"Can anyone tell me what connects the mage world to the mageless world?" Professor Thaulmer asks.

There's a pause before almost everyone raises their hand. Professor Thaulmer points at a boy with light blue hair in the back of the class, He pushes his glasses up while standing to give his answer. He's the very same boy who threw ice magic around in Professor Bagu's class.

"Interplanear portals, of course." He answers confidently.

"That's correct, Zeke." Professor Thaulmer affirms.

Professor Thaulmer gives Zeke a gentle smile as her off white magic aura appears. There's a collective gasp as two huge blankets manifest above the class, and float as if on the surface of invisible water. One blanket is a vibrant crimson while the other is a pale grey hue.

"However... I'd like to demonstrate exactly what interplanear portals do." Professor Thaulmer says.

Zeke has a surprised look on his normally stoic face, but quickly adapts to give the professor an understanding nod. Professor Thaulmer's hand moves gently through the air like she's conducting a symphony, and the two floating blankets ripple. Michael stares wide eyed up at the fabric as the red blanket and grey blanket rip apart in roughly the same place.

"Interplanear portals are like the holes in these blankets." Professor Thaulmer explains.

She moves her fingers in a delicate manner whilst the blanket follows, and within seconds the two ripped portions of the blankets have been stitched together with golden thread. Professor Thaulmer smiles as everyone gives her demonstration their attention.

"To create an interplanear portal you must tear and stitch together two planes at the same time..." Professor Thaulmer starts.

There's a strange sound, and suddenly both blankets are ripped into thousands of tiny shreds all at once. The golden thread swims like an eel through the air, before both the thread and destroyed blankets vanish into nothingness.

"...Otherwise both planes will suffer from spatial backlash." Professor Thaulmer finishes.

The whole class looks a little pale as she gives them a serious frown. Michael surprises himself as he tentatively raises his hand up to ask a question. Professor Thaulmer furrows her brows as she gestures toward him, as if expecting an unnecessary question.

"How can we know about spatial backlash if both of our planes are intact?" Michael asks.

There are a couple chuckles of amusement from the students around Michael, albeit several of the more intelligent students get what he's saying right away. Professor Thaulmer frowns and narrows her eyes while staring at Michael.

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"Spatial backlash is an unproven theory, but it is taught as fact." Professor Thaulmer replies quietly.

Michael gulps, and he's certain sweat is beading on his back. Professor Thaulmer's eyes carry a dangerous glint that Michael has never witnessed. The tense moment passes as Professor Thaulmer creates a brilliant quilt above herself, wherein colorful blocks paint a picture for the entire class.

The small display before was nothing in the face of this majestic quilt. The artwork covering the quilt depicts mages wearing red floating through a huge crimson portal in the clouds, and an army of colorless people carrying torches and pitchforks to drive away the mages.

"Are the mages being taught propaganda..?"

Michael gives a sidelong glance to his two friends, and finds both of them frowning at the huge quilt Professor Thaulmer has constructed. Almost every other student has a neutral or inspired look on their face whilst viewing the professor's magic.

"The portals were created by our ancestors, the first mages." Professor Thaulmer continues.

There's a seriousness in her voice that wasn't present before, and her expression is one of righteous optimism as she recounts history of questionable repute to the class.

"They descended to the mageless plane to bring magic to the new world, but..." Professor Thaulmer pauses.

Michael feels all eyes turn to him for a moment, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as Professor Thaulmer's eyes turn to strange black diamonds. He turns to Scy with shaky breaths, and to his horror the boy is staring at him blankly with those same black eyes.

"What the fuck is happening?!"

The students are not students at this point. There is a horde of strange twisting black shapes, all gleaming like obsidian as non humanoid limbs twist and bend at sharp oblique angles. There's a deafening roaring that reminds Michael of thunder as they move toward him! The desks are shattered under their limbs and the light fades as he's surrounded by this suffocating nightmare-

~

"Michael?" Professor Thaulmer says softly.

Michael blinks sleep away as he looks up into Professor Thaulmer's worried face. He takes a quick look around the room and realizes he somehow dozed off in the middle of class despite getting a good night's sleep.

"I'm sorry... I didn't think I was that tired." Michael says haltingly.

"No, it's my fault. I thought you'd be able to handle that small touch, but I was wrong." Professor Thaulmer shakes her head apologetically.

Michael raises an eyebrow at the oddness of her statement before looking at Professor Thaulmer's outstretched hand. He can see her fingers resemble a dishrag in texture, and a black smudge stains the fabric on her thumb.

"My manifest can cause drowsiness on contact, but most mages your age can handle it." She clarifies gently.

Heat rises to Michael's cheeks as he realizes how embarrassing the situation is for him, and Professor Thaulmer clears her throat as she steps back up to the front of the class. The rest of class is spent creating a model of a portal using materials provided by Professor Thaulmer.

"You okay buddy?" Scy nudges Michael.

Michael glances over at Scy to see a mess of felt and staples. Jamie's project is a tidy model with some added decorations, while Michael hasn't even started on his.

"Just had a weird nightmare while I was asleep." Michael says with a sigh.

There's a loud ringing sound as the school bell signals the end of the class period, and the activities in the classroom all come to an abrupt halt. Several students bring their projects to Professor Thaulmer before hightailing it for the cafeteria.

"Hopefully dinner will take your mind off it!" Scy replies casually.