While the bully still fell asleep in the morning, Baston had already woken with fully replenished energy. He was happy because he finally got his first reward in this world. Such a fine morning should be accompanied
with delicious breakfast, yet he could only forget it now since he didn't have
money on him.
"I finally become a wizard, huh?"
The reward was very good for him. It was because anyone might
have a chance to operate magic, but to become a wizard, you have to first learn
elemental magic. The old book gave him ice element of magic, making him automatically became a wizard. As for the knight, they didn't need to focus much on elemental magic, but they had to learn how to use a weapon skillfully.
Initially, there was a confirmation button at first on the last page to check whether Baston wanted to end the quest as soon as possible or not. When he first crashed at Panton, the old book stated his performance
was only good. He could finish it right there, but he wanted to have a better reward, so he bumped at him on purpose at the class. With just a simple word, Panto finally succumbed to his own imagination. He believed the story told by Baston and lived in fear, which resulted the performance was excellent at the last page.
There might be a chance to reach a perfect score, but Baston was also afraid if he let the time to pass day by day, the score he got would be lower if the fear diminished little by little. Excellent was already good so he confirmed the quest and the reward soon came to him. The fat boy actually had a little capability of magic, but he suddenly became wizard in one day.
In his head, the mana manipulation rushed and became his knowledge for him to use. Every student would waste much time longer to learn this, but he only needed a few seconds to accomplish such a magnificent feat. Baston didn't know what would everyone thought once people found out he
suddenly became a wizard.
"There's a practical lesson of mana manipulation today. I think I will make shocking event then…"
He confidently left his room to go to the class. In the mid way, he crossed paths with Panto who was lacking of sleep. The black patch on his eyes signified that he couldn't rest well. Baston ignored it, but the bully
before soon approached him. The thing was Panto felt safe whenever Baston nearby.
"Is someone still watching me?" Panto asked carefully.
Baston was only surprised of his action before replying, "No, there's no one following you right now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure…"
"How could you be so sure?"
Baston was dumbfounded right now. The Panto he knew was more rebellious in front of him, but in one night, his timidity increased one point more. He knew he only talked nonsense before, but he never thought the effect was quite good. Still, he wondered how he could lie more about what he said before.
"Look at this…" Baston manifested ice magic on his hand.
"What?" Panto was shocked, "You're a wizard, Baston!"
The sentence Panto uttered might be a coincidence, but Baston thought the timid boy had a talent to be his accomplice in the drama. Anyway, he only showed a little display of his power and that was enough.
Unknowingly, Panto's imagination went wildly after he knew Baston was a wizard.
At first, he as the bully only knew to mock him sometime. Because he was bored or in a bad mood, he felt like to play around. He actually didn't hate anyone because for him, bullying someone was a kind of act to show
everyone who was the boss. The boy already experienced more about it at home
and his father also taught him to act strong if he really wanted to get respected.
Panto thought Baston might hide his strength in this academy before. He didn't believe the fat boy suddenly got this power. Anyone who showed a capability of becoming a wizard would quickly become famous around here. They could get anything they wanted and many new prestigious people would soon gather around. It was such a dream for many people in here. The fact that Baston could persist until today meant he wasn't a simple kid. At once, he felt stupid for causing a trouble to this boy.
"Are… Are you working for my father?" Panto asked slowly.
"No, I don't even know who is your father…"
Panto wanted to know why Baston protected him before, but he kept his mouth silent all along until he went to the class. Because of hisvtimid personality, he didn't ask more. The best he could imagine was Baston
protected him because they were a fellow student. He could only think this way
because there were no benefits to take if he did it to his bully. As for the matter of someone watching him, he believed Baston had already solved it with his ice magic.
Slowly in his mind, Baston became bigger and bigger. Despite his real strength, the fat boy kept it hidden. Even when he was bullied and harassed sometimes, he still kept persisting about it. He wondered if he asked
for forgiveness, would Baston accept it or not. Even so, he didn't dare to act because he was afraid his intention would be leaked. From now on, he would stand by him and did whatever he needed.
Baston didn't know what happened to Panto, but he just ignored him because there was no other interest for now. The teacher right now was a young beautiful girl. She handled a lesson about mana manipulation. For
this popular class, the poor and the commoner would surely sit at the back of
the room while the nobles would take the front seat. It really contradicted when the class was boring.
"Today, we will learn more about mana manipulation. This time, try to manifest your magic into a small ball in front of you. You might keep increasing the power, but as soon as it gets bigger, you should dispel it
because it will be dangerous."
"Ms. Pashan, why not getting it bigger in size too? Doesn't it is better to have bigger magic?" one of students asked.
"The question is good. I will answer it for you…" Ms. Pashan explained, "The bigger the magic of course will be better, but we need to control it. Once it grows uncontrollably, it will be dangerous because there might be a chance for explosion."
The teacher continued, "By making it into a small size of ball, you can control your magic better. The maintenance of your magic in fixed size indicates that you have better control of your own magic. Many might
question it about what the advantage of having a good control of your magic. Let me explain with a drawing…"
Suddenly, there was a magic drawing in the air, just right in front of many students here. It was quite magical for Baston, but everyone
thought it was normal for them. Still, having a great control of magic seemed had many more benefits, just like the teacher now. She delicately could picture what kind of examples in her head to the outsider.
"Look at here everyone… You see there are 2 things you need to look here. A man with magic capability and an ant. If the person wants to burn the ant, he can do it easily right?"
Every student nodded their head. The clear picture showed to them that in order to burn the ant, they only needed to flick a fire in a tiny amount of magic. But somehow, the person might cast a lot more than needed to
exterminate the ant, making it wasted their own magic. Even though the mana was
around them, people still needed to convert it inside them before unleashing it. There was a limit for everyone and it would be different for each other. To make an efficient way, it was better to control their own manipulation as not to exhaust themselves.
Immediately, the students at the front class began to show off their own magic. There was a dazzling array ball in many of them which proved that the nobles indeed had a strong capability in this regard. At the middle seat, some of them had talent and some of them was just like a commoner. The back at the classroom was very hopeless. Baston looked around to find many students could only manifest a magic with the size of marbles. It was truly devastating to see, but there was no other way. The poor and the commoner didn't have much resources, unlike the merchant and noble.
"There's no point on doing this anymore…"
Baston thought, simply sat in his seat while daydreaming
about what kind of next quest that the old book would give. Since he completed
his first quest, there was no more of it. He looked around him and while
everyone tried their best, he didn't do anything which making him spotted
easily by the teacher. Soon, Ms. Pashan walked toward him, looking sternly at
this fat boy.
"Student, why are you not doing the mana manipulation like
others?"
"Teacher Pashan, it's like this. I don't have talent on this
mana manipulation. My skill is just the same as others here. Rather than
humiliating myself, I decide to look at others. Who know that I have
enlightenment to do it well…"
"Well, if you think so…"
The teacher wouldn't make him trouble. It was because many
talented students came from noble side. There wasn't much from the merchant
side which at least, there were a few of them. Only from poor and commoner side
that had nothing to see. This sight was common, even in many academies.
Ms. Pashan then left Baston alone. If he answered with the
truth, he might get in trouble then. Actually, it would be just their own
personal time from poor and commoner side. That was because the teacher rarely
noticed them. In his mind, Baston was sure they rather focused on noble than
anything else. The merchant side was also good if someone with high talent
spurted among many students.
Panto looked at the teacher and his classmate. They
seemingly had the same thinking on their head. Since Baston was poor, he must
have nothing on his magic talent. He scoffed at others because he already knew
the truth. Just before entering the class, he had seen the manifested magic
from Baston. Clearly, the fat boy pretended once again to be weak.
"Once they see his real strength, they will be
flabbergasted…"
Even though he really wanted to tell them badly, he
controlled himself well so Baston's strength wouldn't get leaked. He kept
performing normally with his magic capacity. There was no elemental magic on
him which already stated his fate as average people, but as long as he could
keep further, he would be successful just like other merchants.
That was because his father told him a story about many
famous merchants who didn't have a talent to be a wizard, knight, or any other
jobs with specific requirement. They only maximized their own magic to aid them
for any business opportunities they saw ahead. Some might build faster or
slower, but in the end, they became a successful merchant. He clearly had his
own inspiration, but since he was nonchalantly following his easy life here, he
started to forget it until he knew the truth from Baston.
"I think it's better to work hard for yourself rather than expecting some dull praises from others. Lately, I have been complacent, but
Baston himself still acts casually. I don't know why he hides his strength, but it seems I know one or two of it…"
Unbeknownst to Baston, he accidentally made a good impression to Panto. The misunderstanding would keep bigger, yet he didn't know about it. Baston didn't want any business related to his bully again, so he
just taught him a lesson, hoping that Panto would remember not to cause any trouble and quickly forgot about him. The class then continued until the bell rang, signaling that the class ended.