Kira sat in the common room of her dorm with Ribbon and Brigit, all of them spreading study materials and snacks across the surface of four tables they'd dragged together into one giant modular monstrosity. Brigit's plan for them to test out a Dungeon together was put on hold until Kira caught back up with class lessons, so the three of them planned to spend their free time getting her up to speed.

Their fellow classmates were usually out training furiously to increase their levels before the Trial, with the exception of Dani who often slept through the days in her room, so they had the big common room space all to themselves.

After her meeting with the Archmage, Kira understood why everyone was so cautious when they learned about her species. Strangers would look at her as either a treasure or a time bomb - perhaps both, depending on circumstances. While part of her was concerned and frustrated by the situation, another part was grateful the people she'd met who knew her 'secret' were decent folk.

For everyone else... She'd just make sure her secret stayed secret. It was better to avoid trouble entirely. She wanted to meet other Humans, certainly, but...

Not if it meant she'd become someone's prisoner and tool of war.

WHAM!

Kira looked up as the door to the common room blew open, two of her classmates elbowing each other to be the first inside. One of them smooshed the face of the other against the door, succeeding in clambering over his buddy's larger frame and toppling into the room with an inelegant tumble.

Simon Elderwood and Asim Kattan. They always seemed to be fighting, but they were also always together. Kira failed to stifle a soft laugh, accidentally drawing their attention to her.

"There you are!" Simon said, pointing excitedly at Kira. He scrambled over as Asim muttered under his breath, rubbing his cheek.

"That was underhanded, Elderwood."

"Your face is underhanded. Look, it's Kira! We can ask the thing!"

Simon pulled up a chair, sliding in between Kira and Ribbon, who looked baffled and alarmed by the sudden increase in activity. Kira, sharing the Kobold's sentiments, leaned away a little from the rambunctious young man. "Uh... Can I help you?"

"Yes! Maybe? Anyway!" Simon flipped his chair around, resting his arms on the back and grinning wide. "Okay so, at that magic lesson when you shotgun-blasted a bunch of target dummies with so many rocks. You showed us your spell description, right? Hawkins got all flustered about it too! And it got me thinking, right, I wondered why more people didn't know 【 Throw Rock 】 was so overpowered!"

"This dumbass spent every bit of his savings on a 【 Throw Rock 】 spell book," Asim grumbled as he sank into a nearby armchair, tossing a withering glare at Simon's back.

"Spells cost way more in the System shop when you don't have a matching Class, did you know that? Luckily I snagged one from someone who thought he got unlucky with Dungeon Rewards, hehehe. So I learned 【 Throw Rock 】, and like... Okay, check this out." Simon heaved a dramatic sigh, opening a bright pink System screen and making it visible to display his spell description.

【 Throw Rock 】 Lv.2 ELEMENT BASE COST REAGENT Earth 4 MP per 0.6kg Mineral

Speak the spell name to cast, encasing reagent projectile in mana to increase speed and force.

Flight path cannot be altered once reagent is launched.

Kira frowned. That was... Extremely different than what was shown on her spell description! "Odd..."

"I thought so too! So I had Asim hit up some relatives-"

"I'm a FIRE Demi-Djinn, Earth Demi-Djinn are barely distant cousins-"

"And a couple of them had 【 Throw Rock 】 at max level because of course they did, but their descriptions were uhh... Hang on I have a screenshot here... Aha!"

【 Throw Rock 】 Lv.20 (MAX) ELEMENT BASE COST REAGENT Earth 1 MP per 10kg Mineral

Coat reagent in mana then speak the spell name to cast, increasing reagent flight speed (versus flight speed from being thrown without the spell), and increasing damage caused by the reagent upon impact.

Flight path cannot be altered once reagent is launched.

Brigit frowned. "The mana cost discrepancy is obviously due to them having matching affinities while you don't, but other than that... Could it have to do with Scan quality on top of mastery? Kira's Scan spell is Gold, and higher qualities show more in-depth information. Mastery might stack with that, since mastery of a spell increases your understanding of its inner workings."

"Yeah, except one of Asim's cousins-"

"Half-cousin twice removed-"

"-had Gold Scan too, at maxed level! I asked, because I am so genius and thought it might have to do with Miss Gold Scholarship probably having high quality Scan over here. But check it out!" Simon flipped another screenshot around, waving his hands to emphasize the differences between all three displays.

【 Throw Rock 】 Lv.20 (MAX) ELEMENT BASE COST REAGENT Earth 1 MP per 10kg Mineral

Coat reagent in mana then speak the spell name to cast, increasing reagent flight speed (versus flight speed from being thrown without the spell), and increasing damage caused by the reagent upon impact.

Physically throwing the reagent while casting the spell adds extra damage and speed to the projectile based on Caster's STR and DEX stats respectively.

Flight path cannot be altered once reagent is launched.

"See! See! Super different!"

Kira scowled, bringing up her own spell description for comparison and throwing it into the pile of floating screens hovering above the cramped study table.

【 Throw Rock 】 Lv.20 (MAX) ELEMENT BASE COST REAGENT Earth 1 MP per 10kg Mineral

Coat reagent in mana then speak the spell name to cast, increasing reagent flight speed (versus flight speed from being thrown without the spell), and increasing damage caused by the reagent upon impact based on its mass combined with its acceleration.

Physically throwing the reagent while casting the spell adds extra damage and speed to the projectile based on Caster's STR and DEX stats respectively.

Maximum size, flight speed, and damage of reagent both determined by mana used when casting. Using twice the required mana will double speed and damage, triple the mana will triple speed and damage, etc.

Flight path cannot be altered once reagent is launched.

Sure enough, the closest result belonged to Asim's half-cousin twice removed, but her version still had more information despite her 【 Scan 】 spell being new and thus lower leveled. 'That can't be right...'

"Leveling it was hard since I've got wind affinity not earth, but once 【 Throw Rock 】 hit level two its power like, doubled? Which isn't much to begin with because it starts weak as heck without Class bonuses to boost it and if I didn't see you shotgun blast pebbles I wouldn't have ever tried leveling this spell! And I wouldn't have known I can throw the rock without touching it, either! The spell doesn't say you NEED to touch the rock, but I guess with a name like 【 Throw Rock 】 it kinda felt implied? Which I guess was what Hawkins was so flabbergasted about but the teachers for General 1-9F are the bottom of the barrel in terms of adventurers hired in their downtime even for the Atmont Academia so it wouldn't be surprising his Arcana skill wasn't very-"

"Simon..." Asim's irritated grumble from the nearby armchair snapped the Forest Elf out of his rambling.

Laughing, Simon scratched behind his pointed ears. "Sorry, sorry. I actually wanted to be a Mage of some sort, but the Class Medallion granted me Rogue instead and I can't afford to change it. I just get really excited talking about magic."

Kira nodded sagely. "It's fine."

"Really?"

She nodded again, her expression serious. Magic was very cool, talking about it with such excitement was only to be expected. "Yeah."

Ribbon scooted closer in her chair to be next to Kira, drawing strength from the Human's calm demeanor to chime in. "So! So! Kira, d-did you figure out about 【 Throw Rock 】, um, because you're a Geomancer? Like, an innate connection to earth? Or... I-I mean, that level of, of, of comprehension about magic, considering your age and, um, experience..."

Brigit threw the Kobold a warning glare, giving a brief shake of her head with such a scary look in her eyes that the Kobold's muzzle audibly snapped shut. Kira, however, looked thoughtful.

"Mm... No? 【 Throw Rock 】 was my only spell for... Well, it's still my only combat spell. I didn't try to cast it without my hands until I got 【 Scan 】 after I'd already mastered the spell and..." Upon remembering the first time she scanned her abilities, a lightbulb ticked on above Kira's head and she clapped her hands together. The content of so many detailed screens flashed across her mind, but one in particular stuck out: her 《 Relic 》 title! "Ah! I... Have a... Passive? That increases comprehension of spells. Could that be it...?"

Simon stared, open-mouthed, while Asim leaned over the arm of his chair and let out a long, low whistle. "How'd you get a treasure like that?!"

With her best and most serious pokerface, Kira focused on a point between Asim's eyebrows as she answered in a monotone: "Inheritance."

"Ah, bloodline ability. Gotcha."

Kira nodded along while pretending not to see Brigit wearing an expression clearly wishing the other two girls would stop scaring the scales off her. The Drakke hurriedly typed a message into their Team Chat window while Simon and Asim were looking at Kira. Her people couldn't sweat, but for the past few minutes she felt like ice cold moisture was gathering above her scaled flesh while her heart pounded against her ribs.

Brigit Please, both of you please stop almost telling them Kira's Human. Brigit It is supposed to be a secret and you will be in danger if other people find out without Ailsa to mediate! Sir Karl explained things to you as well, Kira! Brigit One wrong turn of phrase and-

"My mom used to say to hide a tree you use a forest," Kira said, flicking a glance at Brigit before turning a more innocent gaze toward Simon. "Everyone's used to seeing things a certain way, they don't look any further than the surface. People fill in the blanks on their own with what seems most logical rather than what may or may not be true."

Brigit froze, dropping her hands into her lap in the middle of typing out another protest. Judging by the Human's meaningful glance, her specifically vague phrasing was intended for both conversations simultaneously. She exhaled a shaky breath, forcing herself to release the tension in her shoulders.

Of the three girls who knew Kira's secret, the one who was most concerned about it being discovered would, of course, be Kira herself. The one who was actually in danger. But she seemed casual, relaxed... Ribbon was always nervous and shy around other people, so her fidgeting and stammering wasn't unusual in the least. Instead, the tightly wound Brigit was far more suspect!

Hide a tree using a forest, huh?

"Everyone's raised with the System in one way or another," Brigit pointed out, finally inserting herself into the other conversation. She put her hands in her lap, pressing the thumb of one hand firmly into the soft flesh of her other hand's palm, concentrating on the slight pain from her sharp claw rather than the anxieties churning in her belly. "We, as a society, rely on it as a tool gifted to us straight from the gods themselves. It never lies, so we never have need to question it."

"Ah! Even though we know it can hide information, like what's shown based on varying levels or qualities of 【 Scan 】!" Simon sat up straight, gripping the back of the chair so tightly his brown knuckles turned pure white. "It doesn't lie, but it omits! Gods, it makes so much sense now, all those mage-types in Arena battles, with their spells that seem so much more flashy and powerful than other people's... I thought they had higher quality spells or modified ones or something, but what if it's just..."

"An accident?" Asim snickered, propping his chin in his hand. "They probably just got really familiar with a couple of spells and tried to get creative with it, then thought they were special and amazing so they didn't share the information with anyone else!"

"Like they're patenting their spells!" Simon leaned back in the chair so violently it almost toppled over backwards, his legs kicking straight out and nearly smacking Kira in the knee. "Or copyrighting or whatever! When really anyone could do it if they just thought to try? How cheap!"

"T-that hasn't been confirmed yet, though, we might be jumping... To... Conclusions..." Ribbon said, her voice fading away as everyone turned to look at her speak. She shrank down in her chair, trying her best to do an excellent impression of a startled turtle.

"So we confirm it and prove that we are all so genius," Simon said, wagging a finger. He turned his gaze to Kira and Brigit, waggling his eyebrows mischievously. "Yo, Gold Scholarships. You got enough rich kid kickdown to buy some spell books and test it out? We'll write it down and everything for very official magic-based science-making. 'Cause if this is legit.. Our whole class can shoot up in ranks when the Trial rolls around!"

"We can teach those uppity fancypants Core and Elite students a lesson!" Asim shouted, jumping to his feet and clenching his fists in excitement. His flame-like hair seemed to crackle and burn with energy, filling the room with the smell of ash and heated charcoal.

Kira blinked, then turned to stare blankly at Brigit. Her eyes pleaded for help, the question plain as day in her bright blue eyes: 'Am I a rich kid now?'

Brigit sighed and nodded with great reluctance. "Yeah..." 'As long as Sir Karl is helping us, we are indeed rich kids.' "We have enough, if it's for a good reason. Assuming we grab low level spell books without Class requirements. We'd need at least two of us to learn any one spell for it to be a conclusive study."

"I thought you were a Squire?" Asim muttered. He shrunk away from the force of Brigit's resulting glare.

"I am."

"Lotta big words and fancy ideas for a Squire..."

"Ah, I see why you perform so poorly in lessons," Brigit said, turning up her nose away from the Demi-Djinn boy. The scowl on his face and the way he spat his words, like he loathed the very concept of higher INT in someone with a combat Class, sparked a nerve that set her sharp teeth on edge. "You traded your brain for your sword. A real Squire uses both."

"To be fair, that's an ailment that most guys suffer from." Simon pointed out, fluttering his eyelashes, his expression sweet and innocent.

"YOU-"

"Oh no darling not me, I said MOST guys. You're the one playing with his sword all day."

Asim summoned a weapon from his inventory, his entire body shaking with rage. Simon let out a delighted cackle and dashed for the door, intent on leading his friend on yet another daring chase across campus.

Kira, her hair very nearly ruffling from the metaphorical wind of jokes whiffing overhead, opened her mouth to ask for clarification, then shut it again when she saw both Ribbon and Brigit furiously shaking their heads.