Michael was currently not so sure about Melissa being the Second Specter. Her timing was spot on. The chain of causality certainly indicated this. And her replacing Erea out of the blue? These things didn’t just happen. But then again, the human mage didn’t try to approach Michael all that much. She helped Nahlil teach them the theory part of Spell aiming, while also using the last quarter of the class to exemplify this by using a few students.

Michael volunteered, willing to bait her out, but Melissa didn’t treat him any different than the other volunteers. The upside was that he improved a bit. The downside was that he still wasn’t sure about her. Not to mention that he still didn’t learn the |Bolt| Spell.

The week passed, and though he used Bob and Micah for reconnaissance, he learned nothing new. Which was to be expected, given who he was dealing with. Well, he did have one more source. He just wasn’t very enthusiastic about approaching it, given the… volatility involved. Still, who better to ask about Melissa, than the person she had replaced.

“She’s a fucking bitch!” Erea snapped.

Michael had asked the elf to meet him in an unused classroom, as well as to bring something to ward the room. The elf had walked in at the given time all smiles, warded the door against intrusion and eavesdropping, and turned to him expectantly. Belatedly, he figured out just what his request to Erea sounded like. Well, she wasn’t too mad about it. Not at him anyway.

“So, you don’t know her personally?” Michael asked.

“No. We don’t have much dealings with them. Except buying things from them or bartering artifacts.”

“Right. They being…”

“The Artificers. She’s one of them.”

“Oh. I heard of them. Golem makers, right?”

“Primarily, yes. But that’s just right now. They have all kinds of crafter mages in that faction. They focus on golems now, but I heard there were times when they focused on making all kinds of things.” She asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“She just showed up out of the blue.” Michael said, honestly. “And she’s not as good as you at battle magic. Nahlil visibly dislikes having her. I got suspicious.”

“Good.” She smiled, before frowning again. “I have no idea why her faction pushed so hard for her to take that assistant position. But I don’t think it’s to get into Nahlil’s good graces. The man almost tolerates me. Almost.”

“Can’t imagine why.” He said, before grinning when she mock-frowned.

“Yeah, yeah. But at least I’m a good fighter. She’s not.”

“Then why is she there?”

“Don’t know.” Erea simply said.

“Why do you think?” he insisted.

Sighing, she rolled her eyes.

“Maybe the artificers are trying to make a power move on the Martials. Display their influence. Some factions do that, I don’t know, I don’t follow the politics. Or, her faction or herself want her to gain an |Assistant| Class.”

“What? That’s a valid strategy? And why?”

“I mean, maybe? You hear about this mage or that mage getting the |Teaching Assistant| or |Tutor| Class. Like Brither or Amnea. I guess helping Nahlil might reward her with such a Class.”

“Yes, but why? I thought more Classes are a disadvantage.” Michael said.

And realized only Sinestra talked to him about that. Erea here… she was only a third year, but she could know things.

“Why is that, by the way?”

“Why is what?” she asked.

“Why is having more than one Class bad?”

“I never asked.” She sunnily said, but hurried to add more when she saw Michael’s expression. “I didn’t need to. We all know this. You take more Classes only if they’re really good. And, like, if there’s at least some chance that it can merge with your first Class.”

“Merge?”

“Yeah. Classes merge, if you’re high-Level. Or lucky.”

“Thank you, Erea. You’re a fountain of knowledge.”

“I do know when you make fun of me, pretty boy. And I can still kick your ass.”

“So, this Melissa.” He hurried on. “She’s doing this because she wants an |Assistant| Class? I guess some do, especially if she wants to teach here someday.”

“Maybe. Getting in front like that couldn’t have been easy for her. I mean, I’m visibly better than her at Battle Magic. And better looking.”

“I agree with the first part.” He said and had to dodge a Spell aimed at his head.

Still, maybe that was the reason for the sudden change. Maybe the girl really wasn’t out to get him.

Or it was just a cover.

Well, he’d find out one way or the other. He thanked Erea for the information and made for the door, when the elf spoke again.

“Hey, Michael?”

“Yes?”

“About what you said, you know I’m not good with patience, right?”

“Yeah. I kind of figured by now.” He laughed. “Why?”

“Just checking,” she said and pulled him in.

And that was how Michael had his first kiss in this new life. And second and third. And fourth. And… Well. It was a time before Michel left the room again. Erea stayed. She mentioned something about needing to vent off energy and Michael heard the sounds of spellfire as he closed the door.

He had to admit, for all the things continuing to get crammed on his plate, some things were going great.

And this continued to be so, until the Thursday of the week. It had been a decent day so far. ‘Applied Magical Workings’ had even managed not to be as boring as ever. Their assignment for the day being choosing a Spell and trying to cast it until the sound and light emanated were as dimmed as possible. Of course, you could use that time to try and learn a new Spell. Which Michael did. And managed to obtain the |Bolt| Spell by the end of class.

Sure, he had also practiced it most evenings for a few days, but practicing it in a mana enriched environment seemed to do the trick. To him the Spell felt like… a blank canvas. No, not blank. Just painted with a single color. It could still be called a painting, maybe even beautiful. But… raw. To the point.

Still, that was why the day had been decent. He was discussing his newly learned Spell with Micah and Bob when their ‘Bound Magic Primer’ teacher walked in.

“Class. Good day to you.” She said.

Their teacher was a dwarven woman, old and bearded. Which was something so normal it was considered rude to stare or ask about. Michael didn’t only because he saw someone else be chastised about it, the first day he met his teacher.

Her name was Roda and she was still young for her age. Though her hair was more white than red, she moved with purpose and her hands never flinched. From what he heard Quora and Mihli say, Roda was an expert in multiple fields of bound magic. Inscribing and enchanting. Runes and crystals. Paper and metal. Quora spoke about her like a dwarven icon, while Mihli seemed professionally starstruck. The old dwarf was also somewhat rigorous in her teaching. Inflexible.

Which made it even more of a surprise to see she had brought someone with her to class. Someone familiar.

“Class. This is Melissa. She has been my pupil and is a member of the Artificer faction. Don’t gasp, girl, it is no secret. Today you will attempt to learn how to cast magic into an inscription. If any of you manage, she will select you for a private class-only tutoring session. If you have the talent, you may even be selected for her faction. That is, if you lack one.”

So saying, the old woman clapped her palms and a sheet of paper appeared on all their desks. A rune was already inscribed. What they had to do was to lay their hands or wands over it and try to cast their magic inside the rune.

“Professor.” Bob asked. “Should we not know what the rune does?”

“No. Knowing makes it easier. This is not meant to be easy. But I assure you, it is harmless. Begin!”

Melissa looked somewhat embarrassed by her former mentor’s brash behavior, but didn’t comment.

I wonder… what if I fail this deliberately. I might be paranoid, but…

I’m not really that interested in this type of magic anyway.

So he drew out his wand and placed it over the rune. It looked like a squiggly ‘W’. He then proceeded to ‘concentrate’. Which was to continuously multiply a number by two. He got as far as eight thousand, one hundred and ninety-two when he saw something happen. His rune flared up and the paper it was drawn on dampened, as if it had been submerged underwater for a quick moment.

“Congratulations.” Melissa said. “You are the first to activate your rune. May I know your name?”

“Michael.” He smiled, though internally warning bells were going off. “My name is Michael.”

“Oh, yes, the one from Professor Gerald’s Class. Well, well done!” she beamed at him.

Still smiling he met Micah’s gaze and blinked twice. That was their code for when something was wrong. And given that he had already intimated with them what his suspicions were, the lycan only smiled and nodded.

Good. At least I know that if I come back brainwashed, they’ll take care of it.

“Michael.” Roda said. “You and Melissa will occupy that corner of the room. She will attempt to teach you for the remainder of the hour.”

She then started to prepare her normal teaching materials, without so much as a blink of the eye.

Is she in on this? It didn’t look like it, but Melissa is her former pupil. If that’s even her name.

Still, Michael made his way to a corner of the room, in sight of everyone, but at a distance, where Melissa was sitting on a chair, at a table opposite his.

“Once again, congratulations. It’s not easy to activate a rune this early in your first year. How did it feel?”

“Thanks.” Michael smiled, sitting down. “It felt like, uh, like I was trying to pour my magic into it, it resisting me, when it suddenly activated. I guess I finally managed to crack it.”

“That’s the description a lot of people use. Crack. I prefer flow, but each feels magic differently.” She smiled.

She was pretty. And leaning towards him, playing with her hair. Would he have been a few years younger, he would have bought into it. But he listened to enough psychology podcasts. Whoever she was, she was attempting to play him.

“I’ve seen you in Nahlil’s Class too. Battle Magic and runes? Is that something artificers are known for?”

“Uhm, no,” she said, slightly on the back foot. “Not at all. But my main focus are golems, like most of my faction right now. I used to specialize in… other types of golems, but right now I’m focused on battle ones. And to make battle golems, one has to have some knowledge of battle. I do. But I thought helping Nahlil teach could only hone my edge. Don’t you agree?”

Again with the pearly whites. Michael knew Erea’s unnatural pull and this was second to that, but not a distant second. He could bet magic was involved.

“Makes sense to me. So, what are you teaching me?”

“Oh, just you wait.” She grinned.

Her lesson turned out to be interesting, even though he clearly didn’t have enough talent for runes to merit a private tutoring session. She was a much friendlier teacher than Roda, too. She tried to teach Michael how to draw runes and how to empower them. He handled the first part adeptly enough, but during the latter half of the lesson he became aware of his lack of talent. He just couldn’t manage to insert his magic into the sigils.

Oh, they activated alright and Melissa congratulated him. But he could tell it wasn’t his doing.

All the while, the girl would ask roundabout questions about his life, about his history, his parents and his place of origin. All under the guise of appearing friendly. It made sense too. To an outside observer, she was just being the friendly, kind of hot teacher. Michael however had probably aged a year desperately trying to evade her questions without arousing suspicion while also focusing on the lesson.

By the end of it, he thought he did a good enough job. Of course, that only meant Melissa hadn’t claimed her prize.

“I have to be honest, Michael, you did very well. You still need to get a feel for magic, but your runes activated.” She said, smiling.

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”

Not.

“Now, normally I’d recruit you for our faction. But someone else got you first. Imagine my heartbreak hearing that.” She mock-pouted.

Yup, definitely flirting.

“So, what I can do,” she said, “is to offer you a continuation of the tutoring. You’ll be my pupil. And, if I may say so myself, I’m an excellent Artificer. Just ask Roda. Does that sound alright with you?”

Michael thought fast. He could say no. It wouldn’t even arouse more suspicion. But then, she wouldn’t give up. She would just find another way to search him out. Maybe drug him or mind-attack him. Or she’d just get permission to use one of those oracular Spells.

But. If he agreed to this… she’d be trying to play him, without knowing that he knew she was trying to play him. Which would mean he was playing her.

He could create a façade of innocence, one even she would believe, since she would be the one to ‘discover’ it and he would maybe find out more information about her faction. A net win. When you put it like that…

“Oh, definitely.” He smiled.

“Wonderful. Then… hmm, how about every Saturday afternoon? I’m free then. Are you free to join me too?”

I’ll be spending every Saturday, the entire day, in the company of other women…

…Erea’s going to kill me.

“Sure!”