Chapter 17 - Chapter 16: Light Essence

Jack trudged to class, the absence of the usual faction teachers a stark reminder of his suspension. Today's lesson, thankfully, belonged to the Artificers.Thomas and Agos materialized at his side, the former shoving a meat sandwich into Jack's hand. "Big boss," he declared, "you look like you could use some fuel."Jack stowed the sandwich for later. "Fatino, that's uncharacteristic of you," Thomas teased, a hint of suspicion in his voice.Agos puffed out his chest. "Only for those who deserve it!""Deserve it, huh?" Thomas countered. "Big boss," he turned to Jack, his brow furrowed, "are you alright?"Jack shrugged. "Mostly. But practicing is out of the question for now. You two still hitting the training field daily?"Thomas's face fell. "Of course. But the… well, not the fatty."Agos, stung by the nickname, bounced between them. "My family wouldn't let me back," he mumbled. "They said to focus on befriending Patrick.""Same here," Thomas admitted grumpily, "but I sneak out.""It's okay," Jack said, his tone firm but gentle. "Thomas, you should be practicing more. Agos, hone your skills at home."Agos grimaced. "But the mana crystals?"Thomas slapped him playfully on the back. "Greedy pig! If you want them, train harder!"Before the bickering escalated, Jack raised a hand. "Crystals for progress. That's the deal."Agos beamed. "I'll give it my all, boss!""Me too!" Thomas echoed, his enthusiasm returning.Jack nodded silently. Building an alliance meant starting somewhere. The houses remained hesitant, their loyalty split between him and Principal Honingman, the Harper who still held sway. Meinhard Honingman, an Arcanist and Crusader ranker, wielded considerable influence despite his dwindling support. Securing the Horvath and Zorzi factions would ease the pressure on the Harpers.The door slammed open, revealing Patrick. His scowl deepened at the sight of Jack, but a shove from the teacher sent him scrambling to his seat.A wiry, middle-aged man with a neatly combed balding head and thick glasses entered the room. Sunlight glanced off his pate, momentarily blinding the students."Mr. Dan," Thomas muttered to Jack. "Dan Herring. He's a…"Agos cut him off, his voice barely a whisper. "Weirdo."Dan's gaze snapped to Agos, startling him. Instinctively, Agos sucked in his gut, the movement akin to a deflated balloon."You," Dan barked, pointing a finger at the trembling boy. "Front of the class, now!"Agos shuffled towards the podium, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.Jack leaned towards Thomas, a frown creasing his brow. "What's going on here?"Thomas sighed, casting a sympathetic glance at Agos. "Professor Dan...well, he has a reputation for using the class as his personal testing ground. I remember the whistles that can control flying daggers. He had a group of unfortunate students test them, see if the sound differentiation system worked. Turns out, it didn't work so well. Nearly took one kid's head clean off.""Miss Julia's always so meticulous with her experiments," Jack murmured. "Why doesn't Dan seem worried about the parents?""He's a bit...eccentric," Thomas admitted. "Plus, half the gadgets in Oxdale have his fingerprints all over them. Nobody raises an eyebrow unless someone ends up in the infirmary."Jack couldn't help but wonder if Patrick's antenna device in Lavia Garden originated from this unorthodox Artificer teacher.Agos stood before the class, a tremor running through him. He couldn't shake the gnawing fear of what Dan intended to do. The professor rose, his hand waving dismissively before producing a nondescript yellow sphere and a small mana crystal."Hidden Inventory," Jack noted silently.The sphere, adorned with a single shallow indentation, eagerly devoured the mana crystal when Dan inserted it. He then aimed the sphere directly at Agos.A tremor ran through the sphere, followed by a slender beam of light striking Agos. The class gasped. Where Agos stood, a seemingly thinner, undeniably more handsome version materialized. Oblivious to his virtual makeover, Agos remained perfectly still."Do something," Dan commanded.Agos, prompted by the voice, offered a hesitant wave. The class saw only a charming youth radiating confidence, eliciting soft giggles from the girls. Agos, meanwhile, burned crimson behind the facade."Hmm," Thomas muttered. "Fatty looking that good?""Yeah, right," Jack chuckled. "Give me the old Agos any day."The light flickered erratically, the holographic Agos disintegrating into scattered beams. The sphere in Dan's hand violently throbbed, then defied gravity, shooting upwards. An unnatural glow coalesced around it as external light sources bent and swirled, seemingly feeding its growing brilliance.With a sharp crack, a laser beam erupted from the sphere, narrowly missing Agos and scorching a gaping hole at his feet. White-faced, Agos scrambled backward, the close call sending a jolt of terror through him.

Jack frowned, seeing a teacher putting his student in such a dangerous situation. But, his attention was captured by a small white object lying on the ground among the scraps of what used to be the sphere.

"Light Essence?" Jack sounded.

"Yes," Dan said.

The teacher was bending himself forward, whispering something to himself.

"Still lack stability; why? Mana balancing? Bad Light Essence? Technical errors?"

Jack felt like he needed to say something to catch Dan Herring's attention, because he wanted to get his hand on the Light Essence, but his lack of understanding of what had just happened prevented him. He held his voice back and didn't want to force it. If this item was being used in such a casual experiment like this, maybe he could manage to get one from Meinhard.

But then, Thomas's whisper stopped his flow of thinking.

"What a waste of the resources the houses and the town provided him. Though it is not particularly rare, Light Essence is still quite expensive, you know? And Mr. Dan has just wasted a bunch of it."

"Why did the houses supply him with essence?"

"Beats me," Thomas shrugged. "Maybe the adult's head is just as messed up as him."

"How about your family? Do they take part in it?"

"No. Like the Harper, during the last Essence trade in Oxdale, we didn't manage to get our share."

Jack looked at the hole on the floor earlier. Light Essence could be used both as a projector and a deadly weapon.

Jack's mind processed quickly and concluded that he needed to acquaint himself with Mr. Dan. Not only because Light Essence was going to be required for the Identification Lens but also to look into the behind-the-screen project between the teacher and the houses.

Identification Lens?

Jack immediately opened the item list in the system, an action which he could do with his eyes closed now. He searched for detailed information on the crafting process of the item.

He vaguely recalled a section of the instruction that mentioned Light Essence's mana and light absorption stabilizing technique. If not well managed, the Lens could malfunction and temporarily damage the eye. 

Just before Dan was about to leave the classroom, Jack finished his reading and opened his mouth.

"I think there are some technical errors with the sphere."

"Oh?" Dan stopped, slowly turning his head toward Jack. "And why should I value a judgment from a student like you?"

Jack ignored the mocking and continued. He wasn't even sure if what he was about to say was the heart of the matter, but he had nothing to lose.

"Light Essence placed in a sphere will easily absorb mana and concentrate them into a beam to create the illusion of Agos. But I think the sphere itself was a problem too, as it stopped excess mana and lights from escaping. When they were reflected back, the Light Essence absorbed those unwanted energies in addition to the mana you have put in. Therefore, when the essence got hotter, it lost its balance, and the device went out of control."