I had some days to laze around but instead I decided to visit the magics class. I didn't have that one. But I couldn't help but be curious.
Miss Chamille had banned me from the typical classrooms but hey, she didn't ban me from the practical ones. Besides, I had practical classes from next month anyway.
The red roofed building was slightly different from the typical green roofed one. Namely, the classrooms were bigger, the kids too. All the classrooms had decent flooring and no tables or chairs. Some classes were teaching martial arts while others were teaching swordsmanship and the alike.
The magical classes took place on the third floor, so that's where I headed. Pretty straightforward place. The very same as the other academic building. Just with bigger and brighter classrooms.
On the third floor I found a bunch of kids. There were three magical classrooms, each consisting of mages with different kinds of talents and experience. I was mostly interested in the very basic class which only had about 7 people.
"Oh?" The teacher, a tall man stared at me. "I wasn't expecting you Mr. Soler Barack."
"Couldn't contain my curiosity Sir," I said. "Or would you prefer if I addressed you as Lord Arjan Heins?" Apparently, the guy was a count and a guest lecturer here; he knew more about magic than any teacher at this academy. I got the information courtesy of Gerar.
"No need. You're in school, I'm a teacher. Ranks don't matter," he spoke in a matter-of-fact manner. Practiced, that was for sure. "Take any seat you prefer."
This classroom wasn't as big as the ones below. It was smaller than even typical classrooms and they had chairs. No tables though? "Understood."
"We've already gone through the basics," Mr. Arjan said. "However, let's do a quick recap for your sake."
The other kids didn't object. If memory served me correctly four out of these seven, didn't yet know how to use magic. They merely had affinity. None of them were rare magic users.
"How much do you know?" He asked before starting.
"Simple stuff. Affinities, mana as a tingly feeling and rarities."
He smiled. "They're not that simple. Even the very basic principle of an art can be sophisticated as long as you master them well." Well, he had a point but I was just answering him for the sake of answering. "Perhaps you read mana as this mysterious thing that runs through your blood and helps you change the natural order."
"Kind of."
"Well, you're not wrong but I believe in equal exchange, the very basics of alchemy."
Now you're spitting stuff from FMA? Really?
Rolling my eyes, "So, like an energy source that you can convert but what you can do with it depends on the amount you have?" I mean, that felt obvious.
"EXACTLY!"
"If I might ask, what kind of magic do you use Sir?"
"I can't use magic," he said. "But I'm more knowledgeable in the subject than even court magicians."
Okay, maybe choosing this class wasn't such a great idea. Who even boasts like that? Hmm… I guess I could test out whether he actually knew his shit. "What's the rarest magic and why?"
"Time magic… or so I'd like to say." He paused for a good minute. "But it's actually having every single affinity. Those who are blessed with magic, are often blessed with multiple affinities. However, in more cases than not, they cannot use more than three or at best four affinities. Only a demon lord was able to use 7, and that was the rarest."
Huh!
I just expected time magic, honestly.
"You really are knowledgeable, Sir."
He flashed a cheeky grin. While the students rolled their eyes. Yup, this was normal.
He went on to explain the basics of mana manipulation. I was sort of wrong. Mana didn't flow with the blood. But rather, it flowed in your bones and stored there like calcium and other minerals. I mean that made sense considering I got mana from just chewing bones too. Is mana a tangible mineral then?
He also cleared some of my earlier misconceptions regarding capacity. It was true your mana capacity was virtually unchangeable after birth. However, in special circumstances, especially if you had mixed blood or had connections to spirits (Which I had) you could gradually increase your mana capacity over time. Actual progress would be super slow and would take decades; not years, decades. But it's still possible.
"I've heard that you use fishbones to get some boost in mana," Mr. Arjan said. "While that's not a bad way to go about this, it's pretty terrible of a way to stay in bed for months."
Apparently, the source of my strength had leaked. Probably thanks to our thug network. It didn't bother me though. Most sane people wouldn't think of chewing on fishbones and contracting fevers.
"But if I don't misuse and use it sparingly, I'm less likely to be sick, right?"
"Sick? Ah, you think disease is the only drawback. You see, your body eventually gets adapted to higher concentrations of mana, and at that point if you don't supply it, you get withdrawal symptoms. Kind of like drinking wine. Ah pardon, you're too young to understand that. But yes, perhaps your analogy of 'sick' was correct."
Nope, I totally understood that. So, it just becomes a drug. I mean, I did like the tingly feeling now that I thought about it.
"Then what-"
"Magic stones. Most magicians use Magic stones and use mana externally to boost their spell, without changing their own flow."
"Those are too expensive Sir," I said.
"Pass my course as the top of the class and I'll gift you a wand."
First rate wands sold for at least a few hundred gold. Even your run of the mill wands cost at least 20-30 gold a pop. I'd already looked into them but they were far too expensive for me. So I tried not to think about them….
"You have my attention," I lowered my center of gravity and brought my full focus on him, resting my chin on my hands.
He smiled. "Excellent."
***
I hadn't been in my room in about five days now. Kind of made me feel a little nostalgic. So, I went over to check my stuff. Everything was as I left them.
I had a letter on my desk though. A letter with a red insignia on the back. An insignia of an octopus? It was addressed to me: Soler A. Barrack.
Smelled good too!
I opened it and the paper was white! I hadn't seen actual white paper in a while! No, you haven't seen white paper at all. Finally, some luxury paper! And the hand writing was so damn beautiful!
I was so excited, I forgot to read the actual letter, so I read it.
Basically, it was an invitation. A formal invitation to the Tea party of Duke Nimber Al Alzania, Nisa's father. The party was going to be held in about ten days and the journey to reach there would take about a week. Meaning I had to leave by three days.
And just when I was about to start classes for real.
Sigh.
I had no idea how noble invitations worked, but if Barack senior was to be believed, I could take Shia with me, no problem. So, I went out to get Shia but she wasn't at school. Figured. I went to see Miss Chamille instead. Definitely not because I wanted to ogle at her or anything…
She wasn't there either. Apparently, she was on holiday. Sirgh!
So, with nothing else to do, I went home. Or would have, if I hadn't run into Jake and Mike outside.
"Take that back," Jake hissed.
"Learn to accept the truth," Mike said calmly.
Maybe it's not the best time for me to enter this conversation. I slowly, slowly backed off.
"Oh, Sol!" Mike saw me. "Come here. We're discussing chest sizes. Arin has the best pair in our class!"
The what?
"I'm telling you, Lady Nisa's pretty big too," Jake insisted. "But this moron keeps saying she's small and stuff!"
And here I thought these two idiots were discussing something important and arguing over it. Aren't you morons a little too young to be discussing boob sizes though?
I slapped my forehead. "Does it matter what size they are? We all know Miss Chamille has the best pair."
They looked at me as though they were staring at an exotic creature. "That would explain why you stare at her so longingly," Mike said.
"Agreed," Jake said.
You and your big mouth.