After a few minutes of sitting and contemplating my duel, the time finally came for the mass of students to migrate towards the door.
Despite my eagerness, I held back for a few minutes to let the crowd die down before skipping around the hub to Zeff's classroom.
Only to skip back to Doyle's classroom after Zakira reminded me of roll call.
Frankly speaking, it was a system I wasn't used to. When I was growing up in old America, our homeroom teacher was our first teacher of the day. But that was just an empty title. The secretaries in the main office made announcements over the intercom and every teacher took their own roll. We were free to roam about campus in between classes and be tardy on our own accord. And there was no class leader.
College was much the same. Only, the teachers treated us like adults.
Some of them, at least.
Here, we'd meet with the same teacher in the same spot every day. Regardless of what classes we were having. Our teacher would take attendance for the day before releasing us to our studies. A wildly inefficient practice, I felt. But I wasn't the one in charge so I just ran with it.
Besides, the classrooms were in close proximity to one another. So I supposed it wasn't all bad. But it would surely take some getting used to.
"Good morning, everyone!" Zeff greeted us with a wave once we entered his classroom. Which was more along the lines of what I expected.
There were no paintings or windows to serve as potential distractions. Only bookshelves and blackboards were found outside of his ostentatious and pristine desk.
Ours, on the other hand, were both constructed and arranged similarly to Zeff's. Only, they were larger, padded, and reclined. They even had cup holders. Giving me the strong impression that our Magical Theory teacher was quite the talker.
Which was like music to my ears. So I happily sauntered forward to plant myself in the first row.
Zeff was a short man. Not short enough to be a halfling or dwarf, but almost. Given that, I assumed he was at least half. But otherwise looked like a full-blooded human. Dressed in fine leathers and silks, he had a scruffy, square face and lavender-black hair that'd been combed to have a prominent part running down the right side.
"Welcome to your class in the Theory of Magic." He beamed. "Here, we will explore all things mystic and arcane. I, Zeff Yurich, will share with you all I know of mana. All that I've learned of spells. All that I understand of magic. All you need to do is listen. And put this knowledge to practice."
After a short pause, he bounced on his feet with a loud and thunderous clap. Shaking almost half the class in their seats for no reason at all. "Now then." He continued with an amiable smile. "The syllabus is as follows. On this day, our course will start with a history lesson. And after lunch, our lessons will continue with the first part in a lecture on mana. That lecture will conclude in our next class, where we will go through a lecture on Class Evolution.
"Next week will mark the start of this quarter's focus." He continued. "The Basics of Mana Molding and Spell Casting. The intermediate level of the same course will be the focus in the following quarter. And each one after will be focused on spell development.
"Now then! On to our lecture." He clapped again. Trigging a similar response from a shallower pool of students. "Humans have little knowledge of the state of Maru prior to year zero, but sentient races from across the Mortal Plane had little to no existence of one another either.
"You all know of the four realms." He said with a thrust of his arms towards the ceiling. Then watched all of our eyes bulge at the sight of a colorized and, for the most part, highly detailed rendition of the Mortal Plane descending from the vines above.
In his long pause, I took a quick study of the puny group of islands that represented Maru. Disconnected from the other worlds by a foggy ocean of mind-boggling proportions.
"Within the four of them are six worlds." Zeff continued. "Each housing a unique tree of life that birthed the progenitors of the creatures that dwell within them. By spreading, evolving, and mutating, these creatures have changed over time to an almost infinite degree. But several races across the Mortal Plane have remained unchanged since time immemorial. Today, they have become synonymous with the different realms. The demons and vampires of Vagua. The Dragonkin of Nonus. The orcs and goblins of Betrarth. The Humans from Maru. The elves of Youtera. And Giants from the White Worlds. Back then, most of these races had little-to-no knowledge of the others' existence. But when the portals opened, everyone became aware.
"On that fateful day!" He clapped again. "Rifts in space spontaneously appeared in the most densely populated regions across the realms. Flooding each of them with denser, more potent mana. For humanity, on Maru, those regions were concentrated on a continent called Ulai." He slapped the small dots with his stick. "Perhaps as a result of both the portals and the influx of mana, the generations of humans that followed were born with gifts that allowed them to use higher forms of magic. What we today call affinity cores. But the price in which we paid was conflict.
"It was blood!" He clapped. "Within only a century, the Marulean continent of Ulai was lost. Deemed a dead zone by those who inhabited it. That marked the start of a long war that persisted for well over a thousand years. A conflict waged against both humans and those they deemed as 'monsters.' Yet, pioneers from all the races looked past that to explore the other realms and construct settlements within them.
"It is because of them! Particularly those that came out, that we know that in Vagua, each of the portals lies in the different Hells!" He overbearingly declared. "It is because of them that we know that the portal linking Vagua to Nonus is found beneath the wondrous City of Brass. We know that none have seen or told of any of the portals in Betrarth or the White Walls, save one. Due in no small part to the ever-warring lands of the former and the hostile environment of the latter. But it's easy to theorize they're suspended above the largest orc, goblin, and giant societies that exist in such realms. Similarly, none who have ventured through the portals to Youtera has ever returned to tell the tale. That goes for any of the portals that lead to the elven world. And few, if any of them have been seen coming out of them during that time.
"In the following centuries, humanity saw much progress and many losses." He paced to the other side of the board with a heavy sigh. "In the year 125, an organization was formed to enable those with great martial or magical ability to band together and explore as militias with little-to-no ties to any existing nations. But that's not to say these individuals were mercenaries. They were pioneers. Adventurers. The protectors of Maru.
"This is the organization that would come be known as the Marulean Guild Association. After its formation, they directed the guilds in retaking their lost lands and fortifying the lands they left behind in their wake. A tradition each guild upholds to this day." He beamed with pride. "By the turn of the fifth century, the Marulean continents had been stabilized. New Dawn, Maru's largest guild, paved most of the way and pushed on to make settlements in the other realms in the following years.
"As the century came to an end, however, all of their settlements were abandoned in favor of the one in Nonus." He pointed to the sole peninsula jutting out from Nonus' side of the oceanic ring separating Maru from everything else. "In the year 486, New Dawn became the Polaris Empire. And they have been expanding on Nonus ever since.
"It didn't take long for them to venture to this here peninsula, however." He grinned wide. "Here, they met Headmaster Knagh and came to an agreement. In exchange for a divine tree seed, the children of Polaris and beyond would come to the Bodhi Tree to learn of what humanity had lost. Class Evolution. An ability that lies dormant in all things. The agreement was made in the year 488. And in the year 491, the Bodhi Tree saw its first class of students.
"As the years passed, the Polaris Empire continued forming peace in Nonus while conflict persisted in Maru. With the powerhouse that was New Dawn out of the picture, other guilds took the opportunity to rise to power and seize control of the portals. Conflicts arose over the course of decades until the year 535. When the Guild Wars commenced." He declared. "Such war wouldn't see its end until 782. When much of what existed in Ulai and the other continents had been destroyed.
"But as always." He smiled. "Humanity reconstructed and came upon a period of peace by the ninth century. During that time there was little conflict between the existing nations warred with each other. There was only the ongoing battle against the creatures pouring in through the portals.
"From then on, history remained uneventful until the turn of the millennium. When every realm saw their portals to Youtera vanish before their eyes." He said in a dramatically airy tone. "It was clear that they had unearthed the secret behind manipulating the portals. Yet they shared it with no one. They kept it to themselves until the year 1,232. When the renowned mages', Jamettus Deapou and Everandus Cole discovered them on what is now known as Deapou Island, in Maru." He slapped his stick atop my homeland with a glance toward me. "For their tact in discovering the elves, being the first to learn from them, and sharing their knowledge with the Bodhi Tree and the Guild Association, the two were promoted to the rank of Magus. Sealing their names in history as the Iron Magus and the Necro King."
'So that's how it is.' I rocked back in astonishment. I tried and tried again to learn how he became a Magus but he always deflected and told me about other parts of his past. Now I knew why. It was based on a lie.
In his words, the elves came to them when they arrived. At the same time, what Zeff said was true. Those two surely had the power to keep the knowledge for themselves. Which speaks volumes. But what was truly shocking was the fact that I'd never even considered it. I supposed it was because I knew his character well enough to know that he wouldn't. But it was still a shock, to say the least.
"As many of you know." Zeff continued. "The knowledge humanity gained was invaluable. As it was this knowledge that allowed the humans born without Affinity Cores to gain their own. But Core Awakening is but a fraction of the knowledge those two legendary men bestowed upon us. Well Assimilation and Divine Aphid Nourishment are uncommonly known, but invaluable pieces of knowledge for humanity."
He paused to lean forward and give us a charming smile. "But I will explain both concepts in due time. Now!" He clapped. "Like many times throughout history, this new knowledge brought great changes to Maru. But not without challenges. First, Maru was no longer the only home to humanity. And in the coming years, a young mage by the name of James Epeth sealed the entire continent of Ulai behind a barrier, making his name known as a Magus. The result was the liberation of the Marulean Humans. They were, for the first time since the portals opened, free from the threat of monsters coming into their world. But the price was the loss of Ulai and the loss of contact with every nation that had settled beyond the portals.
'Tch. Liberation my ass.' I scoffed inside.
"To address such an issue, the Association, Bodhi Tree, and Polaris Empire convened for the first time since the Bodhi Tree's inception to establish a solution. The bridge of light from which you all came." Zeff declared. "In Maru and The City of Light, the Bifrost was constructed. Providing a way for Marulean citizens to access the continent and giving the Bodhi Tree and adding on an additional layer of security as a bonus.
"Since then." He continued. "The Bodhi Tree's mission has been to train Pages and encourage them to travel across the lands and reconnect with these forsaken humans and give them the knowledge given to us by those great men. But." He sighed. "The only portal that has been found in Nonus thus far leads to Betrarth. And few make the venture through the other side. The portals are extremely far apart, you see. And the two that have been found on Nonus thus far were discovered within a dragon's lair.'
'Oh, hell yea!' I grinned to myself. 'Answers, treasure, and portals. The perks just keep adding up.
"And with that, my lecture is complete." He let out a weary sigh before snapping his neck back to us. "Any questions?
"How was it so easy for the colonizers to secure the portal in Nonus?" Slate asked.
"An excellent question." Zeff beamed. "The ambient levels of the other worlds; particularly of Maru, was far too low for the majority of the Nonusian inhabitants. As such, they simply had no interest in journeying to the other side. That said, it was hardly easy. Reginald Morningstar, New Dawn's guild master and the first Emperor of Polaris had to slay a white dragon to secure it."
"Understood. Thank you." He curtly nodded.
Meanwhile, I heard a contemptuous snort come from the dragonborne across the way.
"Of course." Zeff nodded, then looked around at the rest of the class. "Anyone else?"
"Very well!" He clapped again. "We'll continue with our lecture on mana after lunch. Dismissed!"