"It's not even been a month, and we're already learning completely new things. I don't think any other professor would have that level of teaching-enthusiasm, other than Professor Marcus," Isabella's friend spoke, walking beside her as they were headed to the cafeteria.
Lisbon Valente was her name. Blonde…would be an understatement. Her hair was bright golden, sharing the same shade as her eyes. She wore the same black dress and robe.
She suffered from strabismus. Her eyes did not align properly and looked in slightly different directions, with the right one focusing correctly, but the left one trailing outward.
Velentes are the duke's house of mind-mages. They excel in manipulation magic, mind reading, and hypnosis. Basically, mentalists of the mortal realm.
"Well, the way he teaches-" Isabella replied with some thought. "It's like he's teaching the core concept of the power, instead of improvising or explaining what's in the books, and honestly, this is way better than other Aura Praxi professors because I hear all they do is recite book theories and take tests."
As they both walked across the hallways, students would give way to them. And this level of reverence was evident because they both belonged to the duke houses.
"Now that you say that…" Lisbon had a sudden revelation. "It looked like he's not just teaching, but conveying his own understanding of the fundamentals of powers, which in itself could help him score big."
"Instead, he decided to make us understand our powers better. He's either a financial fool or just a guy who loves seeing others succeed." She added.
"The latter, obviously. He's a Rile. A Rile can never be a fool in finances." Isabella replied.
After a short walk, they entered the cafeteria building. A three-story building with the third floor being the third year's lounge.
The structure of the café was quite peculiar; it was a cylindrical building with lounges on the edges and a straight floor-to-ceiling gap in the centre.
Students who wished to earn could work in the cafeteria as cooks and servers, but almost all of those who worked were commoners.
Servers were wearing a clean green apron, and chefs had a red one with a hair net.
"What can I get for you, madams?" A young boy, with brown hair and slightly tanned skin, asked Isabella and Lisbon, as they sat on the corner bench, with a complete view of the café from the top floor.
"Sauerbraten for me, and Lisbon?" Isabella spoke her order and asked Lisbon.
"Rouladen, and don't add black pepper," Lisbon said.
"Very well-"
*Boom* A silent shockwave erupted, cutting off the waiter's words.
Their table shivered from the explosion, as all the third-year cadets stared down at the entrance of the café.
There, at the entrance, a young lad wearing a blue uniform of knights with a wooden sword hung on his waist, first year, had blocked an attack from the lad wearing a white uniformed second year, who was a mage wearing a robe.
Blue uniform guy's arm sleeves had burned from the damage he took, and the force was strong enough to drag his legs back a few steps. There were fresh markings of friction, created by his movements.
"Oh, another fight it seems," The waiter said as he looked down along with Lisbon and Isabella.
"Second Year mage versus a first Year Knight, talk about a matchup…" Lisbon murmured.
"They're moving out of the cafeteria," Isabella spoke, watching the two boys leave. The situation was clearly indicating a fight.
And both Lisbon and Isabella love to spectate.
"Shall we?" Lisbon asked.
"After you~" Isabella replied as they both stood up.
"Oh, and thank you, we won't be having anything for a while," Isabella said, looking at the waiter, as he nodded.
"I like first-year cadets for this very reason!" Lisbon spoke. "They're so enthusiastic, filled with that fire, that drive to fight, and not mention the second years who value their pride more than their families, I presume."
"Aren't we enthusiastic…?" Isabella lowered her brows and looked at Lisbon, walking alongside.
"Well, first, there's literally no-one in the campus that challenges cadets from duke houses. Second, you're the type to eliminate your opponent before they even know what hit them, and that's pretty boring," Lisbon replied, and winked. "Try to play with them a little,"
"Valante's fetishes. I can never understand your house," Isabella scoffed.
They arrived in the open grounds behind the cafeteria building and could already notice a significant crowd gathering around to watch the fight.
Of course, the crowd made way for them as they walked past with ease and arrived at the frontlines, spectating the opponents standing a few feet away.
"First-year's got looks," Lisbon spoke. Looking at the blue-uniformed cadet with dark black hair, sharp silver eyes, and a weird tattoo on his right hand's palm, which she took a glance at the moment he grabbed his sword and took his form.
"You think so?" Isabella murmured.
"A One-on-One match between the Rank One of First years, and Rank 9 of the Second years, Darin, a commoner, a knight that has just entered the stage of Aura Bound, versus Deus Moreau, heir of the Baron House Moreau, a clearance two magician."
Someone among the crowd shouted. Isabella and Lisbon stared in the direction, and it was a waiter from the lower floors of the café.
"Place your Bets!"
"Oh, not again…I thought the academy had placed a strict ban on bets after last year's in-campus gambling racket." Isabella muttered and leaned to Lisbon's ears.
"Who do you think we should bet on?" She asked in a whisper.
Lisbon smiled and looked at the magician getting ready for his first spell.
"It should be obvious," She spoke.
"The second-year magician. Although Aura bound for Knights and Clearance two for mages is almost the same, the first year had just entered that stage, whereas the mage has more control over his powers because of practice and experience." She continued with her assessment.
"Hmm…" Both of them thought for a second. Money wasn't an issue; winning the bet sure was.
"A pretty good assessment." Suddenly, they both heard a low voice as if someone had leaned between them.
Both Lisbon and Isabella turned to face each other, but what they saw was a face of someone they least expected.
Marcus Rile, with his uncombed, but fine hair, casually dressed in 'formal clothing,' because he never wore a tie, a vest, and had the top buttons of his shirt under the coat open, his style.
Also known as the most lenient and handsome professor in the academy.
"Profe-"
"Shh!" Marcus placed a finger on his lips, as Lisbon and Isabella looked around at the crowd.
'How's it possible?' They thought. He was the tallest among the crowd, standing in front of the crowd, yet no one was able to sense or notice him.
"Concealment in itself…is an art. You lot are on the level of mastering your core, and completely feign ignorance to your senses, which is quite concerning," Marcus muttered.
"Right! About the bet!" He said, and both Lisbon and Isabella's faces turned pale.
"No-Wait-We didn't-" Lisbon tried to cover up for her words earlier.
"I'd say you bet on the first year," But what they heard from Marcus wasn't a warning, scolding, or any kind of tantrum.
"Huh?" Both of them were left confused; they thought maybe he was trying to punish them in that uncanny manner that some professors use, but…his words seemed genuine.
"Oh, don't misunderstand me, I'm not promoting gambling culture, I just don't want my students to lose," Marcus said, seeing the dumb look on their faces.
'Bullshit!' They thought.
"A-alright!" Isabella nodded and walked towards the fixer, giving him twenty gold coins from her purse, which were enough to have a family of 5 survive throughout the years.
"Alright…now focus on the match, they're making their first move," Marcus said as both of them looked at the fight.
Darin, the knight cadet, crouched in his form. His stance had the power to launch him straight ahead, whereas the mage just stood there casually, casting a spell.
"The mage is going to commit the most common mistake against a knight," Marcus spoke. "A long-range attack, with no backup, followed."
"Right…" Lisbon murmured, looking at them.
A blue rune made of ethereal threads of mana formed a circular diagram, followed by layers of pentagon nodes, and an output node at the centre of his circuit.
"Webs of Recluse!" The mage shouted.
"Oh? A chanting spell?" Isabella murmured. Chants are only used for spells that have been bound by the history of legacies. It seemed that Webs of Recluse was a legacy spell of Moreau House.
Several threads shot up from the ground; they all burned with a trace of fire, and only aimed at Darin, trying to bind him, and burn his skin into submission.
"That looks brutal…" Marcus murmured, but his face showed the signs of amusement.
"~~~" Darin whispered something under his breath. No one could hear what he said, except Marcus, of course.
"Sword of The Moon- Silence," Darin whispered, and disappeared in a flash.
Each and every thread of fire was cut finely as Darin appeared behind Deus and knocked him with the hilt of his sword.
Silence.
No one uttered a single word, because they couldn't see him move. It was as if Darin flashed from one position to another, cutting everything in his way, except Deus.
'Well, that's the main character of the game for you~' Marcus scoffed.