Chapter 80: Free Period (2)

*DING*¹

As the duo of Rudy and Michael ran through the halls, a chime sounded inside his mind, almost stopping him on the spot.

“Did you hear that?” Michael asked, looking around to try find the source of the sound.

“Yeah… it sounded like the chime of a bell.” Rudy replied with confusion.

In the next moment something flashed red in the corner of his eye, an exclamation mark, prompting him to rub his eyes in disbelief.

[New notification]

“New notification? What the hell does that mean?” Rudy asked with confusion.

Michael realized that his friend was also seeing the same thing and suddenly understood, “activate your emblem, it must be a message sent from the academy.” He prompted, doing the same.

As he sent mana to the violet emblem on the back of his palm, there was indeed a message waiting for him.

[Choices for first-year elective classes are due by the end of the week. Please review the list and make your decision through the system before this time—otherwise you will be allocated based on the remaining slots for each class.]

Below the announcement was a list of the elective classes in question.

Magical beast studies, Diplomacy, Ancient Languages and Introduction to Artifact forging.

Michael’s eyes lit up as he saw the Ancient Languages class—his thoughts moving to the pill bottles and scrolls within his storage ring. However, his enthusiasm was quickly doused by a bucket of cold water as he remembered who he’d just met in the halls.

Magnus was coming from Ancient Languages, I’m sure of it… I’m not sure if the classes are combined, but if we’re taking the same classes, there’s a higher chance I’ll bump into him, Michael thought grimly.

“Dude these choices suck.” Rudy assessed, his facial expression not hiding his displeasure.

“I’m going to choose Ancient Languages,” Michael affirmed, his heart set. Even though there was a possibility of him having to deal with Magnus more often, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

If he could read what was on the scrolls, or even identify the pills in his storage ring, it could lead him to a massive discovery.

Of course he had considered turning the items over to the headmaster a few times, but he was worried that they might get taken from him without compensation. Remembering the pain and suffering he had gone through after taking the ring from the dead Violet mage—he lost all sense of charity.

“Huh!? That’s the most boring choice of all!” his friend groaned loudly, causing some of the other students in the hall to look at him weirdly.

“We don’t have to choose the same elective,” Michael reminded him, shaking his head with some exasperation.

“Oh, thank the Arcane. I thought you were going to drag me along…” Rudy exhaled loudly, “if that’s the case, I’ll probably choose the last one. Introduction to Artifact forging.” He nodded.

“Ah, it’s done. That’s one less thing to worry about,” Rudy said, dusting his hands of the matter.

In less than a minute after receiving the notification, the guy had chosen the elective class that he would be taking for the rest of his first-year. To make such a snap decision—not even Michael had expected it.

“Maybe you should have waited a little longer before deciding…” Michael muttered, but Rudy didn’t even hear him.

“I wonder what’s on the menu for dinner tonight?” he asked casually, placing his hands behind his head as he walked. “Do you think there will be more of that magical beast meat? That stuff was so tender.”

This guy doesn’t seem to have a care in the world…

Michael thought, a grin pulling at the corner of his lips.

But he didn’t mind. Rudy’s carefree attitude balanced out his own seriousness, bringing levity to his otherwise stressful life. With all of the political struggles beneath the surface, Michael constantly felt like he needed to be on guard—walking on eggshells.

Yet with his new friend, things seemed simpler. He actually felt like a kid again, someone who didn’t need to think deeply about such heavy subjects—who could just live in the moment.

“You’re a good friend Rudy.” Michael said, seemingly out of the blue, patting him on the shoulder.

“I am?” Rudy asked with surprise. Eventually he shrugged, “If you say so. Anyway, what are we going to do during our free period? I wonder if those training dummy’s are free, I feel like some exercise after sitting through that alchemy class with your fiance.”

Michael chuckled, “Do you really want to risk seeing Professor Quinn again? She might torture you if she finds you messing with her dummy’s.”

Rudy shuddered, “maybe it’s not a good idea then…” he replied. “But what are we meant to do during the free period? Study?” he scoffed, as if the mere mention of such a thing had offended him.

“I daresay that’s the intention of the free period,” Michael replied feeling slightly amused. “Since you’re pretty clueless on mana theory, how about I teach you a few things?”

The guy let out a groan but reluctantly agreed, “As long as you can make it exciting, otherwise I’d rather sit and wait for dinner in the great hall.”

Michael raised his left hand and summoned his mana into a red floating orb that spun in place atop his palm. It was perfectly spherical, its deep red hue reflecting the light from the sun streaming in from the windows.

“Whoa! Can you teach me to do that!?” Rudy gaped, clearly impressed by the flashy display.

Of course this was the mana control technique that Charles had first shown him and later Melody had taught him to use. It was perfect for training one’s control and visualization—two crucial matters when it came to casting spells.

If he could teach Rudy how to do the same, the guy would be on the right track in mana theory, he had no doubt about this.

The problem was, would he have the talent?

“Let’s head back up to the dorm, there’s still just under an hour until our next class.” Michael suggested, dismissing the mana orb with a flick of his wrist.

“Alright!”

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