Rix didn’t fully understand it even after hearing all the explanations, although he did get that it wouldn’t be possible to become a mage if he didn’t awaken to this mysterious sensation called the Sphere.
And yet he showed no sign of being anywhere close to doing that.
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap… What do I do…?
Rix was filled with trepidation.
“All right, then! It looks like you’ve all finished opening your Spheres!” Professor Anna announced. “After becoming aware of the existence of your Sphere and opening it for the first time, you will naturally be able to sense and open your Sphere as you like without relying on potions. With that, I’d like to bring today’s class to an end!”
It sounded like Professor Anna was getting ready to conclude the lesson.
This was going to end without Rix having opened his Sphere, which he needed to do in order to become a mage.
This was no time for hesitation.
“U-um…”
Having made up his mind, Rix timidly raised his hand.
“Oh? Is something wrong, Rix?” the professor asked.
“Um, so… This is really hard for me to say, but…”
“What is it?”
“I…haven’t opened my Sphere yet… What should I do?”
Silence.
The excitement from mere moments ago suddenly vanished. All attention turned to Rix.
He had never experienced something so awkward.
“Um…perhaps you didn’t get enough of the potion? Why don’t you try taking another drop…?” Professor Anna suggested.
“I already used up the whole thing. I don’t feel any different at all, though.”
“Th-the whole thing?! How are you not dead?!”
Rix showed the now empty bottle to the professor, who was visibly startled.
The crowd went quiet once again.
“Hey, come on, Rix… Cut it out with the bad jokes!”
“Th-that’s right! Honestly, it’s not even funny!”
Randy and Annie forced smiles as they teased Rix.
“…”
But Rix looked pretty serious.
“U-um… For real?”
“For real. Heh. What should I do?”
Rix shrugged, completely at a loss.
““““Whaaaaaaaat?!””””
The students went into a frenzy.
“Wait, are you serious?! You literally haven’t awakened your Sphere?!” Randy exclaimed.
“You’re lying, right?! That can’t be true! Wait—what the?!” Serephina cried. “All that slicing you did to the sea monster and launching that idiot Gordon into the wall with your punches…that was just you?! Your own innate abilities?! Not physical enhancement magic or enchantment spells?!”
“Dude, are you even human?! You’re not actually a demon or something, are you?!” Randy yelled.
“Whoa, rude!”
Serephina, Randy, and Rix were in an uproar.
“N-no way… Rix…” Annie was looking at Rix with concern.
“M-may I check something?” Professor Anna asked. She walked up to Rix and placed a finger on his forehead.
Then, for a short while, she whispered some sort of chant under her breath.
“…Y-you’re right… Rix, your Sphere…isn’t open at all. This is quite unusual,” she said. “Even those with very little natural inclination to magic should be able to open their Spheres at least a few centimeters…”
The students began to buzz at Anna’s statement.
“P-please stay calm, everyone! Calm down!” she urged, trying to settle them as she looked around. “I will deal with Rix’s case personally. Now, given the situation, I would like to check once more: Is there anyone else here whose Sphere hasn’t opened? If so, please be honest and speak up. This has great bearing on your future at the academy…”
The rest of the students began eyeing each other suspiciously.
Then…
“…”
One person had silently raised their hand.
It was the white-haired girl—Shino.
“What? Y-you too? M-my goodness…”
Professor Anna looked baffled, as if she had seen something she couldn’t believe. Shino nodded back silently.
The rest of the students started murmuring to one another once again.
Rix and Shino were widely known to be the scholarship students who had been welcomed into the academy with much fanfare. Thus, their peers were understandably shaken to learn that these two people had yet to open their Spheres.
“I-I’ve just confirmed it, and yes…both Shino’s and Rix’s Spheres are completely closed…”
Professor Anna checked Shino’s Sphere in the same way she had Rix’s, with a troubled expression.
“S-seriously…?! What the hell is going on…?” Randy whispered to Serephina.
“Hmm… To think that the Spheres of the only scholarship students the academy has had in a few years wouldn’t open,” she whispered back. “It doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
The two of them exchanged pained looks.
“Wh-what should we do…? I’ve never encountered this situation before… And for it to be with the scholarship students… This must be the first time this has happened in the academy’s history…,” Professor Anna managed to say. “I-in any case, everyone, please keep this to yourselves. I will consult with the academy’s leadership to determine what should be our next course of action… I’ll end class here. Thank you, and good work today.”
The White Class’s first lesson at the academy concluded with unresolved turmoil.
“Hmph. So those scholarship students weren’t anything special after all,” Alfred said loudly enough for the people around him to hear as he headed back to the dormitory.
The other students looked back and forth between Rix and Alfred, as if comparing them, before walking off uncomfortably.
“Ha-ha-ha! Man, I’m in trouble, aren’t I…?” Rix sighed and scratched his head, at a loss.
“R-Rix, try not to get discouraged… Professor Anna is a great mage…so I’m sure she’ll find some way to help you,” Annie told him, doing her best to cheer him up.
Randy and Serephina, however, didn’t seem to know what to say.
Rix sensed this awkwardness and looked over at Shino.
“…”
But Shino was the same as usual.
Even in this situation, she looked as disinterested in everything as ever.
She wasn’t interested in what was going to happen to her after this, and she didn’t care. That was the vibe she was giving off.
“Oh man…”
Becoming a mage and leaving that bloodstained world behind him…
Rix couldn’t help but think this dream of his wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped.