In the corridors of the Academy, a young woman was making her way to the teachers' room. Holding four cups of coffee in her hands, she was struggling to not burn herself as the hot liquid threatened to spill at each of her steps. Arriving at her destination, she gently kicked the door a couple of times to announce her arrival as someone came to open up.
"Oh my, Mrs. Olga! Let me help you with that."
Finally off-loaded of her extra cups of coffee, the young teacher came to grab a chair at the table, where most of her colleagues were already seated.
"So, did I miss anything?" She asked, going right to the point.
As a new teacher in the school, Mrs. Olga felt really pressured into giving her best for her students. Because of that, she often spent her Friday afternoons providing support sessions for pupils in difficulty. Despite this, she was still very interested in the duels' outcome, as they could sometimes be very unexpected. As soon as her last session ended, she headed straight to the teachers' room, as she knew her colleagues would be there, discussing the students' performance.
"This time was spectacular!" A male teacher exclaimed, as he extended his arm to reach for one of the cups of coffee. "You've really missed something, Mrs. Olga. There were so many surprising outcomes!"
"Really?" This is what she had been hoping to hear. "What happened?"
"Well, to be exact, out of all the duels that were held today, only two of them were very unusual," the male teacher explained.
But it was still two times too many, so Mrs. Olga's interest didn't decrease one bit.
"The first fight was a duel between mages. Both students were from Mrs. Borge's class and one of them was the best in his class."
"And he lost?" Mrs. Olga guessed.
Her colleague nodded.
"Not only did he lose, but the way he lost was really strange!"
"How so?"
The male teacher brought a hand to his neck, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Well, I'm not sure," he admitted, his gaze wandering on the table. "I'm only a math teacher so I'm not really familiar with magic, but… We didn't see anything."
Mrs. Olga frowned at his explanation.
"What do you mean, 'you didn't see anything'?"
"It's just as you heard, the girl casted a spell, but we couldn't see anything. Her magic was invisible."
The young woman frowned even further. Support spells were often invisible, but when it comes to invisible offensive spells, only one kind of magic crossed her mind. Dark magic. However, it shouldn't have been possible. Not only did this school not teach anything about it to its students as it was a forbidden art, but only demons were known to use dark magic. And there were no demons in the Academy.
As she was thinking this, Mrs. Olga turned her attention to Mrs. Borge, who had stayed silent until now. If anyone here could be able to tell what really happened, it would be her, a teacher from the intermediate classes, specialized in magic. Moreover, this concerned her student. She was the best one to know about her abilities.
"Did that really happen?" Mrs. Olga inquired.
But Mrs. Borge only gave her a long sigh as an answer.
At that moment, the door opened as the head-teachers entered the room. The duels had long ended now, and after finally closing up the event, it was time for them to consult each other about it. As usual, they decided to hold their usual post-event meeting in the teachers' room.
"Mr. Glenn," the two female teachers greeted, as they noticed their superior coming in.
"Oh, I see that everyone is already here!" Mr. Glenn noted. "Please don't get up. It will be quick."
The head-teachers all took a seat around the table. With most of the school's teachers present, the room was now almost full.
"Let us begin," Mr. Villin, the head-teacher in charge of the swordsmanship department, said, not wasting a single second. "I believe everyone agrees that some duels today were a bit… surprising."
As the professors exchanged agreeing looks, a voice suddenly spoke up.
"Did someone use dark magic?"
Mrs. Olga's unexpected interrogation caused a little commotion to rise in the room as all eyes turned on her. Her assumption wasn't irrelevant. Not everyone here was familiar with magic, but they all understood to some extent that the student named Vivian of Lorns used an abnormal spell.
"Alright, alright, please, calm down everyone. No dark magic has been used," Mr. Glenn immediately assured before turning his eyes on Mrs. Olga. "What made you think that, Mrs. Olga?"
"Well, I've heard a student used invisible magic, so…"
"Wait a second," someone abruptly interjected. "If no dark magic was used, then how do you explain Vivan of Lorn's victory? As far as everyone knows, she has always been mediocre. How could she have won against Lucius Bain, who is considered the best in his class?"
Without waiting for a reply, the man shifted his gaze on Mrs. Borge.
"Mrs. Borge. They are both students of your class. What do you have to say? Do you think it is possible for Vivian of Lorns to beat Lucius Bain?"
"No," the female teacher immediately replied, without even having to think twice about it. "It shouldn't have been possible."
Her arms crossed in front of her, she was displaying a hard expression.
"Why the jaded look, then, Mrs. Borge? Isn't this a good thing?" One of her colleagues noted. "A second-rate student defeating a talented classmate is something to be praised! She's your student, you should be proud of her."
However, the female teacher seemed to disagree as she let out a long sigh.
"I would have been if she had defeated him with her own abilities," she muttered loud enough to be heard, disappointment showing on her face.
Several teachers frowned at her revelation.
"Are you suggesting that she didn't defeat him by herself?"
Mrs. Borge didn't utter another word. However, that was enough for the others as they took her silence for a yes. A clamor of indignation was raised in the room as the possibility of cheating was being considered. Duels were meant to oppose two challengers for their real worth. Any form of external aids were thus absolutely forbidden. If a student resorted to the use of a magic item or something of the likes to assure her victory, then it would be absolutely scandalous.
As the commotion grew in the room, only one person did not seem to be surprised by the unexpected revelation.
"Mr. Glenn," someone called out. "Do you know anything about that?"
The head-teacher was displaying a large smile.
"Naturally," he admitted.
During the event, he had been the first one to notice that Vivian was being helped. As the one in charge of the magic department, it was easy for him to detect the mana of a third party involved in the fight. However, he had been unable to pinpoint its source.
"As you all know, magic can be a bit tricky," Mr. Glenn began to explain. "It can be cast at a long distance and the source of its power, mana, is not visible. This means that it is very easy for a third party to intervene without anyone knowing."
The teachers began to gossip as Mr. Glenn presented a small object resembling a stone on the table.
"Which is exactly why we use this," he continued.
"That's a magic item!" Mrs. Olga immediately recognized.
"Indeed," the head-teacher confirmed with a smile. "Each time a competition is held, I distribute this to some of the teachers under my wing before scattering them through the stands. It allows me to keep an eye on everyone and prevent external intervention. This wonderful device is able to detect mana fluctuations, you see?"
As a few eyes widened at this information, one professor in particular did not seem thrilled at the sight of the magic item.
"Please, don't give me that look, Mr. Villin," Mr. Glenn joked as he noticed his colleague's disapproving glare. "I have, naturally, obtained the headmaster's permission to use these. As you know, our school has a strict policy when it comes to cheating, so we considered it to be necessary."
"I have never heard about this before," Mr. Villin noted, his eyes narrowed.
"The responsibility of preventing magic abuse was mine so I didn't deem it necessary to share this information with you," the head-teacher explained, "especially since, so far, it hasn't been of any use. No one would care to cheat for a duel after all. They aren't even an official competition."
Mr. Glenn marked a pause, the smile on his face widening.
"But I guess today was a different story!"
The head-teacher pressed his body against the back of his chair, his fingers intertwined neatly on his lap.
"So, did any one of my little spies catch a naughty student in the act?"
The teachers started to exchange silent gazes, waiting for someone to come forward.
"I did," Mrs. Borge then spoke up, as all eyes turned on her.
Mrs. Borge had been attending duels for as long as she could remember. As one of the established mages of the school, Mr. Glenn often counted on her to supervise the event from the stands. She didn't mind it. Not only was it one of her responsibilities as a teacher, but it also allowed her to see how students coped with a battle situation. She was particularly delighted this time to hear that some of her students would be participating. Yet, this expectation was soon pushed aside since, for the first time in a few years, her magic stone reacted.
"So, who was it?"
"Lynett Maedis Whiteheart."