Right away, I left my classroom and followed the teacher to the teachers building. We went to the highest floor of the building and arrived at a very special door that leads to a very special office.
"Go right in. I'll leave you to it." The teacher who brought me here said before turning around.
After thanking him, I turned my gaze back to the door and wondered why the headmaster was looking for me. I lifted my right hand, but apparently the door was opened from the inside.
With a surprised face, my gaze landed at the person behind the doors, and the two of us locked our eyes at each other.
"M-Miss Hilda?" I stared while questioning her existence, and she looked really surprised seeing me as well.
"What's the meaning of this, Sir Connors?" Miss Hilda angrily turned around, and I noticed she was talking to the person inside the office.
Sitting at his desk is a middle-aged man who still looked very young. His blonde hair is trimmed nicely, and his clean face with no facial hair only shows a soft expression of a smiling man.
"Nathan Fiore, isn't it? Please come in." The headmaster called me from his table, and I turned to Miss Hilda.
For a second, Miss Hilda looked like she wanted to stop me, but she let out a sigh before opening the path. I ended up entering anyway, and I arrived inside the office.
"I greet the headmaster with respect." I said while bowing slightly, but the headmaster lifted his hand.
"There is no need! You can treat me as simply your teacher, Nathan. Truthfully, I've been wanting to see you for so long." The headmaster said to me, and I was a bit moved seeing that he is so interested in me.
"Thank you, sir." I nodded slightly at him, and he looked really glad to see me.
"If you're done greeting him, then let us leave." Next to me, Miss Hilda said so coldly to the headmaster, and I can immediately tell that the two had some bad blood or something.
"Hilda, you're quite rude in front of a student--"
"You know very well that you don't have the right to say such a thing. Not to Nathan, of all people." Miss Hilda once again spoke angrily, and from her words, she must be defending me or something.
Seeing that his own vice headmaster is acting like this, the headmaster lets out a tired sigh. He returned his soft smile back to me, and it really feels like that smile is genuine.
"Sorry that you had to deal with Hilda, young Nathan. She has been doing whatever she wants ever since she met you." The headmaster said, and I turned my confused gaze to the vice headmaster.
"I only did what I had to, Sir Connors. Now, let us leave."
"Just give me a moment, Hilda… Seriously, am I not allowed to talk to my own students?"
"You think you have the right to even see his face?"
From the way they are talking… it must be something incredibly serious. Miss Hilda is unique in her own way, but she must be angry about something related to me. Or rather, related to my family.
"Should I know about something?" I said aloud, capturing the attention of the two of them. Both Miss Hilda and the headmaster went silent about it, and I noticed right away that this must be their guilty conscience appearing.
"… It's about the massacre, isn't it?"
"Nathan. This headmaster here was once your mother's teacher." Miss Hilda introduced me, and I was surprised.
"And I'm not just her teacher. I am her personal teacher. I taught her everything she knows."
"Indeed. A teacher that has failed her."
"You know very well what happened, Hilda… Please, even I have my own limits." The headmaster shook his head a couple times, and Miss Hilda seemed to have given up.
Very quickly, she turned away and went for the door, and I can tell she is going to drag me out of here.
"Let's leave, Nathan." She said as she opened the door, and I was too confused to know what I should do.
I ended up just following Miss Hilda to the door, turning my back on the headmaster.
"Nathan." The headmaster called my name from his desk, and I turned my gaze back at him for a moment. "Your mother… would've been so proud to see you right now."
Hearing his words, I felt truly moved. But, it was something that I already know.
"Thank you, headmaster. Then, I will be taking my leave." I said while bowing slightly to show courtesy, and I walked past Miss Hilda who was staring menacingly at the headmaster.
After closing the door, Miss Hilda then started leading the way to her office on the floor below us. Her walk is pretty fast, and I can tell she is very agitated by the headmaster just now.
"Your relationship with him seemed--"
"I want to kill him. There's no other explanation." Miss Hilda said in an instant, and there goes my attempt at starting a conversation.
After walking very quickly, we arrived at her office. She opened the door with her keys, and she rushed inside while leaving the door open. I followed behind her and closed the door behind me, and I found her laying down on the big sofa that was meant for guests.
Wow. She is so relaxed around me.
"So… how's the trip to the dark republic?" Once again, I tried striking a conversation, but she let out an annoyed sigh.
"It's a damn mess, and it's all because of that old man."
"Old man…?" I asked out of confusion, and Miss Hilda turned her annoyed glare at me.
"The headmaster is over two hundred years old."
"H-HUH!??"
That's a very sudden bomb to drop! Wait, the headmaster looked so young!! How is someone like that so old??
"How can someone be that old!? Are they immortal?"
"It's the secret behind his origin. Light origin has the ability to heal, even others. I guess he must've found a way to gain immortality or old age from his origin." Miss Hilda explained her theory, and once again, I'm amazed by just how much I don't know about origins.
"That's insane… can fire origins do that?"
"Well, you're free to dream. In any case, the only person who can live longer than that old coot was your mother, and even she died." Miss Hilda laughed a bit while mentioning that, and once again I was surprised by how easily she talks about my mother's passing.
Best friends really get along so differently for people. That, or she was just psychotic.
"Anyway, how's the academy?" She asked out of the blue, and I decided to sit down on the other sofa across the table. "Don't tell me you've been slacking off with the lessons."
"… Heheh." I just silently laughed, and Miss Hilda turned her confused glare.
"Why are you laughing like that? You're creepy."
"I've been training non-stop. Sometimes, I even skipped class." I told her what I've been doing, and she became curious. She even got up and sat down normally on the sofa to listen.
"Did you perfected it?" She asked out of pure curiosity, and I nodded.
"Mastery phase. Or its other name… 'Limit Break'." I said with confidence, and the vice headmaster turned really shocked.
Hearing such things, it's like she couldn't believe it. Her face showed the most surprised face I've ever seen from her, and she even went silent for a while.
"You're lying. I've only left you for a month. Even the best in Avenor, like the earth nation's holy knight and your father, took years to master it." Miss Hilda said with the same unbelieving expression, and I just smirked.
I got up and stood in the center of the room, and I just closed my eyes. I began to focus my emotions deeply, and---
"Wait! Let's go somewhere else." The vice headmaster quickly stopped me, and I realized that this might be a bad place to showcase it.
Instead, she took me to a place that I have not seen in a very long time. The academy's special arena, reserved only for the best of the best amongst the students. In the early morning, there are no training classes that are held, but there are still some special individuals who are welcomed in the arena and are allowed to visit at any hour of the day, even if they have to skip classes.
And those very individuals… Well, I've only ever seen them passing by in the hallways.
"Vice headmaster!? Why are you here so early in the morning?" A senior greeted the vice headmaster as soon as we arrived at the arena, and I recognized his bucket hairstyle right away.
This is the senior that fought one against three that I saw with Eric. He is the best student of the entire third year.
"I'm here with a close student of mine! You don't mind having a first year train here, don't you?" Miss Hilda said so cheerfully, and it looks like she is wearing that mask again in front of her students.
Also, close student?? Ew.
"N-Not at all!" The senior happily replied before turning his gaze to me. "Nice to meet you! I'm Perry Jarlhorn, third year from class A!"
The senior sent out his right hand for a handshake, and I grabbed it happily. "I'm Nathan Fiore. First year, class A."
Hearing my name, Senior Perry looked really surprised. Meanwhile, Miss Hilda only smiled widely at me.
"Aren't you in class J right now?" She asked me with the same cheerful tone, and I returned to her with a similar smirk.
"All thanks to you!"
"Oh, my! Lying is not good, you know?" Miss Hilda returned her gaze back to Perry, and the senior made way for us to walk into the arena.
This is the first time I've been here because the area was closed off. Only the best students are allowed freely in this arena, and from what I heard, not even the class A third years are allowed to train freely unless it's for the training class. Only the top three of the second and third years are allowed to train here. That's how important this arena is.
"From today onwards, I'd like to add Nathan to be an exception!" The vice headmaster said to Perry, and the senior turned surprised.
"I understand! I will notify the arena manager." Perry said while bowing slightly, and Miss Hilda left him to go to the center of the arena.
"Now, then. You can show it to me." Miss Hilda said with her normal tone to me, and I nodded.
Right away, I closed my eyes. In the middle of this arena, I alone stood with my eyes closed, focusing on the thoughts inside my mind. I imagined all sorts of things that can trigger the mastery phase to activate. I imagined releasing a very powerful energy from inside my body, so powerful that it might destroy my body inside out.
Once I imagined it, I made it a reality. I took a deep breath, and I released it all in one go.
"Ha!!!---"
I shouted so loudly, and the silence in the arena was broken by the girlish scream. To anyone who listened, it may sound so lame and embarrassing. But to the ones who are present in the arena, they all looked surprised.
"Haha… you actually did it." Miss Hilda mumbled while she studied the results, and I took a deep breath again to calm myself.
A portion of my hair has turned red again. My eyes are now shining red, and I can even see the reflection of it from the metallic walls surrounding the arena.
"Now, what should I do to further convince you?" I asked Miss Hilda, and she started thinking about it deeply. She then turned her gaze around, and her eyes landed at the man watching us from the entrance.
Seeing Perry in the distance, Miss Hilda only formed a cheeky grin.
"How about a spar?"