Chapter 36 — First Day of School

Editors: PROCRASTINATOR & GREETER (P/N I’m back!) (A/N: But were you ever really gone?)

 

[Siren’s POV]

 

“Earl Volty~ How’s the plan going?” (Siren)

 

“Would you stop calling me that? I created a diversion as requested. Did you do your part?” (“Volty”)

 

“I did~ See? Aren’t we great partners~? Lower the price to 19,000 and I’ll give you something special~” (Siren) (P/N sigh…)

 

“I said no.” (“Volty”)

 

“But Volty~ I worked extra hard today… “ 

 

“Hmph. I’ll consider it.” (“Volty”)

 

Fufufu… A discount and things are going smoothly. Just you wait, Vampire. I’ll prove the Cult wrong and feed you to the Primordial Plane~

 

And the dumb Vampire here too~

 

 

[Ei’s POV]

 

Luna wasn’t surprised when I told her I got a score of 100 on the magic test. I think she’s getting used to my insanity. Kurui said that they would get 110 if they really tried.

 

We got the uniforms a bit later, and on the same day as they took measurements. I have no idea how they managed to make uniforms this fast. Magic, I guess? It’s pretty simple and not too fancy. Surprising, considering this place’s reputation. The top consists of a plain white short sleeve shirt with a gray one of those fancy vest things. There’s a dark blue skirt to go with it.

 

Oh, and also, here are my classes.

 

Schedule

 

Period 0 - Homeroom - 5:00-5:10

Period 1 - Mathematics - 5:15-6:15

Period 2 - Andromidian History- 6:20-7:20

Period 3 - Magic Theory - 7:25-8:25

Recreation - 8:25-8:60

Period 3.5 - English - 8:65-9:00

Period 4 - Advanced Sorcery (General) - 9:05-10:05

Period 5 - Magical Beast Anatomy - 10:10-11:10

Period 6 - Mythological History - 11:15-12:15

Luncheon - 12:15-13:65

Research/Internship - 13:70-16:00 

 

The schedule is really long… 20 Earth hours… But it’s fine. Besides, a bunch of these classes look interesting… Who decided there was to be a 3.5 class? Is it because it’s like half the time? But that’s not how math works…

 

Well, let’s head to the first class. Homeroom. A class I’ve never had before.

 

“Ei! What classes did you choose???” (Sylventris)

 

“Here, take a look.” (Ei)

 

Sylventris’ schedule is boring. Nothing interesting. It’s like mine, but less advanced… 

 

“I bet she has all the best classes because she’s so much better than us…” (Kambia)

 

“Pretty much! But you have the same magic classes!” (Sylventris)

 

I shared a few classes with Sylventris too. Anyways, this will be fun. Oh. The class is over already…

 

 

Math is easy… We have to solve polynomials. Please give me a challenge, dear teacher.

 

I’ve become so bored that I decided to use the quadratic formula. Even so, I finished the worksheet in five minutes. I have nothing to do for 95 minutes now.

 

*BONG* 

 

Oh… They have an actual bell for the bell schedule. But what if they give out bell duty as a punishment? Like, you have to slap the bell with a 50 pounds (22.7kg) hammer. That would be kinda scary… and I’d accidently break the bell most likely…

 

Y’know what? We’re skipping all the boring classes for now! I’ll talk about them later. Andromidian history? I’ll just ask Kurui!

 

Magic theory? I know how to cast magic already!

 

English? …Oh this will be fun.

 

“Welcome to English class. I’m John. Here, we study the language found on Relics brought by Otherworlders and from beyond the stars.”

 

Haha… They know a surprising amount about how English got here.

 

“Excuse me! Why are we learning this?” (Student)

 

“Because it’s an active field of research currently and will advance our understanding of science.”

 

Hm… Maybe this class is going to be boring.

 

“Now, let’s begin. Here’s the syllabus. Now then, please learn the English script. We will go over it today, practice it at home. We will be having a test on this in three days.” (Teacher)

 

…I already know my abc’s.

 

Okay, this place is boring.

 

NEXT!

 

Advanced sorcery? Sounds fun to me!

 

“Welcome to advanced sorcery. I’m Crate and I will be your teacher.” (Crate)

 

Ooo… It’s that guy!

 

“I will begin by saying that this is not an easy class. You have two weeks to drop out if you can’t handle it. Otherwise, your grades will suffer. The first two weeks will be graded on participation only.” (Crate)

 

Eh… I beat you. It can’t possibly be that hard. 

 

I’m sitting in the back while Kambia is sitting in the front. She seems much more enthusiastic than I am…

 

“To begin, we will be analyzing everyone’s casting abilities as a class. If you have not passed advanced magic theory yet, here’s the basic idea. Primordial Energy, the purest form of ‘magic’ begins by leaking into this plane. It’s highly unstable and quickly turns into mana. Mana is in everything and is everything. We like to divide it into ‘elements’ but it’s the same thing. 

 

To cast spells, you draw upon the mana within yourself and around you and invoke it into what we call a ‘magic circle’. This circle only exists for a few fractions of a second before disappearing. Magic theory is the study of those circles.

 

Now, not everyone is as good at constructing these circles. By analyzing your casting abilities, I mean we will be looking at the magic circles you create and seeing how efficient they are. The level of efficiency is what we call ‘aptitude’. You can increase it with practice, but it is hard.

 

By the way, you can do this entire process without the invoking part, it’s just really hard. You can also use a premade magic circle, like a spell scroll, for a similar effect.

 

Anyways, the reason why spells cost mana is because the mana from your body has to form the circle and that is what channels the mana around you into the spell.” (Crate) (A/N: 200 word magic exposition :thumbsup:)

 

Hmm… Well I can use Primordial Energy to cast spells sometimes… uhh… is that supposed to happen? Well… I only did it once in the Primordial Plane so maybe anyone can?

 

Well anyways, the magic analysis is starting. This really does feel like a magic theory class… I suppose knowing everyone’s abilities is good though.

 

“To make this more interesting, we’ll be having a competition. [Earthen Targets]” (Crate)

 

The wall behind Crate crumbs to dust and reveals a large open space. 50 or so targets spring out from the ground and begin to move

 

“Whoever can hit the most of these targets gets one of these.” (Crate)

 

Crate holds up a glowing crystal ball with what looks like a mana current inside of it. Though, instead of being only one color, it’s several.

 

“This is an orb of Primordial Energy. You can use it as a catalyst for spells or as a decoration. Now then, let’s begin. Ori, you’re first.” (Crate)

 

It’s the guy who scored one point less than me on the written test! I wonder how good this guy’s magic skills are…. His magic score was pretty high too.

 

“[Raging Gale]!” (Ori)

 

All 50 of the targets are gone, smashed to bits. Impressive.

 

“Well done. Let’s look at the circle. [Recollect]!” (Crate)

 

Crate slams his foot into the ground and a circle appears. Inside its outer rim are hundreds of little rune things. Inside the ring of runes is a complicated mess of dots with a few connected together… Almost like a constellation. It bursts into flame and flies into the air.

 

“See this rune sequence? It’s about 50% more efficient than the standard. See this other bit here? The placement of the runes is very clean. If we look at the center, it’s well constructed. None of the nodes seem to be wasted here. Very good. You may return to your seat.” (Crate)

 

…How did you get all that from a mass of flaming dots connected together and some weird looking symbols??

 

Maybe I should have taken advanced magic theory as well as magic theory… but then I’d have to wait a semester to take this…

 

Well, let’s ignore all the randos in the class. Kambia is 5th. I’m 13th, by the way, and the last in the class. 13 is my favorite number too. It’s unlucky? Too bad… Wait, I got hit by a meteor in my sleep… Isn’t that really unlucky???

 

“Kambia, cast a spell.” (Crate)

 

“[Aqua Tendrils]!” (Kambia)

 

Kambia only smashed 23 of the targets. Well, nobody can beat Ori anyways since he got the max of 50… I guess I can settle for a tie.

 

“[Recollect]. Hmmm… Your circle isn’t horrible rune wise. It seems about standard to me. You’ll need to fix that if you want to continue this class into the second semester. You have around 250 days for that, so put some effort into that part if you can. You should learn how to train runes in magic theory eventually. Pay extra attention. Don’t be slacking just because it’s your first year. However, your nodes are practically perfect. Well done on that. I see you have practiced this spell many times over.” (Crate)

 

So far that’s below the class average. I hear most people who take this class are in their 7th or later years normally… yikes. Then again, most students are Elves…

 

Well, it’s finally my turn. Let’s hope I don’t accidently revolutionize magic or something.

 

“Ei, you’re next. Oh, you’re the one I dueled against.” (Crate)

 

“Ei? Like, the Ei who got a 100 on the magic test?” “It can’t be…” “That must have been a fluke!” “But it’s five rounds…” 

 

…Rumors are already spreading like wildfire. Wonderful.

 

“Well, let’s see if that score of 100 holds up. Cast a spell.” (Crate)

 

Hmmm… Should I use lightning magic? I only used ice previously… I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities for me to be able to use it. Besides, I’m still wearing Cthulhu over the uniform. Let’s go with lightning. Sounds fun after all.

 

“Professor Crate, before I begin, I was wondering if you could answer a question of mine. How rare is it to be able to cast magic without chanting?” (Ei)

 

Let’s hope this question doesn’t backfire… So far, at least in the Astraeus Kingdom, only Shia was able to.

 

“Well, among the people here, I’d say around 1%? So maybe a thousand or so? Almost all of them are Forest Elves who’ve been studying magic for a few hundred  years, some over a thousand.” (Crate)

 

Ehh… Screw it. My magic circle is so ridiculous that using chantless magic on top of it won’t change anything.

 

“I see.” (Ei)

 

“Anyways, cast when you’re ready.” (Crate)

 

[Chain Lightning] will do the trick here. I envision a ray of lighting falling from the heavens above. I see it in my hand, all around me, and I draw it together. I see the blue and yellow arcs it makes. I envision it jumping across target to target. Then, I cast. Silently.

 

**cra-CRACK**

 

**BANG** 

 

Lightning jumps to the first target, obliterating it instantly.

 

**cra-CRACK** **cra-CRACK** **cra-CRACK**

 

***BANG BANG BANG***

 

20 more arcs spawn out of it and slam into the others around it.

 

**cra-CRACK** **cra-CRACK** *cra-CRACK** 

 

***BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG***

 

The rest of the targets are vaporized. The only thing remaining where the 50 targets once stood are a series of crates filled with half solid rock.

 

“How’s that?” (Ei)

 

“Very impressive. I’ll bring up the magic circle in a second. The class needs a bit of time to recover. No wonder you won against me. That’s something that almost everyone in Anai would struggle to do.”

 

Ahh… So I did go overkill. Well, I guess it just adds to my reputation.

 

“*hm-HM* Class, back to reality please. We must look at the magic circle. [Recollect].” (Crate)

 

The same circle appears in the ground. However, it doesn’t burst into orange flames. This time it’s a much deeper purple-blue color.

 

“Eh? I’ve never seen anything like this before… Besides your runes and nodes which look to be about as good as or as good as the Grand Sage’s, there’s another thing that I’ve only heard about in textbooks. You’re not casting with mana. You’re casting with Primordial Energy.” (Crate)

 

…What? 

 

Azure_Fog I’m making a magic glossary entry by the next chapter release. Go read it if it exists while you’re reading this.

Also, more magic explanation for how to improve magic circles:

More of same spell = nodes improve

More spells = runes improve

 

Think of it like this: The runes are the spellcasting focus and the node is the spell data. Like, for all your spells you could use a spellcasting focus of a wand, but for each spell you need a different set of things to get what you want. Think of [Windblade] and [Firebolt] Both need projectile nodes, but one needs blade and wind nodes while the other needs only fire nodes.

Please leave feedback, any misspellings/typos, and impressions in the comments :)

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