Algernon Black

(Chapter 29) Embrace the Fear

"You all are here to carry on the most important mantel in the world. Graduates of Attwood. The pride of our country, and the judges of the world," Enzelwood, the professor of first year's destruction magic, loudly exclaimed.

Pecilia rolled her eyes at the haughty proclamation. The amount of zealots in this school was as annoying as she expected and for this washed-up general who had no more than an accumulative day's worth of real fighting to speak of pride was the exact kind of hypocrisy she expected. What was even more annoying was the impressionable youth eating up his every word. Like they were all so special for just being here as if they all hadn't been handed their seats. Well, there was at least one person here who blameless of that, and of them all Lucy was the most captivated by the teacher's hollow words.

"During your time here, you will be tested over and over again, and those of you that are recognized here will be recognized by the world for your greatness. Just as I was when I graduated Attwood, top of my class. I was recruited right away and sent to the top of the military command, where I led hordes of men into battle."

"From behind a desk," Pecilia muttered under her breath, though Lucy picked up on it. She had sat next to Pecilia in one of the middle rows even though there were plenty of other empty seats. Pecilia had scuffed at her and moved her chair over, but Lucy didn't take it offensively as she joined the girl for their second and last class of the day. Freya sat on the other side of Lucy, and to her side was the boy she had spent the night with previously. Freya was just as uninterested in the teacher's lessons as her eyes flirted with the shy boy beside her.

Pecilia would have sat herself next to Algernon if the seat beside him had been available. But for this class, he sat at the very front, right before the professor. And Pecilia wondered if he did so because it forced his gaze forward and away from someone else.

"I carried the mantle of a graduate proudly on my breast," the jaunty man continued.

"While a 4-horse carriage carried you." Pecilia once again casually and quietly undermined. She knew of Enzelwood's reputation. It was filled with meaningless fluff just like his egotistical self-boasting.

Lucy couldn't help a small pearl of laughter that mostly went out through her nose. Pecilia noticed and thought even if she came from a low background, she had a high sense of humor.

The only other person who noticed Lucy's smile was Algernon who had been haphazardly peering back to her, not meaning to, but just aimlessly letting his eyes wander, and to her, they drew as his mind drew him back to the memories of last night when he had Lucy lying under him.

"And in my time of fighting, I learned the secrets of mastering destruction energy," Enzelwood said as he walked in front of the remarkable stained-glass portrait of the god of destruction that only made him look squatter and fatter. "A skill that kept me alive more times than I could count."

Pecilia looked at her manicure. "It's not that impressive when the extent of your math ability is equal to your number of fingers."

This time Lucy couldn't stop an actual full laugh from leaving her. The entire class turned to her, including their teacher.

Enzelwood's gaze filled with repulsion. Lucy bit her cheeks.

"Like a good strategy plan, destruction magic needs to be extremely accurate and precise," the teacher went on after taking the time to publicly shame Lucy with a glare down his nose. Something the rest of the class didn't miss, especially Algernon who started to get angry with the teacher when his eyes and voice took on the fringes of a threat. "If you aren't concentrating fully on what you mean to destroy you might risk destroying much more than you intend. Which sometimes can be a favorable consequence." Enzelwood stared down at Lucy as he spoke, before turning around to notice the brooding eyes of Algernon. He smiled as an idea popped into his head.