"Convenient. Well, students, I must be off, and we ought clear the room for the next class. Happy studying!" Alidade finishes collecting the vis and leaves through the door she entered by.

"Thank you. I hope you have a nice day." Alex will collect the rest of his belongings and follow out the door then turn to the other apprentice. "It was good to meet you. Magister Alidade said it but in case you didn't catch it I'm Alex it seems we're close to sharing a name."

"Yep! Might be a shared namesake from pre-Conquest, I think mine is supposed to be Delphic* originally. Anyway, pleasure to meet you." 

*Loose term for a pre-Miezan ethnic group conquered centuries ago; the Iridescent Archipelago and the Long Gardens are home to some descendants. 

"Interesting, how long have you been here at Grawtosh?"

"I was enrolled as a young child nearly a decade ago, but I've traveled since to work with my parens, Magus Hasdrubal Mucianus. He prefers working to teaching, so he's given me leave to study at Grawtosh during my learning periods."

"Oh! Are you already awakened then? Were you able to sense the vis somehow? Or was it just a lot of knowledge and experience that let you score the best?"

"Yeah, I've been Opened to the Arts. It's the last step before starting an apprenticeship and mine is almost done. A little of both, I guess? I've helped Magus Hasdrubal work with vis in the lab a little bit, and I know a couple very basic detection spells. Well, technically they give me enhanced senses, I'm good with personal spells. That's how I noticed the wand didn't seem magical... Also, a friend of mine warned me that Alidade liked to play tricks sometimes, so I was double checking all my guesses. I knew about the Century Tree and recognized the basilisk eye from a description of its effects. The acid got me, actually, I thought it might be another trick and guessed it was some critter's phlegm." 

"I almost guessed that the acorn was dual aspected but then I talked myself out of it because of how heavy it was. Sensory spells seem cool, I'll have to look into them when the time comes."

"Yeah, they're great. They can be pretty weird and hard to interpret sometimes, though. Takes some getting used to.

"You wanna get lunch and study before the next period?" 

"That sounds great. Do you have any tips or suggestions for someone just starting out?"

"Oh gosh, it's been a while since I was starting out myself and the advice I'd give a kid is probably very different than what you'd need to hear...uh, don't anger the librarian, ask multiple students about a teacher before taking classes with them, exploring Grawtosh can be dangerous but also weirdly helpful as long as you're not too stubborn to back off and retreat to the Atrium. Also the magi are feuding, like, all the time, and the apprentices get drawn into it but I try to steer clear." 

"I knew magi were prone to feuding I suppose it was too much to hope that the academy would be insulated from that. I suppose I've already broken the rule with respect to asking about professors. Do you know anything about Aeolus Flamen or... " he briefly looks at his notes to help remember the name of his math professor.

He has Pomona Salinator for geometry and Ahasuerus Pictor as a Miezan tutor. Also in his notes: Geometry and Petronian Law are 2-hour evening shifts twice a week and Miezan is a single 3-hour session in the research buildings outside Grawtosh. His schedule for auxiliary classes is Miezan-law-break-math-law-break-math-break starting today; the Miezan week is eight days. The primary class follows a three-day-on, one-day-off pattern, but some of the "off"-days involve project work outside the classroom. 

Alexius begins making his way to the Prytaneum. "The Sub-Quaesitor? Oh yeah, he's actually a relative on my aunt's side. He's not Gifted, but knows the Code inside and out. Helps adjudicate tricky cases, he used to tell us kids stories growing up about various trials to keep us behaved. Half of them ended in executions, mind you. He's harsh but fair, kind of a stereotypical Order of Justice magister in that regard, but he's been all around the Empire and loves talking about his collection of souvenirs. 

"I don't know Pictor or Salinator as well but I don't think they're among the infamous ones. I think Pictor teaches provincial students? That might be a good match since they're often older. I heard Salinator gets called in as a consultant on rituals sometimes, so she probably knows her stuff, most non-magi are kept away from those."

"Sounds like I got lucky then."

"Maybe!" 

Lunch provides a chance to collect more Grawtosh gossip from Alexius, and Alex has a few hours before the afternoon lesson for study or any other purpose. 

Well he got asked to review the first few chapters of his textbook. And it's magic, he doesn't have it in him to resist the lure.

He has two topics to review, the basics of the fifteen Petronian Arts and the limits of magic. On the former, Alex learns: 

The term 'Arts' refers collectively to Techniques and Forms — two classes of magical disciplines that work together in spellcasting. Techniques govern the essential manipulations that magic can perform; Forms, the essential natural phenomena that magic can manipulate. A Technique is referred to by a verb conjugated in first person, and a Form by a noun. You combine one Technique and one Form to cast a spell, and together their names indicate the spell’s general function. For example, a 'Creo Ignem' spell employs the Technique of 'Creo' and the Form of 'Ignem' and produces light, heat, or fire. A 'Muto Ignem' spell transforms light, heat, or fire in some way, such as by increasing its intensity, its size, or its shape.

Arts are not knowledge alone; they also represent the degree to which a Gifted individual expresses magical energy with their very being. Progress in Forms confers some measure of resistance against harms caused by that Form; fire resistance from Ignem, for example. 

(Pronunciations are not spelled out in Alex's textbook but are included for the benefit of the reader. Also, the author of these posts makes no representation that all statements in Fundamental Principles of the Arcane about the reified world in which it exists are true.)

Techniques

• Creo (Cr) “I create”: Creo magic makes things that exist independently into better things of their kind, which includes bringing them into existence from nothingness. Artificial things, such as bread, swords and books, have complex forms; creating them requires skill. Pronounced “CRAY-oh”.
• Intellego (In) “I perceive”: Intellego is the Art of perception. It allows a maga to gather information directly from the forms of things. This information deals with the actual nature of a thing rather than its appearance, meaning it is not deceived by mundane disguises. Pronounced “in-TEL-le-go”.
• Muto (Mu) “I transform”: Muto can grant or remove properties that an object or entity cannot naturally have. Examples include turning a person into a wolf, turning air thick enough to stand on or stone clear enough to see through, or changing something's color, shape, or size. Pronounced “MEW-toe”.
• Perdo (Pe) “I destroy”: Perdo magic causes things to decay or be destroyed. It is the opposite of Creo. Properties that cannot naturally be lost return at the end of the spell’s duration, under the Limit of Essential Nature. Perdo can only make something a worse example of what it is. Pronounced “PARE-doe”.
• Rego (Re) “I control”: Rego changes the state of a thing to another state it can naturally have. This includes moving things, making a tree blossom out of season, or shaping stone into a statue. Pronounced “RAY-go”.

Forms

• Animal (An) “Animal”: Governs all living things except for humans and humanoids (or gnomoids, if you're a gnome), and even includes some things that are no longer living, such as leather or wool. Pronounced “ah-nee-mahl”.
• Aquam (Aq) “Water”: Concerns water and all manner of liquids, as well as properties of liquidity. Pronounced “AH-kwahm”.
• Auram (Au) “Air”: The Art of air, wind, and weather. It also governs gaseous things in general. Pronounced “OW-rahm”.
• Corpus (Co) “Body”: The Art of human bodies. It affects living humans, dead human bodies, and bodies of magical/faerie creatures that look human. Pronounced “COR-poos”.
• Herbam (He) “Plant”: Concerns plants and trees, including dead plant matter like wood and linen. Pronounced “HARE-bahm”.
• Ignem (Ig) “Fire”: Concerns fire, heat, and light. Pronounced “IG-nem”.
• Imaginem (Im) “Image”: Concerns the things in the world that the senses respond to, called "species." Imaginem spells affect the process by which these are produced rather than the species themselves (thus illusions are not themselves magical). Pronounced “ih-MAH-gih-nem”.
• Mentem (Me) “Mind”: Concerns minds, thoughts, and spirits. It can affect the “bodies” of noncorporeal beings like ghosts, as these are maintained by a spirit's will. Pronounced “MEN-tem”.
• Terram (Te) “Earth”: Concerns nonliving solids, especially earth and stone. Pronounced “TARE-rahm”.
• Vim (Vi) “Power”: Concerns raw magical power. It refines the use of magic itself and affects magical, infernal, divine, and faerie creatures, at least in principle. Pronounced “weem”.

The book also covers the known limits of Petronian magic. Theorists believe there are two fundamental limits: 

• The Limit of the Divine: Petronian magic cannot affect the Divine; any magic attempting to do so simply fails. This includes powerlessness in the face of miracles and the inability to directly affect consecrated objects. Even proximity to sources of divine power can interfere with magic. 
• The Limit of Essential Nature: Petronian magic cannot affect a thing’s essential nature. A thing can be changed, but it will eventually return to its natural form. 

And a number of lesser limits, many of which are disputed or believed to be flaws in Petronian theory: 

• The Limit of Aging: Magic cannot halt or reverse natural aging, though it can slow it down. Most magi think this derives from the Limit of Essential Nature, though the author of Alex's textbook relates this view with thinly veiled contempt and instead claims it's a flaw in Petronian theory.
• The Limit of Arcane Connections: Magic cannot affect an unsensed target without an Arcane Connection. This is widely believed to be a flaw in Petronian theory, as Intellego magic is much less tightly bound by this limit than other kinds. Intellego can determine whether, for example, there are any people behind a wall the magus can see, but Perdo Corpus magic cannot affect those people until the magus is aware of them. 
• The Limit of Creation: Magic cannot create anything permanently without raw vis.
• The Limit of Energy: Magic cannot restore physical energy, i.e. cannot counter fatigue. Most magi think that this is a flaw in Petronian theory.
• The Limit of the Infernal: Intellego magic is nearly useless against the Infernal, as demons only reveal what they want the caster to believe. The source of this limit is fiercely debated. Optimists think it is a limit in Petronian theory. Pessimists think it is derived from the Limit of the Divine. Moderates think it is derived from the Limit of Essential Nature, in that deception is the nature of demons, so that if you use Intellego on them you only detect their deceptions. Some magi point out that, thanks to this limit, there is no way to tell the difference between the Gods and very powerful demons. 
• The Limit of the Lunar Sphere: Magic cannot affect the lunar sphere or anything above it.*
• The Limit of Names: Magic cannot directly affect Names or stories, though it can affect Named just fine if they aren't otherwise resistant.
• The Limit of the Soul: Magic cannot create an immortal soul, meaning it cannot create true human life or restore the dead to true life.**
• The Limit of Time: Magic cannot alter the passage of time, affect the past, or scry on the past or future.***
• The Limit of Vis: Magic cannot change the Art to which raw vis is attuned. The book's author thinks that this is a result of the Limit of Essential Nature.
• The Limit of Warping: Prolonged exposure to active magic or high auras usually causes changes, generally referred to as warping. Petronian magic is completely unable to affect these changes once they have happened. Wizard’s Twilight is one manifestation of warping.

*The Miezans have a geocentric model of the cosmos. They might even be right!

**The word "true" perhaps does a lot of work here. 

***Yep, Alex's book sure does say this. The book's author think this derives from the Limit of the Divine.

The description of the arts is only a small refinement on what he's seen in other books but some of the detail is useful. He's a bit surprised by it saying that Terram is definitely non-living but he supposes a magical tree is a reasonable thing to be an exception.

The discussion of the limits is mostly new to him and it's really interesting to think about. He wonders what Magister Alidade thinks about these.

The limit of aging does seem a little dubious. Does it just apply to living beings? Clearly metal rusts as it ages and rusted metal can be restored or at least he thinks he's heard that's true. If it does just apply to living beings is it because of their nature as living beings or perhaps it's due to how enormously complicated they are meaning there's simply too many details for the magic to handle, or just too much for any spells people have thought of to handle. At least without breaching the rule about time.

He already had some evidence that the time loop was divine magic and this is another weak piece of evidence in that direction.

The limit of connection certainly sounds like an incomplete explanation.

The limit of creation is... strange he just heard in class about people creating or distilling raw vis so clearly it isn't entirely exceptional maybe he's just misunderstanding something.

The limit of energy brings him back to his hypothesis about complexity.

He doesn't have any ideas about demons. He sincerely hopes he won't be faced with any.

Alex is fascinated by the limit of the lunar sphere. How was that tested? Is it a coincidental distance limit? Does he know how far away the moon is actually? Does the book say?

The limit of names seems obviously related to the limit of the divine to him.

He's... curious what makes life true or untrue.

The limit of warping seems strange and worth looking into more.

The chapter on vis hypothesizes that, vis being a concentrated Art, using vis to create something might not be true creation either, just making a specific manifestation of a Form out of its raw material. (In this paradigm, Creo vis is something of a hybrid of all idealized Forms.)

The book does not have opinions about the moon's distance from the earth. (It might be in an astronomy book, or derivable with math.) It does mention the scrying work of several Intellego specialists confirming the Limit of the Lunar Sphere, and that even the Yan Tei astronomers seem to record it.

Warping: There's a chapter on it! Alex only has time for a skim, but the gist appears to be that magic can cause (usually but not always detrimental) changes to creatures. Sources include being affected by powerful magic, causing or being near a magical accident, and living in a strong aura (of any realm) or being continuously affected by magic for seasons at a time. Effects are cumulative, but the ongoing ones do taper off over time. 

Gifted do not suffer the usual changes. Instead, Warping makes them more prone to Twilight, a mysterious phenomenon which subsumes those who lose control of their magic. Effects vary tremendously, though they are usually associated with the Arts of the triggering magus or spell. Durations also vary, from "minutes" to "indefinite". One Aetheric weather mage became a living storm for eight years, then returned with only fragmented memories. Another survived a battle by accidentally becoming a statue for an hour. Still others become strange beasts, spirits, or, in at least one instance, an entire field of wheat.

It usually takes many decades for Twilight to claim a magus permanently; many die of old age first. The Order of Cognizance studies the phenomenon extensively, and is said to have collected secret techniques around it, in an effort to comprehend something they term The Enigma.

He takes some more notes on all this and checks the clock... oops he's low on time. He consults the instructions about reaching the classroom to make sure he's remembering correctly and then hurriedly collects his things and sets off.