An orb of solidified light whizzed towards Clain at an arrow’s speed in an unnaturally straight trajectory. It only gave him the barest breadth to avoid as he was falling into a roll.

He let out a short breath as he just finished a rune unto his left arm and then let his aura flow into the vambrace forming a cloudy barrier the size of a round shield able to cover his whole torso. The leveled his staff towards the High elf which was simply standing there assessing his movements.

But before he was able to form a spell he felt a distortion at the edge of his mana field towards his right flank which caused him to turn his staff towards it and change the mana to then, for the lack of a better term, parry the incoming orb downward into the dirt near him causing an explosion of dust and a little wind.

“Hmmm. Seems capable enough.” Yhala had mused to herself softly as she was waiting for the dust to settle. She was just about to blow the dust away with a gust spell when hard clump of packed earth the size of her thumb cracked and broke upon her barrier which extended a meter outwards form her.

“Ho Ho. Intrugeing.” her pondering expression then had a hint of amusement as the now dissapating poof of dirt was able to bypass her field which was another five meters outwards from her barrier and as she changed the nature of her field of detection a successive trio of lumps were darting towards her at a speed comparable to her previous two orbs of light. These were a bit odd as they each had different sources as given away by their trajectory through the settling dust cloud, though she merely allowed them to break upon her barrier like the previous one did.

With a wave of her hand she produced a gust to clear the field, only to find the her ‘would-be’ assistant gone from her sight. Then an object the size of a person was moving into her field from above suggesting a falling trajectory which would land near but still a good distance away from her barrier.

She leveled her gaze to towards the target as another solidified orb of light was ready. Yet as she trained the spell for release a flash of light disrupted her which made her hold back the orb.

Clain saw the Magus drop her gaze and proceeded to roll from the landing. It was now an open chance to attack, so he channeled mana through the staff and released a bolt made of mana directly towards center mass of the proudly standing Magus.

Suddenly something clicked, ‘Proudly standing?’ ‘Wasn't she dazed?’ were two things he thought before pushing out more aura into the shield and then bolstering mana into his own barrier. A hair's breadth after doing so he was impacted by the light orb which was the only offensive spell used thus far by the Magus.

Yet it was unfortunate as his defenses would have been sufficient for any other mage, save those in military conscription and specialized for offense, as in this instance he was facing a Magus and a High Elven one at that. Clain had seen the difference in speed and intuition in casting as elves innately had over other races, out casting most them, along with the flexibility they can mold spells and relative ease with which they let out complex ones.

The orb managed to break past the aura shield as it cracked and shattered. But only to reveal a bright white smaller orb the size of a marble hidden inside the fist-sized gleaming yellow ball which then proceeded to knock the wind out of Clain’s lungs and the consciousness from his mind as broke just short of touching his skin.

The last sight he had was the world tilting sideways as he wasn't able to see the effect of the delayed spell he left behind erupting from below the Magus’ feet.

“Excellent work lad.” the Yhala complementing the crumpled form of Clain which was breathing softly in the dirt.

The observer moved to lay the Clain out straight, then proceeded to scan him with a probing spell of any external injuries or internal abnormalities before finally removing the staff and vambrace. Afterwards he gave an ‘okay’ gesture to the High Elf which she returned with a thankful nod and excused himself from her presence.

Yhala brought them back to the Research Room the by same way they left. Another quick few gestures and Clain’s unconscious form lifted from the floor and gently floated unto the low sofa hidden behind the filled up table. Yhala made a few preparations in the room before producing posh cushioned reading chair in clear area infront of the onyx mannequin and jotted down some notes unto some paper clipped on small board she held with her other hand.

Clain woke an hour later with a distinct feeling of fatigue. Noticing he was staring at the Arcane Reaserch Room's ceiling and had reached for his chest to find an jeweled amulet letting out a soft comforting glow which was had slowly begun to fade away. Upon closer inspection, it was a simple thing, being circular, slightly larger and thicker than a standard gold ten-piece and the metal was also that of the color of gold. Its whole metallic portion looked like a tightly woven rope hammock which craddeled a clear crystal with silver veins running through its entierity and seemingly connecting into the metal.

He then sat up noticing that how he was behind the table and partly hidden from veiw of those who stand by the doorway. The sofa he was on was quite soft and comfortable which made him worry about getting dust on it only to find that his clothes near pristine, save for the ruffling form laying down. The staff and vambrace were also gone but they were his so he decided to look for the Magus which he shortly found engrossed in a book in the far corner of the room on a luxurious-looking chair that could pass off for a throne.

He was just about to call out when the silence was broken by a question.

“Any dizziness or discomfort?” she had asked without looking up from her book.

To which he could only answer with “None.” before being asked with another question.

“How well do you think your performance was?” now Yhala was looking intently at Clain with the sheen in her eyes seemingly moving like the shining of starlight on gentle waves.

Taken aback by the strange sight for a second, Clain manage to reply with “I hope it was satisfactory.”

“Well I can tell you it was not satisfactory.” Yhala said which made Clain a little nervous. “It was more than what the average of the promising students are able to do after a few years in the academy, you are even on par with most of the security here after being able to hold out on my first two attacks by yourself and launching a proper counter attack on me.”

“Um. Does that mean I pass?” Clain asked more to hear details about his being an assistant than reassure his the fact he was already hired.

“Yes it most certainly does as one part of the staff's responsibility is the security of their person, the students and the school, which is only second to their actual teaching reponsibilities, as there is the occasional scuffle for rank or the practical lessons getting a little to rough.” she said as a matter of fact. “But that is lower on our list of priorities being under research. That would be around fourth we would have keeping knowledge from being improperly spread and to destroy, subdue or control any tools and items which may turn unstable and cause untowards damages or suffering if left be.” Yhala remembering an unfortunate case of changing slime into a kind of healing organism which had been interrupted by a harsh lightning storm and turned the being healed/repaired lame calf into a being resembling a cow with completely translucent skin and cloudy muscles.

Clain thought of one story in which there was a kind of slime that tasted like beef and was a type of luxury and curiosity for gourmets. The said foodstuff was so pricy because of the said difficulty in raising the slime to taste like actual meat and not a semi-solid drink of water. The fact that said slime were had affinity towards disposition to clinging to metal or climbing unto high places on thunderstorms didn't help in keeping the fragile things safe.

“Thank you Lady Alfelia. Please make us of this one's meager talents.” he said in a polite and curt manner.

“Again, like with the Arta, no need for such formalities. Magus, Researcher or Yhala is fine.” she corrected her new research hand same as how she knew her former protégé and godchild Arta had done. “And none of that ‘downplaying’ yourself, you are an instructor and researcher in this Academy so hold your head with dignity and purpose.”

“Yes Magus, I will do so.” Clain responded and was about to stand but only then noticed that his belt had been undone, his vest was unbuttoned and his shirt was not tucked in his pants.

Yhala smirked as she saw Clain’s growing distress before saying. “I took the liberty of applying the mark on your left shoulder. You have a curious balance of muscle don't you know?” she then pointed to a mirror just behind the stange jet black mannequin with silvered veins running through out its surface.

“Ah yes. Thanks?!” Clain said as he tightened his belt and slipping of his shirt entirely.

He stood and found the artful snaking vines form into a ball with thorns. Clain was a bit taken aback with the exquisite design that looked more at home on a mural, canvas or a book’s detailed illustrations.

“Try cycling some energy some energy into that part of your body.” the Magus suggested and so Clain did.

The vines then started to creep down his arm as Clain could only move his still replenishing reserves from his core to his extremities. A soft white glow like mist coming off the morning chill joined the moving tattoo and he could feel his aura being somehow ‘placed’ in it but still part of him. “A battery.” he thought

“That is a living tattoo. Three main functions to remember about it; first, it serves as a storage of energy of sorts as you can either fill it with aura or mana or a mix of both and filling it is a gradual process that you must actively control, second, it can only contain the equivalent of one whole full pool of either energy making you have about twice the mana or twice the aura, or a mix of both, lastly, this can store pre-molded mana/aura which can then be used to quick cast spells and skills but be warned successively using this taxes you more than naturally casting it. And a final fact, only those part of the academy staff, officers in the city guard and a few select individuals have these and being near one holder alerts you to the other which vaguely reveals intentions to the other without the need of words. Here, let me demonstrate.”

Clain noticed a purple glow move on the outstretched palm opened towards him. He thought her pattern was different but it was the same style of vines that were so densely packed that they looked like veins. A wave of force made his knees buckle and he was about to loose control of his bladder when the sudden pressure left as quick as it came.

It was a terrible and primal kind of fear which had swept over him, like how a small limping animal is being stared down by its pursuer without any hope of escape.

“Uhm, ma'am? What was that?” he asked as a cold sweat broke across the whole of his body and personally wondering how he was still able to stand.

“And you also passed this one.” Yhala mused now with an new kind of enthusiasm. “Well done and that was my own ‘stored’ energy and the ‘intent’ which you felt was my honest outlook on any who wish to abuse the rare technique we now share with some others.”

Clain tensed like a bowstring drawn taught and only able to nod in assent.

“Good, and to give you a few names of holders of these tattoos…” the Magus enumerated the different heads of departments in the academy and their respective seconds, the Headmistress, a few key persons in the city, namely the Grand Councilor and the other council heads, the Commander and Vice-Commander of the Guard, a few more captains and vice-captains, the Guildmasters of the various City's guilds, which made the count reach up to over half a hundred people in a city state with a diverse population of over thirty thousand.

There were further details the Arcane Researcher elaborated on a few nuances of the living tattoo had before moving on to the fact that she was also the instructor for the practical magic application course he would be in. She caught him up on the portion that they were at and a list of students he would encounter and the guidlines and objectives to which they were to train to.

An hour just before the day was to end, a knock was made on the door to the room and he got up from their introductory talks on the current topics the Magus was researching on, which where a “storage” function that could be placed as a tattoo, as Clain was informed that the principle on which storage items function were that weight could never be completely eliminated as it was a consequence in opening and isolating a ‘space between planes’ and that the matrix of the ‘storage enscriptions’ were that of an opening the isolated space in order to place items there, solidifying the space where the items are and allow the retrieval of them. Consequences to the improper formation or sudden cancelation of the matrix would then range from not working in its entirety, and loss in parts of and pieces of some materials and items, to the spilling out into the vicinity of the storage item or complete loss of the items in the void. The teleporation gates on the other hand were on a complexity and scale on a vastly grander, even obscene, scale. Yes, they are replicable but at the expense like that of buying off a whole town of no less than five thousand people, and difficulty of learning to write with one's hands and feet in atleast four different written languages.

Such complex and mind boggling thoughts were forgotten as Clain met a pair of seemingly completely opposite individuals. One was a gray furred beast kin, dressed in a that of a clean white blouse and heavy rough brown trousers with a heavy leather apron over it, while the other was a lean and towering deep green figure of a man whose frame was draped in loose and fine cloths and twice the height of the rabbit folk.

Each held out a box which were curiously proportional to their respective statures. Clain received both after being told that this delivery was for him and Yhala simply saying thanks to the two as they promptly left.

Clain managing to close the door while holding both packages, moved towards a short table in front of Yhala and sat down from a cross her.

“Wait was this table here before?” he asked wondering about the sudden appearance of two more pieces of furniture seemingly coming from nowhere.

“It was, just stowed away.” the Magus answered before pointing to the packages. “Open them.” she encouraged.

Clain did so and began with the smaller box. It was made of thin yet sturdy wooden pannels and painted with a plain clear lacquer. The insides were lined with a rough brown cloth which held in it a bundle of interlocking loops of steel. He held these up to reveal a shirt of mail which he held up to himself and look suspiciously close to his personal dimensions. He moved to the next box which was also of the same make but in it was a lighter colored robe of the same style to the Headmistress and Arcane Researcher and had a trim of both white and purple threads.

“Put them on.” Yhala instructed Clain and he made a move of taking off his vest. “No need to do that, just slip it over what your wearing now.” so he did and the mail shirt was a near perfect fit. After girding it with a nice leather belt included with the mail, he then moved to the robe which comfortably fit over the mail.

It was hot or even a little bit warm as he was expecting but his thoughts snapped back to the fit. “Uhm. Ma'am, I don't remember giving any measurements for any of these or payment for that matter.”

“Don't worry about the second one as that’s part of joining the ranks of staff here and the first few quests you did in the city were actually made by the academy.” she paused before continuing. “The first one, we already had a kind of reserved commission with the craftsmen in the city and the fine measurememts were taken of you whilst you were recovering and I assure you that everything was done professional.” Clain catching a mischievous glint in her eyes.