The classroom was empty. The only one in the room was the teacher.

Rai didn’t recognise the teacher. He was writing something on a chalkboard using some kind of magic, since he wasn’t using a physical piece of chalk. A piece of cloth wrapped around the back of his head. Is that an accessory or something? Rai thought about what it could be.

Sin let go of Rai’s hand and took a step forward, “Hello Mr. Klein.”

The teacher turned around. The cloth that wrapped around his head was revealed to be a blindfold. He smiled, not exactly in Sin’s direction but towards where she was stood, “Sindyl. It’s great to hear your voice, I hope this past week has treated you well.”

Sin chuckled, “Perhaps a little too well!” She waited a moment, “Mr. Klein, that student that you were worried about is here now. His name is Rai.” Sin signalled for Rai to say something.

Rai fumbled for a second, but he managed to introduce himself, “H-hello there sir. I’m Rai. It’s nice to meet you.”

Mr. Klein looked in Rai’s direction, but not directly at him, “And you too Rai. I’m glad that you recovered well. Please take a seat. The class will begin in about 10 minutes.” Rai couldn’t see his eyes, but somehow felt like his soul was being gazed into. After a moment, Mr. Klein returned to writing whatever he was writing on the board. Rai couldn’t tell what it said no matter how hard he looked at it.

Sin skipped over to a table with two seats near the window, and called for Rai to sit next to her. Rai walked over and sat beside her.

He called out to Mr. Klein, “Sir.”

Mr. Klein stopped writing and turned to Rai, “Yes, Rai?”

Rai tilted his head slightly, “Are you blind, sir?”

Sin clenched her jaw as her eyes widened. What the fuck is he thinking asking a question like that?!

Mr. Klein laughed. Sin was confused. He laughed for a solid few seconds before speaking, “It’s been a long time since someone asked me that...”

He sighed, “It’s hard to explain, but I’m not entirely blind. I have no eyes, but I can see mana. How it flows through people’s bodies, how rich a person’s mana is, how much of it is in the atmosphere. In fact, look.” He lifted his blindfold.

Rai and Sin couldn’t believe their eyes. In place of Mr. Klein’s eyeballs were white masses of raw mana. They looked wild and powerful, with each giving off the aura of a cool flame.

He put the blindfold back on, “For you two, I can see the outlines of the mana in your mana channels. From what I can tell... I’m quite impressed by how developed your mana channels are...” He tilted his head. Mr. Klein leaned in further and looked at Rai’s face. He made a thoughtful humming sound, “Hmm... Your eyes... they’re very interesting.”

Rai was worried for a moment. He awkwardly chuckled, “Haha. They are? That’s an odd thing for you to mention sir.”

Mr. Klein returned to his previous standing position, he chuckled, “I suppose it is. My apologies for the intrusion on your personal space.”

Rai laughed it off, “Nothing to worry about sir.” He was somewhat apprehensive about this teacher, but considering Mr. Klein’s reactions, he probably didn’t know anything about Rai’s seals. How well-made are these things? Aunt Elly really thought about everything when she had these made... And what did he mean when he said my eyes were interesting... is it Antithesis? Rai pushed aside his thoughts and tried to keep the conversation running. He smiled, not fully realising that Mr. Klein wouldn’t be able to see his smile, “That’s an incredible way of seeing the world. Even though it would make things hard for you. Were your eyes always like that?”

Mr. Klein thoughtfully scratched the scalp under his maple coloured hair, “Not always... But this form of sight is all I’ve known. Other people describe what they see... but my sight is much different to one’s conventional understanding of it. It’s often hard to relate to what others might say regarding what they see.”

Rai frowned, “It sounds really tough.”

Mr. Klein smiled, “It may sound like that from an outside perspective, but there are other situations that I might succeed better in, which would make a person with normal sight envy my unique situation.”

Rai grinned, “That’s a good way of looking at it. You’re very inspirational sir.”

Mr. Klein laughed, “You’re far too kind, Rai. Thank you.” He turned to continue working on the board.

Sin poked Rai, then whispered in his ear, “Why’d you ask him that?”

Rai shrugged, “I was interested in his blindfold.”

Sin stared at him. The gears turned in her mind as she tried to figure out what Rai was thinking. After a moment, she simply sighed, “Fair enough.”

The classroom door opened. In came a few students. One of which was Zoe, the girl from earlier. She noticed the red haired girl at the edge of the room. Sat next to her, and giggling alongside her, was Rai.

Zoe was frustrated that they were in the same lesson together. She’d never noticed the girl before, but now that Rai was back at school, she was all of a sudden kissing him and staying by his side.

Rai and Sin noticed Zoe entering the room. Behind her were two of the girls from the big group she was with earlier.

Rai sighed. He didn’t want to have to deal with her again. Sin tapped his arm, then made a silly face. She pulled either side of her mouth with a finger from each hand and crossed her eyes. The two of them laughed with each other at the funny image.

Zoe sat down on the opposite side of the room with her friends. She decided to ignore Rai and the redhead for now.

A minute passed.

More students entered.

There were none that Rai recognised.

Mr. Klein looked around the room. He wore a slightly confused expression on his face, “There’s one missing. Might any of you-”

The classroom door opened again.

The final student walked in.

Hiron.

Rai and Sin stared at him as he completely ignored all of the other students, and the teacher. Hiron walked over to an empty seat in a corner in the back of the room. He sat down and rested his head on his arms.

Mr. Klein ignored the boy, “Very well. Now that everyone’s here, I’ll begin the lesson.”

Rai’s heartbeat was rising. He was about to face his worst opponent. Math.

Mr. Klein smiled at the class, “I hope you’re all prepared for today’s quiz. I’ve written a series of questions for you to attempt on the board. Please use all of the information from previous lessons to answer these questions to the best of your abilities. Each table will be granted a score based on how you perform, so work with the people beside you.”

Without even a motion from Mr. Klein, big pieces of paper manifested on each table, alongside a quill and an inkpot that seemed to have been infused with mana. He grinned, “You’ll have the entire lesson to complete these... Please begin.”

Rai’s heartbeat rose so high that he’d gone through all of the emotions possible possible, and circled back to simply being blank. This was it; his heart couldn’t handle anymore. Rai closed his eyes, and tried to go to sleep.

Sin shook his arm, “Hey. Wake up. Mr. Klein’s coming to talk to you.”

Rai slowly turned his head to her, “What use is it? The world’s ending, I’ll just go to sleep.”

Sin stared at him, deadpan, “Wake up or I’m not kissing you again.”

Rai couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After only just becoming partners, Sin would forsake him for such a trivial matter. Oh, the misery.

Regardless, he really did enjoy where they were at. So Rai worked up the courage. He turned his attention to Mr. Klein, who had just walked over to him.

Mr. Klein tilted his head, “You knew I was coming?”

Rai shook his head. He pointed at Sin, “She did. I didn’t.”

Mr. Klein stifled a laugh, “I see. Well, since you have been absent for a month, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to do these questions. I’ve asked Miss Raven here to do what she can to help you catch up to the rest of the students during both this lesson and the next week or so. She’s already completed the quiz, so you have nothing to worry about.” Mr. Klein walked around to the rest of the students in the room to help them with the assignment.

Rai had everything to worry about. Sin knew how dumb he was, but if the teachers found out, then he’d probably be expelled. All he knew was how to fight, do farm work, and eat food. This... was completely out of his wheelhouse.

Sin softly placed her hand on Rai’s arm, “Don’t worry. I’m with you all the way.”

Rai sucked it up, “I’ll... I’ll... do my best.”

Sin grinned, “That’s the spirit! Okay let’s start with this...”

For the rest of the lesson, Rai and Sin worked through some of the content that Rai’d missed out on. He wasn’t going to catch up in a single period, but since Sin would be tutoring him, he was faithful in being able to catch up by the next lesson. Rai would improve at mathematics in no time.

Hiron spent the lesson sleeping.

Zoe spent the lesson glancing back and forth between Rai, the red haired girl, and her friends as they worked through the quiz.

Mr. Klein collected everyone’s answers, and gave each table a score. Hiron was at the bottom of the list, and Zoe’s group was around the middle. Sin’s score wasn’t part of the list, but since she’d done the quiz previously, she’d already gotten a score. She scored higher than anyone else.

The bell rang.

The lesson ended.

As everyone was leaving for lunch, Zoe glared at Sin while she was talking to Rai. One of the students noticed as they were leaving. She walked up to Zoe and tapped her arm, “Hey, are you looking at Rai and Sindyl?”

Zoe stared at the girl, “Sindyl? That’s her name?”

The girl tilted her head questioningly, “You don’t know Sindyl? She’s the daughter of Deception. How are you in the same class as her without knowing her name?”

Zoe’s eyes widened. She whipped her head around and looked at Sindyl, “She’s... What...?”

The girl nodded profusely, “Yep. Her and Rai are super close. If the boys try to flirt with her, she beats them up, and she only ever lets Rai flirt with her. The two of them are just so cute together!” The girl smiled as she spoke those words.

Zoe glared at the girl. Her face contorted slightly through frustration, anger, sadness, and a hint of relief. She said nothing as she left.

The girl waved her goodbye, “It was nice meeting you; I think?”

Rai and Sin waited for everyone to leave before they left as well.

Lunch was upon them, and they had to meet up with their friends. After lunch was a history class, then they’d have a free period that was made to be used for society sessions. Rai and Sin looked forward to both their history lesson, and the society session.

It was about time that Rai finally got to start on his path.

He had a clear goal in sight.

I have to find my dad.