Orbeck, from Dark Souls III, was an aloof magic teacher who looked strikingly similar to Severus Snape.
Obsessed with sorcery, he claimed to be a mage from Vinheim.
But in reality, after becoming Undead, he had already been expelled from the Vinheim Dragon School and wandered alone to Lothric to continue pursuing magic.
In the game, if your Intelligence stat was too low, he would refuse to teach you magic and deliver some "polite" remarks sharp enough to shatter a fragile ego.
If your Intelligence was high enough—and you brought him spell scrolls—you could learn magic from him. His attitude toward you would gradually warm, and in the end he became quite a friendly character.
Unfortunately, characters in the Souls series rarely get happy endings. After you defeat the Twin Princes, Orbeck—perhaps wanting to repay you for the scrolls—risks his life to go to the Grand Archives to find more spells for you… and dies there.
Just like Greirat the Thief, who also undertakes dangerous missions likely to end in death to repay your kindness.
As for Orbeck's true identity and the cause of his death… it's complicated. It involves another major faction in Dark Souls—the Sable Church.
Those people seemed to dislike him greatly and even tried to persuade you to kill him during the game.
By the way, Wade never listened to those lunatics.
Who would believe slander and kill an aloof teacher who only wanted to study magic?
As long as your Intelligence was high enough and you could provide scrolls, Orbeck would teach you. The requirement was already very low.
So in Wade's preset mentor lineup, Orbeck, Sellen, and Cornyx (the pyromancy teacher) were guaranteed picks.
A large number of adventurers would end up with one of these three as mentors. Of course, if your Intelligence was too low, you wouldn't get picked by any mentor.
So hurry up and raise your Intelligence to 10 at the bonfire in Sein's Dungeon—that's the real strategy! Otherwise, when a new map releases, you won't get any benefits!
[Aural Decoy] — the spell Roger learned.
[A spell used by mages lurking in the shadows of the Vinheim Dragon School]
[Creates a noise at a distance to attract enemy attention]
[The sound seeps into the listener's mind, making them involuntarily abandon their post and expose their unguarded back]
He stared at the spell description for a long time, speechless.
Creating noise at a distance to distract enemies—easy enough to understand.
But what the hell use was that?!
No, no, calm down, Roger… Didn't the description say "involuntarily"? What if it forcibly drags them away?
If so, that would actually be very practical.
He reviewed his skill set: invisibility, silence magic, single-strike enhancement…
Damn, Aural Decoy was perfect for him! The ultimate tool for sneaking behind enemies during travel.
Everyone seemed to have gotten a useful spell. How wonderful.
Roger glanced at Gapar's back and suddenly got an idea. He secretly cast Aural Decoy on him.
Gapar was immediately drawn toward the noise and went to check it out. Finding nothing, he looked around in confusion.
Yes! It works!
But before Roger could celebrate, he turned around and saw Gapar staring straight at him.
"Ah… haha, Mr. Gapar, what's the name of the spell you got? Can I see it?" Roger quickly hid his glowing wand behind his back, sweating nervously.
"You'd better close your eyes."
"Huh?"
"Solar Flare!"
"Ah! My eyes!"
Even though Roger shut them instantly, the blinding light still sent him stumbling around. Everyone burst into laughter—including the Sorting Hat handing out mentors. The room filled with cheerful noise.
With new spells in hand, anyone would want to try them. Roger had just picked the wrong mountain to challenge.
Hades found some mages in the corridor to practice on and successfully cast Glintstone Pebble.
But with his massive mana output, his pebble almost turned into a comet. Only after lowering his output did it return to normal size.
Each time he cast it, he looked thoughtful—as if his understanding of the spell deepened a little more.
They said Raya Lucaria mages could throw Glintstone Pebbles like machine guns—but Hades's casting speed was even faster, suppressing two mages at once.
Roger's Aural Decoy also worked well in combat, successfully luring away a Warrior Jar.
Unfortunately, when he sneaked in to backstab it, he couldn't tell the jar's front from back and got beaten up badly.
Gapar's Solar Flare remained as powerful as ever—it could even function as crowd control. Anyone with eyes would be blinded.
The three of them happily tested their spells, rediscovering a simple, pure joy.
But Tursey wasn't so lucky.
"Expecto Patronum!"
She couldn't remember how many times she'd tried. Every time, the spell stalled halfway and failed.
Compared to others who could use their spells immediately, the Patronus Charm had harsh requirements.
Focusing wasn't hard for someone at professor level—but the key condition, recalling a happy memory, was troublesome.
Not everyone has happy memories to recall. Not everyone lives a joyful life.
The harder Tursey tried to remember something happy, the more painful memories surfaced instead, breaking her concentration.
She couldn't do it.
Her frustration was worse than getting hit by a dung pot in the graveyard. She stomped her foot and gave up.
Once negative thoughts appear, they aren't easy to dispel.
Now the group had two choices:
Go fight Moongrum, Carian Knight, and break the seal into the research area.
Or continue exploring the remaining parts of Raya Lucaria, like the locked doors.
Originally, they wanted to explore the research area—but after seeing the classroom, the professors were captivated.
Maybe the research area would be even bigger.
Since both areas were created by mentors, understanding the classroom might help them understand the research area.
They were right.
To enter hidden areas, they needed Spade and Heart keys. Gapar remembered the Sorting Hat and asked it for clues.
[Why ask me? The keys are with the administrators. Go find them.]
Administrators?
Gapar remembered getting his Green Blossom Key after defeating an elite monster.
So those monsters were the "administrators"?
With that thought, they targeted elite monsters in different halls.
This classroom seemed to have no upper or lower floors—or at least they hadn't found any stairs yet. Perhaps it was only a small part of the academy.
"Boom—!"
A huge mass of condensed magic suddenly fell in front of them and exploded violently.
Gapar recognized it instantly—it was Cannon of Haima.
Looking up, two mages stood on a high platform bombarding them. No stairs led up—clearly adventurers were meant to find another route.
But Tursey and the others had another plan.
Levitation + Magic Shield + Jump Boost + Gapar = Angry Bird.
They launched Gapar like a human cannonball straight at the mages—direct hit!
The poor mage died instantly, turning to ash.
Gapar tried the door behind them.
[Cannot open from this side.]
Of course.
"Mr. Gapar, there's a glowing item at your feet," Roger said.
Gapar looked down and saw the drop.
Guess what it was?
As soon as he picked it up, it expanded like a compressed towel in water into a huge—
[Great Club Magic Staff]
[A prototype created by Haima mages. Combines the indestructibility of a giant club with the ability to cast magic. Low Intelligence requirement—even demi-humans can use it. Slight boost to certain melee spells.]
[Legend says such staves are popular in distant Drangleic. The bigger the staff, the prouder the mage.]
"…Why does this feel tailor-made for me?"
Gapar swung it—it felt great. Perfect weight, perfect balance. Using magic while smashing heads sounded very appealing.
But would anyone think he was a mage holding this thing?
He tried casting Gavel of Haima with it—twice the size and range.
Then he tried Carian Greatsword—also doubled.
Bigger really was a man's romance.
"…Uh."
Seeing everyone's strange looks, he froze.
"Ahem," Gapar coughed, hiding the staff. "Melee magic is crude. This club staff is heretical. Yes… it must be criticized."
That was close—he almost fell in love with it.
He remembered his original reason for learning magic and suppressed his enthusiasm.
Though… melee magic could look pretty cool too…
"No way, Mr. Gapar knows magic?" Roger said in shock.
"There's a lot you don't know," Gapar replied coolly.
"How many spells do you know?"
"…More than you, obviously," Gapar insisted.
Roger didn't dare point out that Gapar had come to Sein's Dungeon specifically to learn magic.
They found another Green Blossom Ring and some useful trinkets.
Later, they discovered the Spade Key—on a Carian Knight.
"I'll try," Roger volunteered.
He lured the knight away with Aural Decoy, then approached invisibly and silently, thrusting his rapier—
Thrust!
The blade pierced something… but it felt too soft.
Before he could react, the knight exploded into white smoke, followed by a deafening roar.
It wasn't a knight at all.
It was something they had seen long ago in the swamp—
Mimic Tear!