"Huh?" Mrs hatch murmured with confusion.
"Mana is life." Julius had said a moment ago.
Mrs Hatch felt an awkward tension settle over her shoulders, as she processed the answer.
All the students in the class collectively blinked, the answer was unheard of and not what they had all been taught.
Mrs Hatch nervously laughed, feeling her expression stretch uneasily.
"How to gently let him down?" Mrs Hatch wondered hesitantly, her lips settling into a delicate smile.
"No, Julius. It's energy-" Mrs Hatch went to correct Julius gently in a soft tone, only for Julius's dead bore to interrupt her.
"Every living thing has mana." Julius interjected.
"Mana is the consequence, or rather the byproduct, of being alive." Julius explained, then going silent when he was decided he was bored enough.
Julius thought to himself in his silence. "Of course you would think that. Someone that can use mana would definitely think of it as a fuel source. Like a coal miner that needs light, they would see batteries as fuel for a flashlight." Julius internalised further.
"Oh?" Mrs Hatch breathed with warm curiosity.
She chuckled, a warm and innocent sound.
She was careful not to be rude, though she felt offended in some way.
Who was this boy to assume he knew more than the teacher?
Questioning and refuting her was like spitting on her face in front of the class.
Even with her gentle nature, she could still feel the indirect offense spiking her heart.
No matter what, assuming he knew more than the teacher was inarguably bold, that sort of arrogance would always be considered rude.
Though Mrs Hatch was a kind person, polite and gentle.
"Julius...Mana is an energy source, similar to calories, it's a fuel to be used. It's not life itself." She corrected gently in a soft and slow tone like warm sunlight.
Julius didn't blink, as his hollow gaze remained on the teachers, his expression unfazed as he calmly voiced back.
"Then what would you define as life itself?" Julius questioned in a voice as smooth as the surface of a blade.
Mrs Hatch felt an invisible blow to her gut, almost making a hiccupping sound from her body slightly recoiling.
She felt such a simple question, from such a simple voice, begin to squeeze her with an uncomfortable pressure.
Her face shifted uncomfortably, as she let slip a nervous chuckle.
The tension in the room began to thicken, enshrouding over Julius and his teacher.
The fear of embarrassment began to consume Mrs Hatch, the idea that a new student could put her on the spot so easily only further added to the emotional wound.
"Well...I never thought of it like that." Mrs hatch admitted gently in another uneasy laugh.
She let the embarrassment simmer professionally, letting her discomfort gently wash over her as she briefly shut her eyes.
Once it dissipated, she opened her eyes, without the warm unease she finally realised how impressive the answer was.
She came to the realisation that she indeed couldn't quite define life.
Was it a pulse?
Was it consciousness?
Mrs Hatch breathed this sigh, letting the tension drift out from her, whilst thinking a curious thought.
"This year's students are promising. I wonder how Julius will compare to the new transfer..."
Before Mrs Hatch could finish the thought, she remembered the lesson still taking place, reminding herself to continue with her point.
"Well, either way, it's a good answer even if it isn't orthodox." Mrs Hatch admitted with a pleased smile now.
"Now, who can tell me more about mana?" Mrs Hatch questioned again, tilting her neck up to peer around the room.
Nagiri had been sitting silently in the front row, her head craned forward toward her arms on the desk as if to duck out of Mrs hatch's view.
Though her eyes had looked over her shoulder, watching Julius's earlier fearless answer.
Now she felt her body radiate with nervous energy, where she subtly half-slumped onto the desk.
She gulped inspiration, then slowly leaned back to sit straight.
"I-I know." Nagiri finally called out hesitantly in the silence.
Mrs Hatch heard this quiet squeak come from underneath her gaze, tilting her head down to find the student literally seated in front of her.
"Oh." Mrs Hatch breathed, as if suddenly remembering her existence.
"Yes, Nagiri?" She accepted, gesturing for her to speak with a nod.
"W-Well....mana does exist in all life." She added onto Julius's statement, tilting her head forward to avoid the class's gaze newly found onto her, as her pink hair swept down her forehead.
"B-But the amount of mana.... in a plant for example...is miniscule." She continued nervously, occasionally hiding her gaze into the desk.
Whilst mostly everyone seemed to be somewhat attentive to Nagiri's words, Julius seemed uncaring as normal.
He silently sighed a long breath through his nose, as if he was being forced to listen to something he had heard a thousand times before.
"T-The amount of mana stored and replenished in a person's aperture, located near the kidney region, differs depending on race. Demi-gods and elves naturally have a lot of mana... A-Although other races might have less like vampries, satyrs, centaurs and dwarves." Nagiri explained quietly, in a timid and rushed voice.
"N-No living thing in this world has zero mana."
She paused for an odd moment.
"The only thing that comes close to this, the creature found to have the least amount of mana...Are humans." Nagiri breathed quietly.
Meanwhile Thurid's eyes took this moment to flick toward Julius, mischievously grinning at him from where she sat next to him a few rows of seats indirectly behind Nagiri .
Julius's expression was like a wooden floor, dry and unchanging, his gaze drifting away from Nagiri as Mrs Hatch spoke.
"Very good, Nagiri. Can you tell the class more about the aperture?"
Nagiri shivered in reaction to being spoke to, reluctantly continuing.
"M-Mana is found in the gut region, in this-" Nagiri paused, trying to gather the correct words.
She fell so deep into thought that she raised her head to look to the ceiling, her pink eyes glistening like rubies, as if she could physically see the answer on the ceiling.
"Between the two kidneys there's a veil... shaped like an upright oval, like a black pocket that can't be perceived literally through physical means." She explained clearer now, too focused on her thoughts to be self-conscious.
"Good, good." Mrs Hatch praised with a naturally growing smile, happy with her student's correct answer.
"Now what about spells? How does mana play a part in magic?" Mrs Hatch asked gently, her tone carrying a soft lightness to it.
"W-Well...." Nagiri fumbled for words, it wasn't that she didn't know, she just had a hard time making her body say the words.
"T-The mana travels to where the body tells it to go... D-Depending on what the user wants to do with the mana...L-Like the basic fireball spell, for example, has a user guide mana to their hand..." She explained timidly, her head sinking forward as her confidence fell forgotten.
"I-It's said that mana flows at unimaginable speeds. I-It's this speed that gives mana the ability to change form." Nagiri finished explaining in her usual nervous stammer.
Mrs Hatch nodded as she listened, subtly reaching behind her for one of the books she had folded on her desk when she first entered the room.
She opened the book, revealing a page with four basic shapes.
A square.
A triangle.
A circle.
A star.
Nagiri immediately recognised the shapes, especially from the order they were put in.
"Nagiri, can you explain what this is to the class?" Mrs Hatch requested gently.
"T-They're rank one magic types, I-In the order of easiest to hardest." Nagiri answered somewhat calmly, the answer coming to her easily.
"Do you recognise them?" Mrs hatched asked politely.
Nagiri nodded, before continuing.
"Y-Yes...T-The square is the earth type. I-It's the most basic element to conjure. The shape is the theory equivalent of an equation. It's supposed to represent the direction the mana is moving to create that form." She explained nervously.
"A-A beginner would find earth to be the easiest type of magic to learn, the pathway with the least difficulty."
Mrs hatch smiled warmly, very pleased, she retracted her arms and placed the book back on the desk behind her.
"There are ten ranks of magic types. One being the lowest and ten being the highest." Mrs Hatch stated in a clearer voice, her tone slightly stricter as she got serious.
"Each of you in this room should be able to use at least one of the rank one magic types." She ordered sternly, her gaze sweeping over the room to study the students.
Thurid snorted, her gaze side eyeing Julius once again.
Julius wasn't irritated by Thurid's amusement, though his eyes finally rolled with exasperation to the corner of his vision to meet her gaze back.
No one else in the room gazed at Julius, after all, Julius had stated his magic affinity was fire.
It was just yesterday that Mrs Hatch had asked Julius to demonstrate some of that affinity, before the principal had conveniently called Julius into his office.
"If anyone has an affinity of a rank one magic type, then I suggest you learn to use that magic type as your first." Mrs Hatch advised in the same serious tone.
A student in the back raised their hand, they wore black fingerless gloves, their blazer was nowhere to be seen, and their sleeves were rolled all the way up.
His hair was a big flowing fringe, like a bowl of snow that swept barely over their chestnut brown eyes.
"Err...what's magic affinity again?" The white-haired student asked in tone casual despite his cluelessness.
Mrs Hatch warmly smiled before answering.
"Magic affinity is something you inherit from your parents, much like your eye colour. If you had a parent that used...bubble magic, for instance, then you would be most likely to have a bubble affinity or an affinity that matches similarly to bubble." Mrs Hatch explained politely, pausing once to think as she folded her hands neatly in front of her.
"Y-You also inherit similar physicals to your parents." Nagiri suddenly interrupted from the front left side of the class.
The class barely heard her small voice; Mrs Hatch turned her chin toward Nagiri.
Nagiri bit her lip, suppressing herself from saying anymore.
The class barely caught her small answer, spoken in a minute stammer.
Mrs Hatch smiled lightly, her mouth curling with warm subtlety.
"Well, that hasn't been proven entirely. Although good job, thank you for your input." Mrs Hatch praised innocently.
The collective gaze from the class swept away from Nagiri with disinterest, with the exception of one dark-haired student.
"…That isn't something normally taught. How did she know that?" Julius thought to himself with intrigue.
The thing is, Julius knew the truth. Nagiri was correct, but the collective education of most was limited.
Mrs Hatch had been taught otherwise in her schooling years, so naturally she wouldn't consider Nagiri's suggestion.
Mrs Hatch had already made her mind up a long time ago, the teacher thought she was just with her experience, so Nagiri's suggestion became unimportant.
Rather to Mrs Hatch, she even felt that this opportunity was her job as a teacher to "correct" her student.
Julius was aware of all of that, his thoughts traveling like light.
His eyes then narrowing with splintering pressure at the girl, like tips of icicles aimed toward Nagiri.
Nagiri turned her head aside to watch Mrs Hatch continue her lesson, barely catching the sharp gaze aimed at her just from the corner of her eye.
When her eyes flicked to the corners of her vision, she realised this staring was coming from Julius.
She immediately whipped her chin forward and back down toward the desk.
Julius was genuinely surprised a student would say such a thing, considering that all of these students were meat heads with unfathomable abilities.
Yet this quiet girl was full of unexpected knowledge.
For the first time since this class began, Julius was interested.
Thurid eventually noticed the invisible line starting from Julius eyes, stretching straight toward Nagiri in the top-left corner of the room.
"Heh, is someone got the hots already?" Thurid teased in a ghost of a whisper, leaning close enough that her voice slithered silently to Julius from her side.
Her voice travelled quietly into Julius's ear, though Julius's expression remained unchanging.
Without reacting, He slowly steered his gaze gently back to Mrs Hatch.
"…You're no fun." Thurid pouted quietly, turning her gaze back to Mrs Hatch with a sigh of boredom as she planted her chin onto her palm.
Suddenly the door rattled heavily three times, each time the door shook there was a thudding noise.
The students gaze all fell to the door in an instant.
Julius slowly looked over, his eyes missing the same curiosity that filled the rest of the eyes of his peers.
"Oh, that must be the new student. Class, today we have another transfer student joining us." Mrs Hatch explained in a warm and inviting tone, just as the door opened.
Standing in the doorway was a tall boy, with a head of short silver hair.
His hair was short on the sides, with a shiny silver fringe that swept over his forehead in a cool undercut.
His broad shoulders struck out with power, as his figure fiercely packed his uniform.
His expression was tense, with a sharp jaw as rigid as concrete.
His eyes were tiffany blue, emitting a subtle brightness.
He stepped into the classroom, with an aura of angst that invisibly clashed against the warmth of Mrs Hatch's presence.
"Welcome, please introduce yourself. Name, parent and affinity." Mrs Hatch suggested warmly.
The boy spoke in a low voice, dull with nonchalance.
"I'm Adrian Zephyr, I have a lightning affinity. My parent is Zeus."
The class silently gasped, collectively losing their ability to breathe, then breaking out into whispers amongst themselves.
Julius remained still, his expression remaining unchanging as his gaze narrowed into the boy.
A hot breath huffed out from his nose.
"This is Zeus's son?"
"So, the rumours are true…"
"I can't believe he has an affinity for rank six magic."
The gossip smothered the class in subtle hushes, like squirrels trapped in thick bushes being swept by wind.
Mrs Hatch felt the tension simmering in the room, opening her mouth to speak.
Before she could say a word, a dark-haired student shot up from his seat.
"Lightning magic?" Julius didn't smile, though his dull voice carried a hint of purposefully displayed amusement.
"How fast are you?" Julius asked with a calm exterior, smiling devilishly underneath the surface.
The boy, Adrian, looked at him from the front of the room.
His thick neck twisted slowly to mount his gaze onto Julius.
"Fast enough." He grumbled as if chewing on gravel.
"Oh." Julius feigned an interested response.
"Not as fast as your father?" Julius questioned with pretend curiosity, his voice still carrying the same disinterested edge somehow.
Adrian remained silent, detecting something in Julius's demeanour but not entirely certain what it was.
"No." He begrudgingly answered through grit teeth.
"Funny." Julius said in a dead bore without laughing.
"I guess you'll never outrun his shadow then." Julius mused audaciously in this nonchalant tone like a wispy trail of velvet silk.
The class froze collectively, as if time had stopped.
Did this boy really just mock the son of Zeus himself, upon meeting him?
Even Thurid felt her spine straighten with tension, her gaze flicking up toward Julius's cold indifference before flicking back to Adrian's cracking restraint.
Adrian's eyes narrowed, like steel valves tightening.
He suddenly stepped forward, stepping down the gap in the desks before stepping in front of Julius's desk.
"Funny." Adrian responded purposefully.
"Your mum didn't seem to mind how fast I was last-"
CRACK!
Before Adrian could finish, something shot out and struck him across the jaw.
Julius's fist half-hung in the air, dropping to hover around the level of his own sternum.
The skin of his hand was ripped off in a bloody and gnarly manner.
Exposing cracked lines of white bone, like white pebbles with blood gracing each fracture.
Blood quickly swelled over his hand, flooding the back of his hand where his wrist froze suspiciously.
Adrian's jaw, meanwhile, didn't even have a scratch.
Actually, his chin hadn't even turned an inch from the punch.
His jaw clenched still, feeling the disrespect in the attack, as if Julius imbued hatred into his fist.
His hands were in his pockets, like bullets loaded into a chamber.
He looked at Julius, and he noticed something different.
Julius's ghostly expression was now burning with silent rage.
His eyes dark amber eyes were now wide with an unhinged bloodshot look, his jaw bulging with tense facial muscles like steel hydraulics.
The silence in the room was deafening, students too paralysed with shock to gossip.
Adrian's wrists twitched, about to slip free from his pockets, just before Thurid shot out of her seat and Mrs Hatch yelled.
"CLASS!" Mrs Hatch snapped in an uncharacteristic rage, her voice was too loud, with students bracing their ears against Mrs Hatch inhuman screech.
This was the use of magic, sound wave magic to be exact.
Items from desks had been sent flying to the floor, desks rattling from the force, even though Mrs Hatch had precisely controlled her magic to its lowest level of strength.
"Julius! To the infirmary, now!" Mrs Hatch barked, causing desks at the front to slide back on the ground by an inch.
Julius's expression was still mad with the look of a rabid dog.
Julius's free hand twitched to raise, only for Thurid to hold it still before Julius could swing at Adrian again.
Julius breathed a slow yet steaming breath through his nose.
He felt as though his uninjured arm was caught in between a bank vault door, the pressure making his arm impossible to move even as he strained all his muscles.
When Thurid released his free arm, it whipped blindly a few inches in the air from the momentum of Julius trying to resist the hold the entire time like strained elastic.
Julius retracted his arm and shrugged with a huff.
His expression had calmed to a brooding mist, his eyes like wolves as they tracked Adrian.
Then silently stepping out from the desk, only looking away from Adrian once he passed him.
Then leaving the room without turning back.
end of chapter 13