(... So that's Deku's power, isn't it...)
Katachi recalled the ridiculous power Deku used at the coliseum - He can collect the sand and create a giant golem with it, and the golem seemed capable of repairing itself. That was a tricky magic to deal with - Simplistic, without any intricacies or tricks and completely plain. That would mean the magic was one his opponents had to face head-on.
Had Katachi simply used the Words of Power to battle, a Reincarnate Art like that was nothing compared to what he could do, but that would risk blowing everything that he had done to keep it concealed. In an attempt to prevent that to the best of his ability, Katachi has resorted to one final safeguard.
Principal Bertund's office.
Raising his hand, Katachi knocked on-
"Come in!"
Even before Katachi could knock on the door, a familiar, feminine voice had instructed him to enter.
(? Who is that person behind the door? Is that a woman? And what is with her, is she psychic or something? It's almost as if she can see me right through the wall!)
Opening the door, Katachi closed it behind him, and sat on the creaking wooden chair.
Before Katachi sat a woman with blonde hair, tied up into a bun at the top. A ponytail extended from the bundle of hair, mooning down to her left shoulder. Her clothes indicate that she was most likely a teacher in the academy, and given how she was boldly sitting at Bertund's seat, she must be of a high authority. That, or her ego was incredibly inflated.
She wore an attire highly similar to Bertund's - A green-themed attire with a crisp jacket and a white shirt. Her skirt was also green, and it covered up to just before her knees. She wore an actual green-coloured top hat, unlike the green slime top hat Bertund had. What made her attire different from Bertund was that it had a gold lace hanging out from the chest- or rather, breast pocket of the green jacket, and she wore a diamond-shaped ruby locket on her neck.
K : "Uhm... What happened to Principal Bertund? And... Who are you?"
S : "I am Bertund's wife, Shelly. I'm not of Raufid's blood, but you can say that I'm the acting principal while Bertund's entertaining Minister Lein."
K : "... I... I see... ! Wait, you're the announcer!"
The voice she was making clicked in sync with the voice he had heard not too long ago.
S : "Yes, yes I am, but surely you didn't walk all the way here just to tell me that, did you? Let's get down to business. So, what brings you here, Mister Kotsuba? Here to look for another course to add to your curriculum? Invite me for tea? ...
... Or have you finally realized that you can't solely rely on your Word of Power alone for the entirety of the tournament?"
Shelly's words were spot-on.
Katachi couldn't deny it - Thus far, he had relied on the Word of Power he had way too much. Leaping towards the tokens, disabling Cillian's blade and stopping Nea's movements without being detected was impressive, but it could very well end in disaster if he weren't as lucky. There would probably be attacks where his clothes would be ripped, causing the Word to be revealed.
Of course, since Katachi didn't have any actual knowledge on the Child of Sun, it was not possible to feign the Word of Power as body paint, or something along those lines. Besides, they glow, and glowing paint tattooed onto people was as close to a believable story as a vegetarian Thorneil Hyanidae.
There was also the threat of Rekter, one of the teachers with another Word of Power, catching on to his trick. Even if he succeeded in deceiving everyone, Rekter wasn't a person who could be deceived by a trick like this, not especially since Katachi had already taken a lesson on the Words of Power - A proof strong enough to override all of his lies.
He could expose Katachi's act and blow all his hard work away with a simple huff of his breath. And, because their precedence levels tied, they would surely be put into a fervent duel between who will be able to raise their precedence level faster - The one with more knowledge wins. But there was no certainty as to who would have more knowledge.
In the event that he really had been busted, Katachi would have to use his Word of Power to escape. But, at the same time, he needed something else - An alternate source of power. One he could freely use without being discovered. One that was risk-free. One he could apply to the tournament that people could see and recognize, so as to distract their attention.
K : "... Yes... I have come to learn two things."
S : "What will they be?"
K : "First, I want to increase the precedence level of my Word of Power."
S : "You don't have a need for that, do you? There's pretty much nothing in this school that can rival a stupidly powerful magic like that."
K : "There is... Mister Rekter's precedence level ties with mine."
S : "...! A tie in precedence levels?... That's really rare."
K : "Yes, yes it is. I've... I've pulled a trick to stop his precedence levels from rising too quickly, so I must take advantage of this window to... To increase my own as much as possible."
Shelly nodded her head briefly, and responded.
S : "Consider it done. I'll give you a lecture on the Words of Power that's sure to raise your levels. What of the second topic at hand?"
K : "Oh, er, yes... The sec- The second thing is, well, my affinity with water."
S : "What about it?"
K : "... I would like to learn spells and magecraft related to water. Healing magic, if possible."
S : "Oh my. That wouldn't be easy. I've always hated water magic - Too slippery for me to grasp solidly. You'd have to ask Bertund for that when he comes back."
K : "... Okay..."
With the 'topics' 'discussed', Shelly's shoulders raised a little bit as she leaned forward onto the desk, eyeing Katachi down carefully.
S : "And here I thought you were going to discuss with him about something important, like how you're going to start collecting all of the Words of Power."
(This woman... Her eyes pierced right through my mind... !)
K : "... !!! YOU-..."
Katachi accidentally leaked out a scream, and he now glanced around nervously to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation.Realizing that he's inside the principal's office, Katachi exhaled and inhaled to remain calm, and spoke in a soft voice.
K : "... you... already know?"
Shelly leaned back onto the comfortable looking leather seat.
S : "Why wouldn't I? Look at you, acting all shifty. You probably want the school-sponsored prizes to provide you with the traveling equipment needed, didn't you?"
K : "!!! ... yes... But, but... But, how did you know?"
S : "Simple - You're poor. Nobody would expect a mere child that comes from a monastery in some dusty corner of Mielfeud to be wealthy without even working for coin. Those with such great power would strive to use that power to improve themselves in some way, wouldn't they?"
K : "..."
Shelly had been pinning down and summarizing all of Katachi's plans with words thus far.
S : "So, Mister Kotsuba, have you any plans on how you should start looking for the other 291 Words of Power?"
K : "... Not... really..."
Shelly's shoulders dropped slightly, and she leaned her head against her fingers, with her right elbow on the table.
S : "Wow, seriously? I'd have expected you to be more far-sighted than that, Mister Kotsuba, especially since you're the one with this crazy dream."
K : "... Sorry if I don't meet your expectations."
S : "Well, whatever. let's begin with the lecture. Tell me everything you know about your Word of Power, and we'll work from there."
K : "Uhm, okay, I guess- ! Wait! Don't you have to announce for the tournament rounds and the like?"
S : "Wha- Of all the things to be concerned about, you worry for THAT? Seriously? Don't be stupid - Nobody actually uses such expensive communication magic repeatedly nowadays. It's all pre-recorded. That announcement hasn't changed since I worked here."
The two proceeded to stay in Bertund's office, for Katachi's first actual lecture on the Words of Power.
*** ***
S : "That should be quite enough to raise your precedence levels. Okay, one final recap. Tell me everything you've learnt thus far."
K : "Okay... Uh, the Words of Power can be used in tandem, or rather, chained with one another, thereby raising their precedence levels even higher. Secondly, two Words of Power can- ca- can... can affect the same object, but they cannot affect the same property."
S : "Good. Go on?"
K : "Uhm, uh... Third... Thirdly, Divine Beasts like Hraxiif are also empowered by image power, so they have some... some level of resistance towards the Words of Power. And lastly, three new terms for 定 I've learnt are 定居, 定睛, and 定婚. 定居 means to s- s- settle down, like having someone that has moved to another village settle down. 定睛 would- would be forcing someone to stare at a certain area, location, or object, and finally, 定婚 would mean for others to be... To be... To be betrothed. However, 定婚 cannot be used carelessly at just-... Just anyone, because each of the specific God's blessing is powerful enough to cancel out the effects of making two strangers, uhm... betrothed."
Snapping a foldable fan in her hands, Shelly unfolded her crossed legs and stood up from the desk.
S : "Very good! That should put you quite in the lead. Unless, of course, Rekter has been busy researching the Words of Power and raising his own levels as well. It's about time to end it off for today, though."
K : "For... For today? There's more?"
S : "Of course there's more! Why do you sound so tired? If you really want to beat Rekter and collect every Word of Power out there, you're going to need every little bit you can get, right?"
K : "Oh, uh, no, it's not that, but uh... I... I was just wondering... You know, why would you, the principal's wuh- wuh-... wuh- wife, want me to beat Rekter so badly?"
Shelly's head depressed slightly, and her enthusiastic looks turned sour as she gazed outside the window.
K : (... ? There's an itch on my magic circle?)
(Contestant Katachi, your match begins in 30 minutes. Please assemble at the entrance to Cosmatral Tlod.)
Shelly's voice resounded through his head, overlapping with Shelly's explanation.
S : "I hate that man's guts. He thinks he's all mighty and powerful, with him being the only Scholar in the school. He knows exactly how simple and broken this magic is, and yet he flaunts it like it's something he needs to breathe. But now, he's not the only Scholar in this academy.
Shelly turns around to look at Katachi with a serious expression.
S : "Now that you're here, you can punish him for being arrogant. Go show that bastard Rekter what it takes to anger me, and bully Bertund."
K : "... Bertund? Bullied?"
S : "... Yes. Rekter would often set up pranks to make Bertund look silly, but he doesn't mind - He's too soft and kind. Far, far too soft, and kind, to actually retaliate..."
Shelly's face twisted into one of sorrow. Her eyes softened, and she looked away to her left.
K : "... Er... My circle just itched, and my next match is uh, going to begin soon. So I guess... I guess I'll be going... ?"
S : "Oh, right, you're fighting Deku. Good luck out there, Mister Kotsuba."
Katachi left the wooden chair and headed for the door-
S : "Oh, one last advice, Mister Kotsuba!"
Katachi spun around to listen attentively.
S : "Just... Don't mind Deku too much. He's mostly joking around, so don't treat his taunts and follies as something serious. After all, he wouldn't want to have to deal with students that are too serious when he comes to work here."
K : "His- His taunts don't look joking, though."
S : "Yeah, well, that's always been a problem with him. But he still insists on acting like this because he wants to work in this academy as a teacher when he graduates. So don't worry - Think of it as him experimenting with a wild, crazy style of interacting with the students."
K : "... Uh, okay. I... I'll be sure to ignore his uh, insults."
S : "They're not insults, actually. He's stating them factually, but people tend to think there's a deeper meaning to his words. If you can, try to talk to him nicely, and tell him what's wrong with his methods. That would help him the most."
K : "O- Okay. I'll do my best."
S : "Good luck! And be sure to kick all of their asses for me!"
And with that, Katachi left the office of the wacky principal and his wacky wife.
Only one destination was in mind now.
He's headed towards Cosmatral Tlod.
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