Picking up Girls With My System

The forest wasn’t that dense, which allowed people to walk through it without problems. Arthur went there with his gaze focused on the ground, looking for footprints or any sign of strange activity.

It did not rain in the last few days, so the tracks should be there, unless someone intentionally covered it up.

“Could the werewolf return to his human form and erase the clues? If so, how did he escape the school perimeter with no one noticing it?

Something smelled fishy, and as Arthur was feeling hopeless about finding something, he did.

First, he saw a tree branch broke in half. Anyone or anything could have done that, but right in front of it there was a bush, and behind that bush, a footprint.

Arthur crouched and tried his best to analyze that footprint. He had some knowledge about magical beasts, but not to the extent of knowing exactly what it was at first glance.

Now, what made him think it could be from the mysterious werewolf was that the footprint looked like one from a wolf. Arthur had seen something similar before.

The island they were on was clear of dangerous monsters, and even if it wasn’t, wolf-type creatures did not live there.

“So you went in that direction, huh?” Arthur thought, as he kept following the same direction as the footprint showed.

There weren’t any other footprints, which increased Arthur’s theory of someone covering up the tracks. It was the only explanation, considering that the only visible footprint was one behind a bush, hidden if one did not pay attention.

Arthur continue forward, following the same direction as that footprint for thirty minutes, until he reached a familiar location, Odemore.

Now, he wasn’t sure one of his students was the werewolf, but he was sure whoever beast left that footprint behind, it passed through his school.

How did he not see it? Was he busy with something else at the time? Or maybe the beast just circled around the school, which would be the obvious choice.

He did not have enough to find the culprit, but at least it he found something, and was not completely in the dark anymore.

Arthur returned to the school’s courtyard and found Philip, who was jumping around with a clear smile.

“Drakian, finally. We can’t leave alone, but I want to practice, so you need to follow me.” Philip said, dragging Arthur out of the core part of the school.

One thing that was missing in Odemore was a proper training room, but that would take lots of space. A mage needed space to practice the spells when needed, but also silence to not disturb.

A magic array capable of shutting down the exterior sounds would be needed for each training room, and it was not sustainable to all students.

“Maybe a special training room for the most outstanding students? That would make them work harder. I could start the building process before finding a magic array, and also something that could help them practice like a better absorption of mana?”

Arthur’s mind was filled with ideas as he followed Philip through the woods, reaching an area with no one around.

“Here, we can practice here. It has an open field so we can toss spells without problem, and there is also a river.” Philip said.

He had a book in hands about wood magic. It was his element, and he could not wait to practice his first spells.

Philip was not the only one with magical books. Arthur had one similar, but the focused element was fire, the one he practiced first.

One of the first spells was the Fireball. That was one Arthur wished to learn, but one day, he wanted to cast a meteor, just like that mage did to him.

All spells could increase their tiers, but only until a certain level. The fireball, per example, was one of the first spells to learn, a tier 1 spell, but as the mage gets better at handling the mana, and also increases the quantity and quality of the stored mana inside his mana core, it could increase its tier up to tier 4.

After that, it was virtually impossible to have a Fireball spell reach the 5 tier, unless one changed the components of the spell, and improved it.

Doing that, it would alter the entire spell, and a mage could give a name to it, turning into a part of history.

Arthur was not concerned about that, and he practiced his fireball spell, which started in the tier 1.

Philip did the same, but with another spell called Thorns. The two of them were far from each other, yet exchanged experiences.

“I tried to focus my mana to flow through my body until it gets out from my hands, which will be the spell. Try that, bro.” Philip said.

He was trying to help, yet it was not something Arthur needed. He aimed his right hands towards the sky as a magical circle formed in front of him.

It was only one circle, which meant the cast spell was a tier 1. Soon, a small ball of flames shot from Arthur’s hand, going directly into the sky.

The tier 1 spells were easy to learn. Coupled with the fact that Arthur had a talent superior to all humans and dragons, it was easy for him to learn it.

“Bro, what? How did you do that? You already knew the Fireball spell and were only playing with me, right?” Philip said.

“No, I just picked it up. Don’t tell anyone I’m a genius.” Arthur said.

Philip was shocked, but tried to keep his cool and focus on his own practice. It was useless to be envy of others.

Arthur was happy with the quick learning, but it was just a tier 1 spell. He had a theory in mind that might increase the tier of his fire spells, but he couldn’t try that using the identity of a mere student.

“I’ll do that during the night.”

Things were working out for Arthur and his school, but little did he know the killings were just starting…