Chapter 6: Magic Class and the Old Ruined Schoolhouse
TWISTING pipes poked through the crumbling brick wall. The windows were painted black, rendering the interior obscure. And the door was nailed shut, with ropes hung here and there to dissuade trespassers.
It was once a schoolhouse. There had been some medical or pharmacological-related accident, and ever since, the schoolhouse building had been closed up and shut off. The adjacent schoolyard was of a decent size, though, so it still saw use as a practical training ground for magic students.
Wands whipped through the air, which was thick with the sound of spell incantations.
“Vocale, sceptos, forium! Ventos, flume!”
Magical breezes gusted forth from the tips of wands, sending the long grasses swaying. Elsewhere, piles of dead leaves began to swirl in the air. The students were shouting with joy, excited by their own magic in action.
A Foundation of Magic class was underway, with the students separated into different disciplines. Mathias was there too, standing at the end of the row. His face showed no joy. Instead, he waved his wand in the air impassively, like a conductor leading an orchestra.
Oh yeah…I promised I’d try to ask around about that student…
That was all he could think about. He was in a very pessimistic mood indeed. And he could barely even take in any of the class.
The name of the student who’d been struck down with Angel Tears was Oliver Adler. Mathias had looked it up in the student registry from the year prior. But before he could begin asking around about Oliver, he had to get over the hurdle of his own shyness first.
Around a week had passed already, but Mathias kept missing out on endless chances to talk to the other students. He hated himself for his weakness, but he just couldn’t get himself to act.
He heaved another sigh and looked around him.
Classmates who’d already successfully demonstrated the assignment were standing around chatting among themselves.
He’d have the best chance of talking to them in this kind of informal atmosphere.
Mathias scanned the crowd carefully. Since he stood at a higher eye level than everyone, there was no accidental eye contact. If he wanted to strike up a conversation, he’d have to make the first move himself.
Mathias gathered up all his courage. Then he leaned in towards the nearest student and cleared his throat.
“Ahem.”
The student, a girl, turned around. Then her eyes traveled up, up, up, until they fixed on Mathias’s face, suddenly widening. Just then, a loud, high voice rang out across the practice ground.
“Mathias Weiss! No goofing off!”
Mathias almost jumped out of his skin, hearing his name suddenly bellowed like that. Trout was glaring at him.
Mathias felt a wave of rage wash over him. Darn it! Just when he’d finally plucked up the courage to talk to someone!
“I’m not goofing off.”
He hadn’t meant to respond out loud. Trout’s eyes widened.
“What, you pulled off the spell already? Don’t lie. I’ve been watching you. You didn’t look like you were even saying the incantation to me.”
Darn, he caught me.
Mathias wanted to kick the dirt in frustration. He felt like he’d been under surveillance for a while now. Thanks to Mia and Henrik, he’d been able to keep his grades at a passing level, and he didn’t remember doing anything in particular that would mark him as a problem student. But after the incident at the end of last year, he felt constantly monitored.
“Try it, then.”
Stiffly, Mathias raised his wand.
Then he began to murmur the incantation. The work was simple enough—they had to conjure a slight breeze capable of sending dry leaves whirling into the air. But performing the exercise without causing an incident…that didn’t seem so simple to Mathias.
I hate standing out…
As much as he was reluctant to do so, he knew he needed to get on with it.
Luckily the training area was nice and wide, surrounded by sturdy walls for the safe practicing of dangerous magic. The only structure nearby was the abandoned schoolhouse, which was a crumbling, off-limits ruin. Nobody would care if he blew it up by mistake, surely.
Mathias took a deep, reluctant breath.
“Vocale, sceptos, forium. Ventos, flume.”
A strong gust of air began to gather with a dull roar, whirling the dry leaves up into its vortex. The power of Mathias’s spell was beyond any comparison to his fellow students.
If the other students had been conjuring mini cyclones, Mathias’s could be more accurately described as a mini hurricane.
The whirling air whipped around the training ground, sending the long grasses shaking and rustling back and forth. The dull, painted panes of glass in the old schoolhouse’s windows rattled in their frames.
Crack. One of the black-painted panes of glass suddenly fractured. Then all at once, there was a cacophony of crunching and crashing noises coming from within the crumbling structure.
“S-Stop!!!”
Trout was pale-faced with horror.
Mathias lowered his wand, and the storm dissipated instantly with a pop. The other students all gasped, highly impressed and shocked.
“That was amazing! Wow, he’s even better than the teacher…”
But just as one student in particular was singing Mathias’s praises…
“SILENCE!”
Trout bellowed in tones so loud they incited a shocked silence. All of the students were staring at their teacher in astonishment. Trout coughed into his closed fist, seeming to struggle to regain his composure.
“Today’s lesson is over.”
Then, still pale-faced, Trout stormed off. Mathias watched him go, deep in thought.
Something tells me I’m not going to get away with this…
Trout struck Mathias as a man who was ruled by his own pride.
Just as Mathias was sighing with self-pity, he found himself suddenly surrounded by the other students. And they were all looking at him with what seemed to be expressions of curiosity and interest.
“That was amazing!”
“How did you do that?”
At first, Mathias was struck with the urge to run away from their curious eyes. But then it hit him…this might be his best chance to ask about that mystery student.
“Uh, does anyone know what happened to Oliver?”
“Oliver?”
The students exchanged puzzled glances. Mathias felt himself becoming annoyed with them. Wasn’t Oliver supposed to be their classmate? But then he ought to blame himself too, he supposed. He couldn’t even remember the kid’s name at first. And it had all happened only one year ago.
“The kid who went crazy with Angel Tears during the entrance ceremony?”
As he prompted them, fear began to color their expressions.
“Um…hello?”
The sense of interest seemed to deflate from the crowd. One boy looked down awkwardly, and then the rest followed suit. One by one, students began to break out of the circle and walk away.
It was almost like Mathias had broken a taboo.
He’d been too hasty, too straightforward with his question. He’d forgotten how easily the mere mention of Angel Tears struck fear and panic in the hearts of mages.
But it was too late to go blaming himself now.
“H-Hey! Get back here!”
He managed to grab the arm of the last of the students to disperse. At Mathias’s touch, the boy froze, his voice sounding weak and strangled as he spoke.
“He’s at the army hospital, I think.”
Then he broke free and dashed after the other students, away from the training ground and Mathias.
Left alone in the middle of the silent training grounds, Mathias stood in a daze.
It didn’t make any sense. Only mages could be afflicted with Angel Tears, and it wasn’t said to be contagious like Demon Claw. Also, the true cause of it wasn’t public knowledge. So why did everyone react that way?
“The heck is going on?”
Just as Mathias was mumbling to himself…
A black lump of…something zoomed by, close to his feet.
He leaned forward, focusing. He could see two eyes looking back at him from behind a clump of grass. Then the black lump hopped up in the air for a moment.
As Mathias leaned in even closer, the thing, whatever it was, leaped up at him.
“The heck is that?!”
He grabbed it off his shoulder, where it had hopped onto. It was soft, covered in glossy fur. On close inspection, it was obvious it was a rabbit.
It was just the right size to sit on Mathias’s open palm.
It wasn’t actually black, but a very dark brown. It looked like a normal enough rabbit, but there was something different about it, which Mathias quickly identified. It had red eyes.
Also, one of its legs was covered in blood. It had cut itself somehow. Mathias remembered how he’d shattered the old building’s windows and felt a rush of regret.
“Where did you come from?”
Of course, the rabbit didn’t answer. It twitched its little nose and then began to struggle against Mathias’s grip. When he placed it gently onto the ground, it started nonchalantly eating grass.
The Academy had no facilities for raising animals. Besides, it was forbidden for students to keep pets. So it must have found its way into the grounds from the town. But that was odd, too. There weren’t any wild rabbits in town. The little rabbit’s owner was probably out there somewhere looking for their pet.
He knew he should leave it alone, but the injury to its leg… Mathias thought it over, sighing.
Then he got out his handkerchief and started mopping up the rabbit’s bloody leg.
Finally, he scooped the rabbit up and held it close against his shirt; then, he hurried off quickly in the direction of the library.
He needed to consult his friends about what to do next.