We woke up early to shower and brush our teeth before heading to our respective classes.

  First period, I did my best to appear like I was passively paying attention, but today’s lesson required verbal involvement. I believed I got scolded a few times before the teacher decided he wouldn’t be getting answers from me.

  Second period appeared to be a hands-on experiment, where we’d need to follow written instructions to a T. I only recognized that there were numbers on paper, but it seemed like we were tasked with handling certain ingredients and concoctions. Thankfully, the student I was partnered with seemed boastful, so I let them handle everything while I watched.

  He seemed to have done something wrong, seeing how he had gotten scolded after the lab. There was a lot of yelling, and he had my sympathies and prayers, as it reminded me of how I’ve been yelled at by my mother as a child. I think the teacher wanted to say something to me, but decided against it, or she did inadvertently, and I couldn’t pick up on it.

  Third period was more or less the same, except that fewer coins were distributed.

  I can’t help but feel I’m supposed to do something else with these wooden coins. Oh well.

  …

  Has it been getting easier to sit through these classes?

  Excluding the fact that I have to spend time in them, I didn’t feel anxious sitting through them, like I had to play some guessing game just to get even remotely close to performing an action a student would do in the class’s context.

  I’ll have to attend a few more before I can be certain that I don’t have to worry about them.

  Finally, the most interesting period of my schedule arrived.

  The first two times I’ve been here, I’ve interacted with a pink crystal and a white crystal. My guess is that this class’s subject is about the glowing liquid-like substance that students willed into existence and put inside the crystal. From my experience running away from Electric Blue, I think I have a pretty good handle on that stuff.

  So… what now?

  The teachers are either already present or arrive seconds before or after class begins. This feels a bit longer than the usual.

  There were murmurs being spoken by the students in the seats in front of me. I didn’t need to scrutinize the situation to get an accurate guess of what’s being said.

  ‘Where is she?’

  ‘What’s taking so long?’

  ‘Why isn’t she here yet?’

  They were likely speculating on the reason for her tardiness. Since she’s on the second layer of Mr. Blonde’s hierarchy, I’m sure being late won’t be too worrying. She’s probably attending to some important duty required by her position.

  I looked around, seeing how most students were conversing with each other. Their neighbor, the student behind them, someone at the desk in front of them, everyone had someone they could have a flowing and coherent conversation with. Me? Everything that I currently know is purely through observation. People’s hair colors, their mannerisms, their voices, and their magic. All of these things, I have to associate with whatever nickname I give them. Fireboy, Snow White, Electric, Blonde Girl, Brown-haired boy, My Summoner, they’re all oversimplifications of what little I know about them.

  How long did it take me to achieve decent mastery over English? Years, likely. How many exactly? Whatever the amount, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life forever in the dark, even on the most mundane things.

  The best shot I have of achieving fluency over this world’s spoken language would be to observe, internalize, define, speak, and repeat, over and over, until I achieve my desired mastery. At this rate, I don’t have a choice.

  I rested my chin on the desk, fully intent on memorizing whatever sequences of syllables I could remember.

  Seconds after I put my head down, the cacophony of incomprehensible conversations died down to utter silence. All of a sudden, everyone was staring at the wall. I looked at my summoner, and he, too, was copying them.

  The scene was both horrifying and unsettling, making me shiver. I even felt my hairs stand up. I turned toward the wall everyone was staring at, but nothing about it seemed special.

  It wasn’t until a student near the front of the room stormed out through the door. Moments later, everyone followed suit, starting from those closest to the door to those near the back of the room.

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  Unsure of what was going on, I followed the crowd. The cautious part of me wanted to just run in the opposite direction of whatever’s catching everyone’s attention, but curiosity pulled me along with the rest. Eventually, I found myself standing alongside everyone else, staring at whatever had caught everyone’s attention through multiple walls. I wondered if that was some intrinsic talent of every mage at this school.

  Up in the air was something pulling in the clouds nearby. It looked like someone took what a hurricane would like from top down and just slapped it onto the sky.

  From the distance I stood at, it appeared to be done at a snail's pace, but that’s the thing about perspective. Things that appear slow in the distance are much faster up close.

  Looking closer to the ground, I could see objects being slowly pulled into the center of the storm in the sky. I looked further down to see where that thing came from.

  Is that part of a building?

  I heard shouting from behind me and saw Mr. Blonde running out of the building. His attention was on the storm in the sky.

  He made repeated circular motions with his hands, urging everyone to get inside the school. His words fell on deaf ears, his audience more captivated by the weird sky anomaly. It wasn’t until golden orbs appeared that students started adhering to his words.

  There was a tinge of panic in his voice… or was it desperation?

  “Nolval!” he shouted at me once.

  I followed his instructions and ran inside.

  …

  Could that be a natural disaster? Is this something people are prepared for?

  Seeing the swirling mass in the sky made me realize that I’d have to discard my world’s understanding of natural disasters to better adjust to life in this world. There was a clear magical element to it, seeing how everyone was staring at the eye of that storm through the walls.

  We were currently in the cafeteria, likely to give everyone a meal before being escorted elsewhere. My guess was the underground room below the school. It looked spacious enough to hold everyone in the school, and it seemed to be the best location to evacuate to, given the circumstances. The only thing I was worried about was the lack of escape routes apart from the only 2 entrances and exits leading to the spacious underground field, but I had a feeling magic could solve that by creating our own exits.

  Everyone was clearly shaken by the sight of the storm, perhaps even the right amount of scared. Whatever their magic senses told them was enough for the atmosphere to feel gloomy.

  Could that thing be why Ms. Grey didn’t show up?

  It sort of made sense, yet it didn’t. My impression of her in the short time I’ve been here is someone who’s knowledgeable and committed to their job. A woman who’s composed, yet becomes impulsive before the unknown, trying to comprehend something to the extent of her understanding.

  Is that a correct impression? Or is it skewed by my few interactions with her?

  The number of teachers in the cafeteria space seemed smaller than expected. I counted 7 total on the hierarchy pyramid, yet only 2 faculty members were on standby, those being Mr. Blonde and the guy with bleached hair and a gray button-up.

  Did they go to help potential victims of the storm? How the hell did they get there so fast?

  Right, magic. Still, did everyone have an ability like the old man’s to get over there quickly? Must be extremely helpful with disaster preparedness. The vertigo and g-force they have to withstand must be huge. Using magic abilities while staying in safe power output ranges must be part of why this school exists, to prevent aspiring mages from hurting themselves while using their abilities. It reminds me of stories of people training to use their newfound abilities because of how uncontrollable they were upon discovery.

  A student’s scream pulled me out of my thoughts. When I turned to look, they were being comforted by their classmates.

  I couldn’t make an accurate guess about what they had said.

  The sudden scream seemed to make everyone more uneasy. I think I was starting to feel their uneasiness.

  Mr. Blonde seemed to have witnessed their panic attack, with their golden dragon in tow. He didn’t say anything; perhaps he, too, was a bit uneasy.

  Wait. Why isn’t he doing anything?

  I could understand not being equipped to deal with an individual’s panic attack, but this is a collective fear you’re seeing! Do something to raise morale!

  I looked around. Despite food being distributed, likely today’s intended lunch menu, not everyone was eating. Some were eating more slowly than when I first saw them. Seriously, what the fuck are we dealing with for it to be like this?

  I wanted to drag Mr. Blonde to his office and have him explain it through drawings, but that felt inappropriate for how every student looked. Things might get worse if I drag him away.

  Is my summoner any good at drawing?

  I was a little hesitant about revealing more of my power. Sure, that one girl and the teacher she told on me with likely know I can just make dodgeballs, and the 5th period class knows how I was able to overwhelm Electric Blue, but…

  Okay. Hiding my power seems like a dumb idea at this point.

  Everyone looked distracted, seemingly deep in their own thoughts to care about what’s going on around them. I moved to a corner of the cafeteria and made a pencil and paper.

  Since Mr. Blonde wasn’t planning on comforting anyone, I’ll make use of his idle time and have him explain to me why everyone’s panicked.

  I walked up and handed him the pencil and paper before looking at everyone’s sullen state. I pointed to the paper, emphasizing what I wanted to know.

  He walked to the lunch counter and started drawing with a pencil and paper.

  While I wait for him, I’ll check on how my summoner’s doing.

  He was in a conversation with the Blonde Girl, sitting across from her. I was about to join them, but students clasping their hands in prayer caught my eye.

  Ok, this has to be serious.

  This would be the first instance of religious influence I’ve seen ever since my reincarnation. In my past life, I didn’t outright reject the idea of god and their religious influence, but I also didn’t want it to be heavily involved in my life. Prayer and worship just felt so… demanding, and my impression of religious people had mostly come from my mother. Intrusive and extremist.

  I’ll spread the word of the god who reincarnated me when communication is possible… and only if I get a dream demanding I do so.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Mr. Blonde handing me the paper I gave him.

  The drawing depicted a humanoid figure in the center of the storm, and someone with Ms. Grey’s haircut standing near the edge of the cliff, staring at it.