A Certain Magical Index: The Primal Spirit Descends to My Side

At eight o'clock in the morning on July 29th, the sunlight was already streaming in from the low buildings on the east side, casting long shadows on the asphalt road. Saten Ruiko stood in front of an unfamiliar school gate, looking up at the seemingly endless stone steps.

The steps lead from the school gate all the way to the teaching building at the top of the mountain, roughly counting at least two hundred steps. On both sides are neatly trimmed shrubs, which gleam with a deep green color in the morning light.

"That's way too high...?"

She sighed and stepped onto the first step. Her backpack swayed gently behind her; inside were notebooks, a pencil case, even the gymnastics uniform required for the report, and the notification documents she had just received that morning.

Last night, the school issued a notice saying that there would be special tutoring arrangements, and all students who had used "Phantom Mage" were required to attend. The location was a high school on the edge of the 7th school district.

"Why here..." Saten Ruiko muttered to herself as she climbed, sweat dripping from her forehead and onto the collar of her dark blue sailor uniform.

Having finally climbed halfway up, she stopped to catch her breath and looked back down the mountain. The streets stretched out in the morning light, and in the distance, she could see the blades of wind turbines turning slowly. The view was nice, but at that moment, she wished there was an elevator.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see three figures struggling to move up the steps from below. They were Akemi, Mako, and Mutsu.

"Tears—!" Akemi, walking at the front, waved, her voice tinged with obvious exhaustion. "Wait for us!"

Saten Ruiko stopped and waited for them to catch up. The four of them met in the middle of the steps, all panting heavily.

"Why...why is the tutoring center located so high up..." Xiao Mu said, supporting herself on her knees, her forehead covered in sweat, her chestnut hair plastered to her cheeks. "This is practically a physical fitness test..."

"I heard it's a special classroom at some high school..." Mako pushed up her glasses, her voice a little weak. "Apparently, not many people use it normally, so it's made available for us during summer vacation... uh..."

She didn't finish speaking, but Saten Ruiko understood what she wanted to say.

The aftermath of "Phantom Master" is far from over. Although Kiyama Harumi has been arrested and the fantasy beasts have been eliminated, the users who fell into a coma have gradually woken up and physical examinations have not left any sequelae. However, the school has still arranged special counseling courses.

Nominally, it's "special health guidance during the summer vacation," but in reality, it's probably a disguised form of observation and control.

"Fine, we've already crawled..." Saten Ruiko clapped her hands. "Let's go, there's only half left!"

Saten Ruiko led the way, with the three following behind her. Akemi slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, pulled out a file, and fanned herself with it: "Seriously... what bad luck... It's finally a day off, and we still have to come to school... If special tutoring could improve my abilities, I wouldn't have to work so hard all the time..."

"Yeah...we were going swimming..." Mako sighed as she walked beside Akemi, enjoying the cool breeze from the fan.

Akemi, seeing Mako leaning closer, gently pushed her aside to keep her distance. "Ruiko, you also made plans to go out with Haru, right?"

"Well... there's nothing we can do about it..." Saten Ruiko stopped, her voice more dejected than ever. The trio exchanged a glance and laughed helplessly.

"Seriously! How could Ruiko give up so easily?" Mako deliberately raised her voice, making Saten Ruiko turn around and look at her with a puzzled expression. Mutsuko chimed in from behind, "Exactly! A girl like that won't find happiness~"

"Really..." Caught off guard, Saten Ruiko was amused by the two's awkward and affected expressions. "Don't say such annoying things..."

The four of them started walking again, one step at a time, and under the rising sun, they finally arrived at the platform in front of the teaching building half an hour later.

Saten Ruiko let out a long breath, then followed the signs to the special classroom. Pushing open the door, she found several people already seated inside.

This is an ordinary classroom, with a black podium, a dark green blackboard, and rows of desks and chairs extending to the back. The windows face south, and sunlight streams in, illuminating the slightly worn desks.

Saten Ruiko found a seat by the window, with Akemi and Mako to her right and Mutsuko in the front row, who was lying face down on the table.

Saten Ruiko looked around; everywhere she looked were different school uniforms and unfamiliar people. She leaned on her desk, and Mutsu, who was in front of her, turned around and also leaned on Saten Ruiko's desk. "Come to think of it, there are really a lot of people from different schools..."

"It seems like..."

Just then, a series of noisy footsteps came from the doorway. Saten turned around and saw several people walking in.

"They all look so listless..."

The girl in the lead had short chestnut hair tied in a ponytail at the back of her head, and was wearing a black and white sailor uniform from another school, paired with a long black pleated skirt.

Behind her followed two similarly flamboyant boys. One wore a corduroy hat, had earrings, chewed gum, and had an arrogant expression. The other had dyed ochre-red hair, tucked his backpack under his arm, and wore a serious expression.

"Let's go back, boss..." The boy in the hat blew bubbles from his chewing gum and cracked his neck. "This is so boring..."

Upon hearing this, the girl referred to as the "boss" grabbed the man by the collar with one hand and lifted him up. "Since you're here, stop talking nonsense!"

"Never mind, never mind..." The people behind immediately stepped forward to break up the fight, and the boy who was lifted up apologized repeatedly.

Just as the group was at an impasse, the classroom door opened, and a petite figure stepped into the doorway, clapping her hands lightly. "Alright, alright... hurry up and go in..."

Tsukuyomi Komoe was wearing a pink lace dress, her short pink hair shimmering softly in the morning light, and she was holding a black file folder in her hands. Compared to the students in the classroom, she looked like she was in the wrong grade.

The people who were trying to break up the fight turned to look at Tsukuyomi Komoe, and seeing her petite stature and childlike face, they repeatedly curled their lips. "Huh? What's going on? Who's this kid?"

"I'm a teacher."

"teacher?!"

"I'm Tsukuyomi Komoe, in charge of the morning classes. If you speak rudely, I'll extend the class time~"

Tsukuyomi Komoe stood on the podium, looking only slightly taller than the table. The students could initially keep up with this absurd height difference, but after Tsukuyomi Komoe moved a chair over, stood on it, and wrote her name on the blackboard, everyone finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Good morning, everyone!" Teacher Xiaomeng put down the chalk, stood on the podium, and clapped her hands energetically. "Summer mornings should start with lots of energy! I'm really looking forward to spending this special summer tutoring time with you all!"

A few scattered responses came from the classroom, but Teacher Xiaomeng didn't seem to mind, her smile remaining bright. "But before that, I'd like to introduce a special assistant to everyone—"

She turned to the side and waved towards the door. A figure walked out from the corridor outside.

She had long, greyish-white hair and calm grey eyes. She wore a simple white T-shirt and light-colored trousers, without a school uniform or any decorations. She just stood there quietly, yet she made the air in the entire classroom quiet for a moment.

Saten Ruiko's eyes widened.

It's her... She's the one who supposedly vanquished the fantasy beast on the overpass, the one who saved her and Shirai in the park. How could she be here?

"This student will be assisting the teacher with today's health and physical education class and will also be the infirmary teacher~" Teacher Xiaomeng stood next to the gray-haired girl, gesturing towards her, but because of the significant height difference, the gesture looked a bit comical. "She's a special lecturer that the teacher specially invited~ Please give her a round of applause!"

A few scattered claps rang out in the classroom, but there were more confused whispers.

"Who is that person?"

"Such white hair... Is he a foreigner?"

"A special lecturer in health and physical education? Really...?"

The gray-haired girl paid no attention to the stares and whispers. She simply stood calmly by the podium, her gaze sweeping across the classroom, lingering for a moment in Saten Ruiko's direction before moving away.

Saten Ruiko felt immense pressure.

"Alright, let's officially begin today's lesson!" Teacher Xiaomeng stood back in the center of the podium, placing her hands on the desk, but because she was too short, she could only reach the edge. "For our first lesson this morning, we'll be discussing a concept that sounds profound but is actually very relevant to everyone's daily life!"

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the entire class.

That is—"personal reality".

The classroom fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even louder whispers.

"Personal reality?"

"What is that...?"

"I think I've heard of... that superpower thing..."

Teacher Xiaomeng extended her index finger and drew a circle in the air. "As everyone probably knows, so-called 'superpowers' refer to special abilities possessed by a select few that can distort the laws of reality. But why do only a portion of people possess this power? Why are everyone's abilities different? The most crucial factor behind this is what we call 'personal reality'."

She wrote the words "Personal Reality" on the blackboard, her handwriting neat.

"Simply put, personal reality refers to each person's way of perceiving the world. It is not an objective, uniform reality, but rather the 'reality' that each person subjectively experiences and that belongs only to themselves. For example, the same glass of water may be perceived as lukewarm by some, cold by others, slightly sweet by some, and tasteless by others... This is the effect of each person's personal reality."

Ms. Xiaomeng turned around and continued drawing diagrams on the blackboard. "The superpower development we conduct in Academy City is essentially about artificially strengthening and stabilizing this personal reality through drugs and hypnosis, allowing students to interfere with the objective world based on their subjective perceptions. This is the essence of superpowers."

She put down the chalk and dusted her hands. "So, superpowers aren't some mysterious force, nor are they some innate talent. They're a way of seeing the world that can be enhanced through training, and it's something each person has to do! Doesn't that sound less scary?"

The classroom was quiet for a moment, then a student raised their hand and asked, "Teacher, if it's Level 0, which means completely lacking talent... does that mean the person is too weak in reality?"

Teacher Xiaomeng didn't answer immediately, but instead gave a gentle smile. "Teacher has to correct you on one thing~ That is, there are no people in Academy City who are 'completely talentless'. Everyone has their own personal reality, just a difference in strength. Level 0 doesn't mean you have no talent, it just means that 'your talent hasn't been fully developed yet'. In other words, everyone has the potential to awaken their own superpower someday in the future, it's just a matter of time."

She paused, her gaze becoming more serious: "So don't give up on yourself just because you're at Level 0 right now. The fact that you're sitting in this classroom right now is already the first step! Face yourself, understand yourself, accept yourself. That's the first step towards personal reality!"

Saten Ruiko sat in her seat, her fingers unconsciously clenching the hem of her skirt.

Level 0.

She is a typical Level 0.

Since enrolling in school, every ability test result has been "no ability". Her classmates all have some abilities, more or less. Paper can float, water cups can shake, pencils can move slightly... but she has nothing.

That's why she so desperately wanted to become a "Spirit Master," so desperately wanted to gain power. She desperately wanted to get rid of the label of "abilityless person," and desperately wanted to become a "talented person."

She looked down at her hands. Could these hands truly one day hold the power that belonged to her?

"Alright, that's enough about the theory!" Teacher Xiaomeng clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back. "Next up is what you've probably all been most looking forward to: the health and physical education class!"

She turned around and waved to the gray-haired girl who had been standing quietly by the podium. "Now it's up to this special lecturer! Please don't be shy, ask her any questions you like!"

The gray-haired girl nodded and stepped forward.

She stood at the front of the classroom, facing the gazes of the entire class, her expression unchanged.

"I am... Takamiya Mio..."

"Nice to meet you..."