Perhaps the first moment I felt the creeping shadows closing in was the first day back at classes. Adults, being adults, have practice at shielding their thoughts and emotions; we can smile and say nothing is wrong, and no one may be the wiser.
Teenagers, on the other hand, while they may not realize it, are nowhere near as practiced, and so while they may show up in class and talk about how nice the break was, I could read between the lines.
Tension. There was a palpable tension in the air. Kids who’d overheard things from their parents, small, little things that individually meant nothing more than a passing comment. But, being keyed into the threat of war that Scyla had told me of, I could suddenly see the full picture, a veil forcibly lifted from my eyes.
Or perhaps I was simply seeing things that weren’t there, paranoid of things that may not exist and never exist.
Just keep telling yourself that.
I took a relaxing breath, forcing a smile as kids streamed into my classroom.
“Welcome back.” I waited until the final kid sat down, examining the class. “I hope you all had a relaxing break.”
Several of the kids were smiling and nodding, but several expressions I noted stood out.
First, the duo responsible for nearly having me put to the metaphorical axe. Rias Aizenbern, and Leo Grucias. Both students seemed unable to meet my gaze, eyes staring holes into their desks.
I can’t say that I’m not at least a little bit pleased.
It was immature to take even a speck of satisfaction at their discomfort, but I wasn’t perfect. Their families had targeted me specifically, trying to find blood in the water. Had I been anyone else, the fallout would have left me disgraced and forced to quit in short order or simply be replaced.
So while I didn’t hold it personally against the kids, I could not deny the slight satisfaction.
Moving on.
Seated toward the back was Elios, who I noticed seemed to be fidgeting more than usual. His fingers seemed to continuously rub at his wrist, foot tapping with anxious energy.
I wonder?
I opened my mana sense as I examined the boy.
Or, I attempted to, but I was distracted as another kid in the class drew the full force of my physical and magical attention. Radiating with energy, Mona sat with her hands folded across the table, her hair shining with vitality in contrast with dark bags under her eyes as if she’d been sleeping little.
I’m not sure I even want to know how much time she’s dedicated to this.
For a completely vanilla mage, she was by far the most talented person I’d met, and that was only further reinforced as I examined her now. Since I’d last seen her, her ability to harness mana had grown; how it seemed drawn toward her like she were a source of gravity baffled me.
Shutting off my mana sense, I placed the palms of my hands down on my desk as I leaned across.
“Now that you’ve had your break, the rest of the quarter will be dedicated to preparing for exams. On one hand, because we’re basically the first official magic class, the tests are entirely of my creation.”
The kids began to grin, but I shut down their enthusiasm a second later.
“The bad side is that it’s entirely up to my discretion. Don’t think anything I’ve taught will be throw-aways; everything has value. That means the types of Kin magic, affinities, how mana interacts with the natural world, everything is fair game.”
I heard groans throughout the class as a smile began to spread across my face, my earlier worries easing from my shoulders.
This really is for me.
It was such a mundane, passing thought. Yet, I found myself profoundly struck, as if I’d stumbled upon some fundamental truth of the world.
This is for me. This is my calling.
It wasn’t as if it had never occurred to me that I enjoyed my profession. Still, it was perhaps the first time I’d digested that feeling and understood that it wasn’t just a fondness but something more, a real calling.
I wasn’t meant to be an adventurer. I wasn’t to be some sort of hero. I was meant to deal with kids who thought themselves adults and guide them to understand the world’s vastness and all that we did not comprehend.
Still smiling, I noticed a hand raising, Elios watching me with rather intense curiosity.
“Yes, Elios?”
“How do you know Zero?”
The boy was all but bouncing with excitement, a surprise I hadn’t expected.
Is he some sort of adventurer fanatic?
Elios had never come across as the type, but it also wasn’t something I couldn’t imagine either. For someone with such a strong moral compass as himself, the idea of folks who traveled the country killing monsters and saving people probably did seem exactly the sort of type he would idealize.
If only he really knew.
“That is a surprisingly long story. But, in short, you could say that it was from me that Zero first learned magic. At the time, though, I was only just getting started on my education.”
I saw several kids murmuring and whispering excitedly amongst one another. While they may not know much about ‘Zero’ himself, they would have still been on the younger side at the time ‘he’ was active, ‘Zero’ was still an adventurer who’d likely become quite the star, an enigmatic figure who’d vanished for years only to reappear and defeat a former seasoned Nizeium ranked adventurer in one of the most prolific duels that could be held.
Watching the kids with amusement, though not for the reasons they understood, for a moment, I saw an expression cross Mona’s face that I’d rarely seen.
She rolled her eyes, the same expression as when child me didn’t believe something my mother told me.
Odd. You’d think of all the things I’ve talked about, the idea of me helping a famous adventurer wouldn’t be that hard to believe.
Aside from the strange look from Mona, the only other two who seemed less than thrilled were Leo and Rias, both still averting their eyes as if ashamed of themselves.
Oh, lords above, time to put an axe to that, or this ‘tail-between-the-legs’ act will get old fast.
“Alright, no point beating around the bush.” I sighed, looking directly at the two kids. “Look, I won’t treat you all like children who are sheltered from hearing rumors or news. Leo, Rias, would you look up from your shame-fest momentarily?”
The two teenagers glanced at me; Rias looked as if she were ready to burst into tears.
“I won’t hold what transpired against you two. It doesn’t take a genius to realize it wasn’t you two who specifically tried to have a reputation hit placed upon me. Kids talk to their parents and their families. It just so happened that your families felt that they had to defend their honor. It is what it is; I’m still alive and kicking. Now, if you want to indulge in your self-flagellation, how about this. You can make it up by being extra studious leading up to exams. Does that sound like a fair trade?”
Rias, eyes slightly watering, nodded her head vigorously, a hopeful smile beginning to tug at her lips.
Leo, while not quite as emotionally moved, rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before nodding.
“Good, now that we have the elephant in the room taken care of, on to today’s lesson!”
“You aren’t going to ask us what we’ve been up to over break?” Mona blurted out, surprising me.
“Am I supposed to?”
“We.. uh-” Mona glanced around, realizing she’d spoken without intending to. “The other teachers do.”
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“Yes, and the other teachers probably care more about what a bunch of aristocratic kids were up to. I, personally, do not. So, unless the rest of the class wants to share?”
Mona hung her head, momentarily embarrassed when no one else spoke up.
Now wanting to make the girl feel bad, I spoke to what I knew had been her real goal of bringing the point up.
“Now, while I may not be all that interested in your individual vacations, rest at ease, those of you who were putting in time over break on working on yourselves, I can already tell.”
I winked at the class as several shifted. Most hadn’t had noticeable changes to them. Still, between the raw density of mana hanging around Mona and the way Elios fidgeted with his wrist, I could tell that those two at least had been hard at work.
“Now, onto the lesson. Today, we will discuss and interpret the rune iconography famously first discovered when adventurer Leonidas….”
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Finishing up with my lecture, I said my farewells as kids began to leave the room, now carrying sheets with questions regarding the history of a proclamation-era adventurer who’d been the first to rediscover runes left behind from the lost era. I hadn’t gone over the full truth, that the only reason the runes had been lost for a period was the explicit ban and destruction of any connection with the teachings and magic of the lost era. Didn’t want a bunch of kids connected to important people to start inquiring about things that could easily get the average person locked up.
They might be more lenient now, plus these are noble and rich kids, so I doubt they’d get the book thrown at them.
Still, it wasn’t worth the risk. Rather than explain how the early dogmatic ancestors of the kingdom of Haerasong had been responsible, I’d simply explained and taught the second half of the story, where Leonidas rediscovered runes within Haerasong. It had never become as widespread as it once had likely been, but at least the knowledge of runes hadn’t been lost forever.
The lesson wasn’t meant to directly increase their knowledge of magic. Rather, the history involved with the world of magic was often wise to learn lest one tread the footsteps of a doomed mage of the past.
Or in this case, understanding where something came from was often the trigger for further curiosity; learning about one thing could lead to learning about another.
Still lost in thought about my lesson plan, I realized that not every kid had left the class when I saw a figure stand up.
“Elios? I assume there is a specific reason you’re still here and not on your way to your next class?”
“Yeah.” The teen pointed toward his head. “That was you, wasn’t it?”
“What was me?”
“During the Honos Festum.” He gestured toward his wrist before he continued speaking. “I saw the fight. Zero, he used magic that I couldn’t wrap my head around. Perhaps if I never took this class, I wouldn’t have overthought it and assumed it was something only special mages could do. Still, I understand now that there are certain rules regarding magic. Kin, Wild, Inner, none of those magic types conformed with what I saw. I know you’ve mentioned that dragons with a lower-case D have magic that doesn’t follow the regular rules. Except humans can’t use that sort of magic, so unless Zero wasn’t human, that wouldn’t make sense either. So, that leaves what I do know. You were the one who introduced me to…” He waved at his wrist again before continuing. “So….”
“When did you come to this conclusion?” I asked the boy.
“Today, during class.” He answered. “When you were explaining this history behind Leonidas, it occurred to me that it seemed like you were skirting around something. The runes were purposely lost, and you didn’t want to get us curious about why. I bet others who read between the lines would have also realized that. Haerasong hasn’t been kind to magic for the longest after all. It made me realize that in a country where magic has been treated with scorn, it would make sense that a practitioner of lost magic would have an alias to use.”
I sighed, leaning back as I glanced up at the ceiling.
“I’d suggest you keep your theory to yourself,” I grumbled, seconds later sitting straight. “Just because Haerasong has recently become more welcoming toward magic, it doesn’t change hundreds and thousands of years of bloody history. That aside, come here quick, would you?”
The boy approached my desk, and standing there, I snatched his wrist faster than he could react, examining it.
“Well.” I whistled. “Not bad.”
It was faint, almost invisible to the naked eye. A barely perceptible band had begun to wrap around his wrist.
“Thanks.” The boy said as I released his wrist. He rubbed it for a moment before grinning. “It’s all thanks to you.”
“I’m just surprised you’ve done this as fast as you have.”
“It was easier than I anticipated. I think it’s because that mana suppressor makes moving mana feel like pushing a boulder up a giant hill. That same sensation, that sort of…. Weight, I guess? I used that to my advantage, like having an ox drag a plow through the soil rather than push it by hand; that extra heft made it possible.”
“Just be careful,” I warned.
“Why?”
“You’re combining two methods that normally don’t go together. Mana suppression was meant mostly to help your body adjust to the feeling of mana, to slow and stabilize. That mana, it builds, builds, builds, like a dam with a building reservoir. Great for adding that heft, as you call it, but consider that you’re manipulating mana to directly form a mana construct within your flesh and blood. The backlash of losing hold of a little mana like that can be rather painful. Lose control while you’re forcibly slowing it to a crawl; you’ll have a rather explosive fallout.”
“Explosive?” The boy’s eyebrows shot up in concern.
“Either it will physically rip its way out of your body, or option B, for a few minutes, you’ll feel on top of the world, with more mana than you have ever personally had access to at hand. Then when it inevitably fades, it will be like an unplugged sink, draining your strength reserves. At best, you find yourself a vegetable. At worst, you die as your life force drains out with the mana.”
A healthy dose of fear was clearly visible in his expression, the reaction I aimed for.
“Now that you know that, keep it in mind. This isn’t about rushing. Take a nice, steady approach to building it up, and you’ll be fine. Let it burst because you got impatient, and that’s curtains, at least until your body has adapted to the feeling of mana well enough that you no longer need the suppressor.”
“I will.” Elios vigorously nodded, turning around to jog out of the room.
“Oh, and Elios?”
“Yes?” The blonde boy turned back around as I called out to him.
“Keep our secret between just us two, okay?” I asked the boy, winking at him as I did.
A sly, knowing smile crossed his face as he nodded again, jogging off to whatever class he had next.
And that’s another person that knows.
It was beginning to trouble me how many people knew the connection between my current identity and my Zero alias, but it was bound to happen.
That’s right; I still need to ask Scyla for advice on that matter.
The thought of Scyla brought a mix of emotions to the forefront. Thoughts of Scyla herself were warm and comforting. Still, the news she’d brought me was suddenly thrust once more to the forefront of my attention.
Watch out.
Watch out. I was beginning to grow tired of those words.
If violence erupted and war did begin, how would it affect class? Would students turn on students? Would we be expected to pretend it was business as usual?
I heard a sudden knock at my slightly ajar door as if I were summoned by my thoughts.
“Hello?” I called out, turning to face the door.
A woman I didn’t recognize stepped into the room, arms folded over her chest with a slight nervous energy in how her fingers drummed along her biceps.
“Professor Koor?”
“That would be me,” I answered, curious who the woman was.
“I’ve come delivering a message.”
“And who might you be?”
“Oh, apologies. I’m Shia, one of the Director’s Assistants.”
“Oh, is everything alright?” I raised an eyebrow at the woman, surprised I was being relayed a message in such a roundabout fashion instead of being called to the Director’s office.
“Yes, well, that’s yet to be determined.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let me explain. You were originally meant to speak directly with the Director, but you suddenly disappeared shortly after break started.”
I nodded; I’d pretty much left as soon as I could after meeting with Dion. I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t gotten a hold of me before I’d left.
“She meant to inform you of this herself, but you’ll understand why I’m now informing you on her behalf.”
“Alright, enough beating around the bush,” I said. “What is it?”
“She wished to alert you that she would likely be going AWOL for some time.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I’m not certain myself.” The woman glanced around as if checking for anyone listening in. “This does not come from the Director, but my own opinion. She seemed…. Agitated, as if she was on the lookout for something.”
“You don’t have any idea as to why?”
“I do not. At best, she seemed stressed from the events surrounding the Honos Festum. Perhaps she was further looking into those involved.”
I frowned, trying to understand what I’d just been informed.
“Anything else?” I finally asked.
“No, that’s all. Have yourself a good day, Professor Koor.”
The woman left, leaving me scratching my head.
Now, what was the point of that?
And why specifically inform me?
The Honos Festum. She was still hung up on that.
As the Director, it was her job to ensure the operative abilities of the academy were maintained, so to find out that she was still investigating the details of the Honos Festum wasn’t surprising, so much as was the fact that she’d decided to take a vacation of sorts to continue her investigation.
Assuming that’s why.
There were simply too many things happening, too many things that had been dumped on me at such short notice that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it all, too many thoughts bouncing around in my mind.
As I often found myself doing lately, I sighed and sank into the chair, wishing I could disappear to a nice, non-monster-infested-or-ancient-ruins-filled, completely mundane island.
In a storybook, this would be where the hero finds the secret to stopping the oncoming tide.
I snorted at the thought.
Yeah, me, a hero. Sure.
If anybody was likely to be a hero, I could think of two others who were more fitting for such a role than me. Mona, the most talented and gifted mage I’d ever met, without using any lost magics, Kin magic, or anything that should have given her an extra edge. Just pure, raw talent.
Which was terrifying, but then I could think of worse, less deserving people of such talent.
Even more so than Mona, the one who impressed me the most was Elios. In contrast to Mona, Elios was perhaps one of the least talented individuals I’d met. It wasn’t that he was some sort of strange freak who couldn’t control mana or such.
He just really sucked at it.
And yet, he persevered, pushing himself with what must have been an extreme difficulty. Training with the mana suppressor, an over-tuned mana suppressor, should have felt like trying to push a boulder the size of an elephant up a mountain.
And yet he hadn’t quit. Hadn’t asked for an easier method. In a week, he’d already shown signs of developing his first sage ring, and it wasn’t from talent, as I’d already considered.
Pure, unfettering determination. The boy had it in spades, accompanied by a shockingly unwavering moral compass, a paragon of believed justice and refutation of what one would expect from a noble.
Hell, the boy even had golden locks and a blindingly bright smile.
While I had a boatload of negative thoughts and fears of the future threatening to consume me at any moment, those two gave me hope. Mona would become a queen who cast aside the shackles of thousands of years of backward and dogmatic thinking. Elios would become a champion of the people given time.
Lots of time, but he’d get there eventually; I was now certain of it.
And it’s only my first semester of teaching.
“First things first, though.” I chuckled as I grabbed a sheet of paper. “Before they’re off changing the world, they’ve got to get through exams.”