Chapter 12 - Magic School of Virelia

The night went smoothly, as did the day, at least until school. He got up, ate breakfast, and took a walk around the city to pass the time. The lesson would begin at 4 in the afternoon, which was in the second circle, so he tried to take advantage of this time to explore the city a little more and possibly meet a few people. He bought a pen and notebook so he could take notes if necessary and a pocket watch, of course. He also wanted to buy magic books, but he wasn't sure what to get and they were expensive, so he put it off for later.

People were still staring at him and whispering, but he was getting used to it. 'How long could they do it?' was a thought that ran through his mind. Either he returns to his world, or he lives here long enough for people to accept him.

A few hours had passed, and it was time to go to the magic school. He didn't use the map to get there, believing that if he had been there before, he could find it again.

He couldn’t and got lost. He got lost somewhere he didn't expect to be. Unlike other parts of the city he had visited, this one did not appear 'happy.' Most of the people here were too skinny, carrying massive bags, and were treated like slaves. It didn't matter if they were men, women, children, or the elderly; most people were either too weak or injured to work. They would not stop, however. Continuing to work despite the fact that they are crawling, spitting blood, and most likely hungry.

Tiberius grew terrified of his surroundings. It was like the dark side of the city. But he couldn't understand why the people here were treated this way. Were they prisoners? Even then, isn’t this illegal?

“Hey, tall freak, what are you staring at?” said one of the fat guys, who was sitting on a chair, holding a whip, after seeing Tiberius staring at the slaves.

“No-nothing,” he replied with a slight panic. He did not want to get himself in trouble.

“Why are you here? Are you going to buy?” he asked, taking a bite from the cooked chicken.

“Buy? I’m just lost. I was looking for the magic school.”

“Magic school? Idiot, it’s that way.” He showed the opposite direction with his whip. “Now get lost.”

Without a word, Tiberius turned around and walked quickly away from this shadowy side. He only discovered that he had gone in the wrong direction and arrived there after pulling out his map. He had walked too far to the wrong side of the city, and even though the lesson was only thirty minutes later, the map showed that it might take him more than two or three hours to get there. So, instead of walking, he decided he needed a carriage, as they are taxis in this world. Luckily, he saw one, an empty one it seems. Raising his hand, he waved and stopped the carriage. He told him where he wanted to go, and even though the coachman was a little scared of him, Tiberius paid upfront, so he took him to the school.

On the way, to pass the time, the coachman asked what he was doing on that side of the city. People who are not well known in the city are not welcome there. After Tiberius explained the situation, the man said he was lucky that he got out with just a warning. Usually, if it were someone else, they would take him and make him a slave and sell him for a more expensive price since he was unusual.

“So that place is where people buy slaves?” Tiberius asked.

"Yes and no. If you want to buy a slave, just wait till Sunday. There will be more than enough slave shops that day. You can buy one to your liking legally. That slave will be yours and yours only, as long as you pay the price. But, you can only make your slave work as long as you provide them with food and a place to sleep. Violence is not acceptable as long as the slave behaves.”

Tiberius did not think this was too bad. Although slavery was a horrible idea, the fact that it was still a rule demonstrated that this world was more human than the others.

“But if you buy one from that place, then you pay double the price, or even more. And of course, it is illegal, so you are free to do anything with them. Some people have weird fetishes, you know,” he said with a smirk.

“But, isn’t this regulated in some way?” He asked, “Like, there should still be rules?”

“You can make anything a rule, as long as you are rich.” He replied, “Here we are, the Magic School of Virelia.”

“Thank you,” Tiberius said, getting off of the carriage.

“Don’t do anything brave, and take care of yourself; this world is not what it seems like,” the coachman said before leaving.

Without knowing how to respond, Tiberius simply waved good-bye and went inside the school. He was a few minutes late, but he hoped it would not be an issue.

He found the room the lesson was being held in, knocked, and entered. Everyone stared at him confusedly, except the teacher. She did not look surprised but rather happy.

“So you are the one Maria told me about. Tiberius, right?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, sorry I am late; I was a little lost.”

“It is okay; take a seat.” She showed an empty seat. ‘Everyone, you may have heard the news about the man who fell from the sky and moved the sword. That man is the one in front of you, and he will be learning about magic and our world with us.”

This was not what Tiberius wanted. He would like to be known as a weird tall guy, since it attracts less attention. However, unlike the previous time, the students (about 10-12) did not approach him and instead nodded. This made him happy because it allowed him to be alone and learn something.

“Let us now return to what we were discussing earlier,” she said. “Mana is the energy of life; it exists in all dahas. Even with no magic knowledge, there is some amount of it in you. However, as I said, it is the energy of life, so not only in dahas but also in animals, insects, and other creatures.”

As she finished her sentence, someone raised their hand to ask a question, which she accepted.

"Can they perform magic like we do? Or is it just energy for them?” said the seemingly youngest student in the class, but even he was old enough to be in college.

“Not always,” she answered. “Some animals can indeed use pure mana, not the magic itself, but this is limited to how much they have of it and how intelligent they are. For example, some birds, mostly eagles, are immune to illusion. They focus their mana in their eye, which allows them to see through illusions.”

“Can we do that?” asked the same guy.

“If you are asking about seeing through illusions, yes, it is possible for some. It is a rare ability. But about focusing mana in your eye, you would just add a little protection over it and nothing else. But don’t worry about them for now; we will cover everything in future lessons. Any more questions?”

No one raised a hand. Seeing this, she extended her right hand in front. Suddenly, her hand was engulfed by a transparent energy, like a layer.

“This is how mana looks. It is transparent but still easily detected by the naked eye.”

Some people were surprised, like Tiberius, but others weren’t. There were some students who had a basic understanding of how mana works, and the reason they joined was to enhance their abilities further.

“Now,” she said, “I want everyone to try it. Focus your mind and try to surround your hand, or even finger, with mana. Simply picture it moving through your body and gathering in your hand.”

Everyone tried, and those who had a little experience did it in a heartbeat; one student even collected mana on both hands.

The rest of the class also started to do it, but of course with less mana than others. Since this was their first try, it was a little challenging. After a few minutes of trying, everyone had managed to do it to some level, except Tiberius.
From the moment she gave them the task, he was trying to do it with all his might. Closing his eyes, focusing, even squeezing his muscles in case it might help, but it didn’t. No matter what he tried, he could not gather any amount of mana on either his hand or finger.

When she saw this, she approached him and tried to help.

"Try to relax; just let the energy pass through your body and collect on your finger," she said, doing it with him to demonstrate it up close.

However, it did not work in any way.

“Well, this is unusual,” she said. “I have never seen someone who can’t focus their mana. Every daha is supposed to have mana and have some level of control over it.”

“Maybe that is the problem,” Tiberius informed. “I am in fact not a daha, but a human.”

“Not a daha?” She frowned. “How so?”

“As you know, I am not from here. But not just the country or anything directly from this world. I somehow fell here from the world where we don’t have magic. No one does. No mana or anything.”

“No magic? Then how do you even live? How do you power the devices? I mean, do you even have them in the first place?” She wondered, as everyone in the class had already focused on their conversation.

“We do, actually, more than you can imagine. We have machines that can do work for us—robots, cars, and planes. We don’t even use letters anymore to talk with others. Phones are all we need.”

Everyone had a confused look on their face since they did not understand any of the words he mentioned.

“I did not even think there was a world where people could live with no magic,” someone said.

“I did not think that magic could even exist. We have only seen it in stories.”

“Stories? Interesting,” she said. “Then maybe that is the reason, huh? You are not daha, so you don't have mana. But then, how did you move the sword?”

"That is something I am trying to understand," Tiberius sighed.

“Anyway, it does not mean you should give up. Our next 2 lessons will also be about the same topic, mana and how to focus with it. So I advise you to try your best.”

“I will, thanks,” he said as she continued the lesson.

Three days passed, and Tiberius started to blend in in this city; people started to get used to him. He even bought new clothes because he couldn't wear the old ones all the time. It didn't take a while to find one for his size; they had a special fabric that would fit you no matter what your size is.

Everything was going great, except for two things. First, there was still no answer from Castle on a way to go back to his world. And the second one is, no matter how many times he tried, he could not use mana at all, so he left the magic school.