My Servant System

Magic Theory and History went by relatively smoothly; it took us a few minutes to catch up with what we missed, as well as groaning when we were told we would still need to complete the required coursework that Vice-Headmaster Bijilo and Professor Xiant gave the rest of the class yesterday.

Besides the coursework, which made Anput slump down into her desk in defeat, Professor Xiant also had us participate in a discussion on the easter border of the Empire; what the land was like, how the Asmodia's ruled it, and how the culture was different there compared to here.

Many students seemed interested in that; many couldn't believe that, in all, the populace of March Asmodia was more of a warrior people than anything else, and that the main goods produced and sold in Phobos were made from steel, and usually rather pointy...

Compared to the more calm lives of those in the Capital, some of the students were surprised to hear that, while others seemed bored by the entire class.

When the bell rang everyone got up, wanting to go to Combat Class; for almost all of us, it was the favorite class by far.

We got to stretch our muscles, train, and spar against one another or our teachers.

As we made our way through the long halls of the Academy, I glanced briefly over my shoulder to see Jillian glaring at Jahi, grinding her teeth as she stalked behind us, her face murderous.

"Jahi, did you absolutely need to piss her off?"

The Demoness responsible grinned down at me, nodding.

"Yup. Completely and utterly necessary."

Sighing, I decided to not pursue that topic, instead following behind Jahi as she entered the Training Grounds, where, like always, Thorn, Hawn, and Liako waited for us, the large Bearkin and thin Elf talking while Liako meditated.

However, unlike before, sitting besides her sister was Kolia, the thin tattooed woman smirking as she whispered something to Liako, who frowned before glancing over at Kolia.

Seeing us enter, Kolia stood up and approached us, grinning as she greeted us.

"Hey Jahi~! Mind if I borrow Kat for today? Wanted to ask her a few questions and the like!"

Before Jahi could respond, Liako sighed as she stood behind her sister, glaring at her before saying "Sister, we talked about this; if you wish to question Miss Zara, do so after class is over. Please."

Pursing her lips, Kolia looked towards the caverns ceiling with a contemplative look, before her slitted green eyes glowed with mirth as she shook her head, saying "Nope~ Come on Kat!"

Grabbing my wrist, Kolia led me towards the side of the grounds, chuckling as she felt Liako's glare on her back.

As for Jahi, she just shrugged when I looked at her, knowing and trusting Kolia enough to let me go with her.

Everyone else in the class seemed confused as I was dragged away, with Jillian frowning the most as she stared at me, her eyes narrowed as they flickered between Kolia and I.

Finding a nice spot on the edge of the sandy pit, Kolia sat down and gestured for me to do the same.

Sitting opposite her, I tilted my head in confusion as she smiled at me, waiting to hear what she wanted to do.

"Two things; I wanted to ask you two things. The first is about what I found back in the library in the Asmodia Estate. Have you and Jahi given it some more thought?"

Frowning, I sifted through my memories before recalling her asking if we wanted to receive a tattoo that would bind our mana together, allowing us to draw on the others mana, and potentially their element as well.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head, saying "We honestly haven't thought of it yet; I'll talk to her about it when we return home today. Oh, and before you continue, a question..."

Kolia nodded, before looking down at her snake tattoo as I gestured to it.

"How exactly do I inscribe my flesh with ritual circles and runes like you have? I've had a few ideas on runes and circles that would make battles much easier, but... Well, I know it's possible to do alone, just... not how to do it."

Still staring at her snake, Kolia nodded as she said "It's not really that difficult... in theory. All you need to do is to create the rune or ritual circle from your mana, like normal, and then press it INTO your flesh. That's where it differs from theory; sounds easy, but it hurts like hell."

Chuckling, she traced the coiling snake on her arm, saying "This here felt like someone was not only branding my arm and pulling apart my muscles, but also burning the nerves inside my arm; that's also because of the element I used, being fire and wind for Lightning."

"So the element causes different... sensations as you apply the rune?"

Nodding, she smiled at me as she said "For wind, it'll be a mixture of a sharp, biting needles prickling your arm and a deep chill. I can only imagine what Ice would feel like..."

Shivering slightly, she sighed before looking at her other arm, which had dozens of circles and runes covering her pale skin.

"If you mess up the application, it leaves not a tattoo, but a scar, like this."

Tracing over a simple rune, I frowned at the dark red flesh, which was slightly wrinkly and dry.

"This is just a basic fire rune, which would've helped me control my fire mana better... I wasn't expecting to feel like someone was branding me, so my concentration slipped, resulting in a failure. If you really want to try your hand at giving yourself runic tattoos, I'd suggest you try enchanting things first; get a feel for applying mana onto something other than your flesh."

I nodded, saying "I was going to get into enchanting anyways, but it seems like I'll need to really take it seriously..."

Grinning at me, Kolia thumped her modest chest twice, saying "You're looking at your future teacher than; I teach Enchanting I - IV, Basics of Wind, Basics of Fire, Basics of Lightning... and a bunch of other classes. Hah..."

Going from enthusiastic to slightly depressed, Kolia slumped her shoulders as she stared at the ground, only to glare at me as I tried to hold back a chuckle.

"Hey! Did you just laugh at me?"

Wiping any emotion from my face, I shook my head, letting out a steady "No Ma'am."

Narrowing her green slitted eyes, Kolia stared at me before shrugging.

"Alright, mini lesson on tattoo's is now over. So, my other question..."

Leaning forwards, she grinned at me, looking like a shady merchant who just secured a big deal, before asking "Finally got your Ice magic right? Lemme see it!"

Rolling my eyes at how childish she looked, I held out my hand and summoned a sphere of ice, watching as Kolia's features split from her grin.

"Oooh~!"

Reaching forwards, she nodded as she tapped on the ice, before gently lifting it form my hands.

Coating her hands in a thin layer of flames, she watched in fascination as it melted, before looking back up at me.

"Interesting... can you create a block a foot away from us?"

Confused, I nodded and created what she wanted, keeping my hand outstretched as she said "Keep channeling mana into it."

Approaching the block, she coated her finger in flame before pressing it against the ice, trying to melt it.

Unlike before, where the sphere melted almost instantly, the block barely changed, vapor rolling off its side where a thin divot appeared.

However, as my mana continued to push into the cube, the divot filled back up, restoring the block to its complete state.

"Alright! You can stop..."

Returning to sit opposite of me, Kolia pulled out a notepad and pen from her pocket, scribbling down some notes before saying "Like I told you before, combination magic is rare, but of the four, ice is the rarest, with nature being just behind it. Currently, besides Duchess Klaki and her daughter, you are the only Ice Mage in the Empire."

I nodded, only to continue listening as she went on, still scribbling notes..

"For comparison, Lightning Magic is the most common; Countess Haniel has it, I have it, and some other professors and Nobels have it. We know the reasons; fire is the most common basic element, by far, followed by wind and earth, then water. However, we don't know why that is; why is fire so common, and why is water... not rare, but... ah, I guess 'uncommon' works..."

Pursing her lips, Kolia stared down at her notepad before nodding, placing the notepad back into her robes.

"It's something that I've been looking into for a half decade now, and yet I've found little. I mean, all of the Empress' family has fire of some kind; be it pure Fire, Lightning, or Metal, they all have it. So is it because the Empire has ab abundance of Fire Mana? I mean, there are numerous volcanoes and mountains on our land..."

Frowning, Kolia stared at the ground, only to gasp before looking apologetically up at me.

"Sorry; didn't mean to ramble. Ahem... Anyways, thank you; I was just curious to see what Ice magic is like..."

Getting up, she dusted off her robes before nodding at me.

"Well, get back to class; my sister is still glaring daggers at me, so I should make myself scarce~! Bye~!"

Watching as she ran off, I chuckled before returning to the group, ready for another day at the Academy to conclude...