Algernon Black

(Chapter 31) As Well as We Can

Lucy considered Punditwood's words all through the lunch break between classes and into her next, wondering what her goal could be. Anything could be a goal, but why did it feel like she didn't have one good enough?

"Welcome to my class, dears." Lucy's final professor sang as she floated through the aisle of students. Creation magic was taught on the same day as Punditwood's class by professor Opperwood. She had a very unique clothing style with many layers and colors and did so as a sign of respect to the goddess of creation. Even her hair, which was natural white, was dyed bright pink. "It is my pleasure and privilege to show you all the power and beauty lying in the gifts the great goddess of creation endowed in us."

"Whoopie," Wilham said sarcastically. Lucy sat behind him next to Freya. The desks only held two students each, and Pecilia sat next to Algernon who she was carefully monitoring after the atrocious behavior he had displayed lately.

"I'm sorry young man, do you have an opinion you would like to share?" Opperwood asked with her fist resting on her cocked hip.

"Its just creation magic isn't so important." Wilham declared. 

Pecilia rolled her eyes at her friend's rudeness. It was often said amongst the younger crowd that creation was the least useful magic because it was much slower and less powerful, but the easiest to master. Practitioners specialized in creation magic often went to do labor jobs or ran the defensive lines in battles in position that didn't hold the glory that killing the enemy did. 

"Feels like a waste to have an entire class on it."

"Then please allow me to enlighten you." Opperwood said, bending down to put her hands on the ground where the floor started lifting up towards Wilham's seat until it gained so much momentum it looked like a tidal wave of marble.

It all happened in a matter of seconds and even before Wilham could process his shock, the attack was at the brim of his nose. 

Opperwood stopped the attack at the second before it hit the boy and recalled it. And as the wave of marble moved backward all settled perfectly back into place.

When Lucy looked down, she saw no difference in the floor and had never seen such powerful or flawless creation magic before as anytime she or Jared ever reshaped something using creation magic it always led to permanent alterations. But the floor was pristine, perhaps even better than before as any dust or dirt on its surface was reworked into the stone.

"Still think it's useless?" Opperwood asked her hand on a very cocked hip.

Wilham just sat up straighter with a sudden bit more interest in the topic.

"Before you dismiss the goddess of creation, why don't you consider how abundant and powerful she is. From the skin on your hands to the mountain under our feet, all of it formed from one source." Opperwooods smiled to see her class won over. "King Levithan understood the importance of our goddess. It is said that before he became a vessel, he specialized in creation magic and when he built Attwood, he made sure to build the shrine of the goddess of creation first. He understood how important her blessings were to humanity and believed that those blessings were meant to be passed onto only the most gifted and worthy of us."

"If only that were still true." One of the girls behind Lucy said under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. Most of them laughed, and Lucy sank into herself. She didn't have to meet the eyes of her classmates to know they were looking at her, but the slight stung more than the fresh burn on her palms.

"Well," Opperwood said, staring in Lucy's direction. She herself hadn't really formed an opinion on the low-born girl, but if it disrupted her class, it would be a problem. "The point is that we need to appreciate her as much as we need to learn how to master her gifts." Her true concerns were any incompetence of Lucy's abilities would been seen as a reflection of her poor teaching, and as the newest addition to the school didn't really want the headache of worrying over her. "As well as you can."

Lucy met the teacher's eyes to see the look of doubt behind her expression, the lack of faith that teachers weren't supposed to have in their students. She never doubted herself as much as she did at this school, where everyone considered her a failure before she even had the chance to try.