"Be cool, and try not to sound desperate, old man." Lith thought to himself.

  "We have a full year ahead together, maybe even two. I need to play my cards right, keep my admission score while improving my status. I don't give a damn about friends. The other students are useless.

  Allies, on the contrary, can help me keep my family safe from the like of Duke Hestia and provide me with the resources I'll need to set my own Forgemaster laboratory. I can't waste years grinding for gold, I need time to travel and find the answer to my resurrection problem. -"

  The classroom was much smaller than the one for the mandatory lessons. It was a square room, with each side twelve meters (13 yards). In front of the chalkboard, there were three rows of desks, separated by small corridors.

  It could accommodate comfortably up to fifty students, yet according to Solus, there were only twenty-six students attending, Lith included. He occupied the closest spot to the chalkboard, sitting near the other students.

  When they threw a mean glare at him, he just took out the Ballot, forcing them to shut up and mind their own business. After what had happened that morning, they didn't dare to move away from him.

  Not to mention doing that would mean getting even farther from the chalkboard and the Professor. The floor was even, making it already hard to see through all the heads in front of them.

  The man who walked in the room was outstanding in his own way. He was quite short, barely over 1.55 meters (5'1") high, at least sixty years old.

  The top of his head was completely bald, the hair he had left on the sides was snow-white and so were his waxed handlebar moustaches. His belly was so big that it made hard to guess if he was larger than high.

  That, together with his pure white robe, made him resemble a real life Humpty Dumpty.

  Hello, dear students. I'm Professor Vastor, and I'll guide you through your first steps in the light magic Master healer course.

  Not everyone was as ignorant as Lith, most of them already knew what Professor Marth looked like. Before Professor Vastor could finish his introduction, the class was filled with saddened groans.

  His disgruntled expression to such reaction, expressed clearly how angered he was by that blatant lack of respect.

  "I'm very sorry to disappoint you, but as you should have predicted, Professor Marth can't waste his precious time with the likes of you. The whole light magic research department rests on his shoulders, so you'll have to settle for me.

  Words cannot express how it saddens me, to notice that even country bumpkins have more manners than the high and mighty nobles."

  He wasn't referring to just Lith, but to all the students that thanks to their poor background had failed to recognize him, looking at him with admiration despite his funny appearance.

  "I have good news and bad news, for all of you. The good news is that we won't spend two hours in this class. I'll just explain to you the differences between tier three and four of healing magic, after that we will move in the academy's hospital.

  There we will do some trial rounds of our resident patients, giving you the chance to meet both Professor Marth and Professor Manohar, if we are lucky enough."

  The class exploded in cheers and applauses.

  "What the heck?" Lith thought. "Where do they think we are, at the stadium? Back on Earth my college professors would have skinned them alive for such behaviour." –

  Vastor had a very Earth-like expression at the moment, his hands were trembling with rage, dilating his nostrils at every breath.

  The bad news… He continued, cutting them short.

  …is that it means I will start evaluating you all right off the bat. Even today's rounds will help us evaluate your skills, separating the gold from shiny trash.

  The room fell silent, most of the students in the first row had lost all their enthusiasm. Some were having stomach cramps due to nervousness, others seemed on the verge of puking.

  It wasn't at all as they had imagined their first day of specialization would be.

  Professor Vastor was delighted by the result of his speech, curling his moustaches with a sadistic grin on his face.

  Let's not waste any more time. I'm sure you can't wait to stop listening to my gibberish and become real healers, like your hero, Professor Marth.

  "Man, I don't need tier four magic to diagnose Professor Vastor a really bad case of 'Envy syndrome'. Being so petty at his age is really sad." Solus said.

  Yeah. Happens when you lose your throne to someone younger and more talented. I feel the same way. Lith replied, thinking how lucky his classmates were, being born with cyan mana cores, without having to work hard for years to reach that level. –

  First of all, who can tell me what are the greatest limitations of tiers one to three of light magic?

  Lith raised his hand, but so did everyone else. Vastor chose one of them at random to answer.

  You, with the snob face. Feel free to share with the class. He said pointing to a girl with shoulder length black hair in the first row.

  Professor, my name is actually…

  I don't care. Vastor cut her short.

  I expect at least half of you to drop out within the first six months. I won't bother remembering your names.

  Most faces turned red with anger, while Lith was inwardly smiling.

  If compared to most nobles he had encountered in the past, Professor Vastor was really polite. At least he didn't discriminate, he treated everyone like cr*p.

  Chapter 62: A New Lesson (2)

  The black-haired girl was simply outraged. She belonged to one of the ancient noble families, admired and respected in all the Griffon Kingdom. She had always been treated like a princess of royal blood, no one had ever dared disrespect her.

  Now, not only she had to endure all those harsh words, but also had no way to bite back Professor Vastor. Threatening a mage belonging to an academy, was like spitting towards the sky, it would always backfire.

  All he had to do, was give her a bad evaluation to put an end to her career as a healer. Having five siblings and being at the bottom of the line of succession, magic was her only redeeming feature.

  She could only swallow her pride and answer:

  "The lower tiers of light magic have two insurmountable limits. The first being that light magic can only enhance the recovery of the patient. If he/she suffered from an excessive blood loss or is already on the verge of death, healing magic is useless.

  The second limit…"

  Okay, enough. Your turn, edgy face. He cut her short, pointing his finger at Lith.

  The second limit is that it cannot regrow lost body parts, be it organs or limbs. Clean cut fingers or extremities can be reattached, but only if well preserved and within an hour from the amputation.

  Correct and correct! Vastor almost sounded disappointed.

  Now, who can tell me how, hypothetically, the first issue could be solved? Everyone raised his hand, once again.

  You, with the pauper face. He said to a petite girl with long brown hair, sitting a few desks away from Lith. Because of her small and scrawny build, it was hard to imagine her twelve years old, she looked barely a day past eight.

  Clearly, she had suffered from malnutrition for a long time. Lith's sixth sense told him that the academy's uniform was probably the first pretty clothes she had ever had.

  With all the stress from her first day of academy, the threats and insults from Professor Vastor had been the last straw for her. When she tried to answer, only hiccups came out, she was fighting back her tears.

  "What a d*ck." Lith thought. -

  His hand instinctively played with the Ballot, but he didn't activate it. It was her problem, not his. She had done nothing for him when he had been bullied twice that morning, that made him eager to return to favour.

  His movements, though, didn't escape Professor Vastor eyes.

  "Oh, for fck's sake! I had almost forgot about the bum with the Ballot. If that thing is recording and he bothers reporting me to the Headmaster, I will be in deep sht.

  Linjos has been crystal clear that professors' tough love is now considered bullying, and has tried more than once to fire me. He's just waiting for an excuse to replace me with one of his angry lackeys. Dammit, I'm too old to lose such a good job."-

  I'm so sorry, young miss. I didn't mean to offend you. There, there. Take your time before answering. His voice was suddenly all milk and honey, offering her a handkerchief from his chest pocket.

  Despite her frail looks, she needed but a second to compose herself.

  The only way to do it… she replied sniffling from time to time.

  "…would be to somehow infuse the patient with an external source of life force. But that's impossible. I worked as a healer since I was six years old, I've tried countless spells and always failed.

  Light magic cannot create or pass energy, only nourish what is already there."

  The whole class nodded.

  "Heck if I know." Lith thought. "The only patients I have ever failed were those that arrived too late for being saved. Not even my true magic could transfuse life force." -

  Correct, young miss! This time he sounded genuinely happy, the class was starting to think he suffered from severe mood swings.

  And don't worry, here at the light department we will fix your growth problem in a snap, you have my word. After making sure to be outside hot waters, he resumed his snarky tone.

  The little one is right, light magic cannot do it. No matter how talented the mage or how complex the spell, it's impossible. Yet tier four light magic can. Anyone wants to take an educated guess?

  The classroom fell silent, no hand was raised.

  Professor Vastor sneered at their ignorance, puffing his chest.

  Oh, oh, oh! Seems you still have much to learn. But you have come to the right place. The answer is: it's only possible by mixing it with darkness magic

  What?! "How?!" "The f*ck?!"

  Professor Vastor ignored their shocked expression and the exclamations filling the air, while waving his hands in the air, generating with first magic a black and white circle identical to Earth's representation of Yin and Yang.

  "The greatest legacy left us from Magus Silverwing, is the knowledge that light and darkness magic are but one. They perpetually dance together in all things. When one pushes, the other pulls.

  When light steps forward, darkness steps backwards and vice versa. When they are in harmony life thrives, otherwise only death awaits. The key to tier four light magic is weaving them together.

  Dark magic takes the energy from the donor, while light magic allows it to enter the patient's body without backlashes. Balancing them is the key to success."

  "F*ck me sideways!" Lith though. "How can I be so stupid? I read that goddamn book hundreds of times, I should have understood this years ago by myself. I wish I was more talented in magic, or at least smarter."

  Hey, that's offensive! Solus rebuked. "I'm way smarter than you, and I have failed nonetheless. The real problem is that our approach to magic is too naïve. By my maker, I hate feeling so useless. If only I still had my memories…"-

  Excuse me, Professor, I have a question. Snob face awoke them from their self -pity moment.

  If here at the White Griffon we mix light and dark magic together for healing, what's the difference between us and the Black Griffon? Can't they do the same?

  "The difference, dear snob face, lies in the purpose. Here at the White Griffon, we are proud of our light magic department, where we can cure almost everything.

  At the Black Griffon, they specialize in destroying things."

  The rest of the hour Professor Vastor showed them again and again the simplest tier four light magic spell, until everyone was capable of performing it.

  The fastest students turned out to be young miss, an arrogant faced kid, snob face, and edgy face, in this order.

  Lith had done his best. He needed to experience the spell with fake magic, before being able to reproduce and enhance it with true magic. Yet he ended up in fourth place.

  After that, Professor Vastor opened a Warp Steps that brought them right outside the academy's hospital.

  "Lith, by keeping open the portal for so long, the Professor gave me the time I needed to clear its mystery. The reason why the staff can open them with such ease, it's because of the ring with the academy's insignia they wear.

  The whole castle is a giant artifact, they simply use the rings to tap into its powers. If your uniform has so many functions, I can't even imagine what something as big and powerful as this building can do." -

  Lith didn't reply, he just wondered how powerful Solus could be, compared to the academy, if she regained her old power. He had only found mentions of magic towers in fairy tales, and they were described as something unfathomable.

  According to the lore, within his own magic tower a mage was nigh omnipotent. But fairy tales also told about fairy godmothers, elves, sprites and happy endings, and he had yet to meet someone that took any of those things seriously.

  When he had spoken about them with Nana, Lark and the Marchioness, they had all mocked him for his childish daydreams.

  When the students entered through the double doors, they found hard to believe to their eyes.

  The academy's hospital ward would put any Earth's hospital to shame. The floors were able to self-clean, the beds would move and massage the patients' bodies to avoid bedsores, constantly keeping in check their vitals.

  The air was fresh and clean, free of the smell of disinfectants that usually plagues those places. Everything looked more like out of a celebrity resort rather than a place where people went to die.

  What a marvel of magic! Said the arrogant faced boy from before, a fifteen-year-old 1.65 meters (5'5") high with red hair. "But I suppose it was to be expected, since you were the one designing the whole thing, Professor Vastor."

  Yurial, my boy! Professor Vastor finally recognized him.

  Long time no see. How is your old man, Deirus? Being an archmage is a big burden, you must be ready to step in and help him as soon as possible.

  My dad is doing fine, thank you. I'll send him your regards. With your help I'm sure I will be able to keep up the family tradition.

  But of course! Mage bloodlines are highly treasured here at the light department. I hope you'll show all those snotty nobles and poor commoners what a true magician is made of.

  "I stand corrected." Lith thought. "He does discriminate, just not the way I am used to. He seems to be a sucker to magical families instead of noble ones. I guess not every Professor can be like Trasque or Nalear." -

  Just thinking her name sent a warm feeling through his body, that Lith hastily suppressed. He despised himself for his weak, hormonal body, wasting his precious time and energies on teenage delusions.

  Lith could not afford any slip ups, the trial round was about to begin, and he was determined to shine among his peers.

  Chapter 63: The Importance Of Status

  Professor Vastor was true to his word, he brought them to the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and asked them in turns to diagnose the nature of the patients' condition.

  Vastor would take notes about their answers, to confront them with the charts. He wasn't allowed to gave them scores on their first day, but he didn't hesitate to harshly reprimand those who missed any detail, humiliating them in front of the class.

  Because of the nature of the task, the class was split into two groups, right after each one of them had examined their first patient. The following rounds allowed Vastor to further split the groups based on the students' degree of expertise.

  In the first group, belonged those who had chosen the Master healer specialization, lured by the prestige the title implied. Yet they lacked either any experience in the healer practice or the resources to have a proper tutor to make up for it.

  Vastor was immediately able to spot them, since they were only able to use Vinire Rad Tu, the ubiquitous tier one diagnostic spell.

  In the second group, instead, there were snob face, edgy face, young miss, Yurial and all those who had at their disposal a diagnostic personal spell or even more than one.

  Much to his surprise, the archmage's son Yurial was equalled in talent and precision by the snob faced girl, while the young miss and the edgy faced kid ran circles around even them, standing out like hawks among crows.

  Especially edgy face had proven to be capable of finding minor details, that even the academy's Master healers had missed in their diagnosis. It was nothing big, but he was also able to suggest ways to improve their prognosis, hastening the healing process.

  Vastor hadn't arrived at his age and social standing by letting something insignificant, like his personal prejudices or preferences, stand in the way of his best interests.

  "Commoners or not, those two smells of success. Even that snotty faced brat is damn good, if she is able to hold her ground against a pureblood like Yurial. I have always been proud of my knack for recognizing true talent.

  I don't care if the spotlight I'm under is mine or someone's else. As long I get to maintain my status and position, anything goes. I have to get in their good graces before anyone else.

  After they get famous, I would be a nobody. Right now, I'm all their world. Time to jot down some names and remember them properly." -

  I'd say we have some winners. While talking to the top four students, Vastor's voice had lost any trace of sarcasm and disrespect. He spoke with a soft and amiable tone, like a grandfather talking to his beloved grandkids.

  Would you mind to introduce yourself properly to the class? It would motivate them to work hard enough to compete with you all.

  "If they are delusional enough to believe they even have a sliver of hope, of course." He inwardly sneered. –

  In his mind, Vastor had already separated the cream from the milk, and the milk from the p*ss. He was merely being polite.

 

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