A tired and sweaty Professor Morningdale held a shiny golden ore covered with multicolored veins when the light faded.
“This, my new students, is the Legendary Orichalcum. The Magical Metal Alloy is known to humanity as the strongest of all ore.” Looking around the room at her students’ stunned expressions and glittering eyes, Professor Morningdale felt a sense of accomplishment.
It was a gamble on her part creating the chunk of Orichalcum ore resting in her palm, but one well worth it so long as she could leave a lasting impression on the young minds.
Cynrik crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair while exhaling shakily at the back of the classroom. The simple existence of what could be called nothing other than Transmutation without definite equivalent exchange made the little bit of sanity dwelling within his mind want to fracture.
‘No, that’s not right; it wasn’t something from nothing but a complex combination of different opposing forces. First, breaking down Earth Mana… er, Terra particles under heavy pressure before crashing copious amounts of other elemental Mana particles into the newly formed Metal particles to create a new particle entirely. This Umbridge is a monster to complete that process and then condense and assimilate those scattered newly formed particles and manifest it into a solid.’
[[Woah… it’s so shiny; hey, hey Cyn, buy me one; it would look great on my dresser.]] Unfortunately for Cynrik, his train of thought was interrupted by Selene’s annoying pleading for her own piece of Orichalcum ore.
[[Tsk, Wench, if you think I can actually afford something of that caliber, you better go find someone else to latch onto.]] Fighting the urge to headbutt Selene, Cynrik retorted, making Brance slam his forehead on the table in agony before covering himself with crossed arms.
“Will you two give it a rest for 10 minutes? I’m begging you.” Brance whimpered softly, causing Gabby to rub his back in a comforting gesture even though she had no clue what was upsetting him.
The subtle interactions at the back of the class went unnoticed as everyone’s attention was directed to the chunk of ore Professor Morningdale had allowed to be passed around.
She did this for two reasons: the first was to allow for a couple of minutes to recuperate after exhausting a large portion of her Stamina and MP. The other was to give the class a chance to feel how powerful this pseudo-legendary material was.
Significantly few people outside of High-Tier Alchemists were able to create this complex and intricate material. It was an excellent opportunity to broaden the horizons of the first-year students.
By the time the ore made its Way to Brance, he was instantly recharged, taking the chunk of ore in one hand and activating his [Mana Sight].
[[This is amazing, the byproduct of the process is a solid and new particle entirely. Not only that, but I can actually see the ambient Mana from the surrounding air being absorbed into those vein-like channels.]] Brance took his time turning the ore in different directions while taking careful notice of the minute changes in the newly formed Orichalcum particles presented.
Once he was satisfied and felt he needed time to analyze his findings, he passed the stone to Cynrik, who only held it for a few seconds before tossing it over to Selene.
[[The heck Cyn? Aren’t you gonna examine it thoroughly as Brancie did?]] Selene complained as she gently cradled the chunk of ore like a baby in her arms.
[[No need, I already got everything I needed. Unlike my little brother, who requires time, I am basically able to make a mental recording that I can play back at any time if I really wanna delve further.]] Cynrik gave a very vague and brief summary of his [Mindscape] to Selene and waved her off so she could spend her time with her new obsession.
[Way to give a broad-ass description of your ability Cyn, with how close you are getting with Selene, I figured you’d go into one of your intricate explanations about its inner workings.] Shaking his head and wearing a weak smile, Brance pointed out how short Cynrik’s patience with the girl seemed to be.
[What’s the point? It isn’t like she would be paying attention, to begin with. Her entire pea-sized attention span is directed at the Orichalcum; at best, I would get one or two-word responses. So instead of wasting my breath, it is easier just to give her a MEH reply.] Cynrik didn’t bother looking over at Selene, who was in the process of planting small kisses all over the ore and whispering sweet nothings, as he responded to Brance’s concerns.
“Hem, hem, Ms. Nilsson, I believe it is time for me to continue the lesson; I’ll be taking my ore back now.” At the bottom/front of the room, the now fully refreshed Professor Morningdale interrupted Selene’s affectionate display by ripping the ore from her clutches and making it float over everyone’s heads.
“Noooo, my precious!” Selene cried out as the chunk of metal and rock was magically pulled away from her hands. Her reaction forced Cynrik to catch her wrists before placing them forcefully on her lap so she wouldn’t do anything stupid like jumping after it.
[[Calm your ass down, woman, if you are so desperate for a piece of Orichalcum, then go help Brance figure out how to make it. Otherwise, suck it up, buttercup.]] Using the same tone Brance had a habit of using on him, Cynrik scolded Selene and ignored the tears forming in her eyes.
Several students chuckled at Selene’s overreaction, especially a group of boys a few rows away; however, their laughter was interrupted by Cynrik’s piercing death stare, followed by leaking a small amount of Killing Intent. His actions made it clear that only he was allowed to bully Selene. If anyone else tried, they would be decimated.
[Ppfft, whos the tsundere now Cyn, hehe.] Brance stated in the solo mind link, earning him a glare which he casually shrugged off and continued snickering to himself.
“Alright, alright, everyone, quiet down, there is still some time left in the period, and I have a final element to go over.” When Professor Morningdale noticed the class was getting rowdy and remembered the notice about Cynrik’s temper that she had received before class started, she calmed the students down before pulling out a small potted plant from her inventory and placing it on the podium.
“The fifth and final of the basic elements is, as you all know, Wood. This element is the only of the five to have a restriction on manifestation. This is because it needs living plant life to be used, which is a significant change compared to the other four, which are easily condensed so long as enough Ambient particles are floating around.”
Cynrik’s eyes narrowed sharply as Morningdale began breaking down the Wood Affinity. Still, he felt something was very off about her terminology and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and his chin on the top of his steepled hands.
Under the watchful gaze of Cynrik’s [Mana Sight], Professor Morningdale retrieved her wand and performed a combination of swishes and flicks before steadily bouncing the wand upward. In response, the small plant began blooming and growing, matching the tempo of Morningdale’s movements.
[Brance…I know im not seeing and hearing things wrong but don’t you feel something is off about calling this Affinity and subsequent Mana particle Wood?] Wanting to know his brother’s opinion, Cynrik quickly summarized what he thought as Morningdale spoke about how the Wood Element was rooted in nature. So long as there was plantlife somewhere nearby, one could take control of its growth cycle and even use it for both offensive and defensive combat.
[Im no biologist Cyn; science has always been your wheelhouse, yet, there is definitely something wrong with calling that particle Wood. Especially when there isn’t a trace of Wood or anything remotely resembling tree bark insight.] Brance replied, now as invested in what was happening as much as Cynrik was.
Beside Cynrik, Selene stared at him curiously and tilted her head while poking his shoulder.
“What’s up? Why do you both look so focused? Isn’t it just the Wood element?”
When Cynrik turned to look at Selene, he noticed something for the first time. It happened when she said the word Wood. Despite forming a different word with her lips, Wood’s sounds came out instead of what she was speaking at the time. This minute difference was so quickly and blurred that he would have missed it if Cynrik hadn’t been paying attention closely.
[[Selene, say that word again. The element name.]] Placing his hand on her thigh, Cynrik made Selene look him directly in the eyes and repeat the word again. This time Cynrik was sure there was something wrong.
[[Now say the word Wood in English.]]
Although thoroughly confused, she realized something was up and did as he requested without arguing.
However, this time, instead of the strange blurry lip movement, Selene’s lips formed the word Wood in perfect English, making Cynrik’s pupils constrict. Similarly, Brance noticed that, for some reason, there was a disconnect between what Selene was saying and their [Language Proficiency] being activated.
[[Fuck…Selene, do you have a skill named [Language Proficiency]?]] Coming to a conclusion, Cynrik questioned the girl beside him.
[[Huh, I wish; what is that some kind of auto translation skill given to you when you reincarnated? OH, OH, IS IT SOMETHING I CAN LEARN? How does it work? Is it like subtitles or dubbing?]] Realization dawned on Selene, and she became giddy at the thought of having a magical translation skill.
Simultaneously, Cynrik and Brance slowly turned and looked at each other silently, taking note that they shared the same look of understanding; Cynrik snapped back to Selene.
[[Hold up, does that mean you learned the native language here when you were first born?]]
[[Well, duh, how else was I supposed to understand all the slanderous and mean things my bitch of a mother was saying? Wait…are #$&@^#$.]] Selene said with wide eyes and her hand covering her mouth in shock.
[[Mother…fucker…TOBS, EXPLAIN NOW!]] Cynrik practically screamed in the mind link.
-Ah, I see you finally realized; che took you long enough. I am assuming you would like me to start from the beginning.-
Biting his lip, Cynrik slammed his back into the chair, causing it to slide on the tile and make a screeching noise, drawing strange looks from everyone in the room, Professor Morningdale included.
"Sorry, there was a bug; I took it out; everything is fine now; I apologize for interrupting." Knowing he had messed up, Cynrik quickly jumped to his feet and spouted a bullshit story, following up with an apology that Morningdale recognized. After acknowledging his mistake, Cynrik calmly sat down and put up the façade that he was paying attention to every one of the Professors words; meanwhile, he was angrily cursing in the mind link without giving Tobs a chance to explain.
[[How fucking long has this been happening? Why haven't I noticed it until now? What the fuck? How many such key phrases have I missed!]] With total lack of regard, and unnecessary anger, Cynrik lashed out, more so at himself for not noticing he was getting translation errors sooner.
