“I’ll be staying in the dorms today,” Nel informs us as we ready for the day, “I need to find the dorm manager and be accepted as an assistant in the dorms.”

“I keep forgetting you’re not a student.” I say, withholding a yawn.

“I’ll be sure to stay with you all,” she replies. “Work here would make that much simpler.”

“I can make a mess of the dorms if you need. That’ll convince the dorm head that she needs your help.” I offer.

“So, you’re going to clean our bedroom and stuff?” Vii asks, “I’ll clean up then…” She says, fumbling with the sheets and blankets.

“Yes, I’ll likely be taking care of the rooms of those who are consenting. Cleaning isn’t much of a bother for me so don’t mind it, just don’t go out of your way to make a mess for me, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I reply, as Vii slowly gives up on her mess of a bed.

“I’ll stay behind.” Eshya says, lazily brushing her hair from her face just to hold her palm to her forehead. That’s all of her that’s visible as she’s curled-up under her blanket.

“Are you feeling okay?” I ask her, trying and failing to see any signs of ill health.

“I’m not great, but I just need rest.” She says, from the resignation in her voice, it doesn’t sound like the first time she’s dealt with this. “Honestly, I’ll be fine after a day’s rest.”

“You’ve more than earned it.” I say, walking up to her and giving her a big hug, but she’s weak in returning it.

“This isn’t anything we need to be worried about?” I ask quietly, running my fingers through her silken hair.

“It’s just my head.” She says, though I feel no real inflection to her voice. “Sometimes I wake up and just feel… empty, like all my emotions have dried up. It’ll pass, it always passes in a day or two.”

“Okay, if you need anything…”

“I should be here all day.” Nel says, directing a worried look towards our elf.

“We’ll be back later, then.” I say, waving them goodbye.

“Take care.” Nel says, waving back.

“Yeah… that…” Eshya barely says, before pulling her blankets over her head.

We head out, sharing worried looks with Nel. If I can trust anyone with this, it would be her.

Adler is waiting for us outside of the door to our room and has been since early this morning. I suppose she was making sure not to miss us this morning. She sure takes her responsibilities seriously.

“If you don’t mind the intrusion, I can just wake you up if we ever decide to leave early again.” I offer her, hoping to earn some favour from her. I have no intents of making this promise and leaving her behind, that would be counterproductive.

“You’d do that for me?” Adler says, supressing a yawn.

“Sure, it means we won’t have you awkwardly hanging out in front of our door all morning. It was quite the surprise when I ran to the toilet to find you out there waiting for me.”

“Sorry, it’s just…”

“Your job?” I say, “I know. Just trust us this much. We won’t leave you behind again.”

“Okay,” She accepts, cheerily.

“She was actually asleep in the hall for a bit there.” Vii decides to add, “I was the first up, and she was passed out against the wall.”

“I was?” Adler doesn’t even seem sure herself.

“You were. You were.” Vii says happily, “I ran right past but you didn’t even wake up.”

Adler blushes after being told as much. Together we head up to the baths to use the cleansing stones. It’s as awful an experience as ever, but the feeling of cleanliness that follows is nice enough to almost make up for it.

“Is it alright leaving Eshya like that?” Vii asks, “Shouldn’t we, like, do something? Maybe bring her some presents and try to cheer her up, or something?”

I don’t reply right away, the building elevator moving us quickly down to the ground floor. Eshya’s hollow voice echoes in my mind.

“I don’t know.” I say, “I think… I think we shouldn’t do anything special.”

“But…” Vii looks worried, and I understand her worries intimately well.

“How about we give her some space for now, and prepare something for her for when she’s feeling better. She’ll probably enjoy it a lot more then, too.”

“Maybe…”

“If she’s still like this by tomorrow, we’ll do something to try and help her feel better.” I say, “But I know there are times when interfering will only make someone feel worse.”

I’m saying all of this, but I want to run back up into that room and get her smiling again. That dry, emotionless tone to her voice… it made me a little frightened if I’m being honest.

We get a light breakfast from the café downstairs and head out towards the first class on my list for today’s visits.

The mana form classroom is something stuck between a break room and a meditation space. The countless cushions, lounges, and beds severely outnumber the couple of desks, and those seated are all quietly focused on the insides of their eyelids.

The teacher is floating around the students giving advice here and there, but she quickly approaches us as we come into the classroom. Her ageless, ethereal form stepping light as a feather as the edges of her body separate from her and curl up as if a fading mist.

“Oh, another of the humans, I suppose you are troubled the same as the others? I don’t remember you from the rehabilitations though…” She says, looking up thoughtfully.

“Rehabilitations?” I ask.

“Oh, yes. They were suffering quite badly from the shock of experiencing powerful spells. The exposure to high pressure mana has been bad enough, but the spells to travel between realms was quite painful I’ve been told.”

“Oh, that. Well, we’re not here for that. I’ve a lot of questions about how everything works here and was hoping we could learn a thing or two about quickly developing strong mana forms.”

I had pestered the others for more knowledge, but it’s been like trying to learn swimming from a fish. They describe everything as if it’s meant to be instinct. Unfortunately, it’s an instinct that I lack.

“Oh, yes. I’ve been thinking on this topic very much after hearing about the troubles of you humans. You will have to excuse my poor teaching but I’m still learning about low mana life.” She waves to an assistant, “If you could take care of these girls, I’ll be a little while with this one.”

The assistant pulls aside Vii and Alder while the ethereal teacher deals with me.

“Now, what’s your name?”

“Kyra.”

“Hello Kyra, I’m Persephone. Now, I hope your troubles haven’t made it difficult for you to enjoy how pleasant this academy can be.”

“Well, the shopping is nice at least.” I say, looking down at my new dress and trying to ignore the pins and needles it inspires across my skin. It still feels a little strange to be wearing something so formal, but for some reason I also feel safer in it, as if I were wearing armour.

She continues the small talk as she leads me to a side room, where she has me sit on a soft cushion.

“To start the general explanation, mana is an energy that permeates all things.” She says, pausing a moment to see that I’m listening, “It reacts with the world in a number of ways, but the most important is as a force of creation. Mana turns into energy and matter, this happens both naturally, as in the formation of planets and stars, and artificially through spells and magic.”

“I’ve already learned that much.”

“Okay, moving on. Mana permeates all, but it does not do so equally, are you aware of what a spell is?”

“Using mana to create a desired effect. Like creating heat, or light, or whatever,” I say.

“You’re not wrong, but it would be more accurate to say that it is expelling high pressure mana which has been imbued with the casters intentions. You see, if the mana pressure within you is not high enough, you can’t easily expel mana, and you can’t cast spells. There are many other effects too, such as your body being more vulnerable to trauma and aging.”

“Immortality is something of a goal of mine.” Can’t build an interstellar empire in a single human lifetime.

“You will age more slowly, but it is not immortality. Some may eventually ‘ascend’ completely into a conscious mana form, leaving their body behind, but occurrences are rare, and obsession over it isn’t healthy. It’s best you focus on what you can do today.”

“And what is that?”

“Developing your mana form. You see, while you’ll want to expel mana as spells or in other magics occasionally, for the most part you should focus on building up the mana within you, and the paths it cycles through in your body.

“Your mana form is the way mana circulates through your body, it will strengthen different organs within you, or just remain unattached, and more easily cast into magic spells.”

“Oh,” I interrupt her in my excitement, “That’s what the mana distribution thing is about. My ‘mana skin’ Skill is helping me to strengthen my skin with mana. So, I need to focus on how the mana flows through me to have it strengthen the rest of my body too?”

“That is advisable.” She says with a smile, “I hadn’t thought that you would have learned so much already. The next step for those at your level should be to develop mana forms that allow for smooth flow through all of your organs.

“So being able to control your mana form such that you can press it mostly into your skin, or your blood, or your mind. Everyone has different categories in that fancy device, but being able to focus it into your skin, your muscles and bones, and your mind, at above 90% is very important for a well-rounded and controlled mana form.”

“That’s… more than I was expecting.” I thought I’d only need to reach a sum of 100% between them all, but she’s suggesting I should be able to bounce that 100% between categories at will as well, which does make sense.

“It takes time, focus, and dedication, but it will be important for you as you grow older. It is your mana form that allows for your physical form to stay healthy, if your mana form is lacking, your physical form can grow sick more easily.”

“Okay, got it. So, how do I do this?”

“That’s the simplest and most challenging aspect of all this. You have to feel it out. You must wonder around in the metaphorical darkness to try and expand your own mana form, but if you’ve developed the ‘mana skin’ Skill then I’m sure you understand how to fumble your way to success.”

“Ah… I was hoping that there’d be a better way.”

“The most important lessons in life are best learned honestly, not with shortcuts,” she says. “Though I would suggest that you focus upon your mental mana form first, as many classes require the mana sense that you will develop with it.”

“Mana sense?”

“The ability to better sense mana around you, and potentially other things too, but that’s too advanced for you for now. Just focus on building your mental mana form.”

Nodding begrudgingly, I move the mana through me in new and more concentrated paths, feeling out where it works, and where it’s at threat of leaking. My head feels a little warm, and I feel a little dizzy as I try to stabilise the mana flow through my brain.

“I’ve got a bit of a strange question.” I say, letting myself feel out the mana flow in the back of my mind, quite literally.

“Feel free to ask me anything.”

“Suppose there’s a person without any mana in them, and they fall from a great height through air that is filled with mana. Would the difference in mana pressure slow them?” I’ve been too busy to think about that fun freefall in a while, but going back over the fundamentals of mana and mana pressure, it got me thinking.

“I suppose that the air would act thick. At speeds found in a freefall it would slow them considerably I would think. It is well known that high density mana can allow a person to move through air with less resistance, so the opposite should similarly be true. Though this difference is usually only noticed when at speed.

“Where did that question come from?”

“An unpleasant experience I had. I was just wondering how it worked.” I reply, but she doesn’t ask anything further.

After, I immerse myself in a long session of exploring my arcane body, I’m just missing the crystals and incense. Though, to be fair, there is a crystal, but I’m not sure sucking on it like a hard candy really helps with the spirituality of the moment.

The mana prickles nicely, though.

I found that the one I sucked clean of mana refilled slightly over night. It must be absorbing the atmospheric mana much more effectively than I’m able to at the moment.

It’s not as good as my old exploit, but small blessings. It tastes better than raw spider flesh.

“How was that for you?” I ask Vii and Adler who have returned to my side now that we’re finished.

“It wasn’t anything much…” Vii admits with an awkward laugh, “I think I’m better off developing my own forms. I’ve already studied ahead so I know what I’m working towards up to the late crystalised mana forms.”

“That’s pretty far ahead, isn’t it?” I ask.

“Yep, getting past mana crystallisation makes you one of the real powerhouses of all creation.” Vii says, “So I think I’m going to be fine. How was it for you?”

“I learned a few things,” I say, “Mana really is something strange. I still don’t quite get how I’m moving it around inside me either.”

“Ah, the age-old question.”

“Your soul.” Adler says.

“The age-old answer to the age-old question.” Vii says with a chirping laugh.

“Your soul is what allows you to move and influence mana.” Adler says, “So please take good care of your soul. It’s a big reason killing things is bad for you.”

“It hurts my soul?” I ask, trying to keep my utter disbelief from my tone of voice.

“Yes, many things can harm your soul. Reduce it to something like that of a wild beast. Rebuilding it is more difficult than damaging it further.”

“Is that a common religion?” I ask.

“It’s common knowledge.”

“What do you think about the soul, Vii?” I ask, as we walk to another class that I’m interested in checking out.

“The soul?” Vii shakes her head, “I think it’s silly to think about it.”

“You don’t believe in it?”

“I don’t believe I can ever understand it. I can spend years thinking about my soul, but there’s nothing to poke or prod, and nothing to see, either. It’s pointless. We’re all better off thinking about things that we can do something about.”

“It is a sign of heightened civilisation to think about the abstract of the soul.” Adler says, but Vii and I have nothing much more to say to her in return.

Of the classes that I’ve had marked down for inspection. The next up is alchemy.

I don’t know what to expect from the class, so I keep my mind open as I step through the door. Vii hovers by my side, and Adler watches from behind. An uncomfortable place to have the backstabbing cultist.

“You’re interested in potions too?” I ask Vii.

“Yeah, I’m interested in how the teaching is for this class.”

“You already have some training in this?”

She nods happily as we enter the classroom. Inside is an assortment of chemistry equipment that is nearly familiar. There are countless bits and pieces that I don’t recognise among the jars and flasks that I do.

Other students are already gathered and listening to the short young man’s teaching. His brown ears flick about, and his cat like tail sways back and forth energetically as he smiles into the flask swirling with colourful liquids.

Is it racist that I can’t help but imagine him knocking the glass equipment from the tables just like a cat would?

“So, what will the result be?” He asks the gathered students.

“A healing potion,” says an elf.

“A good answer, but not correct. Anyone else?” The teacher’s eyes move across the classroom, “No one?

“Then I’ll explain. This potion would have become a healing tincture for mammals,” The word twists in my mind, suggesting that it isn’t quite a perfect fit, “If the leaves weren’t so water attuned, and the fish scales attuned more to earthen mana. Instead, this liquid is a fire blood potion, able to warm the body temperature of the drinker with little harmful affect. Of course, there will still be the usual chance of side effects.”

The students nod, some taking notes, the teacher pours the mixture into a small bottle before waving me and Vii to join the circle of students standing about his desk, ignoring the student desks.

“That’s what you need to understand most properly about alchemy, not just potion making but all aspects of it. The ingredients have countless qualities, arcane and mundane, that you must come to anticipate. Certain interactions can even prove dangerous so it is critically important that you are able to quickly dispose of dangerous mixtures before they can harm you.”

“Can’t we record reactions, learn them that way rather than ‘anticipating’ them?” Suggests an arachne, damn Chip feeding me species names. A half spider, half girl, though I suppose there’d probably be boys too.

“A fool’s errand,” The teacher says before smiling, “That’s what most alchemists call it. A record of reactions like you propose is a myth of legends in most cultures, many attempts have been made, but whatever success is found is always marginal at best. There are too many different ingredients out there, with too many qualities, and mana attunements.”

“A challenging task, then.” Her eager smile tells that she’s just found a goal to work towards.

It might be easy enough if we get her a few computers and teach her how to make databases and other computer tech thingies. Perhaps my next class should be in the computer sciences myself…

“To put it lightly.” The teacher shakes his head, but his smile doesn’t leave, “In any case, developing your instincts for mana blending and ingredient mixing is largely dependent upon mana sense.

“It’s all about sensing the mana’s flow in the ingredients, adding your own, and blending it all together. Ensuring all the mana integrates properly.”

As he goes on, I lose any interest I had in alchemy for today. Or perhaps more importantly, I lose any understanding of what the teacher is trying to say. Mana sense, it was what the Persephone, the mana form teacher, was talking about.

“Vii, can I ask a question?” I say quietly, seeing that she’s not particularly invested in the class either.

“Go ahead, what is it?” She replies a little quickly, her eyes shining brightly, as her wings shift about slightly nervously. I think of how her voice was last night, how her feathers touched everywhere, and…

No. No, not right now.

“What exactly is mana sense?”

“It’s the ability to sense mana.” She replies slowly, “Ah, give me a second to think about it.” She shifts, looking about the classroom while mumbling quietly.

“All conscious beings are known to be able to sense mana, just like every other sense it is difficult to describe, and it is limited by your own mana form development, so yours is likely very weak. Perhaps not even skin deep… So, you may only be able to sense the mana inside you. It relies heavily on the mana flow in your brain in particular.”

Nothing much more than I got from Persephone.

“So, without mana sense all this is useless?”

“Probably,” Vii admits with a little bit of an awkward smile.

With that I choose not to waste any more time, heading out of the room with a polite wave to the teacher as he notices our passing. I do ensure to remember the face of the spider girl, though. She seems talented, and I’m wanting to collect talented people.

Next up is enchanting class.

The teacher is a big hairy man, something like bigfoot but with normal sized feet and wearing heavy looking boots. He’s talking about the ‘feel’ of the mana in the block of metal and I know that this class is over for me. Rather than waste any more time I head straight out, walking for the space magic classroom.

I hadn’t paid attention before but the sight of a massive moon taking up a good portion of the sky on the other side of the canopy truly is disquieting. Or perhaps it’s not a moon, but a planet, and this is a moon orbiting it, I’m not exactly well learned in astronomy. Still, I don’t recall it being there before, was I just not seeing it?

“Hey, Vii. Am I totally screwed here?” I ask her.

“Hmm?”

“I have no mana sense at all.” I say, “What the hell am I supposed to do when I can’t even see what it is that I’m meant to be messing with?”

Her half-hand reaches out for my own, her grip has become quite familiar now, for all that it is still alien.

“You’ll figure it out, I know you will,” she says. The way she looks up at me truly believing her words, helps bring my confidence back.

“I guess I must, if you put it like that. It’s just mana form. Moving mana in circles, what’s the real difficulty there? Nothing. It’s easy.” I start adjusting all the plans in my head, but there’s no end to the troubles that keep coming up.

At last, we show up to the space magic class and I’m surprised to find a near empty room.

“No, no, no. That’s not it. You need to completely disregard your understanding of space and everything else. Don’t even think that you can start fiddling with space magic until you have a basic clue of how space itself works.” The teacher speaks loudly and passionately to the one student who’s rushing away in escape as we enter.

“More? Go on then, ask your stupid questions.” The spindly figure of an aulune, damnit, many green vines are twisting around bulbous colourful organs that are visible through the gaps. The only reason I can see as much is that he’s dressed somewhat like a sentient Christmas tree trying to sell itself for cheap on the street corner.

“Can I learn anything without mana sense?” I ask, getting it out of the way quickly.

“Yes,” The teacher suddenly seems interested, “What do you know about space?” Chip tells me he’s discussing the concept rather than the place.

“Space, huh?” I pause. I had a teenage phase where I tried to figure out quantum mechanics and weird physics, but what I recall from my thirteen-year-old not-quite-understanding is quite limited, “You mean like, time is the fourth dimension alongside the three dimensions of space. And how gravity… does something to space…”

“Time?!” Vii asks, a little too shocked.

“What is it?” I ask, but she just shakes her head saying that it’s nothing.

The teacher hovers about, looking at us in thought.

“Interesting…” he mumbles.

“What is it?”

“I’m surprised. Not many are familiar with these theories.” The teacher says, “Though, your uncertainty suggests you haven’t learnt it seriously. At least you seem open minded enough to be willing to reach for greater understanding. I would like it if you would take my classes, you have the potential to learn space magic, unlike many of the… ‘students’ here.”

“My mana sense and mana form are in a rather pitiful state at the moment.” I warn him.

“You think that matters? It’ll be years before I let you near even the most basic of enchantments, only then might you manage to have a space magic breakthrough. Even I’m still troubled by casting space magic as effective spells.” He shakes his head, “If anything it means that you’ll focus on the theoretical as students should.”

“I’ll keep that in mind then.” I reply, “I have many other things that I have to study this year, so I can’t promise that I’ll take you up on that, but I do hope to.”

He lets us leave, looking rather morose as he waves us off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats & Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 119 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 21%

Muscle: 8%

Mind: 7%

Cardiovascular: 8%

Misc.: 3%

Efficiency: 47%

~Skills:

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused Delayed Casting