The weekend came to a close, and soon the next week of classes began. During dinner the night before and repeated in the morning for those who might have missed it, they were informed that their elective classes would officially start.

Unlike regular classes, the electives were not on set days to accommodate students swapping out classes and trying their best to fit in. Some of them even offered evening or weekend slots, giving that extra flexibility for those who needed it.

Each week, the schedule would be posted, and it was up to the students to ensure they attended at least one of the classes per week. It would be the same lesson the entire week, so extra attendance would only be helpful for anyone who needed recaps.

For classes with limited space or slots, you'd sign a register at the start of each week. This mainly only applied to Alchemy and Beast Handling from what Lily could tell.

If too many kids sign up on the same day, there wouldn't be enough lab equipment to go around. With Beast Handling, there's probably not enough space in the stables to handle groups that are too big.

Lily looked over her lessons and found that she could take Hearthcraft and Household Charms during her Bloodline Focus slot this week. There were a few slots for Alchemy 101 that suited her, so she turned to Lotte to coordinate her.

"Can we take the one on the last day of the week?" Lotte asked. "That gives me a bit more time to get some more bunny tutoring. I only got my own stuff yesterday…"

"Sure, I don't mind," Lily quickly agreed. "Although I really don't think they expect you to be brewing on the first day."

"You can never be too careful… I don't want to get kicked out of the class. I've heard that any free slots are highly sought after."

"If worst happens, I could just be your personal potion maker," Lily offered, trying to reassure her friend.

"Thanks. I appreciate it, but let's hope it doesn't come to that. Plus then I'd be left with… Sorcerous Warfare? No thanks."

"Not a fan of doing drills and pushups?" Lily teased.

"Not at all. And I definitely don't want to be on unicorn poop duty."

Lily and Lotte giggled; it seemed neither of them wanted the illusion of such majestic creatures broken.

After scheduling their first-year electives, Lily had to go to the board with the second-year ones so she could sign up for her enchanting class. Reading through the list, she discovered it was actually called "Applied Enchanting & Glyphwork" and quickly realized the best slot was today! Lily could trade her "Spellcasting Fundamentals" in the afternoon for it, as she'd already gotten permission to do so.

I'll just ask Lotte or Thomas what happened in the class. Probably Thomas, he seems to keep extensive notes.

Lily signed her name without issue in the slot, causing much confusion from the second years who were nearby. There was no faking someone else's name, and it would reject you if you weren't actually signed up.

Lily also briefly glanced over some of the second-year subjects. She didn't want to cause a fuss, but she was pretty curious what the second year had to offer.

Most of them were clearly continuations of the first-year subjects, like Alchemy 201. However, Lily quickly found the ones that were brand new: Dungeon Cartography, Curative Arts & Practices, Blacksmithing, and Landscaping and Construction with Magic.

Are those last two right? Why would a magic school teach blacksmithing? And if that wasn't weird enough, the last one seems like it would be a better fit in Tresnia. In fact, that's what Theo wanted to study.

Lily stifled her curiosity for now and rushed back to Lotte, before informing her of the somewhat weird list of subjects for second years.

"Okay, that last one, I have genuinely no idea why it's here," Lotte admitted. "But blacksmithing, I can sort of understand. Adventurers love blacksmiths, and this is a school for potential adventurers. What if you could forge your own equipment?"

"I think I'd rather sell some potions or enchantments and have a professional make it," Lily answered honestly.

"And what about those with no talent in alchemy or enchanting?" Lotte fired back.

"I guess…" Lily admitted. "Still seems very weird for a magic school."

[Perhaps they teach arcane forging? Although I'd expect that to be more in line with the Enchanting class, as the two usually go hand in hand. The other possibility is that they wanted to offer non-magical classes as a hobby or side project. Not every magical practitioner can devote themselves solely to one field.]

Lily understood where Arakil was coming from, but she couldn't agree with it. Although she later realized that it might have been because she wanted to devote herself solely to magic.

After enjoying their breakfast together, they headed to Dungeon Studies. Evidence of their weekend lesson with Headmaster Fabrelis was on full display as there was a significant drop in Familiars present in the class.

Sadly, it was another theory lesson, focused on more advanced variations of skeletons and Brassbound. Evidently, Alice was preparing them for future encounters on the first floor of the dungeon.

After the excitement of their last class, the disappointment was palpable, and everyone was itching to return to the dungeon as soon as possible. They'd gotten a taste and were hungry for more.

"I hope you save that energy for the end of the week," Alice taunted them before continuing her lesson.

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Then it was just lunch before she said farewell to her friends. While a few of the others had also debated trading their Spellcasting Fundamentals slot, Lily was the first one to take the plunge. The others seemed hesitant in case something worthwhile came out of it, especially with the rotation of teachers.

"What if the next teacher is for air or light magic?" Hana had pointed out. "I wouldn't want to miss that."

Their small group nodded in agreement, and Lily had to admit it was a valid point. Still, she had Arakil, and the only benefit she'd gain from them was witnessing some magical items. So instead, she just asked Thomas if he could share his notes with her later, which he promptly agreed to.

Thomas also offered to guide her to the class, but Lily politely declined. She'd since copied the school map into Arakil's book, allowing him to reference it at all times. As long as Arakil was within reach, Lily would never get lost in the school.

Lily headed to the class, which was situated on the third floor. Everything prior had been on the ground and second floor, except for their meeting with the headmaster, so this was a relatively new experience for her. Evidently, this was by design, as a few of the older students shared puzzled looks at her presence, with some even asking if she was lost.

Lily remained polite and denied it before wishing them a good day and moving on. Part of her had almost expected someone to cause a fuss, but it seemed everyone was too busy with their own lives to stick their nose in.

Following Arakil's instructions, Lily arrived at the class; she was slightly early, but the door was open, so she went inside.

Unlike the previous classes, this was an open floor plan with benches and stools lined across the walls. Lily assumed that the professor needed easy access to all the students and could readily observe their work by strolling around the center.

There were a few students inside, with the teacher sitting at his desk reading a book. Judging by the similar cover, it was likely in the same series of books that Beatrice had been enjoying. He hadn't noticed her arrival, but a few of the older students did.

"Sorry, are you lost?" a girl asked.

Lily shook her head. "No, I'm—"

"Whoa!" a boy interrupted. "I'd heard a rumor that Alice brought her daughter to school. No way."

"That can't be her daughter," another girl replied. "When would she have had time to get pregnant? She lives down in the dungeon."

"I heard it's her niece," another boy chimed in.

Lily held back an exasperated sigh. While the first years had almost stopped treating her like a strange anomaly, it was evident that the second and above were still deep in the rumor mill. Alice, being such a noteworthy character in the school, was clearly only adding fuel to the fire; her fame and notoriety among the students dragging Lily into it.

Lily was about to put her foot down and explain herself when a series of loud snaps came from the professor's desk. His head was still buried in the book, but his one arm was held up as he repeatedly snapped his elongated fingers.

The class went silent as they stared at him. His snapping stopped, and he held up a single finger as if telling them to wait. This went on for a few more moments until he brought his hand down, turned the page of his book, inserted a bookmark, and finally closed it.

"Now, what's all this fuss about?" he asked, while he carefully placed his book in his desk drawer.

Now that his head was no longer in his book, his appearance was revealed. Lily noticed a subtle sharpness to his teeth when he spoke, and a faint, sleek sheen to his skin. Although his hair was black, he had a large, bristly white mustache that practically exploded from his face.

Lily spoke first, giving a small apologetic bow at the same time. "Sorry, professor, I'm the reason."

"You're the reason?" he asked, raising a curious eyebrow. "Are you the one spreading rumors about yourself?"

Lily blinked in surprise and frantically shook her head.

"Well, good, otherwise you'd be quite the narcissist. I was already quite worried when Headmaster Fabrelis informed me I'd be having a first year in my class. I've dealt with my fair share of pompous aristocrats who think they're above my humble teachings, and yet can't even draw a simple circle when prompted. I was quite frankly dreading that you'd be among them."

"Um, no, sir," Lily quickly defended herself.

"Professor Ollie," he replied politely. "And that is certainly a relief if true. We've had a few hiccups since moving this class to students in the second year and above. Although I admit these teething issues pale in comparison to the repeated failures of ignorant first years who are only after one thing."

He didn't elaborate, and there was an awkward silence hanging in the air.

"What's that, professor?" a girl eventually asked.

"Well, money, of course," the professor answered matter-of-factly.

"Are we not allowed to be here if we want to make money?" a boy asked hesitantly.

"Of course you are. I mean, why else would you be here?" he asked, almost looking offended by the question.

Lily and the students alike were quite confused.

"We all want to make money and Enchanting rivals if not exceed Alchemy in profits," he began answering.

Miss Camilla would eat you alive for that remark. I don't think any of her potions came even close to the price tags on her enchanted tools.

"But the difference is that students fresh to the school had little to no foundation to begin with. They had no idea where they wanted to go in life, and either through the grapevine or worse, encouraged by their parents, heard that Enchanting was a money maker. They signed up in droves and then cried foul when I failed them for their ignorance and halfhearted attitude."

His answer still left most of the class bewildered, and evidently, he noticed or expected this.

"Answer me this: what's the most important aspect of Enchanting? Raise your hand, no shouting."

A few hands went up. He snapped his fingers and pointed at a boy.

"A strong bloodline!" he answered confidently.

The professor's hand became a thumbs-down. "Wrong! Anyone else?"

That startled a few of the students, their hands quickly lowering. He pointed at a girl who still had her hand up.

"Enough Mana to complete the imbuement?" she answered carefully.

"Half a point," he replied, making a little wave with his fingers. "That's more of a minimum requirement, but it's definitely not the most important aspect."

"Surely you jest, Professor?" she replied, evidently not happy. "If it's a minimum requirement, then it should be the most important. Or are you implying they can work without sufficient Mana?"

The professor smiled, not in scorn, but as if he thought the comment was precious. "Of course not, my dear. But in the creation process, you can spread out the Mana demanded. You rarely need to supply all the Mana at once."

She paused to think a bit, and her expression softened. She nodded and retracted her previous outburst, even apologizing. Unfortunately, that left the rest of the class unsure of how to answer his question.

"Does nobody know? Or want to take a guess?"

Still, nobody spoke up. He sighed and turned to Lily, who had been trying to stay out of the spotlight. "What about you, little miss?"

"Um…"

"I promise I don't bite," he joked, giving a soft chuckle.

"Perfection?" Lily answered softly.

That caused a few snickers.

One boy even went a step further, voicing his amusement, "You've got to be joking—"

The professor snapped his fingers again before holding out a single finger, demanding silence. He then pointed it back at Lily.

"Elaborate."

Lily nodded, feeling a slight surge in confidence. After all, this was what Arakil had instilled into her bones.

"Glyphwork requires the utmost accuracy and precision. Even slight blemishes add up and can lower output, increase wastage, or, in the worst cases, cause instability."

The professor clapped his hands excitedly, a large grin plastered on his face. "An excellent answer. Looks like the headmaster is not playing a prank on me by forcing you into my class."

Lily let out a sigh of relief. She caught a glance at the other students and nearly flinched; judging by the expressions on some of the students ' faces now, they vehemently disagreed with her answer.

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