Chapter 41 - Meeting a Demi-Human (Part 2)
We continued ascending one of the castle towers until we reached my teacher's quarters.
"I have to let you know something, kids. I have a very special apprentice acting as my assistant. She's a bit older than you and a bit reserved, so be kind to her. I'll be doing most of the reading while she'll handle the basics with you. Once you understand the fundamentals, we'll be ready for some action," Adrihna said.
We followed her into her suite. It was a large and luxurious room, far more opulent than my room or any of the Legacies' rooms. Living in the mansion in the castle's interior was more practical for training our minds. The castle, being the royal residence of my family, was completely different in decor—very luxurious, with paintings and statues that were certainly worth a fortune.
In the mansion, we didn't have many things in the corridors to allow our guardian, Carnellian, the space he needed to move around at night. We didn't even put rugs on the corridor floors. Everything had to be the way Carnellian requested centuries ago for my ancestor. The castle, on the other hand, was filled with decorations, long red carpets, and ornate furnishings. After getting used to the practicality of the mansion's rooms, it was hard to enjoy staying in a castle room, with all its flashy cushions, armors, statues, paintings, and curtains. Despite the luxury, it felt cluttered compared to the mansion's simplicity. Moreover, the mansion was more secure, with better control over the environment and our guardian's presence limited to that territory.
Professor Adrihna knocked on a door to another part of the suite.
"Kinue, I'm coming in," she said, opening the door.
"Lady Adrihna!" her assistant quickly stood up.
"Were you napping?" the elf asked.
"Yes…" murmured the voice.
The professor stood in the doorway, blocking my view of her assistant.
"That's fine. I know you have your sleep periods due to your species' growth phase. These are the other two apprentices: Chloe and Nathan. Get to know each other while I review some parts of the work for you. I need to test you... and also take a rest," she said, lighting her pipe and sitting in an armchair.
My professor picked up a book from a table and began reading in silence. We understood this was her peculiar way of working.
When I finally saw the assistant, I understood what my mother had tried to convey about demi-humans. In front of me stood a very beautiful young woman, a few years older than me. She had long, golden hair and wore a red dress called a 'kimono'. Her striking green eyes were complemented by two animal ears on top of her head and a tail. She was a rare demi-human from the fox tribe, a golden fox.
Her body was like that of a regular human, but with the added characteristics of her tribe's animal. I wasn't sure how having animal traits affected a demi-human's behavior, but it surely had some impact.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Kinue," she said, bowing.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nathan," I introduced myself, trying hard not to stare at her ears.
Now I understood what my mother meant by "cute." It definitely applied to this fox girl.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by a pinch from Chloe. When I turned to the little monster, she was glaring at me.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Nothing…" she said, huffing.
I guess I stared at Kinue too much...
"Nice to meet you, I'm Chloe," she introduced herself.
Kinue bowed to us again. Her ears were so cute, and I could see them twitching as if reacting to her emotions.
"It's best if we leave Lady Adrihna alone for now," she told us.
Our teacher just raised her hand. "It's fine. I'll be observing the two of you while you get to know each other better. Then, explain the basics to them just in case. Their family probably initiated them into magic, but we'll cover everything from the beginning anyway," Adrihna said.
Kinue nodded, and we gathered, sitting on the floor close to each other. She scratched her head a bit, feeling shy.
"I-I-I'm a demi-human…" she said nervously.
We could tell.
"Don't worry about being nervous, we are too," Chloe said.
Kinue seemed to relax a little.
"How should I address you? Lord and Lady? Or do you prefer something else?"
"Just our names are fine. We don't really like being called that," I said, and Chloe agreed.
We talked for a while until Kinue became more comfortable with us. Our teacher kept reading her book while we got to know each other. I learned that Kinue was rare among the fox tribe because her fox features had blonde fur instead of dark brown.
"Can we talk about the types of mana?" Kinue asked us.
"Types of mana?" a confused Chloe asked.
"They're the three existing forms that mana functions within someone's body. They're also called mana categories. The secret to getting stronger in mastering your element is understanding how mana flows through the channels in your body, which helps you identify your categories," she explained.
"I read some books that mentioned strange terms, but my mom never explained this to me," Chloe said.
"Of course not, she didn't want to influence you to try making mana flow incorrectly in your body just because you thought some mana category was 'cool.' Proper mana flow is key to stimulating the Gem and making it evolve in grade," Professor Adrihna explained while reading her book.
Mana categories? So there's a way mana functions inside us?
"What are these mana categories?" I asked.
The professor remained silent, and we looked to Kinue for an explanation.
"There are three mana categories, and the users of them are called: Transmitter, Emitter, and Summoner."