Hey there everybody! I have decided to edit out a part of this chapter that, not long after I initially published it, I just started to feel really uncomfortable with the idea overall. I originally put it in in order to try and make this story more 'mature', but... yeah, I just didn't like it afterwards. So, it's gone now, at least here on SH. I hope you enjoy the chapter as it currently is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fox's Path (Chapter 14)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor's tail swished back in forth slowly and monotonously, a reflection of her current state of deep concentration. Between her two paws was a light magenta Rune Stone, which was hovering, as a small breeze gently swirled around the Vixen right where she sat at her desk. Currently, she was in her Remedial Energy Manipulation class, with Jeremy excitedly whispering words of encouragement to her. She had moved on from the simple studying of the runes on the stones themselves, and had moved on something Magi Bloome referred to as Energy Manipulation Stabilization.

Taylor's purpose for keeping the Wind Rune Stone hovering between her two paws was an exercise in learning to maintain control over a continuous source of energy via intense concentration. Her assignment today was to keep the stone and the slight swirling breeze going for a full three minutes without break, something Taylor had learned was a bit more difficult than what she was initially expecting. If a stray thought proved to be distracting enough, the stone would wobble, and the swirling breeze would either increase or decrease in intensity.

"Just thirty more seconds, Taylor!" Jeremy coached excitedly while looking between her and his watch. The sudden exclamation almost broke Taylor's concentration, as was evidence by both the sudden wobble of the stone, and the brief gust that scattered a few papers from nearby desks. Taylor's brow furrowed as she tried to clear her mind and focus on the Rune. The stone stopped wobbling, and the breeze became more mild.

"And that's three minutes!" Jeremy said, smiling wide as Taylor stopped focusing and caught the stone just as it started to fall, setting it down next to her other stones. Taylor felt a little tired, as though she had just been jogging, but otherwise was completely elated.

I can use magic, she thought, her tail wagging.

"You did it, Taylor!" Jeremy's folded wings in his backpack were squirming around even more than usual.

"Very good, Miss Nicolo," Mr. Bloome praised. "You're almost caught up! Now, for the rest of the class, I just want you to take it easy, and simply study the runes once more. And for homework tonight, I want you to practice with another three runes just like this one, to really familiarize yourself with the different energies. But the fire one I would recommend you wait until some proper supervision before attempting." Taylor nodded and leaned back a bit in her chair. Taylor looked over to Jeremy, and thanked him for coaching her.

"Uh... N-n-no problem, Taylor," Jeremy said, blushing. His blush reddened even more beneath his brown fur as Taylor couldn't keep from giggling.

"Mr. Myotis," Jeremy snapped to attention as he was addressed by Mr. Bloome, "how has your practice involving your Controlled Energy Fluctuations been coming along?"

"O-oh... uh... f-fine, Mr. Bloome."

"Care to show me?"

"U-uh y-yes, sir," the bat boy stammered as he reached around and rooted around his backpack for his satchel of Rune Stones. As this was going on, Taylor was looking at each of her own Rune Stones and concentrating on each Rune, associating each symbol with the energy she had learned to sense, which was lightly emanating from each one. The rest of the class passed by uneventfully, and Taylor was soon off to her next class, with Jeremy accompanying her once again.

"I can't make any sense of these changing class schedules," Taylor said as Jeremy politely held the door to Enchanting 101. Since she first started the semester, she had yet to be assigned to this class, until today. Shaun had explained to her that some classes only became available based on progression in other classes, when she had received her newest schedule that morning at the breakfast table.

"It takes a little getting used too," Jeremy admitted, barely containing his enthusiasm at getting to share another class with the vixen. Taylor blushed a little when Jeremy took a seat right next to her, yet again. "But each schedule is based off on each individual student's assessment tests, so the general census is that the Magi and the Guru Kepala know what they're doing."

"That makes sense, I guess," Taylor said as she nodded slightly, as the rest of the students filed in. The bell rang, and the Magi, a tall and well-muscled panther in a grey suit and tie, entered. He had a slight smirk on his muzzle, his bright amber eyes twinkling a little in the light. Taylor saw the plaque on his desk and read Magi DeLoge.

"Alright, class," His voice was deep and slightly gravely, "I can already see that everyone's here, including our newest addition, so let's skip the roll call and hit the ground running." Taylor looked around and was puzzled to see so many empty desks. After counting herself, there were only seven other students in the class.

"For the more advanced and intricate classes, they like to lessen the student to teacher ratio," Jeremy said softly, having naturally noticed Taylor's confusion while he stole glances at her.

"How hard is this class?" Taylor asked, now starting to feel a little worried.

"Only a little more so than, say, Alchemy," a deep voice directly in front of Taylor and Jeremy said, startling the two. They both looked up to see Magi DeLoge smiling mischievously down at the two of them. With him this close, Taylor realized just how imposing a figure the Magi posed. In addition to his stunning height, his build was best described as massive. Beneath his suit, Taylor could easily make out his muscles, and blushed while looking down.

"You must be Taylor." The vixen continued to blush as she silently nodded. "I've heard good things from Magi Bloome," he said, giving the two a wink, and heading back to the marker board.

"Now, today is going to be a review day," DeLoge said as he drew a diagram on the board, of what appeared to be a rough drawing of a sword, with several small algebraic equations connected to lines pointing to different parts of the sword.

"Now, Miss Nicolo," Taylor blushed a little, "while the mathematical formulae can make enchanting seem daunting, it's actually quite a simple concept once you learn the basics. Firstly, enchanting is the process by which non-magical objects can have magical attributes incorporated into it." Taylor nodded as she pulled out her notebook and started copying down everything on the board.

"This can actually be accomplished a number of ways. However, since this is just an introductory course, we will be focusing on the simplest method, known as the Krashcelov method." The Magi wrote the word on the board, followed by the definition, which he also spoke out loud.

"The Krashcelov method of enchanting involves a special mystical board known as a Chaos Board. A Chaos Board serves as a sort of focal point for many different mystical energies. It's what enchanting novices use to enchant items. Granted, an enchanted item made with a Chaos Board will not be anywhere as powerful, nor as effective as ones crafted from the other two methods, but it will be guaranteed to be the most stable."

"This is what a Chaos Board looks like," Magi DeLoge said, waving a paw over a section of the marker board, which shimmered and changed in color, showing what appeared to be a picture, like a photo. On it was a color picture of an octagonal shaped dark brown board. On it were some carved white intricate spiral patterns that together looked similar to the netting design of a dreamcatcher. At each corner of the board was a crystal, each one a different size, all ending in sharp-looking points. At the very dead center of the board was a circle, that appeared to have a sapphire in it.

"Later on in the semester, you are each going to use one to perform a basic enchantment. But that's still a while off." Magi DeLoge waved his paw again, and the image disappeared, becoming a regular marker board face again.

"For now, our focus shall be on formulaic theorem of the different types of enchantments. On the board here is a diagram of a sword with six different enchantments on it. For your review today, I want you to determine what each enchantment is, how it affects the section of the sword that it is indicated on, and how they are affected by the other enchantments."

Taylor's head was swimming a little, before the Magi came and sat down next to her.

"Now Taylor, since you are still playing catch up to the rest of the class, instead, you and I are going to be going over some rather more basic equations, to get you more familiar with mathematical equivalents of the enchantments themselves," the Magi said softly as he strode up to Taylor, while the rest of the class was furiously scribbling away in their notebooks. The large panther smiled down at Taylor reassuringly, before going back to his desk and wheeling his chair over, to sit across from Taylor at her desk. The vixen couldn't help but stare at his muscular arms, and what she now realized were his pectorals, instead choosing to stare down at her notebook, her face heating up.

"Alright then, Taylor. First and foremost, you should know that there are literally thousands of officially recognized categories and sub-categories for the different branches of magic. However, there is always a root to each and every one of them that can link them all together. From there, you have what are known as the Pollesti, which is just basically a name for another way to categorize the different energies. Now the reason that we don't simply use the Pollesti instead of the thousands of categories and sub-categories, is because magic is more... fluid than the equations and formulae would suggest."

While at first, Taylor seemed utterly lost on the subject, the more the Magi gently walked her through a few equations, it started to make a bit more sense. She clearly was not yet ready for assignments like the one on the board, but by the end of the class, it no longer seemed as daunting to her before. The other students had signed and placed their finished assignments on the Magi's desk, before rushing out to lunch. Taylor and Jeremy were the exception to this, as they made their way to the cafeteria at their own pace.

"You know,Taylor," Jeremy said, looking away to rub the back of his neck, before continuing, "i-if you wanted to...y'know...spend some time a-after school... uhm... studying... I w-wouldn't mind... uh... helping you to study." Jeremy blushed while Taylor smiled at him.

"I would like that. But I think that I'm going to have to ask my... uhm... guardians first," she replied, giggling a little at how Jeremy's face broke out into an excited grin.

"You mean it?!"

"Sure," Taylor said, noticing Jeremy's backpack squirming more now than at any other time. She found that she was actually excited at the prospect of spending more time with Jeremy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there we have it everyone! I certainly hope that you enjoyed this chapter! As always, feel free to leave me a review!