The Beginning After The End (Beckoning Fates Book 3) (10 page)

Tempest.

The dozens of trails of wind that
was produced from each of my mana-instilled blade suddenly glows and shoots
out.
 
My assault reached its climax
as the speed of my attacks increased, my blade becoming barely visible.
 
All the while, the spell, Tempest, I
just activated followed behind each of my attack, making my barrage a chain of
both my sword and the sharp blades of wind.

“AHHH!”
 
Overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of
attacks that he couldn’t hope to all block, he stumbles unto his butt and rolls
out of the arena.

“BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…” The
protective barrier that blocked all spells from going through flickered and
cracked as my tempest spell bombarded against it.

“CLANGG” A very sharp sound was
produced as the barrier broke.
 
It
was strong enough to block all but one last blade of wind from my spell, which
grazed my Professor’s neck, producing a trickle of blood.

Fortunately, the Professor’s mana
imbued body was strong enough so that my deadly blades of wind only grazed him,
but he was still flat on his ass, his face pale in fright and knees shaking as
I bury my blade in the ground right next to his carotid artery.

Pulling out my sword and putting it
back into my dimension ring, I look down at our Professor.
 
“Thank you for your guidance.”
 

As if on cue, the bell rings and I
walk out of the room, leaving the entire class’s eyes wide and jaws slack.

“…A-Arthur~” I hear a soft voice
from behind me.
 
It was Kathyln
running towards me with Feyrith following behind.

“I had to admit that you were
impressive back there Arthur.
 
As
expected of my rival.”
 
He crosses
his arms, but his face looks a little disheartened.

Putting an arm on the elf’s
shoulder, I say to him.
 
“You did
good out there, Feyrith.
 
If you
knew the type of spell that the professor was using, I know you would’ve made
more preventive measures.”
 

“O-of course!
 
If I knew that the specific spell he
used was a lot stronger than I anticipated, I’m sure I would’ve came out as the
victor in the end.”
 
He says, but
the faint smile on his face showed that he appreciated what I just said.

I turn to Kathyln who was still a
bit shaken up.
 
“Are you an
idiot?”
 
I say to her, flicking her
lightly on the forehead.

She looks at me in utter shock as
even Feyrith looks a bit panicked.
 

“If you chose to defend yourself
instead of focusing so much on beating the guy, you wouldn’t have put yourself
out at risk like that.
 
Don’t be so
stubborn and think things through more carefully.
 
You know… you’re awfully emotional for
someone whose face never changes.”
 
I give her a playful smirk and walk to my next class, leaving the
princess in a daze while Feyrith was panicking how to console her.

“Kyuu!” ‘Ah~ I’m full!
 
How was class, Papa?’
 
Sylvie scurries on top of my head and
settles in, messing up my hair.

‘Meh, it was okay.’ I simply say,
patting my precious bond.

While walking to my next class, I
couldn’t help but become a bit frustrated in myself.
 
I was impatient back there, only wanting
to overpower Professor Geist to end it fast.
 
Using only my wind and earth attribute,
I couldn’t end it as easily as I wanted to.
 
I guess being blessed with too many
gifts have made me become a bit too impertinent.
 
I know I’ve yet to reach the pinnacle of
strength in this Continent but I definitely had enough advantages that would
allow me to reach the top.
 
With
that mindset, I needed to stop comparing myself to students my age and think
bigger.
 
My only hope was that the
upper division classes would offer insight in mana manipulation that I couldn’t
receive on my own.

I was rather interested in my next
class, Basics of Artificing.
 
Artificing was something that never existed in my old world.
 
I’m sure there were relevant ties to
technology that was used in my old world but the premise of manipulating and
coding mana to have specific uses designated into an object would be new to me.

Upon entering the classroom, I’m
pleasantly surprised to see that the layout of the room was that of a
laboratory.
 
Beakers, containers,
different types of ores and various gadgets filled the room, making it all the
more authentic.

I was somewhat relieved to see that
there was no one I knew in this class, giving me a peace of mind.
 
As students started filing in and
sitting next to acquaintances and friends, a girl that looked to be about my
age walked by and stood next to the stool besides mine.
 

“I-Is this seat taken?
 
If it is I’ll move somewhere else!”
 
I don’t know why she looked so panicked
but I couldn’t help chuckle at her innocent personality.

“Pff~ no the seat isn’t taken.
 
You’re free to sit there if you
wish.”
 
I say as I take a seat
myself.
 
The girl was ordinary to
say the least.
 
Her thick round
glasses magnified her eyes and the freckles underneath them.
 
Her curly hair looked like it had a life
of its own as it was forcibly tied into a ponytail down her back.
 

Compared to girls like Tess and
Kathyln whom everyone fawned over, and for good reason, she was rather
plain.
 
But for some reason, I felt
comfortable around her, which made me chuckle when she asked if the seat was
taken.

“Th-thank you…” She muttered with
her head faced down. “…
mily
”

“What was that?”
 
I leaned in closer to hear her last
sentence.

“Emily!
 
My name is Emily Watsken!
 
Please be my friend!”
 
She looked at me with her eyes sparkling
and her hand out.

Utterly baffled by her sudden
enthusiasm, I manage a slight nod.

“S-sure.
 
My name is Arthur Leywin.”
 
I grasped her hands and couldn’t help
but become surprised by how coarse her palm was.

“O-oh!
 
I’m sorry!
 
It must feel gross right?”
 
She retracts her callused hand while her
face turns a bit red, accentuating the freckles on her cheeks.
 

“No, it’s quite fine.
 
I have calluses too.
 
See?”
 
I hold my sword hand out to reveal the
hardened lumps on my palms

“Wow…you’re right!
 
You must practice a lot!
 
It’s no wonder you’re in the Discipline
Committee.
 
I really admire that!
 
For me, I really love Artificing so I
end up fiddling around with a lot gadgets, making my hands get this
rough.”
 
She scratches her head, her
sentences becoming faster as she gets more comfortable with me

“Really?
 
I rather admire people like you.
 
I’m jealous that you have such a passion
for Artificing.
  
The only
thing you get better at when fighting is how to destroy and kill, but the
better you get at Artificing, the more things you can create.”
 
I look down at my own, callused hands.

“Woah… that’s deep.”
 
I see Emily readjust her thick glasses
while she ponders in her head, what I just said.

“Haha, I ended up saying something
unpleasant.
 
I apologize.”
 
The class was getting pretty loud as
room filled up with eager students, most of which were here as a Scholar Mage.

“No
no no!
 
It wasn’t unpleasant at all!
 
Just, it’s not something you hear
everyday from a 12-year-old.”
 
She
desperately shakes her hands to gesture that it was okay.
 

“Pfft.
 
You say that as if you aren’t a
12-year-old yourself.”
 
I snicker as
I look at her.

Slumping in her chair, she lets out
a sigh. “True… It’s because I’m apparently a genius of some sorts.
 
I don’t really get why people say that
but people don’t really treat me as a child anymore after I created the
projection display artifact.”
 

“Wait what?
 
You’re the one that invented the display
used to show the Kings’ and Queens’ announcement?”
 
I stood up from my stool.

“Mhmm, well only a part of it… I
tinkered around with some of the things in my parent’s lab and I made the basic
designs of it a couple of years back.”
 
She scratches her curly hair again.

Sinking back into my stool, I let
out a deep breath.
 
Holy crap.
 
She built something like that when she
wasn’t even 10!

“Well I must say that it is an
honor to be in the presence of a genius such as yourself.”
 
I give her a smirk, bowing my head in
mock fealty.

“Oh please.
 
Don’t you start now too!
 
Besides, you’re quite famous too, you
know!”
 
She gives me a smirk as her
glasses reflect the classroom light, making her look like an evil
scientist.
 

“Really?
 
I’ve tried very hard to lay low.
 
I guess that didn’t work.”
 
I lean my head on my hand.

“Pfft.
 
Well joining the Disciplinary Committee
as a first year sure didn’t help.”
 

“There are other first year
students in the Committee as well.”
 
I refute.

“But not humans!
 
You and Princess Kathyln are the only
ones, and the Princess has been hailed as a prodigy as soon as she
awakened.
 
That leaves you, a
mysterious human freshman that has a bond with a white foxlike mana beast and
no background, also able to overwhelm and completely demolish a professor that
is a veteran Adventurer at the light yellow core stage.”
 
By this time, she was leaning closer and
closer to me.

“What?
 
How do you already know about what
happened with Professor Geist
?!
 
That literally happened 15 minutes ago!”
“
kyu
!”
 
Sylvie echoes in protest being called
foxlike, although that’s essentially what she was.

“Don’t be so surprised!
 
This is a Magic Academy after all.
 
News travels fast and gossip travels
even faster.
 
I bet you some people
in the class already know what happened.”
 
She smirks while wagging her finger.

“Oh God… You know, I noticed you’re
awfully talkative now compared to when you stuttered your greeting when you
first came in.”
 
I couldn’t help but
realize the change in her personality.

“Shut up!
 
I s-suck with strangers okay?
 
Besides, I don’t get along with new
people this easily.
 
You’re
different though!
 
It was easy to get
comfortable with you since we’re really similar.”
 
She harrumphs, crossing her arms over
her undeveloped chest.

“Similar in what way?”
 
I raise a brow.

She grins broadly, “We’re both
freaks!”
 

I roll my eyes at her conjecture
but realized that, because of how high her intelligence was, I was more
comfortable with her than other kids my age.

As I was about to respond to her
statement, the classroom door swings open and I see a familiar face.

“Greetings plebeians!
 
Please feel honored to have me,
Professor Gideon, as your teacher for this class!”
 
The crazy scientist skedaddled his way
onto the podium while the pair of goggles that was hanging from his neck
bounced up and down.

As he gazed through the classroom
with a condescending eye, he eventually reached where Emily and I were sitting.

“AH!
 
Well if it isn’t Arthur, I had no~ idea
that you would be in my class!”
 
He
clasps his cheeks in an obviously fake way, making me shake my head.

“And my oh my, getting along with
Miss Watsken!
 
I must say you two
would make quite the team! Good good!
 
Let’s begin the first day of classes by a little introduction of
myself!” He smiles, writing his name in big letters behind him.

The lecture continued on with
Gideon rambling on about how remarkable he was for the following hour and a
half.
 
Most students, myself
included, were half asleep but Emily’s eyes sparkled as she absorbed every bit
of information that came out of Gideon’s thin lips.
 
I guess even a genius like her respects
Gideon in the field of Artificing.
 
Makes me almost want to admire him.

Sylvie was curled up on the desk in
front of me, using my arm as a pillow, when an olive green owl suddenly flies
in from the window, landing on my shoulder.

“Kyu!”
 
Sylv jumps up in surprise and growls
while the owl just calmly grooms itself.

“Well it seems like Director
Goodsky is beckoning you, brat!”
 
Gideon walks up to, massaging his hunched shoulders.

“You shouldn’t keep her
waiting.
 
Shoo!
 
Off you go!”
 
He slaps my back as he continues on
talking about how great he is.

Emily leans in, not surprised.
 
“I told you not to underestimate how
fast news travelled!”
 

“Yeah yeah…” I walk out of the
classroom, hearing some of my classmates begin their discussion about what
happened.

“Now… where was Director Cynthia’s
office again?” I scratch my head.

As if he understood, the owl flies
off of my shoulder and begins flying towards a certain direction, gesturing us
to follow.

“
kyu
!”
‘Papa, he’s dangerous!’
 
Sylvie
warns me, her fur on its end.

The campus was fairly empty as most
of the students were either in class, training on their own, or in their
dorms.
 
Getting caught up in the
beautiful scenery of this campus, I realized a little late that the owl had
landed on a statue in front of a building that I assumed was the Director’s
office, waiting for me to enter.

Opening the door, I head inside
while the horned owl perches itself on my shoulder again, making Sylvie hiss
and throw paws at it in warning.

“I see that Avier has personally
guided you here.
 
Odd… I have never
seen him get so comfortable with a stranger before.”
 
Professor Goodsky, who was sitting
behind her desk, rested her head on her hands as she looked at me but studied
Sylvie in particular.

“Is there something you needed from
me, Director?”
 
I take a seat in
front of her desk as Avier, the green owl, flies off of my shoulder and onto
the window ledge behind Cynthia.

“Yes.
 
I called you here regarding the little
‘demonstration’ in Professor Geist’s class.”
 
Her expression remains unfazed as she
mentions the trouble I must’ve caused her.