Counterpart

Chapter Eighteen

Rin closed the door behind him as he stepped into the training room. Magnus stood, his legs aching from kneeling for so long. "Still getting used to a student's routine?"

"Sorry. One of my instructors wanted to have a word with me before my first class." Magnus felt a pang of worry. As quick as Rin was with learning, he still must be incredibly far behind the others. "I was thinking: maybe I should try practicing more with aibal today. The earlier I find out how to bring back corrupted, the better."

"...I think it would be best to first catch you up on what your classes are meant to cover. We'll experiment more on aibal once you have a better understanding of magic. You're not using it outside this room, right?"

Rin glanced down at his feet. "Right."

"...Good. As for today's lesson, I'll help you with sword fighting. Something tells me you're not quite on par with the other students yet."

Rin nodded as Magnus handed him a replica of his saber. "Alright, remember when I taught you stances a couple days back?" Rin paused a moment before giving a nod. It felt like months had passed since then. "Nice. Let's start there, I'll teach you more advanced techniques."

The two worked on it for the next two hours. Rin was definitely improving-before too long, he was getting better at learning the mechanics behind manipulating one another's blade. "Very good. By mechanical advantage, having the opponent's blade closer to your hilt will make it easier to control. Don't forget this works the other way around."

By the end of their session, Rin could have passed for a beginner mage in more respectable schools. But even that was far from Karlysia's entrance requirements. "You're a very quick learner-that may very well carry you through your next couple years in this place." Magnus took his saber, signifying the end of their lesson.

"...A while back, you mentioned I might be able to wipe out the akuma from this world entirely. You're sure we can make that happen?" Even Magnus' most optimistic mindset would consider it a daunting task.

"To be entirely honest, I don't know how much potential aibal holds. Even if you can't, I'm certain you'll make an exemplary mage once you grow stronger." Brute force has been largely ineffective against taking down aibal's power. If Rin really isn't the final piece, I don't know what we can do against them. Even Magnus' comrades have stressed to him wiping out every last akuma isn't necessary at all-as long as there are soldiers to fight, everyone will get by just fine. The idea could be bearable, but how many will suffer for the generations to come? Far more men died by his side than he'd like to think of. Potential rivaling nations are another concern all together, given that so much of their resources will be spent on fighting off the akuma as well.

"Magnus?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry. This is it for today, good luck with the rest of your classes." Rin thanked him before leaving, Magnus following just behind. This is typically when he should be returning to patrolling the streets, but not now. Captain Randall and his team had made incredible progress on their task last evening. Finally, they had a lead.

It didn't take long for him to reach the front desk. He figured talking with the head of the school would be more appropriate, but this was as good as he could do without taking the time to schedule the meeting. "Marilyn," He nodded at the woman slumped on her desk. "I thought you worked nights."

"I work both." She yawned. "I'm glad to see you're doing well as an instructor, M..."

"Magnus. I've also been taking part in an investigative team. We're in the process of hunting down an abnormal corrupted mage-and we believe he may have once attended Karlysia."

"...What?"

"It will take quite a bit of time to explain, but cross-referencing witness reports as well as it's capabilities leads us to believe he once attended this school."

She reset her glasses. "I can...try to find any reports of students dropping out recently."

"That'll do. The earliest sighting was only three months ago. Whoever it is, they likely left earlier this year."

She nodded before stumbling up to find the right papers. Magnus felt bad for making her work in such a state, but they have to find it's identity as soon as possible. It may not be a direct help to killing it, but any clue they can get might give hints to it's unusual behavior.

Marilyn returned before too long, a small stack of papers in hand. "I think I got a name: Wilbur Seton."

Magnus groaned, rubbing his head. "Was his room one-sixty-three?"

Marilyn's mouth hung open. "...Yes? How did you know?"

"This school is typically packed out every year, right? I was worried my own pupil wouldn't have space for this year; turns out he moved in to the same dorm the corrupted mage dropped out from. I should have anticipated this sooner." Odds are Rin's already heard of Wilbur. Them sharing the same room isn't necessarily an issue, but he's still convinced he can turn back those corrupted. Should it be a concern if he finds out?

"That was fairly insightful." She smiled. "They certainly didn't make a mistake placing you on that investigative team."

"Just doing my job. What else can you tell me about Wilbur?"

"...I think I remember hearing about this one. He forced his way through the school's gates, apparently after a conflict with another student. We weren't too eager for him to return, and he never did until he was officially expelled."

A corruption seemed obvious in hindsight, but given Evendal's laws, there was nothing they could do until they had concrete evidence. "What about his family?"

"Ron and Sophia Seton. I can give you their address, if you'd like to speak with them directly."

"That would be great, thank you." Magnus sighed. With any luck, they may finally hunt this thing down by the end of the week.