[Jesus Christ, do I need to buy more papers? How much are we going to learn today?]
All around me in this void I call home, where I floated in my blob-like soul form, sheets of paper drifted aimlessly, each one covered in chaotic scribbles and symbols. Some had entire magic circles inked onto them, others were covered in densely packed notes and half-finished theories. None of it made sense to anyone but me, and honestly, even I was starting to lose track of what half of this crap was.
Right now, my attention was glued to what I liked to call my 'massive fucking TV', which was just me watching through Mika's eyes. She was sitting in a packed classroom, surrounded by students who all looked equally confused while the teacher, whose name I had already forgotten, droned on about the basics of rune magic. We were lucky to join this school year at the start, so we're not missing out on anything.
I was practically buzzing with excitement the moment we stepped into this class. For once, things actually made sense. These runes, they weren't some cryptic nonsense only experts could understand. No, they were just like a regular alphabet, to me at least.
Instead of spelling words, each symbol represented a concept, an action, or a condition. And when you paired them together, almost like forming a sentence, you could shape an effect.
Mixing symbols wasn't just about stacking power; it was about weaving intent. One rune might mean 'fire', another could mean' project', and another could mean 'delayed'. Combine those the right way? Boom. Delayed fireball. Swap one out with a different rune? Maybe it triggers when someone enters a room. Rearrange them? Now it explodes on impact and freezes anything within its radius.
It was like playing with magical Lego bricks, except each brick had the potential to blow something up if you snapped it in the wrong way. The sheer potential had me metaphorically foaming at the mouth with excitement. I already had dozens of twisted little ideas on how to manipulate these things. Imagine the traps, constructs, amplifiers, and enchantments I could do.
Sadly, two major problems keep me from actually using any of these runes, no matter how excited I get.
First, and most annoyingly, I need mana to activate even a single rune. But thanks to my lovely sealed situation, any mana I try to push out of my body gets instantly sucked away. Whether it's the seal itself or my daughter absorbing it like a sponge, but it's most likely both, the result is the same: no juice, no spark, no fun. Fantastic. Just great.
Second, runes aren't something you can just scribble on a napkin and expect magic to happen… kinda. You need proper magical materials to make them work, like for scribing. Sure, you can use regular ink, but the result will be so pathetically weak it's not worth the time or money. For a rune to actually do anything worthwhile, you need something better, like the blood of a magical beast. Why? Because it's already infused with mana, making it a natural conduit for the rune's activation. The same goes for carving runes into surfaces, you'll need enchanted metals, stones, or bones if you want anything to actually happen.
The gist of it is simple: the higher the quality of your mana and magical materials you use, the stronger, faster, and more stable your rune will be. Without those two key ingredients, mana and materials, I'm stuck here with nothing but potential and a lot of damn good ideas collecting dust. And the shit ton of papers that are floating around me.
There's a lot more to runes than what we covered, but today was just an introduction, so I'll have to wait and see how deep they go in future lessons. I think, anyway. And I say that because this rune class was Mika's eighth class today… out of twelve. Yeah. Twelve classes. Each one runs for about an hour.
Honestly? I'm kind of grateful I'm sealed up. No way I'd survive sitting through all that. But for Mika? It sucks for her. Big time.
Thanks to that 'little' demon portal opening up two days ago, the elves gave her training schedule a massive bump. Now they've packed her day to the brim. My guess is they're cramming her full of different lessons to see what she excels at. This week's schedule they gave to Mika, feels like a broad-spectrum trial run more than anything else.
Still, Mika's taking it all in like a sponge. She's absorbing everything she's taught at a crazy pace. But where she really shines is in a combat-focused profession. With the classes of Battle mage, Warcaster, and Elementalist catching her eye the most. She's already a natural in the concepts for these classes, though there's probably more she excels in because they've been skipping some classes for Mika.
Anyway, I finished jotting down the last of the teacher's notes just as the bell rang and stored all the loose papers floating around into my [Inventory]. Honestly, that feature is a lifesaver. It's like having a digital filing system, complete with folders I can organize however I want. Makes keeping track of everything stupidly easy.
I also went ahead and stored Mika's stuff. Because I can. I'm pretty sure she assumes it's Emi doing it, but hey, not like I can say anything. And frankly? I don't care enough to correct her. Actually, it's really easy to talk with her, I just need to write something down on paper, but I don't know how to start talking to her yet, so I'll wait.
So Mika made her way to the next class, and the crowd of students parted for her like she was royalty. And as they stepped aside, I couldn't help but notice the looks they were giving us, jealousy from the girls, and lust from the guys.
Too bad for the guys, though. Mika's already mine. Had a kid with her, remember? Claimed and sealed deal. As for the girls… Well, nothing I can really do about that. Let 'em stare with jealousy.
But right as we were stepping out of the classroom, a familiar but kinda unwelcome voice echoed behind us.
"Mika, wait, nyaa! Can you store my stuff too? It's too heavy for me to walk with!" Being taller than Mika by a full head, and clearly having muscles, which I love to stare at. A girl with tiger-like features pushed through the students forcibly with no problem and wrapped her arms around Mika. I guess you can say she looks like a… uh, what's the word… oh, a delinquent. She's nice though, I guess, but sometimes I wish Mika would try to hide from her
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I hate her or anything, but sweet merciful god, she never shuts up. I've had to shut off my sense of hearing just to survive a conversation. She starts on one topic, and within five minutes, we're somehow talking about something completely unrelated, like how the texture of bread reminds her of her childhood pet or some nonsense.
But spending time with Mika, I'd learned she's kind of awkward when it comes to making friends. She mumbles a bit and stutters her words, but with this girl, it wasn't as bad. So honestly, I'm a bit glad she has a friend to talk with. The other students stay away from her, but I don't know why.
"Oh… oh yes, I wouldn't mind. Here, give me your stuff, Ravka! Do you have Monster Physiology next?" Mika said, practically beaming as she hugged her friend back. Ravka's pillowy chest and thick arms practically crushed Mika in the process, I swear I heard her back crack.
"You bet! After all, I want to be an adventurer, so taking this class is a must if you want to be a professional," Ravka replied, grinning. "Here, I bought some snacks from the student store this morning."
Ravka handed over a thick, heavy black leather bag to Mika, and I stored it. I also went through Ravka's stuff. Naturally, I 'borrowed' a few snacks from the bag she carried her school stuff in. Consider it my storage fee.
But god damn, does this girl eat. She had another bag slung over her back, stuffed full of snacks. I even spotted a piece of cake in a glass container when Mika was digging through Ravka's stash. Ain't gonna lie, I want some of the stuff in her snack bag, some of it looks pretty good. Sadly, that plant bitch killed my wendigo form, so i'm just a soul with no mouth, for a month at least, three weeks to be exact.
So, as Mika and Ravka chatted about random things, mostly Ravka doing the talking, she kept bouncing between asking for Mika's notes and trying to convince her to do her homework too. And, of course, Mika agreed with a cheerful "Sure, I don't mind!" and a smile so genuine it made me sigh internally.
[Seriously, Mika… you're way too nice.] I said to myself, but it's her choice, so I can't do much. Plus, I also copy down her notes because hers are way better than mine
Anyway, we eventually made it to our next class, Monster Physiology, which, given Mika's adventurer/hero job, was a required subject. This class was a bit different from the others for a couple of reasons.
First off, there was a special outfit requirement. Kind of like a P.E. uniform, but instead of shorts and a shirt, students had to wear light leather armor provided by the academy. It was designed to be flexible and provide some protection while working with monsters, or on monsters.
The girls had their own locker room to change in, and obviously, I shut off my vision the moment Mika walked in. I'm not a creep.
After a few minutes, Mika stepped out wearing her set of armor: snug brown leather padding along her torso, arm guards, knee-high boots, and a belt with utility pouches. She even had gloves with small reinforced metal tips, probably for handling certain parts of a creature safely. Ravka walked out next, stretching and adjusting her armor, which, unlike Mika's snug fit, was visibly straining under her bulk. I ain't gonna lie, I love me some strong women.
The class took place entirely outside, in a massive colosseum. Like, full-on arena style. There were probably close to a hundred students present, but that made sense; this wasn't just one class. It was a shared session between four different course groups, each focusing on some aspect of monster-related education, I think.
I wasn't sure yet what the other classes covered, but I figured we'd find out soon.
As Mika stepped into the designated training area, a booming voice called out, "Group up with your assigned class! Your assigned instructors will brief you shortly!" It was a buff elf man who said it, and there was already a group of students lined up behind him, all wearing heavy sets of armor. I guess they were some sort of military class because they were all in parade rest, or the fact that their stance and… aura gave off that vibe.
But as I stared at those students who were already lined up, trying to figure out what type of class they were, Ravka leaned in toward Mika and whispered, "I heard today we're gonna be fighting Ogres. Can you believe that? So exciting!"
Mika's face lit up, half horrified and half disgusted. "W-we're fighting Ogres?!" As someone who loves reading and watching anime, she doesnt have a good view about Ogres, and that memory of a squire getting shit thrown at him was still fresh in her mind
"Yup!" Ravka grinned like a kid in a candy shop. "Apparently, there was an ogre camp hidden in the Varrak mountains. So they capture them, and now we get to learn from it. Isn't that great?"
As the students began forming their groups depending on their class, instructors soon walked out from under the colosseum's shaded archways, making the atmosphere shift because they had a very serious vibe around them.
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Yo, thanks for reading. Comment any questions you have, and I'll try to answer.
Please comment on any mistakes or changes I should make. It really helps.