As Kael sat cross-legged on his dorm floor, the Book of Origin spread open before him like an ancient secret begging to be misused, his expression suddenly twisted into one of mild panic.
"Wait... I don't actually know how to draw even a basic runic circle."
He stared blankly at the empty page, the ritual ink bottle sitting beside it like a quiet reminder of his incompetence.
"Bro… I've seen the diagrams once or twice but never studied them what was I even thinking?"
He slumped back, groaning into his hands.
Then, after a moment, his eyes widened with a flicker of inspiration.
"Wait maybe I can get help from her... yeah, her."
He snapped his fingers.
"She was the smartest student in the story! The one who topped the Magic IQ Registration Test broke some kind of national record or something."
His eyes narrowed as he tried to remember.
"What was her name again...? Damn, I don't remember..."
His mind scrambled through the pages of memory until he landed on a vivid image:
A girl with cat ears, a swishing tail, maybe brown hair and warm brown eyes, always wearing thick safety gloves and glasses.
Usually found buried in explosive alchemy fumes or deep in chalk runes at the chemistry lab after classes.
Kael snapped his fingers again, this time with more confidence.
"Yup. That's her. I'll just find her tomorrow. Shouldn't be hard half the dorms know about the girl who blew up three cauldrons in one day and still got extra credit."
He stood up, dusted himself off, and let out a sigh of dramatic acceptance.
"Now the question is... how do I ask her to teach me without sounding like an idiot?"
He scratched the back of his neck.
"Meh. I'll take the risk. Worst case, I get ignored. Best case, I don't accidentally summon a world-ending horror and die horribly."
Kael looked once more at the open Book of Origin, then carefully closed it with a firm thud.
"Yeah... tomorrow."