A month had passed since I started school.
Before starting school, I could train seven days a week, but now my training time had been reduced to just weekends. I thought that this would be a serious setback in my quest to become stronger, but both Renji-san and my father insisted that my studies were more important at this stage.
They were absolutely right, so I couldn't argue, and I obediently attended my classes.
If studies are more important, does that mean I'll be expected to go to university? Find your next tale on m-vl-em|p-yr
Honestly, becoming an exorcist doesn't require qualifications like a lawyer or a doctor, and I doubt I need any academic credentials. I could probably even become an exorcist without finishing high school, although the idea of a middle school graduate exorcist sounds a bit questionable.
As I pondered these things, I half-listened to the math lesson.
...Hmm, it's boring.
In my previous life, I wasn't particularly bright, but I wasn't so dim-witted that I couldn't grasp the material in a first-grade classroom.
So, during these classes, I often found myself bored. However, I had come up with a new way to make use of this idle time.
I called it my "Silveit Output Enhancement Training."
There are three main reasons why being an exorcist is said to be a matter of talent.
First, you need "spiritual awareness" to see monsters. But this isn't a problem if you're born into a family of exorcists; everyone in such a family is born with it.
Second, your inherent magical capacity doesn't change as you grow. However, thanks to the training I've done using the "Devouring Magic" method, I'm now at the seventh rank. So, this is also not an issue for me.
But the third reason is the most problematic: magical output.
Magical output refers to the amount of magical energy you can channel at once. For example, if your total magical energy is 100, no one can use all 100 at once. Usually, people can only channel about 20 or 30. Your output is always lower than your total capacity.
The maximum number of silveit threads you can produce is largely determined by this output.
For instance, an exorcist with a magical output of 20 can only produce 20 threads if each thread requires 1 unit of magical energy. If they try to produce threads that require 10 units of energy each, they can only produce two threads.
Honestly, I don't know how many silveit threads I can produce in total. But I do know how much magical energy I can infuse into each thread. So, I've been training to increase that amount by honing my "Thread Technique."
"I see."
That much was obvious from our interactions. The whole reason she came to Japan was supposedly to "defeat" me, which seemed a bit strange. It made more sense to think that her family had moved here for work, and after arriving, she learned about me and set a goal to "beat" me.
Then again, she might just have the mentality of "I'm stronger than you" because she heard about the seventh rank. That's something only a kid would think, and that's what makes kids scary in their own way.
I couldn't help but wonder how our teacher reconciled Nina-chan's fluency in Japanese with her supposedly just arriving in Japan. It struck me as curious.
"Itsuki-kun, I'd like you to be friends with Nina-chan," the teacher continued.
"With Nina-chan?"
"Yes. I think she might have a hard time coming to school if she doesn't have any friends. And wouldn't you feel lonely if a classmate stopped coming to school?"
It's hard for an adult to easily nod and agree with the sentiment of "loneliness." As adults, we tend to separate ourselves from others, so if someone stops coming, we just think, "Oh, that's too bad," and move on.
But that's only true for adults.
I didn't know why Nina-chan was so standoffish, but the fact that she hadn't told anyone in class that she was an exorcist suggested she might be feeling some sense of alienation.
In that case, the quickest solution would be for me, as a fellow exorcist, to become friends with her.
...Of course, the teacher probably hadn't thought that far, but since I was the only one in our class who tried to talk to Nina-chan, there weren't many other options.
Besides, if I could befriend Nina-chan, I'd gain another exorcist friend.
Making more friends would also bring me closer to my goal of "making ten friends" by the time I graduate.
So, I readily agreed with the teacher.
"Okay! I'll be friends with Nina-chan!"
"Thank you," the teacher said with a smile, a mix of relief and gratitude in her expression. I felt a small pang of sympathy, realizing how challenging it must be to be a teacher.
Alright, time to find Nina-chan.