"Mr. Rennard?" A feminine voice said.
"Mr. Rennard!" Her understanding tone changed as she yelled loud enough to grab Jack's attention.
"Yes."
Jack was still confused about what he just witnessed but all he could do was chalk up to the well known side effects of first time teleportation.
"This is your room." The woman spoke before walking down the seemingly never ending hallway.
'How did I get here. I remember teleporting and finding myself in that strange white room, but not meeting that woman or walking into a building.'
Jack didn't even recall departing form the 'Awakener'. He assumed he was in the Academy dormitories based on the magical feeling the hallway presented. Information about the Celestial Magic Academy was well known through the Western Continent as most schools were required to share all public information about it.
These halls were the exact same as one of the pictures his hometown teacher had shown his class.
If he had arrived Jack really had no reason to worry about the previous happenings and instead opened the door in front of him, marked with a golden plate with a number engraved:
1018
Turning the knob he found the door practically opened itself. Inside was a simple room one would expect from a prestigious academy.
A large bed rested against the far wall with a desk right beside it. Curtains covered a double window that had been cracked to let fresh air in. What caught Jacks attention the most wasn't the nightstand, closest, bathroom, or non existent light. No, it was the semi-transparent floating box of words in front of him.
[Jack Rennard]
[Magic Circuit Level: 1] [EXP: 0 / 5000]
[Affinities:]
- Water (Rank: F)
[Mana:]
- Water Mana: 20/20
[Spells:] None
[Runes Collected:] 0
[Spell Crafting] [Quests]
Jack couldn't help but think back to the strange voice in the white room.
'Do you wish to become powerful?'
He had assumed it was just some test that would help professors group students, but it seemed to be completely unrelated to the Academy.
'What is this.'
[I am the Magic Circuit System, bestowed upon you by the god, Raul. There is much information I am unable to share, but I will be happy to answer any questions I am allowed to answer.]
It could hear his thoughts, take over his vision, and even claimed to be some kind of god sent creation. Hell, even Jack knew that gods don't exist.
[You are somewhat correct, gods technically don't exist, not anymore. After the heavenly war against the traitorous 'Dark Gods' the righteous gods like Raul were forced to pay a heavy cost to save the human world. They locked themselves in their divine realm and swore they would not help humans in exchange for the Dark Gods to never try to regain their power. Of course, something went wrong and that is why you were chosen to foil the Dark Gods plans.]
There was no voice that accompanied the words just a small ringing noise every time a screen appeared. Could he still he hallucinating after the teleportation spell? Yeah, that would explain it.
Jack laid down on the soft bed and shut his eyes, knowing that it would all be over when he woke up.
***
His sleep was interrupted by the ringing. At first he just softly heard it while dreaming, but eventually it was too loud for him to ignore and he had to open his eyes.
[Quest: Awakening]
[Description: You have used the System for the first time, a long journey is ahead of you.]
[Rewards: 2 F Rank Runes]
[Claim Reward]
Not even reading more than the first two words, Jack just swatted at the screen which caused him to claim the quest rewards. What he assumed would stop the noise instead brought on more.
[Quest: Craft your First Spell]
[Description: Discover the true power of the system.]
[Reward: 10 Circuit Experience, 10% Affinity Experience]
[Punishment: ???]
This time Jack rose from his bed and actually read the screen.
'This is real?'
[Of Course it's real, what are the chances someone would be able to fake something like this.]
Honestly, Jack had nothing to think or say, instead he found his system screen pop up and he saw a change.
[Runes Collected:] 2 (F Rank)
At the bottom of his screen a button was pulsing:
[Spell Crafting]
When he clicked on the button a new screen appeared.
[Welcome to Spell Crafting, to get started select the two runes at the bottom of the screen and drag them into the crafting area. Once this step is completed click on the 'Craft' button.]
Jack simply followed along with instructions and hit the button.
[New Spell: Water Hand (F Rank)]
[Description: Allows the user to create a hand out of water that can be controlled using the mind. The hand is solid enough to grab small objects.]
[Casting Cost: 2 mana per cast, 1 mana for every minute used]
[Mastery Level: 1] [EXP: 0/50]
The spell sounded cool on paper, but to Jack it seemed rather useless. Wouldn't the hand just make everything it touches wet? His knowledge of magic wasn't vast but he assumed that if fire magic burned things then water magic would make stuff wet.
'How do I cast the spell?' Jack asked in his thoughts, knowing that the system can read them.
[Simply speak the name of the spell, as long as you have enough mana it will cast. Controlling it is all the casters responsibility.]
"Water Hand."
Within moments water rushed out from his right hand and formed and identical copy of it. when Jack thought about it growing, it stretched out and when he wanted it to move side to side, it did.
Looking around for some kind of object to test the grip on he found a few pens neatly placed on the desk. Extending the hand he made in grab one of the pens and then retracted it back towards himself.
What he thought was a useless spell actually had functionality and to top it off no water was left in his room when he dismissed the spell.
[Claim Reward]
With a grin Jack pressed the glowing button. His life was seeming to become less dull than he expected.