"Oh? Then, ask away, little prince!" She answered cheerfully, and I finally asked her what was really on my mind.
"Is it possible for a human being to transfer their origin into another human being?" I asked what I've been wanting to know, and the teacher looked widely shocked by that question.
"I… thought you'd be asking about something regarding combat techniques. But, with that said, I am indeed the teacher for origin science. In this school, if anyone were to know the most about all the meticulous things regarding origins… that would be me." The vice headmaster went on a long rant about it, and I simply waited for her to answer.
After taking some time thinking of an answer, the vice headmaster opened her eyes wide at me. "The answer is… No, it is not possible, little prince."
"I see… Thank you for answering." I bowed slightly at her, and she giggled after seeing me accepting so easily.
"Now, that answer is only based on my experience and knowledge! And sadly, I am only in my forties, so there might be other people who are older and more knowledgeable than me! Apologies if that answer didn't satisfy you." She continued, and I shook my head very quickly.
"No need! I wasn't quite sure if it was possible."
"Haha! In that case, may I return you with a question?" The vice headmaster asked with a wide smile, and I became awkward not knowing as to what she was going to ask.
"Y-Yes?"
"Can you tell me why you're asking such a thing?" She asked her question away, and I immediately found myself confused.
Should I… lie through this?
"Well, I met someone who has two origins. But, when I first met them, they didn't have two origins in their body." I explained to her the fake situation that I came up with, and she just laughed quite cheerfully at me.
"Is that so? Well, I must say I am shocked.
I truly wasn't expecting the prince of a big kingdom to be such a good liar! Truly impressive!"
… What…?
Hearing her words, everyone became confused. They all turned their gazes at me, wearing my fully shocked expression.
"That wasn't a lie, ma'am!"
"Oh!? Did I make you uncomfortable!? I'm so sorry! You're free to not answer if you like!" The vice headmaster quickly said after I shouted, and I can't help but realize just what kind of position I've found myself in.
This vice headmaster… isn't someone I can easily fool. If anything, she might've already known my true goal.
"But, can I give you quick advice, Nathan?" She now addressed me using my name, and I knew immediately that this is a personal one.
I took a deep breath and nodded at her, preparing myself for what was about to come. Seeing me nodding, the vice headmaster's smile disappeared.
"You know nothing. Stop while you still can, before it harms you and the people closest to you." The vice headmaster said coldly, and I can only let out a sigh.
… I knew it.
She knew my goals, after all.
My hands formed a fist, and I could feel myself burning from the inside. Next to me, Jonah and Lily only stared at my face with concern, but I quickly recovered from the wound and smiled widely at the vice headmaster.
"It's none of your business, vice headmaster!" I said aloud, and the vice headmaster smiled widely as well.
"In that case, let's continue with the introduction!" The vice headmaster then moved on to the person next to me, Lily, who is completely not prepared because of the heavy conversation just now.
"Ah, if it isn't the second princess! Seeing that you're right next to a prince, you two must be quite sure of your future marriage partner!"
"W-Wha--!?"
Lily wasn't ready, but she was really Not Ready for that.
Everyone spat out of their mouth hearing those words from the vice headmaster, and Lily continued trying her best to remove this view from the vice headmaster. The vice headmaster eventually gave up and moved on to the next person, and Lily let out a sigh before turning to me.
"We shouldn't really stand next to each other all the time…" Lily said to me, but I wasn't ready to talk.
"A-Ah… okay."
Seeing me so flustered, Lily noticed the awkwardness that has formed between us. She took it as if I must be too shy after that conversation just now.
But, that wasn't the case. I wasn't prepared because I was too deep in my own thoughts.
If the vice headmaster knows that much about me, then it's possible that she knows so much more than just that. Even from the way she wants me to stop, I can already tell she has a special connection to me in some way.
Just who are you, Vice Headmaster Hilda?
Eric's turn came up, and he too asked a question to the vice headmaster. He wants to know if it's possible for someone to own two origins and combine them, and the vice headmaster answered plainly.
"Yes. It is possible! In fact, a close friend of mine actually graduated from this academy many years ago with that very ability!" The vice headmaster proudly said, and Eric turned curious.
"What abilities do they have?"
"Within their blood, they have the fire origin and the light origin. But, they can't use either of them, because the two origins have already bonded into one. Forming a completely different origin unlike the two." The vice headmaster explained, and Eric opened his eyes widely from the surprise.
Meanwhile, everyone was quite confused. They all started mumbling about whether or not that is possible, and if so, how come they just learned about it. It was indeed not something that is quite famous, but it's still a possibility.
"If you want to give me an example, The Dark Knight of Fiordall is a possessor of that combined product of two origins! Isn't that right, two princes of Fiordall?" The vice headmaster turned to me and Reju, and Reju nodded at the vice headmaster.
"That's correct, ma'am! The Dark Knight of Fiordall owns a dark flame origin." Reju answered aloud, and the vice headmaster smiled softly, seeing how energetic Reju was.
"Does that answer your question, Mister Eric Axwell?" The vice headmaster turned back to Eric, but it seems like Eric still has other questions.
"Then, can you… tell me how such a thing occurs?" Eric asked what he had been most curious about, and the vice headmaster started thinking on her own.
"That's difficult, dear. Unless I experience it for myself, then I couldn't possibly know how to combine two origins into one. And if I'm not wrong… combining two origins doesn't happen because the owner wanted it to.
It happened right after birth."
Hearing the answer, Eric turned really surprised. "T-Then, that means… The person already has the combined origin since birth?"
"I think so. From what I remember, my friend who has the combined origin had it for their whole life. I've only met her when she was seventeen, though. Right here at the academy." The vice headmaster explained, thinking that Eric is now satisfied with the answer. However, Eric is more desperate than she thought.
"Can you… ask her about how she obtained the ability?"
Woah, Eric. To think you'd go that far.
Hearing such a request, the vice headmaster only smiled softly at Eric. "That's not possible, dear. Because she is no longer alive."
Eric quickly became shocked by that answer, and he lowered his head. He apologized to the vice headmaster, but it seems like the vice headmaster is accepting it quite easily. Then, we continued the introduction until the last person.
The class started out as a show off. Everyone was asked to showcase their strongest technique to Miss Hilda, and she will tell us about what we can improve with the technique. Considering this class A is filled with geniuses among geniuses, the test will be done by shooting the same titanium wall that was used during the entrance exam.
Except this time, the thickness of the titanium wall has been tripled... What?
"Well, our pride was hurt when the testing walls were destroyed five times during the exam! So, I requested the forging company to create a testing wall that has three times the thickness than before. And now, here we are!
I also see that the ones who broke the walls are all here! I can't wait to see how you guys will do against this triple-sized wall!!" The vice headmaster turned really competitive, all of a sudden.
And so, the showcase began. It started out with the strongest of us, Eric, standing at the front to shoot his strongest technique to the wall. But then the vice headmaster realized that there is actually a chance that Eric might destroy the wall, so she ended up suggesting we start from the weakest instead.
At fifteenth place during the exam, a student with a darkness origin got up and tried shooting his strongest technique to the wall. Unfortunately, the wall looked intact, barely showing any difference.
At fourteenth place, a student with a light origin shot his best light blast. The light blast managed to leave a small charred mark on the triple-thick titanium wall, but it didn't do much.
It kept on going up until it's finally Lily's turn. She walked to the shooting area, and she fired a very strong water blast to the titanium wall. The water blast left a rather noticeable dent, but it wasn't exactly that big.
"Princess Lilyanna, may I give you a suggestion?" The vice headmaster said after seeing Lily's performance, and Lily turned her curious gaze at her. "Would you like trying to shoot the water blast while spinning it? It might do bigger damage."
Hearing the suggestion, Lily realized something and hurriedly tried it out. This time, she shot a spinning water blast to the target, and the dent created was almost three times larger than before.
On a titanium wall?? That's very impressive.
"You can try adding other variations, like densifying the water blast with even more water, or use a weapon to shoot it much stronger than before." The vice headmaster suggested it to Lily, and the princess looked very happy hearing those suggestions.
After that comes another water origin student. Lily's rival, Clade Holt. His water blast followed the suggestions that the vice headmaster gave, and everyone can see the dent it made was much larger than Lily's.
"Oh! You made the tip sharper! That does add more piercing power. Well done, very creative!" The vice headmaster praised Clade, and he bowed at the teacher. For a moment there, I can see Lily looking really annoyed, but I might just be imagining things.