The next day Cyril sat in the kitchen, eating breakfast with everyone.
After lessons we'll probably go training again. Should I try to come up with something...?
"No, let Myra handle those martially challenged acquaintances of yours."
Rhamn motioned towards Morpho, her smile becoming infinitely kinder.
"How about you teach Morpho instead?"
The red butterfly consuming a piece of sausage looked up and fluttered her wings with battle intent.
We'll see.
Cyril lightly smiled.
At this moment a few short knocks came from his window.
Without any surprise, Cyril opened it, revealing Ophelia.
"Here's today's newspaper, Master."
"Thank you."
With that, the maid bowed and stepped away, cleaning the perimeter.
Cyril sat before his study desk and carefully read today's events.
Nothing interesting.
After a while he threw it away.
Morpho, as if waiting for this, immediately shot through the air, cutting with her wings.
The newspaper was torn in two and slowly fell on the wooden floor.
Cyril's eye twitched as he observed her display of martial prowess.
Why are you littering...?
Though he quietly swallowed the feeling and slowly replaced it with something warmer.
"Good job, you are making progress."
Cyril nodded with satisfaction, to which the red-winged menace eagerly twitched her antennae.
"Tigris, do you have any plans for today?"
The lazy white cat simply flicked his tail and resumed sleeping.
"Very well."
Cyril turned around and went out of the door.
...
He was among the first to enter the Spell Making auditorium.
Cyril familiarly greeted Rose with a nod and sat down before a desk.
As people filled the auditorium, he went over today's contents one more time.
Soon Myra came over. She greeted both of them while yawning and sat down near Cyril.
At one point Cedric walked in, waving at him from afar, which wasn't reciprocated.
One of the last was Leo Arken. He briefly glanced at Cyril and walked to his seat in the opposite end of the room.
He's been quiet since the duel.
"Speaking of which. We still didn't receive that reward Bran was supposed to give us. Should we find him and demand it?"
I will not go out of my way to find him. If I happen to see him, sure.
The bell rang, and their lethargic professor finally put down the notebook he was reading. This one had a different cover than the last one.
"Alright. Today let's briefly talk about another important aspect of battle: hiding your spell."
Richard slowly walked in front of the whiteboard and outstretched his hand at the student.
Soon, a magic circle appeared in front of him, its pattern complex.
"Whether to hide the spell you are going to use in battle or to hide your personal magic from prying eyes, obscuring the magic circle's pattern is a standard operation."
"The 'lid' covering the circle could be anything. Don't worry about no family emblem or some meaningful nonesense, just draw whatever you want there."
On the magic circle in front of Richard, a change happened. Its surface turned into a crude drawing of a human sitting by a desk.
It was as if a child drew over the complicated magic circle from before, completely shielding it from their eyes.
The students patiently listened, writing down everything he said.
Some raised their hand in the air, itching to try.
While some wore absentminded faces as they simply stared at the distance.
"A family emblem..." Rhamn pinched her chin as she lay sideways on top of the desk.
"Should we get one?"
I do have one.
"I don't mean the Thorne family's. You won't use it anyways. Let's create our own!"
Creating a personal symbol for your magic is a sign of ambition. Richard is understating it, it's a serious issue among the nobility.
"Exactly."
"..."
Cyril ignored her and refocused on the lesson.
"Maybe a beautiful flower? A tall tree?" Rhamn seriously contemplated in the background.
...
In the training hall the sound of wooden weapons clashing rang out even louder today.
"Stop! Incredible as always!"
Professor Rendel clapped with a wide grin and turned towards the students watching the duel.
"Get back to it!"
His booming voice and an angry glare quickly scattered the spectators.
"This generation is too weak. Back in my day everyone was itching for battle."
With that Rendel sighed and looked at Cyril, his smile immediately coming back.
"Maybe all their drive went to you two, eh? hahaha."
Myra awkwardly chuckled and quickly went towards the bench, eager to recover her breath.
"I can't wait till tomorrow, you two will perform brilliantly." Rendel continued with a satisfied smile.
"Tomorrow?"
Cyril paused as he was walking away.
"Ah! Forget I said anything." Rendel waved his hand with a panicked face.
Cyril simply looked at him with a calm face.
"Fine. It will be fine to tell you, but pretend you don't know, alright?"
Professor Rendel came a little close and put a hand on his shoulder.
"There will be a special lesson tomorrow! Be at your best!"
"I see."
Cyril glared at the hand patting him and stepped aside, letting it fall.
Rendel only gave him a thumbs-up and went to monitor the other students.
"What did he say?"
Myra asked him as he approached the benches.
"The special lesson Richard mentioned is tomorrow."
"Oh."
Cyril took a seat, hesitated for a moment, and shot Myra a look.
"Have you been feeling fine recently?"
Myra widened her eyes and looked to the side.
"I- I am fine...?"
She stammered, grabbed a piece of her auburn hair, and twirled it in place.
"...Thank you for asking."
Cyril observed her evasive eyes and turned to look at his fellow students struggling in the distance.
Why does she have to react like this?
A faint bitter feeling he couldn't explain filled him as long as he stared at her, so he didn't.
"She should really stop with her delusions. For someone who should be saving the world, she is rather distracted. As if she has any chance with you."
Rhamn sat to his other side, arms crossed as an expression of pure contempt was aimed in Myra's direction.
"Her recent behavior disgusts me even more than usual, I must say."
But why is it so? I can't tell…
Rhamn only shrugged with a contemptuous frown.
The silence between them lasted for a few more moments before Cyril asked a question, still staring in the distance.
"Have you thought about Ambrosia? Is there anything in your visions that can help us find any?"
Myra stopped twirling her hair and rested her hands on her knees.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Lapis might have some, but maybe we've gotten that one already. As for the others... I have an idea where they can be in ten years from now, but not... now."
"We can only rely on chance to get them..."
Myra sighed as she fiddled with her knees.
Cyril crossed his arms and leaned backwards.
"I see. Can you find that master of the spear and learn from him more?"
"No." Myra shook her head without saying more.
"...Do you know where you can learn an unusual spell or technique to increase your strength?"
Myra's shoulders slumped a little as she replied.
"They are all closely guarded secrets, and I'm unlikely to get them now."
"Is there anything she can do!? She is so annoying now!"
Rhamn waved her hands in frustration.
At this moment Rose walked over, her back hunched.
"I need to rest." With her breathing uneven, she crashed onto a bench near Myra, her face pale.
"Professor Rendel is even more ruthless than usual..."
"That's because tomorrow is a special lesson."
"...!"
Rose raised her body, staring at Cyril with widened eyes.
"...That would make sense."
She soon calmed down and sat up straight.
"This is supposed to be a surprise, don't tell anyone." Myra brought her finger to her lips with a subtle smile.
Rose slowly nodded, her eyes becoming slightly more tired.
Cyril gave her a nod and remained silent, no longer asking Myra anything.
...
Their next lesson of the day was Potion Making.
They've explored the feasibility of concocting potions in a densely populated urban area.
Their bear-like professor told a story about how he made a healing potion using the remains of a rat that regularly chewed on a magic tool.
He looked like he was enjoying the lesson, which couldn't be said about the students.
Everyone was given their own set of unsightly materials and told to prepare a somewhat effective potion before the end of the lesson.
"A piece of cake!"
Cyril observed the small vial in his hand, nodding after a second.
Looks like a success. You have a good sense of creature biology.
"But of course!"
Cyril put the vial back on the metal tray, away from the body of a rat he cut open, and observed the state of his other classmates.
Rose is finished too, faster than me, I think.
Rose was currently standing near Myra's desk, patiently guiding her classmate through the process.
Myra, with confused eyes, held a scalpel in her hand, shakily aiming it at the body of a rat.
"Ha! She, of all people, is scared of this?"
Cyril shot their professor a look.
His hulking figure completely ignored Rose's actions, focused on secretly helping other students himself.
Guess I'll help too.
In the end, Cyril and Rose had to mentor Myra the whole way.
Thankfully they succeeded before the lesson was over.
With the loud sound of the bell, the students of class I heaved a collective sigh of relief and started to disperse.
"Why is this so complicated?" With fake tears, Myra lay down on the desk in despair.
"There, there, we're here to help." Rose gently stroked her hair, her tone as if comforting a child.
"Would've been great if you didn't have to…" Myra mumbled.
Then she pushed away the arm patting her and frowned at Rose.
"How come you were so disgusted back when we fought demons, but you can cut the bodies here with such a straight face?"
"Because it's different. We do these things for the sake of science. Besides, it's just some rats."
Rose's face was calm, as if stating a simple fact.
"She did something similar before."
Probably.
Myra rolled her eyes and fell back on her desk, losing all her energy.
"Let's go. We still have training with Edmund to do."
Cyril stood up and walked away, having already gathered his things.
Rose nodded and followed after him, but Myra didn't hurry.
She observed their departure and sighed deeply, her black eyes staring outside the window for a few seconds before she finally moved.