Two weeks had passed.

Reinhard sat in the middle row of the classroom, his black-white uniform crisp despite the morning heat. Around him were other students adjusting books and notes, talking with each other, or sleeping.

The room itself was elegant with tall windows, ornate stonework, and mahogany paneling along the walls. And gas lamps provide warm illumination despite the daylight streaming through the glass.

At the front, Professor Lily arranged papers on her desk. Her curly pink hair shone under the light, the flower tucked behind her ear adding a splash of color against the standard black-white uniform dress and white cloak. Green eyes swept across the classroom, taking attendance quickly before smiling once she was done.

The second semester began three days ago, and Reinhard had spent the last two weeks.

On catching up on reading textbooks he'd missed, doing review with Rosaria, and trying to compress six months of education into study sessions.

All while devouring souls from Mimir, which currently he was at 450 souls, and close to Tier D.

Professor Lily cleared her throat, and the students quieted down immediately.

"We shall now begin, Soul Class," Lily announced. "As you all know from the first semester, our souls are the makeup of a person's life, containing our memories, emotions, and information."

Everyone nodded with Reinhard recalling Rosaria explaining it to him, but it was more review to him than new knowledge. He followed Professor Lily's movements as she stepped away from her desk.

"So devouring a person's soul means you take on that person's information, memories, and emotions onto yourself." Her hands moved as she spoke, gesturing to illustrate. "The first phase is devouring, where you withstand the emotions and memories that plague you. Then the second stage is integrating the soul fully into your own, leading to your soul growing and increasing your magic and lifeforce."

Everyone nodded while Reinhard's fingers tapped against his desk unconsciously.

A boy in the front row shot his hand up and didn't wait to be called on before speaking. "But why do we feel more pain or pressure during the devouring than the integration stage, Miss Lily?"

Professor Lily lightly laughed. "You can think of the devouring phase as if you jumped into a cold bath." She displays the action by her hands splashing downward. "When you jump into that cold water. Your body shivers and goes into slight shock from the rapid change in temperature, which is the cold striking you all at once."

She paused and looked around to ensure everyone followed.

"That's the same thing happening to your body when a new soul enters it. Your body is being introduced to something foreign and new, similar to how your body reacts to extremely cold water it isn't used to." Her hands spread wide. "Then, as time passes, your body adapts to the cold water, and you can move through it easily and be comfortable. This is the same with integration, once the shock of the soul entering passes, the integration is your body adapting the new soul into your own and making you better."

Several students leaned forward while some of them nodded in understanding, and others wrote it down in their notebooks.

Reinhard's eyes narrowed slightly. That's why the initial contact always sucked more than the integration. His mind worked through the metaphor. The cold water would be the new soul's memories and emotions, things my body hasn't experienced. And for it to adapt to these new emotions and memories, my body needs to experience them itself. But as I'm experiencing them, I need to keep hold of my original self so I don't lose my identity.

"You are adding that person's uniqueness onto you," Professor Lily continued, her green eyes sweeping the classroom. "Which is why it's important to hold on to who you are, so you don't get lost in the soul that isn't yours."

Another hand rose, which was a girl with brown hair pulled back in a practical bun. She stood without being called on, as this was the atmosphere Professor Lily cultivated. "Miss Lily, last semester Professor Alan talked about each person's Soul Devouring threshold. But there's one thing I'm wondering… Do we always draw a Phantasm Beast's entire soul out of their body, then devour only what we can afford and let the rest disperse?"

Professor Lily's eyes shine as she claps her hands in delight. "An extremely good question." She moved to perch on the edge of her desk. "But the answer is we only devour what we can handle while the rest of the soul remains."

She held up one finger. "For example, say there are two people and they both defeat a Bear-Terror and then move to absorb its soul. How much of the Bear-Terror's soul they devour will depend on two factors." A second finger joined the first. "One is how big is the Bear-Terror's soul, and then two, how much can each of them devour."

A male student shot up from his seat, almost bouncing with the need to speak. "So the devouring isn't just one soul but the total strength of the soul we're devouring?"

"Exactly." Professor Lily's smile widened. "After all, every being's soul is different. One Bear-Terror soul could equal a hundred souls while another could equal five hundred."

Another student stood calmly, her expression thoughtful. "What is that based on? I heard from Professor Lusec that Beasts don't devour souls, but the magic in the body?"

"For Phantasm Beasts, the devouring of magic is what grows their souls." Professor Lily's hands moved in circular motions, as if gathering invisible energy. "This is because unlike us, who need the full soul to increase our connection with our Beast Spirit. Phantasm Beasts only need the lifeforce and magic in the soul to grow stronger. Not the information, emotions, and memories."

Yet another hand rose, and the participation was becoming almost frantic, students eager to understand. "Okay, but why do we need all those? How does the connection benefit from other beings' emotions, memories, and information?"

Professor Lily slid fully onto the desk now, sitting cross-legged, and she leaned forward, her expression becoming more serious. "That's still an ongoing debate and research we're conducting. But we've theorized two reasons."

She held up one finger again. "One, it's to help temper our willpower and self-esteem for the trials that our Beast Spirit will give at every new rank. It's believed the connection grows based on the Beast Spirit's own belief in your will, mental strength, and confidence in yourself. When the Beast Master has reached a high enough threshold to the Beast Spirit's liking, they open the door for the trial."

A second finger joined the first. "And the other is increasing our existence so that our Beast Spirit can better recognize and locate us. It's believed that each integration of another soul is adding that person onto you and making your existence shine brighter."

She paused before she grinned and then pulled up a big paper before she began drawing. "To give an example, it's like creating a snowman where each ball of snow is a person's soul, and you add it onto the original snowman. And as it slowly grows, it becomes bigger and bigger until it's easier to notice by the Beast Spirit and easier to connect with."

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