"Mana is everywhere—it is the ambient energy from which all creatures thrive. Mana is somewhat like the air we breathe; after all, the laws are almost similar. All humans possess what we call a mana core, and it is this core that purifies the mana we take in. Mana in its neutral form is toxic, and if ingested directly would cause manapool combustion—that's why we need the mana core. However, that's not the only function of the mana core, but for now we will focus on the most fundamental need for it. After it purifies the mana, the mana is then transferred to the manapool. But mind you, now the mana bears the signature of the person—that's why we can't directly absorb another person's mana. When a spell is used, the mana is released back into the air, and just like carbon dioxide with trees, the now unstable mana possessing a signature gets absorbed by them and released back out into the atmosphere. Then the cycle continues of absorbing it back into your body through the mana core—"
The teacher rambled on, but I had other things on my mind, so I was barely paying attention.
It had been just a day since the whole Eloisa incident yesterday. I still didn't know how I got the room, but that... didn't really matter, I supposed.
Zel was gone, and I didn't know why.
Also...
I had noticed something.
That disturbing feeling I always had whenever I thought of Renay—it was... gone.
Now when I thought about her death... I just felt sad. It wasn't as maddening as before. I didn't know what had happened, but I thought it had cured me.
I sighed.
"What's wrong?" I heard someone ask as they placed their hand on my cheek.
I looked to the side and sure enough, it was Selena.
"Nothing, just some idle thoughts," I responded and returned my gaze to the teacher lecturing us on 'Mana.'
That was another problem—Selena.
Now that the feelings I had for Renay were gone... I felt more receptive to Selena. It was like I had always been blind; she suddenly looked so... beautiful. It was weird.
Anyway, we were both sitting in the same place I had sat yesterday. I couldn't spot Silver though.
"Oh, right, I wanted to ask you something," I said, and she looked at me.
Wasn't she too close? We were literally a finger's width away from kissing.
"When you said you just asked nicely, how exactly did you do it?" I asked. I mean, I had a feeling she just beat the shit out of them, but... there seemed to be more.
This morning while heading to class, I had encountered those guys from the first day of school—those guys who beat the crap out of me last time and robbed me broke. I was actually about to avoid them when they caught sight of me, and that's when things went weird.
They literally turned pale as sheets and began running.
However, what I noticed about all of them was that they weren't running normally. They were running strangely, like someone who has a boner but is in a public place, trying not to get seen with it—they walk in a way to hide it. That was the very same way those guys were running, like something was broken.
I had a feeling I knew what.
"Oh, that," she suddenly smirked, and for some reason, she just looked devilish with such a beautiful face. "I asked them for it and they said they would give it to me if I showed them a good time," she said, and I frowned.
"And that I did," she added.
I just gazed at her silently.
"Wait... don't tell me you're getting jealous thinking I did something with them," she said, her eyes widening as she covered her mouth with her hand.
I ignored her and looked at the teacher.
She probably crushed their balls. Good god.
"You didn't ask about Silver though. I thought he was your friend," she said, and instinctively my eyes went to the place he had sat yesterday, which was now empty.
"Did something happen?" I asked, not really caring. I didn't really like the bastard in the first place. I didn't know why, but I just didn't like him being close to me—it made me feel uncomfortable.
"Well, he was found half dead in one of the school's private training rooms," she said, and I turned to face her, my eyes wide open.
"What?"