The ceremony, although being a buffet, didn't take place in the cafeteria. It was in the gymnasium, which was strongly built as to withstand the students going wild with their powers. The place was filled to the brim with people. Old, but mainly young people. The lights were warm and relaxing as they set up a nice atmosphere. Large table with various food plates on them were spread across the room. Everything here looked delicious.
But that's it. It only looked delicious.
For Mathis, the smell was mediocre. He didn't need to taste anything to know it wouldn't be good until he mixed a magic ingredient in it. He sighed. Before, this would have been enough to make this day a very good day.
On his head, Scally was sitting. Invisible, of course. I forgot to mention, but when Scally is invisible, he also hides his core and aura. Otherwise, Mathis would have left Scally in the forest. Well, actually, he had brought it to the forest to let it decide if it wanted to go back to the wild, but it seemed it didn't really want to. Honestly, Mathis had become very touched by Scally's loyalty and they became even more inseparable. So, although it was not very comfortable (cuz, Scally is big like a medium sized dog), he still let Scally tag along on his head/shoulders. Luckily he was very strong, or he'd have neck cramps.
People sometimes sent curious gaze at him because he was wearing his sunglasses. This made him a bit uneasy. But it was necessary. He didn't went people to freak out, or get sent to a lab... as a lad rat.
"Hi ladies and gentlemen!" A voice said through a mic.
Mathis searched where it came from, and since he had a giant growth spurt and now could see above crowd, he he easily spotted the woman that was illuminated by a spot light. She wore a chic black dress and had long bright red curly hair. Mathis immediately recognized her as the headmistress of the academy and one of the strongest magician of the fortress. Her name was Mariah Dehara.
"Recently, our academy was targeted by a group of terrorist that I will not name. Why? Because that would be giving them importance. Such a petty group of terrorist that decided to attack our establishment while it's security was at it's lowest doesn't deserve to be named. Will we, of Armonicia academy, step back of front of them? No. We will not! We will pursue on as usual, no, we will do our utmost to do even better! Let this not be the end of us, but the start of our uplifting! This academy stands for equity and peace, we will not cower in front of terrorists. Students, teachers and all staff in this academy, let us work hard this year!" She exclaimed as she raised her glass.
Cheers erupted in the room as everyone lifted their glass and then took a sip. Well, some people didn't, for example Mathis who didn't have anything to drink.
The party went on for a while and Mathis didn't do much. Nobody approached him nor did he approach anyone. So he ended up evasdroping on the conversations around him. With all the noise it was kind of hard, but he managed to get bits of information here and there. Though the importance and reliability of the information he got was questionable.
Some second years were discussing a rival academy only for magic students. Judging by what they were saying, those guys were a nasty bunch. The name of the academy was Lugubris. Some first years were talking in the back of another freshman. He didn't quite catch that student's name, but he seemed to be male, and judging by the rumors, quite the powerful guy. They seemed a bit scared and unenthusiastic to get acquainted. Some even "prayed" not to come across him.
But what really marked Mathis, was some teachers speaking worriedly about this year. They were scared that if the terrorists targeted another magic academy again, some drastic measures would be taken. They seemed confident on the security of the school, but were afraid of the other consequences it could have.
In general, it was boring. But at some point, the vice principal started a small speech. And then the first years were asked to go fetch an information sheet on the reception table. The paper had information about the dorm change and the new rules that got implemented. It mentioned the date where students would not be able to quit school anymore and other thing. It also explained that first year, the freshmen, had one horizontal line on their ties while sophomores had two and so on.
After that, it seemed people were free to leave. So obviously Mathis got out. Not that the ceremony would go on for long, soon it would be curfew. Which, by the way, was at 8pm.
While going back to his dorm room, Mathis wandered around a bit, mapping what he could inside his head. An old habit of his. The school halls were wide and the doors were tall. There was a touch of fantasy in the architecture of the school. Though, it didn't keep the shadow of the night from giving a creepy vibe.
When he arrived at his room, he hesitated to go in. If his roommate was there, then getting out at night would be more difficult.
'Hector?' he called in his head.
No answer.
Mathis guessed he still hadn't "woken up". Hector had hastily explained to him that he needed rest to replenish his energy before going to sleep. So for now, he was on his own.
Scally was standing next to the door, waiting for him to open it. He meowed like he was asking "what are you waiting for?", so Mathis openned the door.
Surprisingly, there was nobody inside. The room was completely empty. Mathis smiled. This was an opportunity. He took off his sunglasses and laid on his bed, with Scally jumping in directly after. Mathis just relaxed for a while until his watch displayed 10pm.
He got up and packed his backpack with the necessary for a good hunt. He didn't need Hector's help for this, but he did hope he'd wake up in case anything happened during the hunt.
Mathis looked at the window. Luckily it was a window that could be completely opened. So he removed the net and looked down.
"Third floor, hehehe.... can I do this?" he laughed nervously.
He knew his bones had become harder and all, but this was still third floor. And it's not like he had brought a rope with him. Not to mention he wouldn't be able to make a roulade when hitting the ground because he had a backpack.
He sighed and made sure there was no one around. Then he jumped.
When he landed, his legs made a worrying crack sound.
'Don't tell me...' Mathis thought as he looked at his leg.
Mathis gasped When he saw his right leg. The tibia had broken and was sticking out both his leg and jeans. The bleeding created a spreading wet spot.
"Shit" he mumbled.
He took deep breaths, absorbing as much magic as he could while fetching the magical fruits inside his backpack to then eat nearly half of them. He could feel his system and core processing the raw magic to then send it to his right leg. In just 10 minutes, he was ready to go. Though, he couldn't really tell if his leg was completely healed or not. It probably wasn't.
He quickly checked his sunglasses in case they had fell off, but they were still in place.
He looked up and "saw" Scally looking down at him. Though Scally was invisible, his magic eyesight was exceptional and he could see Scally's outline. Though, a human, even magic, could never see or sense it.
He got close to the wall and signed he'd catch Scally. It then jumped down to him.
"Oof!" Mathis exclaimed when Scally hit him.
Catching Scally was way more hard then he thought. He nervously checked his leg as Scally jumped off his arms. His leg was ok.
"Alright, let's go." He whispered, checking his sunglasses were still in place.
He then proceeded to sneak towards the wall surrounding the academy.
He knew that the entry door was most probably locked and guarded. So climbing the wall was wiser because there would be no guards. He'd still have to be discreet and quick though.
"What are you doing?" Someone asked.
"Oh I'm just taking a walk because I couldn't fall asleep." He turned around to see the guy he had sat next to during lunch. "And you, what are you sitting in a dark corner for?" He asked with a risen eyebrow.
"None of your business." He answered sharply.
"Alright, guess I'll be on my way then." He said with a smile.
"Wait! How'd you get past the magic detector?" The guy asked.
Mathis frowned, a magic detector? He didn't even know there was one to begin with. Good thing he used the window to get out. Although he himself and Scally hid their magic, he still had those magic fruits in his backpack. Though, he probably would have seen the detector. Still, there's no telling if he would have understood what it was.
"I'm willing to tell you if you tell me how you did it." He answered.
"Alright. I used the window." He answered.
This school had serious window problems. They should have made them more safe.
"Ah... your room is on which floor?" He then asked, after checking the guy's legs.
"First floor." He said as he crossed his arms. "Now you tell me how you did it." He demanded.
"Well, I don't have any magic affinity. I'm absolutely magic less." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh.. Uhm. Anyway, what's with your big backpack? Aren't you taking a walk? And you're still wearing sunglasses at night, though, you did wear them indoors." The other said.
"Ah? My backpack? I guess I just took it with me by reflex." He answered nonchalantly.
"Hm." He said while squinting his eyes at him.
"Well, good bye." Mathis said as he walked away.
The guy, who Mathis still didn't know the name, stared at him as he walked away. The moment he was out of his line of sight, Mathis heaved a sigh of relief. He started walking quickly, carefully sensing the magic around. Surprisingly, he had to avoid two other persons.
Finally, he had gotten to the wall. It was quite tall and had barbed wire on top, it seriously was just like a prison. But the security needed to be high. Not that it would stop him.
He crouched and then leaped up, surprisingly, he managed to grab the edge of the wall and pull himself up. He looked around and spotted a flat roof that was remotely close to him. He then picked up Scally, who had also succeeded jumping on the wall, and jumped towards the roof while trying to avoid the barbed wire.
Sadly, he had overestimated his agility and the leg of his pants got caught in the barbed wire. Scally, who was basically a cat, landed on the ground gracefully, but Mathis...
"Thud!"
Crashed down violently. His head hit the ground first and a ghostly crack echoed in his head. At that moment, he was medically dead. His brain had stopped working, his heart thus stopped shortly after. Luckily, he had just ate magic fruits and was still overflowing with energy. Seconds later he woke up with a start.
"Gasp!" He gasped while clutching his shirt.
If he hadn't been nearly immortal, that would have been the end of his story.
"Damn... I should really stop jumping from high places." he muttered to himself.
After all, what would have happened to him if he had accidentally impaled his core? He would not have survived. Just because he was nearly immortal didn't mean he had to be that reckless.
He then stood up as if nothing had happened and started walking. But he soon crossed paths with someone else. He would have preferred to avoid the person, but he noticed their magic energy a bit too late and couldn't find another way. He tried to not look at him, but he accidentally did.
It was a young man with white hair and skin wearing a big backpack and his school uniform. As they made eye contact, something rolled down Mathis' forehead. It was warm, and most probably red. He quickly wiped it away, but really, he must've looked especially suspicious. A ripped pant leg and a bleeding head. He just hopped to never cross path with him again.
And so, with a suspicious appearance, Mathis headed to his first destination. A cosmetic shop in the Hyuka district. The Hyuka district was known for being up all night. It had a big shopping mall with all its shops being open all night. This was quite useful for hunters who tended to be absent during the daylight.
Mathis rolled the bottom of his pants to try to hide the damage and wiped away as much blood as he could. Now at least, people wouldn't look at him weirdly in the metro. He soon arrived at destination.
The shop was pretty empty except for the cashier and a few other employees. Mathis directly headed for the colored contacts. he picked a box of normal brown ones and bought them under the cashier questioning gaze. Them he went into an alley way and tried them on. Using his phone as a mirror, he felt more or less satisfied by the results.
Something was definitely off about his pupils since they were slitted, but you couldn't really see it. Still, it was risky. He didn't really have another choice but to combine both. Now he'd constantly look suspicious. At least, he wouldn't look like a monster.
Afterwards, he headed to a special store. A place that sold Tupperware. But not just any ordinary Tupperware, magical Tupperware. Tupperwares that had a magic sealing and restoring magic cast on it. For Tupperware, it was hella costly. 45$ the Tupperware.
Now you might wonder how Mathis had the money for this, and I'll remind you he sold a magic beast body not long ago. He had enough for a few Tupperware. Now, why did he want such a thing? To store fresh, magic filled beast meat in it. Just any old Tupperware wouldn't be able to keep the meat full of fresh magic, but these ones could. Though, they were hella costly, so he could only buy 3.
Afterwards, he departed for the forest with his precious new Tupperwares. The guards were hesitant about letting him out, but he ended up convincing them.
And so, he went hunting.