For the remainder of the lesson, I simply watched and it ended about half an hour later. Servil, Evergreen returned after a short time and both sat down next to me. I groaned silently, annoyed by the very fact that they decided it was a good idea to associate with me.

"You're pretty good," Evergreen said. "It's a shame Ivory doesn't have mage lesson with us," she added.

"Yeah," Servil said.

I stayed silent, trying not to get angry at them.

"Where did you learn to move like that?" Servil asked. "You were faster than my silver magic, I've never seen that."

When he asked that question I remembered the many, many days I spent training in Elvia's area, jumping from tree to tree, dodging branches that Elvia grew out and all that fun stuff. It had taken me years to move this well. And even though I had spent many years training I was still so much weaker than even just a simple instructor. I was certain that if she went serious on me I would have lost even if I had used the Power of Wrath, she may even be stronger than Ilaria.

"So, what about this magic mark? You didn't use it, did you?" Servil asked, pointing to the thorn-like black lines on my right hand that went up to my elbow.

"Thorn conjuration," I answered with a monotone voice.

"And this one?" Evergreen pointed to the spiralling lines that went up to my right leg.

She could only see it because my right trouser leg got shifted up a little without me noticing. I sighed quietly so that they couldn't hear.

'Oh honey, do your friends annoy you?' Ira asked jokingly.

'Friends? They're nothing more than nuisances,' I responded.

'Of course, honey, nuisances,' Ira said with a slightly more melodic voice than before.

I internally rolled my eyes, partially because of her words, mostly because she suddenly decided to call me honey again.

"Altair?" Evergreen asked.

"Oh, yeah... that one is warp magic," I said, disinterested in the situation.

"Warp magic?" both Evergreen and Servil asked at the same time, their voices sounding quite harmonic.

I rolled my eyes in a way where they wouldn't see.

"Teleportation, spatial relocation, whatever you want to call it," I said.

Both of them stared at me, their mouths agape.

"Teleportation? That's like, super rare," Servil said.

"Is it?" I asked, more out of formality than genuine interest.

"Yes!" Servil and Evergreen both said at the same time.

At that moment the wind began picking up again and the voices got louder. In the corner of my eye I could see the leaves on a tree moving a little, and within them sat a hooded figure, staring right at me. The problem was that I couldn't tell whether or not that person was actually real or not.

"What are you looking at?" Evergreen asked, looking at the tree as well.

"Nothing," I responded as the person disappeared.

Carried by the wind I could hear an almost unnoticeable distortion sound. I turned my head away from the tree. As I moved my head I could see figures appearing and disappearing in the corner of my eye. Every time one of them disappeared they were replaced by a leave, flying around freely in the wind or a small cloud of dust. I barely recognized most of them but those I did were all members of Acil's gang. I did my best to ignore them.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"By the way, how did you get your daggers?" Evergreen asked.

I was about to just say magic but then I realized that that wouldn't work in this world.

"I have my ways," I said.

Servil and Evergreen both raised an eyebrow but they couldn't continue asking questions since the teacher for the mage lessons came out of one of the doors to the side of the massive gate. He was a small, old-looking man with a long silver beard and a bald head. If I had to guess I'd say he was maybe one-sixty. His eyes were a dull brown and he had a scar going from his forehead, over his left eye and his upper lip. His long, white robe dragged across the floor. It was a similar design to what Elsa wore.

The man made me anxious. By the amount of mana, he released passively I could tell that he must have been around the same level as Lestul. I hated that so many people here were so much stronger than I was.

"Welcome class, my name is Dreifus, Dreifus Hinterbach, today will be a simple lesson, first I want everyone to demonstrate their magic, then I will test your mana pressure and then we will talk about the next steps," he said.

Dreifus? Hinterbach? What's with those names?

'Hinterbach? You need to kill that fucker!' Ira screamed in my head.

'What? Why?' I asked.

'Berul Hinterbach, grand hero of the order of heroes... the one that killed me. I vowed to destroy his entire family!' Ira said loudly. 'Let me out now, let me kill that fuck! All that share that name need to die! He killed my brothers and sisters! He killed me!' Ira yelled.

'Calm down,' feeling something pull on my limbs. 'First, off you should know that we can't beat him, he's too strong, or am I wrong about that? Could you beat him in my body?' I asked.

'N-No, fine, don't kill him then. But promise me one thing, destroy that entire family one day!' Ira said.

I nodded internally.

'I will, but for now, we need to play along and be good little members of the church...' I said as I got up from the ground and approached the rest of the, now much, much smaller group of volunteers.

Since when does she overreact this much?

'I can hear your thoughts!' Ira responded.

'So?'' I asked, internally raising an eyebrow.

I got no response to that.

I looked around, there were about five or so of us still here beside me and the other two currently arriving.

"Not that many this time around," Dreifus said to himself. "Well, I have a list here-" he pulled out a list from his overly long left sleeve, "let's take a look. First is, mister Duwal!" Dreifus said.

A man looking to be in his forties or so nodded and got up.

"Alright, just a simple demonstration please," Dreifus said.

The man nodded and walked over to a free space. His magic mark activated slowly across his entire body and he buried one hand in the ground with a simple punch. The earth then shook violently. Some people were falling over, only a few, including Dreifus, me and Evergreen managed to stand as if nothing was happening.

Dreifus made a mark on the document.

"Your earth magic is quite good, I could feel a good amount of mana travelling through the ground there," Dreifus said.

"Alright next, mister Servil!" Dreifus called out.

Servil go up from the ground and nodded. He walked over to the free area and activated his magic mark. I found the silver shine it had quite interesting. A silver swirl appeared around Servil's entire body and the dust was raised into the air, almost making Servil disappear. The silvery swirl then raised itself into the air even further and became longer and longer until it made an arch and crashed into the ground a few metres in front of Servil. For a few seconds, the ground shook and when the dust had settled there was a small crater.

Dreifus whistled.

"Impressive," he said as he nodded his head. "Alright, next is... Nariu... no Nara Signia."

A young-looking woman... no man, stood up. I didn't know how I could tell but I could. He had long, curly blond hair, deep blue eyes and looked almost exactly like the girl I rescued not too long ago from Pergament. He looked young, maybe around Servil's age if I had to guess wasn't here on the first day. He wore female clothing that looked quite expensive compared even to mine, which looked a lot better than that of most other volunteers.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Servil staring at him.

Nara walked to the free area and activated his magic mark. Shortly after an ethereal wolf began circling the young boy. It looked quite weak, if I had to guess I'd say that he only acquired his magic recently.

"Familiar magic, very good," Dreifus said.

The lesson went on and Dreifus called on everyone. There was a tall woman that could conjure water, a wolf-beastman that could manipulate the wind, a small man that could conjure and ethereal sword, a girl that could heal people, there was Evergreen who could create quite convincing illusions and then there was me, the last one to be called on.

"Next, mister Obe- Altair," Dreifus said.

I sighed and walked onto the open area.

"What shall we start with?" I asked.

"Whatever order is fine," Dreifus responded.

I could see a confused look on the faces of some volunteers.

"Alright then... let's do this," I said.