After Umbramancy was Lumenmacy, which was also the intermediate class and thus I was expecting it to be filled with senior students as well.
I thought this class would be much more popular than the Umbramancy one but surprisingly, there were no other students aside from myself.
The classroom was pretty much equivalent to a supply closet in size and it was just the teacher's table, the black board and three student desks in front of it.
A woman was slumped over the teacher's table, seemingly fast asleep with her face pressed against the table and her purple hair covering her face.
I'm going to make a guess that this woman is the teacher of this class.
I'm not sure if the empty class was an indication that I was early, the other students were late, or I really was the only student in this class.
"Ummm… Teacher?" I muttered, poking the sleeping woman.
"Mnn… Five more minutes… Ehehe…"
Eh? Wait a minute… I recognise this voice… But surely it can't be her?
I shifted the woman's hair aside and it was… Someone I didn't know.
I mean, I'm pretty sure I would remember someone who had purplish skin with large, curved horns jutting out of the sides of her head. In fact, I'm quite surprised that there's someone who isn't a Mahun here.
Aside from myself of course.
Judging by her features, she's probably an Infrid, which was this World's version of succubi.
Nevertheless… I do want to attend this lesson so I should probably wake her up.
"Teacher… It's time for lessons… Could you wake up?"
"Mnnn… Huh? Yaaaawn… Oh… Is it already time for lesso-- EHHH?!! ASTER?!!"
What the… That voice definitely belongs to Lisa…
I narrowed my eyes at her, "Lisa?"
"Awawawa… What are you doing here?!"
"Umm… For my Lumenmancy class? I should be asking you what you are doing here?"
"Aster is my student for Lumenmancy?!"
"You can teach Lumenmancy?! Wait… What is with that look? And you're a teacher here?! I thought you're an alchemist? I have so many questions I don't even know where to start!"
The woman with Lisa's voice poked her fingers together, "Umm… Err… Ahhhh!! I was planning to tell you but I thought Aster would only attend Alchemy classes so I was totally not prepared for this!"
She's teaching alchemy here too? Wait, wait, wait… Let's all just slow down a little…
"Let's just start from the beginning… You're Lisa right? You're not like a doppelganger or some split personality or even a demon possessing her right?"
"A demon possessing her? Ah, I mean… Ye… Yes… I'm Lisa… The alchemist you helped with those requests last week."
I nodded, we're making progress!
I then gestured to the classroom, "You're actually a teacher in this Academy?"
"Ehehe… Yeah… I was hoping to surprise you in your alchemy class so… Umm… Surprise!"
Ok… This was a surprise for sure I guess?
"You're also proficient in Luenmancy?" I asked.
When I last checked, she most definitely did not have the Lumenmancy Magic Skill so why is she even teaching this class? I wouldn't be as surprised as I am now if she was a teacher in Alchemy class but finding her here definitely made no sense.
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That's also putting aside the fact that she's an Infrid.
She giggled, "Yes… Believe it or not, Lumenmancy is really unpopular as a magic skill and barely anyone learns it outside of Guild members. Those that do would most definitely not find a teaching position here unless they are already retired so there's a lack of people willing to teach that magic here… I had to learn it in the past since I would go into dark caves to gather materials so it was quite useful for me to have this skill."
I really wanted to retort that she didn't have the magic skill last I checked but then I stopped myself.
She had that artefact that hinders people from seeing her features… Which has now been revealed to me that she was actually not a Mahun but an Infrid from the start.
Could it also be hiding her stats?
I checked her stats again.
[Name: Lisa
Title: Owner of Lisa's Pot Shop, Lumenmancy Teacher, Alchemy Teacher, Former Slave, Unhinged Seductress
Race: Infrid
Gender: Futanari
Current Mood: Embarrassed
Stats:
123 Strength
113 Dexterity
115 Endurance
622 Magic
Skills:
Cooking (Tier 2), Alchemy (Tier 3), Hunting (Tier 3), Tracking (Tier 3), Assassination (Tier 2), Martial Skill-(Dagger Proficiency (Tier 2), Throwing Proficiency (Tier 2), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2))
Magic Skills:
Pyromancy (Tier 1), Umbramancy (Tier 1), Lumenmancy (Tier 3), Somatomancy (Tier 2), Clairvoyance (Tier 2), Mana Management (Tier 2)]
What the heck… So her stats really were hidden… That means there are things out there that can trick this boon huh… Mother probably has one too.
Also, she's actually really strong in magic and Alchemy!
I massaged my temple, "Ok… So… Lisa isn't a Mahun but an Infrid, right? How and why?"
She scratched her cheek sheepishly, "Umm… It's a long story… Could I tell you some other time, Aster? I'm sure you would like to start class now?"
Ugh… She's right, but there is just one thing I need to know first.
Without that inhibition artefact, I can see her features on full display. Her skin was a light purple in colour and her ears were long and tapered, poking out of her dark purple hair. Her horns jutted out from both sides of her head, curling upwards and stopping right above the top of her head and sharpening into points.
There was no way anyone here would forget about her when they meet her for the first time, especially when her figure practically oozes sexuality with those really thick curves.
Yeah, her breasts must be at least a size bigger than mine but I'm still growing!
"Why did you show your face now though?" I asked.
"Ahh… Umm… I didn't think there would actually be any students so I let myself relax here…"
I frowned at her, "What do you mean there wouldn't be any students? I thought that students would indicate their interest in studying for a class beforehand so the teachers would know about it?"
Lisa sighed and reached into one of the table's drawers, pulling out a small stack of papers that she placed on the table.
I quickly realised those were student application papers and there were at least ten of them there, which meant that at least ten students signed up for this class and yet only one showed up.
Lisa gestured to the stack of papers, "It seems like Aster isn't aware but… Lumenmancy class is just basically a filler class… There's a minimum requirement to the number of classes a student has to attend and… Well… Most students are pretty much satisfied with learning the basics of Lumenmancy but they don't go beyond that… So they sign up for the class just to fill up the quota and then never show up…"
That's also another thing I'm curious about… Why is it not popular? Sure, it starts off as a magic that you can only summon glowing balls of light but you can actually fire lasers and summon light weapons in the higher tiers!
Why aren't more people interested?! It's lasers!! Like literal burn through stuff easily kind of lasers! Why wouldn't this magic be more popular?!
"Doesn't Lumenmancy also possess powerful spells too? Like the [Laser]?"
She gasped, "Oh! As expected of Aster to even know that spell! But as you said, it is powerful, but the reason it's unpopular is not because of a lack of power… Did Aster have any accidents while using this magic?"
I shook my head, wondering just what kind of accidents could you even get while casting this magic.
Lisa tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Nnn… I suppose we can base our lesson on that for today~ Here! Let me demonstrate!"
She reached under the desk and brought out two small, wooden figurines the size of a palm. Placing the two of them side by side, she then gestured for me to head over to her so that I could stand beside her.
I obliged and she started to chant the spell.
"I call upon the wrath of the Gods, converge the light and burn through all that stands in my way. With this light, all shall be pierced with its burning radiance. [Laser]."
A beam of light was shot out from her finger tip to pierce through the first figurine cleanly, only to seemingly bounce back from something at the back of the class to pierce through the second figurine a short distance beside the first one.
The light ray continued until it hit the wall, leaving a small burn mark on it before the spell dissipated.
Lisa then gestured to the second figurine, "Whoops, I guess that unfortunate soul who just happened to be there met a terrible end! An whoever was behind us at that wall also met an unfortunate end!"
Ah… I get it…
Because it's literally a light beam, it could easily get reflected if used on something with a reflective surface and might pierce through something you didn't want to hit, including yourself.
And if you were to remove that magic, you'll be left with a shiny light magic and ability to create blindingly bright equipment.
I can see why most people wouldn't devote their life to learning this magic and instead, pick up something easier to control like Pyromancy.
I'm still pretty glad that I didn't do something similar when I casted that magic those times before…
I still have so many questions for Lisa though…