The next morning, Beatrice sat alone at a cafeteria table.
"What should I get him?" she muttered, poking around in her food.
"Are you okay?"
Lina, Regea, and Nox came over, looking at her with concern.
"Yeah… of course."
"I don't want to go to theory," Nox whined, filling his mouth with sausages. He smacked his lips loudly, earning a cold gaze from Lina.
Beatrice rolled her eyes, while Regea glanced nervously at Nox, unsure whether to scold or laugh.
"Theory is great!" Lina insisted.
"Yeah, because you can't f-"
"I can indeed fight!" she interrupted, pulling his ear. She began shadow boxing as if that would prove her point.
After having breakfast, the four marched through the corridors and entered their classroom.
"It's been a while since I've been here."
"Hello students. I hope you're excited for today's lesson," Andre Berr shouted.
Cold gazes glared back at him.
"Anyway, today we will look at some interesting news."
Lina's eyes lit up at his words.
"Who of you knows what the Gaia barrier is?"
"It's the barrier that lies between the celestial realm and the human world. It prevents beings from directly interfering with the other world," she answered.
"Yes. Can someone tell me what races live in ea-"
"Gods, demons and angels live in the celestial realm," Lina said before he could even finish his question. "Humans, elves, dwarves, monsters and…," her voice faltered for a split second before she regained her composure.
"Dragons."
"That's correct. Dragons are monsters filled with divine energy, that's why they're considered a race of its own. Many would count summons too, but that's not right. But there are many different species within monsters. What are they?" Andre Berr asked.
"There are the usual ones, mana monsters. Then there are non-mana monsters, often babies of monsters who don't possess a mana crystal yet," Lina replied.
"Then there are boss monsters and their developments, advanced boss monsters, supreme boss monsters and end boss monsters," she added as if reading from an invisible paper.
The whole class starred at her in awe; a proud feeling surged through Nox as if the attention was directed at him.
"Very good. Let's go back to the barrier that separates the two realms. The Gaya barrier. Yesterday, scientists have found out that it is slowly weakening. We're not sure what triggered that, but it happened around five months ago."
"W- What does that mean?" someone asked.
"At the moment, the barrier is still strong enough, but if it continues to weaken otherworldly beings might enter our world," the teacher said with a blank expression.
Nervous murmurs went through the classroom.
A few students exchanged worried glances, whispering about what would happen if a demon entered their world.
One boy gripped the edge of his desk, white-knuckled, imagining an unstoppable force breaching the academy.
"But don't worry, if we find the source, we should be able to stop it," he said, smiling encouragingly.
"But couldn't the gods protect us then?" Beatrice asked.
At her words, the teacher's expression darkened subtly, but he quickly regained his composure.
"The stronger the being, the harder for it to enter, so it will be almost impossible for the gods, especially the main gods to enter as long as the barrier isn't completely destroyed."
More dissatisfied looks appeared on the students' faces.
"Hey Beatrice, are you okay?" Regea asked, glancing at the short, red-haired girl beneath him.
"Hello, my dear presents," she murmured, staring out of the window.
"What?"
"Oh, hello Regea," she said, looking at him with a dreamy expression. "What were we talking about again?"
"You just missed the most interesting lesson ever."
After the lesson ended, the class left the castle and went to the training grounds. They entered a small arena with a few rocks lying around for shelter. They looked like they had just been thrown there.
"Hello guys!" Altair shouted, suddenly standing beneath Nox.
"Congratulations on placing second," she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "That is craaaazy."
"U- Uhm, thanks."
"What are you doing, Miss Senja?" Lina asked, looking at her with a deadly gaze.
"Oh, sorry, sorry," she replied, laughing brightly.
"What's wrong? Did something pleasant happen with Mister Uchallo?" Beatrice inquired.
"Huh? Y- Yeah, g- great," she said, tapping her fingers together in awkwardness.
"Why are you that embarrassed? Aren't you like 30 years old?" Nox asked bluntly.
"I- I'm not embarrassed. Going out with men is normal for me!"
A short silence lingered and everyone watched her with doubtful gazes.
"It's definitely not," the four thought, but refrained from speaking.
"Anyway, today you will be sparring against me," Altair announced, her face turning serious.
The class exchanged hesitant glances, each silently calculating how quickly she could obliterate them.
Even Analus, usually calm, clenched his fists, bracing for the onslaught.
"What? That's so unfair!" the students shouted.
"Don't worry. It's just to give you tips, so I will go 'easy' on you of course." Her tone made it clear that she wasn't really planning on doing so.
The matches went by in minutes with Altair not even giving the students a chance to prove their worth. Even Analus and Regea didn't last long.
However, she could still somehow give everyone detailed tips after the match.
"Alright, the next," Altair shouted, pointing at Beatrice.
As soon as Beatrice entered the fighting area, the teacher immediately bombarded her with all kinds of attacks.
She thought of avoiding them, but the missiles' speed was incredible, making it impossible to dodge.
Beatrice ducked under a sudden arc of fire, feeling the heat brush her hair.
She rolled to the side as a second missile slammed into the ground, sending sparks flying.
A small fragment grazed her arm, leaving a faint burn.
Only then did Beatrice manage to summon a flame tornado, giving her a moment to breathe and counterattack with a blue fire ball.
"Oho, that's quite good. But you're letting your guard down," the teacher murmured, as she lifted her finger.
A tiny wind shuriken formed at her tip. It sliced through the fireball and hit Beatrice's chest.
"Ugh, what was that?" she whined.
"Your skills are proficient, and you make quick decisions; however, you are lacking in strong defensive spells. That's okay if you fight with someone like Regea who is good with that, but if you're fighting alone… it'll be a problem."
"Use your stigma book to learn new spells," Altair said, scanning through the students. "And now the last one!"
An excited grin escaped her lips as if she had been waiting for this moment all along.
"I'm gonna go all out from the start," Nox thought, gulping heavily.
As the fight started, he immediately turned the area into an ice field.
While pulling the red sword from his pocket, Nox dashed forward with his ice boost.
"You're a fast one," Altair shouted, putting up a thick earth wall.
"That's not gonna stop me."
A crystal shot from the ground, shattering the wall.
The students covered their faces as thousands of dirt pieces flew everywhere.
Altair raised an eyebrow, pushing herself backward as ice shards tore through the arena floor. Dust and small rocks flew into the air, stinging her eyes.
She twisted mid-step, narrowly avoiding a crystal spike aimed for her side. Her movements seemed controlled, her eyes following the trajectory of every missile as if inspecting it.
Nox dashed again, closing the gap between them.
"Let's see if you can dodge this."
She lifted her finger again, collecting wind at the tip.
Nox gulped heavily before greed and excitement overcame him.
"I'll need to use this," Nox thought. Ice crystals grew out of the ground beneath them and blocked the crowd's view.
"You're trying to block? That's not how I taught you!" Altair said, her shuriken growing bigger.
The sound of its rotation sent shivers through Nox.
"I'm not gonna block though," he replied, collecting water in his right hand.
As Altair slammed her wind missile toward Nox, he extended his right arm. Their hands shook as the two attacks collided.
The teacher's eyes widened when the magic fused, emitting a faint blue light.
-You have unlocked the skill Ice shuriken
"Huh? Where did my attack go?" Altair asked, backing away in confusion. "Did you absorb it?"
"Are you ready to feel your own skill?"
Nox lifted his arm and tiny ice particles started rotating, creating a small shuriken. It wasn't as big as Altair's, but it still seemed powerful.
"So that's how you're so strong," Altair murmured, pressing her hand against her chest.
"What is she doing?" Nox extended his finger and launched the newly obtained attack at her.
With the shuriken's immense speed, it crossed the arena in seconds.
Just as it was about to hit Altair, a giant shadow appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack.
"Shrieek!"
A brown griffin stood before Nox. Its claws scraped over the stone floor. The griffin's wings flapped violently, gusting wind that knocked dust and pebbles across the arena.
"Is that her familiar?"
Before he could even react, the bird dashed forward and slammed Nox into the wall.
Rocks and shards of ice skittered in all directions.
Everyone was frozen as the arena shook from the impact.
"I told you to be careful!" Altair scolded the griffin, running toward Nox. "You're okay, right?"
"Do I look like I'm okay?" he replied, trying to not pass out.
Meanwhile, his group came over with concerned faces.
"Go get the medics!" Lina shouted, putting her hand on Nox's forehead.
"Don't reveal my forehead like that, it's too big," he said, grinning pain-distortedly.
"Looks like you're in good shape after all; we won't need the medics then."
-You have received light's sacrifice
"Wha-"
Without resistance, his body was heaved up.
"S- Stop that! Everyone's watching!" he whispered, his face turning bright red.
"I was worried and you're making dumb jokes. Your own fault."
"I- Is this the key to a man's heart?" Altair asked, cautiously following them.
"No, it's definitely not. These two are just weird," Beatrice clarified, pointing at the tow as if they were another species.
As the group brought Nox to the infirmary, they were immediately sent away by the doctor.
"You need to rest now!" she commanded.
He desperately tried to fall asleep, but the constant pain in his chest made it impossible.
Every breath reminded him of the griffin's force, and his muscles ached from the exertion of the fight.
"I should've asked her for painkillers," he thought.
Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Hm? Come in," Nox said.
"Hello."
Altair stepped in. In her hands was a basket with all sorts of fruits in it.
"I- I brought you a little present," she said, putting the basket beneath Nox's bed.
He stared at the present, then back at Altair as if trying to find out her wicked motive.
"Why are you doing this?"
"P- Please don't tell the principal about this," she pleaded. "I'm new to this job."
"So, you want to bribe me with this?" Nox asked.
"Yes," she replied with an overly serious face. She crossed her arms as if making a deal.
"Why fruits though? Couldn't you get me chocolate?"
"Of course not! Chocolate is bad for your health and makes you fat!" she replied, lifting her shirt slightly to show off her small waist.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I won't tell the principal."
"Thank you, thank you," Altair said, shaking him wildly.
"Ouch, that hurts."
"Sorry."
"But Nox… another thing. We're such good friends, right?" she asked, an excited smile crept on her lips.
"Not really. You're my teacher."
"Anyway, you surely wanna tell me how you copied my attack, right? I mean you somehow turned it into ice too."
"It was just a coincidence," Nox replied, turning his body away.
"No, it wasn't! And how did you block my attack? Do you perhaps have something like a copy stigma? Or a stigma that can absorb attacks?"
She bombarded him with questions, but he just brushed her off.
"Is it perhaps one of the two secret stigm-"
"Oh look! There's Mister Uchallo!" he shouted.
"What? Where?" Altair jumped up and fixed her brown hair. She quickly rushed outside with a nervous expression.
"Hah, so foolish," Nox sighed.
Before the teacher could return, he put up an ice crystal blocking the door.
"Hey! Let me in!" she shouted. I'm not down with you yet, boy!"
"I wouldn't destroy the crystal. It might hurt someo-"
A sharp pain suddenly shot through his core, his chest aching.
"Shit, I don't have any mana," he thought, as his body became heavy and his eyes fell shut.