^^ Grown Oscar/Pietro ^^

--- Oscar Hidden ---

The bed was much more comfortable than Lillian's couch. Firstly because it was covered in people, and I loved to cuddle, (despite never being allowed to with anyone except my mother,) and secondly because I'd discovered it had a Crystal under it that warmed the bed on command.

After playing with that for a little while, I decided that I'd rested enough, so I started a pot of coffee for the adults, and then wandered down to the Security Atrium.

I sat down next to the tall African woman from yesterday, and she smiled lazily, going back to her game of cards.

I hummed, staring at the combinations they played over the next four or five 'hands', as they called them.

Presumably, the game was played with a ranking system, and certain 'hands' were better than others. I discerned a royal Caste system, as they called certain ones King, Queen, Rook, and then numerical cards, representing peasants of the separated feuding houses.

Eventually, I was confident I was capable of playing, and so I placed some silver in the middle of the table, and sat up on a higher chair to see well.

They dealt me in with minimal grumbling, and I was given a pile of glass coins, which Dara quietly explained were numerically similar to Gold, Silver, and Copper coins.

The betting was simple, and rather lucrative, for the winner, while the losers only lost a little each hand.

The money was well-traversed, by the time I started winning it.

Soon enough, however, the bell rang for classes, and I cashed in, leaving the collective 300 Silver pieces equal to three gold pieces as part of the pot for the next winner.
-
"Alright, then. Healing magic... where to start..." Elder Bacchus hummed, and tapped his staff on the ground.

A genderless image of the human body appeared, and then separated into six different versions; one without skin, showing the muscles, another that was only organs, one that showed the nervous system, and the skeleton, then the magic pathways.

"The human body is a complex machine. It behaves like a machine, in every sense of the word. You've already learned a bit about this, I'd say, from your escapades in creating a lung-bypass mechanism with Magical Tattooing. That seems your specialty, isn't it?" He asked.

"I think it is, yes. It's what's most comfortable, for me. Makes the most sense, I suppose." I hummed.

"Good, good, it's important to have a type of magic to specialize in. I, for instance, specialize in healing magic and mathematics." He nodded.

"And I guess I'll specialize in mathematics and ink magic?" I asked.

"Seems like a good match." He chuckled.

"Alright. And your original point?"

He blinked in confusion, then gasped. "Ah! Yes, I was talking about... ah! Machinery! The body is a machine. Everything in it is programmed to do a specific job. If it malfunctions, bypassing the brain's orders or replacing the part is the healer's job." He got back on his train of thought.

"Alright, and I suppose I'll have to learn that?" I hummed.

"Well... not if you don't want to, I suppose, I just thought you'd appreciate these lessons... was I mistaken?" He asked, confused again.

"I respect you, and your knowledge, but to be honest, medicine doesn't interest me at all, no. Sorry." I sighed.

"Not at all, boy! As I said, it's important to know what you want. However, my knowledge is vast and varied! So, what does catch your attention?" He sat down on a chair, and grinned amicably.

"Well... I can talk to animals. That's cool, I guess... but that's pretty much it. I don't do much, and now that I've solved my... issues, I'm pretty much content. I suppose solving the rest of the Cardinal Equations might afford me some amusement." I hummed.

He chuckled. "Ahh, you're too young to have so little enthusiasm! Find something that interests you, and I'll do my best to teach it to you."

"Why?" I asked simply.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm a teacher. You're a promising student. Why wouldn't I?"

"Don't you have better things to do? Like... anything at all?" I frowned.

"My schedule is woefully empty, beyond the Guild Meetings that happen only once a month." He shrugged.

I sighed. "I study better on my own, Elder, is what I was trying to say. Thank you for trying to teach me, but I assure you I will be fine with only the voices of the dead." I patted a book to indicate what I'd meant.

He nodded. "I see. Hm... then I shall do my own research, while you are doing yours. I've still got some things to learn, after all." He walked into the observation room, and left me with the entire room to myself.

I smiled and looked at the Cardinal Problems. "Alright, pups... heel." I smirked.

The fifth Cardinal Equation was about velocity. Specifically, the highest velocity magic could create, and how to achieve it with the least amount of Mana.

However, should you breach the Terminal Velocity of the universe, you have to switch theorems, and deal with the sixth and seventh, Dimensional Rifts and Threads, which then threaded into the eighth, which was about different universes/dimensions, and Pocket Dimensions.

I wrote down my basic ideas, from studying them, (I knew I didn't have enough time to solve another of them,) and brought it to elder Bacchus.

He hummed. "And this is?"

"My theory on the connections between 5-8." I nodded.

"Explain it, then." He started reading.

"The terminal velocity of the fabric of the universe is very fragile, at around 3 times the speed of light. Breach that limit, and you open a rift as the fabric rips a tiny bit. The edge of this rift is made of Dimensional Threads, or Ley Lines. However, move deep enough, inside this Ripped Fabric, you'll discover that there are multiple layers to that fabric, and multiple threads. This is the premise for the multiverse theory. Just like the first four equations, these four are connected, because Pythagoras was trying to open a portal to a different universe, not just somewhere else in ours." I grinned.

He hummed softly. "Your theory is correct. That is exactly what his personal Grimoire states. Had he been less worried about people copying his work, he may well have succeeded."

"Could I succeed?" I grinned.

He smiled and rolled the scroll back up carefully, and the bell rang. "Run along, I'll see you after your classes, I'm sure." He said dryly.

I nodded and walked to the second classroom, which was for Magical Verbiage, my weakest subject. Circles and math were easy. Words were not, especially in other languages.

The teacher smiled as I walked in. "Ah! And here he is, a whole day late, eh?" She grinned.

I smiled. "Sorry, I was working with Elder Bacchus."

She nodded. "I know. My name is Lichenia Moral. I'm your teacher for Magical Verbiage. You'll learn some basic spell-verses, and hopefully I'll teach you some English, so you don't have to walk around with a translation spell attached to your windpipe forever." She winked happily.

I smiled, despite myself. "Sure, sounds good... but fair warning, I'm terrible with languages. All my magic is geometrical or mathematical, not vocal."

"I'm aware. I could guess from your face when you walked in you hated the idea of this class. Don't worry, there's no need to hate this class." She smiled kindly.

The last of the students came in, and she dropped a textbook on her desk loudly. "Welcome to your second day in my class! Today, we learn the history of spoken magic. Anyone want to start? How about you, Oscar?" She asked.

I blinked slowly.

"Ah, right. I may have a Russian translation of my textbook somewhere..." she went to a bookshelf, and ran a hand along the spines carefully.

I noticed they each had a Braille pattern under their title, and blinked. "Braille?" I murmured.

"Hmm? Ah, yes, I forgot to mention I was blind. Doesn't really bother me, I can see by magic, if it's important, but it's tiring, so I prefer not to... aha!" She tossed me a Russian copy of her textbook.

I nodded and opened it. "Where do I read from?"

"Hmm? Ah. Chapter one, Page 9... the first eight pages are nonsense about the author." She smirked.

I skipped over her 8-Page introductory biography, and started reading on the first real page.
-
Thankfully, the bell rang before I had to read again. I hated the number of eyes that gravitated towards me when I spoke.

I cleared my throat, standing next to a group of students who were getting ready to leave. "Uhm, do you know where the Fencing Class is?"

One of them blinked, and answered. "Oh yeah, you weren't here yesterday, huh? Sure, you can come with us, that's where we're headed, too."

"Oh come on, you can't just invite him, we don't even know this shrimp!" One of the girls sighed.

"Shrimp?" I asked, confused. "Does that mean in English what it does in Russian? I am not a shellfish."

The first boy frowned at her. "That was a bit of a translation error, yeah. She wanted to call you short. Shrimp are small."

"Ahh, a colloquial translation, then. Alright. I am rather small for a ten year old, I'm aware." I shrugged.

"Let's get going, we don't want to be late." One of the other boys shivered in terror.

"What happens if you're late?" I asked.

"The teacher is a total Sadist, so nothing good. I'm Russo, by the way, Emil Russo." The first boy held out a hand.

"I'm Oscar Hidden." I shook his hand carefully.

"Ahh, I heard of you. Nasty gift, man, but kinda cool, I gotta say." He grinned.

"Maybe from an outsiders perspective." I shrugged, conceding the point, and we started walking.
-
We left the tower, which surprised me, until we entered the giant walled courtyard, and I paused at the sight of nearly 1,000 people doing sword forms in the center, while, around the edges, much smaller groups of around twenty were being directed by different instructors.

The group of people I was following went to one of them.

The instructor noticed me. "Ah! There's my no-show from yesterday, huh? Elder Bacchus gave you a pass, but don't think that'll work too often, eh?" He chuckled.

"Yes sir." I nodded.

He turned to the class. "I am Captain Matthew West of the Fallon Castle Security Force. My Superior Officer, Lord-Commander Duroc, has appointed me to train you lot this semester. Understood?" He asked.

"Yes sir!" We answered swiftly.

"We'll start with some fitness. See that wall?" He pointed at the far wall, which stretched upwards eighty feet, and wrapped the entire Courtyard.

"Yes sir!"

Small stones and manufactured cracks stuck out of it at random intervals, making paths up to the top of the wall. Ledges, large enough to stand or sit on, were placed every 18 feet or so, and the first one was 6 feet up.

"You will climb that wall. You will gather yourselves. Then you and your partner will run the length of that wall. Then you will climb down. Whoever gets here first, you get to rest a little, while the others do jumping-jacks. Does everyone understand the point of this exercise!?!" He barked, his calm, happy demeanor replaced by a relatively good-humored, but very strict, person.

I raised a hand. "Partner?"

"Oh, yeah, you're late... who didn't have a partner yesterday? Just to make this easy?" He scratched his head.

"We were even yesterday, Sir." Russo nodded.

"Were we? Damn! Alright then! New plan! Seven groups of three! Make it happen!" He roared.

I simply stood next to Russo and the girl from before, while the others scrambled to make new groups.

"GO!" Captain West barked.