Naturally, Lily attempted to obtain further information from Rebecca and Aura but with no success. The two were tight-lipped, and Rebecca insisted Lily would learn about it either during her orientation or in her dungeon studies class.

"I don't want to get into trouble for accidentally filling your head with stuff you aren't ready for," Rebecca said.

"And I don't want to ruin the surprise," Aura agreed.

"So unfair…" Lily grumbled.

She swore they were doing it on purpose, and she was getting a little annoyed with everything being a big secret: the entrance test, Familiars, something called Terravix, and now living in the dungeon.

They chatted for a bit longer before Rebecca said she needed to get back to work and find Pete. Before leaving, she offered to escort Lily back to her room, but the latter declined and said she wanted to start getting used to the layout herself.

"See you around," Rebecca said before racing off.

Before also leaving, Lily bought a few pastries from Aura, although only after confirming they weren't burnt. She felt like she wouldn't be eating the provided meal tonight, assuming the phoenix remained on duty, so she wanted some food to eat in her room.

Lily said goodbye after making a last-ditch attempt to obtain some information from the woman, but she stayed silent.

I'm finally here, and I can't see Rose until she comes out of the dungeon. What rotten luck.

Lily began exploring the first floor of the dorm, locating the various bathrooms and showers. She also found a few small study areas plastered with signage requesting silence. Overall, she was pretty impressed with what she was seeing, although she realized she'd likely stick to her room for privacy.

During her casual stroll, she did run into a few other students and gave them some polite greetings and small talk. Naturally, a few asked her if she was lost, and she was forced to point out that she was a student.

Maybe I do need a sign like Thomas suggested.

After wandering around enough and saying hello to Beatrice again, she finally returned to her room. She immediately jumped backward and lay spread out on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What a day…"

[It seems like we have a few days to settle down before things officially start.]

"A good thing, too. I want to personalize my room a bit, not to mention getting used to the fact that you can now talk and float."

[An excellent idea. I'm also curious if you will have any additional benefits during your Mana gathering with being so close to a dungeon. But you should also use the time to relax a bit. No need to be permanently rushing forward; you've earned a bit of a break.]

"I wonder if I could get a cauldron. I'll also need to find out if I can get a supply of ink. Or more of that chalk."

[All in due time, I'm sure. Relax.]

Lily sat up and looked at Arakil, tilting her head slightly, "I am relaxing. Drawing glyphs and making potions might as well be considered my hobby."

[I see. Alright, if that's the case, I won't insist.]

"Plus, I might be able to make money with them. You heard what Pete said."

[I think Camilla rubbed off on you more than you realized.]

Lily giggled and jumped off the bed. She then started rummaging through her supplies for her ink and pens.

"But first, I want to design a better bath situation. No way I'm using public showers."

[A simple endeavor. I shall remain silent, but if you want guidance, feel free to speak out.]

Arakil's book floated to the desk and landed cover-side down, the pages fluttering to reveal fresh, blank pages.

"That's right!" Lily excitedly exclaimed. "We can actually communicate while I'm actively working. We don't need to constantly wait for the ink to dry, change to a new page, and repeat the process anymore."

Lily sat down and excitedly began sketching out her design. Since she could, she actively let Arakil be involved in the process, as she wanted to experience working more directly with him.

She was creating a simple two-glyph inscription, using the water glyph as the primary. At the same time, the fire crest was relegated to a supporting role—merely providing access to the complimentary heat sigils.

Lily had made similar inscriptions in the past, but they were all disposable, or she opted to just use incantations for a quick clean. This time, she wanted it to be mostly reusable, so she was putting in a lot more effort.

Working together, the initial sketch was finalized in record time, and she pulled out her pot of imbued ink. She got to work drawing out the inscription for real this time. Arakil remained silent during the process to prevent Lily from getting distracted.

"Success!" Lily said proudly, scrutinizing her completed inscription.

[Excellent work. Your inscriptions have come a long way, and I think you can quite easily balance three if not four, glyphs in a single drawing now.]

Lily blushed while basking in the praise. Just a year ago, she was still limited to only drawing glyphs on their own, and she had been so excited when Arakil finally said she was ready to progress.

Taken from NovelBin, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Of course, she had drawn many inscriptions, but all of them were reproductions of something Arakil had created. Now, she was capable of creating new ones from scratch, not just copying a master.

Lily carefully removed the page while Arakil gave his final evaluation. With the current imbued ink combined with the efficiency of the inscription, he predicted Lily would get a full four uses out of the drawing. Lily was quite happy about that result, although she set herself a personal goal of eventually bringing that number up to seven.

Then, one inscription could last me a whole week. I'll either need to add more limits or imbue stronger ink.

Lily had long since abandoned Fairymoss, as it was subpar to her own imbued creation. She'd spent weeks improving her Mana imbuing process, with Camilla similarly working her to the bone during their potion creation.

After eating her pastry dinner and placing Arakil's book in the desk drawer, Lily tested out her handiwork by enjoying a nice long bath at the perfect temperature.

I love magic, she thought blissfully.

***

The next morning, Lily woke up and began properly unpacking her bags. After such an exciting day prior, she had opted to wait until she was fresh in the morning.

Clothes went into their respective drawers and hangers. Then, she began filling out the desk with stationery and supplies. Lily still kept a batch of "travel" supplies in her bag pouch for emergencies, but she didn't want to risk her prized pens being damaged from travel.

She also finally pulled out her folding wooden board and set it out on the floor. It still looked as immaculate as the day she got it, as Arakil's enchantments on it had kept it from receiving any wear and tear.

Lily sat down on it and, after a deep breath, began her meditation session. She'd done this so many times that it was now as simple as brushing her teeth, but Arakil had mentioned it might be different due to the environment. He was eagerly floating nearby, waiting for her feedback.

Everything seemed normal at first as she began to collect the sparkling motes into her spiral, but as she extended her reach, she found large clusters of motes all stuck together. Lily attempted to draw them in, but they wouldn't budge as if they were rooted in place. She quickly informed Arakil.

[It sounds like you've discovered the Mana enchantments of the castle. I'd recommend not attempting to draw them in, as you may depower something vital.]

Lily let out a frightened "eep" and quickly retracted her spiral, keeping it out of reach of the so-called enchantments.

[We might have better luck in the dungeon. You could attempt to draw directly through the enchantments, but you risk your hard effort going to waste as it sifts through. If you're not practiced enough in gathering, you'd just be feeding your gathered Mana into the enchantments.]

Lily shook her head, "I'd rather not. There's enough within the barrier to work with, more than even my extended range at the orphanage."

[That's good, at least. You'll be able to continue refining your Mana Core and growing. Our ruse depends on—]

There was a knock at the door, and Lily flinched, entirely breaking out of her trance and bolting upright.

Did they discover what I was doing already? I only barely touched the enchantment!

She nervously went towards the door, unlatched it, and opened it. Beatrice was standing outside.

"Hello?" Lily asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Good morning, Lily," Beatrice said politely. Lily felt her nervousness rapidly dissolving from the friendly tone.

"Good morning, Miss Beatrice. How can I help you?"

"Well, I was growing worried that you weren't ever going to leave your room," she replied with a concerned smile. "Is everything alright?"

"I was just getting set up. I bought some pastries, so I didn't need to leave for supper," Lily explained.

"I see. Well, you've got an appointment today that you won't want to miss."

Lily tilted her head in confusion, "Rebecca said that classes only officially start in a few days?"

"Yes. But you'll need a uniform to take part in most of your classes, so you need to get measured."

"Oh?" Lily gasped in surprise.

"In addition to that, you'll get your list of classes to pick from; of course, you have till the end of the week to finalize your selection. And then there's also the selection process."

"Selection process?"

Beatrice gave a wry smile, "You'll see."

Lily pouted but nodded.

More damned secrets.

"If you're free now, I can take you there?" Beatrice offered.

Lily considered it only for a moment before promptly agreeing, "Yes, please."

"Excellent. Follow me, and don't forget your Familiar."

"Come, Arakil, we're going out," Lily called back into her room.

Arakil's book came floating out and positioned itself slightly behind her left shoulder. Beatrice gave Arakil a friendly nod and then started walking; Lily quickly followed behind her.

[I'm particularly interested in what classes you'll have to choose from both from a potential new knowledge standpoint and resources. If they have enchanting or alchemy, then we have a lot of potential. Similarly, if there's anything involving direct dungeon access, those should be prioritized.]

"Let's get measurements out of the way first since that is handled here in the girl's dorm. Don't want any boys peeking," Beatrice said with a chuckle.

Lily's face reddened a little, but she bobbed her head in frantic agreement.

Beatrice led them to a room just outside the dorm's reception room. Inside was a small group of girls around Lily's age and a few older ones, too. There was also one woman Lily assumed was a teacher or at least a staff member.

Beatrice's loud throat clearing drew the attention of one of the unoccupied girls, who came rushing over.

"Lily here needs to be measured," Beatrice said, pointing.

"A… Lagia?" the girl asked curiously.

"Yes," Lily nodded.

"But you're so short…" she murmured.

Lily felt her cheeks heating up with embarrassment.

"Short or not, she's a new student at Regarth. Make sure you get her measured properly. Chop chop. You don't want to get a bad grade, do you?"

The girl's face paled, and she quickly began pulling out numerous sets of measuring tape. She measured Lily from head to toe and every which way, with the tape levitating and gliding along at her command. When she was done recording all of them in her notebook, she promised it would be ready in two days.

Lily thanked her, but Beatrice let out a little snort and turned around to leave, forcing Lily to quickly rush after her.

"Umm?" Lily mumbled, a little unsure of Beatrice's attitude.

"Other than the teacher, the rest of the girls are part of the enchantment class. Her final grade is dependent on you giving her a good review of your clothes," Beatrice explained.

"I'd never give someone a bad grade just because they embarrassed me."

"You might not, but in the real world, you can permanently lose a client like that. They shouldn't be messing around like that."

So she's a stickler for the rules, too.

[Wait. Ask her about the enchantment class.]

"Did you say enchantment? For my uniform?" Lily quickly asked.

"Of course. Even with Wards, we can't have our students getting injured. Your supplied uniform comes with various enchantments to keep you safe for duels and dungeon exploration."

"I get my own set of enchanted clothes?" Lily couldn't believe it.

Beatrice let out a dry chuckle, "Just one of the benefits of Regarth, as we source the materials straight from the dungeon."

[Most likely thread from giant spider monsters. Very interesting. Once again, I'm impressed by your decision.]

"S-spiders?" Lily stammered.

"Yes, most of them come from spiders in the dungeon. I'm surprised you knew that; you're very diligent!" Beatrice said with a grin.

Lily gulped.

The forest spiders that Rose burnt were bad enough; now there are giant dungeon spiders? I better double up on my Nebula Veil practice!