Zeres stared at the pipette seriously, not even blinking.

Then the pipette made a clicking sound, it was now at : 15% mana density.

He immediately turned the burner off, then he grabbed the pot, then he pulled out a flask.

The pungent smell wasn’t there anymore, only the purple liquid remaining.

Staring at it closely, he closed it down with a lid.

The sound of lid closing echoed beside him.

He glance at his side: Saelyz was also done brewing the poison.

"You’re also done?" Zeres muttered under his breath, then he crossed the hall.

Saelyz followed closely behind him, on her hand was a flask containing the brewed poison.

Standing before the professor, Zeres handed the flask in his hands.

"Hmm, well done" the professor nodded, satisfied. "You’re done with today’s lecture."

"What’s you name cadets? "

"Zeres"

"Saelyz"

They replied at the same time.

"Then go, we’ll see each other again tomorrow." The old man smiled before he flicked his hand.

Stepping out of the room, the empty hallway greeted the both of them.

"What’s the next lecture? " Zeres asked.

"Mana manipulation, it’s scheduled two hours from now." She replied like a robot stating datas.

"That’s still a long way to go, bye, I’ll be heading out now." Zeres said, his hand raised, then he waved it in a casual gesture.

"Training? "

"Yes"

"Good luck, I heard professor Elyssa’s strict." She mumbled, then she turned on her heel.

Though it was no different from a whisper, it was clear—way too clear on his ears.

____________

Arriving before a door, he oukked out a key from his pocket—then he slid it in.

Twisting it, he pushed the door open.

The private training room was silent, only the presence of one person.

Stepping in, he closed the door behind him.

"I heard you make a ruckus today?" Professor Elyssa sighed, masaging her temples, she glared at him.

"Who is it? " she asked. "I heard he’s a noble"

Zeres scratched his cheek.

"I don’t know his name, he just suddenly came up to me asking for a duel, throwing his gloves in front of me when I just entered through the gate."

Professor Elyssa was speechless, the man before him was telling her he didn’t know the name of someone he’ll fight against later?

She rolled her eyes, then she shifted the topic; this guy was always bringing problem after another.

"How about your training yesterday? "

"Well, I can say I’ve Improved" he shrugged casually.

"Show it to me" she snarled "If you’re lying, I’ll give you a beating—I mean a hard physical training."

Zeres grinned, then he raised his arm, palms stretched wide.

The mana sizzled, the air trembling faintly before a black magic circle appeared. It hovered mid-air— then black chains emerged from the magic circle trashing violently on the wooden dummy before it cooked tightly around the upper torso of the wooden dummy.

"Well done, you didn’t even chant"

"Are you capable of doing all Fragment-spell that are related to your affinity? " she asked, already picking up a leather book that looked old.

"You should be thankful of me, after all, dark affinity us frowned upon by this empire; the church had managed to drill that on the people’s mind."

"I had to use a little but of my authority." She continued.

"Thank you" Zeres bowed politely, then he took the leather book.

"I’ll be going now, I still have a lecture— illy be checking on you tomorrow, make sure you’ve read that all." She turned on her heel, long wavy red hair fluttering behind her as she stepped out of the door.

Zeres glanced at the door, then he sat on the edge of the training room.

Leaving against the wall, he flipped the first page.

============

The Requirements of using a Verse-rank spell is to be above initiate rank.

============

"So the initiates can’t use it." He mumbled, then he flipped the page again.

"I have two hours at most, and professor Elyssa didn’t told me I couldn’t bring this book home."

’I’ll practice it on the basement.’ He thought to himself, yet he still continued to read the contents— as if addicted to it.

"Magic is really fun" he said softly.

____________

"Have you resolved yourself to prepare for humiliation you damned vampire!? " The man sneered, his hair still perfectly combed.

"Uhh, I’m sorry but what’s your name? " Zeres asked.

"Huh? "

"He doesn’t know Javier?"

"So funny"

"Now you’ve made a fun out of yourself Javier."

"Where did his guts came from? Challenging someone who always stood at the top alongside the Zenith? "

"That’s what I also wanted to know."

The crowds murmured to each other, their voices loud enough that the referee had to use a voice amplification of the verse-rank spell.

"Zeres and Javier, regardless of the result of this fight, this quarel shall only happen within the academy." The referee stated, then he draw his hand.

"Begin! "

"I’ll kill you you damned vampire! " Javier curseld loudly, then he aimed his wand towards Zeres.

The mana sizzled, the air shifting as a brown magic circle began to appear—slowly.

’Earth affinity? But why is he so slow?’ Zeres’ brow arched, then he moved— too fast for the human eye to follow.

His move left after images in his quake, then all of a sudden, he was already upon Javier— more precisely, his knee had already slammed straight on his face.

Javier’s body crumpled as he skidded back, his spell was dirupted, magic circles shattering before his eyes.

"You’re not listening to the lectured aren’t you? " Zeres said, he picked him up by grabbing his neck—then he threw him.

"Rule of Mages: Deploy a barrier first before you cast you spell— you never know how fast the enemy will be." Zeres mocked.

"You bastard! " Javier shouted, his wand shone once again as a brown magic circle formed slowly.

"Alright, let’s have a battle as mages" Zeres said as he retreated.

He raised his right arm, then his middle and index finger pointed at Javier.

The air around him trembled, mana sizzling like water waiting to erupt.

Just then, a blob of blood appeared before his pointed fingers— then it took the shape of bullet.

"Referee, it’s okay as long as they don’t die right? "