Sudden Quest (2)

Ding-dong, ding-dong~

"Ah, that's the warning bell."

"Right — Yu-ra, can I see your schedule? I've been so out of it I have no idea where I even put mine."

"Sure! Here!"

Where had I even stashed everything they'd handed out on the first day? So much had happened since then that I'd completely forgotten. In the end, I looked over the timetable Yu-ra passed me.

"The schedule's... pretty much locked in, huh?"

"Yeah. They said they designed it for efficiency."

When I'd been playing this as a game, I'd just mashed the skip button through every class, so I'd never actually known. It was incredibly simple. Mornings were physical training, then individual weapons instruction. Afternoons were mana training plus history and general education. Monday through Thursday were identical; only Friday was given over to a full day of combat class.

And according to this, today's first period was physical training with our homeroom teacher, Park Ji-bo. I asked Yu-ra, carefully,

"...What did the homeroom teacher say about me?"

"I mean... he didn't really seem to care?"

Tch... was that a good sign or a bad one? I'd find out tomorrow, I supposed.

The next period was creeping up, and I was about to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gather my textbooks when Yu-ra pulled a change of clothes from her bag.

"You know we wear gym uniforms for mana training too, right? The girls especially have to."

"Ah... I didn't bring mine."

"I'll go grab it!"

"...Here's my room key. Please."

"On it!!"

In the end, Yu-ra — with that ridiculous stamina of hers — sprinted all the way to the Academy Dormitories and back. A run like that barely registered; she didn't even break a sweat. Only her face was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little flushed.

"Here. Your room was pretty well organized, by the way."

Well, that was a relief...

Yu-ra and I headed for the locker room to change.

Ugh...

I was getting nervous. This might have been the first real event-like event I'd had since possessing this body. I stepped carefully inside — and a feast of bare skin unfolded before me.

"Oh..."

Bras and panties in every color. Some were quite provocative; others had the kind of teddy-bear prints a kid might wear. And then there was my friend Yu-ra's...

"Whoa... that's bold."

"Ah... when I work out, s-sweat builds up, so..."

Against her lightly tanned skin, a black thong and a black lace-trimmed bra. A body that was the finished, polished product of sexy-as-hell.

Gulp...

"...W-why did you just swallow, Na-ho?"

"Ah... I-I didn't mean to."

"You strip too, already!!"

"Kyaa!"

"..."

I shrieked, startled, as Yu-ra grabbed my arm. An awkward silence stretched out. Everyone in the locker room was staring at us.

"...I-I'll take it off."

"Ah, yeah..."

I put on a matching set of plain white. After a lot of groaning and struggling, I did at least get it on.

"Oh... I knew it. You're shorter than me, and yet... these are huge?"

"Nnh... d-don't touch."

Yu-ra's finger poked into my chest. I really, genuinely wanted to poke hers right back — but the last scraps of my reason held me in check.

Good. Not wet...

Fortunately, whoever had found the Hole seemed to be at work; there was still no signal from down below. Judging by that, they had a fairly normal daily routine. Nothing particularly distinctive about them, except—

Right. The fingers... they were insanely thick.

What had come through the Hole in the great hall had definitely been a finger. Not a dick. There couldn't be that many people with hands that big.

Arthas had pretty big hands too, didn't he...?

The thought of that bastard drifted up unbidden, and I hastily shoved it away.

"Ugh... these are a little short."

"Longer just means more sweat. What's the point?"

"Yeah, but..."

The gym uniform was that famous Japanese article: the buruma. The guys, of course, got perfectly normal shorts. Moments like this really drove home that this was an eroge.

If these get wet, is it going to show?

It was going to show like hell. They were navy blue; any moisture would bloom into a dark, obvious stain. Not that I had the option of not wearing them.

"Come on, let's get to the Meditation Room."

"Yeah."

I covered my full, straining chest with a white performance T-shirt and stepped out of the locker room. Men's gazes snapped toward us in an instant. The other girls seemed a little embarrassed too; their steps quickened.

And so we arrived at the Meditation Room. The temperature was pleasantly cool, with a mat laid out for each student and a small desk beside it.

"Everyone, please take a seat wherever you'd like."

And there she was — the mana training instructor, McDonagall. A middle-aged woman with a quiet, cultivated air.

"Let's sit over there, Na-ho."

Yu-ra took my hand and led me to a spot toward the back. Once everyone had settled, McDonagall spoke.

"A pleasure. This will be the second time you've seen me, I believe — yesterday, and now. Welcome, first-years."

"Yes!!"

"Heh heh. Mana training will be a very quiet, very calm, very pure hour. I will be guiding you into the deep, deep world of mana."

Please, I hope so. Quiet, calm, and pure. Those are the things I want more than anything.

"First, shall we open our textbooks to page one?"

A soft rustle of turning pages filled the room. Everyone was being drawn, little by little, into McDonagall's mysterious, gentle atmosphere.

"According to the text, whose gift is mana?"

"The Holy God's!"

"That's right. The power that our great and merciful Holy God bestowed upon humanity — so that we might stand against the gods and monsters of other realms — is mana."

Yeah, yeah. The power that damn developer bastard handed down...

Come to think of it, the Holy God had said something about power, and limits...

Does that mean even the pressure being put on me has restrictions?

God, I hoped so. Even so, I was not signing up to keep getting jerked around like that.

"Academies all over the world take promising young people like yourselves, teach you, raise you, and produce the knights and mages who will fight those other realms. And this place — Geumgang-Baekdu... Academy — is the finest of them all."

The name was based entirely on the Academy's location. McDonagall didn't seem particularly fond of it.

"Over the course of a year here, you will grow familiar with mana, until you can wield it as naturally as your own hands and feet. Through deep meditation you may also gain insight — or, through steady Mana Respiration, increase your reserves."

"Professor, I have a question."

"Oh my. Go ahead."

"Is it only Mana Respiration? What about attribute conversion?"

McDonagall smiled at the boy's question.

"That's next semester. Of course, some of you may already have manifested your own attributes — but we mustn't ignore the Academy's curriculum. Think of this as tempering your foundations. Now then..."

As she continued her explanation, McDonagall flicked her fingers. The desks drifted up of their own accord and floated away toward the back of the Meditation Room, the textbooks stacking themselves neatly on top of each one. A pleased smile touched her lips at the startled faces all around her.

"Everyone, please sit in whatever position is comfortable."

I folded myself into a lotus position on the plush mat. I'd more or less copied Yu-ra, and my flexibility turned out to be so absurd that I dropped into it with embarrassing ease.

"Now. Breathe in deeply — and let it all out."

"Hahh... hahh..."

"Clear your thoughts, and sink somewhere deep. Inward, inward... as if you are falling..."

Soon the Meditation Room was full of the students' even breathing. Buoyed by that gentle voice, my mind sank further and further. Before I knew it, I could see a blue flame inside my own heart.

This is... mana?

It was enormous, blazing fiercely. I reached out carefully, and a sensation both cold and warm met my fingers — a contradictory feeling that filled me with wonder. And then, as I watched, the flame ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed to swell.

Huh?

The fire ballooned as if it meant to devour me. I startled and stumbled backward — and the flame came after me.

Is it because this is power that Holy God bastard handed down? Why the hell is it coming at me like that!!

With my Strength at a measly 11, I was on the verge of being caught. Then, right before it seized me, the fire suddenly shrank, and I felt it ricochet upward.

"Hah—!!"

My eyes flew open, and everything around me rushed in at once. My classmates were staring at me from their mats, eyes wide. And standing in front of me was Professor McDonagall.

"Are you all right, Oh Na-ho...?"

"Ah... yes, Professor. I'm fine."

"No. You were not fine."

"...Excuse me?"

"Just now, in your inner landscape — weren't you nearly swallowed by your own mana?"

"..."

I nodded, my face gone blank. McDonagall chided me in a calm, even voice.

"It wasn't even the mana depths yet. Why did you go and do that on your own?"

"Ah... I-I just sank into the meditation, and... there was a fire."

"You saw it? Already?"

Surprise crossed McDonagall's face. Wait — was that not something everyone saw?

"Ah, Oh Na-ho... I remember now. You were the special admissions student for mana, weren't you?"

"...Yes."

"Now I see why. To already behold the Origin of Magic from the depths..."

Ah... so that's what the Origin was. A stir of astonished voices rose around us.

"No way... she already saw the Origin?"

"Bullshit. She probably just got dazzled by someone else's mana and imagined it."

"What's some trash with no house and no pedigree doing—"

"Silence."

McDonagall shut them up with a word, then asked me how it had felt.

"Uh... it was cold and warm at the same time, and it was blazing. When I touched it, it started getting bigger."

"You... touched it?"

"...Yes. Is that not allowed?"

At that, a look of genuine pleasure settled on McDonagall's face.

"Not at all. I've simply learned how extraordinary Oh Na-ho's talent truly is. And after that?"

"Ah... the fire came after me, so I ran."

"Oh my. That's because you're still unskilled, Oh Na-ho. A true mage commands that flame as they please."

"Is that... so."

"In any case, be careful next time. An Origin of Magic you cannot control will burn not only you, but everything around you."

"...Yes."

With that, McDonagall returned to the dais and went on.

"You all saw, didn't you? What Oh Na-ho just showed you?"

"...Yes."

"Only the real ones — the ones who fight on the front lines — can produce a sight like that. Because they command the Origin of Magic at will. It would seem Oh Na-ho is the furthest along in Class 3. Everyone, a round of applause!"

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

The boy beside me and most of the guys clapped. The girls, on the other hand, barely tapped their palms together. Before we sank back into meditation, I leaned over and asked Yu-ra,

"What did I look like?"

"Huh? I mean, you were completely covered in this blue fire — I thought you were being burned at the stake!"

"Ah..."

The way you put things, I swear...

At any rate, the talent that came with my Magic stat seemed to be far more impressive than I'd expected. And then, sparkling right in front of my eyes, an alert window.

...What is that.

My heart clenched tight with nerves as I opened it.

Hah... that actually put me in a good mood. So there was an achievement like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this. I didn't think I'd ever gotten this one even when I was raising Arthas.

And with that, mana training ended, and everyone filed back to the classroom. A peaceful stretch, from one in the afternoon until four.

Please, just stay like this.

But they say misfortune always comes knocking the moment you're happy, don't they? The instant history and general education class began, a grasping hand reached into the Hole that had been so quiet until now.