Sofia looked up from her work, she could hear the vein in her ear pump blood so quiet was the room. In front of her stretched out a forest worth of bowed heads, immersed in finishing their work. They had a bell to finish a dozen or so enchantments ranging from fundamental and rugged wards to delicate and precise enchantments meant for alchemy tools.
She was about halfway through but without a way to judge time she had no idea how much she had left. Ironicly enough the part she was working on is meant to end up in a bellmeter.
"?" Air filled the Junker's cheeks as she turned her head left and saw the girl disassembling her enchanting station while the twelve colourful metal parts were neatly organised in front of her by their size. "Lady Siri? What are you doing for the Throne's sake?" Her whisper filled the quiet workshop causing some students to turn around and stare into the corner the two were pressed into.
Lady dar Blackworm and her guide were the only ones allowed to sit together which caused Sofia to brim with delight with the opportunity to see the Gift, as she called the girl whenever the seemingly endless gifts the System had given her were at the forefront of Sofia's mind.
"Are you finished already?" The blond enchantress's eyes went wide as she picked up the glowing metal lever enchanted with water-seeking.
Enchanted items always glew in a way, especially the runes in which the enchantment was held. The light was always a delicate halo or a moonlight lamp and not the torch-like glow which pained Sofia's eyes the longer she marvelled at it.
"Why are you staring into the light? Human eyes receive Light damage if you stare for so long." The pale mage grabbed hold of the lever and leveraged it out of Sofia's hands.
"I have never seen such a thing, Siri."
"You said to do my best. Do humans not enchant their items to such a level?"
"Do? Rather they can't. I had never seen someone create such a-"
Without any warning, the metal parts lost their colour, and the elaborate symbols capturing the magic began to flake off, similar to a discarded Status card.
"Lady Siri?"
"Oh, the enchantments all broke..." The steel mask visibly shook as it tried to allow something underneath it to punch through. "C-could I watch you enchant?" The high noble leaned onto her guide, making her colourful eyes appear ever-vibrant as a hint of desperation entered her voice.
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"Of course Lady Siri, I don't see a problem with this." The Junker's heels wanted to click against each other but she held this habit for long enough to dissipate on its own. Fixing her posture she angled herself in such a way for Lady Siri to see what she was doing without it being obvious to outsiders. Just as she was about to start she felt something tug on her cuff pulling her arm toward the panicked show off.
"Sofi-ah, how will I do these?" The girl asked picking up one of the parts Sofia had finished.
"In this book, between pages seventy-eight and hundred and twenty-two, those are the parts we need to do." Sofia held still for a moment hearing her own albeit strangely endearing rendition of her name before she opened the still-locked manuscript wobbling on the half-deconstructed support. "No strange lights Lady Siri this time, understand? Your message won't land well if you are going to fail a class."
The girl nodded before resting her chin on Sofia's shoulder, looking far more relaxed than a moment prior.
The roar of a bell passing caused the classroom to be filled with the sound of bones snapping and tired sighs as people began to stretch their petrified spines. Joining them was Sofia who almost hit the high noble as she spread her arms above her head into a cross.
"How did you do?"
"I don't know." The girl said while a dozen of enchanted items lay in front of her. Half of them looked precisely like the ones shining a dim light into Sofia's sea-green eyes while the other half, the parts which Sofia had finished before Siri had asked for her help looked like diamonds. They were not as flashy as her previous enchantments but to Sofia's eyes, it was a far prettier sight. Maybe it was because she was an enchantress that the runes arranged in a strangely mechanical and angular fashion appealed to her or perhaps the human eye had a soft spot for shapely tiles but regardless her eyes couldn't peel themselves off.
She had viewed the girl's odd need to show off as a necessary thing she had to do to achieve her goal but for this moment the Junker hated that fashion dictated that the glow of an enchantment corresponded to its beauty. Whoever had come up with such a lie had to be publicly struck down for forcing the girl to hide her runes in the blinding light.
"I'm sure it's going to be alright." Sofia felt that the girl, to accomplish her goal wanted to remain humble even with these masterpieces on the table. Feeling a sense of duty toward the pale noble she followed in lock step saying what she thought the girl wanted to hear, accidentally patting her hair in the process as the Blackworm rested her head waiting for her mana to recharge.
"How did the two talkative women do?" The lecturer approached Sofia and she gave him a polite nod while spreading her arms to point at the two dozen parts, also beginning to feel her strength leaving her body. "Oh, you actually finished everything?" The Oriri man poked the air with his finger counting each enchanted part.
"We did Sir."
"Did Lady dar Blackworm enchant these?" He pointed at the pile closest to the girl who lazily watched what was going on from Sofia's shoulder.
"Yes, she did."
"Lady Blackworm, why do you have such radically different enchantment styles?" The man asked the girl while picking up one of Sofia's parts. "...Nevermind you don't have to answer." He said while tapping two identical parts against each other beside Sofia.
"Sir, Lady Siri's first batch failed so she copied me to try to save time." She answered.
To be honest with herself Sofia had no clue why the girl even bothered coping with her work. Somehow an entire half a dozen enchantments behind, the girl had managed to tie her at the very end.
"Hmmmmm, if you had finished there is no excuse for the rest of them. " The greybeard raised his voice enough for people around them to hear before marching to the front of the class. "Everyone, double the pieces you haven't completed and bring them tomorrow!" And with this, the class ended with an accompanied chorus of moans as only the two appeared to have finished.
"Why is everyone staring at us?" The raven's black hair rubbed against Sofia's skin as the girl moved her head following the parade of anger and exhaustion.
"Not everyone it seems." Sofia answered as she saw one familiar face running against the current trying to get to them.