Michael was back to his room and after feeding Dominic, he went to meet the head teacher for teaching basic magic knowledge. Prof. Asmodeus was another old one like Carson who had been in the academy for a long time. He was the one who managed the timings for various classes, allocated rooms and made sure teachers and students were in proper attendance.
Though, he was a magician, he never taught magic. He mostly taught students only one elective which was chosen by a very small populace that he was the only teacher for it. All other subjects like even basics of summoning had multiple teachers teaching the same curriculum in different classrooms simultaneously as the student number was very large. Asmodeus' subject was called SAP - Society, administrative affairs and politics.
There were other classes in the academy that didn't concentrate on magic like physic, chemistry, biology, mathematics, physical combat, history, metal processing, etc. but these were all considered mandatory for every student. A certain amount of knowledge in these is considered a prerequisite for learning magic. SAP was different as it was completely voluntary. So, it was avoided by most students to lessen their burden. Asmodeus style of teaching was also one of the reasons. He always gave examples from their history and expected the students to remember them, which was hard. He also had an exceptionally good memory and was often considered the best one to settle disputes when it involved remembering past events. Only, a few took it as they were mostly forced by their parents. It would be a shock to the whole academy if his class's strength ever exceeded fifty.
Despite teaching a subject like that and being the manager of all teacher, Asmodeus was one of the most jovial and fun-loving teachers in the campus. He just took teaching and evaluation too seriously which made the other teachers dread him. Not only was he extremely strict in evaluating his own class, but also took to evaluating other teachers' classes occasionally.
"Hi Prof. Asmodeus," greeted Michael as he entered his classroom. Asmodeus usually managed the teacher and students from. Having taken his class before, Michael was very well aware of Asmodeus' habits and behavior.
"Another one comes to become a professor. I hope you do better than Daniella," said Asmodeus as he gave him his time sheet. "Two hours per day. One for a class," he said putting two fingers up.
"Daniella joined as a prof. The crazy girl of my batch?" asked Michael surprised that she was also recruited as a professor.
"Though times, kid," said Asmodeus. "Don't let her hear you. She is still as aggressive as she was twenty years ago," he whispered in Michael's ear.
"She punched someone yet," joked Michael.
"Yes, a student," said Asmodeus shaking his head regretfully. "She is still one of the best elemental magicians there is. She is currently under Prof. Seinhearst as an assistant and being used for dueling practice for specialization students under his supervision."
"Oh! Same as always then. I will try to keep away from her," said Michael as he checked the timetable. "Do you know in which class, Lucy Walker is in?"
"Derek's daughter?" asked Asmodeus, but his face had an expression as if he had expected this. "She is in class 3. You teach her tomorrow at 11 a.m. For some reason, Falcone insisted that you would be the one teaching her. Your son is in the same class."
"Oh, thanks," said Michael with a smile, glad that he could keep an eye on her and be in contact with her frequently. He also made a mental note to thank Falcone for putting his son in his class.
He went back to his room and decided to spend some time with Dominic. He found Dominic to be a lot active than Alex and he also had a different personality than most kids he observed. As a doctor in a village, a number of children were brought to him and he came to know them.
So, he had a good number of children to compare his own with. He always found Alex to be the same, playful and a bit rebellious. He had no qualms against him, but Dominic was quite different. Dominic had learnt to speak when he was one and he also learned to read from Alex without proper teaching. He always spent time reading books and didn't care much about playing with other children.
Dom was fine and didn't even ask for food as long as he had a few books and his bear doll. So, he asked others in the village and always spent time with Dominic and tried to make him play more with Alex. But Dominic did neither and preferred to learn new things unlike any child he had ever seen.
So, he decided to let him be at the hospital of the academy. There is a nursery at the academy where children of the staff when brought to the campus were usually taken care of. Falcone had already agreed to him leaving Dominic there every day as long as he required. Apparently, there were other professors who had similar issues. Michael also told him that he intended to leave Dominic there for extended periods of time so that he would play with other children his age.
The hospital was on the west side of the building close to the quarters of the new students. It was a white building to the left of the entrance of the main building. It was three floors tall and Michael went into the nursery. Seeing the toys in the room, Dom scrambled towards it not caring much for Michael.
"Wow! He totally forgot about me," said Michael as he watched Dom play around for about half hour.
"It is usually like that the first time. All the toys make them forget," said the nurse who was looking after the kids. "They will lose their interest after some time. Then, it becomes hard for us to handle. I hope you will take your kid before that," she smiled.
"Oh! I planning to leave him here daily. He is going to be here for quite some time. He is going to be a regular," said Michael.
"Oh! Another one. We didn't have this problem before the attack," said the nurse shaking her head. "Don't worry. We got used to it. Even the head doctor's kid is here."
"Haha, it would only be for a few years. They would grow up soon enough," said Michael as he left Dominic in her care and left for the day. He spent the rest of the time preparing for his lessons and casting a few summons.
Though he was good at it, it had been a long time since he actually summoned a few beasts. So, he decided to practice that it would be a poor demonstration without a success and few beasts to show his students. He needed to show them a few beasts to make them get some interest. The basics were involved with telling them a lot of theory and biology, environment of the other realms from which they usually summoned monsters. So, most of these classes would involve teaching with a few summoned beasts while summoning itself was forbidden for first years.
When he returned to the nursery before dinner, he found Dominic alone, but he was reading a book on biology. "Ah! Such a nice boy," said the nurse who was keeping a look on Dominic. "He is an angel. Hardly find such a kid in this place. He doesn't fight even if someone snatches and goes for another toy or book."
"Can you make him play more," he asked the nurse. "He was always into books. For a two-year-old that is odd."
"You are just worried too much. There are all kinds of kids. These things would be evened out as the grow up," said the nurse waving him off. She was not going to make her life hard by taking suggestion from Michael. Michael couldn't do much either. Forcing her by means of complaining would only garner her animosity and probably other nursing staff. So, he picked up Dominic had dinner and put him back to sleep. During his dinner, he got a message from Falcone's assistant to meet him soon. So, he made his way to the central area of the academy and to the top of the central spire where the headmasters office was situated.
"You've settled in well?" asked Falcone as was brought in by Falcone's assistant.
"Yes, just put Dominic to sleep," said Michael as he took a seat.
"Wine or Whiskey?" asked Falcone as he moved the things on his table to a side.
"It is a school night," joked Michael.
"Whiskey it is," said Falcone as he bottle flew out from one of his cabinets into his hand as he flicked his wand. "How is Alex? I heard that there have been some unexpected developments," asked Falcone as he poured out a liberal amount in two glasses.
"You were informed?" asked Michael. He didn't expect that Carson would inform the headmaster, but then realized that it might be a natural thing to do.
"Wait before we proceed," said Falcone as he pulled out an org from one of his desk drawers. "This is a special tool. Allows us to communicate mentally. Place a hand on it," said Falcone as he placed one of his own on it. Michael's vision blurred as he found himself sitting on a wooden chair in a beach beside Falcone who was sitting on another chair.
"Soul magic. I created this view through the orb. This is a soul orb and such a private communication between two people out of the reach of even seers can be done through use of this. This is one of the smaller uses of this orb. I am one of the two professors who would be training your kid in soul magic if you and Alex accept," said Falcone.
"Oh! Didn't expect you to be one. Never saw you use it before today," said Michael astonished.
"One always keep a few trump cards," said Falcone. "How do you think I managed to survive the attack two years ago."
"How are your hands by the way?" asked Michael as he remembered the blackened rotten hands of the headmaster that he saw on the day Falcone brought Dominic to him.
"More or less the same. Have been wearing gloves to cover them up for the most part. The curse has been subdued but there are lingering effects. Will take a couple of years for it get back to normal," said Falcone. "Anyway, Alex will be fine. I will be looking after him along with Master Tamer, Madam Klaus. You don't need to worry about him. It is Dominic whom I actually want to talk about."
"Dominic? Isn't he a bit too young to have any specific plans?" said Michael. "The only thing I want to talk regarding him is the girl, Lucy."
"Oh yes, Lucy. As you have surmised, she already had seen the vision of her mother's prophecy and she decided to follow through her mother's request as we have," said Falcone.
"Does she really understand why we are doing it or comprehend why one would follow through the suggestions of a dying seer?" asked Michael. "I don't know if she will continue to remain."
"You underestimate the kid, Michael. Not only is she from a family of seers, but also had experience the threat of her family being attacked in her visions. Apparently, a number of them had been saved due to her visions. So, she has quite the gift already. It will give them a different perspective and she insists that she wouldn't let anyone know about Dominic as she considers him to be safer as your son than her brother," said Falcone. "Her words not mine."
"She really told you that?" asked Michael wondering about the state of her mind. He himself had a hard time with the loss of his wife. The girl losing her parents while willingly keeping her sibling at a distance for his safety implied good mental thinking and a sense of responsibility which he considered an extreme burden for a young child of her age.
"Hmm. I am also a bit concerned about her. It is a big burden for someone so young," said Falcone. "So, I hope that you would accommodate her request to spend some time in presence of her sibling."
"That is fine. I have already told her that she could meet me tomorrow. I will inform her that she can watch whenever she wants to," said Michael.
"Good. Good. That is one thing that I wanted to ask of you today. The other is about Dominic. Seeing that Lucy has a gift of sorts. I have been expecting something similar from the baby too. Did he do anything that would suggest it?" asked Falcone.
"He is just a baby, headmaster. Derek and Natalie's death would have been a big blow triggering her gift, but Dom is just a kid who never knew them. I don't think we need to worry about him having a situation similar to Lucy," said Michael considering the headmaster's worries to be unfounded.
"No. Not visions. Anything in general. Is he alright?" asked Falcone. He had never told the entirety of Natalie's prophecy to Michael and hence, had other doubts.
"No. Just a kid. Has a predilection to studying books though. Academic stuff. Quite unlike Alex, but I am informed that some might have such behavior," said Michael thinking of the nurse's words. He was also told to not worry about that behavior by the village people whom he used to guard. They actually thought that Dominic was blessed by angels to be able to understand such things at such a young age.
"If you think, he spends too much time on academics, I suggest you introduce him to meditation early. It is not such a rare thing among seer families, and it would do him good," said Falcone. Though it was complete nonsense and he knew that even those families who introduced meditation to kids usually did when they were eight or older, he suggested it to check the capabilities of Dominic.
"He is two."
"There is no limitation on meditation by age, Michael. It is just a suggestion as you find him to be too involved in academics. Meditation not only improves one's magic compatibility but also cultivates their spirit. I believe it will help improve Dominic's behavior. Is there anything else?" asked Falcone.
"No. The only thing I am concerned about is a seer having a vision of the past. We both know it is much easier for them to peek into the past than the future," said Michael.
"They tried. I have made a few try. I don't know if it is because of the fact that Lucy is their blood or something, but none have had any success in realizing the truth about Dominic," said Falcone. "The only reason I think that it was possible because the array was made by Derek and Natalia and their blood was used to prevent prying eyes and make sure it would only be used by them. So, I guess Lucy being their daughter might have ended up being an unexpected loophole in their attempt to safeguard their plan."
"Drake and the other Walkers didn't make sense of this?" asked Michael surprised.
"They would have if they saw the array or came to know of the prophecy or Lucy's visions. I didn't allow anyone to get into the place and burnt the entire array plates after taking sufficient precautions," said Falcone. "The girl had enough common sense to follow her mother's advice."
"Fine. Then, I won't consider that anymore," said Michael finally relieved on hearing that Lucy only luckily managed to know about it and Falcone had taken measures to not let anyone else know.
"That is all, I wanted to convince you of. By the way, I hope that you make a decision about Alex's training soon. I was informed that you would provide an answer by even after consulting with your family, but there has been no response," said Falcone.
"Actually, Uncle Ben told that he would check it with father, and I agreed as it would be a faster and more efficient conversation if he asks rather than me. But he still hadn't replied or contacted me," said Michael.
"Ben? He hasn't been back for some time now. I hope that there is no issue from your family," said Falcone. "I assume you at the very least are fine with it, right?"
"Sure, I trust you to teach him well and the book seems to be genuine too," said Michael.
"Well, in that case. I would suggest that we put aside the serious stuff and talk other things," said Falcone and both his and Michael's conscious were ejected out of the orb.
"Tell me how you have been these past two years. How is being a headmaster compared to vice-dean?" asked Michael as he took a sip of the whiskey.