I spent the whole period in the library reading through the books on exorcism. I had already talked to my master about the topic but he deemed it far too dangerous. Exorcisms usually didn't go well for the exorcists unless it was for minor demons. Because of the high mortality rate, countries were always looking for exorcists and also paid them well.

*DING*

The bell rung once, with a sigh, I returned the books and headed back to the classroom.

Class proceeded without a hitch. We were taught about the power of spells and how they were related to the amount of mana we put in. I assume that my magic is weaker than most because mine had just recently awoken. Maybe my mana pool was still growing.

Miss Ein then led us outside, we were tasked with using the basic spells [Fireball] [Earth Bullet] etc. with differing amounts of power by putting in more mana. These were the basics but she had assured us that it was necessary for future practices and very useful for any mage.

"Never forget the basics." she said.

So here I am facing off against blue hair. She looks different today, instead of a ponytail like yesterday, her hair is in one big braid, It hangs from over her right shoulder. Behind her, the sun is shining in my eyes, normally I would move so that I'm not looking at it but there's no need, it's just practice match after all.

I've just taken notice of it but this academy is built on a really big hill. Behind blue hair I can see over the tops of the hundreds of buildings, in the far distance I see the large white pillar. It stands outside of the city and is so large that normally I wouldn't even be able to see where it ends but from here I can spot it.

This time blue hair is first.

"[Water Ball]."

*Sploosh*

It collides with my barrier, small cracks appear but I quickly mend them with more mana. It was a pretty powerful attack, I was just barely able to keep my barrier up. I'm inexperienced so I have trouble keeping the large shields up, I'm better at small ones.

"More power this time." Miss Ein says.

"[Water Ball]!"

Blue hair shouts.

*SPLOOSH*

This time it breaks through and I fall back.

"A-are you alri-"

I interrupt her.

*Cough cough*

"Y-eah *cough* no problem."

I'm not exactly hurt but I've got some water in my lungs.

"Okay. Here I go. [Fireball]."

It's the same output as the one from the battle yesterday except I gave it more speed.

Her barrier easily absorbs it.

The best kind of barrier would have been one that deflected since it was a weak, rounded, attack but Miss Ein said to use the absorbing kind because she didn't want any stray [Fireballs]. The barrier blue hair has up would be best for the magic lances yesterday, I could easily break it with a mana strike but I'm practicing my magic right now.

I ready once again and shoot another, stronger, [Fireball].

*Poosh*

Once again it's absorbed but this time there's a small hole in her barrier. The [Fireball] I just fired still shouldn't be strong enough to break a normal barrier, maybe her defense is weak? She looks a bit rattled. Still, I need to go again.

[Fireball]!

*BOOSH*

Her barrier vanishes, the fireball heads right for her.

"[Barrier]!"

A triangular barrier appears before her.

"Miss Wholehart!"

Blue hair turns to look at Miss Ein.

"You will be taking a break today." Miss Ein declares.

.

.

.

.

When lunch came around I sat with Axel.

"What happened during class today?" he asked.

"I don't know." I responded.

"How much mana did you put into the spell?"

"Not very much, it should've been just a bit stronger than a regular one that anyone could've fired off."

"So you're saying that the person with the highest magic aptitude in our class was taken down with a 'slightly stronger' fireball." he looked at me skeptically. "I don't mind if you want to hide your magic but you need to be careful. You've already beaten down a teacher, don't have the next incident be the death of a student. See ya in class man."

He finished his meatloaf sandwich and left the table.

I was shaken. I didn't mean to hurt him with that attack earlier, he said he was okay but I couldn't get it out of my head. Because of my carelessness, sparring ended early today. Iris and Elis came to ask me if I was okay, I gave them an awkward and disingenuous yes. I know they could tell I was a bit off but I'll probably be better tomorrow.

Right now we're in the middle of class. The person teaching the class right now isn't Miss Ein but Mr. Rohon. Unlike Miss Ein he's much more relaxed, he's leaning back on a wooden chair while casually telling us about incantations. The way he speaks sounds like he just memorized the contents of a book and is now spitting it back out to us.

I shift my attention to black hair.

He looks just fine, the attack earlier had done nothing to him, or maybe he had gotten it healed. Would our conversations get even more awkward from now on? Not like we talked much anyways.

*DING*

The bell rings. Just how long did I stare at him for?

"Wanna go get some ice cream? I heard they sold some here."

Elis suggests this. I suppose she's trying to cheer me up, it doesn't really seem like her. Well, I've only known her for one day.

"No thanks guys, today I think I'm going to head to the library."

Reading always calms me down.

"I-I see. How about tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, sure."

Iris and Elis smile wryly as they wave goodbye. It's not like I didn't want to hang out with them but the atmosphere was awkward and I still don't feel quite at ease. I turn around and start to walk.

It's embarrassing to admit but... I've gotten lost. The big hallways are all the same, they give no indication that you've moved to a different place at all except for the number on the walls. I'm just going to walk through all of them until I find it, currently my head is held high, I'm just pretending to know where to go.

"H-hey."

Someone calls out from behind me.

"You lost?"

It's black hair.

What should I say? Admitting it now would be best but maybe the library's just around the corner here. N-no, there is nothing wrong with being lost on the second day...right?

"Y-yeah." a meek response.

"Are you looking for the library?"

Wow. Nice guess.

"Yeah." lame response me.

"That's where I'm headed, just follow me." black hair says as he starts walking.

After a short walk we reach the library.

"Woah."

I stare in awe. All the books that I could ever want to read are here, I need to learn flight magic soon if I want to browse those books at the top.

"So..."

Black hair looks at me while fidgeting with his hands.

"?"

I just give him a confused look.

He reaches into his lower left pants pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper.

"C-could you look over this letter I wrote? I want your opinion."