Chapter 312: Drops of progress

Chapter 312: Drops of progress

Sofia made her way down all the way to floor 4 of the teachers tower, but Astelia wasnt there. Next she went up until she found Zereis floor, which was the twenty sixth. She knocked not expecting anything, but the door started unlocking a few seconds later.

It was Astelia who opened the door, she was wearing the same embroidered robe Sofia had first seen her in at the Skyreach Vampire embassy.

Sofia! You were accepted?

It wasnt too hard. What is Zerei doing?

Behind Astelia, Zereis room looked less like a room and more like a madmans attempt at a ritual circle. There was hardly any furniture anywhere, the entire floor covered in magic circles and runes, with Zerei in the middle of it, sprawled on the floor.

Ah, right. Shes trying to replicate your [Summon Blood] spell. Or rather, she just gave up, Astelia answered with a shrug.This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

Oh. Why would you even try that?

She believes it to be the first step to turning mana into any stable matter you want. I stuck around for reasons. Obviously it has not been going well.

Well, it certainly is an attempt.

She is basing that on all the times she saw me use it?

Astelia nodded.

Sofia entered the room and walked up to Zerei. Hey birdie.

She opened her eyes. Hello Sofia Your skill is too much for me, yes She answered while still lying on the floor.

You should have asked me for help, I could have told you it was impossible.

Theres seriously no way.

Zerei finally sat up. I know, yes But I still wanted to try.

Sofia shook her head and sat on the floor in front of Zerei. I think if you spend a thousand years or two at this rate you might get there. I tried probing a bit deeper into [Summon Blood] myself after Ihuarah hammered how much of an anomaly it was to be creating stable matter other than water. But uh. Its not looking good. Just the external part of the skill is my most complex skill by a thousand times. I observed an Angels spell when he showed me and it only took me a few weeks to replicate it. [Summon Blood] though? I dont think I could copy it in a thousand years.

Astelia joined the two on the floor, although she actually floated right above it instead of truly sitting.Truth be told, Agrans said the same thing. He helped Sofia bottle the blood way back in Skyreach, and he spent the whole time staring at her casting the spell. His opinion was that not even the Queen would be able to learn such a complex spell.

Thank you for the free mana, Sun!

Being able to simply walk up to her windows and watch her mana regeneration speed shoot up really felt like she was cheating.

Zerei really outdid herself. And shes sharing it for free. Maybe I should try to do something for everyone else too.

But Im no craftsman. At best I can make skeletons Or bone sculptures. They look nice but arent particularly useful.

Her thoughts drifting onto magical items, Sofia recalled another of the topics of discussion Astelia and Zerei had brought up while her back was being slaughtered. The academy was apparently organizing a special event for its three thousand year anniversary which would span the entire year. The best teachers would get awarded enchanted brooches crafted by the headmaster, while the best student would receive a national treasure of the Empire, donated by the Emperor himself and an offer to work as a court mage trained directly by the Empress.

The specifics of how the winner would be decided and what the magic items did were to be revealed during the opening ceremony two days later, with the Emperor hosting the event with Beligenus.

I could use another magic brooch. I still have the one from the Saint Alliance but its more of a decoration than anything else at this point.

Can I pretend to be one of the best teachers though? Thats not very realistic. Astelia and Zerei are both better teachers than me, not to mention the other thirty or so real teachers of the academy.

But it would be nice if I could at least get one of my students to win the student prize. On paper they looked promising enough. Lets aim for that!

Sofia had also learned that Saria, Alith, Cinthia and Joah were still staying in an inn outside the academy, as the students werent allowed in quite yet. Sofia had debated going out to join them, but she instead chose to spend the next two days in her room.

Alone with Pareth, she spent the entire time thinking about how she would be teaching her students, all the while starting to work on the next step of VPPV. The skill description hadnt lied in that it was quite an involved process. It took forever to finally get the timing right and make the transformation work, and Sofia screamed every time a drop of her blood successfully and painfully turned into light.

As someone who had once stabbed herself in the heart, Sofia could confirm without a shadow of a doubt that unlike what the description said, turning blood into light was much more painful than a simple stabbing.

After more than thirty hours of this painful training, Sofia dejectedly looked at VPPVs description while she showered to prepare for the opening ceremony.

[Venerable physique of the primeval void] - Second step of the Light forging realm :

Light forging realm :

Starting step : You no longer age.

First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%)

Second step : Your blood becomes light (42 / 126 441 drops converted)

Good lord