Character Information - Who is who?

Because I have created quite a variety of characters, I will now create little cheat sheets before a chapter for the characters who will appear in the chapter, but not for those who haven't. Please open the spoiler if you need some reminders. (Be careful, it can be a spoiler for the chapter!)

Alexander K. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)

* Transmigrated from the Earth and the MC

* The fourth child of the current Leonandra household

* Golden eyes

* Snow-white fur and hair color

Ocilia Leonandra (Spider-kin)

* Disciple of the MC

* Specialized in magic/alchemy-oriented threads

* Purple eyes

* Purplish-black hair color

Green (III) from the Forest of Fallen Wishes (Fairy)

* Messenger of the temple

* Head of a temple branch in the east of Moorgrel

* Teaches the MC magic

* Specialized in healing, herbalism, agriculture, and administration

* Light-green eyes

* Greenish hair

* Autumn-colored wings

...

After receiving her package from her colleague after some persuasion, she went directly towards the estate. It was already a month, and her student was waiting. Typically, a month would be nothing for a youth learning magic but not in this case.

As she walked into the office of her student, what greeted her was indeed a sight to be seen. It would be the weirdest duo of students if they were at any magic university.

One was a wolf-kin, one of the best races of scouts and trackers, playing around with the ignition spell and showing off how he could simultaneously create three ignite spells, ' He has learned [Multi-Casting]... this is insane.'

Alexander learned it while waiting for Green. He only wanted to show how his disciple could use her threads to cast multiple spells simultaneously.

It was a pleasant surprise for him, but if Green, who watched, knew this, she would give up on her life and start anew to just forget it.

[Multi-Casting] was a skill that helped simultaneously build multiple spell constructions. It was usually only learned and used by more advanced mages and only for war. As for other applications, it had little use. At this point, Green ignored his age. If she acknowledged it, her self-esteem would sink to the bottom.

Next to him was a spider-kin, a race full of prestigious tailors. She ignited her string with the spell, which burned strong, 'What the fuck is going on?'

She remembered how she, in her college days, sat down for weeks and tried to learn that damned spell with the help of her professors and tutors. Now she had basically two excellent students who were far ahead of her in terms of talent. If any of her old professors knew about them, they would kill to have any of them as their disciples.

But most of the time, they wouldn't believe it like Lizko since mages tend to be overly arrogant. The rivalry among the students was suffocating, too, and she wouldn't want to wish they would learn in such an environment. But they would.

They were talented enough, so there was no question that they would visit a magic university at some point in time and study there. In her mind, it would be a crime if they stayed here, inside a territory with at most a couple of mercenary or adventurer mages that retired and looked for a cheap place to live.

After seeing the growth of her students, she nodded toward them as a greeting while they greeted her in a way that didn't fit their birth and ancestry.

"Hey, teach'."

"Good day, Ms. Green!"

Green was not someone for small-talk and could see how impatient they were, so she grabbed into her spatial bag, designed like an acorn leaf. She took a couple of books out and put them on the desk, "Let's skip the niceties and start the lesson..."

She grabbed and held an old, very used book, "This is about the History of Magic by Lavaran..." She inspected it more thoroughly but shrugged in the end, "The edition is a little old but should be good enough."

"However, this is what you waited for..." She pointed at a book with a stupid drawing on it, "Theory of Spell-Crafting for Fools by Merlin..."

She looked at Alexander and showed the back of the book, which had a picture of Merlin, "He was a genius since birth and lived two thousand years ago and revolutionized the spell-crafting in the empire. The most prestigious magic university was named after him since he was highly respected and revered... though nobody really liked his naming sense. To this day, everybody feels stupid if they read his for fools books and don't understand it..."

Alexander sat and drooled at all the great stuff Green brought, but the moment he heard the name of the last book, all his alarms went off in his head, and he paled slightly, 'No... there is no fucking way...'

This title was a brand name for tutorial books on the Earth, and if someone lived two-thousand years, something was...

Green flew over and waved her hand before him, "Hey? Are you all right... hehe, don't worry. I know it is a lot, but you can praise me after I show you some spell constructions!"

Alexander awoke from his thoughts as his teacher bragged, 'I need to think about it later... even if someone else came here from Earth, it was thousands of years ago.'

For some reason, Alexander didn't feel weird knowing that a possibility existed that he wasn't the first one who was brought to this world. He already had some inklings and remembered how he thought that Janina could be someone from Earth and tried to speak with her in four different languages when she was an infant.

There was no reason for him to get into crisis mode and panic since it literally wouldn't change anything. However, it was an interesting question that he could contemplate for hours and then research more about Merlin to get some definitive answers. Regardless, he was dead, and Alexander was alive and needed to concentrate on the treasure before him, 'Rest in peace, pal. Hopefully, you had your cringy harem and all the shebang.'

So he did the most pragmatic thing he could and put the thoughts away for later. Now, he was entirely fixated on the lesson.

Green took out some parchments, which were bonded together, and showed them proudly, "This will be the next spell you will learn from the lazy mage category, and it is called the bath spell."

In confusion, both students tilted their heads to the side. Ocilia asked, "A water spell?" Alexander nodded in agreement.

She flew towards Alexander first, "Nope! This is a cleaning spell which is also very complicated, so it is for our golden pup as for you..."

Green tilted her head towards Ocilia and gave her another spell, "This is an illumination spell and would be the next step from the ignition spell."

Then she flew back to the desk, "So? How do you want to learn? Want me to explain or learn by yo..."

Before she could end her question, the answer already manifested before her as both had already started reading, and she could hear how Alexander had already gotten the pronunciation correct on his first try.

She took a book from her bag named Love Knows No Boundary, sat down, "If you have questions, I am here..." and started reading.

...

Thirty minutes later

The puppy suddenly started to shine, and a whirl of multiple elements swirled around him till he was fully covered by them. After another moment, the lights lightly popped and flew to the sides. They transformed into flakes of grey and black.

Alexander looked confused at himself, "What the...?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When Green saw this, she took another spell guide and flew towards him, 'Figures.'

She stopped before him, and her voice sounded only slightly joyous. Not like she expected anything else, "Congratulations, archmage puppy..."

She chuckled slightly, "Here you go, your next spell, made by Merlin and called Conjured Bread. This is one of the many spells where you can conjure food..."

She shrugged, "...for some reason, the predecessor of all magic of beast-kin somehow was really into making food."

Alexander heard her but ignored her since he somehow felt refreshed? He looked at himself and his clothes. They were all clean. Even his teeth felt like he was at a dentist for a regular clean-up.

Ocilia was as astounded as her master when she saw him. In her eyes, he looked... cleaner. Much cleaner than usual. He was always sweaty from training or wore clothes from the day before, which was weird from her point of view since even she needed to look after her garderobe and change them daily to not embarrass her master.

Even her mother, Melina, complained that he didn't care about how he presented himself and just put on the first clothes which he saw. At some point, she needed to take away not similar-looking socks and give him ones that fit.

This was only part of it, as he also smelled excellent. Ocilia liked it and went quickly back to study her illumination construction. She needed to learn her spells swiftly before going to a more complicated one like the bath spell, which she really wanted to learn.

Alexander looked confused at Green, and she answered him, "You are clean now..." She shrugged, "...learn the next spell," and flew back to her chair to read her novel.

The puppy didn't know if he was happy or not having such a not-caring teacher, but the spell he learned was fantastic as he could be much more productive since his bath time always took at least an hour every day.

This wasn't the only positive since taking a bath was always weird. Someone else was always taking a bath with him, siblings, parents, or maids, and they were all naked.

It was awkward for someone who wasn't a big fan of FKK culture, but he also suddenly thought about something else, "Teach, can I use the spell on someone else?"

The teacher frowned as she couldn't read the part on how the centaur would seduce the dryad and looked to her student, remembering her job.

She thought momentarily and flew towards the blackboard, "Yes and no. The spell you learned has a 2D construct, and such spells are usually simplified ones from the originals with whom you could clean everything and everyone around you..."

She wrote down the ignition spell and to the right of it another one, "For example, the ignition construct is derived from the fireball construct, and that one is from the pyro-ball and so on. It is practically the same as only the potency, and various other aspects change, like the mana drain, size, density, and so on."

When she was done, the fireball construct was drawn in different views, as it was a 3D construct. It resembled the ignition construct barely and was a much more complex build. It was a ball full of nodes and lines everywhere. Ocilia didn't even glance at it as she knew that nothing good would come out of it, but Alexander stared at this and couldn't make it out how to construct it.

A flash of insight hit him, 'Doesn't this look similar to an organic chemical?!'

It was only partially there, but he could see the resemblance, though his thoughts were interrupted by the stern voice of his teacher.

He turned his head to Green, who flew back to her book while talking, "Don't even try it, and I will also not give you the chants. Learn as many 2D constructs as possible before you try to burn down the whole estate..."

She looked at him more sternly, "Don't take it as a challenge... 3D constructs need much more control than some other spells, and before you try it, I want you to have your whole toolbox at least at level 50."

Alexander was confused, "Toolbox?"

Green remembered that she talked with an isolated noble child who would need an explanation for everything, "Yes, every mage, alchemist, and so on have a fundamental toolbox of skills like [Mana Sense], [Mana Manipulation], [Mana Emission] and so on."

This piqued the puppy's interest, "So, what more could the toolbox have?"

Green pointed at the book by Merlin, "Read it before you ask me more. This book is pretty good in explaining what every apprentice needs to know, but first..." she pointed towards the new spell she laid down on Alexander's desk, "...train your spell-craft first while I am here. You can read it later after your sister beat you up."

Alexander grumbled but followed her instructions as she probably knew better. While Green was at the estate, she wanted to look after him when he learned the constructions, as many things could go haywire, and she could heal him then.

Normally, 2D constructs were very safe, and injuries rarely occurred. Most accidents happened because the apprentices knocked themselves out after their mana reached zero. While unconscious, the spell they conjured before would set something ablaze, hurting the apprentice.

But even if she tried to explain it to the lady, she was strict and worried a lot about him, so Green gave naturally in and needed to be extra careful. This is why he was only allowed to construct the spells in front of her. After he learned them, there was basically no danger at all.

The rest was the theory that he could learn by himself as the worst injury he could get while reading would be some stiff neck. However, she remembered Merlin's biography and how her little student resembled him. A scene from his biography struck her at how Merlin tried to create a chant by himself and accidentally burned a barn down in the process, 'I will wait in giving him the biography. Better not give him any weird ideas.'

She sighed and hoped for the best as she returned to her story and how the centaur was trying to find the right present for the dryad.

...

40 minutes later

A glow invaded Green's peripheral view. Alexander created a simple piece of bread, "Hey, teach, can I actually eat it?!"

For Alexander, it was weird to create food out of thin air. Well, it was made from a chunk of his mana, but his Earth intuition told him it was weird.

He thought for a second while looking at the bread, and he found the reason why he found it so weird, 'A piece of bread is more complex... right?'

In his mind, a piece of bread was much more complex than, for example, a fire created by the ignition spell, but again, he was in a world of magic where he was some weird human with wolf ears and a tail. So what was considered strange was really up to interpretation.

Alexander needed to shake all the common sense away he brought back from Earth and think much more like someone who lived on this planet, 'Ok, so conjuring food is now common sense, got it - next on the list is Penicillin.'

This was actually the first thought he got after he created the bread. If one could conjure food, one could theoretically also conjure other things like medicine or metals. However, the spell to create some bread had cost him quite the mana, and like always, he would need to wait with his experiments.

His teacher interrupted his inner monologue, "Hm, yes, you can eat it, and depending on how well you did it, it will be tasty or disgusting."

She flew over, broke off a piece of the bread without a word, and ate it, trying to determine its taste. After a couple of bites, she took another one, "Yummy, good job!"

Green threw him another spell, "This is the last one for today, and this one is on the same level as the cleaning construct but much harder to learn, it's called First Aid, and as the name says, it will heal you... well, it will push your body to regenerate faster, and do you know the problem?"

Alexander knew, "It will affect my body directly. Every other spell was only external."

His teacher nodded, "Good. Now, I will sit beside you to heal you when you pop a blood vessel while you learn it."

But before learning the new spell, he tried a piece of bread. His teacher was right. It was yummy.

...

30 minutes later

'This shit ass construct!'

The construct was simple but needed to be applied to the body. It meant that the spell must be constructed to fit a specific spot on the body, and Alexander couldn't get the hang of it.

It was hard. He laid the construct down on his skin, but it needed to touch it wholly. Otherwise, it struggled briefly, and then only a minuscule effect occurred.

Frustratedly, he asked, "Does the whole construct need to touch the skin, or can it be only the nodes? The notes said it should touch it wholly, but..."

Green cut him off, "Nodes are enough, but the spell will be significantly weaker. Do you know the reason?"

Alexander nodded in frustration, "Yeah, the effect will be weaker as only the mana of the nodes will be used."

Green patted him with a smile, "Good job, now keep learning. Usually, you would need at least a month to learn it, so don't give me such a face."

She smiled at him as he looked like a dry fruit. Well, she kind of expected here to be the first stopgap for him as spells outside the body, at least in the beginning, were always easier to learn since there was no need to adjust the construct towards any form.

She returned to reading her novel, 'So... how will Layla react that he attacked her parents? I would totally take him. He meant it well since they were abusing her... also, he is cute, hehe.'

On the other hand, Alexander was trying to put the construct on the back of his hand. It went better and better till he came to the corners. It also never stayed down and rolled up like some cellophane when he wanted to wrap leftovers with, 'Fuck this shit, drawing this would... wait.'

With this idea, he started to directly draw on his skin, and after a chant, the spell activated. It was a success!

He heard Green's voice, who looked very carefully at the spell. Then she smirked, "Not bad, you found it out?"

Alexander's eyes opened wide, and he glared at her, "So you knew from the beginning that I needed to draw the construct directly on my skin! Why didn't you say anything..." He thought for a second and became angrier, "...it definitely wasn't written in the notes?!"

Green laughed, "Hehe, I need somehow foster your creativity, right?" She took a folded piece of parchment and gave it to Alexander with a mischievous smile, "Here you go."

He looked at the folded parchment and then back to Green, "You would give it to me if I couldn't figure it out, right?"

She shrugged, "Sooner or later?" and continued, "Listen, magic needs a lot of creativity. We create special chants from different languages, deconstruct constructions from higher form spells so we can use them in different ways..."

She flew towards her bag, starting to pack while she continued, "If I only give you instructions, you wouldn't learn anything and develop to be some construction worker who works by the book."

Alexander understood her and wasn't angry at her, but he didn't know exactly what she meant by the term she used, "Construction worker?"

She nodded, "Someone who only knows how to follow commands or, in the mage's case: instructions. Be more creative..." she stopped herself from continuing, "... and safe and only while I am around, ok?"

He nodded, and with this, the lesson was over. The next class would be in two days, so he had enough time to read a little and ask her further questions.

Ocilia also had something to do and work on her illumination spell. This time though, she didn't get any chant examples and needed to orient herself on the notes, which had the phonetical descriptions written down of the chant. This was her assignment.

But before they could leave, someone unexpectedly entered the room.