Ch 9: The first magic lesson

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Layla wanted to say that she had learned enough to get by but felt she had not learned anything.

The more Layla read, the more she felt lacking in the practical department.

She had the means to acquire magic, but Layla needed practical experience with Mana to cast a spell comfortably.

The essential books were clear in their warning-attempting to sense mana independently was a risk not worth taking. 

A single misstep in magic could have dire consequences, potentially rendering one unable to wield magic for life. 

The system had cautioned Layla against using magic on her own. Being the person she was, Layla decided to take the advice offered.

There was enough on her plate to keep her busy anyway.

Like the other children residing in this mansion.

They often tried to obstruct Layla or grab books that she wanted to read. These were petty ways to make her life miserable, and Layla was annoyed by them.

Especially since Mary just smiled most of the time and decided to look the other way when Layla was bullied.

"Rise and shine, young miss. Are you ready for your first magic lesson? All your hard work might go down the drain if you are late to class. Our professor doesn't like it when people are late to class."

Mary advised, and she quickly helped Layal back to her feet.

The maid had prepared a fresh set of black robes for Layla, but the size was slightly off.

The robe was long enough to irritate Layla but short enough not to cause her to trip. It was annoying, but complaining would not get her anywhere.

"Miss, are you not going to complain about your clothes being too big on your frame? I can do something about that if you want me to."

Layla already knew the truth behind Mary's grin. The older female was deliberately trying to make Layla mad.

Unfortunately, Layla had too much patience dealing with foolish underlings to feel angry at such minor pranks.

...

Layla reached her class ten minutes before it started but was not surprised to be among the last ones.

Mary and the Duke had failed to inform her of a critical piece of information when they told her about this class - it was not for people the Lockhart family took in personally but for the local community.

Today was an open class where everyone, irrespective of rank, could join.

When Layla entered the room, most people ignored her, and she was happy to take an unoccupied corner where no one was sitting.

Mary took her place, standing behind Layla with a smile. But her eyes were sharp as she looked around.

Layla followed Mary's eyes, only to see the female staring at an empty corner.

[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance has noticed you. The Great Wizard wonders if you can see him.]

As soon as Layla got that message, she was forced to turn her head toward the front of the classroom instead.

A man dressed in black robes and thick glasses entered the room. His large robes flared behind him, covering him with an aura of importance.

"Welcome back to the basics of magic. I am your professor, the almighty 'First-Class Wizard Rodric Burnance.' This will be your first and likely last class with me as your teacher before you will be sorted according to your levels and given a mentor to learn from.

I hope you all are brilliant enough to keep up with me."

The male spoke confidently, and Layla forced herself to keep looking forward. 

Layla would have also considered this man the real deal if not for the system notification. But the system had eradicated any chances of that happening.

'Is that man a puppet? Or rather, an imposter? Does everyone else know that as well?'

Layla looked around once, but all the kids around her had a determined expression as they picked up their pens and paper.

None of them suspected this man to be anyone other than Professor Burners.

"If you all have settled down, then let's start with our first lesson for the day - feeling your mana. I will come to each of you and help you feel your mana. I hope you pay attention. I will also measure your mana level, so let's hope you perform well."

The professor approached each desk and asked the child to extend their hand toward him.

'System, show my stats.'

Layla had discovered this feature of her system in the last few days. It could show her how much stat her body had.

And currently, Layla's body is below average.

According to the system, her strength was graded F, and her stamina was D. Her mana had a decent E stat, which qualified her as a wizard. 

But the nice thing about being a destined villainess was that all her hidden potentials were S-class…for now.

As a villainess, that was the limit of what the original Layla could do, but 'she' was different.

'From what I recall, the original story had no system, but it had a lot of hidden cheats. The original female lead was a saintess but had no extraordinary power. All her power came from the cheats she was able to gather.

Using the same cheats, I can evolve even faster than the main characters.'

Layla was sure about that and even checked this with the system. But to make all these cheats available to her, Layla first needed to become capable of reaching them.

The man pretending to be Professor Burners reached Layla quickly, and she saw the man pause once he noticed Mary.

The maid just smiled but showed no indication of knowing who this man was.

Layla could make out the direction where the maid was looking. And her eyes seemed to be looking at the professor's arm.

It also made Layla curious, and her eyes moved from that hand reaching out toward her toward that empty arm in front of her.

[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance feels curious about your gaze. He wants to reach out to your consciousness and check who you are. Would you allow him inside your mind?]

The system asked, and Layla tensed up.

'Is that even a question? Of course not! I don't want anyone poking around in my brain, no matter how they are! Stop him!'

Layla ordered as she held her hand steady. His nervousness showed on his face and in her sweat.

"What's wrong, kid? Why do you feel so cold all of a sudden? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine. I just feel a 

The professor asked while reading about Layla's face and mana. She could feel the power circulating her body, making her shiver.

A slight pressure touched her head before the feeling quickly retreated.

[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance has retreated from your consciousness.]

The hand holding her wrist pulled back as soon as the message came. These incidents were not connected, but somehow, it felt like a sign for Layla to keep her guard up.

Something climbed up her arm when she pulled her hand back, and Layla felt the weight on her shoulder.

[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance feels curious about you. He has decided to follow you around for the remainder of the day]

The message felt like a heavy shackle to Layla. It reminded her that she needed to be extra careful since two people were watching her.

"So, professor, what do you think about Layla? You never gave her a verdict about her abilities. Won't you tell her anything like you told other people?"

Mary asked, and the man in front of her panicked a little.

"Why yes, of course! She has decent potential. She will go far if she trains her potential well. Now then, I should take my leave now. I need to go and help out other classes."

The fake professor held his arm out awkwardly, but the weight on Layla's shoulder did not move.

[The 'first class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance shows reluctance in going with his contractee]