***
I woke up after a little bit of dream gun training and some more movies.
My angel, as always, is in my arms. I'm cheeky today. I give her a little squeeze before waking her up.
We wash and change. Sophia has become yet more comfortable in front of me, which is not good for my heart. I remain a shy wilting flower. Years of gay locker room trauma will do that to you.
It's Enchantments today. Which I hope is better than Sorcery.
I have breakfast with the class. The construct still doesn't join us but everyone else is here. Even Vincent. Although he looks like he handles mornings even worse than Sophia.
I'm a little weirded out that I've become a morning person. I guess the late night scrolling session were really fucking with me. We have candles and lamp lights here and yeah I can read but other than that there isn't much to do. Then you wake in the morning and while bed is nice, and who's in my bed is nicer, I still get bored just laying there, you know.
I follow my friends to Enchantments class, and our teacher is the lady who helped the terrifying spider lady fix my core. What's her name? I think it began with a B?
Beatrice?
Betty?
[Her name is Amber.]
'Thanks buddies.' I did that on purpose.
[We know.]
'Lol.'
[That's not you laughing, you just thought the word Lol. That doesn't even make sense here.]
''Yeah, but you know what I know. So I knew you would get it.'
'Wait! Can I send brain text emojis?'
[We hate you.]
[...]
[But yes. Actually we can do you one better, we could send feeling Emojis.]
'I can send someone my grumpyness?'
[Yes, or any other feeling. I can attach the feeling to a mental image as well.]
'Holy fuck! Please tell me that Lillian has a brain slug! I want to send her the feeling of me pooping.'
[Why?! Why would that be your first idea? What?]
'Oh come on. It would be so funny. Lils would shit herself laughing. Maybe literally.'
[Lillian does not have a brain slug. Thank all the gods.]
'Damn it.'
[Maria does.]
'Fuck right off. I'm not doing that to Maria.'
Gestalt floods my mind with mental images of chickens.
I in return, imagine a giant mountain carved into the shape of a fist, with its middle finger raised.
Our teacher Amber has been talking this whole time while I was spacing out talking to Gestalt.
I'm sitting at one of the desks, I don't remember sitting down at all. Did Sophia guide me here? She really is the best girl.
Lillian is with us. As well as Shiv and Ria. Daisy peeled off to sit with Rupert, Vincent and Bronson. Although she does keep looking over at us like she is missing out.
The twins are doing their own thing and the construct is just standing in the corner. I don't think I have heard them speak since the intro day.
"Enchantments are similar to both artifacts and Sorcery," Amber said from the front of the class. "They are spells that are, for the most part, very stable and self-sustaining."
"Today we will be learning an enchantment that will serve you well tomorrow in dueling class." The air ripples around Amber. "This is a barrier spell. Once set up it will remain stable around you until dispelled or broken."
I can feel the mana cycle around her. "You will not be able to immediately bring up a barrier like I have done. This was a barrier I prepared earlier this morning and due to its stability I can reactivate it fairly easily." She demonstrates by turning it off and on again.
There are a lot more boring instructions on how to get this all working. The runes yesterday helped me for sure gain a context on how this all worked. Not that it's really all that transferable, magic really doesn't make much sense. That's its whole thing. But it's better than nothing.
Wildly enough Bronson got it first. It looked like a strong barrier as well. One by one the rest of the class got it. Not me though, I just didn't have the mana control to set up the spell how I needed.
It was Shiv in the end that took pity on me. "Newbie. Stop trying to paint the flowers with a broom, paint the walls."
"Wha?" I asked.
"Go big. Big, big. Make a big barrier."
Huh, yeah fuck it that might work.
So I tried. Instead of trying to reign the magic in and control the barrier spell around me, I just let it flow. I make the spell big. Big, big. The size of the building we are in, big.
It works, for a brief shining second it works, I feel the 'shape' of the spell and I did magic! Real actual magic!
The barrier cracks under its own weight almost instantly. Too big and not enough mana to self sustain.
But still.
Fuck yeah!
After enchantments we head down for lunch, I'm too excited to do anything more than nibble at my food. Ended up going over a bunch of rune stuff with Shiv, who I'm starting to realize might be the smartest person I have ever met.
The next class is asset handling. Which honestly sounds pretty ominous. When we get to the classroom there's a note on the door explaining the class is cancelled for the first lesson, and we should all go engage in self study.
I point to it and turn to others. "This looks suss as shit."
"Suss?" Lillian asked.
"Suspicious."
"Shit can be suspicious?" Shiv asked.
"No, wait. What I mean is, it is very suspicious that our very first class of asset handling is cancelled."
"You think it's a test." Said Shiv.
"Yeah, probably. Donno what for though? Probably something to do with handling our assets, I guess?"
Lillian went to the gym. Saying her gun shows were all the assets she needed. Shiv peeled off to go make bombs or something. Sophia said that the Lord of Light was her asset and that she would go pray. She took Ria back to our dorms with her, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Although it did take a little bit of reassurance - that I was going to be okay, and I would see her soon - for Sophia to actually leave.
'Gestalt.'
[Yes?]
'You live here right?'
[In a manner of speaking yes. Although we don't entirely exist within this dimension.]
'Can I come say hi?'
[...]
[It's been a while since we've had guests. The place is a little messy.]
I can feel them sweating. Mentally.
'Do you think I'm going to care about mess? Also it's for class, I'm sure you count as an asset or something, right?'
[Rude. But we understand what you mean. But no freaking out okay.]
'When have I ever freaked out about anything?'
[You freak out literally every day.]
I mean they have got me there. But in my defense this has been a really weird month.
Fuck.
I've been here for nearly a month.
I guess my mum is having a really hard time right now huh.
And now I feel doubly guilty because I haven't thought about my mum in a bit. I kinda just buried that.
I've made myself sad, and the best way to deal with that is bury those feelings deep, deep down and pretend they don't exist!
'Come on Gestalt, where you at? I want to come visit.'
[A reminder that we can hear all of your thoughts. And that burying your emotions is not ideal and you should deal with them.]
'I will do, at some point. Probably. But not today!'
After some hassling Gestalt guides me through the Academy towards one of its elevators. I've been holed up with other rift walkers, or in class or in my room. So I haven't really been paying much attention. But this place is both huge and busy. There are loads of classes going on and tons of students in the hallways.
'Gestalt, I'm assuming these people aren't all riftwalkers right?'
[No, the Academy also trains mages from all over the plains. It is not the only school, but it is certainly the most famous. Similar to Oxford or Cambridge back in England.]
'Man, never thought I was even going to make it to university. Let alone an Ivy league.'
I wander around the crowds of people. Most pay me no mind. But some notice my year one rift walker pin which garners me some raised eyes and hushed whispers.
The walk takes a while, but after twenty minutes of passing through stone corridors and green quads we arrive at a ricketty looking elevator. The thing looks like a death trap.
I get in, and Gestalt activates it for me.
We descend.
And descend.
And descend some more.
When the doors finally open, the room it opens up into is pitch black.
'Feeling pretty spooky here buddies.'
[Sorry about that. We never really need to turn the lights on down here. I'll try and get them working. Follow me.]
'Wha?' I start to think before a person comes out of the darkness and offers me her hand.
I use the term person lightly, because she is missing her eyes and the top of her head. There is a large pulsing brain slug sitting in the basin of her skull.
As I said. Spooky shit.
'You're using zombies?'
[Technically that's not a zombie. The body is still alive.]
'Really not making it better buddies.'
[It's one of our old bodies. You don't think we would just throw away resources like that would you?]
'...Kinda makes sense I guess. Feels kinda gross though.'
[We do turn our older bodies into zombies. Preserving them can be a bit of an ongoing process though.]
'Why not just have people come help you with the people stuff.'
[Eww gross. Then we would have to interact with people. That sounds horrible.]
'Are you a shut in? Also you interact with me all the time?'
[You are different.]
'How?'
[We have yet to work that out.]
I'm guided through a network of pitch black tunnels by the ever so spooky not-zombie. Until we enter what I assume is a bigger room. I mean I can't actually tell, it's pitch black. But it's a little drafty and my footsteps echo differently.
[Here, I got the lights.]
There's a cracking whirring sound and the lights flicker on with a buzzing hum and sparks.
The room is revealed to be a knock off mad scientist lab. Complete with test tubes with strange body parts floating in colourful liquids.
Looking around the only thing I can think of is;
'Hey you have electricity? Why am I fucking around with candles every night?'
[Not electricity, and this is more of an us thing.]
'So you are hoarding tech too?'
[No. Just not telling anyone about it.]
'Why?'
[We don't want to talk to people unless we have to.]
'You are a shut-in!'
'...'
'Wait are you a Discord moderator too?'
[Rude!]
Of course I'm ignoring the elephant in the room.
[Double rude! We are not that big!]
'Getting pretty close there buddies.'
[You try keeping fit while floating in a tank, and also a mass of brains.]
They are not wrong. In the center of the room is a large tank of some sort of greenish fluid, and there floating in the middle is Gestalt.
The bottom is a large slug thing with hundreds of tendrils extruding from it. Those tendrils reach out and twist out of reality.
The top of the big slug is open and from it a giant translucent sack protrudes. It is in that sack where the brains sit. Hundreds of them. All different shapes and sizes, stitched together with slug like tendrils.
'Looking fine there Gestalt.'
[Thank you, we preened our tendrils and fluffed our brains for your visit.]
'Really?'
[No.]
'Sooo, you got anything to drink down here?'
[Tea?]
'Yes please.'
And that is how I spent my afternoon, drinking tea with a giant brain slug. Well, I did the drinking, they are in a tank of fluid so they can't really have a drink. Do they even have a mouth?
[Yes.]
They show me their mouth. More of a maw really - one filled with many, many needle like teeth.
'That's how you subsume isn't it.'
[Yep.]
'You lied to me! You do eat brains!'
[Is it really eating if you don't digest?]
They got me there.
[We do.]
We play a chess-like game, which I lose every game of. Because they are a giant hive mind and that's cheating.
And we drink a lot of tea.
All in all a wonderful afternoon.
***
I'm alone! In my dorm room! There's no Sophia here!
You would think I would be sad about that, but I have other priorities right now.
'Gestalt, pretend I don't exist for a little bit.'
[Understood.]
Sophia and the rest of the girls have gone for bath-time down the end of our hall. That bathroom is amazing, basically a big pool, very European, or is that Turkish?
Turkey is part of Europe right?
Anyway the maids only fill up the bath on Ordays and Growdays, it's a whole process. This place needs plumbing. I avoided the gay nightmare of bathing with a bunch of extremely attractive women - by claiming period. Which happens to be true, but maybe I can use the same excuse again next week and say that Earth ladies go on longer. Because we are built differently.
Anyway, I'm rambling, because I'm excited. I don't think you understand how long it's been. I haven't been alone in almost two weeks, and every night I have to sleep with the hottest woman to ever walk any realm. No I'm not biased, you are.
As you can imagine I am a frustrated horny mess. Even more than normal.
I make a scene of it. Dip the candle light low, get out of my corset and into my nightwear.
I slip under the covers, spank bank locked and loaded with fresh memories of touching a boob.
My hand under the covers, I bunch up my night dress, slowly, feeling its silky touch run up against my skin.
My fingers are about to gently trace the hottest place in the universe.
And the door knocks.
Agghhhh!
Maybe if I ignore it.
"Tangerine? Are you there?" It's Ria's voice. That fucking cock blocking fish.
No, that's rude, she's a nice girl. But I was so cloooose. Fucking kill me.
"Yeah." I sigh. "I'm here Ria." I walk over and open the door for her, so she can wheel herself in. "Are you not bathing with the others?" I asked her.
"I don't really need to, and fresh water plays havoc with my scales."
I don't ask how I can help her. I already know. She's trying to make friends, and as much as I want to tell her to buzz off so I can buzz on, I can't.
"Tea?" I asked her.
"Yes please." She said.
I drop some heating mana crystals into the teapot. I am going to be peeing a lot tonight. I might even have to use the chamber pot. Gross.
I'm sure you are thinking, wait, surely you are alone on the bog. Why can't you take care of business there? And I want to remind you that the toilets here are one step above outhouses. They smell really bad. I take a piss holding my nose.
Before long the ladies are finished with their bath and Sophia joins Ria and I. We have a lovely frustrating tea party before it is bed time.
And then I have a very frustrating night in bed.
***