As the minutes ticked by, Mirai took pen to paper and kept writing. The morning was still fresh when a gentle breeze happened to blow into her room from the open balcony doors. Meanwhile, a steaming cup of coffee sat on a coaster near the edge of her desk, waiting to be picked up again. When it was raised to her lips, the blue-eyed maiden paused. Lifting her notebook, she went over her latest set of notes, in which she had written the process of the latest spell that had caught her interest.
Placing her cup back down on its coaster, she let her pen roll onto the desk, allowing her notes to be unobstructed. Though there was hardly a need to look over it. The notes had been compiled three times before being put into writing with a detailed sketch accompanying each step in the spell’s forging process.
All of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. With a sigh, Mirai put her notebook down and got up. Withdrawing what little energy remained in the runes overnight, she cracked it open and caught a glance of midnight black locks of hair. Losing all hesitation, she swung the door open.
“Mother,” she nodded, meeting the woman’s eyes. “What brings you here at this hour?”
“Is it wrong for me to see my daughter off on her first day of school?” She asked in return, her voice taking on a taunting tone.
“Yes,” the young girl answered before her mother could continue her snarky line of thought.
Gritting her teeth, Nikki leaned on the doorframe. “And why is that?”
“You interrupted my research and have your own job as the Divine Grandmaster to attend to.” The straight-faced girl replied, her gaze unwavering. “Mind you, that does not count your reintroduction to being an Elite Healer nor your step-children.”
“Snarky little thing,” the mother muttered.
“I get that from you.” The daughter replied automatically.
“Of course you do. Couldn’t have ever been your father. He was too polite to even insult his enemies.” She waved the retort off before stepping inside. “Now, let’s get down to business.”
Striding into the small dorm room, the woman plopped her bag down at the foot of the bed. When her mother had motioned toward the bed, Mirai dusted off her pants and sat down. Then, the young girl unbuttoned her shirt down until her bosom was revealed.
Kneeling down, Nikki removed her daughter’s necklace and dropped it into her bag. “You won’t be needing that anymore,” she whispered. Moving on, she set her hand around the girl’s neck and applied pressure on the side. After that, she rested her hand on top of her head and let a rush of energy flow through. A few minutes later and Nikki pulled her hand away. “You appear to be healthy and your concussion from yesterday’s training has gone away. The only thing you have to worry about is keeping up appearances, but I doubt that’ll even be a challenge for you. Hell, a transfigured rock is more expressive than you are.”
“Nothing I have yet to hear,” Mirai responded while buttoning up her blouse. “But why did you take away the amulet?” She asked, her head tilted to the left.
“Well, it’s for hiding spell and mana signatures. So, since I don’t want you running around with two fewer ways of tracking you, it’s my best option.” She said, looking directly into the sapphire eyes of her daughter which mirrored her own. “Plus, I have to hand this back to our old man. Maybe this time we’ll actually go one visit without insulting me.”
“Speaking of which,” Miri mumbled with her head inclining downward. Then, looking at her mother, she made eye contact but quickly averted it once more to roll up her sleeve, revealing her silver bracelet. “Mother, is this real?”
Gazing over the accessory, the woman reached for it, only for a bolt of energy to zap her. “Yep. Have fun with that responsibility,” she chuckled. “Glad the old man is finally getting ready to kick the bucket.”
“This is not a laughing matter,” the young girl said.
“Well, if it helps, I know you’ll do a fine job,” the woman sobered up immediately and flashed a smile toward her daughter.
“Just fine?” She repeated with a raised eyebrow. Lowering the brow, she brought her gaze down and muttered, “I have gone through enough. I do not need whatever family drama is coming.”
“Suck it up, it could be worse.” The older woman bit back before picking up her bag. “Now, have a nice day and don’t end up in the infirmary.”
“No promises, mother.” She replied, her gaze lifting with the lighthearted send-off.
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Five more minutes. That was all Mirai could think. Thoughts about spells or even her family slipped away like a leaf in a breeze. No one could blame her though.
For the past fifteen minutes, she had been waiting for her teacher. She had only arrived ten minutes before class would begin. Yet five other students had arrived before her by that time. Not that it particularly mattered to be the first student in the class.
What did matter to her? The teacher being ready to begin the class.
If that had yet to annoy her, then the other students certainly had begun to get on her nerves. At first, the early five were solitary and spoke in whispers. Then, three more students strolled in side-by-side, gossiping about something that the blue-eyed girl was not in earshot to hear.
That still was good though. Yet, once the bell rang, a rampage of students came rushing into the class. Eight students. Eight whole students were late to class. One of them even forgot their supplies!
At the very least, none of those eight had sat down next to Mirai. In fact, all of them had left her alone and sat together on the other side of the class. All that had left her closer to the door, but out of earshot of all the conversations. So, she resorted to taking out one of her spellbooks and reading up another spell she could start learning.
“Sorry that I’m late!”
Finally!
Stumbling into the classroom—although a lecture hall was a more apt description—a scruffy man carrying large rolls of paper dropped all of his stuff on the lectern in front. Dusting himself off, he straightened his coat and brushed a hand through his scraggly mess of hair.
“Hello, class.” Everyone continued to talk over him. “This is going to be a long year,” he grumbled as his head lowered.
Letting the chatter continue for a moment, the man took three deep breaths. Meanwhile, Mirai slipped her book back into her bag. With her left hand clenched under the table, she eyed her new teacher with a spark of anger and a flicker of excitement.
“Settle down!” He shouted, shutting up every conversation, no matter where it was at. “Good, I have your attention,” he mumbled while moving in front of his lectern. “I know it’s only the first day, but I expect you all to be on your best behavior. This is a Magic Theorem class, so you all need to pay attention or something will blow up.”
Letting that message sink in, he flicked his hand toward the board behind him. By some form of spellwork, three pieces of chalk began writing on the board until the message “Scott Gnosis, General practitioner of magic” was on the board.
“If you brats can’t figure it out, I’m your Magic Theorem instructor.” He continued with eyes darting across every student. “I know some of you are ahead of the others, but just bear with me, otherwise you’ll fail this class and I’ll have to deal with you for another year.”
Hearing someone gulp at that comment, a few students glanced at that person. Thankfully, the instructor seemed to ignore it.
“Since I have you troublemakers for three days a week, let’s get this schedule straight.” He flicked his wrist again, this time, causing the pieces of chalk to write a separate schedule. “I’ll only say this once, so listen up!” He shouted once the chalk had dropped to the base of the large board. “On Monday, we’ll start going over a new spell, regardless of how far you got with the last one. On Wednesday, you brats will use one of the general training areas to practice your spells. Then, you’ll be tested on Friday. So remember to study up on what your spells do and make sure you practice. Any questions?”
Before anyone could even dare to raise his or her hand, the scruffy man glared at all of them. The glare held so much heat that a few of the early students had flinched while the tardy ones turned away.
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Nevertheless, Mirai dared to raise her hand.
Spotting the tan hand of the young lady, Scott held back to urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he merely drawled out, “What is it, Miss Senshin?”
Lowering her hand, the blue-eyed girl asked, “That schedule seems a bit awkward, does it not? It would only allow us to learn about thirty-four spells or thirty-six if we count exam weeks.”
Mumbling something under his breath, the instructor shoved his hands into his coat. “Excellent point,” he commented rather loudly. “It would, but I’m only required to teach you brats twenty spells. If you want to learn more, you’ll have to get someone to tutor you. I don’t care who it is, but you’re on their schedule.”
Seeing the girl nod, he turned to the rest of the class. Only one other person had dared to raise their hand; a brunette girl sitting within the group of early students.
Without being called upon, the young woman asked her question. “Sir, why is this class so small? I believe I counted around fifty students being placed into Crestworth Academy among the five hundred at the ceremony.” During her last few words, she shot a glance toward Mirai, though the blue-eyed girl did not notice it.
“Right, right,” Gnosis waved his hand dismissively. “The logic is beyond me, but the staff separated the classes for the first week. They’ll put them all together next week, but it’s something about clubs and school teams.”
Dissatisfied by the man’s answer, the brunette was about to inquire further, but the instructor moved on before she could.
“If that’s all, you all have the rest of the class free,” he announced, causing some rather spaced-out students to snap back to reality. “But I want all of you to read up on the Bang spell. It should be simple enough for all of you to figure it out.”
Nearly smiling at the assignment, Mirai glanced around the room. Already, she could see three students grumbling about homework on the first day. Though, five others were reading up on the assigned spell without a minute to spare.
Ignoring them, she set her bag on her lap and fished out a textbook. Without hesitation, she brushed her hands along all the bookmarks she had stuck in it already. In total, there were eleven of them. Two blue ones for the spells she had learned, three green ones for the spells she had finished taking notes on, one yellow one for the spell she was currently reading about, and the last five were white for the spells she wanted to start learning.
Tugging on the first blue marker, she flipped her book open to the first spell, Bang. Sighing, she began to skim over the text.
Meanwhile, the tardy group of students gazed around them. With a scowl, they all dismissed their peers who had decided to get the work down early. All except one. Yes, they were eyeing Mirai Senshin. Not for her rack or choice to wear pants. Not even for the fact that she was sitting all on her lonesome.
They were staring at her because she was the daughter of two grandmasters. Not just one! But two grandmasters!
So, being the reasonable people that they were, all of them sniggered and walked over to her. Although, she just kept reading. She ignored all of the eight students that had decided to use their precious time on her.
“Hey, Senshin! Can’t ya tell you got people all around you?” One of the boys shouted, leaning toward her ear. She kept reading. “Come on! You stupid catalysts are supposed to listen to your superiors!” He shouted, only to be flung into the wall.
Frantically, the boy glanced around the room, trying to find whoever did that. Finally, his eyes landed on Mirai, who looked at him with a distant, bored expression.
“Brat, don’t start fighting here. My headache’s bad enough as is,” the teacher barked, flicking his wrist to drop whatever grasp he had on the student.
Scrambling up to his feet, the boy quickly realized that his groupies were no help in the face of the scruffy man, no matter how much like a hobo he looked. “Fine,” he grumbled out.
“Good. Now be quiet!” Scott shouted across the classroom, before grabbing a chair. Once he slumped down in it, he laid his head back and closed his eyes.
“For your information,” Mirai spoke up, garnering the entire group’s attention. “My status has been that of a Tuner; one who was changed to use magic. Unbeknownst to people such as yourself, a Tuner is of higher rank than an Attuned in the eyes of Magic. After all, Lady Hecate has little favor for those born with her gifts. She prefers those she has given her gift to.”
“So what?” The same hotheaded boy from earlier asked. “I’m still stronger than you! It doesn’t matter what stupid rank you pull!”
Raising her head to pick out the boy from the small crowd, the blue-eyed girl was tempted to draw upon her magic. Fighting that temptation, she merely made eye contact with him. “Then allow me to bring our respective ranks out of this matter. That leaves us with raw strength, accumulated skill, built connections, and acquired knowledge. If my mind serves me correctly, I have secured two of those categories already. So, please, indulge me with your taunts again.”
Gritting his teeth, the hotheaded student stomped his right foot forward and slammed his fist. “I don’t care about all that crap! All that matters is that you’re no better than a catalyst and will work for me!” He spouted, nearly spraying the young lady’s face with saliva.
“What makes you even conceive that notion?” She asked, undeterred by a little spit. “Even if you had somehow managed to make me work under you, I would be best suited as a healer, which would mirror your potential. Does a healer working under another healer seem anything but redundant?”
Face marred with pure rage, the boy shouted, “Whatever!” With that mature response, he stormed off back to his seat next to the window.
“I suggest you all head back too,” Mirai said to the remaining groupies around her table. “You all have much better things you could be doing than trying to intimidate me. I have been told a transfigured rock is more emotional than I am. Although I can change that notion if you wish. There is always more practice to be had with my spellwork.”
Heeding the oddly-constructed warning, the group shuffled back over to the seats they had claimed earlier. Now that she was effectively alone in her corner of the room, Mirai received a few heated glares from the students. Nevertheless, they wasted their time and she began looking over the spells she had bookmarked with a yellow tab.
“Kids never damn listen,” grumbled a scruffy man in the corner.
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By the time the class was nearing its end, most of the students had packed up his or her belongings. Now, most of the teenagers were chatting away or staring at the clock. Though that only seemed to make time pass slower.
Nevertheless, a few decided to pass the time with an awfully poorly planned idea.
Getting up, three students sauntered over to the door and leaned against it. Turning to the left, they say the focused gaze of Mirai, who was still absorbing the information from her textbook. Rather than watch the gross sight for a few more minutes, one of the three stepped up and slammed his hands down on the table.
“Mirai Senshin, I, Menelaus Maes, challenge you to a duel!” He shouted, only for her to turn the page of her book. Then, she carefully removed one of her yellow bookmarks and stuck it to the open page. Closing her text, she brought her gaze upward, taking note of the sweatshirt the boy was wearing and the infuriated glare sent her way.
“On what grounds and terms?” She asked, her eyes scanning the boy’s face. From his slightly chubby cheeks to the fade he had poorly attempted to pull off, leaving him with a mix-matched appearance between lazy student and a teenager trying to be cool.
“On the grounds that you have ignored and embarrassed me!” He exclaimed, unknowingly spitting in his rage.
Taking a second to wipe off the drop of slobber on her cheek, Mirai retorted with, “I was not the one to embarrass you. You embarrassed yourself while trying to get my attention.”
“Why you…”
“Now, what are the terms?” She interrupted his growl.
“The loser must do whatever the winner says for the rest of the year!”
“I decline.”
“What?” He asked with all his anger drained out of his voice. All that was left was his shock.
“I decline your challenge.” She repeated, staring up into his oval-ish brown eyes. “If you must know, I find your terms unfavorable and on the side of illegal in a duel between two students.”
Banging his hands on the table, he shouted, “You can’t do that! Don’t you care about your family’s pride? Your mom’s? Dad’s? Your’s?”
“Pride has no weight when it comes to dueling. It is a fool’s tool, nothing more.” She responded in the same composed manner she had been using for the last few minutes. “Now, I must get ready for my next class.” She said with a dismissive wave of her hand before she began putting away her book and getting up to leave.
“Why you…”
Ignoring the growl of the boy, Mirai glanced toward the clock. Right at that moment, the bell rang, what a coincidence, right? Nevertheless, she slung her bag on her shoulder and strode out of the room with a wave to her instructor. Although he was soundly asleep, she kept going and brushed past the two boys leaning next to the door.
Perturbed by her reaction, the two boys ran after her, followed by Menelaus. Barely two steps out the door, they all shouted, “Stop!”
Not even bothering to turn around, Mirai stopped her stride. “How may I help you?” She asked, her tone lifted with just a small dash of sincerity.
“Don’t think for a second that being related to two grandmasters makes you cool!” Menelaus exclaimed, pointing at her despite her back being turned to him.
“I had completely forgotten about that,” she drawled out. “Please, give me a moment to spout that out every chance I get.”
“See! She is a pompous little brat!” The brunette shouted, a cheeky grin spreading across his lips.
“Clearly, sarcasm is lost on you simpletons,” she muttered to herself. Lacking the patience to deal with the boy any further, Mirai began striding down the hall.
“Ha! I bet she’s going to go cry to her mommy and daddy!”
With a sigh, she ignored the ignorant fool bellowing out false statements and entered the neighboring classroom. Upon entering, her eyes landed on a woman leaning on the chalkboard. Recognizing the woman’s shawl and white robes, Mirai knew this was her next professor.
“It seems trouble follows you everywhere,” the woman stated.
“Thank you for that astute observation, Healer Amsing. I was completely unaware that my form, responsibilities, and my bumbling peers were any trouble.”
“Oh, shut it, you. You can always just teach those little troublemakers what makes you so special.”
“I will keep that in mind.”