Every.. Ounce.. Of.. Pain.. I feel right now, i will return a thousandfold!

I cursed the random hoodie-dude who killed me with his glorified throwing-needles. I had hoped on the off chance that i, or my body, could somehow get used to revival. But, of course, nope. Big, fat NOPE. Still hurts worse than anything i can imagine. And so i sweared wildly.

Huh, wait a second.. Yeah, might give this a try.

I almost grinned, despite feeling like i sat in a meat grinder.

I swear, i will find you, and i will kill you.

And a few seconds later, again.

You hear me? I SWEAR..!

§'#&, the true one, has received your pledge through the bond that is the blessing. He will now determine a just reward as motivation to uphold your promise.

Hehe, that is what i was hoping for! I laughed out aloud. A grave mistake, my face felt like it melted. Shit.

[A few more minutes, and the pain will end!] Whispy tried to give me mental support.

Pledge: Revenge will be mine! Reward: No one can escape your retribution. A skill will be granted accordingly. Girl, don't let revenge consume you, the Exalted One warns.

I silently waited in fetus position for the retaliation of a new life to fade. At least the pledge worked! Not a total waste then, when i kill you, hood-man.

[You adapt quickly, Alira. No surprise, after being alive for over two centuries, i guess.]

You can't really call the time in the Void living, Whispy. But.. yeah. If i have something others don't, why not make the most of it.

[Hehe, true.]

Now i need some coffee. And i missed my first day of actual training, because i was.. occupied. Great.

[You can still make it to your magic lessons, though. Do you feel well enough to go?]

Coffee. Ask me again after i've had a freshly brewed cup. Or two. Or.. more.

[Fine.]

I paid Anne's cafe another visit. The first cup of divine liquid helped. The second made me feel whole again.

"You sure look like you had a rough day." Anne came over and sat down at my table.

"That is a fucking understatement. But your beverages made it all fine again, thanks a lot." I threw an honest smile at her.

She blushed a little. "Sadly, it is rare these days. That customers appreciate a good cup. I mean, not only like the taste, but the feeling behind it. I am glad you do."

"Hehe, back in my days, people were as dumb and uncaring as they are today, believe me."

Anne looked puzzled. Well, shit. I said something odd, the relief of being pain-free impaired my active control over what to say and what to only think, for a second.

"Ah, forget it. I am just brabbling nonsense. It has been a long day, and it is not even afternoon yet." Damage repair, take one.

"Oh, okay then. Again, glad i could make you feel better."

Repaired. Nice. Oh Anne, you are a bit light-headed on your own, aren't you?

"As much as i enjoy your company, i have things to take care of. So, see you later? Maybe tomorrow?"

"Gladly, Alira. Take care." She walked back behind the counter and waved.

"You too, Anne."

I rushed towards the guild. When i arrived, my appointment already waited for me.

"You must be Alira Wesz?!" A stern looking, middle-aged woman in formal dress stated, more than asked. She reminded me of Katarina.

"I am Jude Esmerat, i will teach you in the art of illusion-magic."

Oh? Maybe her mother?

[Seems like it.]

"It is an honor to meet you." I tried to be polite.

"Likewise. Karl doesn't stop speaking about you. Let's go to a more secluded place, shall we?"

She went by the receptionists, nodding at a few of them. I just tagged along, trying to look like i belonged.

Her office was, surprisingly, in the basement.

"Come on in." She gestured and followed behind me, shutting the door.

Unlike the guildmaster's office, her room was littered with all sorts of things. Multiple sturdy-looking shelves, slightly bending over the weight of knowledge (AN: Shelves full of books.). A desk, seemingly a replica of Karl's, on top stacks of scrolls and parchment. And some devices i had neither seen nor heard of before, not yet revealing their exact functions to me.

"Take a seat." I sat down, opposite to her.

"So, other than your admittedly high affinity for the art of deceiving, what are your other competences?" She asked, expectantly.

Eh, what?

"I-I am not sure, what do you mean? The only skills i have are 'Lesser Illusion' and a passive skill that boosts everything related to my affinity." I remembered my cover story.

"You know nothing then." She sighed.

The fuck? I am supposed to learn from you, aren't i?

"Give me your hand."

I couldn't say what for, but i did as told. Please let this be alright.

"Alira Wesz, do you accept to become my apprentice?"

Huh?

Jude Esmerat has offered to become your scholar. Do you accept? Yes / No

"Yes."

Your occupation has changed to "Apprentice (Magic)".

That is how occupations work? I have never had one before, at least officially.

[Now you do, oh lowly apprentice.]

Shut up, Fluffy! If i am a 'lowly apprentice' and you are my subordinate, what does that make you, then? A useless pet?

[Ouch.]

Hehe, gotcha.

"Because your class is thief, i can only teach you generic types of magic, as i am not a thief." She seemed to spite me a little bit, for my class. Can't blame her, really. But hey, don't you judge me, before you get to know me!

"For you, i'd like to take an unusual approach. Normally, you would first learn to disguise yourself, like with the skill you have. Then work your way up to disguise objects as well. Mastering that, we would move on to include other living things in your spells, too. Finally, counter-magic would be taught. Dispelling illusions and such. But because you can already hide yourself perfectly, we should progress in an order that makes the most use of your talent."

"Sure, just tell me what to do."

Whispy, will my blessing always upgrade skills?

[I am not allowed to answer that.]

Of course. Thanks for nothing.

Still, i was hyped. Hopefully, it does! Maybe just every second skill or something. Or even only one more. If the upgrade is like the stuff i got before, it would be unbalanced as fuck anyway.

"My class is 'Grand Mage', by the way. Now that you are officially bound to me by apprenticeship, you deserve to know."

"Okay, thank you." I guess.

What followed was three long hours of magical theory. Not that it wasn't interesting, but my head began to spin after a while. A bit of it i knew from my original life. Other parts, Whispy had already told me. Like the grade of skills. Jude told me: Skills go over 'Lesser', 'Lower', 'Normal', 'Greater' to 'High'.

To 'Mystic', to 'True' i appended in my mind. Also, not all skills had all grades, like 'Appraisal', which started at normal ('Appraisal').

[There are even higher grades.] Whispy spoke out of nowhere.

Really? And what are those?

[I am not allowed to tell you that.]

Jeez, Fluffy, then don't start talking. You just like to keep me hanging, don't you? Same when you talk about the League. Or any of the other OP-shit i saw.

[Sorry, if i go against my orders, we might die. Permanently.]

Fuck, you didn't care to mention that before?

[I did now.]

Great. Alright, let's listen to scholar-san again.

...

In the end, i wasn't taught a new skill. Slightly disappointed, i made my way back to the inn. You can't really expect to get everything from the start, can you? The Void and everything related made me forget the fact that, for normal people, becoming strong was a tedious and long task.

[Maybe tomorrow. And knowledge is never bad, is it?] Whispy cheered me up.