Last minute confrontation

Kaluar sat between the intense glares of the two, their gaze cold toward each other, yet only Kaluar felt its chilling effects. He sighed, his eyes darting between the two in this unbelievable tension.

'What's going on right now?' he muttered, attempting to get them to speak, but the silence was too deafening, his voice lost in the void of their apparent feud.

Soon, they turned away from each other, and the staring contest came to a close. Kurai then turned to Kaluar, his features much less sharp than before.

'So, I assume you'll be considering my offer?' he sighed.

Kaluar was left speechless; all he could manage was a simple nod. Kurai smiled slightly, walking away from the two, leaving an awkward silence in his stead. Kaluar turned to Mirai as questions lingered in his mind.

'What was that about?' he thought, though he dared not turn those thoughts into words. If Mirai wanted him to know, he would have told him by now. They sat there quietly, enjoying their lunch that the staff had so kindly provided.

---

'So today we'll talk about barrier magic,' Rampart stood in front of the class, and Kaluar's eyes filled with stars as he recognized who that was.

'That's the same guy that saved the city from being crushed,' he gushed over the teacher that saved him, his hands covering his face, muffling his voice to his thoughts.

"Barriers are made with hardened mana magic, less so of magic conversation like most magic abilities," he explained, guiding them through with a small barrier in one hand and an ice cube formed in the other.

"As you can see, magic conversion is the way our mana adapts to our environment, making specific elements according to our nature, and how we grew up. That's why your mana element doesn't come until the age of five."

"Mana elements can be a sign of trauma or praise. It depends on your background and how strong it is; normally, the more negative the emotion, the more powerful the magic becomes."

"But imagine this," he explained, crushing the ice in his palm. "Imagine we take away its ability to adapt and change its form, and turn it into its basic form."

He opened his palm again, a small orb of transparent blue light was formed, almost identical to the one in his other hand.

"This is mana at its base form; it could either be hard," with that, he turned it into an orb, squeezing it as hard as he could to show off its durability, its form unwavering, "or soft."

He turned his mana into a goopy slime, soon turning into a liquid type state that fell to the floor.

"It was from this theory that barriers were made from the constant everflowing management of one's mana, a wonderful substance that can be used to heal and destroy a life force with many uses."

"To concentrate all of your mana, stretching it to its utmost limit and creating a shell around you, the control to let some things in while keeping others out. That's the flexibility of barrier magic we strive to achieve in our studies."

'Now, in class, we're going to practice making barriers today,' Rampart looked at Mirai, a smile that he hoped to come across as warm and understanding but was instead taken as condescending. "You don't have to join us today, Mirai; just read up on the theory as we continue the lesson."

Mirai nodded, everyone but him putting their books away. Their hands out as they tried to focus their mana, some getting it right away while others took a while. As he buried his head in his studies, he heard someone snickering at the side of him. He turned, seeing the same brown-haired kid from all those years ago, his freckles an iconic point to his character.

His friend by his side was laughing with him, their stifled laughs hardly audible. Mirai sighed, focusing on his studies once more, trying to mute the sounds that had once distracted him.

---

Hours passed, and classes were done for the day. Mirai sighed, going back to his room, his body crashing down on the bed that stayed in its corner in that small space.

He sighed, looking to his side to see the rune he had once paid for. He reached out for it, picking it up. It was almost like grazing his fingers; the mana that emitted from it was strong, yet he couldn't feel any of it.

"I wonder what feeling mana is like," he muttered to himself, his fingers grazing against its intricate design. "The rune of wisdom and mages,"

"One of the strongest, one of the closest to the demon king's core." He bit his lip lightly, a feeling of dread panging his heart as he thought. "Is this really safe? It's my only option, isn't it?"

"The most I can do is channeling, but the mass amount of mana."

_____________________________

"Did you use the rune yet? I'm curious, what powers did you get? I did bring it all the way from my hometown after all," Kaluar asked as he walked along with Mirai down the halls of the academy, his arms wrapped around his head in a nonchalant way.

"No, not yet." A sigh escaped Mirai's lips as he walked right by Kaluar's side. "I'm starting to have second thoughts; I'm sure now I can succeed with my own power."

A smile adorned Kaluar's face when he heard the news from his friend, his hands finally lowering from his head.

"That's great to hear."

"Figures," Kaluar sighed, and down the hall, they walked, footsteps echoing that weren't their own.

"Mirai!" someone shouted, their voice followed by snickering and an explosion of fire that burst through the hall, catching both Mirai and Kaluar off guard and blasting them out of the hall onto the school grounds.

Their bodies rolled against the concrete floor, fragments of flesh being lost in the crevices as crimson dripped from their wounds.

"Oh, congrats, that was a better response than last time," The voice's mocking tone persisted as it came to light, his brown hair shining in the sun, and the freckles on his face becoming more visible as he was revealed. "See you got a new friend, Mirai. What happened between you and Kurai?"

"What do you want, Kioku?" Mirai muttered through gritted teeth as he pried himself from the hot concrete floor, his skin burning with irritation, burns, and fatigue.