The Classroom #3

Ellis watched as the boy she met earlier this morning arrived. He casually walked up to the struggling group with his annoying cigarette in his mouth. His eyes we reflecting his boredom, and it somehow upset Ellis.

Stopping by her side, he puffed once before throwing it in a portable ashtray.

"When do you not smoke? Do you have any idea how unhealthy that is?"

"Frankly, my health choices are not your concern."

Ellis rolled her eyes. "True, but do it where I'm not, frankly the smoke is disgusting." covering her nose with a handkerchief, She glared daggers at the boy.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "That complaint would be understandable— if! You weren't the Heiress of the Simmons household, a house known for their prideful Fire-magic combatants."

Ellis’s anger was kindled slightly. “Who do-”

Arthur smirked as he caught her in her own words. "Well whatever, frankly, I did expect to join in this exercise. My apologies, for the inconvenience."

"Hmm.." She pondered for a moment, that was a drastic switch of attitude. He seemed quite prideful and arrogant, but maybe he wasn’t all bad. "You are pardoned."

Arthur smiled. "Thank you, Milady, for your benevolence."

Ellis scoffed, realizing that he was just good with words. "For a commoner, you sure know how to use your tongue."

Arthur hummed before picking up a spare short sword on the floor. "Oh please, I'm not that good at kissing ass."

Ellis chuckles at the frankness. "How crude. You’re entirely incorrect– flattery isn't just that…”

Arthur raised an eyebrow in shock, confused. "What? But I'm not wrong? That's literally the definition of flattery– to kiss up to someone's ass."

She covered her mouth and her shoulders tremble from trying to hold in her laughter. “How uncivilized, and yes, you are not wrong.”

Stepping into the kill circle, he twirled the sword around. "Anyways, When I give a signal, throw as many fireballs as possible at his head." He bowed slightly.

The laughter abruptly stops and she frowned. "You have no power for such a request.”

“Oh, but it will be worth your while.”

“Fine, I will trust you. Just this once.”

“Thank you, milady,” Arthur said, turning his eyes as he started to walk towards the front, passing Theodore and Prince Albert. “Now shall we begin?”

“The golem has three simple patterns, each appearing every meter you approach the goal. Three meters from the core, the nearest arm swing slowly; two meters in, a medium-speed jab from either arm; and a stomp from within a meter."

"To get past it, you either use other people as bait or walk straight through it without getting hit." Arthur yawned, getting the attention of the two boys. "But hey! What are meat shields for?" He said, patting Gabriel's shoulder.

"W-what!? What are you doing!" Gabriel called out, worried about his safety and surprised at the sudden pat.

The golem locks onto Arthur and recoils its shoulder for the large arm to swing. Spotting the initiating action, Arthur crouched down low with a sharp lean to the left, The large arm whizzed past his ear.

“The fatal design flaw of the golem is its lack of a neck, and large moves that shift the entire torso also cut off the field of view!”

"Now, Miss Ellis!"

She stepped into the circle at the call of her name and raised her wand. Magic circles conjure three fireballs, and they launch in quick succession.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

The flaming balls of magic collide with the golem's head, blocking his sight long enough for Arthur to slip past. Running straight in between the giant’s towering legs, he slid on the golem and to the pedestal.

With the short sword, he struck the orb floating on the pedestal, knocking it off. The golem immediately started to spasm and shut down, its eyes lost their gleam and it froze in place.

"See? That wasn't too hard." Arthur huffed.

The students immediately stare at the shut-down golem and the one holding the core. Arthur noticed all the attention and raised the orb, yelling loudly. "Give a round of applause to madam Ellis! Her brilliant use of fire magic bought us to victory!"

At the sound of her name, the students turned to the surprised lady, who just waved in return. She composed herself and steadied her expression. “No need for thanks, we were all in this together.”

Professor Leonard jogged up to the class, expressing his delight. “congratulations.”

Dong! Gong! Bong!

As he was still talking the bell sounded and he sent class A-1 back to their classroom.

“Magic class is next.” Arthur sighed. “Luckily I didn’t break my right hand, I need the notes. My self-study only brought me so far so this class is absolutely vital.”

The door opens and a voluptuous lady, in a revealing witch’s dress, walked in. She had a large hat that covered her face. Behind her were her flowing dress, and her teaching materials levitating.

“Levitation magic, a higher form of wind magic,” Arthur noted her abilities while most of the boys ogled at her body, quite shamelessly.

She did not like it at all, and she slammed the books on the podium to acquire everybody’s attention. “My name is Victoria Gladstone, and I will be your Magic Instructor for the next five years.”

She removed her hat to reveal her beautiful face, most were already captivated, but not Arthur.

“Poor fools, they’re already in her trap. Victoria Gladstone is a heavily biased individual. She’s powerful, greedy, and quite prideful. She is somehow in the Principal’s faction now, but she will betray her in the future.”

“So, what do you know about magic?” Victoria asks, leaning on the podium.

Theodore Miller raised his hand, and she acknowledged him. He stood up and gave his answer. “Magic is power humans can tap and channel to perform supernatural phenomena.”

Victoria nodded. “Brilliant Answer.”

She snapped her fingers and the chalk, in the trays, began to levitate and write on the chalkboard.

“Magic has six starter elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark. These six have derivatives, sub-elements, combined elements, or an evolved form. Can someone tell me the sub-element of fire?”

Ellis raised her hand. “A sub-element of fire is explosions.”

Victoria nodded. “Correct. Miss Ellis, may you please describe how fire can turn into an explosion?”

Ellis was stumped, and her mind ran for an answer. “I…”

“You can’t. Please have a seat.” victoria huffed. “If you can’t answer, take a seat.’’

Ellis sat down as she was told, and she sat down.

“In this class, you will learn how to think and answer questions like these so pay attention. Quizzes and tests will occur weekly, so be prepared.”

“Her classes are also quiz and test-heavy. In the game, many streamers had to buy the paperback books produced by the game developers just to pass the class.” Arthur sighed.

Victoria glanced at Arthur and they make eye contact. “We made eye contact. It seems the one that reported my existence to the principal was her.”

“She’s aware of my potential and is trying to make sense of it. She’s trying to find a way to use me– I can see it in her eyes. The greed is practically gleaming.”

“So to begin our lesson– There are two ways to utilize magic, Exterior, and Interior utilization. Exterior utilization primarily sources the magic from outside the body and Interior utilization uses magic from inside the body. Both utilization methods have pros and cons and everybody is suited to only one method.”

“She’s right. External utilization reduces the amount of magic within a body, resulting in muscle weakness. Internal utilization reduces the amount of magic that exits the body thus casting speed, power, and effectiveness of spells plummet.”

Victoria marched around the board, pointing out the diagrams her chalks have drawn. “Mages use External utilization and are therefore physically weaker and much frailer, but in return– their magic output would be twice as powerful,” she said, pointing at a diagram of a human and a colorized picture of magic exiting the body.

She pointed at the neighboring diagram of magic flowing into a human. “The same goes for Internal utilization, Your output is greatly weakened, but your physical capabilities could reach heights of that of a superhuman.”

Victoria then procured a textbook and opened it. “Everybody has both a magic channel and a magic circuit. A magic channel would be the conduit of magic power and Magic circuits are what transform magic power into phenomena.”

Arthur’s right hand wrote every important bullet point and fact, even copying the diagrams. “This information is incredibly handy.”

“But! External users would have greater magic circuits than channels and Internal users would have greater channels than circuits.’’

Victoria’s lecture continued on until the bell rang, ending the third period and lunch officially started.

Ding! Dong!

"Finally" Arthur muttered, rejoicing, his stomach had been protesting since earlier.

The scholarship students have lost their excitement and are exhausted from the three most information-heavy subjects. Arthur couldn't care less about their well-being, instead, he maneuvers his way to the exit.

“I can’t wait to taste the buffet.” He hummed, briskly walking.

“Hey, you!” a voice called for him to halt. “Stop… right there!”

Arthur turned around. “Yes, Miss Ellis? How may I help you? As you can see im in a hurry.”

Ellis was haggard and heaving. “H-How does a smoker walk so fast.”

He just rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. “I smoke because it’s enjoyable, not because im addicted. I only smoke two a day.”

“That is still two more than a healthy person.”

“Touche”

She caught her breath and composed herself.

“External types have it rough.”

“Shut up.”

“Shutting up.”

Ellis straightened her back and lifted her chin. “I have a question.”

“Well, shoot.”

They walked side by side in the crowd of students.

“Why did you give me the credit earlier?”

“Just because”

Ellis frowned. “That is not an answer.”

Arthur sweats slightly under her laser stare. Shoving both hands in his pockets, he just shrugged. “That was my answer, I did it just because I wanted to.”

Ellis squints, still suspicious. “I still don't believe you.”

Arthur sighed. “It's a tad of a personal reason, and I would much rather not answer you.”

Ellis stepped in front of him, blocking his path. Arthur had to stop abruptly so as to not collide with her chest. “I said, I don't believe you.” she glared, facing upward.

Arthur raised his eyebrows in amusement, failing to hide a small smirk on his lips. He was five foot eight and she was five foot two. It was difficult not to laugh at the five inches of difference. She was terrifying from afar, but if it’s this close, she’s not threatening at all–

“It’s because you’re cute.” Arthur winked, stepping around her and continuing on her way.

[ Ellis Simmons’s Favorability: +0.03 ] [ 1.05%/100.00% ]

“...eh?” She gasped. “w-what–”

Ellis was speechless for a second, no one except Francis and her parents called her that. “D-Don’t mess with me-

She turned around to see Arthur gone, just like smoke.

“where did he go?”

Arthur was at the end of a long line, holding onto a tray filled with food. “Whoa~ never had roasted duck before– shit! It smells awesome.”

Taking a seat at one of the tables nearest to the exit, Arthur inhaled the aroma of the roasted duck in the thick sauce.

“If it isn’t the bare-knuckled smoker!”

Arthur turned to the booming voice, cringing heavily at the nickname. “Pardon me, what the fuck?”

George and David were holding in their laughter. “You should’ve seen your face!” he guffawed.

David was holding his laughter. “Word travels fast around the academy. I heard all about it in class D-1”

They both sit down and George smacks Arthur’s shoulder. “Man! Even in class F-1– you’re the talk of the town!”

Arthur sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So much for waiting for the waters to calm down. I really need to lay low.”

“So is it true? You really beat the Prodigy spearman with your fists?” David asked, his eyes gleaming.

Arthur just stares at the two. “Yes, so let me eat in peace.”

George noticed the broken hand. “Oh, so it is true! You even broke your hand!”

“Please shut up.” Arthur sighed, bringing his head down and shoveling duck meat into his mouth. “People are now staring at me you dicks.”