"SHIT!"

A shout echoed through the room directly in front of Liam, the sheer vibrations reaching through the door. His hand came to a stop instantly on the doorknob. Blood pumped through his body, for some reason only now he became aware of it. The beating of his heart, so strong he could feel it in his neck, then in his ears. Thump. Thump.

THUMP.

This time, a loud thump came from the room. Liam physically jumped from this, the noise shaking him from his fear induced trance. More suspicious noises generated from the room. A crash. Pages from a book fluttering through the air. More shouts from a human-or perhaps more than one? The one who had shouted out his curse was assuredly a male, but Liam could've sworn he heard a female through the brown wooden door.

Slowly, he gripped the doorknob again with his hand, turning it and pushing it open. It creaked as the metal slid on the rusted hinges until Liam's eyes could eventually see through.

"Don't let it get out!" The man shouted again. Liam could see the body behind the voice, this time. He was tall adult, a few inches taller than Liam himself, with jet black hair. It was unnervingly straight and reached down to the middle of his back. He wore a long sleeved white dress-shirt and smooth black pants, although smooth might've described it in a previous description. The clothes were horribly wrinkled, with small but numerous stains littering them.

The female he had heard was more oddly dressed, wearing a large, black cloak with an oversized hood covering the majority of her face. He could spot faint gray locks sticking out of the shadow cast over her face, but before he could gain a full scan of the girl, something obscured his vision.

A large cloud of blue soared past the girl and headed straight for the door. Although describing it as a simple cloud wouldn't be entirely correct. He could see thin, sky blue lines moving about the gaseous substance. They were all completely straight, sometimes collecting together and making unusual geometric shapes Liam had never seen, but after another second they would quickly change trajectories and travel to another section of the cloud. In just a couple seconds it had reached the door he stood behind.

Without a single thought, his hand slammed the door shut.

The gas passed through the door easily, hurtling towards Liam on the other side. He could still hear shouting inside the room-but nearly all his sense were taken over by the blue cloud.

It pushed him back, almost attaching to him upon collision. It sounded like whirling winds. Deafening, as if the air itself was being sliced apart right next to his ears. His hands came up without his command and pushed back against the gas. He couldn't match its strength, however. It pushed on a level Liam couldn't understand, as if it seeped into him, or into his mind.

He could feel something click inside himself, trying to resist the invasion upon his being. Much to his relief, this only lasted a few seconds, as the girl he had saw before leapt towards him with a strange container.

She instantly scooped up the blue gas into a large container resembling a chalice. A familiar symbol was carved into the front of the container in black ink: a six pointed star. The girl slammed the lid onto the large chalice, leaving both her and Liam panting from the encounter.

"Well... That is certainly unlucky timing." The man spoke as he approached the doorway, which the girl and swung open before. Liam slowly looked up-his body having taken on an abnormal amount of exhaustion. The man had acquired a cigar at some point, slender and long. He lit it with a match before stuffing the burnt wood into his pocket.

"S-Sir, what do I do with this?" The girl next to Liam stood up, apparently far less exhausted than he was. The metal container she held was even larger than torso, yet she held it effortlessly, which was a sight that made him more confused than the entity that had just assaulted him.

"Just set it on the center table, I'll handle it later." He responded after take a long inhale of his cigar. A cloud of smoke rushed out from his lips, rising up to the ceiling and fanning out. The man stood to the side to allow the girl to pass before his eyes locked onto Liam's. "Come in, I'll get you some tea."

Liam panted, pushing up against his knees with his hands to attempt to look civilized.

"I'll take coffee if you've got some."

- -

"I apologize for the commotion." The man said as he arrived at the table with two cups atop small plates. He placed on in front of Liam and carried the other as he sat across from him. "You're not harmed, are you?" He inquired.

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"Oh no, no. It just really knocked the wind out of me... whatever that was." Liam responded, staring down at the black liquid in front of him. He slowly picked up the cup and sipped from it. Considering the condition the man in front of him was, he didn't quite have the heart to tell him he liked cream with his coffee.

The apartment was fairly sized, with two adjacent rooms on either side of the main one. In the center was a worn, brown couch made of a smooth material, with a low table directly in front of it. A fairly large T.V sat on a stand across from both of them. Liam could see the dust collected on it, although the cleanliness of the place was already apparent.

Books and foodstuffs were littered across the room. The small table had several short stacks covering every inch of it, as well as a couple sitting on the couch. Half-eaten pieces of bread or some fried substance was somewhere between the cushions, yet still visible from the outside.

However, Liam did find one aspect of the room very appealing to him. Behind the couch was a large bookshelf, which spanned the entire wall. Most likely hundreds of books stood on those shelves, not including the ones scattered about.

"You have good instincts." The man in front of him took a sip from his own cup. They sat at a small wooden table next to a window. There was enjoyable lightning in the room, both from a lamp above them and the sparse light which managed to pierce through the rain outside.

"Excuse me?" Liam asked, returning his attention back to the man. The comment seemed rather out of place to him. The man shook his head and raised a hand apologetically.

"Sorry, I thought out loud for a moment." He lowered the cup back to the saucer, now looking directly at Liam. "Allow me to make a proper introduction. I am Lord El-Melloi II." The Lord extended a hand out towards Liam.

"Liam Sinclair. Pleasure to meet you in person." Liam shook his hand. A smile snuck onto his face, finally glad that he was having something akin to a normal interaction.

"So. Your knowledge of magecraft is...?" The Lord asked, sitting back in his wooden chair.

"Absolutely zero."

"Well, that's not ideal." He replied with a laugh, placing his cigar back in his mouth. He inhaled, sucking air through the cigar and brightening the cinders which laid inside. The Lord spoke again once he exhaled the smoke.

"I'll start from ground zero. How is Religion and Science similar?"

Liam's eyes widened from the sudden question, wondering how the hell this would end up explaining magic. His lips pursed as he thought, lifting up his coffee for another sip.

"Both try to explain how the world works."

"Correct. And yet one sees the works of physics everywhere, while the miracles of religion are out of view and rare." The lord placed his elbows on the edge of the table, his chin resting on the back of his hands. "This is because the consciousness of humans choose science, which leads to only a single way of the world being. Magecraft is just the usage of different, unusual ways of producing phenomena."

The boy breathed slowly, as if to regulate the intake of information side by side with his breath. While he didn’t consider himself a bad student by any means, the current discussion quickly begun to stretch his brain to its limits.

"Like saying magic words to make fire?" He said after a few minutes in an attempt to tie it to something mundane.

"Also correct-but it's not so simple. The nature of science is to reveal, which is the antithesis of magecraft."

Liam's eyebrows scrunched together, feeling confusion starting to come up by the sudden turn. The Lord apparently had anticipated the reaction already and continued on quickly.

"The center of magecraft is Mystery. Take your fire example: science has discovered that, in order to make fire, you need oxygen, fuel, and heat. Almost all humans have been taught this and believe this, but because of that, there is no longer any Mystery in the creation of fire. No alternate paths."

The headache finally arrived with full force, causing Liam to take a gulp of his coffee. He looked down and noticed he was already halfway done. "But then how-"

"But, this Mystery can still survive, so long as belief is present in alternate paths, or even if suspicion lurks in humanity's mind." The Lord explained. "Hence, magecraft relies on Foundations, which typically take the form of religions or academic areas. Christianity, Witchcraft, even alchemy from the Middle Ages. Human belief in these structures strengthen them, and give mages methods of recreating Mysteries."

The door behind El-Melloi II swung open, from where a girl ran out. Looking down into the room, Liam could see an even larger bookshelves inside, taller than even the ones in this room.

He could also see the girl clearly now. Her hair was assuredly gray, wrapped up in a large bun inside her hood, yet she was almost certainly around eighteen, his age. She wore a black coat underneath the cloak along with a short, plaid skirt. Her eyes were a brighter green than Liam's, and currently, they morphed into an awfully concerned expression.

"Sir, you're going to be late for your meeting." The girl spoke as she walked towards the table. Her eyes met Liam's for a moment before quickly looking away. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you were..."

The Lord nodded and stood up. He swiped a large red coat from off the couch and slipped it on, turning towards the two of them.

"It's alright, Gray. Your timing was actually perfect." He spoke with the cigar in his mouth, pushing his arms through the sleeves. "This is Liam Sinclair. He'll be the assignment I told you about before."

Gray opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, as if someone had taken hold of her vocal chords. She let out a sigh and nodded-although Liam could have sworn he heard a "Yes" somewhere in there. El-Melloi II turned back towards Liam, speaking to him this time.

"Liam, this is Gray. She will be your guide and makeshift teacher for the next few days. She'll try and get you caught up for classes next week." The Lord explained, finally taking the cigar out of his mouth. Liam nodded and stood up from his seat.

"Alright. Thank you-I think it... somewhat makes sense." He managed, taking his time with his words. The man in front of him simply nodded, as if that was all he could manage, and then exited the room. Liam turned towards Gray, unsure what to do with the new silence. Fortunately, she looked just as uncomfortable, although he didn't really enjoy being comforted by that thought.

"I'll show you to your dorm," The girl said, breaking the silence.