Chapter 68 - Advanced Classes

Some time passed, and it was Lily's first day of the advanced class. Richardus had briefly prepared her by giving her a rundown of how the class worked and what was expected of the students.

Effectively, this class was for anyone looking toward attending one of the magic academies—whether they had a bloodline or not. They were taught a few essential chants to master, with the most notable being a wind spell for self-defense.

Richardus claimed it was the perfect foundation for someone about to enter one of the schools or prepare to take the test to get into one, and so Lily was very excited.

After Richardus made his speech, Lily entered the class and briefly repeated her introduction. The second time was even easier than the first, not only because she had been through it before but also because of the class size—it was tiny.

I really thought there would be more. Or maybe the majority of the class left to start the year? I wonder how Rose is doing… I still haven't gotten the letter she promised me.

This time, nobody in the class questioned her presence; presumably, they didn't care or had heard the rumors circulating. Lily was grateful regardless and happily took her empty seat that the instructor pointed out. She sat down and opened Arakil's book, intending to look like she was taking notes.

Richardus spoke briefly, explaining some fundamental chants for air, fire, water, and earth. Lily listened to it carefully, absorbing as much knowledge as possible.

She couldn't help but note that his explanation was a simplified version of the one Arakil had given her, and some of the words seemed a little different than what she was used to. She made a note to query Arakil about it later while she tried to let the lesson sink in.

After giving his introduction to the magical chants, he then gave a brief demonstration of each spell.

The fire spell created a small flame that could be used as either a light source or to ignite kindling.

The water spell created clean drinking water and could be used for washing up.

The earth spell was effectively a cleaning spell, as it gathered dust and dirt into a compressed ball for disposal.

Finally, the air spell was a defensive gust to blow an assailant off of you.

Even though all four spells were simple, especially compared to something like her own Nebula Veil, Lily was still entranced by the idea of casting new forms of magic.

After the wonderful demonstration, they spent the next part carefully reviewing the correct enunciation of the water spell. Richardus was slow and methodical in his approach, ensuring that the entire class repeated the words perfectly.

"I'll keep repeating this forever. The words matter, as does your intent," Richardus warned for the umpteenth time.

Despite the class saying it out loud together, he seemed to be able to accurately pinpoint who was slightly off cue or incorrectly pitched the chant. Thereafter, he would help correct them individually before continuing.

"Now, do we have any volunteers?" Richardus asked as he looked at the class.

Lily was tempted to raise her hand and give it her best shot but decided to hold back on her first day. She wanted to confirm with Arakil about these slightly different chants and see if there would be any potential issues.

I hope Richardus wasn't counting on me to volunteer.

To Lily's relief, he didn't call on her, and two other students wanted to try it. Before even letting them have a chance, the instructor had them both recite the chant from memory before finally giving them permission.

Lily recognized one student, a girl named Daisy. Like Lily and Rose, she was also part of the batch of unnamed orphans targeted for the flower-naming treatment.

Typically, Lily wouldn't have paid much attention to the other kids except for Rose, but she knew Daisy precisely because of the fuss around her name. The girl almost got into as many fights as Rose with anyone who made fun of her name.

All because of a children's book about a cow named Daisy. Lily recalled and lamented how cruel kids could be.

Daisy was not a Bovinia, so the joke made no sense, but the kids still teased her about it until they got hit. Lily couldn't remember exactly what sort of demi she was, and it wasn't apparent because she looked almost fully human.

Lily refocused her attention. The magic was about to start as Richardus pulled out an empty bucket for the trial. Daisy was going up first and proceeded to cast the spell slowly. Lily watched and listened carefully but only noticed one very minor slip-up—and it wasn't enough to stop the spell from forming and partially filling up the bucket.

"Well done," Richardus congratulated her. "Your chant was almost perfect, and we are beyond having issues seizing control of your Mana, so it could only be a lack of visualization. Please try again now that you've witnessed it yourself."

Daisy nodded and proceeded again. Lily thought she must have overcorrected, as the chant sounded slightly worse than before. However, the result was far superior and nearly caused the bucket to overflow.

Richardus congratulated her, and the class applauded her.

"You messed up a little again," Richardus mentioned, causing Daisy to flinch. "However, you had a much stronger visualization, so the error was overcome. You can see clearly that the effects go hand in hand."

Daisy thanked the teacher and headed back to her desk. After Richardus emptied the bucket with a spell of his own, it was the other students' turn.

Lily didn't know the boy's name, but he looked confident. He began his chant rapidly, and Lily immediately caught an error, followed by a second one and then a third!

Even with a good mental image, surely his spell won't work, right?

The boy reached the end of his chant, and the spell went off. Water began pouring into the bucket at an alarming rate before the instructor picked it up and placed it in a larger bucket to catch the overflow. The spell eventually stopped, and Lily was left wondering why it was so effective.

"A good first effort, Cal," Richardus said. "Although you need to practice the chant some more, I counted at least five errors in your chant."

"But I got a far better result," Cal complained.

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Richardus shook his head sternly, "You have a minor water bloodline. To say your result was better would hardly be fair. Or would you like me to compare your earth spells to Theobald?"

"He doesn't even need to chant for earth!" Cal protested.

"Exactly my point," Richardus said. "I'm not disparaging your result. It was a good attempt. I'd praise you even more if your mistakes were solely on the chants related to water, but they were on commonly used phrases."

"I suppose…" Cal grumbled.

"Would you like to take a second try?" Richardus offered.

Cal nodded, although he was biting his lip.

"Take it slow," the instructor suggested. "It's not a race; you're not in a combat scenario. The words won't run away from you."

Cal nodded while Richardus emptied the two buckets with a quick chant of his own. Then, he began his second attempt at a much more reasonable pace.

Lily still counted two fumbles, although they seemed to be his tongue slipping due to nerves rather than his speedy attempts to blitz through it. The spell chant was completed, and at one point, it looked like Richardus might've needed a third bucket moments before the spell finally concluded.

"Very well done," Richardus said proudly.

The class applauded once more, and Cal looked rather delighted. Once the class quieted down, Richardus continued speaking.

"I hope you can see that I'm not being unreasonable. I point out your errors with your best interests in mind."

After grinning at the buckets of water, Cal nodded and returned to his seat. Even after Richardus offered the class again, nobody took him up on it, so he continued with a bit more of a lesson on tips for correct enunciations.

It seems like he's specifically focusing on the words that Daisy and Cal messed up. Once I get the okay from Arakil, I'll volunteer to get more direct help. I wonder if the others have also realized he's trying to help them this way.

When class finally ended, Lily let out a tiny stretch, feeling quite fatigued from trying to concentrate too much. That was when she felt a gentle poke on one of her ears and immediately swiveled around.

Standing slightly behind her was a massive boy, and even if Lily weren't on the very short side, he'd probably be in the runnings for the top five tallest orphans.

Lily stared at him wide-eyed and curiously, wondering what she had done to attract the attention of such a large and slightly intimidating boy.

"Umm …?" Lily stuttered.

"Hi," the boy said softly, surprising Lily. "Sorry for poking your ear. I tried to get your attention, but I think you were listening too much to the teacher."

"Oh… Sorry?" Lily replied, blushing a little. "I was just really interested in the lesson since it's my first time here."

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I was similar on my first day. Although our situations are a little reversed."

The boy chuckled softly and gestured to the top of his head before lowering his hand slightly above Lily's height.

Lily tilted her head.

"Uh… You know?" the boy mumbled. "We both are demis that don't normally have magic. But I'm tall, and you're-"

"Short," Lily said with a slight frown.

"Sorry if that was a rough spot," he said, looking worried. "I thought a joke would lighten the mood."

"It's… Okay," Lily sighed. "So what can this short rabbit do for you?"

"Well, this tall dumb bear," he said, gesturing to himself with a thumb before hushing his voice. "Was wondering if the rumors were true…"

Dumb bear… So he's an Ursinia? I guess that explains the size, but wow, he must have a rare bloodline to have magic, then?

"Which ones?" Lily asked, feeling the desire to sigh again.

The boy swallowed, and when he confirmed nobody was eavesdropping, he continued in a whisper, "That you beat Tim?"

"Tim attacked me and some kids while we were out hunting slimes and gremlins, I had an awakening, and I beat him off with magic," Lily said in a somewhat rehearsed manner.

The boy smiled, "Thank you."

"Um? Okay? Why?" Lily asked, confused.

"I hated him; he used to use me as a punching bag for his troubles," the boy said. "You did what I always dreamed of but was too scared to do so."

Lily blinked a few times, "But you're double his size?"

"Yeah, but he was stronger than me even with that," the boy said somberly. "And I'm a bit of a coward… The best I could've hoped for was sitting on him."

"Magic?" Lily suggested.

The boy's eyes went wide as he shook his head frantically while making a shushing sound.

"Do not say that!" he hissed. "Instructor Richardus will punish anyone thinking of using magic that way."

"Oh… Right," Lily admitted. "Well, he does believe in self-defense."

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I called it self-defense. I mean, look at me?" he replied, gesturing to himself and giving a sad grin.

"I guess so," Lily agreed. "Well, you're welcome. I hope he's realized the error of his ways after everything that happened."

"Hasn't troubled me since, so again, thank you!" the boy said, even going as far as bowing his head.

"Hey, there's no need to go that far," Lily frantically replied, urging him to act normal. "I'm Lily, by the way. What's your name, big guy?"

"Oh, that was dumb of me," the boy sighed. "My name's Theobald, but please call me Theo. I kind of hate my full name."

Lily giggled, "Sure thing Theo. At least you aren't part of the flower orphans."

"Honestly, if it meant getting Rose as a protector back then, I would've gladly been called Oliver or something."

"I don't think olives are a flower?" Lily pointed out.

"Close enough?" Theo said with a shrug. "Maybe Sage? Or Thorn?"

"Sage is a herb, and Thorn…" Lily shook her head, trying not to giggle. "Just stick with Theo. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, but I need to get going, or I'll be late for my job."

"Sorry!" Theo apologized profusely, clasping his hands. "Hopefully, next time, we can talk about magic or do some practice?"

Oh, that sounds kind of fun.

Lily nodded and waved goodbye before rushing off.