- "That's right." He thought. "Do you see now, stupid pubescent body? That's what happens when you lower your guard. Wishful thinking bears only sour fruits made of tears and disappointment.
The silver lining is that I managed to put an end to this mad crush fast, sparing me countless humiliations. I must remember it, and remember it well. Rule #1: trust no one. Always expect the worst out of everybody, and you'll never be disappointed."-
The class was still laughing, when Professor Nalear roared:
"Silence!"
When the shower of garbage ceased and order returned to the classroom, she spoke with a voice full of rage, her green eyes reduced to two fiery slits.
"I wasn't talking about him, but about you filthy maggots!"
- "Or not!" Lith thought, surprised by that sudden turn of events. -
She looked at the various groups of people all over the class, glaring at them with fury, while a blue aura emerged from her body, making her robe move like she was amid a storm.
Her hands moved too quick for the eyes to see, even Lith's heightened senses could only perceive a blur. Suddenly, one of the guys that had thrown trash at Lith was suddenly pulled toward Nalear.
He was floating in mid-air, desperately holding his neck, gasping for air.
- "Isn't that spirit magic?!" Lith thought, shocked. "It closely resembles my Spirit Choke, I can barely spot any difference. Could she be a true mage too?"-
"You b*stards!" She roared. "Do you have any idea what the likes of you pulled me through during my academy years?
Only because I was a pretty girl and my father was just a lowly knight, you guys always tried to turn me into your plaything, harassing and molesting me every single day. But the worst always came from my so called 'girlfriends'."
Her hands moved again, pulling another of those who had thrown trash, but this time it was fifteen years old girl, wearing a heavy make-up.
"Always calling me a sl*t at my back, spreading rumors and trying to lure me into traps to give their male friends the opportunity to 'have some fun'. And that only because I was more talented than them, so they needed to 'put me in my place'.
The only reason I am still alive and sane up to this day, is because I too took a Guilty Ballot!"
The two youths in mid-air had started to turn purple, their eyes shedding tears of fear and desperation.
"What's the matter?" She mocked them. "Aren't we just having fun among friends? According to your rules, might makes right. Not only I am a Professor at this academy, I'm also an archmage, which puts me at the level of an archduke."
She looked straight in the boy's eyes, grabbing his throat and lifting him up with only one hand.
"That makes your father's Marquis title a joke. I could kill you right here and now, and then claim you tried to r*pe me. Not only no one would dare to doubt my word, I could even ask for satisfaction, personally wiping out all your filthy family!"
She then did the same to the girl, her feet daggling in the air in search of support.
"And what about you, ugly b*tch? Why are you not laughing anymore? Why don't you go crying to your mommy, Duchess Baran? I want to see her face when I will rip your heart out in front of her eyes and make her eat it raw as an apology for being weaker than me!"
Only when their faces turned blue for the lack of air, she let them go, throwing them away like trash. Professor Nalear immediately conjured water, washing her hands like touching those two could stain her very being.
- "By my maker!" Solus was blown away. "Now I finally understand! Headmaster Linjos didn't choose his staff based on physical appearance. He replaced the old professors with talented people that have been victims of the system in the past!
This way not only he is sure to have at his service someone that can truly empathise with the victims, but also people that will never back down in front of abuses of power. They are all hell-bent on revenge, if they cannot change the system from inside, no one can."-
Despite their symbiotic link, Lith wasn't able to hear a single thought Solus had sent to him. He watched the events happening in front of him in a daze, his mind blank, incapable of accepting reality.
"Please, marry me." He suddenly blurted out loud.