William and Lia walked through the silent stone corridors toward their next class: Runes and Glyphs I. A strange silence seed out of place in a usually noisy location. Upon reaching the classroom, they were surprised by the absence of other students.
"Aren’t they supposed to be here already? Though I don’t mind, since I just want to kill them," William asked, stopping in front of the assigned classroom. Intrigued, he opened the door, but it was empty; there wasn’t a soul present.
"It seems we’re the only ones here right now. It’s a bit strange, but there’s so peace," Lia murmured, sowhat surprised.
"Then let’s sit at the front. Do you think they announced there were no classes and didn’t tell us? It wouldn’t really surprise , since all those damn people hate us," William said with a carefree smile. Both took seats in the central row of the first row, right in front of the professors. This spot was always occupied by a couple of arrogant nobles, but William wanted to provoke them so he could give them a beating.
Lia glanced at him, frowning as if she was hesitating whether to speak or not.
"William... I don’t want to sound ungrateful after everything you’ve done for , but what you did yesterday was crazy. It could have cost you much more than just points. If the teacher were better at combat, you might have even died, they could even expel you, and then no one could defend you from all those nobles."
William didn’t respond imdiately. He looked at the empty teacher’s desk, as if searching for an excuse not to answer, but seeing that no one was coming and that he couldn’t escape, he finally spoke, in a calm but determined voice.
"I know, it was impulsive... even stupid, but I don’t regret doing what I had to do. If anything had happened to you, Lia... I would have killed them all. Besides, I’m not afraid of the teacher; as long as they’re not as strong as my master Aurus, I can face them." He paused and looked her in the eyes.
She felt a shiver down her spine. She knew William well enough to know that he wasn’t joking or boasting with empty words trying to impress her, but that he could genuinely try, like when he chased the two aspirants wanting to kill them in front of everyone on the ship. With a sigh of resignation, she told him:
"You have to learn to control yourself. You can’t solve everything with force. I know you’re a genius, and I truly appreciate it, but one day you might die because of this. Please promise you’ll be more careful."
"I don’t want to promise sothing I might not keep. I can’t stand idly by, or else their bullying will only increase. You were almost killed, and it was just a joke to them. I just need to beco so strong that they won’t even dare to stand in front of ."
Before Lia could reply, the classroom door opened and a hunched old man, with a long beard and eyebrows so bushy they partially covered his eyes, entered with small steps, looking quite old as if he was about to die. He wore a black robe with a star on his chest that showed his rank as an official mage, and he carried a box as large as himself, filled with all kinds of objects: scrolls, small runic stones, crystals, brushes, parchnts, inkwells, and carved wood fragnts.
The old man glanced at the classroom, and seeing them sitting at the front, let out a small smile, making him seem quite friendly before saying in a cold tone: "I see none of those imbeciles ca... Perfect, I won’t waste my ti this year with conceited brats."
William blinked, confused, but still stood up, approaching. "Professor? Do you need help? That looks heavy..." he said, pointing to the box with curiosity. The old man seed so fragile that he gave the impression he could break if he tripped.
The old man snorted with a twisted smile.
"Help? Bah, that’s not necessary, young man. But I appreciate the gesture. Rare to see politeness nowadays. My na is Alkan... though you can just call Master."
As he awkwardly placed the materials on the desk, he continued speaking without looking back.
"Every year it’s the sa... Runes and Glyphs I, Magical History, and Ethics and Norms of Magical Use. They call them ’filler subjects.’ The useless ones. The ones no noble touches, not even by mistake."
William raised an eyebrow as he asked: "Why?"
"Because they are convinced that they are too important to waste their ti with such ’basic’ things," Master Alkan said with bitter mockery in his voice. "Because this," he lifted a runic stone, "requires getting your hands dirty, carving, calculating, repeating mistakes, studying symbols and formulas... ’Plebeian’ work."
Lia crossed her arms, visibly annoyed, as those words seed to describe everyone she had known.
"That’s ridiculous. How do they expect to build anything without foundations?"
"They don’t expect to build anything. They want others to do it for them. Runes and Glyphs is the foundation of magical artifact crafting. In the second year, it becos Fundantals of Magical Blacksmithing and Advanced Runes. Subjects that can make you rich if you know what you’re doing. But of course... they don’t have the brilliance of a destructive spell or the glamour of a battle, and besides, as long as they have enough money, they can make those without money work themselves to death."
William frowned before saying: "So that’s why no one else is here?"
"Exactly," Alkan nodded as he sat down with effort behind the desk. "The academy decided to make these subjects optional to avoid conflicts. Nobles ignore them and are just saying stupid things and mocking everything we do, while plebeians throw themselves at them like hungry rats. In normal years, I have full classrooms. But this year... I only heard there were two enrolled. And I see that’s true."
The old man finally looked at them directly. His eyes, hidden behind ssy eyebrows, narrowed as if analyzing both their souls.
"What are your nas?"
"William."
"Lia."
"Good. Then... let’s do this right." He opened a thick parchnt full of glyphs. "Since you’re here, I’m going to teach you what nobles will never understand: how to transform theory into useful and real power. The first thing you must learn is that what you have learned about magic is stupid."
And with that sentence, Master Alkan began a class that —without them knowing it yet— would forever change the way they understood magic.
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