"Me too. I don't think it's likely that any of the Sinoshere Enclaves are responsible... I don't really see how it would help them but it'll definitely increase tensions even if there is an explanation."

"Yes. Politics is frustrating."

"It is. Hopefully calmer heads will prevail."

Nod nod.

Other topics ... maybe Ribo should ask about hobbies, no she said she didn't think she'd have time for class so she won't have time for those either. "What languages do you have?"

"Jin and Mandarin. I have a Korean history class and expect Korean in the language lab."

"I know English, Mandarin and Lojban, I'm in a similar situation with a Russian literature class."

"I haven't heard of - Lou-zhe-ban?"

"I'm not surprised, it's an artificial language Mother picked for it's unusual syntax and its obscurity."

"That must make it hard to stay in practice."

"That's a good point, before I came here I mostly talked to Mother so it wasn't an issue really. We had a schedule and rotated between the three languages I knew. I expect I'll still be reading her notes and casting Lojban spells regularly but that is a bit less fluid than conversation."

"I have heard you don't need much fluidity to cast."

"That's probably true, though Mother's spells are mostly designed to be tweaked on the fly so I need more fluidity than most people to use them to their limit. That's a bit of a moot point though since using them to their limit also takes way more mana than I have."

"But it might be a concern if your Lou-zhe-ban is rusty in two years."

"Mother's spells are medical, I expect I can get people to give me mana in exchange for casting them often enough to stay in practice."

"A fortunate set to have, then. My spells are almost all useless here."

"That's hard, did you make them yourself or learn them from others?"

"Some of both, though only the weather spells are mine."

"Maybe you can tweak them? I'm not sure what the limits of weather are. Especially in confined spaces like this. You've probably already thought about this though."

"A little, but I admit my imagination failed me. It's very indoors here."

"I wonder whether the gym would be easier to work in. It's one of the bigger rooms and you're less likely to annoy people than doing something like that in the Library. I suppose you probably want things that work anywhere though .... I wonder if you could focus on wind, there is a ventilation system and that's a little like air currents outside."

"I could probably make it rainy or at least foggy in the gym but I'm not sure that would be wise."

"That's true... making it rain isn't that useful indoors and if people slip in the gym they might get annoyed. Were you able to fight with weather magic outdoors or did you use it for utility purposes?"

"I couldn't fight with it. Later I will probably be able to do lightning spells, but for now I have a sword."

"I think a lot of us are relying on melee weapons until we're a bit more impressive with magic. Does yours have anything special?"