The first and second periods ended and I was chilling in the cafeteria with Emika and Tatsuya.
"That's news to me."
Tatsuya said.
"What is?"
I asked.
"The whole thing about being in the best shape to make a contract."
All I did was tilt my head slightly.
"Well, you see, I'm a weapon summoner, or, it's more commonly known as an Armament Contractor. To summon weapons, I have to make temporary contracts in order to use the weapons I summon."
"So, you're saying that it doesn't make sense since you'd be healing yourself every time in battle?"
Tatsuya nodded.
I mean, what he says does make sense but maybe it just doesn't work on temporary contracts?
"But don't Armament Contractors forcibly make contracts?"
Emika asked.
Both of us stared at her, confused.
"Huh?"
"I read it in a book called the Armament Contractor Guide by Riffy Magun."
"Oh, Riffy Magun. The guy who wrote the Guide to Spellcasting."
Tatsuya said.
Seems like this Riffy Magun guy knew a lot and expressed his knowledge in books.
"It said that Armament Contractors take weapons from the Soul Dimension forcibly. Things in the Soul Dimension can't take physical form in this dimension. That's why Armament Contractors make special and more forcing contracts called binding contracts. Binding contracts are different from normal contracts since they're only made with spiritual weapons and are temporary."
Noticing our stares, Emika panicked and her face turned red.
"S-sorry did I nerd out?! Ah, I didn't mean to!"
"N-no, it's fine, I'm just amazed that you're so smart. I mean, I would never be able to memorise all of that."
I said to her.
"Wait, I already knew about the whole Soul Dimension spiritual weapon part. The binding contract information is new to me too since I always thought that we made normal contracts. Anyway, how do Armament Contractors keep the weapon in the physical world?"
"Huh, you don't know how?"
I asked in disbelief.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. You know how my dad is. He's a person who teaches more by feeling than by words and instructions."
I thought about Tatsuya's dad smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up like an idiot.
"Y-yeah..."
"To answer your question, Tatsuya, Armament Contractors use binding contracts to keep their weapons in the physical world. Of course, a binding contract isn't enough. The Armament Contractor's mana mixes in with the contract and stops it from leaving the spiritual world. Though, it's not like all spiritual weapons hate being in the spiritual world."
"Ah, I get it. I think."
He said, after all of that.
"As long as you understand."
Emika smiled triumphantly.
She seemed pleased that she could nerd out.
---
"Now, today, we'll be doing a practical in here."
Ms Pandora, Merlyn, said.
We were in a special room for practicals for Ancient Runes. It was a large vacant room but, seemingly, the walls and floor were mana resistant, meaning that magic under a certain level could not damage it.
"What will we be doing?"
Nemurenume asked.
"Nexusrunes."
Instantly, everyone gave the same reaction.
We were all confused. I'm happy that I wasn't alone in my confusion.
"Let's see..."
Merlyn looked around, with her hand on her chin, and then pointed at Calira.
"Calira. Explain what a nexusrune is."
"If that's it then..."
I thought I'd hear words of objection but that wasn't what I heard.
"A nexusrune is when the caster alters the spell they are casting using the mana particles in the atmosphere."
"Hmmmm... I guess that gets a 7. Out of 7, that is."
We ignored her horrible joke.
"A nexusrune is exactly what Calira explained. Hm, I wonder if either of the Athenblade siblings can give us a demonstration."
Calira went to the front and began casting.
"Spirit of fire, heed my call and answer my fierce desires; Flare."
A large fireball formed.
And then, more mana converged into her Flare and separated into three pikes.
She cast Flare but then altered the spell. A nexusrune isn't a rune but a process.
"That's a nexusrune. You all can do it too. The whole lesson is about testing nexusrunes. You can all begin!"
What a laid-back lesson. I like it though.
Kuro, Emika, Tatsuya, Hikari and I were grouped up.
Kuro cast Fireball and it became a large flaming spike. Emika cast Wind Gyro, a spiky ball of wind, into multiple spiky balls of wind.
Tatsuya cast a Water Bullet and it became a shield of water.
Finally, Hikari cast a Water Pillar and it became a hammer of water.
"Woah, you guys are all amazing."
"It's your turn."
Kuro spoke.
As I admired their nexusrunes, they all turned to me.
"Yeah, Shoya, show us one of your nexusrunes."
Tatsuya said.
"Su--"
"I want to see a shadow nexusrune."
Hikari said, all of a sudden.
"H-huh?! A shadow wh--"
"Yeah, I want to see one too."
Emika concurred.
And so did the rest of them. I didn't want to cast Shadow Magic again but the peer pressure is real...
Now then, what spell do I do?
[Do your Shadow Gauntlet. The way it cools down can be considered a nexusrune since it deviates from its original spell.]
Altair said, suddenly.
I guess.
I cast Shadow Gauntlet and they looked at me in awe.
"Woah, so this was the gauntlets you used in the match, huh? I can't get any gauntlets like these."
Tatsuya began touching my gauntlets.
His hand went straight through.
["Huh?"]
Everyone gasped collectively.
"Why'd his hand go through?"
"My gauntlets are made of shadows. Of course, they'll go through."
"But you hit that guy multiple times in your match."
"That's because they solidify when I want them to."
I answered Hikari's questions.
Okay... Uh... I guess I can do this.
I turned and aimed a gauntlet at the wall. The plates shifted and a muzzle came out, shooting multiple shadow needles rapidly.
After it shot 50, I retracted my arm and the plates shifted back, steam came out of my gauntlet with a 'ssss' noise.
When I looked around, it wasn't only my friends' eyes that were on me but, practically, everyone else's.
I shrugged.
"What?"