Chương 46: “Paws and Effect”

Celestia had slept well, all things considered. After Professor Fae's healing spirit had finished its work, she had suddenly woken up seeing the starry night sky… the ceiling of Training Building Four had been missing. Cassia Flamesy dragged Professor Fae across the rubble by the scruff of her coat, and the summoner was unconscious with a bump on her head. Cassia had looked at Celestia, pointed her wooden sword toward the exit, and said, "Get back to your mansion or wherever you're sleeping.

And make sure you attend next week's combat elective." Now, on Friday morning, she walked the campus path toward the facility where Griffin held the mandatory class. The morning air was cool, and the humidity felt lighter than usual. Anna walked beside her, carrying Sir Ozy's cage-carrier with both hands. The pug was awake and had been making his displeasure known since they left the dormitory. Awoo-woo-wooooo-waooo! Injustice! Injustice of the highest order!

That woman approacheth mine noble self with gentle hands and a kind face, and yet beneath that softness lurketh a cruelty most foul! His bulging eyes were fixed on the floor of the carrier. Awooo-woo-woo! Potions! Bitter, burning potions she doth pour upon mine glorious body! Mine beautiful snout! Mine magnificent eyes! She treateth mine sovereign form as though it were some manner of ailment to be cured! Ye hoomans know not the difference between perfection and illness!

Anna, who heard only muffled barking, adjusted her grip on the carrier and glanced at Celestia.

"H-he's been like this since this morning... Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Awoo-wooo-waoooaoo! Fine?! Thou speakest as though I were some common beast of burden to be dismissed! I am aggrieved beyond measure, summoner! That woman hath committed an offence against mine very dignity, and thou dost call it 'fine'! Celestia glanced at the carrier.

"Quiet." Sir Ozy's mouth clamped shut. His tail twitched once, and a low grumble vibrated through his chest, but he said nothing further. The only reason he was cooperating at all was the deal Celestia had struck with him earlier that morning. If he behaved for the rest of the day, she would note down his demands for the week and have Martha ensure they were fulfilled. The pug had considered this for roughly ten seconds before agreeing. They reached the building and climbed the steps to their seating.

Thankfully, it was much more proper now when compared to last week's room. Celestia sat near the middle and Anna found a spot beside her, placing the carrier on the floor between their chairs. Sir Ozy settled into a grudging silence inside, his snoring starting within minutes. The room filled slowly, and Celestia counted the students as they entered. The number was smaller than last week, the difference was far more apparent here than it had been in the combat elective.

After all, the combat elective only had students who had chosen to take it. This mandatory class included everyone, which meant it also included the students who had entered the Tower without enrolling in the combat elective. Griffin entered through the side door. He walked to the front of the room and looked out over the rows. His gaze paused briefly when seeing the number of students, and then he began talking, "Floors six through nine are cooperative."

He turned to the chalkboard and drew a rough diagram: four horizontal lines stacked vertically, each representing a floor, with small circles clustered in groups on each one.

"Up until now, every floor you've encountered has been designed for individual climbers. But from the sixth floor onward, that changes. The Tower will place you into parties." He tapped the chalk against the board.

"There are two ways this happens. The first is random assignment. If you enter the Tower alone, the Tower itself will match you with other climbers to form a group." He set the chalk down and turned back to the class.

"The second way is to register as a party beforehand. At least several hours before entering the Tower, you go to one of the branches of the Adventurer's Guild and register your group. A guild mage will cast Unity Magic on your party. This is a basic aspectual spell that binds a limited number of people together for the purpose of spatial movement. However, Unity Magic currently supports a maximum of four members." He crossed his arms.

"I strongly advise all of you to form your parties before entering the Tower. The alternative is letting the Tower assign your teammates at random, and that means climbing alongside people you don't know. And know this, this becomes especially important once you reach Floor Ten." He picked up the chalk again and drew a thick horizontal line beneath his diagram, separating the upper floors from what lay below. Above the line, he wrote a single word: World.

"Floor 10 is different from everything that comes before it. We will discuss it in detail next week, but what you need to understand now is this: the stakes change significantly." His eyes swept around the room again.

"There are still many unregistered climbers entering the Tower. People who are not affiliated with the academy, the guild, or any organized group. Some of them will end up as your randomly assigned teammate if you go in without a registered party. I shouldn't need to explain why having a teammate you cannot trust is a problem." Griffin uncrossed his arms.

"That is your priority for the coming climb. Form your parties. Register with the guild. Do not enter Floor Six without Unity Magic binding your group." Beside Celestia, Anna had stopped paying attention to the lecture several minutes ago. She was crouched slightly in her seat, one hand lowered toward the carrier on the floor, feeding Sir Ozy strips of bacon she had smuggled from the dormitory cafeteria. The pug accepted each one with 'reluctant' slow chewing. It was just as Griffin said.

When the Tower had appeared without warning, the already-growing city around it had been scrambling to keep pace ever since. Summit's administration had passed legislation after legislation trying to regulate entry, establishing registration processes, identification requirements, and structured pathways for climbers who wanted to enter through proper channels. But at the end of the day, anyone who walked up to the Tower's surface and placed their hand against it could enter.

The city could build whatever systems it wanted around the Tower, but entry remained open to all. Even with the Adventurer's Guild and the city's administration working together to bring order to the process, there were still many who preferred to climb without anyone knowing. If the authorities ever tried to enforce proper barriers to prevent unregistered entry, the people who controlled the shadier parts of Summit would push back hard.

The underground had its own climbers and its own interests, not everyone who climbed seeked fame and glory, especially those that stayed in the dark corners of the city. Any attempt to fully regulate Tower access would result in a conflict the city's administration was not prepared to win. Griffin clapped his hands once. The sound echoed through the room, and a staff member entered carrying a wooden crate. It was the same as last week.

He set it down at the front, and stones were distributed to each student along with blank sheets of paper.

"Just the same as last time," Griffin said.

"Break the stone and write down your results." Celestia was about to write down the same thing as last time when a commotion broke out several rows ahead of her. A boy had stood up from his seat, holding someone else's paper above his head. He was tall, well-dressed, and his uniform bore a family emblem on a pin on his chest. From the looks of it, he was of minor nobility.

"Three skills?!" the boy announced to the room, loud enough for everyone to hear. He waved the paper.

"Can you believe that? This commoner is claiming he has three skills already." The paper belonged to Arthur. Arthur was still seated with an expression that seemed to say,'Ahahaha…' He didn't reach for the paper or stand up. Liana, who was sitting beside him, looked like she wanted to say something, but Arthur's hand moved slightly in her direction, a small gesture telling her to leave it be. The noble boy turned to the students around him, playing to the crowd.

"Either this assessment is broken, or someone here is a liar trying to make himself look important. What's next, commoner? You'll claim you've got a special stat too?" This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A few students shifted uncomfortably as others watched with open interest. The boy's friends, a cluster of minor nobles in the rows behind him, were smirking.

'Three?' Celestia's attention caught on the number. If she remembered correctly, Arthur should have at least five skills by now. Two active and three passive, give or take. The dash, the holy slash, and those overpowered passive skills the Tower had granted him. Why would he write only three? Rather than watching the rest of it play out, Celestia looked down at her own stone and broke it. She ignored her other stats and went on to check on her skills. —Skills: 2 Two?

She had two active skills: Noblesse Oblitère and Knighthood. But her own System showed seven passive skills. For some reason, the stone hadn't counted any of them.

'Ah.' She remembered now. It was only in the future that a high-floor appraiser had checked his own status and found a discrepancy between the number of skills he had and the number the Tower's system displayed. He had documented the finding: the stone developed by the archmages and the Tower's basic system readout did not count passive skills. Only active skills appeared under the "Skills" category. Which meant Arthur hadn't lied. He had three active skills. The noble was still talking, his voice getting louder.

And a few of his friends had joined in while there were murmurs within the crowd turning against Arthur. Celestia didn't care about any of that. Arthur could handle himself.

'What was that appraiser's name…?' She wasn't sure if it was mentioned in the original novel, but the discovery itself had been significant. Once it became public knowledge that passive skills existed and could be identified by a sufficiently skilled appraiser, The Adventurer's Guild and many clans started grooming appraisers, trying to make sure they'd reach a high enough floor to appraise a person's passive skills. It was natural that adventurers and climbers wanted to know what they had.

What was more worrisome, though, was the race; whoever controlled the supply of high-level appraisers effectively controlled the flow of information in the city. Entire businesses had been built around it in the story's later arcs. And right now, no one knew about it yet. The discovery was still at least two years away. If Celestia could find that appraiser first, or sponsor and train multiple appraisers through her own resources, the entire market would belong to her before anyone else realized it existed.

Celestia wrote down her results on the paper. The same thing as last time: all H's, one skill, and no special stats. She leaned back in her seat. Beside her, Anna was still feeding bacon to Sir Ozy under the chair. The pug had shifted from grudging acceptance to enthusiastic cooperation, his curled tail wagging against the floor of the carrier with each strip. A voice cut through the murmuring from several rows above.

"Would all of you shut up already?" Serena Flamesy stood from her seat, arms crossed, her dark red hair framing a face that was already scowling. Her gaze swept across the cluster of minor nobles.

"He beat me in a fair fight," Serena said.

"If any of you think otherwise, you're welcome to prove it against me." The noble boy who had started the commotion closed his mouth and the group piped down. Although they didn't leave the room yet, the looks they directed at Arthur made it clear that this wasn't settled. Arthur turned to Serena and mouthed.

"Thanks for that." Serena looked away.

"Hmph!" She dropped back into her seat and crossed her arms again, as though defending him had been an inconvenience she'd rather not repeat. Liana, still sitting on Arthur's other side, watched the exchange. Her cheeks puffed out slightly and her eyes darted between Arthur and Serena. She said nothing, but she shifted in her seat and turned her body a fraction more towards Arthur. Celestia, who watched all of this happen, couldn't help but think,'Disgusting.'

The cannon-fodder nobles, the rivalry-turned-attraction, the jealous childhood friend. It was a scene so predictable that even the author should be embarrassed to write it. Mandatory class was technically over; Griffin had returned to the front of the room and was collecting the papers, and the students were already starting to stand and gather their things. Celestia stood from her seat the first chance she got and headed for the exit.

Behind her, Anna quickly followed with Sir Ozy's cage swinging slightly in her grip as she matched Celestia's pace. They had lunch together at the female dormitory. The cafeteria was quieter than usual on a Friday afternoon, and they found a table near the window without trouble. Anna set the carrier on the bench beside her and opened the grated door partway. Sir Ozy's face emerged, his bulging eyes stared at the plate of food Anna had set in front of him.

Roasted chicken, several cuts of seasoned meat, and what appeared to be a strip of smoked pork. The pug ate with an air of great reluctance that fooled absolutely no one. After lunch, Celestia made her way to the building where Professor Fae held Elemental Tuning. Anna followed, still carrying the carrier. When they arrived, a note was pinned to the door. — Class will be held at Training Building 5 today. Prof. Fae Celestia turned and walked toward Training Building Five with Anna following in tow.

The building looked much the same as Training Building Four had before two professors had demolished it. And as soon as they stepped inside. Professor Fae's eyes locked onto Celestia before dropping to the carrier in Anna's hands.

"Celestia!" she said.

"You're here. And—" Her gaze was fixed on the carrier.

"—is that...?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful. Wonderful!" Fae clasped her hands together, barely containing herself. Then her attention shifted to Anna.

"And you are?"

"A-Anna, Professor. I'm not enrolled in this class, but..." Anna lifted the carrier slightly.

"I was wondering if I could sit in? I've been looking after him and—" Fae waved her hand.

"Of course. I'll handle the registration myself. Anyone carrying that creature has a standing invitation to my class." Anna blinked.

"R-really? Just like that?" Professor Fae was already looking back at the carrier. She knelt down to peer through the grated door, where Sir Ozy was curled in a ball, one eye cracked open, looking at who dared to disturb his almighty nap. Fae stood back up and turned to Celestia.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why is he in a carrier and not stored in your contract mark?" She glanced at the tattoo on the back of Celestia's hand.

"The bond is clearly active. He should be able to dematerialize into it."

"He doesn't want to," Celestia said. Fae's eyes widened. She looked at the carrier, then back at Celestia, then at the carrier again.

"He refuses?"

"Yes."

"That's—" Fae pressed a hand to her mouth. Her eyes were bright.

"That's incredibly rare. In documented cases, the only spirits that have refused residence in the contract mark were those that had remained unsummoned for an extraordinarily long period. We're talking centuries, possibly longer." Inside the carrier, Sir Ozy let out a single, dignified snort. Fae looked like she could have continued talking about this for the rest of the afternoon, but more students had begun filing through the doors.

The class was larger than before; several new faces had joined since the first session, students who had acquired elemental eggs over the past weeks or who had recently bonded with spirits themselves. Fae tucked the notebook under her arm and walked back to the front of the room. She clapped her hands once.

"Though we have more students today, so we'll skip the introductory material." She scanned the room.

"Those of you who currently have bonded elemental spirits, we're going to start with something more practical." Professor Fae snapped her fingers. A burst of cold air swept through the room as an elemental spirit materialized at her side. It was a bird, roughly the size of a hawk, composed entirely of translucent ice. Its feathers were jagged crystalline formations that caught the light from the magic stones along the walls, and its eyes were two pale blue points.

Frost gathered on the floor beneath its talons before it flew up to perch onto Fae's outstretched arm.

"Today's exercise is simple," Fae said, addressing the room.

"Those of you who have bonded elemental spirits will be using the platform. Your spirit will defend against mine." She raised the arm carrying the ice bird slightly.

"Don't worry, Wendy here won't cause permanent damage. She's under my full control, and I'll scale her down to match your spirit's level." A few students exchanged glances, still worried. But Fae's gaze had already moved past the students and simply stared at the carrier sitting on the floor beside Anna's chair.

"Celestia von Reingarde," Fae called.

"You're up first. Put your elemental spirit on the platform." Celestia opened her fan and brought it to her face, saying, "Anna." Anna blinked, unsure why she was called. Then upon realizing, "O-oh!" She stood quickly, nearly knocking her chair backward as she picked up the carrier. She walked to the platform, knelt down, and unlatched the grated door. Sir Ozy emerged slowly. He stepped onto the stone platform, yawned once, and sat down on his haunches. His curled tail rested flat against the stone behind him.

Anna straightened up and stood beside the pug, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Miss... Anne," Professor Fae said.

"You can leave the platform."

"I-it's Anna, actually—" Anna started, then realized this was not the time. She turned to leave, caught the edge of her own shoe on flat ground, and stumbled forward. Her face went a light shade of red as she walked back to her seat without looking at anyone. Fae directed Wendy onto the platform. The ice bird glided from her arm and landed several paces from where Sir Ozy was sitting, talons clicking against the stone. Frost spread in thin lines beneath its feet.

The pug sat where he was, bulging eyes half-closed, his breathing slow and wheezy. Fae's eyes were bright. She extended her hand toward the platform and pushed her intent through mana, a directed command to Wendy. A light probe. Just enough for the ice bird to test the pug's reaction with a minor frost attack. However… Wendy did not move. The bird stood perfectly still on the platform, its crystalline head angled toward Sir Ozy. Its pale blue eyes were fixed on the pug, but its body remained rigid. Fae frowned.

She adjusted her mana output and issued the command again, more firmly this time. A direct instruction channeled through the bond: attack, lightly. Wendy still did not move. The students were quiet, unsure of what was happening right now. Professor Fae's frown deepened. Wendy was among her most reliable contracted spirits. The ice bird had never hesitated before. Fae tightened her mana and she pushed through the bond with force this time, giving a hard command to attack.

The ice bird's head snapped away from the pug and toward Fae. Its wings spread wide, frost erupting from the feathers in a burst of cold air as a large icicle formed above Wendy's head. The ice bird launched it directly at Professor Fae.