Chapter 170 - The Identity of the Illuminated Ones
"Professor!" I was making my way down the stairs, passing some students as they were leaving.
I need more information.
Professor Sinclair was tidying up her desk.
"Professor!" I called out as I approached her.
She looked at me and smiled.
"The first curious one!" she said, smiling.
The first curious one?
Natasha seemed to understand my confusion from my expression.
"Don't worry, it's just a little joke I have with myself every time I teach this lesson to a new class for the first time," she said, returning to her work.
"I wanted to ask you something."
She turned to me, but before she could respond, a hand landed on my shoulder. The grinning wolf woman was staring at me.
"Kid! It's a diplomatic crime for your professor to talk about the Human Empire outside of class. You wouldn't want to put another neck on the line," the Headmistress said, laughing.
I need to know everything! I don't care about diplomacy.
The Headmistress looked over at the professor.
"However, Natasha has this special little tradition she does every time she teaches her first-year students for the first time."
Professor Sinclair looked at me.
"I always allow the first curious one to ask me a single question, and I will answer it, no matter what it is. This is a unique gift I give to this special student. So, what will be your one question?"
Damn! One question? You've got to be kidding me.
My mind was racing with possibilities.
"Before I ask, will we have more classes about the Theocracy? I don't want to waste my one question for nothing," I said.
"Not like today. You learned the most important part, kid," Headmistress Victoria said. "The main thing is to understand why your enemy wants to kill you. From now on, you'll only have lessons on the historical conflicts our people had with them and the military aspects. Professor Sinclair won't give regular classes, and when she does, she'll only cover those historical topics. What you learned about their religion today will be the first and last time. She could face a death sentence if the authorities of the three kingdoms believe she's trying to preach her old religion here."
Stupid laws…
"What is your question?" Professor Sinclair asked.
Damn… if I'd known this, I would've thought it through better.
"Need my help?" Athena asked. "I can come up with an excellent question…"
Get out of here! I need to think fast.
Looking at the professor, only one question crossed my mind. However, I feared she might actually answer it.
"Why are they called the Illuminated Ones?"
The professor looked at the Headmistress.
Headmistress Victoria sighed.
"All right, you can show him…" she murmured.
Professor Sinclair picked up a book from a box. I noticed it was her book, and the box had chains and a lock on it.
They lock her religious book in that? It seems there aren't many copies of it available.
"That's an easy question to answer," she said, opening the book. "They're called the Illuminated Ones because of this—these are the Illuminated Ones."
Professor Sinclair showed me the image depicting the Illuminated Ones, and my heart froze when I saw them.
This can't be real...
***
I was wandering around the school campus, asking Cylla to give me some space. I had a lot on my mind after everything I'd just discovered. There was an entire people dedicated to wiping out my race, and knowing their reason gave me a strange, unsettling feeling.
So the Illuminated Ones are like gods to them…
What I saw in that book—what the Illuminated Ones looked like—had me genuinely unnerved for the first time in ages.
As I walked, I found an empty bench near a tree. It was rare to find a place without other students around, and I just needed to sit down and reflect on the question I'd asked and the answer I got.
I sighed and headed over.
Oops, someone was already here.
There was a student crouched by the tree.
I looked around. Most benches were either taken or had others sitting close by.
Might as well stay here. I've got too much to think about.
My mind was swirling with thoughts, trying to make sense of this world's situation. We've always been at odds, and the last big conflict hit my family hard when my father and uncle died. I would have had a completely different life if I'd had those two raising me… I wish I could have known that.
The war at the border held back an invasion, but that border remains on constant alert to this day. Not a single day goes by without the border being watched. The kingdoms send resources to help all the time. If that border were to fall one day, it would spell trouble for everyone.
Now I get why the army needs mages.
There's a massive stone wall at the border, reinforced by earth mages and other specialists. They've got defensive tactics, like having water mages flood the area from above to slow down anyone who gets too close, and they even use magical seals.
'Sniffle' I heard a sound that pulled me out of my thoughts.
'Sniffle'
I looked back and saw the student curled up, hiding her face in her knees.
"Are you crying?" I asked.
"Don't look at me… I'm not crying," she mumbled.
Oops.
I turned away and tried to ignore it.
'Sniffle' The quiet sobbing continued.
Teenagers…
I stood up to leave.
"Wait!" she called.
"I was just giving you your space to cry."
"I… I'm not crying…" she muttered.
"Well, I'm not here either. Everybody wins," I replied, heading off.
"I can't… let you leave. You might tell someone where I am, and I can't be seen crying…"
I sighed.
"I thought you said you weren't crying…"
"I'm not… maybe… just a little."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. You could also just get up and go 'maybe' cry somewhere else."
The crying student kept her face hidden in her knees.
"I can't leave… once I start crying, I can't stop."
Teenage dramas… definitely not something I have the patience for.
"You're studying at the best magic academy in the world; why are you crying?" I said, sitting back down on the bench.
"I… I'm afraid I won't be a good mage."
Hmm… maybe that makes sense, comparing herself to the other students here.
"It's normal to feel that way. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Figure out what you're good at and focus on that."
I'm struggling too—there are things beyond my control…
"My family puts a lot of pressure on me… I have talented siblings," she said, sniffling.
"So what? Don't compare yourself to them; compare yourself to you. Focus on being better today than you were yesterday. If you improve little by little, you'll overcome your challenges."
That was advice that helped me over the years, something Sifu once told me. I was frustrated about having the arms of a child and the strength of an average person. It took me a while to accept that would be my power level in combat, and that I'd never return to my peak. I'm stuck in a human body… or rather, a half-elf body.
"Even so, I can't reach the level my siblings were at when they were my age…"
"Can a water mage have the same training as an earth mage? Answer me that."
She kept her head down.
"No…"
"Then why compare yourself to others?"
"But they have the same element as me…"
I guess she didn't quite get the metaphor…
"I meant that it doesn't matter if they're both mages. Each has their own learning style and way of understanding how to handle their inner nature. Water and earth are different elements, just as people are, even if they share the same element. You can't force a bird to swim or a fish to fly. You need to find where you fit in and what you're good at."
"Th-th-thank you…"
At least, that's how I think the old monk's advice went… I might've gotten some things wrong, but the core is there.
"Can I go now?" I asked, a bit surprised at playing the role of a mentor.
"You can… sorry about that."
"It's fine… I'm used to dealing with my own limitations too."
I can't overdo it either, or I might end up in a place where I'm no longer seen as human. The last thing I want is to be isolated again because people fear me.
I started walking away.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Nathan."
"Oh! I think we've met before."
"Have we?" I turned to see the owner of the tearful voice.
"Princess Melina?" I asked, surprised.
She quickly hid her face in her knees again.
"Don't look… my face is still a mess."
The last person I'd have expected to be the owner of that tearful voice was her… Now I understood why she didn't want anyone to see her like this.
I had to wait while she calmed down, wiping her face with a cloth. I said goodbye with a smile, but that smile was fake. I wasn't in the right headspace for this, but it wasn't her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault… it was the fault of the truth I had discovered.
I walked through the campus, casting a glance toward the dark forest and murmured the secret.
"The answer Professor Sinclair gave me… the reason why those beings are called the 'Illuminated Ones'… it's because of what they are," I whispered to myself.
"The Illuminated Ones are shadowy figures with glowing eyes… they're just eyes shining in the darkness."
I took a step toward the forest and stared into the shadows. "The Illuminated Ones are the beings I saw that day in my vision. The voice with red eyes and its dark minions. They are something far beyond any human… they radiate evil and possess, at the very least, eyes as powerful as the Celestial Eyes… and they were after the Celestial Eyes that are with me…"
'Norse'… that was the name the Illuminated Ones gave us. The creatures that want to kill my people are the same ones who desire these eyes. I'm entangled in something far too big for a mere human.
I started walking back toward my dorm.
"What are you really?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't get an answer.
For the first time, I saw it move, reacting to what I'd said. In the darkness of my mind, it revealed part of its monstrous head, and I caught a glimpse of it.
"A survivor…" it murmured before retreating back into the shadows.
I was taken aback to hear it respond after years of silence.
"Still, that tells me nothing…"