Chapter 83 – First Day

Dream and Riddick left Amitel's office together.

"So that's it? Barely an hour and I'm a student?"

Dream spoke to Riddick as they walked. He nodded.

"That's what happens when one of the top counselors personally admits and sets you up. Otherwise it would take longer, but even then not more than a day."

"Huh. Alright. So how's this house of mine going to be?"

"Don't expect too much. It's not bad but not as comfortable as our cabin. Definitely not as big."

"Oh. I'll make it work. So what about you? Where will you be while I'm here?"

"I'm going to be developing myself over in another Spire. It actually isn't far from here. If you have time, you could visit my research area."

"I see. Maybe I will."

"We're here."

Dream looked up and saw a massive building. The place they were at was a bit away from where all the classes and other school buildings were. It was the dormitory.

They walked into this building and went over to a counter where a woman was sitting around. She saw them approach. 

"Can I help you?"

"..."

Riddick said nothing as he handed her the document. She read over it and got up, disappearing into a back room before coming back out with an item.

"Here's the key. Room 420 will be yours."

"Thanks."

"Blaze it."

Saying bye, both of them rose up through an opening in the roof. They rose to the 4th floor and walked over to his room. Riddick handed Dream the key.

"Here. Your room."

"Thanks."

He took the key and stuck it in a keyhole in the door, turning it and unlocking the door.

*Click*

It opened and they walked in.

The room really wasn't that big, as Riddick said. There was a small living area, a bedroom with a bed, a bookshelf, a lockable chest, and a bathroom. It was bigger than a hotel room, but not by that much. It was also rather clean. Though he picked up on a musky scent. Probably from the dude that lived here before. Dream turned to Riddick.

"Care to help me clean?"

"I'll leave that to you. I still have other people to meet today, so I'll be going. I recommend walking around and getting a look at your classes and the various buildings. And read that handbook."

"I did when I got it."

"Of course you did. Then make yourself comfortable here. This'll be your home for a while."

"Sure. Oh, and what's the deal with the library? Is that somewhere I want to go?"

"The library? It's actually not as extraordinary as you think. Tons of miscellaneous knowledge, not much of which will help with your magic. Not to mention how you can only pull a book a day. All the valuable knowledge is held directly by the class 3's and 4's, not in an open place like that. So honestly, I wouldn't waste all your time there."

"Oh, that's rather unfortunate. Then what are all those books there?"

"As I said, miscellaneous knowledge. Records of people of the Spire, some history, geography, and even story books. They mostly use it as a place to store random texts."

"Hm. Alright then."

"Then I'll be going."

With a goodbye, Riddick left the room and shut the door. Dream took a look around the place.

"...I guess I'll take this time to sanitize everything. That smell isn't nice."

Dream activated his mana and began sweeping over the area, turning it into his own little haven.

For the rest of that day, Dream cleaned through his room and made it his own. He added things like couches, a nicer bed, and a table. Just simple stuff. The entire place was also deep cleaned and smelled fresh by the end. 

The room was still kind of depressing though. It was wood and the lighting wasn't the best. There was also no window, so it seemed more like a little prison than a comfy room. but with some of his own lights and comfy items, it didn't feel so bad anymore.

He spent the rest of the day in his room waiting for tomorrow with Sophia. He was excited and curious. It would be fun.

.............

[It's time for school! It's time for school! Wake up!]

"..."

Dream was awoken by Sophia who seemed to be more excited about this than him. He smiled and got out of bed.

[We gotta make sure you look nice. Here. Try this.]

As Dream stood up, his clothes were changed. Sophia dressed him in dark jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a brown wool waistcoat. His hair was done up as he rolled up his sleeves. 

[Looking good.]

"Feeling good. I'm liking the old school vibe. So everything I need is in my inventory like books. How long until class starts?"

[It says in the book at 7 am or a little after sunrise. You have 20 minutes.]

"I guess they have a timed schedule. Then let's start walking. Don't want to be late on the first day."

Dream brushed himself off before walking out the door. When he did, he could see many other people doing the same.

'Look! People!'

[It's not like you've never been outside before. Say hi or keep walking, don't just stare.]

Dream couldn't help but smile as he saw other students. They were all older than he thought, looking to be late teenagers and even some college-aged people. He also saw that there were both guys and girls coming from the rooms. Apparently this school didn't separate the genders. 

But since Dream didn't want to seem weird, he turned and began walking out. He came to the drop that led to the first floor and went through it, slowly floating down and landing on the ground. Many others went right behind him and did the same thing. 

Crowds of people walked through the dormitory gates and over to their classes. Dream looked at his schedule inside the handbook. 

"Let's see. Sequencing theory is first. Then elemental sequencing, then practical, then healing. Just like I chose them."

Dream kept walking over to where his class was. He went through several hallways following the blip that Sophia put in his vision. He soon came up on the door to a classroom.

"...Happy first day to me."

Dream didn't dally and pushed open the door, entering the classroom. 

As he walked in, he immediately picked up on various chatter. His heart nervously palpated as he looked around all the rows of students.

Turns out the class sizes are rather large. Dream counted at least 60 people. The classroom was laid out similar to college lecture halls, with layered rows of desks. Everyone was sitting around in their own groups doing their own thing. 

'Half boys half girls. Perfectly balanced. But what's with the capes? Edna would not be pleased.'

"You must be the transfer."

"Hm?"

As Dream observed, he heard a voice come from behind. He turned around and saw a woman looking at him.

"Are you the transfer? Dream, is it?"

"Uh, yes. I am. Are you the teacher?"

"Uh, yes. I am. Are you the student?"

"..."

Dream slowly grinned as the woman mimicked him. She also smiled.

"Yes. I am." (Dream)

"Good. My name is Alisa Parsely. Many students call me Miss Parsley or just Miss Parse. I guess I'll be your Sequencing teacher for the rest of the year."

"And I guess I'll be your student."

Miss Parsley put up her hand for a shake, which Dream took. She was a good looking mature woman and wore some classic mage robes. She seemed to be in her 30s, but for all Dream knew she was much older. She was also a class 2, having C+ level mana. 

"Happy to have you. Stay up here. I'll introduce you when class starts."

"Alright."

Dream nodded and stood over to the side. It seemed the teacher was cool, so that's one less thing to be worried about. Miss Parsley walked over to her desk in the front and turned to the chattering class.

*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*

The bell rang and everyone began to quiet down and take their seats. Their eyes quickly shifted to Dream who was standing alone in the front of the class. They began getting loud again.

"Quiet down everyone. I have an announcement. This is Dream. He's new to the school and he's joining this class. Be sure to help him out with our lessons if he needs it. Dream, you can go ahead and take an open seat up there."

"Sure."

Dream went and walked over to the last and highest row and took a seat near the walkway next to a girl, nodding to her as he sat. He could sense mana being passed between everyone as he did.

'Telepathy?'

[Yup. I could tap into their chats if you want.]

'No thanks. Looks like there won't be any tests like on Earth since everyone can just cheat.'

Dream let them have their privacy and faced the teacher.

"Alright. You've actually come at a good time, Dream. Today we're going to be discussing 2 layer sequencing circles. Open your books to page 133 and take a look at the diagram."

Dream took out his book and flipped to the page. When he saw what was on it, he put on a dumb face.

'...Magic circles? No way.'

[Yes way! They've got a runic language and everything.]

Dream analyzed the diagram of a two-layered magic circle. It was basically just a magic circle placed on top of another, each equipped with their own unique runes. He assumed that there were sequences that worked between the two circles, giving amplified effects. 

Dream immediately had many questions. Why couldn't you just make a bigger circle? Why not something other than a circle? And what the hell were the runes for? Why not use the spoken language that everyone speaks?

As Dream had his own inner monologue and stared intently at the book, everyone around him was sneaking glances at him. And although he was looking at the book, he still had awareness of everything around him. 

'Uhh, Dream, was it? Are you able to talk over telepathy?'

Dream suddenly got a connection from someone. He traced the mana to the girl sitting next to him, and was a little excited. He responded while showing nothing on the outside.

'Yes, I can. What's your name?'

'My names Brittania. I was just going to say that that seat is actually taken by my friend. The one across the way is open for you come tomorrow.'

'...Thanks for the heads up.'

'Uh-huh.'

'...'

Dream's mood was immediately killed. He was expecting a friendly hello, not some 'this seats taken' bullshit. Sophia also didn't take kindly to her. 

[What a bitch.]

'Whatever. At least I know now. Let's just focus on the book.'

Dream brushed it aside and sat back with the book in hand. He flipped back to the beginning of the book so he could grasp the basics. 

Among the pages there were many diagrams and obviously lots of text. The majority was actually about the runic language used in the circles and their meanings. Using Sophia's help, he was quickly given the data from the pages and learned the basics to forming a circle.

'...So it's really similar to enchanting. I just need to compile the words in my head like speaking a language and bring them out through mana instead of sound. I connect all the runes in a certain order based on what I want to do through the circle around it. So it's like writing sentences on a lined sheet of paper, with the circle as the lines and runes instead of words. And I write with my mana. Though the only thing I don't understand is bringing the mana through the body.'

The book said that one needed to channel the mana through their body and out onto their hands, which is where the circle was made. But Dream has never really channeled mana through his body. They were separate. His mind was what controlled all the mana, not his body. The only way mana interacted with his body was through enhancements.

[I have a theory about that.]

'Go on.'

[It's similar to the DNA dilemma with the wolves. The people on this planet have evolved with mana in mind. So the mana is interconnected with their bodies. You didn't have that. When you were given mana, it existed as a separate substance to exert remote control over. These people probably have a much deeper connection with mana. Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen since you're doing just fine.]

'Makes sense. Well I'll just skip the channeling part since that's not how I work. I can still do everything else.'

Dream put the thoughts aside and focused on the steps shown in the book. He brought up his palm and moved the mana to it. Then, he began forming his mana into the circle. He tried not to use enchanting techniques and just did what the book said, even though some of it didn't make sense.

As he formed the mana, bright lines and runes began to slowly show themselves above his palm. The runes and circle flashed yellow-green as they fell into place in the designated spots above his palm. Soon, he had a rotating magic circle above his palm, just waiting to be activated. 

'Now all I have to do is insert mana. But didn't I just spend mana making the circle?'

[It's very inefficient, I know. Though this is only the first practice example. As you get further in, the concepts actually get interesting.]

'Good to know. Though this is already plenty of fun.'

Dream smiled like a kid as he checked out the circle. It was pretty and colorful. He moved his hand around and pointed it at the shadows under his desk and such, using it as a flashlight. 

As he messed around, everyone looked at him like he was stupid. They all knew that he made the very first practice circle. They had all done it themselves a million times and recognized it at a glance. But why was he grinning like a fool over it?

The teacher, Miss Parsley, also noticed and turned around. She looked at Dream and saw him dangling his hand upside down as if the circle would fall off of it.

"Uh, Dream? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine."

Dream snapped out of his curious George moment and cut the mana from the circle, making it disappear. Everyone chuckled at his little display.

"Alright, enough. All of you were doing the same thing at some point. I want you to study this section a bit tonight and tomorrow we'll practice. I don't expect any of you to be able to get it within the week, but who knows. Class dismissed."

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* 

When the bell rang, everyone got up and began to leave the classroom.

"Dream. Come here."

Miss Parsley called him over. He walked over.

"I'm not sure how far along you are, but from the looks of today it wasn't far. Which is fine, but you may have to work harder so you can catch up. What are your classes?"

"I have this, elemental sequencing, practical, then healing."

"Healing huh... Alright. After your healing class you can come back to this classroom. I'll be here and we can work on catching you up."

"Oh, are you sure? I can just read the book. I may be a bit behind but I was able to get in here for a reason. Give me this week and I'll be caught up."

"...Very well. But don't be afraid to ask for help. If I don't see that you've caught up, then we'll do some tutoring."

"Sure. Thanks Miss Parsley."

"Of course. Go on ahead to your next class."

Saying bye, Dream left the room in the direction of his next class. 

'She's really nice. Hopefully the other teachers are half as decent as her.'