During lunch, the members of Lith’s group were hyped at the idea of Nalear’s new subject. The only exception was Lith himself.
‘I really don’t care about learning how to wave new fake magic spells. It’s a chore and a bore. I’m already able to cook up new spells with true magic in a matter of days, hours if it’s something I’m familiar with.’ He inwardly grumbled.
‘So far, the fifth year is a let-down. Farg’s course is useless too. I never did community service nor do I plan to work my a*s for free. This is just child labor!’
‘Well this is an academy for young adults, what do you expect? Also, do I have to remind you that despite your constant pessimism each subject we attended has either given us new ideas or helped to expand our horizons?’ Solus said.
Thinking back at the Necromancy class, Lith was forced to admit she was right.
Solus wanted to be supportive, yet her greatest temptation was to tell him to stop whining and enjoy the company of his friends.
The winter break had shown them how despite their bond, noble families were as busy as Lith, if not even more. They had called each other often, but aside for the Gala and Lith’s birthday, the group had never managed to meet.
‘They have only so much time together, yet Lith doesn’t seem to realize how quickly a year pass. I’d like for him to make happy memories rather than waste time grumbling.’ She thought.
“I must say, so far the fifth year seems more exciting than the fourth one.” Yurial was back being his old self. There were no bags under his eyes anymore, he smiled most of the time and had regained some of the lost weight.
After the gala, Yurial had discovered that it was enough to pretend to call Lith to get rid of his fiancée for several hours. To make things even better, he had asked one of his private tutors to teach him how to emit killing intent.
Despite being a mage, it was something he had never learned to do it. On Mogar, all living being possessed mana. Emitting it was an involuntary act, just like breathing or perspiring.
Intense emotions lead to an increase in the mana emitted. That, together with an aggressive disposition inflicted a mental pressure on those who were exposed to it, causing fear, panic, or even terror.
The phenomenon was simply referred as killing intent. It wasn’t necessary to be a mage to emit killing intent. As long one had mana, they could employ it. Even animals were capable of using it to scare their prey or threaten their enemies.
Being a mage made things easier, since by possessing large amounts of mana it was possible to amplify its effects. It was the way killing intent was used by calm people like Linjos.
Another method was to develop the ability to channel one’s fury into the mana. It required to train the mind, allowing people like Jirni Ernas to scare even powerful mages despite her natural lack of magical talent.
Then, there were people like Lith, that had plenty of wrath and mana of their own. Ever since he and Solus had met, it had been her task to suppress Lith’s mana fluctuations until he became capable of doing it on his own.
Otherwise, after he gained a green core, any animal or human in his presence would feel like a lamb in front of a slaughterhouse.
Yurial had lots of mana but little aggressiveness in him. His life had been stressful but pampered. Since he was a child, everyone had treated him with care and respect. Being gifted with a calm and collected nature, anger was something that rarely affected Yurial’s judgment.
At least until he had been forced to spend so much time with Libea. His instructor was a battle veteran. He had no trouble teaching Yurial how to use his gifts to put an end to their constant squabbles.
‘It may be unfair on my side to use killing intent to shut her up, but it’s much better than being forced to listen to her every day.’ Yurial considered it justification enough to quench his guilty conscience.
“I don’t have a single spell that doesn’t come from textbooks or from my mentor. Between my duties as the heir of the Deirus Household and the academy, it’s already a miracle for me to keep up with all the homework they assign to us.
I can’t wait to create something that I can call my own. I already have several ideas in mind.
Even Professor Farg’s subject piqued my interest. Community service might sound boring, but I think it will be a great experience. I never set foot out of the high end residential areas.
It’s a golden opportunity to connect with the people of the Kingdom and understand their needs.”
“I can tell you what they need.” Quylla was pissed off at him.
“They want tasty food, warm clothes, and some real justice. How do you expect to become a good ruler if you talk about commoners like they are some exotic animals you need to take care of? Do you have any idea how cold a winter can get? How many people starve every day?”
Quylla was usually so calm that seeing her angry was almost scary.
“She is right, Yurial.” Phloria played with the food on her plate.
“I think Code of Practice is mostly aimed at us nobles as an eye-opener. Farg is right when she says we know nothing. I believe its purpose is to make us realize there is no easy solution to the Kingdom’s problems.” Visiting Lith’s house had been almost a shock to her.
Even after all the renovations and improvements thanks to Lith’s hard work, it was still worse than the servants’ quarters at house Ernas.
When he had shown her the nearby village, Phloria had found it to be so small and dirty to make her heart tighten. After hearing Lith’s stories about the farmers’ harsh life, learning how even getting medical care was a luxury for them, she had felt guilty for days for having such a blessed life.
Friya shared Yurial’s enthusiasm, but nodded at Phloria’s words. She had never visited Quylla’s village, yet all the stories about her previous life before she was adopted by the Ernas were enough to give Friya nightmares.
After lunch, they headed towards the Light magic department for their first lesson of the Healer specialization. Lith was really eager to discover what kind of subject they would practice during the final year.
They were already capable of healing all injuries and amputations. That left very little outside their reach.
“Welcome back, my dear students.” Professor Vastor hadn’t changed one bit. He still looked like someone had attempted to fuse together an egg and a man.
The top of his head was completely bald, the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar mustaches. Vastor’s belly was so big that it made hard to guess if he was larger than tall.
“It seems I was a bit too pessimistic last year, saying that only a third of you would make it to graduation.” He said while twirling his mustaches.
“Anyway, the lesser the merrier. Now that we got rid of the dead weight our lessons will surely go smoother.” Of the thirty-four students that had joined the healer specialization on the fourth year, only sixteen remained.
