"I don't know," Hyde answered. He stared at the ground, wondering about something.
"What do you mean? You fought him face to face." Owen asked in confusion.
"I lasted three exchanges against him even with my Azure Flames. At that moment, right as I was about to strike, I could see him gather mana on his left hand while he held a beautiful sword on his right hand."
Hyde thought for a moment before continuing to speak.
"I do not believe it is his main magic, however. On our first fight, he crushed me by dispelling my flames with wind magic. He told me he did it by separating oxygen from my spell."
"Hmm..."
The three pondered in silence.
Magic combined with science was quite uncommon, but not non-existent. Due to visualisation being a huge part of casting spells, mixing scientific methods with magic limits the mage's ability. Instead, it is used in industrial work. This type of magic is also the main ingredient in running the teleportation gates connecting the Four Bastions cities.
Using such magic in battle is highly impractical as it requires precise calculation in real-time. It is the type of magic the pursues casting accuracy instead of power, which is not ideal really as ideal in battles.
Professor Hyde hesitated for a moment before he said, "He also said that we shouldn't think of magic performing science, but instead think of it as magic alongside science."
"Quite the controversial take." Sheryl chimed in.
"I agree. Those old geezers will surely go crazy if they heard that."
"But the fact that this method works is undeniable. My Azure Flame is proof. When he told me how I was merely converting my mana into oxygen, I was dumbfounded that I was unknowingly doing it all along. When he taught me the feeling of how to do it efficiently, I was able to break through." Hyde seriously said.
"I understand. While it may make other people object, we cannot deny his abilities. Miss Sheryl, contact him about a contract." Owen turned to his assistant.
"What class shall he be taking over, sir?"
"He shall take over Professor Hyde's. What do you think, professor?"
Hyde smiled in approval. "He's more than capable of doing it, Headmaster."
"But sir, what about Miss Foster?" Sheryl asked worriedly.
"Hmm. That might prove to be a problem." Headmaster Owen stroked his chin as he pondered.
"I'm sure he'll manage..." said Professor Hyde.
***
A week later...
"Yo, teach. Are you really not part of some hidden family? You're replacing Prof Hyde, right?"
A male student asked Isei as he walked along the corridors of the academy.
"For your first question, yes. I'm not really sure about the other one." Isei responded.
"But aren't you teaching Special Class I? That's Prof Hyde's class. There have been rumors of him leaving the academy for quite a while now. Add that with the fact that there were quite a few recruitments for new instructors that have been held already."
"I really have no idea. Besides even if I knew, I'm sure that I wouldn't be allowed to tell you." Isei halted his steps smiled at the student. He then opened the door to what was supposed to be his office.
"Ahh. This room is quite big huh. This your office, right teach? I can help you clean up if you want."
Isei look around the almost empty room. Only a single table and a few chairs could be seen, aside from the very thick dust of course.
"I'm fine. Thank you for guiding me here. Jake, right? I'll try to treat you to something later."
"Alright. Oh, I almost forgot. Be careful of a girl called Alisa Foster. She'll prolly come find you at some point. You should try and avoid her." Jake waved at Isei as he grew farther. "See you around, teach."
Isei waved back and turned around.
"I should probably get started with this."
Isei has just been accepted as a new instructor for the Special Class I of Triage Magic Academy. It was a class consisting of the most talented freshmen of the General Arcanes Department of the academy.
Isei was in charge of teaching Practical Combat and Magic Theory, both of which are core subjects. He was honestly surprised that they gave him such important roles when only really came to this school to fulfill a promise he made with Kyle.
'Did I make too big of an impression?' Isei thought inwardly as he continued to clean.
Just as he was having this thought, the door swung open loudly. And from the opened door...
"Are you the one?"
Was a blonde-haired girl staring right at him. She was definitely a one of a kind beauty. She was also, definitely, the girl that Jake was talking about.
The aura she gave out told him two things. First, she was definitely angry about something and was here to trouble him. And second, she uses a very rare type of magic.
'Lightning element and Body Enchantment. What a combination...'
Lightning magic that, unlike most magic, requires innate affinity. It is arguably the most destructive element there is. However, its use of ridiculous amounts of mana and heavy reliance on the emotion of the user makes it as volatile as it is powerful.
To combine that with Body Enchantment would need a very strict guidance from someone who practices the same or at least similar concept of magic. The sharp presence and sparks that emanated from her showed that she is already very proficient in controlling her powers. Otherwise, with the evident anger that could be seen on her face, the whole place would have already blown up.
"I said. Are. You. The. ONE!" The girl screamed at Isei, barely containing her emotions.
"Me what? I have no idea what you are trying to say." Isei responded, acting innocently.
The girl shuddered while trying to control her heavy breathing. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Isei raised his brows at the sight.
"Stop pretending! You're the one who's gonna replace professor, are you not?" Her glaring eyes Isei but failed to faze him.
"I'm really not sur—"
Without even chanting, or letting Isei finish for that matter, she blasted him out of the window instantly. Her quick casting caught Isei off-guard and he was unable to dodge, still, he was able to prevent it from directly striking his body. A think mana shield that was cast in a split second saved him from entering another coma.
"That was quite unexpected... or maybe not." Isei had to change his words when he looked at the fuming girl cloaked in golden lightning.
'I probably shouldn't have kept on taunting her. At least the windows were open, I guess.' He stood up, thinking it was not all bad. Unfortunately for Isei, however, she was not yet finished.
The blond girl rushed towards him, seemingly intent on sending him in a hospital. Before she could reach him, though, a voice rang out and forced her to stop.
"ALISA!"
Professor Hyde shouted from a distance. His face frowning as he made his way towards them. Once he got to where they were at, he bowed.
This took the girl and Isei by surprise. What Hyde said next made it even more shocking.
"Please forgive my student, master. Alisa's temper isn't really ideal."
"Professor! W-what are you doing!?" The blonde girl named Alisa asked. The sparks of lightning surrounding her gradually diminishing.
"Alisa. We've already talked about this. I can no longer be your mentor. I have already promised my friend that I'll be joining his team. If you are unwilling to take Master Isei as your mentor instead, at least give him the respect he deserves."
"N-no, not that..."
"Hmm? What is it?" Hyde questioned her.
"Why are you calling him 'Master'?"
As if to agree with her, Isei's eyes seem to ask the same question as he looked at Professor Hyde.
"Ah... It's because he was the one who helped me breakthrough to S-Class Mage and achieve my Azure Flames."
As if it was the first time hearing this, she asked. "Really?"
"Have I not told you this? He's the master I fought last week that defeated me easily!"
"You haven't!"
Isei just silently watched at the two.
"Anyway, if you don't want him to be your new mentor, I already talked to the headmaster. You can still graduate without." Professor Hyde said with his arms crossed.
"What do you mean!? Of course, I want to!" Alisa turned to Isei, she dropped down and grabbed his legs while saying, "Please be my mentor! The old man hasn't been able to help me improve for a couple of months now... Ouch!"
"You ungrateful little..." Professor Hyde's angry rose and he started hitting Alisa with a stack rolled of papers in his hand. She let go of Isei and started to run away.
"Come here you!" Hyde gave up trying to chase her. He had no chance to catch up to her the moment she was able to accelerate to her top speed. Instead, he turned to Isei.
He sighed before saying, "I really apologise for her behaviour. She is a good child with outstanding talents. She can be a little troublesome at times. Her excessive affinity to lightning magic led her to be unable to learn any other elements. I did the best I could at teaching, I hope you could help her in my stead."
"It's fine, she seems quite energetic. It'll be fun teaching her. I'm also better at lightning than fire." Isei stroked his chin as he pondered, he seemed as if he found a new toy.
'He can use the lightning element too?' Professor Hyde was shocked but he quickly tried to hide it.
"I'll be off now, master. I still need to complete the paperwork. I'll look for you tomorrow."
Isei was now alone as he returned to his soon to be office.
He stared outside the window as he thought to himself.
'It seems things will be pretty interesting here...'