B4 - Chapter 1 - Post Fest

Things were beginning to slowly quieten down at Regarth, after what everyone deemed a very successful festival. There was still a bit of bitter rivalry going around, especially after the results of the final match, but as a whole, everyone was pleased, and already bold declarations of "next time" were going around.

As for Lily, she had enjoyed it thoroughly and felt like things had gone quite well. She'd managed to secure some prizes, showed off the power of her glyphs, and had a good time with her friends. If not for the two dinner dates looming on the horizon, she would've called it perfect.

However, she tried her best not to let it get her down, as she also had another upcoming lesson with Arakil to look forward to, not to mention a promised adventure in the dungeon with Rose. Between all of that and other things in between, such as her glyph training, Astral enchantments, and trying to reach the third floor, she had more important things to worry about.

Unsurprisingly, when lessons resumed in the morning, they were taking things slow. A lot of the professors were in various states of recovery, perhaps from indulging a bit too much in the festivities. However, as a result, they didn't focus on the upcoming curriculum; instead, it became more advisory, with comments and suggestions about various performances during the festival.

To everyone's surprise, even if they weren't featured in the highlights, there was actually a recording of every student during the last event. If they wanted, the professors were authorized to access it and offer some words of encouragement or suggestions. Many chose to take advantage of this, leading most students to receive guidance on how to bypass or overcome hazards in the dungeon.

Lily was the obvious culprit of many students receiving this advice, as her walls, pits, and traps had been disastrous. However, she wasn't the only villain, as Clarissa was just as guilty, and thanks to her, all the students who headed into the forest were receiving advice on dealing with snares and hostile plants.

For non-specific advice, Alice gave some pointers on finding treasure. She talked about the types of locations to look out for, where there might be hidden loot, or the types of monster encounters that might be guarding something special. She came with receipts and, using examples from the final round, pointed out various scenarios.

While the mole lair that Lily encountered wasn't directly shown, it fell under what Alice described as a textbook example of a treasure guardian. These were effectively universal rules that all but the strangest dungeon would follow, so if you knew what to look for and what you could handle, you could make your fortune.

Elective classes were another story, though, or maybe it was just the ones Lily had picked. None of their three teachers there seemed to be suffering from the festival, and the lessons went on as per normal.

In her alchemy class, Professor Sylwel demonstrated the proper procedure to brew his refined recipe of the Riverfolk's Lung potion from the competition. It was a very educational experience, and he went into further detail about using an ingredient of an opposing element to provide a catalytic effect.

A lot of his theory in this case was outside of the textbook explanations, once again proving that he was a bit of a wild case and often went against the grain. At the end of his explanation, with some notable reluctance, he finally mentioned that these experiments can be dangerous and should be done only in very small doses, with extreme caution.

I'll bet Headmaster Fabrelis gave him a stern talking to, Lily giggled to herself.

Professor Melina's class was relatively normal, and she praised the students who took the chance to try selling some of their cooking or charms. Of course, she also thanked Lily for helping with the festival decorations, much to her embarrassment, since she hadn't exactly done so with noble intentions. Other than that, it was a very relaxed experience, once again going into delicate control over their spells and using them for a variety of relatively simple spells.

That only left Applied Enchanting & Glyphwork, and much to Lily's regret, she found herself the center of attention when she entered the class. Part of it was Duncan's fault, as her being handed his notebook had apparently caused more of a commotion than she realized.

Duncan was effectively a celebrity among the enchanting students, with many of them looking up to him and what he'd accomplished. So many of them had dreamed of using their glyph skills in battle, yet other than enchanting equipment, only Duncan had really demonstrated it. With Lily receiving his book, it was as if he was directly naming her his successor.

That led to the main reason, which was obviously the glyphs she'd drawn and demonstrated, and virtually everyone wanted to know how she had done it. The glyphs drawn during the treasure hunt were impressive but still within reason; most students could have done something similar if they had used blood glyphs. However, Lily's actions prompted others to investigate her other festival activities, leading them to discover her performance in the dungeon duos.

In that Lily had spawned a complex glyph from seemingly nothing, and in an instant no less. Nobody knew how she'd done it, and word had quickly spread among the enchanting students, causing more to see and question it. Naturally, the students turned to Professor Ollie, but even their respected professor had only vague answers.

"I speculated your unknown bloodline might have some ties to glyphwork, but I'm honestly unsure," Ollie admitted. "If you have any insights you're willing to share, I'd be most grateful. Of course, as a Regarth student, if you wish to keep it private, you also have our blessing."

Lily thought long and hard about how best to approach it before she answered. "I think you might be right. It's something related to the bloodline that opened the world of magic to me in the first place."

Of course, Lily was effectively referring to Arakil in this case, as he was the one who brought her into the fold. She preferred answering things like this, as rather than being an outright lie, it was a muddied truth.

"As for what I did… I just followed what I was told… So unless I can repeat the experience, I can't just do it again on demand."

Again, Arakil told her to use the wand. He was also the one who told her how to use the replicate function, and unless he gave her permission, she technically wasn't allowed to use it again. Of course, Lily could, but in her mind, Arakil's word was law, and she didn't want to ever betray his trust, especially after all he had done for her.

Much to Lily's relief, her vague explanation was accepted by the majority, thanks in part to Ollie's previous speculation. Bloodlines were still very much a mystery, despite plenty of dedicated research and accumulated experience on the matter. Yet no matter how much they looked into it, they always seemed to discover something new, or something that countered a previous assumption.

Bloodline intuitions were the biggest mystery of all, as nobody knew where they came from, and they genuinely varied from person to person. Two children with the exact same bloodline could receive totally opposite intuitions, and in entirely different methods.

Some heard voices, others a singular whisper. Other intuitions were purely gut feelings or sudden urges to do something, yet, despite that vagueness, they led to discovering a new spell or ability. Then others simply dreamed or experienced visions and would awaken with newfound knowledge. Yet all of this was just scratching the surface, with many other ways the bloodline users would receive their insights.

The experiences were simply too vast and too varied, and this was the saving grace that Lily could fall back on. Even Arakil himself had no concrete idea what was causing this, especially given the varied ways it was occurring. He had once told Lily he speculated it might be the universe trying its best to correct itself, not allowing established magic to deteriorate. He even admitted to suspecting some meddling by the gods due to the sheer variety, as well as what he described as intentional ambiguity.

Of course, the explanation wasn't enough for most, and soon it was requested that Lily demonstrate some glyph drawing for them, as the recording wasn't enough to satisfy their curiosity. Professor Ollie turned helplessly to Lily, although even without his look, she had already agreed in her mind. If it wasn't the replication function, she could use the wand as much as she wanted, and without guilt. Plus, this would all help further spread the rumors of her bloodline's connection to glyphs.

With a well-practiced flourish, Lily summoned her Nebula Veil and withdrew the wand simultaneously. Honestly, she'd spent way too much time practicing such actions in an attempt to further solidify the illusion, so she was glad it was finally paying off. Even those who vaguely knew of the wand's existence were gradually forgetting about it, thanks to Lily repeatedly emphasizing the connection between the starry cape and her ability to draw in the air.

I wonder if, when I do finally accomplish drawing without the wand, I'll only be able to do it with my Nebula Veil active? The impression I'm giving others is that it's necessary, but I might also be conditioning myself to link it to my drawings…

Even if that were the case, Lily didn't exactly see it as a bad thing. She loved her cloak of stars, and if Arakil's theory of drawing an enchanted constellation on it came to fruition, then it would see even more usage than before. Though the one downside would be Arakil's feelings on the matter, as seeing his beloved glyphs becoming synonymous with Astral magic might leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

Although maybe his opinion on it is changing? He seems to be enjoying his research into the matter. Maybe if I avoid mentioning luck or fate, I can get him to also love Astral magic?

Lily's demonstration of simple glyphs drawn in the air for the enchanting class was met with a reasonable amount of praise. Of course, the students poked and prodded at the floating glyphs, which were thankfully fine since she'd stuck to harmless lighting ones.

When she was asked questions about it, she tried her best to answer, and she admitted taking inspiration from blood glyphs and runes to use them in the dungeon. Thankfully, Professor Ollie acted as her backup and fueled much of the conversation with various theories and speculation on his side, even going so far as to suggest that her aversion to blood might be spurred by her bloodline.

Lily dared not correct him, as admitting the fact that she just hated blood and needles because she was horribly sick as a child was out of the question. Lily wanted to keep that embarrassing past locked up for good, never to be revealed to the light of day. In fact, Lily had already planned that in the future, if anyone ever questioned why she didn't use blood, she could confidently answer that it was far too messy and inconvenient.

Why use blood when I can draw with the wave of my hand? It's far better, no?

As for out-of-class activities, they were starting to heat up, as many students were now pursuing the dungeon with greater vigor. Not only had their maximum floor been increased, but several of them must have cashed in for the solution to the first floor, as it seemed the answer was spreading through the first years like wildfire. Nobody was willing to admit who leaked it, but now it seemed everyone knew the solution, and it was causing quite a commotion.

Groups were already planning to conquer it when the weekend arrived, although that didn't stop some of them from trying anyway during the evenings after class. In theory, if they got extremely lucky with easy rooms, they could breeze through half of the requirement, or at least that's what the rumormongers were claiming. Seeing the others so excited made Hana antsy, and it looked like she wanted to breach the third floor as soon as possible.

Sadly, as much as Hana wanted to do it, Lily was a bit too busy to do it outside the weekend, and she'd already reserved the first day for Arakil. When Hana tried to insist, Lotte quickly jumped to Lily's defense.

"Maybe if she wasn't going to two dinners this week, she might have more free time. Lily probably needs the weekend to catch up on the missed evenings."

"Right… Sorry about that," Hana said, looking quite guilty.

"It's alright," Lily replied. "I'm going to try to make the best of it, like Rose suggested."

"Speaking of which… My parents have asked if tomorrow is fine? They didn't want to interrupt your schoolwork, so they delayed for a bit. They originally suggested the weekend, but I assumed you'd rather not."

"Definitely not on the weekend," Lily quickly confirmed. She refused to let the Lucandriels, Viremonts, or otherwise interfere with her special day with Arakil.

Hana nodded. "Then I guess tomorrow it is. I assume Viremonts will ask for the day after, so be prepared."

Lily sighed and nodded. She really didn't know what to expect from either of these dinners. The silver lining was that the first one would at least have Hana with her, and it might help her mentally prepare for the following one.

Well, let's hope the food lives up to what Rose told me…