Raghnall was going to squeak out a complain when he saw little traces of magical particles near Ulima's eye. He squinted, trying to figure out why they were there.
Then, within a second of noticing the movement patterns of the magical particles, he immediately recognized the spell.
Illusion spell.
That's probably what he's using. Although he's not entirely sure if it is that, or maybe a spell that is a bit similar…
He needs to confirm it first…
But then again, why is he using such a spell?
Raghnall squinted as he stared intensely at Ulima's eye.
Is he… concealing his original face?
Or is he someone pretending to be Professor Ulima?
Meanwhile, Ulima felt so flustered with Raghnall's intense stare that he couldn't help but shy away from it.
But then, he felt a gentle caress on the side of his face that made him flinch greatly. He staggered back as he trembled in shock. With a hand pointing at Raghnall, and the other covering the spot that was caressed, he screamed with widened eyes.
"Y-you! W-why did you?! L-listen! I-i have n-no interest towards a m-man's c-caress!"
Raghnall's eyes squinted as he looked at Ulima in confusion. Then suddenly, as Ulima's words began to register in his head, he turned deep red in embarrassment.
"N-no! I d-didn't... I... Oh gosh… Uhm, I d-don't like… uhmm… I l-like women!"
Ulima's disbelieving glare made Raghnall realize that his actions must have lead to a deeper misunderstanding! So, with his mind in full panic mode, he tried to ease up the misunderstanding. But he got too flustered that his mouth and mind couldn't seem to cooperate with each other.
"Uhm, it's true. Seriously. I… uhhh… I just... Illusion… spell…"
The last two words that Raghnall mumbled made Ulima raise an eyebrow in shock, momentarily forgetting his earlier shock.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'illusion spell'?"
Raghnall breathed deeply as he tried to calm himself down in hopes he can speak a straight phrase.
"I was just.… wondering why… uhm… there were magical particles on your face… So uhhh… I… had to touch it to confirm for sure…"
Ulima looked at Raghnall in wonder as he grew more curious.
Hmmmmm….
He's able to see even these small magical particles?
Although it's one of the most basic skills of a magic user, most can only see the large particles that appears once the spell has been cast or when the spell isn't concealed or is unstable.
But the thing is, Ulima knew he concealed his spell very well. In fact, to make sure, he had to cast two spells. One is for the compression of the particles while the other is a spell that creates a magic limiting area near where his illusion spell was located so that he can minimize both the size and number of these magical particles.
Hence, no one in the faculty was even able to notice...
So, with great confidence, he can say that only those who trained intensely or someone who is at a finger's distance away from him would be able to see those small traces of those magical particles.
And, to be able to do that, he had to read tons of books and train himself for three years to even detect a single small magical particle.
And not only that, in order to guess a spell, one would need to look into the movements and patterns of a small number of particles. And that would require more training and immense memorizations of these movements or an expert's guidance. The things he didn't have the chance to have, hence his ability was limited.
But he really wanted such an ability!
It would be very helpful in battle and in running away!
Just imagine.… immediately recognizing the first spell of your opponent is a great advantage already!
Ughhhhh, he wants that ability so muchhhh!
But, he knew that to do such a feat, one would need a special eye. And from his knowledge, only those who trained under the Sage was able to successfully have this special eye through immense training. And those people are so few that they can be counted with a hand!
Just…. who is this boy?
Ulima was about to ask the question that's been bothering him when Raghnall spoke first.
"Uhm... Why is there a need for an illusion spell on your face? Are you really Professor Ulima? Or are you pretending to be him for some kind of ulterior motive?"
Raghnall stepped back as he prepared himself for confrontation.
If he was really an imposter, he has to end it in one go to check on Inna quickly. Only the heavens know what happened to her under the time the imposter was in the dorms.
Startled by the question and sudden murderous aura emitting from Raghnall, Ulima couldn't help but let out a huge laugh as he couldn't believe the ridiculousness of the situation.
One after another…
Ever since that brat came here, he's always had eventful days.
In fact, he can't even recall the number of times he's been shocked to his core and to think it's only been a few days.
And when his laugh had ended, he breathed deeply as he casted a nullification spell.
Then, he looked towards Raghnall while pointing at his eye.
"I was trying to hide this."
Raghnall's stiff body relaxed as he saw the spell being nullified but then, seeing the light purple ring around Ulima's eye, he couldn't help but release a snicker.
Ulima raised an eyebrow at his reaction.
"It is quite impolite to laugh at your elders, boy."
Raghnall apologize immediately after hearing Ulima's offended tone.
"Apologies, professor Ulima. It was just that… It is such a rare sight to see."
Ulima humphed as he crossed his arms. And with slight spite in his tone, he muttered under his breath.
"This is what happens when the academy lets in a barbarian inside."
Hearing those words, it suddenly dawned on him.
Is he referring to Ninny?
Oh right! He was supposed to heal Ulima as per her orders.
So it was her doing all along…
Well, at this point, he's no longer shocked…
Guess he's not the only one she bullied when she arrived.
With that thought, he tried to hide his laugh with a cough before speaking.
"Ummm... I was actually approached by that 'barbarian' to heal you."
Ulima's eyes widened in glee but he tried hard to keep a calm uninterested expression.
"Took you long enough. I thought that little runt was going to wait until my injuries actually heal before letting someone heal me."
Then, still trying to hide his happiness, he calmly opened the door wider and stepped to the side to allow Raghnall enough space to enter.
"Come in then… Let's start the healing immediately."
Raghnall stepped inside and he actually felt the gleefulness of Ulima in waves as the man cheerfully guided him to a chair in the living room.
When they were properly seated, Ulima clasped his hands together as he spoke.
"Why don't we start then? I'm quite curious whether you can actually heal this bruise or that she just sent you to try and test some healing spells on me."
Raghnall raised an eyebrow as he smirked.
"Well, although I've only known her for a short period of time, I can say for sure that she's not the type of person to scam people.…"
"But, I do know someone who's awfully good at it."