*Date: 33,480 First Quarter - Chalice Theocracy*
Aris was packing his stuff in a cloth bag, rolling the witness stone into his night pajamas. Slightly limping with his bruised face, he took direction to classes. He couldn't fall behind now that everyone thought him extremely strong.
"Come on, Fox," he called.
The Academy priest wasn't as good as his master, but she had healed him enough to walk and get to class.
When he arrived at the classroom, fae students were all looking at him like a mortal enemy. Even Orric and his halfling classmate didn't open space for him to sit. On the other hand, human classmates had already opened him the best seat.
One even placed baked goods on his desk. "I thought you haven't eaten any. Enjoy, Aris," she said with a warm smile.
"Ugh. I don't like this," he thought.
"I could eat," Fox said hopefully.
"Familiars should wait outside or in the dorms," the girl corrected gently.
Maezana, the class magic teacher, entered with another faculty member - a fae teacher they'd never met. The newcomer was a young fae woman priest who looked like a vampire and floated like a fairy, her pale skin seeming to glow with inner light and her movements unnaturally graceful.
"Alright class, I am hoping yesterday's dueling grudges are past behind us. We are going to learn new spells, all of which are necessary in dungeon two. I'll let my colleague introduce herself," Maezana announced.
The fae woman walked forward with ethereal grace. "I am Healer Mirith Dawnsinger. Today, with your teacher, we will show you basics of protection." She was looking at Aris with both disgust and interest - interested like how this kid defeated five of our kin.
But things in this Academy weren't sitting right. Teachers clearly ran pairing without race issues, but starting from common folk, and among students they were dividing based on race.
She continued, "You all heard by now, your friend Aris is a living example of this." She pressed the word "living" unnaturally.
"If you can defend yourself with correct protection spells, you can determine who lives and who dies. There are three types of protection spells: Physical, Elemental, and Mental."
One of the fae students jumped up eagerly. "I heard Templars can combine all three with Holy Protection," she said with a know-it-all tone.
Mirith hissed at her. "That is far beyond your comprehension. Live through the fourth dungeon, and those who choose the Templar route can learn that."
"Again with combination. There is something there," Aris thought.
She walked toward Aris and whispered to him, "The question is how could a first year perfectly execute it?" and walked in front of the class again.
Maezana took over. "Unlike what you know, there are five branches of schools taught in our Academy. And each one of them has to know how to protect themselves."
Mirith added, "You kids, for a number of reasons, thought only Priests and Templars existed. But there are other routes. Well, realistically two - I don't think any of you can take the route of prophet like our leader."
Maezana continued, "Anyway, these routes you should think about further along the path. Now Healer Mirith here halted her progression toward being an Inquisitor, which is a very dangerous and difficult occupation. She graduated two semesters ago, and I asked her to demonstrate her protection skills against mine."
"Oh shoot," Aris thought. "I don't have any spell slots. How can I fit it into my title? I should have to gain new titles. But Temple route shields might be different than Mage branch. How am I going to explain that?"
When Aris was lost in those thoughts, Maezana materialized light missiles toward Mirith, and Mirith materialized a faint glowing shield one meter in front of her, deflecting the missiles.
"Look, I will increase the number of missiles," Maezana said. She sent thirty at once to the same location with extremely good precision, shattering the shield.
Maezana was breathing heavily. "I can break that shield with sheer force and my might, but when I am tired, she only used one spell."
Mirith was looking unfazed.
"Now one more I will show, and we will start teaching correct forms," Maezana announced.
This time Maezana created a giant glowing hammer and hurled it against Mirith, and Mirith's shield easily maintained itself.
"As you can see, it is even effective against high impact single attacks. But the downside is you can't counter with any spell while holding a shield," Maezana explained.
Aris looked really hard, remembering getting the [ Bzzt! ] interference when masters showed him their craft. But he didn't get any. "I can't get any more spells. Is this the game's version of restricting players or locals?" he thought. He didn't have any knowledge of the game, but most games limited learning spells to beginners. And Aris could count as a beginner even though he'd spent four years in the game.
And if the game didn't limit locals from gaining spells during their title-earning journey, they could also become overpowered without fulfilling their potential. Aris wondered if they were still aware that game mechanics and world rules still applied, set by the creators.
"Aris, right?" Mirith asked him a rhetorical question, clearly setting up something. "You are pretty far advanced than your peers. Would you like to show us some of your talent?"
"Sorry, Leydi Mirith, I am not feeling well. Maybe other friends could be of use," Aris deflected.
"Healer Mirith," she corrected Aris. "We don't have lords or ladies in Chalice," she said it in a hostile way.
"Alright. If any of you can already manifest physical protection shield, you can still learn keeping correct form or enhancing it with a little bit of resilience," Maezana said.
"Resilience," Aris thought. "That also means putting pressure on the body. Sacrificing your health to enhance something. They know the blood acolyte path and are keeping it secret. And giving slight hints to use it."
That class, Aris noted every way to keep correct form and wordings down to the last detail, but that would have to wait because he had no way of putting that spell in his roster.
Fox outside the hall was waiting. "Come on, Lyra wants me to call you to the library. She got something about witness stones," he whispered.
Aris once again entered the library. "What a change," he thought. His first weeks now seemed small. Not just their faith or book count, but space itself. He took his place and opened a book, his mind busy with how to recharge the witness stone or gain another title to learn shield.
Lyra lingered at her desk with a book. Covering her librarian side, she said, "Here, young Aris, this is the book you have been asking for."
"You can cut the act. Halflings are all at that corner. Fae left after taking their books," Fox said.
"Aris, I might to leave the academy for about sometime. I am investigating that replicator you found. Even though I can't travel there, I am hearing from my other sources. Some races are having an insane amount of manpower," Lyra explained.
"Like?" Aris asked.
"Like goblins."
"What? They're limited with potential. They're trying to compensate with numbers. Clever," Fox observed.
"Yeah, that's also concerning," Lyra agreed.
"What am I going to do when you are gone? You said you'd help me find a way to recharge the witness stone," Aris said desperately.
"This book," she pointed to the book she'd used as an excuse to sit at the table.
"I stole it from the head librarian. A faculty member returned it to her specifically. I saw the headline and changed its casing."
"What is it?" Aris asked.
"I didn't have time to read it. But it's about runes and stones."
"Finally some use of your talents," Fox said sarcastically.
Lyra made ugly faces at Fox. "Read it, memorize it cover to cover. It might be useful. But don't get caught."
"The day they attacked me, I somehow used both Holy Smite and protection. And today at the class they were talking about templars using combined protection spells," Aris said.
"What are you trying to ask?" Lyra inquired.
"Is it possible to create new spells by combining?"
"Yeah," Lyra said simply.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I can combine healing touch and cure disease and open a slot," Aris said excitedly.
"Aris, don't be stupid. I didn't tell you because you can't do it. It is a very high concept," Lyra warned.
"I still have to try," Aris said with determination.