Chapter 260: University - Markets and Multiverses (Patreon)

As Felix took his first step into the university, the first thing he noticed was how spread out everything was. He had grown used to the prep academy, which only had a single building and a fence. The prep academy had been built to serve around 5,000 or 6,000 students.

The university seemed built to serve at least four times that number. Given the fact that the town only had a population of 100,000 or so, Felix wondered how many people enrolled in the university who lived out of town.

More importantly, the university wasn't a single massive building. It was a collection of dozens of buildings. Felix could see dorm buildings in the distance, as well as classrooms and research labs. There were even a few restaurants and gardens, for people to take a break between classes. This place felt like a city within a city.

The second thing he noticed was the people. There were hundreds of people clustered around the entrance to the academy. At first, Felix thought they were all new students. However, he quickly realized that wasn't the case. Some of the people clustered near the front of the gates were clubs that were trying to recruit new members.

The group closest to him was a group of men and women wearing fancy suits and dresses. In front of them was a wooden sign with the words 'Ballroom club' written on it.

Standing behind them was a group of girls, all wearing skirts that were scandalously short, at least by this era’s standards. At least half of their thighs were exposed, and they wore sleeveless blouses. In this era, most women wore dresses that covered their knees, so Felix was rather shocked by this. Their clothes were silver and orange, the two colors of the school...

<Notice anything, Felix?> asked Miria, shocking Felix out of his stupor. Felix could hear her amusement. <The ‘cheerleading’ club has pretty interesting attire, don't you think? You've been staring at them for a while.>

<I, uhh… didn’t. Didn't see anything, that is,> he said, trying not to let his embarrassment seep into his mental voice. He could feel his cheeks burning as he looked away.

<I’m sure,> said Miria, sounding even more amused. <Well, I’m also pretty surprised. Their fashion is pretty outlandish by this era's standards. But I’m surprised you paid attention to them. Aren’t you usually more interested in crafting?>

Felix felt his blush intensify, and decided to change the subject.

<I wonder what cheerleaders are. I’ve never heard of the word before.>

<I think I remember them being sort of like… dancers for sports events? Or something like that? My memories are a bit fuzzy, but I know I've heard of them before,> said Miria. <They might serve a different cultural role here, though. Does this university have a sports team? What sports are even played in this world?>

<I remember seeing a few kids kick a ball around when we were younger,> said Felix. <I don't know exactly what the rules are, but I could see that becoming an official sport of some sort.>

<Hmm... that makes sense,> said Miria.

Felix breathed a sigh of relief as the topic finally drifted away. He also thanked the stars that Anise and Sallia weren’t listening right now. If both of them heard this conversation too, he would die of embarrassment.

Felix scanned the clubs again, and noticed several other clubs recruiting new members. The other four that were nearby were the tea club, the study of history club, the alchemy club, and the modern era club. Felix wasn’t quite sure what the ‘Modern Era’ club did, but the alchemy club could be interesting. He made a mental note to look into it later.

"Any of you see a club that you want to try out?" asked Miria, as the group looked at the clubs. "I'm not seeing much that appeals to me. I was hoping for a 'medicine club' or something like that. I'm not seeing one though."

"I see a fencing club that looks fun," said Vance, grinning. "I wouldn't mind a few duels to keep in shape and have some fun. I still need to pay you three back for the thrashing you guys gave me a few months ago."

Felix chuckled. He doubted a few years of practice would make that big of a difference - but he still wished Vance the best of luck. Without Sallia to keep the group in shape, he definitely didn't train his swordsmanship as rigorously as should. Having a new training partner would be a good idea.

"I'll look into the alchemy club later," said Felix. "I'm not sure what their standards are, but if I have time I'd like to check in with them."

"I'll go with you," said Iselde. "I have a hard time studying on my own. Having a club might help me focus."

The group finished looking over the clubs, before Iselde looked at the map. She frowned, and glanced at the clocktower in the distance. "We should get moving. Orientation starts in half an hour, and I want to make sure we don't get lost along the way. This place is huge."

"Sounds reasonable. Good luck. See you two at dinner," said Felix. Then, the group split up. Felix and Miria started heading towards their research group, while Vance and Iselde walked in the opposite direction.

Unlike Iselde and Vance, the university had told Felix and Miria to first meet with their research team. They wouldn't be attending the regular orientation with the other students.

“What do you think it’ll be like?” asked Miria.

“Through my interactions with them, their research seems promising. The one that I sent letters to was named Sebellum. He seemed nice enough," said Felix. "We'll have to see whether there's any difference in person."

Miria nodded thoughtfully, as the two finally reached their destination. The prosthetics lab.

The two made their way into the facility, where they encountered a suited gentleman wearing a rather fancy top hat. Felix gave the hat an appreciative nod. He could appreciate a nice suit and top hat. Maybe next world he would try a more thin body shape. He liked his current look, but he also liked the suited gentleman type of look. Some variety in his body shape from one life to another might be fun.

“You two must be Miria and Felix! We’ve been waiting for you!” he said, before giving them a quick gentlemanly bow. “My name is Sebellum. We've written to each other for the past year, yes?"

Felix smiled at the man.

"Now that you're here, let me introduce you to the rest of the team. They've been eager to meet you," said Sebellum, as he stepped ahead of us.

As he walked, Felix noticed that his gait was unusual. The man’s steps were a bit too sure. AToo stable. Felix grinned.

“What did you do to your legs? They look like they work incredibly well!”

“You have quite the keen eye, Felix!” said Sebellum. He gave Felix a much wider grin. “In one of the colonies, a type of substance that is both resilient and stretchy was recently discovered. It forms in small quantities on the bark of a special breed of tree. Turning them into a material for prosthetic nerves and tendons has been my personal project for over a year. We first tested it on a few patients who had problems using normal prosthetics, and well, the results were marvelous! Afterwards, I just knew that I had to try it for myself. We’ve been working on new iterations of the material, and trying to find ways to improve it. For the version I'm using, we boiled the bark, then mixed in some molten steel to give it a bit of rigidity. It works quite well, although I've been trying to find something to reduce the rididity of the steel. One of the best traits of the original tree substance was its incredible flexibility. It feels like a bit of a shame to lose most of that,” said Sebellum thoughtfully. Then, he gave Felix a cheery wink. "Hopefully you can give us some new ideas, Felix. I've already seen some of your test and project results, and I have high hopes for you." Felix felt as if he had discovered a kindred spirit. Messing with items, trying out different results, experimenting… these were the things he liked the most in crafting.

“I believe that might involve trying things out with different muscles,” said Felix. “There are a mixture of ligaments, joints, and muscles involved in things like walking and jumping, after all. Lots of muscles from the hips to the ankles work together for things like that. Did you do anything with the other parts of your body, or did you just upgrade your tendons and nerves?” asked Felix.

“Of course, I upgraded the other relevant muscle groups. However, I’ve been pretty light on the enhancements. There's still some debate on what exactly each muscle and nerve in the body does when it comes to simple actions like walking. We've been trying to nail this down more precisely. That would make it easier to help people improve their body with minimal essence costs," said Sebellum. “Mixing and matching enhancements together is becoming a field of study of its own.”

Felix grinned as he sank into the conversation. He and Sebellum started talking about different materials and muscle groups as they walked towards the rest of the team. And Felix couldn't have been happier.

Miria might have looked a little bored with the conversation… but Felix felt that he would fit right in with this group of people.

Author’s Note:

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