Lucas awoke. He was lying on his blanket, the rays of sunlight so bright that he was surprised as to how he hadn’t woken up earlier. He sat up too quickly. His head began throbbing, allowing him to only barely register the fact that Eren had called out his name. Slowly, Lucas's vision became clearer and the intervals between the throbs shorter.
“What happened?” Lucas asked, his mouth feeling slightly numb.
“You kind of died,” answered Eren. “What happened when you were with the professor?”
Lucas snorted and immediately regretted it. His nose hurt now. “Heaven seems to be not as much of a paradise as people give it credit for, given the fact that you’re here.”
“Hey, that’s not nice. Whoever taught you to speak like that? And anyway, answer my question.”
“You. You taught me to speak like that.”
“An-”
“I answered your question.”
“My previous question. What were you doing with the professor?”
“Having fun. I got tired after having too much fun, though. Much more fun than you probably were having, messing up this room.”
“I see how it is,” Eren said, wagging his finger at Lucas. “Anyways, you should try not to walk just yet. We have quite some time before the dining hall opens for dinner,” he added, seeing Lucas attempt to stand up. “I can’t imagine anything making someone like you so tired, but you really shouldn’t push yourself. It’s not very healthy.”
“What are we supposed to do for the rest of the day then? Sit around?”
“It does seem to be quite boring, doesn’t it? Oh, I know! Let me try out my magic on you! Worst case, you’ll lose consciousness. How about it?”
“I think I’m good, thank you.”
“Aw, come on! You’re no fun. I’m just a healer. What could go wrong?”
“Now you’re just trying to scam me because you know I’m new to magic.”
“Don’t say that, Lucas,” Eren said, putting on his best impression of a frown. “You know I wouldn’t do something like that to you.”
“Sure, you wouldn’t.”
A pause.
“Let—”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No. A no is a no.”
“Well that just got real boring. What are we supposed to do if I can’t try out my magic on you?”
“I’m gonna go to sleep. Do whatever you want besides trying out your magic on me.” Lucas drew his blanket over himself. “Oh, and wake me up when it’s time to go eat.”
“Sheesh. No fun.” Eren sat on his bed, staring at the far wall. Lucas rolled over, trying to sleep despite the bright sunlight shining in from the window.
After a while, he felt something brush up against his elbow. He had fallen asleep. For how long, he didn’t know. He turned his head to see Eren practicing his magic, creating what seemed like a cage of vines with a magnificent, glowing yellow buttercup flower situated in the middle, dispersing bright yellow orbs that floated up to a yellow point at the top of the cage. Lucas looked at his arm, only to find that the cage had spread its roots around the room, one of which had touched his elbow.
Eren seemed to be concentrating on maintaining the cage. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, illuminated by the yellow light of the buttercup. His sharp features were thrown into high relief. His black hair looked half-blond, shining with the buttercup’s light. Lucas waited until Eren had strained himself enough for him to break the spell, gasping for air. Seeing Eren about to start it up again, he cleared his throat.
“So… When are we leaving?”
“Oh, you’re awake! Dinner is in fifteen minutes. If you want, we could go now.” Eren wiped his sweat with a white cloth that he pulled from within his green-and-gold gambeson. Lucas scrambled out of bed and straightened out his clothes, which he had forgotten to take off before napping. “I assume that means that we should get going now.”
Lucas, still mildly sleepy, rubbed his eyes before following Eren, who had already begun exiting the dormitory. The hallway’s candlelight was not flickering now. Lucas looked more closely. The candles were not lit at all. The passage was instead illuminated from the ceiling by ribbed domes of glass, tinted white to cast a soft, milky glow for all of the corridor that Lucas could see.
As the duo reached the staircase to the lower floors, Lucas recognized a few students from their class. He saw their gaze shift from his face to his plain clothes, switching from expressionless to scornful.
“Hey, you’re a noble. Shouldn’t you be avoiding filth like him?” one of them addressed Eren.
“Well,” Eren replied, betraying no sign of emotion, “It would be rather awkward if I shunned him and still had to sleep in the same room, would it not?”
“I see. Well, on behalf of the nobility, we sincerely hope you reconsider.” With that, the four students quickly but elegantly stode towards the stairwell, descending with grace.
“That’s that, I suppose. Let’s choose another staircase,” Eren said. “They might be infecting this one with bad manners.”
“No, it’s fine. This was what I really expected when I came here, to be honest.”
Eren narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure you’re fine with this?”
“No. I’m hungry.”
“Alright, if you say so,” Eren sighed. The stairwell was darker than the hallways, not illuminated by its own light but by the ceiling lights of the corridors. As they descended, Lucas searched his own feelings. It mildly surprised him that the condescension didn’t bother him at all. As they approached the cafeteria, Lucas noticed that Professor Marris wasn’t there to let them in.
“She was here during lunch to make sure we all made it to the cafeteria,” Eren said, correctly interpreting Lucas's gaze. “The teachers normally eat with the students.”
“Where’s the headmaster, then?” Lucas asked.
“I think he usually eats in his office. He has too much work to leave, even if it’s for meals.”
“Is that how it is?” Looking up at the vaulted ceilings, Lucas suddenly, inexplicably, felt a sense of nostalgia for his hometown.
“Oh, look! They have different options for dinner,” Eren noticed, pointing at the table that carried the food. Lucas shoveled some spiced quail eggs and roast pheasant breast onto his plate. The choices seemed to have switched themes from seafood to poultry.
Quickly finding a place to sit, Lucas stuffed his mouth full. Eren quickly joined him. When he did, Lucas asked, “Do they always have a different type of meat every meal?”
“I think so. It’s not just meat, though. Sometimes they go fully vegetarian. There are always vegetarian options, though. They have to accommodate for the elven students, too.”
“Elves are vegetarians?” This was the first time Lucas had heard anything about elven culture.
“Strictly speaking, they’re vegans. They don’t want their food to have anything to do with animals. There are some who do eat meat, though. I’ve heard that they tend to disassociate themselves with the other elves.”
“Why, though? Vegetables used to be alive, too.””
Eren gave him a flat look. “Yeah, Lucas, why don’t you go ask them? I’m sure they’d be thrilled to hear you insult their tradition.”
“That’s not how I meant that,” Lucas said, internally making a note to ask Professor Morrix about his culture. He quickly gobbled what was left on his plate and returned to the food table for seconds. It was more crowded now; since there was no established time for dinner, most students arrived long after the dining hall opened.
Lucas felt the stares on his back and the deliberate jostling of the noble students, especially the ones from his year; the older ones didn’t care as much. As he was returning to his seat at the table, another first-year student slapped his plate out of his hand.
“Oh, sorry, my hand slipped,” the student said. It was one of the ones who was hanging around the one named Vonnel. When Lucas said nothing and just stared back at him, he continued, “What, do you want to fight?”
Before Lucas could answer, Eren stepped in front of him. “Apologies, but you’re not important enough for Lucas to reveal his extremely confidential magic. Kindly stop embarrassing yourself.”
The student scoffed. “What kind of confidential magic could this commoner have? The ability to infect me with poverty?”
“I will not lie, that does seem like a power I’d like right now,” Eren retorted.
Sensing that he would not be able to continue without losing face, the student gave one last scoff and muttered something about not being worth his time before walking past Lucas, bumping into his shoulder.
“Thanks, Eren,” Lucas said.
“Anytime, my poor little Lucas,” replied Eren. Then, realizing what he just said, he quickly added, “I was joking. I wasn’t talking about your financial—”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Let’s go.”
“Weren’t you going to get seconds? Aren’t you hungry?”
“No. Being around such a big piece of crap killed my appetite,” Lucas said.
“Fair enough,” shrugged Eren.
The duo quickly set out on the path to their dormitory, pausing slightly so that Eren could throw a jab towards Vaelith, who passed them on the way to the dining hall. However, before they had reached the top of the staircase, Lucas heard an unfamiliar voice call from behind, “Yo! Lucas was your name, right?”
Lucas spun around to see a rather well-built second-year who sported bright, yellow hair in a classic side-part. He wore a shiny, black leather jacket with casual jeans, completely out-of-place in the school where everyone wore clothes reflective of their status. He was accompanied by a tall girl who seemed somewhat disinterested, although still gazing up at Lucas and Eren. She, on the other hand, wore a cloak that stretched to the floor.
“You should come eat with us next time. No one will bother you if they know that you’re my friend.”
“What’s your name again?” Eren asked.
“Cairen Vell. This is my one and only other friend, Iriyen Thorne,” the blond boy explained. Iriyen lifted her hand as if to point out that she was the only friend Cairen had.
“We’d love to take you up on your offer,” Lucas said, before Eren could refuse.
After they had walked far enough, Eren burst out, “Why would you agree to that? How do you know they’re not trying to take advantage of us?”
“Come on, we can hear them out at least once, right? If it turns out that they’re bad people, all we have to do is avoid them. There’s nothing they can really do with the professors around, after all.”
“Alright, you win this time. But if you turn out to be wrong, you better tell me what your element is.”
“What do I get if I’m right?” Lucas asked as they approached their dormitory.
“You get to say ‘I told you so’,” Eren said, unlocking the door.
“That’s enough for me, I suppose. Trust me, they’re not that sort of bad people.”
“How can you know for sure?”
“Instinct,” Lucas said, throwing himself onto his bed. “Anyway, we should get ready for tomorrow since we’re getting our first actual lessons.”
“Right. But it’s not that late yet,” Eren said, looking at the clock. “It’s barely half past eight.”
“That’s true. I’m just going to sleep now. You do you.” Lucas quickly changed into the provided nightshirt that had been neatly folded on his table and that he had not bothered putting on the previous night. He pulled the sheets above himself and tried to drift off to sleep.
“I can see the stars!” Eren yelled suddenly.
“Haven’t you seen them before?” Lucas asked, irritated.
“Only when I leave the city. The city people leave the streetlamps on at night so I can’t see them.”
“That’s sad. Well, anyway, stop bothering me. I want to sleep. Every minute makes a difference, you know.”
“Say, why don’t the people in this city leave the streetlamps on? How will you find your way home at night?”
“Just don’t stay out for that long, then. Or you could just use the moonlight.”
“Yeah, fair enough. Well, I suppose I’ll go off to sleep, too, then,” Eren said, blowing out each of the lights. After a time, Lucas finally fell asleep in the peaceful darkness. The darkness would have been silent if it weren’t for Eren’s intentionally loud sneeze and the unceasing rustling of his blankets.
Lucas woke up to the monstrous volume of the bell. He quickly got out of bed and changed into his normal, simple clothes. He noticed that Eren’s bed was already empty. The door whirred open and revealed a rather sweaty Eren who immediately dashed to the restroom. After a few seconds of rustling, Lucas heard the shower head turn on and the sliding door slam shut.
“Where were you?” he asked.
“I was practicing at the field. You’d be surprised how many students there are practicing so early in the morning. Nobody bothers you either,” Eren replied over the volume of the water.
“Nobody bothers you, you mean.”
“No, I meant that I saw quite a few people wearing common clothing who weren’t bothered by those who were wearing expensive clothing.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. I even saw people practicing by battling each other. You should definitely go tomorrow. I thought about waking you up today but I wanted to check the environment first.”
“Aw, thanks. By the way, is there breakfast?”
“Yes, but you need to eat before the bell, or else you won’t have enough time to get to first period.”
“That’s stupid. Is that why we were the first people to the classroom? Did everyone else go eat breakfast?”
“Something like that, I suppose.”
“Well, let’s go to our first class, then,” Lucas suggested. “What was it again?”
“Worldly Studies, I think. It should be on stuff like geography and other races.”
Lucas quickly grabbed his schedule and followed Eren out of the dormitory, into the once-again flickering candlelight of the corridors. The path had already become familiar to the two; there was much less guesswork in the locating of the staircase, and the rest of the journey was light work.
As they neared the classroom, Lucas noticed that there were already quite a few students, including Vaelith, waiting to be let in. The halls rang with their chatter, enabling anyone on the same floor to be aware of their cacophonous presence. Professor Hawke allowed them into the classroom just as Lucas and Eren made contact with the line of students.
As all of the students settled down into their seats, the professor began, “As you are all aware, today is your first official class of your time in this school. Therefore, we will only be going over the basics: the six major intelligent races. This knowledge is extremely fundamental in the understanding of this continent’s history and especially geography. Now, one would think that geography impacts history and, therefore, race. However true this may also be, one must also remember that each and every race has had innumerable powerhouses throughout history who have, through wars and certain timely needs, altered this continent’s physical features. Now, of course, this means that the understanding of this world’s geography is not a one-dimensional or one-way matter. Thus, knowledge of each race’s needs and abilities is pivotal in analyzing history for what it is.
“That’s enough for the basic introduction. As we are all hopefully aware, we, as humans, are among these intelligent races. Our innate element is darkness, which reflects our comparatively fleeting lifespans; just as shadows disappear as soon as its light moves, we die exceedingly quickly. This has led to periods of paranoia and jealousy among the humans that have caused embarrassing blots in our history. Yes, Mira?” the professor asked, spotting a raised hand.
“Aren’t we only learning about the six intelligent races and geography in this course? Doesn’t Magical Ethics cover history?”
“Ah, you have brought up a good point. Tell me, what is the definition of the word ‘ethics’?”
“Is it like etiquette?”
“Certainly, etiquette is a good part of it. Therefore, from its name, I’m sure you can all gather that Magical Ethics covers history that leans much more towards human customs and behavior rather than an objective, overall view that this course will provide. Of course, there are bound to be overlaps, but they do not impact your education, now do they?
“Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes. The humans. We have little to no reliable knowledge of what occurred before the War of Two Doctrines one thousand years ago, when Maelion had not yet established the First Magic Tower and began recording the subsequent events. Therefore, we can only make assumptions from what the terrain looked like, as accounted by Maelion shortly after the war ended. However, what we know for sure has allowed us to connect many dots that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, such as the seemingly unrelated corruption of the previous royal regime.
“The second intelligent race is that of the elves. They have an innate element much more harmonious with nature than the humans': wind. Therefore nature has granted them much longer lives than us. In fact, the elves are so loved by Mother Nature that they cannot die of age. This has been the source of human jealousy for a long time.
“The third is the orcs. They have been portrayed historically as barbarians and brutes because of their unusual red skin and their sheer muscle mass and have been, regrettably, regarded as subhuman and unintelligent. However, more educated and less prejudiced envoys have returned with the information that they are botanists; they deeply care for plants in general and have been known to aggressively defend against other races’ ravaging of nature, which has led to their portrayal as primitive beings. Unsurprisingly, their innate element is plant. Unlike the immortal elves, they merely have prolonged lives and generally pass away after one hundred and fifty years.
“The next race is the dwarves. Their innate element is earth and are little mentioned in history for their unfriendly nature. They keep themselves enclosed within their communities and rarely interact with any outsiders, even those from other dwarven communities. They are best known as miners, craftsmen, and blacksmiths. The one time they do show themselves is during the annual midsummer interracial gathering, in which they bring along many of their best creations and minerals and sell them at a high demand. On rare occasions, they have been known to take commissions from people they deem to be outstandingly beneficial to them. Unlike the elves, they absolutely cannot die. Instead, when the dwarves feel that they’ve grown old enough, they’ll turn themselves into living chunks of stone through a process called external petrification.
“The fifth are the dragons. Their innate elements are water, fire, and wind. They are one of the only two races known to have multiple innate elements. Each individual dragon, however, cannot use all three elements; they each possess one of the three. They are incapable of using any other element. However, because they also have two brains each, one of which does not get corrupted by the use of one’s innate element, enabling them to have immense control over their magic. They also will not die until both brains are punctured. However, any aspiring dragon slayer must remember that if the wrong brain is destroyed, the dragon will go berserk. They have been known to level entire forests in this state. Their lifespans can reach up to one thousand years, but do not often share their memories with other races.
“Finally, the giants are the least common and least prevalent throughout history. They do not have one specified innate element. Instead, each individual’s personal innate element depends on where he or she was born. For example, since the concentration of fire Azla is very high in volcanic regions, any giant born there would naturally have fire as their innate element. They, like dragons, cannot use any element besides what they were born with. However, unlike dragons, their two brains both get corrupted by use of their innate element. Therefore, they give an honored assisted suicide to any fellow giant who has attained the age of two hundred on average.
“I hope you have all been taking notes, since this information will certainly be on future assessments.”
Lucas, who had been listening intently, jumped. He didn’t even think of bringing a notebook to school. Now that he had the incentive to look around, Lucas noticed that everyone else had been studiously recording notes, while the professor was staring straight at him. He gulped.
“For those of you who failed to foresee the need for notes, please meet with me after class. I will provide notebooks. Do not expect this as a privilege, especially not for future years.”
Lucas felt his face become uncomfortably warm as it became apparent to the class that Professor Hawke was addressing one student in particular. He tried to cover up his lack of notes by stretching his arms across his desk. Right as the bell tolled through the walls, the professor said, “Well, without further ado, class is adjourned.”
The other students quickly packed their things into bags of all colors, designs, and sizes. Lucas stayed behind, accompanied by a sympathetic Eren. Lucas felt numerous deliberate bumps into his desk. After the rest of the class departed, he approached Professor Hawke.
“May I have some notebooks?” Lucas asked, unsure how to best gain the professor’s attention.
“Eren Solari. I believe I saw you diligently taking notes just now. Why are you here as well?”
“I’m providing emotional support, ma’am,” Eren replied.
“Well, that aside, Lucas Drake. Why you’re the only one this year to forget to bring your notebooks this year is unfathomable to me, what with the fact that we’ve increased the number of students this year fourfold. However, this is not a reason for you to be irresponsible. Regardless of what may be the reasons, you have failed to properly prepare yourself for class. I will forgive you once and only this once,” Professor Hawke said, placing a stack of four books, a new quill, and a corked bottle of ink into Lucas's hands.
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Lucas.
“You’re free to go.”
Lucas quickly followed Eren out of the classroom, hurriedly yelling a goodbye on his way out.
“Don’t drop your ink bottle,” Eren warned. “I don’t have one to replace yours.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t need one, remember?” Eren said, adjusting the strap on his bag. He retrieved his schedule and checked.
“There’s no need for the schedule. We can just follow everyone’s voices.”
“We shouldn’t do that. Everyone’s in the hallways right now. We could end up following the voices of the seniors. Besides, they might go the wrong way.”
Eren set the compass to track Room 003 after Lucas relented. The compass led in the direction of the voices, some of which were rapidly increasing in volume. After passing many seniors in the hallways, Lucas and Eren finally caught up to Vaelith, who was standing in line outside of the door to the classroom.
An unfamiliar male professor, tall with a straight face and vertical, evenly cut black hair, welcomed the class warmly into the room. Since there was no seating chart, Lucas found himself sitting with Eren and Vaelith.
“My name is Lucien Ward. I will be your teacher for Magical Ethics,” the professor introduced himself as he walked up to the lectern. This classroom’s structure was almost identical to their home room. “I see that Professor Hawke has seen to your preparation for this class.
“Well, since today is the first day that I am meeting you all, why don’t we do some short introductions? There are quite a few of you, so let us keep this snappy. First name, gender, element or magic technique, and class. Let us go from left to right, front to back.”
“Jareth, male, fire, melee attack.”
“Good, keep going.”
The introductions went without hiccups until the turn came to Vaelith.
“Vaelith, female—”
“Vaelith Ensera? You do not need to provide the details on your magic.”
“Lucas, male—”
“Lucas Drake, I presume? I have been informed of the peculiar circumstances surrounding your magic. As with Vaelith, there is no need to disclose any information regarding your magic.”
“I see,” Lucas said, unsure of what would be the most fitting thing to say in this situation.
“Eren, male, plant, healer.”
The rest of the class’ introductions continued smoothly. Lucas noticed there were now many more glances in his direction, as if he were an interesting specimen put on display. He pretended to be interested in whoever was speaking. At last, all one hundred and two students gave their basic information.
“Well, that’s about all the time we have for this class. Why don’t you all get some lunch? We’ll be having a proper class tomorrow.”
The class said their goodbyes and quickly filed out of the classroom. As Lucas followed the rest of the class to the dining hall, the student named Jareth jostled him to the side.
“Quite special aren’t you?” he said. “Let’s see what makes you so—”
At this moment, Cairen descended the staircase and put his large hand on Jareth’s slightly less large shoulder. “I dunno what this is about Lucas being special, but I think I want a part in it if you’re here to bully my friend.”
Eren and Vaelith, who had both gone first to the dormitories to drop off their and Lucas's stuff, also descended the staircase at this moment. “Mighty courageous of you to single out a poor guy half your size, Jonathan,” Eren said.
Jareth, who was already humbled by Cairen’s appearance, was too scared to correct Eren as he quickly ran off to get food.
“Thanks, guys,” Lucas said.
“You really can’t go two minutes without getting bullied, can you?” Eren replied, shaking his head. “And it turns out that I do owe you an ‘I told you so’.”
“Who’s this?” Iriyen asked, joining them and pointing at Vaelith. “Is she your friend?”
“I think so,” Lucas answered. “Anyway, let’s go get food.”
“That’s right. If we keep dilly-dallying, the food is all going to be taken,” Cairen said, walking over to the dining hall entrance. The others hurried to follow.
“How many times have I told you?” Iriyen said. “The chefs restock the food every ten minutes. It’s not going to run out anytime soon.”
“Still, the earlier the better. More time to eat.”
The theme of today’s lunch was that of forest animals. Most notably and most expensive among the menu items was roast venison. Lucas grabbed some meat and grape juice and quickly sat down to reserve a seat for the other four.
“There’s no need to reserve a seat for me,” Cairen said. “I can clear a spot wherever I want.”
“Oh, yeah, why did you say that no one would bother me?” Lucas asked.
“Well, there are a number of reasons. First of all, I’m pretty strong” — he unnecessarily flexed his bicep — “and because I’m from a noble family that’s sort of regarded as unsafe to be around in general, since we’ve — not including me, of course — been doing nothing but gambling and drinking for the past four generations. So much so that we’ve kind of gone bankrupt, so we’re only noble in name now. And finally, it’s also because I have a pretty strong magic technique.”
“What is it?”
“Luck. I can set the chances of any favorable outcome to fifty percent. I can also go for a twenty-five percent chance to get three one hundred percent chances in a row. I can also set the probability of any individual unfavorable outcome to zero, but it costs a ton of Azla and isn’t very cost-effective; unlike when I increase the probability, I have to limit possibilities one by one. For example, a specific-enough outcome would be my death by plant magic in the next minute.”
“And that increase in probability works for anything? If you wanted one of the chandeliers to fall right now, there would be a fifty percent chance that it would happen?”
“Exactly. There are no limitations as to what my powers can act on.”
“So, if you wanted to, there could be a fifty percent chance that you turn into a god tomorrow.”
“Oh, well, no. My power’s Azla usage depends on the original probability; since the chances of me becoming a god tomorrow are, I think, regarded as below zero, it’ll cost my life. And if it’s very extreme, like if I set the chance of someone dying to fifty percent right now, I’d take severe backlash, too, whether or not it actually succeeds.”
“Oh, so you’ve tried killing someone before?”
“What? No!”
“Oh. And I was getting interested, too,” Lucas sighed, feigning disappointment.
After a quick lunch, all five of the students returned to their dormitories to retrieve their things. At the top of the staircase, Cairen and Iriyen split up, mentioning that their dormitories were on the second floor and that they needed to take another set of stairs to reach them. As Lucas and Eren arrived at their dormitory, Eren asked, “Do you need a bag? My parents packed a few extra of everything in case I needed it.”
“Really?” Lucas said. “I’d appreciate it.”
“Alright, well, it’s going to take a while for me to find it,” Eren said as he knelt beside his suitcase, shuffling. After a few minutes of straight shuffling, he finally stood up again and handed a somewhat wrinkled handbag to Lucas. It was tan and embroidered with thin, golden lines that seemed to flash in and out of sight.
Lucas put his notebooks, quill, and ink bottle neatly into the bag. “Thanks. How long do we have until next period again?”
Eren checked the schedule and the clock. “About ten minutes.”
“Should we get going, then?”
“Yeah, we should.” Eren headed for the door as Lucas followed. “Our next class should be Elemental Theory, right?”
“I think so,” Lucas said as they stepped foot into the hall, their voices beginning to reverberate. They continued to walk on in silence, but for the occasional untraceable echoing voice and their slightly muffled footsteps. Once again, the navigation of the halls appeared natural to the two students, as they quickly found themselves standing before the classroom numbered 007.
In the subsequent minutes, Lucas watched as the corridor filled with the first-years. At long last, the door to the classroom opened with a soft creak. A rather skinny professor whose bony hands did not cease to stroke his short and pointy goatee poked his head out. He quickly beckoned the class into the room, disappearing behind the wooden walls as the students followed.
As the students filed in and sat down, the professor began a passionate rant about how Elemental Theory was the core of all magic, especially one’s understanding of their own, whether or not they had a magic technique, and about how the understanding of Azla rhythms and their effects on the qualities of the magic that emerges is paramount. He was so passionate, in fact, that his face turned beet red halfway through the lecture with spit flying out of his mouth.
When the bell tolled once again, Lucas exited the classroom with Eren, laughing over the professor’s passion as they proceeded to the next class.
“Come to think of it, he never told us what his name was, did he?” Lucas asked.
“Let me check the schedule,” Eren said as he sifted through his handbag. “His name is Professor Thaddeus Greylin.”
“I see. What’s our next class again?”
“Don’t you have your own schedule?”
“Well, yeah, but you already have yours out,” Lucas reasoned. “So? What is it?”
“Bodily Enhancement, apparently. I think that basically means just working out.”
“Aw, man. I’d rather clean the pigsty.”
The two were quickly joined by Vaelith and the three quickly arrived outside the door of Room 013, adjusting and readjusting the straps on their bags, unused to the biting sensation of fabric weighed down by so many supplies.
Without much wait, a new professor, this time a tall and muscular man with prominent jaw muscles and shining yellow hair that waved with every slight movement of his head, ushered the students into a room that looked less like a classroom than a fully-fledged gym. It was at least three times as large as a normal room and contained many objects that Lucas had trouble comprehending the possible usages of.
This room had windows. Many of the previous classrooms did not. Lucas could not tell whether they pointed north, east, or west, since the view showed a basic, but breathtaking, view of grassy plains backed by distant mountains.
There were no seats. Instead, a grid-like pattern was etched into the black ground, highlighted by the red paint that ran through the gridlines. Without clear instructions, the students had no choice but to linger near the door. Suddenly, a sharp noise not unlike that of an amplified bird’s chirp erupted behind the students. The professor, who had just shut the door behind him, had blown his whistle. The students nearest to him reflexively covered their ears, not that it did them any good, what with their late reaction.
“Such embarrassing inattentiveness!” the professor said. “Wasting my time with your inability to observe the obvious.” He walked over to the chiseled grid and conjured a rock, slamming it down so that a loud crash resonated throughout the room. “This should not be that hard. All of you, sit.”
The pebbles that were scattered around the room began rattling and quickly zoomed to the professor’s giant hand.
“Now,” the professor said after the students had sat down. “My name is Darius Flint. Do not address me by anything other than Coach Flint. I am not a professor and I am not Darius. I have received the reports on how well you all did in the tests.
“And I am disappointed. In all of you.
“Well, most of you. So, I have decided to modify the normal training program. We’ll start easier, but the sets will become exponentially harder, rather than the linear model that we had for previous years. Without further ado, stand up and spread out until you are all an arm’s length away from each other.”
Coach Flint waited for all of the students to comply and then continued, “Give me twenty squats.”
Lucas and the other students did as they were told. Lucas looked around and wondered how the coach would be able to supervise the whole hundred-some students. And then he saw — humanoid stone figures were walking among the ranks of students, their stone eyes impossibly moving around, scrutinizing every detail of the students’ movement — their inspection was proven by Coach Flint’s occasional bark: “Vonnel! Less talking, faster squatting!”
Lucas finished the squats much earlier than any of the other students besides Jareth, who finished a second after he did. He saw them as sluggish and couldn’t comprehend, as the farmboy that he was, how they could possibly be so slow. He could also sense the coach’s gaze on him — his real gaze, not that of the stone sentinels.
At long last, the hundred-and-one other students also finished. Lucas noticed that his fellow commoners, the ones who had worn plain clothes on the first day, three of whom still wore them, also finished earlier than the slow nobles, though not to the extent that he had. The students looked around for more directions.
“You have not finished your sets until I say so. Continue doing sets of twenty squats with thirty seconds of break until I tell you to stop. Time your rests according to the clock there,” the coach said, pointing at a timepiece hung above the door from which they entered.
Lucas was the first to follow. At least, from what he could tell from the innumerable students blocking his view of anything over five meters away.
After Coach Flint had barked nearly fifty corrections, when even Lucas's legs started to ache and when some of the weaker students’s legs had collapsed from stress, he finally blew his whistle. Lucas quickly did a few small hops to cool his legs down as the students who had still been squatting let their fatigue take over.
“Sets of ten push ups until class is over. Hurry up.”
This command earned groans from all around the classroom. And the owners of those groans earned pebbles tossed at their heads. Lucas complied quickly despite the cramp that was already developing in his legs. He looked at the clock. Ten minutes to the end of class. He would be able to fit about ten sets if he sped up.
After the final ten minutes were over, the room was full of the pants and the sharp, salty smell of the sweat of the students. The vibrations travelling through the walls told Lucas that class was finished. Quickly grabbing his bag that he and the other students had put on the other side of the classroom, he opened the door and waited for Eren to come out. He picked at the tunic that was sticking to his torso.
When Eren and Vaelith came out together, Lucas suddenly remembered that they wouldn’t be taking Spellcasting in the same classroom.
“I won’t be with you guys during Spellcasting, so you guys go on. I’m going somewhere else.”
With some looks of suspicion but no words of questioning, the two took out their cards and tracked the Spellcasting classroom.