Bookbound Bunny

B2 - Chapter 66 - Watch Party

"So, have any promising seeds been identified yet, or is it still too early?" Headmaster Fabrelis asked, directed toward Alice and Elius.

"It's got to be Hana," Instructor Gerrard commented, joining the conversation.

Gerrard was in charge of Sorcerous Warfare and was a retired veteran of the royal mageknights. If Lily were to meet him, she would describe the grizzled veteran as an even stricter version of Richardus, likely due to his higher position

"That girl has two bloodlines and a competitive streak of note. If not for Arthur matching her spunk, I'd be worried none of the first years would give her a challenge."

"Hana is definitely one of the ones to look out for," Elius agreed. "I would have put money down on her getting first today, but..."

"But? Is there another Dragia this year?" Gerrard asked.

"I think Lotte actually has a very good chance of winning now. I thought she was a glass cannon, but her bloodline seems to have given her a perfect answer to her current predicaments," Elius explained.

"Lotte? Can't say I've heard of her, but she's not in my class," Gerrard admitted.

None of the teachers seemed to know what elective she was in, as nobody was claiming her, causing some confusion amongst the staff.

"What do you think, Alice?" Fabrelis asked.

Alice nodded. "I think she's got a very good chance of coming out on top. Normally, a poison mage would have a massive disadvantage for this first floor, but she's got acid to back it up, and even the sturdiest Brassbound melts like butter if she gets serious."

"Oh! The Serpia girl, yes, she's deliciously interesting!" Sylwel suddenly interrupted. "I can't wait to see what toxins she can brew for me."

Some of the teachers seemed quite upset that a promising student had landed in the clutches of the mad scientist, but they had to admit that a poison mage and alchemy practically went hand in hand.

"To think she would have a moment of inspiration right before this test... talk about lucky," Gerrard muttered.

"Bloodlines are indeed fascinating. I wish there were more ways to accurately research them. If only I weren't human..." Sylwel said, sighing as if filled with the greatest regret.

"I don't think you can call yourself human after what you did to yourself," Fabrelis pointed out, his voice tinged with a tiny bit of anger.

Sylwel gasped, as if shocked or outraged. "Headmaster Fubblelis, I'm hurt... I'm sure any other self-respecting alchemist transmuter would have done the same if in my position."

The headmaster grunted, not even bothering to correct his name. Unfortunately for Sylwel, nobody seemed to agree with him; even the human teachers wouldn't defend him.

They continued watching the students, enjoying the festivities. When it was Hana's turn, she coincidentally had Arthur's name come up at the same time, causing Instructor Gerrard to cheer.

"Watch! She's gonna get an amazing time!" he declared.

Sure enough, there was an unseen competition going on between the two students. Even though they couldn't see one another, they were fighting to beat each other's time.

Arthur, despite having only one bloodline, was no slouch, and his mastery of wind magic was awe-inspiring, prompting Gerard to cheer equally for both of his students.

Unfortunately for Arthur, Hana started to slowly take the lead as her light magic half was the perfect tool for the enemies they faced. Arthur was faster than her in every other regard, but even his most powerful wind blade couldn't kill a Brassbound in less than three hits.

Light magic was not only an excellent tool against undead monsters, but it held some unprecedented penetrating power if focused enough. Hana gained a considerable time advantage over him when one of the rooms was locked until you defeated a massive and reinforced Brassbound, or dodged until the timer ran out.

When the two of them exited, they firmly established first and second place by quite a significant margin over the students who had gone before. Instructor Gerrard seemed elated by these results.

"Looks like we're getting stronger students every year. I thought last year was an abnormality, but this year overall might be better," Headmaster Fabrelis commented.

"It's exciting times, I think we're almost guaranteed to get number one this year!" Elius said excitedly.

"If this Lotte is as good as you say, I think the other schools have no chance," Gerrard agreed.

"Well... she's unfortunately banned from duels," Elius reluctantly revealed.

"Oh bloody hells, a poison mage... I should have realized that!" Gerrard lamented.

"Speak of the devil, it looks like she's up next," Fabrelis said, pointing to one of the images.

When Hana returned to the group, the hidden eye assigned to her moved to the next student waiting outside the door. Those who hadn't met Lotte yet were quite surprised, and a few of them even mistook her for a Dragia until they were corrected.

Thomas was also selected for this round, with Arthur's eye now following him.

"Oh, looks like it's one of my promising students' turn," Professor Melina said, pointing at Thomas.

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"He's a good kid," Elius agreed. "A good foundation in magic, and he's trying to specialize in lightning."

"He's in my class too," Gerrard mentioned. "He's got motivation, but he's not really energized during our drills."

"Well, he's certainly energized when it comes to magic," Melina refuted. "And I'd argue that is far more important than being able to do pushups or march in a straight line. He's already able to handle three spells at once."

A few of the professors murmured in surprise, now making sure to also pay close attention to his results in this test.

"Chore magic..." Gerrard muttered, almost spitting. Evidently, he was one of the naysayers who thought Melina's course was besmirching the honor of magic.

Unfortunately for Melina, when Gerrard muttered those words, he garnered quite a few supporters, although she didn't let it get to her. She didn't care what people thought of her course; she was happy to have the results speak for themselves.

Lotte's test immediately stole the attention of everyone in the room as she began blitzing her way through anything and everything that got in her way.

What she lacked in agility, she made up for in raw power, with no enemy being able to survive even a single spell from her. Even the massive guardian Brassbound was reduced to a melting heap in seconds, beating Hana's record by a wide margin.

Gerrard audibly swallowed. "I see why she's banned from duels..."

"It's a shame, but she will ace any dungeon competition," Alice replied.

"She might win some alchemy awards," Sylwel added, although nobody responded to him.

The trapped hallway that was supposed to be an exercise in agility or patience, Lotte strolled through after covering herself with greyish-black scales.

"What is that?" one teacher asked.

"It's some kind of earth magic from what I've managed to deduce," Elius answered, causing quite a stir from anyone who specialized or even dabbled in it.

"Unlike any earth spell I've seen or heard of," Gerrard said. "Stoneskin would be the closest, but it doesn't allow the user to keep so much of their agility. That's not even taking into account that her spell appears to be more durable, too!"

"It seems the extinct basilisk bloodline has quite a lot of secrets she's yet to uncover. We must make sure to protect her," Headmaster Fabrelis said with an underlying threat.

Everyone present hastily agreed, as even without the implied threat, they were very loyal to Regarth. It should also be mentioned that Sir Barnard Bladwell was notably absent from these festivities.

When Lotte finished her test, she did indeed beat Hana's time, although not by much. Even though nothing stopped her for more than a moment, the distance she needed to travel brought down what might have been a record-breaking time.

"Maybe I should try to get her to join Sorcerous Warfare," Instructor Gerrard mentioned, stroking his chin. "Some drills and discipline could bring her speed and stamina up a few notches."

"Your drills would send her straight to the medical ward," Sylwel replied.

Gerrard frowned. "Are you so desperate to keep her brewing toxins for you that you'd hold her back?"

Sylwel shook his head. "She may look strong, but she's constantly fighting against her bloodline. The reason she joined alchemy was to brew medicines for herself."

Gerrard glared at Sylwel, not believing a word that came out of his slimy mouth.

"It's true. Her parents sent her here hoping Sylwel could actually cure her condition," Headmaster Fabrelis admitted, although it seemed like it mentally pained him to do so.

Having the headmaster verify the claims left Gerrard sulking in his seat. He had hoped to potentially forge a secret weapon for the kingdom, as someone as deadly as Lotte would've been a powerful asset.

As for Thomas, his test went over quite well, with him showing a variety of spells used appropriately. However, when it came to attacking, he always used only lightning, which revealed an evident shortcoming in his performance.

"Is that all he has?" one professor asked.

"He also needs to repeat his chants on occasion," another added

"He only picked up lightning magic during the first week," Elius pointed out. "Sadly, it's not known to have many simple spells, and it's not like he has a bloodline to help guide his way."

"He should have picked a simpler focus for now and picked lightning later when he can actually learn advanced spells," Gerrard said.

"I disagree," Melina replied. "If he picks up lightning later, he would always fall back on his interim focus as a crutch. While he might struggle a bit now, it will be worth it in the long run."

"Do we not have a professor specialized in lightning?" Beatrice asked.

"Kirin and Naga bloodlines are almost extinct," Fabrelis pointed out. "So, unfortunately, lightning has never really been an early focus and has been almost entirely used by human mages."

"And usually picked up later, never as a focus," Gerrard said, reinforcing his earlier stance.

Fabrelis sighed. "Maybe he will find something in the library. Either that or he must hold out until he is capable of learning the advanced spells."

It was a bit of wishful thinking, but there was a lot of hidden knowledge in the library, dating back to old times or the ramblings of magical researchers. While in theory, humans had all doors open to them, in reality, that was only true if the information was actually available.

Magical arts such as transmutation or necromancy were forbidden, while domains like golemancy or summoning were jealously guarded by specific families, usually nobles.

Even illusion magic was once something secretly hoarded, and if not for Fabrelis' bloodline and his consequent sharing of his findings, it might have stayed that way.

Bloodlines could potentially throw a wrench into even the most secretive of magical arts. Of course, that's assuming the mage was even capable of breaking down their innate magic into its rudimentary foundations, a task many deemed far too troublesome. That's also not taking into account the bloodline mage even being willing to share their findings, or worse, surviving to pass it on.

The tests continued, and it seemed like nobody was going to dethrone Lotte. There were definitely good students this year, but her ruthless magic was almost designed to defeat dungeon monsters.

When the professors realized that she was also only using half of her magic, her poisonous side being untouched due to the undead's immunity, they couldn't help but shudder. When Lotte could explore beyond the first floor, she could very well become the new queen of the dungeon.

"Finally!" Sylwel shouted and turned to Ollie. "I thought you had wasted my time coming here."

Ollie sighed, slumping and facepalming in mental anguish. If he could go back in time, he would've slapped his past self for even suggesting inviting the mad professor.

Having the crazy oddball in the room so visibly excited caused everyone to suddenly pay attention to what he was going on about. They saw the floating eye had now settled behind a small individual, whose long ears were perked up and twitching wildly.

"Is that a child?" one professor asked.

"No, she's just small," Alice quickly answered.

"Wait, we really do have a Lagia mage?" Instructor Gerrard asked, realizing what he was seeing.

Headmaster Fabrelis tilted his head. "Yes? Did you think I was joking in my report of the new students?"

"Or the rumors going around," Beatrice pointed out.

"Yes, I thought you were joking," Gerrard replied, his face slightly red. "And of course I wouldn't listen to rumors! Half of them were saying Alice brought her secret love child, while the others said she was spoiling her niece."

"Well, I can confirm she's a mage. If not for her limits, I think she would be beating Thomas for my best first-year student," Melina casually replied.

"And she's got a talent for alchemy," Sylwel commented.

"And glyphs," Ollie added.

"Who cares about all that nonsense!" Gerrard reacted, disregarding what Sylwel and Ollie had said. "Does she have a bloodline?"

Alice snorted, pointing to the illusory image. "You'll have to watch and see."