- drip
drip drip drip drip
'You're kidding me.'
Raindrops dripped on the cobblestone pathway outside of the general school building. The trees began swaying slightly faster than usual and the clouds in the sky darkened. The effect was almost immediate.
'Could the rain not have waited until I at least got to the dorms?'
Naturally without the existence of a forecast system in this fantasy world. I had no way of knowing it would rain today. Thus leaving me, who was without an umbrella, to be drenched.
"Are you just going to stand there? You'll get soaked."
A cold voice cut me out of my thoughts as I turned around to see who was addressing me.
"Apologies, I was a bit lost in thought."
Standing behind me was a beauty with waist length hair the color of ash. Her amber like brown eyes seemed to carry a certain sense of aloof.
"Alright, well get to your dorm quickly. It wont do for you to fall ill."
'Did this girl seriously only stop because she was worried I'd fall ill?'
It wasn't that I minded but I couldn't help but wonder if that was really her only goal in talking to me. Another thing concerning was the fact she had seen my full figure and didn't immediately treat me like trash.
Could it be she was one of the people that didn't know about Dirius? Or did she just simply not care. Either way I had met someone interesting.
'Shit I should've gotten her name.'
***
The dorms in Laertes Academy were extremely large. Boasting of two bathrooms, a fully equip kitchen and a living room, it would be more fitting to call each dorm room a medium sized apartment.
There was a reason for this however. Dorms in Laertes were shared between three students, two younger students and a senior. The apparent reason for this was that the headmaster deemed it necessary for newer students to have interactions with older more experienced students. Basically it's meant to promote student autonomy by relying on each other.
'That being said it's definitely bigger than I thought...wonder who my roommates are.'
Click
'Speak of the devil and he shall appear!'
"Y-you of all people!!?"
ah
I'm fucked
"What do you mean 'Me of all people'? Do you perhaps dislike me prince charming?"
"Are you aware of the rumors surrounding you!?"
"Nah I'm not. SO enlighten me. By the way your mask slipped."
Seeing as it was only myself and the prince in the area at the moment I guess he couldn't be bothered to put up his act. Though I don't blame him, I don't think anyone would pay my words any mind even if I were to spill.
"Why on earth would I bother acting in front of someone like you? I gain nothing from being friendly with a man known for playing around with his maids."
'Holy shit. Shit Shit SHIT. Please don't tell me that abnor-maids bullshit was real. He was just talking about regular maids right? RIGHT!?'
"P-Pardon I guess my reputation isn't the best but that doesn't mean we can't be friends right?"
I didn't really want to be friends with him; however having a connection with someone in power could never be a bad thing. Leaving a bad impression because of anger would only make me loose out in the long run.
'Plus being friends with this kid will make me look better.'
"It does!"
"Awww man."
I mock pouted then looked up at him with puppy eyes speaking in a sorrowful tone.
"Pretty please with cherries on top Leo~."
"You're being so annoyi—
Click
Cutting Leon off from talking was a rather built red head guy walking in.
'Is this guy my other roommate?'
"Oh, we're roommates again Dirius. Please don't cause trouble again like last year."
The man greeted me with a sheepish smile on his face, a massive contrast to his sharp looking demeanor.
'Fuck. Another person who knows Dirius. I knew I'd run into them but not this soon!'
"Ahh, good to see you again mate! I'll try my best to tone it down this year, no promises though!"
I awkwardly responded to the slightly older looking man, hoping to god that he didn't realize I don't remember him.
"You, you're actually being polite? I'd say you're already better than last year, that's great!"
Is this man just always happy and excited? He's acting like a golden retriever.
"Thanks man! We got off on the wrong foot last year so how about we start over? My name is Dirius Hendrix, lets be friends?"
Seizing the opportunity to not only get this guy's name but also correct a little of Dirius' reputation I extended my hand for a handshake with a coy smile.
"You forgot my name didn't you."
'....Fuck he's sharp.'
"No I didn't, I just wanted us to start over."
The curious glance he gave me told me he 100% didn't believe my bullshit. Still, he accepted the handshake before smiling and introducing himself.
"Alan. Alan Thorne a fourth year, lets get along."
'I feel like I'm forgetting something..'
"Uhm hellooo? Why am I being excluded right now??"
'Oh right.'
"Oho? I thought you didn't want to be friends though mr. prince."
"Yeah, with you! Of course I'd want to be friends with a senior."
Smirking mischievously, I wrapped my hand around Alan's neck.
"That's too bad then~ We're a package deal mate!"
Catching on quick Alan nodded before reciprocating the gesture and playfully poked Leon's cheek.
"Yeah Yeah we're a package deal junior. Better be quick this is a limited time offer!"
"Ughh why are you agreeing with him!? You were just telling him off about his past behavior!"
Leon looked utterly frustrated. His hand clawing at his hair as he glared at me.
"I had a change of heart that's all."
"Fuck it you win alright! Let's be friends."
'Hehehe success.'
"My my~ Such foul words really came from a prince's mouth?"
"SHUT U—
***
"Hey Alan."
With introductions and packing of my meagre belongings finished, It was time to gather some information. What Kurt said had been itching at my mind for a while now.
"Hm? What's up?"
Looking back at me he tilted his head slightly to the left.
"What exactly is a cursed person?"
"Well before I explain that, what exactly do you know about Odos?"
"Uhhh its based on luck?"
If I remember correctly the Odos was the name of the magic system used in this world and a person's talent area was determined at birth.
"..I see. I'll have to start explaining from the beginning then."
"I'm sorry, and thank you."
I bowed my head embarrassed to which he quickly shook his.
"No No don't worry about it, I don't mind explaining to you."
"Thank you."
'Ok seriously why is this dude so kind!? It's a little creepy.''
"Alright let's start with the very basics of Odos since your teacher will probably expand on it in class tomorrow."
"Okay."
I leaned forward on the chair, my eyes shone with a child like excitement ready to learn about the mysticism of the world.
"Odos is based on the structure of the soul and it's split into four parts. The Hamr, Sielu, Iter and Fortuna. The Hamr is the amount of potential a body has for magic, or rather it's the amount of raw magic power a person has."
That made sense, any energy not in use or stored properly for use was by nature called potential energy.
"The Hamr doesn't actually matter much does it?"
Extending on this simple explanation I can probably gather that it doesn't exactly have an effect on the person's magic power, after all, potential energy is useless if it isn't stored or actively in use.
"That'd be correct. Just because it's there doesn't mean you can use it. Your actually usable magic is determined by the Sielu."
Nodding vigorously I waited for him to continue his explanation.
"Think of the Sielu as a lamp that stores fuel and lets you draw from it for use. Just like a lamp it has a limit to the amount of fuel it can hold; in this case the determinant for how much 'fuel' your Sielu can hold is your mental strength."
'Seems simple enough, guess meditation works miracles here.'
"And what if you end up being able to control all your raw magic power?"
It was a concerning question as I would probably be fucked if my potential was small. I'm not exactly the luckiest person ever.
"That would never happen. The more magic power your Sielu can hold the more raw magic power your body is also able to hold. Think of them as two parallel lines that never meet. In that sense it doesn't matter whether you're lucky or not in the Hamr department, just train hard enough."
I tilted my head.
"Isn't that contradictory? I was told the Odos was based on luck, but you're telling me that your luck doesn't really matter as long as you train hard enough."
He gained a look of understanding as he nodded, not looking down on me for my question.
"Ah, I can see how you can get that idea; you're wrong though. The luck comes in to play with Fortuna."
I didn't respond, allowing him to continue his explanation.
"Your Fortuna is the nature of your magic, and by extension the nature of your very soul. You have to be lucky in order to be granted a magic nature or else you wouldn't naturally excel at ANY magic."
'Well isn't that fucking concerning.'
"I see."
"Last thing before I tell you about cursed people. The Iter is basically a separate nervous system running through your body. It connects to the Sielu to allow use of magic."
"Got it. So mana pathways..... wait a minute. Why have you been saying magic power this whole time instead of Mana?"
"Ahaha because their completely different. Magic power is before it's been used in a spell. Mana is what it's called while it's in use."
'The fuck?'
"...Right."
"Ahem- anyways. Basically as I said the Odos is split into four parts right?"
"Right."
"Well the shape of the Odos is that of a clover. Curse people have an irregular shaped Odos. Reason? They have an extra two parts."
"Then shouldn't that be a good thing rather than bad?"
He shook his head again.
"No its not...cursed people don't have a specific Fortuna."