‡ Chapter 2 ‡
—Jaiharan Mainland / The City of Azamar / Capital of Miarite’s Empire—
“A natural-born lord is possible, as is a natural-born Demi-God. While rare, the phenomenon may happen. Take Ishra, Lord Dianite’s daughter: she was a Demi-God at birth, for her mother was arcane deficient and took half of the power her father had. As was Icelord Alexis, for her parents were Lords, thus resulting in her automatic Lordship. Because of their gifts, these two individuals did not require much training and perfected their abilities at an early age. Many have noted these gifted individuals to be extremely volatile and hostile at times; these claims require additional research to be verified.”
- Lysander, Skylord. (1092). Lordcraft Compendium, ed. 9, vol. 2, ch. 9, Fort Mystral: Skylord Research Center.
Seriously? I’ve been walking for thirty damn minutes trying to find this place. First, they go and tell me that the class is located in the “ES” building. So, naturally, I went to the Earth Science Building located at the far eastern edge of the university, only to find out that that place is labeled ESB. Okay, sure, whatever, it has to be English Studies, right? NO. NO IT’S NOT. I walked all the way to English Studies on the other side of campus and found the only school map actually updated, and—guess what— I’m supposed to be at the Experimental Suite.
Yeah. Experimental Suite. How in the hell was I supposed to know that?
Alright, it’s fine. Whatever. Thirty minutes late can’t be that bad.
I sucked in my pride and opened the door, not giving the professor a glance, before sitting down in the first row—the only seat available. Written on the board, read the words CS-650—the most advanced class I was placed in. It seemed like this was a lab class, considering the tables were in pairs of two. Never mind the fact that nobody sat with me. I put my backpack down on the chair next to me.
“Starting tomorrow, we will be conducting our first experiments. Remember class, I have provided you with the necessary safety equipment; hence, you shall only need to buy the textbook, and any materials you wish to examine on your downtime.” The Professor was a lean man—a good 5’6, with a long neck and skinny arms. He looked a bit scrawny if you asked me. His brown vest looked like it could be pulled a full foot away from him, yet his black slacks seemed a bit more polished. With a white undershirt sticking out of his arms and collar, he looked so offensively like a nerd, the pen on his shirt pocket wasn’t even necessary. Straight overkill with this one. A brown belt, too? All this guy needs is some glasses, and he’d look like the dumbest-smartest person I’d ever met. “Historically, I haven’t handed out many As,” said the Professor, using his nose to speak for him, “so I suspect you all to put in your best effort. My class is designed to be challenging, as it tackles the theoretical framework of—”
The door opened, interrupting the professor. He raised a brow as a young woman entered, swiftly dashing toward my table and pushing my backpack off the chair. “Sorry,” she whispered, and in that second, my heart skipped a beat. What is my luck? She warped time around her, blurring the sound of my backpack hitting the floor and slowing her white hair as she whipped it back.
“It’s okay,” I breathed. Holy shit. Her straight, silky white hair seemed to sparkle in contrast with her smooth skin. She gave a rough, inquiring look, which convinced my head to start looking at random objects around the room. Oh, there’s a funny little beaker-looking thing. Tubes for fluid. Vials, wow, vials. Okay, I wonder what that giant lever does in the back of the room. Is that a window?
“I will be locking my doors starting tomorrow,” the professor stated, his footsteps growing louder. His measly shadow cast over me, and instantly, my face colored red. “Well, since you both are already distracted, you must know what I’m teaching in this class.” I looked up at the professor’s pursed, irritated lips, and from my peripheral vision, I believe the woman next to me was checking her nails. “You both wouldn’t happen to know the theoretical framework of elemental magic and its relationship with Corruption, would you now?”
“Depends, Professor,” the woman answered, letting one hand hold her head. “Do you mean the parasitic nature of Corruption, or Dr. Deviser’s newfound hierarchical findings?”
The Professor straightened his back, wiping that sad look on his face and replacing it with a smile. Shit, this guy is looking right at me now. My body began to heat up. I’m not a part of this. I’m not a part of this. I’m not a part of this. “Why,” he started, “someone has read the syllabus.” He spun on his heel, grabbed the chalk, and placed it on the whiteboard. “You see, students… We will be considering Dr. Deviser’s discoveries in this class,” he wrote down his name in cursive, “partly because I am him,” he chuckled like a gremlin. Dr. Deviser. “Let’s get this started now.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as his ramblings switched to the introduction of the class. He went over which units we’d be covering, the breakthroughs he’s excited to talk about, and the days we couldn’t miss lab. During which time, he needed to check on his clipboard, and that was when I whispered to the woman, “Thanks for saving me, I had no idea what he was talking about. I came in late, too.”
I expected her to laugh, but she just analyzed my face and rather plainly said, “You’re welcome.”
“I’m Fer—”
“Nando. I know. I’m Ishra.”