When we return to my room through the portal, Judith is asleep. Quietly, I accompany Ronan to the door and close it behind him. For a moment, I freeze, thinking about what would have happened if she had been awake, because so far she hasn't run into Ronan. Or, even worse, if someone from one of the neighboring rooms sees a boy leaving our room at this late hour.
I think I need to find another place for the portal. Either that or not return through it accompanied at unseemly hours.
I shake my head and go to sleep, the little I can, until breakfast time.
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The next day passes quite normally. Well, except for lunch, where we are the center of attention of all the stares and whispers when Darius gets up and, without further ado, heads to Ronan's table.
He is alone, as always. As the redhead approaches with determined steps, the huge room falls silent.
"Hey, Ronan," he says while leaning his hands on his table. "We were talking about inviting you to eat with us and I just realized I haven't apologized for the other day. I didn't know you thought I was attacking Bianca. Sorry about the punch. If you want, when you have more mastery with that mace, let's have a match. No hard feelings?" He extends his right hand.
I can see how the expressions on Ronan's face change. First it's rejection, then suspicion, and finally, surprise.
Darius is there, holding his hand up. He's brave. Either he doesn't think, or he doesn't care, how his social position would look if an outcast rejects him. Because that's another thing, I think people avoid Ronan even more than before, even look at him worse. I have to investigate it, but honestly, with my schedule being so tight...
Ronan's gesture, raising his hand with sudden determination and grasping Darius's, pulls me out of my musings. Good for him! I think the redhead is squeezing when shaking it and the difference in strength between them is noticeable, but there's not even a hint of pain on Ronan's face. As if he were used to it or had suffered worse things.
"No hard feelings," the necromancer answers him in a firm voice.
"Perfect! Well, look, we were talking about the dungeon we're going to this weekend. And Bianca told us about your mastery with the mace. Come eat with us and we'll tell you about it, I'm sure you'll be up for the dungeon to train more."
Before my astonished eyes, and those of a large part of the room, Ronan's face lights up with a happy smile that seems to chase away the darkness of his presence. But only a little, as that sinister aura surrounding him doesn't let itself be easily scared off. The boy stands up and follows the redhead, content. And I wonder, if he's been locked up as he told me, does he know what it's like to have friends?
But no, I don't want to feel sorry for him. First, because I consider that no one deserves that feeling. And second, because he'll surely take advantage of it if he notices.
And here he comes, to our table where Lily isn't. Mary greets him with a smile, although it's evident it's hard for her. The prince and his two friends are a bit tense and reluctant throughout the meal. However, they realize that having a necromancer in the party improves our odds of successfully clearing the intermediate-grade dungeon they've been granted access to. I make sure it's not a dungeon with an affinity for darkness and Ronan stares at me as if asking "Why not?" Well, I think it's clear: I don't want any more incidents because of the pup.
As for me, I really enjoy the meal. When it's time to get up and return to class, I don't feel like it at all. The day continues with more studying and more routine and, in the afternoon, I meet the fire magic professor. He's quite young, along with Catrina, he's one of the youngest professors I know, they must be in their early twenties. When we finish the class, I ask him for a moment. There's something I want to ask him.
"You see, it's about my fire arrow. It does one point of damage."
"That's normal."
"But when I had intelligence 3, it also did 1 point and now I have intelligence 5. Shouldn't it do more damage?"
"But what magical fundamentals have they taught you at home?" he asks me, very surprised, and his body language reminds me of a teacher I had on Earth in high school, when in the last year a new boy arrived in class and didn't know how to multiply.
He came from another country and I from another world. A pity I can't use it as an excuse.
"Ehh..."
"Unbelievable... Go to the library, ask for the book on magical fundamentals and read the second chapter. There you have the tables. In any case, with your medium affinity for fire magic, until you have seven intelligence or raise the spell to advanced, you won't do two points of damage. And now, if you'll excuse me, they're waiting for me."
As you can imagine, I also leave, almost running. I want to borrow that book before dinner. I do so but don't have a chance to read it until I'm back in my room. Once there, I immerse myself in reading. Apparently, the damage of a spell depends on your affinity for that type of magic, your intelligence points and the rank you have in the spell. Not all spells level up the same, as sometimes they give you effects like cooldown reduction or, as in fire spells, burns. The book doesn't have the tables for all the spells, but it does have a basis for me to get an idea.
And by the way, from what I'm seeing, a mage normally has the spells they use the most at intermediate or high level. I think the headmaster has one at grandmaster level and some of the older professors at master level. Or at least that's what the excited students say when they see them.
One thing I also realize is why Mary is here despite being a commoner: having a high affinity, something unusual, means having a lot of potential to grow quickly. Oh my gosh, the monster Ronan can be as he improves. Or me with my spirit element.
GENERIC DAMAGE TABLES. The inner values of the table refer to the wizard's intelligence. A table is shown for each affinity level, these being low, medium and high.
Low magical affinity for the element.
Spell level/Damage points Minor Low Intermediate High Advanced Master Grandmaster Legendary Mythic 1 1-9 1-8 1-7 1-6 1-5 1-4 1-3 1-2 1 2 10-18 9-16 8-14 7-12 6-10 5-8 4-6 3-4 2 3 19-27 17-24 15-21 13-18 11-15 9-12 7-9 5-6 3 4 28-36 25-32 22-28 19-24 16-20 13-16 10-12 7-8 4 5 37-45 33-40 29-35 25-30 21-25 17-20 13-15 9-10 5
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Medium magical affinity for the element.
Spell level/Damage points Minor Low Intermediate High Advanced Master Grandmaster Legendary Mythic 1 1-6 1-6 1-5 1-5 1-4 1-3 1-2 1 1 2 7-12 7-12 6-10 6-10 5-8 4-6 3-4 2-3 1 3 13-18 13-17 11-15 11-14 9-12 7-9 5-6 4-5 2 4 19-24 18-23 16-20 15-19 13-16 10-12 7-8 6-7 3 5 25-30 24-28 21-25 20-24 17-20 13-15 9-10 8-9 4
High magical affinity for the element.
Spell level/Damage points Minor Low Intermediate High Advanced Master Grandmaster Legendary Mythic 1 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-3 1-3 1-2 1 1 1 2 5-8 5-8 5-7 4-6 4-5 3-4 2-3 1 1 3 9-12 9-11 8-10 7-9 6-7 5-6 4-5 2 1 4 13-16 12-15 11-13 10-12 8-9 8-6 6 3-4 2 5 17-20 16-17 14-16 13-15 10-11 9-10 7-8 5-6 3
I remain thoughtful for a while. During my fight with the skeletons in the dungeon for travelers from other worlds, I had intelligence 3. With the octopuses and zombies, I already had it at 5. There I went from applying one point of fire damage along with the sword hit to two points. Well, cutting octopuses was like cutting butter but I attributed it to them not having hard bones like the skeletons. And now... well, at low level and with intelligence 5 I'm still applying two. The damage hasn't increased. That said, it lasts three minutes no less: that damage is applied to all the sword blows I'm able to deal during that time. It's not two mana points for two fire arrows that do two damage each and that's it. No... it's a genuine exaggeration. I think I'm understanding why spirit channeling is so broken.
And only I possess it.
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As for the rest of the week, it passes too slowly. I imagine it's because I'm eager for Saturday to arrive. The only relevant thing is that one night, while I'm studying in my room, a notification appears giving me a new mastery:
Congratulations. You have just learned the Scholar mastery. Your memorization speed increases by 10% and you obtain +1 wisdom point.
Great! I'm glad I didn't lose it. Does this mean that if I train with a staff they would give me the mastery?
Interesting.