The rain had let up by the time Gray led Liam out of the apartment. The sun was already covered in a blanket of heavy, blue-gray clouds, yet one could notice it starting to descend past the horizon. Occasionally a few bands of scarlet light penetrated the clouds, only to be covered again by another wandering cloud.
Liam was personally impressed by the wide spectrum El-Melloi's students fell in. While Flat was outgoing, loud, and sociable, Gray's voice rarely raised above a whisper. He was grateful that she would at least respond to him.
"So, how long have you been here? At the Tower, I mean." He attempted to make small talk as they walked through the slow and scarcely populated streets. He could see many bright lights shining two streets down, almost blending into one another to create a miniature sun. All those lights surrounded one building: the Clock Tower.
"Um... About 7 years?" She responded, taking a turn away from the clock tower. Liam followed her reluctantly, expecting the dorms to be at the actual tower. She walked quite fast, almost sending his breathing into an audible volume. He strained to make sure Gray didn't hear it.
"What kind of magic do you do?"
Gray shut down at the question, her mind turning over and over in an attempt to find the correct answer. Her pace likewise slowed as they walked along the cement sidewalk.
"I-It's fine, you don't have to answer that." Liam caved in quickly, not wanting to cause the girl a headache.
"No, it's just... my head isn't built for this magecraft stuff. I'm horrible of making sense of it all." Gray explained as she shook her head. She swung a left through a large metal gate. Past it laid a large brick building, similar to the Lord's apartment. However, this was by far bigger, and made of gray, dull bricks, blending into the depressing sky above.
"I can definitely understand that." He assured her, dragging his suitcase over from the cement onto the more rough asphalt as they made their way to the dormitory entrance. "Lord El-Melloi was talking to me before-all his words did was give me a headache."
"I know!" She exclaimed, almost causing Liam to jump from the sudden increase of volume. "I sit in class and I can't for the life of me retain anything he says." She walked up the steps to the double-door entrance. Liam pushed the handle of his suitcase and carried it up the steps.
"We're just too normal for those weird magicians." He remarked with a grin, entering the residence. Gray paused for a moment, her face returning to a more somber expression. Realizing he said something wrong, he quickly changed the subject.
"Well this place looks nice. Do you stay here too?"
"Yes. Right side are the girls dormitories, and left are... boys..." She shook out of her trance for a moment, stepping in front of Liam and looking down the two halls.
He was genuine in saying how nice the place was. The walls were of an off-white color as opposed to the gray outside, and the floors consisted of a nice, dark brown wood paneling. The few lights attached to the walls gave off a pleasing orange glow-the internal world of the dormitory embodied warmth, while the world outside was cold and dark.
Directly to their right was a sort of receptionist desk, where a small room filled with papers, a printer, and a large, box-like computer sat. In front of them was a wide windowsill, whose windows stretched all the way to the ceiling. Two halls on the left and right separated the building into the two wings for girls and boys.
"Are you looking for someone?" He questioned. She stopped her small ritual upon seeing no one around or out of their rooms, walking to the left hall.
"Just the dorm supervisor. He can be a bit..." Gray cut off the sentence as she walked, and Liam could see she was trying to think of an appropriate descriptor.
"Annoying?" His mouth moved without his consent, spilling out the first word he thought of. Gray didn't reply, but gave a small nod as confirmation. They passed a few doors until she stopped, retrieving a small key from the inside of her coat. She unlocked the fourth door and pushed it open, gesturing for Liam to enter.
It was rather small, which was surprising up until the point that he realized there was only one bed.
"I don't have any roommates?" Liam questioned as he threw the suitcase onto the bed, spinning around to get a proper look at the room.
"Students who come by recommendation usually get individual dorms to live in." She explained, remaining in the doorway. Considering the fact that it was a bedroom for one person, it was pleasantly sized, with a closet on the right wall across from the bed, and a dresser directly next to it. A light colored desk was shoved in the corner between the right wall and the dresser. He turned back to Gray with a smile, which was a weak attempt at not being awkward.
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"Thanks for bringing me here." Liam said as he turned back to the suitcase, slipping off the still damp blue jacket he was wearing. To his surprise, Gray remained in the doorway. He turned to her again with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually... Sir wanted me to teach you some basic stuff, so-"
"Oh! Right, I forgot." Liam looked from his suitcase to Gray before finally reaching a decision. "Let me unpack and change first, then we can start."
"I'll wait at the entrance." She said quickly before closing the door.
Liam gulped, that sensation returning to his attention. Blood pumping, heart beating. The anxiety he felt previously made itself known again-and this time without his previous adrenaline.
"It's going to fine, Liam." He huffed, talking to himself as he began to unpack his suitcase, both actions taken to distract himself from reality. He was going to start learning magic.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll be, like, a super genius and impress everyone. Yeah. I'm definitely a genius." The word spilled from him like vomit, almost making himself laugh with such a remark. He knew he wouldn't be a genius, but the question of how talented he was began to weigh on him more.
- -
Liam eventually exited his room. The new, warm clothes managed to soothe him, leaving him grateful he was out of the damp shirt and pants he wore previously.
He kept a different jacket, this time black, tied around his waist, with large, blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt.
He made his way back down the hall, passing three other doors before arriving in the center reception room. Gray stood next to the double doors, staring at something at the reception desk. Liam walked towards her, making sure his footsteps were loud enough to inform her of his presence. It worked, as she immediately turned towards him.
"Follow me." Gray instructed quietly as she opened one of the double doors, walking down the steps and heading to the left. Liam did as he was told, following her to the side of the whole dormitory until they arrived directly behind it.
There was a decently sized courtyard, with a few arches enclosing a square space of bright green grass and a single tree in the middle. Gray approached said tree and threw herself down to the ground, sitting beneath it. Liam mimicked her and sat across from her.
"So, the first thing will be," She spoke as she reached inside her cloak and retrieved a small book, no larger than the size of her hand. She thumbed through the pages before finally landing on the desired one. "Magic Circuits. Do you know-"
"It's probably best that you assume I don't know anything."
"...This is going to be very difficult." She muttered to herself.
- -
"Can you feel it?" Gray inquired, watching the boy in front of her.
"...I think. No, definitely." Liam replied quietly. His eyes were closed, turned inwards to the imaginary circuits which ran through his body-or more accurately, his soul. Mana from around them flowed into them, circulating to produce Magical Energy.
It felt... odd, to say the least. It was as if he were his own lungs, willing oxygen inside and sending it through the capillaries and into the bloodstream manually. In fact, he had to make sure he kept breathing, in order to keep his circuits running. He could hear Gray give a sigh of relief and wondered if this stressed her out more than it did him.
"You can stop, then." She relaxed, not aware that she had been tensed up the entire time. Liam complied, opening his eyes and ceasing the flow of Mana into his circuits. After a moment of rest, Gray consulted the book of instructions she made, as per Lord El-Melloi II's request.
"Since you haven't begun to use a Thaumaturgical Foundation yet, you'll be first practicing Reinforcement." She read the written words slowly-as if she herself were processing them for the first time. "You will activate your circuits and process Magical Energy from the Mana around you. Then, you will inject that energy into either yourself or an object with the intention of 'reinforcing' it."
"Sounds easy enough." Liam replied, shaking out his arms and stretching out his legs. They had spent twenty minutes just for him to manage to activate his circuits, and another twenty to pull in Mana. The sun had already set by now. The only thing that kept them out of the darkness of night was a few lamps attached to the building and the arches around the courtyard. Unfortunately, they were rather far from them, being in the center, so it took some time for their eyes to adjust.
"It's actually one of the hardest magecrafts." Gray explained, still reading from her book. "It's just very simple. You'll either want to choose a specific part or limb to reinforce first."
Liam thought of commenting on why he couldn’t start with something simple and easy, but decided against it. The boy crossed his legs again and closed his eyes. He retreated into his mind, the internal world that he built himself.
An image of water falling, crashing into clouds of mist at the end of a waterfall.
The visualization activated his circuits, imbued with life and ready to work. A new nervous system just now awakened to breath in the Mana from the environment. He had trouble thinking of an activation spell, something meaningful to him, to change himself. But eventually he came to a result:
"Collide and Resolve." Liam spoke firmly, his words carrying power for and only for himself. The incantation wouldn't actually do any magic, but it would change him. Something about self-suggestion in order to perform magic. To morph him from a human into a circuit, his only purpose to perform Magecraft. He wasn't worried about that now, and instead focused on the actual spell at hand.
Mana flowed in from the air around them and entered his circuits. Cycling and cycling, his circuits processed this energy and changed it, producing Magical Energy instead. It built up slowly over a couple minutes, but it was only his second time utilizing this new organ.
After those two minutes, Liam decided he had enough energy, and begun to move it. Slowly, he pooled it into his eyes. It seeped into the two mushy objects, filling the spaces between the molecules, making it something more.
He opened his eyes slowly, struggling to keep the mental image.
The world was filled with almost blinding light. His eyes pierced the darkness as if it never existed, seeing in such detail he had never seen before. The fabric of Gray's hood, the bark of the tree, the ants climbing up it. It was all so-
A pain struck his eyes. Liam grunted, quickly shutting them and covering them with his hands. The energy quickly receded from his eyes. The images of the circuits and mana quickly faded away with the new pain. He could hear Gray shuffle closer, hovering over him.
"...Success?" She asked, her tone unsure and anxious. Liam slowly lifted his head and uncovered his eyes.
"Halfway." He said with a grin.