Strange Sorceries (Gen)

I clenched my hands a few times, as if checking that I still had my bodily functions.

Back then… He called me. Not just my name, but me. It was as if he took over my body, and willed it to do his bidding.

Even more so, my eyes were open. I saw Luna with my own eyes, and nothing came over me.

I wonder if he could do that again…

“Gen? Are you paying attention?” Kijo asked me. His eyes bored holes in me. I didn’t like those eyes. They were on the cusp of insanity.

“Nah, I was thinking about something.”

“We’re going over the map of the school. It might be a bit better to put those thoughts on hold. At, least, for now. Dust will meet up with us later. You can ask him then.”

“How did you…?”

“I know you better than anyone else. There’s a fine line between what you represent and what I represent. I was thinking along the same lines that you were.”

I looked over to the map.

(Plateau level map: https://imgur.com/l3k5Xr8)

(Valley and underground level map: https://imgur.com/5JFycvI)

“Alright, so are we just going back to the classroom?” I asked.

“Yeah, we gotta wait for Namet and Dust to join us… at least before we do anything special. And, we were told to go back to our homeroom at the introduction. Was I only one listening to that?” Shiro commented.

“I think you’re the only responsible one here, actually.” Angelica chuckled.

“Hey, good work can be traded in for lap pillows. If not for that, I’d be just as lazy as Kon.”

“Please don’t do that. We don’t need two degenerate personas.” Sei had a fake seriousness in his voice.

Eventually, we reached 1S, and we sat down at our marked seats. No teacher stood at the front of the room, even after Dust and Namet walked in, so we all went for doing our own thing, enjoying the peace.

Kon fell asleep, while I admired the scenery that I could see out the windows. There wasn’t a designated courtyard, per se, but the forest just past the training grounds was nice to look at, the light of the sun shining through the leaves. The others talked amongst themselves, small talk or things about designating roles.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Ah, it seems I’m the one who’s late. I didn’t think that you’d all come in so calmly.”

“To tell the truth, I was just about to leave,” Eru mentioned.

“Well then, it seems I’m actually just in time.” Achelois chuckled. “You may not know, but this would be your homeroom, at the moment, which means you probably won’t be taught in this room.”

A rumble was heard from outside, but since Achelois ignored it, I did the same.

“However, you will all probably be in the same classes, and you will mostly be taught by me. Anomalies normally wouldn’t even be put in this school, much less without proper supervision, so be glad you’re here at all.” Achelois seemed a bit threatening with that statement.

“So, what happens next?” Eru asked.

“Well, I suppose right about now everyone is about to go walk to their classes. This class might not get anyone, though, since the S classrooms are for the elite type of people.”

Eru raised his hand.

“You guys are exceptions.”

He slowly lowered it.

Then Sei raised a hand.

“Yes, Sei?”

“Are we going to be tested, though? I think it would be best to make us take the same test that the others are taking to get their classes.”

“But we’d rather not break the instruments, so instead we were going to test you tomorrow, so that we’d have time to make some extras in case you break them as you most likely will.” Achelois’s voice was dry.

“I see…” Sei trailed off. There was a silence for a few seconds.

“Is that all? There’s nothing really left to do today except wait for the students to get here, so you can just talk amongst eachother, I guess.” Achelois passed it off, sitting down.

“So, hey, Dust…?” I began, wondering how to put it into words.

“We’re wondering about your restraints. You controlled over Gen earlier, and it’d be quite helpful if you could try to do that again, to a lesser degree.” Kijo cut in, strolling over.

“Ah, that?” Dust seemed slightly entertained. He stood up, and pointed to two spots on the floor.

After a second, Kijo stood on the left spot, and I took the right one.

“Hold on a second…” Dust murmured, placing a hand on each of our heads.

I could see his mana spread from his back, like angelic wings that spread almost to two desks over.

He closed his eyes, and held his head down as he concentrated.

He looked up at us, and his body visibly strained, his muscles contracting and his hands clamping on our skulls. His eyes bored into us, and we found ourselves in front of the monster that Namet had faced off against. I felt only one thing running through my mind.

Fear.

“Kijo. Gen.” I felt it again. That tug on my body and soul. As if my mana was rebelling against me.

“Restrain yourselves.”

I felt mana rampage through me, and then a calm.

“And you should be good now. Although, that took several times the amount of mana I thought it would take.” Dust looked behind himself. Frost crystals drifted to the ground.

“Oh? Did you just use your mana for absorbing the heat energy in the air?” Achelois asked, suddenly appearing behind me. You’d think a skeleton would be noisy, but no, they actually have ninja-like stealth.

“Yeah. What about it?” Dust questioned.

“Well… I guess you’ll find out soon enough.” Achelois chuckled.

“GOD DAMN IT NOT ANOTHER THING WITHOUT CLOSURE!” Shiro lamented, having heard the conversation.

Kijo laughed.

“Thanks, Dust. That’s much better. Much more restrained. I can actually think quite well now.”

“No problem.” Dust smiled, and showed a victory sign.

“Alright, kids, sit down now. It seems that we’ll finally get to see our prodigies.” Achelois seemed amused.

Dust looked towards the doorway as he took his seat. To be honest, I was excited too. Perhaps the Empress would be in the group of prodigies?

I’m sure that I’ll find out quite soon, though.