I woke up both excited and nervous for the beginning of our 3-day break. Excited because I don't have to officially go to school. Nervous because I'm basically going to attend a study session to start my break.
I didn't want to study, but there's a 99.9% chance I'm the most uncultured and uninformed person in the world. I may have the strongest power in the world, but it means nothing without information I can take advantage of. And previous experiences show I'm no good at fighting against a mage with nothing but on-the-fly visualizations.
Kiori got dressed in a simple white dress shirt and pants, and I put on a simple brown t-shirt with black pants with a fabric that had a ripple texture, complete with belt loops and pockets. I didn't need a belt, since it fit snuggly to my waist, but the additional felt necessary.
He took us to the library with the crater in the floor. Like before, it was empty, except for the shelves full of books stacked high enough to look like a small skyscraper. Seriously, how does anyone get the books on top? Ask for help from someone who can fly?
Wait, that might be a possibility.
"I need to adjust my expectations."
"Huh?"
"Just talking to myself."
He walked over to the bottom of the crater, where the counter was, while I checked out the selection of books lining the shelves. Although some of the spines were blank, all of the titles were still in cryptic, indecipherable characters.
Looks like the language barrier removal only extends to being able to understand what people are saying.
I was feeling hopeful that my inability to read would also be solved, but I guess there's a limit to what this new connection can give me.
While I let Kiori take care of whatever it was that he was doing, I observed the thickness of the books, trying to guess their contents based on the cover and material. In the end, all of my deductions were pretty much guesses of what you'd find in a stereotypical old study in an old man's home. Books on history, gardening, multi-volume books, maybe a few autobiographies. I wouldn't know, I'm more of a manga and web novel reader.
By the time I finished, I had taken a lap around the upper ring of the library. Kiori was still in the crater, standing in front of the counter. From the way he raised and lifted his fingers, he was listing something in sequence.
Is he talking to someone?
I looked between Kiori and the empty counter he stood in front of. From the moment I stepped into this place to now, I'm certain he was standing in that spot. I didn't give it much thought, since I assume he went to handle something important, but now I'm wondering if he has a habit of talking to himself or if he's talking to someone I can't see.
Curious, I decided to descend one of the 8 sets of stairs leading down and approached my summoner.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm having Ms. Jaklin get some books we'll need for your classes. Now that you can understand what everyone's saying, I can finally teach you all of the stuff you'll need to learn."
I looked at the empty counter in front of him once more.
"And where's Ms. Jaklin?"
He gave me a weird look.
"The woman in front of you?"
"But there isn't one?"
He made an "O" with his mouth upon realizing something.
"Wait, you can't see her?"
"I see an empty counter and you talking to air."
"Interesting. Well, this-" He gestured to the air. "-is our school's librarian. She helps us get any book we'll need, as long as it's here." He motioned toward the entire collection lined on the shelves, turning in place. "Take a look."
Just as he said that, multiple books from the higher shelves floated toward the counter, stacking themselves neatly.
"One book on magic, three on our town's history, and one on etiquette. The last of which you'll need the most, now that you can speak and respond to others."
"I can understand magic, since Mr. Draco said I've been violating magic principles, and history on the town, as I don't want to be seen as insensitive. But why do I need a book on etiquette? I know not to be rude to others."
"Some of my classmates have been raised in noble households, and place importance on properly addressing one another in a more classy, sophisticated manner. When I've heard how you've head-butted Alicia, I knew you're not one for manners."
"Tell that to the person who decided we should build a school for students wielding abilities with the capacity to kill at any moment."
"There are measures in place. We have professors with combative abilities easily capable of dealing with out-of-control students, and if a student wielded magic with an intensity similar to what had transpired yesterday, we'd go into lockdown mode, suppressing and disrupting our access to Proa."
"Proa?"
"It's what we call the energy that allows for magical abilities."
"I'll help you study our magic and etiquette; however, you'll have to study our history on your own time. I can never claim to be well-versed in the subject, but I know enough about important figures to not be clueless."
You just don't want to help me study history.
"Huh? Was that obvious?"
Oh damn. "Umm… did you hear that thought?"
"Thought? Wait, were you making me hear your thoughts?"
"Not on purpose. I was just internalizing something that didn't need to be spoken out loud."
"Well, in etiquette, letting your thoughts be known is your biggest enemy. You'll have to figure out how to stop letting that happen on its own."
"I'm pretty sure that's just a general rule of conversation," I spoke, deciding not to make that a verbal thought.
…
Kiori took me to our 4th-period classroom, insisting that I sit at the front while he took on the role of professor. He even asked me to prepare a set of clothes for him that made him look more professor-y. I gave him a white coat long enough to nearly touch the floor and a pair of non-prescription glasses.
"Proa is the energy that supplies a mage's ability to conjure anything within the confines of their attunement. The amount of Proa in your body and the mastery showcased over your attunement can be classified into 5 tiers. These tiers are officially recognized by the Adventurer's Guild, Givilrin Knights, and the Grand Mage Tower." Kiori explained with a scholarly inflection. "These tiers are Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, and Grand." He elaborated as he used chalk to draw on the board. I assumed he was writing the tiers in those cryptic characters.
"Are they sorted from most powerful to least powerful from top to bottom?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. I had no frame of reference for what you'd consider a mage of sufficient strength, Proa capacity, or skill set to each tier.
"Yes, excellent question, dear student!" Professor Kiori answered normally, before reverting to his scholarly persona. I think he forgot to roleplay for a moment. "These tiers were established in collaboration with the first generation of Tower Grand Mages and the Adventurer's Guild, after mages became increasingly more established in the guild. The general sentiment is that some mages are stronger than others, and not everyone is equally reliable when called upon for help with certain tasks and missions."
"So it started as classification for work performance?"
"Yeah, but that eventually got adapted into a guild member's performance, regardless of magic or not. Guild performance and reputation are measured by merit and efficiency, and that's classified by a color, followed by an animal's feature. Though I don't know all of the tiers. You'll have to ask a guild member."
"Huh." Didn't sound too different from a workplace hierarchy. "So… going by the Mage classification system, where would some of your classmates place? That is… if it's not a problem to share?"
"Why would it be a problem to share how strong my classmates are?"
"Because I'd follow up with asking how you would compare against them? From what little I've learned about you, you sound envious of your classmates' strength."
"Ahh…" Kiori remained silent, looking deep in thought. He took off his non-prescription glasses with plastic lenses. "I want to be as strong as them, but I don't even know how to be strong with my attunement. String isn't something that can defend against vicious flames or block large chunks of rock or ice."
"Be honest with me, Kiori, where would you place your current skill set with your attunement?"
He silently walked up to the spot next to me and sat down. "Novice level."
"And where would you rank your classmates?"
"Sebastian would be high-advanced, low-master range. Elipto would be high-intermediate, medium-advanced. Richter and Emilie would be around the medium-intermediate to low-advanced range. Alicia would be high-intermediate, low advanced."
"Interesting… apart from Alicia, I don't know the faces of the people you just mentioned."
"Oh, right. I think Sebastian visited me along with you when I got attacked by Mazin. Elipto helped us get off the street with his ice magic. Emilie is the blonde girl who hangs out with Alicia."
"The one with the long name that started with Yevan?"
"Yup! Richter is the one with brown hair. You know the one who went against Emilie in our 5th period?"
After he helped put names to faces, we stopped our student-teacher roleplay and briefly talked about the classmates he mentioned, with me listening as he explained his relationships with them.