Bookbound Bunny 2: Chapter 60

B2 - Chapter 60 - Meet-and-Greet

When Lily and Lotte arrived at the Maranix building, they quickly noticed the abundance of students this time, as if it had suddenly become a prime hangout spot. The meeting was supposed to be for first-year students only, according to Lotte, so it came as a surprise to them.

Waiting outside for them to arrive was Thomas, who looked relieved when he spotted the two of them.

"I was worried you weren't going to make it," Thomas said.

"This one decided to sleep in," Lotte said, nudging Lily.

"I had a late night studying glyphs…" Lily admitted.

"With your schedule, I can't blame you for sacrificing some sleep," Thomas replied. "I still don't know how you're going to handle it after we depart from the introductory lessons."

The lessons aren't the problem, it's my extra studies… I got too excited by the divine glyphs…

Unfortunately, Lily couldn't admit that, so she could only shrug in response with an apologetic smile. She also made a promise to herself to not abuse that particular glyph, despite the overwhelming temptation to do so.

The trio entered Maranix and were greeted by other students, both in their year and above. Whether by luck or not, they didn't spot Shawn in attendance, which made all three of them feel much better.

They wandered around, exchanging a few pleasantries with their fellow students, before the entire group was eventually gathered together.

"Right, greetings everyone, I'm Bradley and I'm the current… I guess you'd say student chairmen for Maranix?" he said casually, getting quite an uproarious chuckle from the other older students.

"For the newbies, the role was kind of forced upon me, so I'm the butt of the joke," Bradley said with a sigh. "It's usually given to the strongest or smartest student in the third year, but in true Maranix fashion, they schemed together to convince the professors that I'm our secret weapon."

"You're the best, Bradley!" an older boy cheered.

"Not even the Terror of Terravix stands a chance against you!" a girl cried out.

There were a few other cheers and claps from the other students, although, despite the subject, Lily didn't really feel like they were doing it to be nasty. It was a sort of playful teasing camaraderie shared between the older students, and it definitely seemed to fit the Maranix theme.

Bradley frowned, shaking his head in dismay. "Anyway… I thought we could use this as an opportunity to meet the new recruits and perhaps give you a heads-up about the upcoming test. It's pretty standard, so we have some tips and tricks so you can land yourself a good prize from the pool."

Bradley then gave a rundown of the upcoming dungeon test. In simple terms, it was a sort of time trial where each student had to navigate a miniature gauntlet to reach the end. Only three to five students could go at a time, so their speed would be recorded, and the fastest would get first pick, followed by the next, and so on, in order of ranking.

It was a well-rounded approach that forced students to put into practice everything they'd learned so far, encompassing attacking, defending, and dodging, while also testing their judgment in the thick of it.

Some enemies were intended to escape from, while others required you to defeat them to pass through. However, there was some flexibility to it, such as the latter having a time limit before you could escape. This was primarily to prevent anyone who could stealth or speed their way through the entire gauntlet, bypassing every obstacle.

The way Bradley described it, Lily could imagine the doors would only open if the enemy defending them was defeated. She knew she wasn't even in the top ten for fastest in the class, but she trusted in her Starburst and Nebula Veil to get her through everything else.

Hana or Arthur would be able to blitz through it, so I'm glad this system is in place.

Bradley also went on to explain some potential rewards to look out for in the treasure room, obviously starting off with the storage bags. He explained that there were around ten of them to reward the top ten students of the year, but also went on to describe a few other fun or nifty treasures.

Sadly, as good as those sounded, everyone seemed to have their eyes on the storage bags, as who wouldn't want that convenience? There was certainly a treasure that produced water, but you could also simply store extra bottles or canteens in your bag.

"Right… Before we get to questions, I should point out that there's apparently going to be a change this year," Bradley said. "Now, take into account this isn't officially confirmed, but we've heard through the grapevine that this year, students aren't allowed to bring their Familiars into the test."

"Seriously?" an older boy asked.

"Yeah, isn't that a bit weird?" another boy asked. "At this stage, most Familiars are more of a hindrance than anything else."

The first years were especially marked by nods of agreement. Lily even heard Lotte whisper: "Jade would definitely get in the way…"

Bradley shook his head. "I'm just as confused as all of you. The rumor suggests that someone has a Familiar that would render the entire test trivial, which is why the change is being made. Personally, that sounds far too outlandish, so I had to assume the rumor was wrong."

The older students were openly discussing it, trying to figure out the change. Meanwhile, a whispering had begun among the first-year students, with a few of them glancing at Lily.

"Do you think it's you?" Thomas asked.

"Me?" Lily replied in shock.

"Oh!" Lotte exclaimed. "That makes perfect sense."

"Right?" Thomas agreed.

A few more of the first-year students were glancing at Lily, and now she was beginning to think she was part of some big joke. Lily was not happy about this. She was still tired and feeling quite miserable with herself, so she couldn't help but pout.

"Did you first-years figure it out?" Bradley asked; evidently, he noticed the small commotion forming around Lily.

"I think the rumor is true," Thomas answered. "There is definitely a Familiar that would trivialize the entire test."

Bradley opened his mouth, but a third-year girl beat him to the punch: "How?" she demanded.

All eyes were on Thomas now, but he didn't buckle at being the center of attention and instead cleared his throat. "There's a Familiar that's seemingly indestructible, and when in the presence of dungeon monsters, directly draws their ire. They will even ignore being directly attacked."

Lily gasped in surprise at the sudden realization, the brain fog finally lifting. Arakil!

"Huh…" was Bradley's response. "If there really is a Familiar like that, then it's no wonder a change was made."

"Yeah, whoever had a Familiar like that would win first place easily," another boy agreed.

"I bet it's damn Terravix again!" a girl shouted.

Immediately following her shout, a few others jumped on that by swiftly agreeing that the ban made perfect sense and was the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, the first years were starting to look around awkwardly at the outright negativity towards Terravix, and Lily was feeling it doubly so.

"Actually, the Familiar is in Maranix," Thomas said, throwing a wrench directly into their assumptions.

"It's in Maranix!?" the same girl shouted.

Following that, everyone swiftly changed their tune.

"This ban is so unfair!"

"They just don't want to give us an easy win!"

"Why was nothing done about us last year?"

It was so hypocritical that Lily wanted to burst out laughing, but considering she was the subject matter and her sister Rose was very likely the other point of contention, all she felt was a headache brewing.

"Calm down, everyone!" Bradley shouted, trying to regain control. "You're confusing the first-years and also wasting your breath. Alice makes the rules, and there's no changing them, unless you want to risk getting your ass kicked?"

Everyone quickly shut up; evidently, nobody wanted to get on the wrong side of Alice. Meanwhile, Lily was having her own inner battle.

Is Alice bullying me because I didn't want her help? She saw how good Arakil was in the dungeon, so now she's punishing me?

Lily wasn't sure, and her drowsiness wasn't doing her any favors. The woman also promised her some starcharts, but still hadn't delivered on that.

Whatever, I'll get first place anyway and show her she's wrong.

Bradley had regained control of the room, although some were still grumbling about the Familiar ban being a detriment to Maranix. However, nobody was willing to go against Alice, it seemed.

"Right… any questions?" Bradley asked.

"Are there any other restrictions?" Lotte asked.

Bradley scratched the back of his head. "Unless you're thinking of attacking another student before their turn, I can't think of anything. Do you have something in mind?"

"Am I allowed to bring potions or other alchemy stuff?" Lotte asked.

"Ah!" Bradley exclaimed, nodding in understanding, then he gave the most frustrating answer ever. "Yes and no."

"That doesn't help me," Lotte said, causing a few chuckles.

"Sorry. Yes, you are allowed, but only if you've personally made them. Nobody is allowed to use their wallet as a weapon, I'm afraid."

"Does that include glyphs?" Lily abruptly asked, without even raising her hand.

"Yes…?" Bradley hesitantly replied, looking quite confused. "I think using blood glyphs might be a step too far, but I admire your determination."

Lily smirked, her plan of supposed revenge against the bunny tyrant slowly brewing.

There were a few other inconsequential questions, and soon the meeting section wrapped up, transitioning into the meet-and-greet. Naturally, there were a few who were quite eager to see the rumored Lagia mage, and Lily managed to put up with it for the most part.

Of course, the subject of "whose Familiar is it" came up during that, and Lily was pressured into showing Arakil. Thomas' boast of the book being indestructible was immediately questioned, but Arakil persuaded Lily to allow the students to "do their worst".

This led to everyone being out in the protected backyard of Maranix, where Lily sleepily watched Arakil float into a firing range of spells. Lily's nonchalant attitude added fuel to the fire, and soon what was supposed to be a simple demonstration practically turned into a battlefield.

Fireballs, blades of wind, massive boulders, shadowy tendrils, and all manner of other spells were flung at the seemingly helpless book, only for none of them to even leave a stain on its pages. The first-years had sort of expected it, but the sight had left the older students in disbelief.

"Maybe the ban makes sense…" one of the boys reluctantly admitted.

"How did a little girl summon something so strong?"

"Is the first Lagia bloodline this powerful?"

Unfortunately for Lily, this meant she needed to explain that her Familiar was actually a spirit or ghost, and that it was merely inhabiting the book, which was a dungeon artifact left behind by her mother.

"Actually, the ban makes more sense then," Bradley suddenly said. "I forgot to mention it because it's pretty much never come up before, but you aren't allowed to bring any enchanted tools or weapons into this test. It's supposed to be purely your magical development, not how well you can use a weapon."

This led to another minor argument about ghosts being able to possess any object they choose. There were also mentions of not punishing good luck, but still, no one was willing to take any of these complaints to Alice, so it was ultimately pointless.

Still, Lily managed to find the situation somewhat humorous as she began to see the competitiveness between the three factions intensifying.

I wonder how Hana and Arthur's meeting went. Hopefully, they'll be able to share it when we next meet up.

Lily also couldn't help but wonder how competitive Rose was in the situation, and if she was leaking some information about her little sister.

I don't think she actually would, but if she does, I'll have to ask Arakil for some tips to beat a dragon. Actually… I wonder if Rose is the chairman of Terravix?

The rest of the event went smoothly before Lily eventually excused herself. Lotte kindly went with her to make sure she didn't pass out on the way to her room, while Thomas ended up staying behind. He was currently in the process of quizzing some of the older students on their various paths of magic and seemed to be enjoying the large variety of opinions.

I wonder if I can use a recovery glyph when I get back to my room… otherwise, I'm going to be waking up in the dead of night if I go to bed now.

"Sounds like this test is going to be pretty fun," Lotte said.

"Yes… I'm looking forward to it," Lily admitted.

"Are you gunning for one of those bags?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't think any of the other prizes would be worth anything, but who knows."

"Yeah… it really feels like you'd have to be stupid to not pick one. Hopefully, all of us can get into the top ten easily enough."

"Well, at least the two of us shouldn't have any problems beating monsters."

"True. Let's just hope they slow down Hana and Arthur enough. I'd love to beat the two of them in a race," Lotte giggled mischievously.