Ji-ah's Shadow Awakening
The practice room took the form of a massive dome.
Instructor Nephrian operated a machine on one side and addressed us.
"I'm going to artificially increase the mana density in here. Cadets, just feel the changes in your bodies and sense the mana."
As Instructor Nephrian spoke, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
The air gradually grew stuffy.
But once it passed a certain threshold, it actually started feeling comfortable.
"If you feel inexplicably stifled or nauseous for some unknown reason, that means you have aptitude for sensing mana. Remember that sensation well."
The stuffiness faded, replaced by a sense that something was flowing through me.
Is this mana?
I infused my will into the flow.
The sensation of playing around with Thousand Changes proved helpful.
I drew the flow toward me, guiding it into my body.
But the mana, which had been entering smoothly, suddenly hit a wall and stopped.
The mana already inside me dwindled until only a faint trace remained at my fingertips, then vanished entirely.
"Some cadets seem to have succeeded. And that one cadet over there..."
Instructor Nephrian, mid-sentence, looked my way in surprise.
I thought he was staring at me, but his gaze was actually fixed on Lee Ji-ah beside me.
Black energy was pouring out from Lee Ji-ah's body.
"Miss Ji-ah...?"
Lee Ji-ah had her eyes squeezed shut, concentrating fiercely.
She'd bitten her lip so hard that a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
I tried to approach her, but Instructor Nephrian blocked me, so all I could do was watch.
Time passed like that... and the black energy was absorbed back into Lee Ji-ah.
She lost consciousness and collapsed.
"Ji-ah!"
I caught her as she fell.
Her body was scorching hot, like it was on fire.
"How is the cadet's condition?"
"She's unconscious, and her body is burning hot."
"Take her to the infirmary for now. I'll contact them ahead."
"Got it."
I hoisted Lee Ji-ah onto my back and left the practice room.
After laying Lee Ji-ah down in the infirmary and stepping out, lunch hour was already winding down.
Afternoon lectures were approaching, so eating seemed out of the question.
I entered the assigned classroom alone, where the cadets buzzed with anticipation.
A witch was that rare and astonishing an existence.
For me, though, the unnaturally high proportion of other races among the cadets in this room was even more surprising.
No, the entire building housing this classroom was full of them.
"Don't you think so?"
A blond man sitting next to me struck up a conversation out of the blue.
He'd skipped the subject, so I had no clue what he was on about.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"What's with the formal talk between academy cadets? Loosen up."
"No thanks. I don't like rude behavior."
"You calling me rude right now?"
"..."
I didn't respond.
That was answer enough.
"Human standards are hard to grasp."
Human?
Was this guy not human?
If he was another race, his sense of rudeness might differ, which I could understand.
"Let me introduce myself first. I'm Ruphus of the Bloodmane tribe. Nice to meet you."
"Same here. I'm Shin Do-jun."
"Suddenly dropping the formalities, huh?"
"Everyone has their own standards. Now that I know you're a beastkin, ignoring your intent would make me the rude one."
Beastkin valued camaraderie and were highly sociable.
There were exceptions among certain tribes, but most were similar.
...At least, that's how it was in the game.
"Anyway, nice to meet you, Ruphus."
"Yeah."
"So, what were you starting to say earlier?"
"You know how mystical witches are, right? One becoming an academy instructor—surprised?"
"Yeah, it shocked me too."
"All the other cadets are hyped about it. That's why the vibe's so electric."
Even among other races, witches were something special.
I'd gained a bit of insight.
As Ruphus and I chatted about the witch, the instructor entered the classroom.
All eyes turned to her.
"Shut the hell up, all of you."
One sentence from the instructor froze the room solid.
The instructor's lecture, which dominated the room with a single word, was even more shocking.
"This class is on understanding other races. Official lectures start tomorrow. That's it."
She left those words and walked out.
The classroom atmosphere plummeted like ice water had been dumped on it.
"Whoa... what an instructor."
"Yeah, that first-class impact is no joke."
"Even for the first day, I never imagined she'd bail without any explanation."
"Right? Is that the true face of the legendary witch?"
She was the polar opposite of the Basic Magic Studies instructor from that morning.
Not that I preferred Instructor Nephrian's style, either.
One dumps incomprehensible theory on day one, the other spits one line and leaves...
Did this academy have no middle ground?
"We've got an awkward chunk of time left. Got anything to do?"
"Yeah, my little sister's at the library. Can't leave her alone—too risky—so I'm heading there."
"Mind if I tag along?"
I had business at the library anyway.
Needed to check what mods were left.
It'd be a huge letdown if I took the long way around only to find the story already resolved.
"I'll ask first."
Ruphus fiddled with his smartwatch.
After tapping away for a while, he said,
"Hmm... no connection? I'll go ask first and call you if it's cool."
"Sure, I've got a stop to make too. Message me."
We exchanged numbers.
I didn't usually save guys' numbers, but Ruphus gave off a different vibe.
Some gut feeling he might be important?
After watching Ruphus head toward the library, I went to the infirmary.
Lee Ji-ah still hadn't woken.
The raging fever had subsided, though, so she just looked peacefully asleep.
Sitting by her bed, watching her, she let out a groan and stirred.
"Ugh... mm..."
"Ji-ah? You awake?"
"Do-jun... oppa...? Where...?"
"This is the infirmary. You passed out during the mana resonance lecture this morning—don't you remember?"
"Ah... I remember... ugh!"
Lee Ji-ah clutched her head and collapsed again.
Guess I'd stirred her up by coming.
I explained what just happened to the resident infirmary instructor and stepped out.
Sitting on the bench out front, my smartwatch buzzed.
The message came with location data.
I headed to the spot Ruphus sent.
"Whoa... this place is huge..."
The library was vast.
Vast didn't even cover it.
Without the smartwatch, I'd have been lost for sure.
And right in front of me was someone who was lost.
"Where the heck am I...?"
She wandered, staring at her smartwatch.
I didn't want to get involved, but after seeing her circle the same spot multiple times, I couldn't just ignore her.
"Um, excuse me..."
"Eek!"
She jumped like I'd scared her half to death.
For a split second, I regretted calling out.
But since I'd already done it, bailing now would look even shadier, so I pressed on.
"You've been looping around this area for a bit. Seemed lost, so I thought if you knew the way, you could point me."
"Ah..."
She was still catching her breath, chest heaving.
...No way conversation would work right now.
I waited for her to calm down, then spoke.
"You okay now?"
"Ah... you're so kind. Thank you. Could you take a look at this?"
She held out her smartwatch.
As she brought her arm close, a sweet scent wafted over.
...She has no idea how to use this thing.
The tiny map on the watch face was useless.
"Mind if I...?"
I took her arm and activated the popup.
The map expanded into a hologram.
Her eyes widened in wonder at the feature.
The location was... the reading room I was heading to.
"That's exactly where I'm going. Coincidence. Want to come along?"
"Thank you. If it's no trouble."
She fell in step beside me.
We walked slowly, shoulders nearly brushing.
"Since we met like this by chance, mind if I ask your name? I'm Shin Do-jun."
"Oh, I'm Latynia. I'm still not used to things around here..."
We made small talk on the way to the reading room.
Turned out Latynia had come through an inter-layer gate just recently.
She seemed flustered by Korean amenities.
At the reading room Ruphus indicated, I spotted him sitting in front of a young girl, gazing at her with warm eyes.
Anyone would peg him as a creep.
"This is the spot on the map. I've got stuff to do, so..."
"Ah, yes! Thank you."
I said goodbye to Latynia and approached Ruphus.
He didn't notice even when I stood right next to him, too fixated on the girl.
"Ahem. Ahem!"
My cough finally got his attention.
"Oh, Do-jun, you're here."
"Yeah. So, what's the deal with this situation?"
At my question, the girl across from Ruphus—who'd been buried in a stack of books—looked up.
"This is my little sister, Ara. Ara, this is Shin Do-jun—we got friendly in class today."
"Uh... hi. I'm Shin Do-jun."
"Ah, yes... hello."
She exchanged brief greetings, then dove back into her books.
Sibling vibes differ this much, huh...
"Ara's a bit shy. She'll warm up once she gets used to you."
"I haven't even said anything yet."
"You were gonna."
"Fair enough."
We chuckled.
Ara pretended not to listen but perked her ears anyway.
The wolf ears poking from her platinum hair caught my eye.
But best not to poke the bear right now.
"By the way, you called someone else here too, right? Someone who came with you from the Imanitus Continent?"
"I ran into one lost person. Name was Latynia, I think..."
"Where's that person now?"
That person?
Sounded like nobility—beastkin using honorifics wasn't common.
"She was right there a second ago... huh?"
She'd been there moments ago, but now she was gone.
Ruphus scanned around at my words.
The reading room was absurdly huge, befitting Prism.
The auxiliary shelves alone rivaled a normal library's size.
And there were twelve more rooms like this.
Ruphus fidgeted like something huge had gone wrong.
"Want me to go find her?"
"Yeah, please."
He added that he had to watch his sister.
What dangers lurk in Prism's library that he needs to guard her like this?