The Heroine's Best Friend

Chapter 7 Part 2: Life Path Unlocked

"Seriously, Chickadee! That is too much!" Duke Victor laughed as he shielded his eyes. 

"Ha ha! Admit defeat and I will not turn you into a pathetic blind man!" I say as I wield light magic from my palm pointed at his obnoxious face. 

"Never!" he said as he misted water into my face. The front of my bangs and the top of my uniform was completely drenched as we had been attacking each other for the past 10 mins. Once we had learned how to do a basic summon with all the elements, we were allowed to practice with our seat partners. It didn't take long for us to start using it as very weak, sad weapons. Although in my defense, Duke Victor started it first by blasting me with wind magic. To his credit, Professor McGreggor was allowing controlled chaos in his class. He was walking around giving a few tips here and there but generally allowing the students to enjoy their first day of actual spellcasting. The bell sounded signaling the end of class which halted everyone pretty quickly. 

"Ah sad," I said. "I suppose today I will have to be satisfied with a stalemate." 

"Indeed!" Duke Victor started to get up and blasted me with warm wind before buggering off. I'm a little irritated he was able to mix fire and wind so quickly. Since he doesn't bring anything to class he was able to slip out as quickly as he is late to arrive. I, on the other hand, had my stuff scattered all over the desk as our battle had caused all my belongings to become casualties of war. As I was packing my belongings, Professor McGreggor approached me. 

"Lady Christine, I was wondering if you would spare me a moment of your time." 

"Huh? Sure," I said as I slowed down grabbing my things. 

"Have you tested for your affinity yet?" 

"Eh.... no." 

"I think you should." 

"Why? Isn't it still pretty early in the year? I thought most people would start to feel a leaning towards an element." Excluding Maria who was a heroine weirdo, most people needed to start with very basic magic to learn what element they were naturally gifted in. 

"True. But I wasn't lying when I said that many students find their affinity during this very lesson. I noticed your light magic was particularly stronger." 

"My light magic? That was nothing! I was just trying to be a jerk to Duke Victor."

"May I ask - and I will not reprimand you for having ill intentions - what were you thinking while casting?"

"What was I thinking?" I paused a moment. "Well I suppose, how do I get back at this jerk." 

"But your light magic got stronger as you were practicing. So what did you think when you did that?"

To be honest, the first thing I thought was how my palm looked like a personal flashlight. So I just kept trying to my 'flashlight' brighter. But flashlights don't exist here, so I need to figure out how to explain that. "I guess I just thought about trying to get it as bright as possible.....like..... like the sun! You can't look at the sun because it's blinding. So I wanted it to be like that!" I said proudly. 

"I see," he said as he drummed his chin. "So in other words, you focused on the element and used your mana to intensify the effect." 

"I suppose. Sounds like the most accurate clinical evaluation you could have." 

"I think you should get tested. I have a strong feeling you're a light magic-user." 

"Heh?! L-light magic-user?!" The alarm bells were going off in my head. 

"Yes. It takes a certain amount of natural ability to strengthen a skill with no training. Within minutes you had already doubled the luminosity of your spell with little effort. That leads me to conclude that you have a natural light magic inclination. Which is great news! Healers are well respected and Lord knows we always could use more!" he said with obvious joy. 

"Now wait a minute. One flashlight spell does not make me a light magic-user." 

"Flashlight?"

"And I don't have any inclinations to be a healer."

"It's not a matter of inclination. If you have the talent, it's a duty to become a healer."

"NO!" I said forcefully taking the Professor by surprise. "I am not a healer." I grabbed my bag and fled the room as fast as I could. 

A healer?! Ha. No way!  There was something churning inside of me that was strongly against the idea. While I wouldn't be so unkind to say the idea was repulsive, I definitely feel some indignity with the mere idea I would be a healer. To be honest, I never even gave the healing profession a passing thought. The only reason I was against Maria becoming a light magic-user was that I wanted to keep her away from an inappropriate romance. But it's not like I had any strong feelings against healers - or so I thought. 

"I need to find Maria," I said out loud and to no one. I made my way to the dining hall as fast as I could speed walk. Maria is the expert of this game world. She knows all about the original Christine Eldergast. She should tell me what magic I am supposed to have. I can't believe I didn't think to ask her this before. 

I entered the dining hall and scanned the room for pink hair. I didn't see her, but noticed Simon in our usual spot so I made my way over to him. 

"Hey, Simon," I greeted him informally while sitting down heavily. "Have you seen Maria yet?" 

"No," he said quietly. From the looks of things, he had already ordered tea for the three of us as the cups were already present. 

"I guess she's running late," I sighed as I poured the tea for myself. The bright red liquid fills my cup. "Figures. The one day I have a lot to vent about....."

"I can help?" he said sounding like an undecided mix of a question and a statement.

"It's - nothing you can help with." I notice the dejected puppy dog look in his face. "Don't worry! It's just....girl...stuff." 

"Girl stuff?" he asked innocently. 

"Yeah, stuff only other girls would understand. I'm sure there are boy things that you wouldn't ask me and Maria about. Something like that." Blowing on the teacup, I move to take a sip. It smells like hibiscus today. The scent already starts to relax me. 

"Ah. Like sex stuff." 

I both snort and spit the tea with his comment. "Ah shit. Sorry. Sorry." I say using the napkin to clean up. My innocent cinnamon roll completely took me by surprise with that comment. Deciding it best to ignore his comment, I try to change topics. "Have you ordered yet?" 

"No." 

"Ah heh. Let's order! It will be Maria's punishment for being late." I flag down a waiter. After placing our orders, I scan the room again. It's not like her to be this late for lunch. 

Tsk. "It's frustrating not having a cell phone! Freaking text me if your held up." 

"What's a cell phone?" 

"Cell phone.....eh... " I think about how to explain my blunder. "You know the message stations?" Simon nods. "A cell phone is a small message station. Small enough to fit in your hand! And you carry it around. So you can get your messages anywhere anytime. So I would message Maria Where are you? And she would message back Stuck in class or not feeling good or on my way now! Then we would both know if we should wait or not, or be worried or not." 

"Ah." Simon says nodding away deep in thought. I really should be more careful about my modern language. I've been messing up more and more and it's becoming too much of a habit. What if someone discovers I'm not the real Christine. Isn't it the trope in these isekai stories for the big reveal to be some sort of taboo? Like I'd pegged as a witch. Wait. This world already has magic. What would be the magical world equivalent of a witch? Death Eater? Yeah, they would treat me like they uncovered a secret Death Eater. Off to Doki Doki Azkaban I go!