After obtaining the green robe and the school curriculum, Reeve and Eskaria returned to Rokkai's office. There were a couple of things they needed to get cleared up. The first thing was: what on earth was their magic affinity? Reeve thought it was earth, but what kind of earth magic produces black vines?
Then there was Eskaria. The crystal showed a purple color, which was not in the spectrum of colors described by Lady Kyrra. So, what the hell was her magic affinity?
As they went into the office, they found Rokkai smiling at them. It seemed as if he was waiting for them. "Good morning … eh … Eskaria and … eh … you?" said Rokkai, with an expression which betrayed that he was having a hard time remembering Reeve's name.
"Reeve."
"Yes, Reeve. How can I help the two of you? Oh, let me guess … your magic affinity?"
Reeve thought it was weird that Rokkai remembered Eskaria's name, which was even harder to remember than his. This brought about a considerable amount of suspicion. However, he tried his best not to show it. So, with an awkward cough, he replied, "As a matter of fact … yes. We were never told our magic affinities, so we have no clue which class we're supposed to be in."
"Well, you have an affinity to earth magic, therefore you'll be in the Earth class. As for Eskaria … her magic is … eh … complicated. None of the teachers here can teach her magic, however, there's one person who can. This person lives far away from here. If she's willing to learn, I can take h--"
"Eh? What do you mean none of the teachers here can teach me magic?" Eskaria asked, puzzled. What was so special about her magic, that it couldn't be cultivated in this institution?
"Like I said, your magic is complicated. I know a friend who can teach you magic, but he doesn't live anywhere near", Rokkai replied, taking a sip of tea, which was in a cup on his desk.
Eskaria and Reeve turned to look at each other, and for a moment, Reeve's suspicions grew. Well, who wouldn't be suspicious in this scenario?
"So, there's no chance of me learning magic?" Eskaria asked, as she looked down.
"Umm … there is. I just said it now, didn't I? My friend can teach you magic", replied Rokkai, with a sigh.
To Reeve, he sounded like one of those kidnappers who often try to cajole kids to get into the fake ice cream truck. No, it didn't help that he was the principal of a renowned institution. Reeve turned to look at Eskaria, and now that he thought about it, he didn't know why she wanted to study magic. He knew that Soren wanted to be strong enough to get revenge for his parents.
As for himself, he wanted to protect Bernice. He knew that he was strong, but martial arts had a limitation. As long as he was fighting multiple people, while trying to protect the small town, he would always be at a disadvantage. This was why he thought magic could come in handy. Of course, he turned out to be right …well, sort of. He had fought against the guy who could cause explosions by manipulating fire.
So, what about Eskaria? Why was she trying to learn magic? What did she hope to accomplish once she had learnt magic? All these questions needed answers, and Reeve realized that he had never asked. Right now, though, didn't seem to be a good time to ask. While shaking his head, he left the principal's office with Eskaria.
"There's a question I never got to ask. Why do you want to learn magic?" asked Reeve, when they were some distance away from the principal's office.
Eskaria stopped walking, before her brows creased. While playing with her fingers, he replied, "I … I don't have a reason…" As she said this, she blurred the last part of her sentence.
"Eh? So … you just followed me for no absolute reason? That's …" Reeve received a glare, which if he wasn't undead, would probably have killed him on the spot. It seemed as if what he had said was something he wasn't supposed to say, or rather … the way he said it was not funny. He rephrased, "Umm … okay … So, what do you want to do?"
Eskaria replied, after some time of thinking, "I … I want to study magic here too. I cannot just go to live with someone I do not know, and I cannot just return home either. So, I will stay with you and learn how to fight, just like Soren and Rizaneth…" as she said this, her complexion turned pink.
Reeve was quite surprised. They began walking again, and before they arrived at the class Reeve was supposed to get into, there was a loud explosion coming from a certain hall.
"Eh? Isn't that where Soren's class is?" asked Reeve, before walking towards the explosion. As he got nearer, the temperature suddenly dropped by multiple degrees, to the point where Reeve shivered. 'What's going on?' he thought.
Before he could take another step, layers of ice burst out from the hall, and Reeve had to duck to prevent his clothes from being lacerated. As he stood up, there was another explosion, and Soren was thrown out of the hall into the corridors. He was in a very sorry state. His clothes were shredded, he was bleeding with multiple cuts.
"Soren, are you okay?" Reeve rushed towards Soren. He realized that something was wrong. Soren's eyes had a fiery red glow, like the time he awakened! However, the different thing was, there were three black dots in his iris, and they were connected together.
A girl walked out from the hall. She had silver hair, long slender legs, and her eyes were glowing with a silver light. She was also wearing a green robe, just like Soren. Reeve noticed that her eyes had, just like Soren, three black dots connected together. The girl ignored Reeve, and raised the staff in her hands, before her cold voice echoed, "Ice Pillar!"