Coeus?

by Andur

  Though it seems like I spoiled the party a little when the stupid water began flowing down my cheeks again. Everyone got silent and seemed emotionally struck.

  They are definitely not tears. According to my knowledge you are supposed to lose control over yourself when you cry. I don't felt like crying at all, so it's just a malfunction of my tear ducts. The next time I see the doctor I'll ask him to check on them.

  But right now I have another problem.

  I am still not convinced that this school thing is a good idea. Why am I in this classroom with screaming and noisy kids? I bet that they don't even know the basics. There is no point in me even being here. At least Crono is waiting outside of school grounds. It turned out that the robot isn't very interesting after all. I had hoped for a more talkative machine.

  The classroom is quite big for the number of students. There are just twenty-one children with me included, but I suppose the room has enough place for at least forty people.

  We have eleven boys and nine girls in here and the thing which is most noticeable is that their clothes look really expensive. I am no different, now that I think about it.

  I guess the low birthrate allows that children are always spoiled by their parents.

  An adult woman enters the room and the noise stops immediately. Earlier this day she was introduced to me as my new teacher. Apparently this world's school system works a little different from what I expected. There aren't multiple teachers. You get taught by only one individual and maybe a second one if your main teacher is unavailable.

  The reason is that there is no need for multiple individuals. The tests are taken by examination sprites and a mage gets old enough to learn everything he needs to know.

  It's only about giving the children a proper basic education from where they can go on by themselves. If you know what you want to do with your life, you search up the required knowledge and learn it.

  After you have prepared yourself properly, you can go and take the test to get the qualification. You can take the test as many times as you want. There is no restriction.

  In fact it's totally common for a mage to change his job several times during his lifetime. Though adults only visit a school to take a test. Somehow it's understandable if you take into account that the average lifespan is five hundred years. Things will get boring after a while and you go for a change.

  The issue with the lifespan was also interesting to me. Apparently I have to face a very long life. In fact five hundred years on average doesn't mean that I am old and grey by that point.

  It just means that I'll have a potentially lethal accident by that time. The world is still a dangerous place and can kill you despite everything. According to statistics the most common causes for a mage's death are leisure accidents. You trip and fall down the stairs, broken neck, unconscious, not found for several hours and you can kiss life goodbye.

  The teacher's name is Sue Taewon and she has brown hair and a round face with Asian features, but I already noticed that the mages aren't placing any value on appearance.

  The use of magic causes the body to mutate in order to adapt to the circumstances of the individual. I already saw a wide variety of those mutations. In some cases I actually wasn't really sure if the individual was really originally human.

  The only point which is important to this society is that you have magical ability. When the mages left Earth, they came from all over the planet. That's why there are people who have definitely a European background like me, but I can also identify Asians and Africans in my class.

  The skin of one girl is as black as night. I guess I have to abandon the way of thinking which I got taught by the internet.

  “Greetings, today we have a new member in our class. He is joining us so late because of his family's circumstances. Would you introduce yourself.” Sue looks expectantly at me.

  I guess this is it. The rumoured introduction to the class. While I studied the human society I read about this in mangas.

  I stand up and try to smile. Luckily Grandmother already thought about what I have to say for my introduction. “My name is Gideon Alvar. I am a techno-mage, so please try to overlook my strange behaviour.”

  I sit down again and eye the teacher expectantly, but she is just standing there. After a few moments she decides to break the silence. “Don't you want to add something? Like hobbies for example?”

  “I have none.” I answer.

  “Interests?” She asks hopefully.

  After a few moments of contemplation I decide to say something in order to satisfy her. It can't be called a hobby, but at least I did it for most of my life to kill time. “I like to play all sorts of games, though due to my circumstances I always lack proper opponents. And recently I am studying human interactions, though it seems to be a hopeless task.”

  Sue takes a deep breath and decides to continue with her lesson. She starts giving instructions to the other kids in order to continue with their learning schedule.

  I get a set of complicated calculations and an account to get access to the school's network. It's my first time that I get access to something bigger than Grandmother's house. After connecting to it I feel like it's a little let down. Apparently there is no big difference to the human's internet. The only real difference is that it doesn't lag so much.

  Sue instructs me to learn some of the books about history and physics. I realize that she must have had access to my test results because it's exactly on the questions which I bombed during the sprite's examination.

  Maybe school won't be so bad after all. I already feared that they want to teach me how to do multiplication and division, but with these individualized instructions it actually feels like I am learning something.

  Time passes faster than I realize and we reach the first break. Sue leaves the room and it starts getting noisy again. I realize for the first time that I am somehow getting ignored, but that's actually fine with me. There is no reason to interact with little kids on elementary school level.

  The break will last for an hour, so I decide to get up and explore the school. On my way here I saw a map of the school grounds on the corridor's wall.

  A short walk takes me to my desired destination. The school is cleanly subdivided into parts. I am inside the area with the classrooms. Then there are examination rooms which I already know. Further away is a separate building which is labelled 'Laboratories' and beside it are the 'Arcane Training Grounds'.

  But those seem to be a long walk away. Since I don't know how to use the teleporters I don't want to go there. Somehow I am not inclined to spend a significant part of the break with walking.

  But neighbouring to the section with the classrooms is an area which is named 'Club Activities'. Is that the rumoured school club, which I read so much about in mangas? I'll take my time to research my possibilities.

  I turn into the required direction and start walking. There are many teachers and children on the corridor and I get anxious. Obviously I am not good with crowded places. All the time someone bumps into you and it isn't clear if he is attacking you or not.

  Somehow I manage to make my way to the designated area without incident. I promised my grandmother not to hurt anyone.

  There are no detailed maps, so I simply walk along the corridors while reading the plates on the doors.

  They seem to have everything. I come across various sport clubs and other things of interest to normal people.

  I stop in front of a door which is labelled 'Computer Club'. I feel a slight curiosity about this world's computers, so I pull on the door's handle. Sadly it's locked.

  That's when the thought strikes me that it may have an electric lock. Our house has them, so why should the school have something mechanical?

  Placing a hand on the door I search for electrical currents and promptly find them. By using my ability I make short work of the lock and push the door open.

  Behind the door I find a room with many, many computers. All of them look like
high end devices, but most of them are off.

  I notice that one is running and there is stuff lying on the desk with the keyboard. Apparently somebody left the room in a hurry.

  I skip to the computer and take a look at the screen. Seems like someone was writing a program to control something.

  Once more I use my ability to interface with the device and take a look at the compiler. Apparently the mages are using a programming language which is similar to C.

  I activate the help function and take my time to read the manual. The writer of the program just noted down that it's a new control software for gravity based fusion reactors.

  By running the program I find several bugs, so I correct them and optimize the code.

  The program is already in a working state, so I don't have to do much. It's not that big of a deal for me. Fixing the issues with the code-freezes upon triggering certain events is a thing which takes just a little patience.

  Having lost my interest I return to reality and take a look at my wristwatch. I spent three minutes on this. What a waste of time. My tendency to get absorbed in obscure things is troublesome. I note to myself that I have to work on changing that.

  Locking the door behind me is done easily enough before I continue my exploration.

  Upon turning around the next corner I run into a boy and trip, landing on the ground. If I hadn't been instructed on accidents by my grandmother, I would say that he attacked me. Luckily my body isn't that frail any more. Well, I am still frail compared to my contemporaries, but it became much better during the recent months.

  “Get up techno-geek!” The boy who could be eight years old calls out to me. I am not sure about his age, but he is a head taller than me.

  I get up and he grabs my collar, pushing me against the corridor's wall. “Give me your key!”

  Key? I blink. Which key does he want? Does he think that I have a key to the clubroom? “I am sorry, but I don't have a key.”

  The boy raises his hand and forms a fist with it. “Give me the key, or I'll hit you.”

  I activate my ability to contemplate the situation. Okay. I don't know what this is about, but he is clearly thinking that I have some kind of key.

  The other point is that he just threatened me. That's unmistakeable. So our collision earlier was an intentional attack from his side.

  No way! Is this the outrageous bully scene from the mangas? This world is so exciting! But getting beaten up again is killing the mood. At least I can flee into my own world if it turns out that I can't stop him.

  I promised my grandmother that I wouldn't hurt anyone, but this is clearly the exception which is called self defence. And he already attacked me, so I don't have to hold back.

  I decide on the only possible answer to clear up this misunderstanding. “No.” I have no key, so I can't give it to him.

  The boy doesn't listen and attempts to hit me, but he is faster than I expected. All I can do is watching the fist as it is closing in on me. Did he somehow enhance his body with magic? My own body is unable to keep up with the movement. That sucks.

  At least he seems to be a bully without training. It comes in handy that I read some things about martial arts. If you hit someone with your fist, you have to do it right. Otherwise you hurt yourself more than your target. You have to hit the target with the knuckles of your index and middle finger. Those two are the strongest bones in your hand and can take a punch.

  I shift my chin just a little. Now he'll hit me with the knuckles of his little and middle fingers.

  In addition I cast a force field in front of my chin. It's the next stage after having learned the 'Force' rune.

  His fist impacts my chin and my head is thrown backwards, impacting the wall behind me. I take the pain as a good sign. It means that I wasn't knocked out. To my satisfaction the attack was accompanied by the breaking of bones.

  The pain stuns the thug and I place my knee in his groin. A squeal starts escaping his lips while I reach for his head. This time I cast Force on his head and it is sent downwards towards the floor. The squeal ends with the cracking of the floor's tile.

  I reach for my head, but luckily there is just a small bump and no blood. A fast look up and down the corridor ensures me that nobody witnessed the scene.

  My eyes fall onto the next door and I remember my original goal. That's right. Looking for clubs! I continue my tour, the incident already forgotten.

  10. ~Self Defence.~

  “The first probe to the moon has started! Humans are going to visit Earth's satellite once more after several centuries of abandoned space flight.”

  -Newspaper

  Aether, The floating City, above the Atlantic Ocean

  Gideon

  “And how is it going?” Saden asks from across the table.

  “I think it's okay, though the other kids in my class are annoying.” I answer, not hiding my impression of them.

  Since I am going to school too, Saden and I decided to meet in the canteen during lunch breaks. It's nice to have at least one person to talk to. Saden is eating fried potatoes, while I chose tomato soup and fish sticks.

  “They are doing that intentionally.” Saden answers with a full mouth, shovelling even more potatoes into it as she speaks.

  I take another spoonful from my tomato soup. “They? Doing what?”

  Saden tilts her head. “The school's administration. They split us techno-mages evenly among the classes. There aren't more than two techno-mages among each class. It's supposed to teach us to interact with other people of our age.”

  I let the thought sink in. “It strikes me as strange to follow the body's age in this matter. Wouldn't it be much more appropriate to sort the children according to their abilities?”

  Saden shrugs her shoulders. “I don't claim to understand their reasons, but the decision was made by our lead psychologists. So there has to be some sort of twisted sense to it.”

  Probably there is. But if so, then I fail to get it. Though I already gathered that mage society is highly efficient. A space faring culture with survival in mind has to be.

  From my studies I learned that we mages are living essentially in a technocracy. Even though we are governed by the council of elders, the elders aren't politicians. They are the most capable individuals from each magical branch. The decision on who is going to be the elder is made during special election exams, which test an individual's abilities and character.

  If I took a test during the next election and scored highest, I would become an elder for example. If I don't want the job, then the position is offered to the second place and so forth until someone is willing to do the job. Though it's very doubtful that I manage to do that.

  From what I gathered by reading the books I would score zero points on character.

  “Do you already have an idea what you want to do in the future?” Saden asks. “It's good to plan ahead. If you take the right learning schedule, you can be out of here by the age of twenty.”

  Nodding, I start explaining. “I thought about making a tour through the solar system. I want to see all the colonies and fly my own ship while doing so.”

  Saden's eyes widen and she starts choking on her potato, but manages to swallow it down. “You do realize that spaceships are costly? Who would build it for you? It would be much cheaper if you simply take one of the regular flights.”

  I shake my head. “That won't do. I want my own, so that I can fly where I want to. I already made a ten-year business plan to finance the voyage.”

  “If you manage to pull that off, then I am going to be your co-pilot.” Saden takes her glass of water to flush down the potatoes.

  I drop my head in resignation. “Yes, that's the only problem. I would need to take the test to become a certified pilot.”

  My cousin shrugs her shoulders. “What's the problem? You made the rest sound so easy that the easiest thing about it shouldn't concern you.”

  Reaching down into my backpack, I pull out a big, fat tome.
“They want pilots to know everything about their ships! It's a pain in the ass! I just want to fly one, I don't want to build the damn thing!”

  Saden smiles and rolls with her eyes. “Why not? If you build it yourself, you eliminate the problem of having to pay for all the needed gold and silver. Just fly out to the belt and start mining an unclaimed asteroid.”

  I close my eyes. “I think you aren't taking me seriously.”

  “No, I am not.” She throws back her long hair and continues eating her potatoes.

  I eat my soup and start working on the fish sticks, but a message arrives shortly before I am done. A letter starts blinking in my field of vision. It's something I learned during magic classes. Apparently my ability allows me not only to create a virtual space.

  I can create whisps and task them with certain jobs. They are essentially portions of my mind which are split off. Having too much of them makes me slower though, so this spell isn't almighty and only suitable for techno-mages.

  The message is from the program which I corrected a few days ago. Apparently someone activated it to test it out.

  When I tweaked the program, I added a few lines of code which use the net to report back to my account.

  The program was essentially turned into a Trojan horse. Interested in the creator of the code I access the computer on which the program was installed.

  Apparently the trojan horse gave me access to a sub-network of a company. “Saden, what's StarDrive Inc. C.?”

  Saden looks up from her potatoes, an expression of joy on her face. “Oh, that's interesting. They are a major producer of gravity-controlled fusion reactors, a main component of spaceships. Their heir is in my class and the same age as me. Do you want me to introduce you two? We are also both members of the computer club!”

  I cut the connection. “That won't be necessary. I am not interested in any of the clubs.” My encounter with the thug taught me that I have to acquire certain skills if I don't want to be stepped upon. I have to find a way to deal with violent encounters. Even though the spells I learned by now seem very strong, the thug still managed to hurt me. It also has to be taken into account that he has the simple mind of a child. So I read up on the reasons why techno-mages are regarded as weak combatants.