Academy days, p.11
Academy Days, page 11
part #2 of Demon Princess Magical Chaos Series
After lunch, I have a slightly easier time to convince Kamii that we have to split up again. She understands that we're not far from each other and that we'll have a lot of time together after classes are finally over. At that time, I'd also love to hear about her experiences in the dark magic lessons, especially since I'm interested to know how many of the students there are cursed or maybe even demons.
The little dark elf repeatedly turns around with a frown as she has to go to the dungeon of the academy building for Defense Against Dark Magic all alone because I'm going out to the field with Hestia again. I think her main peeve is the fact that the angel girl can stay with me, while she has to leave.
Back out on the practice field, I find that not all the students from the previous two classes are present and there are several new ones. Drills and one of her followers are though, while they lost one of the two whose names I don't even know. The two mischievous boys aren't here either.
The professor is a woman in her early twenties with short vermillion hair that is kept short and spiky in the back, while left longer in the front and on the sides. Her bangs cover her forehead and eyebrows and reach down to her sharp eyes, which glare with piercing golden pupils across the class like a predator. The staff held firmly in her hand is made from a beautiful red wood, and the top part is carved in the shape of a winged dragon. She's both a wind and fire mage, evidenced by the two rubies for eyes and the white crystal between the dragon's jaws.
"So you're Chloe Marcott." She walks closer and addresses me in an almost unfriendly tone while glancing at Hestia. I notice that all her teeth appear to be sharpened, but with lips unfamiliar to smiles, one doesn't see much of them. She has a slightly androgynous face, so her stoic look makes her come across as a cool beauty that would have girls falling for her - somewhat like me in my previous life.
"I'm Dregana Tarragon. If you need any help, feel free to ask."
The way she delivers that pleasantry makes it sound like it's just that to her, as the tone isn't pleasant at all.
And her teaching methods are as unrelenting as her golden stare. She apparently heard from Liv that we learned Ventus, so she's using wind magic to levitate balls, which the students have to deflect in turn. It's like I'm watching telekinetic dodgeball, with the one throwing the balls being unapologetically violent about it. Several of the boys take shots to the face or where it hurts even more, but she only points out their flaws and failures in a matter of fact tone.
During Dregana's training with the other students, she keeps turning her head to us and glaring at Hestia, to the point where the latter takes her distance from me and keeps her head down eventually. I thought the Fata was a special existence, but maybe she's as much an outcast as Kamii is? The difference between how the students and this teacher treat her is quite striking though.
I'm surprised to see that when it's Drills' turn, she seems to have improved her control over Ventus. Even at the very end of the first class, she hadn't learned how to use it properly, but I guess the melding lesson opened up her mind to a different approach. She manages to deflect the balls several times, though some graze her shoulders and legs. Ultimately, she takes one to the center of her chest and goes down gasping for air, but quickly picks herself back up and joins the others that have been hit wordlessly.
Unexpectedly, she isn't complaining and taking the harsh lesson with dignity, just like all the other students. I have to give her credit for that and reconsider my impression of her being a spoiled rich brat that only cares for her own wellbeing and status.
Finally, it's my turn, and I step forward under the watchful eyes of everybody, and the golden glare of the professor.
"Ventus Fortior!" Swinging her staff around with one hand, as if to guide one of the floating balls, Dregana chants in a commanding tone. That's an addition to the spell we learned this morning, and apparently, it makes it much more powerful. She has been using it a few times on those who have been able to defend against her better than others but is going for it against me from the very beginning. It's clear that she doesn't like me, and I can imagine the reason.
"Ventus!" I shout just in time for the ball to get deflected. There was no leeway for me to try and control the flow, and it still only went off course enough to not hit me. I think she's seriously trying to hurt me.
"Good." Even though it's a word of praise, Dregana's expression suggests otherwise. "Again. Ventus Fortior!"
"Ventus!" Without giving me a moment's rest, she shoots another ball at me with an even more powerful burst of air, and I counter it with my own. At first, I thought I could maybe use this class to try melding, but this feels like an attempted public execution.
I don't get any mercy, as she keeps shooting at an ever-faster rate, and I have barely any time to chant in response. Is this even meant to teach me something or is she just trying to hit me? Her serious expression doesn't give me any indicators as to her mood, but she may be growing frustrated that I've been able to avoid getting even grazed, let alone hit.
"Grandor Ventus Procursus!" Suddenly, Dregana uses an entirely new spell, and there's an audible explosion as three balls fly towards me at the same time.
"Ventus Fortior!" I try out the spell that she has been using so far, and physically dodge at the same time. Even though they're flying at breakneck speed, they shouldn't do much harm to my malleable body. But I can't show to the students that I'm a demon - although I'm absolutely certain that the professor knows and is doing this precisely because of that fact.
Air bursts out from where I concentrate on, and one of the balls heading for me explodes from the air pressure acting on it from two sides. Another is deflected off course, but the third grazes my shoulder. I feel the impact travel through my bones, and there's a nasty popping sound which suggests my shoulder was dislocated.
I could easily heal the damage by transforming only the affected body part back into its real form once, before reforming the human shoulder. Since it's covered by clothes, nobody would see it. The problem is that the sound was quite telling, and everybody should have heard it, so I can't just act like I'm completely fine.
Luckily - or not - I'm quite experienced with dislocated shoulders, because it happened to me several times in my previous life. Four times during training, when I collided with somebody, three times were when I ran into telephone poles after being distracted by an onlooker during marathons, and a few more times when falling out of bed or down the stairs at home.
Yes, I'm a clumsy girl.
"Go to the infirmary right-" Dregana calls out to me, not sounding the least bit apologetic about going overboard against a first-time student, but I crouch down and grab my shoulder with my good hand. Then I place my fist on the ground and give it a good push.
"Argh!" I scream out from the pain as the bone pops back into the joint with an audible sound. This isn't something I would have done in my previous life because unlike now, I wouldn't have been able to shut off the intense pain; the scream was only an act, but I had to make it believable. There are obviously other factors that make this kind of treatment undesirable, such as destabilizing the shoulder bones and making it more prone to dislocation in the future so I wouldn't advise people to try this at home.
Dregana's eyes are widened in surprise, and I see many of the students staring at me with unbelieving expressions. One of the girls has even fainted from witnessing what I just did and is being fanned with fresh air. Hestia's face is drained of all blood as her legs are shaking in dread at the attempt to imagine how much it must have hurt.
"Are you alright?" The professor comes over, finally a hint of concern in her voice. Still no sign of an apology, though.
"Yeah. It hurts, but I'll be fine." I lift my arm shakily and grasp with my hand, then put up a strong front - which is all just an act. I don't know whether what I just did has earned me some more badass points or only served to alienate me. Thus, I need something to tip the balance in favor of the former.
Placing my palm on my shoulder, I chant Sano. A white glow surrounds my hand, and I can feel the warmth seep through my body. Everybody's eyes widen in curiosity, while Hestia looks like she recognizes what I just did. As expected of an angel girl, she must know light magic too.
A murderous expression flashes over Dregana's face and I very nearly flinch at the sight. It's over in an instant, but it was there without a doubt. Is she enraged at witnessing a demon perform light magic?
"Well done. Go rest with the others." She simply comments when I get back up. That's all I get from the one responsible for hurting me just now. "Next."
I walk over to the others who finished the training and line up with them. For once, Drills doesn't shoot a snide remark my way. She acts uninterested, but it's clear that she hasn't come up with anything witty to say after my display of magical and physical prowess. I managed to replicate the professor's spell on the fly, even under such difficult circumstances.
Speaking of which, she used a new spell just for me. Before, she had been using Ventus Fortior against the steadfast students - and me from the start - but that last one seems to have been of a much higher level. Grandor Ventus Procursus, was it? I'll have to remember that one and try it out myself some other time.
Though I'm sure that I'll have forgotten about it by the next period.
The bell announces that the period is over. In the end, Wind Combat Training was just the class being rotated through the dodgeball session several times, with slight variations added in each time, such as curveballs or being attacked from different angles simultaneously.
Throughout, Dregana kept glancing in Hestia's direction, as if to make sure that she stays apart from the rest of the class. If she weren't the teacher, I would go over and directly talk to her about the fact that what she's doing is discrimination.
But when it was Hestia's turn, I was surprised to find that the professor went easy on her. Not only did she not use Ventus Fortior, but she made sure not to aim at her directly. Is it preferential treatment or just another way to keep her down by not letting her improve under actual pressure?
When the students pick up their bags and begin to leave, I walk over to the angel girl to go to the next classroom with her. Now that the class is over, we shouldn't be glared at anymore; what we do in our free time is our business after all.
But the professor asks for me to go follow her, as she has something to talk to me about. I must have made an impatient expression at her curt invitation since her golden glare turns even sharper for a second. Suppressing the instinct to flinch again, I silently go with her.
"I've been informed that you're a demon, Miss Marcott." Dregana turns around and begins the conversation after we round the corner behind the library building.
I have a bad feeling about this.
"I'm a lecturer of this academy, so I abide by its rules. Honestly, I don't care that you're a demon." Her expression gives me a reason to believe that she does care, and the way she puts it makes it clear that there's a catch. "But stay away from Lady Hestia."
I blink, surprised by her bluntness.
"Fatas are absolutely pure existences. Demons spread corruption that is harmful to them." She gives me an explanation for her sudden demand, although at this point my mind has already gone blank. "So I ask that you take your distance from her."
My head is spinning.
"I'll ask Grand Master Thorvald to make sure that you don't meet her in class in your future schedule."
Ahhh, this sucks...
I absentmindedly agree to her one-sided demand, knowing that she won't be convinced by it anyway. After all, I'm a wild card with an affinity for every element, as well as a seemingly uncontrollable magic output. To this academy and nation - and potentially to the entire human world - I'm a special existence, maybe even more special than a single Fata like Hestia.
"You may go now." Dregana states in a firm tone, glaring at me with her golden eyes like an eagle watching its prey. She's signaling me that she will keep observing me, to make sure that I stay away from Hestia.
Damn, that puts a huge damper on my mood. It makes sense though, doesn't it? A demon and an angel becoming friendly with each other just doesn't make any sense, not even in a fantasy world. She's a blindingly pure existence, and I appreciate her for exactly that reason.
At the same time, I feel an urge to corrupt her rise from deep within me. To ravage her purity, destroy her innocence and drag her down to hell-
I disperse the thought as I walk away from the professor. This is most likely an instinct of my tentacle monster body - however stereotypical that may seem. But I have enough willpower to control it; I'm not a mindless creature that gives in to its base desires.
As I walk around the corner of the building, I find a single white feather lying on the ground. Stepping over it and pulling it into my body through an appendage growing from my leg without letting Dregana notice it, I move it up to the inside of my hand before bringing it back out.
No matter how I look at this, it's Hestia's. So she was eavesdropping on us and ran away when she heard that I'm a demon.
Then I notice that the tip of the feather is beginning to blacken as if it was dipped in ink. More such spots appear all over it and spread quickly until I'm holding a jet black feather in my hand. This is like litmus paper, but for corruption, and it's a very fast-reacting one, too. Does this happen to a Fata's wings when they come too close to demons? But I remember standing very close to her before. Maybe it has to be physical contact?
I remember that she looked at my hand, extended for a handshake, without understanding what it means. If her people teach not to make unnecessary physical contact, then the custom to shake hands would never even develop. It's quite interesting to considering such things, and I'd love to learn more about her, but all of this keeps reminding me of the fact that I'm not even allowed to get close to her anymore.
This really sucks...
Chapter 31 - Here Without You
At the door to the canteen, I'm greeted with a tackle from Kamii again. I return the hug and kiss her hair, which causes students around us to turn their heads. If someone in this academy were to tell me that I can't see this girl anymore, I'd snap.
I spent the last period, Application of Wind Magic, deep in thought and didn't hear a single thing. Hestia wasn't there, so she either had a different class or skipped out after hearing my conversation with Dregana. Makes sense that she'll keep her distance from me after learning what I am. She's a pure Fata, and I'm an existence that destroys that purity.
But I still catch myself looking around the canteen to try and spot her distinct winged figure, which is notably absent. That was to be expected because she should know that I would be here at this time to meet Kamii and have dinner with her.
I can't help but think about this aura of corruption that demons allegedly exude. The demon queen's is supposed to reach all the way across the globe and affect nature in this very kingdom, according to the bard's explanation back during our journey. In my case, neither Arcelia noticed it while touching me directly, nor did Hestia feel anything even though we sat close to each other during the Basic Wind Melding class and lunch.
How does this corruption aura even work?
I'm lost in thought during the meal as well, to the point that I've already forgotten its taste when we leave the canteen and make our way back to the dorms. Everybody glances at us when we pass, most likely because the rumors surrounding our relationship has been spread far and wide by now, but I only register it in passing.
"Nya? What's wrong, Miss Marcott?" When we open the door to the dorms, we're greeted by Ninlil. Did she really just make the stereotypical sound of a cat? "Had a rough first day?"
"Mistress Ninlil, let me cry into your chest." I request half-jokingly, which elicits a raised eyebrow from the cat girl.
"You met Hestia and were told by Dregana to stay away from her, and that's got you down, huh?" She sighs and shakes her head. Did she read my mind just now? "I just saw you out on the field, dummy."
If she didn't read my mind before, she clearly did just now - or she interpreted the perplexed expression I catch myself having on my face perfectly. No matter how I think about it, she's way too perceptive. Her ears twitch, and she steps up close to me while ignoring Kamii, who hides behind my back and stares at the little cat girl with a cautious gaze.
"The situation around Hestia is quite difficult, so it's best if you don't get involved with her. Not just because you're a demon." Ninlil explains with an understanding expression. "I'm saying this for your own good."
Why does the way she puts it not sit well with me? Today is the first time I've talked to Hestia, but my mind is already occupied with her like that. Was it love at first sight?
"I can understand why you're so interested in her. She appears very vulnerable, and people will feel compelled to care about her." The cat girl continues, catching on to my thoughts once again.
"Isn't she?" I find myself asking, and Ninlil's ears twitch again.
"... she is." Lowering her gaze, she replies. "But it doesn't make her defenseless. In either case, don't cause any troubles for and with her. Fatas are revered by many as the messengers of the gods, so if you hurt her, you'll make an enemy of all those people."
That's why everybody was so shocked when they saw Drills nearly hit her, and she must have been secretly thankful that I stopped her hand. And it also explains why so many students looked at her with starstruck eyes in the canteen. She might usually avoid going there, but followed me when I was the first who treated her like a normal person
"Thank you, Mistress Ninlil." I nod with a bitter smile and motion to walk past her, but she stops me.
"Don't you go and do anything stupid, you hear?"
"I won't, don't worry." I excuse myself, and we walk up the stairs, feeling the dorm mother's eyes on my back until I'm out of sight.
