Tomorrow was not better.
Michael woke up tired and sore. He considered using the system to make the pain go away, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the IP. It was raining and dark outside, but he had no umbrella. He trudged through the dreary landscape to his light magic classroom. There, a small group of similarly tired and sore students surrounded Master Silksen. She was full of life and energy, bouncing around as she told them all about how amazing sunrises were.
Michael practiced Light magic as instructed, but failed to see exactly how the sunrise enhanced his learning. The only positive was that he was allowed to bring Orthus to this "club meeting". Michael forbade him from practicing magic in front of the group out of fear that they would try to take Orthus away. Instead, Orthus merely listened and watched for his own benefit later.
Breakfast was thick oatmeal and fruit with a side of orange juice. They offered sugar and Michael heaped a ton of it on before even attempting to eat it. It wasn't terrible with the fruit and added sugar, but he wasn't in a hurry to eat it again.
After that, it was back to Light magic- this time without Orthus. Sure enough, Master Silksen gave them a pop-quiz on the sunrise lesson. Quite a few students failed spectacularly, though some managed to succeed by pure luck. She then proceeded to mention how "this is one of the many lessons you can learn for yourself at Light Magic Appreciation Club."
Fortunately, the quiz took the majority of the time period and Michael was able to slip off without wasting too much mana. It was a good thing, too, because he needed quite a lot of it for Master Delta's Water magic lesson.
Today, they were focusing on varying the strength of barriers. One student would attack while the other used a barrier to defend. This way, everyone would always be practicing. Michael and Scott tried to pair up, but Master Delta forced them to work with different partners.
Michael's partner was a strong-looking girl of about 12. Her name was Maya, and she could be considered pretty, but that was about it. However, her mana pool was bigger than Michael's, which made her a difficult opponent for this task. If not for Michael's keen control over his magic, he would have been all but useless as a partner.
Instead, he was forced to modify his barrier and attacks. He had little to work with, so he had to completely remove portions of his barrier to better defend against her attacks. Because of this, he had to constantly move his barrier to defend against her attacks, thickening it in one or two small spots and following the flow of her magic.
Before long, he was covered in minor bruises from when he had failed to stop her attacks. Still, Maya was not much better. Her barrier was stronger than his, but he had finer control over his magic. He could manipulate it into a spear-like attack for better penetration. Though most of it dissipated on the shield, some of it made it through and left her with bruises to match his own.
They went back and forth for the entire class, expending a large amount of mana. By the end, even Michael's spears couldn't pierce his opponent's shields. He just didn't have enough mana to make it work.
Because of that, Earth Magic class was rather difficult. Michael could barely sustain the basic spell for today, which involved forming a ball of earth to throw at your opponent. The manipulation came easily to him, but he just didn't have enough mana to keep it going.
Lunch was a godsend. The cook said it was some kind of fish, but it tasted like marinated chicken. It came with a side of mashed potatoes and broccoli, and he discovered he rather liked them both. The potatoes were creamy and rich, while the broccoli had a wonderful texture to it. Afterwards, he felt like his mana had recharged significantly. Who knew a meal was so important?
Despite the dreary weather, Michael tackled the second half of his day with enthusiasm. Fire magic class taught them how to keep their clothes dry, even in the rain, and Master Mari taught them to create a small barrier over their heads to prevent rain from falling on them in the event they didn't have an umbrella.
Still, the best class was Darkness class. Apparently, the ability to cloak oneself in darkness was one of the first spells they learned. It didn't protect them from the rain, but it was pretty cool watching everyone slowly fade away. Better yet, Michael got to sit next to Julia again.
She really was incredibly nice, and it turned out that they both came from similar backgrounds. Her family was completely average and lived in a small village to the west. When they found out she had the talent to be a magician, her parents did everything they could to make sure she could attend Ilkhorn Academy. Julia was eager to prove that she deserved it, so she worked hard and managed to secure a scholarship.
It made Michael happy to know he was friends with someone so kindhearted and hardworking. He promised himself he'd do what he could to help her and her family, though he was poorer than they were at the moment...
After class, the two of them walked back to the dorms together. Michael used his water magic to catch the rain around them as they walked to make sure they stayed dry. Neither particularly felt like going hunting that afternoon, so they hung out together instead.
Julia had named her fairy Rose. She couldn't speak like Orthus could, but she still seemed quite smart. She understood Julia's orders, even when they had multiple parts. According to Julia, Rose was close to evolving to the third rank. At that point, both of their affinities would increase, possibly awakening air magic for Julia.
The four of them went to dinner together, where they were joined by the triplets, Scott, Kayn and Malachi. They mainly talked about classes that day, especially since four of them shared Darkness magic together. James and Adam complained liberally about how exhausting the schoolwork and physical training sessions were.
Master Robin had them running and doing pushups in the rain while holding a sword and wearing leather armor. According to them, it had been fairly brutal until he fell asleep halfway through a lesson. Julia didn't say much about it, just smiling and nodding in agreement. They all laughed when they heard Master Robin had fallen asleep (and apparently snored). Scott and Michael both pointed out that it would help in the long run, even if it sucked now, and they moved on to other topics.
After dinner, they all made their way back to the dorms with their familiars and went to bed. Yeah, it had been a pretty dreary day, but it had some sunshine moments. By the time Michael fell asleep, he'd forgotten his aches and pains in favor of thoughts of his new friends.