It took a few minutes of gazing blankly in the mirror to start to accept it; even then it was pretty hard. Suddenly, he experienced a strange feeling reminiscent of the uncanny valley. He couldn't tell initially, but everyone around here was like this, from what he remembers from today: a slightly strange shape, just a bit over the top, a little too symmetrical and not at the same time.
[This is ridiculous...]
He could see the resemblance, and he also felt he was moving more smoothly than he had for years.
He could see the resemblance, and he also felt he was moving more smoothly than he had for years. It was the same light brown hair as his own, with a sharp nose and the start of a beard; he probably didn't shave for a day or two... He had a somewhat disheveled appearance, including noticeable bags under his eyes.
[He was definitely at least 10 years younger now or so, with the same green eyes as before. He couldn't be sure about the height, but it felt about the same, something like 5 feet 11... I mean 6 FEET! Yeah! It was 6 feet, definitely. I won't forget to not check it, actually. The shape of the body was the same, but it still felt too wrong because...]
[Does this mirror apply an anime filter to the face or something? A...A fun house mirror? Have things been like this from the start? Is there other stuff I am just taking for granted, and is it just different?]
[Whatever! The more I try thinking, the more I waste time. I have to at least freshen up before sleeping. At least the other stuff here seems more normal!]
[$&#(%$%ｨ&(*$%]
While checking the bathroom, everything went smoothly except for the scare on the mirror. Although Louis didn't know how to make the shower heat up, he remembers reading that cold showers are better for you.
After doing one final check on the wardrobe and finding a bunch of tarot cards, playing cards, and miscellaneous occult items stored in boxes he has no idea how to use, Louis figures he might as well go to sleep early due to not figuring out how to activate the lights.
His final thoughts for the day were about whether any alarm was set and how much he missed his cellphone.
--------
Early morning the next day, with sunlight filling the windows, he hears a loud noise coming from outside, something between a trumpet and a bird song; he figures that should be the alarm to start the day.
After picking some light clothes to move in, he sets out to go back to the school, taking the bag he found there without changing the contents [I might need this], and just as Louis departs, he sees a big chicken walking towards him.
How big? Just about as tall as a pickup truck
[…]
Just as he is about to bolt out of there, he hears a voice coming from the direction the chicken is coming from: "Hey, you there. You are Louis, right?"
He goes running as fast as he can; barely a moment has passed, and he is right back at the school building entrance.
"Uff… uff…" He can barely catch his breath and is sweating bullets; the adrenaline in his blood is wearing off slightly.
[I don't thing I ever ran this fast before… They did say I had awakened some talent, maybe it's related? The walk to the dorms took a while on the way in…]
[What was that chicken? I think it had a lizard face? A velociraptor or something?]
[Don't think about it, don't think about it… What time is it now anyway? I didn't even think too much about the time; hopefully I am not TOO early… This felt like 8 or 9 hours of sleep or so? I might be pretty early actually.]
[Also, where is the gym? I guess I will just go back to the infirmary and ask; Nurse Mirian or Doctor Evans might be there already. I guess I could also ask about the job I did there before. I wonder how long I've been here.]
[Ah, I know! I could check my ID! I haven't even checked my wallet properly yet!]
As he pulls out his wallet, he finds some bills, a few white papers, and 4 playing cards? and two IDs, a green one that has a kid picture and another with a smiling young man, seemingly having a good day.
[Rare to see a good ID picture, man. What happened to you? I need to go to a barber or something… ah.]
Yesterday reading words and short texts wasn't a problem, but today Louis is having trouble even deciphering the text on the ID; even the numbers can't be understood.
[What the hell! Is this because I figured out I don't actually know the language? Am I even going to have trouble understanding people then…? NO! I gotta figure something out quick… or…]
Thinking a bit about what he has been going through recently, he feels things when trying to let his body do what it's been used to; maybe if he just went with the flow, he could have activated the lights in his dorm by doing the same trick as on the door somehow…
[I can't read with my eyes closed though… I'll try to figure this out later, maybe if I just sit down on the infirmary for a bit…]
Going through the main entrance and heading to the left, Louis traces back his steps to the infirmary; he doesn't see anyone in the building on the way there, and once he arrives, he knocks on the door.
"Just a moment, I will be right there!" Louis hears the doctor's voice through the door; after a short moment, the man smoothly opens the door and greets him.
"Hey, good morning, Louis. What brings you here? Come in!"
[I got what he said but I feel if I pay too much attention to the words I will stop getting it, I guess I will just wing it somehow…]
"Something wrong?"
"Ah, sorry, good morning. Thank you." As he enters, his nose is hit with a deep smell of medicine that wasn't here yesterday, and he sees the man that was taken here yesterday is now intubated and connected to something like an ornate piece of furniture.
"Hey, uh, what's up with him?"
"Ah, nothing much, Zohan was just less lucky than you, so we are figuring out what to do with him. We had to exorcise him, and now we are trying to figure out if he kept the extra soul aura from the specter or not; if not, he might never be able to truly work as a sorcerer after all."
"He got that evil specter thing? What about the thing you were saying about killing yesterday?"
"Hahah, that is for the evil specter; that one is deady dead!"
"Oh, I see!" Good thing he is just fine; everything went fine for me.
[$#%!$%&%%%%%%$]
[I wanted to check out how to go to the gym, I haven't even asked the time I had to go there]
[The time? I'll check.] Louis sees some shuffling from his cloak, and a golden string comes out of it.
**BST Time call**
A circle cut like a pizza with 10 slices materializes in the air, with 2 different-sized darker lines showing at the lower side.
"Around 5, you are about 2 hours early from what is usual."
"Ok, thanks. Cool spell, by the way!"
"Well, this is called sorcemy, I guess you still didn't get your memories properly in order. You could do this pretty easily before, you know? It is likely you will need to buy a mechanical clock now though…"
"What do you mean? Like I won't be able to use it ever again?"
"From what we checked, basically your soul tendril, this gold line we use to cast sorcemy, seems to have retracted, but the way it is right now is actually seen as a great condition to cast aura arts; from having your soul set in both configurations, with practice you might be able to use both over time!"
"Not sure I get it, but it sounds great! Do you know where I can get a mechanical clock around here?"
"I will talk to the dorm guard later to send you one. Using the sorcemy clock cast is one of the first projects of the sorcery subject, so you will have to learn it again in a bit. I am sure it is a bit tough to have to do again one of the few subjects you actually got to complete."
"? I guess I don't remember it anyway; maybe it's for the best."
"You are right! It's good you are taking this well!"
"I also wanted to check-you said something about a job. Can I sort things out to work here again? I think I will need all the experience I can get to remember things faster."
"Sure! Your documentation is all in order as you were doing it before the throne procedure. Come back here after your activities today, and we can restart right away. One way or the other, I think you were the student that helped out the most!"
"Hehehe, I guess I was pretty good then?"
"…Uh, you would get good eventually if you do it for 3 years." Nurse Mirian responds from the back of the infirmary.
"Good morning, Nurse! I didn't know you were here… Wait 3 years?"
"Yeah."
"… Excuse me, how long is the course actually?"
"2 Years."
"… Can you tell me in what year I am?"
"Year 1, first half."
"…"