Trillia did her best to keep the shock from showing. Instead, she gave a pleasant smile and retrieved her books before returning to her room.

She didn't believe it was a mere coincidence that a Darktone was here. Fate and Destiny continued to be nudged in the direction of the [2nd Axle]'s choosing it seemed. Titan couldn't have been a sibling to Lord Arlyss. Surely Arlyss would have mentioned it. So it was another Darktone.

Perhaps it was an attempt on her life? Was that even something she had to worry about here? She buried her face in her hands, rubbing her eyes as she plopped into the chair at her desk.

"Focus. You are here to learn. You cannot be distracted." Taking a deep breath and steadying the spiral of conspiracy in her mind, she looked at the books in front of her.

It took a few hours to figure it out, but two of the three books were just references to the actual learning material. She found herself with all three books sitting open on her desk and constantly bouncing between each of them.

Six more hours in, and it felt like her mind might melt out of her skull. As she stood with a stretch, a knock came at her door. "Coming!"

Trillia walked over, and as she swung the door open, Blossom stood there waiting. "Hey, sorry to bother you, Fairtrade. I sort of needed a break, and this is one of the scheduled times for food. I thought maybe you'd like to get something to eat and maybe compare some notes?"

Trillia smiled wide and stepped into the hall, closing her door behind her. "Absolutely! I am just barely beginning to understand how to actually read the stuff we're supposed to be learning."

Blossom offered a nod as the two walked the hall. A few more people popped out with varying degrees of frustration and confusion evident on their faces. "Tell me about it! It took me a whole hour just to realize there's only really one book we have to know. What sort of crazy person writes two extra books just so a third can be understood?!"

"The Professor."

Trillia glanced over her shoulder as Tempest walked past them. "She's the author of all three books. The reason the reference books exist is because she teaches so many entities like us that simply do not understand the concepts she speaks of in the primary material. But other deities already know those simple concepts. Well, simple for them, I guess. So she can just hand them a copy of the primary book, and they will understand it."

Trillia and Blossom were surprised at how cordial Tempest was being and by her general knowledge of the subject. Blossom is the one who spoke up. "That's...incredibly insightful. I feel so far behind in what I should know."

Tempest paused and waited for the two of them to catch up. Unsurprisingly, the woman called Tempest had a rapid gait. "You two are the mortals, aren't you?"

That set both of the young women on edge. Tempest laughed faintly as she shook her head. "That makes so much more sense. It will be interesting to see how mortals handle all of this, but yes. You're right. You are behind. You're a few thousand years behind on the basic knowledge that most creatures need to become even lesser deities. Good luck, you'll both need it." With that, the woman faintly waved her hand at the two and once more started her power walk, presumably towards food.

The two came into the same hall and found Tempest was sitting on her own with a book in one hand and a fork in the other. The actual dish she was eating couldn't be discerned. It had some sort of enchantment on it that made it impossible to focus on. Looking around, Trillia realized it was the same for the meals of all the others.

Blossom motioned for Trillia to follow. Next to the wall was a small stack of plates and bowls. Blossom picked up a plate and set it on a heavily enchanted countertop. After a few seconds, the same blurred images appeared, and she picked it up with a smile. "Just think about a meal you've had. The reason you can't see mine is probably because our realms are so different. The system is trying to protect us from picking up knowledge that is forbidden in our home realms for whatever reason."

A few short seconds later, and Trillia had a large plate of bacon and eggs, the two girls moved their desks together as they ate.

"Enough, Tempest!" The voice came from a creature that Trillia couldn't quite make out, it was a quadraped with four arms and eight eyes. Looking at him caused her brain to hurt in a way that she wasn't used to, like he wasn't quite right and the enchantments on the place were doing their best. "If you are going to continue being such a petty child than you leave me no choice. I challenge you to a duel."

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The rest of the voices in the hall went silent. Tempest slowly stood with a little grin on her face. "I was hoping one of you lesser beings would be so bold as to challenge me. It will be a good lesson for everyone else about the pecking order!"

A voice that came across as a harsh whisper struck the minds of everyone in the class. "I'll officiate." Trillia's eyes fell on the figure that spoke. He looked...completely and utterly average. Nondescript face, brown eyes, short brown hair, human-esque. Her mana-sight said that there he had no mana of any kind.

Tempest and the would-be challenger glanced at him, and both seemed more nervous now. The challenger spoke as he bowed. "Thank you. May we know your name?"

The man shook his head as he began walking away, motioning for them to follow. His subtle beckoning had the entire new class up and following him, except Titan, who hadn't been present in the hall in the first place. Only as they followed what Trillia could only assume was an upper-classmen, did she realize that there were dozens, if not hundreds, of other people around. All of them were just outside of her sight until she walked. It was like the hall existed many, many times over, and she was getting a glimpse of people who were only partially there.

They were led to a wooden door that led into a large sandy arena. The man glanced at both duelists, and Trillia noticed a faint trickle of mana. The arena warped and twisted into a rocky terrain with pools of water and spears of dark rusted metal. "Go all out, remember, you can't die in this arena. Of course...you can feel pain. DuMont, overseeing a duel between Tempest and Lancaster."

Tempest and Lancaster stepped inside the arena, and a barrier arose around it. More people filtered in and chatted while making bets. She didn't recognize most of them. She stepped up next to DuMont. "Are these all other students here?"

DuMont glanced at her with a bit of surprise. "Yes, at any given time there are a few thousand students that The Professor teaches on various subjects. I take it you're part of a new class?" As Trillia nodded, DuMont continued. "What are you here to learn?"

The question surprised Trillia. She had assumed that everyone just come here to learn about the Aetherian plane. She had no idea why that had been her assumption and now felt a bit foolish for it. Tempest and Lancaster took their places on either side of the arena. "The Aetherian Plane, and you?"

"Begin."

DuMont spoke as he raised a finger to his lips. "Why don't we let them concentrate." Trillia nodded and turned her eyes to the arena, where a very big problem was made evident. Neither fighter was actually doing anything.

Both wore a dumbfounded look on their face as they stared down at their hands as if the appendages had offended them in some way. This got a rather large amount of other students laughing hysterically at the two new students.

It went on for a few minutes. Both students had beads of sweat running down their foreheads but hadn't moved an inch or attacked each other at all. DuMont spoke up. "First real lesson to the new students. There is an anti-magic zone on the entire school. Any skill you try to activate that uses more than a hundred mana is suppressed by that zone. The only magic above that threshold that works is The Professor's. This duel is a draw. Before any of you decide you're particularly skilled or tough, I'd take some time to read through all of the effects this place has. It's a book you can summon called The Classroom."

Tempest snorted in frustration. "Tough talk! Just because you know a little more about this place!"

The other student's laughter stopped. DuMont bowed deeply and offered a smile. "Once you've learned how to use skills again, I will happily accept a duel from you, Lady Tempest. Or from your entire class all at once to even the odds. The Professor warned all of you, the people here are uniquely skilled, do not underestimate anyone for any reason. You'd think a lesser deity of conflict would understand the dangers of such a thing. Though....I guess you're still learning to control your portfolio?"

That left Tempest a bit dumbstruck the other students bemoaned and argued who won any bets, since DuMont 'ruined' the fun for everyone. Trillia remained standing at his side, and as he turned to leave, she spoke up. "It's a bit rude to not answer a question when I answered yours, Lord DuMont."

The man froze and turned to her, offering a shrug and nod. "I'm studying the creation of realm cores and how to stabilize mana fields so that I can better understand creating life and the process of evolution on fledgling realms. Forgive me for being rude. If you'll excuse me, I want to finish my lunch."

Trillia couldn't even muster a bow. That had to be a deity of some kind. Creating realm cores? That'd be creating entire realms. Blossom tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie. "Making more friends, I see."

Trillia gave a tiny little nod as the two returned to their own meal. "You know, suddenly, I feel like I don't belong even more than before. Like I shouldn't have been given this chance."

Blossom gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I get it. My realm sent me here to learn about the Aetherian plane. There's a tear to it on our world that's causing a lot of damage. I have a unique trait that makes me immune to mind-altering conditions, and I am immune to mana sickness. So my elders told me I was uniquely suited to learn what was required to close the tear."

Focused fully on her words, Trillia thought about her own reason for being here. It was certainly not nearly that grand. "I'm just here to settle a debt to a dragon. If I can help you with any learning, let me know. I hope you can save your world."

Blossom offered her the best fake smile she could manage as the two finished their meal, mostly in silence.