Chapter 27
Sometime later…
Ava stood before the group holding a folded paper, her face pale enough to make her look like a ghost.
The afternoon sunlight cast sharp lines across her features, and the way she stared at the paper made it seem like it held some kind of terrible news.
Jaxson noticed her immediately, his brows knitting in curiosity. "What's up? Did the professor say no?"
Ava sighed, shaking her head slowly. "He said yes… and gave me a well-explained theory he's working on."
Solana chuckled, her tone full of knowing amusement. "What did we say? He likes you. Maybe Ben's theory is true."
"Shut the heck up," Ava shot back, not missing a beat.
She glanced around the small open area. "Where's Ben, anyway?"
Jaxson shrugged. "One moment he was here laughing with us, and the next he was gone. The moment he senses gossip, he disappears."
Ava rolled her eyes but ignored Ben's absence for now. "Alright… explanation of his theory first, or the club?" She dropped into her previous seat.
Jaxson gave a thoughtful hum, pretending to ponder as if it was a deep question. "Theory first. I'm quite interested."
Solana nodded in agreement.
"Well…" Ava began, leaning back a little. "He said emotions do affect mana. For example—anger makes your spells much stronger, but also harder to control. Happiness makes your spells calmer and easier to handle, but with less power. But there's a point where joy and fury join together to form something he called calmness. At that point, your spells would be at their strongest—easy to control, with no power reduction. But…" She tapped the bench with her fingers.
"Mastering that mindset is unique to everyone."
She tilted her head toward the open sky. "He compared it to the weather. When the sky is clear with no clouds, the wind isn't sharp or strong. But storm clouds create sharp, strong winds. The same applies to rain, to sunlight—conditions change everything. That's all I remember from what he said… because we drifted into other topics I didn't clearly understand."
For a moment, everyone went quiet, mulling over the concept.
Ben suddenly slid back into his seat like he'd never left. "You're back," Jaxson.
Then Ben questioned, "Did you bring Good News."
"Yeah," Ava said, still half in thought.
"But we have to choose our club activities by the end of today before submitting them for approval." She pulled herself out of the mental fog, though the idea of emotions being like mana still lingered in the back of her mind.
Solana tilted her head. "A club activity, huh?"
Ben grinned. "So, which one are we joining?"
"Not joining," Ava corrected, a faint smirk curling her lips. "Making."
Jaxson leaned forward, eyes brightening with the thrill of mischief. "Start our own club?"
Ava nodded. "Yeah, If we join an existing one, we'll just be another set of faces following rules someone else made. But if we make our own…" She trailed off, letting the idea hang in the air.
Ben's grin widened. "Creating the rules."
Solana's brow furrowed in thought. "Do you even know how much paperwork that is? The Head Council doesn't just approve clubs because you have a catchy name."
"True," Ava admitted, "but the professor already said yes to my request earlier. If I attach his name as our sponsor…" She tapped the folded paper in her hand. "They'll not deny us."
Jaxson was already sold. "Alright, what's the focus? Combat? Research? World domination?"
"Why, world domination," Solana said flatly.
Ben raised his hand. "What about… a multi-focus club? Something that doesn't trap us in one category."
"Too vague," Ava said.
"They'll reject it for lack of clear purpose. We need something solid but flexible enough to fit our interests."
Jaxson's gaze drifted toward Ava's folded paper. "What about tying it to that mana-emotion theory? That's unique enough to stand out. We could explore emotional states, combat performance, maybe even enchantments tied to mood."
Ben's eyes lit up. "And we could test on other students—"
"No," Solana interrupted. "Not unless you want us shut down within a week."
Still, the idea sparked more discussion.
The four leaned in, voices overlapping as they brainstormed.
They threw out ideas:
Mana Harmony Society – sounded too formal.
Calmstorm Club – sounded like a bad rock band.
The Balance Circle – Jaxson claimed it "sounded like a cult."
Fusion Arts Association – Ben said it made them sound like cooks.
They went back and forth for nearly twenty minutes before settling on something that made them all nod in satisfaction:
The Equilibrium Initiative.
"It's broad enough to cover combat training, research, and practical application," Ava said, jotting it down.
"But it's tied to a clear theme—finding and mastering the balance point between emotion and power."
Ben leaned back, impressed. "Not bad. I can already see the recruitment posters."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Solana said. "We still need a sponsor, a location, and a list of planned activities for the semester. And…"
She gave Ava a pointed look. "Someone has to convince the approval board we're not just doing this for free snacks and an excuse to ditch other classes."
Jaxson smirked. "That's where Ava comes in. She's the one with the professor's blessing."
Ava folded her arms but didn't deny it. "Fine. I'll handle the presentation. You three—help me draft something that doesn't make us sound insane."
They spent the next hour scribbling notes, arguing over wording, and sketching ideas for training drills, study sessions, and mock battles.
The more they planned, the more real it felt.
By the time the academy bell rang, the sun was dipping low and the courtyard lanterns had begun to glow.
Ava gathered the papers into a neat stack. "Alright. We meet tomorrow morning to submit this."
Ben grinned, eyes gleaming. "If they approve it… we're going to make history."
Jaxson smiled. "If they don't, we just start operating in secret until they beg us to go official."
Solana sighed. "Let's… not make that Plan A."
Still, as they walked back toward the dorms, Ava felt a strange excitement bubbling under her usual calm.