Chapter 358: School Life XI

“Close your eyes!” Iona announced.

“Brrrpt!” Auri was making sure my eyes were closed.

I dutifully closed them, but what was the fun if I didn’t try to use my other senses to figure out what was going on?

We were inside, the Island having wandered into a blizzard. It was winter in the northern hemisphere, and I wasn’t terribly social. A small party, just me, Iona, and our companions, in the suite’s living room, was all I wanted.

The room was warm, and I heard Auri flitting around. Didn’t hear a sound out of Iona, but the massive Valkyrie could be incredibly stealthy when she wanted to.

A wave of cold washed over me, then I felt it subtly radiating right next to my knees.

Fenrir had built some sort of Ice thing?

Auri was trying to be quiet, but I could hear her flittering around the room, occasionally letting out a soft “brrrrpt” as she gave instructions to Iona… and Fenrir?

Okay, okay. Multiple trips were being made, and whoa that smelled amazing. Fresh bread, crusts, cheese, meats, vegetables, and-

Oh goddesses yes, there were mangos involved in this. I’d recognize that smell anywhere.

I felt myself starting to involuntarily drool. I heard a whispered countdown.

My hearing was orders of magnitude better than Auri’s or Fenrir’s. Anything whispered loudly enough for them to hear, I could also hear.

“Three… two… one…”

“Happy Birthday!” The three of them cried out in various ways.

My eyes flew open, and I smiled at the spread.

Iona, Auri, and Fenrir were all sitting around an Ice table Fenrir had made, the furniture creaking under Auri’s baking. Pies and scones, bread and croissants, Auri had outdone herself this time. The pièce de résistance was a four-layered cake in the middle, mangos circling the entire base.

I teared up at the cake topper. A little Ranger eagle, delicately carved out of frosting.

Iona draped an arm over my shoulder.

“I know it’s not much, but I hope you like it.”

I gave her a quick peck.

“Are you kidding? It’s perfect.”

What else was there to say?

We were enjoying the party, and I was enjoying being the woman of the hour. Did anything top a birthday surrounded by loving and caring people?

The celebrations were interrupted by a knock on the door. We gave each other a quick four-way glance, then Fenrir went off to investigate. He opened the door, the clever magic allowing a thumbless creature to work it, and three people were waiting outside.

The one in the middle was clearly the important one. She was wearing black robes, but she somehow managed to make them a fashion statement. Gold thread was used as the stitching, it clung to her in a way that left nothing to the imagination, in spite of her being fully clothed, and if I wasn’t mistaken the entire thing was made out of silk. Her hat was precisely tilted, and tasteful makeup was framed by sparkling earrings, filled with dozens of tiny gemstones.

“Greetings. I am Iya, of the Sahel family. May I come in?” The naga asked.

We traded looks, and Iona gave a small nod.

“Uh, sure.” I was slightly trapped behind the Ice table and pile of dishes. Iona shuffled over, letting me shuffle over as well. Iya gracefully slithered in, her two friends remaining in the hallway.

“Is there something we can help you with?” Iona asked.

“No. Indeed, I’ve come here to offer Elaine an apology.” The naga said.

Iona shot me a puzzled look, and I shrugged. This was news to me, I don’t think I’d ever seen Iya before, let alone interacted with her.

She gestured, and one of her friends – an orc by the look of it – walked into the room, handing her a small ornate box.

“Raith is one of the retainers of house Sahel. I had encouraged him to perform well in his studies, and he took to the assignment with a little too much enthusiasm. You ended in the crossfire, and for that, I apologize. I can see that you appear to be busy, and so let me leave you with a small token, and my best wishes. I do hope we can be friends.”

She deliberately extended the box out to me, and Iona and I traded looks again. I shrugged. I didn’t see the harm in it.

I took the box.

“Once again, I wish you all the best.” Iya said, then politely backed out and closed the door.

“Weird.” Iona said.

Fenrir nosed at the box, wanting to know what was in it.

“This might end up in my top five weird stuff, yeah.”

“Brrrpt?”

I opened the box, and my eyes practically bugged out.

It was filled with tiny loose gems of nearly every sort, piled together like they were a kid’s beach rock collection.

My eyes bugged out, and I looked up at Iona with my jaw dropping.

“Think I can get Raith to say more dumb things?” I asked her.

Iona kissed me instead of answering, pulling me into her – our – bedroom.

Life?

Life was pretty darn good right now. I don’t know how long it would last, but I was determined to wring out every last drop of fun and enjoyment.

Classes came and went in a blur of studying, notes, and exams.

Practical studies at the hospital was a constant, keeping myself sharp and in practice. Seeing dozens of patients from around the world, getting practice with the various quirks of different races.

Mythical and Magical Anatomy. Bioprocessing. Maintaining Homeostasis. Wards for Homes, Forts, and Palaces. Formal Logic. Advanced Radiance Sorcery. Microbiology. Pharmacology. Fantastical Organs. Elemental Interactions. Structural Biology. Magical Ailments and Diseases. World History. Offensive Radiance Skills. Biomancy Ethics. Formations. Transforming Yourself Into Another Species. Potions, Their Uses, and Side-effects. Cross-Cultural Medicine. Countermagic. Dangerous Places and Beings. Breaking Illusions. Flushing Out Waste. Spell Integrity. Putting the Body Pieces Together. Bioalchemical Processes. The Oddities of the World. Epigenetics. Psychiatry. Gods and Religion. Bioengineering. Enchanting. Advanced Metabolic Processes. Abnormal Psychology. Global Abnormalities. Jiwa Runes. Advanced Augmentations. Rituals. Biosculpting. Therapy. The Great Groups and Guilds. Octagon. Substance Editing. Prosthetics. Synergistic Modifications.

Brain Modifications. I learned enough in that class to know I only wanted to make one change – a backup brain in case my head got obliterated. Even that was going to be an exercise in weirdness. I did not want to touch or modify my ‘original’ brain though.

Wizardry Metamagics got me evolving [Runic Scribing]. The School was a fantastic place for picking up skills, and [Butterfly Mystic] was all about evolving skills. I wasn’t able to get everything, or even a small fraction of all the different meta skills that existed – most witches and wizards required a full class with multiple supporting skills for what I was trying to cram into a single skill – but I hadn’t picked an evolutionary class for nothing.

I managed to get the skills commonly known as [Spellchecking], [Mage’s Eye], [Enchanting],and [Serene] merged into [Runic Scribing], which turned into [Lepidoptera].

None of the meta magics were particularly amazing or world-shaking – [Enchanting] was easily the best one – but they were improvements.

My Radiance classes made me see the light on an issue I’d somewhat known for ages, but hadn’t properly confronted and thought about.

I wasn’t getting a lot of mileage out of [Radiance Conjuration]. I used it primarily for two things. Making light, and making deadly beams of Radiance to fight people with. Rarely would I be doing something else with it.

Wizardry gave me access to light, and if I was using [Radiance Conjuration] just to do a single thing, instead of enjoying the full breadth of possibilities?

I might as well get a dedicated skill, with bonuses and trade-offs.

I picked up [Light Beam], and spent hours at the firing range. [Persistent Casting] plus near-unlimited Arcanite plus being able to get my studying done there made for effective, if terribly inefficient leveling. Combined with Offensive Radiance Skills, I upgraded the skill time and time again.

[Nova Lance] joined the team!

Nova Lance: Focus the power of the shining sun into a fine beam at the tip of your fingers of searing consumption, destruction and devastation. Increased control, distance, and destruction per level.

The skill alone was a significant upgrade over ‘simply’ conjuring the beams up, and that was before [Solar Corona] kicked in. The only ‘downside’ was I’d managed to work in a ‘tip of my fingers’ restriction. While technically a downside – no more laser eye blasts for me – it acted as a restriction, improving the overall power of the skill. There were downsides, but I believed it was a net positive.

[Kaleidoscope] got an upgrade, without a name change. The butterflies were even faster now, and the skill leveling up was tied to acceleration, the whole effect was compounded.

[Persistent Casting]finally evolved, letting me pre-store up to six different configurations of skills to remember, with the promise of more in the future. I could now reasonably toggle my healing on and off!

Auri classed up, got some new skills, and immediately capped again. Notably, she got [I am the Brrrettiest], which summoned a number of flaming clones of her, all able to cast weak skills. She also grabbed [Baking].

A tournament came and went. We did alright, although Bartolo managed to throw the match against the Yellow Jackets team. One of the risks of taking students from places all over the world – old loyalties were sometimes stronger than the temporary one.

The crowd utterly loved it though, and nobody talked about anything else the entire time. In a way, that was almost better than winning. ‘The School wins again’ was just another ‘ya, ya, whatever’ moment, while ‘The School got betrayed by the Yellow Jackets’ was good for gossip for months, if not years.

I thought it was a little weird how in-stride everyone took it, but it was just a sport in the end. Well, everyone except Shirayuki, who was understandably pissed.

None of my friends were at the next stop the School made near Rolland, deep in the Empire of Xerius, although a consultation of a map showed dense, ancient forests between Rolland and where we’d stopped. I was banking on that being why Julius, Artemis, and Amber hadn’t been able to make it. It sounded close in theory, that’s why they thought they could meet up, but in practice it was too difficult to traverse.

I felt better. Whole. In control. I believed that while I’d never truly come to terms to losing my entire family a second time, that I’d properly grieved.

With all that said, I was still seeing Linnet every week. It was good for me.

Iya continued to be a confusing presence in our lives. Iona was naturally suspicious. She was from the Omospondia Confederacy, and never had the world seen such a den of backstabbing, political snakes. According to the rumors, it was the only country where professional assassins were able to make a living.

Which had me arguing that maybe she’d never gotten the chance to properly socialize, and was somehow worse than I was at making friends, and was following some guide or another.

23 came and went, and my 24th birthday rolled around. Checking carefully, it was indeed the same day as Iona’s birthday, and I fulfilled my promise to her that her 23rd birthday had been the best birthday of her life… so far. I had bittersweet dreams of Lyra upon realizing our shared birthday.

24 rolled into 25 far too quickly, the year passing in a flash of notes and strewn clothing, of burning wings and the sharp smell of the hospital.

One day I found myself in Marcelle’s office, sharing a glass of wine with the vampire and having one of our discussions.

“[Persistent Casting] is totally worth it.” I gave our traditional greeting as I sat down.

She groaned and poured herself another finger.

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” She asked.

I grinned at her.

“Nope!”

She scuffed and rolled her eyes.

“Well, you did save a lot of people, so I’ll let it go. How’s biomancy going? Medicine? The rest of your studies?”

“They’re going well. I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to say I know everything, but I’m running out of elvenoid related courses in the two.”

“Mmm. Any interest in plant related biomancy?”

I hesitated and took the plunge.

“I think I’m going to primarily stick with elvenoid. My research into other creatures has mainly been for aspects that can be used to modify elvenoids further.”

“Well, no chimeras from you at least! Cheers to that!” Marcelle offered her glass, and I delicately clinked my glass against hers.

We spent a few more minutes discussing the rest of my classes, and how I saw myself going forward.

“Now, as you may know, the School’s about to slow down again. We’re going to be over Ankhelt, and your biomancy studies have progressed well. Perfect marks across the board. It’s my understanding that you still have a [Student] class. Yes?”

“Yes. I’ve been keeping it at 32 because, politely, I don’t believe I’ll be sticking with biomancy for my entire life. It’s been wonderful learning about it, and I’d like to make modifications to myself, but I hope to get the skill to make changes permanent, then reset at 128.”

Marcelle’s lips puckered unhappily, but she gave me a nod.

“A crying shame. You’d be the best in a generation. However, if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. Do you know what you’ll take instead?”

“Still working on it.”

“Well, I’m always here to help. Anyways, I was asking because, if you’re looking for a time and a place to class up, now works. I’m happy to give you permission to perform biomancy in a limited way in the fairgrounds we set up when the School slows down, and that sort of practical, on-hands experience should be good for you. The firing range is nice, but I’m convinced the System knows when biomancy is done for practice, and when it’s done for real.”

We continued with some small chit-chat, and ended the meeting.

The Medical Manuscripts were still on my todo list, but after being at the School for a few years, I had the perfect time and place for them.

They were going to be my Healer Track thesis. My biggest issue was going to be in providing enough evidence to the panel that, yes, I was Elaine, but nothing I needed to start working on right now.

“VampFoodOSaurus!” Iona jumped up to greet me. Even after more than two years, her face still lit up every time she saw me.

“Iona!” I let her sweep me into her arms.

“Everything good? Vampy didn’t want a pint of blood or something?”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“Yes, Marcelle demanded tribute of a gallon of blood for advice, otherwise she was going to throw me off the island.” I sarcastically replied.

Iona gave a dramatic gasp and dropped me.

“Alas! Fenrir was right! The School’s a blood collection front for the vampires!”

I picked myself up off the ground, the wyvern in question poking his rapidly growing head out of his room.

“Vampires?” He growled, one of his skills letting him form words. Dude was getting big enough I was starting to question if he could get out of the suite. That was going to be a bad day in the future.

“Yes, vampires. Marcelle thinks I should grab [Biomancer] at this stage.”

“Brrrpt?!” Auri asked.

“What do you think?” Iona also asked.

“Eh, she’s right. I’ve gotten a ton of advantage out of my [Student] class, but the longer I stay a student, the less time I have to work on my final third class. It’s a tricky balance, but I’ve gotten a ton of use out of [Student]. She’s probably right.”

Iona licked her lips.

“And…?”

I gave her a quick kiss.

“Yes. I’m still planning on doing upgrades on you. I’ll see if I can get a class to include Fenrir, but no promises. I’m unsure if I even know enough about wyverns to make safe changes, forget about significant enough.”

“Brrrrpt…?” Auri plaintively asked.

“There isn’t even a book on phoenix anatomy. Plus, aren’t you already perfect?”

“Brrrpt!” Auri nodded to herself at that. ‘Brrpt BRPT!” She scolded herself that she’d ever forgotten her perfection.

“When are you classing up?” Iona asked.

“Eh… now? I know exactly what I want and I should qualify.”

“Brrrpt!” Auri flew out the door, trying to get some frantic last-second cooking in for the surprise celebration.

“Alrighty! This calls for a party!” Iona exclaimed.

Reinhard popped her head out of her door.

“My deepest congratulations on advancing your class.” She withdrew her head after that.

Most words she’d spoken to us all week, but then again, she was practically the perfect roommate. She didn’t get in our business and we didn’t get in hers, and we all kept things clean.

I went to my room, and without any great ceremony, closed my eyes and entered into the world of my soul.

I opened my eyes to see Librarian there, wearing a poofy set of School robes.

“School robes now?” I asked her. I didn’t think that they were integral to my identity.

She pulled down the top of the robe, showing me what was under it.

“Over armor.” She grinned at me. “Remember?”

It took me a moment for it to click, then I laughed.

“Yeah, I remember now! Shall we?”

She gestured for me to lead the way, and I walked over to the staircase, walking up to the next level.

“Looking for a biomancer class that’ll let me modify myself and others, and make the changes permanent. It’s fine if it’s extremely narrow. Practically speaking, I have two projects that need to be completed, then I’m done. I hope I can get a class that’ll let me draw runes in bones. It’d be nice if I could also modify Fenrir, but that’s not mandatory.”

Librarian shook her head.

“This is a level 32 class. There’s barely one class that fits your requirements, including the rune bones, but forget Fenrir. We’d barely qualify for a non-elvenoid modification-only class if we wanted that. Didn’t practice enough.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment. The lack of options was disappointing… but also freeing.

Also, I’d gotten a class that entirely met my needs. I didn’t need to make compromises. I’d been concerned that I’d need to choose between modifying Iona, and making changes permanent.

Granted, with the ‘permanent changes’, I could pay another biomancer for that. It was an easy decision that I didn’t need to make.

“Let’s see it!”

I made it to the top of the stairs, and a single book was waiting for me on a reader.

[Better. Faster. Stronger. – Forest]

Better. Faster. Stronger.: You can rebuild yourself, and anyone else you’d like. You have the magic. You can make yourself more than you are now. Stronger. Faster. Better. +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.

Not exactly a class to get my heart beating, but it did exactly what I wanted it to do. I anticipated I’d have it for a quarter, tops, while I worked on finalizing my plans and modifying myself and Iona.

“Well… guess I need to take it.” I reached out and grabbed the book.

“That you do. Just remember, most of the power in this class is in its skills, not the stats.” That was a good point. Just like when I’d built [The Dawn Sentinel], I had gotten the option to trade stat power for skill power. Seemed like this class was an example of going to the skill extreme, where I was getting a number of absurd, top-tier skills that wouldn’t go amiss in a level 256 class, at a level 32 class.

I didn’t need stats, not for what I was planning. I needed skills, and this class was perfect.

I checked the book out, opening my eyes to a dozen notifications.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [Student of the Ages – Wood] has upgraded into [Better. Faster. Stronger. – Forest]!]

[*ding!* [Better. Faster. Stronger.] has leveled up! 32->128! +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +2 Magic Control per level from your Element!]

[*ding!* [Wood Affinity] has evolved into [Forest Affinity]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Biological Manipulation]!]

Shame [Dabble] hadn’t evolved into it.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Runes of Flesh]!]

[*ding!* [Something Doesn’t Look Right] has evolved into [Warning Bells]!]

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Smooth as a Baby’s Bottom]!]

Ok, wait, what? The rest of the skills explained themselves, but not this one.

Smooth as a Baby’s Bottom: Sometimes we make little oopsies that we didn’t know would happen. Smooth as a Baby’s Bottom will fix the tiny, minor holes that we make, ensuring everything works properly. After all, are we sure that we properly know all of the Kun-Peng’s liver organelles? -300 Mana Regeneration.

Oh, thank the System. A minor fixer-upper skill. It didn’t mean I could slack off, but I could be a little more ambitious with my modifications.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Analyze Organ]!]

Iona was going to make jokes about that one. For sure.

[*ding!* You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Elvenoid Visualization]!]

[*ding!* Congratulations on reaching level 100! You’ve unlocked the Class Skill [Permanence]!]

None of the skills were particularly epic or grandiose. A simple class, with simple skills, for someone who’d frankly only been dabbling in the subject. It wasn’t like I’d grown up around biomancers, helping out as a lab assistant for years before taking my first class up, then having adventures of my own.

No, it was close to the starting line. It was arguably a normal class, the type most people living in the world had.

… Although, given the skills, maybe my perception of what was ‘normal’ was completely skewed. I should see if there was a book or some classes I could take to see what a ‘normal’ person was like now.

Oh gods. I wasn’t becoming like an out of touch noble, was I?? Did I know how much a loaf of bread cost? How about a banana?

… Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I’d never gotten a chance to recalibrate myself after my fairy adventure, and there was no way the School had normal anything.

Speaking of bread – the smell of freshly baked bread reached my nose, and I rolled out of bed, leaving the room.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of Auri’s heavenly baking.

“Sleeposaurus! I’ll let you analyze my organs anytime!” Iona wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at me.

I laughed and sat down.

I’d try out my new skills.

Tomorrow.

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 25]

[Mana: 613,390/613,390]

[Mana Regen: 299,431 (+616,377)]

Stats

[Free Stats: 488]

[Strength: 1,326]

[Dexterity: 2,374]

[Vitality: 17,560]

[Speed: 17,592]

[Mana: 61,339]

[Mana Regeneration: 61,484 (+61,638)]

[Magic Power: 29,899 (+766,909)]

[Magic Control: 30,142 (+773,142)]

[Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel – Celestial: Lv 513]]

[Celestial Affinity: 513]

[Cosmic Presence: 322]

[The Stars Never Fade: 11]

[Center of the Universe: 470]

[Dance with the Heavens: 513]

[Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]

[Mantle of the Stars: 492]

[Sunrise: 470]

[Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic – Radiance: Lv 401]]

[Radiance Affinity: 401]

[Radiance Resistance: 401]

[Nova Lance: 401]

[Lepidoptera: 160]

[Nectar: 401]

[Solar Corona: 401]

[Scintillating Ascent: 401]

[Kaleidoscope: 401]

[Class 3: [Better. Faster. Stronger. – Forest: Lv 128]]

[Forest Affinity: 128]

[Warning Bells: 128]

[Biological Manipulation: 1]

[Runes of Flesh: 1]

[Smooth as a Baby’s Bottom: 1]

[Analyze Organ: 1]

[Elvenoid Visualization: 1]

[Permanence: 1]

General Skills

[Long-Range Identify: 380]

[Immortal Recollections: 333]

[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 256]

[Spotless: 111]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]

[Sentinel’s Superiority: 513]

[Persistent Casting: 431]

[Passionate Learning: 450]