"I'm going to try the other part now"

"Go for it."

Hearing the Headmaster's words, I once again close my eyes to focus.

As I will the Blessing to activate, a different sensation hit me that I didn't expect. Resistance. It feels like I'm trying to push a wall with just my mind. I tried to be more forceful, demanding it, commanding the 'wall' to move, to let out the power within the Stigma. The harder I push, the more immovable the wall seems to be.

Then I realize that I'm dumb.

Quickly pulling the description once again, I feel even more like an idiot.

Blessing of Song and Wine (A)

Blessed by the Songs of Joy and Wine of Celebration, your power is to bring joy and happiness to all around you on any occasion. Gain a bonus in Willpower and Presence. Presence will now increase based on your rank.

*Songs of Joy: You can conjure a piece of musical instrument that can be held with both your hands at will, as long as you know about its properties. The construct is made from magical metals and is considered a real object that can interact with any Skills. The instrument is considered a Magical Focus for the purpose of casting magic. Magic casted with the conjured instrument is influenced by your Presence instead of Focus. If you are too far away from a conjured instrument, or it is damaged to a certain level, or you conjured a different instrument, the existing instrument will vanish.

*Wine of Celebration: While touching an inanimate object that can be used to hold any form of liquid, you can expend a certain amount of Soul energy to fill it with magical alcohol. The taste, color, and magical effect of the alcohol will be determined by your and the current surrounding sentient creature's mood and emotion. The wine will gradually lose its effects and taste if you are not maintaining it, eventually becoming plain water.

It's not resisting me, it's more like I don't have the requirement to activate it.

I have never held an instrument in my entire life, so how could I have known about any of their properties.

Hmm. This is quite the dilemma. Maybe I can pull something from my past life?

I had only ever seen it, but there seems to be an instrument that is favored by my past self. It has a long neck, with 6 strings, and a strange gourd-shaped box as its main body. The box is hollow, made of wood, and has a circular opening where you suppose to place your hand and pluck the strings. I think, its name is 'guitar'?

The moment I finished my thoughts, the strange instrument immediately appeared in my hands. There was no light, no sound. Just one moment when it's not, and the next it simply be. The suddenness of its existence surprises me, making me almost drop the heavy thing.

And what a beautiful thing it is.

While I won't claim to have any artistic sense, I find myself holding a masterpiece of the highest degree.

It's large and heavy enough that requires both of my hands to hold it comfortably. The body of the guitar looks like it's made of dark wood, but the smoothness and the slight coolness of it remind me more of a metal blade. It's as if it was carved from a tree made of steel. If that were to be the case, then this thing is lighter than it has any right to be.

But the most amazing part about the guitar is the vivid and beautiful decorations adorning its surface.

Depictions of plants, animals, and people gathering around, dancing to unheard songs, made from solid golden metal. The details are so fine, the expressions so life-like that it makes one wonder if they would suddenly move the second you take your eyes off of them. Even though there are a lot of decorations, they are all placed in organic and strategic places, creating a scene of a festival attended by all living things.

It's so beautiful that it takes my breath away.

"Woah..."

"It looks a bit too much, isn't it?"

I quickly turn towards the voice, finding Yermen with an expression that I can only describe as disgust. I am appalled by what he just said.

"How could you say such a thing! It's clearly the most wonderful and beautiful work of art to have ever existed!! Look at this deer, can't you feel that it's just a moment away from leaping out of the guitar? And this person's smile, it's so radiant that I can't look away. How can you say that it's too much!"

Yermen looks at me as if I had grown another head. "How can you say such things about something you made with a straight face? Besides, I just said that it looks too noisy for me. I hate crowds and festivals, so this very realistic depiction of one doesn't stand well with me."

I'm appalled, aghast, scandalized. I can't believe it. Betrayed by the person I trusted the most.

"You take back what you said about Genny right now."

Yermen looks dumbfounded. "Did you just name it Genny?"

I won't back down though. "Apologize!"

"Hah?"

I pout really hard.

Yermen shakes his head. "You're such a kid. Fine, if it makes you feel better."

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"Do it properly."

He groans. "Finneee. I apologize, Genny?"

"It's short for Genesis." Yup, I think that's cool enough.

Hehe. I'm not actually mad. I just wanted to tease him.

I think I'm going to call every instrument I summon Genesis.

I just have a feeling that a name is important somehow.

Like I need to have it to set the Blessing in stone. It must be some sort of influence from the Blessing itself. Well, not that I'm complaining. Having a named weapon like Trollslayer is much cooler than some random Iron Sword.

In this case, it's a guitar though.

"I have never seen such an instrument before, young Steelight. What is it?" The Headmaster chooses this moment to step in.

"Uhhh. It's called a guitar. I think I might have read about it somewhere..."

"Hah! You? Read? You need a better excuse than that." Yermen said

"Hey! I do read. Sometimes."

The Headmaster squints at me.

I can't help but turn away from his intense gaze. Ah, shit. That was such a bad lie. Even Yermen knows that it's a lie, so the Headmaster must know it's a lie as well. Cold sweat begins to flow down my back as I desperately think of a way to get out of this.

Gods, this is so stressful. I feel like I'm standing naked in front of his scrutiny.

"Umm, uhh, I mean, uh, I saw it, somewhere, a person, musician, was playing it, and I learned about it from him. It's true. I swear."

The Headmaster's gaze seems to soften immediately, his expression now much more relaxed.

"Well, that's not a lie, but not the whole truth either. Since you don't feel comfortable saying, then it's fine."

Huh. Did it end just like that?

Looking at my face, the Headmaster must have seen how surprised I was, so he laughs lightly and said.

"Did I scare you? Sorry, it's just part of my blessing. Whenever someone lies around me, I get really mad. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Woah, you're a Blessed as well?"

"Haha. You did show me how your Blessing works, so I feel that it's only fair that I return the favor."

Thinking back now, I feel like that's perfectly reasonable. He's one of the strongest, if not the strongest man in this Kingdom, so him having a blessing must be a given.

Though, a blessing that makes you mad if someone lies to you?

Wouldn't that make your life miserable? How can one be close to you if every secret, no matter how small, is inexcusable?

Is that why he never married?

Now I feel bad for the man. He must have been so lonely for so long, not being able to have any true companion that he can trust.

"Hm? Hahaha. Are you feeling bad for me? Don't be. I've lived like this for a long time now. I'm already old and used to the loneliness. You don't have to feel sorry for this old man." The Headmaster said good-naturedly.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't, so don't be so down, okay? It's written all over your face."

I touched my face, a little alarmed. "Is it that obvious?"

This time, Yermen decides to be the interrupter. "Well yeah. Your eyes were doing the 'boohoo, I'm such a sad and pitiful little puppy, please comfort me', expression."

"Hey! My eyes don't do that! My mom said my eyes look cool, not cute."

"Nuh-uh, your eyes are always the cutest part of you. It's like you're wearing your heart on your sleeves every time I look at your eyes. It's really cute." Yermen said smugly before realizing what he had just said.

His face changed from smug to horror to embarrassed so fast that it's amazing. He even has the audacity to blush so brightly.

Uh. Oh, Gods.

I'm blushing too.

He just said that my eyes look cute.

I'm so flustered that I don't know what to do. My heart is beating fast, there are butterflies in my stomach.

It's been so long since someone complimented me.

I want to get back at him for making me like this.

"Well, you're the one who's cute. Blushing like a maiden in love after complimenting a man like that. What if you were a girl, huh? Then I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back."

"Hah!!" Yermen is even redder now. Yup. I said it. You look cute, deal with that. See how flustered you are now. That's what you did to me. Bastard.

"You...you..." Yermen stammered out, no doubt too stricken by my heavy blow to his pride that he's unable to form words.

"Well, I would hate to interrupt a lover's quarrel, but aren't we supposed to be in the middle of something? Though seeing you both getting along so well, maybe we could move this to a different time?"

Hearing the Headmaster's words, we find our feet infinitely more interesting than each other's faces.

Really, that lecherous old man.

What lover's quarrel? This is a serious verbal battle you know. We were clearly trying to one-up each other in order to embarrass the other person. Yep. Nothing more and nothing less.

Ah, this rug looks nice.

Wait. He said that lies make him mad, right? And right now, he seems to be enjoying himself. Does that mean...

No way!

===

After having a little crisis about my sexuality, I decided to push this conversation to the furthest corner of my mind where it will be there for the rest of my days.

Focusing again on the guitar, I tried to focus mana into it like one would use a catalyst normally. Well, it didn't work, as I have suspected. It seems that I need to actually play the instrument to cast magic from it.

"Urg, it's not working."

"You're holding it like a club and expect the instrument to work like it's supposed to?" Yermen said sarcastically. He seems to have also calmed down.

I pout. "Well, I was just checking to be sure."

"It seems that until our young Hero learns how to play an instrument, our experimentation must end for now."The Headmaster said while searching for something in his drawers.

He eventually pulls out a stack of paper and hands it to me. Seeing its content, I immediately froze. It is a set of questions with an answer sheet that looks suspiciously like the tests that I had to take at the end of any theoretical class.

What is the meaning of this!? Why am I suddenly taking a test now?

He must have seen how desperate I looked, for the Headmaster chuckled lightly before explaining.

"This is a test meant to evaluate your personality, goals, morals, and ideals. All Blessed students must take this test before enrolling, and every month for the duration of their tutelage. This is to track if there's any change to your personality due to the influence of the Stigma, to make sure that you are not losing control."

Hearing this, I sigh with relief.

"I will also enroll you into the Blessed class. It's held on Saturday morning every week, and I expect full attendance. Hmm, it's said here that out of the 4 elective slots available, you had only filled in for 2, Potions and Monster Studies. I suggest you enroll in the Music class, as well as Advanced Geomancy 1 for the remaining 2 slots, are you fine with that?"

Second years like myself get to choose up to 4 elective classes to attend. During our first year, the school only focus on general studies, so there was no time for electives. In the second year though, because the number of general classes is reduced, we get to choose extra electives. As long as we have enough credit at the end of the year, we can move on to the next year. Electives are all held in the afternoon, and general classes are in the morning.

This year, I only chose 2 electives that have just enough credit to get me to the next year. There are reasons for my choices.

Potions because I want to study under Prof. Gentielle, and Monster Studies because that was the easiest class available for me. My dad had taught me a lot about monsters to prepare me to face them one day, so I already have some knowledge about the subject.

Now though, since I have this Stigma granted to me, I'll need to attend extra classes to help me utilize it properly. Music is obvious because I need to learn how to play instruments before I can even use half of my power. As for Advanced Geomancy 1, I can only think that will benefit me since my affinity is Earth.

Seeing nothing wrong with those choices, I nod my head.

"Good. Since this situation is special, I shall handle all of your registration for you while you do the personality test. As for Mr. Caliser, you ought to return to class, it's almost time already. Mr. Hero, stay here and finish your test. I have already informed your professor about your absence, so you won't get punished."

"Now, off you go!"