The first day of classes was a reconnaissance.
Elena sat in the back of the Introduction to Theoretical Magic class.
It was a huge lecture hall with two hundred students, the scent of chalk and ozone lingering in the air, desperation emanating from those who couldn’t find a sleeping pill potent enough.
The gaunt professor droned about the nature of mana circulation, sporting a beard that threatened to swallow his face.
Elena knew this lecture.
She had the codex with all this information from the game; her system absorbed this knowledge as background information.
The notes weren’t for her, but for the show.
The real reason she was here was to observe the dynamics of the relationships between students.
There were the rich nobles who sat in the first row, the scholarship students who hid in the middle, and the troublemakers who clung to the back of the class.
Elena traced the social hierarchy like generals on a battlefield, as she had learned to do in her first life.
And the most prominent jewel on this battlefield was a glowing young woman in the middle of the front row, named Celestine Luminere.
It was the image of a young goddess, made of light and warmth, that had greeted Elena at the beginning of her gaming career.
Elena was glad that in reality, the pastel colors of Celestine’s outfit weren’t so overpowering, but the radiant beauty of the young woman was still enough to make anyone pause.
Elena could see right through the social mask Celestine had on.
Elena would have noticed it even if she weren’t exceptionally good at reading people.
They were small signs that could be noticed by anyone, really.
The way Celestine’s back was straight as an arrow, how the curve of her neck positioned her head to catch the light, how every sentence she said to those beside her when the professor wasn’t looking ended with a subtle touch of her hand against another person’s arm, as if imparting some sort of benediction.
All these signs and dozens of others were the marks of a seasoned performer.
It was obvious that the young actress playing the role of the heroine in the game had no issues in real life portraying a beloved and respected elder sister.
Elena had walked this path herself, having studied people for lack of better things to do.
The lecture was ending.
Students started trickling out of the hall, but Elena remained in her seat, scribbling notes in her notebook, until a shadow fell on the page.
“You are the Vance girl, correct?” Elena looked up and saw Celestine’s smiling face, framed by two equally smiling admirers: a boy with flaming red hair and a girl whose fingertips danced with tiny sparks of electricity.
The heroine’s smile was warm and welcoming, reaching her eyes.
“I am.” “Oh, I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you!” Celestine’s voice was honey, mixed with the sound of church bells.
“Your skill is so…
fascinating!
I was hoping maybe we could be friends, and I could…
help you in any way possible?” The words rang familiar to Elena.
They were the words of a villainess who would either accept the fate of joining the antagonist’s side or suffer as a monster of arrogance.
There was no third outcome.
And Elena was thinking of a completely different fourth possibility.
“I thank you for your kind offer, but I don’t think I’ll need assistance with anything.” Elena stood up and tucked her notebook away.
“Except, perhaps, for my evaluation?
I am not entirely sure how my Golden Touch will react to surrounding mana.
The professors are most generous in allowing their students to practice, but I am slightly concerned about its sensitivity.” Elena leaned in and inhaled the pastel scents of Celestine’s perfume.
“I know that it reacts to powerful magical auras.
It nearly jumped out of my hands when I was near yours.” “What are you talking about?” Her smile visibly tightened.
“Let’s see you at the evaluation, then.
Good luck with the classes!” Elena walked out of the lecture hall, feeling like someone had taken a scalding poker to her back.
Elena sat in the hallway, waiting for him.
Kael, the obedient servant she had purchased at the auction, was waiting for her at the designated spot.
He stood by the wall, his back slightly curved, as most servants did when they didn’t attract attention.
Students flowed past him like they ignored him entirely, like a non-existent part of the landscape.
“Anything?” Elena asked quietly.
“Three people asked about you,” Kael responded in the same quiet voice, his lips barely moving.
“Two boys and a girl.
They inquired about where you were from, what your skill was, if you had any allies.” “And?” “I said nothing.
I pretended not to hear.
One of them kicked me while I was talking to him.” Elena’s jaw tightened.
“Show me.” They went to the training ground, to a secluded spot behind the tool shed.
Elena made sure that no one saw them, and instructed Kael to lift his shirt.
A bruise the size of a boot print marred the young man’s side, dark purple and fresh.
“Idiot.
You should have healed it already.” “It doesn’t hurt.” “Be that as it may,” Elena said, pressing her glowing hand to the damaged spot.
The light hovering around her grew, feeding from the potent magic of the academy.
[HEALING PROTOCOL: MINOR INJURY] [GROWTH BONUS: PAIN TOLERANCE +2%] [LOYALTY: 15 → 18] The bruise slowly turned from purple to yellow and then disappeared altogether.
“Every injury of yours depreciates my investment.
I don’t allow depreciation of my assets.” The bruise faded, but Kael observed the transformation of Elena’s face.
It was the most unreadable expression he had seen on her face.
“You were talking to the golden girl,” Kael said, his gaze fixed on her hand.
Her hand hovered over the healing spot, but the girl didn’t continue healing.
“Celestine.
Yes.” “She has a foul scent.” “What do you mean?” “Like flowers left to wilt in the water.” Kael tightened his fingers into a fist.
“She looked at me like those in the stables looked at the horses.” Elena suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
Kael was becoming more aware all the time, as his seal slowly dissolved.
He learned faster than his new body allowed.
His instincts began working as if he were on a battlefield.
“Stay away from her.
If she talks to you again, come to me first.” “Yes, my mistress.” Elena finished healing the young man’s bruise and stepped back.
“For now, we’re done for the day.
Go to the basement and rest.
I will come for you in the evening.” Kael gave the required response, but in the end, Elena walked him to the entrance and watched him disappear behind the wall.
Five days later, the time for the evaluation arrived, and Elena needed to be prepared.
She needed to be prepared not just for Kael and the others, but for herself and this new power that was beginning to take shape within her.
The sense of shadow was growing stronger—stronger, but slower, with each day.
Elena needed something special, something unique that the Academy wouldn’t expect from her.
Something only she could do.
Her eyes fell on her hands, still faintly alight after the healing procedure.
Elena thought about what else she could do with these hands, and the second night after classes, she performed an unauthorized experiment.
Elena used the Shadow Walk skill to observe the guard posts around the Academy gardens, and, when she knew the positions of all the guards, sneaked inside.
The young woman quietly approached a dying rosebush that had been marked for destruction by the gardeners.
Elena pressed her hand against the soil, activating the Golden Touch skill.
[INVESTMENT APPLICABLE: GROWTH ACCELERATION] [ESTIMATED RETURN: 300% BIOMASS INCREASE] The light of her ability traveled down into the ground, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Then, with a sudden burst, the plant began to grow, and grow, and grow.
The sickly brown stems quickly turned green, leaves unfurling to reveal buds that immediately bloomed into magnificent crimson roses, big as dinner plates.
Elena stumbled back as the plant grew toward her, new growth twisting out from the stems to become thorny vines, but she stopped it, closing the distance between them and cutting the connection with her ability.
The miracle of this accelerated growth did not last, however, and the flower quickly returned to its previous state.
Elena watched, fascinated, as the miracle of life and growth unfolded before her eyes.
This wasn’t the kind of magic she was accustomed to.
It wasn’t about people.
It was potential in general.
And when the potential was large enough, Elena realized, it could be used to create weapons of mass destruction.
She looked at her hands and smiled.
“Oh, that’s interesting.” [TICK: Celestine encounter logged.
Cover maintained under stress.
Golden Touch environmental application discovered.
New tactical option: FLORA.]