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[_DivideByZero_]

"I guess this one's soul was made from souls other beings?"

"Actually, it is possible to form an artificial soul. At least hypothetically possible. Yes... tentatively, you could say that the golem was made from the building blocks of other souls, but the golem's soul is unique from others."

Grab a new sample and try again, but babysit it this time, preventing the whole thing from sticking and pulling the petal section loose once it's healed.

[-] And it works! The flower heals, but the rest of the flower stays intact as opposed to the last.

As you switch to your notes, you notice that Honoka's been unusually quiet. She seems to be concentrating more on her work, and it looks like she finished before you. Aquarius has gone through a few, and Mirroken finished at around the same time as you did.
"It appears this one has a limited amount of soul energy, yes?" asks Mirroken. "I do hope living creatures present a larger margin for error..."

"This seems rather dangerous."

"It is... not quite as dangerous as you would think! Believe me, you are in good hands. Every class does this."

You notice two students taking their turns. The first constructs a formation of three Fire in the front, three Water in the back. The opponent picks one of each element. On the first's turn, a Fire collides with a Shadow and turns into ice, leaving a patch of frozen board for the others to slide across. The ice ball skids almost to the back, but stops near the edge. "I-""Ice!"

The second student gains the ball.

Find an ingot-shaped mold. Then, put the iron ore in that and attempt to melt it, using Jetsha to heat it.

You consult the professor, and he hands you a mold. No questions asked.

As students around you cause all sorts of havoc and explosions, you feel a wind come over your shoulders as a particularly large explosion occurs close to the edge of the field.

Jet-sha seemingly fizzles, having no energy to focus in the first place. But then the mold falls over, and you notice that the ore has gotten far less massive, and taken on a more silvery hue.

[TheBiggerFish]

"Hum."

Well, pick a set of Time.

[AoshimaMichio]

((Extra [+] tag is messing up the turn.))

"For a teacher you are not very forthcoming. Don't keep your secrets."

Tell me everything.

[HighEndNoob]

"And that compromise is probably the best we'll get. It certainly works well enough for me, as it lets nobles study magic for the greater good, not just to give their family more power or prestige. "

[WunderKatze]

Damn it. Instead of getting up Raioyris folds his arms behind and stares up, The sky is so bleak.

Raioyris rests and watches crows.

[_DivideByZero_]

"Hum."

Well, pick a set of Time.

When it comes your turn, you lose the coin toss and assemble your row, the professor wincing rather unsubtly as you go. As soon as you set down the last one, your unscrupulous opponent impatiently fires a shot--and it's a dead-on collision. Fire-vs-Time. [-] Your chance to call it!

((Extra [+] tag is messing up the turn.))

"For a teacher you are not very forthcoming. Don't keep your secrets."

Tell me everything.

((Danke.))

"I see... Normally I present things in a linear fashion, because most students do not catch on as quick as you. But if you consider yourself up to the task..."

Nabul explains the inner workings of the golem; [-] a lot of the technical details are difficult to grasp, but you do catch the fact that its interior is actually molten. Not as magma, though, but as a slurry of water and marble filler. This construction allows the insides to shift as the behemoth moves, and allows the surface layer more room to flex. In simpler constructs, the fact that the whole thing is one block causes it to shatter often, and if the rock shatters the soul (and all the work put into it) is lost. Or rather, the unique part that made it a golem is lost, turning it back into ordinary rock.

The Giant Marble Golem's flexibility allows it to hold a soul for a long time. This makes it suitable for hosting an autonomous intelligence, usually based on canine genetics for their loyalty; but it is not uncommon to use the souls of cattle or horses in constructs not built for gardening. Constructs that are not Golems are instead controlled remotely: through the placement of a "receiving" charm entangled with a "transmitting" charm, a Kahigan can have its range effectively increased in order to transmit orders or physical locomotion from a distance. Basic constructs are, therefore, puppets.

The Giant Marble Golem seems to be covered in charms as well.
"Those are mostly failsafes and are replaced after every rain, when they get soggy and lose the special ink."

"And that compromise is probably the best we'll get. It certainly works well enough for me, as it lets nobles study magic for the greater good, not just to give their family more power or prestige. "

"Perhaps you are mistaken, the nobility are effectively forbidden from magical study. No self-respecting family allows its bloodline to dabble in the arts, for they present a threat to the legitimacy of the family itself. Many a prince or princess would gladly take the public shame disownment brings, given that most never fall into the line of inheritance, let alone procure much other than prestige from their family name."

He starts writing on the blackboard with a stick of chalk. "The nobility has always been a troubled institution. In the past, much of the nobility followed the international gavelkind system, wherein every son and daughter in the line of inheritance would earn a share of the wealth and land upon succession. All of this changed as the Two Kingdoms fell, and nobles across the land felt less pressure to conform to foreign standards. Many adopted systems of primogeniture where the first son gained most of just about everything, and while this did much to safeguard family power and strip lesser princes of the means to protest, there is much resentment of the system."

Damn it. Instead of getting up Raioyris folds his arms behind and stares up, The sky is so bleak.

Raioyris rests and watches crows.

You feel fainter and fainter, but you sit down, and leave the sword on the ground as it bubbles and contracts, working its way toward a plausible form. Right now it has a forward-curved blade and several spikes where the wrist-guard would be, but the hilt is just a metal tang, too thin to grasp. You continue to supply it with energy, but rest your other Kahigan.

Watching the crows makes the pain go away. You spot a familiar one roosting atop a buttress and give it a good stare, and it stares you back, apparently long enough for visual recognition to occur. The crow glides down and hops over to your feet, never mind the blazing sword and constant explosions occurring nearby. Just human things.

"How goes it?" asks the crow.

[TheBiggerFish]

"Ash."

[WunderKatze]

Raioyris eyes return to the sky, "I promised you food didn't I?

Perhaps now you might be able to wrestle a bite out of this miserably grounded flesh.

But I suppose I didn't answer your question,

It goes. It goes at the slow temporally bound pace of the rest of history. And in my vain attempts to cheat time I find myself flat on my rear staring at the sky.

How bleak is that?"

Raioyris grins suddenly, "I also talk to crows, a stark contrast to the practices of my peers.

I must be mad."

[AoshimaMichio]

"Interesting."

Go on with lessons.

[_DivideByZero_]

"Ash."

"Li-"
The balls go out in a blinding flash. All you see is that fatal moment burned into your retinas, coupled with a deafening snap that rung your ears like a bell.

And then it all comes back. You look around, expecting faces and mixed expressions--there are none. Everyone seems nonchalant. Were you the only one?
Behind you, you hear the snap of a rod hitting a ball, and a familiar voice shouting: "Dust!"

"Interesting."

Go on with lessons.

He goes onto explain why Marble is of such significance to the study of Life. Apparently, it has one of the simplest souls in existence, almost just a start block. As a result, it is compatible with genes from almost any branch of life. Mixing with conventional lifeforms allows the creation of golems, or perhaps an economic means of creating statues. Creating a golem out of marble, and then purifying it through flame, is exactly how Seekers are made.

You've seen them before, around the university. Those suits of armor, sometimes with flames coming out of their heads. That flame is the side-effect of the purification process, meant to convert the marble into durable metal. Seekers are quasi-legal to produce, usually to save young people from premature death, but they could theoretically be made out of anyone. All that's needed is a human soul and an exorcist, plus a sculptor and his materiel.

Raioyris eyes return to the sky, "I promised you food didn't I?

Perhaps now you might be able to wrestle a bite out of this miserably grounded flesh.

But I suppose I didn't answer your question,

It goes. It goes at the slow temporally bound pace of the rest of history. And in my vain attempts to cheat time I find myself flat on my rear staring at the sky.

How bleak is that?"

Raioyris grins suddenly, "I also talk to crows, a stark contrast to the practices of my peers.

I must be mad."

"I won't fault you. You've been through some pretty rough times."

They know.

...your sword is just about done, actually. Lots of spikes, very little in the way of practical value as a weapon... but still, it's rather wicked. It's even sprouted some jewels out of nowhere. All that's left is to finish the hilt yourself and you've got yourself a weapon.

"You made a friend," sayeth the crow.

[AoshimaMichio]

Ah, so that firehead dude I saw yesterday was a Seeker? What's Seeker's life time expectancy? I have no idea how this is relevant to my long term plans, but no doubt all knowledge will be useful in a form or another.

[WunderKatze]

"Now I seem to be the one who could use some food.

Later I suppose."

Raioyris slowly rises from his grounded state. He resumes his work on the sword.

"You never told me your name, unless it was that crowish squawk."

[_DivideByZero_]

Ah, so that firehead dude I saw yesterday was a Seeker? What's Seeker's life time expectancy? I have no idea how this is relevant to my long term plans, but no doubt all knowledge will be useful in a form or another.

"Until they're done with what they lived for. Seekers can only be made from souls that survive the initial shock of death. That is, souls with a purpose. A purpose unfulfilled.

Unless you mean physical life expectancy. Then... I guess it depends on how fast they rust. You can patch one up with extra parts, but only the original metal contains the soul. That rusts off, you're done. If you keep a seeker properly insulated from the elements they last a few decades. Most humans can keep a purpose that long."

"Now I seem to be the one who could use some food.

Later I suppose."

Raioyris slowly rises from his grounded state. He resumes his work on the sword.

"You never told me your name, unless it was that crowish squawk."

"Squak, I don't have a name. Names are meaningless unless you can talk to them. But you can give me one."

It seems some of the spikes on the sword are... moving? They seem to be acting like little hands, scooping up pieces of dirt and covering parts of the blade with it. Differential tempering, purportedly.

[AoshimaMichio]

Interesting. What else Notabat wants to teach?

[WunderKatze]

"Desdemona.

You are a graceful creature."

Raioyris allows the sword to cover itself. Now this blade is less likely to shatter if it hits something hard.

Raioyris uses his Me to channel the bitter resolve to pursue his spirit into the sword.

Share my spirit you sword. Exist in misery so that our greater member may flourish.