"..."
'That explanation is a bit too 'artificial idiot' for my liking.'
"And another thing--I felt completely out of character yesterday."
["No you didn't! I thought the Master was exceptionally cool yesterday!"]
"Cool or not," Wayland said, reflecting on his state of mind during the encounter, "I was far too calm. From committing the murder to destroying the evidence, I was as composed as if I'd done it a thousand times before. Before this, I was just a high school student. I wouldn't call myself a coward, but I shouldn't be that indifferent to taking a life."
["...Er."]
Irigal paused for a moment. ["It's probably due to your elemental affinity. Each of the four elements corresponds to different personality traits. For example, magi with an Earth affinity tend to have more stoic, grounded temperaments."]
"No, that's not right." Wayland shook his head. "That explanation doesn't hold water. If that were the case, wouldn't magi with dual or multiple affinities be completely schizophrenic?"
["Well, then I have no idea."]
"..."
Wayland couldn't shake the feeling that the system was hiding something. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly take the system apart to check.
"Anyway, what about my quest rewards? Your reaction time is terrible. Every other system gives out rewards the second a task is finished, but I always have to remind you."
["This is my first time being a system, you know!"] Irigal replied, her tone wounded. Then, she brightened her voice. ["Congratulations, Master, on your promotion to the rank of Frame! You have obtained the Nordic Ancient Curse: Gandr."]
Instantly, a massive influx of information regarding the Gandr curse flooded Wayland's mind. At the same time, the trickle of prana within his Magic Circuits expanded, growing into the strength of a steady stream.
[Status Update: Magus Rank - Frame (Seventh Rank) achieved.]
Magecraft within the Type-Moon world was broadly divided into two categories: Modern Magecraft and Age of Gods Magecraft.
Modern Magecraft involved the activation of magical foundations to deceive the world for a brief period. Age of Gods Magecraft, however, was a direct connection to the Root or the gods themselves, utilizing Divine Authority to alter the world as a matter of course.
But as Mystery began to wane, the Age of Gods had come to an end, leaving behind only the dying embers of its power.
Modern Rune magecraft was a pale imitation of what was once known as Primordial Runes. In the Age of Gods, the more divinity a user possessed, the more powerful their Runes became--a fact as clear as the existence of Scathach, the Queen of the Land of Shadows.
That purple-haired beauty was a master of Primordial Runes, possessed a high-level of Clairvoyance, and in Fate/Grand Order, she could effectively rewrite a Servant's Saint Graph at will.
Naturally, the Gandr Wayland was learning wasn't a Primordial Rune, but the mechanics were similar. It involved the combination of specific characters and vocalized incantations. While it only required a single-action speed, its destructive power could be scaled depending on the user's prana output.
Wayland spent the entire morning practicing the Gandr curse. Just as he was beginning to wonder if he had been forgotten, he finally saw a familiar face.
Waver Velvet.
It suddenly hit Wayland what he had forgotten. Krisy had told him to see Waver this morning, mentioning that the Lord might have other business to attend to.
"Professor, I... I didn't mean to skip our meeting," Wayland said, his face a mask of regret.
"...Let's go."
Waver looked as though he wanted to say plenty more, but eventually, only two words escaped his lips. Wayland gave a tiny, curious glance at his new teacher before offering a small smile. If he stayed in this room any longer, he was going to die of boredom.
'Did that woman, the 'Snake of the Department of Policies,' really just let me go that easily?'
'Is my Luck EX finally kicking in?'
He hadn't seen Hishiri Adashino at all as they left.
The two of them walked in silence, Wayer offering no conversation and Wayland not knowing how to start any. They eventually reached Slur Street.
Continuing past the dormitory area and following the rising slope to a crossroads, Wayland looked up to see a large, imposing building. It was the primary lecture hall for the Department of Modern Magecraft.
Following Waver into the main lobby and up the spiral staircase, a wall of noise--chatter, arguments, and laughter--hit Wayland's ears.
For a moment, he felt a strange sense of deja vu.
'It felt like walking back into his high school classroom during senior year. His classmates were all heads-down, focused on their papers, while the world outside bustled with life. If you looked up, you might catch the teacher peering through the window, sending everyone back into a frantic, focused silence.'
Wayland's pace slowed. While he hadn't read the original novels, he had watched the Lord El-Melloi II Case Files anime. He had at least a basic understanding of his future classmates--Waver's primary disciples.
The three most famous among them were Gray, Flat Escardos, and Svin Glascheit.
Gray was the gravekeeper of the Blackmore Cemetery, possessing the lineage of King Arthur. Flat and Svin were the geniuses of the Clock Tower's younger generation, famously known as the El-Melloi classroom's "Twin Jewels."
But Wayland had no intention of competing with geniuses. His only goal was to increase his rank and, hopefully, add a few percentage points to his survivability in the upcoming Holy Grail War.
'Lay low, keep learning, and stay alive. That's the only way.'
The classroom fell silent the moment Waver stepped inside. Every eye shifted to him, and then inevitably, to the boy standing behind him.
Wayland blinked, feeling a distinct shift in the atmosphere.
"Professor!"
A boy with short blond hair and vibrant blue eyes stood up from the front row. He pointed at Wayland, his face alive with excitement. "Is this him? Is this our classroom's 'Future Star'?"
'Wait, what? Future Star? What am I, a line of calcium-enriched milk for kids?'
"Flat!" Waver snapped, his brows knitting together. "Stop giving people ridiculous nicknames."
At that moment, a handsome boy with fluffy, golden hair stood up alongside Flat.
"Professor, you can't really blame Flat this time. I mean, he's the first student in the history of the El-Melloi classroom to skip the entrance ceremony right in front of all the Lords and lecturers. It was quite..."
He trailed off, seemingly lacking the right word to describe it.
"Mutt! He's the Future Star!"
Flat, clearly thrilled that Svin seemed to agree with him for once, became even more animated.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]