12 The Mage Collage students

We were riding the carriage along a big grassy road, there was a thick forest not too far from here. "Alright, we will set up camp here!" Netis shouted. Luckily we didn't have to hire a coachman since Netis was taught that by her parents in Greenwick.

We started to set up camp, Netis took care of the food while Isao set up the tent. I was carrying things out the carriage, after carrying out everything that was necessary, Isao and Netis insisted to do the rest. So, I am continuing my research. Surprisingly, I've managed to decipher 5 pages, they weren't as hard as the first ten.

When we finished setting up camp, we decided to eat. The food was… let's just say Netis was never really good at cooking.

*Bleurgh* It seems Isao's stomach couldn't handle it. "Netis, your food is… the worst… thing… I've ever… *collapse*" "Eh! What's so bad about it, huh!?" "Netis, he fainted because of it" "Oh, my bad"

"HaHaHa!" I heard a laugh in the distance. One second after that strange laugh, a man and a woman came out of the forest.

"Hello, my name is Kebin and this is Knifea. We are students of the Mage college" The boy, seemingly around 16 years old said.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Netis, and this is my master, Ubel"

"Netis, don't make me look like a slave-trader-in-training," I said.

"No no no, we understand, slaves aren't that common. Mostly because it's banned everywhere except for the Human Empire." Kebin said

"Yeah, but there was that one princess that was against the slave trade. I can't really remember her name," Knifea said.

"Is that so. It seems that the humans in the empire haven't dirtied her morals" Netis said while smiling.

The two mages sat down with us and we talked a little. "By the way, this is only a rumor, but I heard that the great battlemage founder got a disciple," Knifea said.

"Really? That information has already spread?" Netis asked.

"It's been several years already, I'm surprised they haven't found out who it was" I whispered to Netis.

* * *

"You said that you were mages, right? Do you know any spells?" Isao asked. "We do know a few, but our practical training is lacking, so we're out here in the forest. Did you want to see some spells?" Knifea said

"Yes!" Netis was the first one to answer.

"Alright, here it goes. Oh- "

"Don't use any fire spells" I interrupted her chant.

"But I don't have any other aptitude" Knifea pouted.

"Sigh, then fire it off towards the road and not the forest," I said.

"Ok! Oh, fire goddess, your burning passion shall materialize, and burn all those who stand in my way! Quadruple crimson fire spear!" Suddenly 4 'crimson colored spears of fire' formed in the air and was fired off towards the road.

"That was amazing, Knifea! I didn't know you were so good at magic!" Netis was really excited.

"Heh, master know way better magic than that" Isao said with a smug face.

"He does? Mind showing us? I think we both can learn something from a demonstration" Kebin said.

"Hmm, okay" I sat up.

I guess I'll have to chant this one, wouldn't want these guys to drag me off to the college.

"God of fire and flames, grant me the strength to annihilate those who dare question my ability! Raging explosions!"

Balls imitating the sun started to appear all over the place. Then all of them exploded one after the other. When the spell was done, there were several holes in the ground. "E-Explosion magic!?" Knifea and Kebin shouted in synchronization.

"Is explosion magic that rare?" Isao asked.

"Well, yeah! It's advanced fire magic! Only a few people can actually manage to learn it!" Knifea shouted.

"I did sense some powerful magic around here, to think it was this boy the whole time," Kebin said keeping his composure.

"And we did learn something from watching that" Kebin continued while nodding.

"Eh? We did?" Knifea asked.

"Sigh, Knifea, what I'm talking about is the activation of magic. When he was chanting, he wasn't focusing on the real-world, he rather directed his focus on the image of the spell." Kebin said, well, he isn't wrong, but if that's all he got out from that then I'm afraid he has a long way to go.

"Is that so? I'm always focusing on where the spell is going" Knifea said.

The time flew away as we talked, and suddenly, the sun went down. "Ahhh, it seems that we have to go back to the college. It was nice meeting all of you." Kebin sat up

"Yep, see you," Isao said goodbye. After they packed their stuff, they went into the forest again. After about 5 minutes, they were gone.

"They were some nice people, they seem to be good with magic too," Netis said.

"I'm not so sure, only one of them has the quality required for a good mage" I commented.

"The boy, right?" Isao asked.

"No, the girl" I answered.

"What do you mean? To me it seemed like she wasn't all that concentrated on magic" Isao said.

"Yeah, isn't the boy better?" Netis added.

"No, the boy has good observation ability. However, his magic qualities aren't good at all, they are simply above average. But the girl, she has an amazing aptitude for magic. Even though she stated that she didn't learn anything, I could still sense her power increasing." Not to mention that the souls are quite attracted to her.

"So, she has the qualities of a wizard?" Netis asked.

"Not a wizard, a sage".

""Sage?!"" They shouted in sync.

"Wow, that's hard to believe," Netis said, still in shock.

"Will she end up as a hero's companion? Will the hero try something lewd?!" Netis shouted.

"You read too many books. And no, this isn't a world where summoning magic is accessible to humans or any race. Only the gods can take a human from a different world and place them here," I explained.

"Then why has she appeared then?" Netis asked.

"What the appearance of a sage means, is that the gods have decided to bless the college" I answered.

"Why would they want that?" Netis asked.

"Probably because mages are looked down upon, since no mage has managed to become wizards in the last 500 years," I said. Mentor was the one to tell me this.

After discussing among ourselves, and preparing for tomorrow, we went to sleep. I was chosen to be the one to keep watch first. While I was keeping watch, I saw several flashing lights in forest. I decided to check it out.

I sneaked through the forest, and finally arrived at the flashing lights. It was Kebin.

"…Ice golem!" Kebin shouted. Three golems appeared out of the ground.

"Dammit! Why are there only three of them?! Is this a form for a dumb curse?! Am I to forever follow a girl that can do anything, while I can only manage to struggle like an idiot!" Kebin punched the ground, with tears flowing from his eyes.

I sighed, I guess I'll have to talk to him now. I sat up and walked towards him, "Hmm, these golems. I never thought they'd end up like this" I said.

"Huh? Ubel, what are you doing here?"

"I was watching you create these golems, although their qualities aren't good, they give off a feeling that they would risk their lives for you."

"Don't try to comfort me, they are golems, that's what they are supposed to do, right?" Kebin asked.

"That's what they are forced to do, you see, unlike other golems I've seen, these ones would follow your every command with pride and joy. That is something almost no mage can do. Tell me, what aptitudes do you have?" I asked him.

"Ice and something unknown, my teachers never bothered checking the unknown aptitude."

"What was the color of this unknown aptitude?" I asked.

"It was purple, it looked like it was spinning all the time" He explained.

"And your senior mages didn't know what this was? How pathetic, that purple magic is something really rare. It is something called 'Summoning magic'"