The next month passes by in a blur. My speed of progress went by “alarming quick” according to Mal. By the second week, she should have stopped being surprised at my ability to learn, but nooo, she keeps gaping her mouth at me every time I learn a new skill. It’s really not that hard you know? You only need to have a firm understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe, physics, chemistry, and also have a little imagination. Really not that hard. And I suppose having the affinities didn’t hurt.

The most memorable magic types I learned were void, astral, and blood magic. [Void Magic] really surprised me with how easy it was, but considering the deep connections that boundaries and voids have, I’m not too surprised. [Void Magic] is basically deleting things from existence. It’s an incredibly rare affinity and has a fundamental ability that can become one of the deadliest weapons. Using [Void Magic] reminds me of when I completely erase the boundaries of two things. It has a power that can almost warp reality itself, but of course there are limitations. It can’t do anything silly like erase a concept after all.

[Astral Magic] was also another pleasant surprise. Calling on the powers of astronomical and celestial bodies like stars and planets was really amazing. Of course, I wasn’t actually bringing down comets or anything stupid like that. That could create a mass extinction event and I doubt someone was dumb enough to create magic that can literally call down a star or meteor. Instead, the ability allows me to create my own little ball of fire called a star or any other astronomical object. There’s a certain energy that celestial bodies contain that can be used to make fantastic replicas of the bodies we see in the skies. This is the most fantastical type of magic I’ve seen yet. It’s completely out of the realm that physics can currently achieve so it took me longer to figure out how to use it. I’m also definitely not an astrophysicist so that helped with my suspension of disbelief.

[Blood Magic] was the most useful and terrifying magic I could have learned. It also made me understand why ice and water are two different magic types. Each magic type has a restriction to their particular domains. [Water Magic] can’t create ice and [Ice Magic] can’t go back to water. It’s because one’s a solid while the other is a liquid. The type of mana that comes out of my body also influences that. One important rule of magic is that people can’t change mana that has already been formed into a particular type outside of their body. It has to be mixed outside of them. So the use of [Blood Magic] is an aberration to the rules since it manipulates something that isn’t created from my body. It has the interesting perk of being able to manipulate the mana in blood from other people. Of course, the blood has to be outside of them, but once someone reaches lv10, that includes the ability to manipulate blood from inside, too. This makes it possible to control someone’s body and that’s why that particular ability is locked behind the highest level. I look forward to reaching that level.

I was also able to gain lv1 in each of the magic types that Mal listed besides [Necromancy]. It was a much more tedious process than I imagined. Once we got past the elemental magic types, Mal had to teach from a book instead of personal experience. The book explanations were vague at best, so I had to puzzle them out myself. This completely cut any time I could spend lazing around. I also haven’t even finished getting information about anything else in this world but magic.

With that said, my skills section has filled out nicely, to a point where it’s become tedious to read through them all. I even gained the title [Fast Learner]. I’m not sure exactly what it does, but it probably will speed up my learning ability even more.

Skills: [Border Magic lvMAX] [Boundary Manipulation lvMAX] [Martial Arts lv10] [Evasion lv10] [Engineering lv10] [Leadership lv10] [Persuasion lv10] [Intimidation lv10] [Deception lv10] [Detect Magic lv10] [Detect Spiritual Energy lv10] [Detect Demonic Energy lv10] [Detect Divine Energy lv10] [Flute lv10] [Cooking lv2] [Water Magic lv1] [Ice Magic lv1] [Fire Magic lv1] [Wind Magic lv1] [Earth Magic lv1] [Lightning Magic lv1] [Life Magic lv1] [Death Magic lv1] [Chaos Magic lv1] [Order Magic lv1] [Void Magic lv1] [Space Magic lv1] [Time Magic lv1] [Astral Magic lv1] [Light Magic lv1] [Dark Magic lv1] [Illusion Magic lv1] [Purification Magic lv1] [Blood Magic lv1]

Something I found hilarious was my ability to use [Purification Magic]. Ironic that I can even learn it considering I’m a Japanese demon. Youkai are hurt most by [Purification Magic] and yet here I am, able to use it myself. It’s supposed to be able to purify negative emotions and energy, and since youkai are literal embodiments of negative energy, purification attacks our very essences. I will probably use this skill sparingly, I understand the pain that purification brings, and I’d rather not make anyone else experience it. Anything else is fair game though, so the enemies in my future, prepare yourselves.

This entire month was filled with training and I barely saw anyone else besides Mal and my maid. I still don’t know what her name is. This new system of magic has me so enamored that I didn’t flirt even once since “sticking my head in the books,” so to speak. Since I’m finished with learning all of the magic that I can, it’s time for me to go find the king. Mal is great and all, but it’s time to finally get some melee training. I have absolutely no clue how to even hold a sword. It’s ironic since I lived through the era of the samurai and was never tempted to even try my hand at kenjutsu. That was a missed opportunity, but really, why would I need to use a weapon when my fists are enough?

King Fred left me alone for the most part since my training began with Mal, so this is the first time seeing him in a month. I don’t think I’ve seen a trace of Ali or John either. My hyper-fixation makes it impossible to notice when I’m neglecting anything else I should be doing. I practically skipped dinner every other day since magic training began.

Once my maid showed me to the king’s office, I knock and enter alone. His study is as I imagined. A huge portrait of him hangs behind his plush chair. He also has a large library to the right. The few covers I glance over seem to be political theory and history books. His desk has piles of official looking documents and he’s hunched over signing papers with a… ballpoint pen? It looks like a pen… but I can sense magic from it. Don’t tell me… it’s a pen with never-ending ink? How the hell did they engineer that? As the gears turn in my head, I completely forget why I’m here in the first place. Hm… I think I hear someone calling my name?

“LADY MISAKI!”

I shake myself from my stupor. Ah, that’s right, I’m here to ask King Fred something.

“Why were you staring so intently at my hand? Did I get ink there or something?”

His face was crinkled as he tried to understand my actions.

“No, I was just curious about your pen. What does it do exactly?”

“Oh this?” he says as he holds it up. “This is something the mages at the Arcane Academy came up with. It’s a pen that produces an unending amount of ink through magic. I simply pour my mana into the pen and out comes ink.”

I’m completely flabbergasted. How in the world…? This Arcane Academy is somewhere I must visit in the near future. Any place that can engineer something so simple yet so ingenious deserves my attention. I won’t need the king’s pen then, I will just visit the creators themselves and pick their brains for their methods. Remembering why I came here again, I present my request.

“I see. As interesting as that is, I’d like to request something of you. My magic training with Mal is finished and I want to move on to phase two of my training.”

“Phase two…?”

“I want to create unlock a unique class by mixing magic with melee skills. I need to have Shady as my new instructor then.”

“I don’t recall knowing anyone named Shady,” he says even more confused.

“Oh, I meant your Shadow. I want him to teach me how to fight.”

“Are you certain you want to already abandon your training with Malory? It’s best to stick to one path and master that instead of trying too many at once.”

“You don’t need to worry. I know what I’m doing,” I say with firmness in my voice.

The king stares at me, trying to gauge how serious I was. After a moment, he comes to a conclusion.

“…Alright. I’ll arrange for Shadow to become your instructor. Meet him tomorrow in the training grounds after breakfast. I’m assuming Malory is no longer needed?”

“You can have her back, she’s taught me all I needed to know. You should give her some praise, I couldn’t slack off at all with her even if I wanted to,” I say with a grin.

He guffaws and says that he’ll do that. With that done, I say thanks and head out to kill some time before I return to more training tomorrow.

I should probably tell Mal I’m not going to be learning from her anymore and then I might go find Ali and see how she’s holding up. I tell my maid to take me to where Mal is and she leads me down the hallway until I reach a familiar set of doors. I give her a smile that makes her blush before entering the room. Mal is skimming through a book when I enter. She looks up and asks if I was ready for my advanced lessons. Yeahhhh, no.

“Sorry Mal, I’m finished learning magic for now. I’m going to be learning how to fight with Shady,” I say as apologetically as I could muster.

“…what? Weren’t you the one that said I was the best instructor for you in the beginning? Now you want to just end this?”

Her voice becomes a bit shrill at the end. …It feels like she’s talking about something else entirely. Is she trying to suggest something?

“I’m really sorry but that unique class I want needs me to learn how to fight with physical weapons, too. I can’t learn that from you.”

“Of course, but you don’t need to end your lessons with me! We can still have our lessons while you go training with whoever this ‘Shady’ character is!”

Why is she so adamant about our lessons? Don’t tell me… did she fall for me? I’m probably coming to the wrong conclusions. I really need her to understand that I don’t need her lessons anymore though.

“As great as our lessons have been, I don’t need them anymore. I can figure out how to further advance my magic by myself. Even if I needed help, I can’t focus on that. I need to put all of my concentration into physical training and having you as a co-instructor isn’t going to help,” I say firmly.

Her voice gets a bit shaky as she says her next words, “…Don’t you enjoy our time together? You’ve been one of the greatest students I’ve ever had, and I don’t want our time together to end.” Her eyes are becoming moist with steadily growing tears. “…You’ve grown on me. I don’t want out time together to end…”

My entire body freezes as I realize what’s happening. This sounds like a love confession… I didn’t even do anything to warrant this… Also what the hell?! She looks like a 40-year-old woman, yet she can act this cute?! Is this what it’s like to be seduced by a cougar?! My defenses are slowly crumbling. I want to **** her. But I really don’t think this is the time to be thinking that. She’s literally about to cry. It would be extremely insensitive, and I have pride in not being a douchebag. I will have to say pass to this flag. I’m sorry Mal, but I’m not the one for you. I hope you can forgive me for rejecting your feelings. I internally take a breath before proceeding to let her down as gently as I can.

“Mal…” I say as I tuck a hair behind her ear, “I really enjoyed my time with you, too. I loved being your student, but I can’t stay. There’s so much about this world that I don’t know about, and I need all the tools I can get to make sure I can learn as much as I can. My heart is that of an adventurer, even if I stayed, I would have had to eventually leave. I want you to know that I’ll hold these memories of our lessons in my heart as I venture out. So here’s my goodbye for now.”

I give her a soft kiss on her cheek before leaving the study. I grimace when I hear quiet sobs. Ok, maybe I got a little too dramatic back there. I hope she gets over me soon enough. I hate making girls cry. The only cries I want to cause are cries of pleasure, so this is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. My maid seems to not know what’s going on. I’m grateful humans have bad hearing or else this would have been a pain to try to explain. I quickly tell my maid that I want to see Ali next. She nods and starts leading me away from Mal’s study. I’m glad King Fred let the maids know where we all are. It would’ve been a pain to try and find her otherwise.

She leads me down the hallway and up a flight of stairs until we reach one of the towers that protrudes from the castle. It’s interesting how the castle’s exterior and foundation is similar to Gothic architecture while the interior is more reminiscent of ancient Roman architecture. There are four towers in total in the four corners of the castle. Mal’s study isn’t her actual room, but rather a specific study for teaching new apprentices. Her actual study and room is in the western tower. The tower we arrive at is the northern tower. I’m assuming it’s where the [Grand Cleric] lives in and where we will find Ali. The double doors that we reach have their own design. An angel using magic on a fallen human. Very subtle [Grand Cleric]. I wonder what that could mean? Sarcasm aside, it’s a beautiful piece of art.

I knock on the door and I wait for an answer for once. I hear a gruff voice that tells me to come in before long. As I enter the room, my eyes are immediately drawn to the tall man in the center of the room. He’s even taller than Mel! He’s dressed in what I can only call a bastardization of a cleric’s robes. It’s the same style and everything except the sleeves are torn at the shoulder and he has a breastplate over his chest. He’s wearing bandages around his hands and there’s scars littered all over him. Hey King Fred, I think you got Ali the wrong teacher. This guy looks more like a fist fighter than a healer. Does he heal people by beating them up? Isn’t that counter-intuitive?

As I try to rein in my shock, I glance over and see Ali sweating and on her back. She looks like she ran through a marathon. She’s also put on more muscle since I last saw her. Did she change her mind and decide to become a warrior class instead or something? When our eyes make contact, hers lights up in joy. I give her a smile that she returns with one of her own. The brawler dude looks at me appraisingly, almost like he’s sizing me up before he nods.

“So what are you doing here? Don’t you have some training to do?”

Damn this guy is blunt. At least say hi or introduce yourself before getting straight to the point. I can’t help but admire him for it though. Honest people are my favorite, they’re so easy to trick after all.

“I finished the first part of my training. I came here to check up on Ali, see how she’s doing so far.”

“Great. You’ve seen her so you can leave now.”

Oi, being blunt is one thing, but you’re being super rude right now. You’re making me want to punch you in the face, asshole. I give him a tight smile.

“I haven’t even talked to her yet. Besides that, you’re the [Grand Cleric] right? You certainly don’t carry yourself like one.”

“Hah, what does some dainty mage know about me? I’m a [Grand Battle Cleric], I get in way more fights than even a [Knight] does. [Battle Cleric]s are trained in offense, defense, and healing. We know our way around the battlefield since no one knows how to protect their healers.”

“Ah… I can understand that. So I’m assuming Ali is also learning to become a [Battle Cleric]?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself? Might as well take a break since you’re not leaving like I told you to.”

He goes off to lounge in a chair as he waits for me and Ali to talk. I can feel my eye muscles twitching. This guy is pissing me off, but I’m here for more important things. I sit down next to Ali who’s recovered from whatever state she was in.

“Um, I can’t really move my body right now, so we’ll have to just stay like this.”

I chuckle at that shrug saying sure. I quickly check to see what her stats are after all this time and I’m keenly impressed at what I’m seeing.

Name: Alicia Gonzalez

Race: Human

Lvl: 27

HP: 1,560

MP: 2,050

SP: 1,200

STR: 85

DEX: 55

CON: 90

INT: 50

WIS: 35

WILL: 60

Classes: [Battle Cleric]

“So how’s your training going? You doing alright?” I ask with some concern showing in my voice. She’s my favorite human right now besides Mal, so it’s natural I’ll care about her well-being.

She giggles before glancing down at her body. “Well, I think you can see how I’m doing right now. My training is going really well though! I’m learning a lot about how to fight and heal. I even know how to cast magic to make myself tougher! Eric is also a really nice guy when you get to know him. I haven’t seen you in a while though, how is your training going?”

“Well, I already finished my magic training, now I just need to start my physical training. I’m trying to unlock a special class, so I need to be adept at more than one field you know?”

“Wow… You’re already finished with magic training? That’s so cool! I always thought you seemed like a really smart person!”

“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself. I just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing, but I’m going to have to go now. Your teacher looks really impatient to continue your training, so I’ll take my leave before things can get out of hand.”

I give her a pat on her head and ruffle her hair a bit. Eric was fidgeting in his seat waiting for me to leave, but before that, I want some proper introductions. I walk over to him and tell him he can get back to teaching, but I stop him before he actually goes back over to Ali.

“Before I go, I’m Misaki Miyamoto,” I say with an outstretched hand.

He eyes it for a moment before taking it.

“Eric Lance,” he says as he gives me a firm grip.

With that, we give each other a mutual nod. When I leave the tower and head back to my room, I can’t help but think that that guy is going to be trouble in the future. Until then, I’ll leave Ali in his care. She’ll learn a lot from him, and she might even become strong enough one day to defeat that [Demon King] the humans have so much trouble with. If John is having anywhere near the same progress as Ali, he’ll also be fine in the future. I might even decide to join them again when the time comes. I do want to meet this world’s [Demon King] after all. I wonder if he’s strong enough to defeat not one, but two [Hero]-titled people. When the time comes, I want front row seats to that fight.