Battle War; Magic, Sword and Dragon

16. Lessons

The sun comes back to erase the darkness of the night.

The warm light quickly shone on Laila's room through the window curtain gap. It was a natural alarm for Laila. Laila slowly opens her eyes and returns her from the dream world.

"Dream it again..."

He still clearly remembered the dream he had just experienced.

Dream about the beginning of a girl's meeting with a strange-eyed and white-haired man.

One thing that makes Laila surprised and confused, the man in her dream has the same face as Kuro Kagami who is now her partner, no, thanks to an incident that happened a week ago, he said, now he and Kuro are lovers.

At least that's what should have happened.

".......Mooouuuu.."

With an annoyed face, Laila stared at the bed located not far from her bed. The bed was Kuro's, but it had been a week that the bed was not occupied, because it was natural that the bed was very neat.

During this week, Kuro had never slept in a dorm room. This was quite a surprise for Laila.

At first she thought Kuro would be very enthusiastic because he would room with her. Laila thought this way because given the nature of Kuro who unhesitatingly kissed her.

"......................"

She's speechless.

He doesn't understand what Kuro really wants.

One thing Laila is grateful for, Kuro doesn't have to look at the thin pajamas he wears. Even so thin, her bra and panties can be seen clearly.

This was not because Laila had intended to tease Kuro or have a perverted nature, but this was the clothes she always wore while sleeping. He was also not afraid of the cold because he was a fire witch.

"Why am I thinking about that fool....."

Laila got up from her bed. He then tidied up the blanket.

After that she headed to the bathroom the only one to wash her face so that she really woke up.

(.............)

One thing Laila doesn't like, why does every dorm room have only one bathroom?

Indeed, so far there have been no couples of different sexes, but does the school not predict this will happen?

Never mind. After all Laila and Kuro are not a regular couple yet. There is still hope that he will find a girlfriend who wants to be his partner.

As an S rank magician, who wouldn't want to pair with him?

But Laila knew the answer from the beginning.

There aren't.

If anything, wouldn't he now have a roommate of a girl instead of an F-ranked Kuro?

Whatever rank her partner had, it was actually not a problem for Laila since she was already strong enough.

(Maybe it's not as bad as it seems, I might have found clues about Alice and about a dream I've had for 10 years.)

Of course it was because Kuro had the same face as the man in his dream, but Laila also realized that maybe this is just a useless action because even though having the same face does not mean the same person.

After Laila washed her face, she headed to the table located in the corner of the room.

On the table was a book and a flower located in a small ceramic vase.

When she saw the flower, Laila smiled and sat down on the chair.

"Today's the Blue Rose? Geez, is this all he can do?"

Every morning, Laila finds fresh flowers placed in a small vase on her desk.

Of course Laila can guess the fool who laid the flower. This is the only romantic act Kuro has done in the past week.

(Is this just her attempt to pull my heart?)

They are indeed girlfriends, but they do not like each other, which is why Laila hopes Kuro will show his seriousness.

Unfortunately, Kuro never showed his seriousness. That was enough to disappoint Laila.

(Wait, why am I disappointed?)

Again Laila did not understand about herself.

Is he starting to get interested in Kuro?

(No. It can't be, right?)

This is impossible because their relationship is only a girlfriend based on a promise.

Even so, Laila hoped that Kuro would show his seriousness like a week ago when going to fight with the dragon.

At that time Kuro was very cool, but he was a little stupid and crazy.

Maybe this is what makes Laila's heart pound when remembering the incident.

One thing Laila doesn't understand, how does Kuro feel about her?

Is Kuro doing all this because Kuro has feelings for her or because it is just a promise?

Laila really doesn't understand.

One thing is certain, Laila should know the clarity about her relationship with Kuro.

Stay a girlfriend based on an appointment, or return to a couple who may be separated in a week.

(But if he doesn't have feelings for me, why does he put flowers every day?)

Once again Laila was made dizzy by a man named Kuro.

"Have it. There's no point thinking about this. No. gabe. If there's no clarity, I'm gonna cut off this fake girlfriend's relationship in a week..."

Laila made a decision. He will decide everything right when his permanent partner has been chosen.

Laila made this decision knowing it was useless to continue a false relationship based on a promise.

Yep. A promise he has kept.

Be a girlfriend, but not a boyfriend forever.

After her heart calmed down, Laila opened the blue-skinned book with her left hand. At the same time, his right hand picked up a writing instrument made of feathers.

The book had a lot of writing that almost filled the book.

The writing is a collection of stories of Alice in her dreams. He started writing it 7 years ago. He then calculated that there were 99 interrelated pieces of the story.

Then after everything is connected, then be the full story about Alice.

After writing a few words on the blank sheet, Laila closed her book again and began preparing to leave for school.

Some of those words are the date of today and the number of Alice's story pieces.

Alice's first story, Laila had dreamed of it 48 times.

Of course, the number will increase if coupled with the number of dreams before he decides to document them in a book.

___________________________

_______

__

Kuryuu Academy, Grade 1-2.

All the students as usual paid attention to the explanation of Otome's teacher mother

Otome is just a nickname. Her real name is Otear Olv Mellia. She is an SS-ranked User-type magician.

"As you know, the rank of a witch is differentiated in different levels. F to Paladin. However, did you know that the rank of SS, SSS, Master and Paladin is a special rank?"

"Eh?"

All the students of grade 1-2 looked surprised by what Otome had just said.

"The SS rank is the designation for a magician who awakens a special power called Soul Art. SSS rating evokes Incarnation. And the Paladin resurrected the Avatar. We will discuss Incarnation and Avatar later, for now we focus on Soul Art."

Otome paused for a moment then continued.

"Soul Art can also be referred to as a unique magic that comes from the soul of a witch. But it is more commonly referred to as Unique Magic (unique magic). The easiest example is that we can perform teleportation magic, but we need ritual tools and various processes to do it. But it was the magicians who were able to use teleportation magic without rituals and processes that earned SS ratings. Of course not just teleportation magic, there was still a unique kind of ability that rose up depending on the magician's luck. So far, do you understand?"

"In other words.."

"Yes, I am also a special magic user, but not only me, all the teachers in this school have special magic, so you guys don't try to fight the teachers!!"

"............."

All speechless. They were all shocked by what they had just heard.

Magical schools like Kuryuu Academy have SS-ranked teachers, of course, aiming to easily deal with a mess. But this was only the first time they had heard that the SS rank to the top was a special rank.

This made it seem as if the S rank Laila possessed had no special meaning.

"Well, let's talk about it next time"

Otome continued the lesson.

"Now we discuss the rankings you received during the entrance exam. You guys are F-S rank magicians, but that is the starting rank. The rankings can go up depending on your efforts."

"........."

"The fastest way to increase your rank is of course by defeating a higher ranked magician, but among you there must be some who think that it is impossible right?"

I don't know why Otome's gaze arrived creepy. He glanced at all the disciples with a sharp look that frightened them, even including Laila.

He felt a strong sense of intimidation from Otome.

But Otome suddenly smiled sweetly and made the classroom atmosphere calmer. Unfortunately, it was just an illusion.

Otome's words made the atmosphere tense again.

"Sorry, but I have to be hard on you. It's only the beginning of your schooling, but you also need to know about reality."

"Otome, then will the rankings drop if it loses?"

The one asking was Kuro in a relaxed tone as usual. He is known to be fearless. Or it's because he's stupid and doesn't know the situation.

He even called Otome without a title. He's really brave.

It was fortunate that Otome looked happy when Kuro called her that. Can you say it's luck?

"Good question, Kuro. Your ranking will not go down even if you lose, after all, from the beginning of the ranking aims so that you know your strengths and weaknesses. In other words, the lower rankers should try harder than the higher ones. "

Hearing that, many disciples were pale-faced. That's not surprising.

"Little info for you guys, did you guys know that I was originally an E rank magician?"

"""""uh?"""""

"If you don't believe, you can find out, but you have to find out when because we're going to start training to make you stronger."

Otome's last words somehow made Laila feel that a bad situation was about to happen to the students in grades 1-2.

Unfortunately, only one person seemed to smile when he heard Otome's words. Of course that person is Kuro.

East of Areshia. Lake Limph.

The lake is located not far from the city of Areshia. This lake has a width of 103 KM and a depth of 8-60 meters. The lake is mostly inhabited by a 2-meter man-eating fish named Rellfish.

At the edge of the lake, classes 1-2 gathered after changing into sports uniforms.

Sweat has flowed a lot because of the hot sun.

This is natural considering it is summer time and they are in lush pastures with no trees around them. They could see the traces of grass that had been trampled here and there forming a path.

For Laila, heat is not a problem, it seems to apply to Laila's friend who is a fellow fire witch.

One thing was for sure, the 1-2th graders were upset to see Otome staring at them while carrying an umbrella and cold drinks.

The figure that was originally an angel, had now turned into a very cruel demon.

"?"

Laila glanced at Kuro who was standing while holding his stomach. What the hell is he doing?

Laila did not understand, but she looked surprised when she saw some sort of mound on both her hands, legs and stomach.

(Exercise load?)

This was the first time he had seen Kuro put on a training load directly. Surprisingly, how could he still move freely?

At the same time, he recalled the incident a week ago, he remembered Kuro without hesitation herding the dragon out of the city.

Until now, Laila still does not believe Kuro can survive the creepy dragon with a wound that is not too severe.

"?"

Laila was surprised when Kuro suddenly smiled at her.

Of course Laila immediately turned her head in the other direction.

(Luckily he didn't tell everyone we were dating.)

Of course he meant fake dating.

"Alright, we'll start the lesson"

Hearing that, all the students of grade 1-2 started to look pale as well as irritated. He was truly a demon to all 1-2 disciples, yet Otome ignored them and continued.

"You must know which source of magic or magic energy we call mana. Mana is the source of all forms of magic. As magicians we use mana to create magic.  In other words, where is energy. The amount of energy where different from each person depends on the capacity of the organ called the Grail. This difference is also the reason why your ranking is different. You understand?"

No one answered.

"Looks like you guys understand. Yosh, now you all have to run around this lake without using magic. Here is the starting line and you guys are back here again!"

"""""...eeeeeehhhhh?!""""'''

They compactly shouted in surprise at Otome's supposedly unreasonable command.

Surrounding the lake without using magic, was he joking? Although the body of a witch was stronger than an ordinary human, but it was still a crazy thing.

"Master, may we know why?"

A short haired sweet girl asked.

His name is Serriv Gall. She's a D-rank User-type witch.

"The reason is, hmmm... . First, mana is an energy that is within you. In other words, if your body is weak, then automatically where in your body can not be maximal or even reduced. That's the reason why old witches usually get weak."

Although Otome's explanation is less clear, but they understand the meaning of Otome's words that look serious when explaining.

"The second reason is to prevent your magic from getting out of control because you can't control it."

All the disciples looked pale upon hearing the word 'out of control'. It was natural considering there were cases where one's magic became out of control and harmed the crowd.

"Well, I don't want to explain any further. Out of control cases, after all, are rare, but I hope you remember what I just said. Then the third reason"

All gulped because they did not really want to know what bad reason Otome wanted to convey.

"Third reason of course because I told you to do it. I..."

"""" huh..."'''""

Back then, all the 1-2th graders thought the same thing, Otome was an angel-faced demon. No. gabe. She is the queen of demons.

"Master..."

"What's Laila doing?"

"Are you seriously telling us to run around this lake?"

Yep. Until now Laila had hoped that what her ears heard was wrong.

They were told to run for 100 km without using magic. Anyone would think that Otome was crazy.

"Yes. I seriously. I know this might be crazy, but we're witches doing crazy things. So hurry up and talk a lot."

Sure running 100 km might sound crazy in the eyes of normal humans, but witches were a race with different abilities and powers than ordinary humans.

In other words, running for 100 km was actually not too difficult.

"... the devil woman"

"Ho ho. thanks for the compliment. I know you now consider me a demon, but I'm sure you'll someday thank me."

Where did he get that confidence?

I don't know, but at that time everyone thought the same, no, there was one person who looked calm. Who else if not Kuro.

"Before you start, I will tell you 2 things that might motivate you. First, do you know the Prince of Phoenix, Arthuria?"

"?!"

Laila's eyes opened wide upon hearing the name of one of her closest people.

(Sister?)

Yep. Arthurian. He is Laila's older brother.

Unlike Laila, Arthuria was a Master-ranked Contractor-type mage. Not only that, he was also referred to as 'The Next Paladin'.

Arthuria is currently traveling the world to hone her magic skills. For the past 6 months, Laila had never heard from her sister. That's enough to make him worry.

But what does her brother have to do with today's lessons?

"Arthuria was the only Master-ranked student who had attended school here. Even so, he didn't complain when I told him to run around this lake."

"......"

"Yes. Arthuria is one of my favorite students. He was very strong, but it did not stop him from becoming stronger. That's why, when I told him to run without using magic, he was immediately shocked. But he also understood that this was one way to become stronger, which was why he had without a doubt done so. He even did it in just 2 hours."

It was a fact that was quite shocking to all the students of grade 1-2. But whether it can motivate them, it seems exactly the opposite.

The basis that Otome used to compare was simply too great.

They were all desperate, yet Otome only smiled. He then took something in his pocket and showed it to his disciple.

Small blood red objects.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Antichristal!?"

Laila was very familiar with the thing that had almost killed her.

"Yes. Anticrystals can neutralize magic. Especially if you touch it, then you will not use magic. ...Perhaps you all think that Arthuria can do such amazing things because she is a ranked Master, but when a ranked Master touches an Anticristal, she is just an ordinary human!"

In other words,

"Athuria surrounded this lake while putting Anticrystals on her body. At first, he did it for 5 hours, but his speed increased to just 2 hours. Do you understand what I mean?"

The strong try too. That's what Otome wants to say.

"All right, I hope you understand. Then to motivate you guys, I've prepared two tickets for dinner at Astrea Palace for the person who first got here."

"Astrea Palace, isn't that it?!" Ash said with his eyes wide open.

Not only Ash, but all the disciples seemed to show the same expression.

"Astrea's Palace?"

The only person who looked confused was Kuro. He didn't seem to know the most famous place in the city of Areshia.