The scene outside was mesmerizing. Grass spread across the ground like a tide, with only a few pathways of gray concrete halting its advance. Cicadas hummed to the tune of nature, filling the silence.
I walked slowly, breathing the clear air in the area. Places with high mana volume usually have much better air quality.
Students were still practicing outside, causing a ruckus every now and then.
Their magic drew my attention. Sparks flew in the air, wind condensed into sharp blades, and water transformed into ice.
It was almost breathtaking. Someday, I wanted to achieve the same.
Stepping away into a park in the academy, the sounds of the students disappeared quickly.
A lake in the park caught my attention. It was extremely serene.
As I sat by the lake, a voice made its presence clear in my ears. The words were hard to make out, but the voice belonged to a grown man.
Turning around, a man in a high-collared academic robe, subtly embroidered with arcane sigils, was sitting on a bench with a child next to him.
The bench was about 10 meters away, but they shouldn't have noticed me since trees blocked most vision.
The Professor had a high nose bridge and soft facial features, giving him a handsome look. On his chest was a name plate, "Professor Damian."
I raised an eyebrow at that, before shaking my head.
This wasn't confirmation enough, like Penelope said, they could just share the same name.
The child next to him didn't look older than 12.
"When will you teach me magic?" The child jumped with excitement.
"If you behave during my lecture, I might teach you a few things. Don't forget, I only brought you with me this time because Jack was busy." The man spoke softly, though his voice had a naturally commanding tone. it made me feel guilty for listening in.
The child didn't mind the tone, seemingly used to it.
"I don't want to spend more time with uncle Jack, he just keeps making me read books and takes me for walks. He never shows me magic like you do!" The child's eyes glistened with excitement as he said that last sentence.
'He seems enthusiastic.'
The kid's happiness would soon be crushed by the harsh reality. Talent was hard to come by in magic. Even if you had god-sent talent, hard-work was also required.
Teaching magic to a child that looked 12? Certainly not possible.
Some hot familial drama was brewing in front of my eyes, but academy life restricted me from following it.
I almost started minding my own business, before the next few words caught my attention.
"I can cast magic, dad. Why can't I go to the academy too?"
A magic ball that seemed fleeting like the wind appeared above the child's now clutched hands.
My chest tightened as the spell formed.
I was 16 yet still couldn't cast the most basic of spells. If I had hours to prepare, the result wouldn't be any different.
But this kid? He cast magic in a few seconds. It didn't even seem like he put that much effort into it.
Soon, the ball of magic weakened, flickering for a few seconds before dissipating.
Curiosity gnawed at me as the child started almost begging his father to teach him magic.
My curiosity didn't even face any resistance. I stepped closer, slipping behind a nearby tree.
The man shot me a glare, having noticed my presence from earlier. The tree did almost nothing to hide me.
The mana around me shifted. Air gathered above me, pressing me down slightly. It wasn't strong enough to hurt or even delay my movement, but it was clearly a warning.
My hand shivered under the pressure.
The lake behind me started rippling, not being able to take the man's glare.
I turned away, suddenly fascinated by the sky, as if it had grown a few more suns.
I quickened my pace as the man's glare followed me.
Sweat began to drip from my face. I didn't want to become a victim of this drama.
Only when the pressure disappeared did I slow down.
I took a few breaths to calm myself. Trying to forget this encounter, my mind turned to today's schedule.
'Mana-Basics' would now be the 3rd lecture instead of the first, taking the place of the close quarters combat one.
We only had three lectures today.
Still not used to academy life, a sigh slipped out from me.
The lecture hall didn't wait long for my arrival, but the next lecture had already begun when I entered.
The professor was clearly offended by my lateness, berating me.
Words left my mouth without me thinking. I just wanted to move things along.
He let go of me when he saw my hand shivering, and I went back to my seat next to Damian and Penelope.
A few glances were sent my way, but I ignored it.
The lecture was nice. The professor, highly knowledgeable on the subject, answered every question a student asked.
I was in awe at how he managed to keep a class of a few hundred students in check.
But something kept gnawing at my heart. The meeting with 'Professor Damian' didn't sit well with me.
I turned to Penelope. She replied with a questioning gaze.
"I think I met Professor Damian." I smiled bitterly.
Denis jumped into the conversation. His bet was on the line, after all.
"Really? What did he look like? If he's THAT Professor Damian, he should be extremely handsome."
"I don't know. I didn't really get a chance to study his facial features. I only listened to a conversation he had with a weird kid next to him. The kid even called him dad." The mention of the kid hurt my pride.
He was so much younger. Yet his ability was greater than mine.
"He can't be that famous Damian then. I never heard of the magician of the century getting married." Penelope loudly cut in with a smile on her face before Denis could get happy.
She had joined the bet against Denis.
A light suddenly shone upon me and Penelope. It was coming from an orb in the middle of the hall.
Penelope went back to paying attention to the Professor, while Damian laughed at our misfortune of getting caught.
I heard a few sentences the Professor said, but my mind was too preoccupied with the scene from earlier.
Disregarding the fact that the child could use magic, children shouldn't be taught any type of spell.
Magic wasn't meant for children. One mistake and the backlash would ruin a body. Many cases of established mages losing one of their senses while trying out a new spell were known.
Professor Damian was treading on thin ice if he was teaching the kid.
If the kid had learned it on his own, that was an entirely different matter.
But the possibility of that wasn't high. The only reason it wasn't impossible was because the formula of the 'Magic Ball' spell was extremely simple.
Some people wouldn't even call it a formula, you just needed to gather your mana into a ball.
Mana usually went wild when the caster's control wasn't good enough, which is why the child being able to form a spell was astonishing.
Light shone on me once more, reminding me that I can't doze off in the middle of a lecture for too long.
The Professor's loud voice started ringing in my ears. He had likely cast a voice amplification spell.
"-beasts are the strongest type of mana beasts, they can think, cast spells, and even communicate and lead other beast groups!"
"The way to deal with such anomalies is to take them by surprise. These types of beasts usually don't have any countermeasures prepared. They're rare to come by, since their heightened intelligence serves no use in the wild."
Leaning forward, my arms supported my head as I looked on.
A mana beast created from the Professor's mana sat next to him.
The amount of mana control needed for that was obviously insane.
The beast changed shapes every now and then, depending on what the Professor was talking about.
Mid-way through the lecture, Denis nudged me and told me that everything the Professor said was required material.
The words almost made me jump. How did the Professor even expect students to keep up?
My hand extended quickly towards my bag, grabbing a notebook and a pen.
I started writing like a crazed man, not letting anything the Professor said slip past me.
The lecture ended not long after. It was a short one this time.
Breaks between lectures were often a few minutes, but every two lectures a longer one would be given.
My notebook stared back at me. It was a disheveled mess of lines even a 7th circle mage would find hard to decode.
'At least I'm not the only one suffering.' Denis's hands moved quickly, but the lines on the chalkboard never ended.
Seeing that he was a mile away from the end, my attention drifted to the other students.
Some had formed groups and were talking, others were alone and mostly leaving the hall.
My gaze scanned every corner of the hall, seeing a lot of peculiar people.
A student with a tattoo on his face extending past his neck. It resembled a tribal tattoo that barbarians would usually put on their young. He was playing around with a cute salamander.
Another student with white hair and a tall body was surrounded by a few girls, all talking harmoniously and laughing.
A third student was counting... Something? He just kept noting numbers on his notebook as he watched the air.
The last student to grab my attention, was the same girl talking to her books from earlier. Every desk around her was completely empty, like others were avoiding her.
For a moment, I considered approaching her, but she eyed me eerily.
Her eyes were red as crimson blood. Her hair the same color, just a darker tone.
My body involuntarily took a step back.
Denis, who had given up on copying the mountain of lines the professor had left us with, extended me an invite. "Want to hang out with me and Penelope today? We're planning to go to an amusement park later."
"Sure." Nothing stopped me from going.
Students stormed the hall once more. The break had ended.
A supposedly 'longer' break felt so much shorter than the previous one.
The loud clamor of the students reverberated through the vast lecture hall.
A soft sound was heard. The opening of the hall door.
Students grew excited. Denis even standing up. Now, the rumors about the Professor would either be confirmed or proven false.
I looked on expectedly. A tall man, his face sporting a handsome smile, came into the lecture hall with a child beside him.
My stomach dropped.
It was the same man I had seen in the park.