I pause in bewilderment when I open the door of the magic classroom. My mana radar shows me a lecture hall, again like one you would see in a fantasy school-life anime. However, instead of ending with a blackboard the length of the wall, it opens into a packed-dirt arena the size of a couple basketball courts. The teacher’s desk and wheeled blackboard are in their expected places, at least.

“Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to let us in so we can be on time?” snaps a young dark mage tapping her foot behind me. I let out a squeak and quickly slither inside, which is to say I found myself in line with the central aisle of the lecture hall before you could say “magic.”

I turn around, unconsciously bringing my tail in close and shifting my pointy, scaled ears down and back. I track the intimidating dark mage’s movement as she finds  her way to a seat in the second-to-last row and kicks up her feet. Where the scent of her mana before had sent me panicking across the room, now it simply conveys boredom. Was she one of those prodigies or something? Judging by the volume of mana coming off her, she certainly could be.

I once again shake away my fright from the encounter. I have more important things to do, like finding a seat. I decide on one just a little in from the left end in the third row, plenty far away from the bratty mage. Also far from the door, but that isn’t important.

After everyone has chosen a seat and settles in, a succubus appears behind the desk with a small flash of fire. I couldn’t see the fire itself, but the bright red mana it uses marks it clearly as magic. She looks toned, like a gymnast, and has thighs that look like they could crush anything that fit between them. I wonder if she would let me put my head–

I shake my head violently. She’s my teacher, and she’s a woman. Even if it weren’t for the professional distance she has to keep, she probably isn’t interested in little girls. 

Little girls, I repeat in my head. It feels funny to be included in that category. It sent little butterflies through my stomach that threaten giggles every time I’m reminded of it.

The teacher is looking pointedly at me, and her mouth is moving. Shoot, I’m in class. I need to pay attention.

“Sorry, what?” I say, causing a ripple of giggles through the hall.

“You are Lily Elapida, yes?” the teacher states with a sharp look. 

“Um, yes,” I answer, my tone more subdued.

After that, she finishes the roll call and turns around to face the blackboard. Picking up a piece of chalk, she begins to write, and says, “My name is Elise Blackwell, but please call me Miss Blackwell. I will be your Foundations of Magic teacher.” After writing Elise Blackwell and Foundations of Magic on the board, she turns back around.

“Now, I know you are all eager to jump right into practice, but we must lay the groundwork first. Without the knowledge of how to properly direct your mana, things are liable to blow up in your face. Especially,” she pauses, “if you have not had your first heat yet, which is when a Monster Girl's magic capabilities are fully released.”

Uh, heat? I think. That means, like, right before your period, right? That sends a shiver of disappointment through me. I haven’t had that happen yet. Then a shudder of panic. Shit, periods. I guess I’ll get those now since I’m a girl. Ugh, I am not looking forward to that.

I decide that that’s a topic better reserved for when I’m not busy with a class, so I return my attention to the front. I see from the faint ripples of chalk on the blackboard that Miss Blackwell has begun to go over the basics of mana flow in the body; namely that the mana core is located in the center of the torso and that channels similar to blood vessels circulate mana throughout the body. 

She then explains how, in order to actually harness that mana for spells, you had to take control of its flow. She compares it to controlling your breathing, and apparently it is just as simple. 

“Now, the next part is where it gets tricky,” the teacher explains. “While you feel your mana flow, you need to take some of it and redirect it to somewhere outside your body, like on your palm for example,” she says, raising her forearm out with her palm up, before a small flame ignites in the place she said. A small chorus of gasps and “oo”s goes around the room before settling down again.

“Now, this is a simple Mana Shot spell which has taken on a fire aspect from my affinity,” she explains. “This is the simplest of all spells, and the one we will be performing for the first month or so while you gain control of your mana flow. All of you will more than likely have an element added to it; a ‘pure’ Mana Shot, one without an aspect, is very rare and indicates an affinity with either no elements or all of them.”

“Now, we do have targets set up down here, but you do not have to aim at them unless you want to. The other option is to simply shoot into the sky, where it will dissipate into the air after it gets too far away. With that said, you may come down and begin to practice, and I will come around to help you one-on-one.”

After those words, the ones everyone had been waiting for, all the other students stand up and make their way down to the arena. Some spring out of their seats and dash like it was a rush for the cafeteria; others are calmer about it. I notice the dark mage seems to stand up last and saunters her way down with a smirk playing across her face. Myself? I can’t do magic yet, the teacher said I had to wait until my first heat.

I ignore her and turn to watch the other students. Each one is lit up more than usual, and I could see little pieces of their mana silhouettes detaching themselves and shifting color. After that, the little balls of color would shoot from their palms into the air or towards the straw dummies set up on the left side of the arena. And oh there are so many colors, pastel green and royal blue and rich brown and deep purple and pale yellow and so many others. I find myself mesmerized by the show.

The sound of someone clearing her throat from beside me brings me out of my trance. I turn to my right to find Miss Blackwell standing next to my seat.

“Did you need help to get down there, Lily?”

“Ah, no, it’s not that,” I respond. “It’s just, I can’t do magic yet,” was it getting hot in here? “since I haven’t had my first… heat… yet,” I explain, feeling like my face might spontaneously combust.

“Ah, I see. Well, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine–”

A flurry of gasps from the arena draws our attention, and it takes me a moment to remember that closing my eyes won’t change anything. A ridiculously bright ball of pure white light has appeared over the middle of the packed-dirt floor. I can barely make out the figure holding it, for there is indeed someone holding that spell. A cocky grin and twinkling eyes, a wide-set stance and a tall pointy hat, tell me all that I need to know.

Miss Blackwell gasps and begins rushing down to the field. “That is amazing, Heather! You have every affinity? Have you been trained yet?” she says in excitement. 

“Yep, by the best that money can buy,” the dark mage preens. 

Oh, she’s one of those, huh? I bristle. Guess we’re hitting all the tropes, huh? If I think about it that way, then I’m probably the shy love interest. Who would be the main character, though? With how energetic she is, it would probably be A–

I shake my head violently to dislodge any stray thoughts. Definitely don’t want to set up any flags.

Things continue to settle down after the surprise of Heather’s Mana Shot, and everyone goes back to their practice. Most of the spells make it little more than a meter before dissipating, but some of my classmates are able to hit the targets from where they are standing.

I study the more competent ones to see if there’s a trick to it. There isn’t any underlying thread at first glance–the rich blue of water, pale blue of ice, and rich umber of earth all hit their targets more often than not, joined occasionally by the red of fire or buttery yellow of lightning. Then it strikes me–all the most effective ones were solid, followed by the other two core elements. I haven’t seen a dark or light spell hit its target once in my entire time watching.

I wonder if there’s a reason. Maybe solid matter takes less energy to maintain than, well, literal energy? And light and dark are basically fundamentals, it would make sense that they’re hard to maintain.

The ringing of the bell brings me out of my musings, signaling it was time for the next class. So off I go to Science, wondering if someone is going to try to tackle me again.