The bright sun slowly rose with a bright radiance. Inside of room 140, the two girls were still sleeping, when Verika awoke. She looked out the window and saw the sun. 'Oh no! I'm late' she thought. She quickly changed into school uniform, a white tunic and pants, and brushed her hair. She made her way out of the dorm and went towards Professor Nyakos Living area. She sped up the pace and saw Someone exiting a small house near a lake. She soon arrived and saw Professor Nyako outside her door.
"Good morning Professor Nyako," Verika said.
"Ah. you're Just on time. Good morning Verika." Nyako said, trying to suppress her excitement and act more mature than yesterday. "Follow me, Verika. I'll take you to a space made for teaching." Nyako said, as she walked towards the path.
"Yes, Teacher!" Verika replied, as she quickly followed. They walked down the path, and passed many buildings. Now, there were more students wandering about. "Don't they have classes to go to?" Verika asked.
"Classes for regular students, ones without someone to guide them one on one, dont start until the afternoon. I guess you can say you are lucky and unlucky, hehe." Nyako replied. As they continued, they attracted many gazes. Most were on Verika. 'I wish people would stop staring at me' Verika thought, as she blushed. She walked up closer to Nyako, to lessen the attention. Nyako looked back, and chuckled, and continued on her way.
Soon the two neared a seemingly ordinary building. The color was a simple white, and the roof was cone shaped. It looked much like a turret from a castle, but only 15 feet high. Nyako entered, and Verika followed. Inside this ordinary building, there were multiple doors around the room, with only a small space between each. Above each door there was a sign, with names on each. Nyako walked up to one near the front door, which had her name on the sign. "What is this room for, Teacher?" Verika asked, with a confused expression.
"Follow me inside, and ill explain." Nyako said, and opened the door. The two walked in, and Verika was stunned, as she looked around. All she could see was white, no matter where she looked. She turned around, and saw Nyako closing the door. As soon as she did, the door disappeared. "Alright. Let me explain. This room is known as Mentors' Rift. It allows whoever owns the room to project what they are saying into the white 'abyss'.Only the top 20 strongest of the academy are allowed to own a room. This building is also an exclusive for the school. You'll never find one anywhere else." Nyako said with a smile.
"Teacher if you have a room, what is your rank in the school?" Verika asked. "Hehe, im rank Number 3," Nyako replied, with a proud look.
"Back to what we came here for. First I will teach you about the basic elements. There are five of them, and they are Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and Metal." As she spoke, a sphere appeared which was split into five parts, each part holding one of the five elements. "Although they are the five basic elements doesnt mean they are the only ones. There are other, more extreme elements. But they are more rare to come across. Each practitioner, someone like you or me, can have any elements, with the five basic being more common. Fire and water also have sub-elements that practitioners can have. Fire has flame and magma, while water has Ice and water." Nyako explained. As she went through the explanation, the sphere split each part into two, with their sub-elements inside. Verika was listening intently, as her eyes windened. She was surprised at the projections. She felt many different effects at once. Cool but hot, Heavy but light. These effects formed a strange equilibrium, and none brought a harmful effect.
'I wonder, how powerful would someone be if they had an affinity towards every basic element?' Verika thought to herself. 'They should be very powerful. I'll have to read about this in the library.' Nyako continued explaining the elements and their basic properties.
"Since we both have an affinity towards ice, I can teach you the best method of leading the particles from the atomsphere around your veins, to create a mystical copy of them." Nyako said. "Teacher, what are 'particles' ?" Verika asked, with a confused expression. "Particles are what we practitioners use to fuel our power. Levels are divided by how many particles we have absorbed and how fast we absorb them. For example, someone with one affinity and an average connection to it, they should be able to advance to the Vein Copy 1st level in about 1 week. Of course the difficulty increases with how many affinities you have that is an element, as you need particles from the atomsphere that contain the specific element. Of course the difficulty lessens with a better connection." Nyako explained.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Is that why there are special parts of the school with different environments?" Verika asked. "Exactly. You cannot absorb particles for fire in a snowy environment." Nyako said.
"What if you don't have any affinity to an element?" Verika questioned. "People with a non-element affinity get particles through converting already absorbed particles into the right particle. You do this by making the particle pass through the heart, and the desired paticle will exchange with the particle. Don't worry, this wont affect your physical body at all and wont bring any harm." Nyako said.
"Also teacher, you said something about Vein Copy level 1. What is that? Are those the levels you talked about?" Verika asked.
"Vein Copy is the beginning realm for every practitioner. No matter who you are, you must start here. This is where you lead particles through your pores and into your veins to make a mystical copy of them. These particles are not harmful at all, and can even help with blood flow. Of course, every one has a different training technique, and so the amount of particles you can lead through the veins varies. Once you absorb 100 particles you can be said to reach level 1 of Vein Copy. To reach level 2, you must absorb 1000 particles. Level 3 10000. It increases by one zero every level, and there are 6 levels in total for this realm, requiring you to have 1 billion particles in your body. Of course, if you have many affinities, you need a collected amount of 1 billion, not one biollion for each one. This means the one with more particles will have a larger affect on your abilities." Nyako said. As verika listened, she grew more interested. When she heard the requirements for Vein Copy level 6 though, she was stunned. '1 billion?! That'll take a lifetime!' She thought to herself. "I will explain to you how to reach the second realm, Mana Development, after you reach the peak of Vein Copy
"Well, i suppose that is enough for today. I won't be able to teach you tomorrow, so explore the campus and get used to your surroundings. Maybe then you can make a few friends." Nyako said, as she wiper her hand down, and a door appeared. The two of them walked out, and Verika realized that it was already sundown. She was appalled at how much time had passed. 'We got here this morning, and it was just a little after sunrise. What is up with this?' She thought. "Its because time flows differently in mentors rift." Nyako said, as if reading Verikas mind. "Go to the north side of campus, thats a perfect environment for your training. Just follow the manual you have and you should be fine." Nyako said. 'I can't wait to see what this little girl achieves in the future.' She thought.
"Thank you, for teaching me today." Verika said, as she departed from the building, heading north. On her way, she naturally attracted many gazes. She tried her best to ignore them. As she looked forward, she could see a forest, made of large Verika trees. With a fence surrounding it, there was a booth next to a gate, with a young man sitting in it. She walked up and asked the young man, "Is this for training ice related techniques?" The young man looked up, stunned by verikas appearance. He didnt answer Verikas question. "Hello?" She said. He awoke from hsi stupor and nervously said, "Y-yes. This place is for anyone who has an ice affinity. You are teleported to an empty tree and can practice for as long as you want." he said.
"Alright. So i just walk in and it teleports me?" Verika asked. "Yes," the young man replied. Verika entered through the gate, and instantly felt mystical, as if she was floating through space. Soon she appeared inside of a tree. It had enough space for about 3 people, and had a pillow and a blanket underneath, for practicing. Verika sat down on the pillow, and took out the manual her grandfather gave her. The book started off instantly with the practice method. 'Imagine a small blue orb entering through your pores. These small orbs are Ice Particles. This is what it means to absorb Particles' Verika read. 'Lead these small orbs throughout your body. Circulate them through your veins.' As Verika did this, she found it fairly easy. When the first orb went around, she moved onto the second. Soon the third fourth, until she entered a mindless state, where only the practice method existed in her mind. Not long after, the orbs in the surroundings created an invisible whirlpool. If anyone else were to be training here, they would feel the ice particles going towards a certain area.
The night passed silently, but Verikas practice continued. It soon became the next day, but Verika was still in the tree. She only stopped when it became afternoon. She was exhausted from all the training. She stood up, and saw a door behind the pillow. She opened it up, and felt the strange sensation of space travel once again. She appeared in front of the gate and looked around. Only after she confirmed her location, she looked at the young man in the booth. She gave her thanks to him and quickly left towards the dorm, unaware of the surprised look she got.
Verika entered her dorm, and saw Alice. Too tired to say anything, she quickly went to bed and fell alseep. Alice looked at her, as if to make sure this was Verika. Verika was unaware, as she fell into a deep sleep.
"Strange...." Alice mumbled, before she left the dorm.