People are obsessed with Status. Not only in the aning of one's position on the social ladder but also one's position on the System ladder. The informal one, because the System has no such thing as a ranking of its users. Or if it does, nobody but the Administrators know.
Despite my protection against {Appraise} attempts, I couldn't be by her side all the ti and so inquisitive eyes pierced it. Therefore, the secret was held for only a few days before the whole Academy learned about her jump in levels and branching Path.
Which prompted the an-spirited folks to spread all sorts of baseless rumors about the girl, going as far as to accuse her of demonic ties. It soured her achievent and brought all sorts of undue attention and pressure on her, from several directions.
Sensitive as she was, she noticed the change in mood as she entered the dorm cafeteria for breakfast. Every girl in the dorm, even her usual friends and classmates gave her the cold shoulder and refused to make eye contact. Association with the halfling was social poison for the ti being. She went to sit next to her usual mates and they had the gall to stand up and change tables.
"Guys? What is going on?" As fear took over, she asked with a faint voice.
To help her, I activated {Commanding Presence}, granting her another six points to each of Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Mind, and Willpower. The boost in Willpower steadied her heartbeat, Mind gave her thoughts more clarity, and the Physical Attributes gave her more control of her body by lightening her load, making her step steadier, and the overall glow from a higher Endurance. Yet she still held tight onto to comfort herself.
I lied. It had a huge kernel of truth, however. I said after sensing her unease.
"My familiar The Netherbane Syllabus was the one who gave the enchanted crystal," she said as she pulled up from her waist and placed on the table. The silk strap was still going around her shoulder.
"Is the book?" Researcher mumbled as a dozen {Appraise} attempts landed on . "I can't see his information."
"What kind of book can beco a familiar? And is it registered?" Snapped the mustache-headed potions professor.
"My research showed he's a book mimic," Daisy replied. "He's a mimic who eats almost exclusively paper and other soft vegetable fibers. Netherbane is already registered."
"Who approved this registration?" Whitebeard haughtily demanded.
"I did," Mr. Collins said to our surprise. "Miss Dorlaminn approached with Miss Ambrose's case and presented the result of her investigation. As her assigned teacher, I approved her familiar's registration after observing him for a week in class. Mrs. Cormak also agreed with my assessnt."
"Miss Ambrose's troublemaking behavior only improved after she contracted The Netherbane Syllabus. She is striving to study and I am not surprised she achieved her dream of becoming a [Crystallomancer]. And if the mimic was a dangerous monster, it would've already done sothing. I can confirm that the critter is vegetarian."
"He's also contributing to my research into durable bookbinding. His mimic adhesive is perfect for paper and leather," Daisy said and produced a sheaf of paper sheets. "I have the trics for the training session in which she unlocked her branching Path. You can see here the spells and the average effect of them. Please keep in mind she did all that in a single day."
I wasn't aware of all that was going on while Barbara was away from . But the girl relaxed her stance when the teachers sided with her. After all the gloom at the cafeteria, it was heartwarming to see her regain her confidence.
The [Librarian] stood up and gave each [Archmage] a copy of her report. They spent a silent minute checking the numbers.
"She spent half a million MP in a single day?" Researcher remarked with a gasp. "That's nearly impossible at her level."
"Nethe can share MP with ," Barbara revealed. "And he has a caster Class so he seems to have plenty of MP."
I could see a gleam in the Researcher's eyes. A gleam of greed, that is. "Can I check him? You said he's harmless, right?"
I answered Barbara's unspoken question. "Nethe is shy. He said he won't leave my side," she relayed her own feelings mixed with mine.
"It talks? Is the book mimic sentient? It's an undiscovered species!" Researcher raised his voice. "We must catalog it and check if we can find more of them. Maybe even start a breeding program!"
I finally had it. "That's not happening, sir," I said after forming a mouth along my fore-edge. "I have no desire to participate in any of the endeavors you propose."
The three [Archmages] stared at along with Cormak and Collins, who haven't seen talk yet. Well, neither did Barbara or Daisy for the matter although we communicated through other ans.
Researcher ground his teeth and I thought he would either attack, use so bullshit rule to try and steal away, or sothing along those lines. It was Whitebeard who settled the matter.
"Thydor, enough. I will not stifle the next generation to satisfy the wiles of the forr. Netherbane Syllabus, is it?"
Researcher, or [Archmage] Thydor, it seems, begrudgingly acquiesced Whitebeard's seniority and shut his wrinkled food-trap.
"Yes, that's , [Archmage] sir. But it seems I'm at a disadvantage since you know my na," I replied.
The guy gave a grandfatherly chortle. For so reason I saw him wearing gray robes, then visualized him wearing a red and white suit that would sell a lot of soda. "I'm [Archmage] Druxius, the Academy headmaster."
Barbara just nodded, afraid she would be found out.
"How did you et Miss Ambrose, Netherbane? Can I call you Netherbane? Mr. Syllabus seems odd to ."
"Netherbane is fine. I was created for Barbara by my mother. I am not at liberty to discuss her motives as they are her own. Nor her identity as she chose to remain anonymous. I can only assure you it is in your utmost interest to not draw her ire."
The truth spell was still ongoing. That's why the hirsute [Archmage] raised an eyebrow.
> Level 85 male quarter-elf-human-gno-giant [Archmage]
> You gained 1 point of Appraiser.
His bloodline was interesting, to say the least. I'd pierced whatever obfuscation he used to keep his species mix-up a secret.
"I insist," Druxius grinned nacingly. He used so aura thing.
> Contested Charisma test won.
Barbara flinched in fear. That was the last drop. It was ti to drop the hamr on this eting.
"Look, old geezer. You may have thrice my level, but I can kick your wrinkled butt in a spellcasting duel any day of the week. If you want to learn about my mom's secrets, you better go die and get reborn a few dozen tis. You already cleared suspicion on Barbara's leveling up and Class upgrade, so I think we should call it a day."
To push my point, I dispelled his {Zone of Truth} spell.
> The Leader activated. Contested Charisma test won.
Now that I think of it, he was the asshole that locked the book in that vault in the first place. He made mom lose almost a thousand years trapped down there. Maybe I should provoke him.
As if sensing my emotions, Barbara pressed her hand down on my cover and pulled back to her lap.
"Yes, we should adjourn the eting. Miss Ambrose, we'll move you to the Starlight dormitory near the main building. It makes no sense to leave soone with an (ultra-rare) Class where you are now."
Whitebeard relented but I still sensed an edge on his voice. He was obviously not happy with the way I treated him but he had sensed the difference in skill by the way I unraveled his magic. Moving Barbara to another dorm was his way to get back at us. I was sure she didn't want to leave Mrs. Cormak and move to the noble Ladies' dorm where we would have little peace but on the other hand, we could deal with any challenges this Academy threw at us and it would be nice to avoid the half-hour walk on halfling legs.
Outside, the three teachers congratulated and encouraged Barbara on her new leg of life. Mrs. Cormak said her goodbyes and promised Barbara could go straight to the new dorm. She would take care of sending her stuff over to her new room. Daisy volunteered to escort her there and show her around since it was her dorm too.
Everyone went on their rry way while my new enemies grumbled in their eting room. Remarking that the brooding goth teacher was the nicest one despite his outlook and deanor, I was sure it wouldn't be the last ti I heard from Researcher or Whitebeard, their real nas be damned.
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