Chapter 90 – Study

As the sun began to rise, Arrina also began to rouse from her sleep.

"...Huh?"

As her brain began to run, she noticed her mental clarity being sharper than ever. She felt refreshed, not a speck of fatigue, like she could hop out of the bed and take on the day with confidence. But as she opened her eyes and felt around, she understood that she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Then, she began to recall last night.

"...Oh god."

"You awake?"

Hearing that voice she seemed to snap to it. She looked over and could see Dream looking through the doorway from the living area. 

"I got breakfast on the table. Apparently, if you go early enough to the cafeteria, they serve breakfast. I got some and brought it back since you're probably hungry. Hope you're not vegetarian. If that's even a thing here."

Dream walked over to the kitchen and put some dishes out on the table. Arrina slowly got out of bed and looked herself over, noticing she was still dressed in her original clothes. She walked out of the bedroom and saw Dream sitting at the table eating a slab of meat.

"Come sit. You're probably pretty hungry from last night."

"...And what happened exactly?"

Arrina sat down across the table from Dream and looked at the plate of food.

"You worked really hard for 3 hours and when you couldn't work anymore, you broke down into an emotional mess and I had to put you to bed like a child."

"...Oh god."

"I know. You were bawling and everything. And you weren't exactly in the best state so I just gave you my bed. Easier than walking through the halls carrying a crying girl, not that you would've been able to give me your room number for me to find."

"I can't believe you saw me cry!"

"Whoah, let's not start again then."

Dream attempted to pacify her as she looked at him with teary and wronged eyes. He did not feel like dealing with another breakdown.

"Look, I know you're hungry, so just eat and we can talk later."

"Bu-"

"Eat."

Dream pointed to the plate in front of her. She closed her mouth in irritation and huffed before beginning to eat.

Once she took her first bite, a wave of hunger hit her and she began to scarf down everything else. Dream brought out more food once she was done, which she didn't hesitate to take for herself.

Half an hour and 3 pounds of meat later, Arrina was leaning back into her seat with a full belly and pacified expression. Dream snickered.

"So? How's my gluttonous little student?"

"S-shut up. I was just a little hungry."

"Heh. But really. How are you after last night?"

"...My mind feels really sharp and refreshed. And...I apologize for acting the way I did."

Arrina had an embarrassed and shameful expression as she spoke. She remembered all of her childish actions last night, and she hated how she let herself be seen that way.

"Don't worry about it. Since I'm having you do this stuff, I'll naturally take care of the aftermath. Although, this is only the beginning. Here."

Dream took out the cube and tossed it to her. She caught it.

"Try."

"Alright."

Arrina lifted the cube and began to levitate it. It actually floated to about 4 inches above her hand, and she kept it there for over a minute before it fell. Dream smiled at her.

"Fantastic. In one night, you've made lots of progress. I'm proud."

"T-thanks."

"Now you just have to keep going. What I had in mind was for you to lift that cube throughout the day."

"Like, all day?"

"Yep. All through the morning classes, and during practical I'll have a workout for you. You'll stop during lunch and 4th period, and then start again when we meet here. Kapeesh?"

"...Okay."

"Good. Now, we should probably get to practical. It'll be starting soon."

"W-wait, what about the other classes."

"Already passed."

"How long did I sleep?!"

"Quite a while. But it's alright, you needed it. And don't worry about those sequencing classes. Although I'm going to be teaching you manipulation, there's still an application for magic circles. Manipulation will make those circles much easier to form, and I'll be showing you how to incorporate the two. So don't worry about missing classes."

"...Fine."

Arrina sat back. She had already begun to accept her fate. Part of it was because of her progress. She had taken a bigger step in one night than she has in the last couple of months. She liked the feeling. But the second part was because of Dream. She began to understand how much more powerful he was than her. Not only that, but she trusted him a surprising amount. She wasn't quite sure why, but she had come to like this strange man in weird clothes. 

They finished up and headed out of the room. When they walked through the door, Arrina noticed the ambient mana change.

"Wait, was the mana density higher in your room?"

"It was. I happen to be an enchanter, and I like the mana around me being dense."

Although that wasn't why the mana was dense, he wasn't lying. Arrina nodded but couldn't help but feel surprised on the inside. How could he be an enchanter as well?

The reason why the mana density in the room was so high was because all through the night, Dream had messed around with magic circles. He actually didn't get a wink of sleep, but it wasn't like he really needed it anymore. He didn't feel tired at all and just maintained his peak state.

The two walked over to practical and got there on time. The class started and they partnered up as always. Dream gave her a workout that they would do that helped with strengthening the mind. Though it did nothing for Dream, it was stressful for her. And it wasn't long before she was panting.

But they only had an hour and it would take more time to push her to her limits, so Dream diddn't try to push her too hard. It was also best to make sure that if Arrina did turn into an emotional mess, then it would be in private, not in front of a crowd.

So they moved onto lunch where Arrina ate some more food. Also, Mara actually showed up to his table.

"H-hi."

She walked over to his table with her head down, trying to hide from the eyes that weren't on her. Though she did have a bit of a surprised look when she saw Arrina at the table.

"Oh, hi. Come sit. I'll introduce you two. Arrina, this is Mara. Mara, this is Arrina."

"Hi."

"Hi."

Both greeted each other as Mara sat down, but neither were sociable enough to go beyond that. Dream just stared at the two anti-social outcasts for a bit before gobbling down the rest of his food.

"...You hungry Mara?" (Dream)

"Uh, no. I'm fine."

"Alright. Oh, I've been meaning to ask. What sequencing class are you in?"

"...Advanced."

"Seriously?!"

Hearing that, Arrina raised her voice in surprise and looked straight at Mara. 

"Y-ya." (Mara)

"Arrina's only in the basic course, but we're working on that." (Dream)

"Working on it?" (Mara)

"I've become her teacher."

"...I see."

Mara went quiet, Dream nodded, and Arrina was still staring at Mara like she was some kind of alien. 

After a while of silence, Mara began getting fidgety. Dream noticed, but pretended like he didn't. But after almost 10 minutes of her looking like she was about to pee, he had to speak up.

"Are you okay? "

"U-uh...Yea."

Mara said that as she looked around at all the people in the cafeteria. Seeing her so anxious and knowing her tragic origins, Dream couldn't help but feel a bit bad. 

"Let's get out of the cafeteria. We still have a while before 4th period. Arrina, pack up some food if you're still hungry."

"...Hang on."

Arrina scarfed down the rest of her dish before standing up. Dream also got up.

"Let's go."

"Ok."

Dream and Arrina began walking. Though he didn't go far before stopping and turning around.

"You coming with us?"

He spoke to Mara who was still sitting at the table with her head down. She looked up at him, with a bit of a surprised look.

"I-I..."

"Since Merlin wanted us to practice, maybe you could give me a few tips as we walk. I could use the help."

"...ok."

She gave a soft nod and stood up, walking with them. 

Dream walked down several hallways heading in the direction of the dorms. While they walked, he asked Mara about some healing sequences, to which she didn't shy away from and gave advice. He noticed that when it came to matters of healing, she became much more open, so he tried to stick to that stuff and get her talking more.

Soon, they came up on the dorm building. This was when Mara snapped out of her teacher mode and saw where they were.

"D-dorms?"

"Yea. They're quieter so I figured it'd be better to be here. Arrina and I actually practiced last night at mine."

"You mean I practiced while you just watched."

"Ouch, caught me. Come on, my dorm's this way."

"Wait really?!" (Arrina)

Dream walked in with an angry Arrina right behind him. Mara couldn't get any objections out and just followed under Dream's beckon.

"Welcome to my humble abode. You can go ahead and sit on the couch."

They all walked into Dream's simple room. Dream and Arrina just plopped down onto the couch, while Mara took her time before sitting at the corner of a couch away from them. After a bit of silence, Dream spoke up.

"So I guess I have an interesting piece of news."

"What is it?"

"...?"

"I'm going to be advancing to the intermediate class in a few days."

"Wait, advancing? How are you supposed to advance when they don't offer that in the second half of the year?"

"The counselor I talked to said he would let me. So in five days, I'm taking the test."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. You know what? You might be able to as well. If you work hard enough. And another thing I just thought of, Mara is in the advanced class, so she would be able to give you the insights for what's in the intermediate class."

"Me? What about you? You're the one taking the test."

"I plan on learning everything myself. So what do you think? Wanna head up a class?"

"..."

Arrina went into thought. Although it seemed good to be able to advance, it would be much harder to keep up since they were already halfway through the year. Not only would she need to pass the test, but also catch up on the intermediate material and pass the final exam at the end of the year. It would take lots of effort. And she would have to work her ass off. But...

"I'll try. I may not be able to do it right when you do, but I think I could eventually prepare myself."

"Well, there's no reason not to shoot high. Here's what we'll do. I'll train you in my techniques, while Mara will help you with intermediate magic. What do you think about that, Mara?"

"...I could help."

"Ok. Then that's what we'll do. I've got the test at the end of the week. We'll shoot to try and have Arrina take the test at that time too. So these next five days will be really intense for you."

Dream smiled at Arrina while Mara's lips also slightly curved up. 

"I can handle it. I've never been afraid of pain."

"Heh, we'll see about that. Mara and I have healing after this while you have your own 4th period. Arrina already comes here after 4th period, so Mara, do you want to join us? You would just leave with me after healing."

"...I can do that, but I'll need to talk with Granpa."

"That's fine. I can also talk with him. We'll have one big study session after 4th period. This'll be fun."

The two girls nodded. Arrina felt eager to begin preparing, and Mara was eager to talk about sequences. Dream was just happy that he was able to make some nice friends.

After lunch ended, Dream and Mara went off to healing while Arrina left to her own class. 

Healing was the same thing as last, helping at the hospital. After 3 hours of running around and discussing sequences with Mara, they both went to talk to Merlin about the study session.

When he heard about it, he was quick to accept that arrangement. His whole goal was to get Mara socializing. He was happy that she even wanted to do something with someone other than him, so of course he wouldn't reject.

After that was settled they headed back to the dorm since 4th period was over. All three met up once more and they got to work.

"Alright. The first thing we're going to do is have Mara teach you intermediate sequencing. We're going to skip over the unnecessary details of basic sequencing and get you ahead."

"Ok."

"You two will study for two hours, and once we hit the two hour mark, you get to play with the cube."

"...Ok."

"The reason I want you to study first is so that you can use your mind to its fullest and absorb the information. Then, you'll work it out and when you're exhausted, you'll sleep and be rejuvenated in the morning with all the new information in your head. Rinse and repeat. This'll be our nightly routine, and you'll have another routine throughout the day which we'll talk about more later. For now, you two can get to studying."

"Ok."

"Alright."

Both Mara and Arrina seemed energetic, and Dream set them up so they could work to their fullest. 

"One question, what're you going to do during all this?"

Since Dream had the test, Arrina wondered what he was going to do to prepare. He rejected Mara's help, so what else was there for him to do?

"I'm going to be playing around with the magic circles."

"Playing around?"

"Well, let's just say I'm studying them. Not sequence wise, but fundamentally. I'm trying to figure out how they work and all. And since I'll probably be a distraction, I'm going to go to the room. You guys can just work out here."

Saying so, Dream stood up. Though he suddenly remembered something and stopped.

"Oh, let me activate the enchantment first."

"Enchantment?"

The girls tilted their heads. Dream didn't explain and began enchanting the couches and isolating the room. He also poured out some of his mana into the room. 

The girls watched him and didn't see anything, but they could feel the mana density quickly rise. Their minds attained more clarity and they felt energetic. After a minute, the density had tripled, and the girls were feeling fantastic.

"Alright. I'll be in the room if you need anything."

Dream walked out and closed himself in the bedroom. The girls just reveled in the feeling of having heightened senses.