The commoner boy’s mana was running wild. It was twisting in and upon itself as he lost control of it in his rage and frustration. If this went on, the man would eventually get corrupted. Not to mention, he was using it erratically. It was the optimum state for mana corruption.

Theodore growled as the boy started to form little balls of fire around himself. He quickly stepped forward, intending to get to the boy in a second and stop him from doing something irreversible. Before he could, however, there was a hand grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back.

“What the-” he turned around to find the Principal standing behind him, an unusually serious look in his eyes.

“Do not interfere.”

“What? Have you gone mad, Archmaster?” He pulled back and heard screams at the next moment. He turned around to see Evan throwing his small orbs of fire at Florian with a speed that the Laik surely would not be able to keep up with, even though he was doing surprisingly well with dodging them. Theodore could see those small fires barely grazing past him but they did not seem to touch him.

“Do you see that? Evan will kill him if he’s not stopped!” He said and once again stepped forward. But the hold the man had on him suddenly contained magic as well. Theodore found himself unable to move at all.

“What do you think you are doing?” He growled without turning back.

“I want to see where this goes.” The man said, without his usual, annoying cheery tone.

Theodore turned back at him, incredulous. “Are you a monster? This will only end in Florian getting injured or actually dying. There is no other outcome.”

“Don’t worry,” the man said as he finally removed his gaze from the fight and looked at Theodore. “I have put a shield on Emilio. That inconsequential fire won’t be able to touch him. But he … he doesn’t know that.”

Theodore frowned and looked back at the boy now running from Evan. Sure enough, as he concentrated, he saw a thin lining of mana all around the boy’s body. It was too soft and subtle to be seen unless you were truly focused, but it was there. It belonged to the Archmaster. Theodore relaxed just a smidgen. If the Archmaster put a shield around someone, even he would have to sweat quite a bit to break it.

“What about Evan? He’s going to get corrupted.”

“He won’t,” the man said confidently. “I will take care of it.”

He saw Evan use his mana to propel himself toward the boy, who rolled away just in time to avoid the fire coated punch meant for him.

“Emilio!” He heard the scream, which was drowned by the loud yells and screams around. He turned around and saw Balsea the fae trying to … punch at something invisible? He was banging his fists against what liked like an invisible barrier that rippled a bit every time someone touched it. He watched as that body and face distorted a few times. The fae was clearly trying to go back to his original form, but couldn’t for some reason.

“Is that your doing as well?” He asked the Archmaster, nodding towards where Balsea was.

Archmaster Loren took one look and nodded. “Ah, yes. I put a barrier around the students as well. They can’t get out of the barrier and those two boys can’t go in there. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, do we now?”

And interrupt, Theodore assumed. He rolled his eyes. Despite how lackluster and eccentric he looked, the man could really be meticulous when he wanted something. Theodore had yet to see the man be wrong about something.

So, he watched, as the man intended for him to.

Theodore was not sure what he was expecting, but it sure as hell was not Florian using the sword to deflect fire made of pure mana and do it using the moves Theodore had taught him only half an hour ago. The fire spread out across the sword just a bit, making the boy’s eyes burn like wildfire, before being thrown back to its owner.

He saw the fire wash over Evan but was not worried much. One could not be harmed by their own element. But he knew the boy was exhausting his mana rapidly. And as he saw the boy prepare a massive fireball above his head, he knew it was time to step in. The Archmaster must have known he was about to step in, because the hand was back on his shoulder.

He turned back and growled. “Archmaster, there has been enough of a show. Even if Emilio doesn’t get hurt. Evan will. I can’t just stand here and let it happen.”

He shook off the man’s hand, which was thankfully not enforced by mana. He used his mana to drive himself forward, hoping he wasn’t too late. He saw Emilio raise his hands in a pathetic attempt to shield himself. And then … the ground rumbled and shook beneath beneath him. He saw the earth around the boy getting torn apart but had no time to pay attention to that. He used the shaking ground to push himself forward, right in front of the commoner as he threw the fireball with a loud snarl.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Theodore threw his hand out, manifesting a bout of pure mana to block and disperse the fire. He felt a mild heat as the fire scatted and pittered out. He heard another growl and turned around to see Evan preparing another attack, even though he was almost out of mana. But then, the next moment, his eyes rolled back and he crumpled onto the ground, revealing the Archmaster who had his hand extended.

The man sighed and knelt down beside the boy. “Looks like the mana I used on him yesterday came in handy. He’s exhausted but his mana veins are fine. He just needs to learn to calm down.”

The Archmaster then turned his head to look at something behind Theodore.

“Magnificent,” the man whispered.

Theodore frowned and looked back. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the large wall made of roots in front of him, twice as tall as him and five times as wide. He looked down, seeing the tears in the Earth where the roots had ripped through and come out. So this was why the ground had been shaking.

Was this why the Archmaster did all this?

Did he know that there would be more aspects to this boy’s strange power?

Regardless of the reason, that was what happened. Right now, he had to make sure Emilio was alright. He quickly walked around the wall and found the boy on the ground, his hands clenching the grass beneath him so hard his knuckles turned white, as he look up at those roots with wide eyes, clearly out of his death and coming down from the high of a fight.

He knelt beside the boy and gently put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly

“Emilio? Are you alright?”

—

Emilio was startled out of his trance and looked up at the person who had just called him.

Duke Sullivan.

“Your Gra … I mean, Professor,” he corrected himself. “Yes … yes, I am fine. Just … tired.”

Now that the heat of the fight and the surprise of those roots coming up from the ground were fading away, he could feel his entire body trembling. He pressed on the ground with his hands and tried to stand. But his legs gave out from beneath him, and he was unable to gain his balance.

Emilio panted softly and tried to get up again. Before he could though, he felt an arm sliding under his knees and before he knew it, he was being picked up like a damsel in distress.

“What? Professor!” He exclaimed as he instinctively grabbed onto the man's shoulder. He flushed. "Professor, please let me down, I can walk!"

"Yes, I'm sure," the man said but didn't let him down. Emilio had a feeling that the man wanted badly to roll his eyes. He opened his mouth to protest but before he could, he heard another, frantic voice.

“Emilio, Emilio!”

He turned his head and found Balsea frantically running over to him.

“Emilio, what happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he said softly.

Balsea stepped up right in front of the Professor to block the way and frantically checked over him. Despite the way he was trembling, Emilio felt warm all over.

“I’m fine. Truly. Don’t worry.”

“You’re done?” The Professor asked. “Now, move. The boy is exhausted and needs Healers’ attention.”

Balsea glared at the man. Emilio cleared his throat. The fae looked back at him and he sent them a reassuring smile, making them sigh in exasperation. Balsea then seemed to remember something. They growled and turned around, starting to advance towards - Emilio glanced at his target - the Archmaster who now had an unconscious Evan levitating beside him.

Emilio’s hand snapped out and he grabbed Balsea’s arm. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to kill those fuckers!”

“Balsea!” Emilio called him, his voice sharp. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“They tried to hurt you!”

“They?” He asked, looking between Balsea and the Archmaster.

“That human Archmaster put a barrier up between you two and the rest of the students! It was disrupting my energy and I could not get out!”

Emilio frowned and then looked at the Archmaster. His eyes then turned to the Professor. He did not seem surprised in the least. Was this all … planned and orchestrated? A shiver ran through his spine.

The Professor sighed. “You were perfectly safe. There was a shield on you. You would not have gotten hurt.”

That was not the point.

He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling a pain building behind them. He gritted his teeth against it. He blinked them open and looked at Balsea, whose arm he was still grasping tightly.

“Balsea, calm down, okay? I am fine right now. I will deal with … all this later, alright? Don’t actually kill someone. Alright?”

Balsea was disturbingly quiet.

Emilio sighed and adopted the same scolding tone as when Jeremiah would plan or do something mischievous but would not want to admit it. “Balsea…”

“Fine! But this is the last time. If that guy tries to hurt you again, I’ll rip him apart!”

Emilio chuckled softly. “Come with me?”

Balsea sighed softly and nodded, stepping out of the way.

“Finally,” Professor Sullivan murmured, annoyance coating his voice.

He started walking towards where Emilio assumed the Healers’ Hub was. He once again closed his eyes, truly feeling the pain now that he was not distracted by Balsea. Bot his heart and head were pounding, and the throbbing pain behind his eyes traveled all over his head and down his neck. He felt a sort of bitterness in his throat.

His head rested against Theodore Sullivan’s shoulder and a soft, resigned sigh left him. He felt the steady bounce of the man walking with him in his arms. Before he knew it, his exhausted mind slipped into a deep sleep before they ever stepped into the Hub.