———Karra———

  <1: 13 pm>

  “In the end, it was all smooth sailing, right?” I said after finishing the soup.

  “I supposed, but you how it goes. Things barely ever go the way you wanted it to.” She said, being weirdly pessimistic despite the ordeal already being over.

  “Anyway. I think it’s quite nice that everyone more or less immediately agrees. I know you dangle a golden carrot in front of them, but still.” At the very bare minimum it should mean there isn’t any real animosity between us. Otherwise there would’ve been quite the vocal objections. “...Say. Was it really all your idea or not? In the end.”

  “Probably about half-and-half. I guess.” She answered, not being too certain. “From how the school’s owner saw it, all those extra equipment for learning combat would’ve gone to waste without those with the talent to use them. Without the right kind of people to test it all out, who really knows what might happen.”

  “...How would they even know we’re ‘talented’ or whatever.” That’s still something I’m still confused by.

  “There are several ways to do it, but I don’t know all methods, nor which was used.” She said, not knowing all the details either. “At least I want us to have some fun when school starts again. There’s a lot pnned so it’s not all boring.”

  “Would’ve thought so. Can’t see why they take up so much space otherwise.” I remarked. I think one could reasonably take a few weeks to explore the entire pce. “...Say, do you know about what kind of ‘potential’ I have?”

  “I do, but why would you want to know?” She asked, looking rather perplexed. “People should be able to find out what kind of power suits them, just from feeling alone.”

  “It’s still rather nebulous isn’t it? I felt like I have been using many kinds of spell and it doesn’t really feel like many are hard to do.” I said, just now realizing how much it sounds like I’m boasting.

  “That’s because you’re proficient with most types of spells.” She suddenly revealed… What.

  “What do you mean by most?” I asked, just how much is that exactly? I am pretty damn confident that I’m quite smart when it comes to learning magic, but if ‘most’ is what I think it means, I might actually be underselling myself.

  “To give an example. In games you usually have a basic list of elements and then more exotic ones that have their own special quirks and interactions. In your case you basically have extra proficiency in all of those basic elements. Think fire, water, earth, wind, all that stuff.” She expined. Yeah. That’s plenty nuts.

  “So how many types of spell do people usually have…” I don’t really know how anyone categorizes them, but I might as well ask.

  “Hmm… If we were to separate them into arbitrary elements, then one or two. You are listed at six.” Yeesh. Is this for real? She’s not saying all this to gas me up, right?

  “Is there a way to prove this or…” Like a power reader, something along that line.

  “I don’t have any method that can let you see it for yourself, if that’s what you mean.” She answered. Guess it can’t be that convenient. “I think the best way is to see it for yourself in combat, but then again…”

  “Again what?” I asked, wondering where she’s getting at.

  “You have a lot more opportunities to grow in strength and skill than most, so obviously the matchup against others will be skewed in your favor. Think of it like a level 50 red mage obviously being stronger than a level 20 fire mage. Regardless of how talented or specialized you are, when you’re much stronger, everything you do will be more effective regardless.” She brings up another comparison using games again. “Of course, you are more like a sage than a red mage, higher tier css and all that.”

  I know she’s not exactly one to lie, but even if she’s entirely truthful about this whole topic, it still feels like she’s gassing me up like crazy.

  “...So what about the others?” I asked, since she might talk about them a bit more objectively.

  “They all have four elements they’re proficient in.” She quickly answered. So less than me? That’s kind of a surprise.

  “All at four?” I asked just to be certain that’s what she meant.

  “Yep. Remember that most only have one or two. At three or more is when you’re quite intuned with magic.” She said to emphasize how talented we are… Hmm…

  “Doesn’t that kinda make our cssroom all the more fishy?” I asked before taking a rge sip of water, pointing out the odd, if not downright suspicious set of circumstances.

  If what she’s saying is accurate, then someone managed to assign eighteen students who are not only consistently get high grades, get along well despite differing backgrounds, all physically fit and always swept the leaderboard when a sports day came up, to the point of gaining a reputation as a css of elites, but also so talented in terms of learning supernatural powers that most don’t even know about until a few months back. How is that not absurd. This is before that new school even exists. Whoever assigns all of us to that one cssroom is hel suspicious.

  …Actually, in hindsight, there are a few suspicious things about our old school in the first pce, weren't there?

  “It really does become obvious when the facts are in front of you, isn’t it.” She gave me a rhetorical question as an answer. “There seems to be some sort of intention, but if it’s meant for some sort of grander pn we aren’t aware of… it seems rather nebulous if outright not the case.”

  “Is that how you see it?” Who would afford to do all that for it to amount to nothing? Or were they just expecting something beneficial to happen as if that’s the natural turn of events.

  “It’s the impression I get.” She said, probably having confronted this mastermind about the topic already. She has been tight-lipped about who it is to this very day, but I understand as to why.

  There’s a lot of stuff she can’t say, and I can’t really bme her for keeping us in the dark.

  “By the way, do you know anything about the… activities involving those training rooms? I doubt those are just for break time, right?” I doubt most would even have the time to navigate and use them during lunch break.

  “I don’t know the full details yet, or what I can even say, but there will be periods involving them. I think that’s an easy guess.” She answered. Have to wonder if there will be teachers for those. I don’t even know who would be qualified. Most people would’ve been on the simir level of experience I would’ve imagined.

  *Knock* *Knock*

  “Wait a moment.” Wiina said before walking towards the door, opening it and facing her mother.

  “Wiina deary, you have another visitor.” Huh? That’s odd.

  “Really? Know who it is?” Wiina asked, clearly as perplexed as I am.

  ———Jeff———

  <1: 46 pm>

  “Sorry to keep you waiting, please come in.” She said before letting me in.

  “No need for that.” I remarked before walking in. Is it just me or does this pce look more cleaned up than the st time I have visited? Granted, it has been a long while since I’ve stepped foot in here.

  “Hey, Jeff. Been a while.” Jass said as he walked over. “Is there something important you’re here to talk to me about or…”

  “Oh! It’s nothing that pressing, dude.” I said, now realizing why he seems a bit tense. “It’s just that I really want to try fighting you.”

  “Excuse me?” He said while squinting his eyes.

  “I’ve been sparring with a few from our css, but not with you… Actually, you never really talk about what you can do.” I pointed out.

  “Because there wasn’t a need?” He said, sounding rather confused. “Ever since the dungeons were considered a no-entry kinda thing, there wasn’t really a reason to fight or use magic. So I never bring it up.”

  “So you were scking?” I asked, probably coming off as a bit judgemental there.

  “Of course not, but I doubt it’s as intense as whatever you were doing with others.” He replied.

  “Couldn’t be more intense than whatever Karra is doing in that pce. Getting early access to it and all the neat items.” I mentioned. Of course I’m not really sure how big of a gap that created, especially since right now we are all more attuned to mana than ever, so it’s not like she’s the only one who knows what mana-cdding is. At least that one hurdle is gone. “But I bet I could give her a good fight… Though she hasn’t entertained it yet.”

  “Hmm… Can’t say I know how well that’ll go.” He said after a bit of pondering. “So are you seriously trying to pick a fight? Now of all time?”

  “Isn’t this the best time? We have about… two months before this institution or whatever opens up, right? I bet there’s gonna be some ceremonial fighting or something, just to show off.” I expined myself. “Weren’t you the one pointing out how it might operate like an academy from those fantasy novels?”

  “I wasn’t being serious about that, you know?” He exasperatedly replied. “More importantly, shouldn’t you go to Useph’s pce? His home has plenty of space to fight. This pce doesn’t have a backyard that big… No, more importantly, if you want to propose this fight to me, can’t you pn it out before walking up to my doorstep like a jackass?”

  “...So is that a no?” I asked, wondering if he really won’t entertain this fight I want.

  “Of course not! Please tell me you actually have something else to talk about.” He said, clearly not buying that I’m just here for a fight.

  “Well aside from all that I just want to talk with you about this whole ordeal one-on-one. Saw you’ve been pretty quiet about the whole shebang.” I’m also here to chat and make sure he is doing fine. Jass isn’t a wimp or anything, but he is a quiet and introverted guy, not exactly someone who has a lot of people to open up to.

  “Was I?” He said while scratching his cheek. Guess he didn’t even realize it.

  “So what do you think is gonna happen? Haven’t really heard your opinions on it.” I asked. He is the reserved type, but if I got him comfortable he might go into a lot of details.

  “...How about we sit down first?” He offered.

  “Sure.” I replied, not seeing why not. Guess standing around was a bit awkward for him. “So what do you think? I think we’re probably seeing a lot of… magical adventures? I guess you’d call it that?”

  “You could, but all these assumptions seem quite nebulous to me.” He said, sounding quite disinterested. That can’t be it, right? I would’ve imagined him being all over the moon getting to be in what is the closest to a fantasy academy setting.

  Maybe I just need to prod him a little more? He’s been less talkative than usual but considering a bunch of stuff that happened over the past few months he just needs a bit more kick to the head or something.

  “So is there anything about this pce you were worried about? Maybe Wiina’s tone of voice? How it seems like they’re targeting us? Anything?” Not one for conspiracy but maybe he’ll react to the more fiery topics.

  “Haaah…” Instead of responding, he sighs. Guess that wasn’t it? “I find trying to worry about whatever plot is happening to just be a waste of time at this point. Too much to think about with too little to argue…”

  ———Karra———

  <2: 21 pm>

  …It’s pretty damn anxious just waiting in her room like this.

  “I’m back.” Wiina said, already shifting back to her white hair look.

  “So what was Jeff here for?” I asked.

  “Two things. One is trying to pick a fight, and second is trying to get opinions on the new school. Seems like he thinks I want to vent some thoughts to another person and come in to check. Sweet thoughts, but really pointless.” She summed it up in a few sentences.

  “Doesn’t look like he read the room if it takes that long.” I can’t help but remark.

  “He was never the brightest.” She boldly said, and I can’t see him disagreeing. The guy isn’t shy about not thinking things through sometimes.

  …Makes it all the weirder that he still gets good grades, which I think a lot of us have thought about to the point of ‘let’s stop thinking about it’. He’s not book dumb, at least. I think that’s fair.

  “So… Now what?” I’ve been waiting in here just so he doesn’t catch a sight of me. It deys any pns we have, this unexpected visit of his.

  “Not a lot.” She confidently said. Guess we just… find something to talk about as well? We were talking about the school as well before Jeff came in to say hi.

  “...So you know anything else about the school you can share?” I guess let’s try asking that and see how the conversation flows from there.

  “Nothing substantial.” She replied, being evasive on the topic. “Though by now the other schoolmates should come to realize what offers are being given. That wasn’t exactly a big bombastic announcement like what I gave two days back.”

  …Oh!

  ———Lynda———

  <2: 45 pm>

  “What the…” My eyes are definitely not pying tricks on me, right? What am I seeing on this webpage right now? The domain used to be for the Weldseni School which is buried six feet under.

  A special discount for the old school students? Just what the hell is this news? I guess it would be good news, but how in the world am I supposed to react to this?

  …Should I just apply with no questions asked? I mean why not? It should be a guarantee since I was a student of the old school… Actually, how do they even know all that?

  …Yeah. Let’s ignore all that and go all in.