Chapter 32: 28. Aether Academy (Part 4)

It’s pretty bright... What a nice day. What time is... SHIT!

Rai jumped out of bed. He was late on his first day at the Academy. “Crap crap fuck shit!” He began spouting expletives with no regard for the people around him, of which there was only one. “Mr. Guard, what’s the fastest way to get to the Academy?”

Rai’s personal attendant, the one assigned by Kallad when Rai arrived at Devil’s Secret, was stood outside the door. “You should probably get your uniform on first, young man.”

Rai looked down and saw that he was still shirtless, wearing only the same loose pants that he wore to bed. His seals were still snugly fit on his wrists in the form of black bands. “SHIT!”

He rushed back inside and allowed himself a few minutes to clean himself up and get his uniform on. “I bet Sin didn’t wake me up so she could laugh at me for being late!” Now he was conjuring conspiracy theories about the people who didn’t wake him up. It wasn’t befitting of him, but this made Rai feel better about himself. It also made him feel more like a student than anything else. He didn’t even bother making breakfast, and instead grabbed a banana and decided to eat it on the way.

He rushed back outside to Mr. Guard and asked him the same question as before.

Rai’s attendant checked the boy once more, and gave a grunt of approval. “You could probably use your magic to get there faster.”

Rai spared a moment to raise his eyebrow with a confused expression, “Won’t I get in trouble with the city police?”

The attendant winked, “Not if you don’t get caught.”

Rai stared at him wide-eyed for a few moments, then smirked. The attendant made a ‘shoo’ motion with his hand.

Rai ran into the lift and went down to the ground floor. As the lift door opened he thought he heard the pink-skinned succubus clerk say something, but he was already focusing and almost couldn’t hear her. Can’t break the floor, gotta make sure I don’t break the floor.

Stormflow.

Rai pushed off the ground with his toes, which left no indents in the floor except for a slight burn mark that blended into the charcoal tiles in the reception room.

The building around him was moving quickly, and he was only able to comprehend it because of the combination of lightning augmentation and Flow State. Rai made sure he didn’t destroy the ground with his lightning tiptoes. He wasn’t anywhere near as fast as he would've been if he was actually running but this was the best way to avoid accidentally pushing too hard and destroying the ground. Since it was a residential area, Rai didn’t want to take the risk. He’d have to ask Kallad about how the building was made another time.

Once he made it out of Devil’s Secret, Rai broke into a full on sprint using Stormflow.

The streets flew by him. Compared to his own movement, the motion of the people on the streets was so slow that Rai could've considered them completely still. Lightning arced off of him onto the flats of building walls as he ran down the road that led to the Academy.

Within a minute, Rai arrived at the Academy.

He withdrew Stormflow, then got hit by a huge gust of wind from behind him that pushed him down onto the ground. Rai got back up and dusted himself off. He then tied his hair back into a ponytail. The grounds were empty. Everyone was already in their lessons.

Rai took his schedule out of his seals with a flash of lightning. He saw that he’d already missed the first lesson, and that the second lesson ‘practical applications of magic’ was just about to start. He put the schedule back into his seals with another flash.

Rai wouldn’t use Stormflow to get to his lesson now that he was already on campus. He wanted to avoid somehow ending up in more trouble. Rai ran, like any mere mortal, trying to get there as fast as he could.

He’d memorised the layout of the building as best he could, so he knew that the lesson would be in one of the training halls towards the back of the building.

Rai flew through the twisting turns and corridors. Some of the classroom doors were open, and teachers and students looked through them to see a fast moving figure. Though, most of them only saw a blur. Eventually, Rai made it to the training portion of the building.

He arrived at the hall, which had ‘Training Hall 08’ written on the door.

He opened the door.

Everyone inside turned to him. Rai noticed Sin, sat next to two girls he didn’t know, toward the front of the hall’s seating arrangement. There was the training ground in the middle, and a set of wooden seats organised like bleachers that flowed around the ground. He also noticed Hiron, the son of the Arbiter, who was snickering at the back with a group of boys around their age.

The teacher at the front, who was stood on the training grounds looking at the students sat among the bleachers, turned to him. “You’re late, Rai.”

Rai bowed, “I’m sorry miss, I overslept. I rushed here as soon as I woke up.”

The teacher wore an expression that seemed to harbour a multitude of emotions, yet somehow gave none of them away. “Please address me as Miss Lillia. Since it’s the first day, I’ll grant you some leniency. Do not arrive late again.” She was about to continue when she noticed something, “Rai, where is your tie?” The group of boys at the back with Hiron snickered even more obnoxiously.

Rai looked down and saw that he wasn’t wearing the uniform’s tie. “Sorry Miss Lillia, I must have forgotten it when I rushed to put my uniform on.”

Lillia let out a frustrated sigh, and indicated for Rai to sit down.

Rai graciously accepted the gesture without a word. He walked down the stairs besides the bleachers and scooted along to sit next to Sin, who conveniently saved a space for him.

Sin shot Rai a look that said ‘what on Zenith are you doing you idiot, how are you late?’

Rai returned her look with a look of his own that said ‘I don’t know, couldn’t wake up on time. Why didn’t you wake me up?’

Sin countered Rai with another look, this time it said ‘I’m not your mother.’

Rai accepted defeat and turned his attention to the front of the class where the teacher, Lillia, had already begun speaking.

“- so we’ll just go over the first part again. This class is designed to help you learn to apply magic in day-to-day situations that you may encounter. This could be something as simple as heating up a kettle, or watering plants. Magic can be used for a myriad of things other than fighting.”

Lillia walked over to a pot that was filled with water. The pot was rested on a stand that kept it elevated from the floor.

“For example, in today’s lesson, you’ll be learning to use a common spell known as ‘heat element’. It’s used in daily life very often, and can sometimes be a mage’s best survival tool when out on an expedition. Watch what I do.”

Lillia began an incantation. Her hand began glowing orange as she oriented it towards the pot of water.

Calefacere.

The pot started glowing dark orange at the bottom. After a moment, a bubbling sound could be heard coming from the pot, and steam drifted out of its opening. There were sounds of adoration from some of the students, and even Hiron’s posse sounded surprised at the display.

Rai was completely blown away at how boring and simple the first lesson was.

 

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Lillia turned to the students with glee, “For this lesson, you will need to use an incantation. Since this is a common spell, I will only provide extra advice if I see you really struggling. Some of you might find it difficult, but please stick with it.” She then snapped her fingers and three rows of pots of water just like hers appeared behind her on the training ground.

Lillia went and sat in the bleachers to observe the students. “Feel free to talk to each other and see if you can help one another.”

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Sindyl glared at Rai, “How on Zenith...”

Rai facepalmed, “Don’t ask, I almost left without even putting on clothes. That’s how much of a rush I was in.”

Sin almost burst out in laughter but just managed to stop herself. “Pfft.” A voice popped out from behind her, the energetic girl Amy.

“Who’s this, Sindyl?” She popped her head round Sindyl to take a look. “Wow, he’s really beautiful.”

Sin felt a little bit of heat on her cheeks, “This is Rai. He’s my... my...” What are we?

“Oldest and closest friend!” Rai excitedly filled in the gap for her.

The girl with green and blue eyes replied in excitement, “Nice to meet you! I’m Amy!” She turned and dragged her twin’s head into Rai’s view, “This is Lina! We’re twins!”

Lina’s face was completely red. Sin noticed and went to check her temperature. “Ow, why are you so hot right now?”

Lina looked at Rai. “I’m sorry for blurting that out back then!”

The other three looked at her. “Huh?” They questioned in unison.

Lina’s face grew even redder somehow, and she covered it with her hands, “I’m the one who called you hot at the entrance exam.”

It clicked. Rai just made an elongated “Oh” sound. He smiled awkwardly, “Don’t worry about it, let’s get along!”

Lina nodded and shrunk back into her seat.

Lillia walked over to them, “Anything you’d like to share?” The rest of the class had already made their way to the water pots and were attempting the incantation. “Are you going to be a problem child Rai?” A wry grin formed on her face.

Rai shook his head, “No ma’am. This kind of exercise isn’t exactly the most challenging thing though. I could do it without even trying.”

Lina and Amy were shocked at the fact that Rai would talk to a teacher like that, while Sin knew that’s how Rai was and had already left to go give a lone pot some company.

Lillia looked down and let out a deep sigh, “Rai, I’m well aware of that already. I’ve seen your practical, and your mana aptitude test. But that doesn’t mean you can just shirk your duties as a student. You still have to do the work, even if you already know that you can do it.” With a softer smile, she looked back at Rai, “If you can already do it, then help the people who can’t, after you’ve done it yourself.”

Rai nodded, without giving away any emotion, “Yes ma’am.”

He got up and looked over at a lone pot. “I’ll do that one there.” The three next to him looked at the lone pot. Without raising his hand or verbally casting an incantation, Rai allowed heat to swell up within him. He directed the hot mana towards the pot, which started glowing orange at its bottom, and it violently bubbled with steam pouring out of it. One of the students near the pot noticed it heating up without anyone attending it.

“MISS LILLIA THE POT HEATED UP BY ITSELF!” The female elven student yelled as loud as they could.

Lillia facepalmed, she turned to Rai and whispered “Did you have to do it like that? You’re just as flashy as the headmaster made you out to be.” She turned back to the worried student, who had drawn attention to the ghost pot. “Don’t worry, it’s just a malfunction. I’ll sort it out.” She gave Rai one last annoyed look before getting up and walking over to the pot that was practically bursting open.

Rai watched as Miss Lillia left, before he got up. “I’ll walk around and see if anyone needs help, you guys let me know if you need help too, alright?” They nodded. He gave a single nod back, then started roaming the room.

Amy whispered under her breath, “Wow...” She was very impressed. “Hot, confident, and powerful. What’s not to love?” She felt a tug on her sleeve.

Lina whispered in her twin’s ear, “If he’s Sindyl’s old friend, then he’s probably a noble. We should avoid getting too close with him Amy.”

Amy was visibly deflating, “But... not all nobles are bad. You saw it yourself with Sindyl.”

Lina shook her head, “She’s the exception. C’mon, we have to do the spell now.”

Amy groaned as Lina dragged her in the opposite direction that Rai went.

Hiron, the black haired boy with brown eyes, was stood next to his pot, which was bubbling and steaming up. Around him were his noble boy posse, who all but one had successfully executed the spell. Hiron noticed. “Jeremy. Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. Oh why do you do this Jeremy. You can’t cast a simple spell like this one?!” The last sentence carried frustration.

The timid looking noble boy, Jeremy, was sweating. He was trying his hardest to do the spell, but it wasn’t working.

A voice came from behind Jeremy, “You’re not shifting your mana to contain attributes of fire. Do that, and the rest of what you’re doing will work.”

Jeremy didn’t know where the voice came from, but he was thankful. Within moments, Jeremy managed to cast the spell. He turned to see blue eyes staring into his soul. Or that’s what he thought. In reality, Rai was just stood looking at him. Jeremy sputtered, “Thank you! What is your name and family?”

Hiron was interested now. He was mad that Jeremy couldn’t cast the spell, but if he got the family information of the one who was hanging around Sindyl at the entrance exams, then he could more easily get rid of them.

Rai looked at Jeremy with a kind smile, “I’m Rai, just Rai.”

Jeremy stared blankly at him, then his tone shifted. “Thank you for the help Rai, but please don’t talk to me again. If you’re part of the common rabble, then I want nothing to do with you.”

Rai shrugged, “So be it.” He didn’t really care whether the nobles liked him or not, he just wanted to help because the teacher told him to.

Hiron took note of Rai’s behaviour. “You, a lesser, are in the presence of nobility. You're among those who are higher than you, yet you don’t bow? How disrespectful!” He spoke with venom in his tongue.

Rai shrugged again, “I don’t really care who you are. I just wanted to help, if you don’t want my help then I’ll go somewhere else. It’s quite simple really.”

Hiron was visibly angry. He was already mad at Jeremy, but now this commoner was in front of him refusing to bow. His reputation as a noble was important to him and his father, so he couldn’t afford to lose out here. “Tell you what ‘Rai’. Why don’t you kneel in front of me, and I’ll let you leave to ‘go somewhere else’ as you say.”

Rai stared at Hiron with a blank face, “Really? Is that all you’d want Mr. Noble? Oh how gracious of you, let me kiss your feet while I’m at it.” He spoke with sarcasm very clear in his voice. The group of boys around Hiron let out some chuckles and giggles at Rai’s remark.

Rai scoffed and turned to leave, when a hand heavily gripped his shoulder. Hiron was furious, and Rai could feel him imbuing mana into his grip. Hiron spoke, with no emotions hidden in his voice, “Who. Said. You. Could. Leave.”

The air grew thick and heavy. Hiron didn’t understand what was happening, but he could feel his mana was being eaten away at. All he could see were Rai's eyes. The eyes that were blue before were now inverted in colour. Blue became white, and white became blue. They were wide open as they looked through him with chilling indifference. Black tendrils of lightning left painful singes on his hand, but he held on with all of his might. He saw Rai’s mouth move as he spoke with a voice that crackled with energy. It reverberated throughout the hall like thunder. “You should let go.”

Hiron’s confidence drained away. His mana reserves were almost empty. Impossible! I’ve had so many elixirs and mana gem supplements! It shouldn’t drain away this fast... Hiron let go. The blue in Rai’s eyes returned, and the black lightning was no longer present. The air returned to normal as well.

Hiron’s legs felt wet.

Rai hadn’t noticed it, but the entire class was looking at him. He simply walked back to the bleachers, with everybody’s attention firmly on him.

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