The area wasn't empty, and it didn't take long for the class that was using it to notice our arrival. There were about sixty students for only one teacher. Definitely not a small class.
"Mrs. Borge!" Mr. Glenn called out.
A female teacher in her thirties turned in our direction. Dressed in a simple but practical blue robes, she already seemed much more of a magic teacher than Mrs. Olga.
"Mr. Glenn," she greeted us in a neutral manner as we went to meet her. "May I help you?"
"Oh no, don't mind me!" Mr. Glenn exclaimed. "I'm just here to observe, as usual."
"And this is?" Mrs. Borge asked when her eyes fell upon me.
"Right, this is Lynett. A transfer student. Would you mind if she joins your class this one time?"
The female teacher tilted her head and furrowed an eyebrow as she raised a hand to stroke her chin.
"Well, I don't think this is a problem, but we're almost done," she then responded.
"Perfect!" Mr. Glenn declared, ignoring her last remark. "Lynett, why don't you go sit over there?" He suggested as he turned my way.
I nodded and, following his hand gesture, I walked to join Mrs. Borge students to sit among them. Becoming the center of their attention, I could feel myself growing uneasy. However, among the curious stares, I soon noticed the insisting gaze of a familiar face. A relieved and delighted grin drawing on my face, I made my way through the crowd of students and hurried to sit at her side.
"What are you doing here?" Vivian exclaimed, as discreetly as she could.
I shrugged. "Mr. Glenn brought me here."
"I can see that, but-"
Mrs. Borge loudly cleared her throat.
"Silence please," she demanded, staring in our direction. "We will now continue the class. Have some patience, it's almost over."
Mrs. Borge seemed naturally charismatic. She had an authoritative, yet soothing voice. It didn't take long for the gossips to die down and for the students to become attentive again.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, the teacher stopped looking our way as she resumed her class.
"So, what were you doing with Mustache?" Vivian whispered, her curiosity unwavering.
"He came to my class and then he just brought me along."
"Huh? Why?"
I shrugged. "Who knows?"
Vivian squinted her eyes, trying to read my expression. "You're really something else," she then blurted out.
"Why?" I inquired, my brows furrowed.
"You've just transferred, and you've already caught the eyes of the head teacher," she explained.
"Isn't it exactly because I transfered that I caught his eyes?"
She tilted her head, and after a while, she let out loud sigh.
"You're probably right."
Looking around me and inspecting the other students, I noticed no other familiar face -not that I know a lot of people anyway. They were all quite engaged in their lesson. The students listened attentively to the teacher and carefully observed their classmates practicing, waiting for their turn.
"So that's your class, huh?" I asked. "They are all so diligent."
"That's because Mustache is here," Vivian explained. "They're not usually so attentive."
"Mr. Glenn?"
She nodded.
"He is in charge of the advanced classes after all, they want to impress him."
Oho, I see.
"Besides, as a head teacher, he is also one of the jury of the selection board," Vivian added.
"The selection board?"
"Yeah, you know, for the examinations at the end of each month. They decide if you stay in your current class or if you're promoted or demoted to another class."
No wonder. Basically, he's one of the big guys. He gets to decide of your future within this academy. Well, coming from a head teacher, I guess it was to be expected. But looking at his nonchalant face, it was still hard to believe. He really gave off a strong grandpa next door vibe, although he was not that old. Then again, in this world, it was not uncommon to become a grandparent in your forties.
Returning my attention to class, it looked that the students took turns to practice their magic in front of the teacher. The exercise seemed to be about hitting one of the six targets on the yard, all set five meters apart from each others. The most basic training method when it comes to long-ranged attacks. The exercise didn't seem too difficult. The targets were unmoving and big enough to be hard to miss, yet, less than half of the students managed to hit them. Listening to the Mrs. Borge's explanations, it looks like the main problem is the students' limited range of control over their mana.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today," the teacher finally announced. "It's wasn't so bad, I can see some progress."
The tired students' face brightened at her words.
"Nobody tried to hit the thirty meters target though," Mrs. Borge noted. "Since the class is ending, does anyone want to try?"
The students were hesitant, understandably so. The ten meters target didn't seem to pose too much of a problem, the five meters one even less. The difficulty seemed to start at fifteen meters, and so far, no one managed to hit the target at twenty meters, so of course, hitting a target at thirty meters away would appear impossible. Still, a couple a hands went up. I understood soon enough, seeing the quick glances given to Mr. Glenn. The presence of the head teacher was tempting. The more Mrs. Borge waited, the more hands rose. However, at some point, a student volunteered more confidently than his peers, which the teacher didn't miss.
"Lucius," she called him out. "Why don't you show your classmates what you're capable of?"
"Yes, Mrs. Borge."
In an assured manner, the boy called Lucius stood up and made his way through the other students to join the teacher.
"What, Lucius again?"
"Such a teacher's pet."
The boy didn't seem very popular among his peers. But seeing the other students averting their gaze when the boy glared at them, I could tell that his confidence was probably not just for show.
"Vivian," I called out in a small voice. "Is he good?"
"Rather than good, he's excellent," Vivian conceded after letting out a long sigh. "He's the best of our class. The teacher always calls him for a final demonstration at the end of the class, supposedly to motivate us."
The best of this class, huh? Well then, let's see what he's worth.
"Whenever you're ready," Mrs. Borge said.
The boy nodded. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. The other students all fell silent. Despite the fact that they didn't seem to appreciate him, they were still very interested in his performance. Suddenly, following his chant, a fire ball gushed out of the boy's hand to reach the target without a problem. In an instant, the previous silence disappeared, commotion rising among the students in awe. Even the teacher was clapping.
"Wow, you saw that?"
"He really hit the target!"
"That fire ball was huge!"
"As expected of Lucius."
As everyone was praising the boy, only one person was left unimpressed: me.
I was genuinely confused. I didn't understand the cheers. This is the best student of the class? From my point of view, his performance was mediocre. Out of all those who tried before him, he had the worst control of his mana. The only reason why he hit the target was that he used an enormous amount of mana, to make sure the fireball wouldn't change its course. But that's just reckless. Such a simple spell shouldn't use this much mana. In a real battle situation, he would have collapsed within the five first minutes. And that fireball wasn't that big. His was definitely bigger than the students' before him, but that's just because he kept fueling it with mana. Besides, it had the same size of the fireball my aunt did twelve years ago. Does that make her a genius or are they just over-impressed because they're inexperienced?
"Vivian, what did you think of his performance?"
"Huh?" The girl beside me tilted her head. "It was awesome, wasn't it?"
As I thought. I think I get it. They are merely judging his performance by what they see. Physically. Mana can't be seen. It's something that you feel. Thinking about it, I think Yoko mentioned something like that before. Humans do not have the ability to feel mana -not without a device. Their affinity to magic isn't high enough. They can feel strong disturbances but that's about it. So it's no wonder they were impressed by Lucius' magic. His fireball's size was definitely bigger than the others', and it did reach its target. But at what cost?
"Very impressive," Mrs. Borge acclaimed. "Now then, does anyone else want to try?"
"Huuh?"
"No way…"
"Not after Lucius…"
This time, there were no volunteers. It seems that rather than motivating them, Lucius' performance was totally discouraging them. It's understandable though. No one would want to try after the -supposedly- best student.
"I want you all to work hard until you can all do the same. Next time we'll-"
Mrs. Borge didn't finish her sentence as she was startled by a sudden hand rising up in the air -mine.
"Lynett, what are you-" Vivian started before I cut her off.
"I would like to try, please." I announced, loud enough so that everyone could hear me.
As the other students all turned in my direction in surprise, Mrs. Borge gave a quick glance to Mr. Glenn, as if to ask if it was okay. Mr. Glenn nodded with a smile, and Mrs. Borge returned her attention to me.
"Alright, Lynett is it?" She spoke up. "Go ahead."
Following the teacher's order, I stood up to join Lucius. He was glaring at me, clearly not pleased by the fact that I was trying to steal his spotlight. Well, sorry, but it can't be helped Lucius.
I don't want a spotlight. I don't need a spotlight. Standing out won't do me anything good, but this time, I'll make an exception. After all, circumstances have changed.
I haven't forgotten my main goal in this Academy: the Great Tournament. Considering the fact that over fifty schools will take part to the competition, each school has a limited number of participants. One hundred students per school. The Arcane Academy has over ten thousand students. One hundred out of ten thousand… That's the top one percent. So if I want to participate, I need to stand out. And quickly. The tournament takes place in five months, but the play-off will begin a month before that. And in order to to give them the best possible odds, most schools will train their candidates for at least a month. Which means the tournament participants will be selected within the next three months. Time is against me.
So sorry about that Lucius.
As I approached, the boy stepped aside, still glaring.
"You know what you have to do, right?" Mrs. Borge asked.
I nodded.
Locking the target with my eyes, I raised my arm and focused mana in my hand. At this point, controlling my mana was as easy as controlling any part of my body. Unlike my peers, who needed at least a few seconds to focus their mana into one point, in an instant, my mana was concentrated at the end of my hand, ready to be launched. However, as I realized something, I immediately interrupted the magic.
Crap…
I don't know any chants! I had completely forgotten. Revealing that I can use [Voiceless Incantations] is definitely not an option so what do I do? I could have stolen Lucius' chants but I absolutely wasn't paying attention to it so I can't remember it…!
Noticing my sudden pause, the teacher called me out.
"Lynett? Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes, one moment, please!"
"What in she doing?"
"Is she nervous?"
Lucius didn't miss the occasion to affirm his superiority.
"So what, were you just for show?" He mocked arrogantly.
"Lucius, let her focus," Mrs. Borge demanded.
The boy didn't add anything else, but the sneer on his face indicated me that he was no longer considering me a threat.
Shit. That god damn chant.
…
Wait. A chant is a chant, right? Mages create their own chants when they come up with a new spell. In other words, it doesn't have to mean anything. As long as I say something.
A smirk appeared on my face and Lucius frowned at my renewed confidence.
Once again, a raised my arm and focused my mana at the end of it.
"Abracadabra."
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Note From Ozen_Ice: Sorry guys for the late update, liquid spiled on my device, I wonder if rice also works on laptops (๑•﹏•)