The rain that had been threatening all morning finally broke over Nirlith City, drenching the streets and everyone unfortunate enough to be far from shelter. Dozens dashed into covered doorways, squeezing in as best as they could, even if errant raindrops splashed onto sleeves and skirts. The droplets bounced off the cobblestones and soaked leather shoes and sandals alike.

Yuriko sighed as her Anima prevented so much as a drop from touching her hair. Perhaps sitting in the al fresco area of the cafe had not been such a good idea after all. Seated across from her, with her long ears upright and stiff, Blanca Ferron held a cup of fragrant tea with her fingers. Her nose twitched fetchingly as she stared up at the rain clouds.

“I didn’t think it would rain this morning,” Blanca said. “They usually happen around 3 o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Really?” Yuriko asked with a raised eyebrow. She had a cup of coffee in hand. She had not expected to find the Irvallan drink here, but apparently, coffee beans were often imported from Xotha and nations farther south of the Great Erithmus Lake.

“It happens every Season of Earth,” Blanca sniffed. “Towards the middle, anyway.”

Yuriko nodded and gazed at the Khuni woman appreciatively. Unlike the Progeny she encountered in Karcellia, who looked more like a human-shaped rabbit, Khuni beastkin was on the other end of the spectrum. They looked mostly human except for the ears, the fluffy tail that she had to seriously resist fluffing, and sharp claws instead of fingernails and toenails. A few other features were reminiscent of bunnies–like Blanca’s nose and her penchant for wiggling it to accentuate her point–but without the ears and tail, it would not have been distinctly inhuman.

“Hmmm.” Yuriko nodded as she sipped her cup.

The coffee here had a different taste from what she had in Karcella, and a different preparation too, she thought. Part of the cafe’s service was that the server brewed the cup right next to them. It was a fascinating process. The Tigris server had brought out a wide stone bowl on a metal tripod, filled with heated sand. The coffee beans had been ground to a fine powder and placed at the bottom of a metal cup. Using tongs, the server placed that cup on the heated sand, added water, and waited for it to almost boil over. Then he poured the black liquid into Yuriko’s cup and repeated the process until hers was full. There was also a dish of cold cream, as well as a jar filled with sugar cubes at the side.

Just the plain black coffee was tasty, even if it was slightly bitter. She enhanced her sense of smell and taste to detect the brew’s undertones and she discovered hints of citrus in the blend. Coupled with a slice of honey cake really brought the coffee to new heights.

“Pardon us, excuse us!” A couple of servers ran from inside the shop, dragging an awning to cover the al fresco. The pitter-patter of the rain continued all the while, though the raindrops practically turned to steam once it came near her. Soon enough, the area around them was covered in miniature clouds.

“I still don’t see how you could keep that up indefinitely,” Blanca said sourly as she nibbled a strawberry.

Yuriko shrugged and laughed, not telling anything.

Blanca’s nose twitched again, and the woman murmured hesitantly, “You…you’ve been alone, haven’t you?”

“Hmm, well, I live with Ryoko at home,” Yuriko said as she took another sip. “Desire and Devotee are usually in the hot springs.”

“Hmm.” Blanca nodded. Her ears were waggling, and her cheeks were flushed.

Yuriko sighed to herself. She could feel the threads her Mien spun around Blanca thickening despite her best efforts to stop it. Her Mien was still in Tranquility but somehow, the Khuni woman provoked Aspiration. Actually, from what she could see, Blanca was close to the next stage. Yuriko had tried to cut the threads, but every time she did, they would reform the next time they saw each other. And it wasn’t as if she could avoid Blanca for no reason.

Should she give in? It wasn’t as if Blanca was unattractive. Quite the opposite, actually, the Khuni woman had dainty features that made Yuriko want to pinch and squeeze. Her flushed appearance was quite comely, and that fluffy tail was quite the temptation. But…

It wasn’t as if she was that attracted to Blanca. She was well within Damien’s tastes, but as far as Yuriko knew, Damien loved women of all shapes and races. She was somewhat worried that if she indulged in casual relationships, she’d strengthen the resonance with the man’s remnant memories and she’d lose herself. Perhaps when her Will was stronger, she would be fine indulging. Besides, she was curious about making love with the opposite sex now, and she could get her fill with Gwendith. Once her lover returned, anyway.

Yuriko smiled at Blanca and didn’t answer the murmured question. The Khuni woman sighed and drank her tea. Today’s date was because Blanca asked, and was ostensibly for sharing information.

“Your Elemental Heart Refinement Formula must be complex and powerful,” Blanca said, “if it results in a Domain such as that. Or is it because of your Affinity?”

“Something like that,” Yuriko chuckled.

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“Well, the library has a copy of the most used refinement formulas,” Blanca continued. “But if you want to study the advanced formulas, it isn’t so easy. Besides, why would you need to change it? Clearly, you already have one that’s quite potent.”

Yuriko shook her head. “I don’t intend to change anything. Merely to broaden my horizons.”

Elemental Heart Refinement Formulas were how Magi improved. Contrary to what she initially thought, that Magi only used ambient Elemental energies to cast their spells, Elemental Hearts also stored elemental energy which could be used to cast spells. Inscribed spells were those that were etched into the Heart and the Magi could cast such spells without any other component. The elemental energies gathered into the Heart were what was used to power those spells.

That was the most basic formula that Magi used, but of course, there were better formulas beyond that. Well, better in the sense that they allowed the Magi to do other things with their Elemental Heart other than using it as a reservoir. In reality, each formula traded away that basic ability for some other thing. The quality of the formula dictated how efficient the conversion was.

Since Yuriko did not have an Elemental Heart, but an Animus Core instead, she could not use the formulas. But she was sure that she could derive useful runescript patterns from them, and apply them to her Anima.

One of the formulas made the stored elemental energy denser, much like what the Imperial Path did, but the scope of the formula in the library was too limited to be of much use. Yuriko had her own runescript formation embedded in her Anima to compress a portion of her Animus but it was rather basic and cobbled together. She couldn’t use the Imperial Path’s method nor reference it, since it involved constricting her Anima within the bounds of her body, so she had been excited to find that formula within the library.

She was rather embarrassed by how long it took her to find what turned out to be common knowledge. The trimester was almost two-thirds of the way through, too.

Blanca hummed in thought, then asked, “Are you trading formulas?”

Yuriko grinned. “I can. Though probably not what you think.”

Blanca’s ears quivered, flattened sideways, then sprung up again, “You mean?”

“I’ve already taught some students, it’s not much of a stretch to provide formal documentation of the Four Phases of the Sword.”

Blanca nodded. “That would be comparable, but…” She frowned. “I’m not sure how useful it could be…no, it is useful, but I wonder how it would mesh with the curriculum. Only the Battle Magi Department would receive an immediate upgrade…”

Yuriko scoffed. “The Jade Mountain Style would attract a thick cloud of Earth Elemental energies. I think the Geomancy Department would find that useful. It’s not that much of a stretch to adjust the stances for different instruments.”

“You’re right, but how long would that take?”

“A few weeks?” Yuriko hummed. “I’ve adjusted it for the spear before. What type of instrument would Geomancers use anyway?”

“A baton or a ruler,” Blanca answered.

Yuriko nodded. “The last time I adjusted the Four Phases was back when I was still at Ac…er, Magus. I believe I can adjust the movements and resonance for non-weapon use.”

“If you say so,” Blanca said. “If you can provide proof of concept that should be enough merits to allow an exchange.” She grinned at Yuriko, then said slyly, “You could provide the Radiant Infusion that we asked for.”

Yuriko laughed drily. “If only it were that easy. I’ve never done it before and Radiant is quite volatile. Unless you don’t mind Radiant energy running rampant in the middle of the campus…?”

“No, I don’t think that would be alright,” Blanca hastily said.

She took another long sip of her tea. The rain had started to weaken, and soon, the sun shone through the clouds. Today was a Lightday, and everyone was on break, so it wasn’t as if either of them needed to return to campus. Still, Blanca looked up over Yuriko's shoulder and gasped.

“What is it?”

“It’s the Austere Warden!” she said, pointing up into the air. Yuriko turned to look, but the awning was in the way so she had to scoot over next to Blanca. When she saw it, she whistled. An airship. Not like the flying commuter trams of Realmheart, but quite similar to Imperial Chaos ships, but only if they were hitched under a large, oblong structure. She had seen pictures of them in books at the library so she wasn’t that surprised. Only, she had not expected to see anything like that coming to Nirlith City. The republic did not use airships too much since other than the fact that they were faster than Steeld carriages, their defences weren’t that good.

“It’s the dean’s transport,” Blanca said at Yuriko’s questioning look.

“Ah.”

“Hmm, I think we might be called to a meeting soon.”

“Right now? Today?” Yuriko asked.

“Maybe. Depends on what news the dean brought.”

“Why was he away for so long anyway?” Yuriko grumbled.

“The dean is part of the republic’s governing council,” Blanca explained. “He’s one of the nation’s leaders. With Virtalla City’s elections coming up, the political battlefield must be heating up.”

“Elections?” Yuriko muttered. “How? Why? And who?”

Blanca laughed and said, “Let’s talk while walking.”

“Sure.”

Yuriko called for the server. The coffee, tea, and pastries were already consumed and little remained by crumbs on her plate. Unfortunately, the Sweet Delight Cafe didn’t have any chocolate offerings otherwise this would have become Yuriko’s favourite, but few shops actually served chocolate of any kind anyway.

They paid for their meal which had cost somewhere in the vicinity of a gold and a half. Blanca tried to pay for it herself but Yuriko steadfastly declined.

“So, there are five seats in the Bresian Council,” Blanca said as the two of them strolled towards the campus on the slopes of Mount Savarro. “Virtalla City holds one, Bresia City holds another. Both seats are won via an election every six years, and it also coincides with elections for many government offices. Virtalla and Bresia don’t hold elections simultaneously, but on a three-year gap. The deans of Niria Academy and Briarwin School only hold a council position, and the last seat is for the Adventurers’ Guild leader. That one is a bit special since they can only break ties and cannot really push any agendas…”

Blanca continued to explain while Yuriko simply listened. As fascinating as the discourse was… well, it really wasn’t, she rather enjoyed the Khuni woman’s melodic voice. Hmmm, maybe a tryst wouldn’t be so bad…

When they arrived back on campus, they were met with a messenger who said that there was an emergency meeting. Blanca grinned knowingly and Yuriko couldn’t help but chuckle.

This was the first time she would meet the dean, and rumour had it that he was a Grand Magus. She wondered if she could hold her own in a fight against him. It would be like fighting a Knight Dominus, after all.