- Academy Courtyard -

“Well of course! I named that forest after myself!”

The old man calling himself the Headmaster stuck his chest out with pride.

“Shouldn't you already be buried underground then?” Elicia quipped.

Urie was still thinking while Celeste looked uninterested as this was the first she had heard of the name Arinndra.

Merea and Instructor Danny didn't have much of a reaction as they've already heard the Headmaster's boast a couple of times, disregarding as it seemed to be the ramblings of a senile old man.

Arinndra's Forest had existed for as long as the citizens of Daerin could remember. Claiming to have named it would mean that he would have lived for as long as the name had first been coined.

“Humph! This old man has lived far longer than anyone you know child! And will continue to live even after you've been buried yourself!” The headmaster crossed his arms and puffed out his chest while laughing.

Elicia had never seen anyone with such an unfounded show of conceit, this old man looked like he had one foot in the grave and yet, talked about living far longer than her.

Seeing Elicia's dismissive attitude, the headmaster leaned in closer. The smile on his face disappeared and his voice deepened,

“You need to show some respect little girl.” He scolded.

An oppressive atmosphere weighed down on the area as light emerged from the headmaster's body. Countless red strands snaked across the entire courtyard, stunning the surrounding people.

Merea postured to intervene but stopped herself as the red light soon began retracting back towards the old man's body.

“Such an aggressive display of mana.” Instructor Danny was the first one to speak.

The headmaster released an absurd amount of mana, different from how Urie's demonstration had ended up earlier, and he did it without setting the surroundings ablaze.

The little girl in the middle of the spectacle, Elicia, felt the full brunt of the oppression and plopped down on the ground. Merea knelt down beside her and held her up. She directed a glare towards the headmaster, who was shrugging his shoulders.

Urie, was standing at the side pondering. Initially, he just went along with the headmaster for the chance of earlier graduation. Since he could use magic, he was eager to head to the wall. Of course, only after persuading his mother.

However, after seeing the old man's show of force, a spark had been ignited within him. Remembering how people almost got hurt due to his carelessness, he wanted to learn how to control his mana with precision. It was the right decision to learn from the headmaster, he thought.

Urie turned his head to look at the red-haired girl beside him. He was grateful to her for stopping him. Although he didn't really know much about Celeste's situation or the kind of predicament she might have been in, his mother did instill in him the notion to always help a girl in need. He intended to do just that.

“I'll have to ask her about it some time and think about what I can do to help her.” He decided.

The headmaster, Arinndra, turned towards Urie and Celeste and gestured for them to follow him.

“Can't help it if she doesn't want to. Little boy, little girl, let's go.” He called.

“Wait—!” As the headmaster was leaving, Elicia cried out.

She gave her aunt a determined look, bid her farewell, and ran to catch up.

“Glad to have you with us, little girl.” The headmaster said with a smirk.

He led the three children a small distance away from the back of the academy, towards the banks of a lake encircling two adjacent mountains. Pointing towards three different spots, the headmaster gave instructions for each of them.

Currently, due to the thickness of Urie's mana roots, the rate at which they absorb mana and pour it towards his mana seed exceeds the rate at which his mana seed could digest it. Like running water through a sieve, The mana passes through his mana seed and exits just as fast.

The excess mana spilling out from his body was turning into the heat that he was displaying earlier. Urie's instructions were to practice holding back his absorption of mana, to be in a state of constant control.

Elicia on the other hand was too focused on control. As Merea had said to her once before, she had to spend more time building up her foundation.

Since she grew up watching Merea perform amazing feats with earth magic, Elicia was in a rush to do the same. She was instructed to spend some time concentrating on just mana circulation, to which she begrudgingly accepted.

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Celeste, to the headmaster's surprise, already knew what to do. Her problem was the same as Urie's, though instead of rising, the temperature would drop dramatically around her whenever she did mana circulation.

When the headmaster asked who it was that taught her how to regulate her mana, she told him it was Urie's father, Gideon, who was at the Wall.

“It was that boy Gideon!” The headmaster laughed. “It was me that taught him you know?”

Apparently, other than the three of them, the last student that Headmaster Arinndra took in was Gideon Loeth. He initially shifted the target of his pranks from Urie's mother, Rivelle, to Gideon after Merea started blocking his him.

He quickly lost interest in his pranks after seeing him fall for everything with a straight face. There wasn't even much of a reaction. Looking to amuse himself, he took Gideon in as a student.

A few hours passed with them following the headmaster's lessons. He occasionally disrupted the concentration of the three with a few pranks, such as throwing bugs that he had picked up in front of their faces. He even went swimming in the lake, catching a fish, and roasting it beside Urie.

When the Academy bell rang and signaled the end of class. Urie, Celeste, and Elicia were happy to escape from the headmaster and headed towards the main gate, where some of the parents of the students stood waiting for their children to come out.

Without saying goodbye, Elicia left with her aunt, Merea. Urie and Celeste both stayed at the gate and were met by Urie's mother, Rivelle, and Sacha. Behind them stood the two maids, Patty and Ersha.

“Look at you! Where did my father find such a cute girl!” Rivelle gushed.

Celeste had vacant eyes as she was currently locked within Rivelle's arms. Having experienced being hugged by Sacha multiple times, she got used to it and learned to just let it happen.

“Father! You know kidnapping is a crime right?”

Rivelle was looking at Sacha with suspicion as she cradled the girl.

“Wha—! How dare you assume that your father would deign to do such a thing as kidnapping! I already have my grandson, Urie!”

Sacha knelt down on the ground and placed his arms around Urie, the same way Rivelle was fawning on his adopted granddaughter.

“If not for my dear Urie...Then you WOULD resort to kidnapping—!”

Rivelle held her hand in front of her mouth, exaggerating a gasp. The surroundings were filled with laughter as the other parents watched their comical exchange.

Feeling embarrassed, Urie pleaded with the only two people that could help get them out of this situation. “Patty! Ersha! ”

Seeing them turn their heads to the side while maintaining their silence, however, he felt betrayed.

The father and daughter comedy act continued for a few more exchanges before they finally got tired of it and got on a carriage going home. On the ride back, Celeste moved from one side of the carriage to the other, showing great interest in the City's daytime aspects.

Even though the plan at first was for Celeste to spend some time at the Vinney residence with Sacha, the short carriage ride home was enough for Rivelle to grow attached. She insisted on Celeste staying with them at the Loeth residence. She also reasoned that since Celeste was a girl, Patty and Ersha would be more suited to watch over her rather than a lanky old man.

“Then me too—!” Sacha also wanted to stay at the house and threw a tantrum. He was briefly kicked out of the house by Rivelle.

“How cruel! My daughter is so cruel! Throwing his father away, after I raised her with so much love!” Sacha went home with a downcast expression, he was ignored.

“He finally left. “ Rivelle was looking through the window glass of the lounge room, making sure that Sacha was gone. “Ersha, go prepare some sweets for our new family member.” She instructed.

She sat down on the couch, taking a sip of the tea that Patty had brewed. Her son and Celeste, sitting in front of her, were both showing apprehensions as she had suddenly turned silent.

Placing her cup back on the table, she spoke with a serious tone and asked,

“Celeste, dear, is it alright for me to ask for your mother's name?”

“Stella... Stella Varethe...” Celeste felt compelled to answer.

“Hoh—? So her name is Stella.” Rivelle's eyes squinted at Celeste's answer and smiled.

Urie moved his lips and attempted to say something but Rivelle gestured for him to stay quiet.

“What about your father's name?” She continued.

“Papa...“ Celeste paused. She had unexpectedly started crying.

Seeing the young girl well up with tears, Rivelle was startled. She hurriedly went around the table and sat down next to Celeste, embracing her and caressing her head.

“I'm sorry, dear, what's wrong?” She asked.

“Papa... He—“

Celeste couldn't finish her sentences as she sniffled repeatedly while tears rolled down her face. Rivelle wiped her face with a towel that Patty had handed to her and continued caressing her head until she had calmed down.

Rivelle was concerned. She wondered what her father had done to make the child miserable.

“There there, dear. Why don't you tell mother Rivelle all about it? Did your father leave you and your mother? Tell me where he is and I'll give him a piece of my mind.”

She was getting angry at the man who's name she immediately assumed had started with the letter G and ended with -eon.

Urie had this nagging feeling that maybe his mother was making a huge misunderstanding.

He thought back to that night at the fountain, about the first time he had seen Celeste. She was also crying. Maybe she was shedding tears for the same reason as then.

“Mother, do you know of a family in the city with the name Varethe?”

He whispered in a quiet voice and inquired. Rivelle shook her head. There was nobody she could think of, the name sounded foreign to her.

“Umm...” Celeste called for their attention.

She had calmed down and was taking a deep breath, a soft but clear voice emerged from her parted lips.

Starting from a city constantly blanketed in darkness, she began telling them her story.