Chapter 5: 5. Reaction From The Blue Forbidden Marking
Blaze just gave White Demon an enigmatic smile before he continued his cleanup like nothing happened.
He took his bath and walked to the bed, but a knock from the door made him halt his steps. He walked and opened the door. A woman in maid clothes came into his vision.
"Who are you?" Blaze asked calmly.
"I'm Zara. I came to deliver your food," she said with a sweet and innocent smile. Blaze reciprocated with a smile but a dangerous glint flashed past his eyes for a moment. He already noticed some subtle details from the short moment of interaction: her standing posture, her fake smile, her slightly developed muscle, and her prolonged eye contact. He concluded that what White Demon had predicted arrived earlier, but he didn't show any physical vigilance.
"Thank you." he took the food and walked into the house. However, Zara followed him.
"Miss Zara, any problem?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I need to return the food flask when you're done. So, I will just sit and wait for you," she said with a smile. Blaze just nodded and gave way to her. He knew his objection was pointless because she was going to enter secretly if he refused.
Both of them had to share the little bed since there wasn't any chair. After he sat down, he ate the food nonchalantly. There was no use checking for poison because, if they wanted him dead, they would have killed him directly. Zara just kept on smiling. If he hadn't seen those subtle details, he would have assumed she is charmed by his demeanor. After a minute of eating, he started feeling his head becoming fuzzy, and his vision turning into a blur before falling into a state of hypnosis.
'Hehe. Using the truth serum on me?' Blaze mocked her futile action inwardly before giving in.
"What's your name?" Zara asked with her melodious voice.
"Blaze Draven," Blaze said calmly.
"Age?"
"Fifteen."
"Name of parents?"
"I've never met my parents."
Zara was staring at him intently as she asked three questions. She was checking for any sign of struggle but found none.
After a target ingests the truth potion and a question is asked, if the target shows signs of struggle, the truth potion fails: It means the person has a strong resistance.
Zara proceeded with the important question.
"Why did you come to the academy?" Zara asked with squinted eyes.
"Because I want to become a mage," Blaze said while he spaced out in his fake trance.
"Where did you live, and which empire?" Zara asked.
"The mountains in Dragon Empire,"
"Do you have any animosity or malicious motive against the Dragon Empire?"
"No."
"I think that should be all," Zara said under her breath before thrusting a pin into Blaze's neck. Blaze awoke with a gasp.
"What happened?" Blaze asked, feigning to be baffled.
"Nothing. You just fell into a trance. Finish your food." Zara gestured with a smile.
Blaze nodded and finished the food without question.
'She couldn't give me a proper reason – amateur!' Blaze criticized her inwardly.
After he was done, Zara took the food flask and walked outside, but halted at the door. "Remember to meet Princess Avery for your ID card." And she walked away.
"Phew! I've passed the trust part." Blaze exhaled after Zara left. Although he was confident of passing the test, the test came earlier than expected which took him by surprise. He hadn't even put a disguise on the forbidden mark. Luckily, she didn't take off his robe.
"White Demon… that name is sounding weird in my mouth. I will call you Aphrodite from now on," Blaze said to White Demon.
"Aphrodite? Not bad!" She said while revealing her teeth in a heart-warming smile.
They started conversing about their past, but most times, it was Aphrodite telling him about the impressiveness of magic. She told Blaze many things that he took with a grain of salt. He just talked about his time as Rahgar and sometimes, stories about his time as an agent. After some time, Blaze stood up and began his workout. He practiced his previous skills, ranging from fist to leg skills. His current body is not at its peak due to a lack of training.
A knock brought him back from his training. He walked to the door and saw Zara at the door with a flask of food.
"Do you do that for other students?" He asked after ushering her in.
"The students have gone home. They will resume tomorrow. They will have to come and eat at the school dining hall. But they could also order food at a cost," Zara replied as she opened the food. Blaze nodded in understanding and began eating as Zara opened the food.
After Zara left, he went to bed. Aphrodite refused to teach him how to absorb mana, so he had to learn it in school.
The next morning, he found Zara at the door again.
"Your uniform and food," Zara said with a smile.
Blaze nodded and ate quickly, before returning the food flask.
'She's becoming a stalker.' Blaze thought.
He couldn't wear the uniform in front of her.
He took a train to school after donning the uniform. At least, the uniform wasn't awkward. It was just like Cherry's attire at the test but had a tie and a badge of a dragon head at the breast pocket. Their boots were ankle-length. It was all-black except for the inner white. This reminded Blaze of his time on Earth.
'I guess this is not Earth – more developed than the ancient time on Earth' Blaze thought
After Blaze arrived at the school, he walked into his classroom, falling into step with students walking into the classroom. Wanting to avoid drawing attention to himself, he chose a seat in the middle of the classroom. Perhaps he hoped to blend in with the other students and avoid standing out.
However, the moment he sat down, everyone in the three seats in front and behind him vacated their seats. Blaze became an island, suddenly conspicuous in the sea of empty seats around him. He could only sigh in resignation. Without any other options, he switched from his calm expression to a stony, unapproachable face, daring anyone to try to engage him.
A female teacher walked into the class.
The lady, who looked about 30 years old said, "Hello, I'm Isabella Green, your instructor, and I will be teaching you about mana absorption today. What's mana? Mana is a formless energy in the atmosphere and the base of mages and magic…"
After she finished talking about mana and how to absorb it, she shared a book with everybody. When Blaze opened the book, he found instructions on how to absorb mana from the environment
"In two weeks, you are expected to have reached the liquid core sub-level, or else you will be expelled. That's your first test," Isabella said coldly.
"Impossible!"
"No way!" An uproar began among the three-hundred-plus students in the class.
"Silence!"Isabella roared, imbuing her voice with mana to make it sound louder than usual. "The Dragon Academy is not a place for jokers. It is a place to produce expert mages in various fields. If you cannot meet the standard and pass this meager test, you're better off leaving early."
Blaze had just learned about the ranking system for mages, and the first rank, the Awakened mage, was divided into three sub-levels: the Misty core, the Liquid core, and the Crystal core. When he tried to feel the mana in his core, he sensed only a trace amount of mana, making the prospect of reaching the Liquid core sub-level seem daunting.
***
After class, Blaze left quickly. Most people began absorbing mana at the age of ten, but he had arrived in this world and was living carefree at that time.
He took the train back to his house with the other students. When he entered, he changed into his only set of clothes, a robe, and muttered to himself, 'I need money to buy more clothes.'
Sitting down cross-legged, he began the first step of mana absorption while recalling Isabella's teaching.
Blaze started by feeling the mana around him. It took him four hours before he sensed something faint and ethereal in the atmosphere. He began the next step immediately: using his core to attract the wild and untamed mana. It was a tough process, but he slowly began absorbing it. Suddenly, a knock at the door jolted him out of his concentration.
He walked to the door and saw Zara smiling with a food flask in her hand. It was already night. After he was done with his food, and she had left, he decided to sit on the roof and absorb mana. That's why he loved his isolated location. The quantity he absorbed during the day was pitifully small.
He sat cross-legged on the roof and continued his absorption. After absorbing for a while, he felt a slight itch on his body. This made him open his eyes. Being a sensitive person, he doesn't joke even with the slightest whisper of the wind, and that kept him alive during his time as a special ops agent.
He looked at his body and saw a veiled, blue glow shimmering beneath his robe.
He climbed up and hid inside the thick leaves of the tree before taking off his robe. As he removed the garment, he saw the blue markings glowing, like neon lights.
"Not this again," he muttered warily.
Being exposed now would be dangerous, with powerful teachers, rigid soldiers, and other students surrounding him at the academy.
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