The next morning as Kal was going to the academy, Clara accompanied him, with the events of the previous night still swirling in her mind. She cast furtive glances at Kal, watching each movement with apprehension. Although he had saved her and Suzannah, he had also demonstrated powers she had never seen in her life. Was he even human? What if he lost control? Kal noticed Clara's discomfort, though he tried to maintain a calm demeanor. He stopped walking and turned to her:
"Clara, I know last night was scary. But I can assure you I'm the same boy as always."
She hesitated a moment before responding:
"I...saw things I never thought possible. It's hard to assimilate everything at once."
"That creature would have killed me, I've never been in a battle before"
"I'm just a magic student, and last night I experienced a terror I had never imagined"
"But you were so calm..." - Clara finishes, looking down
"I understand your caution. I also still don't know the limits of what I'm capable of. But I promise to protect this academy and everyone here, including you."
"You can trust me." - Kal finishes with a slight smile on his face.
Clara analyzed Kal's kind eyes and, after so long under the shadow of fear, decided to give him a chance. She nodded with a faint smile:
"All right. I trust you'll tell the truth. Now let's get to class before we're late."
They resumed their path. Clara still felt apprehension, but perhaps Kal represented hope, not threat, for this new beginning in her life. He would begin training with Suzannah in a few days, and more than anything, she did not want to be useless again.
At the academy entrance, Kal finds Relon and Lilla:
"Hey Morin, Hey little princess!!"
Relon greets Kal with a handshake, but the girl who used to blush when near Kal, that day passed quietly. Kal noted she had dark circles under her eyes and seemed tired, so Kal asks:
"What happened to her?"
"Don't mind her, she's sad because she found out she has to get married," Relon replies.
"But is she being forced to marry someone she doesn't like?" Kal asks curiously about the situation.
"That's what happens with princes and princesses who won't inherit the throne, they don't have a choice but to serve the kingdom in other ways," - Relon replies entering.
They enter to begin a new day of class, Lilla who didn't speak only went to the room assigned to her and remained there, while Kal and Relon went to their room. A few minutes later, when everyone was already in their places, an old man entered the room, dressed in priest's robes:
"Good morning class, I'm Olaf and I'll be your divine magic teacher," the man said in a voice already tired of calmness.
"I believe yesterday teacher Eleonora gave you an introduction to Magic"
"Therefore, today I will only talk about the two types of magic she probably didn't mention"
"I'm talking about divine magic and profane magic"
"You must be wondering why teacher Eleonora, who teaches elemental and arcane magic, didn't talk about these magics to us"
"Well, first, unlike other types of magic, divine and profane magic are not elemental or arcane magics"
"They have unique characteristics that make them more complex."
"Divine magic was first used by monks who wanted to heal people and destroy curses"
"As for profane magic, it was the opposite of it"
"As teacher Eleonora told you, those who possess one type of elemental magic rarely have others"
"However, divine magic and profane magic can be used by anyone, provided they have magical aptitude and the necessary amount of mana"
"In other words, one of these two category magics could be learned by anyone!"
Lua immediately stands up and asks:
"Will you teach us any of these magics, teacher?"
To which Olaf responds:
"Unfortunately, despite having classes on the subject. Teaching divine magics is expressly prohibited."
"To learn a divine magic, it is necessary for you to be approved by the cardinals of the church, only then will you have access to the sacred library"
"The deepest books are not easily obtained, I myself have been a Priest in the church for over 20 years"
"And I still have not had access to the greatest books there"
"On the other hand, all profane magic is extremely prohibited within the empire!"
Relon raises his hand and asks:
"For arcane magic I need aptitude to use them, for elemental magic I'm restricted to using the one I received at birth, and for divine magic, what are the conditions to be able to conjure one?"
Olaf responds:
"Good question, Prince Aquarion."
"I believe you've also heard from some teacher that the information engraved in your spirits is immutable, right?"
Everyone says yes, and Olaf continues:
"In fact, there is one single thing that is allowed to change within your spirit, and that thing is your faith."
"Your faith can vary upwards or downwards, depending on how much you believe in the power of the divinity."
"Of course, to conjure a divine magic, you still need mana."
"However, the level of the magic circle and the strength of the magic depend exclusively on your faith."
"That's why it is not allowed to teach divine magic to just anyone."
"On the other hand, you also need faith to conjure profane magic. It is very similar to divine magic, only the essence changes."
"But the biggest difference between Divine and Profane magic compared to others is that these are the only types of magic that allow the user to learn to cast Blessings or Curses."
"A blessing is a type of divine magic that when cast on someone becomes a passive benefit for the person who receives it, for a determined time."
"A curse is a type of profane magic that when cast on someone becomes a passive malefice for the person who receives it, for a determined time too."
Olaf raises the sleeve of his priestly robe and shows the students a large black mark on his left hand, the mark had the shape of a snake and started on his left wrist and went up near Olaf's shoulder. Showing the mark to the class, the priest says:
"This is a curse, I received it years ago and it's still with me today."
Then Gwenn stands up, asks the teacher:
"Being a priest, wouldn't it be possible to remove this curse from your body?" - asks the clearly disgusted girl with that mark.
"There are few curses that we cannot remove, this one would certainly be easily removed if I allowed it," - Olaf says with a weak smile.
"What does this curse do?" - asks Arphaxad.
"It causes me a terrible pain whenever I get angry," - Olaf responds.
"Then in fact it's a good curse!!" - says Arphaxad.
"No curse is good, emotions are inherent characteristics of us humans, all of them, the good and the bad!" - responds the priest.
"I chose to keep this as a reminder of what I did," - Olaf adds.
"It's also the reason I chose to become a priest and later a teacher," - Olaf concludes.
Relon stands up and asks the teacher:
"But Professor Olaf, is there any way for us to know the size of our faith?"
"Unfortunately, no, we only know if it is high or low when we try to conjure divine or profane magic."
"If..."
Before Professor Olaf could finish, a commotion was heard outside, as someone was fighting; the teacher and students left the classroom immediately to see what was happening. Outside there were many people, students from levels 2 and 3 surrounding something; Kal tried to see what was happening when suddenly Relon running out yells:
"Lilla..."
When Relon managed to open a path through the crowd, he saw Lilla standing and a boy sitting on the floor with blood coming from his nose. The boy was Leon Felwave, the third son of Duke Silvus Felwave, Leon had black skin, black hair and incredible crimson red eyes. Apparently Lilla had punched Leon in the face, and Relon without understanding what was happening just grabbed one of his sister's arms trying to take her away. However, Lilla held firm to continue there, and still with closed fists shouted:
"I am not an animal to be controlled by men. I can, and I will choose my own destiny"
Kal, without knowing the boy who was there on the floor, just asks Gwen who was next to him:
"Who is this boy?"
Gwen, who was very intelligent and hardworking, says:
"This is Leon Felwave, and he is number 1 among all students our age"
Relon still holding Lilla's arm said in her ear: "Don't do anything to embarrass our father."
Immediately after hearing Relon's words, Lilla calmed down and moved away. Leon stood up with a sarcastic smile on his face while Professor Olaf returned accompanied by academy security guards. The coordinators sent Lilla back to the palace even before classes ended, but fearing what this whole story could sound like in the emperor's ears, Lilla just left and went to wander the city until she could return home.
Lilla was wandering the streets without purpose, still shaken by her father's decision. Marrying a stranger, as if she was an object to be exchanged? It wasn't fair.
She was so lost in thought that she almost bumped into a woman who had appeared from nowhere in front of her.
"Sorry, I..." - Lilla began.
But something about the woman caught her attention. Her eyes seemed to see beyond, as if reading the secrets of her very soul.
"I sense your agony, child. A destiny has been imposed, but you can choose another path."
Lilla felt a shiver. Could this stranger help her in some way?
"Please, I do not want to get married. Is there another option?"
The woman smiled, enigmatic.
"There is always another option, if you have the courage to seek it. I know an art that can free people from the yoke of the powerful. Come with me and you will learn to be free."
Lilla hesitated. What if it was a trap? But her despair was greater. If this was the chance to escape the future being imposed on her, she had to take the risk. She nodded.
"Take me away from here. Teach me to choose my own path."
The woman extended her hand. Lilla grasped it firmly, full of hope and fear of what she would find ahead. But anywhere would be better than staying and accepting her father's will. She was ready to chase after freedom.
The woman guided her out of the city, delving into the forests and continued; With each step she took, Lilla questioned herself whether what she was doing was right. However, she could not accept being a kind of breeder for corrupt and filthy men, after all, that was not her destiny, Lilla was sure that what awaited her was greatness, even far from the pomp of palaces and castles; Lilla had a strong desire to be someone great by herself, she had never liked the ladies' refinement lessons, she had never liked frivolous things or tea drinking. Deep down in her heart she knew that something much beyond this was waiting for her; that's why she followed the woman and continued following her until a small abandoned village west of the capital. The guiding woman stopped and pointed to an old, dark hut and said:
"Your destiny is in there"
Lilla still apprehensive just asked:
"What's in there?"
As the woman turning and leaving responded:
"Your glory"
Lilla still determined to follow her own path, just firmed her feet and slowly approached the hut. Upon opening the door, Lilla feels a terrible odor, it smelled like rotting corpses and stepping back feels something grabbing her feet; and seeing she realizes that a decaying human hand was holding her feet tightly preventing her from moving. At that moment a man with a large black cloak with a dark skull mask and an old staff in his hands with a strange red bright comes out of that old hut and with him corpses that moved as if they were still alive. Frightened, Lilla screams:
"Let me go, I am Lilla Artal Aquarion, I am daughter of the emperor and I demand that you let me go."
The man with the hood smiles aloud and says in a hoarse and strange voice :
"I want your royal blood, little princess!"
Then Lilla was grabbed by the corpses that were with the man and was dragged inside the hut.