Force Fields

The Force Field category is primarily for protection against physical threats, such as somebody's fists, a bullet, or a knife. It can also be used for protection against threats that Mother Nature has to throw at you. If you can touch it and it can hurt you, you can protect against it. The different spells are so useful that they've been integrated into vehicles, buildings, clothes, and other things worthy of protection.
There are four different kinds of force field spells.

• Shield - A spell that appears as how the user would imagine a shield to look like- a Viking's, a Roman legionnaire's, a knight's, or even a ballistic shield (of course the shield type will depend on which timezone we're looking at). The Shield appears turquoise in color and is see-through, which can end up being really cool or terrifying.
  When the Shield is hit, depending on its size, it makes a sort of low, reverberating boom sound. Like, a bwum sort of sound. I dunno how to explain. Smaller Shields make a higher-pitched version, larger Shields make a deeper-pitched version. On that note, the size of the Shield varies depending on how big you . When using the spell, there's always a strange tugging in your gut- specifically in your stomach. The Shield sits on your arm like a regular shield, although it can be manipulated to float around, which can give you an edge.
  The Shield is especially effective against smaller threats, such as a small-caliber bullet, someone's fists, a knife, or a grizzly bear (ok that last one's sort of a stretch). The Shield can also be used as an umbrella, so that's nice. The Shield is incredibly resilient and will last as long as you can hold concentration, or until your Ether is depleted, or until the magic item you're using is depleted or is destroyed, which applies to all the spells in the Force Field category (except Wall). This spell is easiest to cast and usually requires minimal effort to summon.
• Sphere - A spell that appears as a large bubble around the target. The Sphere is turquoise, like all the spells in the Abjuration school of magic. The Sphere spell is similar to the shield spell; it makes different sounds depending on its size and can be manipulated to float around, and the size can be altered to fit the situation. That kind of thing. In that case (making it float around), any person inside the Sphere would levitate with the Sphere.
  The Sphere spell is effective against harsher forms of violence; medium-caliber bullets, a sword, a grizzly bear, and even small explosions. The Sphere can be broken, unfortunately. Enough force applied to a small area of the sphere will deteriorate it, and eventually, breakthrough if you're unable to prevent the penetration from occurring. Due to its higher protective qualities, the Sphere spell is harder to cast than the Shield spell.
• Armor - Armor is a personal protective spell, in which transparent turquoise armor forms around you. It appears as however you imagine armor to be, similar to the Shield spell. When the Armor is hit, it'll make a quieter version of the sounds the Shield and Sphere spells make. On that note, if you're a smaller person, it'll be high-pitched. Likewise, if you're a larger person, the sound will be deeper-pitched.
  Armor has the same protective qualities as the Sphere spell. Its resistance to destruction is higher, though. The Armor spell can be manipulated to protect certain parts of the body. For instance, if your face was about to get blown off, you could channel the Armor to protect your head and upper body. Doing so would in turn amplify the Armor's protective capabilities since the Armor is centralized on a smaller point. Unfortunately, that means if you're not concentrating enough, certain parts of the Armor can dissipate and will expose you to danger. For this reason, the Armor spell isn't good for situations in which there is a lot of chaos or distractions. The Armor spell isn't found on the battlefield often because of this.
• Wall - The Wall spell appears as a turquoise wall, which appears differently depending on the person casting the spell. Cinder-block, brick, stone, you name it. It's generally 12 feet tall, 20 feet long, and 3 feet thick, although it can be manipulated to fit the situation. It cannot be levitated whatsoever. The Wall spell is the toughest and best spell for protection against high-level threats; high-caliber bullets (.50 cal and above), large explosions, and avalanches or mudslides, to name a few. The good thing about Wall is that you don't have to concentrate on keeping it up. It just stays where it's at. But that also means it requires much more effort than the other spells to cast.
  The Wall behaves similarly to how a real wall would; it crumbles and cracks where it's hit. The Wall's unable to be knocked over, however. The Wall spell is incredibly resilient and can withstand several direct hits from missiles or other physical attacks whether mortal or magical. In amulets, the Wall spell is usually a single-use spell, because of the magical stress put on it. Some amulets can manage two Wall spells, although they have a tendency to blow up.

Effect

Protection against physical threats of magic or mortal origin, preferably preventing damage or harm from coming to the target of the spell. The volume of spells varies based on the spell being used.

• Shield - Minimal sound mitigation.
• Sphere - Loud sounds like a gunshot are quieted enough to prevent significant damage to hearing.
• Armor - Similar to the Sphere; enough exposure can result in hearing loss, although it takes much longer.
• Wall - Similar to the Sphere aswell.

Side/Secondary Effects

The side effects of the spell depend on the intensity of the threat, the size of the force field, the length of use, and the magical abilities of the caster. If you're a weaker Abjurer, and you try to use a large Sphere spell to protect against a monster, you're going to have a hard time keeping it together. During the spell, you'll feel shaky, and you'll sweat a lot. After the spell (if you managed to survive the attack) you would feel horrible. Vomiting, weakness, and mental sluggishness would occur (keep in mind that the level of fatigue and not goodness varies. This is just worst-case). Your brain would feel like it's swimming in jello, your limbs would feel like taffy, and you'd have a bad fever for about a week. And you'd be very hungry. Don't worry, the side effects of the spell won't kill you  They'll just make you wish you were dead.
If you do a not-so-great job of casting the spell against, say, a flamethrower, the heat of the flamethrower would essentially leak through, exposing you to a watered-down version (aka, third burns). On that note, a weak Sphere spell will allow small amounts of the thing you're trying to protect against through. That's not great if you're trying to stop a hail of bullets. This applies to all the spells except for the Wall spell.
The side effects of the spell can't be avoided, unfortunately. You can do things to prevent the effects from being as bad, though. Staying fit and healthy plays a big part. Talismans can give the caster an extra little boost, and they can help dispel the side effects. Other magical items, like Ether bottles, can give a boost or replenish your magical capabilities for a while.

Source

Ether is required to cast spells, although using amulets, talismans, and Ether bottles helps take care of that problem. A strong will helps as well.

Discovery

Ancient Japan and Korea.

Material Components

Sphere, Armor, and Wall are all spells you can use a Jo staff to cast, which helps combat any negative side effects of the spells. A Jo staff is a short, wooden staff commonly used in Aikido. You can increase the protective abilities of the spells by getting an item related to what are you trying to protect against. For instance, if you're trying to defend against bullets, you're going to need some bullets. Wearing the bullets on a necklace would work since the proximity is so close. You can be even more specific, by using 7.92x57mm ammo, .50 cal, or 12 gauge, and so forth.
This applies to pretty much everything. A certain species of bear claws to protect against that bear, and a knife blade to increase protection against small blades. That sort of thing.

Gestures & Ritual

Fortunately, all of these spells don't require a long-winded ritual or ceremony to perform. The bare minimum is your hands. Jo staffs are also able to be used. There are some things you have to do to cast the spell, however. All the spells follow the same simple verbal invocation pattern.

• Shield - Depending on which hand is dominant, your stance changes (although this stance can be used either way). Left-handed will have their left foot forward, and right-handed will have their right foot forward, which is based on the Aikido stances of Hidari Hanmi, and Migi Hanmi. To summon the Shield, perform a blocking motion, derived from another martial arts- Step forward while bringing your arm up to shield the middle of your body. "Ēterushīrudo!" - "Ether shield!"
• Sphere - The Sphere spell incorporates a tornado kick, which is derived from Taekwondo. Essentially, a tornado kick is a roundhouse kick, except you spin a whole 360 degrees when performing the kick. The 360-degree motion is incorporated into the casting of the Sphere. You don't have to be facing where you want the Sphere to be cast. Imagining where the Sphere would appear is enough. The motion is all you need to focus on. "Ēteru-kyū!" - "Ether sphere!"
  The Jo staff method requires you to take your staff, whirl it over your head and slam the end against the ground while saying the same invocation I mentioned earlier.
• Armor - Armor is similar to Shield, in which you make a blocking motion. Except for Armor, you step forward, keeping the other leg back, and perform a blocking motion with both arms. One arm goes up like you're blocking from an upward strike. One arm goes down like you're blocking from a strike to the body. "Ēteruāmā!" The Armor spell is the only spell in the Force Field category that can only be cast in Japanese.
  Similar to the Sphere spell, you spin your staff. But with Armor, you take your Jo staff and spin it overhead, bring it down, and whirl it around your body before bringing it into a defensive position in front of you. Make sure to speak the invocation while performing the action.
• Wall -The motions for this spell are based on the Aikido technique Aigame-ate, in which you twist your opponent's arm up, and in a wide, sweeping motion with your other arm, push your opponent away by their chin, knocking them down. The Wall spell doesn't require the arm twisting movement but the hand position is key. The wide, sweeping motion, as well as the words, is what raises the Wall. "Ēteru kabe!" - "Ether wall!"
  As with the last two spells, this spell requires some spinning. You take your Jo staff, whirl it in front of you, and then, you spin 360 degrees, and strike upwards from below. Sort of like you're attempting to hit someone's jaw.

Related Discipline

Aikido, Taekwondo

Related School

Abjuration

Effect Duration

As long as the caster can hold concentration, until their Ether is depleted, they're injured or killed, or, in the case of the Wall spell, until it's destroyed.

Effect Casting Time

The time it takes to cast each individual spell is generally 2-5 seconds. Amulets can cast almost instantly.

Level

Shield is a low-level spell; inexperienced casters can pull it off. Sphere; at least a year of magic school to cast a decent Sphere. Armor; at least four years for an effective Armor spell. Wall; at least two years.

Applied Restriction

The protective abilities of the spell depend largely on the magical abilities of the user, and their concentration. Since Abjuration is based on martial arts, range of motion is the most important thing. Shield, Armor, and Wall, would all be easy to cast within the limits of a small room, or somewhere with lots of people. Sphere, however, with its tornado kick, would be more difficult.
But with Jo staffs, Sphere, Armor, and Wall would all be difficult to cast in an enclosed space.
The League of Sorcerers has placed no laws on the Force Field category of Abjuration.