Chapter 143: Chapter 143

While most of her other classes were in the main central circle, Aetheric Illusions took place on a part of the campus that Elise had never seen before. In fact, it looked like most students hadn’t seen that part of campus before. It was down a somewhat overgrown side road branching off one of the less-used main roads, and it was hidden by an aetheric illusion that made it so most students likely didn’t even notice it existed. And even if they did notice it existed, they wouldn’t see the building at the end, because the path twisted and turned and eventually led to a seemingly empty clearing with a single trapdoor hidden by both magical camouflage, and yet another aetheric illusion.

As Elise bent down to open the trapdoor, she heard footsteps from the path behind and turned to see the timid young man from registration. Except he no longer looked quite as timid. He looked a little uncertain, but held himself with much more confidence than he had before. When he saw Elise, he locked eyes with her for a few full seconds before both simultaneously broke it off as it became uncomfortable.

“My name is Jesse,” he said, stepping forward with an outstretched hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too!” said Sophie enthusiastically, taking his hand. “I’m Sophie! And this is my sister Eleanor!”

“Nice to meet you,” said Elise, shaking Jesse’s hand. Thıs content belongs to NoveIꜰire.net

Elise noted that his hand was smaller and softer than she would have expected. It was as though he had never had to work with his hands before. Looking at his slender frame, he probably never had. Though then again, Elise herself probably wasn’t too much better. Not now that she had {Telekinesis} to take the place of her hands somewhat. It wasn’t any easier or more efficient, but she had gotten in the habit when she was in rabbit form, and it was hard to break. Especially with how much easier it was to read in bed when you didn’t need to hold the book yourself.

As the three of them turned to walk down the stairs, Elise found herself feeling her own hands and found that they were indeed, quite soft. With {Transformation} she could make them rough and calloused if she wanted, but they defaulted to being just as soft as Jesse’s. With a frown, she focused her aether sense back on him. She wasn’t sure what she expected to find, but now that she had noticed that odd similarity, she wondered if he too might have been a changeling. Freddy did say that there would be more, and it would make sense for one of the other people able to resist the illusions to be a fey, a species specializing in aether.

But no, it didn’t feel right. He just had too much aether. If he was a changeling, he would have to be 7th tier at the very least to have that much aether, and something about Jesse’s aether felt… different. Elise wasn’t quite sure how to describe it. He was definitely hiding something very interesting, and she would have loved to use {Inspect} on him, but now that she knew it worked via aether, she didn’t feel like she could safely use it on anyone with so much of it.

The stairs beneath the trapdoor were made of old, splintery wood, and the walls were made of dirt. It went down about twenty feet before reaching another door that opened to reveal… a storage shed. There were all kinds of gardening tools, both magical and mundane, and most looked quite well used. And of course, there was another door on the other side hidden by an illusion.

“Another one?” she said out loud as she walked toward it.

“Gotta keep the weirdos out, I guess,” said Jesse.

Elise gave a small snort of laughter. What he said wasn’t really that funny, but it was unexpected, coming from him. Especially after the first impression he gave on registration day.

Walking through the door in the storage shed area felt like stepping through a portal. Suddenly, rather than dirt walls and a dirt ceiling supported by ancient wooden beams, they were in an elegant tiled hallway lit by candelabras resting in alcoves. There were a dozen or so doors lining the hallway, each made of identical carved black wood, and at the end of the hallway, there was a double door made of the same black wood. The instructions they had gotten indicated that they should go through the one at the end, so for the time being, their curiosity about the other doors would remain unsated.

Inside the double doors was the nicest lecture hall Elise had ever seen. There were only four rows of eight seats, and each of them looked incredibly comfortable, thickly cushioned and upholstered with soft velvet. One of the seats—the one in the back right— was already occupied by the masked lady from registration day who didn’t even look their way as they entered.

Professor Emmet gave them a smile and wave as they entered, and gestured for them to take a seat, so they did. Elise and Sophie sat in the front row on the left side, and after some clear hesitance, Jesse chose to sit right behind them. They were a bit early for class, so they sat in silence in the room as the rest of the students filed in. The two buff guys were next to arrive, and before finding a seat for themselves, they decided to introduce themselves to everyone else individually, starting with the masked woman in the back.

“Yo, how’s it going,” said one of them, standing next to her. “My name’s Leonidas, and this is Cassian. What’s your name?

The masked woman looked up at them, then looked away without answering.

“We will do introductions momentarily,” said Emmet. “Please have a seat while we wait for the others to arrive.”

“Oh, shoot, my bad,” said Leonidas.

“It’s not a problem at all,” said Emmet with a smile. “I’m glad to see you trying to get along. I have a plan for official introductions, so just sit tight while we wait.”

The two sat down in the front row on the right side just in time for the next person to arrive. This time, it was someone that Elise didn’t recognize. It was a young man with black hair and dark brown eyes and a stern expression. Elise found him a bit familiar, though at first she couldn’t tell why. When she did, it suddenly made complete sense. He looked like Duke Larcombe. Elise was beginning to suspect that their entire house was made up of spies and other aether specialists. The young Larcombe took a look around the room before settling into a seat in the back row opposite the masked woman.

It was two full minutes before the next two arrived. To what seemed to be the entire room’s mild surprise, it was two people, and they were happily chatting away. It was Samantha and the frail noble lady, who was wearing a marginally more appropriate dress today. Samantha spotted Elise and immediately made her way to the front row.

“Hey!” said Samantha. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” said Elise. “Sitting here?”

“If you’re fine with that.”

“Great! This is Helene, by the way. Helene, this is Elise and Sophie. They’re siblings.”

“A pleasure,” said Helene, curtsying.

“Likewise,” said Elise.

The two sat next to Elise in the front row, and a moment later, the professor cleared his throat.

“Well, it is a few minutes early, but since everyone is already here, we will start now,” he said, his voice as soft as ever. “Welcome to Aetheric Illusions, a class where you will learn about aether, their uses for illusions, and how to counteract them. This class will typically be an even split of lecture and practical, with the occasional lab session. There are no grades in this class. Either you pass, or you fail, and that will be determined solely by the results of the final exam.”

What?! thought Elise, her eyes widening

The others seemed to be reacting similarly, since Emmett gave a small chuckle.

“You do not need to worry,” He said. “I have been teaching this class for twelve years, and have only failed a student on three occasions. If you attend classes and pay attention, you will have no trouble with it. However, while passing the class is simple, advancing beyond it is slightly less so. Based on your performance in the practical and lab sessions, I may or may not recommend you to future aether courses, so I encourage you to try your best.

“As for the actual content of the course, I will start with the basics, explaining what aether is, what it can do, and what it is typically used for. I will then move on to basic types of aetheric illusions that many of you likely already have experience with before moving onto more advanced, and often more insidious types. By the end, all of you should acquire the Skill {Mental Resilience}, which will make you at the very least resistant to the vast majority of aetheric illusions. If you already possess that Skill, or something similar,” he looked at the two buff guys, “Then you will be able to get it power-leveled here.

“Before we jump into the content though, how about some introductions. This is a small class, and some of the labs and practicals may get… personal… so it would be best if you were all at least somewhat comfortable with each other. We’ll go around the room and give introductions. Name, age, and if you’re comfortable with it, perhaps a life goal, and a fun fact about yourself.”

With those words, the mystique of the class faded, and Elise suddenly felt like she was right back in an ordinary classroom. It was an unexpected, but somewhat welcome change, as the secret society atmosphere had been getting a little suffocating.

“Let’s start with you, young lady,” said Emmett, smiling and gesturing to Sophie.

“Okay!” said Sophie, springing to her feet. “My name is Sophie Gray, I’m 13 years old, um, my life goal is to be an archmage, but stronger, and a fun fact is uhhh… I like rabbits!”

With that, she sat down, blushing slightly, and Emmett nodded to Elise to continue. Elise had a flash of panic as she wondered what to say for her life goals, then she herself stood up to speak.

“My name is Eleanor Gray. I’m 20 years old. My life goals are my own. A fun fact about myself is that I also like rabbits.”

Sophie let out a small giggle as Elise sat down, trying not to smirk.

“Samantha Kipper,” said Samantha, standing up. “Also 20. My life goal is to relax and have a bit of fun. A fun fact about me is that I hate spiders. Can’t stand the things.”

“Helene Garter,” said the frail noble lady next. “19. I want to rule my household effectively for years to come. My favorite food is salmon.”

“Leonidas Karstein. 18. I’m gonna be the strongest warrior in the world. After graduation, I’m gonna go over to Carsas and hunt down the strongest monsters I can find. I love spiders.”

“Cassian Clawe. 18. I’m going to be stronger than Leonidas. I am also going to Carsas after graduation. I have no strong opinions on spiders, but I think rabbits are pretty cool.”

He winked at Elise as he said the last part. After he sat down, Emmet nodded to the masked woman in the back, who stared back for a few seconds before sighing and standing up.

“You can call me Three,” she said. “My age and goals are none of your business.”

“Hugo Larcombe. 19. My goals are classified.”

“Jesse Johnson. 21. I just want to live a quiet life. I’ve never seen a rabbit before, but I’d like to.”

…Is he flirting with me too? Elise wondered.

Her first impression of Jesse had now been completely and utterly shattered. She wondered if perhaps his timid showing on the first day was all for show, though she wasn’t sure why he would just suddenly drop it in the classroom if that was the case. Maybe he had just been nervous, and had now gotten over it?

“Thank you, everyone,” said Emmett, smiling as Jesse sat down. “With that, hopefully you all know a bit more about each other, and will be more comfortable talking to each other and asking for help. It will also help with the brief practical section I have planned for later.

“So, let’s jump right in. What is aether?”

The following lecture consisted entirely of things that Elise already knew. Everyone else seemed enraptured, as they should have been after learning about something as secret and important as this, but she found her mind drifting to the others in the room. So far, Sophie, and the two warrior dudes were the odd ones out, not having large amounts of aether themselves. Elise had to assume that the two warriors had powerful mental resistance Skills, and she knew that Sophie was only here because her {Dragon Eyes} both saw through aetheric illusions, and seemed to clear her mind from their effects.

Meanwhile, aside from Elise herself, the person with the next most aether in the room was Jesse. Well, the next most that she could detect. She couldn’t tell how much Emmett had, and she could only guess how much Samantha had. In her best estimation though, Samantha was lower than Jesse, simply based on the fact that Elise knew how difficult it was to contain large amounts of aether, and Samantha’s was just too orderly. Either she had a very powerful suppression Skill or item, or she simply didn’t have enough for it to be a problem.

Helene was next in terms of quantity, outdoing both Hugo Larcombe and Three by a somewhat wide margin. It wasn’t to the point where Helene was immediately suspicious, but Elise did wonder what her Class was to give her so much Charisma. Hugo and Three had the least of those who had a lot, but that was still more than most people Elise had met.

Of them all, Jesse’s stood out the most though. Not only was there a lot of it, it was uncontrolled compared to the others. It reminded Elise a bit of her own, except hers was significantly worse. His looked as serene as the night sky compared to hers. It still stood out from the others in the room though.

After half an hour of lecturing and a few questions, the basic introduction to aether finally concluded, and Elise tuned back in as Emmett went over the next portion of the lecture, which she was much more interested in.

“To define aetheric illusions, we must first define the two words separately,” he said. “Aetheric means of or relating to aether, obviously, and an illusion is something which obscures reality. So, an aetheric illusion is something of or relating to aether that obscures reality. Or, when relating to Skills, it is a Skill that the user uses to obscure another’s perception of reality. This is a rather broad definition, so I’ll give a few examples.

“The most obvious example is the enchantments that you likely noticed on your way here. The path leading to this place has an enchantment on it to prevent it from being noticed. Ordinary people will find it difficult to focus on the path, and if they’re not looking for it, their eyes will skip right over it. This is an aetheric illusion because rather than creating a visual disguise, it uses aether to warp their perception, preventing them from seeing the reality of the path.

“Another example of an aetheric illusion would be a Presence Skill. For example {Noble Presence} or {Royal Presence}. While a noble myself, and I do possess the {Noble Presence} Skill, I am still just a man. That skill makes me appear to be more than a man, or perhaps a higher form of man, obscuring the reality that I am not, in fact, a higher being.”

He went on to describe a few other common Skills that qualified for this definition, such as a few cosmetic skills popular among nobles and actors, a few merchant Skills, a couple enchantments used by high end inns to help their customers sleep better, and some other odds and ends. Elise ended up learning more about what different kinds of Skills existed than anything else, but it was still interesting. The next thing he said though, she found much more interesting.

“If we extend it a bit further, we can consider the act of having high Charisma itself an aetheric illusion. As I explained earlier, aether strengthens the connections that form between people, so having a lot of aether, or in other words, high Charisma, is, in a way, tricking others into believing that their interactions are more than simple interactions. Interactions with individuals with high Charisma tend to be more memorable than others, even when nothing of note happens.”

She thought back to her prior insecurities back in the dwarven caverns where she was worried that all her relationships had been fake. She glanced over at Sophie, and for a moment, found it odd that Sophie was so attached when they hadn’t even known each other for very long. Then, she mentally slapped herself. Going down that route was pointless, and only likely to send her into a negative spiral. Besides, that excess aether didn’t create emotions and bonds from nothing. It merely amplified what was already there. Her relationship with the Grays was real. It had just been a bit accelerated.

“That’s enough lecturing for now,” said Emmett. “I try not to talk this long usually, but I wanted to make sure you all had a solid foundation for the first day. We still have a bit of time left, and I will return to lecturing later, but for now, why don’t we do a fun little exercise. Hopefully, this will also give you a good idea of what the other exercises in the class will be like. I apologize as this may feel like a mild invasion of privacy, but please note that all information revealed in this exercise will be information that anyone in this class could easily discern by the end. Nothing revealed here would be something you could hide later on. Not with your current skills, at least. If that makes you uncomfortable, I think it is especially important that you stay, as you may also learn ways to keep your secrets safe.

“Don’t worry too much though. We won’t go very far today. I just wanted to warn you so that you are prepared.

“This exercise will be fairly simple. Some of you in this room are already using aetheric illusions, beyond just having high Charisma. Your task is to guess which of you are, and if possible, what kind.”