The next few hours were quite a slog. The lesson itself had been illuminating, cementing the idea in Percy’s mind that pre-casting was a valuable technique to master. Even though it wasn’t immediately applicable to his spells, he knew it was only a matter of time until he found a use for it.

Sadly, he’d also made a complete fool of himself in front of the others. His classmates ran circles around him, practicing far more advanced exercises with ease. Meanwhile, he struggled with even the simplest tasks.

‘Cut me some slack, will you?’ he grimaced. ‘You’ve been doing this crap for months. I only learned about this an hour ago…’

Currently, he was trying to stabilize the mana in his core. Normally, the air mana flitted about playfully – a key feature of this affinity. Suffice to say, forcing it to stand still went directly against its nature. Once mastered, it could potentially allow Percy to add a slightly different flavour to his wind spells than what air magic was traditionally known for.

Passing the knowledge to Micky might benefit him, but this wasn’t why Percy had chosen this avenue to pursue. Rather, he figured that reining in the wild aspects of air mana was good training for his eventual goal of forming stable runes inside his cores.

“Son, I’ll be blunt.” the teacher said, watching his fumbling attempts with a disappointed frown. “Your current level won’t cut it in Pre-casting 4. I suggest you drop the subject for now. If you’re still interested, I’d recommend practicing on your own for a few terms and taking the course next year.”

Percy smiled bitterly, not disagreeing with the instructor’s assessment. But this wasn’t an option – he couldn’t stay here that long.

“Thanks for the honesty, sir. I’ll do my best to make up for my deficiencies.”

The teacher sighed, moving to the next student. He offered him some words of encouragement, clearly more pleased with him. Though Percy couldn’t shake the feeling there was more to the man’s disapproval of him than merely his subpar performance.

‘Don’t tell me Leo managed to piss off the teachers too…’

It was around noon when the instructor ended the lesson, after reiterating the key points one last time.

Percy ignored the pitying looks of his classmates, not letting his blunders weigh on him too heavily. He had expected nothing less out of his first day, given how abruptly he’d found himself thrust in the middle of the academic year. Besides, it wouldn’t be his first time overcoming stacked odds…

‘More importantly, I need to get the hell out of here while Lyn is still distracted.’

he reminded himself.

He hurriedly packed up his belongings, stuffing everything into his satchel before slipping out the door. Fortunately, Lyn was busy chatting with a friend.

Just as he thought he’d made a clean escape, however, someone intercepted him in the hallway.

“Leo! Are you free right now?” Klatz called.

Percy frowned. These kids just wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Are you stalking me?” he asked dryly.

Klatz flashed him a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head.

“I wouldn’t call it stalking… Look, I’m sorry if I came on too strong the other night. We’re just worried about you. Me and Lyn both. You shouldn’t let what happened last year ruin your whole life…”

Percy nodded, outwardly accepting the explanation while internally dissecting the boy’s words. Truth be told, he knew something major had happened to his host at some point. From what he’d pieced together, Leo had once been a model student – smart, hardworking, and well-liked. Then, everything changed.

As far as he could tell, it had something to do with Mana Flow. Unlike most other things the academy taught, the technique required years to master. They had the students work on it throughout their studies, in parallel to the other courses. Occasionally, they brought in guest lecturers to demonstrate key parts of the technique, to allow the students to move on to the next step.

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‘Something must’ve gone wrong during one of those lectures.’ Percy had realized.

Leo hadn’t explicitly mentioned this in his diary, so it was largely speculation on Percy’s part. Still, the signs were clear. Leo never wrote what happened on that day, but all the diary entries had noticeably shifted in tone since then.

For one, he never even mentioned

Mana Flow again. He withdrew from his friends, developed severe insomnia and ignored his plummeting grades. Whatever had happened, it had chipped away at him emotionally, leading him down the spiral of addiction, ultimately causing his untimely death.

“Thanks for caring.” he said. “I guess I just haven’t been feeling like myself lately, but the past few days have been different. You really don’t have to worry about me.”

Before Klatz could respond, Percy was already moving past him. Unfortunately, the delay had given Lyn enough time to catch up.

“Leo! Are you running off again? Let’s grab lunch and take a stroll through the garden. I really think some fresh air would do you good!” she called out.

Glancing back, he saw her giving him a pleading, puppy-eyed look. Klatz appeared no less concerned.

Percy sighed.

“Fine. But only for an hour. You heard the teacher – I have lots of work to do before next term starts.”

‘I hope I don’t regret this…’ he thought to himself.

It should be fine, right? This was an opportunity to learn how to get more food. And, if nothing else, he’d wanted to check the garden out since he first saw it.

***

Percy followed Klatz and Lyn in silence as they led him to the cafeteria. Apparently, every student was entitled to at least one free meal per day. He wasn’t sure about dinner, but at least he wouldn’t have to rely solely on his host’s dwindling stash of snacks.

Even better, he figured out how to restock those too. The cafeteria had something called a vending machine where students scanned an enchanted card and selected items from a panel.

‘Ah… so that’s what that thing was for…’ he realized, recalling a card like that among Leo’s belongings.

He hadn’t brought it with him, so he’d have to return here later. He should check his remaining balance too. Hopefully, Leo had enough money to last through the term.

Once they got their meals in paper boxes, Lyn practically dragged him outside, eager to make the most of their limited time. To his surprise, hanging out with them wasn’t the worst thing. The kids were genuinely kind, as was everyone else he’d met so far. Well… maybe not towards him, specifically, but in general…

The garden was even prettier up close too. The flowers swayed softly under a gentle breeze, their fragrance filling the air. Percy inhaled deeply, committing the scent to memory. It wasn’t often that his clones ended up somewhere nice.

Walking along the cobblestone path, the trio quietly dug into their meals. Some pink noodles that tasted like cabbage, dipped in some spicy sauce and sprinkled with pieces of mincemeat.

‘I wonder what happened in that lecture to derail Leo’s life so completely…’

He just couldn’t make sense of it. The academy seemed like the perfect place. Well-run and well-funded. Everyone was polite, and the curriculum was both accessible and rich in valuable knowledge. Leo had clearly been thriving here until that moment.

“…is it true they’re bringing in another guest lecturer at the end of next term?” a nearby student asked.

The words sent a ripple of tension through the group. Lyn and Klatz exchanged worried glances, knowing this was a sour topic. They softly guided Percy away, careful not to let him overhear too much.

Of course, Percy wanted to roll his eyes. He wasn’t Leo, nor was he bound by his host’s trauma. If anything, he was curious to find out more about this. Had he been alone, he would have stayed to listen. Instead, he had to let himself be pulled along, playing his role.

‘At any rate, I need to go to that lecture… Mana Flow might be the most valuable thing to learn here.’

This wasn’t empty speculation on his part either. He hadn’t been able to find much on the topic, as the academy seemed to prefer that the students learned about it exclusively during the guest lectures. However, what little he’d learned had been plenty to pique his interest.

Mana Flow appeared to be another boosting art, bearing striking similarities to Circulation. This was the first time Percy ever stumbled upon another spell like it, in fact. The reason it took students so long to master it, was precisely because they had to train their bodies and clear their channels before they could even begin to practice it.

With that in mind, Percy had finally pinpointed what had bugged him since he examined Leo’s body. Apparently, the boy’s mana channels were all tempered already!

Suffice to say, he was used to having a complete mana network with his real body. Two of them, in fact. But not his clones. That was why he’d subconsciously felt something out of place, though it hadn’t really clicked until he made the connection.

‘I should learn to use Circulation with this body before then.’

It wouldn’t be hard, as he already had everything he needed. His body was ready for it, and he even knew the correct pattern for the air affinity, having helped Micky discover it. Obviously, he’d need a few days to adapt it to Leo’s physiology, and to familiarize himself with it, but it shouldn’t take as long as his other studies.

‘If everything goes to plan, I might be able to merge the two spells!’

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