"SHE'S HERE…" I don't have any idea what kind of life Seraphina has been leading all these years she spent here in this academy. All I know for now is that she is somewhat connected to these higher people in the society; she's part of the chain, even though her status isn't part of the high society.
Mabilis akong umupo sa dulo ng classroom, ang mga mata nila ay nakasunod sa kilos ko—na para bang isa akong handog na nakalaan para sa kanila. A prey they could devour.
As soon as the professor enters the room, their whisper dies down. The old man with his few gray hair strands holding his old book looks at us—as if we were something that doesn't deserve anything but contempt or maybe he's just an emotionless looking old-single-man. Either way, he's the type of professor who looks like that could make you cry for giving your best and acing his exams, but still receives a low grade.
"Runes… a foundation of every spell you'll ever attempt to master," the professor began without greeting us, he simply scanned the room as if it is enough to memorize who is here and not. He continued saying that runes are not mere symbol because they are the vessels of our magic—each line and curve of the runes we chant are woven into how we chant it.
"Inscribe them correctly, and you will wield powerful magic. Inscribe them incorrectly, and you have just invited death to your door." That's the basic rule of using magic—inscribe them with great care because magic can be your ally, but worse, your enemy—death.
My eyes remain fixed on the professor; he scribbled something on the board using runes—magic can also make you lazy. Napangisi ako do'n because this all still feels like a dream for me. My inner child dreams—having magic do her chores—what will her reactions be if I tell her this?
"The problem with young people nowadays," the professor's voice cut through my wandering thoughts, stern and heavy, "is that they treat runes as something they can use as they please. They often forget that magic, if misused, will consume you. And when it comes back to you—it does not return in equal measure. It comes back twice, thrice… even ten times of what you've woven."
He pauses after that, scanning the room, and when he finds my eyes—he stops. The chalk stopped scribbling and fell to the ground—he didn't look at it. As if his last words, his eyes, were saying that it is meant for me.
"Seraphina…" he calls my name, that echoes in the room, that makes everyone look at me. Tumayo ako sa kinauupuan ko, maybe he wants me to recite something—or he's gonna ask something related to our lesson even though I don't have any idea what's all of this.
"Explain to us the first principle in using magic." He said, his serious voice sternly challenged my capability to think of an answer. The pages of his book flip until it stops at the middle—maybe the page he wants.
I have read this part in one of the books my servant gave me—that saves me.
"Runes needs our clear intention, without it...it will put you into danger" I simply say. I don't like overexplaining myself—I'm guessing he understands what I mean by that. Some of them look surprised, but after recovering from what they hear, they let out a laugh—the kind of laugh that mocks me.
That amuses them, the thought that my answer is stupid.
Then I notice how the princess—Her Royal Highness—slowly raises her right hand. Maybe she wants to say my answer is not correct, or maybe she thinks it isn't enough to explain the first principle.
I smile at that.
You're quite the girl, Sera, aren't you? Making even the princess compete with you. I wonder what kind of person you really are—I want to meet you someday.
But the professor didn't even acknowledge her—and said the word everyone didn't expect to hear given my answer. I again, smirk, mayabang na ngisi 'yun.
"That's make sense." The voice of our professor echoed. It feels like it is heard by the whole school.
Princess is stunned by it. I can see it from her how she looks at me and the professor who also agrees with my answer which for them maybe isn't the right explanation for it.
"Intention. Without it, runes are nothing more than meaningless scribbles."
One of them got up and interrupted the professor, I can see the dark expression in his eyes when he's interrupted.
"Professor!" she exclaimed, her voice sharp, indignant.
"How can that be correct? The first principle has never been about intention. That word—!" She jabbed a finger in the air, trembling with frustration. "—is not even mentioned in the official doctrine."
It was never really mentioned—that word is not in the first principle. They do really want to embarrassed me so bad, the girl who stands up look at the princess as if to second the motion her idea of going against.
She even recites the first principle in detail.
'The runes must be inscribed with exactness of form, clarity of chant, and discipline of will.'
"There is no mention of… intention." The professor looks at everyone—expression is unreadable. He didn't say anything immediately, and the whole room fell into silence. No one dares to create any noise here except for the chalk that scribbles the three words.
Exactness. Clarity. Discipline.
Finally, he spoke. His voice was steady, deliberate.
"So you are saying that me agreeing to Miss Seraphina's idea can't also understand the first principle of runes?" The professor shot without any delay, the girl looks at the princess again but never did the Princess met her eyes.
"You were abandoned." I whispered under my breath.
"N-no professor, I didn't say you're wrong but Seraphina's explanation is not..."
"I just said that it makes sense," that sent thousands of shivers down my spine because at that moment, I felt a strong aura coming from him.
"Tell us what it's all about?" He demanded. "If you cannot satisfy me with your answer, drop this class, if you do...I'll give you a letter of recommendation." He adds again, but the girl doesn't say anything; rather, she looks away and bows her head down.
"You recited doctrine," he said, tapping the board once, the sound echoing far too loudly. "Exactness. Clarity. Discipline. And yet you understand none of them."
Stupid! She must be thinking that if object my idea, the princess would thank her. That's really ignorant of her.
"So tell me," he said, voice dropping even colder, "are you disagreeing with Miss Seraphina… or with me?"
The girl's breath caught.
"I—I'm not disagreeing with you, Professor."
"You are not objecting because she is wrong. What a disgrace to the academy!" He whispered the last words, but we heard them since our room is embraced by silence as if we are holding our breaths.
"Reciting the principle does not mean you grasp it. Many parrots can imitate scripture; it does not make them scholars." He turns again to the girl, his expression of disappointment did not change.
"Sit. Before you embarrass yourself any further." He turned away, dismissing her completely—as if she were no more important than a smudge on the chalkboard.
"You have to know and understand your intention..."
I can't help but feel proud of what just happened, they weren't able to get what they wanted in this moment. In the corner, I saw her gaze, she's also part of the high society—Sierraia (She-ra-ya). She didn't even bother to care if I caught her looking at me intently, she turned away after a few seconds of wonder or maybe she's also one of them.
"Runes of protection. For protection or to destroy. Your intention will have something to do with how you chant it and the purpose of your runes."
The professor continued his explanation about the runes for protection, what we can call is based on the structure of our mana, on how we control the flow of our mana inside our body. Runes are just a tool to create something magical.
"There are three types of runecasters. The first runecasters are the ones who needs to speak long incantations, they rely only the memorized doctrine." He demonstrated an example of it, he chants a simple rune. It's a rune that allows you to control objects.
"Try it with any object you have, put it in your desk." We immediately followed his instruction to us, the book that I brought with me a while ago is what I used for this rune.
But without saying anything, I saw the book float an inch away. Without thought, I hold the book to stop it from floating.
"The second one, silent casters. They use their mana, they transfer their mana or energy to the object without saying anything. But some scholars use one word as a chant. Mostly of the wizards are called one word casters."
"The third type," the professor said, letting the floating chalk writes on the boad, "are the True Runesmiths."
He turned to the board and, with a flick of his finger, drew glowing symbols in the air—each stroke bursting like embers before settling into shape:
"Runes that," he continued, "are not spoken. Not whispered. Not even willed into existence. True Runesmiths shape runes directly from their mana flow. They are the mages of ancient, one who created runes for people who can't create."
"They create. Some runes are for protection, for life, for healing… and some are for destruction, for evil, for chaos. And make no mistake," he said, his gaze cold and unyielding, "the wrong intention can make even the simplest rune a weapon against you."
He told us that since this is our fifth year in this academy, he expects that we are close to become a one-word caster. Our class ended without any issue except when Diana opens her mouth again.
"Professor, may I raise one concern?"
"I believe it's time we consider changing our classroom representative. If we wait, more issues might arise—just like what happened last year. Seraphina brought embarrassment to this class because of her behavior. While it hasn't been officially proven, the mere fact that her name was involved is something we shouldn't overlook."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? Representative? Whoooo?
But wait...
What the hell did you do Seraphina?
Professor Silver gripped his book, eyes cutting across the room like a blade. Every student felt the weight of his silent judgment.
A class full of arrogant children, blind to anything beyond their own selfish games.
Of course… I'm the favorite target.