Percy did his best to tune out the incessant chatter, trying to squeeze in a couple more minutes of practice with the pre-casting exercises as they waited for the teacher to arrive. Unfortunately, his efforts were doomed from the start – the gossiping students making it impossible to focus on his mana.
It was a larger room than usual too. From what he’d learned, the academy owned classrooms of various sizes, assigning them based on a course’s popularity. This one, in particular, could accommodate twenty-five students – a testament to the subject’s overwhelming demand.
‘Not surprising, I suppose…’
Standalone course or not, Percy understood why so many people picked Cosmic Studies. The topic was inherently fascinating – everyone grew curious about it at some point in their life. Plus, the exam was supposedly one of the easiest ones, so it was customary for kids to choose this course whenever they were worried about their grades.
‘Ah, here he comes.’ he grimaced, watching Klatz sit next to him with his trademark smile plastered all over his face.
“Morning! Ready for the new term?”
“Sure.” Percy spat, not in the mood for chitchat.
He’d actually gone out of his way to pick a desk with all its neighbours occupied, precisely to avoid this. Sadly, the guy next to him had moved to a different spot a couple minutes ago, presumably to sit by his own buddy, leaving the desk available for Klatz.
He sighed. At least the kid had already turned away to talk with somebody else, leaving him alone for the time being.
Percy perked up at the sound of that. As annoyed as he was by Klatz gluing himself to him at every turn, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t grown curious about the boy’s aspirations. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ask him directly, as Leo would have probably known something that basic.
“I’m still planning to become an artist…” Klatz said, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s not that weird, honestly… You need more than just raw skill for that. You need inspiration. And Affinities is an interesting topic. If you think of the world as one giant canvas, the various mana types that exist are almost like colours, painting the most intricate picture of all. Same with Cosmic Studies. If you consider the countless wonders out there among the stars, there’s hardly a better course to pick. Besides, I can always grab Painting again next term.”
Percy raised an eyebrow upon hearing his friend’s response.
‘I didn’t realize Klatz was so… sophisticated.’ he thought. ‘Still, that’s a half-truth at best.’
Perhaps Klatz genuinely found Cosmic Studies interesting, but Percy knew he’d ultimately picked the course up at the last minute just to hang out with him. Clearly, he was still worried about Leo, despite Percy’s reassurances that he was fine.
The more he and Lyn tried to approach, the worse Percy felt. This was like Takeo’s situation all over again. Having had years to think about it, he did regret how he’d handled that. As much as the demonic vines had influenced him, he hated how he failed to come clean to Sengo until the very last moment – even though the man had already realized the truth by then.
And here he was, doing something similar again. Except, there weren’t any infestations to blame this time…
‘No, it’s not the same. Sengo was a grown man. These guys are just kids…’
Instead of turning Klatz and Lyn’s world upside down, perhaps he was better off looking for a way to help Leo recover. But was that even possible?
Granted, he’d done a great job stitching the boy’s soul up. Whether it was Leo’s body or soul, they should both be fine by the time Percy left. Sadly, the issue lay elsewhere.
‘I guess it’s a little like Micky’s situation, though I don’t have my ocarina with me, nor do I know of any songs he liked...’
Then again, Leo was missing a lot more than just some memories. The kid’s mind was in shambles! If there was any way to restore it, Percy wasn’t aware of it. Maybe he should look for a potent source of mind mana. But he couldn’t just use anything.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
‘The sleeping pills caused this in the first place, so I should look for something different…’
Suddenly, the door closed, breaking Percy out of his thoughts. It also caused the chatter to die down, as the teacher made her way to her desk. She looked old, her short hair a pale white colour. A Blue core burned brightly in her sternum, reminding Percy of Orin.
“Good morning, everyone! My name’s Kemdahlia, but you may call me Mrs. Lia. I sure am glad to see the course is as popular as always this term. I hope you lot enjoy the classes as much as I do giving them.” she said, writing her name on the yellowboard.
“Does anyone have any questions before we begin?” she asked.
Nobody raised their hands.
“Good, then let’s not dilly dally, since we’re a few minutes late.”
‘You’re the one who got here late…’ Percy rolled his eyes at the comment.
Oblivious to his thoughts, she continued.
“So, the first thing you all need to understand is the general structure of the cosmos. The universe is unbelievably large, but most of it is empty space. The stars you see in the night sky are nothing more than tiny dots separated by vast distances. As for the planets orbiting them, they’re a thousand times smaller still. Naturally, the same is true of Felmara.”
None of the kids showed much of a reaction, of course. What she’d shared so far was common knowledge, even on Remior.
“Now, here’s where things get interesting. While planets are nothing more than specks of dust in the grand scheme of things, they’re where all the interesting things happen. Does anybody know how different planets are categorized?”
A couple students raised their hands. Mrs. Lia nodded at one of them, a girl a couple years older than Leo and Klatz, sitting in the front row.
“They are separated into dead worlds, and worlds with life. The latter are further split, based on the type of life they bear.”
“Correct.” the teacher smiled. “Please don’t let my next words weigh on you too heavily, but most planets in the universe are dead. Even the most optimistic estimates place the ones with life at under one in a million.”
This time, a few sharp breaths echoed through the classroom, this statistic finally catching a few students by surprise.
“Yes, as depressing as it is, the universe is truly a rather empty place. But if you think about it from a different angle, it just means life is that much more precious. And by extension, all of us lucky to have it. Yet, that’s merely the tip of the iceberg.”
Turning to the yellowboard, she wiped her name away, writing down the percentage of life-bearing planets instead. Only then did she turn back to the students.
“Did you know that most planets with life only contain plants and beasts? We, sapients, are a rare commodity ourselves. Only about three in a thousand planets with life give rise to true intelligence, thus holding the potential for gods to emerge.”
Turning around, she wrote down the new fraction below the first one.
Some hushed voices permeated the classroom, a few students whispering something to their pals. The same girl from before ignored them, however, raising her hand again.
“Eryn, ma’am.” the girl said. “I was just wondering about your comment… Can gods only come from people? How about beasts? With their insane advancement speed, can they never reach godhood?”
Mrs. Lia’s smile widened.
“These are excellent questions. I would normally address them a couple weeks from now, when we’re discussing specific factions. But I suppose there’s no harm mentioning this in advance.”
She tapped her clawed fingers against the desk for a few seconds, seemingly gathering her thoughts before speaking.
“Let’s see… So, beasts do indeed advance far faster than we do, and they also grow smarter with each promotion. By Violet, they are almost on par with us, meaning that there’s technically no reason why they couldn’t eventually comprehend a concept of their own, and thus meet the requirements for divinity.”
“However, there are two major challenges unique to beasts, that stop almost all of them from reaching that stage. First, the insane amount of resources they must consume to get that far. By White, a beast can easily drive an entire continent extinct over a few centuries, just to sustain itself. Let alone advance further.”
“But ma’am, if they’re as smart as us at the higher grades, can’t they find ways around that?” a boy asked – not bothering to raise his hand first.
The teacher didn’t care enough to admonish him, nodding in agreement. She’d probably expected the question.
“Indeed. Getting to Violet or White is rare for them, but it does happen from time to time. And there are ways to handle the issue, whether by rationing resources or by coming up with various techniques – no, I think it’s fair to call them spells at that point – to curb their hunger and reduce their consumption to a more manageable level. In fact, some of them are just lucky enough to be born on larger planets brimming with resources, making their life a great deal easier from the start. It’s actually the second roadblock that is the hardest to overcome by far. Can anybody guess what that is?”
The classroom fell silent once again, even the girl from before not knowing the answer this time. At least until one person raised his hand, receiving permission to speak.
“Are the concepts related to the beast affinity more difficult to master?” Percy asked.
This was just speculation, but it made sense based on everything he knew. Mortals had to master a concept to ascend, and that concept had to be adjacent to their affinity. From everything he’d learned, the beast affinity in particular was unique in more than one way. He wouldn’t be surprised if the associated concepts were downright obscure.
Mrs. Lia’s lips cracked open, revealing a satisfied grin.
“Very much so! In the entire history of the universe, only four species of beasts are known to have taken that last step. In fact, only a single individual managed it by himself, the others merely following his lead. And all of them hail from the same planet. A rather massive one too – a hundred times larger than our own, as well as one of the richest in natural resources…”