Bookbound Bunny

When Lily and Arakil returned to her room, they spent some time discussing her first day and sharing their initial impressions of it.

Arakil showed little interest in dungeon class since it was mostly about supplies rather than the contents of the dungeon, although he did at least express his complete agreement in being thoroughly prepared.

The magic lesson was also similar, as it seemed they'd be going over rather basic spells and nothing he hadn't seen before. The magic items were his primary interest, although he did point out that realistically, Lily didn't need the ones that would replicate minor effects.

"Wouldn't it be good for my excuse, though?" Lily asked.

[Perhaps. However, you also made it clear during your test that your glyphs are unaffected by your "drawback". Wouldn't you then use glyphs to cover up your shortcomings, rather than magical items? I'm sure, financially speaking, the dungeon chalk is much more affordable than a flask of endless water.]

Lily had to agree with that; she wasn't sure how much the magic items would cost, and unless she got lucky in the dungeon, she'd need to purchase them. The school might supply them with some, but she doubted they'd be the fancy ones she was currently coveting.

They ended the evening with Arakil slowly going through the chant for half of her new spell, which they were working on. Both spells were ones Arakil had to do some research on to acquire the appropriate lesson plan for Lily, as personally he'd cast them once before discarding them as he was prone to do when it came to Astral magic.

The spell had various names, and Arakil had told Lily to pick the one she liked the most. There was a more poetic version called Waxing Wonder and Waning Woe, while a more literal version was Lunar Radiance and Lunar Eclipse.

Arakil had mentioned repeatedly that they were effectively two sides of the same spell. Still, despite that, he recommended that Lily focus on learning only one for now due to the jump in difficulty. Once she had become refined in its casting, she should, in theory, be able to pick up the other half with relative ease.

The choice was given to Lily: did she want fortune or misfortune? As could almost be predicted, she chose the former, opting instead to focus on the positives rather than the negatives.

She also thought it would be better that way as she'd have a better probability with her Starburst. This was short-lived, as Arakil confused her by saying that both versions would benefit the spell, and the true effect would only be revealed when using both sides in tandem.

"How would misfortune help my Starburst?" Lily asked bewilderedly.

[If your target is plagued by misfortune, then conjuring more stars would also fit that bar. Of course, it could take more esoteric paths, like slipping on a rock and allowing your spell to hit the target when they would otherwise dodge it.]

Lily was surprised by the answer and began to ponder it deeply.

"Maybe I should have picked Lunar Eclipse… if I'm working in a team, then it seems like a much better option, right?"

[Yes and no. While it would be better in terms of resource conservation, you could also grant the same effect by granting your allies the benefits of Lunar Radiance. The effect lingers, so you could cast it beforehand before venturing further into a dungeon, for example.]

"Oh! I like that idea."

[However, I will also point out that the benefits your allies receive will always be less than those you receive. Astral magic is inherently synergistic with itself, almost selfishly so, and thus you should always focus on yourself first in that regard.]

"That's good for me, although you've kind of robbed me of my plan of being a big team supporter."

[I'm not saying you can't be. Nevertheless, just be aware that the benefits are more for yourself than for others. I mentioned it before, but Astral magic is relatively obscure in that it has its own variations on other types of magic.

Hana and others have commented that your Starlight looks like Light Magic, and you'll likely run into other scenarios when you learn more spells. In this case, Waxing Wonder and Waning Woe are mimicking blessings and curses, but as per usual, Astral magic has put its own personal twist on the matter.]

Lily was nodding along to his explanation, but the last section of Arakil's explanation immediately caught her attention. "I thought I couldn't do curses?"

[Correct, standard curses go against the domain of Astral magic. Its own reinterpretation of what a curse or hex is is presumably the reason for that. Rather than making someone weaker, or physically ill, it believes in tampering with someone's probability, or fate if you prefer.]

Lily gulped. "Please tell me it doesn't have its own version of necromancy…"

[It does not. Necromancy is incompatible because it often wants to defy fate entirely, rather than twist it or work with it.]

"That's a relief. What about Summoning? Does Astral have its own reinterpretation, or does Summoning also go against fate?"

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

[There are some—]

"Yes! I want to learn them," Lily said excitedly.

[But they are far too risky to learn at these early stages. Not only do they require far more Mana than you can produce, but they would be extremely hazardous to you and potentially anyone nearby.]

Lily swallowed nervously as Arakil's tone was serious and one of grim warning. While she was naturally curious about what could be so dire, she reined herself in and held back. She knew Arakil would teach her when she was ready; she just had to be patient.

Lily ended up sticking to learning the fortunate moon, even though Arakil offered to swap them. She still preferred the idealistic version and was instead swayed by the idea of casting it beforehand, rather than in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately for her, even though she had Arakil's verbal guidance this time around, the words were arcanely cryptic on a whole other scale compared to anything she'd learnt before. To make matters worse, the mental images she needed to invoke were equally enigmatic, and she instinctively understood why Arakil had held off on teaching her these spells until now.

It was still an enjoyable evening for her, and they worked right up until bedtime, as she'd need her sleep to get through the next day of classes.

***

The next morning, after breakfast, Lily and Lotte headed to their next class—Arcane Theory and Principles. While everyone was eager for Practical Magical Combat, it was in their afternoon slot, and that reason became rapidly apparent when they actually attended their other class.

It was so boring!

If they had the subject after exerting themselves during PMC, then no doubt they would've all fallen asleep listening to the dull and monotonous drone of the lecturer.

The subject was taught not by a Regarth teacher, but instead by a "certified expert" sent by the kingdom. Sir Barnard Bladwell was a minor noble whose snooty attitude was so perverse that he felt more like a caricature than a real person. Even Lady Desthu wasn't as stuck up as this guy!

Rather than teaching or having a lesson plan, he seemed to simply be reading from a textbook. That would have been bad teaching, but ultimately passable for a lesson. However, he insisted on throwing in his own minor quips as if he were sprinkling glitter or blessing the students with nuggets of wisdom about what he'd just read to them.

If that wasn't bad enough, he seemed to take some glee in describing the punishments for violations and pointing out that even adventurers were no match for the power of the law.

I'd always thought Camilla was joking about the kingdom with her conspiracies, but this guy makes me think there were some hidden truths behind her rants!

To make matters worse, he wore a blue and gold pin on his collar: a crown with a scepter and book. Sir Barnard Bladwell was clearly an alumnus of Stremweth and proud of it.

However, despite grievances and obvious biases, he must not have the authority to overrule or fail someone without question, as otherwise, someone like Rose would never have been able to pass the subject. That question was what kept Lily going through the boring book reading, wondering how Rose had managed to survive the subject.

I wonder if he's a spy… like maybe he's telling Stremweth all our secrets so they can win the interschool competitions?

The more Lily began to inspect him, the more confused she got. Their Familiars were out in the open, which was supposed to be a big secret! Yet here was an openly hostile teacher from the other school, wouldn't he spill the beans?

Did Stremweth already know about the Familiars? Was there an unspoken agreement between the schools that it wasn't leaked to the public? None of the ideas Lily could come up with were good enough for her, which just exasperated her annoyance. Eventually, she wrote her question out in Arakil's book and hoped he could solve the puzzle for her.

[It appears the headmaster has gotten to him, as, unless I'm mistaken, it seems he has been afflicted by a subtle and rather insidious illusory bewitchment.]

Lily was so startled by what Arakil said that she nearly responded in turn. It took all her willpower to remain nonchalant about it, and she simply wrote, "What and how?"

[It appears Sir Barnard Bladwell is of relatively poor quality stock, as he has minimal magical capabilities. His personal Mana is so low that you surpassed him within a few months of acquiring your Mana Core.]

What? But then how did he graduate? Stuart was so strict during my examination that I couldn't believe he would let someone like this pass without a reason.

Lily's internal musings were interrupted by Arakil as he continued his explanation.

[Regardless, there is a befuddlement cast upon him, which could be obscuring the Familiars from him. If it's more nefarious, it might even be making him fail to even register their presence; he sees them, but never makes a mental connection that they exist. Like seeing just another brick in the wall.

The headmaster is the only one I suspect who could be capable of doing something of this level, and good enough to get away with it. You can try using your Magesight, but I don't think you've refined it enough to witness the foreign Mana that has infected his ears, eyes, and nose.]

Lily tried using her Magesight, but Arakil was right, and she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary about him, other than his body containing hardly any Mana.

[If we assume your original theory is correct, that he is a spy, then that might even be why he was chosen for this role. He has so little Mana that foreign interference would typically be relatively easy to detect.

Back in my days, one would use solely ambient Mana to avoid detection, but in this world of predominantly personal Mana, that is no longer possible. I must say I've garnered a newfound respect for Headmaster Fabrelis and this delightful bit of handiwork.]

Thanks to Arakil, most of Lily's questions were answered, although admittedly, she was likely even more distracted than before. Fortunately for her, Arakil was recording the book reading and transcribing it within his personal library. Any book related to magic they could get their hands on, he wanted to be transferred over to his own collection—even one just on the city laws about magic.

The lesson droned on, with some students barely holding on by the end. Even Thomas, who had looked so eager in every lesson before, was visibly drained at the end of this undertaking.

Unlike their other teachers, as soon as the lesson was over, Sir Barnard Bladwell made his exit. He didn't even dismiss the students and simply waved farewell and departed. There was no after-lesson Q&A, and if the students weren't still on the verge of falling asleep, there might have been some complaints.

"I nearly didn't make it…" Lotte said, collapsing onto the desk and stretching out.

"At least Practical Magical Combat is next," Lily replied optimistically.

"Gods, I hope it's more fun than this.

The class was slowly rekindling to life as they began to gossip and whisper about the strange man who had just departed. It seemed that everyone was suddenly incredibly grateful that the lesson was only once a week.

They headed off to lunch, regrouping with Thomas, Arthur, and Hana. Lotte inquired about her absence from breakfast, where they discovered that she usually skipped it to go on extended morning runs.

"Next up is combat class!" Arthur exclaimed, the excitement flickering in his eyes.