Day 56

You wake up to the warning sensation, the one that indicated that someone had entered your den, and immediately begin to charge your breath…

"Votusax, wake up!" only to then harmlessly release that charge as Myra's voice filters into your den, followed shortly by her walking in, "oh hey, you're already awake."

You ignored her, instead just stretching your body and wings, only to look up and see that Myra had fallen over from the shockwaves.

Special mutation bar: 12/30

You wiggled in your seat, pulling at the collar of your new clothes. It felt weird to have your human body so… closely covered.

"Is the uniform uncomfortable?" Myra asked from her seat next to you, "if it feels uncomfortable we can go and get a new one, or a better one."

You shake your hand, telling her that wasn't the case. That it was just that these clothes were really weird. Then you ask her how long this whole 'opening ceremony' was going to go on for, or whether you even had to waste time here.

"Well, I guess it would be strange for you to wear those clothes, even if they look great on your," the last bit was said under her breath as she fully looked you over, "and no, you don't have to stay for this whole thing. You only really have to stay for the part where you select the classes… but I'd really appreciate if you stayed here?"

You looked at her, sceptical of her reasoning as to why you should stay.

"… I'll get you another crystal core soon, if you just sit here in this seat during my speech," immediately you agreed to the simple request, which got her to start laughing for some reason. You asked her why, "i-it's nothing. I just realised that you're really the best."

… for some reason you felt that answer wasn't really true, but still accepted the complement.

Then there was silence as you just waited there, sitting in the seat that was at the back centre of the theatre hall as other fellow students slowly filtered in. Until eventually the theatre bellow was full and someone came to call Myra, telling her it was time for her to give her speech.

"Alright, I'll be right over," Myra told the girl who came to call her, before turning back to you once again. She looked strangely uneven, her aura coloured with fear, "so…. please just stay there? I really need someone who's just… there."

You tell her that you'd already agreed, so of course you were going to stay there. Which got a thin smile before she left, and appeared on the stage soon after.

"Dear teachers and students," she began, her magnified voice spreading across the hall even as her aura was fully coloured in fear, "good morning, and welcome! I am Myra Eleanor Valejo, first princess of the kingdom or Kirigaia, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the academy of magical excellence!"

There was a moment of clapping, which quickly quietened down as Myra began speaking again… mostly just about how it was a great honour to be able to go to this academy and how they'll be bring honour to their families by working hard.

Which didn't really apply to you, there wasn't a family for you to make proud… well, you suppose Lansseax would count. But still, most of the speech was clearly not addressed to you in any ways.

Which made it very tempting to just leave… but you didn't. Because you made a deal.

… and at least Myra seemed to appreciate you staying and listening to it? At least judging from the way she'd occasionally stare at you while speaking and the fear in her aura would subside. Something that repeated continuously through the whole speech, all the way until it ended and Myra once again returned to you.

"Thank you for not going anywhere," was the first thing she said, while giving you a quick jump hug, before grabbing your hand and dragging you along, "now come on, we gotta decide our classes now."

Turns out, you decided the classes you'd take by filling out a piece of paper. Circling the subject you wanted to go to.

"Oh yeah, don't forget to write your name on the top," Myra reminded as she finished filling in her own paper, "oh! I'm doing neutral magic, mage knight, and fundamental courses if you want to… I don't know, do the same classes as me. Not that you have to of course!"

You thank her, quickly writing your name at the top of the sheet, before looking down at actual stuff written on the paper… and something catches your eyes.

"Huh, oh right. Clubs," so of course you asked Myra, "they… well basically, they're way for you to work with other students on stuff you're interested in. Why do you want to pick one? If you do, I'll pick it too… if you don't have a problem with that."

You tell her you don't, since you really didn't care what she picked, before falling into deep thought.

Neutral Magic, Mage Knight, Alchemy on classes, Cooking club

"Well, those are some… good choices. Weirdly optimised, but good," Myra remarks as she looks at your sheet, quickly editing her own to add the cooking club as well, "and hey, you picked neutral and mage knight too!"

You nod, telling her that you picked all the stuff that you found interesting. Especially the cooking, you really found the cooking club very interesting.

"Yeah, I guess you would like cooking, huh?" you nod again, telling her that it's because food is great, "hmm, can't argue with that… but anyway, I think they've sorted the classes now. Do you want to go now or… well, if you want we could go and get you more clothes… maybe some more food?"

You look at her, getting her to immediately straighten up and start looking around, confused. Was it not her that asked you to stay? Wouldn't you miss the classes?

"Huh? Oh wait, no! That was just for the speech and course selection," she corrects you while shaking her head, "you can just skip the classes if you want. Sure, they want you to attend at least five days a week but well…"

You tilt your head at her as she eyes you from the corner of her eyes.

"… I don't really think you're worried about marks."

… huh, you don't know what that word mean, not in the context she said it in… you ask her if you could eat these marks?

She begins to answer… before pausing, "… I mean, technically you could? They give it on paper so… wait, would that be a dragon ate my homework moment? Is that racist? It sounds racist…"

You ask what homework is, snapping her out of her mumbling.

You got that these marks weren't actually markings but rather things denoting your skill in a topic, according to her mumblings, so you wanted to know if homework is something other than work you did at home.

"Oh, homework… yeah no, that's exactly what it sounds like. Doing it would probably help your studying skill too…," you mentally note that down as she suddenly shakes her head, "but anyways, date or class?"

… okay, why is she suddenly panicking now? What does she mean she didn't mean to say that?

You sat there, squirming a bit to adjust your position on the padded armchair, trying your best not to trigger the adjustable desk in front of you… again.

In front of you was a large white screen hanging from the ceiling of the lecture hall, something you were about eye level with the centre of with your current seating in the middle of the tiered seating.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Oh, and Myra was sitting right next to you… though she hadn't stopped crying into her book since you told her you wanted to go to the classes instead of the date. Food could, after all, be eaten later, right now you wanted to see how these classes went.

"Alright everyone, settle down," and speaking of which, it seemed that the teacher had just come in. Completely silencing all the chatter going on in the class – most aimed at you and your 'glorious mane' – as she stood at the lecture in front of the class, "good, now that you're all settled down we can begin the first day of class."

As she said that she waved her hand, causing the hanging white screen to be filled with lines of black. Fancy looking words quickly forming on the screen.

'Introduction to Neutral magic'

"Now, I am Livian Seamoure," she introduced herself, to immediate whispering about, from what you parsed, her being an 'a class adventurer', "yes, that Livian Seamoure, though you may refer to me as Ma'am or Miss Seamoure. At a request from some friends," you notice her eyes flicker in your directions, specifically at the still red Myra, "I am going to be your teacher for neutral magic for all of you this year."

More whispering again, this time on who this friend was and about how they could've gotten her to teach.

"Quiet!" but this time it's quietened by the teachers, Miss Seamoure, command. One that was accompanied by a breeze? At least that's what it felt like to you, "now, as I was saying, I will be teaching you and since today is the first day we'll start with any questions you may have… now, anyone have questions."

Standing there, behind the lectern, she looked across the whole class. Causing small surges of fear to come up in the aura's of anyone why she looked directly at.

You immediately ask her why her hat is so big compared to her size.

… why was everyone looking at you? You just asked a question.

"It is because the inside of it has many runes carved into it, allowing it to have multiple enchantment," thankfully Miss Seamoure didn't seem to be doing the same, and instead just answered you after a few moments of staring at you, "and please, put your hand up if you have a question next time. It's faster that way," you nod, satisfied with the answer, "now, anyone else?"

No one spoke up.

"Very well then, I'll start the lesson then," a wave of her hand and the black lines on the screen shift, "we'll start with something simple and useful for many situations. Neutral repair spells."

What followed was her talking about exactly that, going over how repair spells worked and how the neutral magic for them was formed. That they, while not as good as specialised repair spells, were really good in the fact that they worked on almost anything not alive.

"Now, would anyone like to come up and give it a try," and the whole thing was capped with her asking for a volunteer, to which no one seemed to raise their hands for.

Except for you, of course. Though she seemed to be avoiding you for some reason.

"… alright then, would you please come up mister Votusax," eventually though, she called you down. And you did go down, sliding past a still red and dazed Myra, until you were in the front.

Then you were handed a broken piece of wood, "now, I'd recommend closing your eyes and focusing your full attention on the spell, focus on how you want this to return to normal."

You nod, doing exactly that. Focusing the entirety of your attention on how much you wanted this to return to normal…

… wait, why was there screaming?

Opening your eyes you look around in confusion, watching as… half the class turned red and covered there faces? Oh, someone just fell over… that girls is shouting something about ridiculous size's… and Myra's shouting at them to close their eyes and look away?

Huh, her face is really red as she looks at you.

"Well mister Votusax," you turn your head, looking down at the teacher and… wait, why did your clothes disappear?

Did someone steal them while you had your eyes closed? Because if so you were going to be rather… annoyed.

"Ahem," shaking off that though for a moment, you once again turn to Miss Seamoure… and she was also red. Why were so many people turning red, "it seems that you have… over expended mana. It had some slightly explosive result, which your clothes clearly didn't survive."

Oh… so someone didn't steal your clothes.

"No, no they did not… though I could see why they would. I swear you could grate steel on those abs," you blink, you didn't know you said that last bit out loud.

Well, she's probably right about the steel. It's really weak and soft, even if it tastes nice… but hey, at least you repaired the wood block.

"… perhaps next time you might want to tone down the mana output, mister Votusax."

[Neutral magic] +3 lv's - [15]

[Repair aspect added to Neutral magic]

Learnt Repair (lesser) spell


Repair (lesser)

Repair non-living items that still possess all pieces by a little amount if roll passed

Can damage items by a minor amount if roll failed, or mana amount not met or exceeded by more than twice.

Dc and mana cost dependant on material used

Requires a second of concentration


It was shortly after that whole 'accidentally blew up your clothes' that the class actually ended, and unfortunately that didn't mean that you got any more form that lesson after that.

No, for some reason Miss Seamoure decided that the lesson would end early.

Which was really a shame, seeing as you'd managed to repair your clothes with the repair spells. Even if it took you multiple tries on each piece to do so… though maybe it was because it took you multiple tries that she ended it there?

She had looked a bit annoyed, and red of course, when you'd had to put on the clothes one by one…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"

Myra, of course, was still doing the same thing she'd been doing at the start of that lesson, even now that you stood in the field where your second lesson for the day would be occurring. If anything, she'd done it even more after you'd changed into the clothes you'd been given for this class.

In fact, it wasn't just Myra doing it either!

There were other students, also from the neutral magic class, standing around with their reddened faces in their hands.

Hmmm, did it have something to do with you?

… no, that couldn't be it. Myra had been doing it before everyone else, and she just randomly started doing it, so it couldn't have been you… so what was it?

"Alright boys and girls, over here!" however, before you could get further into contemplating the source of the weird behaviour, the teacher for this class arrived… by landing in the middle of the students from the sky. When you looked up you did see a weird winged cat, so you assumed that was where he jumped down from.

But regardless of his method of arrival, the shirtless man brushed off his strange red armour and stood up – coming up to your torso in height, before grabbing and tipping a pouch he was holding. Sending a pile of oddly glowing weapons tumbling out, "since this is the first day we're gonna start with a practical. So quickly come collect your safety weap-"

"Uh, sir? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" a small voice, coming from a short black haired boy who would barely come halfway up to your thighs… in human form, "the other teachers did… it…"

He petered off under the look he was getting from the teacher… before suddenly the teacher started laughing, "haha, I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for reminding me to do the introduction, remind me to reward you for it!"

The boy pointed to himself, almost as if to ask if the teacher was talking about him, his aura shining with confusion.

Not that the teacher was looking at him anymore, instead he was pointing to himself with his thumb, "now listen up! I'm your teacher for the mage knight courses, Wilfred Icebrand. You can call me teach or coach. Any questions?"

You lift your hand.

"Yes, student with the well-trained physiques and voluminous hair," you blink, realise that he's referring to you, and then ask your question.

What were those weapons that he'd just thrown onto the floor?

"Ah, good that you'd ask that. These," he lifted an axe, "are safety weapons I got the guys in the enchanting towers to make. No matter how much you hit each other with them, you won't get worse than a concussion."

You hum at that, looking down at the sword you'd just picked up. This thing wouldn't hurt someone if you hit them with it?

"Yes, small child," you look up from your examination, seeing that coach was pointing at a small green haired girl… who turned red as she saw you looking.

Of course.

"Um, sir. If you're giving us these does that mean we're going to be fighting each other?" she asks, "aren't you going to teach us some strengthening spells before that?"

"Of you're going to be fighting each other!" is the immediate reply, "there's no way I could teach you self strengthening magic before I know what your base level of strength is. Speaking of which, questions over! Now come and gather up, I'll select people at random to fight and see what you can do."

You look down at the black haired boy before you, looking at the tiny sword he held in a basic stance, "p-please go easy on me…"

You're about to nod, but stop when coach's voice rings out in the field, "no! Don't go easy, go as hard as you can! Hit him with that sowrd, as. Hard. As. You. Can. I need to see the base I'm working with. Now start!"

… well, since he said so… though since he said base you won't use that… or that… or that… yeah, you'll just swing as hard as you can.

Well, it looks like this sword does indeed stop you from hurting anyone, no matter how hard you hit. Turning into a sort of, semi-solid mist when it's about to hit the other student and even mitigating the shockwaves that your arm's movement generated.

Though, judging by the unconscious boy flying away from you, it didn't seem to completely stop the damage.

"Alright, that one's on me!" coach shouted, suddenly appearing behind the flying boy in a flash of flames and catching him, "Good hit though! Now, Princess and the dead looking girl go up while I feed this one a potion!"

There's a moment, in which you walk off into the crowd of students – who part to make space for you – and the students whisper amongst each other to guess who it was that just got told to go up. Eventually though, the people mentioned went up one by one.

First being Myra, who was no longer red anymore! In fact, she seemed strangely… stiff, on top of no longer being red. Her aura being completely coloured in what you'd call determination.

As for her opponent she… huh? The aura around her was fully coloured a pure black, something you've never seen before. In fact, now that you looked closely, you co-

Oh hey, she looked right at you… yeah, it's definitely weird not being able to see the normal multicoloured aura around her.

… you wave at her, seeing that she's still staring at you. Which gets a slow blink, before she then just looks away.

"Alright, I'm back. He's gonna be fine," suddenly, in another flash of flame, coach appeared in the centre of the field again, "oh good, you guys didn't start the fight without me here… alright, you can start now."

Myra won the fight that followed, by a good bit too… yet despite that she seemed really annoyed for some reason. Even when you asked why she just said she'd tell you later.

So you just put it out of your mind, instead focusing your attention back onto the class. Which, after the rest of the students had their fights, resulted in your learning about the basics of enhancement magic.

Which was really nice.

[Enhancement] Magic Skill Learnt

You know, sometimes… sometimes humans came up with some really great things.

"Um, princess… is this enough?" the staff asks Myra, pushing another trolley of food next to you as you pour another bowl of soup into your mouth.

Lunch. It was a great idea, eating as much as you could between lessons so you were motivated.

"Eh, probably not. What do you say Votu? Still wanna eat more?" Myra, in turn, asked you. To which you gave the obvious reply of yes, you did want to eat more after all… at least until it was time to go to the cooking club. So probably three more trolleys, two if you took your time tasting it.

"Well, you heard him. Two more tro-" "Are you Votusax?"

Suddenly, a voice distracts you form listening to Myra call for more food. A voice that came from right beside you, causing you to turn towards it and look down… and further down… and further still.

It's not until you were looking almost straight down that you saw the source of the sound. A little human girl, about the size of Delilah, who was tugging on your uniform. Her hair a yellow and her ears longer than you would expect from a human… but since everything else seemed human you were going to assume she was human.

Stopping your rapid consumption for a moment, you tell the small child that you were indeed Votusax. Causing her aura to shine with excitement.

"Ah, that's good. My name is Lina and I wanted to ask you something," the girl says with a smile, "I heard that you've mastered the art of destruction, could you show me it?"

… you tell the small child that you couldn't blow up the academy, you needed to learn here after all.

"You can blow up the academy!" and it seemed your words only made her more excited, "wait no, that's not what I wanted. I wanted to see you blow something up with the repair spell."

Oh, well that's much easier. In fact, leaning down, you show her that very thing with the plate in your hand. Filling it with enough energy to cause it to pop in a plume of glowing golden orange smoke… which reflects in the little girls eyes as she laughs, casting a shadow upwards.

Eventually though, she stopped laughing and instead pulled something out of the pouch that seemed to be a part of her red dress, "You have proven yourself a true master of chaos. Here, take this bomb. Use it to blow up butterflies, because they are abominations that need to be wiped from the world."

… you suddenly really like this child.

"I will go put your teachings into practice," as abruptly as she had appeared the little girl, Lina, ran away. Leaving you to put the bomb she'd given you onto the table and resume eating.

"… I think the pumpkin soup would be good for the last one," and just in time too, since Myra seemed to have finished talking to the maid, "alright Votu, that should get you a good m- wait… Votu… why… do you have a bomb?"

You tell her a really likeable child gave it to you.

"What do you me-" she goes to speak again, but is interrupted.

*BOOOOOM*

Specifically, she's interrupted by an explosion that sends a rumble through the ground, orange light from the window of the cafeteria making it obvious where it came from.

… you continued eating.

[Anti-butterfly bomb] gained

"Uhhhh…"

You looked down at the small, blue haired, human girl in front of you. She was short for a human, wearing clothes you remember seeing those cooking teachers wear, being noticeably shorter than Myra—who was standing next to you—and had hair that was a shade of blue that reminded you of rocks. She was also currently staring at up at you, frozen in place, with a ladle in her hand and a badge on her chest saying 'hi, I'm Mina'.

… for some reason, you wanted that ladle.

"Are- are you looking for the body building club?" she asked, to which you immediately denied, "… the adventurers club?"

Once again you deny, this time telling her that you were here for the cooking club… which causes her to let out a nervous laugh while shakily looking around, "haha, very funny guys. You can dispel the illusion now…"

A moment of silence. You look around to check who she's talking to, looking past the aura of pity that surrounded Myra as she shook her head.

"G-guys? Come on, it's not funny anymore."

Once again, there's no reply from these guys. Which only causes the girl's aura to slowly shifted as more and more of it became the colour of fear, until eventually Myra decides to step forward and speak, "look, I know this may be intimidating but we really do want to join the cooking club. Okay?"

"… g-guys? Please… I'm begging you…" and now the human girl is crying, and getting comforted by Myra. Being told that, no, this wasn't a joke and, yes, the princess and her giant friend really did want to join the cooking club.

… you were beginning to get a tad annoyed though. You just wanted to learn to cook already.

A short While Later

"okay, alright," the, now no longer crying, human girl took a series of deep breaths, "Your highness and sir Votusax wish to learn to cook."

"Yep, and just call me Myra," Myra tells her as you also give your affirmation to the question, though your attention is more on the surrounding as you stand in the room of polished marble tables and various bits of metals and non-metal utensils.

"… alright lady Myra," you hear Myra sigh at the girl's words, "I didn't really think anyone was gonna come today so… I guess we can do some basic stuff today? … you said you didn't really have any proper cooking lesson?"

You tell her that you spent an afternoon learning from the teachers Myra got you, as well as what you actually know how to do when it comes cooking. Namely, dismantle things and throw similar enough things in a container and heating it all.

"Uhh, I know how to make some soup maybe?"

"… umm, one sec," she turns around, pulling a notepad from one of the drawers, "stock, beef, mushrooms, carrots… well, looks like we have the stuff to practice soup. Do you guys… want to do that?"

You reply yes without a moment of hesitation. In fact, you say it before she even gets to finish her sentence. Causing her, and Myra, to just blink and look at you.

"… okay then, lets uh… oh god what do we do first," once again she rapidly flips through the notepads pages, "oh I know! Let's start with the basics of flavour interactions!"

"I… I don't think that's meant to go in there sir Votusax."

You tell her it'll be fine as you tip a bit more of the brown sludge into your pot. You were sure the taste will go great with the meat you roasted with your breath.

"… you roasted it with your breath? I thought you did it in the pan…"

You tell her you did it while she helped show Myra how to dice onions properly.

"Wait, no! That milk… is…"

You blink, looking back up at the girl as you sip the chunky white stuff.

"… expired."

You tilt your head.

"She means it's dangerous for humans to eat Votusax," you make a small sound of realisation at that… then throw it into your pan. The slightly sharp taste would help bring the whole dish together, you think.

"Wait, why are you adding honey and… are those coffee beans? They weren't even in the storage!"

You shrug, telling her you just found them in a random cupboard.

"But… but… my beans…"

They smelt nice.

"… that's the wine reserved for the royal family."

"Oh hey, that's from mom's rainy day collection," Myra, having noticed the bottle in your hand, chimes in, "where'd you get it."

A passing by maid had it in her hand, so you just went and asked her for it when you smelt it.

"… wait, you met Maria?"

You look down upon the filled wooden plate. It was the colour of the wooden handle of that sword you ate – a rich brown, with a hint of golden hue. Visible in it was the chunks of carrot, onion and beef, all soaked in the thick broth. Wafting off it was the pleasant scent of meat and roasting vegetables. From just looks alone it seemed to be good, at least from what you could tell.

… though you'll admit, the beam of light that shone down on it from nowhere and the singing when you got near it was a bit weird. But still, you quickly poured two more bowls and brought them to the waiting Myra and Mina.

"This isn't even soup… I saw you make this… it should be soup…" Mina just mutters as she stares at it.

"… holy shit, I am so…" Myra however seemed to have turned red again. Which you felt was par for the course now, though she seemed to fidgeting a lot more this time.

Still, noting the reactions to your soup, you continued with the whole review process – as Mina had called it – by taking the cutlery you'd been given and scooping a spoonful of soup and putting it into your mouth – making sure not to eat the spoon too to not mix up the flavours.

It was satisfying in its thickness, requiring chewing instead of drinking of the broth. The bits of solids having a decent bite without being mushy, all while having soaked up the favour without losing their own uniques flavour. The soup that took any and everything that needed eating and made it all better somehow.

… you had no idea how you managed to make this, but you weren't going to complain.

You turn as you hear the sound of chairs moving next to you, quickly throwing the whole bowl into your mouth before you do so, only to see Mina on the floor and Myra… going over to her pot of soup?

"How… how can this be… how is this so good… is this even reality anymore?" well, Mina seemed fine at least. So you quickly turned your attention to Myra…

… who'd grabbed her soup and was pouring it down the sink!

You quickly stop her from doing so, asking her why she was throwing it away. Weren't they going to eat it too?

"No! I'm too embarrassed to show this… this… insult, after having tasted what you made," you look at her confused, even while you easily stop her from throwing the – transparent green soup – down the sink, "no one should have to eat this embarrassment I have brought into this world."

Your words that you'll eat it are met with her saying it's not good enough, followed by her trying to throw it away again.

You turn to Mina, "… I have tasted something so pure… made by hands so inexperienced in the way… my heart… it can no longer turn back to those simpler meals any more…" and judge that she won't really be doing much.

Eventually, though your words do manage to reach Myra. Causing her to return to her red state and stop trying to spill the soup.

… Mina also recovered back to normal soon after, giving you feedback on how to improve your food… or rather just tell Myra. She didn't tell you more than to just contemplate your stew… your soup, as she clarified when you looked at her confused.

She also told you to experiment with your ability to make inedible stuff safe for humans to eat… which you realised referred to the fire you used for heating and roasting.

[Cooking] +28 lv's - [19/30]

[Learnt how to make slightly inedible stuff edible for humans]

[?]


Myra POV

She walked forward, arms behind her back and the hum of a random nameless tune on her lips as she contemplated some rather complicated things.

It had been almost two months now.

Two months since Myra had awakened her memories of her past life, since she'd realised exactly what danger she and her family were in, yet it all still felt like a distant dream. Even now, she sometimes expected to wake up and find that the memories of the socially anxious girl, from a world without any magic, were a figment of her imagination. Something conjured up from some random book she'd half-read and forgotten the details of.

Admittedly, it was way better than how she'd been two months ago—immediately after remembering the other world memories. Back then it'd felt more like she'd just gone insane with the sudden addition of dozens of quirks and knowledge, especially since she did act on that knowledge.

… honestly though? If she were to choose she'd prefer it that way too, for everything to be just in her head, since it'd mean that a whole host of horrific stuff wouldn't be happening.

However, Myra's parents had never really forced her to study while juggling three different extracurricular, so it made no sense for her to feel that constant sense of not doing enough. Myra's parents never forbade her from having friend, so it made no sense for her to feel that social anxiety. Above all, Myra's parents never threatened her with getting married off to some middle-aged "family friend" if she didn't become a lawyer, so it made no sense for her to become so nervous when it came to the topic of marriage.

And thanks to those, very real, weird expectations and idiosyncrasies she now just had that she knew that it was all very real in spite of that sense of unreality…

Well, that and the fact that it all formed a very tangible divide in her psyche. With one side being comprised of the confident, and admittedly slightly spoiled, Myra and the other side being the socially isolated Mei Li.

That felt very real, no matter how unreal everything else felt… like the walking mountain of chiselled flesh and glorious golden hair that was her patron. The main contributor to the feeling of everything not quite being real.

Not just because her contract with him basically made her equivalent to a decent mid-game character without any of the good stuff she'd planned to get. Not just because he basically seemed to somehow roll the best mutations for the completely random mutation system. Not just because, from what she could infer, he represented an easy linear increase in power. Not just because he was apparently a demi-god royal of some divine empire.

No, it was that his human form was so. Fucking. Hot.

Holy shit did Myra find his human form was unreasonably attractive. Like, she'd read about people being frozen because they were stunned by someone's beauty, both as just Myra and Mei, but she'd always thought that was just fiction. There was no way that someone would be so good-looking that they'd stun her.

It's not even like she was unaccustomed to good-looking people! Hell, from her experiences as Mei, she'd been exposed to the numerous celebrities and characters who are in the top of the top percentile—so she had a resistance.

That's not even talking about the plentiful supernaturally handsome guys she'd rejected the proposals from as Myra.

But apparently that resistance meant fuck all because both halves of her psyche got hit with that love-stun whenever she interacted with Votusax… or Godwyn, the literal demigod, as the glowing ash spirit told her.

Because obviously he's divine, no way that size wouldn't be.

She didn't even know that tall men tall enough for her head to be at that level would turn on the Myra part of her, or that the Mei part of her had a thing for muscles both the one's up there and the one down there, but by god did she know now just like she knew that she was going to, at least, try this ride.

The only problem was that she… well, she didn't exactly know how to… navigate, this situation.

Like the Myra part of her wanted to just go up to him and tell him to hold her by the head and send the cucumber down the hallway… engage in amorous congress with her, which the Mei part of her was vehemently against. On the other hand, the Mei part of her wanted to do a full shoujou romance, which the Myra part of her was against due to the urgency needed to save her family.

The conflicting feelings more often than not just left her a conflicted mess, which was certainly not helped by his personality.

Like, he was just… so simple. And not in a bad or derogatory way, no. If anything, he was a genius… for things he was interested in. He picked up magic spells in a fraction of the time it took her to get them, learnt skills literally over a single lesson, and learnt languages literally as fast as people spoke to him.

So no, he wasn't stupid. It's just that he… always had this simple and straightforward way of doing things. There was no social chessboard that she had to navigate when she talked to him, none of that intrigue bullshit.

If she wanted him happy? Give him food. Did she want him to be honest? No problem, he would just bluntly say what he wanted to, no matter how it made others feel. Just like what he said to her back in the cooking club.

… Goddammit, her face was heating up again when she remembered that.

'Nothing you make could be bad,' her ass, who just says stuff like that? Especially while he wrapped his muscled biceps around hear and looked into her eyes with those intense blue orbs of his.

Like, does he not understand how cheesy that sounds.

… but in all seriousness, it was those simple ways of his that made him attractive in more than just the physical sense. To both halves of herself. Quite honestly, she was more than willing to just… give this whole thing a go now, even though the main issues hadn't been dealt with. After all, it was inevitable that Votusax would grow enough to deal with the issues even without her help.

The fact that he got along with Delilah only made that urge to get with him even more potent.

But if it was that easy then she wouldn't be having a problem, would she?

Even setting aside how hard it was for her to just, go up to him and ask him to date her there were other problems too. Namely that, thanks to the new ability he'd shared with her, she could – sort-of – read his mind.

So she knew how… non-human his mindset was.

Really, it was visible even without the mind reading that Votusax didn't think like humans. After all, no human just disregarded danger like he did, look at things with the restrained predatory aura, or even tear out their own bones while fully aware of the pain at a startlingly regular basis.

But with the mind reading it was just… quite honestly, she didn't even know if he was able to really empathize with humans.

The only way she could describe it was to compare it to an octopus that had escaped an aquarium she remembered seeing when she was Mei. The way that there was clearly intelligence behind the dark eyes, but it was completely alien in thought process.

It was like that, but far more complicated. Since she wasn't sure if the reason for the alien-ness was due to him just not being aware of the concept or because he was incapable.

Okay, no. She knew that he was capable of those emotions thanks to watching modded walkthroughs of the lizard route.

… well, she supposed that she'd just have to teach him herself if she wanted to ride the dragon think about a relationship.

Which she very much did want to do.


Humans were… weird. That's the conclusion you came to as you listened to Myra explaining how this "emotional suffering" thing worked.

"So basically, emotional suffering is caused by emotional distress and that in turn can cause you to physically suffer."

Like how they would get hurt just because their emotions were a mess, despite otherwise being in good health. And even then it wasn't guaranteed how they'd get hurt the same way, at least that'd make sense to you, instead some of them would go into "shock" while others would become "depressed" and all the other things.

"… and emotional distress happens when negative, or just distressing, emotions impact someone so hard that it disrupts thier daily life for a longer period."

Really though, the main thing you found just bizarre about these humans that for some reason they just had to remember those things that caused the emotions too.

For some reason they couldn't just… ignore it till it became relevant.

"…which basically means that, while mental well-being is a separate thing from physical health, that doesn't mean they aren't linked."

Like take you for example. Sure you absolutely loathed those mind controlling butterflies and would eviscerate them in the most bloody and brutal way you could when you met them, carving pain into their very existence… what were you thinking again?

Ah yes, just because you hated those things, didn't mean you always thought about them. You only thought of them when they became relevant.

So it was baffling that humans couldn't do the same with things that made them sad or angry. Seriously, if something made you 'depressed' then you'd just forget about it.

At least until you needed to remember it.

Even then you didn't understand how they couldn't just feel better by eating some nice food and sleeping. That always made you feel better no matter how badly hurt you were.

"… and in essence, that's what emotional suffering is," with that final point made Myra turns from the black board covered in drawings and looks at you, "did you get that Votusax?"

You look at her blankly.

No, you didn't really get what emotional suffering was.

She sighed before closing her eyes, "… okay, give me a second to just…" you waited for a second, until finally she opened her eyes again, "okay, imagine you had some of that stew you made. Go on, close your eyes and imagine."

You look at her weirdly before mentally shrugging and doing as she said, curiosity compelling you to see where she was going with this.

"Okay, now imagine you ate it…" you do so, feeling your mouth water as you remember the taste, "and now imagine you're never going to taste anything like it again."

Your eyes snap open as you look straight at Myra…

"See, now that's the basics of emotional suffering," who continues speaking as she holds out… a pen and a book? You take them of course, only looking at her in confusion, "you don't want to forget that nice thing you had, but by not forgetting it you remember that you're never getting it again. Do you get it now?"

… okay, you think you were beginning to understand what this 'emotional suffering' thing.

"See, I knew you could get it," and from the looks of it, Myra was very happy that you were getting it too, "now, since you understand it why don't you just write down what you think it is, just to make sure."

You don't immediately start writing, instead thinking on it a bit as Myra just patiently waiting. You think about all the things you had done, the ones you clearly remember anyways… you think about what Myra just told you, of never tasting that soup again… how there were other things you would want to do again, like killing those disgusting butterflies.

You consider how you didn't actually care about what you'd get from doing those things, but rather the action of doing them itself.

Emotional suffering is a product of caring about things beyond just the material value they hold.

You write that, before once again taking the pen off the paper and going back to thinking about how you'd feel if you were never able to do those things again.

This caring can result in suffering when the thing is lost or destroyed.

Once again your pen leaves the paper, another sentence written under the first, and you start thinking again… though this time it's nowhere near as long before you get your mental answer.

But that doesn't mean that it is pointless to care as just the enjoyable experience can be worth it

You didn't really regret doing those things, even if you didn't quite understand being quite that affected by not being able to do them again. Not near as much as humans would be according to Myra.

… it would be a shame though, not being able to taste stuff as good as that soup again.

"Oh, are you done then?" Myra asks as you hand her the paper after writing some finishing touches to flesh out your thoughts, to which you tell her that you were, "alright then, let's just see what you wrote…"

And now, it was your turn to wait and watch as Myra read what you wrote.

"… holy shit I'm a good psychology teacher…"

Which you did, watching as her aura became brighter and brighter with joy and happiness… until abruptly she stops.

"Uhhh, hey Voutsax?" she calls, her eyes still going over the paper, "who's this Lansseax you wrote about? The one you 'want to meet again', and listed as one of the things you'd regret not being able to do again?"

You tell her she was the dragon who taught you when you were in the place you got the Finger reading crone from.

"Okay… and what's her relationship to you particularly?"

You open your mouth to answer… before pausing as you consider the question some more, specifically from human perspective Myra had been teaching you.

Lansseax was your… mother? Yep, that's what she would be considered, from a human perspective at least.

"Wait what?" Myra however seemed to be… shocked by that answer? Oh, does she maybe want you to clarify why that was the case, "… please do."

Well, according to her Mothers were considered such by virtue of having given birth to, or by simply raising, a child right? Which involved things like teaching them basics of life, naming them, helping them make choices for the future and trying to keep them safe?

"Yes…"

Yeah, Lansseax did all of that for you.

"… okay, so. Do you, by any chance, know where she is or if she'll be coming here any time soon, or…" you look at her, wondering why she was asking this.

Regardless, you tell her that no, you didn't actually know any of that. Only that you'll meet her next time you go travelling.

"Right, the unknown travelling ability… well, anyway. I think that gonna be the end of today's lesson on psychology… I'm just gonna go think about… some things."

You make sure to wave at her as she left the small classroom… though you wonder about something as you do so. Do you have an attachment to Myra? She does give you a lot of stuff, and you enjoy the things she shows you when the wo of you hang out…

Well, you suppose you do have an attachment to her. A one based on 'material' benefits, as Myra put it, but an attachment nonetheless.

[Votusax understands that things have value beyond material]

[Votusax learnt basics of human Attachments and Emotional suffering]

[Easier to gain Sl's now]

[SL with Myra gained]

With Myra having gone odd to do something one her own you were left to your devices once more… and deciding to continue the trend of the day, that being learning, you decided to go and learn from Myra's father.

"Wait, you don't know your status?"

And learn you did, standing in the training field in your, workout clothes garbed, human form – your dragon from being too big for proper teaching.

Even as you replied negative to the question Myra's father asked you. You then tell him that you hadn't even known there was a thing like status that told people their abilities, you'd used a completely different method.

"Woah, really?" you nod, "huh, that's pretty cool… so what exactly does this method tell you?"

Once again you answer, telling him that it gave you a rough idea of what your abilities did after you spent a good chunk of the day focusing.

"Well, that's no good," which caused him to frown, "the very first step in training your body is knowing your exact capabilities, how else are you meant to plan your workout for the best outcomes?"

You don't know, how are you meant to do that?

"… probably very carefully? I don't really know, but still!" he answers, as you realise you said that out loud, "we're gonna teach you how to check your status, so you don't have to waste time with that. Isn't that right!"

Yeah, not wasting time is definitely nice.

"Glad you think so too, now sit down and close your eyes," you do so, "now, it'll take you a bit to get it, since you weren't created with it as part of your instincts, but that's nothing a bit of practice won't fix."

You're curious about what he meant by the 'created with it' but before you can ask Myra's father continues speaking.

"Alright then, first of all you have to focus inside yourself and try to feel that shell around your soul…"

Some Time Later

It took you some time to do it, but eventually you did manage to access this status.

And now, having done so? You have to say that this is way more informative and continent than attempting to strengthen yourself with runes to get information on your abilities.

In fact, thanks to the detailed information flowing into your head you even knew the exact details of the changes to your wings… which is what allowed you to do what you were doing now. Namely, extending your wings out in human form and playing around with their shapeshifting abilities.

One second there was a tiny golden copy of Myra in front of you, connected to your back by a thin golden filament, then next there was a soup bowl and spoon. You wonder if the weapons you make this way would work like normal weapons…

Well, regardless, you stop messing about with your wings and dismiss them when Myra's father speaks again.

"Looks like you got it down now," you nod, confirming that, as the man gets up from his push-up, causing the ball of heavy magical aura that surrounded him to disparate, "unfortunately it doesn't really look like we'll have time to do much else today… still though, it's good you learnt to check your status now. That should really help you next time we do this."

You honestly tell him that it's already helped you quite a bit, seeing as you now know a lot more details about yourself. Like how you're actually an astral dragon!

"Man, that's a pretty cool species name," he says, before a spectral mark suddenly appear on his head, "and that's my call to return to bed as quick as I can. Bye, and make sure to stretch before working out!"

And with that he runs off in the direction of the castle, shouting back advice as you wave goodbye.

[You can see your status sheet, things not visible IC will be colour coded]

[You know the basics of all your abilities now (i.e. the descriptions)]

With Myra's dad gone and you found yourself, once again, being at your own devices. So you continued the day's trend and went to your den – or rather the room you'd been given and asked to use for the duration of your stay at the academy – pulled up a convenient seat, and began reading the journal again.

This time you were even aware of the 'spell charge' that you subconsciously used on it… you'll try to use it more consciously next time you get it.

But for now you focused on reading the journal again…

It is strange really, how readily glintstone sorcery – the primeval current itself – contort to envelop weaponry.

It is a trait you had not observed in the incantations, whether they be the red lightning incantations of the ancient dragons or the unalloyed gold incantations of your son. They all required moulding, coaxing, until they would coat weapons.

Yet for glintstone sorceries of the Carian knights seems to jump at it, the primeval current practically forming swords just so it can envelop them.

It made you wonder. Could the principles behind this behaviour be used to turn miracles of the golden order, miracles such as the Law of regression, into an enchantment?

… you had already created a primeval spell similar to it in structure in the form of Regression of possibilities, why couldn't you simply use that as a… study of sorts.

Perhaps that way the downside of the miracle may be surpassed.

You blink as information on a spell enters your mind, before sighing as you feel the fatigue and realize how much time has passed. Even with your discovery of the 'status' you really didn't know what was causing those visions, though you had two suspects…

Oh well, you still learnt the spell, so you'll just take the positives, forget about the negatives, and just go to sleep after popping the crystalline core that you'd gotten from Myra into your mouth.

… though these beds the humans use are nice, you'll have to make one for your own den. Preferably one that can hold your true form.

[Law of regression Version Enchant] learnt


Law of regression Version Enchant

Enchant an item or person for 5 turns

Enchanted item, when it damages an enemy, cause most Status effects on enemies to disappear.

Most enhancements or status effects on enchanted item or person are removed. Doesn't affect acnhored effects (i.e. rune carved enchantment, inherent magical effects, etc).