- Michael -

“When engaging in magic combat, one needs to be capable of casting their programs both quickly and efficiently to minimize the frame in which the enemy can attack them. Magic acts equally as a tool of offensive and defense. Even offensive mages should intuitively direct their programs to protect and preserve allied forces while slowly whittling away at the enemies' stamina.”

Melwood lectured to the class about battlefield tactics and priorities. I could catch the occasional yawn from the students here and there, but overall everyone was really invested in the professor’s words.

“Um, when are we going over magitech?”

A plain girl that I didn’t know the name of spoke out. To her credit, while she indeed had zero presence, I barely knew my classmates names anyway.

“This unit will be concluded after the group exercises tomorrow and Thursday. Friday we’ll fill out reflections on the aforementioned exercises, then we’ll begin the magitech unit next week.”

After the teacher finished explaining the schedule, the girl silently returned to her notetaking. He continued lecturing the class and the period went by quickly. There weren’t any class clowns in my magic theory class so it was intuitively named by the student body as the ‘quiet class.’ I personally like to call it the Class of Scholars, but I’m not popular enough for it to catch on. I’m in a weird middle ground where I’m not loud enough to stand out, but not quiet enough to be singled out. You could call me the ultimate mob, or the Average Student. Yes, with capitalization.

I went to the lunch room as per my usual schedule and maneuvered through the groups of students to the lunch line. The people from the previous lunch block were finishing up their meals and filing out. I silently stood in line peering at the various foods provided by the school. There was the usual ‘nutritional meal’ that was packed with various minerals to meet the body’s needs. Unfortunately, the glob of sundries was bitter like medicine and many students opted to pay for the veggie-grain meal that consisted of a steamed potato and raisin bread. There was also the salad which students seldom ordered, and the ones who did would dump loads of ranch sauce on it removing ‘healthy’ from the equation.

Before I knew it, the student in front of me received his lunch and it was my turn to order. I was about to step up and order my food when a group of five boys cut me off, completely ignoring the long line of students waiting to order. They were chatting and laughing obnoxiously while the ‘leader’ picked out his meal.

I was about to inform them that I was here first but stopped myself. I’m above this. As a member of the prestigious student council and as a superior human being at that, I can simply wait here for them to order. Yes, I can just let the storm pass and-

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!”

Ohh fuck, of course.

The woman who stood behind me stepped out from the line and confronted the group of students.

“Hello~ Earth to idiots~”

The boys turned at her taunting. They looked back at each other and the boss stepped up to address the girl.

“What’s this? A stray? Go back to the dirt-rind that you came from.” The boys started laughing rambunctiously at his comeback. The term didn’t even relate to the situation but guys in a group would laugh at anything. They fit the word delinquents perfectly.

“There’s a line here for a reason and you guys can wait in it too.” The woman stared at them with a steady gaze showing no aggression, just an unamused frown. The boy looked her up and down and scoffed arrogantly.

“You gonna make me?” While he had a crude personality, everyone at this school was a scholar in some respect. That meant this guy was probably either really witty or good at fighting. I take back the part about her having no aggression, cause though the girl looked level-headed, she also looked like she wouldn’t mind putting an annoying brat in the hospital.

The situation didn’t look very good as both parties readied themselves for a fight. Students were at their seats recording with their data cards. I didn’t want trouble, but it looked like things were only getting worse at this rate unless someone intervened. My head started itching again as I spoke up.

“Hey! You guys can’t fight here! I’m a member of the Student Council and I can have you expelled if need be.”

Of course that wasn’t true at all but it helped boost my confidence at least. I didn’t even know anything about the council’s rules, or if I was even allowed to take disciplinary action on students. I began sweating profusely as everyone’s gaze fell on me and I had to actively resist saying ‘sorry, never mind.’

The guy turned his attention away from the woman and glanced at me. He slowly walked up to me and brought his face uncomfortably close to mine.

“What if I just beat the shit out of you right now?” He said in a low growl.

“Let’s see you try dipshit.” I spat while returning his glare threateningly. I flexed my hand getting ready to counter any attacks but decided against scripting my magic. If worse came to worst, I could activate my algorithm after being injured, but there wasn’t much to worry about besides taking a punch to the gut.

The silence was broken when a few guards and off duty professors approached, the latter of which worked at settling the students while the guards split us up. The boy was dragged away from the cafeteria… and so were we.

It was appalling that in just a short period of time during lunch, I managed to find myself in the administration office. I’ve tried so hard to lay low but it seems like the world had it in for me. I was seated next to the strong willed woman from before and we were to await the verdict of the admin as to whether we were at fault or not.

I sat deflated in my seat, indignant at the unjust situation I was in. How is it that right when I get to the front of the line, there just happens to be a group of delinquents approaching, and there’s a meddling woman behind me?

I glanced at the person who started this and she was simply sitting there with her arms crossed and eyes closed. I pursed my lips angrily.

“This is your fault y’know.” I muttered. I couldn’t help it. Yes, those guys were definitely in the wrong, but I’d rather let it go then have several detainments on my record. She opened her eyes and looked directly at me with an indifferent face.

“No one likes a whiny boy.” She stated flatly before returning to her relaxed posture.

Whiny? I’m whiny cause I was trying to have a relaxing lunch period? Ugh, forget it, I shouldn’t let it get to me. Just take a deep breath and calm down. It’s no big deal anyways. Keep cool and keep calm, that’s my motto. When I’m not fighting someone at least.

“You said you’re part of the council?” The woman asked passively. She now had her eyes open and was leaning forward staring me in the eye. What was with this person and making uncomfortable amounts of eye contact? I wasn’t exactly bashful cause I didn’t find her particularly attractive. She had a pretty average build and wore a simple coat that reached down to her ankles. Her femininity aside, those eyes that seemed to be gauging my every movement were unnerving nonetheless.

“Yeah… though I’m not the most popular member there.” I laughed nervously. Again with the stupid remarks. Was anyone in the student council even remotely popular? NO! Most of the members aren’t even official yet! Here I am trying to be social and I say ‘I’m not the most popular heh.’ Stupid idiot.

While I sat there internally reprimanding myself, the girl stared at my red face and simply turned away. “I see.” She returned to her don’t-bother-me pose and I reciprocated the silence. What a strange person. One moment she’s picking fights with delinquents and now she’s quiet and docile. An air of emotional wisdom and maturity hovered over her that didn’t impose on others or seem arrogant.

“Michael Magus and Stella Acidite.” An administrator said while approaching us. He held a clipboard of what I assumed to be the papers detailing the charges. “With your authority as members of the student council, the charges of the light disturbance of a public area are hereby voided. You are required to write a report on the situation that occurred explaining your basis for disciplinary action.”

He unclipped two small pieces of paper and handed them to us. “You are free to go. Remember to be ever conscious of your positions as representatives of the student body, and in extension, this academy.”

The man sounded like he was reading off of a manual while sending us off. I didn’t think it was possible to unironically talk in essay format until this guy did it. I guess that’s why he’s an administrator in this place.

The two of us now stood outside the door reading the notes he gave us. It provided a QR code to the case review minutes. I folded the paper twice until it was a small square and slipped it into my pocket. I looked up and watched the woman stick the paper into her lab coat pocket as well. I looked at her curiously as she began walking down the hall.

“So… Stella, you’re a member of the council as well?” I remember Julia talking about her yesterday on the way home. She was one of the third years in charge of teaching us, and the only other official council member on campus besides Julia and I.

“Yes, and you’re the boy being tutored by that washy Eric.” She fluttered her hand beside her for emphasis.

“Washy?” I questioned.

“I respect his ethics and intelligence, but otherwise he’s a rather boorish male.” She huffed with disapproval. “Conceited, Calculating. I will never come to like him.”

“Damn, what’d he do to you?” That guy must be short sighted to get on this person’s bad side. I can tell she’s the type to roast you over a fire without a hint of guilt. She reminds me of Julia, a more mature… and ferocious Julia.

I continued trailing behind her as we headed towards the student council room on the fourth floor. It was cool to have a personal suite for our activities, but the walk was a little less convenient than I would prefer. Of course, I had to catch myself from staring at Stella on the way there, prying my eyes away as they gravitated to forbidden locations. Screw these male tendencies, I gotta try to keep some sense of decency intact if I was gonna be a council member.

After a few minutes, we finally reached the door to the council office and stepped inside the room. Entering in after Stella, I was met with two people, Julia and Eric, sitting around the meeting table next to the door. Stella walked to sit at the table and I followed suit.

We were seated with me by the tail of the table next Stella, Stella across from Julia, and Eric at the head of the table. The two of them were already working when we entered and only now stopped to address us. Eric closed his projector to speak and Julia silently listened in over her screen.

“Let’s begin discussing the routine for the next two weeks.” He switched on the presentation projector behind him and it displayed a slideshow with some outlines and notes connected to a timeline at the bottom. “As you all have been told, Junior Acidite and I will be instructing Freshman Magus and Freshman Lockhart on the application of Magic through practical engagements.”

“So basically we’re babysitting these two until they’re useful?” Stella summarized.

“We’re guiding them through the effective and creative use of magic in combat.” He stated with a tinge of annoyance. “Freshman Lockhart will be studying under Junior Acidite, and Freshman Magus will be studying under myself. Since they are both assigned to combat oriented courses, we have been permitted to use Practical Application Halls D5 and D6 for these exercises.”

I propped my head up with my forearm, quietly listening to his explanation. He went over the session-times as well as the safety procedures, covering everything we needed to know.

“Now that we’ve gone over the terms of the private instruction taking place over the next nine business days, let’s discuss the schedule for today. Junior Stella, you should have prepared a lesson plan for today, correct?”

“Yeah yeah, I wrote it.” She responded.

“Good. We’ll be splitting up into our pairs and reporting to our offices to converse and get to know our students. From there we’ll explain our lesson plans and go over any logistics, maybe hosting some on field demonstrations if time permits.”

We wrapped up the meeting and quickly closed up the council room. As instructed, we split our separate ways, with Julia going with Stella, while I followed Eric down the hall of the fourth floor.

I stared idly at the floor as we walked, thinking about the latest chapter of Uprising that came out last night. The book takes place in one of the countries before the collapse. It revolves around a boy named Arunn, who joined a coalition army in an attempt to overthrow the tyrannical government. In the latest chapter, a senior member of the forces trains Arunn in the way of the lance before he’s sent off to join the conflict on the frontline.

The story is completely unrelated to my life, but I can’t help but sympathize with Arunn’s experience while in training. This is exciting. I’ve been steadily acclimating to my unique vector algorithm over the past few months, adapting my reaction speed and senses accordingly. I’ve had to tone it down to about fifteen percent of its maximum power, but now I can use it for long periods of time instead of inefficiently pumping out uncontrollable amounts of Essence. In the first place, flying at the speed of a missile isn't something I can humanly keep up with using just my eyes.

If Eric is going to train me, there’s nothing better that I could ask for. The first years haven’t begun live combat exercises yet so I’m rarely given the opportunity to test my skills in a true fight. Eric Kaiser, A third year battlemage. With less combat experience and magic prowess, I wonder how I’d fare against a superior opponent like him?