I exited the teacher’s dormitory feeling conflicted.

  I totally got coerced into becoming a student, didn’t I?

  Well, becoming a student here wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. It’s an opportunity to properly learn about magic in this world after all. It’s entirely possible that what I know from Adventuria and how magic actually works isn't the same. Though, I managed to cast [Falsify Status] without any problems.

  Still, I have a feeling that the Head Dormkeeper is going to be annoying to deal with. How long am I going to be able to keep my true identity a secret? Agh.

  “Hey, Celia!” Serwin greeted from the side.

  He waited for me?

  “Hey,” I replied, kicking my anxiety aside for now.

  “How’d it go?” he asked. “What did Fa— err the Head Dormkeeper speak about with you?”

  “Nothing important,” I replied with a shrug. “Though, I guess I’m a student now.”

  I showed him the little token his father gave me and he gawked at it for a moment before straightening himself.

  “A Stellar Token..?”

  Serwin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in consternation. “My Father is so—... Erm, shall I show you around then?”

  “That would be appreciated,” I said. “But first— *growl~*”

  “Ah. Y-yeah let’s get something to eat! I haven’t eaten yet either. We can go to the food hall, I believe it should be fine since you are technically a student now.”

  I bit my lip and tried not to be embarrassed as we started walking. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have much to say as we ended up walking in silence.

  In that case, I should check my Status while we’re walking.

  There was something weird I noticed but couldn’t take a better look at when I cast [Falsify Status].

  Welp, here goes nothing. [Status]!

  Wh-whoa.

  Luckily, the record left in the Guild’s book only includes my name, level, title, and karma. With [Falsify Status] covering up my actual Status, my visible stats were altered to match a level 40 character’s status to anyone else’s view. This was shown by the numbers in parentheses ( ). My usual stats were kept in square brackets [ ].

  However there was indeed something blatantly weird with my status. My stats were only running at ten percent of their full capabilities— even lower than my falsified stats. These were the numbers without any distinguishers.

  M-my mana is so low! This isn’t good. Not good at all.

  To make things worse, my HP was uncomfortably low, and my MP was terrifyingly low (as a mage). As someone who reached the pinnacle of Adventuria, if not at least close to it, my health and mana regenerate at an astonishing speed under normal circumstances, especially my mana.

  I’m insanely lucky to have had enough mana to cast [Falsify Status].. But now I quite literally don’t have any mana left. One mistake and I’ll suffer the backlash of mana deficiency.

  There was no question that recovering these to optimal levels were my top priority. If my health and mana weren’t regenerating on their own, I would have to get my hands on some potions or other recovery methods. I made a mental note and sighed.

  It would be so easy if I had even ONE of my rings of inventory.

  The obvious culprit to my condition was my status abnormality. It was some glitched gibberish I couldn’t make sense of. I’ve never seen anything like it, but if that was preventing my health and mana from regenerating, it must have been some sort of curse or weird condition. But how I was the recipient of a curse if I’ve been stuck in a statue for three centuries, I didn't know.

  …Okay, maybe being stuck in a statue for three centuries was a problem in and of itself. Any normal human would have rotted completely in the first year.

  It was nothing short of a miracle that I was alive. Three hundred years is kind of a long time to go without food and water. Though it’s true that I, as Celia, am no longer human and can’t use the same common sense that I once knew.

  I’m not human… that’s a weird thought.

  I looked down at my hands and saw the soft hands of a girl. I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary other than my naturally sharp nails, though even that could be mimicked without much difficulty back on Earth. In any case, these hands definitely didn’t show the 20,500 points of strength held inside them.

  “Celia?” Serwin called out to me.

  “Hm?”

  The thought of no longer being human struck me very weirdly. It was odd because I still felt human. Was it due to my memories of Earth?

  “Everything okay?” he asked. “You suddenly stopped walking.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, catching up to him.

  “If you insist,” he said before gesturing ahead. "We’re here.”

  I really hope the status abnormality goes away on its own after I eat something and rest. A classic recipe to recover from anything!

  With that wishful thinking, we entered the building.

  The entrance immediately split off into two directions: left, and right.

  Serwin took me to the right and we eventually reached a large open room. It was filled with round tables prepared with white tablecloths, utensils, and 4 chairs surrounding each table. Rather than some cafeteria, it was more akin to a fancy restaurant with an appropriate atmosphere. The lighting wasn’t dark, but it was dim and warm. There were a few other students scattered about reading or writing with food set aside on the table, but they paid us no mind.

  Sheesh, students here have it nice.

  “There aren’t that many people here for a food hall,” I said in a low voice.

  “Makes sense, considering how everyone is attending teaching at this time,” Serwin replied with a wince. “I was supposed to be attending teaching as well.. I hope I’m not missing much.”

  I guess he's more diligent than I first thought.

  We sat across each other at one of the tables.

  Within moments, metallic clinks caught my attention and a metal humanoid figure revealed itself wearing a modern suit.

  What the hel— er heck is THAT doing here?!

  “[Initiating “Waiter” class protocols to receive orders…]” it said with a gentleman-ly accent upon reaching our table.

  It’s speaking English?!

  A very confused “huh?” escaped me, and Serwin elaborated.

  “It’s an intelligent golem, a one-of-a-kind existence unique to this academy, no, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a one-of-a-kind in this entire world. A hunk of metal that’s smarter than most humans! Amazing right?”

  I.. I know it’s an intelligent golem, an Arketal Golem actually, but the problem is its outfit. It’s so… Why is its outfit so unsuitable for this era??

  Dumbfounded, I couldn't help staring at the golem.

  “It’s things like this that makes me so excited about magic,” Serwin continued. “The impossible wonders that are achieved through it. By the way, for some reason the golem always speaks in the ancient language first.”

  That is cool and all, but the Adventuria I know would NEVER allow such immersion breaking getups! What sacrilege! No.. What if this world just happened to develop a taste in such clothing in the past three hundred years? That’s not impossible.. I need to figure out who made this guy’s clothes.

  “[Greetings].” the golem spoke. ”[Error: No response. Swapping to regional langua—]”

  “[Greetings, how do you do]?” I asked the golem.

  Its head shifted to look at me, its face an unreadable mask.

  “[You know of the old tongue].” it stated, neither in question nor confident statement. It was probably as close to confused as a golem could be.

  “Celia? What are you doing?” Serwin asked.

  “Shh. [Yes, I do. What is your name, golem]?”

  The golem’s head tilted ever so slightly as it studied me.

  “[I am Ark, an Arketal Golem],” it replied.

  As I thought, an Arketal Golem. Named Ark.. how original.

  Arketal golems are ancient automatons that required magic to function. Unlike “modern” automatons that simply utilized magic cores for enhanced capabilities.

  Ahh, that reminds me; Artena was working on creating a divine automaton… I wonder if she ever finished it.

  Getting back to the task at hand, I questioned the Arketal Golem about its attire.

  “[This attire was given to me by my creator many ages ago],” it replied.

  “[Who is your creator]?” I asked.

  Figuring out who its creator was could end up being crucial information to figuring out my situation as Celia.

  If it was another player that wound up here like me…

  “[My creator—]”

  “Do you actually understand it? Not even the professors can understand it though. Is it some demihuman language that’s similar to the arcane language?”

  I glanced pointedly at Serwin, but he was right. I was revealing too much by openly conversing with the golem.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I got ahead of myself.. Such a dumb mistake.

  “Sorry. I didn’t really get what it was saying. I just wanted to try to talk to it,” I lied. “Shall we order?”

  “Well, alright then, we’d like to order now,” Serwin alerted the golem.

  “... Of course, taking orders,” the golem replied whilst handing over polished wooden tablets inscribed with the menu items.

  “Thank you, I’ll have.. the woc steak and a cup of applen juice,” said Serwin.

  Well, this is an issue.

  I stared at the menu in disbelief.

  “How would you like the meat cooked?” the golem asked Serwin.

  “Same as always.”

  “Understood. Then, my lady, what would you like to order?”

  I glanced between the golem and the menu, unsure of what to say.

  The menu I held in my hands presented words that meant something, and I could comprehend the written language. That wasn’t the problem. I could translate what was written.., but I had no idea what the names of these dishes meant.

  “Uhh is there anything you would recommend? Preferably meat?” I asked.

  “The same woc steak that my lord has ordered is popular with most, shall I take that as your order?” it asked.

  This golem is amazing.

  “Yes please, and some water if possible,” I added.

  “Certainly, the food shall be ready soon.”

  Whew.

  Ark the Arketal Golem took the menu tablets and retreated through double doors.

  I hope the food isn’t something weird…

  To prevent an awkward silence from settling in, I tried to strike up a conversation with Serwin.

  “So, what are you guys learning right now?” I asked, curious.

  Since I was going to be a student and all, it wouldn’t hurt to get any clues as to what the curriculum held. Though I didn’t imagine myself attending classes much; I instinctively opposed the thought.

  “Ah, I’m uh.. In the lower beginner-class. Of course, I only became a student just recently along with the rest of my peers! So..” he trailed off.

  “Oh, so you’re learning the basics or something?”

  “Yeah, the basics of magic with a heavy focus on foundational knowledge. We haven’t gotten to the practical applications that much yet, that’s for the intermediate-class. Though we’re free to practice what we learn ourselves at the training hall on campus. Under supervision of course.”

  As expected of Adventuria’s fantasy setting! Magic was totally incorporated into the education here. Though, that meant less time for other core subjects. Or were all typical electives replaced with magic-related ones? I wonder how that actually affects things in the big picture. No point dwelling on things like that though.

  “I see, Is there anything you’re practicing?” I asked.

  The question slipped off my tongue without much thought— I was simply curious at Serwin’s progress. If his father was the Head Dormkeeper, then he must have been quite talented in magic himself.

  I’ll have to use him as a measurement of sorts to keep my own abilities hidden. Well, if I even need to. I can’t really use magic in the state I’m in right now. I thought while glancing at my status again.

  “Aghh I knew you were going to ask that…” he muttered to himself.

  An awkward smile formed on his face as he let out a half-hearted laugh.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I.. well the truth is I can’t do any magic.”

  “Huh..? N-none at all?” I asked.

  He shook his head and avoided eye contact.

  There goes my plan.

  “My mana heart hasn’t awakened one bit,” he said with a sigh. “Maybe it’s not meant to be.”

  His mana heart isn’t even awakened but he’s attending a school that specializes in magic..? How does that even happen? Wouldn’t the awakening be a basic requirement to attend a magic-prioritizing academy like this?

  But I understand his position now. It’s no wonder the other students were picking on him like that back at the dormitory.

  How embarrassing. I feel bad for him. That said though, awakening one’s mana heart is pretty easy from what I remember. It’s getting a powerful awakening that’s difficult; you need a top-tier mage player to help you with it after all and that was far beyond what any new player could afford.

  Sigh. That’s why the number of mages were beginning to dwindle. I remember I recently joined a mage association formed to combat the number of dwindling mages.. Sucks we never got to do anything yet.. Not with me at least.

  Players that became mages from the start and spent enough time to grow powerful enjoyed the full experience of being a mage. However, a player that started from scratch years later would have to be awakened— or empowered if they were naturally awakened —by one such mage lest they be weaker and less useful than everyone else for a while.

  Basically, once people discovered that they’d be on the backfoot for their entire career as a mage unless they spent tons of time or money to catch up… it just wasn’t as worth it compared to other options.

  I frowned as my mood soured a bit, though Ark appearing with a cart carrying our food helped lift it. He placed the food on our table and left with a nice “Please enjoy your meal”.

  Thank you, I will enjoy it very much. Golems are the best.

  “So what’s keeping you from awakening your mana heart?” I asked while taking in the juicy aroma of the food.

  My stomach grumbled eagerly as I cut the woc steak. The aroma tickled my smell, and I couldn’t help myself from salivating in anticipation.

  “Well I wouldn’t be in this situation if I knew that,” he groaned. “I thought I might have been a late bloomer, but it’s been a month and there’s still no sign of it awakening.”

  He opened a clenched fist and sighed.

  “I’m just not talented in magic I guess, everyone else already awakened. But my body just isn’t suited for it,” he mumbled.

  I put a bite-sized chunk of steak in my mouth while listening and nearly burst into tears. My senses exploded with the taste of the steak. It was the first piece of food this body has experienced in three hundred years, extreme sensory deprivation was no more!

  The steak was.. simply delicious. The piece was so tender it nearly melted in my mouth. I wiped the tears away. Compliments to the chef!

  “You okay..?” Serwin asked.

  "Hm?! Mm.. mhm!"

  I merely nodded in response.

  Having a naturally awakened mana heart is a nice boon.. but isn’t necessary to become a mage. I was lucky to be more compatible with magic than others which gave me more starting mana, but I wasn’t naturally awakened either.

  The start of someone’s journey didn’t solely determine how far they could go. Plus, force-awakening had instant effects. I never heard of a delayed awakening like that.

  Wait…

  “Are you not force-awakening your mana heart?” I asked after swallowing the piece of heaven.

  He looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

  “What do you mean force-awaken?” asked Serwin.

  “It’s.. forcibly awakening your mana heart so that you can manipulate mana. It’s a must for anyone that wants to be a mage but isn’t naturally awakened,” I said. “Do people nowadays… er, is force-awakening not a thing here?”

  Serwin’s eyes widened as hope returned.

  “Are you telling me I can still awaken my mana heart?! Even if the ceremony failed to do so?”

  Ceremony..?

  “Well, yeah?”

  He stood up suddenly, making a racket with his chair.

  “Let’s do it! You have to help me!” he shouted.

  I stared at him in disbelief while chewing another piece of heaven.

  Uhh, no thanks. I’m eating as much as I can first.

  “How about… *gulp* We talk more about this after we eat?”

  Serwin blinked.

  “Oh.. sure.”

  ~ ~

  The [Sun] was high in the sky as we left the food hall to roam around campus.

  “Ahh~ that was great!” I exclaimed, content with the amount I ate.

  I felt revitalized already! That steak really hit the spot, I haven’t felt so alive since.. Well. Since I was in my real body.

  “Where do you store all that food?” Serwin asked, exasperated. “You’re a demihuman right..? Are you part pig?”

  I stopped in my tracks and stared at him.

  “W-what?” he asked, avoiding eye contact.

  “Serwin… There are some things you never say to a girl,” I replied, dead serious. “Not unless you want a shortcut to the afterlife.”

  He paled considerably and nodded in understanding.

  “Enough about that though. You’re struggling because your mana heart isn’t awakened right?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah..”

  “So all we have to do is awaken it.”

  I stated it like it was obvious because.. well it was obvious.

  An awakening is simple enough. We don’t even need to get any special materials if I can get some of my mana back.

  “I have a hard time believing you though,” Serwin sighed. “If the ceremony couldn’t do it, what could one student do? You’re not trying to get my hopes up for nothing, are you?”

  I chuckled at Serwin’s naivety and waved my Stellar token at him.

  “Am I just any student though?” I asked smugly.

  “Ha ha, okay I get it. You may stop waving your superiority around now,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Do you even know what the token represents?”

  “Not at all!” I replied with a smile.

  “A student that holds a Stellar token is a representative of the student body. In other words, it’s a big responsibility befitting your talent.”

  “Eh? Why did your father give me the token?” I asked in confusion.

  Responsibility and I are two things that don’t get along.

  I guess he DID say to return it later.

  “That’s what I’m saying,” he said with a sigh. “What did you do to incentivize my Father to give a token to someone he’s just met?”

  “Ah haha. Good question, maybe I’m just that amazing at magic? Doesn’t matter though. Let’s get back to the task at hand,” I said, changing the subject. “There are two ways we can force awaken your mana heart. One requires us to gather some ingredients and make a unique potion. The other simply requires some mana.”

  Serwin hmphed as he listened.

  Gathering the ingredients could prove to be troublesome as there are some rare ones required, but they weren’t expensive enough to make even the smallest dent in all the gold I’ve accrued. Not that I had access to them.

  The potion required specific mana rich herbs that retained the mana after death, a slightly poisonous herb, and an antidote for the poison.

  The mana method requires me to chant an incantation while imbuing the person with my mana to undergo the mana heart equivalent of jump-starting a car. I overload the mana heart with my own mana which is manipulated by my incantation to flow through the body and open pathways to allow the body to generate and manipulate mana.

  ”By the way, the second method is much cheaper since I just need some mana potions,” I explained.

  Serwin mulled over it with a “Hmm” before replying.

  “Let’s go with the second option. I have some allowance saved up but I’d rather not use more than I need to,” he replied.

  “Great! I don’t have any gold on me, so it’s all up to you anyways,” I said.

  I’d rather get my hands on more mana for myself anyways. It’s torture not being able to cast magic, being who I am and all.

  “Alright— wait, gold?” he faltered.

  “Hm?”

  “Uh, nothing. I have a good mana potion in my room actually, I can go get that right now. Stay here!” he said before rushing off.

  Well, okay. Who knows if that’ll be enough though. Wait, why does he have a mana potion if he can’t even use magic yet? Oh well.

  I needed about 10,000 mana if I remembered correctly. To be honest, I don’t think a singular mana potion would be enough, even if he had a greater mana potion.

  I watched Serwin leave and sighed. I was putting in effort to be social but I could feel my battery drain rapidly the whole time. Some me-time while Serwin got the potion will be perfect to relax and recharge a bit.

  I’m kind of impressed with myself though. I was talking normally like it was nothing. Great job, me!

  I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back.

  Looking around, I realized we wound up in the courtyard I found myself in when I first escaped the statue that imprisoned me. It was hardly spooky in the day time and instead presented a large clean yard with big trees students sought shade under. There were quite a few of them having picnics and chatting amongst themselves.

  I sat on a bench and leaned back. It was certainly peaceful, but I felt nervous.

  What do I do in the big picture? In the future? Right now I’m helping Serwin, because he helped me. But after that? My future had no direction, and that unsettled me.

  Back on Earth I’d just worry about school. Worry about what assignments I had due, tests, projects. Hanging out with Chloe and, of course, I can’t forget about playing Adventuria. But school would lead me to college which would lead me to a career choice. Life was pretty much planned out like a choose your own adventure. But now.. There’s none of that.

  The freedom was nice. Refreshing even. The future was left to my decisions and my decisions only. But it was as daunting as it was nice.

  There’s just a lot of options.

  I sighed and closed my eyes. The chattering of nearby people and tree leaves whispering melted into the background as I basked in the [Sun]’s light.

  All that mattered was that I focused on my priorities. The path to my future would pave itself as I did so. And those priorities were—

  “Hey.”

  A boy’s face hovered over mine when I opened my eyes.

  Oh no, he doesn’t look too bad.

  No! Priorities! Focus! I have to focus! What’s up with this guy anyways, does he not know the concept of personal space?

  “Uh.. hi?” I said.

  It wasn’t Serwin, but some random guy that must’ve been hanging around in the courtyard. He stood up straight and crossed his arms.

  “Do you nee—”

  “You’re in my spot,” he interrupted me.

  “Uh, okay?”

  What’s he mean that this was his spot? Does he own the bench or something?

  “Haa, this is the problem with peasants. And a demihuman at that,” he scoffed.

  What’s wrong with peasants and demihumans? This guy’s all sorts of discriminatory. Look at him up on his pedestal. Even though he had to look down to see me, he still raised his chin.

  “You’re kinda rude, you know that?”

  “Rude? Hah! Look at the cheek of this commoner. Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m a Stellar Token candidate, the youngest one at that!”

  “Who asked?” I said while rolling my eyes.

  “Who asked—? Why I ought to—!” he said.

  He kept stopping himself, but I could tell his fuse was getting shorter and shorter.

  “You’re in my spot!” he shouted, pointing a finger at me.

  I sighed and closed my eyes.

  “And?” I said.

  This was ridiculous. As soon as I get some time to relax, some dude shows up and argues over some dumb thing like me sitting in his spot. Well, I got here first, and I wanted to rest. So I was going to stay here.

  “And?! I sit here every day at this time. This is my spot. Everyone knows this.”

  “There’s a spot right next to me, feel free to sit down whenever you’re done being ridiculous.”

  “You—!”

  I opened my eyes to see him reach down with his hand before feeling a sudden jolt go down my spine that gave me instant goosebumps. I must have blacked out momentarily as when I came to, I was on the ground over the boy mid swing with my fist. Surprised, I jerked my arm to the side and barely managed to hit the ground instead of punching his face in.

  I felt the rest of my senses return, as there was a sudden rush in noise around me and a stinging palm.

  What.. happened?