On Riveria's class room, Luki shifted in his seat and looked around. The room had the standard good quality for a big Familia, like a lot of book probably related to magic.
But the thing that most caught his attention were the students.
Every single person in the room, except for him, was a woman.
There was Ais Wallenstein, staring blankly ahead with her usual airheaded expression. By her left was Tiona, who Luki was almost certain she didn't know magic.
Then there was that blonde elf girl who Luki had never bothered to remember her name. And aside from them, there was Lili sitting between him abd Tiona, and Riveria at the front.
Being the sole male in a room full of powerful women, Luki felt a deep sense of danger. Instinctively realizing it was better to keep his mouth shut.
'Hestia, I'm scared,' Luki prayed, fearing whatever might happen next.
Miles away, on another dimension, his goddess completely ignored his plight. She was currently devouring liters of ice cream paired with chicken wings.
'Sorry, Luki... nyam... slurp... but I am... munch, a little busy right now,' Hestia communicated back into his mind.
She swallowed a large bite and thought to herself, 'Damn these pregnancy cravings. How do mortals deal with this? Aren't these things supposed to happen in later stages?'
Hestia buried her face back into the food, her stomach looking slightly bigger than before, highly debatable whether it was the fetus or just the food.
Back in the classroom, Luki realized he was entirely on his own.
"Urgh..." Luki groaned, resigned to his fate.
"Have patience, we will begin as soon as the last one arrives," Riveria said casually, misunderstanding his groan.
The door burst open with a loud bang, right on cue.
"Sorry I'm late!" a white-haired girl with crimson eyes yelled as she rushed into the room.
"Bell-chan, we were just waiting for you to begin," Riveria said.
"I am so sorry, Riveria-sensei! I-" Bell started, waving her hands frantically.
"Sit down."
"Yes!".
Bell scurried over to an empty desk, her shoulders slumping as she let out a disappointed sigh.
'What a great way to start. Now Riveria-san will think bad of me.' She thought
Bell turned her head to the side, looking to start a conversation with the other girls. However, she froze when her eyes met a man with very unique features instead of one of her friends.
Stare.
Stare.
"Eh!!! Y-You!" Bell gasped.
"Me!!!" Luki shouted back, making a completely ridiculous face.
Before she could say another word, Luki cut her off.
"O Chapolin Colorado!" Luki exclaimed.
Bell blinked, completely caught off guard, staring at him with a blank expression, utterly confused by his words.
The rest of the room fell dead silent. The other girls gave Luki strange looks, none of them understanding what he just said.
"What? You gals didn't get the reference?" Luki asked, dramatically looked from one girl to another. "Bah! A bunch of uncultured people." He turned his face away, pouting as he rested his chin in his hand, propping his elbow up on the desk.
Bell finally recovered from the bizarre interaction. Pointing an accusing finger at him, she stammered in shock, "Y-You are that guy from the Dungeon! What are you doing here?!"
"Show some respect, his name is Luki-sama," Lili said reprovingly, giving Bell a sharp, narrow-eyed glare.
"...That's not quite my name, but you get the point," Luki muttered.
In an exaggerated yet naturally timid reaction, Bell squeaked out a loud "Hyih!" Scrambling back in her seat, looking completely intimidated by the tiny pallum.
In reality, Bell was almost certainly much stronger than Lili. Many times.
"Hey, Bell," Tiona called out, leaning forward in her desk to peek from behind Luki. "Do you remember him? He's the guy you wouldn't stop talking about since-"
"Nooooo! Tiona, shut up!!!"
Panicking from sheer embarrassment, Bell threw herself across the desks, desperately reaching out to cover Tiona's mouth before she could say another word.
Luki and Lili stared in utter surprise at the white-haired girl. Bell was practically sprawled across the desk in front of them, desperately keeping her hand clamped over Tiona's mouth.
Coincidentally, Bell's backside was positioned right in Luki's line of sight, and since he was already looking down, it caught his full attention.
Like any healthy young man, his mind immediately raced to inappropriate places, shifting between some highly perverted thoughts and a few slightly less guilty ones.
'Eyes of, mister. The only ass you are allowed to spank around here is mine,' Hestia's sharp, reprimanding voice echoed in his mind, proving she was watching closely all the way from the Tenkai.
'Sorry...' Luki thought, completely embarrassed about having his thoughts exposed.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Riveria let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose at the absolute mess Bell had just caused.
"Bell..." Riveria called out, her voice flat. She didn't need to say anything else; her sheer disappointment radiated through the room.
"Ah?" Bell gasped, the freezing tone finally snapping her out of her panic.
Realizing what she was doing, Bell scrambled back to her own seat. She desperately adjusted her clothes, her face burning a bright crimson as she refused to lift her head from her desk.
Riveria let out one final, weary sigh.
"As I was trying to say... before we were interrupted."
Bell sank even lower into her chair, wishing the floor would swallow her whole.
"Today, Luki-san, Lili-chan and Bell-chan will be joining us to learn magic under my guidance... and Tiona-san as well, for some unknown reason. I expect everyone to get along."
Ais turned around and gave Luki a tiny, polite nod. Next to her, the blonde elf glared at Luki, then glanced back at Ais, before looking even more irritated with him. Luki didn't even dare to try deciphering her complicated feelings.
Meanwhile, Tiona was vibrating in her seat with the energy of a hyperactive schoolgirl, giving them a cheerful wave.
Luki simply nodded back to everyone and focused his attention forward. Lili doing the exact same.
"Since they know absolutely nothing about magic, I will be going over the basics today. Consider this a refresher for you two."
Riveria picked up a book and a piece of chalk—which, by the way, was terrible for the lungs, turned around and began writing on the board.
She didn't just write words; she mapped them out, connecting terms with precise arrows to form a massive mental map.
At the absolute center of the board, she wrote a single word in bold letters: MIND.
"Let us begin with the fuel," Riveria spoke, her chalk tapping against the board as she drew a thick line pointing downward to a new keyword: ENERGY.
"Mind is the fuel required to manifest any miracle. In modern texts some might refer to it as mana or magical energy. However, we will stick to the classic terminology. It is your willpower and mental stamina converted into tangible power."
She drew another arrow extending from MIND toward a warning label: MIND DOWN (COLLAPSE).
"Pushing your mind past its limits will trigger severe physical backlash," Riveria warned, looking directly at three beginners. "It begins with a crushing headache, followed by nasal bleeding, blurred vision, and severe dizziness. When your Mind hits zero, your brain simply shuts down to protect itself, leading to immediate, unavoidable unconsciousness."
From that same warning label, she drew a arrow pointing toward a new term: IGNIS FATUUS.
"Furthermore, losing control of your Mind during a chant—whether due to pain, distraction, or staggering your words—causes the magical energy to violently backfire," she added, her tone turning stern. "The energy stagnates within your body and explodes right on your face. For an novice, an Ignis Fatuus is often far more lethal than the monsters. At least you can fight them."
Riveria then moved to the right side of the board and drew three empty, adjacent boxes side by side. Above them, she wrote: FALNA SLOTS.
"Next is the kind of magic most people know since the gods came. The Falna can "grant" some magics to common people, with the absolute maximum number of spell slots an individual beign three, however most people don't even have one.."
She then drew two large branches splitting off from the FALNA SLOTS category, dividing the board into two distinct sections: CONGENITAL MAGIC and ACQUIRED MAGIC.
"Congenital magic is innate. It awakens naturally due to bloodline, heritage, and racial aptitude. The Falna can even help awake this faster, while not really necessary. We elves are famous to possess a deep connection to the world's spiritual energy and do some magics without the need of a Falna.
Acquired magic, on the other hand, is forcibly unlocked through a deity's Falna, carving the potential straight into your soul, something yours, and only yours. And this is where our practical understanding must begin."
Riveria turned around, expecting to see focused faces. Instead, she found Tiona sleeping peacefully on her desk, completely dead to the world, while the rest of the girls weren't even looking at the board.
Riveria felt another massive sigh forming at the bridge of her nose. With a great deal of effort, she swallowed it down, slowly blowing the frustration out of her mouth to calm herself.
"Uhm... should we-" Luki started, whispering.
Riveria immediately cut him off with a restrained gesture, signaling for him to be quiet. She slowly began walking toward the sleeping Amazon, the only sounds in the room being the soft thuds of her boots and Tiona's rhythmic breathing.
"You all are already relatively used to your own unique spells," Riveria spoke softly, her voice carrying a dangerous calm. "So, let me demonstrate a fraction of my people's specialty."
Riveria brought one hand up to her mouth as if to hide a casual yawn. At the same time, she positioned her other hand just a few centimeters away from the back of Tiona's exposed neck.
She then, began reciting a quiet, rhythmic melody, ancient and melodic:
'Oh, ancient wind of the frozen north,
Answer the call of the silver line,
Heed the breath of the silent frost,
Weave the chill of the winter chime.
Breathe upon the sleeping land,
Gather the cold into my hand...'
Her extended fingers suddenly glowed with a faint, pale blue light. A sudden, localized winter breeze shot from her fingertips.
"GYAAAH! IT'S FREEZING!!!"
Tiona blinked wildly, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily and looked around the room in utter confusion. Her panicked eyes finally locked onto Riveria standing right in front of her, crossing her arms with a firm, judging glare.
"Do you mind explaining why you came all the way here just to sleep?" Riveria asked, her voice dripping with ice.
"Ah... well, it's not really like that, Riveria!" Tiona stammered, rubbing the back of her neck with an awkward grin. "It's just... your voice is so nice and soothing, you know? I accidentally dozed off before I realized it, ehehe~ hehehe, hehe, ehhh... my bad."
"Uhm..." was all Riveria managed to say, completely unamused by the excuse.
As if regrouping her thoughts after that ridiculous answer, Riveria looked up toward the ceiling, pausing for a few moments before turning her attention back to the rest of the students.
"Most adventurers who awaken some form of magic usually seek out scholarly mages," Riveria explained, stepping back to the front of the classroom. "They try to understand it better, hoping to strengthen it or find a shortcut."
"However, there is a major misconception in doing so. Congenital magic learned through study is normally much weaker—even the ones with incredibly long chants—compared to a simple unique spell from a Falna with a short chant.
Furthermore, to cast a Falna spell, you must recite exactly what is written on your back. You cannot stumble, you cannot shorten it, and you cannot skip words. If you do, it will either fail entirely or explode in your face, just as I explained before."
She looked between Luki and Lili, making sure they understood the gravity of her words.
"Therefore, for people like you—who only seek an extra advantage in combat rather than specializing to the point of outperforming what a Falna provides—the recommendation is to learn the basics. Utilitarian magic, such as igniting a small flame or creating water.
And that is exactly what I will teach you. The simple, basic, and easy side of magic. Anyone with even a shred of interest can learn this. Any questions?"
Luki slowly raised his hand all by himself.
"Speak..."
"You said it's normal to seek mages to try and improve your magic, but that it's impossible. Is there really no way to improve my Falna magic? I mean, it's cool and all, but it has some limitations I really want to bypass."
"A very good question, and the answer is... it depends."
'What a textbook lawyer answer,' Luki thought to himself, making sure not to vocalize his internal commentary so he wouldn't disrupt the class.
"Modifying the actual magic recorded on your Falna is, by definition, impossible. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to alter that structure."
She then stepped closer, her expression turning intriguing.
"However, what can be done is attempting to replicate your unique magic without using your Falna. By using standard chants to turn the concept into a normal spell, you can slowly derive from it, creating a tailored line of your own custom sorcery."
"Ais, if you please. Demonstrate a little of what you have practiced," Riveria commanded gently.
Ais nodded in silence.
She stood up from her desk, walked over to the window, and stepped out into the courtyard. Luki, Lili, and the rest of the classroom immediately walking over to see better.
Standing in the center of the grounds, Ais casually recited the famous, instantaneous chant of her unique Falna magic:
"Awaken, Tempest."
Instantly, a massive, roaring vortex of emerald wind erupted around her body. The air pressure in the courtyard spiked, rattling the hairs of everyone inside the building.
"This is her unique magic, Ariel," Riveria's voice echoed over the howling wind, explaining the basics to Luki and Lili. "It coats her body and weapon in wind, drastically boosting her offense, defense and speed."
Ais raised her left hand, letting the green vortex disperse into the atmosphere.
"A simple aspect of casting a spell is knowing how to undo it at any moment. Those of you with unique magic might not realize this, but it is difficult for beginners and can lead to accidents."
She centered her posture once more, beginning a completely different, rhythmic recitation. This chant was much longer, following the traditional 12-verse structure of ancient elf magic:
"Oh, passing breeze of the open fields...
Answer the call of the traveler's stride...
Weave the gentle current of the air..."
As she finished the brief excerpt of the long chant, a much softer, almost transparent gust of wind wrapped around her legs.
With a sudden burst, Ais propelled herself forward at high speed across the courtyard. However, the wind was visibly weaker and lacked the destructive emerald glow of her previous spell.
"What you see now is the simulated version, created by herself. While it is significantly weaker than her Falna magic, it requires a fraction of the Mind consumption. It is less exhausting, making it excellent for prolonged battles where an adventurer simply needs a slight advantage."
To fully demonstrate the versatility of custom-derived sorcery, Ais seamlessly transitioned into a series of magic variations.
"Breeze of the open fields... grant the fleeting stride!"
She executed an instantaneous, blinding dash forward, the spell cutting off the exact moment she stopped moving.
"Breeze of the open fields... sharpen the iron blade!"
She swung her hand horizontally, unleashing a small, crescent-shaped blade of compressed wind.
"Breeze of the open fields... ascend to the highest sky!"
Ais leaped high into the air, the wind beneath her lifting even more.
Everyone in the study room broke into a warm round of applause as Ais finished her demonstrations.
Lefiya's reaction was by far the most exaggerated, her eyes sparkling with pure adoration as she clapped frantically. Saying things that everyone ignored.
"Woohoo! That was awesome, Ais!" Tiona cheered loudly, waving her arms in the air with her usual energetic grin.
Luki clapped politely, but his expression remained skeptical. He leaned back in his chair and muttered, "It would be a lot more impressive... if she didn't have to stand completely still for almost a whole minute just to recite the spell."
Riveria turned her gaze back to him.
"That is the standard reality of magic, Luki-san. Mages are traditionally meant for the backline. Glass cannons possessing immense destructive power, that must be protected at all costs.
For more experienced mages, it is entirely possible to learn how to chant while running or even during active combat. But for the type of battle you desire—where you intend to fight up close—it requires an immense amount of prediction and control. You must calculate exactly when to initiate the magic so that your chant finishes at the precise second you need it."
Luki groaned slightly, rubbing his temples.
"Sounds way too complicated. Isn't there a faster way around this?" he asked, looking up.
"If you happen to have millions of Valis to purchase a rare Grimoire, be my guest," Riveria replied smoothly, a knowing glint in her eyes.
"Never mind."
Riveria let out a amused smile at his quick defeat.
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