After that little incident, I eventually had to go with Rika to the new area that we were occupying.
We crossed the maze, there was a line of chalk on the floor that led to the exit. Where the Minotaur's body was, now lay a dried pool of blood, reminding me of the entire fight very well. It seems so irrelevant now, the entire struggle against that oversized bull.
Rika ate the stew that I leftover while we walked to the new living areas. "Well this isn't the hotel we were supposed to go to" I said in an attempt to make conversation, Rika nearly spat out her food trying to hold back laughter "c'mon, I was eating!"
The bricks were yellowish and old, there was a lot of dust on the floor. The air felt stale and old, but just fresh enough to be breathable.
We got to a hallway which led into some kind of common area, it had antique furniture and the entire place looked quite cozy. Rika elbowed me lightly "You think the Minotaur lounged around here?" I'll admit, the thought amused me "Why was he here in the first place? why not the maze?"
It seems like at the moment, everyone is in their own rooms. Rika said each room had two bunkbeds, allowing four people to stay in one room. "I dunno, maybe he felt like sleeping somewhere else?"
"Well that's that. Where is my room?" Rika shrugged "I think Ryo said something about saving you a spot in his room."
We said our byes for the night and I went looking for Ryo, who I found looking for a notebook.
"Oh hey, you alright?" Ryo said, he turned away from the chest he was surfing through. "Yeah, I used my Variant too much, that's all. What's up?"
"Oh, I'm looking for a notebook, I need to document everything." Ryo picked the Mage class as well if I'm remembering correctly. Which I think needs research and learning to master or even grow your power.
"I picked Mage, what kind of Mage are you?" I said, if my hypothesis from half a day ago was correct, then Ryo...
"I uhh, can do all of the elements." Bingo, I was correct.
Ryo Yamamoto, Variant: Mana Manipulator. He's had the power to affect Mana without being a Mage, he instinctually made metal objects as intricate as brass knuckles, something that's far more complicated than anyone at our level and class can accomplish. To put into better words, he's been using Mana this entire time, perfectly understanding its shape and flow, and using that Mana to his own will.
Its a good thing I have him on my side.
"What do you mean you can 'do all the elements'? like all four of them?" I need to feign ignorance or stupidity here, Ryo will definitely be the strongest mage in this entire class. "Yeah, its weird, when I picked the option it just said 'ALL ELEMENTS AVAILABLE' or something similar."
That's cause you literally cant be stopped from using the other elements, not all of us can mold mana on the daily.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"What's your Class screen look like by the way?" Ryo asked, still rummaging through the chest. "I haven't opened it yet, lemme check" I tried to think about the mage screen, its like wishing for something to happen, and it happening.
Mage: Being a mage, you must pursue magical knowledge to reach your next class upgrade Mana Storage: Level 10 Types Of Mage: Fire Mage Mana Output: Level 5 Skills: Cig Lighter (Learn to unlock more skills) Mana Recovery: Level 5
"What are these numbers?" I asked, Ryo responded pretty fast "You probably have higher levels than me, its most likely some kind of indicator of strength"
I helped Ryo find a notebook, along with some old ink and feathers. We struggled for like two hours before we wrote down what we knew about Magic and Mana in general. It ranged from "Mana exists everywhere" to "Don't draw mana directly from this specific muscle, it will give you cramps" yeah it was weird.
"By the way, there's some kind of plumbing system in this place." "Oh for real? how does it work?"
Ryo finally showed me the room I was to be staying in, Naoki Ishida was there as well as Hiroshi Tanaka, they were in one bunk. I didn't say much to them, I didn't say anything to them actually. Hiroshi scares me and Naoki is kind of a meanie, both people I find hard to make conversation with.
There was a bathroom next to our 'dorm', it had a tap, a shower, a toilet and some wooden sticks with what I think is some bristles on them. My first thought was 'No soap?' but I've learnt not to blurt out stupid stuff when people are around.
"How does this work?" Both of us stared at the showerhead, it was a metal grate stuck to a metal pipe, but the pipe was hollow and connected to nothing. The real magic was in the showerhead itself, which had a stone with a funny blue glowing mark on it... Runes?
You have discovered: Runes!
That easy? C'mon where's the drive for knowledge here?
After we got settled into our rooms, it felt like forever since I last touched a mattress. Oh the sweet heaven that is a cushioned sleeping area!
And then something even sweeter happened, Ryo said there was a a lot of spare clothes, albeit from another world in a musty dungeon, but cleaner than the ones I had on. So I took the clothes and hopped in the magic shower.
IT WAS HEAVENLY!
Forget the crying, forget the distrust, superpowers and magic. A nice warm shower is all I need, forget the life-scarring experiences in the past day. I am at peace with the hot water pouring down on me.
After that awe-inspiring shower, I changed into the same white shirt, it wasn't that dirty or stained, and I had no other substitute for the shirt. I ditched the tie and blazer, instead I donned a new brown cloak, fun. For pants I got some simple linen trousers, comfy and baggy, the teachers would fume if I wore this normally.
Now to just level my allies up and leave the dungeon, something that might take some time. But at least I have a headstart than my other classmates.