Chapter 11: First Day Part 2
"We're here Arthur!" Charlotte beamed, eyeing the fatigued boy that lay resting in her arms. Yet even though she said this, Charlotte still hesitated to put Arthur down. The feel of his skeletal body pressed up against her perfectly balanced figure filled the girl with a sense of warmth so comforting and delightful that if not for the current situation, she would have surely asked to remain together like this forever.
"Then can you please put me down…." Arthur blushingly requested. He didn't know when but at some point throughout his brief journey with Charlotte, he had come to a revitalised conclusion that princess carries were, in fact…Very embarrassing.
'Cute!' Charlotte drooled nonetheless; she still abided by Arthur's request placing him gently on the carpeted floor outside the room that he presumed to be the classroom for Charlottes and Iris's lessons in whatever they were going to do today. 'I doubt they'll include me in whatever lesson the teachers planned, but I should still be able to at least get some knowledge from it….' Arthur commented as he followed Charlotte into the stone doored room.
'Well, this place is…dreary,' Arthur solemnly commented upon observing the room. In a word, it was grey. The room was built entirely out of stone looking more like a dungeon than a classroom which it probably was before someone decided to hurriedly refurbish it for Charlotte and Iris. In the centre of the desolate room lay two one-meter long oak wood tables giving the room a splash of well-needed colour. Besides this, there were the two occupants, one of which was Iris, who sent a disgruntled glare at the still very much alive Arthur from the left side table, while the other was an elderly man who wore the same Emerald blazer as our protagonist.
"Are you just going to stand there gawking all day, or will you come in and take a seat," The man chimed, interrupting Arthur from his silent observation. 'Is he talking to Charlotte or me,' Arthur hurriedly thought. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself on his first day by interpreting the man's words for himself. Yet, after another brief scan of the room, he concluded that the man was, in fact, talking to him, 'When did Charlotte sneak away from me, though,' Arthur questioned, seeing the young girl now seated by the table to his right.
"Hurry up. We don't have all day," The man teased, alerting Arthur to the fact that he was in his head again.
After taking a seat to the right of Charlotte and dealing with the girl's antics, the man soon started his lesson but not before Arthur stealthily deployed his scan skill enwrapping the elderly man in an invisible shockwave.
{Name: Rono Ardor}
{Age: 600}
{Sex: Male}
{Race: Human}
{Rank: Adept Knight Stage 3 (Average life expectancy 650 years)}
{Titles: Loyal servant, gramps, Zepars kindest servant, etc..}
{Bloodline: None}
{Charm: 6/10 (Would be higher if not for his age other than that he's about average)}
{Talent:6/10 (He's reached his peak,)}
{Trust: 50% (He seems like a pleasant young lad)
{Description: Even if he is a peasant, I believe he should still be treated with kindness}
'Wait…He's not an asshole. How is that possible,' Arthur rhetorically joked. 'He's pretty strong too,' Arthur continued, his mind churning through the heroines and attempting to discern where this man would rank amongst their mentors. 'Never mind, he's strong but compared to some of the other people in this world, he's a nobody,' Arthur shivered.
"Now, you must be young Charlotte's personal attendant. It's nice to meet you," The elderly man known as Ardor smiled, extending a hand for the startled Arthur to shake.
"I-I'm Arthur. Nice to meet you," Taking his hand, Arthur "stuttered", acting "fearful" of the man before him as if he's had a poor experience with older people from his time on the streets. However, Arthur did not consider how Charlotte would react to the presence of the man before her as she visibly recoiled in fear from his company in an act that Rono would thankfully be oblivious to. 'Has her fear of men already started to develop? But how? I thought I prevented that by saving her? She's fine with her father and me, though? Wait…Is she only fine with me and her dad' Arthur questioned, unaware that although he may have saved the girl much earlier than when Charlotte was rescued in the game, she was still very much traumatised from her experience with the two fat criminals so much so that she had developed a form of severe androphobia.
'Poor boy, what types of hardships have you been through to be so wary of people' Rono inwardly sighed. "My name is Rono Ardor. It's a pleasure to meet someone so unbelievably talented at such a young age," Rono smiled, commenting upon Arthur's stage and "Talent," to which the boy could only respond with a sheepish smile.
"Thank you," Arthur coyly replied, clearly wanting to end the conversation early before it devolved into a praising contest. Which he successfully managed to avoid as Rono returned to the centre of the room to hopefully start the beginning of today's lesson.
"Well, I was meant to have this lesson with you the day young Charlotte awakened to her mana, but as you all know…She went missing that day. Didn't you Charlotte?" Rono chided, sending Charlotte a reprimanding gaze that made her tremble in undisguised fear. 'Wait, did Charlotte awaken to her mana the day she got kidnapped…What a coincidence,' Arthur mused. This was information he hadn't attained through his playthrough and a rather interesting piece at that. 'Did she escape from her guards because she felt strong enough to be safe by herself? What an idiot,' Arthur sighed, sending a meaningful glare at his young mistress, who couldn't help but squirm under his "Heated Gaze."
"So today, we'll be learning about mana, the ranks and stages that you will ascend through. First, who wants to tell me what mana is?" Rono questioned as a hand shot up from the left side of the room.
"Yes, Iris,"
"Mana is… Mana is the will of the world. No, it's the will of the heavens….I think. It's everywhere like the oxygen we breathe, and our body takes it in passively, but besides that, no one really knows what it is." Iris shakily explained, fearful that if she were to be wrong in her answer, Arthur would laugh at her, which couldn't be further from the truth.
'She's kinda right, but kinda not. Mana doesn't come from the will of the world or the heavens, but rather it is something the gods and goddesses bless us with…Though it's not like anyone but me knows this,' Arthur smugly commented, reflecting on the knowledge he had attained from his brief time with the goddesses in the game. 'Urgh, just thinking about them gives me a headache…I hope I won't have to deal with them in this world. They're not main heroines. I doubt anyone but me knows their locations, so hopefully, I can get by with never having to interact with them,' Arthur groaned, unknowingly raising some dangerous flags that would lay like mines waiting to be set off in the near future.
"Correct, Iris," Rono gently praised, further stroking the young mistress's ego, who sent Arthur a smug smile of superiority that cleanly conveyed the message of 'Know your place,'. 'Why is she getting so smug with me? I could have answered that question in a heartbeat if I felt like it,' Arthur scowled.
"Now, does anyone want to tell me how your mana's element is influenced by where you awaken?" Rono pressed while Iris sent Arthur another superior smirk before she raised her hand once again.
"The element you're mana takes is decided by the surroundings of where you awaken. For example, it is more likely that someone who lives and awakened or rather created their mana core by the sea will awaken to water elemental mana. In contrast, someone who lives in a city is more likely to awaken to the earth or air element. However, this is only for the four basic elements of fire, water, wind and earth, with the more unique elements like lightning and light and such forth being locked to one's bloodline or other unique traits," Iris boldly answered, earning her a nod of recognition from Rono. "Though the environment you awaken in does not always decide the element your mana takes, for example, Arthur, I assume you awakened in Zepar city, correct?" Iris continued shocking Arthur with his sudden involvement in her answer.
"Yes," Arthur replied.
"Then if we went with the environmental awakening theory, your element would be earth or wind…but it isn't, is it? You have water. Thus, we can assume that your temperament and family history also have something to do with your element." Iris proudly answered, earning a standing ovation from Rono, who couldn't help but be jubilant with his student's perceived enthusiasm.
"Good…Very good. That was an excellent answer, Iris. In fact, the only issue I can see with your statement would be the fact that you're just going around throwing the term awaken without fully defining what it means, is awakening when you reach the elemental extraction stage and start to extract your element from your mana core is it when your mana core forms?" Rono replied, pointing out the singular flaw in Iris's answer like a good teacher.
However, Iris didn't take too kindly to her teacher's criticism. In her mind, she had just been made a fool of in front of her sworn enemy. "It's when you create your mana core," Iris blushingly whispered, not even bothering to send a scowl at Arthur this time…no she was too embarrassed for that, and she feared that if she saw his "Smug" face now, she would kill him.
"Well then, I suppose we should move onto the ranks," Rono replied, placing his hands onto the stone wall closest to him and morphing it through the use of his earth magic to create a rather simplistic blackboard. 'He's pretty good at using magic for a knight,' Arthur keenly commented as Rono reached into his emerald green blazer and pulled out a thick white piece of chalk that he would promptly use to draw up a large chart containing all the ranks and subsequent stages for one's progression.
Mana gathering stages: 1-9
Elemental extraction stages: 1-10
Elemental harnessing stages: 1-7
After Rono finished writing the first three ranks, he took a brief pause from the board, turning to his three enraptured students, who all wore a look of unified stupor.
"Why did you stop, aren't there a lot more that you need to write?" Charlotte blurted her teeth subtly chattering in fear just from the mere act of talking to a man that wasn't Arthur nor her Father.
"You don't need to push yourself," Arthur gently prodded, seeing no need to pretend to be oblivious to his master's predicament. "If you want to ask him something, just whisper it to me." Arthur continued he didn't know if this was the right way to go about curing Charlotte's androphobia, but that wasn't his priority anyway. In fact, although it may be scummy, Arthur saw Charlotte's current predicament as an absolute win. 'If she can't talk to guys, then I'll have no competition,' Arthur inwardly grinned. 'Not like they'd be able to woo her anyway with how attached she is to me,'
{+3 Love (Charlotte Zepar)}
{+3000 Affection points}
"R-r-really! Thank you Arthur!" Charlotte beamed as she attempted to wrap the boy up in her embrace, which Arthur smoothly dodged. 'I'm the worst….' Arthur inwardly whined, still not used to the role he would have to play if he wanted to survive in this cruel world. That role, of course, was that of a manipulative self-proclaimed scum bag.
"Good question Charlotte…Why did I stop after writing up to the elemental harnessing stage? Does someone want to tell me what happens after one reaches this level?" Rono questioned, poising another question to the desolate room.
'I suppose I'll take this one,' Arthur inwardly commented, raising his hand to answer the old man's question.
Seeing this, Rono's eyes couldn't help but sparkle in anticipation for what the young prodigy's answer could be and, more importantly, how he would respond to his following statement. 'I wonder what path you wish to pursue, young Arthur,'
"Yes, Arthur,"
"You stopped at the elemental harnessing stage because from that point onwards, the mana path splits into two different roads," Arthur seamlessly answered, giving Rono the most perfect textbook definition of a response he could have asked for.
'Very good…' Rono inwardly appraised his view of the boy lifting ever so slightly.
{+5 Trust (Rono Ardor)}
'Do I not get affection points for raising the trust meter,' Arthur speculated, seeing the single notification that barely occupied a corner of his vision.
{That is correct. The host will not earn affection points from interacting and raising the trust meter of males}
The system quickly responded, making its presence known once again…Which somewhat agitated the young boy. 'Hey, system, why did you flake on me earlier,' Arthur pressed, using the brief amount of time Rono had spared him between questions to confront the system about some more pressing issues.
{What does the host mean by "flake on me"? The system never left the host,}
'That's not what I really mean…Argh, what I meant to say was, why didn't you just give me some confirmation that Vienna was going to save me when I asked earlier instead of playing coy and avoiding the question entirely,'
{The system did give the host confirmation in the form of the comment on her love meter though,}
The system snapped back, 'Yeah, but that wasn't really a guarantee now, was it….' Arthur bluntly replied, having already learnt not to put his blind faith in the words of the system even if what it said may be both true and prophetic.
{It was, the systems evaluations are always correct,}
The system arrogantly replied, a slight trace of emotion breaking through the otherwise monotonous robotic voice, which thankfully went unnoticed by the young Arthur, who was more preoccupied with rebutting his opposition words.
However, after not finding an appropriate response for at least 5 seconds, he took it upon himself to end the conversation with a swift fuck you.
{Apologise,}
'No,' Arthur bluntly replied, his attention now focused back on Rono, who seemed to be done with his inward appraisal of the boy and was now eager to press the conversation onwards.
"Excellent, Arthur. Now, do you know the names of the two roads the mana path splits into?" Rono further questioned.
"There's the knight path and the mage path," Arthur quickly answered. "The knight path is focused around using mana to enhance one's body, making it more robust and quicker, whereas the mage path is more focused around the aspect of outwardly projecting mana in the form of magic and increasing the amount of mana one can store in their mana core," Arthur further explained seeing the quizzical look in Rono's eyes.
"Good, very, very good!" Rono cheered, his eyes sparkling in anticipation for the boy's future.
'How did he know that? Isn't he just a peasant? Why does he know more than me!' Iris inwardly seethed, her eyes turning fiery. 'Was he just playing dumb earlier and letting me answer all the questions so that he could make fun of me for trying so hard? Urgh, I hate him, I hate him sooo~ much!' Iris fumed though her affection meter did not lower no matter how much she raged.
"And what path do you intend to go down, Arthur?" Rono prodded, eager to know if the boy had plans for his future or if he was still undecided about where he wanted to go in life.
"MAGE!" Arthur blurted without a second thought, 'Magic's just too cool!' Arthur inwardly praised, his eyes turning stary in joy. 'Why would I want to use a sword and all that lame stuff when I can become a powerful mage with enough strength to destroy a country in a single attack,' He continued, 'Besides, it's not like choosing one option locks me out of the other, all the best heaven-defying prodigies cultivate both the mage and knight path, the only set back in doing so is that you have to split your time which is really no big deal considering the life expectancy of people in this world….' Arthur grinned, setting down the path of the greatest mage the world of Avalon would ever experience, a mage so great and powerful that even the gods would tremble before him.
"Really?" Rono retorted. 'I thought all children wanted to be knights, with only those weak of will deciding to swap to the path of a mage when they realise just how treacherous it is to tamper one's body with mana.'
"And why do you want to be a mage?" Rono off-handedly questioned in an attempt to mask his overwhelming curiosity.
"Because magic's just too co- Amazing!" Arthur beamed his fascination with magic unparalleled amongst his age. After all, it was something so foreign and fantastical to him that he couldn't help but be obsessed with the new feature his body had seamlessly gained. A fascination that someone who had always been surrounded by the fantastical world of magic just couldn't understand. To them, the use of magic and mana, in general, was something so mundane and boring that many would venture out into the path of a knight just to experience something new.
"I suppose it is…." Rono replied, not really knowing how to handle Arthur's sudden burst of enthusiasm. 'At least he seems dead set on becoming a mage,' Rono commented, turning his back to the group and drawing up the remainder of the graph he had started on just moments earlier.
Mage path ( Post elemental harnessing)
Beginner Mage stages: 1-9
Adept Mage stages: 1-5
Advanced Mage stages: 1-5
True Mage stages: 1-5
Mana core destruction stages: 1-10
Mana core rebirth: 1-9
Elemental removal stages: 1-7
Mana purification stages: 1-10
Elemental core creation: 1-10
After writing the block of text, Rono took a momentary break away from the blackboard to give his two actual students enough time to copy down the stages that he had written before he would surely return to draw up the knight stages.
'Why did he stop here though there are many more stages after the elemental core creation level?' Arthur briefly questioned before recognising where he was wrong in his train of thought. 'Nevermind, I suppose he just doesn't know about the stages after where he got up to. That's a shame, I guess,' Arthur briefly monologued, taking a brief look over to his left to track the progress of his master. The latter was currently in the midst of speedily jotting down the new information that had entered her immature mind.
After another two minutes of silent pen on paper movement, Rono returned to his spot in front of the huge makeshift blackboard and began scraping at the rough stone texture with the remainder of his chalk, drawing up the table of the knight path.
Knight path ( Post elemental harnessing)
Beginner Knight stages: 1-9
Adept Knight stages: 1-5
Advanced Knight stages: 1-5
True Knight stages: 1-5
Body destruction stages: 1-10
Body rebirth stages: 1-9
Impurity removal stages: 1-9
Body purification stages: 1-10
Rono finished, thus beginning the same process of pen to paper silence while Arthur once again couldn't resist commenting upon the fact that Rono had once again cut himself short with his knowledge of the stages. 'Besides, he's only written the stages the humanoids like beastmen and merfolk progress can progress through, dragons, vampires and demons all those other races have their own paths that they walk, many of which are more efficient than the one we created,' Arthur sighed. Despite knowing all about the mana paths of the different races and the methods they used to increase their speed of progress, he could not apply this knowledge to himself at all, thanks to the racial lock their practices possessed.
After another couple of minutes of strained silence, Rono made his presence known. "That should be enough for today," He announced, much to Charlotte's pleasure as Arthur could visibly see all the tenseness that had wound itself around the young lady dissipate in what could only be deemed as an instant, her hunched back sprung upright, her hollow eyes gleamed with affection in anticipation of her free time with Arthur.
Yet she would again return to her previous moody act as Rono made another abrupt announcement. "Now, could you all follow me out to the training yard to have a brief spar?" Rono gleefully cheered. This was his favourite part of the day where he would train Iris in the martial way, and now with the addition of both Arthur and Charlotte, he couldn't help but have his face burst into a huge smile, not of malice but of joy.