//------------------------------//
// Road to runeation 
// Story: Sirraf, Redmage of Equestria 
// by sirraf 
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	Sirraf Anderhal sat in his dorm room within the Mage University going over his latest project. He had been up for the last 48 hours trying to get ready for his presentation, a final assignment given to him by his instructors before he could officially graduate as a licensed mage. 

"I don’t know why they even bother making me come up with something when they insist on beating their supposed 'rules of magic' into my skull," sighed Sirraf,  "I mean telling me to do a project related to magical theory after telling me that the rules of magic are set in stone? Freaking hypocrites...still... it’s not like I wasn't working on this for a month before the assignment anyway, all they did was give me a deadline to shoot for."

Sirraf's project was based on the limited magical capabilities of the red mage community. While red mages are well respected for their versatility in magic and combat, it is also well known that the potency of their spells was nowhere near the level of power compared to those that specialized.

"Man... I've been pouring my magic into this thing for two weeks now. I just hope that the book I found on magical rune stone creation was reliable," he muttered under his breath, "the last thing I need is for this to screw up and blast off my right arm or something."

The young mage hoped that by pouring his magic into an object designed to hold it he can then use it later to advance his own spells to the level of the black, white, and time mages, allowing him to cast spells well beyond his normal limitations.
"Versatility is great and all but nothing quite compares to a specialized mage's power. Hell,I might even be able to cast Flare or Ultima after this." he chuckled to himself as he finished the last minute touches on the homemade magic enhancer.

"Now the only thing that remains is coming up with the right spell to use to show that my project works...let’s see now. It can’t be a healing spell because that would require someone to be injured or dead for the effects to be evident, and it can’t be an offensive spell because then I would get into trouble for the damage it would cause to the academy."
Suddenly there was a knock outside of Sirraf's door. "Hey! R.M.232, you have 10 minutes to present your project before you will be considered absent and fail the test!" a voice shouted from beyond the barrier that is his door.

"SHIT! I thought I had more time!" The mage cursed as he ran about gathering his rune stone, notes, and of course his hat. Bitches dig the hat. Sirraf bolted out of his room and dove out of the hallways third story window. One quick Protect spell later (and a Cure spell to get rid of the damage that wasn't absorbed) and Sirraf was making his way to the practice room where his presentation was scheduled to take place.


Reaching the door, he quickly yanked it open and rushed inside. He was met by the faces of his three instructors; Alex the Red, Lady Triana of the White Cloth, and Malick of the Black Robes, one instructor for each primary magic school. 
"HA!" bellowed Alex as he held his hand towards Malick. "Three seconds left, I told you he would make it on time. Pay up Malick!" He was a large man, it wasn’t that he was fat, but Alex stood a good foot taller than anyone else in the room. He wore a red shirt and black leather leggings, while his bearskin coat only served to enhance the already impressive build of the instructor. His face was chiseled and strong. His eyes... er eye was a vibrant blue while the other was stuck permanently closed due to an injury he suffered on one of his adventures in his younger years. What was most noticeable though was the large grin on his face coupled with a mischievous look within that one eye.

The black mage reached a hand into his robes and pulled out ten gold coins as he grumbled to himself at his loss. He let the money drop from his pasty white hand into Alex's palm, scowling under his enchanted hat that most black mages wore to keep people from getting a clear view of his face. All they could really make out where the two yellow orbs that the spell produced to give an illusion of eyes on the otherwise blank black face.

"Would you two please at least try to act professional about this? I'm sure that this young man doesn't appreciate his hard work being turned into some kind of game," scolded the sweet, yet commanding voice of the aged healer. 

She slowly stood up to address Sirraf. Her age was evident in her movements as she reached for the staff that was once the standard weapon of choice of the white mage, now merely a walking stick. As she moved forward one could almost hear her very bones creak from the passage of time. If one were to look at the poor robed woman they would assume that she could do little for herself, but as all mages know looks can be deceiving. There was a time in which Triana was considered the most powerful member of the white cloth in both terms of healing and staff combat and though age had rusted her joints and slowed her reflexes, her magic was still just as powerful as ever.

"Now then, I do believe that we have kept you waiting long enough, R.M.232. If you are ready my associates and I would like you to begin."

Sirraf quickly began setting up his experiment. After the rune stone was placed into the center of the room and a practice dummy was placed across from it, he handed each of his instructors a copy of his notes.

"Okay, as we all know there are many types of mages," he began as the instructors look on expectantly. "Each one with their own strengths and weaknesses. Black mages with the power of destruction, white with healing and protection, time mages with their mastery of the time/space magic, blue mages capable of learning attacks used on them by the various monsters they fight against, and finally the red mages who embody the balance between the primary spell schools. Now as we all know each school has a flaw." Sirraf stated wagging his finger back and forth. "For most this flaw lies in their restriction from the other schools of magic. For example, the fact that black mages can only restore their health through spells like drain, white mages with restrictions on offensive spells, so on and so forth."

"Then there are the red mages like myself. Their weakness is altogether different. Instead of a restriction on spell schools, they have a restriction on spell potential!" He said with a smirk under his face mask. "Even though the red mage is indeed versatile they will never be able to use their magic to its fullest extent. Now then, what would happen to the magic school system if we found a way to get around this flaw? What if there was a way to allow a red mage to heal as well as a white mage, to cast offensive magic with the full impact of the black mage or to even use the time mages most useful of spells, Stop?" he paused for a second letting his words sink in."This is what my experiment is about. I have crafted a rune stone that should allow a red mage or even a merely inexperienced mage from any other school to temporarily access the higher levels of the magical spells."

"Now hold on here," Malick said darkly. "In order for you to cast such spells from a rune stone wouldn't you need to have had its maker cast the higher level spell into it in the first place? If that's the case then you would be using another casters magic and would then be in violation of the premises of this entire assignment! I would like to move that we call for immediate dismissal of the project and expulsion of Sirraf!"

"Hey!" yelled Alex. "Don't take your losing our bet out on him! We have all spent time teaching young Sirraf here about magic and I'm sure we all are aware that though he loses track of time, he is nothing if not thorough with his research!"

"Yes Malick, I have to agree with Alex," the venerable Triana stated. "Sirraf doesn't seem like one to overlook such a detail. Especially when using anothers magic to pass a test is the most frowned upon form of cheating in our academy. I'm sure that Sirraf was going somewhere with this."

"Humph!" was Malick’s only retort as he sat back down.

"Now then young one, please continue." Triana said with an expectant smile.

"Yes thank you. Now first of all, this is my rune stone that I crafted after conducting some research in the archives. If you will look in the index you will also get a list of research sources. In there you should see the books, Rudimentary Rune Stones, and magic items theory and practice. Using these I devised a way to not only craft my rune stone, but also alter the way that it takes in magical energy. Instead of grasping at and trapping a spell that is tuned to the maker of the rune like a cage around a wild beast, I was able to make more of a magical energy sponge. Instead of just holding the spell, it absorbs pure unaltered magic for later use that can just be 'squeezed out' at a later date."

The room became quiet for a while after his explanation. "Well...” began Alex for the first time seeming serious during this entire procedure. “If this is true then why would it allow you to cast higher level spells? If anything you should only be able to cast more often."

"Aah, see that's the thing!" exclaimed Sirraf excitedly. "That was merely stage one of my project! I was also able to obtain a gem that would be perfect as a focal point that should allow more control over the excess magic from the rune, which was crafted into the rune itself. With this,I should be able to cast the spells that red mages lack the natural instincts for due to their duel class natures."

"Well then, if all this is true you may have come up with something truly revolutionary, young one," praised the kindly old healer. "Though in order to give you a passing grade we will still need to see a demonstration. Now then, you claim that with this you would be able to cast spells that would normally be beyond your reach. According to your latest school transcripts the most advanced spells you can cast from the three basic schools are as follows; Haste for time magic, the second tier elemental spells such as Fira for black, and the elemental nullification spells for the white. These all being considered Level Four spells we will need you to cast something at least two levels higher in order to confirm the effectiveness of your research. It can’t be one level higher because you might have just recently gained access to them."

"Yes ma'am," Sirraf quickly bowed once more. “The spell I plan on attempting with my lovely assistant here," he said happily pointing to the practice dummy "Will be the level six time spell warp!"He quickly walked to the middle of the room and placed his hands on the rune stone. As things became hushed in the room, Sirraf began to recall all the information he researched that the Warp spell took in order to be cast. The air started to crackle with energy as he redirected and focused the magic of the rune into the focal point.Then, with a burst of sound a void opened up around the target dummy pulling it deep within the spells grasp, taking it to who knows where.

Sirraf turned his face to his teachers, joy apparent on both his and their faces. Suddenly that joy turned to horror. The warp rip that had been produced hadn't closed. The rune was still pulling more and more of the room’s contents into itself. Sirraf desperately grasped the grooves etched into the ground as the force of the void struggled to take him into it, all the while the instructors where doing their best to try and seal the rift, but to no avail.

'Why? Why wasn't it closing? A simple dispel from the master healer should have put an end to the threat in an instant?' Sudden realization hit Sirraf, interrupting his frantic thoughts. Dispel attacks the magical energy of a spell, not its shape, and that thing had several weeks’ worth of raw magical energy powering it! Snapping his neck to the side, Sirraf saw that the rune stone had become wedged in the grooves of the practice room’s floor. If he could get rid of that they might just stand a chance!

He removed one hand from the grooves and started reaching for the rune stone. He knew that since it was crafted to absorb magic that any spell he cast would be useless and he couldn't cast dispel even at his full potential. Not without the rune stone at least. Thinking fast he reached over and grabbed the stone, and pulled with all his might freeing it from the ground. Unfortunately this action also shook his hand free from the ground as well. Suddenly he was in a horizontal free fall with the product of his efforts. With one last look at the horrified faces of his teachers he and the power source were lost to the deepest reaches of the universe.