Marinias sighed, and settled into one of the chairs in the classroom. He shook his head. Would the Shining One be upset with him for seeking aid in the task that he had been given? Perhaps, but then, perhaps not. Who knew, with him being a god? Probably no one. Leaning against the wall, he settled his bow against the wall beside him, and looked around the room. All the chairs were pushed back against the wall, and there was a central dais in the front of the room, almost as if this was a lecture hall. He leaned back, closing his eyes to wait.

"So, before I can help you effectively I must know what your patron has tasked you with. That way I can tell which spells would likely best help you, Marinias," Ace said as he looked at the elf from the central Dias. While it was meant mostly as a lecture classroom, all of the classrooms were equiped with supplies for basic spell casting of every vareity. If there was a sense of timelyness or urgency to Marinias' quest any spells Ace taught him would have to be simple yet effective. And even if that weren't the case, the elf might not be talented enough in magic yet to learn more complex spells. The elf did mention that he knew only one spell or so.

Marin smiled. "My... patron... as you put it, is the Shining One, the God of Light. He has tasked me with something a bit... unorthodox." He sighed. "There is a vampire that he wants me to find. But he doesn't want me to kill the vampire. He merely wishes me to acquire one of this vampire's stakes, and bring it back to him." He sighed. "And even worse. He doesn't want me to engage this vampire if at all possible. What I'm looking for, primarily, is something that will hold him in place so that I can get my hands on one or more of his stakes, so that I can accomplish the Shining One's task." He sighed, and shook his head. "Can you think of anything that might help me?"

The god of light? that would explain the aura holy aura about the item. Still the task certainly was a strange one. Ace wondered at the curious quest for one of the vampire's stakes. What did the god of light seek to gain by taking one of these? Prehaps he thought these things were enchanted or prehaps it was merely a test to prove the elf's abilites. Not engaging the Vampire made things even more difficult. It did limit the spells that would be useful. Any spell that would hold the vampire would cause the creature to be alert and the vampire would likely seek out the elf.

"The Simplest spell I can teach will keep undead from moving, yet after the spell ends the vampire will know there is something going on and will likely seek you out. I suggest a spell that will allow you to take the stakes without drawing his attention. I can teach you a spell to make you invisible to the vampire's eyes or I can teach you a spell to put the vampire to sleep, yet both will take a little longer for you to learn and you have to be close for the sleep spell to work," Ace explained to the elf after thinking on the matter. He wondered if the vampire was the troublesome Zorgn, but no Zorgn wasn't that much of a threat and certainly not one to get attention from a god. There were other villians out there to look at, plus Ace had not heard anything of Zorgn in quite some time. The vampire must have already been put out of his misery.

Marin raised an eyebrow. A spell of invisibility? That was something new. He wasn't sure that would work though. "Are you sure the vampire wouldn't be able to pick me up with the invisibility spell? Because I do not need to combat a vampire. I do not think that I could come out on top." He shrugged, and nodded. "I don't really want to have to be that close, so let's go with the invisibility. And... just in case, is there anything you can think of that would keep me alive if it comes down to fighting him? Not necessarily something that would kill him, but something that would allow me to get away from him?"

He stood, stretching slightly as he did so, and shook his head. "And don't I need a focus for those spells?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like, some kind of magical artifact, or something like that?"

"I doubt the vampire has heightened senses. If you are invisible, only the sound of your movements should give you away and if he manages to be alerted of your prescence, then he should still have quite some trouble finding you, though I'll admit if he is clever he might find ways of countering your invisibility. If you wish I can teach you of the spell to keep undead from moving. This will grant you time to get away should he some how find out about you. If you are still invisble it should put enough space between you and the vampire such that he won't be able to find you. You won't be needing a focus to cast these spells, but such things are always a good help if you can get them and learn how to use them," Ace explained. He couldn't really think of else that would help him combat the the Vampire without duely harming the creature.

"Now, then. Shall we begin with the spell to make you inisible to undead or the harder spell to make you invisible?" Ace asked. The onlyu spell he'd need materials for was the spell to halt undead, by that was simply enough fixed. All he needed was to bring forth a weak undead creature, sucha as an undead rodent.

Marinias sighed. So many choices, and so little time, in his mind. He grimaced slightly, and shook his head. "Which one is easier to learn?" he asked. "Which one will take the least amount of time to learn? Because I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible." He stood, and, leaving his bow leaning on the wall, walked over to sit cross-legged in front of Ace. "And this might not be the last time I show up here for training, just so you know." He smiled. "I do remember that my mother wished me to become a guardian of the woodlands, her being a fae OF the woodlands." He shrugged. "But I don't remember how she told me that would be easiest."

(((Sorry. A bit sucky, but it does what is necessary. .:pumpkin:. )))
(((AND... Posted on the wrong character. *GAH!* .:vampire:. )))

His mother was a Fae? If that claim had any merit his spell casting would likely be performed much better outdoors where he could draw power from nature itself. Ace decided to save that thought for later, it would be better to see how well he faired indoors first. "Very well, we will start with the simpler spell which allow you to halt undead. You should be able to catch on fairly quickly," Ace said before waving one hand over the palm of another. In a dark green glimer of light a small rat appeared. It appeared to be quite dead, and unsurpisingly was just that. Whispering another spell and moving the fingers of his free hands as if they were playing with puppet strings over the rat. The rat stired softly then came to life, or rather unlife as he brought itself on all fours.

"Hopefully this will be the first of many spells I teach you that shall help you obtain and keep such a lofty title. Now just try to mimic my hand movements and words, while thinking of stoping the zombie rat from coming closer too you. I'll demstrate once and then you will give it a try," Ace said as the Rat leapt to the ground in front of Marinias. Slowly it scampered back to Ace. Ace uttered a few archaic words and frocefully held his hand out abruptly with his palm vertical in the air. A whitish light seemed to glow about the rat as it immediately stopped. "Now, you try," Ace said before the spell faded and the rat turned to Marinias. The rat then made it's way towards the elf intending to crawl aroun the elf if there was no spell to stop him. Most likely the spell would slow the rat down rather than work perfectly on his first try, and that was if there was any visible result at all.

Marinias flinched slightly, and almost stomped on the rat when it crawled over to him. Something about undead just... made him a bit... queasy. But, he was here to learn how to better be able to steal a stake. So, sucking in a breath, he murmured the same words, or as close as he could get to them, and snapped his right hand out from his waist, palm perfectly vertical.

Nothing happened, and the rat crawled around him on the floor. Once more resisting the urges to puke and to stomp the foul creature into the earth, he murmured the words again, and held his hand up again. This time, there was some visible effect. A faint guttering white light enveloped the rat, and the rat slowed considerably, but did not stop. "I thought you said this spell was supposed to completely stop undead? How come the rat didn't stop completely?" he said, puzzlement plain on his face.

The zombie rodent obviously unnerved the elf. Ace would make a note to stop the Rat himself before the rat reached him. There was no need for undue discomfort. Ace watched as Marinias mimiced the spell fairly well, still there was a bit more to spell casting than just mimicry or there would be much less people having trouble using magic. Ace was not too greatly surprised by the lack of effect from the elf's first attempt and the small effect of the second, though from Marinias' questions Ace was reminded that he hadn't explained all of that to the elf.

"Not to worry. These are your first attempts at the spell, it is completely okay for the effects to be smaller than what they should normally be. Once you become accustomed to casting the spell and master it, your effects will be notably better. That's why I chose such a small undead creature for the purpose of this exercise. I meant to explain that earlier, but I guess I forgot," Ace explained after the rat stopped at Ace's direction. The rat walked further away from Marinias and towards Ace as Ace spoke and then turned around waiting for the cue to walk towards Marinias again. "It's a rather simple spell, which is thankful seeing as it is not one you could easily practice on your own without being a necromancer. But, I digress. Let's see if you can stop the rat this time. Try focusing about how much you truly don't want the foul undead creature to come any closer to you," Ace said before the rat scampered again towards the elf.

('Bout time buy the spell, no?)

Marin took a deep breath, and glowered at the rat. His hand came out slowly, balled into a fist, and then, with a sharp downward jerk, he opened his hand, palm facing straight at the rat, while murmuring the same words that Ace had spoken. A bright blue glow surrounded the rat, and when it dissipated, the rat was frozen in midstep. "Apparently, I got it right," he said with a smile, and looked up at Ace.

Ace was pleased with Marinias' quick learning of the spell. Marinias could use the spell well enough to probably stop even the much larger vampire for a time. His spell would be even better in the outdoors were he might be able to draw energy from the wilderness with his fey blood. With that in mind there was no reason to make the elf practice more with his obvious dislike of the foul undead. Ace waved his had dismissively and the rat vanished from sight.

"You've done quite well. I believe you are ready to properly use that spell. You should be able to cast it well enough when the time comes and I think you might cast the spell even better when you have the wilderness surrounding you. Our next spell is much harder to learn. It will take you some time to learn and I can't guarantee that you learn it today. But I can at least get you started with a cantrip version. If you like we can practice this outside, I think you might do better closer to the wilderness with your fey blood," Ace explained. The next spell needed no materials and could be practiced anywhere with ease.

(Sorry it took forever, I thought I had replied to this already...)