"So, are you guys aliens?" Klein spoke nonchalantly in English, ignoring the dumbfounded looks on both sides of the Academy shield.
"Klein - wha - how?" Victor was perplexed as he turned to Jane who simply shrugged. There was simply no understanding Klein. To them, he was too much of a mystery; albeit one they enjoyed hanging out with.
Mr Weathers narrowed his eyes at Klein 'When did he... more importantly, did he cast a mind-scan?'
Mr Weathers' face became gloomy. Maybe somewhere deep in his heart, he had hoped that Klein would maintain moral boundaries, but maybe he was expecting too much.
"Calm down old man, I know what you're thinking and I didn't do that" Klein turned to the grumpy Principal and gave him a wink.
"It's a new spell of mine. Maybe if you promise not to punish me in the future, I can consider giving it to you... for a small fee, of course" Klein's smile widened at Mr Weathers who maintained his stern expression but was inwardly relieved and happy.
'Is that what having a son is like...?' Mr Weathers considered, then upon looking at Klein's mischevious eyes, he inwardly retched.
'Ptui! Ain't no son of mine' Weathers immediately denied his inner thoughts.
A ginger-haired blue-eyed man at the other end of the barrier looked at Klein, and hesitantly spoke.
"C-can you understand us?" He spoke hopefully.
Klein turned towards him, considering for a few moments as he allowed his spell to transmit the intent of the words to his soul.
The spell he was using was simply a minor modification of a spell he had worked on for a long time, even since before he enrolled into the Academy.
He had long been researching on how to harness and utilise souls in magic, or at the very least, how to link souls and transmit information between souls rather than minds.
He hadn't been very successful at first, and only managed to make some breakthroughs after stumbling upon a rare ancient text that had just what he was looking for.
[Petra's Soulspells]
With regards to this unique and occultic branch of magic however, Klein had only minor accomplishments so far, barely even reaching the first circle. Too much of it was obstruse and difficult to parse.
"Hmm... I suppose so" His soul link with the foreigner ensured that his voice would only be transmitted in a way they understood.
The faculty of language, after all, was fundamentally a spiritual phenomenon first, and a mental one second. Something not too many people were aware of, or even thought about.
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Dave Spencer had been grocery shopping when the earthquake happened, or what he assumed to have been an earthquake.
He was just about ready to continue streaming his no-hit run of 'Elder Ring' upon returning home. He had quit his job the week prior upon seeing the revenue he was accruing through his gaming livestreams and was beginning to feel hopeful for the future.
That was when... well, the world he knew ended.
He had broken his leg in all the world-ending commotion, which then somehow became better. Then, a grandiose mansion he had never seen before appeared randomly before him along with other strange things happening around him.
He saw a Gandalf-looking man fly out of the mansion, and then return, stopping a crashing airplane midway somehow.
And then he witnessed a blue-robed youngster who clearly hadn't known how to speak English just moments prior, approach his group of unworthy earthlings and ask a truly ridiculous question... all with a smile on his face.
"So, are you guys aliens?"
Dave tried to confirm again for the thousandth time that he wasn't dreaming before almost cussing.
'Aliens? You're the alien! Your whole family are aliens!' Dave was tempted to retort, but now keeping in mind that these strange robed wizards had gained the skill [English], doing so would be disastrous.
Dave calmed himself and hesitantly spoke up.
"C-can you understand us?" He unintentionally stuttered, betraying his current nervousness.
The blue-robed youngster paused for a moment before stroking his chin.
"Hmm... I suppose so"
Dave took in a deep breath before attempting to sort out the many questions he had. He tried calming himself before asking.
"Do you know what happened?"
"Of course. Aliens came to visit us and show off their exploding carriages" The young man smiled, his eyes twinkling.
Dave gulped. Was the young man sane? He looked a little... off.
"Umm... from our perspective you guys are the aliens" Dave let loose what he was thinking, regretting it instantly.
What if those wizards get offended and decide to turn them all into pigs?
"Huh. Well. I guess you guys were living all fine and dandy in your world with exploding carriages and then everything crashed, and now you're here? Did I get that right?"
"Explod - nevermind. Yes, that's the gist of it" Dave said as he turned to the rest of the crowd of eartheners.
"And you've no idea how? No crazy mage drew a world-encompassing teleportation array?" The young man grinned.
"Ah. Yes, no idea. In the first place... we don't have mages..." Dave facepalmed himself inwardly for revealing such a crucial detail. Why did he have to open his big mouth? He knew that this bizarre situation was incredibly dangerous and if the wizards were hostile, there would be nothing he could do.
Yet, he just revealed that they weren't familiar with magic....
Dave sighed. He just wanted to go back to video game livestreaming.
"No... mages? How do you build your exploding carriages?" The youngster's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"You mean cars? Umm... I guess, with precise engineering?"
"..." The youngster looked bewildered, then slowly his expression shifted to the most genuine smile Dave had seen on a person.
He shivered.
"Say, my friend, would you and your fellow aliens like to come in for some tea? I think we'll have a marvelous chat." The youngster maintained his smile.
Before Dave could answer, from the corner of his eye, he saw a few military soldiers make their way over.
'I guess it was about time they showed up' Dave knew there was a military drill happening somewhere close by where he lived.
'But please don't tell me they're going to...' Dave's thoughts stopped there as he shuddered.
He just saw a wizard stop a damn crashing plane! Would modern armaments even work?