A New Dawn 53 An Incredibly Hard Tes

It has already been a week since Leilade entered the Academy of Magic and got used to the customs in it. During that time, the generous meals she ate three times a day helped her recover enough magic to prevent the decay of the most harmed souls inside the Vault. At the same time, she could finally extend the darkness inside her a bit further than just her own body. But there was no good news about the awakening of Chief Lucio or any other spirits. In the middle of the night, she received a transmission from Malakov describing in better details the tale of the 13th Hero. Also, she realized that the bandits she saw while riding the gryphon was probably part of that, so-called, Organization. Otherwise, the merchants wouldn't have happily chat with the criminals.

Standing up a little before dawn, as usual, she descended to reach the canteen and reap her daily source of mana. Inside it, like every day, she saw the group of three doing the same thing while staring at her. Past the first day where the harpy tried to make her submit and the old man Moo tried to understand the deal she made with the Magus Alexander, she was a lot more inconspicuous. Because of this, the hostility she received because of what she supposedly did to the princess Istuienn and even her very behavior faded. The descendants of magus still looked at her weirdly, but the red moron and his idiotic lover didn't even remember her.

As expected, she was the first to finish, even when she had three times the amount of food, and she left without waiting. In this early hour, the number of awakened humans was very low and the corridors leading her toward the cla.s.sroom were mostly deserted. But today will be the first day where they could take the test to finally get rid of the old hag that was teaching them proper etiquette and history. Besides the 13th Hero apparently. At the same time, Leilade realized that the amount of information related to either the Black Gauntlet or the White Hand was weirdly low.

Even if that magnificent Academy emphases greatly on national unity, patriotic sentiments and also the fact that they could forge their own destiny, it was impossible that no one succ.u.mbed to the dark side. Whether it was something lunatic like the Church of Torment or something more materialist, like the Organization. In that sense, it was logical that they talked very little about the two, probably only proper magicians, properly brainwashed and indoctrinated, would have access to that type of information.

Leilade showed her card to the door and the latter opened. Only in the first day would the student card be deactivated, probably to let the teacher has the initiative. But after that, she often arrived first, even if the course was in more than 30 minutes. Normally, the group of three will arrive a few minutes earlier than the angry magician and as expected they did. After the initial stares, nothing was exchanged between the four of them and the same interaction was reproduced when Ella Romba finally opened the door.

For the latter, the less she interacted with that cold weirdo in the back or the three smug b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in front, the better she felt. After the three first sessions, she understood that they knew everything she was teaching. On the other hand, she particularly loved the fact that, while the princess had proper conduct, she was clueless concerning outside matters. Meaning that Istuienn couldn't help the red-haired commoner when she tortured him. Even with the special sessions he received from the daughter of the Sword Saint, he couldn't ingurgitate all that knowledge in such a short amount, making her a bit happy. Until the two were successful at her test, she concentrated all her efforts in making their lives miserable.

Because it was the last day where they were forced to be here, Leodagan Arastil was staring at the old mage, taunting her to give them the test. The two siblings were more reserved and not showing off like the boy, but they were nonetheless awaiting the same thing. Due to the fact that they were only 5 of them present, Ella was getting a little bit uncomfortable having nearly everyone staring at her. If it was out of fear, she would have been delighted, but it was not the case. Opening a drawer from her desk, she took out a huge stack of papers with anger.

"Scram your little a.s.ses to the top, I want to be done with you as much as you would dream to leave this cla.s.sroom. Because you arrived earlier, it is fair for you to start earlier. Take it and don't make a noise, I am watching you!"

She handed 4 pieces of paper to each child and let them gather the ink and the feather for writing. Because everything for basic education was free, in every room, there were the instruments needed for the task. For most of the courses, it was useless to have ink or paper, because no one was allowed to take note. But for learning how to create basic inscriptions and her course that taught how to write, it was a necessity.

"Not because you know we will be done before you finish anyway?" Leodagan couldn't help himself but dig a pit to be thrown in. He thought it would probably a good idea to mock the old hag, but the only thing he received was a frozen pot of ink and an evil smile at his intention. The moment he began to stand up and get another one, he saw Ella ready to freeze it again.

"Try me again!" This time, it was the teacher that was jeering at the young boy and the contest of stare would have kept going if another group of kids didn't enter the room. The old magician had no choice but to return to her desk, but she already accomplished what she wanted. Leodagan knew that she could ruin his test entirely if he kept resisting, so he returned to his place and his a small [Fire] to warm the pot slowly. He probably will waste a dozen minutes doing this, but it was the only thing to do.

Shaking her head at the sight of such childish behavior, Leilade was already checking everything on the numerous papers she received. She had no idea how much she should answer correctly to be considered as succeeding and she was certain that the mage Romba won't tell them anyway. Nearly everything that she learned from the library was asked. The history of the kingdom, when it was created, the numerous threats that appeared, namely the dark G.o.ds. The neighbors of that nation, where they were, the fact that Genablum was their only ally but not from the beginning.

She could easily have answered that test with precise statements, but it would still be a little bit unlikely for a kid to be like that. Following the pieces of advice of the Viscount, she limited her vocabulary to only words that a kid could have heard. "Nothing could pry her away from this spot; only supper now could beckon her" she thought of that sentence that literally no one would ever use. If she answered using that type of words, she was certain that they will investigate whether her body was taken by a demon or just the reincarnation of a Hero.

In the end, even after everyone arrived and the harpy began to happily torture Ronald, they were the only four that tried to escape this room as soon as possible. She saw some that looked at them earnestly, but because Ella was trying to be as noisy as possible, they didn't dare to attempt the test. Even Leodagan was sweating a bit because he was regularly perturbed by the shenanigans of the teacher.

Looking at the calm Owen, Leilade noticed that he was already on the fourth page. She already finished a few minutes ago, but because it was impossible to answer so quickly, she decided to wait a bit. From afar, someone could mistake her as writing something, but she made sure that the feather was void of any ink and the tip of it never touched the paper. When the calmest of the three kids nearby finally finished with a smile on his face, she was already in front of Ella handing her sheets. Owen, like her sister Jorien and even Leodagan, had his mouth agape seeing this.

First of all, someone had the courage of walking in the middle of the cla.s.s, interrupt Ella and hand her the paper like it was normal. In fact, every child was staring at Leilade like she was either a madwoman or a G.o.ddess. The stunned elder mechanically took what Leilade was handing her and saw the latter leave the room without looking back. For the next seconds, no one moved and the information finally reached the old brain of the woman, making her furious. In all those years, no one, no one even the brother of that brainless Leodagan dared to do something like that.

Seeing the magician fuming so much that it would not be impossible to see some vapors leaking from her ears, Owen decided to wait for the end before doing the same. Actually, he thought that he would be the first to finish and that he would just raise his hand to signal that fact. His proudness at easily answering everything was gone and not even the fact that Jorien or Leodagan were barely starting the third sheet was enough to recover from the initial shock. He realized that in the past week, he had gradually forgotten the very existence of Leilade, since she had adopted a very low-profile att.i.tude.

Because Leilade had finished earlier and was finally getting rid of that useless thing, she suddenly encountered a small problem in her schedule. She had too much time now. She had managed to read nearly all the books available to students and had caused the lazy magician in charge to regularly leave his comfy seat just to make her leave the room. In other words, she had become a nuisance for him and every time he was awake when she entered the library, he threw her some dark stares. Like the one she was getting right now. The hour or so of free time will allow her to read the few layers of books still untouched by her.

When Leilade closed the very last book of the pile near her, she noticed the same librarian staring at her angered. This time, she was surprised by the fact that he was not sleeping and snoring. He kept his sight fixed on her while she returned the books to their original places, prompting her to question his behaviour.

"What is it?"

"You come a lot here. Especially when it's often time to close the room. So you have read a lot I suppose? Maybe everything?" Even his elocution was as slow and lazy as himself. As for his question, Leilade rolled her eyes after hearing it. What a surprise for her, someone came a lot in a room filled with books and with many underground floors, and that very person read them. Trying to not be as sarcastic as she felt inside, she answered plainly.

"Yes."

"Good, now you have learned enough to never come back here." He then turned back and prepared himself to enter a well-reserved sleep. After that encounter as productive as a mute shouting for help, Leilade headed toward the room where her favorite teacher was. Since she had only two of those, it was not very hard to beat the old hag.