My head burns with swirling mana, a sensation completely unlike the burning, cutting sensation of converting mana, rather it’s more like a dull headache from overwork. I’m trying to keep my circulation completely unbalanced in favour of my mind and still I can barely reach even 8% distribution. The only special sense I can feel so far is a burning, aching frustration in the front of my brain.

“Are you alright?” Nel asks, over her empty bowl, “Don’t push yourself too hard. With Eshya still recovering, we don’t need you becoming ill as well.”

“I’m alright.” I reply, “Just flooding my brain with mana.”

“Take your time with it. I’ve never heard of someone burning their minds training their mana forms, but I don’t want you to be the first person to discover the possibility.” Nel says.

“Warn me if smoke starts coming out my nose.” I say, eating the last of my own meal and rolling the crystal around in my mouth. I’ve already eaten most of the mana in it, so once I’ve drawn in what little has gathered over lunch, I pocket it again.

“That’ll only happen if you accidentally activate the mana as a fire spell or something.” Vii says, a frightfully realistic sounding possibility, “Or if you make a breakthrough for explosive magic. Maybe a pressure affinity could do it, too?”

“Nel, how did you go today?” I ask, letting Vii ramble quietly a little longer about how I might accidentally kill myself.

“I’m now an assistant dorm manager.” She says with a little bow, “I’ll be assisting with ordering appropriate furniture, replacing worn sheets, alongside my cleaning work, and assisting with the café on the first floor.”

“It sounds like a lot of work.”

“Surprisingly little work, but many different tasks.” She says with a smile, “How was your day? The orientation classes should still be going on for a few more days.”

“I’ve found that many classes require functional mana sense to make sense of.” I say with a shake of my head, “I may have a future in space magic if I can spare the years to it.”

“That could prove useful,” she says nodding. “Even without mana sense, it would be good to explore the different classes. Don’t limit yourself yet, you’ll have a functional mana sense in short time.”

“Why haven’t I heard of this mana sense before now, anyway?” I ask, feeling like someone has just added an extra game play mechanic on me from nowhere.

“That would be because it seems to have little use in fighting, and that’s all you’ve had the ill luck of learning so far.” Nel says, looking over at Adler for her reaction.

“Even if you’re a combat course student, I am quite glad that you’re taking an interest in other classes.” She says with a smile, “It’s something that I’d suggest to any combat course student, but to you especially.”

“It’s good to have your support, I suppose.” I say.

“Is Eshya any better?” Vii asks, nervously stirring at the dregs of her own meal. “Should we do something for her?”

“She’s lying quietly in bed the same as when you left this morning. She refused to come for lunch, but I did get her something light from the café so she’s still eating.

“When I visited her earlier, she was grumping about the last few times she’s gone through this, so I do think that she will recover as she says. I’ll keep an eye on her regardless. At least she doesn’t seem like it’s anything dangerous.”

“That’s true.” I say, “What are your thoughts, Adler? Is this something that falls into your responsibilities, or experience?” The welfare officers seem to be in the business of dealing with some psychological matters at least.

“You know I can’t go into the details on my responsibilities.” Adler replies, “I’d like to help her as well, but I suspect that you are right to let her rest. From what you've said, it seems to be some form of ailment that she has dealt with before. I will also be keeping a close eye on her, and I too hope for her quick recovery.”

“So long as you don’t have to report it, I suppose everything is still fine.” I say, packing up my bowl. Lunch tasted pretty good, but the mana in the food was fairly weak. How do most people here develop their mana forms with these pitifully mana-light meals.

“Sorry?” Adler tilts her head while looking at me.

“It’s nothing,” I say, “We still have to look over other classes. Vii are you still coming with me?”

“Yep, yep.” She stretches her wings in the limited space between tables, “I need to learn which classes are worth taking for myself, too.”

“Well then, after class we’ll meet up at the dorms again?” I ask, and Nel nods.

“Yes, though, do keep in mind that I might be busy with work.”

“Alright. We’ll be off then.” I wave goodbye and pick up my jacket.

“What other classes are you interested in?” Adler asks as we leave.

“Healing magic, and the other classes that will support our combat course. I want to leave the direct combat classes for tomorrow when Eshya will be with us.” I say, “Are you going to be taking classes with us, too?”

“I’ll be where I’m needed.” She says, “Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of class. In fact, for the combat classes I can provide support.”

“You fight?” I ask.

“No, I will help to ensure that your own beastly natures are kept in check. I’ll help you develop the tools to act violent while suppressing the beastly aspects of your person.”

“That’s…” I try to find something nice to say, but the moment drags on and I’m out of pleasant words for her.

“Anyway… let’s check out the healing class. You know the way?” I ask Adler.

“Grade 1 healing classes are in the building below where all the theoretical classes are taught. The same as where you studied your mana forms.” She explains leading us to the elevator.

The students around us are mostly deep in conversation, going about their lives as students do. The older students seem more confident, while the newer students seem to be trying to imitate them.

None of them seem particularly happy or unhappy. Life here is fairly good if they’re the measure of it. Many of them do seem quite busy though, either distracted in their own thoughts, or walking quickly to the next class.

The elevators down are numerous enough that even now, while students are either coming up for a late lunch or heading back down to the surface for their classes, there is little time wasted in waiting. The facilities here are certainly nothing to take lightly.

The healing classroom is much like any other ordinary classroom that I’ve passed by. The room is filled with a sparse collection of students about our own age, as is to be expected for these introductions I suppose. Some seem to be paying close attention to the teacher, others barely seem able to pay attention to anything at all, looking around at everything in shock and wonder.

“You cannot expect a healing magic breakthrough to happen for quite some time.” The teacher says, he’s a small furry creature about three feet tall and standing on a podium at the front of the classroom. The board behind him has a number of diagrams I’d expect from a biology class written over it, with a few descriptions added here and there.

“So, for this class I expect you to memorise the biological functions that I describe to you and the best means to curing described ailments with use of magic.” He says, relaxing and chewing on his nails.

“Excuse me, but what do you mean by the best means of curing something? I thought that after a breakthrough you could just use healing magic for it.” One of the keener students asks.

“I’m guessing you have some experience with simple element magics or some such.” The student nods, “I need to be clear on this. Good magic is not simple. As you should all know creating mass from mana is extremely expensive, so a good healer knows not to even try.

“But, sometimes enough flesh is missing that you can’t just stick things back together again. So, what do we do?”

The students are all quiet. Attentive students look thoughtful, others seem lost.

“You borrow it from somewhere else.” I say, thinking of skin grafts back on earth.

“Yes, overly simple, but correct.” The furry weasel says, looking our way as we take seats. “If we cannot make new flesh from mana, we must use our mana to move flesh around into a more complete state. Sometimes this will be from other parts of the body, sometimes from special potions that we can use to supplement the missing matter, and sometimes, if desperate, from someone else.”

“Now, while I’m sure this is all interesting, if you wish to have your healing breakthrough and have enough rudimentary knowledge to make use of the magic when you’ve unlocked it, then we must learn the fundamentals. What is flesh made up of, what can we do to analyse an unfamiliar body, and the nature of various injuries and illnesses and their cures or treatments.

“You will have to spend many years learning the basics in this class and even after your breakthroughs you will have a long way to go before you can be considered competent to even the lowliest degree.” The weasel teacher continues with his lectures, none of the other students in the class seem to be of particular note or talent, unfortunately.

If we want to nab a good healer, I’ll have to find some students in the older grades. It’s a little difficult now while I’m still clueless about the social order of things, but the older students have been here long enough that I’m sure they’ve got something of a community that I can dip into.

Even without modern entertainment, people will find ways to blow off steam, and get to know each other. Maybe it’s parties of some kind, or something to do with the hobby groups and clubs that I’ve heard about, regardless, I should be able to find out more through my connection in the journalism club.

I focus on the class and resolve to grab a few notebooks before classes formally start next week. Even if I can’t get a breakthrough in healing magic, these classes are still worth taking.

“What next?” Vii asks after we leave, floating around and poking her head into different classrooms. “You have a few magics that you want to learn? You were talking about something to support our combat course? Like what?”

“Well supposedly I have a talent for Reinforcement magic, whatever that is, so I was considering dropping by there and seeing if there’s anything I can learn. Then there’s a few others like beast studies, wilderness survival, and tactical command.”

“That sounds fun. I wonder what wilderness survival and tactical command are going to be like. Are we going to get to go somewhere for it? What sort of Skills or magics are we going to learn? The support device lists a few things, but I don’t really get them.”

“Was there nothing that you wanted to visit?” I ask, “You’ve been following me for all these classes, surely there’s something that you’d like to see.”

“Not really,” She says lightly, “I’m more interested and seeing what classes you want to take. What you learn affects who you will eventually become.”

Her eyes sparkle as she watches me closely, dancing about playfully.

“To write tomorrow’s history?” I ask, “But what about your future?”

“I’ve already planned ahead.” She says, “Tomorrow’s history? I like that. I’m going to steal that.” She scrawls a few strange characters into her little red notebook as we approach the reinforcement magic class.

Inside is rather quiet, there are no students here at all and I can’t even see a teacher. For some reason the classroom is darker than the others, a wispy sort of darkness that gathers here in defiance to the light.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I ask Adler, who’s guided us here.

“It should be,” She says with a hint of uncertainty, “The academies are all of the same design. Maybe something’s come up that caused this class to be closed for today?”

“It isn’t.” A whispering voice echoes through the room, coming from behind the podium, “Class is… open.”

The shadowy figure that peaks out from the shadow of the podium looks at us cautiously, her voice sounds hesitant and perhaps even a little fearful.

“I am sorry. I am not a good teacher… I will do my best…” The figure stands about as tall as my chest, and is slight and stick thin. Her skin isn’t simply dark, but of an inky blackness that dims the light of the room around her.

“You’re the teacher?” I ask quietly, and she nods.

“So, what can you tell us about your class?” I ask, and she stands frozen for a few moments as I lead our group down to a few front row seats.

“I am not a good teacher…” She says with a sigh, “Reinforcement magic… it is about reshaping the nature of a thing and improving it. A good blacksmith can forge metal well, but they do not have as precise a touch, they cannot refine as well as a reinforcement mage. Alchemists can recognise the qualities of an ingredient; reinforcement mages can alter those qualities.”

Each of her words come out slow and considered, and sometimes she pauses for a good few seconds before continuing from where she was at, as if reading from an unfamiliar script.

“It is rare to achieve a breakthrough for this class, it requires a strong understanding, and conceptualisation of the minute structures that form the materials of the world. Some examples can be found on the board behind me… but it might be too dark for you to see…”

As she says, I can make out a few diagrams but only barely and the details escape me. The slight teacher slumps down sadly before continuing.

“Is there anything in particular you would like to know?”

“How does mana fit into the atomic structure of things, and do we need to be familiar with the subatomic stuff?” I ask, high school science classes taught me the atomic structure well enough, but scientists are still working on the subatomic weirdness. I watched a documentary on it once, and all I really understood was that things get really strange.

Throwing magic into the mix must be like adding an extra dimension to the puzzle.

“The translations of your words are… imperfect, but I will try to explain.

“Mana can play a number of roles within the structure of matter, the simplest is infused mana. This is the mana that naturally comes to reside within matter, as is happening all around us all the time. It doesn’t affect the formation of matter, but rather overlays it, and attaches to it as unformed mana.

“The next is realized mana. This is when the infused mana of a certain material affects it’s core structures, mostly through the application of balancing energies stabilising materials that would otherwise tear themselves apart.”

That was a whole bunch of words…

“So… that would be like… oxygen that has one too few electrons but with mana taking the place of that missing electron and keeping it from falling apart?” I ask.

“Yes… I believe you are correct,” she says, “It seems you have some decent understanding of these things, and the ability to imagine these things. If you wish to take one of these puzzles…”

She waves over to a table covered in various sorts of strange looking devices, gadgets, and parts.

“These all have very simple flaws that can be corrected after your breakthrough. Analysing them may assist you in developing towards a breakthrough.”

I take something that looks like a cog, it’s made of some form of bronze coloured metal and has a number of teeth that have inconsistent texture.

“Whether or not you manage to reinforce it, please return it before classes start next week. Are you going to join my classes?”

“I am. It’s one of my talents apparently.”

“Then… please be patient with me.” She says, falling back into the shadows of the lectern. I think she’s hiding inside the cavity of the thing.

“Well, that class might at least prove interesting.” I say, “I think I like the teacher.”

“She didn’t seem like that good of a teacher.” Vii says a little doubtfully.

“She seemed like a good person, and easy to deal with.” I say, “I don’t know, I just liked her is all.”

“Liked her, liked her?” Vii asks, looking intrigued.

“Not like that.” I say with a laugh, “As a teacher, she was able to say what needed to be said and was responsive to questions. So long as the other students aren’t difficult it should be a good class.”

“It should, it should. So, what class next?” Vii asks.

“Beast studies.” I say as Adler leads us away.

“It’s an interesting class this one.” Adler says, “It covers all the different sort of beasts and lifeforms that can exist. It’s a shame how little resources we have to bringing them to civilisation…”

“There are attempts to make beasts civilised?” I ask.

“Yes, but most resources are used to assist those who have fallen from civilisation and become beasts. It is a simpler task and takes less resources than assisting unintelligent beasts.”

“This is all done by the welfare officers?”

“Welfare officers play a significant role, but it is the beast tamers who are responsible for the more direct tasks in assisting the development of beasts. It’s a demanding role as it’s deeply involved with violence,” she says.

“Are there classes on beast taming?” I ask, realizing the opportunity. It’s a risk, but in learning how to develop a beast, I could get a better idea of what rules we all have to play by.

“There are.” She nods, “Are you considering taking these classes?”

“It does sound interesting. I think that I might go check it out later.” I say, as we come across the beast studies classroom.

Inside isn’t as busy as some other classes but it’s still busier than I thought it would be. The teacher, a small, white, winged reptilian reminding me of a dragon, is settled on a cushion on the lectern and speaking in a slow drawled accent.

“So, all of you are here to learn about mana form life?” The teacher asks with a sigh.

“It’s like this every year, so fine, let’s get this done. No, none of you can expect to evolve past your physical form. Most all those that live as purely mana based life are so from their conception. Also, there is a difference between true mana form life such as dungeons, and quasi mana form life, which are made up of mana infused particles, such as mist or ash.

“Evolution into the later is incredibly uncommon and requires rare and dangerous circumstances to allow for the possibility. Now does anyone have any other questions?”

“You called dungeons a life form?” one of the students asks.

The pearlescent, little dragon teacher settles down, apparently happier with this question than the ones before it. She settles down and looks out over her class.

“Dungeons are a form of life that is born out of pure mana and exists as a mana form. They will attach themselves to an environment and influence the other beasts in the area to protect themselves, and to draw in more ambient mana. Their relationship is somewhat symbiotic as the dungeons create mana shards to assist the development of their inhabitant beasts.

“Dungeons are considered one of the most powerful and greatest dangers in all creation, as the largest dungeons have expanded their influence across entire worlds. On top of this, they are perhaps the most unique of life forms in existence.”

She goes on about the dungeons for a while longer, and it takes me about an hour to discover that this is how this class is going to be. Eventually she changes topics to another species, taking pauses only to wet her throat and continue the discussion.

Interesting, certainly, but also very long winded, and I’m not likely to remember even half of what she’s talking about.

“Is there a Skill to help my memory?” I ask Vii as we leave the room.

“Lots. Mostly specific ones about memorising things for certain topics. It’s likely that you’ll get a Skill for remembering beasts if you take that class.” She says as if it’s nothing.

“So perfect memory?”

“If the support device is working properly, and it rarely has any failures,” she says. “I have trouble even imagining life without it.”

I don’t even know why I’m surprised after all the magic I’ve seen already.

I think I’m beginning to understand now why the scientific method has somewhat been lost. If I’m right, then they have, within certain limits and boundaries, come to an understanding of most things.

The scientific method is used to uncover new knowledge and reinforce our understanding of old knowledge. So, what happens when everything has been discovered, everything learned?

What more use is the scientific method, when all it can do is reconfirm what has already been proven correct beyond all doubt.

It’s a disturbing idea, but it changes nothing about what I still need to do.

Outside the restaurant we stumble into Eshya and Nel.

“You made it out of bed?” I say.

“For dinner.” She says quietly, and sounding a little grumpy.

“Well, I’m still glad to see you up and about.” I say, trying to give her a bright smile.

“I… thanks.” She closes her eyes a moment, smiling before letting out a long tired sigh, “Tomorrow I’ll be feeling better.”

She seems to be promising this as much to herself as to us.

Dinner is uneventful and we don’t take long to finish and return to our beds.

Tired from the day that has dragged on for much too long. I lay in bed and close my eyes, thoughts and plans for tomorrow swim in my mind while sleep slowly overcomes me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats & Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 124 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 21%

Muscle: 8%

Mind: 8%

Cardiovascular: 8%

Misc.: 3%

Efficiency: 48%

~Skills:

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused Delayed Casting