"Everyone, quiet down, before we begin class we have a new student who transferred in to introduce."
The teacher waved her arms, trying to get everyone's attention until the general noise of the room quieted to a dull roar. There were a few moments of initial silence, however shortly after her announcement the class all began talking loudly, speculating amongst themselves about who would transfer in during the last year of school
"We're getting a new student?!" Erin's best friend Olivia rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Think of all the money I could make if I get the scoop on their story and sell it around!"
"Don't bother them." Erin muttered in reply, rolling her eyes at her friend's money obsessed strategies. She glanced around uncomfortably at the class, noticing that a few students who had been at the practice grounds yesterday were looking sidelong at her.
No, there's ten different classes at our level, even if he transferred in, there's no way my luck is that bad... Just as Erin was thinking this, however, a familiar young man walked into the room.
"Hello everyone!" Gerald waved cheerfully at the class, causing many in the class to sigh in admiration. Erin buried her head in her hands wondering if it was too late to call in sick for the day.
He wouldn't mention the proposal thing again in class right?
The teacher smiled at the new arrival. "Hello there, welcome to our class. Please introduce yourself."
Gerald squared his shoulders, making a bow towards the class. "I am Prince Geraldo de Riciancia of the Ellurine Alliance." He straightened up, contrasting the previous formal gesture with a casual grin. "Feel free to call me Gerald though."
"Alright Gerald, is there anything you would like to tell the class about yourself? Perhaps a goal that you wish to accomplish?" The teacher prodded the new student, making Erin groan in frustration.
Please don't say to get married to me... please don't say to get married to me....
"To learn as much as I can, and apply it when I return home, and make my nation stronger and more prosperous." Gerald's serious expression startled Erin, who had been viewing him as a fairly silly person.
I guess I judged him to quickly. She thought ruefully. I can't believe I was so conceited as to think he would declare he wanted to marry me in front of the class...
"And of course my other goal is to marry Erin and bring her back to my country as the strongest bride in the history of the Ellurine Alliance!" He was smiling again, looking at Erin with bright, innocent gaze.
Kill me now. Erin put her head down on her desk, trying to ignore the stares and exclamations of all the surrounding students.
"Umm... How... straightforward, Gerald... Why don't you have a seat, and we'll get started with class." The teacher was obviously confused at Gerald's declaration of his intentions, but trying to move past it. Gerald nodded and moved forward to sit down at the empty seat between Erin and Olivia.
"You witch! How dare you get engaged to a handsome prince and not even tell me! I'm cutting you off!" Olivia pouted as she studied Gerald with a curious gaze.
"We're not engaged, Olivia." Erin sighed as she spoke, rubbing her forehead.
"Not yet at least! But I haven't given up yet. Now... Olivia, was it?" Gerald chimed in, reaching out to grasp the smaller girl's hand. "Are you a friend of my future wife?"
She looked slightly dazed as she took his hand in her own and shook it. "Best friend, actually."
"So I have to do my best to get on your good side then!"
"Ooh, I like him!" She laughed and gave a thumbs up gesture to Erin, who ignored her.
"Quiet, class, we're beginning the lesson now." The teacher rapped on the desk a few times to gather everyone's attention, and then started to speak regarding magic relativity.
Erin tried her hardest to listen, but unfortunately, she already knew this material very well. She noticed that Gerald was writing notes diligently throughout the lesson, while Olivia spent most of the class trying to send her paper notes using her wind magic behind her back. Erin silently gathered them, and then incinerated them to ashes without reading them with fire magic. She ignored the death glares that Olivia sent her afterwards.
Finally it was self study time. Gerald turned to face her with an excited expression.
"Can we start the tutoring now?"
Erin looked away from his puppy dog eyes. "Why in so much of a rush?"
"Well, although my nation is very advanced with regards to nurturing magical abilities, the theory and science that goes behind magical advancement as well as artifact creation and use are simply non-existent there." He clasped his hands in front of him. "You're my only hope!"
She rolled her eyes. "No need to be so dramatic, I've already accepted your money for tutoring sessions."
"Hooray!"
"Hold it!" Olivia jumped in, her eyes wide. "So you're using the old 'please tutor me' trick to get closer to my best friend, eh?"
He shook his head. "No, I desperately need help with the material, she's the top scorer in the school in magical theory. Even if I weren't proposing to her, I would have asked for her help."
He paused, thinking it over. "Although I have to admit it is a great chance to get to know her better."
"You know..." Olivia grinned. "I'm the best resource in this school regarding all the Erin trivia you would want to know."
"Shouldn't I learn that from her?"
"Well, all the major stuff yes, that's for bonding. But the small things, like her favorite colors, favorite gifts, date ideas... you need someone with the inside scoop!"
Gerald's eyes widened. "I hadn't thought of that." He stood up and bowed before the girl. "Olivia, will you be my teacher with regards to courting your best friend?"
She stuck out a hand. "It will cost you."
Erin felt she had to stop this, as the poor guy was already searching his pockets for cash. "Olivia, what are you doing?! You can't sell information about me! And Gerald, don't let yourself be taken advantage of so easily!" She placed her hands on her hips and glared. "Do I make myself clear?"
They both hung their heads down. "Yes, Erin."
"Good, now let's start the tutoring session."
She pulled out a piece of paper, drawing as she spoke. "Starting from the basics. Magical theory all comes down to two major concepts: capacitance and induction speed. Capacitance is the amount of magical power a person has at their disposal." She drew two circles, one large and one small.
"Think of it like a body of water. You know that a level 1 fire ability might be able to shoot sparks or light dry wood. Now a level 4 would be able to burn this whole school down without breaking a sweat." She pointed to the large circle. "The capacitance of a level 4 compared to a level 1 is like a lake next to a puddle of water."
Gerald raised his hand diligently. She chuckled at the sight. "Yes?"
"What about the capacitance of a level 5?"
She grinned. "It would be like an ocean compared to these two. A level 5 fire ability could turn the whole country to ashes."
He nodded and turned to Olivia. "So your healing abilities would be considered quite rare then?"
She raised her eyebrows. "How did you know I have level 4 healing abilities?"
Erin shook her head. "He has Insight."
"That's how I know that Erin is the strongest student in this school, and is the perfect bride."
Olivia snorted. "At least you have good taste."
"Continuing on!" Erin interrupted, coughing uncomfortably. " Induction speed in the time it takes to utilize your magic." She drew pipes next to the two circles. "Think of it has a pipe to pump out the water. The faster your induction speed, the more magic you can use in a single spell."
Olivia smiled. "So even lower capacitance magicians can be more effective if they have a higher induction speed."
"Exactly."
"Of course, both of these factors will change throughout your life, but the time of the most rapid change is during puberty, typically age 13-19." Erin shrugged, drawing arrows within the circles pointing outwards. "People experience the relatively the same amount of energy exerting their capacitance and induction speed to grow during this time, so this has a much greater effect on people with lower level abilities."
Gerald nodded, writing notes. "Why is that?"
"The smaller container of magic, experiencing the same amount of energy, will be forced to grow more to accommodate that. So a Level 1 ability may grow 1-2 levels during adolescence, whereas it is very rare for a level 3 or above ability to change levels at all."
Gerald was silent for a few moments. "What if you could forcibly restrict a higher level power to a level 1 power, would you then experience greater growth during that period of time?"
Erin felt the blood drain from her face. He guessed it. She looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze, trying desperately to think of an excuse.
"Don't be silly Gerald, there's no such ability like a 'restricting' power!" Olivia laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Could you imagine the impact such a power could have on our military? We depend on magic to defend ourselves! If you could simply restrict someone's ability..." She shuddered. "It would be chaos."
Gerald smiled, but it didn't quite seem as sincere as his earlier expressions. "I see. That was a foolish question." He turned back to Erin. "I apologize."
"N-No that's' umm... that's ok." Erin shook her head, and continued on with the lecture.
The study time ended without further incident, and at the end of the class, the teacher made an announcement.
"Everyone! Please be aware that there have been several incidents of students found unconscious on school grounds." She shook her head. "I will remind you all that unsanctioned dueling is NOT allowed. Now, report to the practice field for the remainder of your practical training."
Erin walked forward to hand in the previous weeks assignment, and when she headed back to her desk she saw Gerald and Olivia sitting together. Olivia was lecturing while Gerald was furiously taking notes. Erin leaned over, groaning when she saw the contents of his paper. She snatched it up, reading it.
"Erin's favorite foods?" She sighed. "Olivia, what did I tell you about selling my information?"
"Oh don't worry, I didn't charge him." Her friend took the paper back and handed it to Gerald. "I've decided to whole heartedly support your love."
Gerald held the paper tightly, his eyes shining. "Thanks Olivia!" He turned back to Erin. "I have your friend's approval! Makes you really rethink this whole 'not marrying me' thing right?"
"No."
Olivia patted him on the back. "It's ok. Try harder next time." She grinned. "With my support it's only a matter of time before you win her over!"
"Stop playing around guys, we have to go to the practice field." With a sigh Erin dragged the two of them behind her, heading out to the field.
As they all lined up, Olivia headed off to the sidelines with a wave. As her abilities were all healing oriented, she was excused from dueling, and was charged with healing all the participants of battle. Gerald smiled and held out a hand. "Would you like to duel?"
Erin shook her head. "You've seen the extend of my battling abilities, you would be better off facing one of the higher ranking students."
"I don't think I can find a stronger student though..."
"What nonsense!" A strident voice called out, interrupting their conversation. "She's the lowest ranked student in the Academy!" A young man walked up, a prideful expression on his face. Immediately behind him stood Wilhemina, who glared at Erin smugly over his shoulder.
He held out a hand towards Gerald. "I'm Frederick de Rochester, the top student in this academy."
The prince stared cooly at his outstretched hand, not moving to take it. "Prince Gerald. Can I help you? You're interrupting a private conversation."
"..." There was an awkward pause as the smile slowly slipped from Frederick's face. As the student council president, there weren't many students at this school who didn't treat him like royalty. Erin found that her opinion of Gerald just improved a bit. She smiled at him and continued their conversation.
"I'd be happy to duel you."
The prince's face lit up, "Really? That's great! Winner gets to marry the loser?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Don't bother."
He shrugged. "It was worth a shot."
They were about to take up positions in the practice field, when Erin felt a strange fluctuation of power off to the side. It felt like...
Oh no.
Using all the physical strength she could manage, as well as a gust of wind magic, she pushed herself towards Gerald, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground... Just as a flash of fire magic passed over their heads. The edges of it brushed past Erin, burning through her uniform and scorching her shoulder. Her breath came out between clenched teeth as the pain of the burned flesh hit.
"What the heck are you doing?!" She turned and glared at the attacking individual, Frederick.
"Just a friendly prank, Princess, no need to get worked up." The boy's grin was nasty. "If you two are strong enough to brush off the student council, then you should be strong enough to fight us."
That's it!
Something within Erin snapped, and she launched herself forward at three times her normal speed. She felt a tearing pain as she forced more magic than the restriction spell allowed out into the world.
Frederick's eyes widened. "What the..." He didn't have any other time to react before Erin's fist struck him in the face. He went flying, filling Erin with satisfaction. She was about to attack again, when the pain from rebelling against the restriction went from a bad headache to feeling as if her head was being cut open. With a groan, she fell to the ground, clutching her head between her hands.
"Erin!" Gerald's concerned shout didn't reach her, as her eyes glazed over with the pain.
"Think you can get away with hitting me? Try dodging this." Her vision blurry, she could barely make out the sight of Frederick standing over her, his face enraged, his hand coated in flames as he prepared to attack her.
It's over.
Erin could tell the power behind the attack would be lethal. She wanted to dodge out of the way, but still the rebound from the restriction spell held her firmly in place.
Am I going to die here?
Just as she thought that, however, a shout startled everyone, pulling the attention away.
"HELP! A student's been attacked near the dorms!!!"
Frederick sent a final glare at Erin, before extinguishing his flame and turning towards the commotion.
"This isn't over, Worthless Princess." He muttered, rubbing his bruised face as he stalked away.
She watched him walk away, breathing through the intense pain in her head until it slowly faded.
I lost again.
"You're right. This isn't over." She muttered, resting her head back on the ground. "Not yet."