บท 8: Chapter 3-4: Unconventional Studies
Aiden stepped forward and bowed. "It's good to see you well, your highness."
"And you as well, Lord Condor." She simply nodded, then turned to the others. "But please, this academy is a place of learning. Our social status' do not matter here, so please simply call me Iris."
"Enough of that." The professor rudely cut her off. "You shall listen carefully," He gestured towards the back of the lecture hall. "Today, I will speak of the outside."
Ren could feel the air tense up. No one, not even the battlemages or the Archmage could speak to a member of the imperial family like that. Though, to his surprise, Princess Iris didn't seem to mind as she nodded and chose one of the seats.
Seeing her, everyone else quickly picked their seats as well. Once everyone was seated, the Professor cleared his throat.
"Now, as you all know, Arkon is being protected by the Barrier." He pointed towards the window. The blur of the barrier was, as always, visible. "Now then, does anyone know how long ago it was created?"
"Over two millennia ago." Lena quickly answered.
"And by whom was it created?" This time the Professor's question was met with silence. "Really now?" He mumbled. His voice was filled with disappointment.
"I believe it was Archmage Arnor and Lady Aesur, the first Oracle." Ren paused. How much of this was common knowledge?
"Keep going."
"Lady Aesur created the 'core', Archmage Arnor shaped the barrier and the eleven Fallen created the pillars of the barrier. I believe Lady Aesur passed right as the core formed and Archmage Arnor fell soon after." He took a deep breath. "Thus, they created the thirteen pillars of Arkon. Those roles are now fulfilled by the ten Battlemages, the Emperor, the Oracle and the Archmage."
"Good enough." The Professor said with a cold voice. "Do you know what the core is?"
This time, Ren hesitated. "I know that it is required for the barrier to exist." He couldn't say much, partially because he didn't know all the details.
"Correct. Without the core, the barrier falls and with it, so does Arkon." The Professor sighed. "I'll now explain the details of how the barrier. Its height is…"
As the Professor delved deep into the details of the barrier, Ren finally looked around.
He was seated in the middle of the bench, with Mirielle and Aiden sitting next to him. Before them were the twins and Lena, and the seat behind Ren was taken by the princess.
Ren could feel her piercing gaze on his back. Unlike Mirielle, Aiden and Lena, she wasn't masking her mana. It was cold and its colour shifted between silver and blue. It was so intense that Ren could barely sense the twins' or the Professor's mana. Even though it wasn't causing any pain, it was still all around him. He couldn't help but feel somewhat trapped in an icy blue cage.
"That's all you need to know about the barrier, for now." The Professor sighed. "Now then, with all that out of the way, I shall finally get to the main subject of this class." His voice was filled with disdain. He clearly only explained those things out of necessity. He had to follow the curriculum, after all.
"As you all know, the barrier protects us not only from the wildlife, but also from the sun." His gaze swept through the lecture hall as he searched for someone to ask his next question to. As his gaze stopped when he reached Ren, an evil smile momentarily appeared on his lips.
"Tell us about wildmagic."
Ren pushed his seat back and stood up. "Well, it's harmful to humans, for one." He fiddled with a strand of his hair. Wildmagic was a very broad topic, summarizing it was not an easy task. "It's something like the… Well, life force of all living things – except for us- and it's everywhere out there." He gestured towards the windows. "Even the sunlight is a source of wildmagic, which is why humans can't go outside during the day."
"Not bad." The Professor mumbled. "Describe how it harms humans."
"Any contact with wildmagic can dilute someone's mana pool. It immediately makes is very difficult to control one's mana and later, prevents the casting of any spell. Depending on how severe the dilution is, it's physical effects range from mild dizziness to loss of consciousness or death." It was difficult to forget the men and women who lost the ability to control their mana, their helpless screams as they lost decades worth of training. He had seen many of them over the five years he lived in the Inner Keep. It was always heart breaking.
"Correct." The Professor gestured him to sit down, then continued. "Wildmagic is, as Ren here already made quite clear, very dangerous. Which is why anyone and anything that enters Arkon is cleansed by the staff from the Inner Keep. I'm sure Miss Nirei can fill you in on the details if you ask her. Moving on…"
The class continued as the Professor started to explain every detail of the vegetation outside Arkon. Ren tried his best to keep up, but the icy mana around him was making it difficult to focus on the subject.
He wasn't quite sure of what to think of the Princess. He disliked her older brother, though if he ever said that out loud, he'd probably end up in a dungeon somewhere. He had seen the Emperor once, but they hadn't really interacted. All his past experiences with the royal family were just making it more difficult to determine how to act around the princess. He only knew that he couldn't be too careless, he didn't know how much she knew about him.
As the hour slowly passed, Ren was called on to answer several more questions. When the bell finally rang, he exhaled in relief. That short hour of sleep he had gotten in the infirmary wasn't quite enough, he could feel the mental fatigue.
"Tomorrow's class will be held in the northern courtyard. Remember to bring your writing utensils with you. And do take your study material to your dorms." He gestured towards a pile of books sitting on one of the tables. "Class dismissed." With those words, the Professor left the lecture hall as quickly as he came. An awkward silence followed.
"That was certainly interesting." One of the twins finally spoke. If he could sense their mana, Ren would be able to tell them apart, but with the princess' mana surrounding him, there wasn't much he could do.
"It really was." Lena got up and approached the pile of books. "I see… Three different books here."
Ren, Aiden and Mirielle also approached the pile. Ren could feel Iris' icy gaze follow him. He took a deep breath and took a look at the books. "Basic Concepts of Wildmagic, The Fauna and Flora of the Outside, A History of Treaties with Other Races." He flipped through the pages of the first book. "Nothing about this is basic." At a glance, he could see several complicated subjects such as the wildmagic cleansing process.
"But not much can be done about it." Ren sighed. "Let's take these back to the dorm."
"Good idea." Mirielle said with a faint smile. Her face was a bit pale and she seemed worried about something. "Let's go." She picked up her share of books.
"Let's." Aiden also took his books, then turned to face Princess Iris, who was still seated. "If you'll excuse us, your highness."
She nodded.
"We'll see you later, Lena." Ren waved at her before they left the lecture hall. As he left the area filled with Princess Iris' mana he finally breathed out in relief. Only then he realised how tense he had been through the entire lecture.
"Are you feeling alright, Ren?" Aiden asked as they stepped outside. The sun had started to move towards the horizon. It wouldn't be nightfall for another couple of hours, still.
"I'm fine." He forced a smile. "I'm just tired, that's all. I'm just glad there aren't any more classes today." Aiden nodded, but his eyes made it clear that he didn't believe Ren. At least, not completely.
"How about you, Mirielle?" Ren asked her, trying to change the subject. "Are you feeling alright? You seemed a bit shaken before."
Mirielle sighed. "I- I'm just a bit surprised is all." She fidgeted with her hair. "I'm sharing a room with her Highness." She mumbled with a catch in her voice. "I… I didn't know who she was. Do- do you think she's angry with me?"
Aiden suddenly laughed. "No, no I don't think she's angry with you." He waved his hand dismissively. "If she wanted you to know, you'd know. Besides, she's right about one thing- we're students here, her royal status shouldn't matter any more than mine."
"Yeah…" Mirielle sighed a breath of relief. She seemed a bit more relaxed now.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they reached the dormitory, Mirielle quickly said her goodbyes and darted off to her room, leaving the slightly confused Ren and Aiden behind.
"She's a weird one." Ren mumbled with a faint smile. "Let's go to our rooms as well."
"Let's." Aiden said absentmindedly. They went up the stairs and headed to their own rooms.
Once he entered his room and dumped all the books he was carrying on his desk, Ren finally collapsed on his bed. He was exhausted. Not only was he badly wounded today, he also had to deal with the Professor's questions, Iris' and Mirielle's mana and Daymon's weirdness.
He forced himself to get up and change into more comfortable and less bloody clothes. He really wanted to just go to sleep, but the sun still hadn't set. He still had time – time he could use to better himself. He started with checking the contents of each book. Some were filled with concepts foreign to him, while he had learned about some others.
If he wanted to achieve his goal, just being able to fight wasn't enough. He had to learn more and experience more. With that goal guiding him, he started to review and prepare for tomorrow's classes.
* * *
She knocked on the sturdy wooden door twice.
A commanding voice was heard from the other side. "Come in."
"Excuse me," She pushed the door and entered Principal Auria's office.
"Princess Iris, what brings you here?" Principal Auria calmly asked.
Iris placed a piece of paper on her desk. "I'd like you to do something for me."
"Of course, anything else?"
"Not at this time." Iris bowed her head, then left the room. Once the door closed behind her, a crack appeared on her calm expression, if only for a moment. She quickly recovered her composure and made her way to the dormitory.
* * *
"Wait, you're studying now?" Aiden shouted. "Seriously, I just can't- wait, did you have dinner yet?"
Ren sighed and shook his head. Just a few moments ago Aiden had barged into his room and immediately started shouting.
"I'm not letting you starve yourself, Ren. Come on, we're going to the mess hall."
"Aiden, wait-" Ren tried protest, but the young noble grabbed his arm and dragged him outside. "No, you can study all you want later, you're ridiculously skinny already, if you don't eat properly, you'll turn into a skeleton!"
Despite his protests, Ren was dragged to the mess hall downstairs. Even though most of the students were here, they were still not enough to fill the entire hall. At a glance, he spotted Lena and Serana enjoying their meal at one of the desks. The Ashthorn twins were with them as well. Mirielle was sitting alone at a table far in the back. She seemed lost in thought.
He couldn't see Princess Iris, though it was hardly surprising. The crown princess probably would prefer to eat alone, rather than coming to this noisy hall.
They took their share of food from the counter. "Let's sit with Mirielle." Ren suddenly suggested.
"Sure, let's do that."
Mirielle was thrilled to see them, as her gloomy expression disappeared as they got seated. They ate slowly, enjoying each others company. As the evening drew to a close, they said their farewells and headed off to their rooms.
Even after he laid down to sleep, Ren could feel the faint warmth he felt during dinner. He fell asleep with a smile.
* * *
"It happened again."
"It did."
Two men were standing at the border of the barrier. One of them was tall, yet slender. He carried a curved sword- a tachi with him. The other man was wearing a dark coloured armour and carried a sword and a shield.
"They won't allow this for much longer."
"…I know," The slender man sighed. "There is still some time, even if a little."
"Do you think it's possible?"
"Yes." He clenched his fist. "It's possible, Warthorn. There is only a glimmer of hope."
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Dweia
Dweia Hey guys and gals, this marks the end of Chapter 3. There'll be some more action and reveals in the coming days, so I hope you continue to stick with me.
Thanks for all the support as always and stay safe!
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