"Why did you let him do that?" Count floated over him.
Jack had just opened his eyes. Looking outside the window, he noticed it was already night. He had heard the words, but was unsure of a way to respond.
"Maybe... he was right?" Jack looks at Count, his eyes narrowing at the memory.
"Are you going to continue hating yourself for that? Aren't you disrespecting her death if you blame yourself for it?"
"Am I? Am I really fit to teach the next generation?"
"You are, and she is proof of what you are doing," Count looks beside Jack, his eyes falling on the peacefully sleeping Nichole.
"She was here?" Jack looked at her surprise, not noticing her presence before. "How long has she been here for?" his eyes softening at the sight of the little girl sleeping comfortably.
"The entire time you were out, she's been sitting here even after the spirit girl asked her to go back to her room."
"What did you—ouch—, do to Victor?" Jack got out of his bed, wincing slightly at the bruise.
"Oh, nothing, just scared the boy a little, I do not think he'll trouble you anymore."
"I'm sure the meaning of your scared is very different from normal," Jack went around the bed to not wake up Nichole.
He looks at her thinking about how to put her on the bed without waking her up. "Hey, how do I do this without waking her up?"
"With care," Count replied, dramatically posing in the air.
"Care doesn't mean she won't wake up," jack looked at the posing Count flatly.
"Use telekinesis."
"Ah, thanks," Jack smiles, opening his palm and pointing it at her. Slowly a small white energy envelopes her. She floats up, before being placed on the mattress softly by the invisible force.
"Whew. I've never been that stressed out for sometime," he slowly pulls over a blanket and lets it out on top of her.
"Hmm," Nichole grabs the blanket and swoops over to the left, snuggling into the blanket.
Jack sits back in the chair, leaning back into the chair. He looks down at the bandages over his body.
"He intended to cripple you considering the injuries that were left, you should have at the very least tried to defend yourself," Count commented.
"Why did I faint? I shouldn't have fainted from that, right?"
"Your mental state was in a mess, when I manifested myself, it drained your mental power."
"Oh, it seems I've troubled my dear Spirit Sovereign,
"It's nothing if it's for my sweet Jack," Count disappeared into thin air.
"Ha, I wonder what Jaesan will say about this, I guess he'll be angry," Jack rested his head on the mattress which had sunk in from Nichole laying down on it earlier.
"Good night, sweet one," Jack slightly pats her head before closing his eyes, and giving in to the night.
...
Sunlight came into the room, lightening up the room. Nichole Wales up after the light touches her eyes. She blinks around adjusting herself to the light.
YAWN
"Huh? Why am I in bed?" Nichole looked at the blanket around her, and the mattress she was laying on. "I'm sure I was on the cha... Ah," she paused seeing her professor sleep on the chair besides the bed, "oh, professor," her eyes softened at the kind gesture.
Nichole pulls off her blanket and gets off the bed to wash her face and leave to prepare for the day.
The tap opens and water pours out, she cups her hands together to gather the water and splashes it over her face, washing off the grime.
She wiped her wet hands on her clothes instead of trying to find a towel, and moved towards the bedroom.
I'll wake him up before leaving, or should I just leave without saying anything? Nichole had multiple thoughts, she wanted to let her professor sleep, but also felt the need to wake him up.
Guess I'll have to wake him up, he's been sleeping for sometime, Nichole puts her hands on Jack's shoulders, and taps twice, "Professor," she taps once more, "Professor."
Jack yawns slightly before turning to look at Nichole who was getting ready to leave. "Ahh, I don't have a shirt!" Jack stammered as he tried to cover himself up in embarrassment.
"Ha, it's alright, I'm leaving, see you later, Sir," Nichole waves, leaving Jack alone.
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Finn stood at the training grounds with his professor. The first period was the weapon mastery. He notices Victor's eyes twitching everytime his met him, What's up with him now?
"Professor, what's wrong?" Finn finally asked the man, who was nervously twitching.
"It's nothing," Victor clears his throat as he dodged the confrontation. "Ahem, what fields are you choosing?"
"Emitter and Spiritwalker, I was thinking of those," Finn replied instantly.
"Are you sure? Spiritwalker is a difficult path, there might be something else that could better suit your style, but if you're alright with it, you should follow the path, just as the gun has chosen you."
"Yes, sir. What fields did you major in, Professor?"
"Deceiver, I major in Deceiver and Emitter," Victor explains, "It seems you're already aware of the Emitter class, but the Deceiver field was tricky to master, but for us who maintain distance these two were an apt choice."
"I'm familiar with Emitter, but Spiritwalker, as much as I liked it, I'm still unfamiliar with it," Finn thought back to the time he saw Count, The thought has been in my mind ever since I saw the spirit.
"I know the Professor who takes care of the Spiritwalker's, she's been lonely for sometime because barely anyone picks that field, and last year no one picked it."
"I think I'm the only one who picked it this year too," Finn replied excitedly.
"Mm, it's not odd," Victor studied Finn for a second, "but, yes, it's good to learn something beyond the norms."
"I guess... by the way, Professor, what was that sound yesterday?"
Victor flinched at the sudden question, but maintained his composure and replied,"I'm not sure, I was busy with something else."
"Alright, Professor. I was just surprised by the explosion yesterday," Finn awkwardly laughs it off. Liar, he's definitely involved in whatever that happened. I thought I might go and check it out, but the Professors had already locked off the area as inaccessible.
"Alright, we'll do something different today, follow me," Victor walks off towards the exit.
Finn follows behind, "What is it sir?"
"Practical."
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"Today we're going to learn advanced applications of source code," the Professor said in a light voice yet his voice could be heard in the large classroom.
"Advanced code?" Daniela looked at Houdin, "are we that far in already?"
"Haven't you been paying attention, because the Ascension tournament is almost here, they're going to rush through," Houdin replied.
"Quiet please," the Professor who heard the two conversing said. The Professor was wearing a white shirt with a red tie, his black hair slick back, and his smooth face sharp at the edges.
Professor, Rurin Gruvani, someone I've never seen in the story, but maybe it's because of her memories, but he feels very familiar. It's kind of creepy.
"What is the source code?" he asked.
"One of the children raised his hands and replied, "It's a medium used to release spells."
"Good, and is the source code necessary?"
This time another child replies, "Yes, sir, without a source code, output is near impossible."
"Exactly. Now we're going to learn how to create a better source code."
This is exciting and nerve wrecking, I hope everything goes well, Daniela nervously looked around while the other children around her looked excited.
Uh, school has always been a nightmare, I remember those days where you would pray not to get called out by the teacher, I can't believe I'm going through that stress once more.
"I'm going to need a volunteer," Professor Rurin scanned through the children.
Fuck, here it is. Somehow they always go over the other kids and end up calling you.
Many kids raised their hands wanting to get picked by the professor. Such a chance was rare as the professor would always guide the person through exact methods much better than others. It was a chance many craved for.
"Miss Daniela, would you care to entertain us?" his eyes fell upon her, a smile tugging around his lips.
"Shit," Daniela looked at Houdin with a troubled expression.
"Hey, why are you scared, you accepted a duel without much hassle," Houdin teased trying to lighten her mood.
"A duel would have been better than this," Daniela stands up and moves towards the professor.
"Daniela, don't be too tense, I'll guide through," he smiles at her.
That smile... I lost all my confidence, her thoughts drifted off, how bad will it be if I fail?
"Now form a source code, the basic code you have."
"Yes, sir," Daniela extends both her palms out and pushes out her mana. A faint glow emanated around her before a small circle manifested atop her palm.
The circle was white, with words written inside a small circle with another circles on top of it with more words, followed by a third one that followed a similar pattern.
"What type of a source code have you formed here?" he asks her, trying to test her knowledge.
"It's a semantic code, sir," Daniela replies, her voice stern.
"But two rings are more than enough for a semantic code, right?"
"No, sir. The semantic code works better when more thoughts are projected," Daniela looks up trying to recall what she had read back at the palace library. "If I create a code with two circles, my intent won't be as effective as I want it to be."
"But it's been proven that an increase in the ring doesn't improve efficiency," Professor Rurin looks at Daniela, slight disappoint flashing his eyes.
Is he serious? Why did he looks at me like that? Daniela paused to think for a moment, before making any rash comment.
"Sir, if I do make the code without a third ring, won't I have to add an outer line to stabilize the code, but if I follow the third ring method, I can avoid it."
"Making a single line isn't as mana consuming as a third ring, what will you do to solve this, Daniela?"
This man...
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