Welldark B1 Ch. 06

I wrote down a summary of the summary, the first words that filled my paper. Glancing over, Esther's semi-artistic word-complex grew. Despite its design choices, it was quite space efficient. How she managed to place all of these lines and markings without making the entire paper a mess for the eyes was beyond me.

"What is it we describe with the word Anomalia, then? Fundamentally, it is an interlocking of different Astral Consciousnesses. The part of you that is backlogged in the Dimensional Truth and allows your Astral Body to reset to a functioning state after you were hurt. Your soul, if you want to call it that, is separated from your body, existing on a spiritual plane, the place between dimensions, moving along it so its position is always that of your physical location. Imagine it like a pair of magnets on two sides of a sheet of paper. The Ano- Yes, you there, in the back?"

Somebody had raised their hand to ask a question, so Dundkupf had interrupted his lecture to oblige. "...is....the case then if..."

"Sorry, I must ask you to stand up and speak louder," he interrupted that person. "This hall is quite large."

I turned my head to look at a cow girl with enormous boobs. I wasn't much into the horns or the tail (the particular shape of cow-bits didn't aesthetically speak to me) but those milk jugs were impossible to overlook. "Sorry," she stated, raising her voice so everyone could hear her. "So, what happens if the magnets get unaligned? Like, is it possible to lose your soul?"

Dundkupf hesitated in his answer. He likely had to give it every now and again, but it was a difficult one to voice. "It is impossible to lose your soul," the professor slowly said. "You must understand that you ARE your soul. When you discovered the Dimensional Truth, the sheet of paper was pushed between the two magnets. Normal people have their 'soul' exist inside their bodies. You can, with enough power, lose your body." He paused there and looked sternly over the rim of his glasses. "There is a class about the details and drawbacks of such a procedure. You can take it after your third semester. At the earliest. Delving so deeply into the Dimensional Truth prematurely will net you a quick trip into Welldark's Asylum. Remember that your minds are connected to cosmic forces. Trying to comprehend things too early will have more serious consequences than attempting your physics degree after basic mathematics. Although the strain on your mind may feel the same."

The answer was nice, vague and satisfied immediate curiosity and the joke at the end had most people in the standard lecture hall chuckling. I relaxed a little bit. The teachers truly were competent.

"Where was I...? Ah, yes, an Anomalia is like connecting these magnets on the side of the Astral Consciousness. The metaphor falls apart a bit at this level, since you don't actually glue your souls together. Rather, the Anomalia creates bonds. Something like a rubber band is more accurate, since distance also stretches it. That metaphor also falls apart, since distance alone can never make the connection break. You hopefully get the point though.

"Those bonds will last until you decide to sever them in a ritual. Getting out of an Anomalia is usually easier than getting into one. It's still not exactly a light endeavour, however, and you cannot join another one immediately after leaving. Just in case you needed another reason to make your choices wisely." The professor stopped for a moment and walked over to a laptop he had on a nearby podium. "The most difficult part of getting into an Anomalia is finding the right moment. Along with the technique, you will need to share a moment of genuine and reciprocated affection. Which is good news for the more paranoid and bad news for the more manipulative among you."

The chalkboards behind the table automatically lowered, revealing a pure white space that images were then projected onto. The first card we were greeted by was empty. A blue framed thing with a white middle that begged to be filled with information.

"We will begin training to form an Anomalia later today, but first I want to get all of the understanding out of the way. Unlike other fields, Anomalias are simple enough in theory that we can get all of these things done in a single sitting," Dundkupf rolled his head and hit a key on his laptop, a title appearing on the card. "The basic rules of Anomalias," he read out loud. "As I already said, Anomalias resemble a deck of cards quite closely. A remarkable find made by one Hresvelt Jumen. His life is worth its own lecture, but not this one.

"Let's start with the court cards. Each Anomalia has a head. Usually, this is the King, by virtue of the skewed gender ratios and men liking to take charge of things." The professor, in a somewhat cringy attempt to look youthful, made a number of energetic motions that could be interpreted as boxing. "It is entirely possible for a woman, as the Queen, to also found an Anomalia. For the sake of this lecture, I will talk assuming the overwhelmingly common case. Otherwise, I'd have to specify gender generalities not necessarily applying to the individual every third sentence and that would be a pain. Just know that it is something that can happen and that it's mechanically the same."

The professor took a pause to drink a little bit of water from a bottle. "So, the King is the head. He forms the Anomalia when he gets his first member. It has to be agreed on by both parties that he is the head and there has to be a moment of intimacy in which both feel confident in opening to the other. The same conditions apply to all future candidates for joining, but only for the forming is it necessary for the King to be acknowledged as the head for him to actually get the position. The King is the lynchpin of the Anomalia. Although he doesn't have access to powers that other cards may have, all of the Anomalia is built around his Astral Consciousness.

This has two profound effects. One, the King is able to mentally communicate with members of the Anomalia. This has several limitations, range and mutual willingness being the two most dominant, but is quite useful regardless. With the interconnection on the soul level comes an advantage on the physical realm. Everything, particularly intimate things, the King does with members of his Anomalia, will be amplified in their pleasure. As young as you all are, you will probably have a fun time when you first come to experience this."

I grinned widely. I already knew most if not all of this from my own research into the topic. Regardless, it was nice to hear it a second time, just so I could make sure I had it right. Also, in this case, because it triggered my imagination to wonder just how loud I could make someone moan if things were amplified.

"The woman that forms the Anomalia with the King becomes the Queen. The Queen has a lesser version of the King's mental communications, usually only able to relay their emotions to fellow Anomalia members, and have access to the Anomalia Astral Capacity. This is a pool of power that is generated by the members passively, with a cap depending on the strength of the Anomalia at large. The Queen can command this power however she wishes, strengthening herself or other members of the Anomalia in her vicinity."

He hit a few keys and these things appeared, in summary, on the card. Pencils scratched over paper as people copied the info. I just wrote a few keywords down and concentrated on listening.

"Aside from the King and the Queen, there is also the Jack and the Ace," the projection changed to a new page, headed by those two cards. "The Jack of an Anomalia is able to create a lesser copy of the Artefact of a member of the Anomalia, including themselves. Meanwhile, the Ace wields the Anomalia Artefact. As you all should be aware, everyone who has access to the Dimensional Truth can summon a personal item, commonly a weapon, called an Artefact. An Anomalia is capable of the same thing, with the Anomalia's Artefacts relating to the overall character of the... let's call it what it usually is, the harem. An Anomalia of bookworms, for example, would likely create something related to literature. Maybe an Artefact that was able to make words reality, or pull their enemies into a fantastic landscape. An Anomalia predicated on the supremacy of the head's power would gain a weapon of high destructive capability, while one of harmonious conduct may get something more focused on healing one's allies. Anomalia Artefacts are just as faceted as the regular ones."

Another pause, another image change, another sip of water. "Now, for the number cards of 2 to 10. It's rather easy. Just multiply the value of the card by 10 and use that number as a percentage in relation to the King's Astral Capacity. That is to say, the 10 card gets assigned to a person that is 100%, or exactly as strong as, the King. The 5 card gets assigned to someone half the strength of the king. Should someone have 41% of the strength of the king, they still get the 5 card, it always rounds up. If you have two people that would fit best at 7, one of them can get assigned two cards, be it the 6 and 1 or the 5 and 2 or the 4 and 3, instead. Card values can only be added, not broken up.

"Holding a court card or the ace still means that the person has to hold a number card. Number cards may be freely reassigned as power balances shift with time or if the King has to shift around some detail to fit an extra girl in. If the King is too weak to actually hold all of the members of the Anomalia, the strongest person will be ousted automatically. The special cards can only be reassigned manually and with intense strain on the Anomalia structure itself. That is to say, it's impossible to do in a short timeframe."

Dundkupf stopped there for a moment to let things settle and give people in the room time to get their notes in order. I didn't need the time and neither did Esther, who had been keeping pace in her writing without problem. The painting of words she wrote looked like the most comprehensible magic tome I had ever seen.

"Now, for the last similarity between a deck of cards and an Anomalia, we have the four categories," the professor finally continued. He hit a button and a new card appeared against the wall. It was also blank and separated into four equal segments by two crossing lines. As he spoke the symbols appeared in each of the areas. "We have Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Crosses. Each of these have their own characteristics. What category an Anomalia belongs to is dependent on the character of the King."

A click of the button, and the symbols shrunk into the corner, making room for more points as Dundkupf continued.

"Spade Kings are usually stern, principled and lawful. They take to the frontlines themselves in fights and are equally brash and reliable in social situations. Members of their Anomalia can take more damage than usual, and the King himself enjoys a larger boost to his power than the heads of other Anomalias.

"Kings of Diamond are individualistic, somewhat whimsical and love freedom over traditions and laws. In battle, they usually do what they want, rather than what is effective or honourable, not that these necessarily contradict each other. As characters, they can be equally easy to read and difficult to predict. Members of a Diamond Anomalia find their Astral Capacity to be used more effectively for magic and their Artefacts to be more powerful than before. The Anomalia Artefact the Ace wields is an outstandingly powerful thing.

"Thirdly, Heart Anomalias are led by Kings that are charming, sociable and noble. These people will usually avoid a fight and prefer to talk out differences, but they will fight if it comes down to it. While they don't give members of the Anomalia any direct bonuses, the Heart Anomalia itself is unusual. Subverting the rule of cards I explained earlier, the Queen of a Heart Anomalia also counts for a value of 5 by herself and the regular cards CAN be broken down into smaller numbers. This means that, rather than 9 cards with a value from 2 to 10, the Heart Anomalia has, effectively, 54 cards with the value of 1. Predictably, they are the largest Anomalias. They were also one of the prime reasons why it took so long to discover an applicable structure for these darn things.

"The Cross Anomalia is the last category. Cross Kings are cunning, bold and prideful. Cross Kings are the kinds of people that conquer, create or cause revolutions. They will fight with effectiveness and goals in mind. Like the Heart Anomalia, they too subvert the rules, but in the opposite directions. The value of a regular card in a Cross Anomalia goes up by 1 if it's combined with another card. 3 and 6 would make for 10, for example. As such, these Anomalias tend to be made up of few, but elite individuals. They are also the only Anomalias where the King can conceivably be the weakest member. Something they usually make up for by being capable leaders.

"Do keep in mind that all of these are vast generalizations of characters. You may only have one pronounced characteristic of the suit or you might be a very muddled case. Whatever is the case, one will be the 'clearest' to the Dimensional Truth and that dictates your Anomalia type. Now," he pressed another key and the projection disappeared, "we finally get to the thing you're here to learn: How to form your own Anomalia. I'll have to separate you into two groups for this. Who here already knows how to summon their Artefact?"

Only me and Esther raised our hands. Dundkopf finished his bottle of water, before gesturing for us to come down to his podium. While we stepped down, he addressed everyone else. "Once you are able to summon your Artefact, you will be able to start working on the step I will demonstrate with these two. Don't worry, Artefact summoning is part of this class. Now," me and Esther had reached him and he pulled two rectangle shaped crystals out from a drawer of the table next to the podium, "take these."

I inspected the thin crystal now in my hand. With its border decoration and near-solid whiteness, it looked very much like an empty playing card. 'If the theme works, one should follow it to its logical conclusion,' I thought, turning it in my hand. While I did know all about Anomalias in theory, this part of the process I had heard very little about.

"These crystals have been modified so you can practice creating an Anomalia Bond with them," Dundkupf explained, loud enough that everyone could hear it. "What you want to do is use your Astral Capacity as if you would conjure your Artefact. The crystal will create a backflow, simulating the Astral Capacity of another person, which you have to pull inside you at a steady rate. If you put in too much power or draw too quickly, this will destroy the crystal. Don't worry, if you fail with a person, there is no real harm. It just won't work and will be very exhausting."

I closed my eyes and followed the instructions.

Astral Capacity pulsed through my entire being. Transported by a network of supernatural blood vessels, it reached every part of my body. A core, both distant and right where I was, just one paper sheet away, kept the energy flowing. It was located in that place where we, who knew the Dimensional Truth, truly existed. I drew power from my soul. Just enough to make a difference to what it passively provided. The minute difference between raising a hand and raising it while holding a pencil.

I guided the energy up my arm. It streamed through, like calming, cold water, rushing around my bone, until it left through my palm and my sensitive fingertips. Usually, my mind would have commanded it into a shape of my choosing, a projection of silver, stars and solid light. Now, I made it enter the card.

"This will take you a few weeks," I heard Dundkupf say, as if to reassure me. "Well, it would take you a few days, but I can't give you access to these crystal cards outside of class for security and economic reasons. Some greedy student selling them on the black market ruining things for everyone else, you see. Always a sad... day... when..."

His voice trailed off, as I carefully pulled the oozing energy of the crystal inside myself. It created a warm flow up my arm that clashed with the cold one leaving me. After a moment of confusion, I manipulated the streams into coexistence. One ceased to find the target, the other ceased to be. I opened my eyes.

A silver diamond was etched into the crystal card, its shape highlighted by a grey outline. "I guess this signals what kind of Anomalia I'm heading, huh?" I asked with a smile, holding the card up to the befuddled professor. "What do you think, Esther, this fits me?" After actually looking at her I added, "Yours certainly fits."

Dundkupf followed my gaze, to see that Esther was holding her own card. The entire crystal had become black, the spade symbol only standing out thanks to its silver outline. The previous frame had also become silver. "As does yours, whimsical Karitas," she responded, a smile playing around her lips.

"Uh... uh huh... EHEM," the professor cleared his throat and regained his composure. "My compliments, you're the first... the first two students in my career that managed to do it on the first try," he stated, only to continue as if nothing unusual had happened at all. "Yes, the main colour and symbol of the card show what type you would be as the head of an Anomalia. The colour of the outline shows which was the second closest. Being Cross, at grey, for you, Karitas, and Diamond for you, Esther. Heart, for the record, would be a strong red."

"As I comprehend it," Esther spoke up, "this means we have passed the class and our mandatory attendance is therefore lifted?"

"That is correct," Dundkupf confirmed. Already imagining that I could use these extra 90 minutes every Friday to great dating effect, I did a little fist pump to myself. "Also, traditionally, the first student to learn the Anomalia Bond gets a prize of 300 Dark. Given your outstanding achievement, I will raise this to 600 -- for both of you. Congratulations." He began clapping and, unsure what else to do, so did the rest of the people listening.

I turned around and bowed in an overly dramatic fashion, then hurried after Esther, who was already heading back to where she had come from. "Booooo!" I heard Arlethia complain, as we gathered our things. "You can't just go, suffer the lecture with me!"

"No can do," I grinned and would have bantered more, if it wasn't for the fact that there was still a lecture going on. Instead, Esther and I said our quick goodbyes and walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, I couldn't help but grin and say, "See, we didn't need to get jobs after all! We could have just kept having nice breakfasts, without worries!"

Predictably, Esther stared at me. Her mouth opened to berate about how short-sighted a statement that was. I was already taking her by the waist and guided us toward the cafeteria. "Your reasoning is fundamentally flawed, foolish Karitas..." she nevertheless began her tirade.

I was all too happy to hear every word, formed by her velvety accent.

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Hello! hope you're enjoying the story so far, I would like to request more feedback if possible, anything that pops up in your mind! while this book is already fully written(this chapter is not the end of book one don't worry) book 2 is being written and your feedback could help make it better! so please do leave some critique if you can. if you'd like to chat there's also the discord server, details are in the biography section of my profile.