FSE

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A plum furred feline wandered about grand hallways at an academy for magic. It was early in the morning, far too early for most students. The professors and staff were out and about and none of them seemed to turn an eye at the short feline walking among them. Mara walked through the halls, taking her time more than usual in getting to her destination. She had received a message from her mentor and teacher that gave her cause to feel as if she were going to be in for a lecturing. Typically she would be rushing to get this over with, but there was the matter that the librarian might have found her tampering with that book which could mean this lecture was more than just a simple slap on the wrist. Mara sighed when she found herself standing before the great oak door leading into her mentor's study. Taking the knob in paw, she opened and entered the room preparing for a lecturing.

Upon entering the room, she shut the door and looked ahead to see her mentor at his desk. The old grey-furred rat sat while reading over a book with a few more cracked open by him splayed out in a mess that reminded her of her own room, and he wondered where she got some of her bad habits from. Mara had nothing but respect for the old man even if he was liable to lecture her ear off at some points, but even she could see the knowledge behind those sharp blue eyes and she knew with full confidence that she was proud to have old man Ridel as her mentor and patron at this place.

When he took notice of her, his ears twitched and a small smile crossed his features, "Ah! Mara. Good to see my star pupil here and not getting her nose into any forbidden magics or trouble. Of course, I assume we can skip all the formalities and go straight to why you're here?"

Mara winced and thought about what her best arguments would be to defend herself and how she could perhaps push the conversation in a different direction, but instead, she ended up nodding.

"Good! Now, would you kindly tell me what this tome is?" Her mentor pulled a tome which she recognized almost immediately as he set it down on the table. One of his digits tapped on the green binding and she saw the lock which had been once secure, was still just like she left it.

Mara brought her paws together and she looked from the book up to her mentor and she opened her mouth with an excuse ready, instead she said, "It is a tome on dominance magic and a way to summon a demon, though I'm not really sure what the demon has to do with the magic and why the tome itself is forbidden except for the fact that it has a really dangerous demon in it."

Ridel nodded and flipped open the tome, "Yes. That is correct. The demon was the one who brought the magic to our world. All of those tomes hold a prisoner, not all are demons, and make sure you understand that not all demons are evil. Regardless, the magic in this is dangerous because it draws on your own force yes, but also brings you closer to a dark place that has a chance of drawing from you instead of the other way around. In general, mental subjugation is frowned upon, but the application can save you in dangerous situations should you ever find yourself in those situations." The old man then cleared his throat as he flipped through another page before he continued, "The demon in particular here can be summoned, but not detailed in this tome is the way to keep the demon from getting out, why? Because no one thought anyone would be dumb enough to try and hold a demon in place without the proper circle."

Mara winced at that and felt the eyes of her mentor boring holes in her body, "I...I see."

Ridel sighed and flipped the pages of the tome until he was at the sigil of the demon used to summon it, "Now, you were supposed to learn how to keep familiars, spirits, and the sort trapped later in this semester when familiars were introduced, but I think you should learn now."

Mara's ears perked up and she leaned in close only to recoil as the tome was slammed shut, "Of course! I am in no way encouraging you. I just understand if you ever encounter another tome like this you'll do the same. Compliments are given for breaking the seal on this, but also you're little ears are ripe for several lectures on the importance of obeying your teachers and not allowing your curiosities to get a hold of you...At the very least, you should tell me when you find yourself something dangerous."

The feline student frowned and crossed her arms, "You'd just forbid me from it and give me some sort of lackluster reason."

Her mentor laughed, "Would I? If I told you not to touch a rock that might blast your face off you might touch it either way so long as you learned something from it. You're not one to ignore your academic curiosity and I can't blame you for that young lady." He then leaned over the desk to continue on darkly, "The librarian wanted to report this to the headmistress."

Mara found her heart stopping at the mention of the headmistress. The head of the school wasn't one to kick out students, but she was one for specialized punishment. Seeing her concern gave cause for her mentor to smile and settle back in his seat, "Good, now that you understand that, I'll have you know that I've convinced him to let me handle it. Whereas the headmistress of the school would have probably sealed your magic for a week, I think I'll do something just a bit different."

Ridel slid the tome forward and tapped the cover with one claw, "Instead, you'll be spending your time in here with me for a bit. I want you to recreate the mult-weave seal that was put on this lock and I want you to do it all by yourself with no assistance from myself."

Mara found a surge of excitement growing along with the dread as she stepped forward to grab the tome, her eyes scanning the cover and the open lock, "I...I mean, I'm all up for a challenge, but I don't really know how to work that type of magic. How would I even go about doing it?"

Ridel chuckled and took another tome from his desk and slid it next to the one in Mara's paws, "Easy, you'll find the process in this tome and really it isn't even that hard."

Mara blinked, "If it isn't hard then what type of punishment is it?"

Ridel chuckled, "A specialized one."

That was all he said before he leaned back in his seat and brought his paws together in a tower with claw tips touching. She wondered what in the world he could mean, but that didn't matter, she had things to learn. Upon opening the tome to learn the seal, she realized her mistake and her mentors trap soon enough.

Hours and hours into the day had past and she found herself working at the spell with the slowest of speed. To replicate the spell she would need to weave together multiple strings of magic together which required different incantations, invocations and more. She had the energy for it, she had the power and knowledge for it, but really killed it all for her was the fact that the work was so slow. At one point, she had tried to rush the process and the spell actually blew her back into the study wall while her mentor laughed. Of course, it had to do with a lesson in patience.

Once she had finished, it was well into the afternoon. Mara was exhausted mentally and spiritually but she got up to take the tome and set it down on her instructor's desk with pride, "Here. One sealed tome finally ready."

Ridel looked over the sealed tome and nodded, "I see...And since you were the one to make the seal, you can also open it at will without needing to break the seal."

Mara blinked, "Wait, really? Why would you do that? Not that I'm going to ever touch it again, but I mean..."

The feline's eyes widened as the old rat slid the tome toward her while speaking, "This is yours now. There is much more in here than just knowing how to dominate the mind and trapped beings are often a good source of knowledge if you know how to deal with them, but most importantly, you are now in charge of keeping this safe. You were the one to break the seal, you were the one to repair it, so it should be your responsibility. There are many dangerous things in here that could kill lesser magi and could wreak havoc upon our dimension. I trust you."

Mara took the tome gingerly and cleared her throat, "I...I don't know if I should be taking this."

"But you will, as part of your punishment and part of your lesson. You will also learn how to trap summoned beings just in case you ever decide to summon the demon, or if the demon should escape. Now. Both of us should get some lunch."

The old man set down another book on top of the tome that she already had held in paw and he gave her a wink before he got up from his seat to start walking toward the door. So now that she had worked so hard to seal the forbidden tome, she was the one that had control of whether to learn the contents or not, she had the responsibility. It was a lot to take in, but her stomach rumbled and she figured she could think of this later, much later. Setting both tomes on the desk she moved to meet her mentor and together they stepped out to get lunch. Later she would come back, and then perhaps tonight or tomorrow she would learn what she needed to know to be properly responsible for that tome of dangerous magic.