Nick sat at his desk, reading through his notes and and making changes. He returned to the academy from the Jenner estate a day ago and after getting some well needed sleep, Nick immediately started working on 'Copy'. The spell was intended to be used to perfectly copy magical laws and reproduce them, similar to how a printer could perfectly duplicate a document.
Since he became rank 2, Nick's mental acuity and the processing power of his brain had increased tremendously and he could almost perfectly recall information that had seemed hazy before.
Looking at his notes, Nick was able to pick up on many of his mistakes and oversights that were not obvious to him before as well as see possible ways of moving forward that he had not thought of before. Of course his successes in creating spells while he was exploring the last realm gave him valuable experiences and insights, for example, he became able to tell what grade a spell was from looking at its laws.
Because of this, Nick discovered that his spell, Big, is in fact a rank 1 spell.
(Even though it is rank 1, I still remember killing that huge wary dog by enhancing my knives with it and that wary dog should have been rank 2. Hmmm...just like Slade mentioned, not all magic beats are made equal. Some have extremely strong defenses and combat capabilities at rank 2 while others are only at a that rank because of the quality of the magic energy that the laws on their body process, but that does not necessarily mean that they are 'strong'.)
"I can definitely make some serious progress in designing Copy, I just have to focus. I already emptied my savings to buy a large number of snacks from the convenient store so I am not leaving this room until I at least have something akin to an initial version of the spell."
Nick knew that he was putting a lot of pressure on himself but he had no choice, the next semester started in three weeks and he still had other things to do besides completing the contract with the General Beast Store, after all, developing his magic powers were his main priority but he also realized that if he wanted to progress efficiently, he would also need resources to help him.
Nick slapped both of his cheeks simultaneous to psyche himself up and began his work.
...............
Three weeks later, Nick lifted himself up off of the ground slowly. He had once again spent another day doing nothing but working on his spell and had been doing that for the past three weeks with at most two hours of sleep every two nights. He was exhausted to say the least and last night, he finally collapsed onto the floor and remained unconscious for hours.
Nick went to the bathroom and washed his face, taking a look at his striking white hair and his eyes that had eerie pitch black irises with two reddish rings surrounding each of his pupils. Nick didn't know whether he was usually handsome or not but looking at himself, he could describe how he looked right now with two words:
"Like shite."
He clearly needed more rest but Nick just shook his head and went back to his desk, looking through his pile of documents.
"Sigh, spell making is really difficult, I was able to create Sever and Growth in such a short period of time because of inspiration while creating Copy from scratch is like what I'd imagine writing an original encyclopedia would be like."
"I have the basic concept for the spell already sorted out and I have the structure it should take in mind but putting all the laws I've written in Nickle together coherently is proving to be difficult and time consuming so I'll need another few weeks to complete it. During my second year, I am free to go to scheduled classes or not so at least I will not have to waste my time with the unnecessary ones."
"My understanding of rule magic has progressed significantly since I became a rank 2 Magician but my studying of space magic has slowed to a crawl. While I am a soul path scholar, I have not had the time or energy to begin training my soul according to Slade's inheritance so I'm lacking in that area too."
Nick thought back to what Growth had said to him during his vision and consoled himself.
(Years of endurance and effort is needed for greater growth. I just have to keep going step by step.)
Nick continued working on the spell until 6 pm, at which point, he went to the bathroom, took a shower and then got dressed, afterwards leaving for the cafeteria which he had not visited in three weeks.
When Nick got to the cafeteria, There was a large number of students present with most sitting in groups talking excitedly about their time away from the academy.
"Bro, I leveled up, I was able to learn this new spell that allows me to move at four times my normal speed."
"Oh, yeah, my family secured me some magic tools that have greatly increased my combat capabilities. I was even able to learn a little about enchanting normal objects."
.....
"My parents were a little disappointed with my rank last semester so I was studying the entire break and my girlfriend broke up with me because of it. She's a real bitch!"
...
"Have you heard, Greg North and Daryl Smith are apparently in conflict because of an incident that happened while they were outside of the academy? Who do you think would win in a fight?"
"Does it matter? Rumors are that those two are probably the strongest Magicians within our year so there will probably be a good bit of drama but they are not allowed to actually fight each other on campus without special circumstances."
"They are the strongest? Last semester, I was hearing some things about...Nick Capitol, that guy. He's in our dorm and he ranked 9th at the end of the year."
"Hmph, that hermit. I heard that he remained on campus during the break but hasn't spoken to anyone but the librarian for two months. How could a guy like that amount to anything. Plus, in the last exam, he was only rank 1, how much progress could he have possibly made while in hiding. Just forget about that guy."
.....
Nick heard bits and pieces of conversations and gossiping but was too tired and hungry to care about any of it. Nick bought two servings of fried chicken, fried rice, pork gravy and vegetables and sat alone at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, only paying attention to his food.
Five minutes in, he heard someone call his name:
"...You are Nick Capitol, right?"
Nick stopped eating and looked up in annoyance at the person who decided to interrupt him. He vaguely recognized the culprit.
(Her name is...Marcia Dunn. What does she want?)
Marcia looked at Nick with uncertainty.
(This should be Nick Capitol but he looks very different. This person is a rank 2 Apprentice Magician so if this is Nick, his increased rank might explain the change.)
Nick nodded his head and said:
"Yeah, I'm Nick Capitol. You're asking as if we've never met before."
Carla waved both of her hands, trying to look embarrassed:
"Uh, well, it's because you look so different now that I barely recognize you."
"Okay. Do you need something?"
"I don't need anything exactly. I was wondering if I could sit with you and maybe have a conversation?"
Nick raised his right eyebrow.
(She wants to have a conversation. Weird.)
"A conversation about what?"
Marcia discreetly clenched both of her fists, gathering her courage.
(If I want to get closer to him, I have to take a leap. Even if I insulted him before, he doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge.)
Marcia took a seat without Nick saying that it was okay and began speaking:
"The school will not ask us to change dorms until our third year and I think that you are a fine Magician. Do you think that we could become friends?"
Nick had taken a bite of his chicken already but when he heard Marcia's question, he spit out his food in surprise at the ridiculousness of it.
COUGH COUGH COUGH
(What the hell is this woman asking, why would I want to be her friend? Isn't she Don Bartholomew's servant, what would she gain by associating with me?)
"Uhhh, why are you asking this?"
Marcia breathed in deeply and answered:
"Ever since I was young, I have always been able to accurately read people and although I don't know you, your discipline in your studies and your commitment to them, even at the cost of being a loner tells me that you are a person with ambition and determination and I admire that. I also have my own ambitions but I lack talent and maybe other things but I have not given up on finding my way to a respectable position. Since you seem like a serious man, I do not want to waste your time with insincere niceties so I decided to be straightforward. I would like to become associated with you so that some of your good qualities can rub off on me."
Nick wore a weird expression as he listened to Marcia's plea and replied:
"What about Don, isn't he some kind of big shot?"
Marcia bit her lip but decided to take a risk and speak:
"Don treats me badly and is not a very decent man. I do not want to be around him too much."
"Does that mean that you think that I am a decent man?"
Marcia shrugged her shoulders and replied:
"I don't know but I'm willing to bet that you are."
Nick looked at Marcia for quite a while as he continued to eat some of his food. Marcia stayed quiet, assuming that Nick was trying to make up his mind.
(He should be open to it, right? I am a fairly pretty woman and I'm offering, almost begging to be his friend. He received good ranks in both of last year's exams and seems to be serious about becoming a great Magician. Most importantly, I have never seen him treat other people badly just because, even me, after I insulted him. If he is even half way decent, it is worth getting to know him.)
Nick stopped eating his food and spoke plainly:
"No, I don't want friends..."
Marcia's hopeful expression deflated as she felt an intense sense of embarrassment and self-loathing.
"...but, do you like reading books?"
"Huh?"
Nick rubbed his nose and asked again:
"I said, do you like reading books?"
Marcia was confused as to why Nick was asking that question but she replied anyway:
"I wouldn't say that I like reading books but I do study often and I read enough to learn what I need to learn."
With a serious face, Nick said:
"Well, that won't cut it. Look, I got no problem discussing magic and related topics with you or even helping you get better just as long as you're worth talking to and helping. If you don't read books for the purpose of improving your knowledge, then I don't have any business talking to you."
Marcia pursed her lips then asked softly:
"What book would you recommend?"
"What is your highest affinity?"
"Oh, my highest affinity is with enslavement magic."
Nick rubbed his chin.
"I personally know nothing about enslavement magic but if you read a book on it and explained to me some of the basics, that would be well appreciated."
Marcia's eyes opened wide, understanding what Nick was getting at.
(He said he doesn't want a friend but he is not closed off to us getting to know each other as long as I can show him that I am not a waste of his time.)
"I'll go to the library and read up and discuss it with you at another time."
Nick nodded:
"Sounds good to me, how's the morning after tomorrow sound."
"That works for me."
"Alright then, do you mind if I continue eating my meal alone?"
Marcia nodded and excused herself, wearing an excited expression as she left the cafeteria.
Slade asked Nick in a weird tone:
[What are you doing?]
Nick continued to eat as he internally spoke to Slade:
(There is no harm in humoring her, especially if she can actually provide me with some useful information. I may like to be alone but I understand that other people have value if I force them to show it. Plus, she was so earnest, I like that.)
(If she becomes a problem, I'll get rid of her but if she has some value, I'll help her along so that she can offer me more value in the future. That's how human beings built the society that we live in today.)
Slade remained quiet for a while before saying:
[You have surprised me, kid. You are more mature than I thought.]
Nick shook his head.
(I'm not so mature, my dreams are just too important for me to be inflexible and intolerant.)
[Well said.]
Nick finished his meal and went back to his room where he took a three hour nap and woke up to continue working on his spell. Nick did not stop working on his spell until more than a day had passed, even missing the orientation for the second years.
"They'll send the information that I need in an email...probably."
Nick picked up his weary body from his desk and went to the cafeteria for some breakfast and while he was eating, Marcia found him and sat at his table.
"Good morning Nick."
Nick looked up from his meal and replied:
"Morning."
Marcia smiled and spoke:
"I..."
Before she could say any more, Nick interrupted her:
"What is enslavement magic?"
Marcia pursed her lips knowing that this was Nick getting down to business but then opened them to speak:
"Enslavement magic is the use of magical laws to control other living beings, most commonly magic beasts, by carving the Magician's laws into their body."
Nick asked another question:
"What is the main advantage in using enslavement magic?"
Marcia answered without faltering:
"Enslavement magic allows one person to face an entire army with their own power and has a relatively low cost in magic energy as long as the enslaved already have the Magician's laws carved into their body. In addition..."
Marcia spoke on the enslavement path for twenty more minutes which meant that she had come fully prepared after Nick instructed her to go and read a book on the subject.
(So she does have some value.)
Nick spoke expressionlessly:
"That was a pretty good mini lecture. Do you have anything that you want to ask me?"
Marcia smiled and nodded in affirmation:
"What type of magic do you specialize in, there are all sorts of rumors involving multiple kinds of magic but a serious guy like you must have a specialization, right?"
Nick remained silent as he thought of how to answer the question.
(I never gave much thought to what kind of magic that I should show in front of other people as I am not comfortable with revealing all of my methods around strangers like I did with the Jenners and eventually I will have to work with teams to complete academy missions. So what path should I walk down publicly so as not to appear too flashy?)
Slade commented:
[It's good that you are asking this question now. Only using a select number of methods in public will probably save you a lot of trouble down the road.]
Nick pondered:
(I have four paths that I walk in order of proficiency, namely, soul path, rule path, space path and blade path. Soul path and blade path are both great if I want to appear as a combat specialist but space path and rule path have more utility. Then again since rule path is not commonly practised on Grand Earth, I should avoid using it publicly so as not to draw attention; I also have very little use for combat within the academy...so space path it is.)
"I specialize in space magic."
Marcia's eyes beamed with interest.
"Oh really, I hear that such Magicians are relatively rare, what kind of spells do you use."
Nick visibly frowned at that question.
Marcia saw his expression and knew that she had stepped on a landmine as most Magicians did not like being asked that question directly.
"My bad...I lost my head for a second."
Nick's frown became a plain expression again.
"I'm glad that you found it."
Nick asked another question:
"How proficient are you in combat?"
Marcia shook her head:
"Not very, although my highest affinity is with enslavement magic, being an enslavement Magician is expensive and my family cannot support the cost so I have mostly been using fire spells that I received from the Bartholomews."
(Fire spells, huh?)
"Next week is the start of normal scheduled classes and I wanted to do a little sparring in the combat class scheduled for the first day. If you don't mind, could you register for the class and spar with me?"
Marcia went silent for a while to think about it and a few seconds later she answered:
"Sure, I'll spar with you during combat class but why not just ask someone stronger when you get to the class?"
"That's because if they refuse, I would have wasted my time going to the class and that would be unfortunate."
Marcia raised her right eyebrow, thinking:
(This Nick is a little unreasonable but still better than Don.)
"Well, I have some studying to do so I'm going to leave now, see you another time."
Nick nodded:
"Sure."
A few minutes after Marcia left, Nick went back to his room and began going through his space path inheritance.
"Alright, I have to learn these spells by next week to put up a facade that I am a space path Magician."