[Studying] You roll a 2 (required 10). Failure.

You decide to take a quick break to stretch your legs, and look around the aisles for a new book to read. When your gaze lands on The Basics of Divination once more, you perk up; with your unicorn magic, perhaps you could become the diviner you seek!

Honourshine: "Perhaps. I don't think I can glean much from a spellbook, so while you read that, I'll look into this one."

Honourshine grabs Time is of the Essence from the shelf, and you both return to the reading table. While not sharing a book this time, you still comfortably lean against each other, and begin to read...

The school of divination magic is introduced as a collection of spells with the purpose of revealing information to the caster. For example: supposing there is a closed, opaque box, which emits no sound and may not be moved; under ordinary circumstances, it would be impossible to tell what is, if anything, inside the box.

Divination magic, however, enables the caster to perceive the contents of such a box. To achieve this, specific techniques must be utilized, each of which promises to be discussed in detail over the following chapters.

First, due to the bidirectional nature of divination, it is important to remember to craft one such spell as a channel. Should the spell end prematurely, all magic currently in the interflow, including the inflow, will return to an idle state. Furthermore, the intention of the channel's target should always be the object to divine, and not its container, even should the former be unknown.

Once the target is defined, it must be bound to the senses by an aspect star. Pentastars are typically used for most identification spells to include vision, audition, olfaction, tactition and cognition, though certain targets may benefit from different senses, such as gustation, orientation, and/or proprioception.

While a few details escape you here and there, you think you understand the gist of it so far. Then again, you are on the first chapter of eight. You continue reading...

Because the target of a divination spell is often unknown, it is common for a result to be imperceptible. In the previous example, the box could simply be filled with air, which does not have any noticeable sensorial distinction.

Considering this, to ensure that the caster is aware of whether (and when) the spell has succeeded or failed, an exclusionary alternate aspect star should be bound to a predefined target with a single sense not currently in use by the primary intention, and linked to the inflow.

With a fail-safe alterant now in place, the caster may circumvent the default line of sight criterion by crafting an arcane wheel on the interflow beyond it, and linking it to the intention. This arcane wheel should be recursively linked to a locational modifier, with the inflow as its source, and the outflow as its target.

Then, to generalize the spell's response into an unambiguous idea, the inflow should be parsed through a knowledge conversion circle. Note that the latter should initially be open while the arcane wheel is in motion, and closed upon locational stabilization, which can be accomplished by linking the two through a conditional modifier...

You pause, realizing that you haven't understood a single word you've read in a while. You try going back a few pages, but it's no use; you are obviously lacking the experience required to read this book, let alone cast divination spells.

Honourshine: "Learned anything?"

You shake your head, and admit that you won't be making any progress without either an easier book, or an incredibly talented teacher. You ask your foalhood friend if she's had better luck.

Honourshine: "Not much better, I'm afraid. I learned that I know nothing, and then... well, it felt like I was reading the ravings of a mad pony. I think it somewhat aligns with Moonflower's explanation from earlier, but infinitely more complex. Literally. Not very helpful, at any rate."

Defeated, you absentmindedly flip through the pages of your book. You longingly glance at the spell inscriptions for Detect Object, Detect Magic, Identify Object, Identify Magic, Scry Object... each spanning multiple pages of shapes and symbols you can't even begin to comprehend.

You let out a quiet sigh. You remember how easy Moondancer made it look when she identified the items you found on your adventures. Wait... Moondancer! You only now realize that the spells she cast were from the divination school of magic!

Well then, it seems you did learn something from this book after all.

Honourshine: "Hm. I suppose it may be worth paying this other friend of yours a visit the next time we're in Canterlot, then."

The clock on the wall indicates half past five.