The Kind Owl Professor
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl professor is kind.
The next morning.
My eyes snapped open before the first light of dawn.
I couldn't fall into a deep sleep; every second felt like a waste when I was burning with curiosity about the skillbook.
I summoned my Interface into the air and immediately set my destination.
The Magic Counseling Room.
Crossing the campus shrouded in thick morning mist, I staved off my hunger with a fist-sized meat bun I had bought from the Gallery Shop last night for 1 PT.
It was incredibly juicy, incomparable to the fishy raw meat rationed out at the academy cafeteria.
It was still early, a time when those beasts would be fast asleep.
Although I had the Peppermint Perfume I received from Arin, catching the eyes of the beast-kin would only lead to annoying trouble. It was best to move when the streets were empty.
Passing through the silent campus, I reached the center of the academy, where a massive domed building loomed majestically.
The location indicated by the system map. That had to be the Magic Counseling Room.
...Ah, come to think of it, will it even be open at this hour?
It was so early that the faculty probably hadn't even clocked in yet.
Oh, wait, it's open...?
The heavy wooden door, which I expected to be firmly shut, was slightly ajar.
I stepped inside cautiously and knocked three times on the nameplate of the counseling room that came into view.
Then.
"Yes! Come on in!"
Creeeeak—
As I pushed open the heavy door, the acrid smell of ink and the bitter aroma of coffee that seemed to have been brewing all night washed over me.
"...Hmm? Just a moment!"
Peeking out from behind a mountain of stacked documents was someone wearing large, round glasses...
An owl?
Though I didn't know the exact species, she was a bird-of-prey beast-kin with soft feathers tufted on her head.
Having clearly pulled several all-nighters, deep, hollow dark circles hung all the way down to her chin beneath her round eyes.
A face utterly ravaged by exhaustion.
"Um, I came to learn a skill—"
"Just a second! Just a second! Let me just finish this! Ah, aaah!"
It happened before I could even finish my sentence.
Moving a mountain of documents while precariously balancing them, she tripped over her own feet and stumbled heavily.
Rustle-rustle-rustle—!
Ultimately, hundreds of sheets of parchment scattered into the air, raining down like a blizzard across the room.
"Ooh-hoo-aaahhh!! Oh dear... the fruits of my overtime..."
She collapsed flat onto the floor with a tearful face, frantically scrambling to gather the scattered papers.
She looked like a truly pitiful graduate student... Ah, no, looking at the nameplate, she seemed to be a fully-fledged professor.
"Shall I help you?"
"No, no! I can manage... Hup. Whew."
Having barely managed to gather the papers, the professor pushed her crooked, round glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
Only then did she turn her gaze toward me. Spotting the badge pinned to the chest of my school uniform, she blinked her characteristically large eyes.
"Oh? You're a... freshman? Hehe, what brings you to the counseling room at this ungodly hour when even the freshman orientation hasn't finished yet? Did you perhaps lose your way to the dormitory, or did you start missing your mother back home...?"
She wore a good-natured smile.
Because of the dark shadows under her eyes, she looked strangely bizarre and gave off a slightly flighty impression, but her voice was incredibly warm.
"No."
Cutting her friendly banter short, I opened my inventory window.
"I came to learn a skill."
"...Eh? A freshman already has a skillbook?"
? Is there a problem?
I stared at her in silence.
"Ooh-hoo... How on earth did you obtain a skillbook? A freshman who just entered the academy..."
The professor cradled her cheek in her hand, seemingly lost in deep thought.
"Is there a rule that freshmen aren't allowed to learn skills?"
"Ah! Did you hear me talking to myself...? I absolutely didn't mean to look down on you! I'm sorry, it's just such a rare occurrence."
She flinched and waved her hands in a panic.
In the large, avian eyes behind her glasses, there was no trace of contempt or mockery.
Only pure bewilderment and apology dwelled within them.
"I'm really sorry if I offended you. But student... are you perhaps a member of the Masked Clan?"
At her cautious question, I nodded silently.
At that, a look of deep concern washed over the professor's face, and her ruffled feathers drooped.
"I thought so. It's already an incredible feat for a student of the Masked Clan to enter the academy... but acquiring a skillbook is a completely different matter. The Masked Clan is born with small mana capacities and thin circuits. If you try to force yourself to absorb even a low-grade skill, your mana could backflow and cause severe injury."
She was genuinely worried about my safety.
According to the terrible lore of Estel Origin, the beast-kin treated the Masked Clan like untouchables, looking down on them as if they were insects...
But the kindness this professor showed was of a completely different caliber from those beasts. It was the kindness of a true educator.
"While it's a cause for celebration that you've obtained a precious skillbook, as a teacher, I can't just stand by and watch my student get hurt. Still... if you really want to try, place it on top of the Awakening Stone over there. If it looks even slightly dangerous, I'll immediately cast a barrier spell to stop it. Understood?"
I almost let out a small chuckle at the professor's warm, meddlesome concern.
After all, neither the forum users nor this kind professor could ever imagine that I was the crazy newbie who had just utterly demolished the 1st floor on Extreme difficulty.
"Thank you for your consideration."
"Ah, and you do know there's an activation fee, right?"
"Pardon?"
It costs money to learn a skill?
...Fuck. I spent every last bit of my remaining Gallery PT last night buying that meat bun.
My face stiffened slightly before this sudden wall of capitalism.
As I stood there like a mute who had eaten honey, the owl professor pushed up her round glasses and laughed awkwardly.
"Activating the Awakening Stone and deploying the auxiliary magic circle to prevent mana backflow costs about 5,000 Credits. Do you... perhaps not have any money on you right now?"
She hit the nail on the head.
Credits were the official currency of this world.
Seemingly, it was a concept entirely separate from Gallery PT.
I let out a short sigh and nodded honestly.
It was a fact that I was flat broke anyway. I was quickly racking my brain, wondering if I should immediately run to the hunting grounds around the academy to make some money, when—
"Ooh-hoo-hoo, don't look so down! Such admirable passion from a student of the Masked Clan, coming all this way at the crack of dawn to learn a skill! As an educator, I can't just turn a blind eye to that."
The professor thumped her chest with her stubby, feather-covered hand and gave me a wink.
"Just this once, I'll activate it for free under my authority as a professor! Think of it as a 'special scholarship' for incoming freshmen. Oh, but of course, if it looks like your mana can't take it even for a second, I will stop it without mercy, okay?"
"...Thank you so much."
It was an unexpected windfall.
I was starting to really like this clumsy professor with dark circles down to her chin.
"Now, could you place the skillbook on top of the Awakening Stone in the center of the room?"
I nodded and approached the transparent, diamond-shaped Awakening Stone sitting in the middle of the room.
Then, opening my inventory, I pulled out the golden skillbook I had obtained from clearing the 1st floor on Extreme and casually set it down.
Flash—!
"...Huh?"
The blue light that had been slowly rising from the Awakening Stone suddenly exploded into a brilliance so bright it made my eyes sting.
Soon, a cool, clean silver mana, sharp as a well-honed blade, wrapped around the book.
That pure energy began to stretch toward my body like smoke.
It was a refreshing sensation, like inhaling the pleasant scent of a humidifier.
Behind me, a dumbfounded gasp escaped the professor, who had been gripping her staff tightly, ready to cast a barrier spell at a moment's notice.
"H-how is the mana flow so stable? With the thin circuits of the Masked Clan, it should be impossible to withstand this density. It should have rebounded..."
Of course. Because I'm not some Masked Clan member with clear limitations—I'm a human.
Leaving her bewildered muttering behind, the silver mana flowing from the Awakening Stone seeped through my fingertips and into the blood vessels of my entire body.
I couldn't yet feel complex concepts like mana circuits, and there wasn't even a single percent of the tearing pain she had worried about.
Instead, a dizzyingly pleasant sensation dominated my entire body as the trajectory and sharp movements of the skill were heavily engraved into every single muscle and bone.
Passive Skill: Consecutive Slashes
The foundation of physical growth is laid. The efficiency of physical training increases exponentially.
Consecutive Slashes, huh...
Judging by the name, it seemed like a generic, lazy skill, but it appeared to be a passive-type technique that allowed me to chain horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and thrusts into an organic combo.
If I increased the count of my daily wooden sword training and applied this, the synergy would be immense.
Its early-stage growth rate would undoubtedly overwhelm any other skill.
Others might have wanted flashy offensive magic or spectacular sword qi, but I liked this simple, rugged skill much better.
To fundamentally reconstruct this weak body disguised as a member of the Masked Clan, I needed solid basics that would train my physical form to its absolute limits, rather than cheap tricks.
If I kept rolling and coughing up blood in training based on this skill, my physical body would eventually surpass ordinary beast-kin with ease.
"...It's done."
As I lightly clenched and unclenched my fist and took my hand off the Awakening Stone, the owl professor pushed up her sliding glasses, utterly unable to believe her eyes.
"M-my goodness. For a member of the Masked Clan to absorb a skill so cleanly...! There wasn't even a hint of mana backflow. Student, despite your appearance, you must have a mutant constitution with incredibly high mana affinity!"
"I suppose I got lucky."
I shrugged nonchalantly and replied flatly.
The professor, still trying to calm her racing heart, paced around me.
"This is absolutely not something that can be achieved by luck alone. Still, I'm so glad you awakened it safely. Since Consecutive Slashes is a physical strike-type skill, you'll have to swing your weapon in the training grounds every day to fully adapt the skill to your muscles."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your help."
Leaving a brief bow to the kind professor who had let me awaken the skill for free, I turned around to leave the counseling room.
Right then.
"E-excuse me! Just a moment!"
"?"
"What is your name, student?"
At her question, I stopped in my tracks and gave a brief reply.
"I am Baekya."
"Ooh-hoo... Baekya. My name is Olivia. I'm the full-time professor in charge of this Magic Counseling Room."
Olivia.
Rubbing the dark circles under her eyes, she looked at me with a much more relaxed smile.
"A member of the Masked Clan having high mana affinity could actually be quite an interesting research topic in academic circles. Student Baekya, if you ever feel anything wrong with your body or if your mana feels tangled while training, please come find me anytime. Your next consultation... ooh-hoo-hoo, I'll process it as a scholarship as well."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
Indeed, the characters in this world weren't just pieces of graphics; they felt strangely human.
Giving her a light nod, I pushed open the heavy door of the counseling room and stepped outside.
Creeeak, click.
As the door shut, the cool, crisp morning air filled my lungs.
The campus was still locked in a serene silence.
Whew. Should I head straight back to my room and start training?
My fingertips tingled with the urge to pull out the wooden sword tucked away in my inventory and immediately engrave the sensation of the newly awakened Consecutive Slashes into my muscles.