A blaring alarm rang out like a clear chime in the meadow. My eyes shot open as I scanned my envuorment, looking for any spirits nearby.
'Master, calm down' Veil called out in my head, easing my nerves ever so slightly. I laybed back down in my bed and stared up at the sky projection, lost in thought. I need to get ready for class, don't I?
Slowly, I walked over to the dresser and openned the top drawer, revealing a full set of black uniforms. Pulling one out, I put it on. It was a black and gold formal set of pants and a jacket with a robe covering. A gold plaque of a book layed on my right chest.
'Not bad looking. Feels weird' Veil called out as a vine brushed up against the fabric. Then, we walked out, Veil in my tattoo.
The hallway wasn't bare like yesterday, with 5 people walking out around the same time. Yet, I only recognised 3 of them, Brandon, Tiana and that one girl that was with her. I ignored them all as I walked into the empty elevator and waited for them to join. 2 minutes later, the doors closed for a second before opening to a crowded lobby.
'You're watch is blinking' Veil announced, drawing my attention down at it. On the screen, it had brightly illuminated text.
[System mwchanics-room 3A]
'Thank you' I thanked Veil as I walked out from the crowd, out towards the main building with the book plaque. Then, I noticed a lot of people that felt weird. They had on a different uniform but the gold plaque on there uniform was the same.
Upper classmen? I ignored them and walked with a purpose, cutting through the crowds. In 5 minutes, I'd found the class door. Pushing it open, i froze. Countless statuses floated around the room. Pictured and diagrams shifted around the walls with a tall woman standing infront of a podium.
She nodded towards me as I found a seat in the middle. There were some other groups in the lecture hall but it looked bare. Time passed slowly but Veil kept me company until a clear chime rang out.
"The Draven bell has rang. Anyone not here won't be here." The woman announced as the door locked and everyone was suddenly very attentive.
"Welcome to system mechanics. I am ms. Bell. We will start our lecture now" she announced as she pulled out a stone from nowhere, probably her soul space.
"This stone is called a clear eye stone. It's main purpose is to see through censored system details. Now, those who need one. Please raise your hand" she called out, stunning me. There are materials that can effect the system? Just what is this system?
Slowly, I raised my hand, along with Tiana, Brandon, and 8 other people I didn't recognise. Suddenly, ms. Bell threw 11 stones into the air, each landing on our desks.
"Check them, then store it in your soul space" she called out. I grabbed mine expectantly and what I saw made me freeze.
I felt my jaw hanging open as 2 new prompts openned before me. Paths? Like the last course im taking? Then, I tapped on each of them.
<1/10 resistanceless waltz>
<2/10 ???>
<3/10 ???>
<1/7 bond>
<2/7 ???>
< 3/7 ???>
Both paths suddenly made a lot more sense. I got the moon dancer path in the stream, which I was spending a long time resisting water. Then, I got a lot of notifications after bonding with Veil. I looked up to see Ms. Bell smiling at me. I nodded slowly as I stored he stone in my soul space.
Then, the others slowly did the same. I looked at Ms. Bell with a new fascination. What else does she know? How can I really use the system.
"The first lesson starts now" she called out as we all got a notification from the system.
I stared at it in awe as countless possibilities openned up. I would never have been abandoned if I had known about contracts. The class when on about how to use and enforce them. Including spirits.
Shockingly, spirits also had access to the system but it appeared differently to them.
'Veil, how do you see the system?' I called out into my mind and Veil hummed before answering.
'I don't really see it. I kind of feel it. Like a memory?' Veil tried to explain it but was struggling. I sighed and thanked her for trying before listening back in to the lecture.
"Now, this is very important. If you are to break a contract with someone, that person gets to choose your consequence, even death" she called out coldly as a diagram behind her appeared like a system notification, yet red.
It read, 'you have broken your contract. You are under verdict'. Damn, so contracts aren't casual things? Makes sense.
The class passed by quickly as she drowned on about what one could achieve with contracts. Soon enough, that familiar clear chime rang out, while the lecture hall door opened. I walked out immediatily as I checked my watch.
[S9]
Nodding, I headed towards the upper floors as shown on the map but noticed a lot of second years in the higher floors as well.
Then, I got to the door but had to pause. I saw Tiana, brandon, and everyone else from my floor here too.
I openned the door in a daze before getting blown back into the hallway by a strong gust of wind. I slid back in shock as 2 vine grew out of my hand, wrapping around the inside of the door.
The wind died as soon as it came and I walked in, ready for the worst. Inside the classroom, was 3 students and one older man, yet they felt weird. My eyes scanned over the classroom and what I saw made me freeze. Instead of the system diagrams from system mechanics, there were countless diagrams of environments.
"Welcome to class, I am Mr. Orpheous and I will be teaching you about world integration" Mr. Orpheous called out, stunning me and the others, all except Tiana. We slowly sat down as my vines retracted.
As we all sat down, Mr. Orpheous started to draw something on the board. It stared as a circle but the longer he drew, the more 3d it became until it resembled a soul space perfectly.
"Can anyone tell me what this is? And its not just a soul space" Mr. Orpheous called out, looking each of us in the eyes. I shook my head as his eyes met mine but I was suprised to see Tiana raise her hand. He nodded towards her.
"The soul space can also be called your mirror realm" Tiana called out with a knowing smile. Mr. Orpheous looked st her for a minute before clapping.
"Ms. Fallen. Did your family tell you to join my class?" Mr. Orpheous questioned curiously, making her nod slowly. He nodded with her before moving on.
"Yes, the soul space is also called the mirror realm because it is a mirror of your soul. The size and shape is a direct representation of how strong your soul is and what properties it has" he started, stunning me. I thought it was just a storage system given to us by the system.
"Now, all of you should have a room sized soul space is the shape of a sphere, which is normal. What this course will teach you is how to properly utilize it and foster it into something more. Something powerful" Mr. Orpheous continued but something else caught everyones attention. The space around us contorted to the extreme as metal wires popped out of nowhere, growing up towards the ceiling.
Then, metal trees grew out of the ground, slowly filling the room with its metal foliage. A heavy aura spread out, making the flow of koi in my chest slow down significantly.
"Would it suprise you all if I told you this is the natural enviorment of my soul?" He asked out, making all of us pause, even Tiana. His soul space looks like a metal jungle? I thought he was using his origin!
"This can be considered a 2nd rank soul land. Grew it myself over the course of years as a student. You all can do the same, eventually. Now, lets start at the beginning" he explained as he erased the white board and started to draw something new.
As he wrote, it started to look more and more like a ring of words, he finished when the words connected to the beginning, creating a true loop.
"And this is the equation of growth. You will all need to memorize this equation to a tee if you want to make it anywhere in this class. Without this. Your mirror realms will stay as they are, storage spaces, for the rest of your lives" he called out, making me a little nervous.
As I studied the equation, I would start at a point and go around, but whenever I made it to the starting point, I wouldn't recognise it and go right passed it. We stared at this for what felt like forever until my head hurt too much.
I saw some of the other students taking a break and I looked down, and suddenly realized my koi was flowing erratically. I froze in shock as I tried to calm it down. After a moment, it started flowing back in its original path.
Just what is this equation? Is it safe to study? Everyone else is but I've never heard of an equation that could change how your koi moved. Maybe thats why its only available for 'S' rank students?
Soon, I started to study the equation again and this time, I tried to pay attention to my koi. As soon as I got through the entire loop, my koi started to flow in the weird pattern. It was slow at first, still somewhat my original pattern but the longer I studied the more messed up it got until I hear it.
A clear chime telling me class was over.