Chapter 22 - The Seven Houses II

Who’s who:

Professor Cedric Cold: Overweight Combat class professor. Ran orientation. Sword foci.

Felix Sutter: Poor boy living in Sacramento, recently found out magic existed. Hard worker, knows the price of everything.

Hazel Winslow: Ran away from an abusive cult. Awoke as a natural mind mage.

Kevin Moon: Light bigot, wants to make sure Felix and Hazel are with 'the right people'. A dumbass.

Naomi Bones: Beautiful, elegant, and refined. Wears golden jewelry, but makes it look classy. Purrs a lot in her speech. Has bone and spider silk fence for her mental defenses.

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 Without omen, without mercy, came The Hollowing.
A plague not of body alone,
But of magic, of core, of soul.
Wixen twisted, fell, or withered.
Nobles and commoners alike.
Flesh remained - but hollowed, drained.
Entire houses collapsed in weeks.
Magic itself seemed to forget.

The Saga of Bjorn, Verse 51

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“I’ve mentioned a few times about the rooms and voting system.” Professor Cold said. “As you attend Camelot, you will obtain points for good grades and participating, and lose points for rule breaking and other undesirable behavior. Points are done on an individual basis. Some clubs and activities require their members to have certain point totals in order to participate. Prizes are given out at the end of the year.”

For about half of the students, this wasn’t news. For the other half, Professor Cold paused for a moment, letting the students chatter excitedly to themselves.

“Prizes for the most points on a personal basis, on a house basis, on a year basis, a coven basis. If boys have more points than girls, adepts versus initiates, etc. 10% of your points will carry over every year, so even if you believe you’re out of the running, it’s worth continuing to participate. You can also spend them on various activities. If you’re thinking of opting out entirely, beware! If you get to a negative 300 point total, you’ll be expelled from Camelot.”

That last line instantly got Felix’s attention, and he raised his hand.

“Yes?” The professor called out.

“Felix Sutter.” He called out. “How often do people get expelled for negative point totals?”

“Last one was… four years ago, I believe? Absolute brute of a student. Wouldn’t do his classwork, kept trying to attack other students. Utter menace, and it still took almost seven months for him to lose enough points to get expelled. If you’re diligent with your studies, you shouldn’t worry too much.”

A tight knot of worry had wormed its way into Felix’s chest, and the professor’s reassurances washed over him like water off a duck’s back. He instinctively tried to bite his thumb, but held off.

“Points are used for the voting at the end of year. If there’s something you’d like to have, more points will give you more votes. A reward for diligent students, while troublemakers have less of a voice. Ah, and look what we’ve found!” The professor paused and pointed at a door. “We’ve passed a number of challenge rooms, but this one is one of the more useful rooms.” He frowned to himself a moment.

“This part is usually covered later in orientation, but I’ll quickly handle it now. Then we’ll need to get a move on. Camelot is arguably the most magical building in the world. A few other places will make their own claims, but that doesn’t matter right now. The rooms are constantly moving themselves around. They are a part of why Camelot isn’t just the best school in Logres, but in the entire world. Visit them, explore them. Many of them have challenges, and a reward to match. From an aureli all the way up to rare grimoires, clues and hints to other rooms and shortcuts, diving into the mysteries of Camelot in a safe and controlled way will let you improve your magic and your thinking. With that said, you’ll find it’s nearly impossible to tell other people what you’ve found. No shortcuts! Now, this room’s fairly easy, but the reward is nice. Come in, follow me.”

The professor walked into the room, and the nearly 100 odd students shuffled in after him. Felix couldn’t see the puzzle or the solution, but suddenly the walls of the room folded back, and a long table came out of each wall, with dozens of crystal balls on it.

“If you’ve ever wondered what tier of wixen you are, go ahead and find out!” Professor Cold said. “Put your hand on the orb and push your magic in.”

Felix had read and reread his letter obsessively since getting it, and remembered that Headmaster Kaladin was ‘of the Ninth Circle’. He figured this must be what they were talking about.

Most of the other students were scrambling to find an orb, and Felix found himself left behind with Hazel and a few dozen other students who’d been slower, or just didn’t care.

The orbs started to light up all over the place. Some brighter, some dimmer. Some lit up for a long time, others flickered like a candle before guttering out. Most of the orbs were different colors, but some were so close to each other it was hard to tell. Alexandria’s flashed bright red for a short time, and she seemed disappointed by the results. Sora’s was blue, and average in every way for the students around. Vivian was waiting behind Alexandria for her turn, Erik was busy studying the room, and Hazel was doing her best to hide in a corner. After the first flash of light, the students waited for a moment, then got a second, incredibly brief burst of color, before a tiny slip of paper was printed out.

There was a ton of excited chatter from everyone as friends compared their results with each other.

“I’m averaging the 1st circle, 6th step!” One boy was practically jumping up and down.

“I got a 1st circle, 2nd step.” A girl was practically crying. One of her friends was trying to comfort her.

“That was in your capacity. Your output is amazing! 1st circle, 11th step? The rest will catch up. It’s the sum, not one bad number.”

 Felix moved to an open orb as soon as he could, and put his hands on it.

If it had been before Avalon, he would’ve had no idea what to do. If it had been before entering Camelot, he would’ve struggled.

But he could almost feel his magic inside him, like a warm core. His first thoughts at moving it were clumsy and inexpert, and it moved sluggishly and unresponsively. He had spent his entire life until now unaware of it and neglecting his magic, it was no surprise that it was stiff and unresponsive.

Feeling dumb, having absolutely no idea if he was doing it right but thrilled that he was doing magic, Felix slowly threaded his magic through his arms and down to his hand. It went from his hand to the orb, and it slowly lit up.

He thought the silver color it was giving off was the most beautiful thing in the world, although he was disappointed how dim it was. 

“When Morsin realizes what a dud you are, feel free to come crawling over. It’s not too late, you know.” Kevin sneered at Felix.

Felix ignored him. Erik didn’t seem quite that shallow, and if he was? Better to find out sooner rather than later. Either way, he’d never be friends with Kevin. Not some pompous ass that seemed to think he was owed allegiance or friendship or whatever.

“Moon, I believe you’re missing his potential. I actually think he’s doing quite well.” Naomi stepped up next to him. “He’s gone the longest of any student so far.”

“If my output was that bad I’d also last minutes.” Kevin said.

One by one the students got their paper, compared their results, and turned to watch the remaining students. Eventually, only Felix was left, with even Professor Cold peering over his shoulder.

“Remarkable.” The professor said. “Sutter, I do believe you might be a regenerator. Congratulations are in order.”

“A regenerator?” Felix asked, still pouring his sluggish mana into the orb.

“Yes. It’s a good thing, although you’re looking like a classic case. Wixen who generate magic in their core faster than they are able to use it are called regenerators. Usually seen in low-circle wixen.”

“Um.” Felix didn’t even know what question he wanted to ask.

“You’re about to go through eight years of great magical growth, and it’s likely this will only last a few months before it changes. For now, it looks like you’ll only be able to cast the absolute weakest of spells, but unlike your peers who’ll run out of magic quickly casting more powerful spells, you simply will be able to continuously cast.” He said.

“Dipping into core growth theory for a moment, your core’s regeneration has grown before your capacity or output.” Naomi said. “It’ll balance out as you get older.”

“Wait, but I thought-” Another student said, and it devolved into a babble of core theory. Professor Cold put a hand on Felix’s shoulder.

“I’d end it now.” He said. “You’ve gotten your results.”

Felix briefly took his hands off, on, then off again, and a tiny slip of paper printed.

Felix Sutter

Throughput: 1st Circle, 1st Step

Capacity: 4th Circle, 6th Step

Regeneration: 1st Circle, 1st Step

Average: 2nd Circle, 3rd Step

“Allow me?” The professor asked, holding out his hand. Felix handed it over, and the professor scribbled on it, crossing out the last three lines and writing ‘Regenerator’ on it.

“The other part that’s not being mentioned is a regenerator entirely fouls up the testing process.” The professor explained. “You could sit here for a week channeling mana, and be judged an 11th circle wixen by the measuring devices. It doesn’t make you one, the test simply breaks.”

“Practically speaking, what does it mean for me?” Felix asked.

“Work on your fundamentals, practice, practice, practice.” Professor Cold said. “You’ll be on the most basic of spells while your peers are throwing around more advanced magic, but they’ll be exhausted within twenty minutes and need to take a break. You’ll only need to take mental and biological breaks, not magical ones. Of course, most of your peers could do the same thing if they practiced the same tier of magic.”

“So… not that special?” Felix asked. Professor Cold shook his head.

“Not that special.” He agreed. “You’re at least a 2nd tier on your regeneration, but if you were, say, a 2nd tier 2nd step regeneration, and your throughput made it to the 1st circle, 3rd step, you’d be able to cast more powerful spells and no longer be a regenerator.”

“Oh.” Felix’s shoulders slumped.

“Chin up, most people didn’t get the results they wanted.” Professor Cold said. “Haven’t met a class that’s been happy with their circle results yet. Heck, I haven’t met a coven that’s happy with their results. Not until they’re adults at least.”

Well… Felix could have company in his misery.

Professor Cold clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Comapare results tomorrow! We still have a lot to get through! Follow me, everyone out, the room’s not going anywhere for the rest of this semester.”