Chapter 64 - Bloodlines

"Now, class, quiet down, quiet down," Instructor Richardus spoke sternly. The kids immediately stopped chatting and sat upright at their desks. "As you may have heard, a new student will join us. I hope you'll treat her kindly while she's with this class."

A chorus of "Yes, teacher" rang from the kids.

He nodded and gestured for Lily to enter the room. She hesitantly walked in, immediately noticing the relatively small number of students.

It's less than I thought it would be. Or maybe there are just not many kids left in the beginner course… On the plus side, I'm thankfully not the smallest in the room anymore!

When they saw her, the kids immediately started whispering. Some were confused, while others seemed to have heard the rumors spreading beforehand. Lily had hoped the boys would have kept her secret, but it appeared that was too tall of an order.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Richardus asked politely.

Lily nodded, deciding it was for the best. She wanted to put her best foot forward with him and not end up in a fistfight like Rose. While Lily believed that Arakil and herself together would be enough to pass both tests, she still wanted any advantage she could get.

"I'm Lily, I enjoy reading and drawing," she began, only sounding somewhat nervous. "I only recently awakened to my magic, but I'm told I'm a fast learner. Oh, and I can do star magic."

After dropping that final bombshell, Lily opened her palm, showing a tiny glowing star. Some of the kids gasped while a minor few clapped, perhaps already knowing the story.

"I thought bunnies didn't have magic?" one girl asked.

"She has bloodline magic. What's she doing in this class?" a boy also asked.

"Maybe she's faking it?" another boy suggested.

"Calm down, everyone," Instructor Richardus ordered. "I'll stop any nasty rumors from spreading. I have confirmed it myself: Her magic is genuine."

That caused most of the kids to quiet down, much to Lily's relief. The boy who spoke up second opened his mouth again, but Instructor Richardus preempted him.

"As for what she's doing in this class, as Lily mentioned, she's only recently officially awoken to her magic. I need to properly assess her knowledge before she joins the older class."

"It's not fair that she gets a bloodline…" another girl grumbled.

"If not for her bloodline awakening, she might not have even received magic," Richardus explained. "Which might be a good topic for today. What determines our magical abilities other than having a bloodline? And what does it mean to have a bloodline?"

After opening the question to the class, he gestured for Lily to take one of the empty desks. She gratefully sat, glad she wouldn't be standing in front for the entire discussion. Before the conversation continued, Lily took out Arakil's book and opened it to a blank page. Even with their bookmark solution, she wanted to ensure he got to listen in.

"You're either born with magic or without," one of the girls answered. "Some demis have magic, while others don't."

"And what are the two exceptions to this rule?" Richardus asked.

There were some murmurings among the kids before one boy spoke up.

"Bloodlines?" he answered nervously.

"Yes. And the other?" Richardus asked, glancing around the classroom. When nobody spoke up, he continued. "Humans. Unlike demis, every single human has the potential for magic; some say it's to make up for the physical benefits they would otherwise not have. Now, can anyone tell me what else is different for humans regarding magic?"

"Humans don't have bloodlines," the same boy spoke again.

"And ?" Richardus asked, sounding hopeful.

The boy shrugged, and nobody else answered, even when the instructor looked around the class. Lily had no idea herself, as this was one of the areas she and Arakil were lacking in—and Rose's information was scarce.

Richardus sighed, "Humans do not have bloodlines; this is correct. But they also have no inherent magical bias. Unlike demis, humans have access to every type of magic. That doesn't necessarily make them better or worse, as it comes with the trade-off of remaining entirely neutral.

"An Aviania born with magic has a natural talent with spells relating to the wind but will struggle with anything involving rock and soil. That's not to say a human couldn't overcome an Aviania with wind magic, assuming enough time, effort, and talent. But, the inherent boon definitely raises the floor and ceiling.

"Of course, all humans having the potential for magic doesn't mean that there is no natural born talent in them, far from it, in fact, and one's lineage can significantly influence their magical potential. Speaking of potential, can anyone tell me when your final potential is reached?"

A girl's hand shot up to answer the question, and after the instructor nodded, she said, "When you turn sixteen or seventeen."

"Excellent. Yes, that is when most reach their full base potential in both humans and demis. Now, does that mean you can no longer improve at all after reaching that age?"

"You can fight monsters to still continue growing," a boy answered without raising his hand.

Richardus frowned, "Please raise your hand next time. But, yes. Defeating monsters will continue improving your magical potential. Although the benefits differ greatly between individuals, not to mention the risks and safety involved."

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So my Mana Core improving isn't entirely unique? Although I can gather directly into it using the spiral method, so maybe I'll still outgrow others.

"Going back to our previous topic, all humans have magic, but not all demis. Let's use Avianias again as an example; if they have a disposition towards magic, they will gravitate towards wind and air magic. Can anyone tell me what would change this? Or what would happen if they didn't have magic?"

A few kids raised their hands, but the instructor pointed for a girl who had yet to speak to answer.

"If they don't have magic, then they have a stronger body, like an adventurer," she spoke nervously.

"Yes. The trade-off for not having magic is a stronger body. I don't know how many of you know Lily here, but she's definitely not your typical Lagia. She lacks the usual agility they are known for—no offense."

Lily shook her head and offered a smile. She wouldn't deny that she was abnormal—before and after meeting Arakil.

"Plus, she's super short," a boy spoke, causing a murmuring of giggles.

Richardus snapped his fingers and pointed harshly at the boy, silencing the group.

"As I was saying, before I was interrupted," the instructor said harshly. "Lily here lacks the usual benefits granted to a Lagia, which makes her awakening to magic not as surprising as one might believe."

There were a few gasps around the classroom, and even Lily herself joined in. She certainly didn't expect the instructor to say this, as it went against what actually happened.

"Some demis have rare or ancient bloodlines that have been known to otherwise change their natural disposition. In some cases, it takes an otherwise ordinary body-enhancing demi and grants them magical capabilities, while in others, it can twist their natural boons. Can anyone think of an example? I'll even give you a hint, the demi we've spoken about today has a rather famous one."

The class immediately began brainstorming the answer in groups or solo efforts, and even Lily found herself excitedly joining in. She instantly understood his hint that the Aviania had a famous bloodline but struggled to think of one that matched it.

After about five minutes went by, with no one coming forward with a suitable answer, the instructor eventually ceased the group discussions to continue.

"Right, so the Aviania have an ancient bloodline known as the Phoenix-"

Some of the kids groaned, no doubt now realizing their mistake. Lily silently fumed at not thinking of the answer in time. The instructor waited impatiently for the din to calm down, tapping his foot.

"The Phoenix bloodline can rarely occur in Aviania, granting them dominion over Fire. Although, in their case, the added authority over fire doesn't diminish or replace their natural affinity towards wind magic. While the Phoenix bloodline is rare, there have been cases where it gave an otherwise magic-deficient Aviania the power over Fire."

Lily raised her hand to ask a question, "Could that Aviania still cast wind spells?"

"Good question. From records, he could barely cast them after his awakening. It stumped many magical researchers, but his fire magic was almost unparalleled, so he still made a name for himself. Moving on, can anyone think of a demi that normally has no magic but can be granted one through a bloodline?"

A boy raised his hand. When the instructor gestured to him, he pointed towards Lily and smiled triumphantly before answering, "Lagia! She's got the star rabbit bloodline!"

Some kids chuckled at his answer; even Lily found it humorous. Instructor Richardus sighed as if realizing he walked right into that type of answer.

"A witty answer, but not the one I was looking for. Present company excluded… Can anyone think of another? Bonus points if you can correctly name the bloodline; there are two that are quite famous."

Again, there were whispers among the kids as they tried to come up with the answers either in a group or solo. Lily began systematically trying to think of the non-magical demis she knew of offhand.

Equinia, Leonia, Lupinia, Felinia… Murinia? No, they have shadow magic, if I remember correctly. Ugh!

Unlike the last time, a few wrong answers were given. Some kids had incorrectly given demis, like Noctilia, who had sound magic, and Piscinia, who had water magic. Of course, non-magical demi answers were given, but nobody could respond when pressed to name the bloodline.

Think, Lily, think! Umm… Ursinia, Vulpinia… Wait, that's it! They have illusions! It's one of the reasons we turned that down. Now, what was their bloodline? They had tails, lots of tails… I got it!

Lily frantically shot her hand up, and the teacher pointed to her.

"Vulpinia, they have a rare bloodline called Kitsune. They grow extra tails, and they have the best illusion magic!" Lily answered confidently.

Some of the kids groaned, perhaps now making the connection themselves and realizing Lily had beat them to the punch.

"Outstanding answer! You gave the correct bloodline, the magic associated with it, and the physical characteristics that come with the awakening," the instructor said proudly. "Any chance you know the other one I'm thinking of?"

Lily shook her head, "Sorry, that's the only one I know of."

"No trouble at all. I'll give the rest of the class five more minutes. Perhaps we will have another winner," the instructor teased.

The kids frantically began their discussions while Lily sighed in relief. She considered trying to wrack her brain for another answer, but she was content with getting the first one right.

With the clock ticking, some of the groups started throwing out some outlandish answers, effectively trying to invent a bloodline name on the spot. Eventually, one of the boys politely put up his hand and answered,

"Uhh… Equinia and they can have the Unicorn bloodline?" the boy answered nervously, licking his lips and taking dry gulps.

"Correct! They are quite a famous bloodline, so I'm surprised nobody knew of it. Especially from the girls," the instructor teased. "Any chance you know what their bloodline grants them?"

"They grow a horn out of their forehead, but I'm not sure of the magic…" the boy admitted.

"Correct again. Remarkably, this bloodline is rather strange in that without the horn, the Equinia would actually lose their magic until the horn regrows. Bloodline awakenings can have interesting effects. Take, for example, the Kitsune bloodline mentioned earlier; their strength is directly related to how many tails they have, up to a maximum of nine.

"Going back to our Unicorns, they gain Light magic, and, in some cases, if they are devout worshipers, they can gain Healing magic. I'm sure it goes without saying that having Healing magic is an extreme rarity, so if you ever get a chance to meet a Unicorn, make sure you are extra kind to him or her! You never know when you'll need the aid of a good healer."

Richardus laughed at his own joke, but the class only gave a few dry chuckles. Most of them seemed far more fascinated at hearing about these strange bloodlines—Lily included.

I think I'm going to enjoy these classes… And to think Rose said they were boring!