was her very first magical focus, and her family was so proud of her when she got it before her lack of magical skill became obvious. She didn’t want to simply throw it away, sentimental value aside it wasn’t the wand’s fault.

It wasn’t even her own.

Having experienced teaching from people that were actually open minded? It was her teachers that were at fault, granted not all of them. But most of them… never explained how anything worked.

“If I may make a suggestion?” Professor Graves started, “Take your anger and your wand’s anger and focus them together, point them in the same direction… and bring out a spell you associate with that anger.”

Louise looked at the professor, who was giving her a soft smile, before looking at her wand, “... Professor, can you open a window?” She asked absentmindedly.

His eyebrow raised, “Perhaps casting outside?” He suggested.

“Yeah… that’d probably be better…” She said absentmindedly, “Can I be excused?”

“It wouldn’t really be an excusal from class since you are doing this for my class…” He replied, amused.

“Habit, professor,” Louise said as she palmed her wand and stood up, “I’ll return shortly…” She added before leaving the room and making her way to the courtyard.

A few minutes later all the windows rattled as a massive explosion appeared in the sky and brightened the area like a second sun.

A few minutes later Louise returned looking so much more relaxed than Professor Graves or the student body had ever seen. She’d practically slouched into her desk with a very pleased smile.

“Thank you for the suggestion professor…” She said happily.

[size=1] “Gods, it’s like that devil woman just worked her over good.”[/size] One student muttered.

“Of course,” He replied, “Now comes finding out what elements went into your wand. Don’t stop now just because you made some progress,~” He teased, “Gotta keep it up.”

Louise just hummed happily and looked at her wand.

And, for a split second, she was almost certain her wand was humming in content itself.

Though it was entirely possible that was the self-inflicted tinnitus ringing in her ears.

[hr][/hr]

“I hope you don’t cause a third castle shaking explosion in this class.” She’d been… not told off, but certainly had a pointed comment from the professor of the class after that. “That said, you look much more relaxed today. Good, I hate to see one of my students overly stressed. What… had you stressed, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Wait, how do you not know what had me stressed but you knew I was called Zero?” She asked, confusion and frustration in her voice.

“I didn’t until you asked that,” He replied, “But that does explain the looks you were shooting me that first day…” Then he shrugged, “You’ll have to tell me more about that sometime in the future. Or the past, one of the two.”

“Ah, well… the basics is that in my previous school I was heckled, mocked and made a social pariah due to having zero potential at magic, thus the name Louise the Zero,” She said, “And due to Emotional Imprinting a lot of my emotions latched onto my wand making it very troublesome to use and Professor Graves suggested I find a spell that was linked to everything. And the only ‘spell’ I ever used was Explosion, so I just cast it on purpose. And I do believe I have years of unresolved anger issues.”

“You are very good at causing those on accident as well…” He noted, though there didn’t seem to be much heat in it, “Tell me, did you ever realize what you did on that first day?” Louise shook her head, having assumed she just lit it on fire from friction but… his voice said otherwise.

The Professor just shook his head in amusement, “You casually, and accidentally, caused something called ‘Nuclear Fusion.’ Normally this doesn’t happen, there’s so much space between atomic nuclei, that being what everything is made from, that even a million atoms can exist in about the same place. You managed to create so much air in such a small area that they overlapped, thus creating a small star overhead for a few nanoseconds.”

“... oh…” And really what more could she have said?

What did you say to ‘accidentallying a star’ in the middle of the sky!?

“Oh indeed,” He said, “You’ve got a frightful amount of potential, Ms. Vallière. But do remember the little people and don’t get caught up in it.” Then he paused, “Also don’t stop studying and practicing how to control it, I’ll not be responsible if you kill yourself with the magic I teach.

“I will Professor… actually what is your name?” Louise asked.

“Smith,” He replied with a shrug, “Not the most impressive one, but it’s memorable for how little it stands out.”

“Ah, I’ll remember that, Professor Smith,” Louise said.

“I should hope so,” He replied with a snort, “Oh, yes, and you’re late to practicing. You’ve gotten creating wind down quite well, now try Water. It’s rather more challenging to shape… just don’t flood the courtyard…”

Louise simply blushed, “Yes, Professor…” She said ducking her head.

Professor Smith just snorted once more before he walked along to help the rest of his students.

[hr][/hr]

“So, let me see if I understand this correctly,” Obsidia said with a faint amused smile, “My Louise is actually from another world. You summoned your familiar, who then proceeded to essentially kidnap you to remove you from a hostile and toxic environment to give you a chance to properly recover, heal, and actually learn magic without the narrow minded views of your professors? Does that accurately sum everything up?”

“Then there is the Church and the whole prospect of my Void affinity and the possibility of being a heretic because of that and learning magic that they would see as blasphemous,” Louise added dryly, “But more or less? Spot on.”

“Cool, so when can I come with you when you return to wreak vengeance upon the pathetic mortals that hurt you so?” She asked, “And can I help torture them?”

Louise giggled faintly, “Honestly it’s less revenge and more me just being smug as I prove them wrong,” She admitted, “Though if I do get ahold of one well… we could introduce her to a whole new world of experiences. Also there’s the fact that in my culture people are absolutely terrified of elves.”

“I like the sound of this!” Obsidia started, “No, I’m loving the sound of this. I’d get a whole refill out of just walking out and saying hi!”

Louise just rolled her eyes, of course her elven lover would enjoy that. Hell, so would she honestly, though she wondered if agreeing with Obsidia was a sign that she’d spent too long around her. Quite possibly, but at this point she wouldn’t change anything.

At that point, she couldn’t bear the thought of not having Rei or Obsidia in her life.

“But if you wanted me to be discreet…” Obsidia visibly came, moaning softly, as she touched her own skin and… started looking far more human than she had before.

Then she lost her legs, only for them to turn into the bottom half of a snake.

“There,~” She hissed before wrapping around Louise, “Now they can’t know I’m an elf.~” Her skin had shifted purple, though her ears were still pointed. Naturally, she was still far too pretty.

“Only a snake woman.” Louise said, not trying to show how much she enjoyed her situation; which of course made said snake woman giggle.

“Exactly. A unique… mmm, second familiar?” She suggested with a grin, “If anything would make them burn with jealousy, that would do it, no?”

Louise rather liked that thought a lot.

“Well,” Came a voice from right next to them, something that made both her and Obsidia jump, “I was just thinking of bringing you back there for a few days…”

“Rei! I wish you wouldn’t do that!” Louise didn’t whine, “Really?” She asked curiously, “I mean… it wouldn’t cause any problems would it?”

“Oh no, it shouldn’t,” She replied, “I’ll leave one tail behind here and retrieve my tail there. Time here will stop, time there will continue.”

Obsidia, not familiar with kitsunes (not that Louise could claim she was either) just mouthed ‘retrieving my tail’ as she blinked in surprise.

It was a surprisingly cute look on the normally seductive and smug elf… well, currently snake woman.

“Sure!” Louise said, “Besides, can you imagine everyone’s reaction when I appear with you and a ‘snake woman’ Rei?” She added with a devious giggle.

“My,~ when did my master become so devious?” Rei teased with a smile.

“Probably has something to do with her troublesome familiar and an elf-turned-snake woman,” Louise retorted before she relaxed into Obsidia’s coils.

“But I was thinking of appearing as a fox… or perhaps the commoner form I appeared to you as at first?” Rei started, head tilting, “What do you think?”

“Whatever will be the most amusing,” Louise said with a smile, “I’m going to have fun with this. I wonder how they’ll react when their plebeian insults and digs don’t get the reaction they’re used to?” 

Rei smiled wide and kissed her gently, making her relaxed even further. After a moment, she also kissed Obsidia before growling, claws forming on her hands and going around the elf’s throat, “If you betray her trust, you will be punished in a way that will see you truly suffer. You will find no enjoyment from it… or any sensation ever again.” And then let go of the suddenly more pale woman. “Good!”

“Y-Yes…” To Obsidia’s credit she recovered rather well, “I would never betray Louise like that! The girl has literally let me hold her heart, I’ve never had anyone trust me to that extent before. I’m a sadist but I’m no fool or terminally stupid!”

Rei just looked at her before looking at Louise, “Explain. Just because we have a connection doesn't mean I watch all the time,” She said.

“Well… a few days ago I was trying this jet pack and it exploded,” Louise explained, “And Obsidia… literally put me back together… eh, surprise?”

“... that explains why I felt your lifespan decrease for a few moments,” Rei replied after a few moments, “I knew you weren’t going to die without my intervention, divination is quite helpful with that, but I wasn’t aware of the specifics. Obsidia… please keep Louise from doing anything else so stupid in the future? Thank you.”

Obsidia coughed. “Upside,” She started, “we discovered that her pain tolerance is really high… and her pain threshold was too high, so I turned that down a bit after putting her back together properly.”

“Well, then I thank you for that and making sure she didn’t die, you will be repaid in time,” Rei said, “The threat still applies, of course, but I find it unlikely that I’ll need to carry it out. That said… Louise, don’t hurt the buxom cutie too much when we arrive, she’s a better person than you think. She just needs… a lesson in humility.”

Rei’s fingers snapped and, beside them, a portal formed. “Shall we?” She asked, plucking a tail off herself and tossing it to the ground. Louise felt the magic be cast, unlike the first, and it was…

A lot of power to just casually use.

“We shall.” Though Louise didn’t know if she’d ever get used to just how much power Rei threw around without a thought.

[hr][/hr][hr][/hr]

Vyor: Last chap for this cycle, and the end of the first arc. This story can be voted for at the end of this month.