＊＊＊
“Attention, please! This is a vine that just recently turned into a magibeast,” Professor Elyena called, pointing to a potted plant.
We were in a forest close to academy grounds, attending a class titled magibeast studies. The plant had a twenty-centimeter-long vine growing out of it that writhed like some sort of newborn worm. It induced visual disgust among the students.
“As I believe you all know, magibeasts are plants and animals that have been cursed in some way. For the sake of this lesson, we used a traditional Vesta curse.”
Vesta... Where have I heard that before?
As I searched through my memories, Professor Elyena continued her explanation.
“Vesta the Witch of Pestilence specialized in crafting curses. She would curse food with magic, and any who ate that cursed food would be turned into a magibeast under her control. There remains many cursed goods throughout the continent.”
Professor Elyena placed the potted plant on the ground and spread her arms wide.
“Now, everyone, come take a closer look. There is no need to be afraid. This magibeast is only a grade one. Any of you could exterminate it with your miracles.”
So she said, but nobody came any closer. They all just looked at it from afar, a sickly pallor on their faces.
“Just as spirits have grades such as Grand and Great, so, too, do magibeasts. They begin at grade one, then two, and so on. Grade tens are maximum power. That said, if a grade ten magibeast were ever to appear, we could consider the world to be on its last legs before utter destruction. I myself have never seen anything more than a grade six.”
“Excuse me!” a student called, raising their hand. “How does one determine the grade of a magibeast?”
“Excellent question,” Professor Elyena said, smiling beneath her large, pointed hat. “The grading system is a human invention. They do not have their grade emblazoned on them, or anything of the sort. Instead, they are ranked according to how many cursed goods they consumed. The only way we can judge this is by simply throwing miracles at them. A magibeast that perishes from a miracle of a single element is a grade one. However, this means that a grade two or above magibeast would not be impacted by your miracles.”
That seemed to annoy the students who were confident in their miracles. Quinza opened her mouth, but the professor continued.
“I know that some of you possess a spirit of nobility, or in other words, a Greater Spirit. Even so, the beginner miracles learned by a first-year will, at most, be able to defeat a grade one. We are talking about magibeasts here, everyone—they are beings of magic, do not forget.” Professor Elyena put on a thin smile and looked to the sky. “Magic is a force that distorts the world... In other words, it rewrites the fabric of reality itself. In the past, magic killed countless billions and upended culture itself. Our rules do not apply to magic. Its power is overwhelming, to the point that Goddess herself forbade it. Do not forget that magibeasts are beings of magic.”
Silence fell over the forest. I felt like the humidity around me rose just a bit.
“Now, as you can see, some magibeasts look quite cute as they move...”
Not noticing that every single student said “In what world is this thing cute?” the professor continued.
“As you feed them more cursed goods, they will change further and further. I have some of Vesta’s cursed goods with me, so I shall feed some of it now.”
Elyena’s far-too-long robes dragged against the ground as she went and picked up a basket placed in the shade of a tree. The basket was filled with pitch-black strawberries.
“Afterward, I shall have all of you make your own magibeasts, but one must not feed them too much cursed food at once. We do not want them abruptly rising in grade, after all. Take great care to feed them one after— Eek!”
Professor Elyena tripped on her robes and fell. The basket filled with cursed food went flying, raining strawberries down on the plant.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”
“EEEEEK!”
The screams of the students overlapped with the magibeast’s roar.
For some reason, eating the massive amount of food had turned the vines into a giant centipede. The students sensed it was far too powerful for them and scattered.
Stella ran too, but the centipede curled around to get in front of her.
“Ngh!”
A gleaming black torso loomed over her. Stella faltered before the monstrous magibeast, her lips trembling as she looked up. The fear must’ve gotten to her so badly she couldn’t even move. The centipede opened its sharp jaw and leaped forward.
Stella!
It was just as I started to charge up my divine power that Professor Elyena stood up and gripped her staff. “Ohnonononono! Terararia Sein, Ignaria Sein, Luxsaria Sein!”
With an explosive boom, the centipede’s head popped into a billion pieces. The now-headless creature crumpled into a pile.
The students all froze. Stella, who had almost been eaten, was on her butt in a daze.
As the students were distracted by the massive centipede corpse in front of them, Professor Elyena forced a smile. “Um, that would be an example of what not to do. Aha!”
✦ ✦ ✦
＊＊＊
Class ended up being mostly free time with the task of making a magibeast out of a plant of the students’ choice. They were given tiny pouches with cursed food from the professor, then scattered into the forest.
Stella walked between the trees, looking for a plant to turn into a magibeast, but her mind was elsewhere. “Did you see the miracle Professor Elyena cast? That magibeast was huge, and it just went, POP! It was incredible!” she exclaimed, completely enthused. “When are we going to learn crazy strong miracles like that? I want to know about them right now.”
“Well, it was a good reminder of how fucked up miracles are...”
“You mean how awesome they are. It’s only sometimes, but Professor Elyena casts some insane miracles every now and again. She’s not just clumsy after all.”
Farther into the forest, we found an unusual structure.
“Wait a second, isn’t that Feena?!” Stella asked. In the middle of the otherwise normal forest, an iron box stood. It stuck out like a sore thumb.
“That does look familiar. Feels a bit too early to say Feena made that, though.”
“What are you even talking about? Not just anyone can make metal walls like that.” Stella walked over and knocked on a wall. “Feena, what’re you doing?”
“That voice... Stella, is that you?” came the response from within the box.
“Uh-huh. Did some deadly magibeast pop up or something? I can go call the professor if so.”
“No, one didn’t... Um, is Lady Quinza out there, by chance?”
“Quinza?” Stella asked, looking around. “Nope. Nobody else is here at all.”
The walls melted into nothing, revealing Feena. She sighed in relief, placing her hands on her chest, which was visibly sizable even in her uniform. “I thank you. If you had not come, I would have spent the entire day within those walls.”
“What happened?”
“Um, well... I displeased Lady Quinza, and...” Feena trailed off.
But with my keen intuition, I filled in the gaps myself. “Could this be about Stella?” I asked.
“Ngh... I suppose I can hide nothing from you after all, Master Otaku. You are correct. She demanded to know why Stella still had her staff...” Feena explained, shrinking. No doubt a sizable fireball had been sent her way.
Stella shrugged. “Well, Quinza’s gone, so how about getting back to your classwork? Can’t make a magibeast inside those walls. Later.”
She started to walk off, only for Feena to jump after and cling to her from behind. “Um! Uh, excuse me, but, um...my bag of cursed goods was taken by Lady Quinza, who said I was so unskilled in miracles it was pointless for me to participate in class.”
Stella and I exchanged looks. (If you were there you’d know how that makes sense.)
“If I may be so bold, might I ask to join you in your classwork?”