Melody of Mana

Over the next couple of days I got to go to several new classes. Math and history were about what they sounded like. I found the history lineup to be rather interesting, but the fact that the math we would be covering was shockingly basic was tiring. Etiquette came next, and for the first day of that we simply had tea as the professor observed us, taking notes. Professor Sasha taught etiquette and I really had no idea what to make of her. She was from the wizard program, specializing in some kind of light magic.

I freely admit that I was excited most about my Atali classes. Something that only overflowed when I realized that our teacher was an elf. She was not quite as ethereal as one might expect, her ears not quite as long. Her first class went over the basics of the alphabet, which I recognized as belonging to the same as the runes, a small mercy. It meant that I only really had to learn one of them. She also gave us a few words to learn, but seemed rather disinterested in her own subject.

Dras joined me for this one, while Kala had some other class on healing or something for that period. We sat beside each other since Professor Etia hadn't given us any assigned seating.

"So, how's it going?" he asked as we finished up. It was rude to speak in class, and just wasn't done.

"Pretty good. I have a feeling Rooke and Hern are going to pummel me with information though. How about you?"

"Oof, yeah, those two are rough. I'm pretty good, my pyromancy course is finally heating up," he gave a smile like he was actually proud of that statement.

"Ugh. That joke must have been made a thousand times."

"True, but it's still good. We're going over how to get flames hotter right now, it's fun, and consists mostly of trying to keep the flame steady while you add air to it. Simple in theory, but the practical aspects are a bit harder on the fly."

I nodded, "Basically making a furnace with nothing to contain it?"

"Yeah, the heat flows out really fast though, so it's a pain. That and keeping it from just growing."

We took a few moments to banter as we cleaned up on the subject of fire. I didn't really know all that much from a practical standpoint. Or at least I didn't know what I knew that would cause problems, so I pretended not to know anything.

"Any other cool classes you're taking?" Dras asked, I forgot that I'd never actually gone over my schedule with him.

"I think Atali dance will be fun. You in that?"

"My advisor told me it's mostly a girl thing... there are styles for men, but they're not all that popular apparently."

"Huh... I've got that and another class on magical materials... oh, and combat magic too."

"I've heard the combat class is brutal. They send you out with some of the knight apprentices and stuff for games. I wanted to take it, but there was just so much else, ya know?"

I shrugged. "The bard course is a little more sparse I think, because there's not many of us. Magnolia tried to get me to take some advanced healing, but I just wasn't feeling it."

"Fair. Well, I'm off, catch ya later!"

I was happy to see him. Also really glad that we'd finally get some chance to talk. I hated it, but over the past couple of years we'd not really seen too much of each other, and having a class together would finally help that, if only a little. I ruminated on it as I made my way to lunch. Kala joined me there as well as Lord Fallon's niece Pinea.

"So, what's next on the schedule?" Kala asked as she plopped down.

"Atali dance, you?"

"Oh, the outfits for that are absolutely scandalous." Pinea leaned in as she spoke, bringing her voice down. "I signed up for it too, it's gonna be wonderful."

"I'm taking advanced healing, but be sure to show me all the moves you learn," Kala chuckled.

"I'll be sure to. Care to help me practice Pinea?" The girl nodded vigorously at my suggestion.

"Of course. Elves live for like ages, particularly the more pure blooded ones, so it's ancient and really cool stuff. I got to see one of the performances a couple of years back at a party. It was wild. I thought my chaperone was going to die where she stood."

"Pure blooded ones?"

"Uh... yeah, pretty much all elves are like part human or something now. Not sure on the details."

Okay, so that was neat information. I now wanted to go and see what I could learn on that. Maybe ask someone. That was something I could put a pin in for the time being though. Because in front of me was Pinea, who was practically vibrating with excitement. Kala looked on at the worked up noble girl before turning to me and shrugging.

"I've never seen it. Though I'm feeling like I might have missed something fun now."

"You have!"

"Regardless. It's about that time. Care to walk there with me Pinea?"

"Yeah, of course!" Pinea practically pulled me down the hall on our way to the room assigned for this class.

It was a room full of girls. I supposed that the various advisors had pushed the boys away, though I didn't know why until Professor Etia entered the room. She was in what could only be described as a belly dancing outfit. From head to toe, ten out of ten would absolutely agree that this was an outfit for belly dancing. Several girls looked like they needed to pick their jaws up off the floor as she moved before us.

"Greetings everyone! I'm so glad so many of you have come to join me for this wonderful class." Her earlier disinterest in teaching us had disappeared like mist on the wind. "In this class we'll be learning traditional Atali dance. It's enjoyable, excellent exercise, and those of you who are bards will find it works great for casting as well! I'll show you a few things, and then we'll begin with some basic exercises!"

She activated a small magical item that played music and then began to dance. My understanding of the costume was not mistaken at all. This was something I'd expect to see from the middle east, or at least something that someone would think would come from there. I pondered all I had gotten myself into. The culture in Bergond was what one would call 'highly conservative' when it came to clothes and dance. Even trying to wear that, and dance anywhere even vaguely public might cause a ruckus. Then again... it did look fun. She also said it worked well for casting...

I soon learned that there was much to this that I hadn't known about. Things like posture and position and all that good stuff. After the demonstration Professor Etia spent most of the remaining class forcing us into proper posture and then showing us only the most basic of moves. It was fun, Pinea in particular seemed to be having a wonderful time.

As class ended and everyone made their way out I stayed behind a bit. I had a question I wanted answered.

"Professor, you said you could use dance to cast magic?"

"Ah, you must be one of my bardic students. Yes, though you're nowhere near that yet." Her accent was subtle, a small extension of her As and Ys.

"I'd heard it was possible, but never learned it. Do you have any advice?"

"Hmm... it will be easiest when the dance comes naturally to you. When you move with the flow rather than some predetermined way it will work best."

I nodded at the statement. "So you're a bard then?"

"Indeed I am. I will say that I find most of your bards here in Bergond a bit strange, but things are like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go change before my next class."

The rest of my day was a bit boring. There was a lot of studying, because I really needed to show well in these classes. I also spent a bit of time practicing what we'd learned with Pinea before dinner. Kala joined us and looked a bit shocked at what she was seeing, and very interested in us showing her what we'd learned.

After dinner I had to go work on my core. I made a point to spend a bit more than average time on that task, if only so that I didn't start getting angry letters telling me to hurry up from Professor Hern. That was something I was thoroughly expecting at some point in time. The task there wasn't hard, per se, or magically draining. It was mentally exhausting though, and by the end of it your legs were really sore.

I slept well. It was really clear to me why I got so few visits once my friend had started his classes. I had just begun and I could hardly imagine having any free time at all. One blessing was that there was no homework. You would either study, or your wouldn't. Of course this wasn't a school slackers could get into, and even those from really high noble families were pushed hard to achieve. This led to hardcore study groups on our off hours.

My final day of new classes began with Magical Materials, taught by Professor Hern. He informed us that most of the materials we would be dealing with in our first year were not, on their own, magic containing. Rather these were those used in the creation of magical items and we'd be going into far, far deeper detail than most would get.

Metals were of great importance in this class as they tended to act as magical conductors, and were therefore excellent for building a number of things. Silver was the best, though gold would be used if something had to last for a long time, being that it didn't corrode, a real problem when dealing with higher energies. Copper was considered good too, but iron was not. Iron on the other hand could be made insanely durable to a lot of forces and was cheap, so saw a lot of use, particularly as a covering to the underlying structure.

We didn't need to know the exact properties of them for now, but Professor Hern gave us a few simple to follow examples before letting us go for the day. I gathered that we'd be learning quite a bit more about the various metals at length before we moved on

My final class was Combat Spellcasting, something I was wildly excited for. When I got there there were a number of tough looking boys about. A few girls were here and there, but each of them looked hard as iron too. It was a bit intimidating.

Our teacher walked in and he was huge. The man had broad shoulders and bulging muscles and looked out at all of us. I thought he should have had scars, but with the level of healing magic available to those who could afford it, I suppose that was foolish.

"Greetings and welcome. In my class you will learn how to fight. How to use your magic to defeat your enemies, and how to prevent them from taking you down too. There are some simple things, methods and the like that I will teach you. There are a number of things I shall warn you against. There are also a number of things that you will need to figure out for yourselves. War and battle are chaos, and you must understand this, internalize this, make it your own. The methods that work one day may not the next, and you must be able to change on the fly. Any questions?"

His eyes eventually fell on me and I saw a slight grimace. "You got the wrong class girl?"

"No sir."

"You sure? You don't look like one of mine. Didn't your advisor tell you anything?"

"He advised me against this class sir, but I insisted. I want to learn to fight properly."

He sighed. "You ever been in a fight girl? Killed a man? Faced down a monster?"

"Yes, yes, and yes sir."

That got me a few surprised looks. Even our esteemed professor quirked his eyebrow a bit. "Well then, let's see what you can do."