Overflow

Damian stared deeply at the ancient scroll before in confusion. He tried to decipher the intricate pictograms he believed represented the runic alphabet. What stood out the most from this was the peculiar language used to describe these "letters."

He shifted his eyes to Priscilla, who sat next to him. "My brain gets it, but also doesn't."

The girls shared a chuckle as Priscilla provided clarification. "This is ancient Chrysorian.

"Your sense of familiarity arises because you not only speak the contemporary rendition of it, but you also hail from the southeastern region of the Harmonia province, which has its own variant of Chrysorian.

"And as expected, it's more closely related to its ancient form."

Chrysorian remained the primary language in Aeternal rural areas, a tool for close family connections. In contrast, Damian's caregivers stressed the importance of Aeternian, the language dominating urban life.

Nabil leaned in closer to the duo and inquired, "What could be the cause of such a difference? Is it just due to the dynamic of language?"

"Wait… you don't know?" Aurelia, seated opposite him, raised an eyebrow, her expression conveying her disbelief.

Priscilla raised her hand to her chin, taking on a pondering expression. Suddenly, her face lit up with realisation, prompting her to nudge Aurelia's shoulder. "It makes sense, actually. Remember that empire?"

Aurelia's face brightened with understanding as Priscilla continued explaining to her friends. "You know of the Kratoria empire, right?"

Observing the duo nodding in agreement, she carried on. "This empire was established from the remainder of the former rulers of the ancient Kingdom of Chrysos." Mid-explanation, she rose from her seat and began searching the library's tall bookshelves.

"It must be somewhere here," she mumbled, before producing a detailed map and laying it on the table.

With a cough, she remarked, "Unfortunately, it's a map of the entire world. But it'll suffice."

Her finger landed on the far left of the map, and she proceeded to trace the southern and western regions of the North Belaustrum continent. "As Senator Volans mentioned weeks ago, the Kratoria empire will first settle in these specific areas on the map."

"And through multiple successful war campaigns, they'll secure control over portions of the southeast," she indicated the area labelled as the Harmonia province.

Damian looked up at the tall woman, his head resting on his hands, a mischievous smile forming his face. "You know you don't need to do all this, right? I may be from the countryside, but I'm still educated on general geography."

Priscilla sat back down with a smile, shaking her head in amusement as she carefully folded the map. "I know... But long story short, this empire initially adopted ancient Chrysorian as its official language. But over time, it evolved and transformed into Kratorian.

"Following its collapse, the Republic seized control of its territories, resulting in a linguistic fusion that gave rise to the modern Chrysorian language. Now spoken by most Aeternals.

"However, most schools across the empire deliberately omit any mention of the Kratoria empire, as our past leaders sought to extinguish any trace of them."

Her gaze shifted to Amalir, who was peacefully slumbering atop a scroll on the table. "Some of their customs and traditions persist to this day in the Amphalon and Chrysokalos provinces."

As she reclined in her cosy chair, she let out a yawn and casually mentioned, "Of course, with the rise in education, knowledge of the Kratoria empire as well as the Messianic wars are becoming more mainstream."

Damian silently nodded, while Aurelia smirked and sneaked a glance at the sleeping Amalir. "Well, will you look at that? Didn't I tell you to keep that enthusiasm you had when dissecting insects' guts?"

Amalir suddenly gestured with his fingers and stated, "First of all, spiders aren't insects. And second of all, I wasn't sleeping."

He stretched lazily, moaning, while straightening his back and bearing visible lines on his face.

"Whatever you say," Aurelia muttered while rolling her eyes.

Amalir shook his head with a smile as he continued. "Before madam rudely interrupted me, I was immersed in deep contemplation and came across an interesting revelation."

Despite their sceptical looks and arched eyebrows, he kept his smile and pressed on. "We humans cannot be perfect," he said, reclining in his chair and leisurely stretching his arms behind his head.

"It's very normal for me to underperform in this class."

"You sure are trying so hard to sound philosophical," Aurelia chuckled, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "When you're actually spewing out the most cliché saying in all of existence."

Clicking his tongue in disapproval, Amalir remarked, "The answers to most of our problems are usually the obvious ones."

With a laugh, Priscilla tilted her head and gazed at Amalir. "You've said it before," she quipped. "Runemastery just isn't your thing."

Amalir affirmed with enthusiasm by pointing his index finger at Priscilla, only for her to add, "Even though the main objective she assigned us is the most fundamental?"

The chestnut haired froze while Damian playfully jabbed his ribs. "Can't even wrap your head around the basics, huh?"

"You sure are an open-minded fellow," he added sarcastically, his tone laced with derision. Amalir's face turned gloomy, causing Nabil and Aurelia to burst into laughter.

"Shush!" A deep voice echoed from above as the group gazed up at a towering gorilla, peering down at them from a raised platform in the hallway. They swiftly looked away while apologising.

The city of mystical beasts indeed, though technically Scriptura, will take the cake for that description. Damian reflected on the very intelligent librarian of the hall they were in.

"But, I get Amalir's point," Priscilla whispered, breaking the silence and causing her teammates to focus on her.

With all eyes on her, she elaborated, "In the realm of mysticism, there is what we call overcrowding."

She then looked at Damian and Nabil as she added, "It has a similar principle to ABS—Ascendant Burnout Syndrome, which you two experienced."

They nodded in understanding as Damian vividly recalled the moment he had crumbled to the floor, his body unable to keep up with his newfound powers in Professor Lucius's first class.

"To put it simply, overcrowding happens when a harmoniser tries to juggle an excessive amount of specialties, seeking to add them into their repertoire."

As she fiddled with the fountain pen before her, she continued, "Various supernatural organisations, whether official or not, each possess their own unique specialties. For instance, ours excels in both beast taming and runemastery.

"Researchers and professors don't recommend mastering both. Instead, we should choose to specialise in one.

"Sadly, there are individuals who hold the misconception that having a foundation in all possible fields is advantageous. But this couldn't be further from the truth."

Demonstrating with the fountain pen, she described, "Picture it as if it were this pen. A well-maintained pen with a controlled ink flow lays down clear and elegant strokes."

"However, overfilling the ink chamber will cause it to overflow and create a mess."

Assuming a solemn expression, she mentioned, "In our context, adopting too many specialities will greatly increase the likelihood of becoming Lost."

The pen dropped from Priscilla's hand, causing Nabil to gulp reflexively. "Of course, that doesn't mean you can't explore different specialties."

"As long as you've defined inclinations, you'll be fine."

Leaning her cheek in her hand, she cautioned, "This is why being a loner is not a good idea. You can't be an expert in everything, which leaves room for enemies to take advantage.

"On the other hand, by working as a team, each team member can cover each other's weaknesses.

"That's also why it's strongly advised to have a maximum of two beast companions, as your level of synchronicity with them greatly impacts future advancement."

Damian's eyes flickered as he inquired, "Is it possible for one to separate themselves from their beast companion?" The moment he uttered those words, Sleipnir, who had been curled up asleep on the table, suddenly stirred and focused his large eyes on him.

Silent chuckles escaped the team as Priscilla offered her reply. "Yes, although it's more advisable to do that when the synchronicity level is low."

"It becomes more convoluted at the intermediate stage, while at the advanced level, it's virtually impossible to do so without inflicting serious and permanent damage on both parties."

Giving her a nod of acknowledgement, Damian's smile widened as he playfully tugged on Sleipnir's long ears, relishing the softness of his fur coat.

Don't worry buddy, we'll always be together in this… The rabbit, feeling his honesty, nuzzled his companion's hand.

Damian then glanced back at Priscilla and gave her a teasing smirk. "We obviously can't learn this thing in just an afternoon."

"How about we continue in the comfort of your apartment room?"

Upon hearing this, excitement filled the group as they all turned to Priscilla, their eyebrows arching with anticipation, eager for her response. Priscilla, who had been mentally preparing for a playful jab from one of them, remained unfazed as she answered to the red-haired beauty. "Sounds great, though it seems Aurelia already beat me to it."

Aurelia's eyes grew wide as she gazed at her friend, bafflement etched on her face. Gathering herself, she chuckled and responded, "Well, I must confess, I do have some knowledge about runes. But you're on a whole different level."

Priscilla chuckled softly and quipped, "Unfortunately, I've already made a commitment to teach Nabil. Moreover, you successfully recreated the Quick Dash of the Astrape using runes."

With a self-assured smirk, she intertwined her fingers and said, "I believe you're underestimating yourself too much."

"Remember, a healthy dose of self-esteem is crucial on the path to Harmony."

Aurelia's eyes flickered and her lips, coated in pink gloss, twitched while she muttered, "Damn, can't argue with that," before shifting her gaze to Damian.

"You know the rules," she said with a playful wink, eliciting a smile of recognition from him.

"... What just happened?" Nabil mumbled, as he looked around with a puzzled expression.

"Adult talk," Amalir replied lazily, his voice muffled by his reclined position.

Priscilla then cleared her throat, her voice barely above a whisper, as she added, "For the first week we can focus on getting you guys up to date with the basis of runes, as well as getting you a good background on Ancient Chrysorian."

Damian and Nabil nodded in unison as the former observed Sleipnir, and silently contemplated. There will be lots of studies... Wake me up when I try to doze off, okay?

Sleipnir acknowledged with a nod before executing a perfect backflip while simultaneously kicking out with his adorable, fluffy hind legs.

You don't need to go that hard, though, Damian mused, shaking his head as he redirected his attention back to the ancient scroll in front of him.