For the time being, I will focus on this story, because I have forgotten a lot of information to write another story. You might know which one I'm talking about.
Reality mode.
Next morning.
"…You haven't eaten once, have you?" Louise is now a little suspicious. Yesterday, she was with him the whole time, as he followed her nearly everywhere. And even if she left him for personal reasons, the amount of time was too short for him to leave and eat anything. Unless he has asked another servant to bring him food, but that didn't sound right. "How could you still work properly?"
"…My apology, my mistress. I took an hour before dawn to leave the Academy and hunted for food." The familiar, Wisdom, replies.
"…Our Academy doesn't lack of food." Louise raises her right eyebrow in confusion.
"…Personal favorite." That's all Wisdom could say. "Also, excuse me, but… Noble's food has complicated tastes, and I don't like it."
"Hm… can't be helped. Maybe you're too used to blander food. If necessary, I can order some easier food for you to eat."
"My appreciation, but I don't want to bother the other servants with such trivia."
"Here you go again… *Sigh* Look, I'm appreciated that you're loyal to me, but take a rest once a while." She really wants to give up on fixing his stubbornness. But, he's dedicated in his job as her familiar, so she needs to finish hers as well.
"Can't do."
It's going to be a LONG way. And Louise is sure of it.
…
The next class
"Greetings everyone, and congratulations on the successful Springtime Familiar Summoning." After she enters the classroom, the Triangle-class Earth Mage, Professor Chevreuse says her first words. She then notices Louise and Wisdom sitting in one table. "Oh my. I have heard about a special familiar being summoned by you, miss Valliere. I didn't expect him to be… um…"
"Humane?" The familiar decides to make a guess.
"Ah, no. I knew that. Just… you look paler than I expected."
"Worry not, madam. This is how I look normally."
Seeing that the familiar is not affected by her comment, Chevreuse decides to drop the matter. "I hope so. Anyway, back to the lesson." She then remembers one more thing: "Oh right, I should have introduced myself first. I am Chevreuse, and my Runic name is Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Though, can someone remind us about the four great elements of magic?" She then spots someone. "Mister Malicorne?"
The chubby boy is a little surprised by the calling, but he calms down and answers: "Yes, Mrs. Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."
Louise notices Wisdom pulling out a small blue stick, and he makes a motion of writing over his left hand. She guesses that he wants a paper to write on, so she gives her a spare one. Her familiar nods, meaning a thanks to her, and then starts writing on it as the Professor starts talking about the important of Earth magic.
And at that point, she knows that Wisdom isn't just a normal commoner. Aside from drawing a Magic Square Formation with the Lost Element standing out, he also starts drawing other Pentagon Formation, with Wind replaced with Wood, and Void replaced with Metal. Then, he draws two more formations and drops the writing stick (that's how she sees the object is) on the table, then turns his eyes back to the professor. She decides to ask him later about those formations…
"Now, one of the basic spells related to Earth magic is 'Transmutation'. I will demonstrate it." The Professor then points her wand towards the pebbles on the table, whispers a spell. A light occurs, covering the object, and a little later, the pebbles have turned into metal with sparkling effects under the sunlight.
"Is… is that gold, Mrs. Chevreuse?" Kirche leans over her desk and asks in surprise.
"No, it is just brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just *cough* a Triangle-level mage…" Chevreuse says, trying to look important by the cough.
Again, Louise sees Wisdom writing something about the transmutation…
"Miss Valliere, do you mind having a demonstration?" The girl nearly jumps in surprise as she turns back to see the professor replacing the brass with new pebbles.
"Um…" The pink-haired girl fidgets in place, scared that she might fail again.
"Mrs. Chevreuse…" Guiche weakly raises his arm up. "Maybe you should ask another student to do it. Louise is… not very good at performing spells." He really wants to insult the girl, but he's scared of the familiar sitting next to her after the beat-down.
"Nonsense. If she's not very good at first, then she just needs to practice more. Come, miss Valliere." Not sensing the danger, the professor urges the girl once more.
That makes her feel even more nervous. Fidgeting the wand in her hands, Louise turns once more to her familiar, to see him flipping the paper and writes:
Believe in yourself.
That encouragement makes her remember the self-promise she made in the morning. Steeling her mind, she stands up and nods to the professor. "I'm ready."
"Good! Please come up and demonstrate to the class!" The teacher happily says, and watches the pink-haired girl walking down from her table. Once she's in position, Chevreuse says: "You can start anytime."
Immediately, every student starts hiding behind their chairs. Gulping once, Louise starts chanting the spell with her wand pointing to the pebbles. And once she finishes the spell…
*BOOOM!*
The pebbles explode, creating black smoke everywhere. Somehow Louise and Chevreuse aren't blown away, but now they're covered in soot. Though, the sound and the visual frighten everyone and every other Familiar in the class, as they start shouting and pointing their fingers to Louise, who looks down in shame. Yet another fail from her, Louise the…
Suddenly, a slow pace of hand claps emit in the middle of the chaos, causing others to stop their speeches and look at the source, to see Louise's familiar creating that sound. He then puts the pen down, stands up and walks down to his mistress, with the black smoke somehow spreading out to create a way. When he reaches her, he gives the girl a head pat much to her surprise, then turns to the ashes that once were the pebbles. He then takes a small amount of them and puts them in Chevreuse's palm, much to the professor's confusion. After that, he returns to his seat like nothing happened.
Not understanding yet, the professor looks at the ashes the familiar has given her… and widens her eyes in shock of the discovery. She weakly turns to the confused mage and asks: "Miss Valliere… what have you imagined for the spell?"
"I… just imagined brass, like yours…" Louise confesses.
"Then… do you know what this is?" The professor shows the ashes to the girl. She looks down and focuses for a moment… and her eyes are widening like Chevreuse. "It's gold!"
"WHAT?" All other students are surprised by the professor's exclaim, and they all go down to check if what she just said is true. They're even more shocked that it's true, and the spell is used by Louise the Zero too!
The girl steps aside so she wouldn't be crushed by them, and looks back at her familiar to see him start writing something in the paper again. 'How…how did he see that from there?' Even with a pair of glasses, Louise doubts that she could see that little piece of gold from that distance.
"Okay, everyone, return to your seat!" Not caring about the soot on her anymore, Chevreuse urges the students to follow her order. Once they're back to their position, she fixes her clothes in a moment before composing herself and says: "The spell is a success, miss Valliere. Though, I would like to ask you to… practice again, in a controlled environment, so the next ones wouldn't be so… flashy and destructive as this one."
"Yes, Professor." That's all the embarrassed student can reply.
"Although, I also have to commend your familiar." The teacher turns her attention to Wisdom. "Not only he's not moved by the sudden of events, he also has seen the good result between the… side effects of the spell."
She only receives a bow of acknowledge by the familiar. Louise then apologizes: "I'm sorry for his actions. He tends to only do more under my commands."
"Ah, it's okay, miss Valliere." The professor assures the girl. "I can see that he's also interested in my teaching, so I will let it slide." She then changes the subject: "So, let us move to something else…"
Diary mode
FINALLY! MY FIRST SUCCESSFUL SPELL!
Well, there was still explosions and smoke, but at least the spell served its purpose!
And thanks to Wisdom that they knew that my spell worked!
But… how did he know? Yes, he might know about magic, but noticing a small change…
Come to think of it, he said that he was trained by a knight of sort. Maybe this knight was one of the Royal Knights, or at least used to be. They know how to use spells… maybe Wisdom also learnt about magic's principle from them.
About those formations in the paper…
Reality mode
Later
"…What kind of knights have you learnt from?" Louise questions her familiar as she watches those formations. They're nearly the same with the Great Magic Elements, except that Wisdom has titled one of them Wu Xing (which Louise couldn't read it).
"Sort of." That's Wisdom's another confusing answer.
"…And you said it's not magic concept, but 'basic element of planet' kind of concept?"
"That's for you to easily understand it." He then notices Siesta waving her hands at him. "My mistress, a maid is calling you."
"I believe 'a maid is calling me' is the right statement." Louise looks at the girl and sees whom she's focusing on.
"…"
"I know what you're thinking. I'm fine here, go help her if you want. And bring me some tea when you're done."
"…Understand."
Louise takes a small glance to watch Wisdom following the maid to the kitchen. She then returns her focus to the paper and sighs. "If THIS doesn't show that he has a lot of knowledge, I don't know what else could be."
"Intriguing."
"GAH!" Jumping in surprise, Louise quickly turns to her left to see Tabitha, again with no book, focusing her eyes on the paper in Louise's hand. "Tabitha! Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry." The Wind mage apologizes, though her poker expression doesn't show much of the attitude. Her eyes are also gluing on the paper Louise is holding. "Different concepts of elements. Different points of view."
"It's a rare sight for you to look at someone else's work, Tabitha." From behind, Kirche approaches them with a small smile. She then looks at the paper and asks: "What is that?"
"Beats me. Wisdom drew them. I could guess that it's something similar to our Great Basic Elements, but…"
"Advantages and disadvantages of one element over the others." Tabitha points towards the links between the elements, which are arrows instead of lines. "Each element has one stronger and one weaker. An endless cycle."
After taking a seat, Kirche looks more into the drawing, and she can see it. "Our formation is also connected, but there is nothing said about the counter-element. They are just… obvious to us."
Louise nods. "I think it's already there in front of us. Like Fire would lose against Water..."
"Not that easy." Tabitha shakes her head as she takes her own seat. "Water too weak, Fire still occurs."
"Right…" Louise replies sheepishly. "It's about power as well…"
The trio then start discussing about what the familiar has drawn, and it takes all of their concentrations to not noticing Wisdom has returned with a set of tea. Though, he quietly serves them tea and simply puts the cups next to their hands. Of course, they would take it without saying a word to him…
A minute after they take the first sip, Louise finally notices the tea's appearance, and turns to see her familiar waiting patiently behind her. "Wisdom! When did you return?"
"Just recently, my mistress." The boy replies, not surprised at her reaction.
Tabitha then grabs the paper, and asks: "Can I borrow?"
Louise, finding it a little surprised at the girl's actions, can't really deny her. But: "Wisdom, since it's your writing…"
"I can re-draw them." Wisdom replies.
Seeing that as a 'yes', Tabitha quickly takes the paper and walks away, leaving the group behind.
"Hey, wait!" Kirche then stands up and tries to call the girl, but she's not listening. The Fire mage sighs, then turns to Louise and Wisdom and says: "Thanks for the speech and the tea. It's been a while since I have used my brain this much."
"Yeah, because you never really used them." Louise retorts, though she has to admit that the Zerbst is more than how she looks like.
Although, that doesn't anger Kirche, not one bit. The Fire mage then blows a kiss towards Wisdom, making Louise gasp in surprise. "You are a very good boy, dear. I would love to try and take it from Zero here."
"Go away! He's mine!" Slamming her hands on the table, Louise stands up in anger and points her finger to the 'leech' to sue her away. That only earns her a laugh from the Fire mage as she walks away with a smirk on the face. Breathing heavily after the shout, Louise sits back down and orders: "More tea!"
"Yes."
Her anger instantly dies down when she hears that. Not daring to look at his face yet, the girl apologizes: "Sorry for shouting at you."
"I understand your anger." Wisdom finishes pouring the tea and takes a small step back. "Having your property taken from you without your permission is frustrating. However, please refrain from repeating the actions. I don't mind it, but you might do so at the wrong person."
"…I will remember it." Louise hesitantly takes the tea cup and sips it. After a while, she remembers: "The Day of Void is coming soon… Yeah, that should do."
"…"
She then turns her head and asks her familiar: "Wisdom, what is your favorite weapon? I saw you using the spear very skillfully in the fight."
"Technically, anything could be a weapon. As long as it could serve the right purpose."
"Eh…" She narrows her eyes. "Even a toothpick?"
"If you throw it hard enough, it could be a deadly projectile. Although, I doubt there's a situation that a toothpick is the last option of a weapon."
"…Paper?"
"Possible. If you wrap it into something with at least one sharp end."
"…Okay, knight or assassin?"
"Many."
Diary mode
A few days have passed. And Wisdom is still a mystery to me.
He has his gestures of a commoner, works like a servant, and obeys me unconditionally even when I ordered him something ridiculous (of course I discarded those orders instantly since those were just tests). If he's any other Noble, he would just outright deny them away.
However… how he fought against Guiche, how he drew the formations, how he noticed even the smallest piece of gold in the midst of a disaster, they screamed Noble to me.
And no commoners could be so patient, and could use those words of wisdom, which is also why I gave the name to him.
…But there's also one thing that doesn't add up.
Why didn't he mention anything of his life before I summoned him? Not in details, at least.
He never brought up any particular names, people or location. Only a few words of hints and/or very generic nouns. Even when I asked him about where he lived, he answered: "Not in Tristain."
…And the most outrageous thing? He said that NONE of the people from his place prayed for Brimir!
Of course I have immediately asked him why, and his answer: "His sins in the past made them lose their faith on him."
That left me some questions that I couldn't ask him or answer by myself: When did he live? Past, present or future? Where did he live that the Church in Romalia hasn't branched ALL of them as heretics? And… why wasn't he annoyed that I have forced him to live with me until the end of his life?
…Let's leave the matter there. Needs to sleep so we could reach Tristania tomorrow. Three hours on horseback is not going to be easy.