April 27th, year 024 Angels Descent

As a result of their usual classroom being destroyed, they had received word to meet in the artificers' lab, where they had summoned their familiars. Alex had been tight-lipped about what they were going to be doing there. But taking into account his history, they had donned their full combat gear, ready for anything.

Arriving in the lab, they found numerous tables all set up with jars of materials. If they didn’t know better, this was beginning to look like a standard lesson format. As they began to ponder what they could possibly be doing, they heard a pair of footsteps approaching behind them.

“No dress today?” Bea asked teasingly.

“Please, the dress was wearing me. I could only hope to have the hips to pull off that dress,” Alex replied, unphased by the jab.

“So what is the goal today? Are we summoning more demons?” Maxwell asked.

“Oh, I hope we are; if I get another, I can be in the running to become the head of my family when I come of age,” Bea eagerly added.

“Whoah, there. We gotta run before we can crawl, kids.”

“I-I think you got that backwards, sir,” Kline pointed out.

“Did I now? Regardless I have brought you here because we are going to make you some new toys,” Alex explained.

“Toys?” Daisy repeated. “Like teddies?”

“If you want. I know one mage that made a teddy bear so durable that when thrown into a fortress, the only survivors were the children they had kidnapped.”

“A teddy bear?”

“Yes, all soft and plushy… Till it isn’t… trust me, seeing no emotion in its beady eyes still sends a shudder down my broken spine.”

“Are you screwing with us, chief?”

“Nah, cross my heart and hope to die,” Alex replied, crossing his finger over his chest. “We are going to have you kids learn enchanting.”

“Like glow orbs and the like? Because we are already learning that stuff in the basics of artificing class,” Maxwell replied.

“Hah, you kids should know now I will throw you in the deep end. Take this little ditty, for instance,” Alex replied, taking out his pocket watch.

“What does it do, turn back time?” Daisy asked.

“Hah-hah-hah, uhhh. I wish; chronomancy is a field only the blessed can perform,” Alex explained as he wiped a tear away from his eye.

“Wait, so chronomancy can be done?”

“Kids, let me put it this way. I do know a few chronomancy spells, and to cast the one to reverse time, I would empty my manastores and go mana out to go back one second.”

“That…”

“Exactly, only those blessed by one of the gods of time can freely cast them. Anyways back on topic, this little timepiece represses my mana,” Alex explained, letting the little pocket watch spin from its chain.

“You repress your mana?” Maxwell asked with an arched brow. “Wouldn’t that make casting high-level spells harder?”

“Normally, yes, but I fused my channels when I was young, so I’m limited to grade five spells at the highest. This is to protect the people around me,” Alex explained.

“Protect people around you?” Tasha repeated.

“Yeah, here, catch,” Alex said, detaching the chain from his vest and throwing it to Maxwell. The moment the watch left his person, a crushing pressure the likes they had only experienced with Gorm filled the room. It took all their effort just to avoid falling flat on the ground.

“This is my natural aura. Aura’s can’t be switched off, only coerced. When I had you kids practice against my aura, I was ramping it up to overcome what this watch can seal.”

“So… this… is…the…real…pressure?” Maxwell asked through gritted teeth trying to hold the hand with the watch out.

“Oh no, this is what I naturally emit. If I really ramped it up, I could probably knock out the entire school campus. Minus the few teachers and students tough enough to endure it,” Alex explained as he walked up and took the watch back from Maxwell. As quickly as it had begun, the pressure vanished.

“Why aren’t you teaching us how to do that kind of thing, then?” Tasha asked.

“It is on the list of things I will teach you, kids. But you need to keep building up your soul's strength enough to be able to control it. Remember when Maxwell here tried it a while back? He couldn’t control it and went mana out rather quickly.”

“ALEX!!!” An angry voice shouted from the doorway. “STOP KNOCKING OUT MY STUDENTS. WE WERE WORKING ON SWORDS WHEN YOU DECIDED TO… Oh, what you doing?” Yuu asked, walking into the lab.

“I’m going to teach them enchanting,” Alex replied.

“Enchanting?”

“Yes,” Alex replied with a nod.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“You have the boss’ permission?”

“What is the big chief talking about?”

“This loony enchants things no sane person would enchant. Our master forbade him from showing off any of his enchantments,” Yuu explained.

“He did not forbid me to enchant things. Nor did he forbid me to teach enchanting. Only to not show off our enchanting methods,” Alex shot back.

“Eh, well, my class are all going to be unconscious for the better part of the hour, so I may as well sit in and watch the show,” Yuu replied, taking up a spot amongst the seats where they sat when they summoned their familiars.

“Ok, class, please take up a position at the desks,” Alex said with a sigh. Following his instruction, the class settled into a spot, each by their own table.

“First, tell me what methods you do know,” Alex asked.

“We know the painted craft,” Gunter replied.

“Please explain to me painted craft.”

“We take reagents commonly used for spell chanting and paint the spell onto an object and channel mana through it to activate it,” Daisy replied, puffing her chest with pride.

“Good; anything else?” Alex asked, focusing his gaze on Gunter.

“Well, chief, the artificers' speciality course has touched upon the runic craft.”

“Good, and how does that work?”

“We haven’t been instructed yet,” Gunter replied.

“Yuu, you haven’t taught them rune craft?”

“Alex, it is an advanced course. These kids are only sixteen. Remember how disappointed we were when we saw the experiments of students when Sloth forced us to socialise?”

The class paled at the very idea of these two going around trying to socialise with the rest of the school. Especially with their reputations, it must’ve felt like releasing a dragon into the school halls.

“Yes, you have a point,” Alex muttered as he stroked his beard. “Very well, guess I can give you kids a crash course,” Alex said as he reached into his pocket.

“This here is a runic-crafted enchantment,” Alex declared, placing a small ring on his own desk. “Feel free to come up and examine it.”

The class obliged, stepped up to the desk, and looked at the ring. No matter how they looked, though, it looked like a normal ring with a few runes carved into the metal.

“This here is a ring of wakening,” Alex explained, picking up the ring. “The runes carved along it follow a set rule, and when mana is channelled through it.”

“It can wake a person up?” Bea suggested.

“More it will keep the wearer from falling asleep. Perfect when you have a month-long experiment you can’t hand off,” Alex explained, correcting their assumption.

“Month-long?” Daisy repeated.

“Yes, anything longer, you start to go crazy,” Alex paused as the class gave him a look. “Hey, I was crazy before I put this thing on.”

“So you said something about a rule?” Maxwell asked.

“Yes, first, it must be in a magically conducive material. This is how mage staves are made, for instance,” Alex explained, putting the ring back in his pocket. “Next rule is the runes have to be perfect. One small flaw and the circuit is broken, and the enchantment will fail.”

“Seems difficult,” Tasha muttered.

“It can be, but I have a cheat that made it so much easier. You see, kids, I-” Alex was cut off by Yuu loudly coughing.

“Alex, that is probably one of the things he doesn’t want shared.”

“Come on, Yuu, they won’t tell anyone,” Alex protested.

“Very well, but I won’t accept the punishment,” Yuu replied with a shrug as if her token resistance to whatever it was was enough.

“Ok, as I was saying, my cheat is I have my own runic alphabet,” Alex explained.

“Your own…” Gunter began before his face began to pale, similar to how he reacted when he first met Gorm.

“Yes, the Fae let me make my own runes. They are so much easier to carve, and you kids will learn them,” Alex replied with a big grin.

“Chief, how much did you give the fae?”

“Give? I gave them nothing.”

“Chief, this is serious!!! The Fae do not create new runes for fun!!” Gunter shouted, gripping Alex by the shoulders in his large hands and lifting him off the ground.

“They kind of did, though,” Alex replied, shrugging as best as he could with his shoulders secure in Gunter's hands.

“He’s not lying,” Yuu added. “I was there; the Fae at first was going to deny his request when they realised who it was requesting it,” Yuu explained.

“What do you mean, Big Chief?”

“They loved watching him blow himself up; they agreed to make the runes just to keep watching him cause mischief and terror. From what I understand, when I contracted one, he has a fan club now,” Yuu explained.

“I do?” Alex replied, seemingly surprised to learn he had a fan club.

“Yeah, didn’t I mention it? They loved how we stole the Theocracy fleet so much that your popularity blew up. Then again, so did mine,” Yuu explained.

“Huh, go figure… Anyways could you release me now, Gunter?” Gunter looked down at his teacher, still firmly held between his fingers about half an inch off the ground and sighed as he let Alex go.

“So yes, I have here,” Alex said, reaching into his jacket pocket. “Some pages with the runes on them,” Alex finished taking out a bottle of something red that should not have been able to fit in his pocket.

“Huh? Oh, down, left, right, then up,” Alex muttered as he returned the bottle to his pocket and then drew out a bundle of paper.

“Sir, how are you able to do that?”

“It’s a pocket dimension,” Alex replied casually.

“In your pocket?”

“Where else would a pocket dimension be? If I put it in a bag, it’d be a bag dimension?”

“You know what?” Maxwell said, taking in a deep breath. “I’m just going to go with the flow on this one; it’ll be less mind-breaking.”

“Good plan,” Alex said, giving a big thumbs up.

“So here, read through the runes. “What we will be doing is creating defensive charms.”

“Defensive charms?” Kline repeated.

“Yes, these can block any one attack. Whether physical or magical. Within reason, obviously. But if you have a surprise attack from an assassin, it’ll block it. We will also be creating anti-poison charm rings,” Alex explained.

“Anti-Poison?” Daisy repeated, paling.

“Yes, some people can slip poison into your food and drinks. These will channel a neutralising field through the cutlery and cups and let you consume it. The only one we don’t need this for is Maxwell there.” In response to their gazes, Maxwell held up his right hand showing a small ring on his middle finger.

“Father gives these out to all his children,” Maxwell explained.

“Ok, so to write the runes, you will need to spell out the spell with the runes. Each rune represents a sound like this fork one makes a ‘CH’ noise.”

The class settled back into their chosen tables and began slowly engraving on the provided metal strips the runes to write out the defensive spell Alex had provided. It had several parts they had never seen before, and it had a bizarre structure and syntax.

“Sir, I’ve never seen this spell before?” Kline asked as he focused on the second rune sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth as he carved the second rune for the spell.

“Ah yes… have you kids ever heard of the Ogma-Infinium?”

“The book of all magic?” Daisy asked to which Alex nodded. “I was read bedtime stories about it; they say it contains every spell ever created and all spells yet to be made.”

“Well, more of the former rather than the latter,” Alex replied.

“Pardon, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“Well, it does contain every spell created but not every spell yet to be created,” Alex explained.

“Hah-hah, very funny, sir; you sound almost as if you have read it,” Daisy said with a chuckle as she leaned close to her strip to finish her first runic symbol.

“I have, though,” Alex replied, which caused a few of the class to jolt and ruin their carving efforts. Only Gunter remained unmoved by the sudden, shocking news.

“You’ve read the Ogma-Infinium?!!” Tasha shouted.

“Yes, Yuu has as well,” Alex replied, gesturing to Yuu, who gave a finger wave to their shocked expressions.

“Where?!! it’s meant to be stored in the Akashic Records… You didn’t steal it, did you, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“Steal?!!” Alex repeated, holding a hand dramatically to his chest in mock hurt. “To think you children would think I, your teacher, would be a criminal!”

“Sir, I know from my father's letters you’ve been in prison a few times while in our territory.”

“HE HAS?!!!” Daisy shouted.

“Why is this a shock to you, Daisy? Sir is… Well, he is him,” Maxwell replied, gesturing to Alex, who just gave a little wave back.

“Well… I suppose that does make sense. It wasn’t for anything bad, was it?”

“Well, I was once arrested under suspicion of using heresy magic; I also spent a few months in Angdrast prison for stealing the Theocracy fleet with Yuu,” Alex explained.

“Heresy? Fleet?” Daisy repeated before breaking down in a rapid muttering.

“Daisy, you really should just take a page from Maxwell’s book and just give up on caring. Me, Yuu, Elissa and Gorm are all absuridites. It’s best not to dwell on half the stuff we have done,” Alex said, trying to calm the freaking out Daisy.

“Ok fine, I will drop everything!” Daisy said, stomping her foot as if to squash the thoughts bouncing around her head. “But I won’t let the Ogma-Infinium bit drop. When and where did you read it?”

“Well, me and Yuu have both read it. What is our one connecting thread?”

“You are both crazy?” Kline suggested.

“You are as chaotic as toddlers with explosives?” Tasha added.

“You are super weapons that could lay waste to entire armies but use your phenomenal power for prank wars?” Maxwell suggested.

“You probably run a good portion of the criminal underworld,” Bea suggested.

“You are both awesome teachers,” Daisy suggested.

Teacher's pet,” Bea teased.

“They are both apprentices of Sloth,” Gunter replied, having finished his protection enchantment runes carving.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I…Wow, you really see us that way, kids?” Alex muttered, looking genuinely stunned.

“I feel the same way, Alex,” Yuu muttered, walking up to her friend.

“They said we are great teachers, Yuu!!” Alex shouted, bouncing up and down.

“I know, right!!!” Yuu shouted back as the pair high-fived.

“That’s what you focused on?” Maxwell asked.

“Well, the rest just means you have a pretty accurate understanding of us despite how tricksy we’ve been. So I was proud, but Daisy’s suggestion was the cherry on top,” Alex replied, looking genuinely happy.

“But yes, Gunter got it right. We are both Sloth’s apprentices. Sloth, the greatest mage unalive. Master of all things magical. He has the Ogma-Infinium.”

“How did he get it?” Tasha asked.

“He checked it out,” Yuu replied.

“Like a library? Wait!!! Is the Akashic records a library?” Daisy asked, nearly knocking over the jars of reagent paints on her station, causing Alex to shoot to her station to save the jar.

“Err… no, it was more a surprise checking out,” Yuu replied.

“So he stole it?”

“Pretty much. But we don’t use the ‘S’ word.”

“So this protection spell is in the book?” Maxwell asked, bringing the conversation back to where it began.

“Yep, along with every spell ever made,” Alex replied.

“So you know every spell ever made?” Bea asked.

“Gods no, the book wasn’t going to let me read all of it,” Alex replied with a light chuckle.

“The book?” Tasha repeated, confused as the rest of the class.

“Yeah, the book is sapient,” Yuu explained. “It reads the soul of whoever tries to read it and determines what spells they deserve to know.”

“How does it stop you, then?” Maxwell asked.

“The words swirl around the pages. It changes languages on the fly and does everything to stop the mage from reading it. Your inherent skill is determined by how much it lets you read.”

“So it changes the languages?”

“Yeah, Alex learnt a bunch of languages just to beat the book,” Yuu replied, gesturing to her friend.

“How many is a bunch?” Daisy asked.

“Roughly a dozen verbal with a dozen and a half-written,” Alex replied.

“Eighteen?!!” Maxwell shouted. “That is more than my family forces us to learn!”

“Yeah, the book wasn’t too happy with me trying to beat it at its own game,” Alex replied.

“What do you mean, chief?”

“Well, I have a few spells and spell systems in the book. Any new spell has a little bit about the creator and such. My description described me, and I quote, ‘A greedy mage who is trying his best to beat the best book of all time only to have his failure forever in print’. I think the book got annoyed with me.”

“So, any other spells you can share?” Daisy asked hopefully.

“Nope, you kids are going to make those defensive charms before anything else. God forbid you get hurt while I’m not around.”

“What are the chances of that, sir?” Kline replied with a chuckle, only for his laughter to trail off as he saw no mirth in Alex’s eyes.

“Guys, there are some dangerous people on their way here. Some have very strong opinions about races other than humans. They won’t try to kill you. But they will try to make your life difficult and painful if they can.”

“P-please tell me t-that is a joke, sir?”

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no. They are going to be provoking at every turn to try to get you to retaliate. Whatever they do, don’t retaliate.”

Alex's words held a seriousness he rarely let enter his voice. They could tell just from his demeanour he was not playing a trick, and this was very serious.

“Who is coming here, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“The Cardinal of Benevolence and his escort,” Alex replied before exhaling a deep sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I blame you, you know,” Yuu said.

“I am not the one who made the golems,” Alex replied.

“No, but you imprinted the mind copies.”

“They would’ve worked better had the golems been made to a higher standard.”

“I’m sorry, but where was that complaint when we sent them to the meeting?”

Alex and Yuu glared each other down, pushing their foreheads against each other. The tension in the room began to build before it finally burst, with the pair laughing.

“Well, we learnt our lesson. Do a trial run before sending it,” Yuu said between laughs.

“Yes, I won’t skimp on the mind gems next time either,” Alex replied between his own laughs.

“What just happened?” Tasha asked, completely bewildered by the pair, who seemed moments away from throwing blows.

“That is what it is to be real best friends are like,” Bea said as she glanced at Gunter.

“Enough distractions, kids; get back to enchanting. You get these all carved before the bell for the next lesson. I’ll give you a special spell you can enchant that will have a fun effect.”

“Which would be?” Maxwell asked.

“Finish enchanting, and you’ll find out,” Alex replied.

The class settled down back at their stations, focusing on the carving of runes, apart from Gunter, who had already finished his second charm and was sat waiting for the others. It took nearly the rest of the lesson and numerous failed attempts, but they eventually all got their two strips with runes carved into them.

They now each had a defensive charm that could block any attack up to and including grade-five spells or the equivalent force from an enhancer combatant. They also had a generalised anti-poison enchantment that could nullify the majority of commonly used poisons.

“Well done, class; now I think we can improve the effectiveness of those enchantments a bit more,” Alex said.

“How, chief?” Gunter asked.

“Well, surely you’ve noticed the reagent paint?”

The class all nodded; they couldn’t miss the jars of paint on their stations. But it was only now it was pointed out to them that they began to ponder why they had it when he had focused on teaching them runic carving instead.

“Now, class, I want you to get a rag of cloth, or a handkerchief or anything really, even some candle wax, and stuff it up your nose.”

“Why?” Daisy asked.

“The reagent paint I got you kids is excellent stuff with universal compatibility to spells,” Alex explained.

“Why are we stuffing our noses then?”Bea pressed.

“Well, why did you think he got you to make an anti-poison charm?” Yuu asked.

“You don’t mean?” Gunter began as he gazed at the jar. “Basilisk blood?”

“Bingo!! Yep, those jars contain some of the most toxic blood known to mortals. The fumes will still have nasty effects even with the charms, so you will need to block your noses and cover your mouths,” Alex explained.

“Sir, this is highly dangerous!!” Daisy protested.

“A few lessons late for that protest, Daisy,” Bea teased as she wrapped her anti-poison charm in a cloth that she tied around her head.

“Good class, do what Bea just did. The charm will neutralise a lot of the toxin as it passes through the mask.”

The class followed Bea’s lead and wrapped their newly made charms in cloth before wrapping it around their face. They also got small balls of candle wax from a desk out in the main area and blocked their noses.

“Ok, we are as ready as we will ever be,” Tasha declared with a nasally tone.

“Good, now open the container and carefully paint with the brush into the runes you have carved,” Alex explained with his own mask on.

The class followed his instructions very slowly and methodically, unlatching the jar and picking up the disposable brush. With all the care of a surgeon, they began painting into the runes. Slowly but surely, the runes were all coloured.

“What next, chief?” Gunter asked.

“Do it again and again after that. Keep going till you have filled the rune to the point it meets the surface of the plate you carved it into,” Yuu explained.

The class collectively nodded and kept repeating their painting, letting it dry before adding a new layer, slowly but surely filling in the runes they had just spent a while carving.

“Are they all to the surface now?” Alex asked Yuu, who was walking amongst the stations, before giving a thumbs up.

“Perfect now I want you to run as much mana as you can through the strip.”

“Sir?” Maxwell asked, confused.

“Trust me,” Alex said, trying to reassure them.

Following his latest instructions, the class touched a part of their strips without paint or runes and ran mana through the strips. As they watched, the basilisk blood began to bubble gently before stopping its reaction.

“It should have bubbled a little, then stopped. When it stops, you can close the jars and remove your masks.”

“You sure, sir?” Klein nervously asked.

“I’m sure,” Alex nodded. The class all closed their jars and locked the latches in place. But no one dared remove their mask.

“I will take the lead then,” Alex said, removing his mask and taking a deep breath in front of the class. “See no poison.”

“So what was the purpose of this, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“As I said, it will upgrade the runic enchantment. Go ahead and touch the paint,” Alex said with a gesture.

“Like we would touch the blood of a bas-”

“Wow, it feels like lacquer,” Tasha said aloud as she held up her charm and ran her finger over the now-hardened Basilisk blood.

“Yep, basilisk blood, when having mana without a spell intention through it forces it to detoxify and harden into what is called Liskuer.”

“You kids are lucky. That stuff is expensive as hell,” Yuu added.

“Really?” Bea asked, looking over her charm with newfound appreciation.

“Yep. That Liskuer will increase the power of the defensive charm by a half. So now it can defend against spells up to and including the grade seven.”

“Are we really in that much danger, sir?” Daisy asked.

“I honestly don’t know. But it is one of those better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” Alex replied.

“Ok, now that’s all done now for how to do the fun enchant. I will show you how to make a pocket dimension,” Alex said, clapping his hands and making a dramatic pose.

“Sir, we don’t appreciate you teasing us,” Maxwell said.

“Oh no, I am being serious; see this, here is my serious face,” Alex replied, pointing to his face that had his usual playful grin plastered on it.

“That’s just your usual face, sir.”

“Funny that. I often take things seriously, and people just assume I’m free winging it.”

“You aren’t?” Yuu asked, seemingly disbelieving her friend.

“I think things through and assess all the risks before I ever take action.”

“Really?”

“Not my fault I choose to ignore them,” Alex replied.

“I think it very much is your fault for actively ignoring risks, sir,” Daisy pointed out.

“Shush you. So you kids want to learn how to make a little dimension to hold your stuff?”

“Obviously, but they are artefact class items. Even the sinful lords don’t have one. How the hell do you have one?” Bea asked.

“I made it,” Alex replied.

“Serious answer, please, sir,” Daisy pressed.

“Yuu bit of help here?” Yuu just exhaled a long sigh and walked to the front of the class.

“As much as it irks me. Alex here genuinely has made his pocket dimension,” Yuu explained. “Something even I have failed to do,” she added, clearly seething with frustration at the fact.

“How in the hell has one of the best artificers alive not been able to do what he has?” Gunter asked, so shocked he didn’t even bother calling Yuu ‘Big Chief’.

“Believe me; I wish it were something as simple as skill. It isn’t; it’s something more… well, more something Alex is very good with,” Yuu admitted.

“What is that? Being crazy?” Tasha asked.

“Exactly!!” Alex replied, slapping his hands together dramatically. “I am crazy, and because I am, I can actually make this stuff.” The class just stared at Alex for a long minute before turning to Yuu for classification.

“You kids ever heard of the sons of Ivaldi? Or the dwarven brother Brokkr and Indri?”

“Of course, the greatest dwarven craftsmen to have ever lived. So skilled they ascended to the divine realm and took honoured positions amongst the gods,” Daisy replied.

“Exactly. As much as it galls my pride, Alex has a similar skill to them.”

“You mean he can make crafts beyond the pale of any skill?” Gunter asked.

“Oh no. Alex is middling at best when it comes to skill. It is only enchanting where he is unrivalled. No, I meant more the kind of materials they can use,” Yuu explained.

“I… I don’t follow,” Daisy muttered.

“Ok, let me think of an example,” Yuu muttered as she tapped her chin in thought.

“Ah, I got it!!” Yuu suddenly exclaimed, snapping her fingers. “Gleipnir.”

“Gleipnir?” The class collectively repeated.

“Yes, Gleipnir is a perfect example of the kind of weird skill Alex somehow has access to just because he is mad as a hatter.”

“Ok, am I the only one even more lost here?” Kline asked to which the rest of the class shook their heads, indicating they, too, were just as lost.

“Ok, you do know what Gleipnir is, right?” the class all nodded.

“It was a thin chain made by the dwarves to tie down Fenrir,” Daisy replied.

“The poor puppy didn’t deserve to be treated like that. If I ever get to the divine realm, I would make sure to give Fenrir all the love, cuddles, and belly scritches he could ever want so he will be my best friend forever and ever,” Alex said, going off on a tirade about his love of dogs of all kinds.

“Yes, while he mumbles away, it was the chain used to secure Fenrir. Do you know how they made it?” Yuu asked, ignoring the still mumbling Alex.

The class paused in thought before shaking their heads. The scriptures only spoke of the sacrifice Tyr made in exchange to Fenrir and that many chains that had failed to secure the divine beast's strength until the dwarves made one that seemed weak in appearance but was unbreakable till Ragnarok cometh.

“Well, no one knows how they made it other than them. But we do know what they made it out of. If I list the ingredients, you might get a clue as to what I was alluding to,” Yuu explained.

“I read the scriptures, but they never mentioned what it was made out of?” Gunter replied.

“Be surprised if they did. They are solely in my family’s personal books. That came from notes written by one of my ancestors who apprenticed under the sons of Ivaldi,” Yuu explained.

“So what were they made out of?” Kline asked.

“Gleipnir was made using the sound of a cat’s footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of some mountains, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird,” Yuu replied.

The class sat there, even more, confused than before. Only a few of those could be obtainable, and even then, they could see no way for them to be combined into a chain that was nigh unbreakable.

“You see what I mean now? Alex’s skill is he can use esoteric materials, some of which are just concepts and make that damned pocket dimension of his,” Yuu explained, shooting a momentary glare at Alex, who was still espousing the benefits of a canine companion.

“And this little dimension requires those materials to make it?” Gunter asked.

“Yes, you need the right mind frame and imagination actually to obtain these materials, let alone use them… OI ALEX, WE GET IT. DOGS ARE GREAT!!” Yuu shouted, slapping some sliver of sense back into her friend's head.

“Ow,” Alex muttered, rubbing where she hit. “Could’ve just said stop.”

“I am done explaining why despite you teaching them how to make that dimension of yours, they won’t be able to do it,” Yuu replied, unphased by the pained expression her friend had.

“Very well, ok, class to make it is very simple. You need to sew a container using some easy-to-obtain materials,” Alex began.

“These are?” Gunter asked with a notepad at the ready.

“For the inner layer of the bag, pouch, whatever container you decide to make, you will need a bolt of night sky,” Alex replied.

“Is that some kind of-” Kline began before Alex cut him off.

“Yuu’s lecture should’ve clued you into this being a very literal interpretation. Look up to the night sky and tear a piece for you to use,” Alex explained.

“How in the hells will we do that then?” Bea asked.

“Dunno. I kinda looked up, swiped and found I had a handful of the night sky in my hand,” Alex replied with a shrug.

“No spell?” Daisy asked.

“Nope, with these esoteric materials, the real trick is you need to believe in them wholeheartedly. Not get bogged down with reality and just use your own.”

“See what I mean? He is the right kind of crazy for this,” Yuu added.

“Ok fine, so we have a bolt of the night sky; what next?” Gunter asked more focused on the materials needed to make it than the ability to obtain them.

“For the outer layer to hold the night sky in place, you will need the whisper of the wind through a valley,” Alex replied.

“A… how do you get that?” Maxwell asked.

“Find a windy valley; hold your hand to your ear, and it should gather there. You can use it to paint a reality-proof layer to keep the night sky from deteriorating into daytime,” Alex replied. The class all looked to Yuu, who just shrugged at what Alex was saying.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I have seen him do this. He isn’t tricking you here,” Yuu explained.

“You watched him take a hand full of the night sky and catch the whisper of the wind through a valley?” Daisy asked.

“Well, it was more a hilly region than a valley, but it served the same purpose.”

“Very well, sir, what is next? I assume the thread?” Gunter asked, seemingly unconcerned with how crazy the materials being listed were.

“Well, the thread isn’t next on the list, but you can collect this all in any order you want. The thread is made from clouds spun by a man with three teeth,” Alex replied.

“Are the three teeth a requirement?” Maxwell asked.

“Dunno, worth an experiment or two. I just paid the first homeless man I found,” Alex replied, shrugging.

“Ok, what was meant to be after the whisper?” Gunter asked.

“Ash from an ash tree burnt over its stump,” Alex replied.

“That one is something we got from the records of the brothers,” Yuu added.

“Yeah, acts as a hardening agent for the whispers when painted onto the night sky,” Alex explained.

“For the needle, as any old needle won’t do, you will need a needle made from a whale's tooth that was willing given,” Alex explained.

“Willingly? How do you get that?”

“Well, Maxwell, you being from a port city with trade relations with the merfolk, would best be able to obtain that one. They sell them in speciality stores.”

“Wait, a whale tooth needle willingly given?” Kline asked, remembering seeing such items when he went shopping for his parents as a child.

“Yes, merfolk are very fastidious about treating their animals well,” Alex explained. “Rosy could attest to that one, especially as it is what caused her to be banished from their land.”

“She hurt a whale?” Daisy asked.

“Oh no, she hurt an Aquacorn when she tried to ride it into the sky, and it nearly suffocated because you know… it can only breathe underwater.”

“That sounds…”

“Insane? Yeah, she is who I maintain is the main reason Alex is reckless when he researches stuff alone,” Yuu replied.

“But with all these materials, you paint the night sky with the whisper, then coat it with the ash of an ash tree burnt over its stump. Then you sew it into the shape you want using thread made from clouds using a whale tooth needle willing given. When it is all sewn, you finish it off by breathing a year of your life into it and inflating it. The more life you give, the bigger the dimension,” Alex explained.

“Not that I would do that, but how do you give a year of your life?” Tasha asked.

“Rich coming from an elf with millennia-long lifespan. But you just breathe into the container while infusing mana and empty your stores and continue when it starts to drain your life force. One second for each year of life given,” Alex answered.

“And if I did all this, I could make my own dimension container?” Gunter asked with a serious tone of voice.

“Gunter, you can’t be seriously considering this?” Bea asked.

“Bea… I have obtained thread made from a cloud before, and my grandfather showed me how to seize a bolt of daytime, so it should work with the night sky,” Gunter replied, to which Alex and Yuu looked pleasantly surprised.

“But a year of your life? How big would it even make it?” Bea asked, looking at Alex.

“About the size of this room,” Alex answered, patting his jacket. “The only limitation is the size of what can be put inside is the size of the opening. But with the right spell, you can miniaturise an object long enough to put it inside,” Alex explained. As if to demonstrate, he took out an entire bookshelf filled with books and dropped it at his feet.

“OW!!” winced in pain as he had inadvertently dropped the bookcase on his foot. “The one good one… why couldn’t it be the left one?” Alex asked as he made the bookcase vanish and began rubbing his foot.

“So we now know how to make a container dimension. Are there any rules about one?” Bea asked, shooting worried glances at Gunter.

“Never put a dimension inside another,” Alex replied without having to think about it.

“Why not?” Tasha asked.

“They will create a feedback loop and create a singularity of force and energy which will crush everything in range before dissipating.”

“Everything?” Bea repeated.

“Yes, nothing within the range of the full size of the dimension in normal space will escape unharmed,” Yuu explained.

“So if we put a dimension inside your pocket, this entire room would-” Maxwell was cut off as Alex answered his question proactively.

“Everyone here, minus Yuu, would die,” Alex answered. “Yuu is so durable she can and has survived a dimension singularity event.”

“It was… it was the most awesome experience I have ever had,” Yuu said with a look of manic joy on her face. “If you want to witness it buy a couple of dimension containers, and I will show you,” Yuu added, not even taking a moment to breathe. “I NEED THAT RUSH AGAIN!!”

“Buy? They are absurdly expensive. It is only now I know how they are made that I understand why,” Maxwell replied

“Anything else?” Bea asked.

“Nothing living can enter the dimension. It is forged from lifeforce, so you put something in there. It’ll drain the life force and rekey it to their energy, leaving everything inside lost forever,” Alex explained.

“Sounds like a way to eliminate a threat?” Maxwell muttered in thought as the bell went indicating the start of the sixth period.

“Ok, class, we don’t have a council meeting today, so I will be covering your next lesson,” Alex explained, ignoring Yuu, who had gone into a tirade similar to the one he went into about dogs but regarding the singularity events.

“So, what is the next lesson?” Daisy asked.

“I’unno? What do you kids want to learn?” Alex replied with a shrug.