Chapter 5 : First_Enemy

"... 7am? Who in their right mind wants to attend a lesson at 7am?"

Standing in the fangled corridor was a single teacher, wearing a crisp brown jacket with a white undershirt and a green bowtie, staring at his new schedule. A name carved onto a wooden charm hung out from his chest pocket, with the name "Rekter" on it.

The schedules for students were carved in Dousala wooden screens for easy reference, and the schedules for teachers were placed onto a mist screen. Both of these common objects, however plain they appear, were magically enchanted to update itself regularly. Students would do their homework on the table, which meant they could refer to the screen easily. Teachers could see the mist screen whenever they walked in and out of the 45 degree angled corridors to their rooms. Essentially, it was easy for information to be transmitted since the times for lessons were placed in objects people would usually use or interact with in their daily lives.

But, most lessons did not start as early as 7am. 6am was a time for breakfast, and 6.30am was a time for prayers and piety. Depending on the student and the type of magic they used, as well as the class of belief their magicks were based in, their prayers could vary drastically from a 5 minute silent prayer to a large-scale ritual that would eat up hours. Therefore, lessons usually started at 9am o cater to the students in the normal stream curriculum.

Yet he had lessons with a single student at 7am on both Wednesdays and Thursdays, which clearly broke that tradition.

(You can't be serious... I'll have to consult Bertund about this tomorrow.)

This lesson must be something important enough, or unique enough to be placed away from the sights and ears of others, while the mess halls were filled with students still enjoying their breakfast and devout followers praying to their respective deities.

Rekter pondered over his newly-updated schedule.

(I really don't want to have to wake up this early in the morning just to entertain this. It's for a single student, too... I'm used to not eating breakfast, but with a schedule like that, it's as if they're forcing me to wake up early on these two days.)

Rekter scratched his head rhythmically, formulating a plan of action he's going to take.

(... Or it could be that this particular student has something that others should never learn of. SO it's my turn to take these, huh?... I guess the best idea I can come up with now is to rush this kid's class. If I can make this kid study at the rate of a few lessons at a time, whatever the class is, I'd have more time to myself.)

Rekter's eyelids sunk and his brows furrowed.

(I just hope they don't catch me using 解.)

With a plan in mind, Rekter headed towards his room and took off his clothes.

Surprisingly, the teachers' rooms appear almost identical to the students', except for the fact that every teacher has their own bathroom. Unlike the students, whom had to share a singular tank of water to bathe with, teachers have access to personal bathrooms with water that can be scented to the teacher's preference. For the most part, hygiene was a main factor, but there were also teachers whose magicks required the usage of medicinal baths to cleanse their bodies properly. Rekter wasn't one of those teachers, but the Selkpine-scented water was a luxury he enjoyed thoroughly.

He grabbed a towel hanging from a rack on the wardrobe, and headed to his bathroom, feeling the bliss of being a teacher in this facility.

*** ***

The clacking of hard leather soles on the floor could be heard from a man wearing a brown jacket and a green bowtie with a white undershirt and a small cup of mead in his hand.

Rekter had wanted to set up the room before the lesson had started, but when he opened the door, he was taken aback.

There was already a boy inside the room.

The boy had brilliant black hair, covering his head thickly. He was wearing the school uniform, and he looked like he was about 11 or 12 years old. Clutching a cloth- Or rather, a makeshift bag in his hands tightly, he looked a little nervous.

Prompting the boy, Rekter spoke.

Re : "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The boy turned his head over to look at Rekter slowly, in a very stiff manner.

K : "I... I'm Ka-... Ka-Katachi. Kotsuba Katachi."

Re : "And what are you doing here?"

The boy quivered a bit, and then replied slowly.

K : "I'm... I'm here for a lesson at 7am, but it's... It's kind of dark in here..."

The boy seemed to be a new student to be unaware that a magic seal had to be drawn on the panel on the wall to activate Soltak's magic. That can mean one thing - He's the student Rekter was assigned to teach, and a new student at that.

Re : "Look over here. You can draw this symbol on this panel to switch the light on, and this one to switch it off."

Rekter switched the mead to his left hand, and demonstrated the actions to the boy. Strangely enough, that boy named Katachi seemed to appear rather stupid, being fascinated by the panel on the wall.

Re : "... Okay. Let me introduce myself. I am Rekter. Rekter Bluo. My specialty is in the Sha'koth legend and magic related to the trickster legend. As you can see, I'm dressed as Yurvik, one of Sha'koth's disguises. I will be your teacher for this class. So, since my schedule doesn't say anything about what I'm supposed to teach you, why don't you introduce yourself as well?"

Teacher schedules did not show the lessons to be held that day with good reason. Knowing nothing about the subject they are to teach, teachers are expected to be prepared for any situation. Even in times of peace, the teachers must always be prepared for the worst situations - That was the basis for the teachers in the Sage Raufid Magus Academy.

The boy seemed to look away for a little bit, and then spoke unconfidently.

K : "I... I am Kotsuba Katachi, and I'm 10 this... This... This year. I, I came to Sage Raufid's to... To... Learn more about the... The 'Curse Words'..."

Rekter's face paled.

Re : "... Did you just say 'Curse Words'?"

The boy nodded very slightly in agreement.

Re : (... Unbelievable. A boy his age actually knows the true name of the Words of Power... )

Rekter gulped his mead down and put the cup aside.

Re : (Damn it... Teaching a Word of Power is as good as suicide. Don't they know that?) "... Okay. But, before we begin our lessons, I would like to scope out how much you already know, then we can work from there. Is that alright?"

K : "O... Okay..."

Re : (At least he seems to lack confidence. I should be careful, though. If he truly knows the Words of Power and he's just feigning his stupidity, then this will turn out really unpleasant.)

K : "Uhm... To- To start with, the Words of Power are originally called 'Curse Words'. But... But during the hunt, the name sounded too... too- too ominous, so they changed the name to one more suitable. But its true name is a Curse Word, but, but-but-but knowing it in... In the mind is enough. Knowing it is called the Curse Words is enough for it to activate its true potential and heighten its precedence levels. And... And also, the name was ominous on purpose so the people would... Would change its name deliberately, weakening it on purpose..."

The boy trailed off, looking down so much his head was literally danging by his neck.

Rekter stared at the boy, in astonishment.

Re : (To even know the term 'precedence levels'... This is no simple kid 'just learning' about the Words of Power. He could potentially be as powerful, if not more powerful than I am.)

Re : "Where did you learn of this, boy?"

K : "There... There is a library at the church near... near my house, I often hid there and took it as a secret spot. I stumbled upon the bamboo book by pure accident, honest! But then... But then, there was this yellow glow inside the book, and the next thing I knew, this... This thing, was inside me..."

Re : (... Seriously?...)

Rekter began thinking hard. Very hard.

K : "Uhm... Mister Rekter?"

Re : (This boy found a Word of Power inside a bamboo book...? Then, whoever was reading the book probably had that Word of Power on him before he was killed, and the Word of Power must have slipped into the book. Then... The problem is, where and when was this person killed? Why had nobody taken the Word of Power inside the book? Was he killed with the intent to take his word, or by other means? How did this boy stumble upon the book?)

Rekter thought hard and hard on the subject, furrowing his brows.

Re : (Had the bamboo book always laid there on some crate or the floor, just waiting for someone to pick it up? Was that library never used again because a person actually died in a church's library?... But, what if he's lying? What if this kid knows exactly what he's doing, and he's trying to eke out my sympathy?... No, no. That can't be. His actions are quite shy and his hands are unstable, which means he's passive by nature. There's no way he's actually that evil to have murdered the actual owner of the Word of Power, and claimed it for his own.)

K : "... Mister Rekter...?"

Re : "... Ahh, I'm fine, I'm fine. So, you learnt quite a lot about the Words of Power already, huh."

The boy sheepishly nodded.

Re : "Well then, let's try something more practical. I want you to use that Word of Power on my cup over there. I'm going to try and understand how much you know about this magic in a practical."

The boy silently nodded, and looked over at the cup.

The words 固定 formed on the cup, and the 固 slowly faded away.

Re : (定?... So that's his character. Good. This is a good chance for me to scope out his abilities! 溶解! Dissolve object - Cup!)

A faint whisper echoed in the back of Rekter's head, and the words 溶解 formed on top of the cup as well.

Both words faded off at the same time, in less than a second.

Re : (What!?!... His precedence level... Is equal to my own!?)

Rekter stared at the boy, with a dumbfounded look printed upon his face.

*** ***

K : (He didn't seem to notice it. That's good.)

Katachi waved the teacher goodbye.

The teacher had apparently been shocked at a student he had met for the first day actually parring with him on the subject he was taking. With a few breathless gasps, he dismissed the one-student class, and said, "You already know more than enough... You don't need to attend any of these lessons anymore... You pass with flying colors. Easy as that." With a determined frown on his face, he left the classroom.

That teacher didn't seem to notice the little trick Katachi pulled.

And yet, with the only subject of the day, the week, and the rest of the semester aborted, he had free time to spare. It was only 7.14am.

There's plenty of time to spend.

K : "Now then... I guess I should start by tidying the place a little bit."

Katachi grabbed a tiny little duster, and found a stepladder in a nearby closet. With only one thought in mind, he walked onward in the magically enchanted halls.

K : (I want to wipe the dust off and clean those chandeliers in the atrium.)