The caster classes were housed in a fortress-like building, not that far from what Neska presumed was a cathedral or church on the northern end of the campus. She looked skeptically at their intended destination, a two-story building of solid granite stonework and heavily reinforced walls. She put her hands on her hips, taking in the architecture.

  Wait. She didn’t have hips, just an elongated torso, and lots of tiny ribs, if the cross sections she’d seen of other snakes described in Risha’s journals were any indication. An existential crisis still looms, on top of a monster invasion. Fun.

  “Is this a classroom or a prison?” Juni asked in an edged tone. “It’s built to withstand a dragon, just about.”

  Harvine laughed softly. “I know, it’s ugly looking. However, there is a practical purpose: the walls are built from magically insulating bricks. That is to say, there aren’t any outside influences on rituals, and it remains isolated.”

  Neska squinted at the brickwork. She sensed a very faint energy emittance from the bricks, but she couldn’t tell if it was heat energy or magical energy. Perhaps more points in Perception and a little research could help her get a closer look. “Juni raised a point, why the reinforced structure?”

  “So collateral is minimized in the case of someone blowing themselves up in alchemy gone wrong,” Harvine answered deadpan. Juni and Neska stared at her, stark-faced.

  Syra let out a soft laugh. "That hasn't happened...recently, has it?"

  “Oh, don’t give it away,” Harvine huffed. “Our magical classes are housed in this older building. The structure has received some reinforcements over the past hundred years. You’ll note the buildings are varying ages, added over time to the campus.”

  Neska noted the doors were human-sized on this building, with only one set of doors intended for monster-sized classmates. Maybe they reasoned that no monsters would need to practice arcane classes; after all, she was the first.

  But, wouldn’t this raise a lot of questions, and possibly unwanted attention? Then again, that was likely inevitable.

  “Professor Harvine, given my…situation…how do we explain this one?”

  The professor snapped her fingers. “There is a precedent for this. There are a few monsters that have been noted to mimic Class abilities. Lamias are known for a limited number of monster-unique, spell-like abilities. It won’t be hard to stretch it.”

  “But, still…” She rubbed at the feathers at the base of her neck. “I will have to sell this mimicry by observing other witch classes and their variants.”

  “Precisely. And the witch class isn’t exactly common, which means the number of people who can divulge this information is narrow. And traceable,” she added with a frown. “I do trust my students…in general. But with a reborn body and mind, many of them from young minds lost too soon…rivalry and competition sometimes elbow their way in.”

  Keeping the cap on this one is going to be hard. Figures. Her one saving grace was that the Seekers weren’t stationed in the city. Judging by the sound of it, they might have a headquarters in the capital of Calvarat, less than a day’s ride to the south.

  But students talked. Word would eventually get out about her unusual powers, unless they kept the lid on this. Hopefully, that wasn't an issue she'd face, and that assumed Marikand would dare to show his face, knowing he'd been sniffed out once already.

  On the plus side, she'd taken a small liking to Syra, who had almost as tragic a backstory as her own. She had a small amount of cautious trust in her for now, and hopefully, there would be further opportunities to reinforce that. Ideally, in both directions. Syra seemed not to like the arcane building either, the way she clutched one arm with the other.

  But why, exactly?

  Rituals are performed here. Alchemical lessons, too, and other casting classes–maybe Mages, Wizards, and the like. Possibly druids, as there is some overlap with attunement to the natural world, like the witch.

  Wait. She might have been on the right track with that first idea. I know for a fact that the Awakened are harvested souls, which means someone must have either recently died. Or, was near-dying. Would they perform it here? Is this….

  Is this…Where I died?

  Her hand faltered at the door handle, and the professor noted her hesitation. “Here, let me,” Harvine offered, and swung the door open to a dimly lit classroom, already filled with several students gathered low on the floor. The brick and stone walls had some semblance of lighter bricks on the inside, the windows veiled by drapes that ran their full length. Only a trickle of natural light could be observed at the edges.

  Neska stopped at the doorway as the others filed in. One woman, a human with a hat not dissimilar to Risha’s, stood at a large workstation where several students gathered. She gazed up with vivid, amber-colored eyes and long blonde hair trailing behind her. “Professor Harvine? I wasn’t aware you were giving tours today.”

  “Apologies, Professor Thistle,” she responded. “Are you mid-cast of a ritual right now?”

  “No, fortunately, we’re just demonstrating.” The woman dismissed the students closest to her. Neska noted they were all humanoids, from what she could see, though she saw one boy with rather long ears. Could it be he was elven? There was also one boy with scales on his face and short claws that he used to etch out something into a soft material on the floor.

  He didn’t appear to be a monster. Maybe one of the reptile-aligned humanoids? She also saw one girl with feathers on her cheeks and stubby wings sticking out of the back of her academy robe with white and tawny coloration. The uniform had been heavily modified to suit her. Despite the avian features, there was a distinct human look to her appearance.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Neska hated having this glaring hole in her knowledge base. It was one she needed to fill and understand all the humanoid races. Elven, humans, reptiloida, earth-children...avina, maybe?

  Professor Thistle approached, looking surprised. “So, Harvine…this is normally a class for ritual attuned classes. Why are three Awakened here?”

  “Tour of the day. However, you'll be adding two more students. Cassia, I’d like to introduce Professor Thistle Relagio, head of the arcane department and Witch by class.”

  “A pleasure.” Neska offered a clawed hand, and Thistle shook it, though she wore her curiosity in her creased brow.

  “I thought that Awakened cannot do anything other than basic runic shapes. It takes a specialist to get more out of them," Thistle pointed out.

  “Cassia's evolution brought some…unusual benefits. She also has prior practice from her pre-Awakened life,” Harvine added in a soft deflection. Neska pondered if it could be an unwitting truth: if she knew Risha from before, she might have taught her about rituals previously, which was why the basics of it seemed to fall into place so fast for her.

  “Doesn’t she already have a full course load?”

  “I can perform other witch-related tasks. My lamia species is an unusual variant that can closely mimic witch abilities,” she replied. Unusual is an understatement. “I believe I would stand to benefit from this and alchemical lessons.”

  “And who taught you this before?”

  Dragon crap. We didn't think this through enough.

  Harvine, however, had an answer. “The town witch of Sergin instructed her, of course. Though it was a touch more one way in that instance.”

  Thistle raised a brow at this. “Alright. Let's test a few basics. What are three common media of ritual circuits?”

  She knew this by heart. Risha would be proud that her snake paid attention to this fundamental.

  “The most potent and common medium is blood. Rarer bloods generally garner more potent effects, tied to but not limited to Tier grade. Blood must come from a living source for optimal performance. Potency decays as an asymptotic function of time,” she answered. Right from Risha's books.

  Thistle's expression slowly morphed, now bearing an amused smile. “That was only one medium, dear. But very detailed. Name two more.”

  “Mana salts, drawn from an alchemical distillate of various organic substances. Alternatively, they may also be mined and refined from certain mineral deposits, to varying purities.”

  She took a calm breath. “Living beings can also act as conduit nodes if linked together by the prior two media. A fourth source, more common in magical technology, is various metal alloys drawn to thin threads.”

  Thistle’s face brightened. “You do know your stuff. But going broader, what is a ritual?”

  I wonder if she's trying to narrow down who could have taught me. Then again, the Witch class is not the only ritual caster. A wizard can do the same, too. She pondered if having too many answers could hurt her. She decided to chance it; hiding her knowledge on a smaller question shouldn’t hurt.

  “Rituals are typically magic enacted on a specific source, area, or living creature. It is driven in part by the focus of the ritual and the runic shapes used as part of the connecting binder. They take longer than normal Abilities, but can have greater effects with longer or permanent durations. They can also be joined with other casters to split the mana and concentration burden.” Once more, Risha's books and chats with her snake had paid off.

  Thistle grinned and clapped her hands together. “Quite correct! I think you do grasp the basics quite well. But, how are your practical efforts?”

  You mean me being the focus of a ritual in a deliberate effort by my witch to give me possibly dangerous powers, while under assault from monsters disguised as Seekers? And the cost of that power was her own life? Yeah, I don't think I want to elaborate on that. She shrugged gently with her new shoulders. “I have more theoretical than hands-on experience. Uh, I mean, I didn't have hands until recently.”

  Even Juni barely kept her laughter in check, and Thistle cackled at her response. “Oh, Harvine, I like her,” she gasped between laughs, and tried to regain her composure. “Never fear, Cassia, we’ll get practical experience in no time at all! It won't all be flashy; in fact, most rituals are rather dull. Unless, of course, you're the type to take your rituals on the move, up close against the Varadur.”

  “A…mobile ritual?” she asked. It was still one of the options from her secondary power specialization. “I heard of it. From my reading.”

  “Oh, you have? Interesting. Secondary power specializations seem to come from a relatively smaller pool compared to hexes, blessings, and the rest. A lot depends on the person: their Attribute scores and personality. I know a rare few are affected by Titles, but those are so numerous, it’s hard to pin down which specific ones those might be.”

  Thistle let out a soft sigh. “Anyone attuned to mana can assist in a ritual, just like alchemy. But complicated rituals with powerful effects, or those daring enough to be a mobile force multiplier as the ritual focus object, require deep specialization. Speaking of which, do you have any alchemical experience?”

  “I have a little experience.” Once again, telling Thistle that she blew up about fifty wolves with one well-placed alchemical munition trap was probably not advisable.

  “Splendid! Have you visited the laboratory yet?”

  “That’s our next stop,” Harvine answered. “Even though alchemy specialization requires certain classes, I try to instruct all students in its usage. Even basic formulas can have a substantial impact if used correctly. Juni, you may find this interesting, too.”

  “I-I mean, yes! I did help Jurik out with retrieving certain alchemical substances before I fully Awakened.” She clicked her nails together. “I mean, um, do other Awakened attend it?”

  “Some, though, it’s harder for those without proper appendages. Or thumbs,” she added with a sigh. “Professor Thistle, always a pleasure. Cassia, once we’re done with the introduction, I’ll have you come to my office for a few other items. Let’s go see what Professor Sakiri is up to, shall we?”

  There was a lot to take in. She had taken a quick look at ritual-specific abilities; they were more passive than an active ability; most, if not all, of her currently selected essence picks had been active abilities, usable on demand. The question was, what could she get out of Rituals, exactly?

  There were numerous paths. Rituals could allow her to glean information from divination searches for certain materials or documents. Or even memories.

  Her initial thought went to the Ceruli crystal, but…she couldn’t take a chance on it until she unlocked it at her third tier. There was also an interesting idea of using herself as a mobile focus, to act as a support caster and aid those in proximity to her.

  Or, more deviously, wear down foes with debilitating effects triggered by proximity, keeping her distance, and letting attrition set in, just like when she used her venom attacks.

  The trip down the stairs to the laboratory was a rather annoying experience. Neska kept a hand on the railing as she cautiously scooted her body down the steps. It felt like she had run a washboard over her lower body, jarring but at least not painful. Legs win this round, she thought amusedly.

  Harvine directed them to a steel-lined door and tapped a small button recessed into the wall. A faint blue crystal illuminated, and Neska heard the crackle of energy nearby.

  “Harvine, I’m in the middle of class,” a soft male voice emanated from the small recess. It sounded almost tinny, like something metal was vibrating in tandem with the voice.

  “New students. Are you in the middle of anything?” She unclicked the button and sighed. “Sakiri is more focused on his research than teaching. Havari, help me.”

  “What's with the door?” Juni whispered. “Looks like it's built to withstand a siege.”

  “If anything goes horribly wrong, the door is meant to seal the room once everyone has vacated the premises. Noxious and dangerous chemicals and all,” Harvine explained.

  "I'd like to be on the right side of this door in case someone has an oopsie," Juni muttered.

  | | | | |