The three of them return back to the academy, but everything that happened before still remains unresolved. But time is not something that could stop, even if they wished it could. But what if time could be slowed instead?
Walking through the hallways, Alexis was unusually alone. Lucius has some additional things to discuss with the headmaster in relation to the upcoming event and as for Darcel, he couldn't find him in their usual meeting spot so he decided to go ahead and meet in their classroom instead. Passing students greeted him as they slowly started to move into their own classroom. Greeting them back, Alexis made his way before settling in his usual seat.
The classroom was still relatively quiet, with only a few small chatters here and there but what Alexis noticed the most was the students' strange excitement. What were they looking for? He had thought of going up to them and asking but something told him that it wouldn't be too long until he knew, choosing to stay in his seat.
It wasn't long before all the students began coming in but he couldn't see where they were. Confused by both Lucius and Darcel's absence, Alexis was about to go search for them but was interrupted by the bell. Stuck between staying inside the classroom or going outside, his thought process was interrupted by the homeroom teacher. "Good morning everyone, please take your seats. I have a few announcements I need to inform you about."
The teacher noticed Alexis's weird position, giving him a smile to reassure him. Seeing this, he sat down and waited for his next words. "Welcome back, I hope you all have had a good rest over the break and I'm sure you are all aware that we are beginning the second semester now. This also means that a few end-of-year events will be coming up; however, they will take place sometime after your examination period."
The students began to quietly chatter amongst themselves, excited about the future, "You must also be aware that you are slowly reaching the end of your senior year, which means you must begin planning out your future." The class settled down at his words, "But I do hope you will continue to make memories during your school life. The memories you make now can last your entire life."
Alexis was only half-heartedly listening to him, still wondering where both of his friends were. He was about to ask the teacher once more for permission to go find them but he missed his opportunity, "Now, I would like to introduce you to a new student. I know that it is a weird time for a new student to begin but there were a few circumstances that prevented them from joining earlier in the year." As he was talking, he beckoned the student outside the classroom to come in and instantly all the students began whispering to each other about the new student.
Walking into the classroom, his tall figure was the first thing Alexis noticed, maybe he was around Darcel's height. Even though he was tall, his clothes seemed loose-fitting on him, making it hard for anyone to clearly define his figure. It was beginning to get colder as the seasons were changing from autumn to winter. He was wearing the school sweater on top of his shirt but he wasn't wearing the jacket.
He has soft, wavy brown hair, matched with bright green peridot eyes that seem to glimmer very slightly every time you look into his eyes. He had a gentle smile on his face, although you could see the slight nervousness he had. He carried a kind, soft aura that made it easy for people to approach him. For some reason, even though Alexis wasn't planning on paying attention, he couldn't take his eyes off of them.
Noticing his gaze, they lifted their head in search of the person, landing their eyes on Alexis. A look of nostalgia flashed across their eyes before deepening their gentle smile. Alexis couldn't take his eyes off of him, only breaking free from his fascination when they said, "Good morning. I'm Sylvio Encratis and although I am new here, I hope to get along with everyone." His voice was easy on the ears, which made the girls swoon over him and gave Alexis slight tingles through his spine.
Bringing everyone's attention back, the teacher continued, "Now I hope everyone welcomes him warmly to the academy. There will be more announcements as it gets closer to the end of the year so please ensure that your studies in both theory and practice are up to scratch." After saying that, the teacher signalled Alexis to come outside with Sylvio.
Noticing this, he slipped out quietly and walked over to where they were. "Alexis, I would like to assign you with guiding Sylvio for the next few weeks as he settles down. I will inform you now that he has very little experience with magic so I want you to teach him the basics before moving onto the advanced techniques."
He felt a little reluctant to do so, wouldn't someone else like Lucius or Darcel be more capable of handling something like this? But since his teacher was asking him, he couldn't decline, "If you're alright with me…" He glanced at Sylvio who was watching him warmly, his eyes seemed to only look at him even when the teacher spoke again, "That's wonderful, thank you Alexis. I think you're more suitable even if Lucius or Darcel weren't so busy right now."
He nodded to acknowledge his words, "Then should I start the tour now?"
"If you could please. I'll end this morning's homeroom once we finish so you can have some time before your next class to go over some basics." With that, the teacher left the two of them alone. It wasn't awkward but it wasn't a familiar atmosphere between friends.
"I guess I'll introduce myself first. Alexis Alphenhide, lighting magic and currently first rank for magic. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, offering a handshake. Seeing this, Sylvio took his hand before giving him a smile, "Please take care of me. I hope you can pardon all of my mistakes."
With this, Alexis started giving him a tour of the academy, pointing out where the dorms, classrooms and club rooms were, "I'm currently part of the student council so if you have any questions or you're unsure about something, please come find me there."
"And if you're not there?"
"Then you will most likely see me somewhere around the school. I won't be too far from the council room though." Alexis reassured him by giving him another smile, which seemed to melt away the tension hidden behind Sylvio's face. Remembering an important question, Alexis turned around once more and asked, "I forgot to ask but do you know how to use magic or channel mana?"
Looking a little embarrassed, he shyly shook his head, "I've never been taught how and… I never had the chance to use magic."
"Is that so…" Alexis was a little speechless considering that every student here would know how to use magic, even if they specialised in combat more. "Then, can I ask how you were accepted into here?" Although they accepted everyone, the students needed to at least have an aptitude for either magic or combat in order to receive an invitation. Meeting a student in their second senior year who had never used magic before was so rare it hadn't even crossed his mind.
Fidgeting slightly, he gave a vague answer, "They only found out about my potential a little earlier in the year…"
Noticing his reluctance, Alexis didn't push it any further. "Then let's not worry about it. For now, can you place your hands in front of you?" Following his instructions, Alexis placed his own hands on top of his, "Now I'm going to pour some of my mana into you and if you do feel something, try and push back. Think of mana as your blood, it circles around your body and you can draw in mana from nature but that's something for a little later. Let's focus on this first."
Saying that, Alexis had to control how much mana he poured out, he had a much larger mana reserve compared to an average student but even when compared to Lucius or Darcel, he still had a larger capacity. Slowly trickling his mana, he felt a slight resistance, "You're doing good! Try to push back a little more, I can tell you have a lot of potential if you can already sense it on your first try."
As they continued to exchange mana, Alexis started to pick up a sweet but light smell coming from Sylvio. It reminded him of cherry blossom season, where the streets were decorated with blooming flowers and all around him was the same sweet but light floral smell. He had noticed this scent on the way to meet both Haru-kun and Ren-kun at the cafe. It was a nostalgic scent, one he thought he wouldn't find here. Noticing the stop in mana exchange, Sylvio spoke up, "Is there something wrong Alexis?" He wanted to take his hands away but with the warmth Alexis was giving him, he felt like it was a shame if he did pull back, choosing to stay still instead.
"It's nothing much…" Now that they were no longer giving mana to each other, Alexis couldn't pick up the smell from before. He was thinking about whether or not he should ask, before choosing to ask anyways, "Do you notice a sweet, light smell at all?"