Episode 2: True Villain (3)

Lowe wished she knew what was going on in Kairen’s mind.

Why was he treating her like this? Why was he so persistent?

Was it really because he wanted to possess her? Or did he really harbour caring feelings towards her?

It felt like he had an ulterior motive for getting close to her, yet it didn’t seem like he was out to hurt her or anything like that.

“Hahh…” Lowe let loose a sigh.

In the reverie of her thoughts, a slender arm pulled her in from behind.

She was caught off guard, suddenly recalling that she was currently in a tutoring session with the prodigious magician.

Since the day the two became friends, Lowe had suddenly gained the most astute study partner one could find.

Treating Lowe as if his most precious apprentice, his slender fingers intertwined with hers from behind. 

Those gorgeous eyelashes fluttered with the subtle movements of his long light-cyan hair—Glenn Twilight, his otherworldly appearance made one stare in awe.

“As you feel my mana course through your hands, imagine a flame.” His lips parted, a soft, melodic tone flowed.

Lowe nodded, closed her eyes and began to focus.

“Good.” As mana coursed through his hand into hers, that blurry image solidified and transmuted into reality.

An orb of burning flames, burning pure and bright, formed a few inches in front of where their hands met.

Lowe carefully opened her eyes and witnessed the result of her magic through Glenn’s harmonization. The solidified amber of fire contrived contained a mystifying beauty Lowe could hardly describe in words. 

“Now try firing it.” Glenn said, so close it was as if he was kissing Lowe’s ear.

She nodded, trying her best to ignore the sensation and imagined the explosive discharge of a cannon.

A peculiar felt sense could be discerned where their hands met.

And as if her inherent commands had been edited to better fit the paradigm of the spell—the flame orb came to life, shooting forth and bursting into tongues of flame which enveloped their target.

Lowe’s finger twitched, feeling the heatwave reach her even from a distance. 

Indeed, Glenn wasn’t called a prodigy for nothing.

He let go of her hand and stood back.

“Now, try and feel the emotions which you felt earlier.” Glenn advised.

Magic at its core was a process of visualisation before manifestation. To invoke a spell, one must be able to vividly imagine the conditions of the manifested power. 

However, Glenn had a different interpretation.

The idea of visualisation was simply training wheels for mages just starting out; those who already have a certain degree of experience would benefit from an alternative method.

Rather than imagery, it was better to engrain the ‘feeling’ of magic within the body and iterate from there. Should one attempt to cast multiple magic at once, how could the conscious mind react fast enough to keep up with it all? 

Lowe tried to remember the sensation of fire. A warm, comforting flame which contained a beautifully destructive nature. Channelling it out towards her hands and into her finger.

—Poof!

A golden, flickering fire coalesced. Lowe’s eyes widened.

Seeing that, Glenn’s suspicion was confirmed.

It wasn’t that Lowe didn’t know magic. Her mastery of it was simply too lop-sided.

His smile softened eyes glistened curiously at the resulting spell mutation.

By the normal standards of a studying mage, a flame like this with undefined properties should be considered a failure of a spell. Just like how one created a muffin out of flour when a bagel was asked.

As important as it was for Lowe to relearn the fundamentals of spell casting, Glenn thought perhaps it would be more interesting to see her not follow the norms and come up with her own innovations instead.

If one had a talent for working with support magic, then why should one discard support magic techniques when casting elemental spells? 

It would be too much of a waste if current limited knowledge corrupted the possibility of something new. Lowe had to accept her weaknesses in order to focus on her strengths.

If Glenn was a skilled chef in all aspects, then Lowe would be a masterchef in a specific cuisine.

And Lowe’s specialty was auxiliary magic.

“I… don’t think I made it correctly.” Lowe spoke with a disheartened look.

“I think it’s very unique. I believe no one else in the world could come up with a magic like this, myself included.” Glenn observed the flame. Then applying an analysis magic on the spell, he found that it was a painless flame that had the potential to enhance any existing spell of similar nature.

It was… likely a unique spell the first of its kind.

“Maybe it would do if you put more effort in solidifying talents in your unique speciality of magic.” Glenn reached his hand into the fire, and grasped the flame. “It would be a waste to see it undeveloped simply because you wish to grow in a different direction.”

Golden flames coated his fist, and as he channelled mana to form a basic flame spell, the golden fire inscribed itself into the formular, causing a mutation. He admired the magic which captured a completely different essence to what Glenn had expected.

What Lowe focused on wasn’t the magic, but rather, the guidance Glenn provided her.

This was the true essence of the flame. 

“Um…” Lowe kept glancing at Glenn’s burning hand.

“My apologies.” Glenn feared the power behind the spell would damage the surroundings, so he put out the flame without firing it.

“N-No, it’s alright… then what should I do now?” Lowe didn’t know what caused him to fall silent, but it didn’t seem like she did anything bad?

“Let’s try again with a basic first-tier flame spell again, is that alright?” Glenn said, continuing in his gentle demeanour. 

Lowe nodded.

As their hands came into contact with each other once more, the invisible favorability bar between them started to fill up bit by bit.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

Oben Academy’s library was one of the most extensive in the whole continent, second only to the ancient library of the elves located at the base of the Yggdrasil Tree.

Towering shelves multiple floors high, with mahogany stairs and mezzanines fitted between the sturdy scaffolds. Sunlight streamed through the glass domes and tall windows, allowing natural light into the enclosed space.

Each shelf was labelled by categories, ladened with books that came from diverse eras.

Lowe browsed the shelves for any book which went in depth with support-type magic. Glenn was searching from another side, leaving her to search the current aisle alone.

Oddly, her eyes caught a particularly thick book on the upper levels. Something within prodded her to check it out, but with her height she just couldn’t reach it.

She had either to pull the sliding ladder over, or call for Glenn.

Or at least, that was what she thought when the book beside it suddenly wiggled itself out of its position and fell.

The fluttering pages fluttered, its spine entered a nose dive. Her eyes followed, leading towards a female student who picked the book before it hit the ground. She casually flipped through the pages. 

Lowe’s body stiffened at the realisation of who that student was. 

Astraea Winterfall.

Then as if showing her disinterest, the princess closed the book with a snap. Lowe’s legs trembled, and immediately after, Astraea’s eyes shot right at her.

Lowe didn’t know why or how they kept bumping into each other again. Despite the mixed reception Lowe had received from the Astraea, her overall perception of the ice princess was still slightly negative.

Lowe didn’t want to get into trouble. She quickly turned away.

But fate had other plans.

“Commoner, come here.” Astraea’s voice sounded vaguely sangfroid. 

Gripped by fear, Lowe turned heels and made her way towards her meekly. 

“Y-Yes…” Lowe responded, hoping it wasn’t anything serious.

“Read this.” Astraea held out the book from earlier.

“...Huh?” 

“Do you intend for me to repeat myself twice?” 

“U-Uh… yes! Understood!” Lowe quickly accepted the book with a confused expression. Then upon noticing the title of the book, her breath hitched.

<Advanced Support Magic Guide for Mage Class Players>

This was exactly what Lowe needed. 

B-But how did she know?

“Obey me if you don’t wish to suffer needlessly.” Astraea remarked, tapping her fan against Lowe’s head. 

“Y-Yes…”

“I have no desire to interfere with your relationship with Glenn. Just make sure you stay away from my fiance—and most especially that other, corrupt commoner.” Astraea’s warnings, spoken in parables, were clear instructions to Lowe.

“Yes…” 

The crown prince kept approaching her, so it was impossible to create distance without accidentally offending him in the process. Moreover, Lowe was now in the same club as Kairen, and she didn’t know if he’ll use those chances to make advances on her.

She had been trying hard to obey Astraea’s advice but why was it so hard?

“Keep up the good work.” Astraea turned around and walked away.

Lowe remained stiffly rooted on the spot, pondering on why the ice princess had approached her like this.

It didn’t make sense to her how Astraea was giving so much leniency here. There was likely a reason for the hidden kindness that she didn’t understand.

Glenn meanwhile, who had been keeping a close eye on their interaction finally dispelled his concealment magic. He came out of hiding and approached Lowe from behind.

He grabbed her shoulders and gave it a quick jerk.

“...!” Lowe’s body jumped as if she had been struck by lightning. “G-Glenn…!”

Glenn chuckled at her flustered appearance. He chuckled, then looked towards the direction where Astraea left. “It didn’t seem like she had any bad intentions.”

“Lucky me it seems… ah, right. She recommended this book, what do you think?” Lowe showed him Astraea’s pick.

An odd book with an odd title. He skimmed through the subject matter, and found it a little surprising. This checked all the boxes Glenn had of an ideal reference book for Lowe.

Glancing towards the direction Astraea had left, Glenn couldn’t help but wonder… just what was her intention?

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

With a fresh change of clothes, Lowe returned to her room, after yet another tiring day.

The moment she entered, a light scent of alcohol drew her attention. Lowe furrowed her brows, sniffing the air to confirm that she wasn’t hallucinated.

Then she saw Tiffany lying on the bed, both hands were interlocked, pressed against her chest in prayer. 

She cautiously made her way over the drunk girl’s bedside, a little concerned that this girl was a potential alcoholic.

“Um, Tiffany? Are you okay?” Lowe asked, looking directly at Tiffany who was half conscious.

“Am I dying…?” Her eyes were vacant, empty. She looked abandoned, as if the light of the cosmos had forsaken her.

“Uh… no? When did you start drinking alcohol? Don’t you know it’s banned?” Lowe didn’t know if she should laugh or be mad. If someone else had caught Tiffany drunk like this, and reported it, wouldn’t the poor girl be forced to face disciplinary measures?

“Oh, if it isn’t my good friend Lowe. Ah, it seems the heavens have blessed me with her bespectacled beauty again. Alas, I must say goodbye to this too. Dear god, I pray that Lowe doesn’t miss me too much once I leave this world…” Tiffany reached out her hand toward this so-called ‘bespectacled beauty’ with a longing expression… only for said beauty to take a half step back.

“...” Lowe didn’t know what kind of nonsense Tiffany had been harbouring inside her head, but knowing that her roommate liked her appearance was a positive sign at least.

“Good night.” Tiffany suddenly exclaimed. 

Then, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Lowe looked at her, then at the half-empty wine bottle on her table, and then back to her.

“Tiffany?” Lowe grabbed her shoulders and shook it. First gently, then upon a lack of response, shook it harder. “Tiffany…”

Going on from there, Lowe pulled on her cheeks and even tickled her sides. Tiffany did react by twisting her body, but she just wouldn’t wake up.

With a sigh, Lowe channelled her mana into her friend’s body. She needed to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with her.

Lowe decided to not notify the authority regarding what had happened, since it wouldn’t benefit anyone anyways. 

“Still… I need to ask her why she was drinking tomorrow.” Lowe muttered as she approached the alcoholic beverage.

The wine bottle itself looked like it cost a fortune. Lowe didn’t think such a modest girl could’ve afforded something like this—hence it was likely a gift, but from who though?  

Something so precious… how should Lowe handle the remaining liquid in the bottle? The cork was missing, and she couldn’t just store it in her stomach, right?

Lowe heaved a sigh, thinking that maybe she should just cover the top with paper and leave it there until tomorrow morning. 

…If only Lowe hadn’t seen the person behind the wine bottle’s existence.

Reacting to the shadowy silhouette, Lowe startled and staggered backwards. Her hands scurried behind for support, causing the books to fall from Tiffany’s table.

The man sitting on the window sill chuckled. He had been observing her for a while now, it was a wonder how she had missed him for so long.

“Y-Y-You…” Her body felt like it was about to crumble from the sticky aura practically oozing out of the man’s body.

Midnight black hair tousled with a wild resemblance to a panther, and deep purple eyes which shone with a lust for prey. Drew Raven who was in a fashionable black trench coat licked his lips, amused by Lowe’s frightened appearance.

“I hope it wasn’t wrong of me to pay a visit tonight, Lowe,” he said in his deep, baritone voice. 

Hearing Lowe’s name curled in his tongue sent a chill down her spine. She knew that behind that titillating appearance of his was a hungry beast, and she wasn’t one to let her guard down one bit. 

“Why… why are you here?” Lowe prepared magic with the hand hidden behind her back. 

“Is there any reason why can’t I be here?” He pushed the question back, gracing an enigmatic smile. 

His eyes glinted as if having found an interesting toy—indeed, she wasn’t an easy woman to win over.

Maniac… Lowe cursed inside her heart. 

Her instincts blared, Drew got down from the window and closed the distance. 

“W-What you’re doing is… trespassing. You shouldn’t be at the girl’s dorms… you’re not even an academy student…!” 

“What does it matter if I break a few rules here and there? Life’s too short to play it safe… don’t you think?” They were a little less than a metre apart, with Lowe’s back against the wall. 

Taking another step forward. Lowe quickly revealed her hand and put between them a 2nd-tier barrier spell, <Auxiliary Magic: Light Barrier>.

Drew stopped right before the wall of translucent light, his hand touched the glassy surface. 

Lowe took this as a chance to bolt towards the exit. 

The basic defence spell should be able to hold out barely, at least enough that she’d escape and find help—

The barrier shattered from a fist. Lowe reached the doorknob— 

It was jammed.