Bookbound Bunny 2: Chapter 33

B2 - Chapter 33 - Development

Lily had, on a few occasions, tried to show glyphs to Lotte, but the girl had stubbornly refused, much like Rose had back in the orphanage. Now, the girl was basically begging Lily to show how she created her own heated bath using glyphs, a stark difference in attitude.

Lily tried to use the opportunity to give a brief explanation of what she was doing and why. Still, she noticed Lotte's eyes beginning to glaze over as she rapidly lost interest in the subject. Lily was forced to give up, skipping the presentation and going straight to the outcome.

Lotte instantly broke out of her stupor when she saw the glyphs activating and creating a hovering sphere of water. Lily gestured for her to touch it, and when she did, she was evidently quite surprised at the warmth.

"I didn't know glyphs could do stuff like that…" Lotte commented. "And I thought you could only do your star magic?"

"Glyphs work regardless," Lily answered. "So if I really wanted to use water magic, I could do it via glyphs."

"No wonder you signed up for the second-year class… I don't know how useful it will be in the dungeon, though; it's not like the monsters will wait around for you to finish drawing."

"I can prepare them beforehand and pull them out when appropriate."

"I guess that can work… but you'll be carting around pages and pages of prepared glyphs? What if they get damaged, or you pull out the wrong one?"

Lily pointed at Arakil's book, and Lotte's eyes followed the gesture and widened when she realized what Lily was implying.

"Oh! That's smart… Damn, you're actually making me jealous that your Familiar is a floating book."

Jade let out a defiant snort and shifted away from Lotte. The lizard was not happy about the comparison and was letting her displeasure be known to all.

Lily and Lotte laughed at the sight, with Lotte then having to quickly comfort the lizard's bruised ego.

After their bath, Lily tried one last time to tempt Lotte with glyphs, but her reason against them was something rather obvious in hindsight—her blood.

Lotte's poisonous blood would be hazardous to use in glyphs, and even though the chalk was an option, the most common drawing method still used one's blood. Lily, of course, was avoiding this entirely due to her Mana Core allowing her to imbue ink, and it had become so natural to her that she'd almost forgotten that original limitation.

Then a new concern dawned upon her. I won't need to use my blood in my class, will I?

Lily shuddered a little at that thought and prayed that she could either use chalk or her ink as a substitute. She even considered coloring some ink red and pretending it was her blood.

I guess there's no use worrying about it until the class actually starts. It'll probably just start with sketches anyway.

The two chatted for a bit longer before grabbing a late dinner and calling it a night. Lily continued her lessons with Arakil, although they were cut a little short due to her fatigue from catching up on the day, and she ended up going to sleep early for once.

***

The next day, their first class was Dungeon Studies, something almost everyone was eager for. It was a little surprising to have it as the first thing in the morning, but their afternoon slot was assigned to Bloodline Focus or Personal Development, as some called it.

Lily herself still wasn't sure what she would do in that slot besides use it for one of her electives or as a time where she could study Astral magic with Arakil.

In theory, she could seek out a teacher to provide more direct tutoring during this slot, as many other kids had already done. But Lily already had the best magic teacher, Arakil, and none of them would be able to help her with "star magic".

Lily had asked Lotte about it during breakfast, and the girl had been recommended to a particular teacher who was quite accomplished in poison magic. Likewise, Hana had sought out teachers in both light and wind magic. Thomas no doubt had already secured someone who could teach him lightning magic, and so forth.

Alice's class was surprisingly about the common monsters found on the first few floors of the dungeon: slimes, gremlins, various varieties of dire animals, imps, and apparently even skeletons! While Lily was shocked to hear that there were undead, Alice actually said they were pushovers compared to the others and practically "brain dead".

Her lesson mainly focused on their standard methods of attack and how to avoid them. She also covered some of their weaknesses or areas to attack, although she was quite blunt that most of the monsters on the first few floors could be boiled down to "hit it until it stops moving".

It was an interesting lesson, and it only further hyped the students for their first trip into the dungeon. Alice confirmed that for the next lesson, they would be stepping inside a sectioned-off area of the dungeon specifically for these first classes, which was heavily restricted and monitored constantly.

"Of course, if Professor Elius says you aren't ready, then you'll have to sit out. So make sure to impress him," Alice warned.

Whispers quickly flew about regarding either attack or defensive spells, as some of the students still hadn't secured the two basics. Lotte was among them, and she wasn't sure what to do for the defensive part.

Her current plan boiled down to "don't get hit, kill them first," and while it sounded good on paper, it would fall apart if she ever took a decisive blow. Just like you couldn't block everything, the same also applied to dodging.

Lily was fretting for her friend, which caused Arakil to offer some advice and possible solutions. The only issue was that Lily had no idea how to bring them up to Lotte.

Arakil's first suggestion was a rocky layer of petrified skin that could coat her, which would coincide with her basilisk bloodline quite spectacularly.

However, when Lily suggested creating some rock layers for defense, Lotte instantly dismissed the idea, saying, "Earth magic just doesn't work for her."

To that response, Arakil had suggested a shield or bubble of acid, which would fit more along the lines of her poisonous magic, but was of a much more difficult spell to cast and maintain, with risks not only for the user but those around them. Lily vetoed this suggestion as she deemed it far too risky for Lotte and herself.

Not to mention how would I even go about saying I came up with the idea?

Lily just hoped that Lotte's PD teacher would be able to help her find a solution. Otherwise, the fallback was that Lotte became desperate enough to try the rocky skin idea.

At the end of the class Q&A session, Alice motioned for Lily to stay behind. This time Lily told Lotte to go on ahead and that she'd catch up later, not wanting to leave the girl waiting in the passage for who knows how long.

"See you at lunch, Lily." Lotte waved off and left.

"So, how's Regarth treating you?" Alice asked casually.

"Uh… fine?" Lily replied, looking at Alice with some confusion.

"Sorry, I was trying to break the ice, or something like that," she replied awkwardly.

"I don't think doing a parent routine is the way to go about it."

"Yeah, it was a pretty dumb idea, and it's going to be the last time I take his advice…" Alice grumbled. "Okay, let's get down to business. What have you decided on for your Personal Development classes?"

"I was thinking of just using them for my electives. I don't think any teachers can help me with my magic," Lily answered honestly.

"You might, unfortunately, be right in that regard. I went and poked our fuzzball of a headmaster to ask about that, but he also said he's never seen magic like yours before. At best, he could give you a star chart, which is like a map of the stars, or perhaps ask an astronomer to speak with you."

[A star chart would actually be quite convenient!]

"I wouldn't mind a star chart," Lily quickly replied on behalf of Arakil.

"Oh? Would that actually help?" Alice asked curiously.

[Any references to celestial objects in our area would be helpful for your future learning. To be frank, the astronomer would likely be beneficial too, but I can't think of ways to question him or her without drawing suspicion to you. A book, star chart, or anything relating to the subject would aid us considerably.]

Lily was a bit bewildered by Arakil suddenly talking up a storm in her head while still trying to act nonchalant in front of Alice.

"Umm… maybe? I think if I could study a bit of the stars, or the moon, it might help with my magic," Lily hesitantly answered.

Alice snapped her fingers. "I'll try to grab as many as I can then. What about your other types of magic? Can you not focus on one as a backup?"

"My other magic is a dud, unless I draw it with glyphs," Lily replied.

"Ah, damn. Of course, it can't be that easy."

"It's fine."

"Well, what if I helped you?" Alice suddenly said.

"I didn't know you were a magic teacher," Lily replied half-jokingly.

"No, not like that… what if I taught you some combat maneuvers or how to swing a sword, or throw a boomerang?"

"While that sounds fun, I'm not exactly physically gifted," Lily admitted. "I'm kind of a disgrace to Lagia in that regard."

Alice snorted. "As the first one to ever cast a spell, I think you could sit on your butt for the rest of your life and you'd still be noted down in history."

"It's not that big of a deal…" Lily said dismissively.

"Yes, it is Lily. I'm honestly surprised the orphanage never spread word about you sooner."

"Because they actually cared about me. Margit would never let them!"

"I guess they were some of the good ones then. Still, it's going to get out, and Regarth will want to brag. Despite our fuzzball of a headmaster trying to appear as cool as a cucumber, he loves the attention. He was so disappointed that he threw a tantrum when we didn't win first place last year."

Lily tried to imagine it but failed. Headmaster Fabrelis, with his three-piece suit and reserved demeanour, was throwing a tantrum? It was too unbelievable even if she'd only briefly met him.

"Look, I just want to help if I can. Especially since you will be on your own with your bloodline. Even the snake girl can find someone to help her, but we bunnies have got to stick together."

Lily glanced at Arakil's floating book and shrugged. "I think I'll be okay. I've learnt my magic this far through my own effort."

[Quite. Even with my instruction, you were the one who had the determination and commitment to see it through. Never forget that.]

"So just the star notes and books?" Alice asked.

"I mean… I wouldn't mind some help in the dungeon," Lily replied.

Alice winced. "That's the one thing I can't do. Not until you pass and get your entry permit at least."

"I guess that will have to wait. I was hoping to grow a little stronger and find more of that chalk."

"The dungeon chalk? You actually want that stuff?" Alice asked with some confusion.

"It's for drawing glyphs. It's extremely handy."

"Well, damn, I can get some of that for you if you want. It's made from certain types of dungeon stone, a byproduct when mining for minerals."

"Mining for minerals in the dungeon?" Lily asked.

"The dungeon is basically a full ecosystem down there. There are minerals, water, trees, animals, monsters, you name it, and it's down there," Alice answered.

[Well, this just keeps getting better and better. Back in my day, this was known as a Grand Dungeon or Labyrinth, and yes, they might as well be their own little worlds down there. I can see why Rose said she was spending so much time down there.]

"Should you have told me that?" Lily asked.

Alice shrugged. "It's not like Regarth's is the only one in the world. Sure, these types of dungeons are few and far between, but it's not unique in this case. Unless you count against the other schools, then yes, Regarth is the only one with a dungeon like this."

Once again, Lily was thrilled that her decision was paying off. As much as Arakil hated the word, it really seemed like fate was looking out for her.

"So I'll add some of the chalk to your star charts?" Alice asked.

"Yes, please, thank you, Alice," Lily replied politely and with a smile.

"Sure… although I still think you should let me teach you how to swing a sword."

Lily stared up at the tall woman and sighed. "I don't think they make swords in my size."