The Chained Watcher

A Scholarly Disposition

~~~

Grian strolls along through the town, admiring the sights along the way. Though he's a little disappointed that no one else wanted to come with him on his trip to the library, he's admittedly not too surprised, considering how places with an internet tend to keep digital copies alongside the physical. There's a fair chance everything he finds here could be found much more easily online.

But even if he doesn't find some interesting old books to read, is there not a certain measure of pleasure inherent in the act of holding a book? The pages worn at the corners from countless hands turning them, the spine bearing the weight of its many years of existence, the words sharing wisdom from those long gone... A lovely experience, even if not all would enjoy it.

Ooh, could he find some kind of forbidden book? Forbidden books are such an interesting medley of fascinating knowledge and bloody rituals. The chances of finding that kind of thing in any given library are low, but never zero.

Right as he's about to enter the library, his ear twitches. Voices drift over from the large garden behind the library, arguing passionately about one of his favorite topics. Magic.

New idea! Let's go butt in on someone else's debate! Surely they won't mind, right?

Grian makes his way around the back of the library. There's a hedge surrounding the garden, lush and dense, but since when could a tall shrubbery stop someone with wings? He hops up on top of it.

Calling out to the mages sitting in the vibrant garden behind the library, Grian greets, "Hello, boys! Mind if I join you?"

"And you are..."

He drops down into the garden. "Call me Grian. You guys were debating invisibility methods, right?"

"Ah, yes, we were. Pardon me for being a little skeptical, but are you... experienced in magic? I mean no offense, but you seem a bit young to have dabbled in the more complex methods of invisibility, and even younger to have studied the subject without being able to use the magic yourself."

"Meh, I look younger than I am. Different methods of magic being used to accomplish the same thing is something I'd consider myself quite informed on."

"A test, then. List three different methods of achieving invisibility."

Grian grins. "Oh, that's easy. Illusory, refraction, and transparency."

"Give a brief summary of each. One sentence for each is fine."

"M'kay. Illusory is done by creating an illusion of either empty space or an object. Refraction bends the light around you. And finally, transparency allows the light to go through you like glass."

The mages share a look, most of them shrugging. The speaker turns back to him. "Alright, you can join us, but if it turns out that you have only surface knowledge on this topic I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to not interrupt."

"That's fine. So, what aspect are we comparing here?"

He sits down, listening attentively as they explain the current topic. "Right now, we're debating raw effectiveness, ignoring efficiency, cost, and difficulty for now."

Grian nods. "I see. Transparency all the way, then."

"Your reasoning? Most would go with refraction or illusory rather than such a difficult spell."

"You said it yourself, didn't you? Only the final effect matters, not the difficulty of casting it. I get that transparency isn't very suitable for younger magic users though. Visualizing refraction tends to be easier, and anything less than full transparency will leave you looking like a ghost or a hologram, which, while fun to mess around with, isn't exactly going to keep you out of sight."