Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

13. Starting Line

"You'd do well to remember this, class," said Professor Gray as he paced in front of the titanic chalkboard on the wall. As he spoke, a floating chalk stick had been enchanted to inscribe his every word on the massive, green-colored slate. 

"Our Era of Magic is but the culmination of centuries and centuries of misunderstandings and needless war. Take the aforementioned Aetherium, for instance. Otherwise known as the Great Sorcerer Uprising. Back then, the world was a lot more, let's say, cut-throat than the civilized society that we openly indulge in today. Mages, victimized as freaks or used as biological weapons, concluded that the social order needed to change. "Why should we, creatures that are superior to that of a dullard, be forced to work as their packing mules, their obedient mutts?". One simple question and a war lasting for seven long years washed over the entire country."

Elaine frantically jotted down the professor's lecture notes in her textbook. She moved so quickly, however, that it got to the point where a pestering cramp stung her hand, pinched at her fingers. But she ignored it, and she kept writing. She discounted the pain, she continued to—

The pen flung uncontrollably out of her hand, landing somewhere underneath the desk beneath her. Elaine muttered an incomprehensible sentence or two and swiftly rummaged through her satchel for a replacement.

"Perhaps this can help?" Custas said, sitting next to her, spiraling a blue pen in his fingers. A smirk made his cheeks dimple.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver," she whispered, accepting his pen.

"Not a problem," Custas grinned. "But you know, Elaine, don't you think you're overdoing it?"

"Hmm? Overdoing what?"

"Need you ask? I mean, you did just fling away a perfectly good pen. Let's be hopeful you don't accidentally take someone's eye out next time. And this is not to sound hurtful, but your penmanship could use some fine-tuning."

For the first time since she started her class, Elaine took a moment to truly examine her work. It was...well, she realized with a twinge of disappointment, far from her best effort. What had begun as neatly written lines of legible text had, within the span of a single page, devolved into a chaotic jumble of scrambled letters and erratic scratches. Words that once flowed smoothly from her pen now seemed to twist and tangle, making it nearly impossible for her to decipher what she had intended to convey. Patches of ink smudged the paper, and her thoughts, which had sparkled with clarity earlier, now felt muddled and lost amid the confusion of her own making. 

"Okay, I might need to slow down a little..."

Custas raised a brow at her. "Might?"

"I'm sorry. I can't help it."

"Is this another of your quirks, perchance? Like when you nearly tore my tongue out of my mouth at the marketplace?"

"No, it isn't like that. And you promised you wouldn't bring that up again!" Elaine pouted, jabbing him in his side.

Custas shrugged. "Eh, just taking a shot in the dark. So what is bothering you?"

"I can't stop thinking about what Professor Marsh said," Elaine admitted, sighing. "You know, about the whole 'survival' thing?"

"Oh, that's what's got you so bent out of shape? Elaine, I'm disappointed. Surely you're not letting that nutjob's words get to you."

Elaine frowned at her desk. "And what if I am?"

She couldn't deny it; the Abyssal Sorcerer had shattered her confidence and rattled her core. What if she really did fail to live up to his lofty expectations? The thought gnawed at her relentlessly. How long would it be before the terrifying sorcerer, cloaked in his dark robes and wielding arcane power, materialized in one of her classes, coldly informing her that she was being placed under academic probation—or, even worse, expelled? The very idea was enough to make her stay hyper-focused on each and every lesson since she had departed from homeroom.