Being a Student (pt2)

Idia refuses to go to Playfulland with Ortho but Vil says, “Being brothers doesn’t obligate you to spend your every waking hour together, or to always defer to what he says. You’re a full-fledged student, so you should act on your own initiative.

Ortho says that half the fun of school is having “atypical individuals” like Kalim around, and he is “so glad” that he got to join the Night Raven College student body.

He accepts Deuce’s invitation to the White Rabbit Fes event because “Going to a festival with school friends sounds just like what a normal student would do,” and says that getting lost in a maze (due to having no access to his usual gear with GPS) is “refreshing.

When asked about flight magic Ortho explains that he cannot use flight magic like a mage, and his “incessant levitating” is made possible by technomantic energy.

Ortho says that, right after becoming a student, he would only audit flight and PE classes because he cannot build endurance or strength through training like the other students. Recently, however, Vargas has brought him on as an assistant.

Ortho explains that he flies alongside his classmates to collect data on their form and times, determines their habits and weaknesses and suggests ways they might improve.

Ortho says that while he may have gotten a heart in Book 6 and thus an imagination he still cannot use magic, but he grateful for the existence of magic as it means he was able to become a student at NRC and make friends. 

Ortho compliments Trey’s ability to listen to the customers at the school store, saying that he would also like to become good at reading people.

In his fourth birthday vignette Ortho tells Jade about a memorable event that might have been “moving” by human standards, but he cannot be sure: he witnessed a family that had been fishing without catching anything finally catch a single fish just as they were about to give up, but they ultimately decided to release it because they felt bad for it being so small.

Ortho says he cannot understand the reasoning behind why they released the one fish they managed to catch after putting so much effort into doing so, and wonders if such irrational thoughts are just a part of human nature.