2441 Cause and Effect (Part 1)
"It's different for me." Marth's shoulders slouched. "Unless another war happens, the power and knowledge I gained by merging with the academy are lost forever. I feel like someone has broken my hands and clouded my mind.
"All that knowledge is still at the fringes of my consciousness but no matter how hard I try, I can't remember a thing. The frustration alone is driving me insane!"
'Now that I think about it, Duke's situation is no different from what I experience every time I fused with Solus. In those moments, I share her genius, her talent for magic, and the power of a mage tower. Lith thought.
'What makes the experience not addictive is the fact that she's there with me. Our minds retain their individuality so our respective powers are just shared, not possessed.
'I wonder if Menadion did it on purpose as a safety measure or if it's just a happy accident. After all, she had an active role in building the academies.'
"Now that I think about it, you didn't seem so distressed during the Gala." He actually said. "What's changed since then?"
"As you just said, it was the Royal Gala. I had a role to fulfill so I was on tranquilizer potions. Also, it wasn't so bad back then. I was too happy enjoying the peace with Ryssa and Dhiral to care about my lost powers.
"It only started to really bug me once I got back to work. Every spell I cast feels wrong and every project that gets proposed to me feels dumb. I know they are flawed, but I can never point out why or how to fix them." Marth replied.
"But enough with my rants." The Headmaster took a sip from an ampule and his features smoothened while his hands stopped trembling. "We are making the Royals wait. Follow me."
Lith's gut twisted as Marth's addiction to potions reminded him of Yurial's after the second exam. Yet he said nothing and followed the Headmaster through a Warp Steps.
'It's just like back then. I can support Duke, but only he can fight his own demons.' Lith searched for any tip or advice he could give to his friend, but they all sounded like hot air, wishful thinking, or both.
"Fu-" Once they emerged on the other side, Lith had to bite his own tongue to stop his usual exclamation.
Marth had brought him to the lecture classroom of the fourth year of the White Griffon where the students would receive the common lessons no matter their specialization courses.
It had a pitched floor and the desks were arranged in a semi-circular shape.
At first glance, it seemed to have a capacity of at least two hundred students. The magical lights had been placed so that there was no shadow in the room, exalting the magnificence of the marble floor.
Usually, one-third of the desks were occupied only at the beginning of the academic year, before the students started to flunk their exams or got expelled for disciplinary reasons.
Now, instead, not only were all the regular desks occupied but also more had been added, leaving almost no free space aside from the bare minimum for the Professor's desk and the blackboard.
The students of the fourth year from all six academies had come to attend the fabled elective course about Void Magic held by the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom. Centuries had passed since there had been a Magus and receiving his teaching in person was a dream come true.
Not a single student had turned down the offer, forcing Marth to resort to the dimensional arrays of the academy to expand the classroom and employ all the spare desks at his disposal.
Right in front of Lith's desk sat the King and Queen while at their right and left sat the six Headmasters of the great academies. Behind them, there were the Professors of the academies and all the Archmages of the Kingdom who had obtained the clearance to attend.
Past them, there were the pitched desks of the students who had been split by their academy of origin. Their colorful uniforms formed a weird six-colored rainbow that extended for the entire width of the classroom.
It wasn't Lith's first rodeo as a teacher, but he was used to speaking in front of a half-empty classroom, not a crowded stadium. The pressure was already overwhelming when the students saluted Lith's arrival by jumping on their feet and giving him a standing ovation.
The Royals and the Archmages reacted with more dignity, slowly standing before joining the crowd without the screams and cheers. Among the students, the girls screamed like it was the concert of their favorite singer.
Some turned their gaze away the moment their eyes met. Most of them, however, just screamed louder in a higher pitch. If not for the presence of the Royals and their Professors, Lith would have been drowned in a rain of contact cards.
He took a deep breath to calm down before raising his hand and activating the silencing arrays of the classroom.
"Good morning, everyone. Today I am Professor Verhen and you are my students. Let's not waste time with titles and honorifics and let's go straight to the point. I'm here to teach you Void Magic and to learn from you.
"This subject has never been imparted before so my textbook might be flawed and my explanations might be lacking. I need your help as much as you need mine so let's work together, shall we?"
Lith lowered his hand and the arrays, prompting another deafening applause.
"I assume every one of you has received a copy of my book, correct?" Lith took his copy out of the pocket dimension while the students raised their own for him to see.
"Excellent. Have you read it?" The room nodded for him to continue, including the Royals. "How many of you have managed to put my teachings into practice?"
Sylpha raised her hand and that was it.
"It seems like we have lots of work to do so let's start right away. You there." Lith pointed at a female student with bright red streaks in her blonde hair. "You have an affinity for fire magic. Did you focus on Void Magic between fire and water?"
The girl squealed in reply, becoming beet red in embarrassment the moment she realized her blunder. She tried to speak, but only a choked sound came out as the excitement quickly turned into a panic attack.
All heads were turned towards her, including her Headmaster. The convened Archmages were glaring at her while her peers pointed their fingers from under their desks, laughing.
"A yes or no will suffice." Lith spoke loud enough to draw the attention to himself and give her a moment of respite.
"Yes." Her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible but the fact that she nodded like a frenzied parrot helped.
"Perfect." Lith replied with a friendly smile. "Do you mind sharing with us what troubles you?"
"I didn't expect to speak in front of so many people, let alone the Royals." She replied in one breath. "Also, you are much more handsome in person than in the videos."
