"Thank you." Vivienne thanked William and stood up.
"..."
Both of them stared at Lucien’s boots, their heads swiveling between his face and the boot.
Lucien awkwardly put his shoes down and said, "My hands couldn’t have made it in ti."
Uh!
Vivienne nodded just as awkwardly, "T-hank you."
"Let’s go, William."
Not wasting any more ti in this situation, Lucien began to move towards their preferred seats.
William also moved behind, uncharacteristically silent.
"Dude, what was that?"
William whispered, jogging closer to him, as they both took their seats.
"I couldn’t reach her on ti with my hands."
He repeated the sa words yet again.
"No," William shot it down instantly, "You could."
Gulp!
"I reached her in ti to grab her, even though I reacted slower." William squinted his eyes, trying to look Lucien in his eyes.
But Lucien dodged.
"My instincts," Lucien answered, "They are efficient, not polite."
"It’s okay."
Woah!
Suddenly, a cheerful, feminine voice sounded from their right, taking both of them by surprise.
"I am grateful for that. It was a better outco than hitting my head on the corner."
She talked to them so naturally that even a passerby wouldn’t be able to tell that they were eting each other for the first ti.
Uh!
Even the duo was baffled.
"Nice to et you, my na is Vivienne Vernoux."
She extended her hands towards the duo, not even giving them ti to reply to her prior words.
Lucien, who was right next to her, shook it first, "Lucien Callastre–"
But he was imdiately interrupted by this chatty butterfly, "Of course, I’d know you, Your Highness. Call Vivy for short."
The handshake suddenly beca vigorous, making Lucien tad bit uncomfortable.
"Eh! Sure."
He couldn’t be bothered about this.
As they got out of the handshake, William pointed his finger towards himself and asked, "What about ?"
"William," She answered with the sa bubbly tone of hers, "My mory is sharp, aren’t you the ’skirt chaser William’?"
Cough! Cough!
’Bingo!’
Lucien coughed sharply, amazed at the accuracy of the nickna.
anwhile, William’s corners twitched, not believing what she had just said, "W-Who gave that nickna?"
Vivy pointed her index towards her nose, and spoke, "e~!"
Cough!
Another sharp cough.
"I an," She scanned him from top to bottom, then continued, "You definitely give that vibe."
"You got all wrong."
William said, but instead of affirmation, he only gained a side eye from Lucien.
"You–"
Just as he was about to refute, the front doors slamd open, and a ginger-haired man entered.
His face was above average, and he had a polite smile.
Lucien recognized him imdiately.
The professor from the interview was sitting next to Arthur.
The man whose appearance and smile made Lucien uncomfortable.
But contrary to him, the other students only gasped.
"Oh my God, it’s Lucas Reinhardt," William uttered.
"Who–?"
"He is going to be our professor?" Vivy also gasped, their attention focused solely on the professor.
—"Doesn’t this dude only teach the seniors?"
—"Yeah, what is he doing here?"
—"Dear God, we are so lucky."
All sorts of voices floated around Lucien, confusing him even further.
How co only he didn’t know the guy?
"Ps!" He tapped William silently, attracting his attention.
"Who is this guy?"
William’s eyes widened at Lucien’s question, as he tapped his ears to make sure he heard him correctly.
"You seriously don’t know him?" He asked, looking at Lucien’s deadpan expression.
Lucien shook his head in denial.
"Lucas Reinhardt, the genius scientist who had published countless papers and breakthroughs in Artifacts. The top Academies of the world fought for him, and the only reason he even joined Lun over the others was the fact that he was born here."
Strange.
William explained to him like so sort of science overlord, but how co Lucien had never heard of him?
He knew about the other professors there, since each one of them is like a celebrity on their own.
But why not Lucas?
He sounded like a bigger shot than the others.
And Vivy’s added words confird them, too. "People even say that he is the best candidate for the next Vice-Dean, and he only ever teaches the seniors."
She rubbed his chin and added, "I wonder what caused him to join this class and teach us, the freshers."
The deep, unsettling feeling that Lucien was getting got worse.
Sothing was wrong here.
"Good afternoon, class," He said coolly, and the class went silent. "I am Professor Lucas Reinhardt, head of the Artifact departnt."
"If you think that this class is about polishing swords and show-and-tell relics, I suggest you leave now."
Nobody moved.
"Artifacts are not tools," He started imdiately, pacing along the dais’ edge, "They are not lifeless relics.
"Even the non-sentient ones carry traces of will, and emotions—often negative—of the one from where it originated."
Lucas turned around, scanning the class once, as he lifted his hands, and a book from his stack floated towards his hand.
"Let us start with the three core classifications of artifacts." His eyes went back to the students, "William Wilson, please stand up."
’Fuck !’ He groaned, but obeyed and stood.
"Go ahead, and tell . Just the nas are enough."
William wasn’t the brightest of the candles, but this wasn’t a hard question to answer.
"Err..." He took a mont to think before answering, "Dormant. Reactive. Sentient."
"Flawless," Lucas complented, "Please take your seat."
William sat down with a stupid grin.
"Are you blushing?" Lucien whispered, but William didn’t register his words.
"That’s right, cadets, there are three types of artifacts—Dormant, reactive, and sentient."
Lucas’s smile widened as he continued, "Let’s start with Dormant artifacts.
"These are the most common types of artifacts, the types that can even be manufactured by an expert Artificer."
He continued, "As long as one knows the core principles behind the working of an artifact, they could attempt and even succeed in making one.
"These types only have the will of the one who manufactured it, which is often negligible or positive. The closest things to non-living artifacts.
"Dormant artifacts are reliable, predictable, and relatively safer than the other two."
Lucas moved his hands yet again, and a small sphere flew into his hands.
"Ever since I entered this room, I have not once used my spirit energy."
Cadets’ eyes widened hearing this.
"That’s right, I am making these float by an artifact–" He paused and finally added, "by ."
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