Chapter 77: The Dark Mage
James made a funny face when he saw Harold and Raya standing together, and he was about to tease Raya about the blush on her face, but he was cut off by a large bang from the table beside him!
Bang!
James jumped slightly in shock, and he turned around quickly to see a large pile of books sitting on the desk!
’Huh?’
James had to crane his neck to see the top of the pile, and he looked back down as Percy appeared from behind the pile! There was a smile on Percy’s face that looked perfectly innocent, but all three students shivered when they saw it! They had never seen Percy look so terrifyingly excited before, and it felt like they were standing in front of something dangerous!
Percy leaned forward on the table and spoke up excitedly!
"Alright, my students! Since you’ve all decided to take on this honorable task of achieving mastery of magic, I’ll do my best to guide you in the direction you have to walk. First thing on the agenda is theory. From now on, along with your regular schoolwork, you’ll be learning magical theories that are specific to your magic affinity and paths...
"Since I can’t be there to help you learn every day, these books will stand as my substitute. There are twenty-five of them, eight for James and Raya, and nine for Harold. Each one contains the fundamental basics that will aid you when we are learning more advanced magic later, so make sure you absorb every single one of them! Aren’t you excited!?"
They were not excited! Each of those books looked like two of their academy textbooks combined! They were so large! Somewhere deep inside their hearts, the students began to come to a realisation that they might’ve just walked into a situation far beyond their imagination, and the kind, deadly smile on Percy’s face only solidified that belief in their hearts! Did they make the right choice by asking for Percy’s help, or did they just awaken a monster!?
Percy waved the students over, and they all swallowed nervously before they finally walked up to him.
"For you, James. You’ll be focusing on Potions and alchemy. Your affinity is to water, isn’t it?"
James nodded while wondering how in the world Percy managed to know that. James had never told Percy his affinity before! Percy just smiled and continued.
"Good, so these books here should give you a solid foundation on how to manipulate alchemical solutions using your affinity. When you’re done with this, I’ll teach you the basics of metallurgy and natural alchemy. You have a strong chance of growing into a master potioneer with your talent, so don’t slack off."
James listened to Percy very closely, and a sudden surge of excitement went through James’ heart when he heard that he had talent! James’ expression became serious as the weight of what he could become settled on his shoulders! James had always wanted to become a Master in potions, so hearing Percy’s words gave him a morale boost that fueled his passion!
"I won’t let you down, Mr. Percy!"
James tried to lift the books off the table, but he barely lifted them by one centimeter before dropping them back with a yelp! It was impossible for him due to his small stature, and Percy just laughed before he touched the pile of books and applied [Weightless] to it. This time, James managed to lift the books easily, and he grinned at Percy thankfully. Next up was Raya, and Percy gave her eight books as well.
"You have a strong affinity for fire. With enough practice, you could make a brilliant frontline mage."
Raya’s eyes widened in shock, and she took a step back! A frontline mage!? Raya couldn’t even imagine doing something like that! Raya was a very introverted person, and she had never even imagined being on any battlefield before! She was way too shy to even think of fighting! But when Raya looked into Percy’s eyes, what she saw in there stopped her in her tracks! The look of absolute certainty in those eyes told Raya that Percy did not just speak without thinking it through first! Percy believed that she could do this, and he was willing to help her all the way to the end!
Raya blushed slightly as she considered what to do, but when Raya looked behind her and saw Harold smiling at her in encouragement, Raya’s mind was immediately made up!
"O-Okay."
Raya nodded to Percy confidently, and Percy smiled as he applied [Weightless] to the pile of books and handed them to her as well. Once Raya took her books away, Percy then faced Harold.
"You’re going to be putting in a lot more work than the others, Harold. Not only do you have a dual affinity, but you also have very high potential in both affinities. Are you ready for this?"
Harold’s confident smile was his only response, and Percy chuckled softly as he brought the nine books forward and spoke.
"You have a strong potential to be a specialist in AOE and siege spells. Wind and Earth are very versatile affinities, and using them together has many benefits. Work on perfecting your control over them and master the skills in here before coming back to me."
Harold also grabbed his own books from the table before Percy gave them a few last words.
"I’ll be expecting you back in a week. You don’t have to memorize all the books, but make sure you’ve looked through all of them before coming back. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mr. Percy!"
The three students answered together, and Percy smiled and waved as they finally left the library! Those three students were going to become great mages in the future, and Percy couldn’t wait to see what sort of changes they would bring to this world when they fully mature.
’It’s nice having students again. I wonder how those troublemakers from the pillars are doing. Hopefully they aren’t causing too much trouble around the kingdom.’
Percy chuckled as he had this thought before he went back to the book he had been reading. The day flowed peacefully in the library for the rest of the morning, and Percy took his time helping students check out and reading his research books deep into the afternoon.
It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that someone special arrived in the library. It was a teenage demihuman lamia with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a long red snake! The lamia had red horns that curved out from her forehead and backwards on her head, and her eyes were slit and sharp, like a dragon’s gaze! As she slithered in the room, all the other students who had been searching through the shelves seemed to grow silent as they watched her curiously.
"That’s her, right? The dark mage?"
"Yeah. I hear she’s a hexer. Look at her funny, and she’ll curse you."
"How did they allow someone like that into this school? Disgusting."
"Did you hear the report from the news club? They said she’s the daughter of a dangerous general from the dragon king’s army. Her father was part of those bastards."
"No wonder. I guess like father like daughter. All dark mages are the same."
The muttering and whispering from the students filled the library as they pointed and stared at the lamia, and although it was obvious that she could hear them, she did nothing to try and make them stop! The lamia had already learned a long time ago that fighting back against the criticisms put against you would only make things worse, so she simply allowed the words to wash over her like water over stone.
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A/N: Please Vote with GT!