“Se- Seras…” he mumbled softly. Surprisingly she caught what he has whispered and smiled at him before pointing to the door.

“The teacher’s here. I’ll stop disturbing you for now.” Kina replied and returned to her seat.

Seras sighed in relief, before realising that most of the males and even some females were casting either envious or hateful looks at him. Despite that, he just stared at his book and went on with the lesson. The lesson was boring, not anything he didn’t know. It would seem the first lesson for each subject was just a recap of what they have or should have learnt so far.

Throughout the morning’s lessons, Seras would constantly hear scribbling noises or yawning from behind him. Kina was obviously disinterested in the lessons. They were either too boring or too easy for her. Regardless, she didn’t seem to pay attention to any lesson with the exception of biology related ones. Seras on the other hand was well versed in biology. Being a Nat enhancer, his foster parents made sure he knew the human body inside out, enabling him to enhance individual parts of his body through daily meditation.

Kina would talk to him in between classes, asking all sorts of things like where he’s from or what he wants to be when he grows up. Being socially awkward, Seras only nodded or shook his head, never speaking to her. She seemed to understand his issues and eventually stuck to yes or no questions, since asking him why he refused to speak did not grant her any answer.

The school’s lesson plan was simple, especially for freshmen, although classes only became more packed as the years went on. However, for now, the only magical class in the freshmen batch had it easy, as did the rest of the cohort. Classroom sessions were in the morning, with a short 20 minute tea break after the first three 1-hour lessons. After the next 2 classes, it was lunch time and a rest break for the students until late afternoon when it was about 3 hours before dusk. During the 9 hours break, students could sleep or study or even go out to the town.

The afternoon session though, was usually either Practical laboratory sessions or magic practice sessions. For the moment, according to Seras’s schedule, Monday to Wednesday were physics, chemistry and biology practical sessions and Thursday was magic practice, giving him the Friday afternoon off. There were no classes on the weekends, but the students were encouraged to join clubs and societies within the academy to enrich their life with extra-curricular activities.

Seras of course opted to stay out of all these extra activities, partly because he felt awkward around human contact, and also because he knew he would not be able to afford the club fees and equipment rental costs if he joined one. Instead, he took up a part time job as a librarian during his off hours which helped him earn a little extra pocket money. While the pay was meagre at best, he felt comfortable in a quiet environment and had very few people bothering him.

Quickly, a week went by and most students were settled into their timetables. Seras though, was too preoccupied with being surprised at Kina’s persistence. She had already made herself very clear that she belonged to the upper echelon of the society and the student hierarchies, being the principal’s niece and also being about the only freshman who was proficient in more than one Division in casting magic.

Seras on the other hand was already labelled as the outcast after the first magic practice session, being unable to perform even the simplest spells due to his refusal to speak. It only made things worse when Kina comforted him after his failure, which seem to make people think that he was somehow taking advantage of her goodwill.

Another 4 more days of one sided conversation went by and finally Seras could bear it no more. He would confront Kina and ask her to stop. As per her usual pattern over the past week, he knew that she would somehow find him amongst the sea of students in the cafeteria during the lunch hour rush. She would always eat her lunch with him, talking to him and trying to get him to reply.

Seras set his tray down on the table, getting seated himself and picking up his metal spoon. Like clockwork, even before he placed his first spoonful of food into his mouth, a similar tray clanked down on the other side of the table. Facing him was a smiling Kina who was about to start running her mouth like a machinegun loaded with questions.

“How was today’s Math class? Were you able to follow Miss Falador at all? You seemed to be scribbling notes an awful lot.” Kina asked as she looked at him with her green eyes, breaking a piece of bread and soaking it in her creamy soup.

Seras kept quiet, not responding to her question but instead meeting her gaze head on. Then he put his spoon back down, finally mustering the courage to open his mouth to speak.

“Why?” he croaked hoarsely, not used to moving those muscles in his throat. Before Kina could answer, he cleared his throat, and asked once more. “Why do you keep talking to me?”

Kina’s eyes widened with surprise. She had not expected a reply after having been given an extended silent treatment. Then, recovering from her shock quickly, she smiled gleefully, also setting her bread down on her saucer and replied with a serious look.

“Because you are strong. Stronger than any of the other students in the class. I can sense it. It feels like you would be very… tasty...” Kina replied, suddenly trailing off into a whisper in the end, hoping Seras wouldn’t have heard her.

Seras was surprised by her answer, and even more so at her last comment that he had heard her whisper. He just looked at her as the silence ensued between them, the atmosphere of the busy and crowded cafeteria masking their awkward mood. Finally, for the first time since school started, Seras had a peaceful questionless lunch as Kina ate in silence.

However, his peace and quiet was not to last, for during the afternoon magic practice lesson, Kina was once again back in full throttle. Already asking him questions of his family and his past that she had failed to get an answer to, Kina was going at it even before the instructor showed up. Praying silently that the instructor would be on time and making a mental note to show up in future classes only after the teacher or instructor arrives, Seras endured the hateful stares of the onlookers.

“Alright everyone, gather around. Today, I will be issuing you your group projects that you will work on for the next 6 weeks. Now I say group project, but if you think you are capable, you are more than welcome to do it alone.” The instructor paused, flicking through his handheld flexiscreen to look for the relevant teaching resources.

Seras sighed in relief at what his teacher had said. He could do it alone if he wanted. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught a sight of Kina staring and smiling at him, which made him shudder and sweat. Quickly moving through the crowd to hide himself from her line of sight, Seras moved to the other side of the group.

“Now, I’m sure all of you are already capable of performing class 2 spells with the exception of Kina and Seras. Kina has already demonstrated to be able to perform a class 4 spell last week, so naturally, her project difficulty will be raised to help support her growth. Everyone, including Seras is to research the inner workings of a class 3 spell and present their findings during their magic theory class 6 weeks from now. Anyone teamed up with Kina will have to do the same, except with a class 5 spell, a titan class spell, or any mystery class spell.” The instructor continued.

The group of youngsters immediately started chatting amongst themselves excitedly. This would be their first research project where they had the freedom to choose their own topic and methodology. In their previous school years where they learnt 1st and 2nd class spells, they were simply taught the spells without being given the opportunity to experiment. Quickly, groups and cliques were forming as students huddled up to discuss which skill they should research.

Seras observed the class from afar, taking out his book on advanced spells from his backpack. It was a small book, only listing the names and effects of any recorded spells without any explanation whatsoever. Flipping through the pages, he saw a group of courageous and adventurous students approach Kina, probably inviting her to join their group. They must have considered the increased difficulty but decided to take it as a challenge rather than a roadblock.

Then, Seras’s eyes widened. He locked gazes with Kina. His face became downcast while hers showed a wide grin. Predicting the worst, Seras quickly packed his bag, enhanced his body and started sprinting away from the class. Even if he had to ditch the class halfway and suffer some sort of punishment, it would still be better than getting mixed up with that girl.

Most of the class were too busy to notice his actions. He sprinted so fast that within a blink of an eye, he was already at the outer perimeter of the practice field, jumping over the 5m fence with ease while carrying a backpack filled with books. He only had one thought right now. RUN. He could decide on his project topic later. For now, creating distance was the priority.

Kina of course only smiled. For her, a fleeing prey is always more enjoyable than one that stood still in fear. With a thought, she disappeared from the crowd, stunning everyone who was still talking to her mid-sentence. Naturally, she had inherited one of her father’s skills before he became a titan, being able to teleport anywhere that she could lay her eyes on.

In the face of instantaneous teleportation, what significance was enhanced sprinting, regardless of its speed? As soon as Seras landed, he looked back to determine Kina’s location, only to find that he could not spot her even with his enhanced eyesight. Confused and slightly relieved that she was not chasing him, he turned back around and quickly dropped to the ground. There in front of him was the girl, grinning so wide her lips could almost touch her ears.

“Tch!” he clicked his tongue as he quickly recovered from his shock, getting up and jumping back over the fence. The ground cracked under his feet from the sheer force of the jump as he fled once again away from the predator. Landing back on the lush green carpet of grass that covered the entirety of the practice field, Seras sprinted back towards the instructor, hoping he might be able to help by passing a ruling that he could choose who not to work with.

As quickly as he left, Kina blinked into his path again, making him swerve abruptly and forcing him to take a detour. Seras was not one to give up. He had fought wyverns with his bare hands before, and that was when he was 4 years old. This girl shouldn’t be a problem. Resorting to his last trump card, Seras decided he had no other way out other than to use spell casting. Body enhancement alone was not going to let him escape this girl.

He muttered a class 2 spell under his breath, as the air around him quickly became humid while the grass and ground shrivelled up. Still sprinting along the circumference of the field, Seras predicted where Kina would show up based on the last few teleports and cast , a class 1 spell from a different division as .

A rocky pillar about 30cm in diameter shot up from the ground, impacting Kina just as she teleported in front of Seras. She grunted while he smiled, quickly changing directions once again. By now, their little cat and mouse game had caught the attention of the class and they witnessed Seras performing casting magic from 2 different divisions, water and earth. Of the numerous divisions, these 2 divisions were the simplest due to the abundance of the ingredients for the spell.

Then Seras made an abrupt stop, catching his breath as Kina blinked in front of him once again, not even the slightest bit injured from the earth pole attack. She was still smiling as usual, but her green emerald eyes seemed to be brightly lit, as if a fire was flickering within them.

“Do you give up?” She asked, inching forwards.

“Never.” He replied in a crisp and clear voice that only his foster parents had heard before. As he smiled, quickly crouched down, enhanced his fist and punched the parched ground, creating a small shockwave and a large crater. Dust flew up everywhere, distorting and limiting the vision of everyone. Within the confusion, Seras quickly sprinted back towards the fence, taking advantage of the brief window of opportunity during Kina’s confusion.

Unknown to him, Kina sent out a mana wave, already detecting his location. This time, it was her turn to bring things up a notch. Instead of simply blocking his path, he teleported right next to him, quickly gripping his wrist. He was stunned by her actions, still trying to figure out how she had figured out his exact location so accurately to teleport right beside him.

The instructor cast a quick wind spell to blow the dust away, revealing a giant crater and not too far from them, the principal’s niece pulling a young boy forcefully as he struggled to get out of her grip futilely.

“Instructor Glenn, I will be teaming up with Seras.” She said confidently as she arrived in front of the class.

“Uhh. Um. Seras, are you ok with that?” The instructor asked, seeing him still struggling to break free from her vice like grip.

“Glenn. I said I will be teaming up with Seras.” Kina repeated more firmly, glaring at him as she tightened her grip around Seras’s wrist, causing him to wince and whimper a little.

“Uhh.. oh ok then..” Glenn stuttered, unable to go against this princess’s demands. “Wh- what skill would you be researching?” He asked, pitying the poor boy who was looking at him with pleading eyes and frantically shaking his head.

“Titan class skill - ” Kina replied with confidence.

“Miss Trishen, that skill is only a myth, which according to literature belongs to the Titan Rashael. Are you sure about this? It might not even be real.” Glenn asked again, hoping to deter the student from taking on more than she could handle. Meeting a setback this early in life while studying magic could have disastrously detrimental effects on a magician’s growth.

“Yes I’m sure” Kina replied, loosening her grip on Seras’s wrist and changing positions to now hold hands with him, still gripping as tightly as before.

“Oh – ok then. Kina Trishen and Seras Sanders will be forming a team studying the titan class spell ” The instructor announced as the class stirred up into mummers.

“I look forward to working and studying with you.” Kina smiled at Seras, releasing him from her grip. “I will come find you in the library tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged for your colleague to take over your shift.”

[[Meanwhile from an office nearby]]

“Haaah..” Rashael sighed, looking down on the practice field from his window. “She’s just as pushy as her mother was when chasing after what they want…” he spoke out loud, the large horned grey dog the size of a german shepherd next to him nodding its head in agreement.

For those of you who are confused with the new classification system for the spells, it is as follows.

Spells are classed into divisions based on the raw materials needed to invoke the spell. for example, would be a Water division spell while would be duh, Earth division.

Classes of spell refer to difficulty in invokeing the spell, with it increasing in difficulty from class 1 up till class 5, with titan class outclassing class 5 and mystery class containing spells that have been proven to work but with no records of how or why it works.