Legends of the University #4

Zanoba, Cliff, and I sat at a table in the Research room at my house.

"Master, this doll was moving on its own? Are you certain?"

"Yeah. Right now it's out of batteries so it can't move."

"Out of batteries?"

"Err... out of energy. The doll automatically returned to a pedestal every night to refill its energy reserves but once I blocked off access to the pedestal, the doll eventually ran out of energy and stopped moving."

"Wha- Why would you stop it from moving!?"

"The doll was very violent. I assume that it saw us as home invaders. Whoever created this masterpiece probably owned this house in the past."

"Surely a doll such as this could pose no threat to you Master."

"What if it attacked me in my sleep? I'm not invincible. Even if I was, there's my family to think about. I could never forgive myself if something happened to one of my cute little sisters because of my irresponsibility."

"Why don't we move it somewhere else then?", Cliff suggested. "What about your room at the research facility?"

"That's a great idea! Still, we probably should do some more research before activating it again."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin researching something like this", said Cliff.

"Sadly, neither would I, as much as it pains me to say", Zanoba agreed.

"Well, the creator's notes might be a good place to start."

"You have the creator's notes!? Let me see them!!", Zanoba pleaded.

"Of course. That's why I brought the two of you here, after all."

From this room's bookshelf, I took the old but well-kept book that I had originally found sitting on the desk in the secret room and placed it on the table in front of Zanoba.

"Be careful with that book. It's dreadfully old and the only reference we have to go off of."

Zanoba took a moment to rein in his gleeful excitement as he slowly opened the book and methodically began turning the pages. It didn't take long for a frown to develop on his face.

"Master, what language is this? I don't understand the words at all."

"This is the Dragon-God language. Don't worry, I can translate for you."

"You never fail to impress! That's not even one of the six great languages. How did you manage to learn such an obscure language?"

"It's... kind of a long story. To make it short, I found an ancient temple made by the Dragon-kin race and studied the mural and writings on the wall. I wouldn't say that I'm fluent in Dragon-God tongue, but I've learned enough to muddle my way through a book. In fact, having that book as another reference has helped me further refine my knowledge of the language."

"Rather than simply translating, do you think you could teach me?"

"You mean teach you Dragon-God tongue?"

Zanoba nodded.

"I suppose I could. I'm sure you realize it's not something you could learn overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and practice to learn a new language."

"I understand, Master, but I still wish to learn. While reading your translations would surely be enlightening, I wish to feel the love and passion the author surely poured into his work."

"I can relate to that. Very well, I'll start working with you after school on the first day of every week."

"Only once a week?"

"Don't worry. I'll prepare a study plan so that you can practice on your own in between lessons. In the meantime I'll get to work on translating the book anyway. That way Cliff can have his own copy to read as well."

"Why do I need a translated version? You don't think I want to learn an ancient language too? It should be easy for me, you know, since I'm a genius."

Cliff said that last part with a cheeky smile.

"Haha, how could I forget. Yeah, of course. Why don't all three of us meet at my room in the research facility to study together?"

"On the days we don't practice Dragon-God language we can get to work on learning how this mysterious doll works."

"You can leave the research of the doll to me", Zanoba said proudly.

"Huh? Why do you get to have all the fun? I want to help as well", Cliff argued.

"You could never hope to reach my passion for dolls. I am much better suited to this task!"

"There's more to learning than passion! What's most important is talent!"

"Master, why are we involving an outsider like him in this project anyway? This is something we should work on as Master and Disciple, just the two of us!"

"Hey!", I shouted, causing Zanoba to shrink back into his chair. "Cliff is my friend, just as much as you are. I thought this project would be a fun way for the two of you to get to know each other."

"I... I'm sorry"

Zanoba turned towards Cliff and bowed in repentance.

"I apologize as well", Cliff answered quietly. "I shouldn't have belittled your passion."

"Well... if we're going to work on this at the Research facility we might as well bring everything over there so we can get started on it. I've got the pedestal used for charging the doll in the basement."

"I can carry that for you", Zanoba offered while pointing at the doll.

"That's fine. Just be careful with it."

"Of course. I'll guard it with my life!"

'Not really what I meant, but ok.'

Cliff grabbed the book and Zanoba carried the doll as we all walked downstairs to my basement.

"That's the pedestal, I take it?"

"You're not going to ask about the giant glowing magic circle in the center of the room?", Cliff asked.

"Hmm? Oh that? I've seen it before", Zanoba said smugly.

"Hey! It's not like I haven't seen it as well! I just thought you might have been surprised."

"Speaking of the magic circle", I interrupted them. "Could you place the doll down in its center?"

"Are we not going to the Research facility?", Zanoba questioned.

"Hah! You don't even know that he has a paired circle in his room there?"

This time it was Cliff's turn to act smugly as he poked fun at Zanoba.

"I knew that! I was just... testing to see if you did!"

While they argued, I used my gravity magic to lift up the pedestal and gently place it in the magic circle beside the doll. The pedestal itself was quite heavy. Probably about 400kg. Still, it was well within the limits of what I could lift with gravity magic.

"You guys ready to leave?"

They stopped their petty argument and both stepped beside me into the magic circle.

A moment later, we all appeared in the center of my room at the research facility. I cleared off my workbench and carefully set the doll upon it.

"I know I said we'd study on the first day of each week, but... why don't we just get a head-start today?"

Both of them eagerly agreed.

The three of us spend the rest of the evening working together studying Chaos' book. (Minus a break we took to go back to my house for dinner.) Zanoba and Cliff were both absorbed in losing this new language. We decided to focus on that first. It would be too difficult to research the doll otherwise.

The next morning... or is it afternoon? When I woke up the next day, I lifted my head up to realize I had fallen asleep on the floor leaned against a crate full of magic stones. Zanoba was still asleep at the workbench and was drooling on a worksheet I had made for him to practice how to write the symbols of Dragon-God tongue.

"Ugh...", Cliff moaned from the other side of the room. He was sitting at the dining table on the east wall. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure.."

There were no windows in the room or anything like a clock so it was hard to tell the time.

"I'll go check."

I lazily stood up and then wandered across the room to the door leading to the hallway. Deactivating the barrier, I opened the door and peeked my head outside. There was nobody else around.

A short walk led me to the main lobby at which point the bright light from the windows caused me to look away and narrow my eyes.

"Oh my", the receptionist commented. "Rudeus, did you spend the night here?"

I guess I must have bedhead.

"Uh.. yeah. What time is it?"

"It's five minutes to three."

"Three? In the afternoon!? Really?"

"That is correct", she said with a smile.

'Damn... I've been gone all day and didn't tell anyone where I was going. Guess I should head back home and let Mother know I'm alright. She's probably got herself all worked up.'

I yawned as I stretched my arms out above my head and then turned around back towards my room at the research facility.

By the time I got back, Cliff had already woken Zanoba up. Cliff was annoyed that he slept through all his classes for today, but I assured him he wasn't missing much. Zanoba brought home with him all his practice material so he could keep working to learn the language on his own time.

After they each went their own way I once again teleported back to our basement in my home.

[Legends of the University #4: The boss sleeps in his lab room at the Research Facility]