At the academy courtyard, lessons ran as if the incident from earlier never occurred.

Aside from a slight air of dampness, with the efforts of the faculty and some competent students using magic, they were able to restore it to a capacity fit to at least reach the end of their lessons. The advanced class instructor, Danny, had taken the lead with his class.

With Urie having left them quite an impression, his other students were eager and motivated to produce results. But one of them, seated by herself and idling with a bored expression, was playing truant.

The instructor approached her and asked, “Student Elicia Perid, why not show the others what you can do as well?” The student was Elicia Perid, who had been scolded by her aunt and told to properly attend the lesson.

Moments before, Elicia protested as she'd prefer to imitate the magic her aunt had used to collapse Celeste's wall of ice, rather than stay here with the others and fiddle with mundane basics. Her chestnut-amber eyes showed disappointment, however, when she was told that was exactly what she needed to focus on.

Thinking about the two children her age already able to manifest fire and ice— Elicia's pride from having a so-called high aptitude, brought up with praises from others, crumbled.

All over the courtyard Elicia's gaze dazedly circled, until she caught sight of two people walking along the corridor of the academy building. A curious tuft of ashen-grey hair that pointed upwards, and a lock of crimson tucked neatly over the right ear.

“Ya, alright instructor. I'll do a demonstration, give me some space,” she declared.

There wasn't a competition, yet she felt she had to save her pride. Elicia began to gather mana, not while seated but as she stood with a sturdy posture.

Warmth flooded her mana roots and a vibrant hue that matched her eyes glowed from her skin. Around her leather boots, debris from chipped pavement and dirt from scorched earth started floating a few inches off the ground.

Raising her right hand to the level of her shoulder, the light from Elicia's body grew stronger, and the small pieces of earth around her circled in a slow waltz.

“Ah! Amazing!” An astonished cry caused a lapse in Elicia's focus and ended her round of mana circulation. She glared at the source of the exclamation and saw the two people responsible for injuring her self-confidence.

“Ya—are you mocking me?” she spoke in irritation.

Urie hurriedly shook his head, "What? No, I thought that was incredible!"

“Ya! Stop! It's insulting!” What Elicia did might've appeared like it was done with little effort, but to reach that state took long hours of constant practice over the past week. She had started a week earlier than the most, yet she could only make dirt dance— so what?

“What the two of you did earlier was much more—!” Curling her hands into fists, Elicia lost her composure and raised her voice. Her thoughts drifted to earlier events...

The boy from the Loeth House was able to torch the entire courtyard while the girl from Vinney had cast an impressive wall. What about her? What did the girl from Perid do then?

She was busy planting her butt on the ground...

Any honest praise given only served to irritate Elicia further, bewildering Urie as well as Celeste. What Elicia was unaware of, however, was that neither the flame spitting furnace nor wall of ice causing her envy, were due to the two's own efforts.

Instructor Danny who was standing in between them tried to placate the child. Sadly, he could only blend into the background, thoroughly ignored.

It was then that someone sternly called her name, “Elicia!”

Still disgruntled, Elicia quickly shut her mouth. She was aware that she was acting out, but she couldn't help being childish.

Elicia turned to the voice of her aunt who called her, but ended up facing a relic of an old man that looked like he had just crawled up from under six feet.

“Keh! What do you say Merea? Why not give this hot pepper to me as well? Keheh! It'd be good to have some friendly competition between the three of them.” No longer wearing his red robe, the scruffy old man had changed into a loose, comfortable outfit.

Merea didn't immediately refuse, and she stated, “I won't interfere if Elicia agrees, it's her decision to make.”

The scruffy old man turned to Elicia with his signature eerie smile and leaned in closer, “You heard that little girl—” but before he could speak any further, a resounding slap echoed across the wrinkles of his face.

A red mark appeared— not on the cheek of the scruffy old man but on the palm of Elicia, making it unclear as to who was hurt more by the exchange. That's not to say that the old man was unaffected. Seeing a dumbfounded expression unfold from the eerie old man, Merea smirked and expressed approval.

“Ya! Who are you? Why would I go with you?” Elicia hissed, rubbing her flushed palm.

Who the old man was, or why he was at this academy, were also questions Urie had forgotten to ask his grandfather at the infirmary.

“—Keh! Little girl, do you not know who I am?” the scruffy old man stroked his chin in amusement before bursting into laughter, “I am Arinndra! The headmaster of this academy!”

Elicia displayed a look of doubt when she heard the name, and Urie scratched the back of his neck, “Wasn't Arinndra the name of the forest up north?”

—Arinndra's Forest, dwelling of the magic creatures, and the source of the flood of mana beasts attacking the Erden Wall.

The old man calling himself the headmaster stuck his chest out with pride, “Keheh! Well of course! I named that forest after myself!”

Listening intently at the declaration, Urie silently thought,

—Is he right in the head?