Capítulo 18: Bad News
The trio sat together in the last row.
"Huaaa~," Lami yawned loudly, sitting at his desk. The class was about to start, and he had no energy left.
"Did you train the whole night?" Lucian asked.
After saying his goodbyes yesterday, Lami went to Hermes Hall to train.
Feeling the next rank made him push himself harder, resulting in almost getting no sleep. He was about to reach the next rank and meanwhile, he was also improving his swordsmanship.
He learned how to strike, and he honed his battle senses significantly; however, he was still a beginner as a swordsman. He had also noticed weird things about Swift Strike while he was still learning the Manual.
The movements and battle scenarios he learned from the Manual were too perfect, making it seem like it was more than a Tier-2 Manual. His movements became elegant and deadly, wasting very little energy, but that was all.
The Manual felt like a piece of a puzzle, and his suspicions were confirmed when he mastered Swift Strike—a map appeared on the Manual's last page, marked with various symbols
Numbers were given to each symbol, going from two to seven. Lami had yet to take a detailed look at the map since he only mastered the Manual yesterday and had no energy to deeply think about the whole situation.
But he quickly concluded Swift Strike only being a piece of a bigger Manual.
What Manuals taught would be called 'battle-arts' but it was hardly the deal for lower-ranked ones. By learning from lower-rank Manuals, the user would learn a basic set of patterns, not a whole battle-art.
While that was the deal with Swift Strike, Lami had also improved his movement and other basic swordsmanship skills in a short time, and now with the map he hoped he could learn the perfect battle art.
Lami had made up his mind after the initial discovery. He would hunt for the other Manuals depicted on the map. But for now, he was left to improve on his accords.
Although Manuals helped greatly, one could still create their own battle style, much like creating new Spells.
For now, Lami was trying to fill the gaps to build cohesive sets of movement. Swift Strike was a great way to deal damage and end fights, but Lami was lacking in many more aspects.
Explosiveness and defense were the most crucial things to him for now. He had sustained so many needless injuries due to his non-existent defense, and from time to time he had failed to finish his opponents off for not being explosive and agile enough.
Exhausted from relentless training to improve his shortcomings, Lami managed only two hours of sleep and a long shower before class.
"Do you know why there wasn't a ceremony for us? I have…. read about them," Lumia said.
Lami was about to answer but Lucian didn't let him.
"There will be one before the welcoming party—should be this Saturday. The ceremony part is going to be a few minutes long speech though. The rest is mostly for making connections."
Hearing the word 'party', Lumia's eyes widened in expectation. There had to be parties in demon realms—Lami didn't understand why Lumia was romanticizing the simplest things.
'Human realm isn't all that special.'
Clank!
With a loud sound of doors opening, Calista entered the lecture room and made her way to the podium.
"...Good morning. We will start with the first lesson of Mana Theory today with the basics, but before we start I have two important announcements. First: There will be the yearly welcoming party this Saturday, detailed information will be sent to you. Don't forget that the attendance is mandatory,"
Calista said, her lavender eyes scanning the room. Noticing there were no questions, she continued,
"The second announcement will be more surprising to you," Calista paused, raising the expectations. "Your Weapon Arts professor will be Ms. Reiko Minamoto."
"...!"
With the sudden, unexpected announcement, the room erupted in cheerful noise. Reiko Minamoto was, after all, an even more legendary figure than Calista.
Lami also felt a sense of relief and a slight bit of joy. Reiko was a weapon master, proficient with almost every type of weapon, but her specialty was swords.
And Lami was a swordsman.
"With the announcements done, we can start with the lesson. Can anyone give a brief explanation of mana?" Calista scanned the room for raised hands and soon noticed someone.
"Yes, Mateo."
Mateo talked and talked…
Saying it is vital for Awakened as it helps with bodily functions working properly and how it was more than just a tool or source of power—it was the very essence of life itself.
'Not bad,' Lami thought approvingly.
Mana had become something more than just a tool for supernatural powers after years of adaptation.
Like air, mana's presence in the atmosphere was essential for existence.
It was like blood; without mana flowing through their pathways, they would cease to exist.
Even the mundane possessed a bit of mana, with the awakening gaining the ability to manipulate it.
That's why specializations or Skills that interfered with mana were so challenging to deal with.
Lami noticed that Mateo's answers were textbook perfect. Then the tiredness rendering him more powerless he decided to take a short nap. He placed his head comfortably on his arms and embraced the darkness.
***
"Shh. Should I do it?" Lucian whispered to Lumia, pointing at Lucian.
Lumia switched her gaze between soundly sleeping Lami and grinning Lucia.
Lami had his right arm under his head, he had a peaceful expression on his face. His pure, porcelain complexion was adorned with a straight nose, high cheekbones, and sharp jawline.
With his darkest shade of black hair and contrasting crimson red eyes, he was like a figure hopped out of people's vivid imaginations.
Unbeknownst to him, Lami had become a major topic among students. Not only from his own class but others were also comparing him with other students.
Lumia noticed that she had been glancing at Lami for a while, dazedly. She turned her head to Lucian with a devilish smile spread on her breathtaking face.
"Go for it," she whispered. She hadn't forgotten him making fun of her yesterday.
Lucian's time would also come.
"...So, can someone explain the term mana poisoning? Who… Oh, Lami please." Calista noticed Lami's hand; however, his face wasn't visible, only his hair was.
"..."
"Lami?"
After Calisita called her name for the second time, Lami's eyes shot open. He stared at Lucian holding his left arm, and Lumia hid her grin behind her hands.
He sluggishly stood up and asked,
"...Could you repeat the question please?"
Calista noticed his bloodshot eyes and red cheek, understanding the situation. Lucian had a crazy smile spread on his face, and Lumia was trying to hide hers.
She shook her head, however she wasn't annoyed. She was the type to bully Reíko in the past.
"What occurs when someone suffers from mana poisoning? Describe the symptoms they would experience and outline the steps necessary to treat it effectively."
"Ah, yes…. Mana poisoning occurs when a person's system is overloaded with mana they can't fully contain. In a situation of it, the person mostly dies by their pathways bursting if not treated quickly."
Lami swallowed his saliva.
"It's what happened when mana first appeared, resulting in the death of around 2 billion people and even more after.
"To deal with the situation the person needs to empty their core, but if the person is paralyzed by the amount of mana entering their body a medium has to be found to release the excess mana."
Lami scratched his neck thoughtfully before continuing,
"It could be an item that drained mana or else someone else needs to direct the mana out of their body."
Calista raised a curious brow.
"Relics that drain mana?"
Such Relics didn't exist as draining mana was a dangerous process that could result in death.
In a situation of Mana Poisoning, the person couldn't control their body or the pathways. If all the mana got sucked out of their body, they would die.
"..."
With a visible frown on his face, Lami didn't answer further.
"I see, you can sit down," she said, still not convinced, but apart from the item part his answer was spotless.
'Shit! I talked too much.'
Lami imaginarily facepalmed himself while throwing violent looks at Lucian and Lumia.
"Did you get what you wanted?"
"..."
They were speechless just like some other students.
"...I just wanted to test you, I guess you aren't top-ranked for nothing," Lucian said unbothered by Lami's hatred-driven glare.
Lami didn't say anything, he was genuinely mad.
His idea…
And his precious sleep…
***
'Is it doable? Directing mana outwards as if another person was doing it. Without damaging pathways as draining would?'
A pink-blonde-haired girl's mind raced, her thoughts a jumbling mess.
Scribble, Scribble…
The irritation was perceivable on her normally cute face—the sole reason being the source of the idea.
Ivy couldn't stand Lami. Even seeing his face made her feel sick. His theory was genius but…
Ivy felt like throwing up at the thought of acknowledging him.
'It wasn't a fluke? No, it has to be.'
Ivy was so proud of her academic talent, so losing out against Lami in the theoretical test hurt her confidence. That led to her consoling herself, saying Lami's performance had to fluke.
Though, she was aware that it wouldn't be possible. One couldn't ace the test by pure luck, yet deluding the truth felt better than acknowledging the facts.
But now Ivy concluded that Lami could be even more of an academic weapon than her.
'I will pass him next time,' Ivy promised herself.
The reason for him not being able to stand Lami though…
Was completely different. Ivy stared at Lami who was once sleeping calmly.
He was bad news…
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