The Ironclad Training Centre was the Section VI of the academy. It was different from the training grounds used during practical lessons. This one was made for students to practise in their free time.
The training centre was for every student in the academy and was separated into three buildings for each year. The Stars had their chamber inside those three-storey glass buildings.
Felix was in his training chamber. His chamber wasn't as big as the main one but it was less crowded and peaceful for him. It was a white room, with grids aligned all over it. Nothing was in there, except a weapon stand, a water dispenser beside it and a large mirror attached to the wall on the right side of the room.
Felix accumulated mana in his hand. He swung his spear in a vertical direction and the mana reppled itself out of his fingertips to his spear.
Swish
As usual, a roar echoed as the air around that spear seemed to vibrate. Felix didn't stop there, he moved his mana towards his chest. Once the mana repelled, it produced a vibration a few inches above his chest. It stayed there for a second and then vanished, He quickly pressed on the stopwatch and looked at the time.
"Haa…1.8 seconds"
Levi let out a long breath and sat on the floor.
"Finally"
There was a breakthrough and he had been doing this for the past two weeks.
Felix could control mana around his body for three seconds but to produce the vibration using the repelling effect of his mana, it took him two seconds.
And now after continuous training, it has dropped down by 0.2 seconds. It wasn't the biggest of improvement, but he was happy with it.
'One small step at a time.'
Felix's attack range was small. That was his strength and weakness, just like any other close combatant had, but Felix's case was different to theirs.
Others had control over their mana. If their attack, was missed, they could easily block, dodge or follow up with another attack, without having to move mana from their core to any body part, every three seconds.
They could do what was called Mana coating on their weapon and body. It was like adding armour that not only provided defence but made them faster and their attack deadlier.
However, Felix was unable to do so, because of his cursed mana. He couldn't even control it, doing a mana coat was way out of his league.
However, the vibration made his attack lethal as it could shake an object from the inside. His attacks were the perfect defence breaker.
But if he missed, and the opponent counter-attacked him in a position where he couldn't dodge, Felix would be in big trouble. He would have no mana coating to cover himself. That is why he was trying to produce vibration at a faster rate.
If he used his Art on the weapon, he couldn't use it anywhere else at the same time. That left him vulnerable.
"If I can execute the Art faster, it would be the same as attacking and defending in parallel."
Felix stood up and looked at the clock on the wall ahead of it. It was 5:30 pm.
"Half an hour more, and then I can read the new book I just bought."
Felix again did the same manoeuvre. He swung his spear and then produced a vibrational energy on his chest. The progress wasn't noticeable but he knew this was the right path.
All of this was possible because of the best weapon in his arsenal—the Sense he had.
The Sense wasn't an Art, a Blessing or an Ability. One day, the epiphany hit him and he remembered the incident clearly. It brought a smile to his face. The only vivid memory of his childhood that made him smile.
Felix shook his head. There was no need to focus on the past.
As he started training again, The Sense alerted him. Something was in this room, just behind. He looked in the mirror and couldn't see anything.
He felt a hand, trying to grab his neck. He ducked, stepped to the side and swung his spear in the air. Though there was no contact, he felt like hitting something.
Again, there was a cold chilling sensation, this time below him, trying to grab his legs. Felix jumped back and was about to attack, but the presence was no more.
'The hell?'
Felix ran towards the training door and opened it. Nobody was there, except some students looking at him.
He closed the door and put a hand on his chin. What could it be? To bypass an A-class barrier around the training ground and leave without a trace.
' When it was close to me, the curse that I always see appeared in my mind. It was even worse than usual.'
Whatever it was, only one person had an answer to it.
'Where can I find him at this time of the day?'
******
"Why is your kitchen bigger than my whole room?"
Lim asked as he looked around Felix's kitchen. It was a separate tiled room, with shelves full of seasoning, bowls and cups Felix was never going to use. Lim had these Felix's Kitchen but a lot more downgraded.
"I am better than you so of course my kitchen will be better too,"
Felix said as he walked to the counter.
Lim frowned and sat on one of the four chairs around the table.
Felix passed him a glass of water, with an ice cube on top of it.
"Thanks" Lim took a sip and felt the cold water slip down his throat.
"So you've encountered it too."
Felix nodded. After leaving his training chamber, Felix rushed to this dorm, took a shower and was about to leave again to find Lim, but he was in front of his door, about to press the doorbell.
"I was training and it just came in….. I don't know how but it tried to grab my neck. My attack did hit it, but I don't think whatever it was, is capable of feeling pain."
Felix walked to the sink and washed some potatoes.
" At first I thought it was a Ghost but that just seems impossible."
"No, it is a ghost"
"Huh?"
Felix turned to Lim confused.
"A ghost? How did it manage to get past all of the barriers, especially from the reach of those fire fairies"
"You're right "Lim said "Even I considered this to be absolute bulls*t when I thought of it, but this does make sense. A ghost didn't enter the academy, not in the presence of trillions of fire fairies. Someone must have collected a bunch of fireflies and turned them into a Ghost."
Felix thought about what Lim just said as he started cutting the potatoes.
"It isn't impossible. Some professors with expertise in the academy could do so, but as far as I know, the process of conversion isn't something easy and secretive to full off."
"What do you mean by secretive?"
Lim asked.
"I read it in a book once. Any conversion of a spirit to a ghost or the opposite needs a large amount of mana, so much that a human body or even an elf can't hold. So a magic circle is needed, a large one…..I think the book said a ten to twenty-metre area was needed. And to activate the circle, mana stones are needed, or items with a large reservoir of mana."
Felix paused for a while, as he started mashing the potatoes.
"If it is a Ghost, then the mana needed for the conversion probably wasn't a small quantity. Whoever summoned it must have either sacrificed a large number of mana stones around C to D rank or five to ten of A to S-ranked stones or items."
"That does make sense, but how did nobody see them doing so?"
Lim said as he finished his glass of water.
" Even if the stones weren't in large quantities, someone should have seen the drawing of a magic circle or even sensed such a high quantity of mana in one place"
Felix started frying the potatoes and a fresh aroma of oil and herbs filled the room.
"Whoever did the conversion must know about a place, where you know, nobody could find them. And this is the work of the traitor we are searching for. We don't know who the traitor is, but right now with this, everything points towards Professor Serena, the head of the Spirit magic department and the one who interrogated me. I can't be sure about it but we need to be extra careful of her now."
Lim shook his head.
"I don't think she is the one, not from how I wrote her in the book but...I too can't be sure right now. Nothing is how it is supposed to be. She is a prodigy, an S-class mage in spirit magic which earned her the position as the Head of the Spirit Magic department. If she is the traitor, then it makes sense for her to know some secret base or area that I have no idea about."
As Lim was thinking about a secret place, he wrote about, Felix placed a plate of potato fritters, with salmon and a half-cut lemon on the side. He too sat on the table and passed a fork to Lim.
"The ghost for now has only come for us and I don't think the traitor went through all that trouble just to give us a scare. Before it creates chaos, we should move and try to find out about it, right now. What do you think?"
"We should," Lim said taking the fork
" I mean only we can do it. The ghost has come only for us. We should keep it a secret from the professor. Nobody can be trusted, even the headmaster….... Why does fate like to play this much with us?"
"Don't think too much. Just eat. A full stomach does wonders to mind."
Felix said as he took a bite from his meal. Lim nodded and looked at the plate in front of him.
Maybe it was because of the conversation they were having or the effect of the ghost still on him that he didn't notice the dish. The smell of chives, the crispiness of the potato, and the grilled salmon fillet looked amazing.
Except the salmon fillet was missing on Felix's plate.
"Are you allergic to meat?"
Felix shook his head.
"I don't like it. Fish that I can eat, but just didn't feel like eating today."
Lim didn't ask further and started eating. The crunchiness of the potato and the char of the salmon with the lemon was great, so much so that Lim licked the plate after finishing his meal.
'He's a good cook.' Lim thought.
"We should get going now."
"Go?" Felix said as he pointed at the sink.
"Wash the dishes first."
Lim didn't complain. After all, Felix cooked such a wonderful dish and he had to wash only two plates and forks. He took his plate as well as Felix's and walked towards the sink. He looked inside it and turned towards Felix
"The fuck? What is this?"
Felix shrugged his shoulders.
"Unwashed dishes."
"I can see that." Levi said." Why is there so much of it? Who did you invite to your room, your whole class?"
Since the dishes were inside the sink, Lim couldn't see them piled up from the table. If he did, he would have never agreed to eat in the first place.
Felix started unwrapping a book he just bought. He walked to the living room, leaned on the sofa and started reading.
"Unbelievable, making a guest wash dishes. So much for being a gentleman."
Lim shook his head. He lathered a sponge and started washing the fifty plates and bowls.
'Curse you…no you're already too cursed. Damn you Felix.'