The man looked pale and sickly. Just who was this man and why did Feran and Vivian know him? The man wore dark red fancy clothing, with gold stripes. Behind that was a plain all-white shirt and a chest window which was hidden by a handkerchief. It was safe to say this guy was a noble. The man had round glasses, brown hair, green eyes, and dark lips. He also held a cane to his side. The man looked frail, he even had dark circles around his eyes and his jaw pulled in. The man smiled as he saw Feran.
Feran walked up and hugged the man," It's been a long time, Baron Karolus."
Xavier had heard the name somewhere but couldn't pinpoint where. He tried thinking hardly until he finally remember.' On every one of mom's magic books, this guy is always the one writing them!'
" You write magic books, right?" Xavier interrupted.
" Yes, I'm a professor at the Magic Academy. I always write books based on magic. You might be, hmm, Xavier, right?" Baron asked.
" Magic Academy? Anyway, yeah I'm Xavier. And do you have a close relationship with my parents?" Xavier asked waiting for an answer.
" Of course, I knew both Feran and Vivian as a kid," Baron answered.
" Well then, Baron, what might you have been up to these days?" Vivian asked.
He covered his face and shook his head," Still trying to cure my mana disease. I feel it's getting worse."
' Mana Disease?'
Baron then looked at Xavier's dagger. He was shocked for whatever reason.
" Venombite, Butcher of Denial?" Baron took the dagger from Xavier's side." This thing was wielded by an evil Necromancer a long time ago. This could fetch for thousands of gold coins. People these days, they know nothing of history."
Feran gulped," What if they figure out?"
" As long as you didn't tell them your name, you'll be fine."
" That's precisely what he did and he said it proudly too." Xavier teased Feran.
" Well, a show-off is a show-off in every situation," Baron said while cleaning the daggers with a handkerchief. He turned to Xavier," How about after you become an adventurer you can join us at the Magic Academy?"
" Did mom tell you? Anyway, isn't places like that for pesky and selfish high-status people?" Xavier knew Baron was a noble but had gotten a bit attached to him. He thought Baron wasn't a bad person.
" There are plenty low-ranks and middle-ranks among us. As long as I get you the recommendation, I can get you in."
" I'd need something in return for going there, right?" Xavier looked at Baron expecting some kind of trade.
Baron looked back and grinned," I heard about your problem. If you promise to go there when you are older I can teach you magic. I taught Feran when we were kids after all. It's also a win-win since you will learn new discoveries of magic when you get there."
" It's a deal!"
' Wouldn't hurt to have a genius teach you wouldn't it?'
" Well then, Feran and Vivian could I borrow your son for a month?" Baron begged.
" It's fine," Vivian answered, having known Baron for long she knew she could trust him.
" Whatever the woman of the house says, I'll support it." Feran smiled with a thumbs up.
" Well then, thank you." Baron bowed his head as he said this.
" Well, then student. Any questions?" Baron asked.
" None that I can think of," Xavier replied.
" We should start when your parents leave. Any objections?"
Xavier shook his head left to right, signaling no.
" You can go ahead now." Vivian gave him the pass.
Meanwhile, Xavier was nervous. People look good on the outside but being inside you learn their colors. What kind of man was Baron from inside? That's what he wished to know. Was he the loving best friend he was? Or was he an ogre in human clothing?
As they roamed the streets, Xavier asked," How'd you get that mana disease?"
" It's simple actually, I tried to expand my mana limit. It worked but at a cost. You already know what that case is."
" Mana limit?"
" The limit to my mana supply. Mine was shorter than most."
Baron walked slowly with his cane. Xavier wanted to be on the same foot so he ended up slowing down.
" See, I was obsessed with heightening my mana limit."
Xavier looked up at him," For whatever reason?"
" Being a professor meant I had to have a higher supply of mana than my students because they would underestimate me. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Baron looked down on Xavier and smiled, "You're just like Feran was. You both asked people many questions except Feran overdid it." He sighed as he said the last part.
" Eh? That doesn't sound like dad at all!" Xavier replied.
" I feel," Baron frowned, " sickly suddenly." Baron ran into an alleyway. As Xavier followed him, he was disgusted. ' Cough!' Baron coughed out gallons of blood onto the wall.
"Are you fine?" As Xavier approached him he was pushed back.
" Yes, of course...." Baron faced back the corner and coughed again.
" How about we go back to mom, she can help." Xavier looked at him worriedly.
" No, healing magic won't help!" Baron shouted.
As he turned away and faced Xavier, he continued walking.
" I feel better than ever." Baron's face was light again.
' I'm not gonna question this weirdo.' Xavier looked at Baron's clothing which was covered with blood.
As they walked the street, women ran away screaming. Maybe they thought Baron murdered someone and took their kid. Baron didn't even bother to defend his honor as a professor.
' Seems like this guy doesn't like pity nor does he care what others think about him. He's the opposite of me.'
" That's what you call a mana disease?" Xavier said while scorning.
" You must have thought that it was just a sickness and didn't bother to think why it was called a disease. That's what they always do. Which is why I need to make a cure. Well, my carriage is here. Let's go shall we?" Baron looked at Xavier.