Ponders and discoveries

Ester's dark eyes shone. The short braid resting on her collarbone shuffled as the woman turned her head slightly. Her gaze swept across the classroom. Sitting in the last row, she had a free view of everyone bar two heads. She looked at the professor.

He was a lean, elderly man who stood by the blackboard, a book in his hand as his mouth moved. He was in his late fifties, with bleak silver hair kept to a short trip around his balding scalp. His dark eyes were entirely focused on the book and the first row of students who seemed at least mildly interested in what he taught. The academic robe of black color was of a length that made it comfortable for the man to move around in.

Ester opened the book lying under her hand. The lines of text transitioned into sentences about the subject the man was teaching. The woman almost entirely ignored his words about the rules of magic duels, her attention dragged to a spot in the corner.

Beyond a young man whose name she could not recall sat the white-haired Stormrider, settled in the corner. His amethyst eyes were focused on the professor, but his books were closed, and he didn't seem to have any papers with him to write any notes.

'That's a little... daring.' she conceded quietly, noticing Lucas's gaze sweeping across the room quickly. However, she managed to pretend to look somewhere else in time. 'I imagine that he spends quite some time in the library, but that's no excuse to-- wait, what's he doing?' Ester's brows furrowed in confusion. Lucas secured his position, opening his book to cover his place a little, and almost immediately lied down on the desk, supporting his head with his hands. As he made sure he was hidden from the professor's gaze, the white-haired man relaxed in his position and closed his eyes. '...he... he's sleeping...?' Ester asked herself. Shock pierced her mind. She could understand that Lucas was knowledgeable, but... 'That's just brazen...'

Her gaze flickered to the rest of the classroom. It wasn't as large as the auditorium where they had their lesson with Professor Riven the day before, but it wasn't as small as other rooms her year had been to, either.

Several seconds passed. Lucas stayed in his position, seemingly already in the land of dreams. Was he this tired?

The lecture went on. Ester averted her gaze, looking to the blackboard and focusing on what the professor spoke about. However, she could not help but let her eyes stray to the white-haired man.

'Just like yesterday, he's sleeping in class...' she thought, trying to focus on the old man teaching the class. 'But why would he?'

Ester didn't know that much about Lucas. They used to meet now and again when they were younger. Since they were of the same age, they got along rather well and hung around when their parents would engage in talks that were too complicated for children to ponder about.

However, those times were old. It's been years since she'd last seen him. Did he still enjoy walks and reading? Was he as keen on small jokes and laughter over mistakes as back then? The young woman could only ponder silently.

Change was natural. She was a great example of it. Ester before and after puberty were two starkly different girls. Her hair, which used to be a brighter shade of brown than her brother's, turned black as the darkest night within just a few months. Her voice turned from squeaky to melodic, although still with a hint of higher pitch. Her body shape changed drastically, as well. In tandem with all of that, her personality and interests shifted, even if the change was difficult to notice at first. From a picky glutton who could eat a chicken whole but wouldn't touch anything that came out of the ground, her eating habits turned more controlled, and her preferences broadened. She had calmed down considerably, as well, going from running around the garden near her home to sitting in the library and entering the imaginative worlds made by the books. The grace of growing up, she would be told.

It was natural that the Stormrider heir would change as well. From his looks alone, she could tell he was a starkly different person from the boy who once barely equaled her height. He was no doubt about half a head taller than her now, and his hair, which already was close to white, had turned the shade of purest snow. The scrawny, weak arms were now finely pronounced, and although she could not see more due to the robe, she could imagine the same change had occurred across his entire body. Truly, time could do wonders.

Yet, Ester was doubtful. For the last few years, she scarcely heard about Lucas. Illan rarely talked about anyone but Ophelia, and every time the talk strayed to the white-haired man, his tone seemed almost condescending. All she knew about the Stormrider was that he had yet to class, but that he persistently pushed on.

That was why she kept her distance at this time. She had classed at the expected time, when she had just about turned twelve. She could still remember Lucas's eyes looking at her with glee when she showed him the most basic shadow magic she had learned. He was truly happy for her back then. But now... how would he react to her now? She knew his relationship with Illan was strained. Even if her brother tried to hide it, his distaste for Lucas was obvious. The thing she didn't realize was how strained it was.

"Row 8, seat 7," the professor's voice pierced her ears. "Would you like to add anything?"

"!" her gaze immediately went to the elder man. Her black eyes met his. "No, Professor."

"I understand that the outside world is interesting, but so are my lectures, I assure you," the man gave her a small smile.

Ester nodded. "I apologize, Professor."

"Let that not repeat, Miss," the professor nodded. "Magic duels are important both to Mages and non-Mages."

...

A few long moments passed. Ester's gaze turned to the blackboard as the elderly man resumed laying down the rules for the subject at hand. Doing her best to focus, she tentatively rotated the pencil in her hand, marking small half-circles in her notebook.

Her stare, however, flickered left after a few seconds. Lucas was no longer sleeping, and his amethyst eyes looked straight at her. As their gazes met, Ester immediately snapped back to the blackboard. She could feel a tiny flush course through her body, accompanied by a faint shiver down her spine.

She decided to not stray from the lesson with her thoughts. There would surely be time to speak with Lucas at some point.

...

-Later-

Lucas moved with haste from the classroom. The speed of his movement was far greater than his peers, allowing him to make it to the first turn before the last of them exited the classroom.

'The last class is done. Now, I have about two hours before the assembly.' he thought, rushing forth. He didn't have anywhere to be right now, and there was one place he wanted to visit: the library.

Lucas glanced around as he went between the masses of people. Passing by multiple students, he could easily notice how they were mixed together. Rather tall denizens of Riverut exchanged small talk with comparatively smaller elves and people coming from Melidan. Although sparse in number, a few people from Ureliar could be seen between, characterized by their darker skin and bulkier bodies. All of that was encompassed by the people of Etnal, no doubt double the number of them all combined. Nobody batted an eye as he slithered between the walking and talking people, making his way through the corridors.

A bit of unease stirred in his heart. Once more, he felt the gravity of knowledge these people didn't hold grasp his shoulders. How many of those people would be able to talk as pleasantly and freely about their interests and time at the Academy once they learned of what was happening on the other side of the continent?

'...no.' Lucas shook his head as he entered a side corridor. 'I shouldn't worry about what I can't affect. For now, I need to focus on what I can grasp. Starting with whatever I am.' he thought, his hand grasping the handle of the Academy library's door.

The expansive room was larger than the one back at his home. It stood nearly ten meters tall, with three levels inside, and stretched almost two dozen in a rectangular shape. Dozens of bookshelves stood in uniform formations, each packed to the brim with tomes and scrolls of knowledge. Even the roughest estimate would be no less than ten thousand volumes of knowledge in various forms. A brief thought went through Lucas's mind, wondering just how long it took to even write all of those.

However, the young Stormrider shook his head. He was here not to gawk. Passing by a few students, he approached a counter. A young man, perhaps not much older than himself, looked at him with a discerning look. Just a few words were exchanged before Lucas could loiter around to find the books he wanted.

-About 1.5 hours later-

The search took Lucas quite a long time. Even with the guidance of the librarian and the sorting of all the tomes of knowledge, going around to reach them, open them, and reading their indexes took an unreasonable amount of time. Just finding one of the three positions recommended took him almost an hour.

Eventually, he found three pieces that he could use for his knowledge hunt.

Finding his way to the central area, Lucas almost immediately located a secluded table in the corner and sat down in a chair.

=Classing Compendium=

=Comprehensive Information On Known Classes=

=Theorem Of Status System=

Three books sat in front of him. Their individual thickness wasn't that daunting; except for the second title, the remaining two had less than 70 pages. Especially the last one was a light lecture - despite that, it was both the hardest to find and the most important to him. Glancing right and left, Lucas summoned his status, focusing on his most important values.

[HP: 488/488

MP: 1379/1379

WP: 371/436

-Base stats-

Strength: 7

Stamina: 22

Agility: 11

Intelligence: 97

-Special stats-

Insight: 37

Magical Resistance: 67

Physical Resistance: 29

Persistence: 20

Mental Power: 4

??y: 2]

He nodded at the stats. The third point of Mental Power was attained almost immediately during the first lecture with the careful usage of Astral Projection. Repeating that alongside a few Subliminal Guidances here and there allowed him to raise it again.

'I'm starting to get the hang of how to control my astral form, probably half because of training and half because of Mental Power increasing. If I just cast some suggestions on people here and there, I should be able to reach 5 points even today. I wonder if I'll gain anything then. That is kind of a milestone, I'd say.' he wondered before focusing on the books. 'Well, I guess I'll see.'

He sighed, pulling the first of the books to him. Opening the index, he skimmed through every entry. Light lectures or not, he did not have the time to read all three titles in one go, and he needed his answers as quickly as possible.

...

However, just like he expected, it was a fruitless endeavor. The two first books had absolutely nothing on Hybrid Class or Dream Walker. His white brows furrowed, but his expression wasn't unpleasant.

'I already knew it was quite pointless. Especially if it's a Psion-like class, I'd have heard of it. And the closest anything gets to being Hybrid Class is Magic Swordsman.' he thought with a bit of dismay. However, he did open the bigger of the books on the specific page, almost as if reading the entry would bring him some solace.

=Magic Swordsman=

=The origin of the class is unknown, but it's often associated with Repoan, the God of War, and Nivrla, the Goddess of Magic. Its first sightings have been noticed in Gualdan Kingdom around 240 C.E.

Magic Swordsman is one of the only classes that is capable of forming aura while keeping their body open to mana. As such, a person with that class is capable of practicing both swordsmanship techniques and learning magic. This allows the user to be effective at close to mid range. Moreover, magic-dampening effects can only cut off the user's connection to mana, rendering them partly effective.

However, Magic Swordsman is a class that sacrifices the extensive power of either Swordsman or Mage for the utility of both. Its growth in power is slower than normal classes. The magical aspect of the user will stop growing around the 5th or 6th circle, depending on the user, and their prowess in swordsmanship will be high Bishop-rank at most, and only rarely break through to low Rook-rank.=

Lucas closed the book before he got too immersed. A light sigh escaped his mouth as he moved the book to the side.

'The class seems quite good. Most people would probably sacrifice whatever they have to become one if there was such a possibility. However, I know just how much Aveline trains just not to fall behind others.' he nodded almost glumly. Perhaps that was why she treated him the best of his family. Unlike Ophelia, who attained magic early and showed **** prowess in using it, Aveline struggled a lot. She knew, at least partially, what he had to go through.

Lucas groaned, pushing the books to the side. A glint of bitterness bit him in his throat.

'Still, she'd attained the 2nd circle last year, and she's about to advance to Knight rank. Combined, her combat power is no less than a 3rd-circle Mage, but she's much trickier to fight than one. Ups and downs of the class, I suppose.'

...

Lucas slowly opened the final book. It was the one fully dedicated to the phenomenon most in the world could summon at their own convenience: the status screen.

=The status screen is a constantly researched phenomenon gifted to the sapient races by the Outer Gods at the dawn of civilization. It is convenient and easy to use, allowing one to assess their status at any moment.

(...)

The stats making up the middle part of the status screen are divided into two categories: Base and Special.

Base stats are the ones every being is born with. They include Strength - representing physical ability, Agility - reflexes and reaction time, Endurance - physical resilience and stamina, and Intelligence - responsible for magical prowess and thinking capability. Every being is born with a total of 100 stats spread across the four. The distribution of the stats signifies a bias toward a type of class one will attain in one's life.

Special stats are attained throughout one's life. They are unique to base stats in that they no being is born with any, and there is no fixed amount to how many one can have. Special stats are attained through repeated actions and as a completion of one's class.

Stat growth is entirely dependent on the individual. Every level-up increases all base stats by 1, but it's possible to attain them through repetitive actions associated with the stats. However, the higher the stat relative to the user's level, the slower the gain.

There is no confirmed maximum for any stat.=

Lucas looked up from the book for a moment. The information matched everything he had learned with the books in his family library.

'Extensive knowledge searching throughout the years increased my Insight and granted me Keen Senses when it reached 20 points. It also increased my Intelligence, although not by much as I have started with 84 points in it. Same for training with Deuce for Stamina and Persistence. And... encounters with Illan for resistances.'

He shook his head.

'No point in thinking about useless things. This, in the first place, isn't what I'm looking for. What I want is the list of all known special stats.'

Lucas quickly searched the pages. He searched for every entry that ended in 'y', while simultaneously looking for a stat of 'Mental Power'.

Quite surprisingly, he quickly found the latter.

=Mental Power

It is a stat denoting the user's mental resilience and attack capability. It is a stat almost exclusive to the Psion class, and high values allow the user to learn and use powerful mind magics.

Although it's difficult, it's possible to attain this stat by attempting resistance against mental magic.=

...

...

...

'...that's all?'

Lucas made an incredulous expression. The exasperated sigh that followed made him look almost like a person who had lost all hope in life. 'This much is as obvious as day!' he groaned quietly, closing the book. 'Whoever wrote that entry must've never met a Psion in their life...'

Lucas closed his eyes. Crossing his arms on his chest, he huffed silently in resignation.

'No knowledge is complete. Especially when it comes to Psion-like classes, I can imagine that few would be willing to test what it can really do. I suppose the best I can do is learn on my own. Enhancing my Mental Power won't be very difficult, but relying solely on Astral Projection isn't a good idea. Subliminal Guidance is also something I need proficiency in to hide my class in the future. And... Dream Trance...' he thought to his newest skill.

The image of hypnotized Ophelia was still vivid, and the realization of how much power he had over her still reverberated in his skull. 'I will need to prepare if I am to use it... and I'm not sure how I feel about doing so. I probably shouldn't use it unless necessary.'

...

'But... maybe I could use it on Illan?' an interesting thought arose in his mind. Lucas twitched in his position. A bit of a stirring feeling in his heart traveled down his hands. 'Would that kind of thing be even possible...? He rarely goes on his own. Unless I can create a situation where we are alone, I will have either Kieran or Thorne to worry about. But... if perchance I manage to do that, maybe I could influence him to be a little nicer... hell, I wish I could just tell him to leave me alone forever.'

...

A few moments transpired. Lucas slowly looked to the ceiling. Similar to the glass dome he could see back at his home, this place had a transparent ceiling looking to the sky. However, the room's atmosphere was somewhat dim as the sky above was cloudy. The dark silver of the heavens prognosticated rain in the coming time. Who knew, perhaps even before he got home... Lucas snorted at the thought.

'Of all the days for me to not take an umbrella...' he huffed, bringing a hand to his face. He grasped the bridge of his nose. Then, he suddenly gasped. 'Wait, what's the time?!' he shot a look at the far wall. The large clock on it showed that he had less than a quarter. 'Dammit, I almost forgot about the assembly!'

Lucas almost bolted from his seat. Grabbing the three books, he rushed between the bookshelves to put them back in their righteous place. Then, with little care for anything or anyone, he hastily left the library. In doing so, he failed to notice a raven-black woman who stared at him across the reading section with eyes black as night.

-Meanwhile-

Seraphina's heart beat with power. Her brisk, uncontrolled steps were closer to a run than to a walk. The silver dress that dragged behind slightly hugged her body with every move, not given time to recoil from her chest or stomach properly. She was alone...

...and that didn't sit alright with her.

'Where's Cileres?!' the thought ran rampant in her mind. Her gaze flickered left and right across the corridor. 'He was supposed to come back an hour ago. Not only did he not, but I can't contact him... what happened?' she thought with a bit of unrest. Cileres, no matter how snarky or strange he seemed, was hardly ever late to anything, and it was never his own fault. More than that, he was always sure to inform her through their connection. But...

'Something blocks me from reaching him.' she realized during the lunch. Doing her best to not cause a scene, she politely excused herself to the bathroom. However, she knew she didn't have much time. She had to reach Cileres.

Shooting a glance down the corridor, Seraphina scanned the lengthy walls adorned with tapestry and paintings, scrutinized the fancy chandeliers and thick carpet, and even stole a glance through the windows. There was something... something about the mana in this place. It swirled slowly... almost as if inviting her.

She took a tentative step forth. Her every sense called out to her to retreat. It was an instinctual feeling that made her feel like taking another step forward would be equal to entering a lion's den. A momentary thought to withdraw and call for support appeared.

...

Seraphina's fists clenched.

'No. I can do this. I can't rely on everyone for everything. Cileres is my familiar. I'm responsible for him.' she decided, taking a guarded step forth.

She could feel it clearer with every step. The mana, pure as it was, surged on the ground, mounting new, nigh-inperceptible layers as she approached. Every next time her feet touched the carpet, she could sense it on an almost visible level - the fluctuations in mana that seemed like thin threads. However, alien as they were to her, for some reason, they also felt... strangely familiar. Like she had sensed them somewhere before.

Seraphina took a steadying breath. Approaching a corner, she looked behind. Nobody was there. Doing a mental check of what she knew of the mansion's layout, that corner should lead to a dead end. She was alone against whatever was there.

Her heart beat stronger, the pressure getting to her head. However, Seraphina felt her resolve burn fiercer than before. Cileres was close, she knew it. She readied herself, mana welling up in her palm as she prepared to call upon any spirit that would answer.

And then, she stepped forth, crossing the corner.

Seraphina's eyes darted all over the corridor. Blue threads hung in a few places, creating an intricate network. The lines shone vaguely, emanating very faint mana.

In between the threads, a small woman stood, her expansive, black hair hiding her front from Seraphina.

'What's this?!' the thought rang in Seraphina's mind as she immediately summoned a spirit of light. It was an instinctual feeling that welled up in her throat, almost as though she sensed danger.

The woman instantly reacted. The long hair shuffled behind her, its color like the deepest of nights as she turned. Her eyes, earthy green, had a somewhat calm lack of emotion visible.

"=You...=" Seraphina spoke softly, her voice trailing off into the uncertainty as she recognized the woman.

'This magic... it's not elvish. No, rather... it isn't any magic at all.' the green-haired elf realized. Her heart beat with redoubled strength. 'It's pure mana.'

The black-haired woman didn't answer. The ominous pressure emanating from her seemed to increase as she took a slow step forward. However, her expression remained neutral. In a way, she seemed almost as confused at Seraphina's presence in this place as the woman felt.

A short moment of consternation transpired. Neither of the two spoke or moved. Nimue took a brief moment to analyze Seraphina's posture. Likewise, the Liveren Princess scrutinized the smaller woman in the maid's outfit. The silent standoff seemed to last for an eternity.

"=You... I knew there was something odd about you,=" Seraphina hesitantly broke the silence, her mana welling up. The spirit next to her shone, readying itself.

"?" Nimue's brow raised in confusion. However, Seraphina noticed that her hand clenched slightly. Thin strands of mana were connected to her fingertips.

"=Knowing about Limen is one thing, but... this control of mana...=" her gaze swept across the corridor before focusing on the maid with ferocity. "=You... are not an elf,=" Seraphina's blue eyes shone dangerously.

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