by TurtleMe
Lucas had a harsh look on his face as he took big, confident strides towards Curtis, Claire and I.
My gaze matches his and neither of us looks away as he approaches me. Gripping my shirt up by the collar, he pulls me close to his face.
“I think we need a rematch.” His pretty blond face was a sight to behold as he scowled, my face only a few centimeters away from his.
Gripping the wrist of his hand that was holding onto my collar, I reply, my face stone cold and eyes deadlocked to his.
“This is a pretty rude way to ask for something.” I grip hard enough to make his hand lose strength, but I don’t stop there. Willing mana around me, I surround the both of us in a gale, making his knees give out.
Grimacing in pain, Lucas mumbles something inaudibly and soon has orange flames conjured in his free palm, ready to fire at me.
“That’s enough!” Professor Glory roars as she gets in the way of the two of us using her sheathed sword.
“Arthur, go rest in the viewing platform. You’re not to take part in any activities in this class until you’re fully healed, Director Goodsky’s orders. As for you Lucas, you need to calm down. Whether you want to settle your petty grudge with a fight or with a hug, do it after Arthur is fully healed. Now is not the time.” She lets out a sigh as she pushes me softly towards the viewing platform. After walking for half a day, I didn’t need my sword to lean on but I couldn’t walk at a normal pace either.
Looking around, I try to find Tessia but she wasn’t here. “Professor Glory, where’s Princess Tessia?”
“She stopped by not too long before you came saying she wasn’t feeling well. She said she would make up class somehow but she seemed off so Clive took her back to her dorm. Why? Do you know anything?” Professor Glory leans down and looks at my face.
Shaking my head, I start thinking about what I should do.
“You can get up to the viewing platform without starting another fight, right? Just rest up for a couple more days.” She places a gentle hand on my shoulder before running back off towards where the rest of the class was.
I watched the class split up into different teams and get in various formations for different circumstances. In scenarios like sieging, Conjurers play a crucial role so Augmenters get into a much more defensive position, focusing solely on protecting the damage dealers. In scenarios where guerilla fights are necessary, only one or two Augmenters stay close to the Conjurer as the rest go off on their own.
The class was only a week in so it was very basic. Butt still, Professor Glory was teaching the class pretty well, with everyone really into the class and having fun, but I just couldn’t stay focused, thinking only about how I screwed things up.
My next class was the class I was actually looking forward to the most, Deviant Magic Theory. Unfortunately, our professor, Professor Drywell placed upmost importance covering the basics first, so even after a week has passed, she was barely covering the basics of Deviant Magic.
“Whenever Deviant Magic is involved, there is a much bigger stress on the price of your magic. Why do you think that is? It’s because Deviant Magic, like its name, is deviant from the natural elemental mana pool that is evident in our world. The mana that surrounds us is made up of only fire, wind, earth and water mana. Deviant magic that comes from the higher form of these four elements have a much greater cost, as I would like to say, compared to the four original elements because there is no such thing as Lightning, Plant, Gravity, Metal, Magma, Sound, or Ice mana surrounding us in the atmosphere. In order to produce these phenomena in our spells, the mage must be able to directly alter their parent element and manipulate it into its deviant form.” Professor Drywell chattered on and on. She was a very aged lady and although she had the image of a nice quiet grandmother, she never stopped talking.
“Professor! But Gravity, Lightning, Metal, Magma, Sound, and Ice all exist naturally in our world as well. Why doesn’t our world produce these types of mana then?” A girl that looked about 17 asked the professor.
“Good question, young one! Honestly, no one knows for sure why that is! Many magic theorists believe that because a certain set of conditions must be met for those deviant elements to occur, mana directly correlated to them does not exist. Then there is the always the exceptions such as fire, where certain it does not just spontaneously without cause. Perhaps that is why most mages believe fire to be the highest form of normal magic, because it is so close to being a deviant magic itself.” She explains while pacing around the lecture hall.
“Deviation magic that strays even further from the four main elemental mana in our world comes at even a greater cost. All of you know what Emitters are. They are healers, essentially. The mana that they utilize does not fall under the category of water, earth, fire, or wind. Instead, I would dare say that there exists a holy element, or light element to be more accurate. Emitters gain little benefit from absorbing mana from the atmosphere because there is no light elemental mana within our world. Instead, they work to condense and purify the mana that forms in their mana core so that even when less mana is used, there is still a substantial effect in their spells.” I can tell Professor Drywell was running out of breath because her voice was getting higher.
After she finished her lesson for today, we had a short Q&A session but no one really had any questions to ask because we were afraid that class would never finish. Eventually Professor Drywell let us go and I trudged on to my last class, which was Spell Formations I.
Most of the students in this class were Conjurers but some of the smarter Augmenters knew that they could gain benefits in their skills by taking this class. Our teacher, Professor Mayner, was a scholarly-looking man with a monocle and mid split hair. His mustache was well trimmed and over his suit, he wore a white gown.
“Welcome students. I was notified by Director Goodsky that a student named Arthur Leywin will begin joining us for class, am I correct?” He looked around, his monocle catching the glare from the light in the classroom.
“Yes, I’m Arthur Leywin, please guide me well.” I give a small bow as he nods in approval.
“Very well! You did not miss anything too important Mr. Leywin. We were going over the different types of spell formations, from individual spell incantations to group spell formations. Care to tell us what you know about spell formations?” He adjusts his monocle as he walks towards me, his back never bending.
“To my knowledge, spell formations is the conjoining and/or altering of basic spells and skills in order produce a different phenomena, whether that be to the user himself, or the specific point in space the spell was invoked.” I answer.
“A most solid answer indeed, Mr. Leywin. Very good!” He clapped his hands once before he went back to the front of the class where he began lesson.
“I would first like you all to imagine a scenario. Imagine a world where everyone could read everyone’s mind. The fleeting thoughts that can make even the purest man seem perverse or the nicest woman seem cruel are all laid out in the open for others to read. I believe that that world would house the best mages ever known.” He leaves all confused with this story.
“Moving on…why do Conjurers and even Augmenters chant spells? It is not the words that invoke the spell or technique. Instead, the words influence the caster’s consciousness, filling his mind with the correct ‘suggestion’ if you will that molds the mana into the desired spell.” The sound of everyone furiously scribbling in their notebooks fills the room.
Professor Mayner was a great speaker and he made the class engaged with the material he was teaching.
“To give a rather humorous example, if I were to say to a girl that liked me, ‘I have always loved you,’ the girl I said this to, you can bet that there will be some sort of reaction. The ‘incantation’, which was ‘I have always loved you’ triggers the response or the ‘spell’ from her, whether that is blushing, crying, a smile, etc.” The class roared with laughter at the metaphor, but I couldn’t help but wince.
/> “All in all, if the caster can control his consciousness to mold the mana into his desired spell, then incantations can be greatly shortened or they might not even need it at all! The reason Augmenters don’t need to focus so much on chanting is because the spells they use almost always directly involves them using their own body. Conjurers, on the other hand, have to cast much more precise and complicated spells, which require these incantations so that their spells don’t become totally different with a switch of a thought. That is why I said that if there was a world where everyone could read each others’ minds, that world would also have the greatest of magicians. Why? Because they would have absolute control over their thoughts.”
The class went on and while the Professor was a great lecturer, I wasn’t able to focus as my mind kept shifting back to Tessia and what she said before leaving.
Hiding my insecurities with my confidence…
Was that what I was doing? Am I using the fact that I was a lot better at magic than everyone else as an excuse to avoid confronting what I was actually bad at?
I was being a hypocrite. I was going on about how I shouldn’t see Tessia as anything more than a child but I was actually the one that needed to grow up. Getting stronger in my strong points couldn’t fill in my weak points, it just made them that much more apparent in comparison.
Tess is young. She’s also innocent, but that didn’t mean she was ignorant. Maybe I was the ignorant one.
“Class is over! Have a great night, students. I shall see you all tomorrow!”
Even as I was walking back to my dorm, my mind was all over the place, almost tripping over myself various times.
Fuck.
I changed directions to where the student council dorms were. Running as fast as my body would let me, I arrived at the building that was much fancier than my dorm hall was.
I’m here. How do I meet Tess? It’s not like I could just shout out and call for her…
‘Papa, Mama is over there.’ Sylvie points east with her paw and without questioning, I run in that direction.
“I’m telling you, I’m okay! Please, just let this go, Clive.” I hear Tessia’s voice in the courtyard near the fountain.
“No! How dare that brat, Arthur make you cry. I knew he would only cause trouble! His poor upbringing is definitely the cause. I can’t imagine why Director Goodsky even allowed that peasant in this prestigious academy, and as a Disciplinary Committee, no less!” I vaguely make out Clive’s thin frame as he was holding onto Tessia by her wrist.
Clive notices me approaching and his face contorts into a scowl. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here? You dare try and meet Princess Tessia after you’ve made her this unwell? If it were up to me, I’d kill you right now!”
Ignoring the thin, stern-looking Vice-President, I look at Tessia who turns away. “Tess, can I have some of your time?”
“You’re ignoring me?!” Clive roars as he lets go of Tessia’s wrist and grabs onto my shoulder, when I turn and face him.
“Piss off.” I couldn’t hold in the amount of irritation I felt from this brat and my situation with Tess wasn’t making it any better. Letting out a bit too much killing intent I force Clive to jump back where he trips over himself and falls on his back.
“Y-YOU! Wh-what…” Too flustered, Clive was unable to produce anything more coherent as my gaze never left him.
“Stop. It’s not worth causing a scene over.” Tessia gets in between Clive and I and takes my hand, leading me out of the courtyard.
As I try to keep up with Tessia’s quick steps, I almost trip, my injured body still unable to do anything more than walking.
“H-hold on Tess, we’re going too fast. I’m still hurt.” I say in between breaths.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Tessia looks back and I can tell she was trying her best to look angry.
We were in an alley between the Director’s office and the Student Council’s Dorm when we stopped. As Tess lets go of my hand, she takes a step back and waits for me to catch my breath.
“Well? What do you want?” Tess turns her head away as she pouts.
“…”
“Tess. What you said about me, you were right. I’m now realizing that this whole time, I’ve been avoiding confronting you about your feelings. I was afraid. Magic and fighting is so much simpler, you know? The more you train, the better you get and the better outcome you see. Love…love doesn’t work that way.” I look at Tess but her expression doesn’t change.
“I was making excuses when I said that we were too young. I’m sorry. I do like you, Tess. I really do. I missed you when I got back home. I thought of you often and wondered what you were doing at the moment. The things I said earlier, they probably hurt your feelings a lot, right?” I scratch my head as Sylvie jumps off and goes on top of Tessia.
“…”
“Yes, and I’m still mad you know.” Her face was still turned but I caught her taking a quick glance at my face as her arms were still crossed.
“I’m sorry for making excuses, but can I ask you to be patient with me? I’m really no good at this, and in this aspect, I’m probably a lot less mature than you are. Can you wait for me to catch up?” I take a step forward and move my head to try and get her to look at me.
“Tch… So you say, but I bet you’re just going to find some other girl in the meantime.” She retorts while avoiding my gaze.
“I won’t do that. I promise.”
“How do you know? How am I supposed to trust that you’re not going to go and fall for someone else if I give you more time? You don’t understand, Art. I may not seem like it but I’m really selfish. I don’t want to share you. I want you all to myself!” She whips her head to me, her eyes filled with tears.
“What if you…”
My childhood friend instantly stops talking as my lips cover hers. It felt different this time compared to when she kissed me. Maybe it was because I was the one that initiated it, but it was a lot more delicate. I felt her trembling lips tense in surprise at first but then loosen in content as the side of my nose gently touched hers.
Letting go of her waist, I distance myself from her as I feel my face becoming hot.
“This is about the limit of what I can do. Like I said…I hope you can wait for me just a bit longer. I promise I won’t run off.” I say while looking down. This was the first time in both lives where I initiated a kiss, and I sure in hell wasn’t confident if I did the right thing or not.
“…”
I take a peek up at Tess’s face and see her with a glossy look in her eyes as her middle and index fingers were against her lips.
“Tess?”
“Fine, just don’t make me wait too long or I’ll be the one to run off.” She snaps out of her daze and takes a step towards me, putting on an angry face.
“Deal.” I smile in relief from finally sorting things out with Tess when she suddenly lifts her head up and pecks me on my cheek.
“??”
Taken by surprise, I didn’t know what to say.
“That was for saving me in class last week.” She lets out a soft giggle; her eyes still red from crying. Without giving me a chance to respond, she runs off into the dorm building, leaving Sylvie and me alone in the alley.
Chapter 61: My Team
TESSIA ERALITH’S POV:
Arriving at my room, I jumped into bed, my hands covering my burning face.
“EEK!” I couldn’t help out soft shrieks of delight as I roll back and forth across my sheets.
“Hehehehehe…” Oh no. I was laughing like a pervert.
But…but Art finally kissed me. He kissed me!
“Heehee…” Not being able to calm down, I wrap myself in my blanket as I roll around. The image of him leaning forward to kiss me fills my head, forcing my lips to curl upwards. It felt different from when I kissed him. I couldn’t quite explain it but it was definitely a better feeling.
“I could get used to this…” I accidentally mutter aloud
as I softly rub my lips.
And when he put his arm around my waist and pulled me in to kiss me… “Kyaa!” I roll across my bed again in embarrassment as I feel shivers across my body.
I begin to imagine what our marriage will be like. I want it to be super pretty. I wonder how our kids will look like? Arthur is good looking and I’m not ugly either. It should be fine, right? But in order to get kids, we need to…
I can almost feel steam coming out my ears as I imagine it. I mean, I learned about how babies are born from my home tutor but…
Nonononono it’s too early! And besides… Arthur wanted me to give him some time. I wonder what he meant by that? Did he mean we were going to act like tonight never happened?
