Bookbound Bunny

After Rose begged Lily not to mention what she'd just heard to anyone else, they continued to chat and share stories with one another. Lily went into detail about everything that happened at the orphanage, such as her lessons with Instructor Richardus, her friendship with Theo, and even her confrontation with Tim.

Rose had not dealt with that news well, and there was a simmering anger at risk of exploding the entire time. Lily had to keep reiterating that she barely had a few scratches thanks to her preparations with Arakil and that he was suitably punished.

Rose, for the most part, accepted it; although Lily swore she heard some mutterings about "dealing with him later." Lily then swiftly steered the conversation to more pleasant topics, like her advancement with Astral magic. She happily showed off her Nebula Veil and went on and on about its usefulness and how she was attempting to make it her signature spell.

Lily demonstrated her proficiency in using her Starlight spells and also gave a brief demonstration of Moonlight. While Arakil had said she was fully capable of learning Sunlight, she hadn't seen a need to yet, as those two were more than what she needed at present.

She also explained her attack spell to Rose, although she couldn't give a demonstration of it indoors for safety reasons. In particular, she emphasized the scalability and randomness of the spell, noting how each subsequent star increased its power.

"Sounds like you need a spell to boost your luck if it's really random," Rose pointed out.

[That was likely to be the next spell I was going to suggest to you. Either that or one that can lower somebody's luck. Both are different sides of the same coin, so they naturally progress with one another.]

"Wait, I can affect people's luck?" Lily replied hastily, looking at Arakil.

"That's going to take some getting used to. It was already one-sided with his writing that I couldn't read, but now you're having full-blown mental conversations," Rose complained.

"Sorry, but Arakil just said that I can increase or decrease luck with my Astral magic."

"Now that is some impressively freaky sounding magic."

[It's not that impressive nor "freaky". I'd liken it more to affecting probability and skewing results in your favor. To use a relative example, think of your Starburst spell; you and Theo often liken it to rolling a die. Now, what if you could roll two dice and pick the better option? Effectively, that is what you'd be doing.]

"Woah! That sounds like a game-changer."

"Ah! No fair, tell me, tell me," Rose whined.

Lily gave an abridged version to Rose, who also seemed excited.

"I like the idea of you rolling the dice with your spell; it makes it sound rather fun."

"It can be, except when you get zero stars and a monster is coming right for you," Lily grumbled.

"And there's no way to increase the minimum?"

Lily shook her head. "The best I could do is increase the maximum so much that it becomes 'statistically improbable,' to quote Arakil."

"I mean, if you're using two dice, what are the chances that both land on zero?"

[More than you can possibly imagine…]

Lily smiled awkwardly at Arakil's groaning. It was clearly still a sour spot for him, and yet she'd chosen it as her magic. She was immensely grateful that she didn't share his cosmic-level bad luck.

Rose also shared some of her stories, including the duels and competitions she had won, and bragged about her time in the dungeon. She also mentioned that she'd set a record for how quickly she summoned her Familiar, and the reason why was quite a surprise to Lily.

"So imagine my surprise when I get the secret book and it tells me to draw a big glyph thingy, just like you. Maybe it was your attempts to teach me, or my helping out, I did, but I remembered the important bits—like keeping the circle as neat as possible and stuff like that. So I tried my best to copy it as neatly as possible, and then when I activated it, out popped Puff."

"Oh… wow. In my head, I imagined you tripping over, and accidentally spilling some blood, and it was just strong enough to brute force the results you wanted."

Rose chuckled and shook her head. "I mean, maybe I could have done that. I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. But I'd like to believe I had my little sister's help."

Lily blushed furiously. "Sure… you can go with that."

Rose ruffled her hair and ears affectionately.

"So does that mean you took enchanting as your second-year elective?" Lily asked.

"Oh gods no. That one drawing was enough for me. I've seen the stuff you had to do, and it's just not for me. I took the gardening class since it seemed like dumb labor."

Lily couldn't hide her surprise. "That's honestly the last thing I expected. I can't imagine you taking care of plants."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Rose shrugged. "I remember the money we made selling those plants, so I thought it would be a good income. Plus, I knew you'd take alchemy because of all the work you did with the witch, so I figured if I supply the plants, you could brew me the product."

Lily gasped. "Who are you and what have you done with Rose?"

Rose snickered in response. "Hey, I'm not all muscle and flame, I can use my head too."

"Well, that's a relief. I was half worried you'd be repeating the year with me," Lily teased.

Rose gave her a playful shove in return. Lily giggled as she landed on the bed.

"By the way… I've got to ask," Lily said, and pointed at Rose's back. "Do those work? Can you actually fly?"

Rose paused for a moment and did a little flex with the wings, causing them to stretch out for a full display. Lily couldn't help but gasp in surprise, having never seen a set of draconic wings before.

"Yesn't…" Rose answered in a mumble.

"Yesn't?"

Rose sighed. "I can, sort of, fly… Well, it's more like flailing and then an eventual glide at best for now."

"Really? But look at them, they look so powerful!"

"Yeah, they look the part, but… I've been extremely unsuccessful…" Rose groaned. "Not for a lack of trying, mind you, and I even recruited an air mage to toss me up into the air a few times. But, well, it's not been so simple. I'm still unfamiliar with them, I mean, they only sprouted a year ago, and it's like trying to learn a brand new skill I never needed before."

"Sorry, Rose… I had no idea."

"Hey, it's no big deal, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually," she said and waved it off.

Arakil, however, suddenly spoke up and added to the conversation. Usually, he wouldn't pry if it was something private, and he always did his best to not eavesdrop, but specific "keywords" would suddenly grab his attention.

[Dragons usually use magic to fly, as otherwise their wings would never be able to give them lift. They do not have hollow bones like birds, so even though their wings might look impressive, they can't function on their own.]

"What did the book say?" Rose asked. "I can see you staring at him."

"Arakil says that dragons use magic to fly, and that their wings aren't enough on their own."

"Really? My wings are magic-powered?"

"Apparently so," Lily said with a shrug. "I'm just the messenger."

"Huh… well, it's better advice than I got given by some of the bird brains," Rose grumbled. "I'll have to look into it."

[Likely she will need to focus Mana on her wings at a minimum, although I'm unaware if they are fully grown yet or not. Considering she's spent a year hunting in the dungeon, she might have reached the end of her growth, but I'm unsure. She wouldn't want to stifle them.]

"Another message?" Rose asked.

"Arakil was just wondering if your wings were fully grown yet, or not."

"I think so?" Rose answered, although she sounded unsure. "They certainly haven't changed at all for the last half a year or so since they grew out.

I guess I won't mention the Mana focusing until she's positive they are fully grown.

They continued chatting away into the night until both of their stomachs couldn't take it anymore, and they left to grab some food. There, they met a rather impatient-looking Lotte who couldn't believe how long it had taken for them to come.

Lotte had a second dinner that she mostly shared with Jade, while the others had their first. They chatted a bit longer with the two younger girls, mostly expressing their excitement for tomorrow. Rose tried her best not to spoil it for them and simply wished them good luck.

Eventually, the three of them departed, with Rose and Lily sharing a long hug before finally calling it a night. When Lily arrived at her room, waiting outside her door was a sizable package. She curiously took it into her room and placed it on the bed before opening it. It was her uniform, finished just in time for classes to start.

Um… I wonder if I was supposed to fetch this myself?

Lily shook off the guilty thoughts and excitedly took out the clothing from the package. It consisted of a dark blazer with light trim and golden buttons, a pleated plaid skirt, a white button-up shirt, and a pair of black shoes.

What, no socks? she giggled to herself. Maybe I'll need to try to make some for myself?

Also, wrapped in the center of the clothing was a Ward, although in a much fancier design than the ones donated to the orphanage. She wondered if this was purely aesthetically different or if it had any additional benefits.

Lily activated her Magesight, and the outfit shone with layers of golden thread embedded within. Even the shoes appeared to be enchanted! Lily recognized some of the glyph symbols, but she'd never seen them arranged in this sort of fashion before.

[I see. This is an interesting take on enchanting. There's a significant emphasis on durability for the clothing, and then some of that is conferred to the wearer as well. Surprisingly, there seems to have been a concerted effort to keep it somewhat fireproof and waterproof.]

"I guess because we're supposed to wear this in the dungeon, and you wouldn't want it getting burnt. Plus, I bet there are a lot of fire mages… I wonder if Rose's survived?"

[I'd imagine they probably emphasized the fireproofing for her own. Or at least, that is what I'd do. They might not have known what to do for yours and just gave you a generalized package. Probably for the best, as presently your Nebula Veil is superior.]

Lily nodded and fondly ran her fingers down the uniform. She was even more excited for classes to begin.

***

Lily woke up bright and early and, after a quick clean-up, began to put on her uniform. She added a few of her own touches to it, like a blue ribbon on the collar, which she wore over the Ward, a hairclip, and stockings to keep her legs warm.

I'm a bit surprised they took the school uniform aspect so literally, but I guess it beats wearing the stereotypical robe. Although I can reproduce that look on a whim thanks to my Nebula Veil.

When Lily left her room and reached the dorm entrance, there was already a gathering of what appeared to be all first years, judging by all the Familiars either in arms or at their feet. She spotted Lotte holding a fast-asleep Jade and quickly ran up to greet her.

Like Lily she was wearing the same attire, except there were some notable adjustments: room for her tail, the sleeves of the blazer were much wider to make room for the protruding scales along her arm, and it looked like she only wore a pair of liner socks—the scales going down her pale legs likely preventing her from finding a comfortable fit.

"I cannot believe they've got me wearing a skirt," Lotte grumbled.

"You look good in it," Lily complimented.

"Thanks… I don't like showing the scales, since they look so… stabby," Lotte said with a sigh. "If only they were like my tail, or like Rose's, then I wouldn't have so many wardrobe issues."

"Oh, believe me, Rose had an endless series of wardrobe issues. She sprouted her tail one day, then vestigial wings, and now she even has horns!"

"I guess I got off lucky then," Lotte giggled. "It's too bad she wasn't wearing her uniform when we saw her yesterday, I'd love to see the adjustments they had to make."

Eventually, their conversation was interrupted by Beatrice. She quickly gathered everyone's attention.

"Right, you lot, we've got to get to the auditorium for an opening speech from Headmaster Fabrelis, and then you'll be taken to your very first dungeon lesson, I hope you're excited!"

Lily, Lotte, and almost everyone present nodded eagerly.

"Wonderful, let's get a move on, shall we? Follow me," she instructed and began a brisk walk.