Kaen watched the interaction with curiosity, he discreetly used magic to hear it better and was quite intertened.
The Grace girl was a cunning fox, the little ice princess would be in trouble in a normal situation and he would need to intervene in the situation.
But she somehow got herself a well trained vixen.
He heard his lies mixed with truths, and how natural they sounded, it was impressive. And he might have believed it if he didn't see the pair chatting and playing with their toys in the library.
When he saw that it was ending, he decided to stop the spell.
But the he heard.
"So you are her new target"
It was a whisper that came from the young baron, it was full of warrines, in a way he didn't know the kid could have at this age.
It caught Kaen's attention, so he kept the spell.
And it's a good thing he did, or he would have lost some good information.
He knew the Grace house wasn't as good as they make themselves look, and that's how it has been for years.
But for a girl to be following her family's path at such a young age was still a surprise.
They rot so fast.
But it was good to know this, now he knew that the rumors were false.
It's good to know that the little ice princess wasn't so bad.
But he might have to intervene faster than he thought.
He deactivated the spell as the pair climbed the podium, the young baron still carrying his strange wand.
"That's not the wand that has been registered in the Academy's forms" He pointed.
In fact, he had a small wand, a thing that he had never seen.
The boy nodded and smiled, the little Lady did the same.
"Baron Ferri and I recently changed wands" Said the Lady "We registem them this morning"
"You both?"
He was a little surprised by this, it is not uncommon for mages to change wands.
But such a drastic change never happens in so little time.
"May I see yours?"
Now Kaen was curious.
After getting permission, he took the wand while both smiled knowingly and put a bit of mana on it.
"What the-"
It became heavy, too heavy, the moment he put mana in the wand, he nearly let it go, a shock running through his hand as he felt his it go a bit numb.
He gave back the wand, confused but how simply the boy took it as if there was nothing wrong.
"Do you want to see mine?" The girl offered.
He nodded as he saw her take her wand from the magical bag.
"It's like a sword" Said the boy.
He had to agree with him.
It was similar to the young baron, but looked a bit more like a short rapier, it was white in color and if not for the handle that carried a big blue pearl, he might also have mistaken it with an unicorn horn.
He took it from the girl after she offered it and the reaction was pretty much the same, if not a bit stronger, making him feel his hand less.
He gave the girl her wand back.
"We recently discovered an interesting thing about wands as we studied a new mana manipulation technique" Said the Baron.
"This wands are made with materials that are compatible with us" Said the young lady "If anyone tries to use our wands, they'll be rejected and will receive a shock, my father didn't get it as strong as you did, but his hand didn't stop shaking for hours"
"Same back at home" The baron said "No one thar held my wand could use their hand properly for some hours"
Kaen stayed there, speechless.
What a great find!
"What type of mana manipulation technique you found? How does it work? What does compatibility have to do with it? How did you find out what materials were the right ones?"
He couldn't help but start asking.
And how could he not?
Having their wands stolen was a normal occurrence for mages, it wasn't so bad if it was a normal one, but if it was a custom made of rare materials, it would be ruge problem.
So to have a wand that only worked with your mana was something every mage would love to have.
Kaen wasn't an exception, his siblings would often steal his wands and taint them with their dirty mana as a way to tease him.
A wand stained with someone else's mana would not work properly, you can not use the same cup you used to drink juice and wine without messing with their tastes.
The same applies to wands, mana is like a drink, some are strong and some are delicate, and mixing different kinds of mana in a wand would make it unstable after some time, as it would make it hard to use.
Both kids smiled, but the barron used his head to point at the rest of the class, now suspiciously closer
He took a look and certainly, they were staring with hungry and curious eyes.
Most students were nobles or of noble origins, so he knew most of them would want to take his good side, so seeing the most honorable Duke daughter in the Bronze Empire and the newest appointed baron of the empire getting his attention must have given them the idea that they have a chance.
What a pain.
He snapped his fingers and a barrier formed around them.
Using magic without a wand can be hard for most, but for him was a piece of cake.
"About the mana manipulation technique" He said "What type of technique is that and where did you find it?"
***
Amelia watched from afar the situation.
From her position on the back of the others, no one saw the ugly expression she had as she bites her nail.
The hunter that her father had failed to hire as her tutor was now talking with the girl she hated the most.
She resisted the urge to bite off her nail, taking a deep breath as she saw the other turning to her.
She put on her inocente mask once again.
***
"So there is a store that sells creatures called bakugan" He said "And they taught you a better and more natural way to use mana and helped you choose materials that resonate with you?"
"Yes sir"
It was quite unbelievable, to be honest.
And both kids seemed to understand it.
"If you enlarge the barrier and put an illusion spell on it to not let the others see" The young baron said "I can show you my bakugan"
That brought his interest.
"Deal"
He made a gesture with his and the barrier grew in size and height until the boy said it was enough, the illusion he put made people think that they are still talking.
"Should we show him the Field first?" The young lady asked.
"It's better let the Field for the last" Responded the baron "We don't know if the barrier will shut down if we do that, so I'll show him the Gauntlet first"
"Wonderful!" The young lady said as she turned to the boy "I really wanted to see the Gauntlet in action!"
"And I really wanted to show it off a little!" He admitted.
He didn't understand what they meant by all this, but sounded interesting enough.
Kaen watched as the boy and girl took something from their chest pocket and showed it to him.
It was a pair of small spheres, one blue and one green, smaller than his palm.
"This is a Bakugan in their sealed state" Said the boy "Mine specifically is called Ventus Monarus"
"Mine is an Aquos Juggernoid" Said the girl.
He looked at the sphere and then at the pair.
He was about to say something when both spheres opened themselves, revealing interesting shapes.
The green one made him vaguely think in a feary, and the blue one reminded him of a turtle.
But that's not the surprising part.
No…
The surprising part was the fact that they talked.
"Greetings" Saluted the green one with a soothing voice "My name is Solder"
"Heya lad!" The blue one said with a surprisingly low voice "I'm Topaz!"
He was really surprised for a second, but then controles himself, thinking it might be a toy.
He watched as the boy used his free hand to get the same device that he saw in the library from his magic bag.
"This is a Gauntlet" He said as he put it on his arm "This device is one of the two ways a bakugan show their real appearance"
Once again he took something from his magical bag.
A little box, more or less the same size of the cards they were using in the library.
He took one identical to the one he found before and a second one with a green color and stored the rest in the magical bag again.
He watched as the boy put the first card in the Gauntlet, activating it.
"Bakugan need an specific type of energy to show their real appearance and use their abilities" The boy explained "It's similar to how we need mana to use spells and arrays, the Gauntlet create a field where this energy is accessible, but they can only truly return to their original selves when a portal card is set in place"
He showed the second card, the so-called portal card, he let it fall his hand to the ground.
When it touched the ground, it shined and expanded, slowly turning transparent and fusing with the ground, the glow stopped more or less where the barrier ended.
"The temporary field is set" He said "And now all that's left is to let the bakugan go"
He then throws the bakugan to the sky and it is shown with a green light, growing and expanding.
It only stopped at a mark of 13 meters tall floating a bit above the podium.
"She's actually bigger here than when I first met in the shop" He said "Solder said it was because there are some barriers in the store that don't let them grow in their full size to prevent accidents.
Kaen nodded, now understanding the reason for the illusion spell.
With how big she is, everyone would be surprised.
"She's so pretty!"
Lady Rockfield was just as mesmerized by the creature as he was.
With a nod, the bakugan shone once more, shrinking as the card did the same, both returning to the boy's hand.
"So this is a bakugan?" Kaen asked with amazement.
"More or less" Said the boy as he stored his cards "Monarus is one of the species of bakugan, there are much more"
"And now I'm going to show another!"
The little Lady of the Rockfield was excited as she too took a pair of cards as the boy stored his and kept one from his box, identical to the one the girl had.
"These are also portal cards!" She said, showing to him the one they had in comum "But these ones take us to a place called Field, it's a place between space and time where time doesn't pass and the place is infinite, so no matter how much you stay there, the world outside won't change and you'll never see it's end no matter how long you walk"
"I don't know if we took you there will make your barrier would stop functioning for lack of a source of mana" Said the young baron "So we left that for the last so you don't have to cast another barrier"
An interesting introduction, and as unbelievable as the idea of bakugan being living creatures sealed in the form of toys.
But how could he say that he didn't know what to expect when he took the young lady's hand.
And that was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.
And he somehow got to give the card back to the boy.
***
Principal Melissa Owen was revising her documents when someone barged in her office.
"Melissa!"
With a sigh, she turned to her old friend.
"Kaen" She said "How many times should I say that you should knock first?"
"That's not important right now!" Said the mage "I came to say that I want two students to transfer to my special classes!"
That made her pause.
Kaen was not only an SS Mage, but the only SS rank Mage in the Bronze Empire, he was also highly cobissed by many for tutoring.
So it was a surprise to many when he said that he wanted to teach at the Academy, and that he would choose the students that caught his atencion and tutor them for as long as they prove to be worthy.
But he was so picky with people that he hardly had any students in his classes.
But now he picked not one, but two students?
What 's goin on?
"Who are they?" She asked.
"Rockfield and Ferri"
Melissa looked at him in contemplation.
An interesting choice.
"Why?" She asked.
"Not only they discovered a new mana manipulation technique" He said "They so quickly adapted to it and implemented it into their body system so perfectly that I'm surprised that they didn't damage their original circuit, it's like they always used it! They are so naturally talented in mana manipulation and practical use of it that it would be a shame to let them stay in normal classes!"
Now there's also a new technique?
What's more to surprise her?
"I'm fine with it" She said "It is in or contract that you can take any student that takes your interest"
It's a good thing to see Kaen so excited to take students without pressure since soon he would be receiving many messages and bribes from parents.
She thought that that was it, Kaen would take his new students to his class and would let her be.
But nothing goes according to plan when Kaen is close by.
"Ah! I also take my class in trip out of the Academy" He said "There is a place a want to visit as soon as possible and it will beneficial for me and for them"