First class and explanations

The bus arrives in front of the campus and I jump out, more excited than ever to start the day. Of course, not for class itself, but for whatever magic shenanigans I might be able to pull off! The time spent in the bus allowed me to regenerate a bit of mana, the bar being almost full again. Knowing that a full mana bar is a waste of levelling potential, I continue to observe more students as I see them while I walk in to the first class of the day: English.

Walking into the lecture room and sitting down, my eyes are immediately drawn to my teacher. Her name is Olivia White, she looks to be in her mid 30s and she is ridiculously sexy. A yellow floral dress contains an ample bosom, albeit relatively conservatively. Ms White, although an absolutely gorgeous woman, is extremely professional. This is reflected in her clothing, much to the chagrin of most of the students in her classes. Observing her yields a very interesting result.

Olivia White

Lvl 43, MILF teacher

Lady Of The beasts

38 years old

Single

Relationship: +21

A million questions pop into my head, but before I get to ponder any of them, Ms White looks straight at me. Chills run down my spine as I stare back. Her commanding yet steady gaze meets mine, nervous and unsure of what I’ve just done. Her voice rings out, calm, yet leaving no room for argument. “Gemma, see me after class.” I swallow panic and answer. “Yes Ms White.” I’m thankful that my voice doesn’t crack or betray the fear I feel. Hopefully I haven’t just pissed off somebody who’s vastly more powerful than me.

Achievement unlocked: Oh shit!

You’ve managed to intrigue somebody who could mop the floor with you blindfolded! Even I’m interested to see what happens now.

Reward:

+1 Endurance

Well at least that confirms my theory that it’s someone rather than a machine that’s writing these achievements, likely along with the descriptions of literally everything I’m seeing. I’m not a particularly religious person, I’m even against much of traditional religion due to the mass amounts of suffering that religion can be blamed for. Though there’s something to be said about the people causing the suffering being to blame, rather than the ideology itself, it’s still not something I’m a huge fan of.

Regardless, I send a prayer of thanks to who or whatever might be listening that I have these powers, that my life has gotten a whole lot more interesting and that whoever is behind this, is coming up with all the descriptions and text I’m seeing.

Achievement unlocked: Damn right!

Be grateful noob, I am a generous Goddess! On another note, I can hardly keep giving you free stats every time I want to sass you, so here’s a useless ring.

Reward:

+1 useless ring

Useless ring: Gifted to The Gamer by me. Like it’s name implies, it has no special properties. It is kind of pretty though.

I’m lucky that the ring appears in my inventory, rather than in my hands. Despite me having chosen a seat at the back, where not many people are, I’d still rather not take the risk. The achievement also confirms that the being behind my powers is a woman, and a Goddess at that.

Not particularly useful information, but the fact that she’s sassy is fun. It’s also good for me that she seems to be helping me. I briefly smile in thanks once more, before turning my attention to more pressing matters.

The class itself is going agonizingly slowly. With all the other students observed (and no further upgrade to observe yet), I have nothing much else to do. At least my mana bar isn’t over-regenerating yet. Observing so many people put it close to empty, but the time I’ve spent in class has allowed me to regenerate most of it. The topic Ms White is lecturing us on would actually be quite interesting to me, under normal circumstances. The last year or two, I’ve found myself being drawn more and more to film analysis.

Ms White is talking about techniques used to create tension and suspense in the audience, and giving examples of well made thriller movies. It helps that its my favourite movie genre. I can’t focus much on the content of the words though, unable to stop thinking about what might be awaiting me at the end of class. Hopefully, she doesn’t tear me to shreds. The irony of the lecture topic being suspense strikes me. Her title was ‘Lady of the beasts’, which implies that she has an animal related ability, or at least that she’s somehow involved with animals. Given that her level was so much higher than mine however, her ability probably doesn’t matter a whole lot.

Finally, gloriously, the bell rings for the next class. As the students file out of the room, my suspense and apprehension grows. I walk down the steps towards Ms White. She raises her hand, and I get a popup.

You have been **** into an illusion barrier. You may only leave after all hostiles are defeated, or when you are allowed by the person in control.

“Interesting, a new magic user. I suppose it is on me that I did not invest in protection against scrying magic, but even I can feel when it is used on me. I assumed people knew to leave me alone. So, out with it girl, what did you learn?” I look up and meet Ms White’s eyes with a confidence that I don’t feel at all.

“You’re 38 years old. Your title is ‘Lady of the beasts’, although I’m not sure what that means.” I confess, leaving out other details. Her eye twitches slightly. “Is that all you learnt?” So did she notice that I left out a detail. Either that, or she's just making sure. I shake my head. “You’re single and you don’t mind me all that much.” She regards me for a few seconds before turning and sitting down at her desk.

Ms White motions for me to sit down too. I take a chair and do so. “Just how new are you?” She asks. “I woke up this morning with these powers.” I throw caution to the wind, since she already seems aware of magic in general, and of the fact that I can use it. “I have no idea exactly what’s going on. I’m just happy to have them.” She nods, gathers her thoughts and speaks. “In that case, I imagine you have a lot of questions, however let me preempt them with my own explanation, before you ask. Listen, take it in, then ask your questions. Understand?” I nod. She takes a breath, and speaks again.

“There is a world beneath that which you know. If you have ever seen Harry Potter, imagine this for a framework. We call it the abyss, and we use the word ‘mundane’ instead of muggle. Magic, monsters, all such tropes that you may find from fantasy novels, are actually quite real. I myself am a magic user and abyssal, as you have learnt.”

“Overseeing everything is a being, a supreme Goddess. The commonly used name for her is Gaia, although some use different terms. She ensures the separation of the mundane world and the abyss. As for the why, I do not know. I only know that it is one of her rules to never mix the two worlds.”

“You are what we call a ‘late bloomer’. It means that your abilities manifested themselves at a later time. Most people who use magic are born with their abilities already made manifest. Both late bloomers and people born able to use magic are under the category of innate magic users. The other category is acquired users, people who get most of their magic through specific styles of martial arts and other learning, which allow them to level the playing field with innate users.”

“The space we are currently in is called an illusion barrier. It is how we separate the mundane world from the abyss. I can show you how to create one, if you like. They allow members of the abyss to get their business done without risk of breaking Gaia’s rule of separation. Are you following so far?”

I nod, taking it all in relatively quickly, used to large info dumps thanks to years spent playing video games and in general, consuming narrative focused media.

“However, I must caution you. The abyss is a dangerous place. Here in Australia, no single organisation is in power. It is made up of an assortment of guilds, clans and small groups who each believe they deserve to be in power. The hodgepodge of various factions of lowlifes and scumbags makes it difficult to exist here at times. This is why despite my relative power, I lay low and try not to get involved. I have no interest in the fighting among the fractured guilds of this country. As far as I am concerned, none of them are particularly worthy of ruling.”

“While they pose a small danger to me, to a new and inexperienced magic user such as yourself, it would be very easy to wind up enslaved in a mana factory or other such horrible places. I would not wish to see you exploited in such a manner. You are still weak enough that you could go about your mundane life unnoticed by the tyrants who roam about this place. This is the course of action that I would advise for you. Will you leave this world and forget about all of this?”

I don’t even need to think about this. I’ve been waiting my entire life for something more interesting and I’m sure as shit not going to give it up because of the risk. All or nothing, as they say. “No, I will not. I cannot. This world is incredible, and I could not live with myself if I ignored this. I’ll just have to be strong enough that the danger doesn’t matter!” I declare.

Ms White shakes her head. “Ah, if only it were that simple. Your decision is as unsurprising as it is foolish.” Her lips curl into a small smile. “I do respect your conviction however, rash as it may be. In that case, would you like to learn about illusion barriers?” I nod, and within a few minutes, she has shown me how to create and exit barriers. The act requires simply raising my hand and letting go of energy.

New Skill: Create Instant Dungeon lvl 1

Create an illusion barrier. May or may not be filled with monsters, depending on the creators wishes. 5MP

New Skill: Escape Instant Dungeon lvl 1

Leave an illusion barrier. Stronger illusion barriers may not be escaped. 5MP

Perfect. “Thank you Ms White!” I say, happy to have learnt so much about this new world, the abyss. She waves it off. “There is no need to thank me, I am doing what any half decent person would.” I find the words surprisingly easily. “Kindness is not as common as it should be. I thank you nonetheless.” She nods in acknowledgement. “You are welcome. Call me Olivia. I shall be interested to see where you go, Gemma. One more word of advice: be careful.” “Thank you Olivia. I will be.” I raise my hand and use my new skill, leaving the barrier.

I haven’t dared to use observe again on Olivia, knowing that she can now feel it. However I’m hoping that this interaction with her has raised my relationship score with her somewhat. It would be amazing if I could fuck her sometime. Unlikely, but a goal to set regardless. I head to my next class, aware that I’m late. At least my classmates can verify the fact that Olivia wanted to speak to me after class.