After the Breakfast Break, Mr. Albrecht Dieter, the Magical Science teacher, walked in. A thin man with scruffy hair, cold eyes, and a kind face.
"Ahem." he said, clearing his throat as a chalk whizzed on the blackboard behind him to scribble his name. "Please take your seats." he said kindly smiling. The students quickly obeyed. "I am Mr. Dieter, your Magical Science teacher." he said, grasping the desk at the front and staring at the students. "Now, I am aware none of you have studied this subject before, so I want to use today as a gauging session to see how much you know of magic." Lucifer almost rolled his eyes and leaned back on his chair to stare out of the window.
"Oh, we're very familiar with magic, Professor, I can assure you that." laughed Clovis Beaufort, the French student. "Been practicing all our lives after all."
The class laughed and the professor smiled. "That is my point, Mr. Beaufort." he said through a kind expression but humorless eyes. "All of you have honed your combat magic, spent years studying spells, learned the origins and development of your FAMILY's magic...but never of magic itself." He smiled. "For example, if I were to ask you where exactly magic was born and how, would you know the answer?"
Clovis' smirk dissipated as he stared at the kind teacher with a blank expression. "What about anyone else?" asked the professor, looking around the class. No one raised their hand, not even Sakura. She knew everything there was to know about the Tojo-clan's magical history, but she suddenly realized none of the true origin of magic itself except that it had been nobles who had first discovered it. 'Was this the case for all Divines? Have we really been that ignorant before entering SK?'
"How about you, Mr. Night?" wondered Mr. Dieter. "As you seem so very interested in looking out of the window, I trust that you're bored because you already know the all answers?"
Lucifer turned to the professor almost wryly. "Italy." he said, lazily. "12th Century Renaissance. At that time, almost overnight, magic became much discussed in high-cultural circles. The people had gotten bored of art and so turned to the fairy-tale of some mythical energy called 'magic'. Hearing from the nobles, even the bourgeoisie of that era showed great fascination with this new avenue of science and started exploring it. The people during that time found that the existence of magic was something that could answer the questions that they could not explain through science. To them it was suggesting that while science may explain reason, magic could explain 'unreason'."
The professor stared almost open-mouthed. He'd heard Miss Ikeda worrying about Lucifer Night being unruly in the staff-room, but he had put it down to her being a new, inexperienced teacher. But this 'delinquent' Demon turned out to be a lot more smarter than he'd thought.
"Of course, then, one man did 'discover' magic, but his name has long since been scrubbed from most historical documents. All that can be said for sure was that he was a nobleman. But why the nobles of Italy went to such measures to conceal his name remains a hotly debated topic even today." Lucifer stared up at the ceiling as if in deep thought. "Of course, there's a hypothesis that says that the First Mage was actually a Black Magician, and when the other nobles saw that, they erased his name and labelled him as a 'Demon' so that everyone would be afraid of him, and called themselves 'Divine' to establish themselves as 'holier' than the First Mage."
The Professor closed his mouth. "That...is actually exactly right. And that hypothesis is very, very esoteric." He added. "I'm surprised someone as young as you knows so much." Lucifer shrugged and turned back to the window.
"Well, as Mr. Lucifer so eloquently explained, that is the origin of magic." said Mr. Dieter, turning to the class as he accepted Lucifer's lack of interest. "You all will learn about the details of it, the struggles, some of the greatest mages who have ever lived, the people who shaped the world as it is today in Magical History, so I will not go into it here. And that is, because we are learning Magical SCIENCE." Mr. Dieter let go of the table and stood up straight. "Now Mr. Night also said something very interesting: 'Black Magic.'" Turning to the blackboard, he picked up a chalk and drew a four-point star. "How many of you know what this means?"
A boy in sleek spectacles raised his hand. Lucifer's ears slightly perked up. 'Finally decided to stop holding back, eh, Haruto?' He'd been interested in him ever since the Charismata Ceremony yesterday.
"Yes, Mr. Miyazaki." invited the Professor.
Haruto stood up. His hair was just as neatly combed today as on the Entrance Ceremony, his uniform flawless, the knot of his tie perfectly bound in a Windsor Knot. "It's the symbol for Gelasisus' Law." He said with confidence. "The Law states that the practice of supernatural abilities i.e. magic, must have a supernatural power source or origin, which would be either holy or evil. Thus born of Holy Spirit or of demons. The Holy Spirit blesses people Charism which allows them to use magic. Those with charismata in their blood are called White Magic users or 'Divines.' On the other side, Gelasius says that those blessed, or rather, cursed, with the power of Demons have Repulse in their blood and are Black Magic users or 'Demons.'"
"Very good." nodded Mr. Dieter, motioning Haruto to take a seat. "Though that is correct and the Law is widely accepted even today, the Law itself is slightly incorrect. While it is true that Divines and Demons have different power sources, science ignores the existence of the 'Holy Spirit' or 'demons' marking one as evil over another. The Modern Theory of Source holds that those with Charismata are called Divines, while those with Repulse are called Demons. That is all. There is no 'evil' or 'good'. " said Mr. Dieter suddenly bold. "So then," he said relapsing back to his almost bored expression. "who can tell me what Repulse and Charismata entail in a person?"
Sakura stood up without an invitation, her eyes a little confused as if she was lost in her own thoughts. " 'White Magic' born of Charismata, basically consists of the four elements of the universe: fire, water, earth and, wind. Divines, or people, with Charismata in them can resonate with these four elements to cast their magic." She paused and her eyes drifted off the professor. "However, Demons, that is, those people who have Repulse in their bodies, do not resonate with ANY of the four basic elements. Instead, they use Dark Matter to cast their magic, a largely un-researched element, thought to not be from this dimension at all, hence giving rise to the belief it is from Hell."
Lucifer barely shifted in his chair. 'She's looked into Demons recently...'
"Good." lauded Mr. Dieter, his smile not reaching his eyes. "As Miss Tojo aptly said, any person who has Charismata, i.e. a Divine, can utilize the four elements of the universe. Yes," he nodded, "most noble families choose to master resonance with just one element, however, they do so by choice. There is no Divine who is born exclusively as a Water Mage or exclusively as a Wind Mage. But, while Divines have choice, Demons do not. They can only use Dark Matter." He paused. "It is important to note that there are only FOUR basic elements that Divines resonate with. All other magic that we use are complicated derivatives of these four elements. For example: lightning." said Mr. Dieter drawing the rune for thunder on the blackboard. "Lightning is just superheated air bearing a charge and plasma. Master air and water, and the spell for lightning is created. Combination spells creating a 'new' element are called Provectus Spells; take note of this, it might very well come in your exams, it is important." A few students scribbled in their notebooks. "Divines apply thes-"
"But what about Black Magic users?" asked Sakura out of nowhere. Her green eyes were burning with curiosity and she could see the professor drifting off the topic she wanted the answers to. "What about their element of resonance? Are we just moving on? What about the theory that states The Four Elements are the Life Energy of the universe while Repulse is the Death Energy?" she asked. "Does that hold any weight with the Modern Theory?"
Lucifer hid his grin. She's getting curious. Wonder how many ancient books she dug up just to find something on Demons...might be bothersome if she stays this determined.'
Mr. Dieter smiled. "That's where we come to the 'Dark Matter' part, Miss Tojo. The answer to what they resonate with and how they can cast their spells is difficult to answer, because the very element remains unresearched to this day. There are powerful spells that only Demons can cast, spells of ours they can mimic, things that only they can bend...yet Divine Science still cannot answer why or how."
Sakura's eyes unfocused as Mr. Dieter turned back to the class, continuing his lecture where he left off as if there had been no interruption.'That's how mysterious Demons are? That's how much Divines have tabooed them as evil, that we didn't even bother researching their Source to this day? If the Divines purpose is to keep peace in the world, what is their role? Hell...Heaven? Are they real?' Lucifer floated in her vision, his arrogant smile, his unrivaled aura of power behind him. 'I wanna know the truth about him...'